National

while Otzma Yehudit would receive spots 2, 5, 7, 9, and 10. The smaller Noam party will receive the 11th spot on the list, Hebrew media reported.

In the first five spots will be Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, MK Ofir Sofer, MK Orit Strock, and Otzma Yehudit’s Director-General Yitzhak Wasserlauf. Spot six is expected to go to MK Simcha Rothman of Religious Zionism, while spot seven will go to Otzma Yehudit’s Almog Cohen. Eighth place will be filled by Religious Zionism’s MK Michal Waldiger, while ninth will be filled by Otzma Yehudit’s Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, son of Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu. The tenth spot belongs to Otzma Yehudit, but it is not yet clear which of the party’s candidates will fill it.

The joint list is expected to receive between 11 and 12 Knesset seats.

NY Democrat Declares: “Socialism Wins”

Kristen Gonzalez, a Democratic New York Senate candidate backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, celebrated her victory in the primaries by declaring that “socialism wins.”

Gonzalez, a tech worker and a former staffer for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, was also backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Following her victory, she said, “I know we’re saving the speeches for a little later, but today we really proved that socialism wins!”

She added, “We are not going anywhere, and we will not stop until we see a socialist slate across this city!”

In her primary, Gonzalez defeated Democrat challenger Elizabeth Crowley.

According to Gonzalez’s campaign website, “We need to tax the rich to finally invest in public housing, and build hundreds of thousands of new, affordable, and green homes to solve the housing crisis and start building a Green New York for all.”

Gonzalez is running on a far-left, socialist platform promising she will “cancel student debt,” give “free healthcare,” promote “aggressive action on climate” to “build a Green New York,” implement “Good Cause rent protections” that make it harder for landlords to evict tenants, and “make sure our neighborhoods stay working-class and diverse.”

Gonzalez is 27 years old.

She is not the only socialist in the Democrat Party to have sailed to victory. In May, former Austin city councilman Greg Casar defeated Texas state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez for the 35th District’s Democratic nomination in one of several heavily watched blue primaries in the Lone Star State. Casar says that he is a Democratic socialist. He is likely to win the general election and head to Washington.

Meanwhile, in the state of Washington, Democratic House candidate Rebecca Parson said that if elected, she will propose a “Housing for All Bill” and have a million people break into empty homes nationwide to push the legislation.

“Imagine I proposed a Housing for All Bill in Congress. Then imagine you, me, and a million of our friends took action and occupied empty houses nationwide. They couldn’t ignore us,” Parson said in a May ad.

Marshals’ Most Wanted Arrested

The man with the highest bounty ever put in place by the U.S. Marshals Service has been captured by police in El Salvador six years after he went on the run.

Raymond “RJ” McLeod, 36, was found living in Sonsonate, a city of around 71,000 people, about 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The former marine was teaching English there.

In April of last year, the Marshals put McLeod on their “Most Wanted” list of the top 15 fugitives. They issued an offer of $50,000 for information prompting his arrest, twice the usual amount.

The bodybuilder is a suspect in the 2016 murder of Krystal Mitchell, 30,

28 whom he was dating at the time. The killing allegedly took place in the San Diego apartment they were staying in while The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 visiting friends in the city. After the murder, McLeod had fled California through Mexico and Central America. He was spotted in Guatemala in 2017 and in Belize in 2018. Calling him “armed and dangerous,” the U.S. Marshals service described McLeod as “an avid bodybuilder and a heavy drinker” with a “history of domestic violence.” U.S. Marshal Steve Stafford of the Southern District of California said in a statement last year that “the passage of time will never deter the Marshals’ fugitive investigation for McLeod.” “If anything, it fuels our determination. We will leave no stone unturned until he is brought to justice,” he added. Mitchell’s mother, former detective Josephine Wentzel, put her retirement on pause to find her daughter’s alleged killer.

Did you know? Jellyfish do not have hearts.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week announced a major student loan forgiveness plan.

Under the new program, millions of borrowers will have up to $20,000 forgiven, and the payment freeze will be extended until the end of 2022.

Included in the plan are those who earn less than $125,000 per year and who hold loans with the Department of Education: For those who received Pell Grants, up to $20,000 may be forgiven; those who did not receive Pell Grants may have up to $10,000 in loans forgiven.

In addition, loan balances would be forgiven after 10 years of repayments instead of 20, the Department said.

In a White House speech, Biden underlined that “education is a ticket to a better life…but over time that ticket has become too expensive for too many Americans. All this means that an entire generation is now saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for an attempt, at least, at a college degree.

“The burden is so heavy that even if you graduate you may not have access to the middle-class life that the college degree once provided.”

Biden praised his administration. “Targeted actions are for families that need it the most: working and middle class people hit especially hard during the pandemic making under $125,000 a year.”

He added, “About 90% of the eligible beneficiaries make under $75,000,” Biden added. “I believe my plan is responsible and fair. It focuses the benefit of middle-class and working families, it helps both current and future borrowers, and it’ll fix a badly broken system.”

The plan has come under fire from both sides of the political aisle, with some on the left insisting that more loan forgiveness should have been provided, while those on the right insist that the plan effectively punishes those Americans who worked hard to avoid going into debt.

Meanwhile, White House officials could not provide an estimate for how much the plan would cost in total, since, according to them, there are too many unknowns.

Jason Furman, chairman of former President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, noted, “Pouring roughly half trillion dollars of gasoline on the inflationary fire that is already burning is reckless. Doing it while going well beyond one campaign promise ($10K of student loan relief) and breaking another (all proposals paid for) is even worse.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed the move, saying that the plan is “yet another way to make inflation even worse,” while at the same time offering to “reward far-left activists.”

He added, “President Biden’s student loan socialism is a slap in the face to every family who sacrificed to save for college, every graduate who paid their debt, and every American who chose a certain career path or volunteered to serve in our Armed Forces in order to avoid taking on debt. This policy is astonishingly unfair.”

No Gas Cars in CA by 2035

regulators in the state. Additionally, targets have been set to phase gasoline cars out in California.

This measure is one of the first bans of its kind worldwide. Even more than that, the ban has severe repercussions for the car market as California is a large state and other states are expected to follow its lead.

“This is monumental,” California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling told CNN. “This is the most important thing that CARB has done in the last 30 years. It’s important not just for California, but it’s important for the country and the world.”

The board’s new rules would also set interim quotas for zero-emission vehicles, focusing on new models. Starting with 2026 models, 35% of new cars, SUVs and small pickups sold in California would be required to be zero-emission vehicles. That quota would increase each year and is expected to reach 51% of all new car sales in 2028, 68% in 2030 and 100% in 2035. The quotas also would allow 20% of zero-emission cars sold to be plug-in hybrids.

The new rules will go into effect in 2026. They officially won’t impact used vehicles.

Many other states are expected to follow California’s lead in implementing similar rules. New York, Oregon, Washington and Rhode Island, along with New Jersey and Maryland, are intending to adopt their own version of these programs.

“This is a critical milestone in our climate fight, which is why Washington is poised to institute these same requirements by the end of the year,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said. “We look forward to partnering with other states and the Biden Administration to rapidly reduce the country’s primary source of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Disney’s Rising Prices – and Profits

30 Since reopening in April last year after the brunt of the pandemic waned, the company has implemented a host of changes to the pricing at the parks in The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 Florida and California, nixing free perks and raising prices. Interestingly, the numbers of visitors at the park decreased by 17 percent; at the same time, the profit Disney makes off each guest increased 17 percent. Disney made a whopping $7.4 billion from its parks for the most recent quarter of the 2022 financial year – up 70 percent from a year earlier, when it was recovering from COVID shutdowns. Profits also surged to an impressive $2.2 billion for that quarter – a huge leap from the $356 million recorded for the same quarter 12 months previously, the Wall Street Journal reported. One of the most profitable changes is the implementation of a $15-a-day Genie+ pass, which was previously free. It serves as an app on guests’ phones and lets them skip some lines on rides. Still, guests are required to pay extra to get access to some of the park’s most popular attractions. Seventy percent of Disney visitors said they used the app.

Additionally, parking and Magic Wristbands, which serve as room keys and park passes, are now $35 – they used to be free. Parking now costs $30. There are no more free shuttles to the parks for Disney hotel guests.

Speaking of hotels, the price of Disney hotels has soared, along with the prices on food and merchandise. Tickets prices at the parks have increased at roughly double the rate of inflation; annual passes have shot up 14 percent.

Despite the profits Disney is seeing, the firm’s share price has plunged by more than a third in the last 12 months, due in large part to controversies over Disney opposing a recent bill in Florida and woke movies such as Lightyear that have turned off viewers.

Flooding in Mississippi

Torrential flooding in Mississippi has led to a dearth of potable drinking water

“We want them to get out and be prayerful that the worst does not come,” Mayor Lumumba said. “We don’t want to risk the potential that it could happen, and they be present within their homes.”

Lumumba said that people should leave the city “as soon as possible,” saying he was worried about a repeat of the damaging February 2020 flooding.

“Unfortunately, because we have seen these events as recently as 2020, we have a reference point, and we know the damage that can occur,” he said.

“If we risk the life of one individual, that’s one individual too many,” Lumumba said. “Our residents have been inundated with persistent rain over the last few days.”

Authorities earlier predicted Mississippi’s Pearl River to reach 36 feet and crest by Tuesday due to the rain, but the river crested at 35.4 feet on Monday.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency on Saturday due to the rising river waters and urged residents to remain calm. The state has already begun assessing water levels along the river using drones and deployed more than 100,000 sandbags, according to the declaration.

By Monday, it was discovered that there was trouble at the water-treatment plants in Jackson. Those problems caused low pressure in much of the city, creating issues for those who wish to shower, use the toilet, or for firefighters who need the water to douse fires.

Additionally, the governor told residents that the National Guard will be on hand to distribute bottled water to residents who do not have access to water.

“I get it. I live in the city. It’s not news that I want to hear,” Reeves said. “But we are going to be there for you.”

Jackson has longstanding problems with its water system. A cold snap in 2021 left a significant number of people without running water after pipes froze. Similar problems happened again early this year, on a smaller scale. Even before the flooding on Monday caused low-water pressure problems, city residents since July were already being advised to boil the water coming out of their pipes before using it to wash dishes or to do other household chores. Tests found a cloudy quality to the water that could lead to health problems.

A Civil War?

If you think the country is on the brink, you’re not alone.

More than two-fifths of Americans believe civil war is at least somewhat likely in the next 10 years, according to a new survey by the Economist and YouGov– a figure that increases to more than half among self-identified “strong Republicans.”

According to the findings, two-thirds of Americans (66%) believe that political divisions in this country have gotten worse since the beginning of 2021, compared to only 8% who say the country has grown less divided. Few see things improving in the coming years: 62% expect an increase in political divisions.

More than 60% of those polled say that political divisions have worsened and that political violence has increased since the start of 2021. Three in five Americans (60%) anticipate an increase in political violence in the next few years; only 9% expect political violence to decline.

On Sunday night, the South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham predicted “riots in the streets” if Trump is indicted over his retention of classified documents after leaving the White House, materials recovered by the FBI at Trump’s home this month.

Many criticized Graham for his rhetoric, saying that it is “irresponsible” for an elected official to predict something of that nature. Still, Graham is merely echoing many people’s disgust with politics and the state of the nation nowadays.

Despite Americans’ concerns over where the nation is going, experts believe a full-scale armed conflict, like the American Civil War of 1861-65, remains unlikely.

Rachel Kleinfeld, a specialist in civil conflict at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Guardian: