Monday, September 29, 2025
I treat pregnant patients in the ER. Trump’s advice is ridiculous.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/09/28/trump-tylenol-autism-free-speech-israel
The science of determining medication risk during pregnancy is complex. Recommendations change over time as we accumulate more scientific evidence, and all health care providers agree that we should limit unnecessary medication use during pregnancy. But right now, there is no convincing evidence to support a causal relationship between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that physiological stress on a mother can be harmful to a developing fetus. High fevers can cause miscarriage, premature birth and birth defects. And even if we ignore fetal risk, women should not have to unnecessarily grit their teeth through fever and pain for nine months.
Trump set to bail out Argentina, irking some in ‘America First’ camp
Trump set to bail out Argentina, irking some in ‘America First’ camp
President Donald Trump’s decision to give Argentina a $20 billion financial lifeline has stirred anger among some of his most loyal supporters and raised questions about the limits of his “America First” approach to the global economy.
The president’s customary allergy to using taxpayer money to help other nations makes the Argentine rescue especially noteworthy. Since taking office in January, Trump has slashed U.S. foreign aid programs, slow-walked military assistance for Ukraine and demanded that close allies like South Korea and Japan pay for a greater share of their defense.
Argentina Took a Chainsaw to Its Economy. It Now Needs US Help
https://www.newsweek.com/argentina-took-a-chainsaw-to-its-economy-it-now-needs-us-help-10780008
Argentina’s economy, recently hailed by some as a poster child for radical free market reform, now finds itself seeking American goodwill to navigate its latest crisis.
Milei—whom Trump has previously dubbed his “favorite president”—was the first foreign leader to meet the president after his victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Argentine's radical reforms have been viewed as the inspiration for Elon Musk during his time as symbolic chief of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Handling inflation has been Milei’s crowning achievement, with the monthly rate now sitting at 1.9 percent as of August, compared to 25.5 percent the month he took office.
But despite this, and Milei’s cost-cutting moves helping to bring the country’s budget back into surplus, Argentina once again finds itself in economic turmoil. The currency is under attack, foreign reserves are dangerously low, and the country’s benchmark index has now fallen over 30 percent in the year-to-date.
Friday, September 26, 2025
Is there a topic index for Igrot Moshe?
https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/77634/is-there-a-topic-index-for-igrot-moshe
Is there a topic index, or even better an online search that I can do to locate specific topics in Igrot Moshe?
There is a very popular sefer called Yad Moshe which is an index for Igros Moshe. See here.
Yad Moshe, the classic index to Igrot Moshe, authored by Daniel Eidensohn now exists in English. It is printed on demand so shouldn't get out of stock.
The rabbinical courts: Sick system at the heart of society - opinion
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-868336
Disturbing recent publications have revealed judges in the rabbinical courts accused of corruption and other offenses.
This comes against a backdrop of appointments tainted by nepotism and the rewarding of misconduct with promotions, rather than with painful punishment. These cases point to a system suffering from low functional performance and missing professional standards.
Yet, contrary to all logic and almost without opposition, this same system has recently been growing in power. In recent months, we have witnessed laws to expand the rabbinical courts’ authority passing unopposed, touching on sensitive issues regarding children, finances, alimony, and more.
At the core of the matter is the pretense of Jewish law. Yet, Jewish law contains a great deal of compassion, flexibility, and sensitivity. Through it, one can strive to do justice and fulfill the commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Trump's Argentina bailout deepens Illinois farmers' woes
The Trump administration threw Argentina a financial life raft this week, and Argentina promptly responded by offering China an enticement in the form of untaxed soybeans.
The bottom line: The U.S. propped up Argentina, and Beijing reaped the reward, potentially leaving American farmers as collateral damage.
Trump Admin’s $20 Billion ‘Bail Out’ for Argentina’s Milei Raises Eyebrows
Some critics, as well as allies such as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, have expressed confusion and concern over the move, with Bannon writing on Gettr on Thursday, "Wat."
Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in a Thursday X post: "Farmers VERY upset abt Argentina selling soybeans to China right after USA bail out Still ZERO USA soybeans sold to China Meanwhile China is still hitting USA w 20% retaliatory tariff NEED CHINA TRADE DEAL NOW farmers need markets 2boost farm economy."
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said on X: "Donald Trump wants to lend $20 billion of our money to bail out a political ally and his global investors before an election. Oh, and Argentina just struck a major deal with China that crushes American soybean farmers already suffering from Trump's tariffs. 'America First.'"
America’s Zombie Democracy
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/america-authoritarian-regime-ai-suicide/684350/
We are living in an authoritarian state.
These are the features of the modern authoritarian state. Every one of them exists today in this country. Checks on President Donald Trump’s power, whether in the framework of law and constitutional government or in the broader society, have grown so weak that he can do pretty much what he wants. He sends masked police to pick people off the streets without probable cause for arrest, disappear them into secret prisons, and ship them off to random countries. He fires experienced, patriotic civil servants and replaces them with unqualified toadies. He takes open bribes from foreign countries and American business interests in the form of a luxury jet or a meme coin. He tells media companies to stop criticizing him, or else—and many of them do.
Yet the Founding Fathers warned over and over about the arrival of an authoritarian demagogue. They wrote a Constitution that they thought would be the best defense against one. In 1838, a young Abraham Lincoln said that the republic would never be overthrown from abroad: “If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” How did it come to this? How have we let it come to this? Because it’s not just being done to us. We are doing it to ourselves.
NATO Is At War with Russia Says Kremlin, As Drone Incursions Continue in Europe
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-war-nato-eu-kremlin-live-updates-10779156
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday, per a Public Telegram Board, that NATO and the European Union are waging war against Russia “using Ukraine as a proxy” and are “directly participating” in the conflict. Lavrov’s comments follow repeated Kremlin claims that Western military and financial support for Ukraine amounts to direct hostility toward Russia.
Are We Obligated to Forgive?
https://aish.com/are-we-obligated-to-forgive
The truth is, although you feel you must forgive everyone who has hurt you, that is really not the case. Jewish law advises that we be forgiving to our fellow, but that is referring specifically to if the person truly regrets what he did and comes to beg our forgiveness. If (and only if) that occurs, we are told to open our hearts and accepts his apology.
If, however, a person hurt you and does not even care, you most certainly do not have to magically erase all your hurt and forgive him. Forgiveness comes after the apology and resolution, not before.
The Jewish Ethicist Granting Forgiveness
A careful study of Jewish sources reveals that forgiveness fulfills two distinct roles - one religious, and one personal.
The religious role of forgiveness is that it enables the wrongdoer to achieve atonement for his act. It is a firm doctrine of Jewish belief that God doesn't grant full forgiveness for our sins against our fellow man until we obtain forgiveness directly from the wronged individual.