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Elon Musk is now openly questioning whether his government-reform project — the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE — accomplished enough to justify the upheaval it triggered across Washington.

During a sweeping and often introspective appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” Musk acknowledged that he can’t confidently say his experiment in uprooting waste was the right call. When pressed by Miller on whether DOGE fulfilled its mission, he offered only lukewarm praise: “We’re a little bit successful. We’re somewhat successful.”

That modest assessment didn’t last long. Musk quickly shifted to frustration over how deeply the waste was embedded in federal spending. “There was, like, probably $100, maybe $200 billion worth of zombie payments per year,” he said, noting that DOGE was able to shut down only a sliver of it.

The impact of cutting even that portion, he stressed, brought swift political retaliation. “If you stop money going to political corruption, they will lash out big time,” he said. “They really want the money to keep flowing.”

Pressed on whether he’d sign up for DOGE again, Musk didn’t hedge. “I mean, no, I don’t think so,” he said, explaining that in hindsight he would have devoted his time fully to his companies. He went so far as to imagine an alternate reality in which stepping away from Washington’s storm spared his brand from the wave of Tesla vandalism that erupted after he joined the second Trump administration. In that timeline, he said, “the cars — they wouldn’t have been burning the cars.”

Throughout the interview, Musk portrayed Washington not as a place he ever saw through rose-colored glasses, but as a system warped by what he condemned as “massive transfer payments” to migrants — a “gigantic money magnet,” he claimed, that incentivizes inflows to the US. “I wouldn’t say I was super illusioned to begin with,” he said before launching into another critique of federal spending.

He didn’t stay in policy mode for long. With characteristic bluntness, he admitted that “AI nightmares” jolt him awake “many days in a row,” leaving him running on only six hours of sleep. Asked what sparks the terror, he answered dryly, “Why do I wake up in nightmares? Oh, AI. Yeah.”

Musk insisted he doesn’t entertain what he considers irrational fears. “If I find an irrational fear, I … squelch it. Fear is the mind killer.” Yet he made clear that public life brings its own real dangers. He said he avoids any situation “where there’s the general public” due to swarming selfie-seekers and ongoing “serious security issues,” especially in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. “Life is on a hardcore mode,” he said. “You make one mistake, and you’re dead.”

By the time the conversation wound down, the hesitation that had hovered from the start resurfaced. Speaking with Miller — whose husband Stephen Miller remains one of President Trump’s closest advisers — Musk admitted he’s unlikely to resurrect DOGE under any circumstances. “I don’t think so,” he concluded. “Knowing what I know now.”

{Matzav.com}

Paired with high-deductible healthcare plans, health savings accounts help ease healthcare costs. HSAs are a triple tax-advantaged vehicle in the tax code, allowing for pretax contributions, tax-free compounding, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. However, few owners fund their HSAs to the maximum, and even fewer invest their HSA dollars outside a savings account. Most consumers likely […]

The United States and Turkey are engaged in discussions over Ankara’s long-blocked purchase of F-35 stealth fighters, according to U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, signaling the most significant movement in the years-long impasse since Turkey’s acquisition of Russia’s S-400 air defense system. In a statement posted on X, Barrack said Washington and Ankara have […]

A new investigation is shining a harsh spotlight on Instacart, accusing the delivery giant of quietly manipulating grocery prices through an opaque algorithm that charges different users different amounts for the exact same items—sometimes at the exact same store on the very same day.

Researchers uncovered dramatic differences in what Instacart shoppers paid for identical products. In one striking case at a Target in North Canton, Ohio, a shopper was charged $2.99 for a jar of Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter during a September order, while other customers that very day paid as much as $3.59 for the same jar from the same location.

Seattle shoppers saw similar disparities. At one Safeway, Instacart users were billed five separate prices for the same package of Oscar Mayer Deli Turkey: $3.99, $4.31, $4.59, $4.69 and $4.89 — a spread of 23% between the highest and lowest amount collected.

Across stores in four different cities, this pattern repeated itself. The findings come from Groundwork Collaborative and Consumer Reports, which enlisted 437 shoppers to place Instacart pickup orders and track the prices that appeared.

The revelations add to the growing backlash against “dynamic pricing,” a frustration that began with rideshare surges during bad weather and has since seeped into countless industries. Consumers have complained about vanishing price stability at a time when inflation has made everyday living increasingly unaffordable.

Companies already known for employing price fluctuation tactics include airlines—whose fares often rise when multiple users are searching at once—and fast-food chains that use digital menus to quietly adjust burger prices throughout the day. Groundwork warned that Instacart’s methods alone could cost families up to $1,200 a year, especially as food inflation continues to climb faster than most other expenses.

The study reported that nearly 75% of items reviewed on Instacart were listed at multiple prices, despite being identical products. Instacart, responding to The Post, rejected the notion that its system resembles real-time surge pricing. The company insisted that any price “tests” are not tied to customers’ personal characteristics, stating its prices are never “dynamic,” even though the discrepancies revealed in the study showed dramatic swings from shopper to shopper.

Researchers clarified that they found no proof Instacart is actively using personal data to determine pricing, but noted that Instacart and its retail partners very likely possess the capability to alter prices based on factors like income level, age, or whether a user is new or returning.

Instacart defended the strategy, positioning its tests as tools to help retailers “learn what matters most to consumers.” The company said higher markups might appear on niche items, whereas staples like milk and bread sometimes show lower prices. “Just as retailers have long tested prices in their physical stores to better understand consumer preferences, a subset of only 10 retail partners – ones that already apply markups – do the same online via Instacart,” a spokesperson said.

Target, however, distanced itself from the entire practice. A company representative stressed, “Target is not affiliated with Instacart and is not responsible for prices on the Instacart platform.” The retailer offered no further comment on whether it planned to evaluate Instacart’s conduct.

Safeway’s parent company, Albertsons, declined to respond to requests for comment.

The uproar comes as grocery prices remain 25% higher than before the pandemic. Over the weekend, President Trump ordered a sweeping federal probe into allegations of price-fixing across the food industry, following accusations from several Democratic lawmakers that major conglomerates have been exploiting consumers.

Some supermarket chains say they would never consider the type of in-store price variability that Instacart appears to be experimenting with. Stew Leonard’s, which uses Instacart for e-commerce, said it has never been asked to take part in such pricing practices—and wouldn’t agree even if it were. “We would never price customer A differently from customer B,” said chief marketing officer Tammy Berentson. “We would have nothing to gain. It’s unfair. We are transparent about our pricing and we want to be fair to our customers and for our customers to trust us.”

The variability documented in the study was staggering. At a Safeway in Washington, DC, some Instacart customers paid $3.99 for a dozen Lucerne eggs while others were charged $4.79. The same store sold Signature SELECT Corn Flakes for anywhere between $2.99 and $3.69. At a Target in North Canton, one group of Instacart shoppers paid $3.99 for Premium Original Saltine Crackers, while others were charged $4.59 or $4.69. Even a store-brand farfalle pasta ranged from $1.19 to $1.43.

In Seattle, Wheat Thins ordered through Instacart at Safeway appeared with four distinct price tags: $3.99, $4.31, $4.69 and $4.89.

“Instacart is a black hole for the retailer,” one industry executive told The Post. The executive explained that grocers joined Instacart to gain digital reach, only to discover during the pandemic that they no longer had a clear view into customer transactions. “The classic rub in the scenario is ‘Whose customer is it’ – Instacart’s or the grocer’s?”

Driving all these shifting numbers is a pricing engine developed by Eversight, the software company Instacart acquired in 2022. Last year, during an investor call, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo said the AI system “helps retailers dynamically optimize their pricing both online and in-store to really figure out which categories of products a customer is more price sensitive on versus less price sensitive on and really adjust their prices based on that information.”

Despite denials from the company, the study’s findings raise sharp questions about transparency, fairness, and the future of pricing in a digital marketplace dominated by algorithms—algorithms that, for now, remain largely invisible to the very shoppers they affect.

{Matzav.com}

A man was killed on Wednesday in a car explosion on Route 73, near Nahalal, a moshav in northern Israel. Firefighters, police officers, and MDA paramedics arrived at the scene following a report of a car that exploded and caught fire. After the flames were extinguished, the lifeless body of a man was found inside […]

In the final weeks of his administration, Mayor Eric Adams is laying down another political tripwire for his successor. This time, it’s at the NYPD’s oversight agency. Adams has quietly appointed former journalist Pat Smith — a favorite of police unions and a reliably pro-law enforcement vote on the Civilian Complaint Review Board — as […]

A circulating photo that supposedly captures Vice President JD Vance in a tense back-and-forth with his wife, Usha, sent social media into a frenzy — but the VP shut it down with a quip that instantly flipped the narrative.

The picture, which has no date, no source, and no verification, shows Vance in a plain white T-shirt, sitting across from Usha in what looks like a restaurant booth. In the image, she appears to be looking downward with her hand on her face, while he wears a stern expression. The internet immediately seized on the snapshot, spinning it into a storyline about the Vances’ personal life.

Critics of the Trump-Vance administration wasted no time. The comments section filled with snark, including from Facebook user Thomas Clay Jr., who wrote on Dec. 5, “Looks like things are not so good in Republicanistan.” Others insisted the picture looked more like a digital fabrication than a genuine moment.

As speculation snowballed, Vance stepped in on Tuesday and dismantled the rumor mill with a single razor-sharp line. Posting directly to X, he cracked, “I always wear an undershirt when I go out in public to have a fight loudly with my wife.”

His sarcasm immediately reframed the conversation and showed the absurdity of treating the image as evidence of marital drama.

This isn’t the first time the couple has been the subject of online gossip. That intensified again when Usha appeared without her wedding ring at two separate events alongside First Lady Melania Trump. Her spokesperson quickly clarified the issue, saying the second lady simply juggles a full load as a mother: she “does a lot of dishes, gives lots of baths, and forgets her ring sometimes.” Vance himself brushed off the noise in a recent interview with NBC News, saying that he and Usha “kind of get a kick out of it.”

{Matzav.com}

Ukraine is expected to hand its latest peace proposals to U.S. negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms. As tension builds around U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a settlement […]

Brig. Gen. Gal Asael, the ex- Deputy Military Advocate General, rejected the police’s claims against him regarding the probe he led into the leaked Sdei Teiman video, shifting responsibility onto Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara during his police interrogation, i24News reported on Tuesday evening. According to the report, Asael claimed in his interrogation that “all of […]

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A Dallas congresswoman opened her Senate campaign by telling voters that she “has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump.” Her Democratic primary opponent insisted that Americans are tired of “politics as a blood sport.” The divergent approach highlights how U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are navigating a race where Democrats hope to break a […]

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Avremi Malul, a yeshiva student who was arrested on charges of “draft dodging,” spoke with Kol Chai Radio and described the difficult conditions he endured in a separation wing in Prison 10. “I was arrested on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. I was released on Friday, right before Shabbos. They sentenced me to seven days, […]

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Concerns are rising as a large-scale international search and rescue operation continues for an Israeli yacht that disappeared near Cyprus amid the powerful Storm Byron. The yacht, with four people on board, departed from Ashdod Port two days ago, and all communication with it was lost shortly before it was expected to reach the coast […]

Storm “Byron,” which has battered Greece and Cyprus in recent days, arrived in Israel on Tuesday night and had already caused significant rainfall and thunderstorms in various regions of the country by early Wednesday morning. “Winds will reach speeds of up to 90 km per hour in some places,” said Yossi Deklo, Deputy Fire Officer […]

Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, conferred an honorary doctorate on Isaac Herzog, president of Israel, at the university’s 101st annual Chanukah dinner on Sunday.

The honorary degree recognized Herzog’s “leadership, moral courage and lifelong commitment to the Jewish people,” the university stated. Yeshiva added that the degree conferral was “a profound family legacy,” as his late father Chaim Herzog, a former Israeli president, received an honorary degree from the school in 1976.

Berman said at the black-tie event at the Cipriani Wall Street venue that Isaac Herzog is “a leader, who not only carries the conviction to defend Israel at every turn but has the character to build a state that is a beacon of light to all.”

Herzog is “the very embodiment of what it means to be a Zionist in our times,” he said.

The Yeshiva president announced at the event, which drew several hundred people, that the school had reached its $613 million fundraising goal, after billionaire philanthropist and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who spoke in a prerecorded message, donated the last $5 million.

“Even in the face of hate or division, we can come together with unity and solidarity and lead with spirit and purpose of light,” Kraft said in the message. “That’s what, to me, Yeshiva University does every day.”

Kraft added that his $5 million gift was not just an investment in the school but also an effort to “illuminate minds, strengthen hearts and prepare a new generation to lead with conviction, compassion and courage.”

There were also several institutional announcements at the event, including that Douglas Murray, a conservative British political commentator who is one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in the media, will be a visiting professor at Yeshiva next semester.

Berman announced that Yeshiva will debut a new engineering program and will expand its science and health school significantly, including with new departments and chairs.

The Yeshiva president also said that “distinguished scholars are joining our faculty in pursuit of an institution, whose values they actually trust, and our philanthropic achievements have surpassed every benchmark.”

“Yeshiva University is thriving with clarity and pride and purpose,” he added.

Yeshiva University HerzogIsaac Herzog, president of Israel, receives an honorary doctorate at Yeshiva University’s Chanukah fundraising dinner, Dec. 7, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Yeshiva University.
In his keynote address, Herzog recalled observing a conversation some 25 years ago in Hebrew between Rabbi Norman Lamm, a former Yeshiva president, and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel, in the latter’s office.

“It was a meeting of the minds and hearts, between a renowned leader of the American Jewish community and an admired leader of Sephardic and Israel Jewry,” Herzog said.

As the two “spoke of the impressive trajectory of American Jews, and of the dialogue that must take place within the streams of Jews in America and elsewhere, I watched another bridge between Israel and world Jewry take place before my eyes,” he added.

“Dear friends, you—all of you—are the embodiment of this bridge in our times,” he said.

The Israeli president said the university is “for American Jewry what Israel is for world Jewry.”

“It is home base, and as Yeshiva’s second president Rabbi Samuel Belkin said, ‘You have built a little Israel right here,’” he said.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Murray and billionaire philanthropist Miriam Adelson attended the event, as did the parents of Omer Neutra, who was murdered on Oct. 7 and whose body Israel liberated from Gaza in early November.

Anita Zucker, chair of the dinner and supporter of an eponymous scholarship for Jewish early childhood education at Yeshiva, stated that “this dinner marks not only a celebration of YU’s past but also the beginning of its bold new chapter.”

“The enthusiasm surrounding this event speaks to the unity, devotion and deep commitment that define the Yeshiva University community,” she said.

There were also lighthearted moments at the event, as when Herzog noted that Albert Einstein “famously declined David Ben-Gurion’s offer to become Israel’s second president, and yet he happily accepted an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I did accept the position of Israel’s president, and I am also pleased to accept this honor here this evening,” he said. JNS

{Matzav.com}

Rejoice, New Year’s dieters: Oreos are getting a sugar-free option. Mondelez said Tuesday that Oreo Zero Sugar and Oreo Double Stuf Zero Sugar will go on sale in the U.S. in January. They’re a permanent addition to the company’s Oreo lineup. It’s the first time Mondelez has sold sugar-free Oreos in the U.S. They’re already […]

[Video below.] In a moving scene in Moscow, Maxim Harkin — who was freed from Hamas captivity on Hoshana Rabbah after 738 harrowing days — marked a powerful spiritual milestone. Strengthened in his faith during his time in Gaza, he underwent a bris milah.

Presiding over the event was Russia’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Berel Lazar, joined by guest of honor Rav Dovid Yosef, who traveled specially for the occasion. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Harkin received his new Hebrew name: Zalman Zelig.

The celebration continued later that evening at a Yud Tes Kislev seudah, attended by hundreds. There, Zalman Zelig Harkin publicly expressed heartfelt gratitude for the miracles that brought him to freedom, offering words of thanks and inspiration that deeply moved the crowd.

The festive gathering featured singers Yanky Daskal, Moshe Louk, and child soloist Ari Kraus, accompanied by the Malchus Choir and Mendy Brandwein’s orchestra.

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{Matzav.com}

In an unusually coordinated cross-parliamentary move, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and U.S. House Majority Leader Mike Johnson unveiled a new joint initiative aimed at mobilizing legislative leaders across the world to nominate President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. The announcement followed a meeting between the two lawmakers on Capitol Hill and comes […]