Again, I have no opinion or specific personal knowledge on the kashrut status of the Braekel chicken. I have no skin in the game. I watch with interest from the sidelines.

The latest development in the big debate is that two rabbonim who previously stated that they have a tradition of shechting these chickens in the sephardic countries from which they came have now retracted and are now saying they have no such tradition.
source: Haredim10

yes tradition, no tradition. I have no idea. I just wonder whether mafia pressure tactics are being applied to force all rabbonim in opposition to a Braekel ban (these two are not the first to reverse their opinion on this) to change their minds and toe the line.. That's what it looks like to me. But maybe not. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding or misquote.

The fact is that the court threw the Reform and all the other organizations down the stairs, rightfully so form a legal perspective..

 MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), on the rejection of the organizations to the Supreme Court to allow public transportation on Shabbos.

The only problem is that this was just thrown out on a technicality. It was not actually a rejection of the Reform and their position on the matter. the Supreme Court dismissed the case saying they cannot rule on it in this format but only if a public transportation company comes to Court demanding to be allowed to operate on Shabbos.

Actualic has a report of the new "takanon", directives, put out by the City of Bnei Braq for the students in its kindergarten system and their families.

While usually such sets of directives are employed by private schools and not normally by official iryah or State schools, in Bnei Braq things are different.

A few points are mentioned, but the one thing I find surprising is the requirement that grandparents must have a kosher cellphone (rather than a regular smartphone).

The response of the Iryah is that the takanon is nothing new and it is based on requests of the majority of the parents in the city.

a. I wonder how they took this poll of the parents of the city to determine that a majority of them had all these various requests and demands. Did parents get a referendum to vote upon? Did a few people complain and they suddenly became the majority? How does this work?

b. the attempt to control everybody and their surroundings is taking an additional step, with it being expanded to grandparents of the student. Soon they'll expand it to cousins and aunts and uncles, and then maybe to neighbors and parents acquaintances.

Every year the arguments about traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashana repeat themselves. I have finally heard a new argument, and it is a bit shocking.

In an interview with Rav Yoel Bin Nun on the topic, he talks about how people should not got o Uman and Rav Nachman's neshama is not there and in Uman there is only tumah. When asked about the fact that people go there and get a spiritual high, he responded that people got a spiritual high from the Golden Calf as well - and until today we still suffer from that sin. The tumah creates a powerful atmosphere and the neshama of Rebbe Nachman is crying over the mistake of people going to Uman instead of to his neshama in Eretz Yisrael
source: Ynet 

comparing going to Uman to the sin of the Golden Calf is pretty harsh. It also gives the trip far more importance than it probably deserves

Of all places to try to fight against Jews practicing their religious duties, I would never have expected to see the city of Lakewood.

In a place like Mahwah, I can understand it, even if I disagree with it, - they feel their town is changing with an influx of new residents living a different lifestyle and they might want to do whatever they can to preserve their lifestyle.

But in Lakewood?

Lakewood has an Orthodox Jewish population that is larger than 50% of the towns population. I think the current mayor is not Jewish but in the past they have had Orthodox Jews as mayor. The Orthodox Jewish community is enmeshed in every aspect of Lakewood and everything that goes on there.

So to see an attempt to prevent Jews in Lakewood from being able to erect a sukka for the week of the Sukkos holiday is very surprising. Yet, according to The Lakewood Scoop, that is exactly what is happening. The attempt to prevent the Jews from erecting sukkas is happening by the Homeowners Association of seniors development complex.

Weird. Lakewood is the wrong town in which to try to fight the Orthodox.

from Florida..

This psak is timely, with all the recent fighting over chilul shabbos - specifically regarding the work on the train lines.

Chief Rabbi of Holon, Rav Avraham Yosef, was asked if one is allowed to travel via train, considering much of the work on the train lines is done on Shabbos.

Rav Yosef responded very critical of Rakevet Israel, saying that they act with chutzpah, not taking into even minimal account the kedusha of Shabbos. Though the religious public might be relatively small, but the number of those who care about Shabbos is much greater than the number of people who keep mitzvos, yet Rakever Israel denigrates the thing that since the foundation of the State has been the Holy of Holies. If we ignore the Shabbos, the symbol of Judaism, we might as well call the State something else and not Medinat Yisrael. Using the name Medinat Yisrael symbolizes something from the people of Israel, and the minimum is Shabbos.

Rav Yosef then paskened that, in his opinion, it is prohibited to travel by train Israel on any line that is worked on on Shabbos, and in his opinion all the lines are worked on on Shabbos. It is very problematic for a religious Jew to use any of the trains.
source: Kikar

The 3 rabbinic councils met together last week and chose to not make any dramatic pronouncements beyond continuing political activity working against chilul shabbos. Rav Yosef's psak here is seemingly against the decision of the moaztzot, but he issuing a halachic psak to someone who asked and not a political decision in how to cause them to capitulate.

The real question is, considering the indictment and plea bargain recently arrived at with Rav Yosef, when will Radio Kol Hai replace him with someone else on the radio, and will the Rabbanut remove his rabbinic ordination, as they are considering doing with Rabbi Metzger and some other rabbis guilty of crimes.

rabbis are humans too..