Washington Post: Peace Could Happen In Middle East, And Trump Deserves Credit

It must have really caused some serious heartburn for the Washington Post editorial board to write this, but, at least they gave Trump credit, unlike this guy

That’s just sad, no mention of Trump

Donald Trump and peace in the Mideast
This Gaza peace plan may actually hold. The president’s unorthodox deal-making style deserves credit.

The announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed to President Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year war in Gaza could be the biggest diplomatic achievement of his second term. Indeed, if the deal holds, Trump can legitimately bolster his claim to be a peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. (snip, because you most likely know about the deal)

Details on the other phases of Trump’s peace plan will likely require days and weeks of tedious negotiations. The outstanding issues include the total disarming of Hamas and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops to a “buffer zone” on the Gaza border. The United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey have signed on as guarantors of the pact. The Arab and Muslim countries were needed to convince Hamas that it had no choice but to sign.

Trump, meanwhile, pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to end the fighting short of his stated goal of the total annihilation of Hamas. Credit Trump for pushing Netanyahu after Israel’s bombing of Hamas targets inside Qatar nearly derailed the sensitive negotiations. No other American president has managed the relationship with that difficult partner more intuitively.

It really does go to the fact that Trump has been in business most of his life, making deals and building things. Mostly successful, but, he also knows failure. He sees a problem and looks to bull ahead and solve it, not yammer, put together committees, hold hearings, elicit this that and the other. He wants it fixed.

What seems different this time is Trump’s personal involvement. He brought an unorthodox negotiating style and relied on a few trusted advisers, his gut instinct and an abiding belief in the power of personal relationships. That combination has brought other successes — like the Abraham Accords of his first term and the commitment of Europeans to spend more on their own defense.

If this peace deal opens the path to a broader Middle East peace — perhaps even extending the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia — then Trump will have a generational accomplishment that eluded successive American presidents for decades. That is still a long way off, but the massive progress over the past day is worth celebrating.

You really can imagine the members of the WPEB doing a lot of tequila shots while writing this with a lot of Rolaids. I’d like to say what the LA Times has to say, but, the whole Israel-Gaza issue is completely missing from their web front page, at least as of Thursday night.

US is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the Gaza ceasefire deal

The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players, U.S. officials said Thursday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that were not authorized for release, said U.S. Central Command is going to establish a “civil-military coordination center” in Israel that will help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war.

Hamas best not start something.

Read: Washington Post: Peace Could Happen In Middle East, And Trump Deserves Credit »

Surprise: Dude Arrested, Charged With Arson Over LA Area Fires

Remember this?

And

And

29-year-old former Uber driver arrested in connection with starting deadly Palisades Fire

A 29-year-old former Uber driver was arrested and charged in connection with the Palisades Fire in January, one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history, authorities said at a news conference Wednesday.

Authorities allege that Jonathan Rinderknecht “maliciously” set the fire, which killed a dozen people. It was fully contained on Jan. 31.

Rinderknecht was arrested Tuesday near his home in Florida on a charge of destruction of property by means of fire, Bill Essayli, acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said on X.

Authorities said the Palisades Fire was a “holdover” fire, or a continuation of the Lachman Fire, which Rinderknecht is alleged to have started on New Year’s Day.

Wild how just every one of these ‘climate change’ fires is either arson or idiocy.

 

Read: Surprise: Dude Arrested, Charged With Arson Over LA Area Fires »

If All You See…

…is a city soon to be swallowed by rising seas, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Townhall, with a post on chants across Israel and Gaza to give Trump the Nobel Peace Prize.

Read: If All You See… »

Hamas, Israel Accept Trump Peace Plan

Weirdly, the people who have been calling for a ceasefire have been rather quiet

Hamas accepts Trump peace plan ending 2 years of war in Gaza, returning hostages

Hamas has agreed to a peace deal pushed by President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages, two years after the terrorist network attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sparking not only the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust, but a deadly war and a humanitarian crisis across the Gaza Strip.

Trump took to Truth Social Wednesday to make the announcement: “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”

Speaking to Sean Hannity, Trump said he expects the hostages to be released on Monday. He did not elaborate on whether he would be going to the region, although Netanyahu invited him to address the Israeli parliament on Sunday. (snip)

Israeli media reported Israel and the terror group will sign the deal Thursday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

I guess now we wait to see if Hamas actually releases the 48 hostages, for which 21 are reportedly still alive. And then see if Hamas follows the terms of the peace deal going forward. Palestinians aren’t exactly known for sticking to agreements. Hopefully they will. If the pro-Palestinian people and countries want peace they need to push Hamas and the rest to stick to the agreement.

(Jerusalem Post) Israel conceded on ending the war without having fully disarmed Hamas: This is Israel’s largest concession long-term Netanyahu early on in the war said he would not end the war until Hamas was “annihilated” and much later altered his goal to completely disarmed.

No one believes that Hamas will be fully disarmed with the war ending at this point. Hamas’s military numbers range from 2,000-2,500 hardcore fighters to 20,000 or so less well-trained potential fighters, to a support base within Gaza of around 700,000 Palestinians who associate themselves with the movement by tribe or ideology.

That is the bad news.

The good news is that all 24 of Hamas’s battalions were already militarily defeated by August 2024. There is now no Hamas army and has not been for over a year. What remains are loosely aligned small guerrilla warfare cells. The top achievements of these groups have been to penetrate two Israeli forward positions in Gaza in the last two months, leading to Israeli casualties, but only in those penetrated positions, and not beyond them, let alone anywhere near Israeli civilian areas.

They have also managed to keep up low-grade rocket fire at Gaza border villages, firing one to two rockets at a time, which have not been causing casualties. So what is left of Hamas cannot, for the near future, and probably not even the medium term, threaten another major invasion of Israel or large-scale rocket attacks. But there are still many dangerous people in Gaza, and they could grow and reconstitute themselves if not properly neutralized.

This is where leaders and nations that have whined at Israel need to step in and work to make sure Hamas doesn’t reconstitute and start attacking Israel. Doesn’t get shipments of weapons from Iran, doesn’t take water pipes and turn them into rockets, etc. Or some other Islamic terrorist group steps in. Israel does not want to attack. Leave them alone, and Gaza won’t get annihilated again.

Anyhow, I’ve yet to see any of the Credentialed Media congratulate Trump or anything. Where are the hyper-pro Hamas people on this? The ones who called for a ceasefire, like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib? Why are they not celebrating? It’s almost like they do not actually want a ceasefire. Like they want Hamas to keep fighting.

Read: Hamas, Israel Accept Trump Peace Plan »

Trump Admin Keeps Handing Out Fossil Fuels Permits During Shutdown

Well, really, the whole government isn’t actually shutdown

Trump Keeps Oil Permits Moving in Shutdown, Halts Renewables

The Trump administration plans to continue issuing permits for oil drilling and do other work on “priority conventional energy projects” during the government shutdown but will freeze activities on some renewable energy projects.

The Interior Department, which oversees energy development on federal lands and waters, is furloughing thousands of workers but will keep processing permits for new oil and gas projects, coal leases and other energy work, according to its shutdown plan. The department’s Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 245 million acres of public land, said staffers handling those issues are exempt from furloughs in part to address a national energy emergency that President Donald Trump declared earlier this year.

The agency has scheduled dozens of oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska and will continue work on those plans despite the shutdown that began Wednesday. Its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which expects to furlough over 70% of its workers, said it will use carryover funds to keep employees working on “priority conventional energy projects,” including offshore drilling permits and a five-year plan for selling leases along the Outer Continental Shelf. Work on renewable energy projects will cease, according to the agency, which has oversight over offshore energy development.

Good. The US needs energy, and, since Warmists mostly won’t give up their own use, we need more.

Meanwhile

Federal Judge Rules Biden’s Massive Offshore Oil And Gas Ban Was Illegal

Former U.S. President Joe Biden overstepped his authority when he ordered a withdrawal of sizable portions of federal waters from future oil and gas development, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled. [emphasis, links added]

U.S. District Court Judge James Cain in Lake Charles ruled Friday in favor of oil and gas industry groups and attorneys general in five states.

They sued to block Biden’s action to prohibit the development of 625 million acres in federal waters off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of America, and portions of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska.

Biden, in his final month in office, issued a memorandum that withdrew the areas from oil and gas leasing, citing his authority under the 72-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

President Donald Trump, on the first day of his second term, issued an executive order that repealed Biden’s memoranda.

Cain ruled that Biden’s withdrawal was illegal because it was intended to be permanent. The judge said President Barack Obama’s withdrawal of lands from oil and gas leasing was also illegal.

Funny that Obama and Biden would do this, considering their own massive use of fossil fuels.

Read: Trump Admin Keeps Handing Out Fossil Fuels Permits During Shutdown »

Democrats Trying To Force Senate Vote On Blocking Trump Admin From Blowing Up Drug Runner Boats

Um, really? They really want to go down this route? They really want to use capital on protecting drug runners from Venezuela?

Senate Democrats to force vote on blocking Trump strikes on alleged drug boats

Senate Democrats plan to force a vote under the War Powers Act on Wednesday aimed at blocking continued U.S. strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats off the coast of Venezuela.

The resolution, led by Sens. Adam Schiff of California and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would block the U.S. military from engaging in hostilities with “any non-state organization engaged in the promotion, trafficking, and distribution of illegal drugs and other related activities” without congressional authorization.

“There has been no authorization to use force by Congress in this way,” Schiff said Wednesday, saying the strikes risk escalating into a full-blown conflict with Venezuela. “I feel it is plainly unconstitutional.” (snip)

In a notification to Congress after the second strike in mid-September, the Trump administration said the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels it has designated as terrorist organizations. The drugs smuggled by these cartels kill tens of thousands of Americans each year and constitute an “armed attack” against U.S. citizens, according to the White House.

The Trump administration has designated several drug cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and El Salvador’s MS-13.

So, let me ask: if it was Biden or Kamala doing this, would Democrats have a problem with it? We all know the answer would be “no.” Rand Paul would complain either way, as he’s doing now. If Democrats were serious they and Republicans would actually authorize the use of US military assets in blowing up drug boats, planes, and submarines. Bringing marijuana in isn’t that big of a deal: cocaine, fentanyl, and others are a problem, and need to be stopped.

Read: Democrats Trying To Force Senate Vote On Blocking Trump Admin From Blowing Up Drug Runner Boats »

Climate Youts Plan To Sue US Government In International Court Or Something

They just won’t give up. They also won’t make their own lives carbon neutral, but, that’s something they want the government to force on Other People

Kids Who Sued America Over Climate Change Aren’t Done Yet

In 2015, nearly two dozen American youth sued the federal government, alleging that the United States violated their constitutional rights by facilitating the burning of fossil fuels and allowing greenhouse gas emissions to rise to dangerous levels. Their case, known as Juliana v. U.S., was dismissed in federal courts, but inspired dozens of youth climate lawsuits including successful climate cases in Montana and Hawai?i.

Now, 15 of those same Juliana plaintiffs, including four Indigenous plaintiffs, are taking their case internationally in the hopes that the global community will pressure the U.S. government to act.

Last month, they filed a petition at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a seven-member commission that for decades has evaluated human rights violations across 35 countries in the Americas. Kelly Matheson, an attorney at Our Children’s Trust who worked on the petition, said the case is about the “U.S. government’s unrelenting perpetuation of a fossil fuel energy system despite knowing for over 50 years that the emission of fossil fuels was catastrophic for human rights.”

The plaintiffs include Jaime Butler, who was forced to move off the Navajo Nation’s reservation in 2011 due to drought and water scarcity, and in 2014 had to evacuate her home in Flagstaff, Arizona, to escape the Oak Creek Canyon wildfire.

Droughts happen. That fire was human caused, most likely arson.

Maria Antonia Tigre, director of global climate change litigation at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, said it can sometimes take a decade for the commission to issue rulings. However, she said the case is still significant because the commission is the only international forum that is available to challenge the U.S. on its climate policies. “It’s another way for this to be part of the discourse and to show that something is being done about it and there is accountability, even though it does take a while,” she said.

See, Warmists cannot get people to fully agree with their policies beyond theory, so, they try and use the courts now to force compliance. Even in very Warmist states like Oregon and Washington they are having lots of pushback to climate (scam) laws, rules, and regs. Same in California and NY. Why can’t all these cultists just go live their own lives carbon neutral and leave everyone else alone?

A favorable ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights would set a precedent from Canada to Patagonia, Matheson said, and add to a growing consensus in international courts that countries have a legal obligation to fight the climate crisis.

“Do we understand that the Trump administration won’t take that seriously? Yes. Do we understand that the Trump administration won’t abide by the recommendations or the authoritative decisions of these bodies? Yes, but the next administration might,” she said.

Interestingly, most of the big shots who would implement any laws, rules, and regulations would themselves be complete climahypocrites in their own lives. Go figure.

Read: Climate Youts Plan To Sue US Government In International Court Or Something »

If All You See…

…is an area flooded by carbon pollution Bad Weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is IOTW Report, with a post on lots and lots of arrests.

Read: If All You See… »

Country Singer Zach Bryan Blames You For Misunderstanding His Incomplete Lyrics

Since Luke apparently took down the video from his Instagram, here’s the tease

First off, I hate when musicians do this. Either release the song in full or don’t. Second, if you release a snippet with lyrics like this, don’t be surprised by controversy

Country singer Zach Bryan releases statement on controversial song, insisting ‘I love this country’

Country singer Zach Bryan released a statement on Tuesday insisting that he did not intend his new song to cause controversy after it went viral over the past few days.

On his Instagram account, Bryan previewed a new song titled “Bad News” that appeared to lament the policies and general spirit of America under President Donald Trump.

The song included lyrics such as, “My friends are all degenerates, but they’re all I got, the generational story of dropping the plot. I heard the cops came, Cocky motherf—–s, ain’t they?” and, “And ICE is gonna come bust down your door, try to build a house no one builds no more, but I got a telephone, Kids are all scared and all alone.”

The song continued, “The bar stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling, the middle fingers rising, and it won’t stop showing. Got some bad news. The fading of the red, white, and blue.”

But, hey, it’s your fault for misconstruing his meaning

In a statement posted on an Instagram Story, Bryan wrote that “Bad News” was written months ago and that people need the “full context” of the song.

“This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media,” Bryan said. “This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything. When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.”

See? Your fault. I have to wonder if he and his marketing team did this on purpose in order to gin up some controversy to increase sales, get some notice. If so, it will be a big fail, because country music fans tend to be pretty patriotic, and he may have just Dixie Chicks’d his career. He took the side of Bud Light during the wacko Dylan Mulvanny controversy, stands up for kids being given transgender drugs, and has criticized law enforcement many times. On the flip side, he has made some libertarian statements. He seems to take a middle road a lot, but, lets the liberalism creep out.

He continued, “I served this country, I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space. I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a–hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else. To see how much s— it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared. Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American. To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides. To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I’m trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes.”

As the saying goes, don’t start none, won’t be none. He decided to wade into politics with this song, so, he needs to toughen up. And, let’s be honest, most of Today’s Hit Country is really just pop with a country accent. Lots of autotune, computer generated music, wrong lyrics

… Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that songAnd he told me it was the perfect country & western songI wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country & western songBecause he hadn’t said anything at all about mamaOr trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting’ drunk

That’s country.

Read: Country Singer Zach Bryan Blames You For Misunderstanding His Incomplete Lyrics »

Climate Cult Still Wants People Who Use Inhalers To Die

Why does the cult think this is a good line of attack?

Is your inhaler causing climate pollution?

That small whoosh from an inhaler has a substantial environmental toll that could be putting some people with chronic conditions at risk, according to a new study.

Published Monday in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the University of California Los Angeles Health study looked at emissions from three kinds of inhalers prescribed for asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from 2014 to 2024. So-called “metered-dose” inhalers, which release a measured puff of medicine when pressed, contain hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) propellants and accounted for 98 percent of emissions, according to the study.

Researchers found that the devices generated more than 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions, or the amount of annual emissions from roughly 530,000 gas-powered cars.

“Inhalers add to the growing carbon footprint of the US healthcare system, putting many patients with chronic respiratory disease at risk,” lead author and pulmonologist Dr. William Feldman stated in a news release.

Feldman added that there is still “tremendous opportunity” to switch to a lower-emission alternative for the good of the planet and patients’ lungs.

And, yet, none of the alternatives are close to as good, or inexpensive, as those currently available that the Cult of Climastrology is railing about. Can they not just mind their own f’ing business?

Feldman told the Agence France-Presse that only a fraction of patients truly need metered devices – older adults who can’t inhale with force, and very young children who must use spacers, a chamber technology that only works with metered inhalers.

In the U.S., Feldman said, the “vast majority of people could use dry powder or soft mist inhalers,” but insurance is less likely to cover them, making them more expensive.

Or, you could just piss off with your cult crap and leave these people alone.

Read: Climate Cult Still Wants People Who Use Inhalers To Die »

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