Open War: Israeli warplanes and artillery have left parts of Gaza City in rubble in an effort to suppress rocket barrages coming from Hamas militants. “This is not yet over. We will do everything to restore security to our cities and our people,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued from Tel Aviv.

  Israeli jets also hit a tunnel in southern Gaza that Israel Defense Forces say was holding Hamas computer servers and military equipment. The tunnel “was located adjacent to a kindergarten and a mosque,” the IDF said.

  Unrest has now spread to the Israeli occupied West Bank, where security forces shot and killed at least 10 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Israeli media outlets reported that protesters were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and shooting fireworks, and that the military responded with gunfire and other measures.

  More than 120 Palestinians have been killed, according to official reports.

  Hamas began firing rockets at Israel this week in response to a rising tide of public confrontations between Muslims and Israeli police. Those clashes coincided with the last week of the holy month of Ramadan as well as a legal fight by Israeli settlers to have Palestinians evicted from their long-held homes in an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

Bitter, Horrible: House Republicans voted to make upstate New York Rep. Elise Stefanik their #3 leader and the replacement for anti-Trump Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

  The 36-year-old Stefanik started as a moderate when she was elected in 2014 and progressed to being a full-fledged Trumper. Asked after the vote whether she thinks Trump is the leader of the Republican Party she said, “I believe that voters determine the leader of the Republican Party,” and “I support President Trump, voters support President Trump; he is an important voice in our Republican Party.”

  Stefanik was elected with Trump’s endorsement and Cheney was removed because she said Trump did not win the election. Trump said on his website, “Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being.”

  Cheney isn’t chastened by her demotion. She said on Fox News Thursday night, “We need to make sure that the American people recognize and understand that the election wasn’t stolen, that we shouldn’t perpetuate the Big Lie, and that there is real danger.”

Viral News: With New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and city mayor Bill DeBlasio so far declining to lift the mask mandate according to CDC guidance for vaccinated people, The NY Post labelled them “A couple of maskholes.”

  The CDC’s announcement that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks to protect against Covid-19 has set off a scramble in state and local governments deciding how to respond.

  The governors of Michigan, Kentucky, and Oregon quickly lifted their mask mandates. The city of Minneapolis has not. Masks are still required in public places in New York, New Jersey, and California.  

Professional Assessment: After a stalker incident earlier in the week in which Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted at her closed office door, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez suggested that the Georgia Republican could use professional help. 

  Cortez said, “This is a woman that’s deeply unwell. And clearly needs help. And her kind of fixation has lasted for several years now.” She went on,  “At this point I think the depth has raised concerns for other members, as well. And so, you know, I think that this is an assessment that needs to be made by the proper professional.”

  We’d like to suggest that Georgia’s 14^th congressional district is also unwell for electing Greene. 

Stiffed: Former CBS corporation boss Leslie Moonves  will receive nothing from the $120 million the company had set aside in a severance package, according to a federal filing yesterday.

  Moonves left CBS in September 2018, after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct in two articles published in The New Yorker by Ronan Farrow. 

   CBS put the $120 million in a trust to be paid out to Moonves if it was found there were no grounds for his firing. They found him guilty as charged and he doesn’t get a dime. 

The Spin Rack: Congress has approved the formation of a 10-member panel to study the January 6^thinsurrection. The panel to be composed of five Democrats and five Republicans would examine the “facts and circumstances of the January 6^th attack on the Capitol as well as the influencing factors that may have provoked the attack on our democracy.” — In a podcast interview with actor Dax Shepard, Britain’s Prince Harry compared his life in the British monarchy as “a mix between ‘The Truman Show’ and being in a zoo.” He said that’s why he and wife Meghan Markle got out. — Fuel shortages in the southeast served by the Colonial Pipeline are expected to ease over the next few days even while Washington DC was running out of gas. Colonial paid ransom hackers $5 to free their computer system.

Thanks for the Meme-ories: Seen on the internet — “If you’re feeling down on your luck when it comes to dating, just remember: Representative Matt Gaetz didn’t have a high school girlfriend until he was 38.” 

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