https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-melts-down-over-trumps-disrespectful-pope-post/
Trump shared the AI-generated image in a Friday night Truth Social post after telling reporters that he “would like to be Pope.” He quipped that he was his own “No. 1 choice” to replace the late Pope Francis. However, some MAGA believers felt that not even Trump is above the papacy.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5281355-vance-trump-ai-pope-post/
Vice President Vance defended President Trump from criticism regarding his Friday Truth Social post portraying himself as a pontiff days after the death of Pope Francis.
The following is Sotah (11b): R. Awira expounded: As the reward for the righteous women who lived in that generation were the Israelites delivered from Egypt. When they went to draw water, the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged that small fishes should enter their pitchers, which they drew up half full of water and half full of fishes. They then set two pots on the fire, one for hot water and the other for the fish, which they carried to their husbands in the field, and washed, anointed, fed, gave them to drink and had intercourse with them among the sheepfolds, as it is said: When ye lie among the sheepfolds etc.4 As the reward for ‘ When ye lie among the sheepfolds’, the Israelites merited the spoliation of the Egyptians, as it is said: As the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with yellow gold.5 After the women had conceived they returned to their homes; and when the time of childbirth arrived, they went and were delivered in the field beneath the apple-tree, as it is said: Under the apple-tree I caused thee to come forth [from thy mother's womb] etc.6 The Holy One, blessed be He, sent down someone from the high heavens who washed and straightened the limbs [of the babes] in the same manner that a midwife straightens the limbs of a child; as it is said: And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee.7 He also provided for them two cakes, one of oil and one of honey, as it is said: And He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil etc.8 When the Egyptians noticed them, they went to kill them; but a miracle occurred on their behalf so that they were swallowed in the ground, and [the Egyptians] brought oxen and ploughed over them, as it is said: The ploughers ploughed upon my back.9 After they had departed, [the Israelite women with their babes] broke through [the earth] and came forth like the herbage of the field, as it is said: I caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field;10 and when [the babes] had grown up, they came in flocks to their homes, as it is said: And thou didst increase and wax great and didst come with ornaments11 — read not with ornaments [ba'adi ‘adayim] but in flocks [be'edre ‘adarim]. At the time the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself by the Red Sea, they recognised Him first, as it is said: This is my God and I will praise Him.
Igros Moshe (Choshen Mishpat II #74.2) Question Is there an obligation to treat an incurable patient who will remain in great pain?. Answer We can assume that people prefer to die rather than have a life of suffering so perhaps it is not required to treat him. However the gemora (Avoda Zara 18a) tells about a martyr Rabbi Chanina ben Teradyon) who was being burnt to death and he said it was prohibited to hasten his own death by opening his mouth as this was a form of murder and obviously it is not permitted to hasten another’s death. This that he encouraged the executioner to shorten his life is perhaps he was not concerned that the executioner would commit murder since it would benefit him. It is also possible that there is no prohibition for a goy to kill when it benefits the victim which is not so for a Jew. Perhaps this is reflected in that the non Jew has a different prohibition for killing than the Jew I have discussed this at length because this is a very important issue. And the question arises occassionally. However to actually decide what to do requires very great thought and investigation. Therefore it is necessary to gather as many Torah scholars as possible together with the expert doctors that are available and have hope that G-d will provide the proper understanding in this serious matter.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-852221
Tesla board members last month reached out to several executive search firms to look for a successor for CEO Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
The “de minimis” trade exemption allowing online retailers and marketplaces to ship low-cost items without paying duties will be closed Friday, likely increasing the prices of items sold on Temu, Shein, eBay and Etsy, among others.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/02/economy/de-minimis-packages-tariff
Many Americans might not have felt major effects from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs – until now.
That’s because a major shipping loophole expired at one minute past midnight on Friday. The de minimis exemption, as it’s known, allowed shipments of goods worth under $800 to come into the US duty free, often more or less skipping time-consuming inspections and paperwork.
The loophole helped reshape the way countless Americans shop, allowing ultra-low-cost Chinese e-commerce sites like Shein, Temu and AliExpress to pour everything from yarn to patio furniture, clothes to photography equipment and more into US homes.
The surface explanation is that Mr. Waltz had to take the fall for accidentally adding a reporter to a Signal group chat on the Houthis. But if so, why keep Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared details of U.S. attack plans on the chat? Without that blunder, Mr. Waltz’s use of Signal to ask for his colleagues’ points of contact would have been a minor embarrassment.
President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, former real estate attorney and investor Steve Witkoff, has left administration insiders distressed by his approach to negotiating with two of America’s greatest adversaries.
Witkoff, who has become Trump’s de facto personal ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin in addition to taking on the Middle East portfolio, takes part in high-level meetings alone — and is said to have even occasionally leaned on Kremlin translators — in a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure, multiple sources told The Post.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-852204
Some fear that handling both Hamas and Iran will be too much for Steve Witkoff.
“Wait a minute. Terry. Terry, Terry,” Trump said during Tuesday’s interview, refusing to move on.
“He did not have the letter ‘M-S-1-3,’” Moran said.
“It says ‘M-S-1-3,’” Trump insisted.
“That was Photoshopped,” Moran said.
“That was Photoshopped? Terry you can’t do that,” Trump told Moran.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/01/politics/alien-enemies-act-trump-rodriguez-ruling
The ruling is a significant blow to Trump’s decision in March to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which has faced numerous legal challenges and has been halted by several courts. But Rodriguez’s ruling is the first to conclude that the president exceeded his authority by relying on a law that was intended to be used during times when the US is at war.
The Trump administration, Rodriguez wrote, does “not possess the lawful authority under the AEA, and based on the Proclamation, to detain Venezuelan aliens, transfer them within the United States, or remove them from the country.”
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5277593-judge-trump-alien-enemies-act-texas
A federal district judge ruled Thursday that the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) does not permit President Trump to swiftly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador, extending a block on the law being used against migrants detained in South Texas.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a Trump appointee, said the rarely used law can only be invoked when an “organized, armed force” is entering the United States, rejecting the president’s claims that he can use it against alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-01-2025/
Fire service stresses ban on visiting national parks and forests in areas near fires during Independence Day * Three people rescued from blaze at Bat Yam senior home
