November 24, 2015

Israel emigration to UK outstrips aliya, says report

Israeli emigration to the United Kingdom surpassed British immigration to the Jewish State by three-to-two, offsetting any Israeli population gains caused by aliya, according to a new report released Wednesday.

Based on data from the 2011 British census and other sources, the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research asserted that this “net migratory dividend for Britain’s Jewish community” actually contributed to keeping Jewish population levels stable there during the first decade of the new millennium.

Despite this increase, however, the estimated Israeli-British population of just under 25,000 as of 2011 is “considerably lower” than others have claimed, JPR researchers stated.

Last month the group reported that England’s Orthodox community is increasing by nearly five percent a year, while the wider, non-haredi Jewish population is decreasing by 0.3%. Haredi birth rates are six to seven children per couple, more than three times the average UK national rate. If high haredi birth rates continue, half of all Jewish children and around 30% of young Jewish adults living in the United Kingdom will be haredi by 2031.

Overall, Israelis constitute 6% of English Jewry, with some 8870 having moved to England during the 2000s. Around 6400 Britons immigrated to Israel during the same period.

http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Israel-emigration-to-UK-outstrips-aliya-says-report-434751

November 23, 2015

The bombing of Japan.

November 23, 2015

Texas Woman Turns Herself In After Shooting Purse Thief Outside Walmart (Video)

A Texas woman who shot at a man who allegedly tried to steal an elderly woman’s purse turned herself in, police say.

On the afternoon of November 20, witnesses say a man tried to steal a purse from an elderly woman while she and another woman were unloading groceries in the parking lot of the Bellmead, Texas, Walmart Supercenter. The thief ran off with the purse while four or five men chased after him.

Eventually, the group of men caught up with the purse-snatcher and pinned him to the ground. While they were holding him down, a woman who saw the incident from her truck parked and got out with her handgun.

She walked to the scene and pointed the gun at the purse thief. When the thief got out of the hold of the men who pinned him down, he tried to run away, but was quickly stopped when the woman fired a single shot at him.

The thief tripped as the shot was fired, but he wasn’t hit. He was recaptured. Meanwhile, the woman who fired the shot got back in her truck and drove away.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/texas-woman-turns-herself-after-shooting-purse-thief-outside-walmart-video

She needs to review the rules of engagement for use of a firearm.

November 23, 2015

NPR is graying, and public radio is worried about it

As NPR came of age in the 1980s, its audience matured with it. Three decades later, that is starting to look like a problem.

Many of the listeners who grew up with NPR are now reaching retirement age, leaving NPR with a challenge: How can it attract younger and middle-aged audiences — whose numbers are shrinking — to replace them?

NPR’s research shows a growing gulf in who is listening to the likes of “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” the daily news programs that have propelled public radio for more than 30 years. Morning listening has dropped 11 percent overall since 2010, according to Nielsen research that NPR has made public; afternoon listening is down 6 percent over the same period.

Perhaps more troubling are the broader demographic trends. NPR’s signal has gradually been fading among the young. Listening among “Morning Edition’s” audience, for example, has declined 20 percent among people under 55 in the past five years. Listening for “All Things Considered” has dropped about 25 percent among those in the 45-to-54 segment.

The growth market? People over 65, who were increasing in both the morning and afternoon hours.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/npr-is-graying-and-public-radio-is-worried-about-it/2015/11/22/0615447e-8e48-11e5-baf4-bdf37355da0c_story.html

Similar dynamic happening at DU.

November 23, 2015

Lack of Enthusiasm From Supporters May Undermine Clinton’s Lead

There’s cause for concern in Hillaryland, the constellation of Democratic advisers, supporters and politicians counting on the former secretary of state to lead the party to a sweeping victory next November.

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s nomination is almost a foregone conclusion, barring any unlikely legal or health issues. Democrats will offer a more coherent and unified front for the general election than the fractious Republicans.

Still, this optimism is based on the presumed weakness of the opposition, and ignores what polling suggests could be the candidate’s own vulnerabilities.

The worries of some Clinton insiders are focused on the general election. There is an “enthusiasm gap.” Surveys of voters at this early stage of the campaign show that young people, independents, possibly even blacks and Hispanics are not excited about her candidacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/us/politics/lack-of-enthusiasm-from-supporters-may-undermine-clintons-lead.html

November 23, 2015

ISIS Women and Enforcers in Syria Recount Collaboration, Anguish and Escape

Dua had only been working for two months with the Khansaa Brigade, the all-female morality police of the Islamic State, when her friends were brought to the station to be whipped.

The police had hauled in two women she had known since childhood, a mother and her teenage daughter, both distraught. Their abayas, flowing black robes, had been deemed too form-fitting.

When the mother saw Dua, she rushed over and begged her to intercede. The room felt stuffy as Dua weighed what to do.

“Their abayas really were very tight. I told her it was their own fault; they had come out wearing the wrong thing,” she said. “They were unhappy with that.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/world/middleeast/isis-wives-and-enforcers-in-syria-recount-collaboration-anguish-and-escape.html

November 23, 2015

Immigrant who fled Mexico arrested after complaining about wages

When desperation drove Miriam Martinez Solais to sneak across the Rio Grande in 2007, she imagined life in the United States would be worth the risk.

Here, Solais thought she would find decent pay for honest work. She imagined earning enough money to feed and clothe Ruth, the 3-year-old daughter she left behind with family in Mexico.

Instead, Solais, 28, could spend the next five years or more in prison. Roxboro police say she is a thief who used a stranger’s Social Security number when seeking work as a cook at a local Italian restaurant.

Federal labor officials describe a different kind of misconduct. They say Solais is the victim.

In a complaint filed in federal court, labor investigators are accusing Solais’ former boss, Giovanni Scotti D’Abbusco, of retaliating against her for complaining that Vesuvio’s restaurant cheated her out of thousands of dollars of wages she earned.


http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article45895045.html#fmp

November 22, 2015

Hakuho loses!

OMG amazing sumo tournament in Kyushu!

Here is a great YouTube channel for watching sumo

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsyhbQggi0M3t_DMePOLgSw

I'll post todays video as soon as it's up. Stunning

Who is Hakuho? Greatest Sumo wrestler of modern times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakuhō_Shō

Tournament winner was Harumafuji
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harumafuji_Kōhei

November 20, 2015

Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam

Source: Guardian UK

A Palestinian poet and leading member of Saudi Arabia’s nascent contemporary art scene has been sentenced to death for renouncing Islam.

A Saudi court on Tuesday ordered the execution of Ashraf Fayadh, who has curated art shows in Jeddah and at the Venice Biennale. The poet, who said he did not have legal representation, was given 30 days to appeal against the ruling.

Fayadh, 35, a key member of the British-Saudi art organisation Edge of Arabia, was originally sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes by the general court in Abha, a city in the south-west of the ultraconservative kingdom, in May 2014.

But after his appeal was dismissed he was retried last month and a new panel of judges ruled that his repentance did not prevent his execution.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/20/saudi-court-sentences-poet-to-death-for-renouncing-islam

November 19, 2015

Costa Rica detains Syrian woman traveling on Greek passport

Source: Reuters


SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica has detained a Syrian woman who arrived in the Central American country traveling on a Greek passport, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, the latest case of Syrians caught with incorrect documents in the region.

Five Syrian men were captured in Honduras this week also traveling on Greek passports, and Honduran authorities refused entry to another Syrian last week.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/costa-rica-detains-syrian-woman-traveling-greek-passport-173220943.html