Friday, September 30, 2022
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Teen Climate Change Hypocrite Izzy Cook rips flights to Fiji then admits to recent trip
Note to my readers: Google removed the "Live Interview" clip from my site
A teen eco-warrior is going viral for a live radio interview in which she ripped people flying to vacation hotspots like Fiji — before admitting she’d just got back from that exact trip with her family.
Izzy Cook, 16, left NewstalkZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan laughing hysterically with her admission Friday while discussing the Greta Thunberg-inspired School Strike 4 Climate she is leading in Wellington, New Zealand.
During the chat, the teen environmentalists pushed a plan for people to have to apply to take gas-guzzling flights and only for approved events.
When her interviewer asked if people would be “allowed to go to Fiji” and if such a trip would be deemed “necessary,” the teen replied firmly: “In the current climate crisis I don’t think that that’s necessary.”
After admitting that her own last flight was “maybe a few months ago,” Cook hesitated when asked where she’d flown to.
A teen eco-warrior is going viral for a live radio interview in which she ripped people flying to vacation hotspots like Fiji — before admitting she’d just got back from that exact trip with her family.
Izzy Cook, 16, left NewstalkZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan laughing hysterically with her admission Friday while discussing the Greta Thunberg-inspired School Strike 4 Climate she is leading in Wellington, New Zealand.
During the chat, the teen environmentalists pushed a plan for people to have to apply to take gas-guzzling flights and only for approved events.
When her interviewer asked if people would be “allowed to go to Fiji” and if such a trip would be deemed “necessary,” the teen replied firmly: “In the current climate crisis I don’t think that that’s necessary.”
After admitting that her own last flight was “maybe a few months ago,” Cook hesitated when asked where she’d flown to.
The teen finally conceded that it was “pretty ironic.”
“But to be honest it’s not really a trip that I wanted to go on but I can’t really get out of it because my parents wanted to go,” she insisted.
The radio host asked if the teen was “embarrassed that your parents did that to the planet and then forced you to do it as well?”
“Of course I’m not embarrassed,” Cook said firmly.
Asked if she had “a terrible time” on her sun-kissed vacation, the teen admitted, “not really” — sparking more loud laughter from her interviewer.
“I’m sorry, mate,” du Plessis-Allan said, struggling to control her laughter enough to call the teen “such a champion” with a “brilliant future ahead” of her, and promising to have her back on the show in the future.
Clips of the exchange quickly went viral, with many replying with laughing emojis and calling it hypocrisy “at it’s finest” and “on steroids.”
“Another elitist spouting do as I say not what I do,” one person commentated, while another said: “It’s all virtue signaling from these libs.”
“She’s already like a typical politician! Hypocrite!” she said.
However, Cook’s mom was not laughing — tearing into her daughter’s interviewer in a scathing op-ed for online mag The Spinoff.
“On Friday evening, I listened in horror as my 16-year-old daughter had a phone conversation with someone who appeared to be bullying her, laughing at her, and talking over her,” Rose Cook wrote.
“As soon as she got off the call I demanded to know who the hell was speaking to my child in this way,” she said.
Cook said that although her daughter’s activism had given her “some experience with dealing with the media,” she “wasn’t prepared for Heather du Plessis-Allan.”
“Commentators like du Plessis-Allan don’t give a s–t about climate change,” she seethed, accusing the radio host of relying on “‘gotcha’ moments for point-scoring and discrediting their opponents.”
“They seem particularly keen to go after our youth, whose future is most at stake,” the defensive mom wrote.
She, too, insisted that the teen had not wanted to go and instead “wanted to stay home and study.”
“But, selfishly, I insisted, because I wanted to spend this time with her,” the mom claimed.
“Heather du Plessis-Allan became a mother this year. I hope that no-one ever speaks to her child the way she did to mine,” the mom ended her angry rebuttal.
DIN: Mrs Cook...if your daughter can't take the heat tell her to get the hell out of the kitchen!
Leftists Going Crazy and Call New Italian PM "The most far right since Mussolini"
Who else is tired of the same script? pic.twitter.com/GhKq1iT7YJ
— David Wolfe (@DavidWolfe) September 29, 2022
Now watch her take apart Macron of France !
THIS woman is INCREDIBLE. She just ripped Macron a new one - and --- it is an important lesson for those who need to learn how to fight leftist bullies !!! https://t.co/0kNPIFvShe
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) September 28, 2022
Ireland Soccer Team Greet Israeli Soccer Team with Palestinian Flags Then Lose to Israelis
ireland greeting the israeli soccer team with palestinian flags and then losing to them is the funniest thing ive seen today
— ✡︎🇮🇱🏴☠️⚔️ (@overreaIz) September 28, 2022
The European Union (EU) Commission expressed "sorrow" at the killing of terrorists
The European Union (EU) Commission expressed "sorrow" at the killing of terrorists Wednesday morning and called the IDF actions an "invasion."
In an official statement following the killing of the terrorists in Jenin Wednesday morning, the EU Commission in the Palestinian Authority said, "Deplored by the loss of life and alarmed by the spike in violence today in Jenin following ISF incursions with several Palestinians killed and at least 40 injured ... Violence must stop immediately."
In response, the heads of Lach Yerushalayim and the Im Tirtzu Movement slammed the Commission's statement as, "Unacceptable political audacity!"
Maor Zemach, chairman of Lach Yerushalayim, and Matan Peleg, CEO of Im Tirtzu, called for the expulsion of the EU ambassador to the PA territories Sven von Burgsdorff from Israel:
"This is an unimaginable political interference and the support for terrorism by an official representative from the European Union," the two said. "There is no other way to describe an expression of mourning for the deaths of terrorists!"
"We call on the Foreign Minister and the interim Prime Minister to immediately announce the expulsion of this hostile foreign agent that is only provoking the territory and supporting the terrorists!"
Chareidie Achdus Before Yom Kippur ..Aryeh Deri, Moshe Gafni no longer on speaking terms
The head of the Degel HaTorah party (a component faction of United Torah Judaism), MK Moshe Gafni, is no longer on speaking terms with Shas party head Aryeh Deri, according to a senior official in UTJ who spoke with Israel National News.
Gafni is "furious with Deri," according to the source, due to Gafni's belief that it is Deri who was behind briefings against Gafni concerning his connections with Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
UTJ is apparently also taken aback by recent boasts on the part of Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who is claiming that he has excellent ties to haredi politicians. "We haven't spoken with Sa'ar for over a month," the source said. "In fact, our representatives have cut off all ties to him, and are very angry with him," a statement which was independently confirmed by Israel National News.
Part of the reason for the anger felt toward Sa'ar is due to his and his fellow party member Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton's intervention in the issue of haredi education with regard to the "Belz outline" that almost caused UTJ to split, a rift that was averted at the eleventh hour and that could have proven catastrophic for the entire right-wing bloc.
"Gantz is great, but not for being given the opportunity to try to form a coalition - there's no chance he could succeed there," the source told Israel National News. "But we have good connections with his office staff on various communal issues, something that cannot be said of Gideon Sa'ar."
Asked to comment on the possibility that a party other than the Likud will succeed in forming the next government, the source insisted that whatever the outcome of the elections, the alliance between religious and traditionally minded parties would hold strong. "We will go together either into the next government or into the opposition," he said.
FBI Using Gestapo Tactics to Arrest Pro-Life Activist with 15 FBI Trucks & Cars
The wife of the Catholic pro-life activist who was arrested in front of their children by dozens of heavily armed federal agents told Fox News on Wednesday that the “devastating” raid has left their family traumatized and in need of counseling.
Mark Houck, an outspoken pro-life activist and author from Pennsylvania, was arrested early last Friday in front of his wife and seven children at his rural Kintnersville home in Bucks County after dozens of FBI agents showed up on his lawn and began pounding on their front door. In an exclusive interview on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday, Houck’s wife, Ryan-Marie, recounted the moment she looked out her front window to find roughly 25 uniformed agents with guns and shields surrounding her front door.
“My entire front yard, you could barely see it, it was covered with at least 15 big trucks and cars,” the mother of seven said. “There were 20, 25, 30, men, women, completely in jackets with shields and helmets and guns. They were behind cars. It was something I would never expect to see on my front lawn.”
WATCH: Members Of Lev Tahor Escape Mexican Shelter
AL MOMENTO:
— NOTICIAS 24 HRS (@TeInformo24hrs) September 29, 2022
Durante la madrugada, menores de edad pertenecientes a la comunidad Lev Tahor que permanecían en el en SNDIF de Huixtla, Chiapas desde el 23 de septiembre, se escaparon del resguardo del gobierno
pic.twitter.com/8EznC1KIPW
“Amigos, llévenme con mi familia”, niños judios se amotinaron en un albergue del DIF en #Tapachula, #Chiapas. Los menores fueron resguardados luego de que 26 integrantes del culto extremista “Lev Tahor” están detenidos por trata de personas, delincuencia organizada y violación. pic.twitter.com/sSBeebaaqp
— Ciro Gómez Leyva (@CiroGomezL) September 29, 2022
About 20 members of an extreme ultra-orthodox Jewish sect overpowered guards and escaped a government shelter in southern Mexico where they had been held since one of their leaders was arrested last Friday on organized crime and human trafficking allegations.
Mostly made up of children wearing long, flowing robes, members of the Lev Tahor sect pushed their way out of the complex Wednesday night, climbing over one guard from a private security company who had fallen to the ground. The federal government’s shelter for children and families in Huixtla usually receives migrants detained by immigration officials.
They climbed aboard a waiting truck outside and headed toward Mexico’s border with Guatemala. Local police, National Guard and Mexico’s immigration agency said they did not pursue them.
On Friday, authorities arrested Menachem Endel Alter of Jerusalem, a leader of the Lev Tahor sect on allegations of organized crime and human trafficking in Tapachula near the Guatemalan border. Members of the sect said a second leader was also arrested, but authorities did not confirm it.
Lev Tahor has had legal problems elsewhere.
Last November, two leaders of the group were convicted of kidnapping and child sexual exploitation crimes in New York. They allegedly kidnapped two children from their mother to return a 14-year-old girl to an illegal sexual relationship with an adult male.
The sect is known to have members in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Israel.
She Never has anything to say
It’s literally her job to give information to the press and she never “has anything”.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 29, 2022
pic.twitter.com/0JuIc3OsV3
Watch Palestinian Terrorist Hide in Kindergarten Full with Children
Video shows reality in Jenin: Terrorists opened fire on IDF troops and immediately ran into a kindergarten filled with children to hide from the IDF.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) September 28, 2022
Palestinian terrorists don't care about innocent lives — Israeli or Palestinian. pic.twitter.com/I4BKtwxqnq
‘Where’s Jackie?’: Biden asks dead Indiana rep to identify herself in crowd
President Biden asked for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski to identify herself at a Washington event Wednesday, forgetting that the Indiana Republican died in a car crash last month.
Biden made the embarrassing error while thanking bipartisan members of Congress at a nutrition event near the White House.
“I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like Representative [Jim] McGovern, Senator [Mike] Braun, Senator [Cory] Booker,
Representative Jackie — are you here? Where’s Jackie? — I think she was going to be here,” the president said.
NGO Says that Avram Fried is a Racist and Chants anti-Islam Slogans
Chair of a "human rights" NGO tweets antisemitism - and unapologetically deletes it https://t.co/qfpKmgWgGT
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) September 28, 2022
Ramy Abdu is chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and has been a regular speaker at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
He is also an antisemitic bigot.
Abdu tweeted this video, showing popular Israeli Orthodox singer Avraham Fried, wishing a sweet and happy New Year to the entire nation of Israel, with the soldiers of the Netzach Battalion then singing their own song repeating their name.
But Abdu, who was born in Gaza, chose to describe the events of the video quite differently from the reality, claiming that the "rabbi" and the soldiers were singing racist chants and insults against Muslims and Arabs.
Over half of U.S. students support boycotting Israel
The Foreign Ministry conducted its survey among American students after BDS was found to have reached more than half of the student body on U.S. campuses.
Support for a boycott of Israel was heard from students who have an interest in politics, and relatively high support was found among private school students and people aged 30 or older.
The findings alarmed Israeli officials and indicated that the BDS movement has considerable influence on campuses.
The survey also showed that 48% of the students in the United States support Israel and believe it is an asset.
The survey which was commissioned by the Foreign Ministry and conducted earlier this month, was part of an efforts to increase support for Israel in the United States, among different age groups.
50% of students reported they viewed Israel positively compared to 36% who said they did not have a positive view of the country. The data indicated there is more support among American Republicans polled than among those who identify as Democrats or people who claim to have little interest in politics.
Older Americans are found to be more likely to see Israel in a positive light and men more so than women, according to the survey.
Among university students in general, support for Israel is lower than in the general, over 18 population.
The Foreign Ministry officials said the data is not all bad because students tend to be more extreme in their pThey said the students were more critical of Israel based on moral arguments and liberal views, rather than on the country's economic and technical successes.
The older people polled named Israel's technological superiority and the fact that it was the only democracy in the Middle East as reasons for their support.
olitical views.
The conductors of the survey assumed that paradoxically students believe that by boycotting Israel, it would be more likely to change policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Those who said they supported Israel, also hoped for a different position towards Palestinians.
The ministry said their findings showed more and more pro-Israeli Jewish students said they were afraid to speak out on campuses.
They experienced discrimination by those who oppose Israel and take over public space, sometimes using coercion, the ministry said.
There is a lot of fake news, especially in times of conflict in Israel, and that's what feeds the BDS and provides a reason to support the boycott and the movement, the officials said.
Climate change activist tells everyone not to travel to places like Fiji by plane and then is asked where she flew last… she flew to Fiji.
Climate change activist Izzy Cook tells everyone not to travel to places like Fiji by plane to save the planet and then is asked where she flew last… she flew to Fiji.
— ☢️🇺🇸 KC 3.0 🇺🇸☢️ (@KCPayTreeIt) September 27, 2022
Interviewer can’t stop laughing at her 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/cTZqvVgkFI
Biden Intervening in Israeli Elections and has Senior US official warn against appointing Ben-Gvir a minister
Are the Americans meddling in Israeli elections? According to a report in the Thursday edition of Israel Hayom, officials from within the Biden administration as well as Jewish organizations in the United States have expressed their concern at the possibility that the head of the right-wing Otzma Yehudit party, MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, will be appointed a minister in the next Israel government, if opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu succeeds in forming a coalition following elections to be held in early November.
Recent polls have suggested the distinct possibility that the largest Israeli political party, the Likud, will manage to cobble together a coalition with at least the requisite 61 Knesset members. "The administration is monitoring developments with concern," one senior American official is quoted as saying, "and is very anxious regarding the possibility that the head of Otzma Yehudit will be appointed a minister in a future Israeli government."
He added that, "Of course we are following what's happening over there, but at the present stage it's too early to comment. However, if we reach the point where such things are under discussion, there's no doubt that the administration will clarify its position, and for us, that would be an immense problem."
The unnamed official further noted that opposition leader Netanyahu is well aware of the "problematic" aspects of appointing Ben-Gvir as a minister. "Anyone who has any sense realizes how problematic this is. Just look at this man's past history, the things he's done, the statements he's made. This isn't someone we want to see in government. Netanyahu is a wise and seasoned politician and he understands the ramifications of such a development. This has yet to be discussed with him since, as I said, it's still early days. But there's no doubt that he's aware of this."
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
FBI Literally Robs $86 Million From Safe Boxes at a Bank from Innocent Americans
Still can't get over how the FBI literally robbed a bank here. "FBI Seized $86 Million In Raid On Innocent Americans’ Safe Boxes After Duping Judge For Warrant" https://t.co/2D87cQO81N
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) September 27, 2022
Mahmoud Abbas Praises Sucide Bombers in the UN and no one even blinks
In his UN speech, Mahmoud Abbas said, "All glory to the righteous martyrs of the Palestinian people who enlightened the path of freedom and independence with their pure blood."
— Elder of Ziyon 🇮🇱 (@elderofziyon) September 25, 2022
He praised suicide bombers to the UN. And no one blinked an eye. pic.twitter.com/I4LaywGHgO
Sen "dummy" Klobuchar Says That Voting for the DemonRats will "Stop Hurricanes"
Sen. Klobuchar (D) implies that a Democrat majority would stop hurricanes.
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 27, 2022
"We've gotta win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida." pic.twitter.com/QVQeGtkAZo
The Little “King” abdullah of Jordan, elected by no one
King Abdullah of Jordan stood up last week at the United Nations and had the audacity to blast Israel.
In his rant, this little dictator, elected by no one, had the nerve to pretend that Christianity is under attack in Israel and that somehow, as head of the Hashemite Kingdom, he has the responsibility to be the custodian of Muslim and Christian Holy sites in Jerusalem. He says that he is committed to protecting the historical sites and the defender of rights and the city’s heritage.
Giorgia Meloni to be Italy's next PM .. Left already smearing her
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Italy's Brothers of Italy party, is poised to become the country's prime minister after her party received 26 percent of the vote in the Italian parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Right wing and center-right parties won a majority in the elections, giving Meloni the task of forming a governing coalition.
The Brothers of Italy party is considered a far-right party and has drawn accusations of facism and semi-facism.
Meloni has attempted to position herself as a more pro-Israel candidate in the recent elections. Last week, she told the Israel Hayom newspaper that “Israel represents the only fully-fledged democracy in the broader Middle East, and we defend without any reservations its right to exist and live in security. I believe that the existence of the State of Israel is vital, and Fratelli d’Italia will make every effort to invest in greater cooperation between our countries.”
While the Israeli government has yet to comment on Meloni's victory, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked congratulated her on her election.
"Congratulations to Giorgia Meloni on her victory. The right won in Italy and will win in Israel as well. Yes, women can do anything, even lead a country," Shaked wrote on Twitter.
Meretz chaiwoman Zehava Galon criticized Shaked for congratulating Meloni, responding that "women can also do facism."
#GiorgaMeloni, the new incoming Prime Minister of #Italy:
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) September 27, 2022
“One of the most common manifestations of #antisemitism today is anti-#Israel propaganda, which Jews in #Europe are most likely to encounter online.”
(@IsraelHayomEng interview just before election) pic.twitter.com/gaBcm6Qcvi
Gedalia Was Murdered Because He "Refused to listen to Loshon Hara"
Tzom Gedaliah is a fast day that commemorates a tragic time in our people’s history, one that the Gemorah (RH 18b) equates with the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash itself – a jarring thought.
After the destruction of the first Bais HaMikdosh, the Babylonians left a group of Jews in Eretz Yisrael.
Gedaliah, the governor of that group and the leader of Klal Yisroel at the time, refused to "mekabeil" loshon hara against Yeshmael ben Nesanya who wanted to murder him. and refused to take protective measures against Yishmael, even when he was warned by Yochanan Ben Korayach of Yishmael Ben Nesanya’s malevolent intent (Yirmiyahu 40:16).
The consequences were quite grave indeed. Gedaliah and all his men were brutally murdered (Yirmiyahu 41:2).Gedaliah was actually murdered on Rosh HaShana, but it was set aside to the day after Rosh haShana because of the Yom Tov.
If he had listened to the loshon hara, the Bais Ha'mikdash would never have been destroyed.
Russia Launched Iranian Attack Drones At Uman On Rosh Hashanah
A Ukrainian news report said that Russian forces intentionally launched Iranian Shahad-136 kamikaze drones at Uman in an attempt to harm Jews gathered there for Rosh Hashanah.
According to the report, the Ukrainian armed forces shot down over ten drones in southern Ukraine, some of which were directed at Uman.
A member of the Ukrainian security services told a Ukrainian media outlet that “planned terrorist operations against Israeli citizens are one of the conditions for Iranʼs transfer of drones to Russia. As you know, this is not the first example of cooperation between the two terrorist states.”
The site that published the report is considered a reliable Ukrainian site and the information in the report is attributed to “sources in the Ukrainian security services.” The site specifically states that Ukraine has information according to which the Iranians set two conditions for Russia when selling the drones – one of them being attacking Uman. The second condition was not specified.
Mexican Police Raid Lev Tahor Compound, Arrest 26 Members
Mexican police raided a local immigration facility near the border with Guatemala on Friday and arrested 26 Lev Tahor members, Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated on Motzei Shabbos.
The raid, which took place in the city of Tapachula, was carried out by dozens of police officers and welfare officials. Two of the cult members, a Canadian citizen and an Israeli citizen, were arrested for alleged human trafficking and sexual offenses punishable by about 20 years in prison.
Yisrael Amir, who escaped the cult several years ago, and several of his relatives, participated in the raid in order to identify his four-year-old son. His son was found and transferred to his custody and the two flew to Israel together.
According to a Channel 12 News report, Amir has been working on a plan to bring his son to Israel since he escaped the cult three years ago. He reportedly worked with former Mossad agents to formulate a plan to save his son amid reports of the children in the cult being abused and neglected.
Amir told Channel 12 that his one dream from the moment he escaped the cult was to save his son from what he himself experienced there, what Amir called “a nightmare.”
“I couldn’t leave him there,” he said.
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Saturday, September 24, 2022
The first Jew to escape Auschwitz helped save 200,000 lives — but few know his name
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| Rudolf Vrba with daughters Zuza (left) and Helena (center) |
They didn’t know it, but it was the eve of the Passover seder. At 2:00 p.m. on April 7, 1944, 19-year-old Rudolf Vrba and 25-year-old Fred Wetzler began their epic and daring bid to bring the news of the horrors of Auschwitz to their fellow Jews and the wider world.
That bid began in a dark, cramped hole under a woodpile in the death camp. It ended with a report describing the Nazi machinery of slaughter which landed on desks in Allied capitals and, through a series of diplomatic maneuvers, helped to save the lives of up to 200,000 Jews in Budapest.
But, for more than seven decades, the story of Vrba and Wetzler’s astonishing escape — the first successful effort by Jewish prisoners to break out of Auschwitz — and their mission to sound the alarm and strip away the layers of deception under which the Final Solution was perpetrated has itself remained somewhat hidden. The recognition they rightly deserve has consequently been denied.
In his newly published book “The Escape Artist,” British writer and journalist Jonathan Freedland seeks to correct this historical injustice, painstakingly but grippingly reconstructing Vrba’s incredible life.
Freedland, a columnist for The Guardian newspaper and host of a popular BBC radio history program, tells The Times of Israel that his aim is to ensure that Vrba has, at last, “a place in the pantheon of heroes of the Holocaust.”
And, says Freedland, this is not simply a story about the past. Vrba’s belief about the potential power of shining a light onto Auschwitz’s dark secrets holds salutary lessons for our “post-truth age.”
Kushner's book reveals Netanyahu supported Palestinian state
A selection from Jared Kushner's new book claims that former Prime Minister Netanyahu had actually supported the idea of a Palestinian state:
"Bibi and I ran through the final version of the peace plan. As we finished, Bibi remarked that he could live with it."
"'You won't live with it. You'll thrive with it,' I shot back with a smile."
Kushner claims that Netanyahu had made a final decision not only to not oppose the plan, but would officially endorse the creation of a Palestinian State:
"This was typical of the veteran prime minister. We had spent two years haggling over every line, and we had created a thoughtful plan that Bibi believed could actually work. In twelve hours, the right wing prime minister, who had cam paigned for decades against giving the Palestinians a state, was going to endorse a plan calling for a two-state solution."
According to Kushner, Netanyahu had decided the proposed plan did not pose a threat to national security:
"Bibi was careful to make sure that not a single word of the plan would put any Israeli at risk and was understandably nervous about how it could affect the upcoming election. To his credit, he recognized that the plan was reasonable, and the best compromise to solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict."
The segment was tweeted by Ynet journalist Attila Somfalvi in wake of controversy following PM Lapid's statements in favor of the two-state solution at the UN General Assembly.
Newark Airport will no longer be considered part of NYC — which could mean higher fare prices
Newark Liberty International Airport will no longer be considered a New York City destination beginning next month — which may lead to passengers having to pay a penalty if they want to transfer to the Big Apple hubs.
The International Air Transport Association, the trade association made up of the world’s airlines, will remove the “NYC” city code from Newark Liberty beginning on Oct. 3.
Until now, Newark was grouped together with John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia as belonging to the “NYC” cluster of airports. Now the New Jersey airport will solely be referred to by the “EWR” code.
Once the change goes into effect, fliers who wish to alter their destination between the New York airports and Newark may have to pay a penalty — which can cost hundreds of dollars depending on the airline.
“Separate fares will be filed for EWR,” according to a Lufthansa Group memo that circulated on Twitter.
Shameless Self-promoter Shmuley Boteach throws his buddy Dr. Oz Under the Bus
The enduring bond between Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Dr. Mehmet Oz, forged under the supervision of Oprah Winfrey, has long been known as a textbook example of the Winfrey doctrine that we can all get along.
But the friendship has fractured amid Oz’s bid for Senate in Pennsylvania, where he is running a campaign that Boteach says is “a tragedy for the Jewish people.” After enthusiastically welcoming Oz’s candidacy a year ago, Boteach says he is upset that his old friend, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, appeared until recently to have endorsed the former president’s lie that he won the 2020 election.
Boteach also is upset that Oz’s campaign has made an issue of a stroke that the Democratic nominee, John Fetterman, had several months ago, and that Oz, a dual Turkish-American citizen will not call the 1915 Ottoman massacre of Armenians a “genocide,” as many scholars have concluded it was.
“The man running for Senate is not Dr. Oz. This person is unrecognizable to me,” Boteach told Rolling Stone. Oz, he said, has become an “election-denying, genocide-denying caricature of an extremist.”
Boteach made the comments to Rolling Stone in a story posted Tuesday that expands on critical comments the celebrity rabbi has previously outlined. Rolling Stone also published excerpts from private emails that Boteach sent to the Oz campaign imploring it to change course, to no avail.
Boteach, a Republican, will not endorse Oz’s opponent, Democrat John Fetterman, but was especially offended by the Oz campaign’s attacks on Fetterman for having had a stroke. Boteach’s father died of a stroke at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Anyone who has a modicum of self respect will condemn the actions of a campaign that mocks a stroke victim, especially when it’s the campaign of America’s most famous doctor,” Boteach wrote last month in an email to Oz and the campaign.
Oz, a physician who became famous through TV talk shows, met Boteach, an Orthodox rabbi who has advised multiple celebrities including Michael Jackson and Roseanne Barr.
“Dr. Oz and I became colleagues back in 2008 when we both worked for Oprah Winfrey on the Oprah and Friends Radio Network,” Boteach wrote in the Jerusalem Post in December, lauding Oz’s bid for the Senate. “There were so many special and legendary people on the network, from Oprah herself, to Maya Angelou, and to Gayle King. But the one I bonded with the most and the quickest was Dr. Oz.”
Boteach traveled to Israel with Oz, and to the Jewish settlement in Hebron, where they danced the hora with Israeli soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has enthusiastically embraced Oz, and has made a note of the fact that he is a Muslim who is close to Israel.
Boteach said Oz’s disinterest in condemning Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also a mark against the candidate because of Erdogan’s criticism of Israel. But in recent weeks, Israel and Turkey have warmed their relations, and Erdogan announced this week that he would visit Israel for the first time.
Oz is not the first friend and political candidate to fall out of Boteach’s favor: He was once close to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, whom he mentored when Booker was Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, but broke with Booker after the senator voted for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Boteach regards as an existential threat to Israel.