Post Big Game Monday

We've no deep insights into yesterday's professional football match Between the 49rs of San Francisco and the Chiefs of Kansas City. A thrilling, exhausting Super Bowl. A defensive struggle with some incredible offensive plays. Patrick Mahomes is among the greatest ever and so is Andy Reid, who is one of only five NFL coaches to win three Super Bowls. We thought the refs were great, throwing the flag only when absolutely necessary. The halftime show was fine. The Taylor Swift thing was overdone.  The commercials were okay. We did well at the buffet prepared by Mrs. Stroock. We've done a lot worse.

It finally happened this morning: 'In a complex overnight operation, Israeli special forces rescued two hostages from Hamas captivity in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip early Monday...' Do click on over. This was a very complex operation, and it sounds like the Israelis slagged dozens of Hamas terrorists. Hamas is already bitching, calling the rescue op a 'massacre'. Ef them. Boy, did Israel ever need that. Also Bibi. 

A long article at Tablet by the great Edward Luttwak explaining why Israel is winning the tunnel war in Gaza.  Luttwak and the Israelis in general are rather coy about how they've been clearing out the tunnels.  And rightfully so. Hezbollah, Bibi. Surveillance, intel, robots for certain. What don't we know? Luttwak says the Israelis have suffered about 250 soldiers killed and a thousand wounded. Both of us expected much worse IDF losses. The IDF is well trained, equipped and highly motivated. Read this article about IDF soldiers' experiences in Gaza. ‘The destruction is massive … It’s a disaster area’. It occurs to us that the author thinks this is a bad thing. 

Via Shariel Ben Ephraim on Twitter, the latest Channel 12 Poll on twitter shows electoral doom awaiting Bibi and the coalition. The poll has interesting results, 51% of respondents think elections should be held 'Early'. Forty-three percent of respondents said Gantz would do the best job of PM. Fifty-three percent of respondents oppose Haredi draft exception laws. Ben-Ephraim is a man of Los Angeles. A man of the left. A man who supports Biden. And a man who wants to see the destruction of Hamas. Ben-Ephraim is an interesting man. 

You know, we spent a lot of time yesterday thinking numerous thoughts about various projects. During this period of prolonged intellectual endeavor, we realized that the best way we could find solutions to our problems is to solve those problems. We'll be working on World War 1990: Norway this week. We know what we gotta do. Fortify the MS, finish the epilogue. Get it done. Get it out of the way. Time for an 80's sports montage which will also meet today's Monday Metal requirement:

For we are among the best there is at what we do.