-SOURCES for the information on the Hamas attacks: NBC News, MSNBC, BBC, various Threads media feeds.
-The world continues to reel after Hamas successfully launched coordinated attacks throughout Israel yesterday - including military bases, business districts, and a music festival. The latest reports estimate 600 Israelis have been killed and at least another 100 to have been kidnapped, with retaliatory strikes by Israeli forces killing another 500 (along with a demand that residents in Gaza City relocate to the city center in anticipation of a potential occupation of the area). All military reservists have been called into active duty, and the Israeli cabinet has declared a state of war in response to the attacks.
-Far too many questions are now being asked, most prominently how the Israeli intelligence system, one of the most sophisticated and (at times) brutal services in all the world, were caught completely off guard by not only the timing of the Hamas attacks, but the organization and the sophistication (the attacks included over 5,000 missiles, drone strikes, and even some paratroopers).
-Answers range from the timing of the attacks (on the weekend of a religious holiday and the 50-year anniversary of the Yom Kippur War) to the methods of Hamas planners (who, per reports from military analyst Malcolm Nance, do not use electronic communications methods and intensely vet potential participants to discuss and keep silent any plans of this type) to diversion (the administration of Benjamin Netanyahu has been in an intense political battle to reshape the Israeli judicial system in an apparent effort to prevent corruption charges from being prosecuted against Netanyahu) to how long such a 'state of war' will continue (most believe it will be protracted and, given Hamas' refusal to acknowledge the existence of Israel and Israel's longstanding policy of retribution, exceedingly violent). Add to that the use of kidnapping, and the prospects of a quick solution are very low.
-The primary ally of Israel, the United States, is also under some scrutiny, though the question of how much intelligence it had seems fuzzy. One area that has come under criticism, however, is $6 billion of Iranian money released to that country, with right-wing commentators and politicians led by Sens. Rand Paul and J.D. Vance and Rep. Lauren Boebert (parroting out the beliefs of Party Leader Ex-President Trump XCI at a 'campaign' stop over the weekend in IA) accusing the Biden Administration of funding Hamas and the attacks. Putting aside the very open question of whether or not Iran was involved in the attacks at all, multiple sources point out that the monies in question are currently sitting in a bank in the United Arab Emirates and cannot be spent without tracking and approval from the United States - that is, not one penny has been spent out of that account for ANYthing, much less an attack on Israel.
-As the White House plans its diplomatic steps, it now directly faces the lack of leadership in the military that has been created by the one-man filibuster of Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who continues to hold hundreds of military appointments at abeyance in his effort to make the military end support for family planning services including abortion. Additionally, a similar hold on diplomatic appointments being spurred by the aforementioned Paul and Vance means there is no Ambassador to Israel at the moment. And even Congressional briefings on the matter are impacted - with no Speaker of the House and a Pro Tempore Speaker lacking credentials, no Republican House member is currently able to receive briefings on this or any such military matter. Way to go, GOP!
-But never you mind. Trump continues to lay out his 'vision' for the country if he were to regain control of the White House, first by vowing to stop what he describes as a Democratic policy to allow mothers of newborns to "execute" their babies as a form of abortion (uh ... uh, yeah he does ... and, uh ... WT EVER-LOVING F!?), then insisting that Trump's all magic powers would have never allowed something like the Hamas attack happen on his watch (perhaps because he watches ketchup bottles explode on walls?), to his knowledge that China respects him more than Biden because the Chinese call him "Sir" and not "Biden", claimed with a straight face that he has a better body than Biden, and this cogent analysis and actual quote discussing the state of education in the United States: "We have the worst education almost in the large world, the world that people know about."
-Oi.
-To close with some positive news, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is about to announce an independent run for President this week. Why is this positive? Because, despite the hopes of people like Steve Bannon who supported his Democratic party foray, recent polling indicates that RFK's previous environmental activism and last name have NOT, in fact, drawn potential Biden supporters to him - but rather his longstanding anti-vaccine stance and recent apparent embrace of conspiracy theories (including 9/11) actually are drawing more votes away from Trump than Biden. Another clue: reports that Trump is preparing to attack RFK Jr. in upcoming speeches. Uh-OH!
-It's a little nuts out there. Be careful and caring to yourself and others.
-On this date in 1871, a fire began in the barn of Patrick and Cathy O'Leary on the West side of Chicago and burned for over two days, killing about 300 people in its wake. On this date in 1919, the first intercontinental air race began in the U.S. On this date in 1956, Don Larsen thew what remains the only perfect game in World Series history. On this date in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis recorded "Great Balls of Fire." And on this date in 1998, the U.S. House began an inquiry into the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
-Happy Birthday to Eddie Rickenbacker, Gus Hall, Billy Conn, Danny Murtaugh, Rona Barrett, Harvey Pekar, Paul Hogan, Jesse Jackson, R.L. Stine, Dennis Kucinich, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Paul Splittorff, Johnny Ramone, Sarah Purcell, Sigorney Weaver, Bill Elliott, Stephanie Zimbalist, Reed Hastings, CeCe Winans, C.J. Ramone, Emily Procter, Matt Damon, Sadiq Khan, Soon-Yi Previn, Monty Williams, Rashaan salaam, Nick Cannon, The Miz, Bruno Mars, and Bubba Wallace.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to John Hancock, Franklin Pierce, Clement Attlee, Fernando Lamas, Leon Klinghoffer, Willy Brandt, Jacques Derrida, Al Davis, Roger Williams, Paul Prudhomme, Y.A. Tittle, and Whitey Ford.
-Juan Peron and Chevy Chase were born on this date. You decide if they get a Happy Birthday or if they Feed the Worms.