Such terrific news!
Doctors say Damar Hamlin's breathing tube has been removed and he is now talking to his family and care team espn.com/app
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Mitchell Plitnick 
@MJPlitnick
Non-Governmental & Nonprofit Organization ÜT: 39.154171,-77.271669rethinkingforeignpolicy.orgJoined August 2008
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And now every Democrat should be beating McCarthy's door down to make a deal.
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"If Democrats join up to elect a moderate Republican, I will resign from the House of Representatives" -- Matt Gaetz
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The House just voted to adjourn, so another day without a Speaker. On goes the shitshow.
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All the other arguments aside, the status quo on the Temple Mount is something #Israel has agreed to and reaffirmed many times over the years (though it has worked to gradually shift it). So this statement is saying Israel should just unilaterally abrogate its agreement.
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We support preserving calm in Jerusalem, but today's “emergency” @UN Security Council meeting on Israeli official’s visit to Temple Mount was absurd.
The Mount is Judaism’s holiest site & the U.N. has never convened to address anti-Jewish violence, incitement or exclusion there.
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For those interested in why this prohibition exists and has for centuries, and why I believe those arguing that this is not the case are mistaken, see
schechter.edu/is-it-permissi
And many, many other sources.
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McCarthy is up to 10 lost elections for Speaker now. That's the most since the Civil War. Still a long way to go to break the all time record of 133 by Nathaniel Banks in 1855.
. and I are in complete agreement. But I'd note, this is not only the chief rabbi's opinion, but that of centuries of rabbis and Jewish scholars and religious authorities. The justification for Jews walking on the Temple Mount is a new idea, brought about by Zionism.
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There is absolute justification. It’s called “shalom bayit.” There’s also the consistent position of the chief rabbis that, for Jews, praying on the Temple Mount is a sin. twitter.com/rationalsettle…
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A truly backward set of priorities
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That cop Nicholas J. Scalzo who beat the 13 year old Staten Island child on video?
NYC paid him $117,000 last year.
The median NYC income is $34,000.
A teacher with a masters degree and 7 years under their belt gets $77,953
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Great news. The fight against #antisemitism is so critical right now and it must not be cheapened by the use of it to defend human rights abuses and #apartheid in #Israel
Welcomes DOE Decision to Combat Antisemitism Without IHRA Definition
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But it's also possible that the majority of Republicans are so frustrated and embarrassed at this point that they might be willing to vote for a Steve Scalise.
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Hard to imagine who that would be considering the people the holdouts have put out there are not winning whatever passes for Republican hearts and minds.
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4. This might be his only option. The House GOP would have to find someone the farthest right wingers would be OK with and they could support as well.
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OTOH, it could force the hand of the holdouts, who would either have to support him or explain to their constituents why they handed the House--and thus control of both houses of Congress--to the Democrats. But it would be a disaster for McCarthy on so many levels if it fails.
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And he might. So it would be very hard to implement and it would be a HUGE risk.
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3. McCarthy would still need to get 218 votes to change the House rules and go from a majority to a plurality. Democrats might agree to this as a bloc, but if McCarthy really got all of them, that would be because they believed Hakeem Jeffries would win a plurality of the vote.
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The deals he'd need to offer Dems could make support for him so toxic to Republicans that it would probably cost him dozens, or scores, of Republican votes, necessitating convincing even more Democrats. In the end, it probably couldn't happen.
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2. This is possible, but McCarthy couldn't get elected hall monitor if he did this, and it probably won't work.
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So, here's how I see each:
1. This seems hopeless. McCarthy has already made such concessions that the House will be a circus even by congressional standards. Hard to see what more he can do. The holdouts don't seem interested in anything but blocking McCarthy.
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Lisa Desjardins of PBS lays out the options McCarthy has at this point.
1. Flip enough hold outs to win. (Basically 17 of 21).
2. Work with Democrats to get to 218. Give them good committee ratios, other powers.
3. Move to a plurality threshold.
4. Drop out.
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OK, this cracked me up.
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They are up to the
תשעה ירחי לידה* 
Though it does not look like there will be a live birth following.
* a poetic Hebrew term for 9 months of pregnancy. Aka, 9th round of voting.
Though it does not look like there will be a live birth following.
* a poetic Hebrew term for 9 months of pregnancy. Aka, 9th round of voting.1
McCarthy is 0 for 8 now. the shitshow rolls on.
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Naturally, the last thing this, or any #Israeli government ever wants to see is a single #Palestinian, much less a group with at least some international standing, exercise their legal rights.
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The Israeli security cabinet discussed today possible sanctions against the Palestinian Authority over its push at the UN for referring the issue of the Israeli occupation to the International Court of Justice
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This is not an argument I use often because, as a completely non-observant, secular Jew, I don't follow the rules of Halakha (Jewish law). But I was educated in yeshiva. Halakha forbids Jews from treading on the Temple Mount lest they walk on the Holiest of Holies. Period.
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UTJ's Gafni slams Ben-Gvir, says #TempleMount visit was 'a violation of Jewish law' jpost.com/israel-news/ar
Pope Francis offered "our final farewell" to Pope Nazi.
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Has one political party ever done so much to boost the chances of the other party taking back the House in just their first week in session than the current #GOP?
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New bill introduced in Oklahoma would make it a felony to provide gender affirming care to anyone under the age of 26.
WE TOLD YOU SO.
It won't stop until they ban transition entirely. They'll just keep increasing the age. It was never about children.
legiscan.com/OK/text/SB129/
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And such a small price to pay to turn a blind eye to the massive human rights abuses and oppressive authoritarianism the UAE practices.
Such partners cannot possibly help in the fight against antisemitism.
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Very positive development and an excellent model. twitter.com/uaeembassyus/s…
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Hopefully, those of you who are still so naive as to believe that Heartless Joe Biden really really wants to get rid of Title 42 but that mean old SCOTUS just won't let him, will finally understand who this man is now.
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Health ministry: Amer Abou Zaytoun, 16, shot dead by a live ammunition in the head during clashes with the Israeli army in Balata Refugee camp near Nablus.
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According to some reports, even these concessions, which will make the House even more unworkable than it has been, are not going to be enough to get McCarthy to 218.
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News: McCarthy proposes key concessions.
- allow just one member to call for a vote to oust a speaker, per two sources
- more members of Freedom Caucus to serve on powerful House Rules Committee
- Promises to vote on some bills like term limits and border security
w/@MZanona
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Worth remembering that if the so called "red wave" had even barely materialized the current group of far right obstructionists would not be able to do this.
So, there's already some measurable effect of that #Republican failure.
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Meanwhile, Ray Fisher has hardly gotten any work since committing the crime of demanding to be treated decently at his job. What might be coloring the different treatment here?
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According to @Variety, since Ezra Miller has kept out of the spotlight, and has persued mental health treatment, executives are open to the idea of Miller returning in the role of Flash after THE FLASH hits theaters this June.
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Bengals HC Zac Taylor: "I didn't receive any particular directive to have the team start warming up."
Yeah, of course not. The 5 mins warmup after a major injury is SOP. It was the league's job, not coaches or players, to decide to stop the game. They didn't care enough to do so
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Worth noting. The 20 going against him are no more hateful than McCarthy himself
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The Republican Kevin McCarthy chose to nominate him on the fifth ballot in the Speaker election, Warren Davidson, compared pandemic public health measures to Nazism and the Holocaust a year ago.
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That's 5. Only 128 to go for the all time record.
Ultimately, this sort of insanity is where being against everything and in favor of nothing inevitably leads.
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BREAKING: Kevin McCarthy just lost the FIFTH vote for House speaker. 
If the so-called "rebels" in the so-caleld "Freedom Caucus" ever actually tried to offer an alternative to McCarthy, they might actually have a shot at winning. As it stands, they're just obstructing to no purpose.
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Yesterday it was Andy Biggs, then Jim Jordan. Now the anti-McCarthy GOP rebels, led by Chip Roy, are nominating Byron Donalds for Speaker.
Donalds voted for McCarthy on the first two ballots yesterday, then became the only one to flip against him.
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Great news, let's keep it coming!
