"Many in Mr. Trump's America-first movement would probably rather see Iran go nuclear than have the U.S. pre-emptively destroy Iran's nuclear facilities"

* "A liar swears with all his might,
That day is dark and noon is night.
A lunatic will nod and say,

“Of course, the sun just hides away!” 

They shake your hand, they vow, they plead,
But trust them not, they’ll make you bleed.
For trusting lunatics and lies,
Will leave you lost—and none too wise! "

So trust, my friend, at your own cost,
For logic here is surely lost.
With lunatics and liars combined,
You'll lose your wits and half your mind!*

 

 

Trump wants to negotiate instead of bombing Iran.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reacts as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) does not seem to trust President Donald Trump's foreign policy judgment. In an interview with the Jewish Insider published on Thursday, he called Trump's recent staff choices "alarming" and warned that the administration should steer clear of officials who "make their Obama and Biden predecessors look tough by comparison."

The next day, Fox News ran an article with the headline "Trump's latest hires and fires rankle Iran hawks as new president suggests nuclear deal." The hawks in question were Mark Levin, a former NeverTrumper who hosts a conservative radio show; Kasra Aarabi, director of research at United Against Nuclear Iran, a hawkish nonprofit chaired by Jeb Bush; and an anonymous "Iran expert" who called Trump's hires "very concerning."

It's not just Trump's hires who have the hawks concerned. In a Wednesday interview, Fox News host Sean Hannity tried to goad Trump into saying that he would bomb Iranian nuclear sites and oil refineries. Instead, Trump responded: "I want them to have a great country. They have great potential. The people are amazing. The only thing I've said about Iran is that they can't have a nuclear weapon….There are ways that you can make it absolutely certain if you make a deal."

Although Trump has postured as both a hawk and a dove at times, his stance towards the Middle East in his first term was aggressively hawkish, almost leading to war with Iran. During the 2024 campaign, Trump signalled more of the same, promising to make Iran broke and help Israel "finish the job" in Gaza. But so far this year, he has secured an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and signaled loudly that he wants to resolve America's disputes with Iran.

Along with the deal to free Israeli hostages, Trump adviser Elon Musk also reportedly negotiated for Iran to release an Italian journalist a week before Trump's inauguration.

In the process, Trump has purged many Middle East hawks who served in his first term. A few days before his auguration, Trump mocked "disloyal warmongers" in a social media post. He even revoked the government-issued security detail from former National Security Adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Special Envoy Brian Hook, who was in charge of Iran.

"Last year, Trump promised he would blow Iran 'to smithereens' if it ever harmed an American presidential candidate. But pulling security away from Americans who need it, in a move seemingly motivated by personal animosity, he leaves America weaker and Tehran emboldened," the editorial board of the hawkish Free Press complained on Friday. "The president calls his whole agenda, 'America First.' This move is just the opposite."

Two staffers at the neoconservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which had been highly influential during Trump's first term, made a desperate plea in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday for Trump to arm Israel for an attack on Iran and prepare U.S. forces for any Iranian retaliation.

"Many in Mr. Trump's America-first movement would probably rather see Iran go nuclear than have the U.S. pre-emptively destroy Iran's nuclear facilities," they wrote, pointing the finger at Vice President J.D. Vance and conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson.

Other Republican hawks have shied away from such a frontal attack on Trump. Instead, they've been claiming that the president is being misled by bad advisers. The pressure campaign has focused on Mike Dimino, the new assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East; Elbridge Colby, awaiting confirmation as undersecretary of defense for policy; and Steven Witkoff, the special envoy who brokered the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and is reportedly responsible for talks with Iran.

"It's amazing to me that over twenty years after the Iraq War, its architects and supporters are still—not fully in control of America's foreign policy, but certainly influential in it," Carlson said on a Saturday episode of his show. "And it's shocking to me that two months after Trump's landslide victory, a race in which he ran against the neocons, the neocons are still brazen enough to try and influence and sabotage his nominations."

Much of this pressure campaign has played out in the pages of Jewish Insider, where Republican sources have tried to cast Dimino as an opponent of Israel. In his own interview, McConnell alluded to Dimino without naming him.

Dimino, who served as a CIA officer before working at the libertarian-aligned Defense Priorities Foundation, is certainly not a fan of current U.S. alignments in the Middle East. "If you look at America's experience as the primary security broker in the region…it has not rendered any lasting political, economic, or security benefits in service of U.S. interests or the American people writ large," he said on a February 2024 panel, adding that U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria are "really there to counter Iran and that's really at the behest of the Israelis and the Saudis."

In an October 2023 interview, Dimino warned that "we should steel ourselves against" the risk of U.S. forces getting dragged into Israel's wars, and that "you can't really address any kind of long-term political arrangements in the Gulf or in the Middle East without also addressing" the Palestinian issue.

Fox News' coverage cast Colby, who will be in charge of U.S. military planning for the entire world, as "cut from the same cloth" as Dimino. To be clear, Colby is no anti-establishment dove. He comes from an old national security pedigree—his grandfather, former CIA Director William Colby, was famously described by the beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg as "chief of dirty tricks"—and Colby's overriding concern today is preventing China from dominating Asia. But that concern has also made Colby skeptical of U.S. aid to Ukraine and U.S. military commitments in the Middle East.

"Beijing will not be deterred from attacking Taiwan by actions America takes in Europe or the Middle East. Common sense dictates that it will only be deterred or defeated by the military might made available for Asia," Colby wrote in a July 2023 essay. "Washington needs to hyper-focus on the Western Pacific. It needs to reorient its military and defense industrial base, money, and political capital to urgently strengthen its defenses along the first island chain."

For years, conservatives who support a U.S. drawdown from the Middle East have tried to make common cause with the pro-Israel camp; Vance and Colby have both argued that indirect support to Israel would allow Washington to avoid direct involvement in the region. But the past few months have disproven that theory—and proven Dimino's warnings correct. In addition to funding and arming the Israeli war effort, the U.S. military has had to step in directly several times to shield Israel from Iranian retaliation and the regional spillover of the war.

Witkoff, who is proudly Jewish and ran an explicitly pro-Israel fundraising campaign during the elections, is hard to pidgeonhole as an anti-Israel fanatic. That hasn't stopped some hawks from trying. The anonymous "Iran expert" who spoke to Fox News argued that Dimino and Witkoff are "difficult to detangle, very concerning."

Soon after the November 2024 elections, Insider zeroed in on Witkoff's real estate dealings in Qatar, the oil-rich Arab monarchy that is a rival with Saudi Arabia. Months later, in a Fox News interview about the ceasefire, Witkoff thanked Qatar for its "enormously helpful" role in the talks and promised to visit Gaza in person.

For some hawks, that was confirmation that Witkoff was a Qatari stooge. Britain's Israel Advocacy Movement posted a clip of Witkoff's Fox News appearance, claiming that he has a "serious conflict of interest" with Qatar and questioning whether he can be trusted.  Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer and frequent congressional witness during the first Trump administrated, released a social media video claiming that Witkoff "has been cajoled by Qatar".

Trump, however, seems pretty happy with Witkoff, who is his personal friend from their years in the real estate business. "He's done a fantastic job. He's a great negotiator," the president said at an executive order signing ceremony. "Steve has a wonderful way about him and people like him. And even in this case, both sides like him, and he was able to make a deal. That deal would have never been made without Steve."

Voters are happy, too. A recent Data for Progress poll shows 78 percent of Americans approving of the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire. Rather than a consequence of wily advisers and palace intrigue, Trump's dovish shift on the Middle East might just be a genuine attempt to fulfill one of the most popular parts of his agenda.

"We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into," Trump said during his inaugural address. "My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That's what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier."

 

https://reason.com/2025/01/27/neocons-wage-a-rearguard-action-against-trumps-middle-east-peace-drive/?

The Names and Crimes of 80 Dangerous Terrorist Murderers That Were Released by Israel - The Trump -Witkoff Deal...And It's just the beginning...

As Israel celebrates the release of seven of the hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023 and anticipates the release of more over 42 days, every Israeli dreads the consequences of the dangerous price extorted on the Jewish State by Hamas.

For just 33 hostages alone, Israel has agreed to release over 1,900 terrorists, including many murderers, such as Wael Qassem, who is serving 35 life sentences.

READ MORE:

https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/01/27/the-names-and-crimes-of-80-dangerous-terrorist-murderers-that-were-released-by-israel/

When you’re the president of the United States, you have a lot of freedom to do and say stuff. You can organize photo ops. You can hire Tucker Carlson’s son to be your VP’s comms person. You can sign over 30 executive orders in a single week. But some things are off-limits. You should not, for instance, call up your Office of Management and Budget and ask them to send a sloppy, vague memo ordering all agencies to halt federal financial assistance programs the very next day at 5 PM, all so that you can make sure the math is mathing with your executive orders. If you did that, you’d be recklessly throwing a number of critical, live-saving programs into absolute chaos, and nobody wants that. And yet, dear reader, that’s exactly what President Donald Trump did today.

'Act of defiance' as Auschwitz survivors commemorate Holocaust Remembrance....

2 Wongs Don't Make A White!

 

CHINESE AI FREAKS OUT WORLD
TRIGGERS TECH SELL-OFF
$1 TRILLION PANIC
DOUBTS OVER US DOMINANCE

 

https://www.drudgereport.com/

 

The AI disruptor is here. Chinese startup DeepSeek rocked the AI sector, raising questions about US tech dominance and casting doubts on sky-high valuations for companies such as Nvidia. DeepSeek’s low-cost R1 model, which is now the top app on Apple’s iPhone download charts, is “one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs,” according to renowned tech investor Marc Andreessen. Here is an explainer on why DeepSeek is freaking out the AI world.

Whether DeepSeek will mean deep trouble for Big Tech is dominating market chatter going into the new week. Stocks tumbled with chip giants Nvida and ASML, both of which have benefited hugely from the surge in AI spending, leading the downward spiral. Global tech stocks are now on track for a $1.2 trillion wipeout.

Now, as the WSJ reports. the CIA has also given a higher probability to a lab leak.

The Central Intelligence Agency has now concluded that the deadly Covid-19 pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, lending credibility to a view that has been the focus of sharp debate among scientists and politicians for years.

In doing so, the CIA has now joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Energy Department in identifying a laboratory mishap in Wuhan, China, as the probable source of the Covid virus. It has killed more than 1.2 million Americans and over seven million people worldwide.

“CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting,” an agency spokesman said in a statement released Saturday.

The spokesman added that the judgment was “low confidence” and that the CIA would continue to evaluate “any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA’s assessment.”

The agency had previously taken the stance that it didn’t have enough information to assess whether the virus had leapt from an animal to a human or arose from a laboratory mishap.

Covid-19 emerged in Wuhan in late 2019 and then spread rapidly through the world in 2020 and 2021 before the development of vaccines helped limit deaths. It marked one of the worst pandemics in modern history.

But the origins of the virus still divides the U.S. intelligence community, in large part because the Chinese government hasn’t cooperated with international investigations. Four U.S. intelligence agencies have favored, with low confidence, the animal transmission theory. So has the National Intelligence Council, a body of senior intelligence officers that reports to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The fact that the Chinese won't cooperate with the investigation, which after all can help us understand worldwide epidemics, always makes me think that something fishy is going on, and by that I don't mean "wet market".   What cannot be denied is that both Facui and Francis Collins did their best to discourage the lab-leak hypothesis, and not solely on the grounds of science! They simply demonized those who suggested it, which is not a scientific attitude.

 

President Herzog begins his US visit with a prayer for hostages and the IDF at the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s place..

 

President Herzog prays for hostages at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s  grave  place...

President Isaac Herzog meets the Lubavitcher Rebbe January 26, 2024.

President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog began their diplomatic visit to the United States with a significant gesture: a prayer at the meeting resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Queens, New York. The visit, which took place on Sunday morning, highlighted the president’s focus on unity, hope, and the ongoing crises facing Israel.

 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-839340

THE RISE & FALL OF THE VOLOZHIN YESHIVA - NOT THE STORY YOU WERE TOLD! PLUS OTHER HISTORICAL FACTS THAT YOU DID NOT HEAR DURING KRIAT HATORAH OR CHAZARAS HASHATZ!

https://rabbidunner.com/

FROM THE DESK OF RABBI PINI DUNNER

The rabbi's latest articles and podcasts

 

The Untold Truth About Antisemitism

Married LI healthcare exec accused of preying on nearly a dozen teen girls to produce child porn - Prosecutors said at least 20,500 files of child porn were found in Walden’s cloud storage, court docs revealed. jakewlden.co

 "Walden’s counsel, Benjamin Brafman, argued his client’s compulsions stem from his own abuse as a child, pressing the court that dozens of "religious" members of the Orthodox Community have begged for “leniency and compassion.”

“He has five children and a wife who is present in court,” Brafman said.

Judge Gary Brown, who presided over the arraignment, agreed Walden should remain locked up."

*

THERE IS SOMETHING ESPECIALLY DISGUSTING & SICK FOR "RELIGIOUS" PEOPLE PLEADING FOR LENIENCY AND MERCY FOR A CHILD MOLESTER! PM

*

Married LI healthcare exec accused of preying on nearly a dozen teen girls to produce child porn

By

Kevin Sheehan and

Anna Young

Published Jan. 22, 2025, 6:48 p.m. ET

A married Nassau County healthcare executive allegedly preyed on nearly a dozen teen girls to produce child porn over a four-year period — including two minors he ordered to call him “daddy” and paid in exchange for the sickening content.

Jacob Walden, 38, was arraigned Wednesday morning in Central Islip Federal Court on a six-count indictment charging him with the sexual exploitation of two teens — ages 16 and 17 — he pressured to create sexually explicit videos and photos, according to the US Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York.

Feds recovered the disturbing images from Walden’s cell phone last April and identified at least 11 girls, as young as 14 years old, whom he contacted, coerced to send inappropriate content and paid, according to court documents.

6

Jacob Walden, 38, was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation of a child, child porn possession and other related charges.

The 16- and 17-year-old victims were located and interviewed during an investigation feds launched in September 2023.

6

Prosecutors said at least 20,500 files of child porn were found in Walden’s cloud storage, court docs revealed. jakewlden.co

Investigators further found Walden, a father of five, repeatedly purchased at least 500 images and 5,000 videos depicting rape, bestiality and the abuse of toddler-aged children from a large-scale production and distribution ring that advertised to adult male buyers in the US and aboard, according to court docs.

Law enforcement also recovered an encrypted conversation on Walden’s phone arranging the purchase of two child porn packages — one of which was advertised to include “4-19, FAMILY, SOLO, RAPE, MIXED” content, the documents state.

Prosecutors said at least 20,500 files of child porn were found in Walden’s cloud storage, court docs revealed.

Walden, the co-owner and managing partner of Emerald Healthcare, a company that manages nursing and assisted living facilities nationwide, remained in contact with his child victims between 2020 and 2024.

6

Walden is the managing partner of Emerald Healthcare, a company that manages nursing and assisted living facilities nationwide. Jacob Walden/Linkedin

In his conversations with the two teens referenced in the indictment — referred to as Jane Doe # 1 and Jane Doe # 2 — Walden reportedly insisted he be addressed as “daddy” and provided directions on the sexual acts he wanted the victims to perform.

He then paid them electronically after he received the alarming content, according to court documents.

Walden was arrested on July 31, 2024, and was ordered to home confinement at his $2 million Valley Stream residence, with restrictions placed on his electronic devices and his contact with minors.

The accused sicko violated his conditions within a month of his arrest after investigators discovered he made an unauthorized stop at a Verizon store and offered a woman money for sex on WhatsApp, prosecutors said.

6

Family and friends supported Walden during his arraignment in Central Islip. Dennis A. Clark

Walden is being held without bail until his trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to law enforcement sources, after prosecutors argued he is a flight risk and a danger to society.

He joins high-profile perps, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Luigi Mangione, who are also imprisoned at the Brooklyn facility.

“For years the defendant has enticed individuals, typically minor females in exchange for payment to produce child pornography for him,” US Trial Attorney Lenoid Sandlar said.

“The totality of the defendant’s voluminous submissions does not rebut the defendant’s motivation of flight. Or dangerousness.”

Walden’s counsel, Benjamin Baufman, argued his client’s compulsions stem from his own abuse as a child, pressing the court that dozens of religious members of the Orthodox Community have begged for “leniency and compassion.”

“He has five children and a wife who is present in court,” Baufman said.

“They are supportive even in light of the charges.”

Judge Gary Brown, who presided over the arraignment, agreed Walden should remain locked up.

Walden, on his personal blog, describes himself as an avid volunteer who is deeply committed to giving back to his community and a founding member of a local synagogue who launched his career in 2008 helping at-risk teens.

6

Walden is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to sources. Jacob Walden/Linkedin

Walden described himself as a man of “diverse interest and hobbies that enrich his life and provide a sense of balance,” and said growing up in Monsey played “a significant role in shaping his values and character.”

“Jacob Walden’s life story is a powerful reminder that greatness is not defined by fame or acclaim but by the impact one has on the world and the people around them,” he wrote on his website.

“His unwavering commitment to his values, resilience in the face of challenges, and dedication to personal and professional growth make him a true example of what it means to lead an extraordinary life.”

Walden is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, receipt of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and two counts of access with intent to view child pornography, according to the indictment.

If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.

He is due back in court on Feb. 24.

If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. 

 

 Federal Court after Jacob Walden’s arraignment for allegedly possessing and soliciting child pornography:

https://nypost.com/2025/01/22/us-news/nassau-county-health-executive-jacob-walden-accused-of-preying-on-teen-girls-to-produce-child-porn/

 

 https://nypost.com/2025/01/22/us-news/nassau-county-health-executive-jacob-walden-accused-of-preying-on-teen-girls-to-produce-child-porn/

 

Press Release

Long Island Man Charged With Sexual Exploitation of Children

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

 

 

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/long-island-man-charged-sexual-exploitation-children 

 

 READ INDICTMENT:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/media/1386216/dl?inline 

 

Trump’s need to show off his masterful negotiation skills in achieving a ceasefire and the return of the Israeli hostages even before he had taken office — is not sufficient. It conveniently overlooks the game-changing geopolitical forces hidden beneath the glossy wrapper of “peace talks.”

 

How Trump Used Israel in the Game of Geopolitics — and How Israel Should Respond

 

 Guest Post:

by Amy Neustein

Thousands of supporters of hostage families gather in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv as three hostages are returned to Israel

The US-brokered hostage-ceasefire deal — secured by fiat, not consensus — struck a harsh blow at the Jewish community this week. Notwithstanding the joy of finally seeing the hostages returned to their families and communities, many are questioning how President Donald Trump, who always claims to be a diehard supporter of Israel, could send an envoy to pressure Netanyahu into agreeing to suspend the campaign to extinguish Hamas and release convicted terrorists who pose an imminent danger to Israel’s security.

The simple explanation — Trump’s need to show off his masterful negotiation skills in achieving a ceasefire and the return of the Israeli hostages even before he had taken office — is not sufficient. It conveniently overlooks the game-changing geopolitical forces hidden beneath the glossy wrapper of “peace talks.” To begin with, it is no secret that Trump’s main objective is to have the US achieve economic superiority over China. He promised to set up the “External Revenue Service” on his first day in office to collect tariffs from Chinese imports that flood the US consumer markets. Because China represents to Trump the greatest existential threat to America, his policies, politics, and passions are principally geared toward facilitating America’s dominance in trade relations and in closing the US border.

It would be hard to ignore how Trump, in his mission to defeat his Chinese rivals, has tried to leverage the support of Russia, by displaying unusual comity and collegiality toward Putin. In essence, by showing fealty to Russia, Trump plausibly weakens the dyad between China and Russia. It is no secret that Russia wanted Israel to cease their combat operations in Gaza because continued fighting in the Middle East could endanger the survival of the Iranian regime. Not surprisingly, less than 48 hours after Israel announced its agreement to the hostage-ceasefire deal, Putin put on an amazing spectacle. Holding a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Putin applauded the deal and urged its immediate implementation.

Since it is no secret that Russia has vociferously supported Palestinian statehood (in fact, Putin reiterated those wishes at the press conference with Pezeshkian), it is concerning how easily Putin may try to exact compromises and concessions from Trump, who needs Russia to leverage America’s rival, China. Trump’s strong-arming of Israel into a terrible ceasefire-hostage deal, immediately followed by his stern warnings to the Jewish State regarding any possible violation of the 60-day Lebanon-Hezbollah ceasefire, has placed Israel on the altar of a dangerous geopolitical chess game. The Jewish State has been slid across the chessboard as a pawn of politics, while superpowers naturally take credit for their mastery of this game.

Similar to geopolitical jockeying, market dynamics likewise factor into the chess game of peace negotiations. Fitch — the first major credit rating agency to take a sledgehammer to Israel’s creditworthiness when it began its justified counteroffensive in Gaza against Hamas in 2023 — let out speculation shortly before Netanyahu accepted the hostage-ceasefire deal that Israel would enjoy a boost to its credit rating, thereby making the Jewish State more appealing to foreign investors. For a country already stressed by a 15-month multi-front war, dangling these promises of a much-needed credit upgrade is very tempting. All in all, the Latin Proverb Praemonitus Praemunitus (forewarned is forearmed) cannot be understated.

The geopolitics of peace negotiations, and the concomitant market undercurrents that resulted in the 11th-hour arm-twisting diplomacy in Israel, is a reminder that the Jewish State is a cog in a much larger system. To deny this reality leads to false hope, miscalculation, and much agony. All in all, the Ferris wheel of fate has played out, and arguably not to Israel’s benefit. The landslide victory of Trump had emboldened the Jewish State and Jews throughout the world. Those feelings were justified, considering the staunch support Trump had given Israel in his prior term, as well as his present appointment of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, an undeniably strong ally of Israel, to serve as the US ambassador to the Jewish State.

However, it’s time to get off the Ferris wheel and stand firmly on the ground. A steady mooring will make Israel less likely to be moved around as a pawn on a chessboard. And this augurs well for Israel’s long-term survival.

Amy Neustein, Ph.D., is a sociologist and author/editor of 16 academic books on socio-political institutions, a speaker on counter-terrorism, and the recipient of the Pro-Humanitate Literary Award. 

https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/01/20/how-trump-used-israel-in-the-game-of-geopolitics-and-how-israel-should-respond/

Viktor Frankl Interview - 1979 --- Man's Search For Meaning! "Mass Neurosis - Meaningless"

Bari Weiss: If TikTok is a national security threat, how can that national security concern be waived for 90 days? - Paul Mendlowitz: Because he's paving the way for the Tech Bros., probably Elon Musk, or his family to buy TikTok at a bargain basement price!

 

Ted Cruz: TikTok’s Return Would Be a ‘Very Dangerous Situation’

 

As Trump prepares to take office, the MAGA movement is divided over the app. ‘Their kids are studying calculus and our kids are being told to chew Tide Pods.’

By The Free Press

PAID

The Free Press is in D.C. for inauguration weekend, and the one thing dominating the conversation—even more than president-elect Trump—is TikTok.

On January 17, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Congress’s law forcing a divestiture of TikTok “is necessary to address [Congress’s] well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary” and thus did not violate the First Amendment. This meant that TikTok, since it had failed to secure a sale to a buyer not controlled by a “foreign adversary,” needed to shut down by Sunday.

On Saturday, TikTok announced that the app was going dark. Soon thereafter, news broke that president-elect Trump might even be open to nationalizing half the social-media app.

By Sunday around noon, after the previous night’s brief shutdown, Trump had promised to issue an executive order on Monday to “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect.” TikTok announced that “In agreement with our service providers” the company “is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”

Whew.

Left unexplained was how Trump could do this given the law’s plain language, which allows the president to grant such a reprieve for 90 days only if he can certify "evidence of significant progress" toward a sale. And that’s a big reason that, even before Trump takes office, disagreements are breaking out between Republican national-security hawks and tech-world interests that—for the moment—seem to have Trump’s ear. Of TikTok’s restoration of service in the U.S., Senator Tom Cotton said: “Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs. Think about it.”

In other words, TikTok may be pursuing a perilous path—regardless of any assurances Trump has just issued. Some are warning this all ends with a Meta monopoly on apps like TikTok.

What will happen next? For now, TikTok has restored service and posted the following message to its users, crediting Trump:

“As a result of president Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S."

In a frank and freewheeling conversation with The Free Press on Saturday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) weighed in on the fast-moving furor over TikTok’s legal status.

The below reflects Senator Cruz’s comments on TikTok’s future.

Bari Weiss: If TikTok is a national security threat, how can that national security concern be waived for 90 days?

Senator Cruz: Because the statute provides that it can be waived for 90 days. And the statute provides that it can be waived in order to facilitate a sale. So I don’t know what Trump is or isn’t going to do on this. If we are sitting here 91 days from now and TikTok is still live and China is still owning and controlling it, that will be a very dangerous situation because the Chinese communist government uses TikTok—number one for espionage, and number two to push propaganda and very harmful content to our children that pushes self-harm, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, antisemitism, anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism. It is a potent propaganda tool. The Chinese variant of TikTok, for their kids—number one, the hours they can use it are limited, and number two, they’re pushing things like math and hard work and discipline.

Weiss: It’s like Khan Academy.

Cruz: It really is astonishingly harmful. So their kids are studying calculus and our kids are being told to chew Tide Pods. That’s a problem.

Watch Senator Ted Cruz sound off on TikTok above. And watch Bari’s whole conversation with Ted Cruz here

Statement by Rabbi Dov Fischer on Disastrous #Hamas - #Netanyahu - #Trump...

President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman is scheduled to deliver a benediction at the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. This choice, while perhaps politically expedient, raises troubling questions about the values that guide Yeshiva University today.

To YU’s Rabbi Ari Berman: The inauguration is not your stage 

 

Is Yeshiva University sacrificing its chartered values or will it use the moment in Trump's limelight to call for reflection and redirection?

Yeshiva University faces a pivotal moment that will define its legacy.

President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman is scheduled to deliver a benediction at the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. This choice, while perhaps politically expedient, raises troubling questions about the values that guide Yeshiva University today.

This is the same university that once conferred honorary degrees upon Albert Einstein, Nobel laureates, US presidents, and Israeli prime ministers — leaders who embodied the intersection of intellectual and moral excellence. Yet this president’s inaugural stage is not theirs, nor is it ours. It belongs to a man whose history of divisive rhetoric and actions — against women, minorities, the press, and even Jews — stands in stark contrast to the ethical and spiritual ideals YU was founded to uphold.

Perhaps the calculus is simple: Israel’s security and the fight against antisemitism demand pragmatic alliances. Throughout history, Jews and Jewish leaders have presented menorahs and blessings to various leaders under the guise of diplomacy. In darker times, rabbis acted as pawns for power, their prestige used to confer legitimacy upon troubling regimes. Is this another chapter in that story?

Maybe I don’t fully see the picture. Perhaps the moment requires alliances with imperfection. President-elect Trump’s past statements, dining companions, and veiled threats to Jews might pale in comparison to the perceived benefits: standing with Israel against its existential threats, confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, or addressing the surge of antisemitism in America. If those desirable deeds materialize, would YU consider honoring him, as it did other presidents? The irony would lie  in honoring a man whose record also includes divisiveness, criminal conviction, and accusations of sexual misconduct. And that contrast is both painful and profound.

Elie Wiesel once implored Ronald Reagan in 1985 not to visit the Nazi cemetery at Bitburg, saying, “This is not your place.” I echo that sentiment. This stage, this moment, is not one for a rabbi, particularly one whose institution still wrestles with its own moral failures. 

YU’s president leads a university embroiled in one of the largest alleged abuse scandals in New York State history — a scandal marked by decades of silence, alleged coverups, and continued apparent resistance to accountability. Survivors of abuse have watched their alma mater seemingly prioritize image over integrity, burying truths and deflecting justice.

The juxtaposition is striking: a university that once championed Jewish moral and intellectual leadership now standing on a stage that symbolizes anything but. That a Jewish university’s rabbi-president, who has presided over the alleged continued coverup of alleged abuse crimes would appear on this stage is as ironic as it is troubling.

And yet, on second thought, perhaps it’s a perfect match. This moment encapsulates what Yeshiva University has become: an institution willing to sacrifice its chartered values on the altar of expedience. It is a tragic reflection of how far the storied university has strayed from its mission to uphold Jewish moral and ethical principles.

The Yeshiva University charter, once a beacon of intellectual and spiritual integrity, now feels like a junk bond. The only question that remains is whether YU will recognize this moment as a call to reflection and redirection — or double down on its path toward moral bankruptcy.

Survivors, alumni, and history itself are watching. 

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/yus-rabbi-ari-berman-a-stage-that-isnt-yours/

FDD Morning Brief | feat. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus

Agudath Israel On Behalf Of Catholic Church ---- "WE DIDN'T KNOW" ---- More than $5 billion spent on Catholic sexual abuse allegations, new report finds

 

JUST SAY YOU DIDN'T KNOW - GOYISHE KUP!

More than $5 billion spent on Catholic sexual abuse allegations, new report finds 

 

 

(RNS) — During the 20 years of surveys, the respondents reported 16,276 credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests, deacons or religious brothers. 

 

 

Victims of clergy sexual abuse, or their family members, react as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg on Aug. 14, 2018. A Pennsylvania grand jury’s investigation of clergy sexual abuse identified more than 1,000 child victims in the state. The grand jury report said that number comes from records in six Roman Catholic dioceses.

(RNS) — Over two decades, Catholic dioceses, eparchies and men’s religious communities spent more than $5 billion on allegations of sexual abuse of minors, according to a new report released Wednesday (Jan. 15) by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

Between 2004 and 2023, three-fourths of the $5.025 billion reported was paid to abuse victims. Seventeen percent went to pay attorneys’ fees, 6% was in support for alleged abusers and 2% went toward other costs. On average, only 16% of the costs related to the allegations was borne by insurance companies.

The CARA report combined 20 annual surveys sent to dioceses and eparchies within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (which excludes some parts of the U.S., such as Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa), as well as U.S. religious communities belonging to the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. The report does note that some alleged perpetrators were assigned outside the U.S. The USCCB commissioned the survey in 2004.

Jonathon Wiggins, a lead researcher on the report, told RNS that the report represented the Catholic Church’s superlative commitment to transparency. The report “is unprecedented by any non-governmental organization and is the largest effort of its kind,” the report’s authors wrote in a statement.

Wiggins told RNS that this report may have some overlap in cases with the groundbreaking 2004 research study on the nature and scope of sexual abuse in the church, conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, but that it has a different methodology.

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RELATED: Vatican commission reports gains and challenges in abuse prevention

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During the 20 years of the survey, the respondents reported 16,276 credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests, deacons or religious brothers. Those allegations represent slightly less than two-thirds (65%) of total allegations that dioceses, eparchies and men’s religious communities reported receiving.

Though the surveys come from the 2000s, the majority of credible allegations were for abuse that began before 1980. Ninety-two percent of credible allegations were for abuse that began before 1989. In contrast, 542 credible allegations represented abuse that began after the year 2000. The report defines credible allegations as bearing the “semblance of truth” and having been sufficiently substantiated to forward the allegations to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Of the credible allegations, 4 in 5 victims were male, and one-fifth were female. More than half were between the ages of 10 and 14. About a quarter (24%) of victims were between 15 and 17 years old and another 1 in 5 was age 9 or younger.

The response rate for dioceses and eparchies averaged 99%, while men’s religious communities had an average response rate of 72%.

In addition to tracking the money spent on allegations of abuse, the report totals the amount of money spent on abuse prevention, including for safe environment coordinators and victim assistance coordinator salaries, administrative expenses, training programs and background checks, totaling nearly $728 million. 

The report tracks that the abuse prevention expenses have risen over time, with the amount spent from 2014 to 2023 representing an 80% increase compared with the expenses from 2004 to 2013.

“Costs Related to Allegations, from 2004-2023: Dioceses, Eparchies, and Religious Communities

The financial costs of the abuse crisis have reshaped the Catholic Church in the United States. Marie T. Reilly, a professor at Pennsylvania State University Law School, has tracked 40 Catholic dioceses and religious organizations that have sought bankruptcy protection, and many dioceses have cited the expense of settling abuse claims as part of their decision to declare bankruptcy.

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RELATED: Facing more clergy abuse lawsuits, Vermont’s Catholic Church files for bankruptcy

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Those financial troubles have led dioceses throughout the country to sell diocesan property, including diocesan headquarters, seminaries, schools and churches. In the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, every parish had to pay amounts ranging from five figures to more than $1 million toward a bankruptcy settlement.

Of all the survey years, 2019 had the highest number of credible allegations reported, with 2,506 credible allegations reported that year. That year came after a flood of revelations about the extent of sexual abuse in the church.

Many state investigations were opened after an August 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report found that there were more than 1,000 victims of child sexual abuse in that state and that Catholic bishops and other leaders had participated in a cover-up.

2018 was also the year that several dioceses found that the allegation that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had sexually abused a minor was credible, leading to McCarrick’s removal from the clerical state in February 2019.

Over two decades, the survey’s questions changed in ways that may impact the total count of credible allegations. Before 2013, the survey did not include allegations of abuse by religious brothers, who are considered lay people in the Catholic Church.

Before 2016, all allegations were sorted into “credible” and “unsubstantiated/obviously false” categories. In 2016, a third category, “unable to be proven,” was introduced, which decreased the proportion of allegations deemed “credible.”

Based on the allegations deemed credible, the report estimates 4,490 alleged perpetrators, of whom 80% were diocesan priests, 15% were priests from religious orders, 4% were religious brothers and 1% were deacons.

In the years that the perpetrators were reported by dioceses, eparchies and men’s religious communities, 86% of the perpetrators were already dead, removed from ministry, laicized or missing. The other 14% were removed from ministry or retired from ministry during the survey year.

https://religionnews.com/2025/01/15/more-than-5-billion-spent-on-catholic-sexual-abuse-allegations-new-report-finds/?utm_source=RNS+Updates&utm_campaign=d0a3e1cfb2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_01_16_12_45&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5356cb657-d0a3e1cfb2-128604628

1 Hostage Deal Conference, Jan 15 Einat Wilf 1

Boys Town Jerusalem:

 

Thank you to The Times of Israel for putting together this article on our BTJ alumnus, Sgt. First Class Mulugeta “Mulu” Gadif, 29 who lost his life heroically protecting Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/sgt-first-class-mulugeta.../

 

We encourage you to read more about his life and the true hero he was.

 

 

 

While 33 hostages will be released in the first stage, dozens—alive and dead—will remain in Gaza, prolonging their families’ suffering. The relatives of those killed by the Palestinian terrorists now going free will also be shattered. So, too, will the Israelis who still see soldiers dying in Gaza almost daily while Hamas rocket fire continues. What were all of Israel’s sacrifices for, they will ask. As with previous deals, this one will only encourage further terror and hostage-taking, they’ll warn, and set the stage for a future attack, like October 7.

 

The Hostage Deal Is the Price of Israel’s Failures

The sacrifices of this proposed agreement are the cost of Israel’s weakness on October 7, Michael Oren writes.

PEOPLE IN SDEROT, ISRAEL, WATCH SMOKE RISE OVER GAZA AFTER ISRAELI ATTACKS ON JANUARY 14, 2025. (MOSTAFA ALKHAROUF VIA GETTY IMAGES)

By Michael Oren

Israel is on the brink of striking a deal with Hamas. After more than a year of on-and-off negotiations, hours ago came the news that Hamas’s military leader, Mohammed Sinwar, had approved the agreement.

The deal is complicated and is structured in three phases over a 42-day period. In the first phase, which can begin as early as Sunday, Hamas will release 33 hostages—women, the aged and infirm, and children, among them the Bibas babies. The subsequent two phases will see the release of all 98 hostages, living and dead, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip. The war will officially end. But the fulfillment of the second and third phase is contingent on the successful implementation of the first.

Should it succeed, the deal will be greeted cacophonously in Israel. Boundless joy will mix with anger and pain, relief with fear and searing disappointment.

Rallies in favor and protests against the deal enveloped Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Tuesday night. Broadly speaking, the Israeli left in Tel Aviv supports ending the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages. The Israeli right welcomes the hostages’ return, but insists that Israel prioritize winning the war.

In Tel Aviv, crowds flooded the streets calling on the government to “seal the deal” and asking “how much blood must be spilled” before it does. In Jerusalem, demonstrators claimed the government had no mandate to “surrender” to Hamas. “A freed terrorist is tomorrow’s murderer,” right-wing opponents of the deal bellowed as they blocked traffic near the prime minister’s office.

Such discordance is inevitable.

From day one—October 7, 2023—Israel’s twin goals in Gaza were fundamentally irreconcilable. Israel could not, as its leaders pledged, simultaneously destroy Hamas and secure all of the hostages’ release. The terrorists who regarded the hostages as the key to their survival would hardly give them up for less than an Israeli commitment to end—and therefore lose—the war. Israelis, for their part, were torn between those who felt that they could not send their children to the army as long as hostages remained in captivity and those who held that, if Hamas wins, Israel will not have an army at all.

Still, Israel believed that by increasing military pressure on Hamas, it could compel the terrorists to free the hostages. The strategy appeared to work when, in November 2023, Hamas released 105 of its 251 hostages in exchange for a weeklong ceasefire and the freeing of 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Israel reasonably assumed that ratcheting up its operations in Gaza, especially in Hamas’s Rafah stronghold, would yield similar results.

But Hamas thought otherwise. Surprised by Israel’s determination to resume fighting after the ceasefire and convinced that mounting international condemnation of the war’s conduct would soon force the Israelis to surrender, the terrorist group dug in its heels. Israeli forces would enter Rafah and several refugee camps, kill senior Hamas leaders, and dispel the terrorists’ hope of the opening of a second front with Hezbollah in Lebanon—yet no new hostage deal ensued. Hamas still insisted on an unlimited ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the strip. Instead of buckling to military pressure and releasing hostages, the terrorists shot them.

People in Tel Aviv, Israel, gather to demand a ceasefire and the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza on January 11, 2025. (Mostafa Alkharouf via Getty Images)

The schisms within Israeli society meanwhile deepened. Tens of thousands took to the streets weekly not to protest Hamas’s inhumanity but their own government’s alleged intransigence. Prime Minister Netanyahu, they claimed, desperate to preserve his coalition with radical rightists opposed to any deal, blocked it by adding unreasonable preconditions. Netanyahu, they protested, doomed the hostages. Only the Biden administration, an often-fierce critic of Israeli policies in Gaza, placed the bulk of the blame on Hamas.

Other Israelis, mostly from the right, applauded the government’s refusal to accede to an agreement that rewarded terror and guaranteed Hamas’s victory. Many of Hamas’s leaders, they recalled, among them October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, were released in previous hostage-for-prisoner exchanges. The terrorists freed in this deal, its opponents predict, will kill countless Israelis in the future.

Yet now, suddenly, a breakthrough deal is looming. Both Israel and Hamas have reportedly softened their positions and bridged formerly insuperable gaps.

What has changed? Although the White House deserves credit for persevering in the hostage-release talks, the deal probably owes much to the soon incoming president’s threats to visit “all hell” on Hamas and his ability to press Netanyahu.

President Biden could say “don’t,” and everybody in the Middle East—Iranians, Arabs, and Israelis alike—did. Not so with Donald Trump. One meeting with his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly persuaded Bibi to accept conditions he had long rejected.

Still, if and when the ceasefire breaks down, the Israeli government is counting on the Trump administration’s unbridled support in completing the destruction of Hamas. Hamas is banking on international action to prevent the war from reigniting. Most of the world will applaud.

The response of the Israeli public will, by contrast, be fragmented. While the vast majority will celebrate the homecoming, their joy will be tempered by the unspeakable tortures the hostages suffered and their long, if not endless, road to recovery.

While 33 hostages will be released in the first stage, dozens—alive and dead—will remain in Gaza, prolonging their families’ suffering. The relatives of those killed by the Palestinian terrorists now going free will also be shattered. So, too, will the Israelis who still see soldiers dying in Gaza almost daily while Hamas rocket fire continues. What were all of Israel’s sacrifices for, they will ask. As with previous deals, this one will only encourage further terror and hostage-taking, they’ll warn, and set the stage for a future attack, like October 7.

Perhaps this outcome was unavoidable from the beginning. Perhaps the deal is the only way of reconciling Israel’s mutually exclusive goals of annihilating Hamas and repatriating the hostages. Perhaps, despite Israel’s subsequent military triumph, this is the price for the failures of October 7.

Michael Oren, formerly Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Knesset member, and deputy minister for diplomacy in the prime minister’s office, is the founder of the Israel Advocacy Group and the author of the Substack Clarity.