“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his military to ‘vigorously attack Hezbollah targets’ in Lebanon, two days after a ceasefire was extended by three weeks. Fresh Israeli attacks followed the directive, which came after at least six people were killed in strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday. Further cross-border exchanges between the two sides have strained the truce agreement, highlighting the precarity of the ceasefire. The agreement, which has seen a reduction in fire rather than a complete halt, was extended on Thursday after talks between the countries’ envoys in Washington. Earlier on Saturday, Israeli strikes on a truck and a motorbike in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district killed four people, Lebanon’s health ministry said, according to Agence-France-Presse.” (04/26/26)
“The United States Geological Survey reports a preliminary magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck near San Francisco Zoo, CA on Saturday. The quake hit at 4:39 p.m. at a depth of 6.96 kilometers. This was followed by a preliminary magnitude 2.7 earthquake in the same area. That quake hit at 4:41 p.m. at a depth of 6.87 kilometers. There was no initial word on damage or injury resulting from the quake. More information on this earthquake is available on the USGS event page.” (04/26/26)
“In the short run, Democrats’ victory in gerrymandering Virginia to create four new blue Congressional districts is a good thing. It will restore balance to the critical 2026 House elections to offset Republicans’ Texas gerrymandering which created four new red districts. President Donald Trump was technically right when the night before the Virginia vote he told a conference of supporters, ‘I don’t know if you know what gerrymandering is but it’s not good.’ Of course what Trump really meant is that gerrymandering is bad when it disenfranchises Republicans but good when it disenfranchises Democrats. Here’s what we do know: partisan gerrymandering is an affront to democracy by letting politicians pick their voters instead of voters picking their politicians.” (04/26/26)
“Virginia voted, and the Democrats treated the Republicans and Independents in the state like Bill Clinton treated so many women over the years – forcing their will on everyone else. If southern and rural Virginians didn’t want to be overpowered into submission, they shouldn’t have worn such a short skirt. In an election decided by three points after last year’s Governor’s race was won by the Democrat by more than 15 points, Democrats switched the state’s Congressional district map from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats. Hitler would be proud. This is why we are a Constitutionally Limited Republic and not a democracy.” (04/23/26)
“How does the supposedly most fearsome regime in the violent Middle East now find itself on the verge of an utter economic and military collapse? Iran’s half-century-long deadly terrorist reputation peaked with the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel that it helped fund and coordinate. Iran’s terrorist ambitions of running the Middle East had accelerated after witnessing Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and his administration’s distancing itself from Israel. Biden’s humiliation by a series of Chinese slights and the Russian invasion of Ukraine further eroded American deterrence. European appeasement was another force multiplier of Iranian hubris.” [editor’s note: And yet somehow the mighty US hasn’t decisively defeated them – TLK] (04/23/26)
“For Earth Day in 2026, the celebratory events held April 22 numbered well over 10,000 worldwide. From cleanups to teach-ins to tree planting, such activities help boost enthusiasm for caring about the environment. Ultimately, however, it is during the other days of the year that follow-through can bring those good intentions to fruition. Over decades of Earth Day celebrations, many individuals have found that a focus on environmental care in local communities can reap tangible civic and social benefits. A case in point is Philadelphia, where a long-standing project in urban greening has been linked to drops in crime. That success has led the neighboring city of Chester to trod the same path. Philadelphia’s story began with green-thumbed activists from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society seeking to recover good neighborliness, square foot by square foot.” (04/22/26)
“Writing more than 2,000 years ago, the Greek historian Plutarch gave us an eloquent description of what modern historians now call ‘micro-militarism.’ When an imperial power like Athens then, or America now, is in decline, its leaders often react emotionally by mounting seemingly bold military strikes in hopes of regaining the imperial grandeur that’s slipping through their fingers. Instead of another of the great victories the empire won at its peak of power, however, such military misadventures only serve to accelerate the ongoing decline, erasing whatever aura of imperial majesty remains and revealing instead the moral rot deep inside the ruling elite. There is mounting historical evidence that America is indeed an empire in steep decline, while President Donald Trump’s war of choice against Iran is becoming the sort of micro-military disaster that helped destroy successive empires over the past 2,500 years …” (04/23/26)
Source: Fox News
by Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, (USA, ret.)
“On Tuesday, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he would extend the ceasefire with Iran — with no set deadline — until Tehran’s leaders can “come up with a unified proposal.” That announcement landed hours after Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Islamabad for a second round of peace talks was canceled without explanation, after Iranian officials told U.S. counterparts through Pakistani intermediaries that they would not appear at the table. Trump had said that very morning he did not want to extend. By Tuesday evening, he did. The extension may have been unavoidable. What happened in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday makes clear exactly what Washington bought.” (04/23/26)
“A strange ‘golden orb’ pulled from more than 2 miles beneath the Gulf of Alaska, once rumored to be everything from an alien egg to an unknown species, has finally been identified after a yearslong scientific investigation. Researchers with NOAA and the Smithsonian announced the unusual object, first discovered in 2023 during a deep-sea expedition, is a remnant from a rarely seen giant deep-sea anemone called Relicanthus daphneae, specifically part of the organism that anchored it to the ocean floor. The discovery was made using a remotely operated vehicle exploring about 3,250 meters (over 2 miles) deep, where it encountered an odd golden structure attached to a rock. The strange, mound-shaped mass with a small opening stunned scientists, who admitted at the time they had no idea what they were looking at.” (04/23/26)
“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the temporary ceasefire is the culmination of an American policy defined by strategic incoherence. At the center stands Donald Trump, whose shifting positions, confused war objectives, and conflicting actions have not only failed to ease regional tensions but have actively deepened them. Nowhere is this clearer than in Trump’s threats to blow up the whole country, including its bridges and power plants. At the same time, he touted a military ‘big day’, presenting potential war crimes as diplomatic tool, aggression as diplomacy, and destruction as leverage. Trump’s inflated, almost delusional, promises ahead of potential talks come across less as statesmanship and more as a calculated sales pitch to the American public.” (04/23/26)
