|
December 17, 2018 at 9:56 pm
Jerusalem - Rona Ramon, whose husband was killed in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster and who later lost a son in a military plane crash, has died.
Ramon, who was 54, died Monday of pancreatic cancer, according to Israeli media reports.
Her husband, Ilan Ramon, was Israel’s first and only astronaut. Six years after the Columbia crash, their son, Asaf, who had followed in his father’s footsteps to become an Israeli air force fighter pilot, was killed in a training accident.
In a 2013 interview, Ramon said she was still unable to discuss the loss of her son, but also tried to “look for meaning in life.”
She formed a foundation in memory of her husband and son, and counseled others coping with tragedies.
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:56 pm
New York - As U.S. bank stocks tanked this month over fears of an impending recession, industry executives downplayed concerns to colleagues, analysts and journalists, arguing that the economy is in great shape.
But looking behind headline numbers showing healthy loan books, problems appear to be cropping up in areas such as home-equity lines of credit, commercial real estate and credit cards, according to federal data reviewed by Reuters. Lenders are also starting to cut relationships with customers who seem too risky.
All of that suggests U.S. lenders will feel the pain of a recession soon, even if losses are not cropping up quite yet.
“We are in somewhat of a goldilocks period of banking,” Andy Schornack, chief executive officer of Flagship Bank Minnesota, told Reuters. &...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:47 pm
Washington - Legislation that would ease federal sentencing laws for some offenders cleared its first major test vote Monday, garnering overwhelming support in both parties even as some conservatives portrayed the bill as soft on crime.
The Senate voted 82-12 to advance the bill. A vote on final passage would come later in the week, but not until the chamber has debated and voted on a series of amendments from opponents that will be brought up Tuesday.
The bill would give judges more discretion when sentencing drug offenders and allow about 2,600 federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before August 2010 the opportunity to petition for a reduced penalty. The bill also encourages prisoners to participate in programs designed to reduce the risk of recidivism, with the reward...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:45 pm
Washington - A federal judge’s ruling would, if upheld, wipe away the entire Affordable Care Act, the health care overhaul championed by President Barack Obama and twice sustained by the Supreme Court.
Judge Reed O’Connor’s opinion was issued late Friday, and supporters of the law vowed to appeal and take other steps to preserve health benefits in the law sometimes called “Obamacare.”
Some questions and answers about O’Connor’s ruling:
WHAT IS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THE RULING FOR AMERICANS COVERED UNDER OBAMACARE?
In a word, nothing. Although O’Connor said the entire law must fall, he did not grant a request from its opponents to have his ruling take effect immediately. That means that all the law’s provisions remain in effect. Th...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:44 pm
New York - A woman who climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty on July 4 to protest the separation of families at the Mexican border was convicted Monday of misdemeanor charges by a judge who said a person’s viewpoint can’t be a factor in whether laws are enforced.
The verdict by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein came two hours after Therese Okoumou got choked up as she testified, saying images from the U.S.-Mexican border of children being torn from their parents gave her nightmares.
She faces up to 18 months in prison at a March 5 sentencing on charges of trespassing, interference with an agency’s function and disorderly conduct.
Ron Kuby, one of Okoumou’s lawyers, told the judge that his client wanted a trial even though it was clear the “lik...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Houston - Shackled at their ankles and wrists and their shoelaces removed, a long line of men and women waited on the tarmac as a team of officers patted them down and checked inside their mouths for anything hidden.
Then one by one, they climbed a mobile staircase and onto a charter plane the size of a commercial aircraft.
This was a deportation flight run by ICE Air. The chains would be removed and the shoelaces returned when the plane landed in El Salvador.
An obscure division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates hundreds of flights each year to remove immigrants. Deportation flights are big business: The U.S. government has spent approximately $1 billion on them in the last decade, and the Trump administration is seeking to raise ICE’s budget for charter flig...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:36 pm
On Monday morning, two IDF soldiers were injured during a training exercise in northern Israel. One was listed as being in moderate condition, while the second was lightly injured after a military engineering tool malfunctioned during the training exercising in the Golan Heights.
The injured were transported by helicopter to Rambam Hospital in Haifa for treatment.
The incident in still under investigation.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:35 pm
President Trump early Sunday ripped “one sided” and “unfair” media coverage, saying it should be tested in courts.
“A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live,” he tweeted.
“It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?”
The president also knocked the sketch comedy show after its season premiere earlier this year, saying it was “just a political ad for the Dems.”
Read more at The Hill.
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:30 pm
One of Latin America’s largest air carriers, LATAM Airlines, completed on Thursday its first-ever direct flight from the region to Israel.
The trip took place from the Chilean capital of Santiago via São Paulo/Guarulhos-Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport outside of Tel Aviv. This is the sole direct route from Latin America to Israel, and will function once a day on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“After years of separation and as a result of the unprecedented momentum in tourism traffic into Israel, we inaugurate today the first direct flight from South America,” said Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin. “The arrival in Israel of LATAM Airlines—one of the largest in South America—is...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Rockland health officials have confirmed six cases of whooping cough across the county and five more cases are under investigation, LOHUD reports.
The cases are spread out across the county, and there are fewer than in previous years when there were more than two-dozen cases, according to county spokesman John Lyon. There were 95 confirmed cases of measles as of Monday and another seven under investigation.
LOHUD points out that pertussis, or whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection caused by bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can affect anyone but is especially dangerous for babies under 12 months old. The most effective way to prevent whooping cough is through vaccination. The vaccine is often combined with...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:25 pm
President Trump said Sunday that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions “should be ashamed of himself” for allowing the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference to proceed, levying yet another attack on one of his favorite targets for criticism.
Trump issued a series of tweets attacking the investigation as a “Democrat scam” that is “very bad for our country,” and pushing the unproven theory among some conservatives that Mueller’s team has led witnesses to make false statements.
“People are starting to see and understand what this Witch Hunt is all about,” Trump added. “Jeff Sessions should be ashamed of himself for allowing this total HOAX to get started in the first place!”
“The Russian Witch...
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:24 pm
The IDF announced that its forces, along with the Shin Bet, had located and confiscated the firearm used in the shooting attack at the Givat Assaf Junction last Thursday.
The gun Israeli security forces found was a Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK-47), which was located with several magazines.
The forces also found the stolen weapon of one of the soldiers who was wounded in the attack.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:20 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey had harsh words for House Republicans on Monday, saying their silence in response to President Donald Trump's attacks on the Justice Department is "shameful."
Comey said Republicans "have to have the courage to stand up and speak the truth, not be cowed by mean tweets or fear of their base."
He was on Capitol Hill for a second closed-door interview with two Republican-led committees investigating what they say was bias at the Justice Department before the 2016 presidential election. Republicans argue department officials conspired against Trump as they started an investigation into his ties to Russia and cleared Democrat Hillary Clinton in a separate probe of her email use. Democrats have called the GOP investigation "nonsense....
|
December 17, 2018 at 9:20 pm
Another day of big losses knocked U.S. stocks to their lowest levels in more than a year Monday.
Selling was widespread. Investors dumped high-growth technology and retail companies as well as steadier, high-dividend companies. Hospitals and health insurers slumped after a federal judge in Texas ruled that the 2010 Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 507 points after a 496-point drop Friday, and all the major stock indexes fell at least 2 percent. Oil closed below $50 a barrel for the first time since October 2017. Bonds rose and their yields fell.
Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide Investment Management, attributed Monday’s action in stocks to investor concerns about the slowing global economy. But he felt it was ...
|
December 17, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 13, 2018 - It is with sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Mrs. Selma Pollock, a’h, mother of mother of Eileen Pollock, Elissa (Zev) Gotlieb, Yitzchok (Janet) Pollock, Eli (Chaya) Pollock and Sharon Adler; devoted sister of Sally Biller; also survived by many grandchildren and great grandchildren.Shiva is being observed at The Park Regent, 6414 Park Heights Avenue, Apt. E1. (The entrance is in the back and up one flight of stairs. If you are coming from the north, it's between Bancroft and Fords Lane. If you are coming from the south, it's between Fords Lane and Bancroft).Shacharis : 7:00 AM (Sunday: 8:00 AM)Mincah/Maariv: 4:30 PM Asara BTeves 4:15PMEileen Pollock is sitting shiva at: 2811 Dam...
|
December 17, 2018 at 5:24 pm
The State of New York has published new guidelines to ensure that nonpublic schools, including Yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs, provide an education that is “substantially equivalent” to that of the public schools. What this means is that every single Cheider, Yeshiva Ketanah, Yeshiva Gedolah and Bais Yaakov, from elementary through high school, has to meet specific government standards about what they teach and how long they teach it for. The guidelines represent an unacceptable government intrusion into the autonomy of our mosdos. It should be up to the Vaad HaChinuch of each yeshiva, or the Moreh Hora’ah for the Kehillah with which that yeshiva is affiliated, to decide what our children learn.
In recognition of the seriousness of this challenge, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTo...
|
December 17, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 17, 2018 - Tonight, December 17th, at 8:00 PM, the Baltimore community will host an event of critical importance to the Orthodox Jewish Community. The goal is to raise awareness of mental health issues in our community and to provide detailed information as to how one can seek professional assistance for those in need. The title of the event is: One Crucial Night to Raise Mental Health Awareness. It will be held at Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion synagogue in Baltimore. The event was planned by Mrs. Suzann Lasson MOTR/L, an occupational therapist with a specialty in behavioral health at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric hospital with 15 years’ experience in facilitating group psycho-social therapy groups and individual therapy. Her co-organizers included Rabbi Yisra...
|
December 17, 2018 at 4:37 pm
All Clear as of Dec. 17, 2018 @ 4:30 PMBaltimore, MD - Dec. 17, 2018 - 3:02 PM - Due to the ongoing investigation at Beth El, Park Heights Ave. is closed Northbound between the Beltway and Hooks Lane. Use Greensping Valley Road.From Bais Yaakov Park Height Campus: Incoming traffic to our campus must take alternate routes. Outgoing traffic from school can proceed down Park Heights Ave.
|
December 17, 2018 at 4:28 pm
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 17, 2018 - As you may have already read, a letter that arrived by mail at Beth El on Park Heights Ave was opened today and according to reports may have contained some kind of substance that made at least two office staff members sick. The same letter was recently discovered at Yeshivas Neimas Hatorah, Ner Tamid, Beit Yakov Safra, Cheder Chabad and Cong. Tiferes Yisroel. The envelope was not opened due to the news of the previous incident and is now being investigated by Baltimore County and City Police and HAZMAT.
BJL has just received this recent update from law enforcement: "It appears the contents of the envelope were inert for a hazardous material and the affected individuals are doing fine."
Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution we ar...
|
December 17, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 17, 2018 - In the first aliyah of Parshas Vayechi, Yaakov asks Yosef to bury him in Eretz Canaan. Although Yosef's mother, Rachel was buried along the way, and not in Eretz Canaan, Yaakov makes sure that Yosef will bury him in the proper place. We explore the relationship of Yaakov and Rachel, and the critical element that Yosef added to their relationship. We discuss how Yosef seems to be above his brothers, as his children are considered to be like the children of Yaakov. Yosef's dream of the sun, moon and stars bowing down to him is fulfilled in a certain sense, as Rachel and Yaakov 'bow' to him, who brings out the full power of their relationship.
To listen, click here
