>Ukrainians are ready to stand with the United States shoulder-to-shoulder, either in trenches near Tehran, or in North Korea, or near Beijing
>Dough
What Israel is doing in Gaza is not a war; It is a genocide.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany on Thursday all backed outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as the next secretary general of NATO.
nice shoes dude
In Spain, Ukrainian civilians prepare for battle at a training centre near Madrid
Located one hour from Madrid, the Toledo Training Command centre is one of the largest military training centres in Europe. Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians who have volunteered to head to the front are training there as part of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM), set up in October 2022. Spain is one of the EU's key training providers, having already trained 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
When Balaam goes to curse the Israelites, he is stopped by ha-satan.
This adversary keeps him from reaching his goal and, in reality, saves the Israelites.
early life
https://www.thejc.com/news/politics/grant-shapps-becomes-first-jewish-defence-secretary-for-nearly-30-years-ydgib8yg
Grant Shapps becomes first Jewish defence secretary for nearly 30 years
The last Jew to hold the position was Malcolm Rifkind in 1995
Grant Shapps has been appointed defence secretary after Ben Wallace formally handed in his resignation.
Wallace announced last month that he would resign from the senior Cabinet role at the next reshuffle, bringing an end to his four years in the job.
In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Wallace said: "The Ministry of Defence is back on the path to being once again world-class with world-class people.
"The United Kingdom is respected around the world for our armed forces and that respect has only grown more since the war in Ukraine.
"I know you agree with me that we must not return to the days where defence was viewed as a discretionary spend by Government and savings were achieved by hollowing out."
Seen as one of the more popular cabinet ministers among Tory members, Wallace was at one time seen as a potential leadership contender.
He ruled himself out of the running for the Conservative leadership last year despite being an early frontrunner in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
The former prime minister praised the outgoing defence secretary and appeared to give his approval to Shapps as a successor.
Posting on Twitter, he said: "Sad to see the departure of my friend Ben Wallace. A fine Defence Secretary who got so many calls right - especially on Ukraine. Grant Shapps is an excellent choice to succeed him.”
Shapps is the first Jewish defence secretary for nearly three decades after Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a Scottish MP whose family emigrated from Lithuania in the 1890s.
He said he was "honoured" to become defence secretary as he praised Wallace's time in the role.
Shapps tweeted: "I'm honoured to be appointed as Defence Secretary by @RishiSunak.
"I'd like to pay tribute to the enormous contribution Ben Wallace has made to UK defence & global security over the last 4 years.
"As I get to work at @DefenceHQ I am looking forward to working with the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who defend our nation's security.
"And continuing the UK's support for Ukraine in their fight against Putin's barbaric invasion."
Shapps, a former BBYO president, told the JC in a 2010 interview, that he was "totally Jewish" saying: "I don't eat pork, we only buy kosher meat and we don't mix meat and milk. I like being Jewish and I married a Jewish girl. It's like a way of life and it's good to be able to instil some of that sense of being in your kids."
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1870210/Grant-Shapps-Ukraine-Vladimir-Putin-Russia
Grant Shapps warns the West "not to go soft" in helping Ukraine defeat Vladimir Putin
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says 2024 is a "make or break" year to save Ukraine from Vladimir Putin's invading forces
https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/interview-grant-shapps-fea1hmeu
Grant Shapps's rise to the front bench of the Conservative Party has been little short of meteoric - after all, he has only been an MP since 2005.
Many political commentators believe he is destined for big things; but what part does his faith play in his burgeoning career? The housing and local government minister is certainly in touch with communal life: he belongs to the Potters Bar and Brookmans Park Synagogue. However, he has an unconventional approach to religion.
"I suspect I have a relationship with my religion which will seem slightly weird to people who don't understand me," the 41-year-old says.
"I feel totally Jewish; I am totally Jewish. I don't eat pork, we only buy kosher meat and we don't mix meat and milk. I like being Jewish and I married a Jewish girl. It's like a way of life and it's good to be able to instil some of that sense of being in your kids.
"All of that makes me seem as though I am quite observant but actually the flipside of this is I don't know if there is a God or not. But one thing I am absolutely certain of is that God wouldn't care if you were Jewish or Christian or Muslim."
His relationship with Israel and Zionism is also far from straightforward.
"In my youth, I was the president of the largest Jewish youth organisation (BBYO). At the time it wasn't a Zionist organisation, so I always thought I was non-Zionist."
However, he acknowledges that his views have changed over time. "I have probably become a lot more Zionist than I used to be," he says. "Jews have a history of being persecuted over a long, long period of time so I think it is absolutely right to have a country that is a Jewish state."
But despite his belief in the concept of Israel, Shapps admits the Israeli government often has not done itself any favours. "Sometimes it could have more forward thinking policies," he says.
As for the plight of the Palestinians, Shapps's position is clear. "I think it is absolutely inevitable that Palestinians will, and have to, have their own state," he said.
He is also convinced that, ultimately,conflict will be resolved in the Middle East. "There will be peace, the only question is when," he says.
Shapps's political inspiration is Benjamin Disraeli, who shared his Conservative beliefs. Of the UK's first and, to date, only Jewish-born prime minister, Shapps says: "He was very enlightened. He made sure that the working classes had the vote; and this was in the days before real enfranchisement."
More surprising perhaps is his admiration for former South African president FW De Klerk.
It took, he says, a brave man to stand up to the previous South African president PW Botha and demand an end to white minority rule. "He had absolutely nothing to gain but he paved the way for the end of apartheid. That is the measure of a true statesman."
>His relationship with Israel and Zionism is also far from straightforward.
Shapps reckons there is currently just a "smattering" of Jews in the House of Commons, spread fairly evenly between the three main parties.
It is a total which, he believes, is probably an accurate representation of the UK's Jewish population.
"Jews make up a quarter of a per cent of the country," he says."Of a population of around 64 million, only 300,000 are Jews."
In order to take part in a sitting of Parliament, MPs must attend prayers, a tradition which is thought to date back to 1588. However, despite our multicultural society, the prayers are exclusively Christian - so how does Mr Shapps, as an Orthodox (if unorthodox) Jew, overcome this obstacle?
"I miss out the words about Christ and don't say 'amen' after those bits," he smiles.
The same argument could, of course, be applied to whether Anglican bishops should retain their automatic right to sit in the House of Lords.
Yet it is something that Mr Shapps sees no reason to change.
He says: "I think that it is important that the country is tolerant and open but I still think that, in a predominantly Christian country, that we should respect the religion of that country.
"I suspect if I asked a group of my Jewish friends they would feel the same about it. In fact, I think that tolerance is one of the reasons that Jews have prospered in Britain."
As for his own political hopes, Shapps says he is not "riven by ambition. If I left politics tomorrow I wouldn't look back and think 'damn I wish I'd held this role or that role'. I will serve my nation in whatever way I can."
He is certainly enjoying the challenge of being in government.
"Having spent years in opposition shadowing umpteen different housing ministers it's great to finally get to do the job in person. We took immediate action on abolishing the hated and rather pointless Home Information Packs (HIPs) within days of taking office.
"My goal is to get more homes built in this country in order that housing becomes more affordable for everyone."
The fact of having to work with the Liberal Democrats in a coalition government has caused him few problems. "Sure we have debates over policy, but I have those discussions with our own MPs.
"On the big things like cutting the deficit and improving civil liberties we are in complete agreement. The people wanted their leaders to govern in the national interest, so being part of a coalition is a necessity, but I also think it is in tune with our times."
Shapps lives in the leafy commuter village of Brookmans Park, near Hatfield, with his wife Belinda and his three young children, Hadley, Tabytha and Noa.
It is clear that his family is a major aspect of his life away from Parliament.
"Even though I've had an incredibly busy few years, I'm really fortunate to have a constituency that is close to London so that I can come home at the end of each day."
"In any job, but especially in politics, you can become obsessed. My family is one of those things that helps me snap out of the Westminster village and back into my own village."
His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Gusinsky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Berezovsky_(businessman)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Khodorkovsky
https://web.archive.org/web/20161206193412/https://www.washingtonian.com/2015/02/06/jennifer-tapper/
“With all its passionate people trying to improve the world, and those policymakers who have the power to do so, it’s one of the reasons I love living in this town,” says Tapper, mom to Alice, seven, and Jack, four. When she’s not home in Northwest DC with her kids, Tapper works as an advocacy consultant, sharing knowledge from her early professional years as a social worker. “I also volunteer with AmeriCorps’ reading partners program, helping first- and second-graders to read,” she says. “That time every week allows me to understand that people need each other, and the most important thing we can do every day is to be kind.”
>filter the background noise to see if this transcriptions is true
https://noisereducer.media.io/denoise