Yahya Sinwar is dead. What we know about death of Hamas leader behind Oct. 7 attacks

Yahya Sinwar, the elusive leader of Hamas regarded as the mastermind behind the militant group’s brutal attack on Israel last year, is dead.

Israel said Thursday it killed Sinwar during a military operation in Gaza.

Hamas has yet to comment, and it was not immediately clear what impact Sinwar’s death will have on the Israel-Hamas war.

Here’s what we know:

What’s the latest on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar?
Israel’s Defense Forces announced it had killed three Hamas militants during a military operation in Gaza on Thursday and was investigating whether one of them was Sinwar.

A U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Israel was conducting DNA tests on the victim’s body to determine if it was Sinwar.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz later confirmed Sinwar’s death.

“This is a significant and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran,” Katz said in a statement.

A second U.S. official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it appears Sinwar may have been killed in a mortar attack.

Katz said Sinwar’s death “opens the possibility” for the immediate release of the remaining hostages taken during Hamas’ attack on Israel last year and “paves the way for a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza.”

Who is Yahya Sinwar?

Sinwar was the leader of Hamas, which staged a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. He was considered one of the architects of the attack, which touched off a bloody war between Israel and Hamas that, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, has resulted in the deaths of more than 42,000 Palestinians.

Sinwar, 61, had been in charge of daily operations in Gaza before the Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. He was declared Hamas’ political leader after his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in July by a bomb hidden in his guesthouse in Tehran.

Dubbed “The Face of Evil” by Israel, Sinwar was known for operating in secrecy, moving constantly and using trusted messengers for non-digital communication, three Hamas officials and one regional official told Reuters. He had not been seen in public since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and was believed to be hiding in the network of tunnels that Hamas used to conceal weapons, fighters and hostages

I have read reports that still of today, formal charges have yet to be filed.


Arkansas dad arrested, accused of fatally shooting man found with missing child

LONOKE COUNTY, Ark. (KARK) – Officials in Arkansas said a man is facing a murder charge after a confrontation turned deadly early Tuesday morning.

According to authorities, deputies with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home shortly after 1 a.m. after a juvenile was reported missing.

The deputies were told on the way to the home that Aaron Spencer, the father of the juvenile, had found the juvenile in a car with Michael Fosler, according to officials.

Authorities said there was an altercation between the two men which led to Fosler being shot. Officials said Fosler was pronounced dead at the scene.

Deputies said they took Spencer into custody on a preliminary charge of first-degree murder, and he was taken to the Lonoke County Detention Center.

As of Monday, no formal charges have been filed against Spencer, and no additional details have been released.

A woman claiming to be Spencer’s wife claimed they had a no-contact order for Fosler, accusing him of stalking their child.

In an online fundraiser, the woman said Spencer began driving around to search for their child after discovering she was missing. She explained that her husband happened to pass a man driving with their child in his vehicle and chased him.

“The chase ended in an accident. Aaron was able to retrieve our child alive, but in the process he was attacked and did what he had to do to protect himself and our minor child,” the woman wrote. She added that they are working to “retain a legal team” to help keep her husband, a combat veteran, “home with us where he belongs.”

“We are private people, so all of this being public has been very difficult,” she wrote on Facebook last week.

Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley told USA Today that Fosler, the man who was killed, was arrested earlier this summer for internet stalking of a child and sexual assault, but was out on bond. He added that his agency was investigating what led to the Oct. 8 incident.

In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.–Mark Twain

TPTB have always been scared to the point they wet themselves that the peons possess the means to eliminate them from the equation.
It became even more scarier when reliable weaponry that can either smite from a distance, or be easily carried and concealed, was developed.
We’re going to see if this still holds basically true, or if our Supreme Justices can override the goobermint’s  fear that those in power can be help to ultimate consequences.


Perhaps the Most Concerning Comment on Vanderstock

The ATF’s rules on so-called ghost guns don’t actually stop bad guys from making their own guns. Still, those rules exist.

At least, they exist until after the Supreme Court rules on Vanderstock v. Garland.

As we’ve noted previously, though, the odds don’t look good for pro-gun folks. It seems the Court had at least some interest in keeping the rules in place, which is troubling because it seems pretty clear to me that the ATF overstepped.

However, there was one comment that bothered me more than just about anything else I saw come out of the arguments.

“Drilling a hole or two, I would think, doesn’t give the same sort of reward that you get from working on your car on the weekends… My understanding is that it’s not terribly difficult for someone to do this,” said Chief Justice John Roberts.

While it’s easy to ridicule the Chief Justice for this misguided statement, it’s important to consider his sources for the hyperbole, the ATF and the Biden administration.

“Drilling a hole or two” is a demonstrably dishonest take on the process, and I would have particularly enjoyed seeing a kit laid out in front of the Justices for a hands-on show of how “not terribly difficult” it is.

This would have been good for a few laughs.

Representing manufacturers and groups opposing the rule, Peter Patterson pointed out that building the kits is far more complicated than the administration has suggested, however, Patterson wisely remained grounded in his argument, staying with the facts and nature of the litigation, which had nothing to do with how easy or difficult a kit is to build, and everything to do with the ATF overstepping its authority.

Since the conclusion of the day’s oral arguments, the mainstream media has touted the Supreme Court’s disposition during the hearing as signaling a tendency towards the ATF and Biden administration’s arguments regarding lack of manufacturing difficulty and the potential for prohibited individuals to purchase kits and build them at home for criminal intent.

I will point out, however unnecessarily, that violent crime has been around long before 80% receiver kits, and violent criminals have never had an issue arming themselves, sometimes aided by our own government. Just ask Barack Obama and Eric Holder about Operation Fast and Furious.

All of that is absolutely true, of course. It’s a good deal more complicated than just drilling a couple of holes and calling it good, which is why the ATF’s argument regarding how “readily” it can be turned into a firearm is wrong and should be overturned.

But I’m bothered by Roberts’s statement about how it does give “the same sort of reward” that one might get from working on their car.

I wasn’t aware that was the legal threshold for our rights, whether or not a judge finds it satisfying.

Especially when I don’t find working on my car particularly rewarding. If I’m working on my car, it’s because something isn’t right and I can’t afford to take it to a mechanic. Since that’s what my son does for a living now, that’s rare, but that’s how it’s been in the past. For me, it was a task that needed to be accomplished, not something I found enjoyment in.

That’s kind of how hobbies work, though. Some people are really into DIY projects like renovating their bathroom. Others do it because they need the bathroom fixed and can’t afford to hire someone. The first group is the amateurs in the original sense of the word–those who do something for the love of it–while the others aren’t necessarily finding any sense of reward, necessarily.

Some people get a charge out of collecting stamps while others only buy them now to pay bills that don’t have an online presence for whatever reason.

Yet Roberts’s comment, while possibly meaningless, suggests that the justice might well consider whether they see this as a real hobby or not, and if they don’t because they, personally, don’t see anything fun in making one’s own firearms, we have a big problem.

Alleged Carjacker Shot And Killed At Gas Station South Of Boca Raton

BROWARD COUNTY, FL .
A man apparently trying to steal a car — with a mom and her kids inside — is dead after witnesses allegedly opened fire and killed the man. It happened Sunday afternoon in Pompano Beach. The Broward Sheriff’s Office shared these details with BocaNewsNow.com:

Detectives with the Broward Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit are investigating the circumstances surrounding a deadly shooting in Pompano Beach. At approximately 4:58 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13, BSO deputies and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue responded to a disturbance and possible shooting in the parking lot of the RaceTrac located at 599 W. Atlantic Blvd.

On scene, emergency crews located Brian Semil suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to Broward Health North where he was pronounced deceased. BSO’s Homicide and Crime Scene units responded to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.

The preliminary investigation reveals that Semil tried to forcibly enter a vehicle that was occupied by a mother and her children. Three males intervened and prevented Semil from entering the vehicle. At some point during this altercation, one of the three individuals discharged his weapon, striking Semil. All three and additional witnesses remained on scene and cooperated with investigators. Detectives say, upon completion of their investigation, the case will be presented to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for review.

Saying the quiet part, out loud


Islamic Scholar Lets Slip the Truth: ‘If Preserving Life Had Priority, There Would Be No Jihad.’

After 9/11, we were inundated with the claims that by this time have become near-universal assumptions: Islam is peace. Jihadis are just a tiny minority of extremists. Jihad means a spiritual struggle and is willfully or ignorantly misinterpreted among jihadis.

Yet an Islamic scholar has just offered a succinct and telling enunciation of Islamic values that differs sharply from these claims. Is he an ignorant, racist, bigoted “Islamophobe” whose views can be easily dismissed? Hardly. He is an internationally respected Muslim Brotherhood leader whose words should be carefully pondered in Washington, but they won’t be.

The Kuwaiti Islamic scholar Tareq al-Suwaidan, who has been named among the 500 Most Influential Muslims for the last three years, recently enunciated a vision of Islamic values that differs markedly from what we have been told again and again in the West: “Preserving life is not the only objective of the shari’a – these include the preserving of religion, life, lineage, intellect, and property. These are the main objectives of the shari’a.”

That all sounds reasonable enough, but then al-Suwaidan added, “Which one of these objectives has higher priority? It is preserving religion, not preserving life. This is why there is a thing called ‘Jihad.’ If preserving life had the priority, there would be no Jihad – we would abolish it. Preserving religion takes priority over preserving life.” Thus peace, which would preserve life, is not the ultimate goal; Islamization is.

In line with this, al-Suwaidan found Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, to be positively inspiring: “By Allah,” he said, “what happened during the Al-Aqsa Flood should be taught in the most prestigious colleges.” The Al-Aqsa Flood is the name that Hamas gave to its Oct. 7 massacre. “The planning,” al-Suwaidan continued, “was unbelievable. People who are experts in planning know that what happened could only succeed with divine intervention and profound and extraordinary planning.”

Continue reading “”

When Stalled By A Violent Riots, Stationary Vehicles Are Death Traps

“Safe” Inside a Stationary Vehicle?

Two weeks ago, on I90 near Cleveland, OH, the entire freeway was blocked, taken over, and completely shut down for more than an hour by a mob of street thugs who then accosted stalled motorists. No escape was allowed!

Frantic 911 calls from stranded motorists were answered with a voicemail recording!

Many naively believe they are “safe” within a locked vehicle, but auto glass represents only a “symbolic” barrier. It is easily shattered. Thus, when inside a vehicle, your only safety lies in motion! So long as you’re moving, escape from criminal violence is possible.

This is why “street takeovers,” like the one described above, are so dangerous!

When you are inside a vehicle that isn’t moving and blocked in so you can’t move, you are in extreme peril from mobs of street criminals, the very ones who manufacture the street takeover, to begin with, in an effort to trap hapless victims!

When stalled by a violent riot, stationary vehicles are death traps!

When approaching a manufactured traffic jam, turn around as quickly as you can (driving across the median when necessary) and rapidly exit, going the other direction.

We’ll see many of these incidents, mostly around metro areas, in the coming weeks and surely immediately after the election.

Arrests are rarely made, so overwhelmed police have few tactics that are effective in preventing these dangerously obstructive/paralyzing riots. Most will go on for hours, maybe days, with no effective police intervention.

Trapped victims will be at the mercy of violent mobsters, who have little to worry about.

Extreme caution, as well as adequate personal preparation, are the order of the day!

“Caution comes too late when we are in the midst of evils.” ~ Walter Scott.

Time and time and time again, “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” and other similar words are being used as excuses to dumb down educational standards. Here are 24 examples.

By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)

October 15, 2024

Time and time and time again, “diversity,” “equity,” “inclusion,” and other similar words are being used as excuses to dumb down educational standards.

Here are 24 examples:

1) The New York Times wrote, “The Board of Regents on Monday eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in New York State pass a literacy test to become certified after the test proved controversial because black and Hispanic candidates passed it at significantly lower rates than white candidates.”

Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/nyregion/ny-regents-teacher-exams-alst.html?_r=0

Archive: https://archive.ph/GzyQM

2) The New York Times wrote, “A 2009 Princeton study showed Asian-Americans had to score 140 points higher on their SATs than whites, 270 points higher than Hispanics and 450 points higher than blacks to have the same chance of admission to leading universities.”

Original: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/white-students-unfair-advantage-in-admissions.html

Archive: https://archive.ph/MEDXn

3) Patrick Henry High School, San Diego’s largest high school, cited “equity” as its reason for removing some of its classes in advanced English, advanced history, and advanced biology.

Original: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2022-04-10/san-diegos-largest-high-school-quietly-eliminated-several-honors-courses-parents-are-outraged

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220410124259/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2022-04-10/san-diegos-largest-high-school-quietly-eliminated-several-honors-courses-parents-are-outraged

4) The Vancouver School Board cited “equity and inclusion” for why it got rid of its honors courses in math and science at its high schools.

Continue reading “”

The Babylon Bee hits another homer


NASA Baffled At How Elon Managed To Succeed Without As Many Gay Non-Binary Muslim Dwarfs Of Color As They Have

HOUSTON, TX — As the world still celebrated the astonishing accomplishment of SpaceX catching its returning Starship, NASA officials were baffled at how Elon Musk managed to succeed without as many gay non-binary Muslim dwarfs of color as they have.

SpaceX’s historic achievement occurred despite not making diversity and inclusion its top priority, leaving NASA in awe that such a feat could be pulled off without the mandated involvement of underrepresented people groups.

“Not a single transgender dwarf of color on the team! How does this guy do it?” one high-ranking NASA official marveled. “We devote all of our time and spend billions upon billions of dollars to put together the most intersectional and diverse team, but we can’t even come close to the stuff Musk is pulling off at SpaceX. They caught a rocket, for crying out loud! And they didn’t have any non-binary Hindu furries working on the project! How is that possible?”

Decision-makers at NASA reportedly held emergency closed-door meetings this week to discuss the widening gap between their work and the things being done at SpaceX. “It doesn’t matter what we do, he just keeps pulling further ahead,” a NASA insider said. “We’re going to keep trying to incorporate more diversity, equity, and inclusion to everything we do, but it’s like this guy has cracked some code where he just puts the most brilliant and qualified minds to work on his projects. That sounds crazy, but I guess it’s working out for them.”

At publishing time, NASA sources still expressed skepticism that Musk would be able to successfully land a human being on Mars without the help of any gender-fluid atheist amputees of mixed racial descent.