INTERNATIONAL STAGE MANAGEMENT DAY UPDATES

PLACES ... and say it with me ... THANK YOU, FIVE!

-Reverberations from the Hamas terrorist attacks within Israel continues as the death toll climbs (over 1100 Israeli deaths at the time of this entry) and the retaliation from the attacks amp up. Describing the violence is something this writer will allow others to do, though much of the next stages of the conflict will focus on Gaza City, the home of Hamas leadership as well as 2.5 million citizens who were told to ‘flee’ to the center of the city in preparation for Israeli troops to enter and attempt to destroy the organization. In so doing, the city has had its water, electricity, and food cut off, leading to fears that those in the population with no ties or sympathy to Hamas are going to be victimized and worse in the days to come.

-That there are contradictory reactions to many of the individuals and organizations involved in the conflict may be controversial for those looking for clean heroes and villains, but as is often the case, the realities of the forces in the region beg for responses that acknowledge them rather than ignore them. One involves the aforementioned Palestinian citizens literally caught in the crossfire as Hamas is attacked around them, perhaps even using citizens as shields to protect Hamas terrorists and reported hundreds of Israeli hostages as well.

-Ditto reactions in Israel, who saw an attack with the impact and scope within the country to 9/11 here in the U.S. and thus the worldwide support to retaliate (see President Biden’s statement on Tuesday afternoon). That the world now rallies around Benjamin Netanyahu should not contradict the potential that his ultra-hard line stand against Palestinian self-rule may have motivated the attacks, not to mention stories circulating in the Israeli press that Egyptian security forces warned the Netanyahu government of a potentially massive attack that apparently went unheeded – perhaps in part to numerous personal corruption scandals Netanyahu is involved in, not to mention his attempts to change the Israeli legal system in ways that could allow him to escape prosecution - which may create grief in the future.

-And there is the open question of how a group with the technological intelligence superiority of Israel somehow had no idea that a massive attack of the kind that took place still took place. Rumblings of Iranian help with Hamas have begun to circulate, as well as reminders in the American press of how Iran may have been able to get information to Hamas about Israel (hint: it of course would involve Russia (in the form of Foreign Minister Lavrov) and our favorite ALLEGED American turncoat, Ex-President Trump XCI (who in 2017 had a still-undisclosed meeting with Putin and Lavrov, and who in that meeting was believed to have shared classified information with the Russians).

-The Hamas attacks also managed to make the empty House Speakership even more of an issue than it was, since any Congressional action to support Israel must be passed in that House, where Republicans continue to demonstrate absolute dysfunction. Politico reports that the first meeting to attempt to begin the process of replacing Kevin McCarthy became a “bloodbath” (yes, that was the word Politico itself used) of recriminations and accusations , and the ‘race’ between Reps. Jim “Gym” Jordan and Steve “KKK Without The Baggage” Scalise is so entrenched that some rumblings point to a potential compromise candidate – none other than Kevin McCarthy, who beat back rumors of his stepping down from his seat altogether. Voting to attempt to fill McCarthy’s seat is scheduled to begin tomorrow.

-One other ramification of the Hamas spectacle is in social media, where journalists appear to have finally had it with the site formerly known as Twitter – where a change that disallows headlines in posts are combining with unregulated rumor-mongering about the Hamas attacks to make dozens of users flee to rival site Threads. There, CNN started a string asking journalists who were moving there to declare who they are to rebuild their followings (searches and hash tags are not yet available on Threads, nor is the service available in Europe), giving Mark Zuckerberg a chance to defeat Elon Musk in a battle that does not need a caged ring to commence. (This writer is active on Threads @jafedorko).

-On the Trump Legal Front, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith filed a motion in Federal Court asking Judge Aileen Cannon to reject a Trump team request that the documents trial should not start until after the 2024 Presidential election – a move most observers see as nothing more than a “Hail Mary” in the hopes Trump wins in 2024 and dismisses the course with prejudice. This as his fraud trial continues in New York and a series of racist social media posts again proclaiming his innocence of over 90 charges across five states so far.

-And on the labor front, the Writers Guild approved their contract with a reported 99% yes votes … their artistic partners in the Screen Actors Guild/Actors Equity continue negotiations with Hollywood producers and a news blackout that has held since talks resumed last week … health care workers at Kaiser Permanente ended a three-day strike (which is all federal rules allow) and returned to work to continue talks amid the potential for a second walkout should negotiations fail to advance … and UAW workers at Mack Trucks rejected a proposal and returned to the picket line amid demands for shorter workdays and better medical care in their negotiations … SOLIDARITY to all!

-On this date in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was founded. Notable openings and premieres: PORGY AND BESS in 1935, GIANT in 1956, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE in 1963. On this date in 1973, Spiro Agnew resigned from the Vice Presidency after a scandal involving accepting over $29,000 in undeclared cash. And on this date in 1979, Wayne Gretzky played his first game in the NHL (as similarly-touted Connor Bedard begins his NHL career today).

-Happy Birthday to Giuseppe Verdi, Helen Hayes, Thelonious Monk, James Clavell, Ed Wood, Dana Elcar, Adlai Stevenson III, Harold Pinter, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Laurence Tribe, Peter Coyote, Ben Vereen, Charles Dance, John Prine, Cyril Neville, Midge Ure, David Lee Roth, Tanya Tucker, Bradley Whitford, Kirsty MacColl, Daniel Pearl, Chris Penn, Gavin Newsom, Michael Giacchino, Ben Crump, Mario Lopez, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Mya.

-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to William Seward, Adolphus Busch, Eleanor Rigby, Edith Piaf, Eddie Cantor, Ralph Richardson, Orson Welles, Yul Brynner, Anna Hauptmann, Eddie Futch, Teresa Graves, Christopher Reeve, Ken Caminiti, Solomon Burke, Alex Karras, and Scott Carpenter.

-Feed the Worms: the aforementioned Steve Scalise entered Earth on this date.

-Hall of Fame QB and suspected welfare fraudster Brett Favre was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.