Trump’s Greenland gambit is a sideshow the forces of freedom don’t need

 https://nypost.com/2026/01/14/opinion/trumps-greenland-gambit-is-a-sideshow-the-forces-of-freedom-dont-need/

We’re not loving President Donald Trump’s Greenland sideshow, and Wednesday’s White House talks don’t improve the plot.

Growling at the Danes won’t yield any better, and it’d be beyond nuts for Trump to actually use force — a guarantee that Democrats would win the House this fall, for starters, and maybe even gift them the Senate.

Fine, it’s very hard to read if the prez is in any way serious; maybe this is just his typical all-relationships-be-damned Trump “maximalist” negotiating tactic.

But it raises fears he’d blow up the Western alliance needlessly — and for all Europe’s modern errors, that alliance is one of history’s great successes. Abandoning it (what, to retreat to the American “sphere”?) is tantamount to handing the world’s future to freedom’s enemies.

No one is buying Trump's ICE shooting narrative and videos of ICE abuses are making it worse

DOJ prosecutors resign in protest over handling of ICE shooting investigation

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/doj-prosecutors-resign-in-protest-over-handling-of-ice-shooting-investigation

It's so rare for this unit not to investigate fatal shootings involving federal officers, and that is what's taken away the breath of a lot of people in the Department of Justice. And now this unit, these leaders, we are told by multiple sources, Amna, are trying to send up an alarm bell and ring that bell very loudly to the American people, making a statement that this is not copacetic, this is not kosher.

Republicans Ripped For Flipping on Trump War Powers Effort

 https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-ripped-for-flipping-on-trump-war-powers-effort-11362864

Republican Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana were hit with some backlash on Wednesday evening for flipping on a previous vote and ultimately ending the war powers resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump's authority.

Earlier this month the Senate initially advanced a resolution designed to curtail President Trump's ability to initiate new military actions in Venezuela without congressional consent. The procedural vote passed 52-47, with five Republican senators—Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Hawley, and Young—siding with Democrats.

The VoteVets X account also posted, "Pathetic collapse by @HawleyMO and @SenToddYoung. They talked tough on war powers last week but folded the second the pressure turned up. They’ve officially surrendered their Congressional authority to the White House. Rubber stamps, not Senators."

Can ICE Legally Shoot a Fleeing Suspect? Here's What The Law Says

Trump administration efforts to shift blame for ICE shooting wreak havoc on Minnesota US attorney’s office

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/resignations-minnesota-prosecutors-trump-ice-shooting

The Trump administration’s efforts to investigate Renee Good and others around her, and not the ICE officer who shot her in Minneapolis, is wreaking havoc on the US attorney’s office in Minnesota, which is leading the probe.

At least half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned amid growing tensions between state and federal officials since the shooting on Wednesday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The Trump administration quickly declared that the agent, Jonathan Ross, acted appropriately and alleged that responsibility for the fatal shooting lay with Good and those around her.

Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis initially struck an agreement with local prosecutors and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to jointly investigate the shooting, a routine arrangement that typically follows federal officer-involved shooting incidents. Minnesota authorities said they were later informed by the FBI that the US attorney’s office had ordered federal agents to conduct the investigation alone, without the involvement of local authorities.

What Does the Law Say About the ICE Shooting in Minnesota?

After Trump's lies about Renee Good shooting, exodus at DOJ over botched investigation

Book Review: ‘After Revelation: The Rabbinic Past in the Medieval Islamic World’, by Marc D. Herman

 https://seforimblog.com/2026/01/book-review-after-revelation-the-rabbinic-past-in-the-medieval-islamic-world-by-marc-d-herman/

Dr. Marc Herman’s After Revelation: The Rabbinic Past in the Medieval Islamic World (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2025) examines shifting conceptions of Torah she-beʿal peh within the Judeo-Islamic world from the geonic period through the time of Maimonides.[1] Beginning with Rav Saadya Gaon and concluding with the Rambam, Herman traces a gradual reorientation away from the geonic understanding of Torah she-beʿal peh as wholly revealed toward the Maimonidean position, in which human interpretation plays a constitutive role in the formation of rabbinic law. Alongside his analysis of Jewish legal sources, Herman situates these developments within their broader intellectual environment, drawing careful parallels to contemporaneous trends in Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory. In tracing this shift, the book clarifies how medieval Jewish thinkers conceptualized the authority of Torah she-beʿal peh, and how those conceptions correspond to broader jurisprudential models current in the Islamic world.

Rabbi Dov Lando: Don't participate in demonstrations

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/420838

Rabbi Dov Lando, the head of the Slabodka Yeshiva and a leading Lithuanian-haredi rabbi, today (Tuesday) reiterated his stance on the draft law issue and called for not participating in protests.

"Some are going out against it, they are holding demonstrations, and they are doing great harm. Do not participate in the demonstrations!" he said during a conversation as part of preparations for the fifth annual education conference of the 'Hazino' Center.

In his remarks, he also criticized those going out to protest, hinting at the actions of the 'Jerusalem Faction.' "There are also those who disturb and hold demonstrations and other nonsense - do not participate in the demonstrations!"

U.S. plane used in boat strike was made to look like civilian aircraft

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/12/boat-strike-civilian-plane/

The Trump administration’s first deadly strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat, in early September, was conducted by a secretive military aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane, multiple officials confirmed to The Washington Post on Monday.

Feigning civilian status and then carrying out an attack with explicit intent to kill or wound the target is known as “perfidy” under the law of armed conflict, a war crime, according to legal experts.

The Trump administration has claimed that its lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the waters around Latin America are lawful because President Donald Trump has determined the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. That contention is widely disputed by legal experts, who say the U.S. is not at war with drug traffickers and that killing suspected criminals in international waters is tantamount to murder. Several analysts and former national security officials have said the entire campaign is, at its foundation, unlawful.

“This isn’t an armed conflict,” said Huntley, director of the national security law program at Georgetown Law. “But what makes this so surprising is that even if you buy their argument, it’s a violation of international law.”

Tzadik or people pleaser?

 I came across a book written to stop a serious psychological problem of subordinating ones own needs to always give to others. As I went through the book it struck me is that the nebach they were trying to save sounded like a tzadik. The question thus is what is the difference between a People Pleaser and a tzadik?

Scientists find exercise rivals therapy for depression

 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260107225516.htm

A growing body of evidence suggests that moving your body might lift depression nearly as well as therapy—no prescription required.

A large review of studies suggests that exercise can ease depression about as effectively as psychological therapy. Compared with antidepressants, exercise showed similar benefits, though the evidence was less certain. Researchers found that light to moderate activity over multiple sessions worked best, with few side effects. While it’s not a cure-all, exercise may be a powerful and accessible tool for many people.

Trump Has Complained About Pam Bondi Repeatedly to Aides

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-has-complained-about-pam-bondi-repeatedly-to-aides-

fd424df3

President Trump has complained to aides repeatedly in recent weeks about Attorney General Pam Bondi, describing her as weak and an ineffective enforcer of his agenda, administration officials and other people familiar with his complaints said.

The criticisms appear to be part of an intense campaign by Trump to pressure the Justice Department to more aggressively pursue his priorities, some of the officials said. Trump has previously criticized Bondi at times but his vocal concerns about his attorney general have grown more frequent in recent months, officials said.