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October 21, 2016 at 12:10 pm
Two fizzy drinks a day could double the risk of diabetes - even if they are diet versions - a Swedish study has found.
Research by the Karolinska Institute on 2,800 adults found that those who consumed at least two 200ml servings of soft drinks daily were 2.4 times as likely to suffer from a form of type 2 diabetes.
Many fizzy drinks are sold in 330ml cans, meaning that one and a half cans would be enough to double the risk.
Those who drank a litre of such drinks saw a 10-fold rise in their chance of suffering from the condition.
The increased risks were the same regardless of whether the drinks were sugary or artificially sweetened, the research published in the European Journal of Endocrinology found.
Researchers said the sugary drinks may have induced insulin resistan...
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October 21, 2016 at 11:59 am
"We have pledged to prepare an army of fighters by devoting our full abilities and energies to consolidate the option of armed struggle as the only means to liberate Palestine." — The armed wing of Fatah, Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Martyr Nidal Al-Amoudi Division.
The international community continues to perceive Fatah as the "moderate" Palestinian party with whom Israel should make peace. Yet Fatah is far from a single united bloc; many groups within the faction continue to seek the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle. Moreover, neither Abbas nor any of his senior Fatah loyalists have repudiated the war-set Fatah militias. Crucially, many of these Fatah militiamen continue to receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority.
These Fatah gunmen who are prepa...
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October 21, 2016 at 11:56 am
Washington (AFP) – A member of the US military was killed Thursday in a bomb blast north of Mosul, a senior US defense official said, as Iraqi forces in the region continued their push on the city.
The official told AFP that the service member had died in what were likely “Mosul-related” operations, but did not provide additional details.
More than 100 US troops are advising Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga as they advance toward Mosul, the Islamic State group’s last stronghold in Iraq, on multiple fronts.
Officials did not immediately identify the service member and the US-led coalition fighting IS said further information would be released “as appropriate” — additional details often depend on when family members are notified of the ...
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October 21, 2016 at 11:54 am
Sites across the internet had problems on Friday morning following a cyberattack on a major internet management company.
On Friday morning, Dyn — a company that hosts domain name systems — announced it has been the subject of a cyberattack that caused major problems for numerous websites. People reported issues with Twitter, Spotify, SoundCloud, Vox Media sites, Airbnb and numerous other sites.
Domain name systems (DNS) are essentially the GPS of the internet, taking the text URLs you type into a browser and figuring out where those websites’ data is located on the back end. So when you type mashable.com in a browser, it shows you both the real Mashable and can quickly and easily locate the nearest server that hosts the site’s data.
The ...
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October 21, 2016 at 11:53 am
Republican nominee Donald Trump recently sent shock-waves through the press by stating during Wednesday night’s debate that he would keep the nation “in suspense” regarding his acceptance of a possible Clinton victory. Senator John McCain spoke out against Trump’s position Thursday, saying that graceful acceptance of defeat is “the American way.”
“In every previous election, the loser congratulates the winner and calls them ‘my president,’ McCain pointed out, according to NBC News Correspondent Hallie Jackson.
“That’s not just the Republican way or the Democratic way,” McCain was quoted as saying. “It’s the American way. This election must not be any different.”
The Arizona senator added that, whil...
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October 21, 2016 at 11:53 am
Shin Bet, Israel’s Internal Security Agency, said in its monthly report this week that terror attacks in September doubled compared to August. 26 attacks occurred in Jerusalem in September, compared with 13 the previous month, according to the report.
Attacks included the throwing of a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli vehicle on September 27, a stabbing attack which injured six security personnel, the wounding of soldier in a shooting attack near Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, and a pipe bomb attack on Israeli soldiers in the Bethlehem area on September 20.
The report found that attacks increased in September to 109 (78 of which were Molotov cocktail attacks), in contrast to 93 in August. 26 attacks took place in Jerusalem, compared with the previous month’s 13. 5 attacks attac...
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October 21, 2016 at 9:18 am
Boca Raton, FL - Hillary Clinton dispatched to Florida one of her most effective surrogates to Jewish voters on Thursday, hoping to shore up support within a community that has repeatedly proven crucial to Democratic victories there.
A political independent who leans heavily to the left, socially liberal and muscular on foreign policy, former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman tracks closely with the Democratic presidential nominee on a host of issues– and with many Jewish Floridians still on the fence just seventeen days before the general election.
Addressing a temple in Boca Raton, a shul in Miami and a group of rabbi and community leaders, Lieberman emphasized that Clinton is precisely the type of candidate the Jewish community has been waiting for.
“On Israel a...
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October 21, 2016 at 9:14 am
MOUNT GERIZIM, West Bank – In one of the tensest corners of the West Bank, Israeli settlers and Palestinians live in separate worlds. But there is a spot on the top of a mountain that connects them both: a village of Samaritans.
To get there, Israelis drive up a steep, winding road, near ominous red road signs posted by Israel's military that warn them against entering the nearby Palestinian city of Nablus. Palestinians get to the top by driving up a steep, winding road from Nablus on the opposite side of the mountain.
At the top live about 380 Samaritans. They, and about 420 Samaritans based near Tel Aviv in Israel, comprise one of the world's oldest and smallest religious minorities.
Israelis and Palestinians are locked in continued conflict over land a...
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October 21, 2016 at 8:55 am
“Who can count, who can measure,
The bounds of his heart’s breadth?
His novel Torah insights are endless,
Into Hashem’s perfect Torah,
All as clean as fine meal,
As it was given at Sinai,
Would that they be engraved in a book.”
— from an introduction by the sons of the Gra to a volume containing their father’s Bi’ur al Kammoh Aggodos, Vilna, 5560 (1800)
The following is translated and adapted from the monumental three-volume work HaGaon by Rav Dov Eliach. It is taken from the second volume, chapter 21, entitled, “Toras Hashem Temimoh.”
Whole and Perfect
Becoming acquainted with the vast corpus of the Gaon’s Torah writings is a very revealing experience, which transforms one’s understanding both of Torah&rsqu...
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October 21, 2016 at 8:51 am
An Israeli hiker was killed while walking along a cliff next to the Ganges River in northern India this week, Ynet reports.
Ariel Freeman, 50, from Moshav Nir Tzvi, was hiking with his wife and fellow trekkers when the tragedy struck. Those accompanying Freeman were only able to report the incident on Wednesday after they reached an area with cell phone service.
His body was recovered at the scene and was taken to the police station in the town of Uttarkashi.
The local police reported that this is the second time in two weeks that a foreigner had fallen victim to the treacherous mountainous area while hiking.
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October 21, 2016 at 8:49 am
Russia has begun its biggest surface deployment since the end of the Cold War as it aims to effectively end the war in Syria on the eve of the US election, NATO officials warn, The Telegraph reports.
The Kremlin is sending the full might of its Northern Fleet and part of the Baltic Fleet to reinforce a final assault on the city of Aleppo in a fortnight, according to Western intelligence.
The final bombardment is designed to shore up the Assad regime by wiping out rebels – paving the way for a Russian exit from the civil war.
The assault on the city will also serve to highlight US inaction in the run-up to election day and may aid Donald Trump. Read more at THE TELEGRAPH.
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October 21, 2016 at 8:47 am
It was bound to be awkward from the beginning.
On a night in which Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would meet for perhaps the final time, the staging called for speeches by the two presidential candidates.
The choreography at the Alfred E. Smith charity dinner benefitting the Catholic Church’s charities – an annual New York tradition for the city’s well-heeled and a quadrennial circus when the presidential candidates come to town – was perfectly set.
Melania Trump entered first and took her seat. Clinton entered next, moving deftly behind her to take a chair a few feet away, with nothing more than a polite greeting.
As Trump took the stage in white tie, he flashed a thumbs up and a wave, shaking hands with those on stage but seeming to make no acknowle...
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October 21, 2016 at 8:42 am
Simchas Bais HaShoaiva 5777 at Mir Yerushalayim
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October 21, 2016 at 8:42 am
Succos is almost upon us so I will forgo the opportunity of discussing this week’s Parsha, Ha’azinu, and focus on this most beautiful holiday. Succos is referred to as “The Time of Rejoicing”. This needs explanation. Is not every holiday a time for rejoicing? Would we not consider the holiday of Pesach which celebrates our exodus from Egypt, the birth of our nation a more significant time of rejoicing?
The Torah refers to Succos as the Festival of the Harvest because it occurs at the period of the harvest. The summer has ended and all the grain has already dried and is ready to be milled. We are getting ready to hunker down for the winter. Could it be that this is the reason why it is the Time of Rejoicing?
The problem with this explanation is that it seems to be ...
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October 21, 2016 at 5:49 am
Shabbos Chol HaMoaid Succos 5777 / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP!
Baltimore, MD – Oct. 21, 2016
Parshas: Shabbos Chol HaMoaid Succos 5777
Today: 19 Tishrei
Chatzos: 12:51 PM
Hadlakas Nairos: 6:00 PM
Shkiah: 6:18:42 PM
Tzais HaKochavim: 7:09 PM
Pisku Tuvu
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October 21, 2016 at 5:49 am
As we all know, it is a mitzva to spend as much time as possible in a succah. This includes eating, sleeping and even socializing in the succah. However if one is mitztaer, if one is uncomfortable in the succah because of the weather, insects or another persistent annoyance, one is exempt from the mitzva. In fact when one is exempt from the succah, there is no mitzva at all to stay in the succah. (click here for some inspirational stories about Succos.) This brings us to the following interesting moral dilemma. There were four Jewish college students who shared an apartment. They were going to be in their apartment for Succos so they decided to pool their resources and build a succah together. Each student contributed $250 and together they had $1000 to purchase a nice succah. They...
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October 21, 2016 at 5:49 am
A New Understanding of ‘Shabbos Shuva’
As we all know, there is always one ‘plain’ Shabbos between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. That is to say, there could be two Shabboses that fall out during the Aseres Y’mai Teshuvah (the ‘Ten Days of Teshuvah’) between the first of Tishrei (when RH begins) and the tenth of Tishrei (when YK falls) – but only one of them will be a ‘regular’ Shabbos (not concomitant with either RH or YK). And, of course, this Shabbos is known as Shabbos Shuva – most conveniently translated as ‘the Shabbos of Teshuvah’, since it comes during the Ten Days of the year when doing teshuva is the dominant theme. That would be the simplest, most direct way to understand this term and the appell...
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October 21, 2016 at 5:31 am
Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby is pushing for policy reforms to investigate and prosecute police misconduct.
Thursday morning, Mosby announced five proposals that she would like to see take effect in Baltimore.
"The ultimate goal will be to provide the community with a seat at the table," Mosby said. "My first proposal involves replacing the typical police investigative team with one that includes impartial investigative representation from the Police Department, the prosecutor's office, state police and the investigator and civilian review board."
Mosby said a collaborative approach will improve transparency, remove the pressure of police investigating fellow officers and eliminate bias and skepticism during the early investigation stages.
"My second ...
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October 21, 2016 at 5:26 am
The general election is set for Nov. 8.
That is the day when voters across the country will decide who they want as their next president. Several key offices are up for grabs in Maryland that day, including for U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and Baltimore's mayor and City Council.
Local leaders are working to ensure the general election is smoother than April’s primary. Concerns with the primary election eventually led the state to temporarily decertify the results Baltimore City due to problems with provisional ballots.
City Elections Board Director Armstead Jones said the number one issue his office had during the primary was not having enough election judges, along with not enough training for those they did have.
According to state election officials...
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October 20, 2016 at 11:47 pm
The case against Hillary Clinton could have been written before the recent WikiLeaks and FBI disclosures. But these documents do provide hard textual backup.
The most sensational disclosure was the proposed deal between the State Department and the FBI in which the FBI would declassify a Hillary Clinton email and State would give the FBI more slots in overseas stations. What made it sensational was the rare appearance in an official account of the phrase “quid pro quo,” which is the currently agreed-upon dividing line between acceptable and unacceptable corruption.
This is nonetheless an odd choice for most egregious offense. First, it occurred several layers removed from the campaign and from Clinton. It involved a career State Department official (he occupied the sa...
