https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/03/europe/kyiv-ukraine-strikes-trump-putin-talks-intl-hnk
The massive aerial assault stuck multiple buildings and residential areas in the capital in what has been described by Ukrainian officials as one of the worst attacks of the three-year conflict.
President Donald Trump complained Thursday that the United States provided too many weapons to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump said former President Joe Biden “emptied out our whole country giving them weapons, and we have to make sure that we have enough for ourselves.”
US President Donald Trump says he didn’t know that the term “shylock” has antisemitic connotations, after he lambasted “shylocks and bad people” in a speech last night celebrating passage of his massive tax-cut and border security bill among supporters at the Iowa State Fairground.
The term “shylock,” used as a stand-in for aggressive moneylender or loan shark, is considered by many to be antisemitic, as it is the name of the Jewish moneylender and villain in William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” which draws heavily on antisemitic stereotypes of Jews being stingy and greedy.
Lauding his “big beautiful bill,” Trump said that the tax cuts included within it meant that there would be “no death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases shylocks and bad people.”
Ohr HaChaim (Devarim 21:11) And you see amongst the captives a beautiful woman. This seems to imply that this is talking only about a physically attractive woman but the Sifrei says even an ugly woman that you desire. So why does the verse specifically say beautiful when it could have said a women that you desire? To explain this verse we also need to ask why G-d is giving instruction that a Jew should defile himself with an idol worshipping woman? This is especially questionable since this is during war when G-d is doing miracles for us and therefore we should be acting in an even more pious manner. Why is He permitting us to do something disgusting and hated which distances us from G-d? Permitting unkosher food is understandable while our Saqges say that this is said only against the evil inclination. They don’t say that one should fight against lust and impure thoughts .This can be understood by the mystery that when Adam sinned that many precious souls were captured by the forces of Evil and these are the souls of converts. We see that many great people come from people born as non Jews such as Ruth, such as Shamaya and Avtalyon and Onkelos
https://time.com/7264811/trump-free-speech-joint-address-essay/
In President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, March 4, he bragged about restoring “free speech” to the United States. “I’ve stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America,” Trump said. “It’s back.”
But this claim couldn’t be further from the truth. Trump has consistently rewarded speech he likes while punishing speech he doesn’t. That kind of “viewpoint discrimination” is exactly what the First Amendment seeks to prevent. In fact, Trump’s actions run counter to the spirit—if not the text—of the First Amendment.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/19/us-free-speech-rights-trump
Experts say free speech under attack in ways not seen since Nixon – and critics of president’s agenda are being targeted
Prof Halberstam has an interesting insight regarding the Vietmam War. This was a waste on many levels so why did the government run by the "best and the brightest" keep fighting and expanding what was clearly a losing endeavor. He says the these men were super achievers and they couldn't conceive that they were making a mistake since they were always successful and never failed. So they simply kept doing what they had planned with increased effort.
This applies in the spiritual realm also. The Baal Shem notes that Jesus and Adam are together in Hell because both thought they were god like and thus infallible. As we see also with the Spies anf Korach.
Wisdom comes from experiencing and learning from failure. One who is always very successful at some point stops thinking he might be making a mistake and ends up doing something really stupid. Pride comes before the fall.
Congressional Republicans are making a habit of taking bold, theatrical stands before meekly capitulating in the face of political pressure — particularly from President Donald Trump.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/crime-in-israel/article-859785
The Petah Tikva Magistrate Court extended until next Thursday the detention of a man said to be a senior figure in the Shomrim organization in Bnei Brak by eight days, on suspicion of dozens of rapes of children and adults over serveral years. He was apprehended by Israel Police at Ben-Gurion Airport late Wednesday night.
President Trump has taunted the media for years, and some of his jibes are deserved given the groupthink in most newsrooms. What’s happening now, though, is different: The President is using government to intimidate news outlets that publish stories he doesn’t like. It’s a low move in a free country with a free press.
News leaks this week say the Administration is denying Ukraine much-needed weapons. Our sources tell us they include Patriot air-defense missiles, Hellfire missiles, some 8,500 Howitzer rounds and other ammunition. Some were already in Poland awaiting delivery. So this is a conscious decision to deny Kyiv weapons it was counting on before Russia’s summer assaults. It’s a hostile act that favors Vladimir Putin.
https://www.newsweek.com/iran-ready-enrich-uranium-bomb-grade-levels-we-can-do-that-2093390
Iran can now enrich uranium up to the 90 percent level required for nuclear weapons even though it has no desire to build them, a prominent member of the Iranian parliament said following Israeli and U.S. attacks on its nuclear program.
Going forward, Iran will enrich uranium according to its needs at any levels and without abiding by conditions, according to Alaeddin Boroujerdi's statements on Iranian TV, multiple Iranian media reported.
"Iran may need to enrich uranium to 90% purity for fuel to power its ocean liner. We can do that. The only red line is the atomic bomb," the senior member of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission was quoted as saying by the UK-based Iran International English outlet. He described U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for zero enrichment as a "delusion".
It is unclear to what extent the damage at Iran's underground nuclear facilities, acknowledged by Tehran, affected the program's development.
Trump and administration officials have spoken of the "obliteration" of Iran's nuclear program by the attack but the leader of the IAEA Rafael Grossi estimated the setback for Iran was a matter of "months."
