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May 25, 2016 at 9:20 am
Baltimore, MD Daily Dvar Halacha - May 25, 2016 / 17 Iyar 5776 - Why Does Everyone Look At Their Nails During Havdala?
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May 25, 2016 at 9:08 am
(CNN) Protesters lit fires, smashed a door and threw rocks outside a Donald Trump rally Tuesday night in New Mexico -- the latest scuffle to follow the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign.
The scene outside Albuquerque's convention center was chaotic as police ushered protesters away from Trump's event and into the nearby streets.
There, anti-Trump protesters -- many critical of his positions on immigration -- loudly chanted, "F*** Donald Trump."
The protesters had broken a glass door to the convention center. Some taunted police and jumped on police vehicles as officers in riot gear and on police horses moved them away from the convention center's exits.
Trump had already left the event.
The scene was reminiscent of the violence between Tr...
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May 25, 2016 at 8:56 am
Coalition agreement details show that aside from folding on death penalty law, Liberman made a key concession on being a minister.
Yisrael Beytenu chairperson Avigdor Liberman signed a coalition agreement with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday to enter the government, but a reading of the agreement reveals that he gave up on many of his demands in the process.
Last week Liberman declared three central conditions for his joining the coalition: a pension reform, that he be appointed Defense Minister, and a law applying the death penalty to terrorist murderers.
But a reading of the final agreement revealed by Channel 2 exposes that aside from Liberman's folding on the death penalty bill demand, the deal allows Netanyahu to swap him from t...
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May 25, 2016 at 8:52 am
The 25-year-old Howard County man charged with walking into Fox 45 last month in a Hedgehog costume and a fake bomb will be in court later today.
Alex Brizzi is charged with four counts of arson and several counts of reckless endangerment. He is also charged with having a fake bomb and making a false statement about a bomb.
Brizzi was shot several times by SWAT team members when he came out of the building and didn't listen to their commands.
Police say his costume was covering a life jacket that was designed to look like a bomb.
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May 25, 2016 at 8:48 am
A man under surveillance for suspected illegal firearms dealing was recorded Monday telling a federal informant he planned to "shoot some cops" after a judge acquitted Baltimore police Officer Edward Nero.
The affidavit was filed in federal court against Robert Lee "Cowboy" Owens, 64, of North Baltimore. He was arrested Monday and charged with possession of a firearm by a previously convicted person, according to court records. A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in the affidavit that the criminal informant had earlier been offered a firearm by Owens and agreed with the ATF to buy it from him in a vehicle bugged with audio and video recording devices. That informant went to Owens' home and, with ATF money, bought the .22 cali...
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May 25, 2016 at 7:50 am
The brachos (blessings) associated with shemittah are expressed in similar language to the words that we say in the bracha (blessing) of Bareich Aleinu in Shemoneh Esrei. There is a great emphasis on the blessing of the land and the fruits as a harbinger of geulah (redemption), as the lush produce reflects the presence of Hashem on this earth. Now, in golus (exile), we ask Hashem to place His bracha on the face of the earth, but not actually within the earth itself. We yearn to go back to a time when Hashem's bracha will be within the earth and within us, when we can eat the lush fruits of Eretz Yisroel and be satisfied from even small amounts.
Click here to listen
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May 25, 2016 at 7:50 am
Israel - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his choice for defense minister, ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman, signed a coalition agreement on Wednesday and issued assurances that the most right wing government in Israel’s history would act responsibly.
Once Lieberman is sworn in, Netanyahu will have a government of 66 legislators, widening his current one-seat majority in the 120-member parliament, a goal the Israeli leader has said he has sought since winning a fourth term last year.
Lieberman’s return to office - he was previously foreign minister - has raised questions at home and abroad given his past criticism of Israel’s Arab minority, U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Palestinians and regional powers Egypt and Turkey.
At the signing ceremony, in whi...
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May 24, 2016 at 7:39 pm
New York - New York City is testing park benches with built-in charging stations for mobile devices.
Five of the benches are being installed at parks in the Bronx and upper Manhattan.
The Daily News (http://nydn.us/1VgusE2 ) says the benches can also help keep track of how many people are visiting the parks.
The Parks Department will spend about $24,000 on the solar-powered benches. They’ve been used in several other cities, including Boston and Los Angeles.
The two-year pilot program is part of a city initiative called Parks Without Borders . It aims to make underused areas more accessible and welcoming.
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May 24, 2016 at 7:07 pm
Washington - The Treasury Department has arrested five people in Miami accused of posing as IRS agents in telephone calls and demanding immediate payment of overdue taxes, a scheme that netted them an estimated $2 million, a top official said Tuesday.
J. Russell George, who heads the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration office, said Tuesday that the five defrauded about 1,500 people.
The IRS has called similar impersonators the largest such scam in agency history. George said overall, 1.2 million Americans have reported receiving such calls, and around 6,400 of them have reported being cheated out of $36.5 million.
The callers pose as IRS or Treasury agents and demand immediate payment of back taxes or other fees, threatening arrest if they don’t. Geor...
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May 24, 2016 at 7:07 pm
Cairo - The question of what caused EgyptAir Flight 804 to crash in the Mediterranean, killing all 66 on board, remains shrouded in confusion, speculation and conflicting statements. Here is a look at what is known so far and what questions remain unanswered.
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EXPLOSION OR NOT?
One of the primary questions is whether or not the plane was brought down by a bomb or some sort of mechanical failure. On Tuesday, two different Egyptian officials publicly disagreed on whether or not the available evidence indicated an on-board explosion. A senior Egyptian forensics official told The Associated Press that the condition of the human remains collected from the crash site so far indicated an explosion. Later however, the head of Egypt’s forensic agency dismissed such talk, calli...
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May 24, 2016 at 7:06 pm
Washington - The Justice Department intends to seek the death penalty against Dylann Roof, the man charged with killing nine black parishioners last year in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Tuesday.
“The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision,” Lynch said in a brief statement that said the department had considered “all relevant factual and legal issues.”
Roof is awaiting trial on federal hate crime charges in connection with the June 17 shooting at Emanuel AME Church, which contributed to a national conversation about race relations and also led to the removal of a Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina Statehouse.
Roof is also charged with nine counts of murder in st...
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May 24, 2016 at 7:06 pm
Chicago - The union for transportation security officers on Tuesday urged the U.S. Congress to pay for 6,000 more full-time workers who conduct screenings to alleviate long lines at U.S. airports, a problem that caused a shakeup in the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s management.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the officers’ union, asked lawmakers to approve emergency legislation to fund additional screeners needed after years of staffing cuts and growing numbers of passengers, it said in a statement.
“It’s time for Congress to stop the waiting games and give TSA the resources it needs to meet growing demands at our nation’s airports,” J. David Cox Sr., the union’s national president, said in the statement.
...
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May 24, 2016 at 7:06 pm
Washington - Democrat Hillary Clinton, seeking to dampen Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s growing appeal with working-class voters, on Tuesday accused him of having cheered on the 2008 housing market crash.
Clinton’s campaign released an ad with audio the presumptive Republican nominee had recorded in 2006 for his now-defunct Trump University venture. Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, said of a “bubble burst” that “I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy” property and “make a lot of money.”
Clinton’s campaign and her surrogates have seized on the recording to argue that she would take better care of the U.S. economy. She is seeking to blunt the inroads that Trump...
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May 24, 2016 at 6:50 pm
Baltimore, MD Daily Dvar Halacha - May 24, 2016 / 16 Iyar 5776 - Air Fresheners For Besamim At Havdalah?
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May 23, 2016 at 11:47 pm
A 14-year-old youth was arrested and charged with grand larceny as a possible bias crime after he snatched a “Yarmulka” [Jewish head covering] off a 13-year-old Jewish boy.
The incident occurred on Monday at around 6:30pm on Eastern Parkway near Brooklyn Avenue. The victim, a 13-year-old yeshiva student, was accosted by a black teenager who snatched the student’s Yarmulka, a religious head covering, and fled.
A witness sprang into action and managed to apprehend the suspect and hold him until police arrived.
The assailant, who was identified as being 14-years-old, was taken into custody and charged with grand larceny and a possible bias crime. Hate crimes task force detectives are investigating the incident.
This incident marks yet another in a string of simila...
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May 23, 2016 at 11:39 pm
Bais Yaakov Elementary Teachers and Faculty Meet and Greet the Administrative Teams for the New Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary Divisions of the School.
Baltimore, Md - May 23, 2016 - On Wednesday May 11th and Monday May 16th, Bais Yaakov of Baltimore hosted two ‘Meet and Greet’ sessions for faculty and administration to learn more about the exciting changes taking place at the school by through meeting the new Principals: Rabbi Yitzchok Sanders and Rabbi Yochanon Stein. At the podium: Bais Yaakov of Baltimore President, Dr. Shmuel Markovitz. Seated (L-R) Upper Elementary Principal Rabbi Yochanon Stein & Lower Elementary Principal Rabbi Yitzchok Sanders
On the Wednesday evening prior to Pesach, Bais Yaakov of Baltimore President, Dr. Shmuel Markovitz held...
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May 23, 2016 at 10:29 pm
Baltimore, MD - May 23, 2016 - This was just posted on a neighborhood WhatsApp group in the in the Smith Ave area:
Just posting so everyone can be aware.... Just had three suspicious people knock on my door claiming to be from the utility company. and stating that they would like me to open the door to speak in person ad I have not responded to their notices. They did not identify themselves, couldn't state which company they were coming from and did not wear any uniforms. When i refused to open the door they became upset and told us they needed to speak to us in person. They ended up leaving and I caught a glimpse of them through the window as they left-theya re two African American males and one female. The men were wearing jeans.
Please be careful before opening your doors ...
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May 23, 2016 at 10:29 pm
Today’s global fight against terrorism can be characterized as a “seventh-century clash involving 21st-century weapons,” an Israeli parliamentarian and counter-terrorism expert told The Algemeiner.
Likud MK Anat Berko, on a visit to the United States, said that in view of this dire situation, the entire world must realize it is “in the same boat.”
“Every country should put its ego aside and collaborate against terrorism, because we are in the middle of World War Three,” she urged. “I said this many years ago and, I’m sorry to say, many of the warnings I made have become reality.”
Berko claimed that the global community is so concerned about not offending a certain population that it lose...
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May 23, 2016 at 10:07 pm
Tokyo - Two very different visions of the hell that is war are seared into the minds of World War II survivors on opposite sides of the Pacific.
Michiko Kodama saw a flash in the sky from her elementary school classroom on Aug. 6, 1945, before the ceiling fell and shards of glass from blown-out windows slashed her. Now 78, she has never forgotten the living hell she saw from the back of her father, who dug her out after a U.S. military plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.
People were walking like zombies, with their flesh scraped and severely burned, asking for help, for water. A little girl looked up, straight into Michiko’s eyes, and collapsed.
Lester Tenney saw Japanese soldiers killing fellow American captives on the infamous Bataan Death Mar...
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May 23, 2016 at 10:05 pm
New York - Two members of a prominent Honduran family accused by U.S. authorities of engaging in a decade-long money laundering scheme are seeking the dismissal of the charges after the government froze their assets and made paying their lawyers impossible.
Yankel Rosenthal, a former minister of investment under current Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, and Yani Rosenthal, a former Cabinet member in Honduras, filed papers late on Friday in federal court in Manhattan to dismiss their indictment.
Prosecutors said the Rosenthals used their businesses to engineer a scheme to launder drug trafficking and foreign bribery proceeds through U.S. bank accounts.
The motions came after months of wrangling over their inability to pay their lawyers due to the U.S. Treasury Departmen...
