Levin: Result of reported US proposal to end Iran war would be ‘disastrous’

 https://thehill.com/media/5868059-mark-levin-criticizes-iran-deal/

Conservative radio host Mark Levin cast doubt on the reported U.S. proposal to end the Iran war, saying it would be “disastrous” if implemented.

Under this 14-point deal, Iran would halt its nuclear enrichment processes, the U.S. would lift its sanctions on Iran and both countries would release their control over the strait, according to the outlet. 

“I have to believe the Axios report is largely fake,” Levin wrote in a post on the social platform X on Wednesday. 

“If the Axios report is close to accurate, the Iranian regime will survive, the Iranian people will face even more extensive brutality, and the Israeli government could fall in the October election.  A disastrous result,” he continued. 

US-Iran deal won't meet Israel's war goals on nukes, missiles and proxies

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1d00bvycbl

Israeli officials warn the proposed agreement may leave Iran’s missile arsenal intact, ease financial pressure on Tehran and limit the IDF’s freedom of action in Lebanon; They support continuing siege on Iran and say Iran likely will cheat from the outset.

Israel fears the emerging agreement between the United States and Iran will not restrict Tehran’s development of ballistic missiles. Israeli officials are also concerned it could undermine the IDF’s freedom of action in Lebanon, and perhaps even lead to a demand for withdrawal. Some diplomatic officials are warning that the IDF could be handcuffed and paralyzed in Lebanon. Added to that are a series of objectives cited at the start of the war as goals Israel sought to achieve — and the emerging agreement does not necessarily address them.

Another concern raised in Israel is that the agreement will unfreeze billions of dollars for Iran, funds that could ultimately be directed toward rearmament and strengthening Tehran’s proxies across the region.

U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s Hormuz blockade for months

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/07/cia-intelligence-iran-trump-blockade-missiles/

A confidential intelligence community assessment delivered to the White House also finds that Iran retains a substantial missile and drone arsenal.

A confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers this week concludes that Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing more severe economic hardship, four people familiar with the document said, a finding that appears to raise new questions about President Donald Trump’s optimism on ending the war.

The analysis by the U.S. intelligence community, whose secret assessments on Iran have often been more sober than the administration’s public statements, also found that Tehran retains significant ballistic missile capabilities despite weeks of intense U.S. and Israeli bombardment, three of the people familiar with it said.

Secret CIA analysis revealed: Iran can survive months of blockade, still has 70% of its missiles

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rk11yshqawx

“Iran and its proxies are weaker than ever,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Wednesday night. U.S. President Donald Trump, for his part, claimed that “we have already won” and said Tuesday: “Their missiles have been destroyed.” 

But according to a classified CIA analysis revealed Thursday evening by The Washington Post, Iran still retains most of its missile capabilities, and the U.S. intelligence agency assesses that it could withstand the American blockade on its ports for at least three to four months before feeling especially severe economic pressure.

The Post’s report is based on four sources familiar with the classified CIA document, which was delivered this week to decision-makers in Washington. According to the newspaper, the assessment casts doubt on Trump’s optimistic statements about the blockade’s ability to force Iran to compromise in talks on ending the war. Trump has claimed the blockade denies Iran $500 million a day in oil export revenues.

A promising new depression therapy focuses on finding paths to joy

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/05/06/positive-affect-therapy-depression/

Depression treatments focus mostly on decreasing negative emotions. But a study finds that increasing positive ones might be more effective.

“We do a pretty good job of helping people feel less bad,” said Steven Hollon, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University who has studied depression and anxiety for decades. Hollon noted that psychotherapy and medication can be very effective at reducing negative emotions. What has been more elusive is getting people with depression or anxiety to actually feel good.

A study published recently in JAMA targeted anhedonia using a relatively new therapy called positive affect treatment. The researchers wondered what would happen if they tried to make people feel good, rather than just less bad.

Democratic Majority

The Rise of Antisemitism in the U.K.

 https://time.com/article/2026/05/03/rise-of-antisemitism-in-the-uk-terrorist-incident-government-response/

Britain raised its national terrorism ​threat level to "severe" from "substantial" on Thursday, a day after an antisemitic attack in London was declared a terrorist incident by police.

The attack that unfolded in Golders Green, a predominantly Jewish area in the capital, saw two Jewish men taken to hospital with stab wounds. A 45-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder.

“Britain’s Jewish community suffered yet another vile terrorist attack,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, noting that this is just the latest instance of antisemitism to unfold in recent months.

The government has announced an extra £25 million in funding to go towards protecting Jewish communities and there are plans for increased security, but Starmer is facing calls to do more.

Read the Alleged Jeffrey Epstein Suicide Note: Judge Orders Release

 https://www.newsweek.com/epsteins-alleged-suicide-note-release-demanded-after-new-details-reported-11913947

A federal judge in White Plains, New York, has unsealed a purported suicide note by Jeffrey Epstein as part of criminal proceedings involving his former cellmate.

The note allegedly written by Epstein, who was found dead in a New York jail cell a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges, has been locked away in a courthouse for nearly seven years, The New York Times reported late last month.

Krishnamoorthi, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, said the Department of Justice had arrested only Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, despite the "existence of millions of documents that suggest a vast network of sex traffickers," including prominent public figures.

He wrote about their daughter’s sudden death. Then his wife did the same.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/05/06/dispatches-from-grief-danielle-crittenden-memoir/ 

Part of what made the loss of their daughter so acute was that Miranda had seemed to have recovered so well from the brain tumor that scared her parents when it was first diagnosed in 2018. It turned out to be benign, however ruinous to her pituitary gland. But treatment took its toll. Just as Miranda was approaching the five-year anniversary of her brain surgery — an occasion for the party she was planning, with “tumor-tinis” and “MRI-jitos” — the Frums received the devastating news one morning: Miranda had been found dead in her New York apartment by her cleaning lady at 9 a.m.

So, she had a “conversation” with Miranda, and her daughter “told” her she needed to write it. That it would help other parents. That of course she should promote it: “You want a book about me to be a failure?” she could imagine Miranda saying.

The list of acclaimed writers who have lost a child and written about the experience may be longer than the list of those who lost a child and did not write about it. One way or another, the sorrow works its way out through prose.

A convert to Judaism, she learned in a more visceral way about Shiva, the Jewish period of mourning. Previously, she had questioned its value — all those friends and relations intruding on a time of personal grief — but she came to this understanding: “The instant earth closes over the grave, the community opens its arms. The family need only exist and receive. Permission to fall apart arrives exactly when you need it most.”

Lutnick admits to having prolonged ties to Epstein in closed-door interview

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/06/howard-lutnick-commerce-epstein-00908865?utm_medium=bluesky&utm_source=dlvr.it

For reasons he said were “inexplicable,” Howard Lutnick acknowledged visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s island seven years after he claimed to have severed his relationship with the convicted sex offender, according to lawmakers present for the Commerce Secretary’s closed-door testimony Wednesday.

“He was evasive, nervous — he was dishonest,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) told reporters during a break in the hourslong proceedings. “He would not admit to lying, which he clearly did.”

Even the Kentucky Republican acknowledged to reporters before the interview Wednesday that Lutnick “wasn’t 100 percent truthful” in the past when describing the timeline of his relationship with Epstein.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said that Lutnick admitted to conferring with the administration about the Epstein saga. But, Walkinshaw said, Lutnick would not answer questions about whether he spoke with Trump in advance of his testimony Wednesday.

Jake Tapper on Trump CNN poll claim: ‘Nope’

 https://thehill.com/media/5866013-jake-tapper-on-trump-cnn-poll-claim-nope/?tbref=hp

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier Tuesday about the supposed poll, suggesting that “I am at, according to CNN, 100 percent approval within the Republican Party,” adding that he thinks “the people that did that poll probably got fired.”

President Trump tells reporter 'According to CNN, 100 percent approval within the Republican Party'

CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Tuesday said “nope” to President Trump’s claim that the outlet reported his approval rating among Republicans was at 100 percent.

“In this story from today, we see Trump support among Republicans from 3/25 to 3/26 has gone from 90% to 80% and strong support from 64% to 43%,” he wrote.

CNN’s survey, which was published Tuesday, states that the president “appears to be more unpopular than he’s ever been — including after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.” It also goes on to suggest that CNN’s average of Trump polls shows his approval rating at 35 percent.

Trump reportedly paused Hormuz naval escorts after Saudi Arabia denied use of its airspace

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-07-2026/

Top Iranian negotiator mocks US for halting operation as Trump predicts the war will be over quickly, stresses Iran can’t be allowed to have a nuclear bomb: ‘I think most people understand that’

US President Donald Trump halted the naval operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Saudi Arabia told the United States it wouldn’t allow American aircraft taking part involved in the effort to take off from or fly through the Gulf kingdom’s skies, NBC News reports.

Citing US officials, the report says the Saudis and other Gulf states were surprised by Trump’s announcement of Project Freedom on Sunday, adding that the US president later spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the matter but was unable to reach a resolution.

A White House spokesperson says “regional allies were notified in advance,” though a Middle Eastern diplomat quoted by NBC says the US didn’t coordinate with Oman until after Trump’s announcement.

Coping with Modernity: An interview with Rabbi Emanuel Rackman

 https://thejewishreview.org/articles/?id=184

Jewish Review: One of the arguments against the ?modern Orthodox? or ?Torah im derekh eretz? point of view is that it seems to inevitably produce individuals who are less committed to halakha and who are less involved in Jewish learning.? Could you comment on this charge?

Rabbi Rackman: It is true, and there is no doubt that the rabbis of the Talmud recognized this too.? They spoke of four men who went into an orchard (the orchard, presumably, is Greek philosophy); one of them looked and went berserk, another one looked and converted to another faith, and one looked and died.? Only one of the four, Rabbi Akiva, entered in peace and came out in peace.? This indicates that we have always been aware of the danger, and that, therefore, not everybody should feel that all secular learning should be approached through an open door.? This is why many Orthodox parents who send their children to universities encourage them to study accounting, to become businessmen, chemists even, but not to engage in the study of philosophy and psychology.? The threats and challenges to Judaism come from the humanities and the social sciences, not so much from the natural sciences.? Natural science, we know, has no pretense to absolute truth; at best it gives you a good guess, a relative truth, and thus most observant Jews can safely enter its realm.? By the same token it is very important for some people to study the humanities, philosophy and social sciences, because, first, we know that the majority of Jews are going to be exposed to modern culture, and hence our permitting the dual exposure to Torah and philosophy, for example, helps to allow those who want to remain loyal Jews to do so without undue conflict.? In addition, we ultimately discover, for example, that the writings of the Rambam and his successors (including those who frowned upon him and prohibited his works) showed an influence of ?secular? ideas.? There were some ideas which emerged from the encounter of torah and secular thought which are of everlasting religious value.? For example, the writings of Samson Rafael Hirsch are so influenced by Immanuel Kant that we cannot fully appreciate Hirsch without an understanding of Kant, and there are indeed some insights of Hirsch, albeit stemming from a Kantian or Hegelian influence, which are valid despite these influences and have and will outlive (what might be perceived to be) the failure of Kant or Hegel.

Was Rackman an Apikorus?

 https://www.torahmusings.com/2011/12/biblical-theology-of-rabbi-emanuel-rackman/

But one writer raised a significant issue and I share his question and my answer to it with the readership of Hirhurim around Rabbi Rackman’s yartzeit. He asked me a question about Rabbi Rackman’s biblical theology and raised the possibility that Rabbi Rackman was a technical heretic in that he did not believe in the Torah being revealed by God at Sinai to Moses (Torah miSinai).

Rabbi Rackman contemplates the possibility that the Torah has in it texts that were written by humans in a different form prior to God taking these text, incorporating them into Torah and then giving that Torah to Moshe in its fully revealed form, word by word to Moshe. This belief violates none of the Rambam’s ikarim. Anyone who claims that this idea by Rabbi Rackman is heretical can only do so by adding dogma to the ikarim that we have accepted as binding through the historical mesorah accepted by the halachic community. I think that just like the contraction of the thirteen ikarim into 12 or 8 or 3 is to be resisted as a violation of that historical mesorah (even as I am well aware that Albo advocates such), so too the expansion of the ikarim into 15, 19 or 613 principles is to be resisted as a violation of that same mesorah (even as I am well aware that Chatam Sofer advocates such).

AI writes

Whether Rabbi Emanuel Rackman (1910–2008) was a heretic is a subject of intense debate within Orthodox Judaism, depending on whether one adheres to strict dogmatic interpretations or a more flexible, modern, and intellectual approach to Jewish law.Viewpoint of Accusation: Critics, particularly from the right-wing Orthodox community, viewed some of his views—such as his approach to Biblical criticism and flexibility in Jewish law—as heretical.Viewpoint of Defense: Supporters argue that Rackman’s ideas did not violate traditional ikarim (principles of faith) and that calling him a heretic stems from an unnecessary expansion of dogma.His Perspective: Rackman himself argued that "concern for a positive Jewish image is no heresy" and that and that throughout history, scholars have re-examined tradition, often leading to unfair accusations from those of a more conservative temperament.