I Should Never have gone Downstairs to Check...

 ...We thought about titling this post 'Will loses office space', but we don't generally go for that kind of humor. So we noticed some rust spreading between the tiles of the main floor bathroom these last few days but thought nothing of it. On a whim yesterday morning we went to the basement to check the piping, just in case...12 hours later an insurance claim has been filed and the bathroom is gutted. 

The landing pages of our four preferred Israeli news sources have no updates on the hostage deal negotiations, which seems odd. We think we're okay if a deal goes through, but it sounds like Hamas is a no. Netanyahu has issued an ultimatum, Hamas has a week to respond. We've been arguing for a long time that there's no rush vis a vis Rafah. Netanyahu seems to agree.  

The Times of Israel has an interesting bit of analysis, with info from Netanyahu's people, saying that Bibi will run for PM again and is convinced he'll win. It's complicated. Bibi would agree to a hostage deal, which would collapse the government, and trigger an election in which he'd argue he battled Hamas and got the hostages back. That's solid political ground, as this latest poll shows 54% of Israelis want a deal. Hot Air has a spot-on take, with some heavy criticism of Netanyahu's chances.  

Ynet tells us that a Saudi normalization deal with Israel includes a path to a 'Palestinian' state on the 1948 Auschwitz borders within 5 years. That's a hard no after Arafat's War and the 10/7 massacre. We can't see a coalition in Israel for that. By the way, the article is based on reporting from the disgraced Tom Friedman, who just loves the Saudi plan. Friedman tried this same plan 20 years ago, after Ariel Sharon crushed the Second Intifada. Tom Friedman: bad for Israel, bad for Jews. Also dumb. Some Jews hate Hamas. Friedman hates Netanyahu. 

And it looks like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is going to join House Speaker Mike Johnson's invitation to Netanyahu to address congress. Remember when Schumer called for Bibi to resign? Gee, who won that argument? Bibi's address has the potential to be transformative. 

We think this is Israel's fourth good week in a row. 

For the record, we've seen the details of the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act making its way through congress. We hate it. 

We've remarked before that one should never trust anybody in the low down, dirty, Southeastern Conference. Don't mess with them either. In the great state of Mississippi, patriotic students surrounded the anti-Jewish pogrom at Ole Miss, serenaded them with the Star Spangled Banner, mocked a fat girl who likes Hamas and chanted, 'We want Trump!'.* Given the pogrom descending on Rutgers, we may really have to consider sending Oldest Daughter to Eli Manning's alma matter. 

Much has already been written about the young fraternity men defending the Stars and Stripes at UNC. Let's just say as an old Alpha Chi Ro man (never call your fraternity a 'frat'. You wouldn't call your country a...), these young men do us proud. Everything about them is awesome. 

Below, your Friday Flag. AXP!:

*They also chanted 'Lizzo! Lizzo!' + 'Fuck you fat ass! Fuck you, bitch!'