Netanyahu Went to War With Iran While Relying on an America That Doesn't Exist Anymore

 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-03-25/ty-article/.highlight/netanyahu-went-to-war-with-iran-while-relying-on-an-america-that-doesnt-exist/0000019d-268b-d77a-a7ff-ffeb7fe10000

Benjamin Netanyahu bought into the myth of America's omnipotence. He's now learning its limits, after starting an Israeli-U.S. war on Iran with Donald Trump, whose administration evinces a historic level of incompetence

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent a large portion of his adolescence in the United States when the country was at the height of its postwar power. The young Bibi graduated in 1967 from Cheltenham High School in suburban Philadelphia (where the students are now trying to remove Netanyahu's picture from the school's alumni hall of fame).

Israrl only land controlled by G-d not by Mazzel

 Drashos Haran (04) That sin which is cause for apprehension on the Blessed One's part as potentially resulting in the destruction of the Jews is idol worship, to which the sin of the golden calf was similar in character. For the other transgressions do not arouse the Blessed One's wrath to such a great extent; idol worship is to be much more feared in this regard. And there is more reason for apprehension of this sin in the desert than in the land of Israel. For the Jews knew that the other lands were under the ordinance of stars and constellations, as our sages state: "All who live in the land of Israel, it is as if they have a G-d; all who live outside the land of Israel, it is as if they do not have a G-d." This is because the other, gentile lands are under the ordinance of heavenly plenipotentiaries, an ordinance which cannot be changed except through miraculous, Heavenly intervention. Therefore, if one lives outside the land of Israel, because he is under the ordinance of a star or of a constellation, his prayer is not so readily accepted as it would be if he lived in the land of Israel, which is not under the dominion of a chief, an officer, or a ruler, but of the Blessed One Himself,

If Trump’s diplomacy fails, the Iran war could get much worse

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/26/politics/trump-iran-peace-talks-us-troops-analysis

Iran doesn’t seem to be susceptible to the art of the deal.

President Donald Trump is desperate to sell the story that the Islamic Republic is ready to end the war.

But there’s no public sign yet from Tehran that it’s poised to help him walk back a crisis that he triggered by obliterating his own previous diplomatic effort nearly four weeks ago.

The disconnect casts doubt on Trump’s claims this week that a breakthrough could be imminent, even as momentum inexorably grows toward a dangerous escalation of the conflict — with thousands of US troops on their way to the region.

Nursing homes falsely label patients schizophrenic to sedate them, OIG says

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/03/19/nursing-homes-dementia-abuse-antipsychotic-drugs/

Watchdog agency said facilities intentionally misdiagnose residents with dementia to hide inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs.

Many U.S. nursing homes are creating phony schizophrenia diagnoses to hide their use of dangerous antipsychotic drugs to subdue dementia patients, a government watchdog report said Thursday in its sharpest finding yet over a persistent form of alleged abuse.

Most of the drugs are not approved for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia because they increase risk of falls, strokes and death. But doctors can prescribe them “off-label,” and caregivers and families regularly resort to them if a patient is violent and poses a threat to themselves and others. Resident advocates have long warned they are overused.

What a GOP loss in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago district says about the midterms

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/25/democrats-midterms-special-election-wins/

Gregory, a first-time candidate and fitness business owner, defeated Jon Maples, a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump and aligned with his policies. The two were going head-to-head in a special election for a district that includes the president’s Palm Beach home, Mar-a-Lago. The Democrat’s win was an upset: Despite Palm Beach County leaning left, this district was a red enclave, with Republicans holding a significant voter-registration advantage and the Republican who vacated the seat last year winning it by 19 percentage points in 2024.

Since the start of 2025, Democrats have used special elections to flip a dozen state legislative seats, while Republicans have not flipped one. When off-year elections in 2025 are included — in which Democrats dominated both statewide and downballot contests in Virginia and New Jersey — the number of flipped seats rises to 30.

This, coupled with Trump’s slumping approval ratings, has Democrats hopeful that the November elections could be a chance to sweep Republicans out of power in the House and alter control of many state legislatures.

Two arrested over antisemitic arson attack on London Jewish community ambulances

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-arrested-over-antisemitic-arson-attack-on-london-jewish-community-ambulances/

Third suspect believed to still be at large, as police examine claim of responsibility by group with possible links to Iran

British police said on Wednesday they had arrested two men over an arson attack on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organization in north London.

The arrests came after police said they were investigating an online claim of responsibility by a little-known Islamist group that has possible links to Iran.

The Metropolitan Police said two men aged 47 and 45 were arrested by counter-terrorism detectives “on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.”

Israeli assessment: Trump may announce ceasefire by Saturday

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/424572

 Israeli officials predict that US President Donald Trump may announce a ceasefire with Iran by the end of the week or the middle of next week at the latest.

Israeli officials predict that US President Donald Trump may announce a ceasefire with Iran by the end of the week or the middle of next week at the latest.

The officials understand that Trump is seeking a month-long ceasefire, and may even announce it unilaterally by the end of the week.

The New York Times reported earlier on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued orders yesterday (Tuesday) that as much of Iran's arms industry as possible should be destroyed within 48 hours in response to US President Donald Trump's announcements on talks with Iran to end the war.

People 65 and older can get better with age, study shows

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/03/25/aging-positive-mindset/

Researchers found that nearly half of adults over 65 did better on tests of cognitive and physical function as they aged.

Levy and her co-author found that nearly half of the participants over 65 improved — physically, cognitively or both. And people with positive beliefs about aging were more likely to be in that group.

Part of the reason for the disconnect between the stereotypes and the reality, experts said, is that a lot of research on older people looks at average outcomes rather than individual outcomes, or looks only for decline or lack thereof, rather than the possibility of improvement.

Lachs said his patients are around 89 years old on average, and the people who are thriving usually have one thing in common: something in their life that gives them meaning and a sense of purpose.

Meta, YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction trial

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/03/25/meta-youtube-verdict-social-media-addiction/

A Los Angeles jury found social media giant Meta and video platform YouTube negligent in a landmark trial, awarding $3 million in compensation to a young woman who alleged she had become addicted to the companies’ platforms as a child.

The verdict came at the end of a month-long trial that featured testimony by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and a day after a jury in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million in penalties for endangering children. The twin verdicts are signs that legal protections which for decades made tech companies seem almost impervious are beginning to crack, as lawyers accuse the platforms of putting addictive or otherwise harmful features into their platforms.

Israel’s 81% war consensus is an illusion

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-891155?utm_source=jpost.app.android&utm_medium=share

When we breakdown the data, what looks like national unity turns out to be two markedly different understandings of the war, imagined by two different publics.

Beyond the 81%: two visions of Israel’s war

When we break the data down this way, what looks like national unity turns out to be two markedly different understandings of the war, imagined by two different publics.

Third, and most revealing, opposition voters support a fundamentally different campaign: while 86% of coalition voters support continuing until the regime falls, 40% of opposition voters prefer a ceasefire following limited degradation of capabilities, and 7% are unsure. 

Among the left-leaning third of the opposition, this divergence is even starker: 48% prefer a ceasefire, 8% unsure, and 45% want to continue until the regime falls.

The Israeli Left is imagining a bounded military operation. The Right is imagining regime change.

Did Rabbeinu Yonah write Shaarei Teshuva in response to the burning of the Gemara?

 https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/66759/did-rabbeinu-yonah-write-shaarei-teshuva-in-response-to-the-burning-of-the-gemar

It is widely believed that Rabbeinu Yonah played a part in having the Rambam's works burned around 1232, and that after the 1242 burning of twenty-four wagonloads of Gemaras he felt that it was a Divine punishment for the first burning. He wrote Shaarei Teshuva to express his remorse.

This is a citiaion from "The Chosen Path" - a history of Medieval Jewry by Binyamin Sendler: R’ Yonah b. Avraham certainly saw it in this light. Following is an extract from the letter that his student R’ Hillel HaChasid (of Verona) wrote to R’ Yitzchok HaRofeh: Letter by R’ Hillel HaChasid

R’ Yonah of Barcelona (originally of Gerona) was the primary instigator of this controversy that brought about all the calamities that befell the Jews in France. At that time R’ Yonah’s heart melted within him, and he vowed to make a pilgrimage to the Rambam’s grave and remain there for seven days, begging forgiveness from the Rambam for slandering his works. He publicly confessed in these words: “I am embarrassed and I regret that I opened my mouth against our holy master R’ Moshe b. Maimon and his works. I say now for all to hear: Moshe is true and his Torah is true and we are all frauds ....

Trump THROWS Hegseth Under The Bus

FACT CHECK: Democratic Mayors Driving Crime Reductions ...

 https://democraticmayors.org/news/fact-check-democratic-mayors-driving-crime-reductions-with-proven-public-safety-strategies-no-thanks-to-trump/

Donald Trump travels to Memphis today to take credit for the reduction in crime – but the facts tell a different story: Democratic mayors have implemented smart, effective strategies to reduce crime even as Trump cut funding for police and other public safety resources. 

 Local leadership continues to step up where federal support has lagged, investing in a holistic approach that invests in law enforcement and strengthens communities. 

Fact: Major Cities Are Seeing Significant Declines in Violent Crime—Driven by Local Leadership, Not Trump

Bottom Line: Crime is declining in many American cities not by accident, but because Democratic mayors are implementing smart, data-driven strategies that deliver results.

Trump holds Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable