Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Trump claims Iran won’t enrich uranium, will give up uranium, while US lifts sanctions
No indication Tehran accepted such terms, as US president threatens tariffs, touts progress; Pentagon claims Iranian military decimated, despite ongoing missile, drone attacks
Netanyahu says Iran’s enriched uranium will leave 'by agreement or renewed fighting'
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syqsawv2be#google_vignette
PM says Israel aligned with US on removing Iran’s remaining enriched uranium, casts temporary ceasefire as only waypoint in war and vows that Hezbollah would remain outside truce as Israel stays ready to resume combat at any moment
Retired general: Trump ‘an absolutely terrible commander in chief’
CNN’s Kate Bolduan asked Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson about his reaction to Trump’s heightened rhetoric. The president was doubling down on an earlier warning to Iran after giving them until 8 p.m. EDT on Tuesday to agree to a deal.
“Well, we already knew that Donald Trump was a pretty bad president, but now we know that he’s an absolutely terrible commander in chief as well,” he answered. “I mean, he continues to vacillate –– offers contradictory messaging about what’s going on and does he support the Iranian people? Does he not? Does he support regime change? Does he not? Are the allies with us? Does he need them? It goes on and on and on.”
“This guy is just not competent in terms of leading this force,” Anderson continued. “He has not set clear objectives, clear definable objectives, that the military can truly execute.”
Anderson predicted Trump will extend the deadline because Trump cannot do what he said he will do, “which is to bomb every single civilian target in the theater in Iran.”
Iran insists on uranium enrichment as Trump promises ban on enrichment
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/425199
While President Trump insists Iran will not be allowed to enrich uranium under the negotiated agreement, Iran's version of the plan includes an acknowledgement of its right to enrichment.
Israel greets Iran ceasefire with more unease than relief
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/08/israel-netanyahu-iran-ceasefire-00863490
Critics on the left and right say the truce leaves Israel’s core concerns unresolved, even as Trump hails a new opening for the region.
Trump’s Iran brinkmanship reaches truce, escalates backlash at home
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/08/trump-iran-threats-deal/
The president’s ultimatum drew condemnation across the political spectrum and intensified open debate about his credibility, morality and sanity.
“The President’s threat that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a statement on Tuesday. “This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years. It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home.”
Iran’s government also portrayed the deal as a victory and is demanding a role in supervising passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which it did not have before the war.
“There is no military solution to the conflict right now,” Joe Kent, Trump’s counterterrorism adviser who resigned last month in protest of the war, said in an online video after the president’s announcement Tuesday night. “Every action that we’ve taken militarily has only strengthened the regime, and it’s done a lot to destabilize the entire region.”
Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) called Trump’s threat “evil and madness.” Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who maintains a large following online, accused Trump of desecrating Sunday’s Easter holiday with a profane social media post and of being willing to commit “a moral crime.”
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
Monday, April 6, 2026
Trump brushes off questions about potential war crimes in Iran
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5818411-trump-iran-strikes-war-crimes/
On Sunday, Trump threatened to strike Iranian bridges and power plants if the country does not open the Strait of Hormuz.
International law experts are warning that following through on Trump’s threats of total destruction in Iran could constitute war crimes. On Thursday, more than 100 international law experts in the U.S. signed an open letter warning that U.S. strikes in Iran, including threatened strikes on energy infrastructure, could be deemed war crimes.
The U.S. has already faced backlash for the missile strike on the all-girls Iranian Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school. The strike killed at least 175 people, most of them children. There is an ongoing military investigation that preliminarily determined responsibility was on the U.S.
The U.S. and Iran received a ceasefire proposal from Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey that included a 45-day ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz opening.
Trump’s many threats of possible war crimes reach a crescendo in Iran
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/06/politics/war-crimes-trump-iran
Just five months after President Donald Trump and his allies appeared indignant over a video in which six congressional Democrats warned service members not to obey illegal orders, Trump is showing exactly what they were talking about.
He’s set an 8 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline for Iran to agree to a deal and re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Otherwise, Trump has repeatedly said, he will strike Iranian infrastructure sites including power plants, bridges, oil wells and possibly others like water desalination plants in ways that could well amount to war crimes.
It remains to be seen whether he follows through if there is no deal. He has repeatedly delayed his deadline, which was initially set for two weeks ago, despite little evidence of serious negotiations.
When asked Monday about possibly committing war crimes, Trump said he wasn’t worried about it.
“You know the war crime?” he told reporters at the White House. “The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
G-d Can Alter Nature but Generally Doesn't
Ramchal (Derech Hashem (02:06.06) Regarding miracles: But note that He changes the rules of creation according to His will at any time that He wants; and He does miracles and wonders with different things as He desires. He does this as He decrees that it will be proper for the purpose of creation according to the situation or according to the time. So what is this that the Sages said, "G-d made conditions with all of the work of creation."? It is not that G-d would not change anything from now on. For He could certainly make a complete change any time He wants. Rather the matter is that at the time of the creation, He showed and informed all of the roots of the creatures their functions, the truth of their existence, the purpose of their creation, what they would effect in the future with their processes and what would be the end of their functions. And they grasped and knew that all was going to be for the purpose of the true good. And they accepted the thing and rejoiced in it. And this is the meaning of that which the Sages said in a homiletical teaching, "All the works of creation were created with their consent." However when G-d informed them of their true function and laws and the truth of all the processes, He also showed them that those miracles that would be performed upon them for Israel or for the righteous among them at certain times were from among the things that were needed for their perfection. Of course, this thing was [first] stated to the roots of the higher ones and afterwards unfolded down; and [then] the things were established in the physical realm as is fitting for them. And appointees were placed over them that strengthen them in their natural law. However at the time that G-d wants, He decrees over His appointees and they stop their assignment and change their natural process, due to the decree that was upon them. And it is actually possible that the decrees coming to them be in different ways. The explanation of this is that it comes - by way of example - like the command of a king or like the rebuke of a furious governor, as the matter is stated, "And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried, etc." Likewise that which is similar to this among the ways; everything according to the situation and its time.
Man's Nature is not changed through Miracles
Moreh Nevuchim (03:32) Although in every one of the signs related in Scripture the natural property of some individual being is changed, the nature of man is never changed by God by way of miracle. It is in accordance with this important principle that God said, “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me,” etc. It is also for this reason that He distinctly stated the commandments and the prohibitions, the reward and the punishment. This principle as regards miracles has been frequently explained by us in our works: I do not say this because I believe that it is difficult for God to change the nature of every individual person; on the contrary, it is possible, and it is in His power, according to the principles taught in Scripture; but it has never been His will to do it, and it never will be. If it were part of His will to change at His desire the nature of any person, the mission of prophets and the giving of the Law would have been altogether superfluous.
Miracles are built into Nature
Rabbeinu Bachya (Avos 05:08) What we learn from these medrashim is that everything – the past the present and the future has been decreed from the time of Creation and there is nothing new under the Sun. Thus what seems to be new is merely something built into Nature which is first manifesting itself at the appropriate time> Because if you want to say that G-d did not want something until it is seen and He is making something totally new and thus changing his Mind – Heaven Forfend! In fact there is no change or innovation in Nature after the original Creation and everything that seems to be a change was built into Nature.
Moreh Nevuchim (02:29) God made an agreement with the sea that it should divide before the Israelites: thus it is said, “And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared”. R. Jeremiah, son of Elazar, said: Not only with the sea, but with all that has been created in the six days of the beginning was the agreement made: this is referred to in the words, “I, even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded”; i.e., I have commanded the sea to divide, the fire not to hurt Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the lions not to harm Daniel, and the fish to spit out Jonah. The same is the case with the rest of the miracles.
Avos (05:06) Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth, [2] the mouth of the well, [3] the mouth of the donkey, [4] the rainbow, [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir, [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.Avos D'Rabbi Nassan (36:5) These seven have no share in the World to Come: the scribe, the schoolteacher, the best doctors, the city judge, the magician, the sexton, and the butcher.
Moreh Nevuchim (02:29) Our Sages, however, said very strange things as regards miracles: they are found in Bereshis Rabba, and in Midrash Koheles, namely, that the miracles are to some extent also natural: for they say, when God created the Universe with its present physical properties, He made it part of these properties, that they should produce certain miracles at certain times, and the sign of a prophet consisted in the fact that God told him to declare when a certain thing will take place, but the thing itself was effected according to the fixed laws of Nature. If this is really the meaning of the passage referred to, it testifies to the greatness of the author, and shows that he held it to be impossible that there should be a change in the laws of Nature, or a change in the will of God as regards the physical properties of things after they have once been established. He therefore assumes, e.g., that God gave the waters the property of joining together, and of flowing in a downward direction, and of separating only at the time when the Egyptians were drowned, and only in a particular place.
Rambam (Shemoneh Perakim 8) The sages said that all miracles which deviate from the natural course of events, whether they have already occured, or, according to promise, are to take place in the future, were fore-ordained by the Divine Will during the six days of creation, nature being then so constituted that those miracles which were to happen really did afterwards take place. Then, when such an occurence happened at its proper time, it may have been regarded as an absolute innovation, whereas in reality it was not. The Rabbis expatiate very much upon this subject in the Midrash Koheleth and in other writings, one of their statements in reference to this matter being, "Everything follows its natural course". In everything that they said, you will always find that the Rabbis avoided referring to the Divine Will as determining a particular event at a particular time. When, therefore, they said that man rises and sits down in accordance with the will of God, their meaning was that, when man was first created, his nature was so determined that rising up and sitting down were to be optional to him; but they as little meant that God wills at any special moment that man should or should not get up, as He determines at any given time that a certain stone should or should not fall to the ground. The sum and substance of the matter is, then, that thou shouldst believe that just as God willed that man should be upright in stature, broad-chested, and have fingers, likewise did He will that man should move or rest of his own accord, and that his actions should be such as his own free will dictates to him, without any outside influence or restraint, which fact God clearly states in the truthful Law, which elucidates this problem, when it says, "Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil". The Targum, in paraphrasing this passage, explains the meaning of the words mimmenu lada'at ṭob wara'. Man has become the only being in the world who possesses a characteristic which no other being has in common with him. What is this characteristic? It is that by and of himself man can distinguish between good and evil, and do that which he pleases, with absolutely no restraint. Since, then, this is so, it would have even been possible for him to have stretched out his hand, and, taking of the tree of life, to have eaten of its fruit, and thus live forever. Since it is an essential characteristic of man's makeup that he should of his own free will act morally or immorally, doing just as he chooses, it becomes necessary to teach him the ways of righteousness, to command and exhort him, to punish and reward him according to his deserts. It behooves man also to accustom himself to the practice of good deeds, until he acquires the virtues corresponding to those good deeds; and, furthermore, to abstain from evil deeds so that he may eradicate the vices that may have taken root in him. Let him not suppose that his characteristics have reached such a state that they are no longer subject to change, for any one of them may be altered from the good to the bad, and vice versa; and, moreover, all in accordance with his own free will. To confirm this theory, we have mentioned all these facts concerning the observances and the transgressions of the Law.
Idolators are not Stupid
Derashos HaRan (04): For there is no question that those who were drawn after idol worship and who became its devotees, as we learn from Scripture and from the words of our sages— there is no question that they were not fools. Beyond a doubt, experience confirmed them in their expectation of benefit from their idolatrous acts, for if this were not the case, so many sound individuals would not have strayed into idolatry generation after generation. But it is as we have said. In the early times there were many acts which were known to result in great benefit. There was no error on this score but only in the conception of the means by which this benefit was derived. In reality, it derived solely from the nature of the thing acted upon; but the practitioners of these acts attributed the benefit to the will of the acting and protecting agency and compounded their sin by bringing offerings and sacrifices to the heavenly host. It follows from this that anything which is known to derive from the predisposition of the recipient is beneficial in truth and permitted by the Torah, and what is thought to derive from the will of the celestial agent is vain and empty and in the realm of idolatry. Therefore, every act which does not contain the intent of drawing-down the favor of a celestial agent and which is not distinctly idolatrous is not in the forbidden category of "the ways of the Emorites."
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Saturday, April 4, 2026
Iran’s ‘new’ regime looks much the same, only harsher
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/03/middleeast/trump-claims-iran-regime-change-intl
US President Donald Trump said this week that Iran’s new leadership is “less radical and much more reasonable.” Trump and the Pentagon have repeatedly claimed that regime change has happened.
If anything, the war has given more power to the hardline military factions inside the complex system of Iranian governance, as well as bolstered anti-American sentiments.
“When President Trump says he has changed the regime in Iran, he’s right in one sense – he’s changed it to a much more radicalized regime,” said Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group. “All of these individuals who are now in place – the new national security advisor, the new head of the IRGC, the speaker of the parliament, who himself was a former commander of Revolutionary Guards – they all have been involved in domestic repression extensively in their past lives.”
Friday, April 3, 2026
Rav Menachem Schneerson Igros Kodesh #1:94): I. The view of the Baal Shem Tov: Providence applies to every event that affects man as well as inanimate matter, plants, and animals… As explained by our master, the Baal Shem Tov, not only are all the particular activities of that which has been created determined by providence but this providence is the life-energy of the created being and maintains its existence. Moreover, every particular movement of that which has been created has a connection to the intent of the creation as a whole…. The movement of one blade of grass is part of what G-d’s intent is for the creation as a whole…
US intelligence assesses Iran maintains significant missile launching capability
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/02/politics/iran-missiles-us-military-strikes-trump
Roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers are still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in Iran’s arsenal despite the daily pounding by US and Israeli strikes against military targets over the past five weeks, according to recent US intelligence assessments, three sources familiar with the intel told CNN.
Thousands of Iranian drones still exist — roughly 50% of the country’s drone capabilities — two of the sources said the intelligence indicated. The intelligence, compiled in recent days, also showed a large percentage of Iran’s coastal defense cruise missiles were intact, the sources said, consistent with the US not focusing its air campaign on coastal military assets though they have been hitting ships. Those missiles serve as a key capability allowing Iran to threaten shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
איזהו מקומן
Tefillah is associated with Korbanot. Tefillat Shacharit is divided into several sections. The first section involves reciting the daily Korbanot as an attempt to reenact what was, and for which we are praying, to be reinstated.[1] The power of this recital is directly related to our understanding.
This section concludes with a chapter of Mishnayot, Eizehu Mekoman. This unique chapter of Mishnayos from Masechet Zevachim presents a summary classification of the Korbanot. This summary is cryptic and confusing for the uninitiated, anyone who hasn't invested in studying Kodshim.
The attached, a carefully planned and organized chart with concise notes was composed to help clarify the differering details in each Mishna, along with various unclear references, such as:
אלו ואלו נשרפין
שיירי הדם
שינה באכילתן
As mentioned in the notes, a chapter of Mishnayot was included so that we approach Tefillah after learning oral Torah. Besides relating to and providing an overview of Korbanot, this is the only chapter in the entire Shas Mishnayot without even one disagreement.
This chart was created by a young avreich, Rav Nosson Neta Weiss Shlita, and repeatedly peer-reviewed until it reached the current state of superb clarity. It serves as an introduction to Korbanot as it renders the chapter readily accessible and meaningful with relatively minimal effort.
It is his sincere desire that these charts be distributed in durable form far and wide לזיכוי הרבים and to dramatically increase the power of כאילו הקריבו recital considered as if these Korbanot were actually brought up.
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May this learning help to focus our yearning for the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash speedily in our days ושם נעבדך ביראה כימי עולם וכשנים קדמוניות
Rav Weiss lives in Bet Shemesh, and may be contacted by phone at 0533101314, email g0534158595@gmail.com. He is fluent in Hebrew and in Yiddish. For English, please contact 0533144111.
Important request:
A donation of 100 NIS covers printing 100 copies, enabling another 100 of our brothers to recite with clear understanding. With sufficient funds, costs drop, enabling greater distribution.
Please donate here to participate in distribution of Eizehu Mekoman Charts.https://nedar.im/dYqr
The donations are eligible for an Israeli charity tax deduction (Chapter 46).
[1] אמר ריש לקיש: מאי דכתיב 'זאת התורה, לעולה, למנחה, ולחטאת, ולאשם'? כל העוסק בתורה - כאילו הקריב עולה, מנחה, חטאת, ואשם.
אמר רבא: האי 'לעולה, למנחה', "עולה ומנחה" מיבעי ליהW אלא אמר רבא: כל העוסק בתורה - אינו צריך לא עולה, (ולא חטאת) ולא מנחה, ולא אשם.
אמר רבי יצחק: מאי דכתיב 'זאת תורת החטאת', ו'זאת תורת האשם'? כל העוסק בתורת חטאת - כאילו הקריב חטאת. וכל העוסק בתורת אשם - כאילו הקריב אשם." (מנחות ק"י ע"א).
As Trump signals retreat from war, Israel may have to keep fighting Iranian threat
The US, for its part, seems uninterested in bringing the Islamic Republic down. Worryingly for Israel, Trump argues — in an entirely novel definition of the term — that regime change has already been secured since Iran’s senior leadership has been wiped out.
Israel’s goal of removing Iran’s ability to pose a threat likely cannot be achieved without regime change, Israel’s ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter said on the What the Hell is Going on? podcast Monday.
The purpose of the campaign, he said, “is to make sure that we don’t have a power, an entity in Tehran, which is developing nuclear weapons, is developing weapons of mass destruction in terms of these ballistic missiles, and is supporting proxies around the region. That’s what we’re focused on.”
“Now, if that can be done without regime change, okay. Probably can’t, though,” he added.
Israel, it seems, is making plans for the distinct possibility that Trump moves on from the war and the Iranian regime survives. It will then be facing a much-weakened Islamic Republic, but one that still commands massive resources to pour into rebuilding and still has armed proxies ready to do its bidding.
The military campaign, in that case, may then be over, but the war will be far from its end.
Pesach - The Holiday of Faith
https://www.torahweb.org/torah/2007/moadim/rwil_pesach.html
Pesach, from its very inception, represented the antithesis of idolatry: "Draw your hands away from idols and take for yourselves a sheep of mitzvah" (Rashi, Shemos 12:6). "And the people believed" (4:31); belief in Hashem and His messengers, Moshe and Aharon, began the redemption process.
"This is the law of the Korban Pesach: any stranger may not eat from it" (Shemos 12:43). "Any stranger" includes one who knowingly rejects all, or even part, of the Torah (Rashi, Gur Aryeh). The opening law stated regarding the Korban Pesach emphasizes the indispensability of faith in Hashem and His Torah on Pesach. The wicked son is excluded from the Korban Pesach, even though he too left Egypt, because his lack of faith disqualifies him from the final geula.
The Beis Halevi (parshas Bo) comments that Pesach is linked to the ultimate redemption. Since denial of the validity of the Oral Torah led to the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash, acceptance of this belief is a prerequisite for its rebuilding.
Americans have little appetite for sending U.S. troops to Iran, polls show
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/01/iran-war-polls-ground-troops/
As the Iran war rolls into its second month and President Donald Trump weighs launching ground operations, polls show that Americans’ opposition to the conflict has hardened and few support sending U.S. ground troops into action beyond very limited circumstances.
The opposition cuts across partisan lines, as more Republicans oppose than support sending ground troops, by 37 to 30 percent in the YouGov survey. Support is even tepid within Trump’s base, with 41 percent of self-identified MAGA supporters favoring a ground operation and 27 percent opposing it. Sixty percent of non-MAGA Republicans oppose using ground troops.
That dynamic could pose a significant political problem for the president, as gas prices hit $4 a gallon and American allies show little interest in helping with the U.S. operation. Republicans face growing headwinds in the November midterms, whose outcome could be driven by each side’s enthusiasm and whose results may help determine the course of Trump’s final two years in office.
Aggressive brain cancer may respond to high-dose vitamin therapy, study suggests
High-dose vitamin B3 (niacin) may enhance immune activity and improve short-term disease control in glioblastoma when added to standard therapy, according to early preclinical studies.
Six months after receiving niacin in addition to standard treatments (surgery, radiation and chemotherapy), 82% of the patients showed no disease progression, compared to the typical 54%, according to the study's press release.
The study’s small sample size, short follow-up and lack of a randomized control group also posed limitations, the researchers acknowledged.
Trump Tells Aides He’s Willing to End War Without Reopening Hormuz
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-ee950ad4
President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.
In recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks. He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade. If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said.
Researchers tie vaping to mouth and lung cancers in new analysis
https://www.jpost.com/science/article-891810
A new comprehensive scientific review concludes that vaping, including nicotine-containing products, is likely to cause oral and lung cancers. The authors identified early warning signs strongly linked to cancer risk, such as DNA damage, inflammation, and epigenetic changes associated with later lung cancer. They warned that delaying recognition of vaping’s dangers could have dire consequences, given cancer latency periods of 20 to 40 years and the roughly 15-year window of widespread e-cigarette availability.
Large-scale human data on vapers who develop cancer will take decades to accumulate. “The evidence was remarkably consistent across fields. It dictated an unequivocal finding now, though human studies that estimate the risk will take decades to accumulate,” Associate Professor of Epidemiology Freddy Sitas said. He noted it took 100 years for authorities to recognize smoking as a cause of lung cancer and urging regulators not to let vaping follow the same path, according to Bloomberg.
According to the review vaping may cause cancer independently, even in people who have never smoked conventional cigarettes. It cites case reports, including a 19-year-old with aggressive oral cancer, and dentists’ observations of mouth cancers in non-smoking patients attributed to vaping.
Trump: We will be leaving Iran very soon
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/424910
US President Donald Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday that the US would leave Iran “very soon", estimating it could happen “within two or three weeks".
“I would say that within two weeks, maybe three. We're hitting them very hard. Last night, we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile-making facilities," he said.
“We're negotiating with them right now. We have had regime change," Trump stated, adding that “regime change was not one of the things I had as a goal. I had one goal. They will have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons. But we're finishing the job. And I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job."
When asked about the Strait of Hormuz, Trump stated that he expects the shipping lane "automatically reopen" with the end of the war and that "the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it."
Hegseth exonerates helicopter crews over Kid Rock flyby, nullifying Army probe
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/03/31/hegseth-kid-rock-flyby/
“No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, Patriots,” the Pentagon chief wrote on social media hours after military officials announced they had grounded the pilots involved.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday nullified an Army investigation into the unauthorized helicopter flybys of musician Kid Rock’s estate and anti-Trump protests in Tennessee over the weekend, announcing the move just hours after military officials opened their disciplinary review of the soldiers involved.
Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert Ritchie, is an enthusiastic, longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, and he is widely admired among the president’s political base. Hegseth’s swift intervention in the case raised immediate questions about whether the military can hold its own accountable for actions that Hegseth may deem politically favorable.
Ingraham questions whether Trump understood Iran military operation’s ‘complexity’
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5809190-ingraham-questions-trump-iran/?tbref=hp
Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday called into question whether President Trump understands the “complexity” of the U.S. military operation in Iran.
The host used her opening monologue on “The Ingraham Angle” to talk about how, despite the April 16 deadline set by the president, Trump faces complications to his calls for negotiations with the Iranians amid his threats of further escalating the conflict.
“Now, knowing what little time we have and how quickly this can spiral out of control, we still have a lot of questions,” she said. “For instance, was the president fully briefed about the risks of all of this from the beginning? And was he then able to take it all in and understand the complexity of this? How complex it could actually get, and further possibilities of casualties or other damage –– the difficulty of dealing with these people? Or was he told this would be relatively quick, in and out?”
‘Conversion Therapy’ and the Constitution
Democrats want voters to believe that the Supreme Court is pushing a right-wing cultural agenda, but that narrative keeps being refuted by liberal Justices. On Tuesday the Court ruled 8-1 that Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” has an obvious First Amendment problem. Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor joined the majority.
Kaley Chiles is a licensed counselor who offers only talk therapy. She told the Justices she is also a Christian who “believes clients can accept the bodies that God has given them and find peace.” Colorado’s law prohibits counselors from trying to change the sexual “behaviors or gender expressions” of a client who is a minor. The state law explicitly permits, however, providing “assistance to a person undergoing gender transition.”
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Supreme Court rules against ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for LGBTQ+ minors
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/31/supreme-court-conversion-therapy-colorado-ban/
The Supreme Court on Tuesday found that a Colorado law banning “conversion therapy” for gay and transgender minors probably violates free speech rights, the latest in a string of decisions by the high court rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ people and expanding the rights of the religious.
In an 8-1 ruling, an ideologically diverse majority ruled for an evangelical therapist who argued the state prohibition infringed on her First Amendment rights. Kaley Chiles said she wanted to counsel religious teens dealing with sexual orientation issues and gender dysphoria in ways consistent with biblical teachings.
The decision casts doubt on similar statutes in nearly 30 states that prohibit attempts to change the expressed sexual orientation or gender identity of youths. Many states passed the laws over the last decade as evidence grew that the treatment was harmful. Colorado argued it was not regulating free speech but outlawing substandard medical care — something courts have long allowed.
I’ve studied over 200 kids. Here’s the No. 1 skill parents are forgetting to teach kids today
Parents today try to raise their children for good grades, perfect behavior and high achievement. We want them to do well and be able to handle challenges in life. But research shows that confidence and resilience stem from a child’s ability to feel safe being fully themselves.
In my work of studying over 200 kids, and as a mother, I’ve found that beneath the defiance and behavior problems, there is almost always a child who doesn’t feel comfortable expressing what they feel and need.
In other words, how safe your child feels with you today shapes who they become as adults. Here are six ways to shape that safety early on.
Monday, March 30, 2026
A Perfect Storm
https://quillette.com/2025/10/28/a-perfect-storm-israel-gaza-palestine/
But it is not only the Quran with its tales of the 7th century that is responsible for modern Muslim antisemitism. The 19th century saw a resurgence of antisemitism as an offshoot of the traditional Christian Jew-hatred in various parts of Europe, alongside the flowering of nationalist movements that generally castigated “the Other.” And there was no more prominent “Other” than the Jew. European nationalist and antisemitic tropes gradually penetrated the Ottoman-ruled Middle East, generating Arab nationalism while adding a new European layer to the existing base of Muslim detestation of and contempt for the Jews. The 1840 Damascus Affair, in which Jews were falsely blamed—and tortured and a number of them were killed—for murdering two Christians to obtain blood for ritual purposes, exemplifies this importation of European antisemitic tropes to the Muslim Arab world.
Generally, as long as Islam’s Jews were submissive and obedient nothing much happened. The rise of Zionism and the movement’s gradual empowerment in Palestine changed all that. The Jews living in the Arab lands increasingly came to be seen by their Muslim neighbours and rulers as actual or potential allies of Zionism; in June 1941, Muslim mobs rampaged through Baghdad, killing and raping hundreds, and six to seven years later similar mobs converged on Jews in Morocco, Aleppo, Aden, and other sites around the Arab world.
But somehow the demonstrators don’t see Hamas for what it is. One major agent in the whitewashing efforts has been the Gulf emirate of Qatar, with its jihad-supporting broadcasting network, Al Jazeera. Qatar has poured many billions of dollars into the West and especially into its university campuses to market a rosy-spectacled version of Islamism and has even channelled millions to Netanyahu’s inner circle of aides. (In Israel, it is rumoured that Netanyahu himself has long enjoyed largesse from Doha). Over the years, Netanyahu has directly, personally facilitated Qatar’s subsidies of Hamas, which bankrolled the tunnels, rockets, and Kalashnikovs used on 7 October and since, as well as the mosques and schools that dispensed the organisation’s ideology