This is one of the best opinion articles on the state of the Middle East, from Tom Friedman. He casts Israel and Netanyahu into a good light.
What This Israel-Hezbollah-Hamas-Iran Conflict is Really About
Netanyahu at the UN, held 2 maps - "the Blessing" - Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, and the "The Curse" - Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon.
Friedman argues, that Netanyahu alone - alone, as the agency to make a better situation - It requires The keystone to this whole alliance is a Saudi-Israel normalization based on reconciliation between Israel and moderate Palestinians.
But, the far far far right, the "The party of god" of Israel - "Netanyahu would have to break with the Israeli “Party of God" — the coalition of far-right Jewish settler supremacists and messianists who want Israel to permanently control all the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, with no border lines in between".
Not to irritate anyone, but I have in TD comments, said this exactly - that in 1972-75, Ben (Nitay - Netanyahu) - was the "River to the Sea" originator - well, a vigrourous proponent thereof.
Weekend book reviews. “The Free Beacon” usually runs some interesting-sounding ones on Sundays. This double-book review involved theories about the decline of political connectedness in post-industrial places.
A snippet:
‘Newman’s fieldwork revealed how the social void left by the disappearance of so many union locals has been filled by a very different community institution, namely "the ubiquity of local gun clubs as gathering places in many industrial and ex-industrial towns." In addition, for those who remain employed, "many union members voice suspicions or even outright animosity about unions and their officials," an attitude that RBUB attributes to how unions have "evolved from membership-grounded federations with strong local roots into staff-run fund-raising, lobbying, and communications organizations operating out of Washington, D.C." whose "large staffs and budgets … are often used for political purposes."‘
Went to look it up wisteria thinking I had it in mind, but what I was thinking of was “weigela”, which we have as shrubs. I don’t think I’ve seen any wisteria in the wild here.
An invasive that was new to me recently was the princess tree, aka the Paulownia.
There's a similarity with Bradford Pear trees. As a hybrid cultivar, they just hang out and smell like dog poop when they bloom, but when they get out into the wild and start to breed naturally, they're nasty.
Union County will come remove them and give you a new tree if you have one!
She is not fond of garden gnomes. When she had covid 2 weeks ago, I bought her one, a little small indoor one, a "sweater gnome". When decorating for all this past week she conveniently placed a large decoration in front of it, hiding it. So I snuck it into the Quilting kingdom, watching her machine. He came back upstairs a day later. 😡
She is off this weekend for a family reunion (I have dog duty). She had her suitcase and pillow in the entryway, so I generously carried them to her Rogue. 😀
Am I immature enough to have snuck the garden gnome into her pillow? Need you ask? I did.
Katie wants things packed a certain way, so she rearranged my packing...and found the garden gnome! I told her it has never visited Indiana. 🙄 Her eyeroll caused me to look at one our trees, for fear a major limb came off. But it was just an eyeroll, whew! A neighbor lost a tree, I was spared.
I never used to like the old style ones, but, I have become addicted to the new ones, have a bunch of Christmas ones and even my door mat outside my front door says: Gnome Sweet Gnome,, with three gnomes on it...I think they are adorable
We have a couple gnomes that we like for the kitsch value.
Some years back, in a blue collar community across the Hudson, a number of homes that had gnomes as lawn decor had their gnomes stolen all within a day or two. About a week later the gnomes all appeared on a local baseball diamond, fielding all the positions.
I've never stolen nor borrowed anyone else's gnome/other garden thingy, but I once bought a duplicate and convinced someone I did. Sometime I'll share the story of "Sprocket".
Lawn Seed? Ha...I have no idea...the condo takes care of the lawns here, other than my patio, which really doens't have a real lawn, there is one small patch in the corner, the rest is kinda wild and I have a very tall pine tree....I kinda like it that way, we don't really use it and unless someone peeks through the fence where I never got around to getting a gate, no one sees it...plus, and since I have both a dislike of lawn work, and don't have the funds to pay someone, I leave it as it is...I had read this is actually better for wildlife so, works for me...
It is cool and possible rain here, we went ten days or so without any rain and I liked the warm temps and no rain, but, we did need it...
I am (hopefully) finally going to see the Orothopedic Surgeon Wed, and I need to get my flu and covid booster shot too, gonna see if I can walk in to the hospital to get it while I am there...but, since I took the steroids , I haven't had that awful knife stabbing my knee pain...just achy once in a while, especially in certain weather conditions, I can deal with that...but, my lower back has intensified for some reason...sigh
I can't remember if I told you guys (And if I did please ignore) but ,the eye shots are working, I went to the second one and my vision has improved, the swelling is down, something about the fluids (lol) being ok...I don't see him again for six weeks...and best of all, not seeing things that aren't there, and even the wavy lines are pretty subdued ( and that is probably the dry left eye)
I have cut back on a lot of political reading , I need to stay up to date , but the anger and negative stuff is wearing on me...posting less too, or trying to, unless it is this kind of thing or funny or social etc...unless I have something non controversal I want to say, or really important
Oct is one of my favorite months, the colors, the atmosphere, and when I was younger, new clothes and school supplies...lol...plus my birthday is in Oct, and more important, HALLOWEEN, my second favorite holiday ( after Christmas)...though I don't dress up and stuff anymore
It was on this day in 1928 that Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming peered into a petri dish at his basement laboratory in London and noticed a blue-green mold growing....which was eventually turned into penicillin.
That just seems to happen once in a while here and at other Substacks I comment in. Not sure why, but don't think it has anything to do with the commenter and the use of "controls'.
Except maybe for me when Substack's operating system thinks my comments are twice as good as anyone else's.
Dangerous and flammable here in Tucson. The deadly invasive Wildfire loving bufelgrass is a bad fuel.
I used to mow lawns back in the 60s with a push mower. For a while, a non powered mechanical mower. Made from cast iron parts. Including cast iron wheels. Up at 4am. Home at 10pm. Daily
85F at 530am. Captured a Lincoln's Sparrow, a 1st.
You can see in the East, 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise- a comet. Dark skies possible visually or with binoculars. We have a high hill to our East. It's a 30 minutes drive east up it to see the proper horizon.
Today I give a virtual CE course to the Animnal Palliative and hospice care vets
Good luck with the course; palliative care for pets can be emotional, even for vets who see it often.
Muncie used to produce reel mowers, the "American Lawn Mower" company. Cast iron wheels (the owners also owned a foundry, so that made them cheap, but heavy). HQ for them has moved to Indy.
I’m not sure what type of grass I have but if I let it grow long enough in the spring, it seeds (sows?) itself. Brown patches are quickly remedied without intervention. On my way to the girls’ trip destination, I listed to Shawn Ryan interview JD Vance. I may not have liked every answer but at least he answered. Compare that to the Stephanie Ruhle “interview” of Kamala and you might think to yourself, “I wish he were top of the ticket.” He’d destroy her in a debate. The Vance/Walz debate should be good.
JD Vance is a very good speaker, I think people underestimate him.
The debate rules will matter with he and Walz. Walz will talk over him as much as possible, unless they do the muted microphone thing. But, I've seen JD do a sunday morning interview where he talked over the person who interrupted him. But with muted mikes Walz will be at a clear disadvantage. Will it matter? Probably not.
Good morning. Rainy day yesterday, today will likely follow suit.
I’m not sure lawn grasses would be considered “invasive”. Most plants described that way, grow readily without human intervention. That is, they — invade. Plants like dandelions, kudzu, honeysuckle as well as the species Cynthia will attack today.
They encourage people to not remove them from their lawns, because they are needed for some helpful insect types to thrive. More detail than that I cannot recall. The bottom line = dandelions GOOD.
Sheldon reports that the power was back on at the slum when he got there about midnight. I don't know where Thor and Vlad ended up after Magic, but I'll find out when I go to roust out whoever currently lives here to get ready for the invasive plant removal activity.
And speaking of invasive plants, our activity today is an invasive plant removal project at a city park. It's a joint venture of the Envirothon group, the Scouts, and a Friends of the Park group.
Good morning. We interrupt this horticultural excursion to inform readers that the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Israel says Nasrallah is dead. I generally don't wish for people to be dead: I wish for them to be converted to decency and spend their remaining years being helpful to others, or at least harmless.
I think you can sincerely pray for the dead - and for the living who are doing great harm - while also being glad when they can no longer do any harm. And I would think the same if it were me: "Stop me from causing harm, someone."
I don't know about the disposition of Nasrallah's immortal soul. It's not helpful even to speculate.
The help wanted ad has a preferred qualification for the candidate " to be able to live 80 pound bags of sand", and has excellent hearing (so they can hear the missile coming in time to duck).
I got an invitation fot a fall festival at the Friends church down the street from me...looks pretty cool, but, I can't go, plus, it looks pretty geared to kids, which I don't have any....but, I appreciate them reaching out, it was a nice flyer
In some ways, I'm surprised it took this long to zap Nasrallah. Without electronic communications, tracking him likely became easier. He was probably moving around a bit. His couriers certainly were. Humint and drone/satellite data followed the right people and ... bang. Or bang x 6. Whatever.
And the pager/walkie-talkie booby traps have the look of shaping the battlefield. No one in particular is coordinating Hezbollah right now, I imagine. Is a ground invasion imminent?
This is one of the best opinion articles on the state of the Middle East, from Tom Friedman. He casts Israel and Netanyahu into a good light.
What This Israel-Hezbollah-Hamas-Iran Conflict is Really About
Netanyahu at the UN, held 2 maps - "the Blessing" - Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, and the "The Curse" - Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon.
Friedman argues, that Netanyahu alone - alone, as the agency to make a better situation - It requires The keystone to this whole alliance is a Saudi-Israel normalization based on reconciliation between Israel and moderate Palestinians.
But, the far far far right, the "The party of god" of Israel - "Netanyahu would have to break with the Israeli “Party of God" — the coalition of far-right Jewish settler supremacists and messianists who want Israel to permanently control all the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, with no border lines in between".
Not to irritate anyone, but I have in TD comments, said this exactly - that in 1972-75, Ben (Nitay - Netanyahu) - was the "River to the Sea" originator - well, a vigrourous proponent thereof.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/opinion/iran-israel-hezbollah-hamas-lebanon-nasrallah.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ok4.ZMkH.9_vHK5pboc4Y&smid=url-share
Israeli politics is complicated. I listen to the Times of Israel podcast and Dan Senor's "Call Me Back".
Kris Kristofferson has died. He was 88. Great songwriter.
Great legacy. Requiescat in pace.
Morning everyone
Here is a piece from WAPO that I found a pleasure to read, very positive , and charming ( I cried a bit...lol) and a piece of history too.
My gift, no paywall:
https://wapo.st/4eJZBvA
Great story !!
I thought so, glad you liked it
I am sad Kris Kristopher died, pretty soon all the entertainers etc I grew up will be gone
Good one—thanks!
Welcome
Weekend book reviews. “The Free Beacon” usually runs some interesting-sounding ones on Sundays. This double-book review involved theories about the decline of political connectedness in post-industrial places.
A snippet:
‘Newman’s fieldwork revealed how the social void left by the disappearance of so many union locals has been filled by a very different community institution, namely "the ubiquity of local gun clubs as gathering places in many industrial and ex-industrial towns." In addition, for those who remain employed, "many union members voice suspicions or even outright animosity about unions and their officials," an attitude that RBUB attributes to how unions have "evolved from membership-grounded federations with strong local roots into staff-run fund-raising, lobbying, and communications organizations operating out of Washington, D.C." whose "large staffs and budgets … are often used for political purposes."‘
https://freebeacon.com/culture/the-decline-of-the-rust-belt-and-the-loss-of-community/
Interesting reviews.
Placido Domingo, everyone. As expected, I'm feeling the effects of yesterday's battle with wisteria.
I hope the flooding that devastated Asheville did not hit the Charlotte area.
Nope.
Happy, blessed Sunday.
Went to look it up wisteria thinking I had it in mind, but what I was thinking of was “weigela”, which we have as shrubs. I don’t think I’ve seen any wisteria in the wild here.
An invasive that was new to me recently was the princess tree, aka the Paulownia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia?wprov=sfti1#
We have Princess Trees, here, and also Tree of Heaven:
https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/journey-with-nature--tree-of-heaven/
Ailalthus or "tree of heaven" is a notorious invasive tree, with foul-smeling flowers, crowding out other plants.
Asian wisteria, English ivy, and multiflora rose.
From Wikipedia:
> Rosa multiflora is grown as an ornamental plant and also used as a rootstock for grafted ornamental rose cultivars. <
…never thought of them as having any practical purpose, tbh.
There's a similarity with Bradford Pear trees. As a hybrid cultivar, they just hang out and smell like dog poop when they bloom, but when they get out into the wild and start to breed naturally, they're nasty.
Union County will come remove them and give you a new tree if you have one!
Wasn't that first one a Def Leppard song from the 1980s? 😳
That would be exotic.
I almost pranked katie this morning! 😀
She is not fond of garden gnomes. When she had covid 2 weeks ago, I bought her one, a little small indoor one, a "sweater gnome". When decorating for all this past week she conveniently placed a large decoration in front of it, hiding it. So I snuck it into the Quilting kingdom, watching her machine. He came back upstairs a day later. 😡
She is off this weekend for a family reunion (I have dog duty). She had her suitcase and pillow in the entryway, so I generously carried them to her Rogue. 😀
Am I immature enough to have snuck the garden gnome into her pillow? Need you ask? I did.
Katie wants things packed a certain way, so she rearranged my packing...and found the garden gnome! I told her it has never visited Indiana. 🙄 Her eyeroll caused me to look at one our trees, for fear a major limb came off. But it was just an eyeroll, whew! A neighbor lost a tree, I was spared.
I never used to like the old style ones, but, I have become addicted to the new ones, have a bunch of Christmas ones and even my door mat outside my front door says: Gnome Sweet Gnome,, with three gnomes on it...I think they are adorable
We have a couple gnomes that we like for the kitsch value.
Some years back, in a blue collar community across the Hudson, a number of homes that had gnomes as lawn decor had their gnomes stolen all within a day or two. About a week later the gnomes all appeared on a local baseball diamond, fielding all the positions.
That was actually a cute idea...lol
I've never stolen nor borrowed anyone else's gnome/other garden thingy, but I once bought a duplicate and convinced someone I did. Sometime I'll share the story of "Sprocket".
Morning everyone
Lawn Seed? Ha...I have no idea...the condo takes care of the lawns here, other than my patio, which really doens't have a real lawn, there is one small patch in the corner, the rest is kinda wild and I have a very tall pine tree....I kinda like it that way, we don't really use it and unless someone peeks through the fence where I never got around to getting a gate, no one sees it...plus, and since I have both a dislike of lawn work, and don't have the funds to pay someone, I leave it as it is...I had read this is actually better for wildlife so, works for me...
It is cool and possible rain here, we went ten days or so without any rain and I liked the warm temps and no rain, but, we did need it...
I am (hopefully) finally going to see the Orothopedic Surgeon Wed, and I need to get my flu and covid booster shot too, gonna see if I can walk in to the hospital to get it while I am there...but, since I took the steroids , I haven't had that awful knife stabbing my knee pain...just achy once in a while, especially in certain weather conditions, I can deal with that...but, my lower back has intensified for some reason...sigh
I can't remember if I told you guys (And if I did please ignore) but ,the eye shots are working, I went to the second one and my vision has improved, the swelling is down, something about the fluids (lol) being ok...I don't see him again for six weeks...and best of all, not seeing things that aren't there, and even the wavy lines are pretty subdued ( and that is probably the dry left eye)
I have cut back on a lot of political reading , I need to stay up to date , but the anger and negative stuff is wearing on me...posting less too, or trying to, unless it is this kind of thing or funny or social etc...unless I have something non controversal I want to say, or really important
Oct is one of my favorite months, the colors, the atmosphere, and when I was younger, new clothes and school supplies...lol...plus my birthday is in Oct, and more important, HALLOWEEN, my second favorite holiday ( after Christmas)...though I don't dress up and stuff anymore
Hope you all have a nice Saturday...
Very wonderful news about your eyes Angie
Yes, it is, isn't it? I am so relieved
Glad to hear the shots have helped with your vision, Angie.
Thanks Marque...me too, less panicked now...lol
Dr seems really pleased...
It was on this day in 1928 that Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming peered into a petri dish at his basement laboratory in London and noticed a blue-green mold growing....which was eventually turned into penicillin.
He was fortunate that there was bacteria in the dish to be killed ! But his power of observation - superb!
X-rays - and vulcanization of rubber (crosslinking by the Sulpher molecule) were also by accident...
Very important.
I need to figure out the controls on this thing. Somehow or another I'm double posting....
That just seems to happen once in a while here and at other Substacks I comment in. Not sure why, but don't think it has anything to do with the commenter and the use of "controls'.
Except maybe for me when Substack's operating system thinks my comments are twice as good as anyone else's.
HA
Grass? Grass &#%!*
Dangerous and flammable here in Tucson. The deadly invasive Wildfire loving bufelgrass is a bad fuel.
I used to mow lawns back in the 60s with a push mower. For a while, a non powered mechanical mower. Made from cast iron parts. Including cast iron wheels. Up at 4am. Home at 10pm. Daily
85F at 530am. Captured a Lincoln's Sparrow, a 1st.
You can see in the East, 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise- a comet. Dark skies possible visually or with binoculars. We have a high hill to our East. It's a 30 minutes drive east up it to see the proper horizon.
Today I give a virtual CE course to the Animnal Palliative and hospice care vets
https://www.space.com/comet-tsuchinshan-atlas-brightening-perihelion-how-to-see
Good luck with the course; palliative care for pets can be emotional, even for vets who see it often.
Muncie used to produce reel mowers, the "American Lawn Mower" company. Cast iron wheels (the owners also owned a foundry, so that made them cheap, but heavy). HQ for them has moved to Indy.
I hope you have an excellent day, Doug!
Thank-you Cynthia ! And you as well !
I’m not sure what type of grass I have but if I let it grow long enough in the spring, it seeds (sows?) itself. Brown patches are quickly remedied without intervention. On my way to the girls’ trip destination, I listed to Shawn Ryan interview JD Vance. I may not have liked every answer but at least he answered. Compare that to the Stephanie Ruhle “interview” of Kamala and you might think to yourself, “I wish he were top of the ticket.” He’d destroy her in a debate. The Vance/Walz debate should be good.
JD Vance is a very good speaker, I think people underestimate him.
The debate rules will matter with he and Walz. Walz will talk over him as much as possible, unless they do the muted microphone thing. But, I've seen JD do a sunday morning interview where he talked over the person who interrupted him. But with muted mikes Walz will be at a clear disadvantage. Will it matter? Probably not.
Good morning. Rainy day yesterday, today will likely follow suit.
I’m not sure lawn grasses would be considered “invasive”. Most plants described that way, grow readily without human intervention. That is, they — invade. Plants like dandelions, kudzu, honeysuckle as well as the species Cynthia will attack today.
I love dandelions and think they are pretty
Is that a radical statement...lol
They encourage people to not remove them from their lawns, because they are needed for some helpful insect types to thrive. More detail than that I cannot recall. The bottom line = dandelions GOOD.
Cool, I am on the right side of things on this...
I didn't realize dandelions were invasive. "The scientific and hobby study of the genus [of dandelions] is known as taraxacology."
They were brought over in colonial times from Europe, where they were used for food and medicine.
Didn’t realize they were imports either. They were prized greens (cooked) in this area.
Interesting. I had no idea that was the case.
They are high in vitamin C.
Sheldon reports that the power was back on at the slum when he got there about midnight. I don't know where Thor and Vlad ended up after Magic, but I'll find out when I go to roust out whoever currently lives here to get ready for the invasive plant removal activity.
Take that, you Japanese knotweed!
Is that a weed or knot a weed? I think Hamlet asked that once. 🤦♂️
I expect English ivy, and the park volunteer guy said Asian wisteria. Don't know what else.
And speaking of invasive plants, our activity today is an invasive plant removal project at a city park. It's a joint venture of the Envirothon group, the Scouts, and a Friends of the Park group.
My daughter did that one summer and spent many hours spraying toxic chemicals. She regrets that job now due to exposure concerns.
We’re having the count’s occasional free hazmat disposal day. Going to get rid of some old paint and 4-foot tube fluorescent bulbs.
We have that sometimes, too.
Good morning. We interrupt this horticultural excursion to inform readers that the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Israel says Nasrallah is dead. I generally don't wish for people to be dead: I wish for them to be converted to decency and spend their remaining years being helpful to others, or at least harmless.
In this case, though ... Woo-hooo!
I saw on Twix that "The new Hezbollah leader Hassan Khalil Yassin has been killed by the IDF."
Others commented that may be a new Guiness book record for shortest tenure for the head of a terrorist organization.
I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it"......Mark Twain
I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure” .....Clarence Darrow
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it"......Mark Twain
“I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure” .....Clarence Darrow
As a good Catholic, I pray for the dead and try not to judge — but some of the dead make that hard.
I think you can sincerely pray for the dead - and for the living who are doing great harm - while also being glad when they can no longer do any harm. And I would think the same if it were me: "Stop me from causing harm, someone."
I don't know about the disposition of Nasrallah's immortal soul. It's not helpful even to speculate.
On the one hand, I fully understand the sentiment of happiness that he can do no more harm. ("Ding dong, the witch is dead.").
OTOH, no one knows what happens in the last moments of one's life, no matter how evil they lived that life.
I'm gonna predict the last moment of his life sounded like
🅱🅻🅰🅼!
I forget who it was, but someone the IDF targeted was on a zoom type call when it hit, and you hear his scream begin as the video cuts out.
Awww
Snap.
Quite so.
Times of Israel story:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-hezbollah-terror-chief-nasrallah-other-top-commanders-killed-in-beirut-strike/
"Hezbollah confirmed his death several hours later."
Ha! Taste the ash-heap of history, Hezbollah! Other sources are reporting that Iran's reaction is like, "Bummer about that. Oh, well."
Isn't someone else just going to replace him? Isn't that usually what happens?
The help wanted ad has a preferred qualification for the candidate " to be able to live 80 pound bags of sand", and has excellent hearing (so they can hear the missile coming in time to duck).
ha
Hi Jay
I got an invitation fot a fall festival at the Friends church down the street from me...looks pretty cool, but, I can't go, plus, it looks pretty geared to kids, which I don't have any....but, I appreciate them reaching out, it was a nice flyer
I thought of you of course
What's their name? I can give you an idea if they are more liberal, evangelical, conservative, etc.
I don't think there are many candidates for New Boss.
Yeah, I forgot they took out the middle management too
I guess we shall see
Nasrallah was the founder and only leader ever. If there was a succession plan, which is improbable, it has been overtaken by events.
Tentacles being chopped away one thin slice at a time.
It's been only ten days since the beeper explosions. Shazam!
I think it was Haviv Rettig Gur who said, months ago, that when Israel has had it with the crap, it's all over. "We're a Middle Eastern tribe, too."
In some ways, I'm surprised it took this long to zap Nasrallah. Without electronic communications, tracking him likely became easier. He was probably moving around a bit. His couriers certainly were. Humint and drone/satellite data followed the right people and ... bang. Or bang x 6. Whatever.
And the pager/walkie-talkie booby traps have the look of shaping the battlefield. No one in particular is coordinating Hezbollah right now, I imagine. Is a ground invasion imminent?
Good question about what happens next.
He was deep in a basement, they say.
Morning.
He’s now in a better place for almost everyone else…
And there’s that virgins thing…
I think virgins are overrated...lol
Volcanos seem to like them. But I agree with you Angie.