Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he would consider choosing Sen. Kamala Harris as a running mate after she dropped out of the presidential race on Tuesday. “Of course I would,” Biden told reporters. “Sen. Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I mean it sincerely.” “She is solid. She can be president someday herself. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice. She can be an attorney general. She has enormous capability,” he continued. Read more at The Hill.
(CNN) As the number of measles cases continued to soar, more than 140,000 people across the globe died from measles last year, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. Most deaths were among children younger than 5, according to WHO. The number of deaths last year was an increase from the estimated 110,000 measles-related deaths that occurred in 2017, based on WHO data. The new report, released on Thursday, was based on public health data from the WHO, CDC and the United Nations Children's Fund. Even though the global numbers of measles cases and deaths have declined in two decades, there is more work needed before the measles viruses can be eliminated worldwide. "I'm not...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just get on with it. After months of fighting the House impeachment inquiry, blocking witnesses and ignoring subpoenas, the White House is now publicly embracing a strategy it has privately signaled for weeks: It will accept the reality that President Donald Trump will likely be impeached by the House and focus instead on a made-for-TV trial on friendlier turf in the Republican-controlled Senate. Democrats, Trump tweeted Thursday, ”have gone crazy. Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair…. trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business.” It was a message that came even before Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood before cameras and announced that House committees would draft...
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg unveiled a gun control policy on Thursday just steps from the site of one of Colorado’s worst mass shootings, calling for a ban on all assault weapons, mandatory permits for gun purchasers and a new position in the White House to coordinate gun violence prevention. “I’ve been all in on the fight against gun violence for 15 years, and I’m just getting started,” Bloomberg declared. “As president, I will work to end the gun violence epidemic once and for all.” Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor, entered the Democratic presidential primary less than two weeks ago. Gun violence has quickly emerged as a core issue for his presidential bid, as it has been f...
A Wisconsin city has made it illegal to throw snowballs — ranking them alongside rocks and arrows as an outlawed weapon. “No person shall throw or shoot any object, arrow, stone, snowball or other missile or projectile, by hand or by any other means, at any other person,” the municipal code in Wausau reads. The ordinance, under the section for “weapons,” also says snowballs cannot be thrown “at, in or into any building, street, sidewalk, alley, highway, park, playground or other public place within the city.” Read more at NY POST.
Former vice president Joe Biden released a plan Wednesday to raise $3.2 trillion in taxes over 10 years to pay for his domestic spending proposals, including on health care and climate, as he seeks to cast himself as the fiscal moderate in the Democratic presidential primary amid pressure from his liberal rivals. Biden’s plan calls for raising the tax rate paid by corporations from 21 percent to 28 percent, still below the 35 percent level in place before the 2017 GOP tax cut law. He also plans to raise $800 billion from new taxes on capital gains primarily paid by investors, as well as $400 billion from imposing a new 15 percent corporate minimum tax that aims to ensure big firms pay at least some taxes, among other measures. Biden “is committed to being transparent with the...
A plan by the Trump administration to require U.S. citizens to have their faces scanned when they enter or leave the United States is drawing criticism from privacy advocates and at least one lawmaker, who said he intends to introduce legislation to prohibit the practice. The use of facial recognition technology at U.S. airports is growing more widespread as a means of identification, but citizens are allowed to opt out. Now officials with the Department of Homeland Security want to make the scans mandatory for all travelers, including citizens. In a filing, the agency said that to “facilitate the implementation of a seamless biometric entry-exit system that uses facial recognition and to help prevent persons attempting to fraudulently use U.S. travel documents and identify crimina...
Brazil plans to open a trade mission in Yerushalayim later this month, with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, scheduled to attend the Dec. 15 ceremony, according to Israeli officials. Honduras is scheduled to open its embassy in Yerushalayim in the coming weeks, the officials added, according to a report in The Times of Israel. The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), which operates under the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, will open the trade office. However, unlike the trade offices of Hungary and Honduras, the Brazilian one will not have diplomatic status, Apex-Brasil’s Clarissa Furtado told the Times. Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is a big supporter of Israel, will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel&rsquo...
Nearly an hour-long police chase ensued in Coral Gables, Florida, on Thursday, ending in gunfire and multiple people shot dead, according to police. Coral Gables police said they were investigating a robbery at Regent Jewelers at 386 Mile. Shots were fired and the two alleged robbers jumped into a UPS truck and fled the scene, taking the delivery driver with them. A woman was shot in the head at the jewelry store, according to Local 10 News. Her condition is unknown. The hijack “turned into a hostage situation with the UPS driver,” Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The UPS truck made its way up Interstate 75 with dozens of police cars on its tail. Traffic came to a standstill as terrified drivers waited for the crazed...
A 40-year-old worker was killed in an accident on Ha’aliyah Street in Jerusalem. United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Itamar Ben Moshe relayed from the scene: “The scene involved a worker who was killed by a freight elevator the crushed him to death. Unfortunately, due to the severity of his injuries, there was nothing for us to do aside from pronouncing the man’s death at the scene.”
Throughout the saga of our forefathers and their families there are many moments depicting powerful emotions. The joyous laughter of Avraham and Sarah. The expressed ‘love’ of Yitzchok for Rivkah, and their love for their children. The ‘trembling’ fear of Yitzchok when discovering Yaakov having preempted Esav. The ‘flaring anger’ of Yaakov when Rachel demands of him children. The anguished ‘cries’ of Yosef and his brothers throughout their ordeal. In each of these instances although our sages reveal deeper layers to their emotions, yet the פשוטו של מקרא, the simple reading of the text, speaks for itself. Avraham and Sarah thrilled over the news they would have a child. Yitzchock met his ‘bashert’ and sensed a genuine...
This story is about protecting our children from harm. In January 1996, Rabbi Yakov Horowitz published an article called “An Ounce of Prevention Reaching Today’s Underachievers before They Become Tomorrow’s Dropout Teens,” and was overwhelmed by the response.  Hundreds of calls and letters flooded his mailbox. Horowitz was a dedicated 8th grade Rebbe for the “slower track,” and for 15 years in the classroom, he worked with his students to build their self-esteem to be successful in school and in life. As a teacher, he realized some of the behavioral problems he saw in the classroom were symptoms of abuse that occurred outside of the classroom. Beginning in 2003-4, Horowitz became an advocate, looking for ways to stop the abuse of children by educ...
Tucked away in this weeks Parsha, unbeknownst to many, is one of the chief M’koros the Gemara uses for the Mida of Tznius.   The Gemara cites Rochel Imainu as the standard bearer for Tznius, telling us that it was on account of her great Tznius that she was Zocheh to have Shaul Hamelech as a descendant.   Precisely what behavior was manifested by Rochel Imainu that caused the Gemara  to hold her out as the pinnacle of this Mida?  Consider, in the last few weeks we have been told many classic examples of modesty by the Imahos and others, why wait for Rochel before citing an example?  The Mepharshim discuss Sarah as being “B’Ohel”, in her tent, as a testament to Sarah’s modesty (Vayera 18:9); Rivka covered her face upon seeing...
Yaakov is known as the “chosen” of the Avot and Torah was his staple. Yet, the Torah never directly discusses his learning in the beis medrash of Shem V’Aver, instead focusing on Vayeitze, his journey to “work” for Lavan. What’s the explanation? I heard someone say that Yaakov’s learning was no chiddush, but the fact that he was going to work using a Torah framework was a challenge. Rabbi Frand notes that the Rambam lists Yaakov’s name 18 times and only names him Yaakov HaTzaddik when he refers to his work by Lavan. Rabbi Frand understands that this is because Yaakov didn’t waste any time while working for Lavan even though Lavan was a total rasha. Yaakov was honest in his work and wouldn’t steal someone else’s time. This...
The Pentagon is considering a plan to add up to 7,000 additional forces to the Middle East to counter what it sees as an increasing threat from Iran, two U.S. defense officials tell Fox News, but the defense secretary has “not made any decision,” according to the Pentagon’s top policy adviser. “We're watching this situation where the Iranians both have conducted attacks in recent months, and we are concerned about the threat stream that we are seeing,” John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy said during Senate Armed Services Committee testimony Thursday when asked about the Iranian threat. Rood replied, “yes,” when asked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., if the Pentagon was considering deploying more forces t...
Until 2006, at the great pleading of good friends of ours, who had made Aliyah a few years back, my husband Dovid - who had never been to Eretz Yisroel -  and I - who had only come once before as a teenager on a sponsored trip – flew to the Holy Land. The entire trip was a total of three weeks. But those three weeks were our turning point.  We went home knowing we were coming back, for good. We just didn’t know when. Dovid and I spent more than the last 40 years teaching, bringing up our 7 children, and involved with our Jewish community. Quebec, Canada had been our home from even before we got married. I taught Chumash, Navi, history to 4th graders in the day girls’ school and my husband taught 3rd graders and special Ed in the boys’ school. Aliyah had ...
At Maariv tonight, December 5th, residents of chutz la’aretz begin to say Vesein Tal Umatar during the Shemonah Esrei in the bracha of Boreich Aleinu. Residents of Eretz Yisroel already began saying Vesein Tal Umatar on the 7th of Cheshvan. If one became aware after completing the bracha of Mevareich Hashanim that one omitted Vesein Tal Umatar, one should wait to insert it right before “Ki atah shomeiah” in Shema Koleinu. If one has already completed the bracha of Shomeiah Tefillah, one may insert Vesein Tal Umatar before saying Retzei. If one has already started Retzei, one must return to the bracha of Boreich Aleinu, w...
Five different countries were involved in recent attempts to push forward an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would include a new prisoner swap arrangement, according to senior member of Hamas’s political wing Musa Dudin, Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 12 reported Thursday. Speaking to Palestinian media, Dudin said that Egypt spearheaded efforts — along with Qatar, Turkey, Sweden and Germany — to release Israeli soldiers’ remains, as well as Israeli civilians believed to be held captive in the Gaza Strip, “These attempts did not progress because of the occupation’s lack of consistency and lack of ripeness to begin handling the process,” the Hamas official was quoted by Channel 12. Read more at i24NEWS.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he denied he has agreed to serve just six months as prime minister as part of the negotiations for the unity government.   "I don't want to serve six months, I want two years," he said, referring to the rotation issue.
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