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November 2018

Estonian actress Mareli Miniutti reportedly has filed a restraining order against anti-Trump lawyer Michael Avenatti. Miniutti, who is based in New York City, "filed her petition Monday at the Santa Monica branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court." Reports confirmed today that Miniutti is the woman Avenatti allegedly abused last week. Authorities arrested him on suspicion of domestic violence. He left after four hours and posted $50,000 bail.

Airbnb has been under a sustained pressure campaign by anti-Israeli activist groups to cease listing homes and apartments for rent in Israeli Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank"). The area was ethnically cleansed of Jews by the Jordanians after Jordan captured the area in Israel's War of Independence. The 1949 Armistice Line was where the fighting stopped, and left many historically Jewish areas, including the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, in Jordanian hands. Israel recaptured the area in 1967.

A recent Rasmussen survey of a hypothetical match-up between former First Lady Michelle Obama and President Trump has Obama victorious. From Rasmussen:
Michelle Obama has been making the rounds promoting her new book, prompting buzz about a potential presidential run, which she has vehemently denied. But with the midterms over and the focus on 2020, voters think she’d stand a chance.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) remains confident that she'll become Speaker of the House again, but sixteen Democrats just threw a major wrench into her plans. The Democrats released a letter today, launched by Rep. Katheleen Rice (D-NY), promising to oppose Pelosi's appointment since they promised to "change the status quo" upon their arrival in DC.

Jim Acosta and CNN were granted a Temporary Restraining Order on Friday, November 16, 2018, restoring Acosta's White House "hard pass," to allow him privileged access to the White House grounds for press briefings and other events, pending further court action. The White House promptly announced that it would promulgate rules governing press conduct and discipline, to address the court's concern that Acosta was not afforded due process.

Will corporations never learn that knee-jerk reactions to online outrage are almost always factually vapid? Apparently not. Fast food chain Chipotle recently fired a manager after a viral video showed her refusing service to a group of young, black men. She also suggested the group of men did not have money to pay for their food, saying the last several times they frequented the restaurant, they didn't have money to pay. "You gotta pay because you’ve never had money when you come in here. We're not gonna make food unless you guys actually have money," she said.

In a highly unusual ruling, one of Israel’s chief rabbis has allowed a Palestinian Arab man to be buried in a special plot, reserved for those without religious faith, in the Jewish Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. At issue is the decision of Aryeh Stern, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, to enable the West Bank-based family of Ala’a Qarash (also spelled Alah Kirsh) to bury him at the Jewish cemetery as an “exception” because the “Muslims themselves are unwilling to bury him” and he was a “righteous gentile” who “showed good will” to Jews.

On Friday, November 16, 2018, the federal District Court in D.C. granted a temporary restraining order compelling the White House to reinstate CNN's Jim Acosta's "hard pass," that gives him privileged access to the White House for press briefings and events. As described in our coverage of the decision, there is no written opinion or transcript as of now that can be reviewed to understand the precise parameters and reasoning of the judge. As of this writing, we only have media reports as to the judge's stated reasons.