Just One Thing: Our parental milestone
There’s a lot going on in the world that I could talk about today's "Just One Thing". Instead I’m going to talk about the most important thing to me: Over this past weekend, my older kid legally became an adult. He’s now old enough to vote, he’ll have to register for the draft which I hope we continue not to need, he can have his own bank account and make his own doctor’s appointments. He still can’t drink but he doesn’t want to anyway and that’s just how I like it. We’ve all been through various struggles with our children, and some of these with this kid were pretty serious, even scary, but we seem to have arrived at his adulthood in pretty good shape. Our job as parents isn’t done, but celebrating with him this weekend was a joyful thing.
-
What next In Israel/Hamas war?
Just after my show ended on Friday, I saw some of the worst news I could have imagined from the ongoing war between Israel and the medieval Islamofascist terrorists of Hamas: The Israeli military accidentally killed three Israelis who apparently had escaped Hamas captivity. Later it was reported that they were waving a white piece of cloth. There's a little more detail, though not a lot more, here: 3 Israeli hostages killed by IDF identified, were waving 'white cloth' (msn.com)
This tragedy not only could have been avoided; it should have been. The damage to some people's careers is irrelevant compared to the loss to the families of their courageous relatives and even to the fact that the soldier or soldiers who killed the Israeli escapees will have to live this with for the rest of his (or her) life. I don't know just how you'd be able to do that.
This is going to put a massive amount of pressure on Israel from other nations and maybe even a little from within the country, to look for a less aggressive way of prosecuting the war. The problem is that, in my opinion, there isn't one. Hamas is the most vile, evil, determined enemy that Israel has ever faced and nothing short of exterminating most of its members, most of its leaders, and most of its infrastructure will keep it from repeating the horrors of October 7. One way we know this is that they (meaning Hamas) has said so.
Joe Biden made an enormous gaffe last week when speaking to donors and calling Israel's war efforts "indiscriminate bombing", something that administration spokespeople only slightly backed away from when questioned.
I think we all understand this already, but to give you a sense of Hamas's intentions and likely capabilities: Israeli Military Reveals Tunnel It Says Hamas Built for Large-Scale Attack - WSJ
Remarkable: Inside the Hamas tunnel network in Gaza (telegraph.co.uk)
There is some discussion of a new ceasefire and hostage release: Egyptian sources say Israel, Hamas open to truce but obstacles remain | Reuters
Not enough people seem to understand that between Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and numerous other Islamic terrorist groups, Israel is surround by modern-day Nazis whose goal for Jews is identical to the Nazis' goal and whose methods are, if you could imagine such a thing, even more brutal than those of the Third Reich. Here's a picture of a bunch of Nazis: Economic harm from war with Hezbollah would be staggering, says expert - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
Two videos below about the tunnel(s). The first is from the IDF directly. The second is footage released by the IDF but taken by Hamas during the process of their building these death tubes.
-
Congrats to the Colorado School of Mines football team (the Orediggers)
for a great season even though they lost in the championship game. Seems like the Harding team is the real deal if you read some of the stuff in the article: Harding wins first NCAA Division II Championship in school history, dominates Colorado Mines 38-7 (kait8.com)
-
Today's Guests
Andy Spann is President of the Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association. On Friday, a judge ruled against the group's legal effort to at least delay the introduction of (more) wolves into the state of Colorado.
Stories on lawsuit filing: Rancher groups sue to delay Colorado wolf reintroduction | FOX31 (kdvr.com)
Story on the result, namely that the judge refused to grant an injunction against transplanting wolves from Oregon to Colorado. In fact, the first bunch of wolves from this process could arrive today: Federal judge rejects attempt to block reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado (msn.com)
--------
Stephen M.R. Covey (the son of a famous father of nearly the same name) is the former president and CEO of Covey Leadership Center, the largest leadership development company in the world.
FranklinCovey Speaker: Stephen M. R. Covey | FranklinCovey
Stephen is the author of Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others which is a fascinating guide toward leadership during a time where old-school approaches simply don't work anymore.
-
Other Stuff
A massive transaction involving a historic American industrial company: Nippon Steel to Acquire U.S. Steel for $14.1 Billion - WSJ
Some fun history here, and the expected union opposition (which is a key reason I hope the deal happens): US Steel, once the world’s largest corporation, agrees to sell itself to a Japanese company | CNN Business
--------
This is a very big deal: American Defense Needs Strong Navy, More Ships | National Review
--------
Let's hope so: Issa says passport reform 'long overdue' as bill moves through House committee with bipartisan backing (msn.com)
--------
Politics is (usually) a team sport, especially on the Dem side. They don't like it when you criticize the team captain: "Pure hatred": Dean Phillips' once strong standing on Capitol Hill has all but collapsed (msn.com)
--------
For rock music buffs, an interview with Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders: The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde on the State of Music - WSJ
--------
This story is insane, and people like Bill Gates really need to be pressed harder on, at a minimum, their horrendous judgment: Jeffrey Epstein Never Stopped Abusing Women—and His VIP Circle Helped Make It Possible - WSJ
--------
Data confirm what our eyes are already telling us: Federal data spotlights Denver's sharp rise in homelessness - Axios Denver
--------
I don't know if I'll talk about this on the show, but it's a remarkable story. Read the whole thing: Mastermind ‘Fat Leonard’ Gets the Last Laugh in Disastrous Navy Corruption Trial - WSJ
--------
But wait, it really is Israeli: Yale removes, then quickly reinstates ‘Israeli’ couscous salad in dining hall (foxnews.com)
--------
Reality doesn’t care about your claimed good intentions: Biden’s Drug-Price Boomerang - WSJ
--------
No, really, it's the conservative media's fault: NBC News frames Senate sex tape video as 'conservative news outlets' pushing the story (foxnews.com)
-------
For Wordle nerds: Time to ditch "adieu"? Seven Things We Learned Analyzing 515 Million Wordles - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
--------
Following up on our conversation with ADM Stavridis last week: Invasion Averted: Venezuela Vows Not to “Use Force” to Settle Dispute with Guyana Over Oil-Rich Essequibo Region - The Foreign Desk | by Lisa Daftari (foreigndesknews.com)
--------
This alone is a great reason to remove Joe Biden: Biden officials warned against EPA's plan to ban fossil fuels from electrical grid - Washington Times
--------
I don't understand what Trump thinks he wins by quoting Putin and by using Hitler-like language: Trump, again, praises dictators and rails at immigrants -- again sparking backlash (msn.com)
I realize that he's Trump and he's gonna say things just to troll the media, but if he's gonna beat Biden he needs to win a lot of swing voters and this kind of stuff is a huge turn-off for those folks. And the people who are the Trump base are already voting for him without this language. In short, I think it can cost him votes but not gain him votes, so I don't understand it other than just as trying to annoy "the liberal media."
--------
Southwest Airlines reaches $140 million settlement with the government over their Christmas 2022 nightmare: Southwest Airlines reaches $140M settlement with DOT for 2022 holiday meltdown (foxbusiness.com)
Most of this is compensation for flyers; only $35 million is a cash penalty paid to the government.
--------
I owe you this from the other day:
Watch: Dancing Iranian taxi driver becomes unlikely symbol of resistance (msn.com)
Iranians Dance in Solidarity With “Uncle Sadegh” (iranwire.com)
-
Today's Videos
Taylor Swift showed up to watch her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, beat up on the lowly New England Patriots. Pats fans were not excited to see her. I suspect that she's not used to being booed...I further suspect she might have enjoyed it a little given how intensely competitive she seems to be.
That said, I don't feel too bad for this gal...it's never a great idea to wear the opposing team's gear to a game, and some places will be especially inhospitable to those who do. (New England, Philly, Oakland when they had a team, come to mind.)
yep:
Warning: One f-bomb at the end of this comedy bit...