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May 27, 2016 at 7:23 am
A Palestinian not seen publicly since his 2002 capture by the CIA launched a brutal interrogation program may soon make his first appearance in a U.S. courtroom.
Abu Zubaydah, who CIA agents once sought to be kept incommunicado for the rest of his life, has been called as a witness by Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the defendants in the Sept. 11 war crimes case, to back up allegations of mistreatment inside a high-security unit at Guantanamo Bay.
Abu Zubaydah could testify, along with a prisoner from Somalia who has also never been seen in a public forum, as early as next week in a pretrial hearing at the U.S. base in Cuba.
James Harrington, a lawyer for Binalshibh, said that Abu Zubaydah is expected to support his client's allegations that prisoners inside the unit known as Ca...
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May 27, 2016 at 5:08 am
Parshas BeHar / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP!
Baltimore, MD – May 27, 2016
Parshas: BeHar
Today: 19 Iyar
Chatzos: 1:04 PM
Hadlakas Nairos: 8:06 PM
Shkiah: 8:24:22 PM
Tzais HaKochavim: 9:15 PM
Next Shabbos is Shabbos Mevarchim Sivan
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May 27, 2016 at 5:08 am
The attorney for two of the Baltimore City Police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray is offering an explanation as to why his clients are suing Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore City Sheriff's Major Sam Cogan, and the State of Maryland.
The lawsuit filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court was unsealed on Wednesday.
The officers seek $75,000 for each count of alleged defamation and invasion of privacy.
In an interview for Sunday's Maryland's News This Week, attorney Michael Glass says Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter were not trying to influence potential jurors at their criminal trial by filing the civil suit.
Glass explained that he had asked the Court to seal the lawsuit, citing Judge Barry Williams...
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May 27, 2016 at 12:03 am
ל"ג בעומר בחצר הקודש באיאן
Lag Buomer in Boyan
בהדלקה המרכזית במירון
צילום: אברומי ברגר
אייר תשע"ו
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May 27, 2016 at 12:02 am
“Hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chadashim … w This month shall be for you the beginning of months." Exodus 12:1
“U’s’fartem lachem … sheva shabbasos t’mee’mos tee’yeh’nah w You shall count for yourselves … seven weeks; they shall be complete." Leviticus 23:15
“V’sa’farta l’cha sheva shabbsos shanim, sheva shanim sheva p’amim, v’hayu l’cha y’mei sheva shabbsos ha’shanim taisha v’arba’im shanna w You shall count for yourself seven cycles of sabbatical years, seven years seven times; the years of the seven cycles of sabbatical years shall be for you forty-nine years.." Leviticus 25:8
Here is a beautiful essay written by R’ S...
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May 26, 2016 at 11:33 pm
New York - Officials are reporting the first U.S. human case of bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort drug.
The 49-year-old woman has recovered. But officials fear that if the resistance spreads to other bacteria, the country may soon see germs impervious to all antibiotics.
The woman had gone to a military clinic in Pennsylvania for a urinary tract infection. Tests found she had E. coli bacteria resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort. She was successfully treated for the superbug with other antibiotics.
Bacteria resistant to the colistin have been found in other countries but not in people in the U.S. The woman had not traveled recently outside the country.
Military officials reported the case Wednesday.
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May 26, 2016 at 11:33 pm
זק"א ביים ארוסיהעלפן אין מירון
Zaka helping out in Miron
אייר תשע"ו
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May 26, 2016 at 10:00 pm
ל"ג בעומר אין מירון
צילום: אברומי ברגר
Lag Buomer in Miron
אייר תשע"ו
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May 26, 2016 at 7:39 pm
The Torah states that every 7th year is “Shemittah", during which the Jews who live in Eretz Yisrael (Israel) cannot work their land and must keep it fallow. The Midrash states that those who faithfully observe Shemittah are the mightiest of warriors for keeping such difficult laws (Yalkut Shmoni, Tehillim 860). At the same time, the Torah alleviates all fears of hunger by explicitly promising the Jewish nation that the 6th year will produce a miraculous super crop adequate for 3 entire years. R’ Aharon Kotler asks, if so, why is one who keeps Shemittah considered a mighty warrior? After the farmer receives a 3-year super crop prior to the Shemittah year and benefits first-hand from a miracle, is it so impressive that he kept the Shemittah laws?
Later on, the Torah details the...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Bismarck, ND - Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposal if elected, reversing a decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to block it over environmental concerns.
“I would absolutely approve it, 100 percent, but I would want a better deal,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was scheduled to give a speech to an oil conference on the energy policies he would pursue if elected to the White House.
“I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits,” Trump said. “That’s how we’re going to make our country rich again.”
The Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Albany, NY - The New York attorney general’s office has raided an office on SUNY Polytechnic’s Albany campus that was used by a lobbyist with deep connections to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
A spokesman for SUNY Polytechnic says it “cooperated fully” with investigators from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office on Thursday.
The investigators were interested in searching an office formerly used by Todd Howe, who is also a target in a federal investigation into potential conflicts of interest and improper bidding related to Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion economic development initiative.
Howe worked for Cuomo’s father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, and then for Andrew Cuomo at the U.S. housing department. As a lobbyist, he represented SUNY Poly and compan...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Washington - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was supposed to have turned over all work-related emails to the State Department to be released to the public. But an agency audit found at least three emails never seen before — including Clinton’s own explanation of why she wanted her emails kept private.
After 14 months of public scrutiny and skepticism over Clinton’s motives in keeping her emails secret, new questions emerged Thursday. They centered on her apparent failure to turn over a November 2010 message in which she worried that her personal messages could become accessible to outsiders, along with two other messages a year later that divulged possible security weaknesses in the home email system she used while secretary of state.
The Cli...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Raleigh, NC - Two Navy jet fighters crashed off the coast of North Carolina during a training mission Thursday, and their four crew members were airlifted to a hospital with minor injuries after being plucked out of the Atlantic Ocean by a commercial fishing vessel and Coast Guard rescuers, officials said.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, based in Virginia Beach, crashed about 10:40 a.m. off the coast of Cape Hatteras, following an “in-flight mishap,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. Walker did not have any further details. Earlier Thursday, the Coast Guard had said the two aircraft collided in the air before crashing.
Two of the aviators were rescued by the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Jamie, and the other two...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:27 pm
This week’s Torah portion discusses the mitzvah of not overcharging and cheating in business, as the Torah says, And if you sell something . . . or buy from your fellow's hand, you shall not wrong one another (Vayikra 25,14,).
The following dilemma relates to an interesting interface between the laws of not cheating in business, and the laws of marriage.
Aaron and Devorah were a happily married couple. One day, several years after their wedding, they were in need of some additional income, and Devorah brought her platinum wedding band to a jeweler to be assessed. To Devorah's surprise, the jeweler told her that her ring was not platinum at all, but it was really stainless steel and worth a lot less than she thought. Devorah came home and told her husband what s...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm
Washington - Donald Trump has provisionally accepted Bernie Sanders’ proposal to debate, but the billionaire is setting a high price for participating. His condition: The hosting TV network would have to put up millions of dollars for charity.
Representatives for Fox News, ABC News and CBS News say the networks are interested in hosting such a showdown but would not comment on whether they’d be willing to put up the $10 million Trump is demanding for women’s health causes. “We’re always interested in more opportunities to hear from the candidates,” said ABC spokeswoman Julie Townsend.
Trump said Thursday a host network would make millions from sky-high ratings and should agree to turn over at least $10 million to women’s health causes.
...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm
New York - New York City will conduct regular safety checks of its properties under elevated rail tracks after a fire disrupted commuter rail service at Grand Central Terminal for days last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday.
The city will review all such city-owned or managed properties, and amend its lease with the East Harlem garden supply store that burst into flames on May 17 after an accidental gasoline spill, he said in a statement.
“We are ramping up inspections in the affected area and reviewing sites under critical infrastructure citywide to ensure New Yorkers’ safety and peace of mind,” de Blasio said.
Urban Garden Center, the store which occupies city-owned property underneath elevated Metro North railroad tracks, has been issued four sum...
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May 26, 2016 at 6:19 pm
Baltimore, MD - May 26, 2016 - 6:17 PM - A bad traffic accident has just occurred on Park Heights Ave. between Clarks Lane and Bancroft.
Emergency personnel are on scene.
PLEASE AVOID THE AREA!!!
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May 26, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Bismarck, ND - Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposal if elected, reversing a decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to block it over environmental concerns.
“I would absolutely approve it, 100 percent, but I would want a better deal,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was scheduled to give a speech to an oil conference on the energy policies he would pursue if elected to the White House.
“I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits,” Trump said. “That’s how we’re going to make our country rich again.”
The Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:18 pm
The sefer Ta'amei HaMinhagim (page 251) writes that the Jewish month of Iyar is a time for refuah (healing). אייר is an acronym for אני ה' רפואך (I am HaShem, your Healer). Additionally, he cites the B'nai Yissaschar, who teaches that most weakness and illness come from foods which are harmful to a person's nature or composition. The Rambam (Hilchos De'os 4:15) writes likewise. See also Kitzur Shulchan Aruch chapter 32.
The mahn began to fall in this month (on the 16th day of Iyar 2448). It was the perfect food, from which no sickness, pain or even waste matter resulted (as Dovid HaMelech refers to it in Sefer Tehillim--"lechem abirim"). It even cured those who were ill. Therefore, HaShem left the curative nature of the month in effect for...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:16 pm
Jerusalem Fire Deputy Chief accuses haredim of not taking proper precautions: ‘They like huge bonfires but do not listen.’
Deputy Chief of Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood fire station, Rashaf Roni Sonino, accused the haredi community for the numerous fires which broke out across the capital on Thursday.
Dozens of fire crews were able to control the raging blazes.
"These fires are the unequivocal result of Lag B'Omer bonfires and negligence on behalf of the citizens,” stated Sonino an interview with Army Radio. "Since yesterday, we have been battling 2,000 fires - the fire fighters are exhausted.”
Sonino explained how the Fire and Rescue Commission released safety guidelines ahead of the holiday, especially among the haredi sector. "We have ...
