Friday, December 19, 2025
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Five Falsehoods From Trump’s Year-End Address
https://www.newsweek.com/five-falsehoods-from-trumps-year-end-address-11231600
President Donald Trump opened his national address Wednesday night with a familiar phrase, one he’s used since returning to office nearly a year ago: “I inherited a mess.”
In a speech that moved rapidly from economic claims to immigration, energy, housing, health care and crime, Trump painted a sweeping picture of national revival under his leadership and offered a long list of promises and boasts
Instead of outlining new policy in detail, Trump leaned heavily on declarative claims about prices, border security, the job market and his own election results. He described a country that had been “absolutely dead” before his return, and one that is now, he said, “the hottest anywhere in the world.”
Inflation: Trump Says It’s Over, But Prices Are Still Rising
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
New York Stands at a Crossroads: The Fight Over Legalized Killing
https://vinnews.com/2025/12/15/new-york-stands-at-a-crossroads-the-fight-over-legalized-killing/
The bill is called the “Medical Aid in Dying” act. The name itself is a masterpiece of political dishonesty. “Aid” suggests help. “Dying” suggests something inevitable. But strip away the euphemisms and you find the truth: this is a law that would put poison in the hands of vulnerable people, with almost no way to take it back, and call the killing “medicine.”
Hochul agrees to sign Medical Aid in Dying bill
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/12/hochul-agrees-sign-medical-aid-dying-bill/410219/
After months of negotiations over a controversial measure that would permit doctors to help some terminally ill patients end their lives, sources told City & State that Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce a deal to sign it on Wednesday.
‘Extremely demoralizing’: Republicans respond to the bombastic Wiles interview
White House aides and allies on Tuesday rushed to publicly defend Susie Wiles after a jaw-dropping interview in Vanity Fair had her pointedly criticizing the president and many in the Cabinet.
Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff on Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
Throughout the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration, Vanity Fair writer Chris Whipple has interviewed Wiles amid each moment of crisis. This insider’s account joins a portfolio of portraits for an unflinching, up-close look at power—and peril.
Sen. Chris Murphy after boat strike briefing: There’s ‘no fentanyl’ and ‘no legal justification’
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5651822-trump-administration-strikes-questioned/
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Tuesday’s classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirms the Trump administration has no legal or national security justification for the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Murphy said in a video on the social platform X that the two Cabinet officials admitted to lawmakers that the accused drug-trafficking vessels are believed to be smuggling cocaine, not fentanyl. He also said Rubio and Hegseth said intelligence suggested the boats were going to Europe, not the U.S., contradicting the administration’s public justification for the strikes.
6 takeaways from Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles’ unvarnished interviews
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/16/politics/takeaways-susie-wiles-interview
The money quote from the interview might be Wiles saying that Trump – a known teetotaler – has an “alcoholic’s personality.”
(Wiles denied those quotes to The New York Times, but the Times says Vanity Fair played its tape of Wiles saying these things.)
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Rav Yitzchok Abadi zt”l – A Light That Illuminated Generations
https://vinnews.com/2025/12/16/rav-yitzchok-abadi-ztl-a-light-that-illuminated-generations/
Rav Yitzchok Abadi zt”l was not simply a rav—he was an embodiment of what Torah greatness looks like when combined with brilliance, courage, humility and unwavering dedication to truth.
MAGA leaders warn Trump the base is checking out. Will he listen?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/15/trump-base-maga-midterm-voters/
Savanah Hernandez, a conservative commentator who serves as a Turning Point USA contributor, described the second Trump term so far as “underwhelming,” while crediting Trump with making positive, lasting changes to the conservative movement.
“All we’ve really seen is punchy tweets, cool video edits, but really no follow-through on any of the promises,” she said of the messaging coming from the White House.
“And if he listened to his base and he was connected to us, even just through social media, you would see that the average person is still struggling to buy groceries, that the housing crisis is still on the mind of everybody, that inflation is still a really big issue, and when Americans see billions of dollars going overseas to any country, it really feels like a betrayal when we’re struggling here at home,” Hernandez said.
Monday, December 15, 2025
Trump says looking into whether Israel violated ceasefire by killing Hamas leader
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-880379
US President Donald Trump on Monday said his administration was looking into whether Israel violated the Gaza ceasefire by killing a Hamas leader on Saturday.
The White House sent a scolding message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, expressing
Washington’s anger over the assassination of senior Hamas official Sa’ad Ra’ad, which it described as an Israeli violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, two American sources told Axios.
Donald Trump’s Response to Rob Reiner’s Death Sparks MAGA Backlash
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-response-to-rob-reiners-death-sparks-maga-backlash-11214421
"A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood," Trump wrote in a Monday morning post on Truth Social, his preferred method for communicating directly with the American public."Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS," the president continued.Trump's Monday post about Reiner concluded: "He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
Listen to the people, President Trump — they really DO feel economic pain
President Trump is stepping out of his White House bubble to address economic gloom; we expect he’ll make time to listen as well as speechify.
He needs to be careful: Slamming Democrats’ talk of “affordability” as a “con job” is readily twisted to make it seem like he doesn’t think people are suffering.
We realize that he means that Dems are responsible for the nation’s current woes; they can’t credibly claim to be the party of strong economic growth, which is the only way out of this box.
The prez can and should offer genuine assurances, but must admit the frustration is painfully real: Three-quarters of Americans view the economy negatively, a Fox News survey found last month.
RFK Jr.’s lunatic war on vaccines puts kids at risk
https://nypost.com/2025/12/14/opinion/rfk-jr-s-dangerous-war-on-vaccines-puts-kids-at-risk/
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is still chipping away at one of the biggest public health wins of the last century: the widespread use of disease-eradicating vaccines.
On Dec. 5, his handpicked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices tossed the recommendation for universal hepatitis B vaccines for infants at birth, instead advising it only for babies whose mothers tested positive for the disease — and recommending that babies who don’t get the jab at birth don’t receive it earlier than 2 months.
But … why?
The hep B vaccine has a stellar safety record, and relying on testing is a bad plan; it’s usually done in the first trimester or during birth, but can go wrong in plenty of ways — like moms being exposed post-test, or not getting tested at all.
Universal at-birth vaccination is a low-risk, very effective strategy for preventing a disease that has a 90% chance of becoming a chronic, liver-damaging, possibly deadly illness for babies who get infected.
Bondi Beach Terror Attack: At Least 16 Killed as Gunmen Target Jewish Holiday Event
https://time.com/7340702/bondi-beach-shooting-terror-attack/
At least 16 people have been killed and dozens injured after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, in what officials have described as the deadliest mass shooting to hit Australia in 30 years.
The shooting, which Australian authorities have declared a terror attack, targeted hundreds of people celebrating Hanukkah at the beach. One witness said people who were not part of the Hanukkah event were ushered aside by the shooters. The victims were aged between 10 and 87.
At least 40 people were confirmed wounded in the shooting, which began around 6.45 p.m. on Sunday at one of Sydney's most popular tourist destinations. One gunman was shot and a second was arrested.
Sunday, December 14, 2025
Saturday, December 13, 2025
How a Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking Was Freed
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/us/andrew-tate-barron-trump-romania.html
Barred from leaving Romania, Andrew Tate courted powerful figures on the American right, from Tucker Carlson to Barron Trump. Then an extraordinary order let him go.
When Andrew texted in January that the Trump administration was “on top of things,” he didn’t name names.
But several of his supporters had found roles in the incoming government.
Paul Ingrassia, who was initially named White House liaison to the Justice Department, had once been part of the Tates’ legal team. Alina Habba, a counselor to the president who would later serve a brief stint as New Jersey’s top prosecutor, told Andrew on a podcast in January that “I got your back over here.”
And Mr. Grenell, a special presidential envoy, privately discussed the Tates’ case with Romanian officials, The Times found.
Megyn Kelly and Ben Shapiro denounced the Tates. Some Republican leaders spoke out, too.
“I certainly don’t think that we should be using any influence in our government to try to get him out of what seemed to be extremely serious charges in Romania,” Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri told HuffPost, referring to Andrew.
Trump Supporter despite his supporting Drug Trader and antisemite
https://mishpacha.com/trump-flunks-the-test/
“I supported Trump with full awareness that he would frequently embarrass himself, and, by extension, me.” One such moment took place this week when the president pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, who had served only two years of a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking.
That pardon created an air of complete incoherence around American policy. At the very moment when the president has basically declared war on Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro for running drugs into the country, and has claimed the right to blast speedboats allegedly carrying those drugs out of the water, he pardons another Latin American leader-cum-drug lord.
Another of those embarrassing Trumpian moments — and one of greater consequence for the Jewish community — took place recently, when he weighed in on the controversy around Tucker Carlson’s softball interview of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.
Can one urge rounding up and killing Jews, as Fuentes has done, and still be part of the MAGA movement? That’s one question. The other: Is Carlson complicit in those ideas when he provides them with a broad audience? And if he is complicit, is he still part of the MAGA team?
Friday, December 12, 2025
‘Mamdani Effect’ Is Seeing More People Moving to New York, Not Leaving It
https://www.newsweek.com/mamdani-effect-more-people-moving-new-york-city-not-leaving-11193747
A month after Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in New York City’s mayoral election, the mass exodus of wealthy residents that landlords and real estate agents—especially down in Florida—had predicted has so far failed to materialize.
Instead, sales of luxury homes in the Big Apple—priced above $4 million—were up by 31 percent in November compared with October to 151 properties, according to the latest data by real estate brokerage firm Olshan Realty.
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Environmental group sues Trump for replacing national park pass photo with his own image
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit Wednesday to prevent President Donald Trump's face from appearing on next year's National Parks Pass.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., argues the Trump administration violated the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act by substituting the winning picture from the National Parks Foundation's annual public lands photo contest with an image of President Trump.
"Blotting out the majesty of America’s national parks with a closeup of his own face is Trump’s crassest, most ego-driven action yet," Kierán Suckling, the center's executive director, said in a statement. "The national parks are treasured by Americans of every stripe. Their timeless power and magnificence rise above even the most bitter political differences to quietly bring all Americans together."
Suckling continued, "It’s disgusting of Trump to politicize America’s most sacred refuge by pasting his face over the national parks in the same way he slaps his corporate name on buildings, restaurants, and golf courses.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Loomer on boat strikes: ‘Fentanyl isn’t being manufactured in Venezuela’
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5638688-laura-loomer-trump-venezuela-drug-strikes/
Far-right activist Laura Loomer noted inconsistencies with the Trump administration’s justification of strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of Venezuela.
Loomer said Monday on the social platform X that while she has “no sympathy for narcoterrorists being killed,” it is “worth noting” that the majority of drugs, including fentanyl, brought into the U.S. are trafficked through Mexico.“Fentanyl isn’t being manufactured in Venezuela,” she added.
Fact check: Trump’s absurd claim that he saved 100,000 lives by attacking alleged Venezuelan drug boats
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/08/politics/venezuela-drug-boats-trump
The total number of US overdose deaths from all drugs in 2024 was about 82,000, according to provisional federal data. (Even adding in reported Canadian opioid and stimulant deaths doesn’t bring the total to 100,000.) Trump is essentially claiming, in other words, that his decision to attack a small number of boats in the Caribbean – there have been at least four US strikes since the beginning of September – prevented more than a full year’s worth of deaths.
There are other issues with Trump’s claims. The White House and Defense Department have not presented proof that the boats were carrying either drugs in general or the “fentanyl, mostly” Trump claimed last week they were carrying, nor that the people on the boats were planning to try to get such drugs into the US. The Caribbean is not known to be a significant fentanyl-smuggling route, and Venezuela is not considered a significant source of the illicit fentanyl trafficked into the US. That fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico and smuggled across the US border in vehicles – generally by US citizens.
Fact-checking Trump’s claim that each boat strike off Venezuela’s coast saves 25,000 lives
President Donald Trump said U.S. military strikes on five Venezuelan boats have saved more than 100,000 lives because the maneuvers thwarted drug smuggling.
Several aspects of Trump’s statement make it wrong.
There is no way of knowing how many lives are saved as a result of drug interception efforts, drug experts have told PolitiFact.
Additionally, if Trump’s statement were accurate, the strikes on five boats in less than two months would have saved nearly double the number of U.S. lives lost to drug overdoses in an entire year.
The administration has provided no evidence about the type or quantity of drugs it says were on the boats. This lack of information makes it impossible to know how many lethal doses of the drugs could have been destroyed.
Even if the boats were carrying 25,000 lethal drug doses each, that doesn’t mean that destroying them saved 125,000 lives. There were 73,000 U.S. drug overdose deaths from May 2024 to April 2025. That means the drugs on five boats would have been responsible for 125,000 deaths, nearly double the number of U.S. overdose deaths in one year.
The amount of drugs that are stopped from entering the U.S. doesn’t indicate how many lives were saved.
We rate Trump’s statement Pants on Fire!
Honduras issues arrest warrant for ex-president Hernández recently pardoned by Trump
Luis Santos, the director of Honduras’ Specialized Unit against Corruption Crimes, told CNN a few days ago that Hernández had “an open case in the Supreme Court of Justice for money laundering and fraud,” and that an earlier international arrest warrant had been in the possession of the Ministry of Security and Interpol since September 2023.
Trump formally pardoned Hernández on Dec. 3, telling reporters at the White House “I feel pretty good about it,” and calling the prosecution a “Biden horrible witch hunt.”
The move was criticized by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress, who questioned Trump’s decision to pardon someone with a drug trafficking conviction when his administration has been so focused on disrupting drug trafficking in Latin America, ramping up military activity and launching controversial strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
Alina Habba Resigns as US Attorney, Blames ‘Politicized’ Courts
https://www.newsweek.com/alina-habba-resigns-us-attorney-new-jersey-11175799
President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, said Monday she is resigning as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, ending her effort to remain in the post after a federal appeals court ruled she had been serving unlawfully.
Habba, 41, rose to prominence as one of Trump’s most outspoken legal defenders during his four years out of office, representing him in civil cases and appearing regularly on cable news as his “legal spokesperson.” Despite her public profile, she had limited federal prosecutorial experience before her appointment to the powerful New Jersey post, which oversees federal criminal and civil enforcement across the state.
Monday, December 8, 2025
Dem rep: ‘Pretty clear’ Trump administration does not want boat strike video released
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5637591-adam-smith-trump-administration-drug-boat-video/?tbref=hp
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Sunday it is “pretty clear” that the Trump administration does not want to release video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat in September.
“If they release the video, then everything that the Republicans are saying would clearly be betrayed to be completely false,” Smith added.
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Saturday, December 6, 2025
‘Relax’ is not a winning economic message
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/06/economy-consumers-affordability-vance-johnson/
Republicans have a holiday message for cash-strapped Americans: chill out.
“Relax,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) advised on Thursday, assuring voters they will feel better once provisions from the Big Beautiful Bill kick in next year. “We are exactly on the trajectory of where we’ve always planned to be. Steady at the wheel, everybody. It’s gonna be fine."
There’s nothing as soothing as being told to calm down when you’re struggling to pay for groceries, let alone Christmas presents.
Consumers don’t see it that way. Gallup said Thursday that its Economic Confidence Index has slipped seven points to -30, its lowest reading in 17 months. Consumers estimate they will spend an average of $778 on holiday presents, down from $1,012 at this point last year. Growing numbers are using buy now, pay later services, another indication people feel strapped for cash. Data released Wednesday by ADP showed an unexpected drop in private payrolls by 32,000 last month.
Report Double-Strike Vessel Was Not Bound for U.S. Sparks Reactions Online
In September, U.S. forces struck a vessel in the Caribbean suspected of transporting narcotics. According to CNN, Bradley, who oversaw the operation, told lawmakers that the allegedly drug-laden boat was preparing to rendezvous with a larger vessel destined for Suriname, not directly to the United States. Intelligence suggested plans to transfer drugs midsea, CNN reports.
Bradley maintained in his congressional briefing that there was still a "possibility the drug shipment could have ultimately made its way from Suriname to the U.S," CNN reports, citing sources. The thought "justified" striking the smaller boat. The outlet reports that the U.S. military "was unable to locate" the larger vessel.
Friday, December 5, 2025
Trump: Military 'won't refuse' my orders
Donald Trump says he would have no problem getting the United States military to execute his orders, even ones that might be illegal under international law.
"If I say do it, they're gonna do it," Trump said. "That's what leadership is all about."
Former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden said last Friday that if a President Trump were to order the killing of terrorists' families, as he has said he would do, the military would be obliged to disobey.
Asked what he would do if the military disobeyed, Trump seemed to think that would not be an issue.
"They're not gonna refuse me. Believe me," Trump said, remarking that in the Middle East, "they're chopping off the heads of Christians and anybody else that happens to be in the way" and that waterboarding terror suspects would be acceptable. Trump then went on to hit Ted Cruz for vacillating on torture in past debates.
In explaining why killing the families of terrorists would be justified, Trump referred to the families of the 9/11 hijackers. "They knew what was happening. The wife knew exactly what was happening," Trump said.
Grand jury refuses to reindict Letitia James in mortgage fraud case
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/04/letitia-james-reindictment-trump/
The refusal by a grand jury in Norfolk was an unusual event — grand juries seldom reject a prosecutor’s case. It marks a major defeat for President Donald Trump, who has made a priority of prosecuting James, a longtime foe. As New York attorney general, James brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his real estate empire, which resulted in a verdict that Trump and others in his company had committed fraud.
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Trump is fighting the Institute of Peace in court. Now, his name is on the building
https://apnews.com/article/trump-institute-of-peace-6545c0101a02b677359f2732b019bf6a
The Trump administration has renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after President Donald Trump and has planted the president’s name on the organization’s headquarters despite an ongoing fight over the institute’s control.
It’s the latest twist in a seesaw court battle over who controls the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonprofit think tank that focuse
On Wednesday, the State Department said it renamed the organization to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace to “reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.” The new name could be seen on its building, which is near the State Department.
Watchdog finds Hegseth violated Pentagon protocol in ‘Signalgate’ affair
The inspector general inquiry centers on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the unclassified commercial messaging app to share highly sensitive U.S. attack plans.
The Pentagon’s top independent watchdog has determined that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth violated security protocols and endangered U.S. troops and objectives by using a personal device to share sensitive operational details on the unclassified messaging app Signal, according to people familiar with the findings in a forthcoming report.
How a Man Convicted of Running a Latin American Narco State Landed a Pardon
Juan Orlando Hernández’s unusual network of Trump allies and MAGA influencers helped deliver an extraordinary pardon
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Video of Hegseth Telling Military Not to Follow ‘Illegal Orders’ Resurfaces
A video of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly saying there must be "consequences" for carrying out unlawful orders has resurfaced.
"If you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that," Hegseth said in the video from 2 2016
In 2016 video, Hegseth says US troops ‘won’t follow unlawful orders’ from the president
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/02/us/hegseth-illegal-orders-video-democrats-kfile-invs
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told an audience in a previously unreported 2016 video that the US military “won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief,” and described the refusal of illegal commands as a part of the military’s ethos and standards — a message he now condemns Democrats for spreading.
Hegseth’s Decadeslong Quest to Rewrite the Rules of Engagement
Former Army National Guard major and TV personality endeared himself to Trump by defending troops accused of war crimes
Pete Hegseth built a national profile defending troops accused of violating the laws of armed conflict, a trait that won over President Trump in his first term and put him atop the Pentagon in his second.
But the defense secretary who has complained about “stupid rules of engagement” is now at the center of a Washington debate about whether a September strike against a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean amounts to a war crime, testing Hegseth’s standing with lawmakers and his leadership of the military.
Trump said he was ‘sharper than I was 25 years ago.’ Then he spent an hour appearing to doze off – again
But over the next hour and a half, Trump struggled to embody the sharpness and vigor he had just laid claim to.
In fact, he seemed to wage a lengthy and often-losing battle with a midday nap. Even as his Cabinet was assembled to engage in one of his favorite activities – singing the praises of Trump – he repeatedly appeared to doze off.
It was the kind of scene, in fact, that Trump once upon a time ridiculed as evidence of a president’s lack of stamina and fitness for the job.
Despite loss, Democrats overperformed in bright red Tennessee House race
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/02/tennessee-aftyn-behn-matt-van-epps-democrats-00674118
Nevertheless, House Republicans privately bemoaned the results.
Speaker Mike Johnson leadership’s team was bracing for a tighter than comfortable race, and the single digit margin was a hard pill to swallow after national Republicans raced to rescue Van Epps in the final days.
“It was too close,” said one House GOP leadership aide.
A sickening moral slum of an administration
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/02/trump-hegseth-rubio-ukraine-venezuela-boats/
Regarding Venezuela, Ukraine and much more, Trump and his acolytes are worse than simply incompetent.
The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself. As the recent “peace plan” for Ukraine demonstrated.
Rubio, whose well-known versatility of convictions is perhaps not infinite, told some of his alarmed former Senate colleagues that the plan was just an opening gambit from Russia — although Trump demanded that Ukraine accept it within days. South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, a precise and measured speaker, reported that, in a conference call with a bipartisan group of senators, Rubio said the plan was a Russian proposal: “He made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives. It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan.” Hours later, however, Rubio reversed himself, saying on social media that the United States “authored” the plan.
The glaring ‘hypocrisy’ behind Trump’s war on drugs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/02/trump-honduras-president-pardon-drug-boat-strikes/
For weeks, the Trump administration has demonstrated its zeal in taking on supposed “narcoterrorists” in the Western hemisphere. The United States bombed numerous boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that Trump officials claimed were transporting drugs to U.S. shores, while also rattling the saber at the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the White House has cast as both an illegitimate tyrant and a thuggish cartel boss. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting on potential U.S. plans for Venezuela, during which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hailed Trump for “taking the gloves off” and declared that “we’ve only just begun” sending drug traffickers to “the bottom of the ocean.”
According to Justice Department documents, Hernández once allegedly bragged to a drug kingpin that he was going to “stuff the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.” He caused “untold damage” and “unimaginable suffering” in the United States, U.S. prosecutors wrote in the government’s sentencing memo, recommending life in prison plus 30 years. “The defendant engaged in this egregious conduct while publicly posing as an ally of the United States in its efforts to combat the importation of narcotics that destroy countless lives in this country. But behind closed doors, the defendant protected the very traffickers he vowed to pursue.”
“It just shows that the entire counter-drug effort of Donald Trump is a charade — it’s based on lies, it’s based on hypocrisy,” Mike Vigil, the former Drug Enforcement Administration chief of international operations, told the Guardian. “He is giving a pardon to Juan Orlando Hernández and then going after Nicolás Maduro. … It’s all hypocritical.”
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Top Jewish donors take stock of GOP infighting over Israel and antisemitism
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/01/jewish-donors-gop-israel-and-antisemitism-00670406
Top Republican Jewish donors are beginning to confront a growing antisemitism problem in their party, but have yet to find consensus on how to respond.
The discomfort among top pro-Israel donors, who steer the Republican Party’s fundraising apparatus, signals the complexity of this political moment for conservative U.S. Jews. Many of them feel the Democratic Party allowed antisemitism to seep into its mainstream in recent years. Now, they fear the same could happen to the GOP.
“Anti-Israel, antisemitic — that gets conflated. A lot of them hide behind anti-Israel, and it’s very hard to prove because you truly should be allowed to be critical of Israel. I’m Justice Potter on this: I know it when I see it. They’re not just anti-Israel,” the donor added. “I think they hide behind free speech, they hide behind isolationism. I think there’s a fair amount of just classic antisemitism going on.
America has become a rogue nation. U.S. allies are looking elsewhere.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/25/europe-canada-nato-trump
Europeans and Canadians are now talking about making their own security arrangements. What would a post-American NATO — or NATO 3.0 (NATO 2.0 was the post-Cold War alliance) — mean? It could ultimately lead countries such as Germany and Poland to acquire their own nuclear arsenals. It is likely to lead to greater levels of defense integration among some NATO members — notably the Nordic-Baltic Eight — than in the alliance as a whole. It is also likely to lead U.S. allies to buy weapons from each other, rather than from Washington. And it is already resulting in greater cooperation between NATO members and the like-minded democracies of Asia: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia.
No wonder Trump is outraged by warnings about illegal orders
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/01/pete-hegseth-military-orders-boat-mark-kelly
Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor who headed the Office of Legal Counsel in the George W. Bush administration, wrote online: “If the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water,’ as the Post put it.” A working group of former judge-advocates general also weighed in: “Orders to kill survivors of an attack at sea are ‘patently illegal,’ anyone who issues or follows such orders can and should be prosecuted for war crimes, murder, or both.”
Fears grow inside military over illegal orders after Hegseth authorized follow-up boat strike
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5628685-service-members-boat-strikes-orders-hegseth
Service members’ uncertainty over whether they will be asked to carry out an illegal order or pressured to go against their training is likely to be exacerbated after The Washington Post and CNN late last week reported that Hegseth authorized a highly unusual strike to kill all survivors aboard a boat allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea this fall.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that on Sept. 2, Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out a follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean; the strike reportedly killed two people who were hanging onto the burning vessel, having survived an initial strike.
Monday, December 1, 2025
5 Polls That Spell Trouble for Donald Trump and the Republicans
https://www.newsweek.com/5-polls-trouble-donald-trump-republicans-11131436
A string of new polls paints a challenging picture for President Donald Trump and the GOP: His approval rating has plunged to a second-term low, cracks are widening in his MAGA coalition, Hispanic support is eroding, Democrats are competitive in deep-red districts, and national polling averages show Trump underwater across every major survey.
These polls paint a portrait of declining approval, rising disunity among Republican voters, and significant inroads for Democrats—even in historically conservative districts. The unfolding trends could reshape congressional control and influence the GOP’s prospects in 2028 and beyond.
Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/trump-age-health.html
Mr. Trump has prompted additional questions about his health by sharing news about medical procedures he has had, but not details about them. While in Asia, Mr. Trump revealed that he had undergone magnetic resonance imaging at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in early October.
“I gave you the full results,” Mr. Trump told reporters, mischaracterizing the summary that was released by his physician, which did not say that Mr. Trump had an M.R.I. scan and contained few other details.
“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone,” Mr. Trump wrote, “but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (“That was aced”) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!”
Trump says he’ll release MRI results; he doesn’t know what part of his body was scanned
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mri-physical-white-house-0c66f2f9fca865d842ee94329a210a42
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would release the results of his MRI test that he received in October
Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.
“It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
Noem confirms she approved deportation flights despite court order
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday confirmed that she instructed the federal government to carry out the deportation and transferring of Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador despite a court order halting the flights.
The administration has argued it was not obligated to follow the March directive from District Judge James Boasberg.
The latest DOJ filing states that Noem “directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador,” adding that the “decision was lawful and was consistent with a reasonable interpretation of the Court’s order.”
Damning report labels FBI ‘rudderless ship’ under Kash Patel — with he and Dan Bongino more concerned with building ‘personal résumés’
FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active-duty and retired agents and analysts, days after the White House denied media reports that the president is about to fire him.
A troubling new report card on the first six months of Patel’s leadership concludes he is “in over his head” and his deputy, Dan Bongino, is “something of a clown,” according to the alliance, which in two previous reports warned about crippling DEI and politicization of the FBI during the Biden administration.
Patel is described by multiple internal sources as inexperienced, with one source saying he “has neither the breadth of experience nor the bearing an FBI director needs to be successful.”
Another source, a self-professed Trump supporter, said Patel is “not very good,” “may be insecure,” and “lacks the requisite experience” or the “measured self-confidence” to be FBI director.
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Doubts Raised Over Mark Kelly’s Illegal Orders Punishment
https://www.newsweek.com/doubts-mark-kelly-illegal-orders-punishment-pentagon-11130982
According to reporting by The Associated Press, Colby Vokey, a civilian military attorney, said: “Let’s say you have a 100-year-old World War II veteran who is retired with pay and he steals a candy bar. Hegseth could bring him back and court-martial him. And that, in effect, is what is happening with Kelly.”
Patrick McLain, a retired Marine Corps judge, said: “I’ve not seen anything like the kind of wackadoodle thing they’re trying to do to Senator Kelly for essentially exercising his First Amendment right to free speech, which they don’t like.”
Pete Hegseth lashes out at 'kill them all' report on boat strikes
Since September, the Trump administration has attacked at least 21 boats traversing international waters, killing 83 people. Trump and other officials defend the boat strikes as an attempt to crackdown on illegal narcotics flooding into the U.S., but lawmakers from both parties have criticized the administration for providing no intelligence briefings or other evidence about what the vessels are carrying.
"At this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said during an Oct. 26 appearance on Fox News Sunday. "This is akin to what China does, what Iran does with drug dealers − they summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public. So it's wrong."
The commander overseeing the operation from Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, told people on the secure conference call that the survivors were still legitimate targets because they could theoretically call other traffickers to retrieve them and their cargo, according to two people. He ordered the second strike to fulfill Hegseth’s directive that everyone must be killed.
Late Friday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), respectively the chairman and senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement about the “recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels,” saying that they intend to conduct “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which are at the center of humanitarian rules and international standards, any wounded or sick combatants are to be retrieved and receive care by either side in a conflict.
But in his Nov. 28 post slamming the report, Hegseth argued that each "trafficker we kill is affiliated" with a terrorist group and the current U.S. operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. “The order was to kill everybody,” one of them said.
The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.
Hegseth’s order, which has not been previously reported, adds another dimension to the campaign against suspected drug traffickers. Some current and former U.S. officials and law-of-war experts have said that the Pentagon’s lethal campaign — which has killed more than 80 people to date — is unlawful and may expose those most directly involved to future prosecution.
Saturday, November 29, 2025
What is an autopen and why can’t Trump stop talking about it?
On Friday, Donald Trump claimed that he will reverse everything that Joe Biden has signed with an autopen.
It remains unclear how Trump plans to undo the majority of Biden’s decisions, although presidents are legally allowed to reverse executive orders signed by their predecessors. However, the president does not have authority to overturn his predecessor’s pardons, according to legal scholars who point to the constitution.
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-u-s-peace-business-ties-4db9b290
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.
Counterterrorism officials vetted Guard shooting suspect before he entered U.S.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/11/28/dc-shooting-afghan-resettlement-immigration
The Afghan national accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House this week underwent thorough vetting by counterterrorism authorities before entering the United States, according to people with direct knowledge of the case.
A key question from critics has been whether any evacuees managed to enter the U.S. without proper vetting. Lakanwal, however, would not have been among them, according to the individuals, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. One of the individuals said Lakanwal was vetted years ago, before working with the CIA in Afghanistan, and then again before he arrived in the U.S. in 2021. Those examinations involved both the National Counterterrorism Center as well as the CIA, the person said.
Trump rages about New York Times story on age: ‘PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST’
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/26/donald-trump-nyt-age-health-00669553
President Donald Trump lashed out at The New York Times for a story this week that pointed to his advanced age and a diminished White House schedule, extolling what he sees as his administration’s wins and accusing the publication of unfair coverage.
“There will be a day when I run low on Energy, it happens to everyone, but with a PERFECT PHYSICAL EXAM AND A COMPREHENSIVE COGNITIVE TEST (‘That was aced’) JUST RECENTLY TAKEN, it certainly is not now!” the president boasted on social media.
Hegseth defends strikes after WaPo ‘kill everybody’ story: ‘Fake news’
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5626054-defense-secretary-defends-drug-strikes
The Post cited sources who said Hegseth had ordered “to kill everybody” on an alleged drug boat in an early September attack, which reportedly required two strikes after an initial one failed to kill all on board.
The U.S. military has carried out over 20 strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing more than 80 people that the administration has said were “narco-terrorists.”
The strikes have resulted in backlash from both sides of the aisle, with some raising questions about the legal grounding of the attacks.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a Friday post on X sharing the Post’s report that “if you want to know why Hegseth is panicking about reminders that there is accountably for giving or carrying out illegal orders, it’s likely because he knows he has given illegal orders to murder people.”
Trump says he will pardon former Honduran president serving sentence in drug-trafficking case
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/28/politics/trump-honduran-president-juan-orlando-hernandez-pardon
President Donald Trump said Friday he intends to grant a “full and complete pardon” to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a move that would erase a major US drug-trafficking conviction for a onetime US ally who is currently serving a 45-year federal prison sentence.
Prosecutors had accused Hernández of conspiring with drug cartels during his tenure as they moved more than 400 tons of cocaine through Honduras toward the United States. In exchange, prosecutors said, Hernández received millions of dollars in bribes that he used to fuel his rise in Honduran politics.
During his years in office, the Justice Department said, Hernández “protected and enriched the drug traffickers in his inner circle.” Prosecutors cited his use of executive power to support extraditions to the US of certain drug traffickers “who threatened his grip on power,” while “promising drug traffickers who paid him and followed his instructions that they would remain in Honduras.”
The Kingmaker from Williamsburg endorsed Mamdani
https://mishpacha.com/the-kingmaker-from-williamsburg
“How could you endorse Mamdani?” Tough questions for Satmar askan Rabbi Moishe Indig
The first anti-Semite in history was Eisav. And what did Yaakov do? He gave him piles of gifts. Ja, mein Herr. Yeah, I’m your slave, how are you? What else can I do for you? He hugged and kissed him even while Eisav was trying to bite him.
With this approach, we’ve won over many people.
For example, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso was considered for years to be an outright enemy of our community, but now he’s a great friend. The same is true for Ed Day in Monsey, and many others.
I said to him, “The perception is that you are an anti-Semite. So I want to ask you straight out, are you an anti-Semite?”
He said, “No, I’m not an anti-Semite. I just don’t like what Israel is doing in Gaza.”
Friday, November 28, 2025
Crows know the future
Malbim (Bereishis 08:07) And Noach sent out the crow – in ancient times they thought that crows knew about the future and therefore they had special houses for them and their priests were thought to be able to divine the future from whether they flew to the right or left or up or down whether they were silent or made noise
Thursday, November 27, 2025
National Guard Shooting Suspect Granted Asylum by Trump Admin:
The suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House on Wednesday was granted asylum by President Donald Trump's administration, it has been reported.
A source familiar with the case and a separate law enforcement source told NBC News that Rahmanullah Lakanwal was granted asylum in the U.S. this year. CBS also reported that Lakanwal had applied for asylum in 2024 and that his application was granted earlier this year.
Lakanwal, 29, is reported to be an Afghan national who came to the United States as part of Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden-era effort to resettle Afghans who assisted U.S. forces. He was then granted asylum in the U.S. in April 2025, CNN reports.
The suspect worked with the U.S. government in Afghanistan, including with the CIA, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement.
Trump brushes off concerns about Witkoff’s interactions with Russians as leaked transcript roils Washington
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/26/politics/trump-witkoff-russian-call
The transcript generated concern among some GOP Russia hawks on Capitol Hill who asserted that Witkoff was too much under Russia’s spell. Rep. Don Bacon called for him to be fired.
“For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he?” Bacon wrote on X.
Russia rejects major concessions on Ukraine as leaked call shows Witkoff advising Moscow
https://www.jpost.com/international/internationalrussia-ukraine-war/article-876329
Russia will make no big concessions on a peace plan for Ukraine, a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday, after a leaked recording of a call involving US envoy Steve Witkoff showed he had advised Moscow on how to pitch to Donald Trump.
The plan - and the leaked Witkoff call - prompted unusually harsh criticism from Trump's fellow Republicans, who have generally marched in lockstep with the president since he began his second term.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the party's former Senate leader, said Russia should not be rewarded. "A deal that rewards aggression wouldn’t be worth the paper it’s written on. America isn’t a neutral arbiter, and we shouldn't act like one," he said on X.
Trump, on Air Force One, brushed aside a question from a reporter about why Witkoff appeared to be coaching Russian officials as "what a dealmaker does" and "a very standard form of negotiation."
The Psychology of Hypocrisy – Why We Do it & How to Stop
https://www.straighttalkcounseling.org/post/the-psychology-of-hypocrisy-why-we-do-it-how-to-stop
At the root of hypocrisy is fear and low self-esteem. We use hypocrisy to avoid looking at our shortcomings and figure out our part in it. It typically stems from a sincere belief that we should not be held to the same standards as others because we have better intentions. Our belief is juster, nobler, and sincerer.
It feels good to be morally superior to someone else. It helps us to avoid humility, which is a very painful emotion. Even the best of us use hypocrisy when we feel attacked. For example, in the workplace, we may enjoy gossiping about our coworker’s poor performance but are secretly concerned about our own job performance. It’s a deflection to avoid dealing with our own problems because we don’t want to be judged.
The moral hypocrisy of Trump’s GOP enablers
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4713212-the-moral-hypocrisy-of-trumps-gop-enablers
So it was strange that Johnson has allied himself with the manifestly immoral Donald Trump. Wearing the uniform of the day, a blue suit festooned with a red tie, Johnson — who has supported outlawing pornography, penned op-eds opposing marriage equality and advocated against everything from abortion to LGBTQ rights — traveled to a dingy courthouse in downtown New York City to voice his support for Donald Trump on trial for committing 34 felonies related to hush money payments to a porn actress.
Johnson doesn’t share Trump’s interest in porn stars. He and his son have purchased the Covenant Eyes porn surveillance app, which scans all your online activity and “sends a report to your accountability partner,” Johnson told some Louisiana Baptists a couple of years ago. “My accountability partner right now is Jack, my son. He’s 17. … I’m proud to tell you, my son has a clean slate.”
Hypocrisy should come as no surprise in a politician, and perhaps it is not misplaced, but this one rivals Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn denying he was gay even as he was dying of AIDS.
Hypocrisy, Spinelessness, and the Triumph of Donald Trump
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/10/trump-gop-support-jd-vance-2024/679564
But I was struck by one theme that Trump kept pounding on over and over: that he was used to dealing with “brutal, vicious killers”—by which he meant his fellow ruthless operators in showbiz, real estate, casinos, and other big-boy industries. In contrast, he told me, politicians are saps and weaklings.
“I will roll over them,” he boasted, referring to the flaccid field of Republican challengers he was about to debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that September. They were “puppets,” “not strong people.” He welcomed their contempt, he told me, because that would make his turning them into supplicants all the more humiliating.
Amid measles outbreak, study finds skepticism of routine vaccines soared during COVID
As Israel contends with one of its most severe outbreaks of measles in decades, a Bar-Ilan University researcher says that the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic has diminished public trust in childhood vaccines, leading to the current outbreak.
Those findings, published in a recent study, come as 11 children, most of them unvaccinated, have died of measles in Israel since May. As of late October, according to the Health Ministry, there were 1,644 reported cases of infections and 577 hospitalizations.
Trump wants a bigger White House ballroom. His architect disagrees.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/26/trump-ballroom-architect-james-mccrery
President Donald Trump has argued with the architect he handpicked to design a White House ballroom over the size of the project, reflecting a conflict between architectural norms and Trump’s grandiose aesthetic, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
Trump’s desire to go big with the project has put him at odds with architect James McCrery II, the people said, who has counseled restraint
Judge dismisses Georgia criminal case against Donald Trump
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/26/georgia-donald-trump-electon-case-00669703
The criminal case against Donald Trump in Georgia is officially dead.
“There is no realistic prospect that a sitting President will be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial on the allegations in this indictment,” wrote Peter Skandalakis, a prosecutor who assigned himself the case after failing to find another prosecutor to take it over. “Donald J. Trump’s current term as President of the United States of America does not expire until January 20, 2029; by that point, eight years will have elapsed” since the alleged crimes in question.
Skandalakis ultimately said he lacked the resources to take the sprawling case to trial and it would be unwise to do so even if it was feasible.
“Continuing this litigation under these circumstances would neither serve the citizens of Georgia nor fulfill our statutory obligations. Our agency is simply not equipped to carry out this case while meeting the essential duties required under the current budget — or under any realistically conceivable budget the State could provide,” wrote Skandalakis, who heads up a state prosecutors’ council in Georgia. “In my professional judgment, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years.”
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Can military members refuse orders?
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/explainer-military-members-refuse-orders/story?id=127865412
Members of the U.S. military have the legal right to refuse orders they believe are unlawful, but they risk violating military laws of obedience if the order is in fact lawful, experts in military law say.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA officer who participated in the video, told ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday that the lawmakers put out the video because they had been approached directly by military officers with concerns.
"We've had report after report of legal officers, JAG officers, coming forward and saying, 'Look, I push back on this. I'm not sure that this is legal,'" Slotkin said. "There is such things as illegal orders. That's why it's in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Going back to Nuremberg, right? And it's just a -- it's a totally benign statement."
Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff’s Ties to Russia Come Under Scrutiny. Here’s What to Know
https://time.com/7336906/steve-witkoff-russia-call-trump-ukraine-peace-plan/
President Donald Trump appears unfazed that a Cabinet-level envoy appeared to be advising the other side in ongoing foreign-policy negotiations.
After Bloomberg published a bombshell report on Tuesday revealing a purported transcript of U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff, who has been credited with helping to broker the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and who is currently working on U.S. efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, guiding Vladimir Putin’s senior foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov on how the Kremlin could best get through to Trump.
Putin apparently followed through. A Kremlin readout of an Oct. 16 call with Trump said that Putin “started out by congratulating Donald Trump on his successful efforts to normalise the situation in the Gaza Strip.” A few weeks later, the Trump Administration unveiled a 28-point peace proposal for Ukraine that was reportedly drafted by Witkoff. Observers said it heavily favored Russia’s priorities, and Reuters reported that it drew significantly from a paper outlining Russia’s conditions for an end to the war.
Atstrogy and Magic are real
Ramchal (Fundamentals Magic) Stars actually influence events. All the influences coming from above for the purpose of the lower ones pass through the stars. However their influence is only according to what is drawn from above. To all these spiritual beings, God gave permission to influence the lower worlds with actions that are not in accordance with the natural way, That which is closer beneath them is more influenced. When the lowest are influenced by the middle forces you should know that they were prepared and selected for this. However none have in them the power to act independently with its own volition to do everything they want. Everyone is limited and restrained as to what it can do. |In these things there are matters which are permitted and those that are forbidden .This is the subject of Sefer Yetzira and Kishuf.
Scouts ‘surprised and deeply saddened’ by Hegseth’s proposal to cut ties
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5621952-scouting-america-us-military
Scouting America responded on Tuesday to a reported memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to cut ties with the organization, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the potential policy change, as the military has given its support to the Scouts since 1937.
Hegseth is reportedly upset with the group for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. His memo, first reported by NPR, accuses Scouting America — formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America — of attacking boy-friendly spaces and for being “genderless.” The memo has yet to be sent to Congress.
Congress requires the Pentagon to support Scouting America’s Jamboree, lending trucks, ambulances and medical teams free of charge.
Do amulets and spells have any influence on human activities?
Or HaShem (4:5) Do amulets and spells have any influence on human activities?: There were in fact some wise men of our nations who took took an extreme position on this and held that the one who believes in them is a mistaken and gullible person. Nevertheless, we can not deny our senses and what was stated openly by the Sages in many places in the Talmud that attest to the validity of amulets and spells. , However we need to clarify this question and the appearance of the negation of this claim., and it is how the intended action will reach the action in amulets or spells, which is the question of how amulets and spells might work to influence human activities since they are clearly outside the natural reality? And this has already been explained in what is beyond nature, and that whatever brings out the potential in something into reality, can only produce that which exists in them. Therefore, amulets and spells do not act to do what is expected in them since they don’t possesss the necessary abilities. And thus they can not independently to produce the desired effects. We have already said that G-d also does not directly cause the activity. Thus the desired consequences which are attributed exclusively to the amulets and spells in fact requires G-d’s involvement. While at first thought this seems very disgusting and degrading especially sometimes what is desired is good and sometimes it is bad and harmful that G-d should assent to the evil in addition this seems to contradict free will of man. Thus it would seem that neither man or G-d is the actual agent in their influence. So what is the source of the power of amulets and spells? One possibility is that there is not a single explanation that applies equally to all amulets and spells. In other words perhaps some work by the power of the mazzel while others work because of G-d. Thus the amulets and spells serve merely as intermediaries. Thus some work through widom and fear of sin and are actualy holy activities and correct thought like prayer or Divine worship which we have established actually work. In other words some amulets and spells help establish proper thought. Others work primarily through mazzel and thus serve as tools to direct the power of mazzel down to our lowly world. While the philosophers claim they are useless and mere false fantasies unable to accomplish anything except by accident and chance. In fact we see that the Sun causes heat in the world while the Moon cools it off. How is this possible? It must be that the Sun somehow influences the natural heat and the Moon influences the natural coolness. Thus heavenly bodies clearly influence Nature
Rabbeinu Bachya (Devarim 18:11) “practicing divinations;” It is important to appreciate in the context of this whole subject matter that when G-d created the universe out of “nothing,” He made the celestial beings into leaders of the terrestrial creatures who were below them. He established a kind of hierarchy in which “lower” creatures were subjected to input by “higher” creatures. Eventually, at some point, even these higher creatures become subject to direct input by totally abstract beings, angels, which have been assigned certain tasks by G-d. These angels, when they represent the nations on earth, for instance, may be perceived as the “soul” of their terrestrial protegees. This system is permanent for the duration of the terrestrial universe and the commander-in chief of these angels who represent these nations is the Lord Himself. However, G’d allowed these “protective” angels of the nations to “reverse direction,” on occasion in order to head off certain dangers threatening their protegees as a result of planetary, horoscopic forces.
Is It ‘Seditious’ or ‘Illegal’ to Urge the Military to Refuse Unlawful Orders? Legal Experts Weigh In
https://time.com/7336802/trump-military-orders-mark-kelly-democratic-lawmakers-video
President Donald Trump and members of his Administration have suggested that six Democratic politicians violated the law by urging members of the military and the intelligence community to refuse unlawful orders. But legal experts tell TIME that there was nothing illegal about the politicians’ message.
But legal experts say that nothing in the video was “seditious” or “illegal,” and that there is no basis for the Pentagon to investigate Kelly for participating in the video.
In an interview the following day, Trump said he was “not threatening” the lawmakers. “But,” he added, “I think they’re in serious trouble. In the old days, they would have [been] dead.”
Putin says authorities must galvanize Russian identity in Ukraine
https://www.jpost.com/international/internationalrussia-ukraine-war/article-875221
Long links between Russia and Ukraine, from even before the Soviet era, mean that some Ukrainians have traditionally been sympathetic to Russia, and most speak both languages. But since the invasion, any such sympathy has vanished, and surveys show that the use of Russian has declined sharply.
Putin has long cast doubt on Ukraine's historical identity as distinct from Russia.
Russia alleges that neo-Nazi ideology has permeated Ukrainian public life since a 2014 public uprising forced the Russia-friendly president of the time to flee the country.
Russia Blasts Leaked Call Between Trump Envoy, Putin Aide on Ukraine
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-war-news-call-leak-trump-putin-witkoff-11110359
Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the leak of a call between him and U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff was intended to meddle with the building of Moscow-Washington relations, as a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine takes shape.
In the call, reported by Bloomberg, Witkoff privately coached senior Kremlin advisers, including Ushakov, on how to pitch a Ukraine peace deal to Trump. The initial 28-point draft plan that emerged after Witkoff's conversations with Russian officials was criticized by Ukraine and its European allies as tantamount to capitulation to Moscow.
Top Trump aide Steve Witkoff coached Russians how to win over US president with flattery during Ukraine peace talks: report
On the five-minute call, Witkoff advised Ushakov to instruct Putin to congratulate Trump and open the conversation with some complimentary remarks.
The Russia-friendly plan, which called for Ukraine to give up the entire Donbas region, shrink its army by a third, and abandon its NATO ambition, was eventually slimmed down to a 19-point plan by senior Washington and Kyiv delegations.
The new plan would nix one of the most controversial provisions that Ukraine would have to give up territory in the Donbas that Russia has been unable to conquer in more than 11 years of war there.