Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he told President Joe Biden that Israel was prepared to stand alone after Biden threatened to abandon the Jewish state if it invaded Rafah, according to Israeli outlet Channel 14.  “Biden called me and said: Prime Minister Netanyahu — you will be left alone,” Netanyahu reportedly said during a secret meeting with government officials.  In response, Netanyahu reportedly told Biden, “We will do it alone.” Netanyahu added that two days later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Israel and reportedly told him that Israel would not get more U.S. weapons if it invaded Rafah.  “We will fight with our hands and nails,” Netanyahu said he responded.  “The Americans estimated that 20,000 people would be killed in Rafah, it turned out to be a total disaster,” he added. Despite Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden warning against invading Rafah, Israel’s incursion has been a strategic success, with numerous Hamas members eliminated, including former leader Yahya Sinwar last month.  MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+ Netanyahu congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory earlier this month, calling it “history’s greatest comeback.” “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory! In true friendship,… pic.twitter.com/B54NSo2BMA — Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 6, 2024 So far, Trump has chosen several pro-Israel leaders for his administration, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as his pick for the U.S. ambassador to Israel and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) as secretary of state. In a cabinet meeting on Monday, Netanyahu reportedly said Israel’s ability to interfere with Iran’s nuclear program “will be reevaluated” with the incoming Trump administration, reported the Times of Israel. 

Conservatives are optimistic that Pete Hegseth will purge left-wing ideology from the military if confirmed as Secretary of Defense. Hegseth — a veteran and Fox News host whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the Defense Department —  is an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s embrace of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda. Hegseth is the author of a New York Times-bestselling book, “The War On Warriors,” which details the left-wing ideological capture of the military. Hegseth explained how DEI weakens the military in an interview with Daily Wire host and editor emeritus Ben Shapiro. “The Left knows that by pushing DEI, now they’ve got black soldiers looking at white soldiers and white soldiers looking at black soldiers wondering who really deserved what or why they’re in a position, which is really toxic for an organization primed on unity,” he said. William Thibeau, the director of the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project and an Army Ranger veteran, is a vocal opponent of DEI in the military. He’s also optimistic that a Hegseth-led Pentagon could mark the end of the woke ideology’s presence in the armed services, which he says “break the fundamental integrity” of the military. “If future-Secretary Hegseth’s public comments are any indication, he will restore accountability to the Pentagon with a ruthless push for accountability for uniformed officers who have broken the institution,” Thibeau told The Daily Wire. “He has a proper scope of the problem, and his independence is cause for optimism that he will not hold back in favor of potential future employment.” He also called on Hegseth to completely root out the DEI agenda immediately upon becoming the Secretary of Defense. “The Hegseth-led Pentagon must take every step necessary to eliminate DEI on day one, without cause to think that the future will be any easier of a fight.” Eliminating DEI in the military could prove difficult. An ongoing Daily Wire series documents how the Defense Department embraced and promulgated far-left ideology on race and gender, requesting nearly $270 million across three years to fund its DEI agenda. Thibeau outlined exactly how he believes a Hegseth-led DOD could most effectively eliminate DEI from the armed services. “Policies must be clear, bold, and simple. Instead of vague affirmations of the importance of merit, new Pentagon policy must comprehensively and explicitly outline the activities now forbidden,” Thibeau told The Daily Wire. “It’s not enough to leave up to a bureaucrat general’s interpretation of a statute. The new Pentagon must leave no room for doubt about policy actions.” There are also a number of actions Thibeau says Trump’s Defense Department could take to purge the ideology from the military. “Restore standards. Fix the Army fitness test, return to a professions-based assessment of qualifications without bias based on a person’s sex,” the Army Ranger veteran said before calling on the Trump administration to “end consideration of race and sex for military personnel and programs. The Pentagon should return to the Truman-era policy of racial integration when the Army would not even maintain a category for race in personnel files.” “Fire senior officers who have embraced DEI as military policy, or spoken out for it. There must be accountability for senior leaders who have lost the trust of the American people,” Thibeau elaborated. “Reform the Joint Staff. The Joint Staff is a military bureaucracy that obfuscates decision-making outside of political accountability,” Thibeau went on to say before explaining that staff should be moved to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, while remaining Joint Staff offices should be moved “close to the White House where they will execute their duly-assigned role of advise and consent.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) pushed back on Sunday against members of his party who are claiming that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is a “Russian asset.” Jeffries made the remarks during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press” with Kristen Welker when asked about Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) saying last week that Gabbard was “by most assessments, a Russian asset.” President-elect Donald Trump nominated Gabbard, who is now a Republican, to be the director of national intelligence. “Here’s what I have to say about several of the nominations that have been made by the incoming president, including the one that Debbie Wasserman Schultz was referring to,” Jeffries said. “The incoming president, throughout the campaign, promised the American people that we would have the best economy, the best border security, and the best administration possible.” “The question that has to be asked: Is this the best that we can do in the context of some of these nominations?” he continued. “Is this the very best that America has to offer for a moment like this, with so many challenges that we confront?” He said Gabbard and others were “not” the best picks for the roles and said that “America deserves better.” MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+ “Hopefully, we’ll see the Senate Republicans do their job, scrutinize these picks, certainly confirm those that meet the basic level of qualifications, and reject others,” he said. When asked again if he would characterize Gabbard as a “Russian asset,” Jeffries responded: “No, that’s not how I would characterize her at this particular juncture.” “But I’m open to scrutinizing whatever information is presented to all of us,” he added. “But this is going to fall on Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans.” WATCH: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) when asked if he agrees with Democrats calling Tulsi Gabbard a “Russian asset”: “No, that’s not how I would characterize her” pic.twitter.com/hqD1RazfF4 — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 18, 2024

As a Gen Z, pro-life woman, I voted for President-elect Donald Trump. It’s crystal clear why he won: the political Left’s empty platitudes and hollow tolerance talk was a façade, and the election results shredded their mask. My post-election experience thus far consists of being mobbed or threatened on campus, proving the hypocrisy of the Left’s claims of acceptance of all lifestyles. I identify as Pro/Life. I’ve been fighting for pre-born lives for my entire college and adult career, debating abortion supporters’ “pro-woman” abortion arguments. I’m no stranger to ostracization from my peers, hateful messages, and even death threats. Maybe it’s because these people support an industry that kills pre-born babies to keep their doors open. Two days after the election, the abortion Left’s chaotic response at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to my campus tour, “Abortion is Violence,” proved my point about abortion supporters. These “pro-woman” abortion zealots quickly surrounded me, yelling, spitting at me and my crew, stealing flyers and other display materials, leading to one arrest by campus police. The conduct during my speech wasn’t much better; I walked into a room at full capacity of 160 people with more protestors waiting outside. Abortion supporters held signs with my face on them. They mocked, shouted, and insulted me, even telling me I should’ve been aborted. One pro-abortion man came up to me and yelled: “You should be eradicated! You should rot in the bowels of hell! You should die!” When a nearby person pleaded for civility, saying, “That’s a woman, respect the woman,” he replied, “My respect for women is very selective.” Whatever happened to “I’m with her?” And these same people wonder why Vice President Kamala Harris lost. They say they support women, but only those women who agree with killing pre-born children, or perhaps men who identify as women who feel the same. They want the freedom to spit, steal, and scream but don’t want Americans they disagree with to speak peacefully and engage in public discourse. They say women should have the truth and resources to “make their own choice,” but blatantly lie about miscarriage care, Chemical Abortion Pill side effects, and fetal development. Fortunately for us, people saw past the spin, and it cost Harris and the Democratic Party the Presidency, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate. Voters had the choice of voting for the most radical, pro-abortion ticket in world history, and said NO. A majority of voters don’t want abortion up until birth, nor do they appreciate the senseless propaganda around it. Nine out of ten youth voters want safeguards around Chemical Abortion Pills. 91% of Americans support Pregnancy Help Centers. Seven out of ten Americans are against abortion after 15 weeks. Late-term abortion extremism is not a winning argument, which is why abortion zealots don’t want civil conversation and critical thinking to spread nationwide. If open dialogue occurs, then people can clearly see how radical these beliefs really are. At VCU, as I talked with students willing to listen, an aggressive mob of more than 200 abortion supporters shouted down the free speech of others. The online death threats I continued to receive became too severe for me to remain on campus, requiring my security as well as police to escort me to safety. Students took more of my flyers and ate them in my face as I walked through the mob. Despite securing my physical safety, the online attacks continued as pro-abortion students made viral videos on TikTok, flooded by Instagram with horrific messages, and got my TikTok permanently banned. But their efforts to silence my voice for the voiceless prove my point: these tactics wouldn’t be necessary if abortion extremism was popular. Their actions and insults against decent and good people solidify their perception as loudmouths who are intolerant of the beauty of life. I’ve received countless messages from people saying I’ve helped change their minds on abortion. Millions of people have seen my content from my tour stops and seen the pro-life movement challenging the pro-abortion narrative shoved down our throats. Even though the abortion Left’s ire rings loudly, the pro-life movement treks forward victoriously, with the hopes that Trump will stand up for our free speech rights so we can continue to protect the pre-born. * * *  Lydia Taylor Davis serves as a Spokesperson and Social Media Coordinator for Students for Life of America (SFLA). She tours college campuses nationwide speaking against intentional abortion & creates pro-life social media content viewed by millions of people. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Blue Dragon and White Tiger are two Siberian Forest cats. The fluffy little critters are domesticated and have a wonderful life inside with their humans. Dragon has a favorite game, and when his humans play peek-a-boo with him, the cat starts chirping. You can watch the silly video here. @dragon.tiger818 I have to say that Dragon is a funny crazy cat #catchirping #chirpingcats #chirp #catsoftiktok #kittensoftiktok #catlover #funnycat ♬ original sound – Dragon & Tiger The creator discussed this behavior in the comments, saying no one believed the cat chirping occurred while playing. Some commenters backed that up, saying their cats did the same. Chirping is a recognized cat activity, although there is discourse over the meaning of the sound. Most agree that cat chirping occurs when a cat is stimulated. This stimulation can come from playing, watching birds, or getting pets. Recently, we witnessed a cat and its owner trying to scare one another. Every cat is different, so they “play” differently. Dragon likes to play peek-a-boo, so he chirps when his owner participates. It makes him happy. Image from TikTok. Cat chirping can communicate, seek attention, greet a human or animal, or express excitement. When you hear a cat chirping, pay attention to what your cat is trying to signal. It might be time to play hide-and-seek or peek-a-boo! Most cats also make biscuits or knead when they are content. Dragon has been making air biscuits since his adoption. Stretching the paws can signify contentment but may also signify many other things. Cats use biscuits to mark territory, prepare a nest or bed, stretch, or relay a health issue, such as labor in a pregnant cat. Image from TikTok. Cat behaviorists can help us understand our feline pets. Although they seem aloof, cats can be expressive and personable. They form habits and attach themselves to one or more human companions. Please share if you love to hear cats chirping. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Delightful Kitty “Chirps” Every Time Owners Play Peek-A-Boo With Him appeared first on InspireMore.

Many critics of Putin have suffered unexplained early deaths

'We requested a humanitarian flight'

'We're going to pursue every legal means'

The new name is dreadful

Movies & TV Dune Dune: Prophecy Premieres With a Heavy Prologue in “The Hidden Hand” The opening of Dune: Prophecy takes us ten millennia before the birth of Paul Atreides to show us that nothing much has changed By Emmet Asher-Perrin | Published on November 18, 2024 Image: Attila Szvacsek/HBO Comment 0 Share New Share Image: Attila Szvacsek/HBO We’re back in the film landscape of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptations, this time for a story that takes place ten millennia before Paul Atreides’ rise to power. Welcome to Dune: Prophecy. Recap Image: Attila Szvacsek/HBO We begin with a massive flashback told from the vantage point of an older Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson). She talks of the Butlerian Jihad, where humans had to fight against the thinking machines that rose up against them, leading to thinking technology being banished. In the battle, the Harkonnens were said to have fled while the Atreides vanquished the enemy and called the Harkonnens cowards for running. Valya insists that these were lies, and led to her family’s banishment. She eventually joined the Bene Gesserit sisterhood along with her own sister Tula (Emma Canning), and became a favorite of their first Reverend Mother, Raquella Berto-Anirul (Cathy Tyson). Raquella believed that the Imperium needed better leaders, and created the Bene Gesserit breeding program to achieve that end, to the dismay of sisters who Valya calls “zealots.” In her final moments on Wallach IX, home of the sisterhood, the dying Reverend Mother calls for a younger Valya (Jessica Braden). Raquella has a vision of a reckoning and advises Valya to do everything in her power to safeguard the Sisterhood. Valya believes that the Reverend Mother wants her to put one of their sisters on the throne of the Imperium. When Valya tries to get the rest of the Sisterhood to adhere to this plan, there is a clear faction who do not agree: the zealots who believe that humility is the center of their work, and are led by Mother Dorotea (Camilla Beeput). She means to destroy the breeding index, so Valya stops her using a new technique she has developed: the Voice. When Dorotea refuses to bend to Valya’s plans, she uses the Voice to get Dorotea to kill herself. Thirty years later (116 years after the war against thinking machines and roughly 10,000 years before the events of Dune), the sisterhood is preparing to welcome Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) into their ranks following her marriage. Her half-brother Constantine Corrino (Josh Heuston) comes to talk about her accommodations, but Mother Superior Valya is firm about her being treated the same as all the other sisters. Acolytes are working on their ability to spot lies and become Truthsayers under the tutelage of Mother Tula (Olivia Williams). Constantine arrives home on Salusa Secundus to find Ynez sparring with shield belts against Swordmaster Keiran Atreides (Chris Mason). Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong) is reviewing the dowry for his daughter with the Duke of House Richese (Brendan Cowell), who is offering him a fleet of warships to help tame Arrakis and protect the spice harvest from Fremen attack. The Emperor takes advice from his own Truthsayer, Reverend Mother Kasha Jinjo (Jihae), and agrees to the Duke’s demands, including their own wing in the palace. The Empress Natalya (Jodhi May) is helping her daughter prepare for the wedding, but is dismayed at her daughter’s choices. Ynez insists that the Sisterhood will allow her to rule with untold skills and that marrying Pruwet Richese (Charlie Hodson-Prior)—who is only nine years old—gives her time to do as she will and learn what she needs. The Empress believes her daughter should rule how she likes and marry whomever she wants, noting Ynez’s affection for their Swordmaster. The Emperor is informed that Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) has come to visit him from Arrakis, a soldier believed dead in the latest attack. Hart tells the Emperor that the attack on Arrakis was not the Fremen—it was insurgents from within the Imperium who stole spice from the harvest. Hart wants an appointment in the palace for his loyalty, and the Emperor agrees to find him a place. Kasha later has a vision involving Ynez in danger and goes to check on her before leaving. Natalya and Javicco argue about Ynez’s wedding, with the Empress reminding the Emperor that he used to listen to her more and have a stronger Imperium for it; the Emperor disagrees with this version of events. Valya and Tula discuss who Ynez should be paired with among their acolytes to make her adhere more easily to the Sisterhood’s views. Kasha arrives and tells Valya and Tula about her vision, worried that their plan might be in error. Valya dismisses her concerns and tells her to rest the night before returning to her post. The engagement goes forward while Tula argues with Valya about her dismissal of Kasha; she asks for her sister to at least check the match and be certain Ynez is the right sister to have on the throne. After the engagement ceremony, Pruwet pulls a small thinking machine from his pocket that runs through the reception; Hart stabs the thing and the Empress makes to punish the child, while Ynez, the Duke, and the Emperor protect him. Hart gives the machine back to the child, and Ynez tells Pruwet that she’ll kill him if he ever does anything like that again. Valya checks the match and finds that Ynez is the right pick and her match will stabilize House Corrino for centuries, thinking she might have Kasha take some leave; Tula points out that she can’t takes pieces off the board any time they disagree with her. Ynez and Constantine go out together to a spot called Division, and take a copious amount of drugs along the way. Hart finds the Emperor and tells him that his troubles on Arrakis are a symptom of a larger issue within the Imperium. The Emperor admits that while Kasha has never led him astray, he doesn’t like this match, but there’s nothing he can do if he means to keep the Great Houses happy. Hart believes that the gods are listening, and the Emperor insists that if the gods freed him from this wedding, he’d be a true believer. In Division, Ynez runs into Keiran and offers to share spice with him. They head to the back and sleep together. Late at night, the Emperor wakes and find a disc containing video of the approach of a great worm on Arrakis, about to swallow Desmond Hart whole. Pruwet takes his little machine into the halls at night, and Hart finds him. Pruwet admits he had a bad dream and can’t sleep. He wants to know why Hart is here, since he’s a soldier, but Hart believes that there is a war here: a war being waged by people who want to do humanity’s thinking for them, just as the machines once did. He claims to have been gifted a great power and says that war demands sacrifice—suddenly Pruwet begins burning alive and dies. On Wallach IX Valya and Tula hear screaming and find Kasha in the hall; she is also burning alive from an unknown source and dies in front of them. Commentary Image: Attila Szvacsek/HBO That opening segment set in the past was a bit unfortunate, I’m sorry to say. There are more flashback segments coming, per the showrunner and actors on the series, so the choice to open the show with a rote historical explainer and then never return to flashback after the basic setup was incredibly odd. It’s also awkward because the segments taking place when Valya is younger are the point that the Sisterhood of Dune novel encompassed—meaning that despite the show being billed as a story inspired by that book… it’s not really. Most of what we’re about to see is brand new. And what that leads to is a first episode that is very concerned with making sure you know: This is a Dune story. Like the movies you ostensibly saw and liked. Please recognize this universe and want to hang out here with us for six episodes. See, there are Harkonnens and Atreides and the ruling Corrino House! Look, a fight with shield belts! We gave you some visions with sandworms, and mentioned the importance of spice and Arrakis! There’s a Fremen tending bar! It’s DUNE, okay? We promise it’s Dune. And it’s all a bit ridiculous that things could be so familiar because this is over 10,000 years before the events of Dune. I know that there’s a level of inference here about the lack of “thinking machines” keeping things stunted and a stagnation of society brought about by the current systems humanity is clinging to. But ten millennia of the same ruling house, the same noble families, the same blood feuds, and a sisterhood that is already practically the same to the one we see in the premiere text? That’s not stagnation, that’s absurdity. Language and power change constantly throughout history, and here we see none; presumably because the folks in charge of the show need to be certain that the audience would recognize enough to keep them watching. And it’s genuinely nonsensical: There are eleven pharaohs with the name Ramses in Egypt’s history, but despite the length of pharaonic rule (over 3000 years), those eleven sovereigns reined in a span of roughly two centuries. Because change happens quickly and constantly, and even stagnation moves around in the muck as it goes. There are, in fact, a lot of changes already to the story that was laid down by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson in their run of Dune books, and they’re all extremely Hollywood choices thus far. For example, Valya Harkonnen didn’t create the Bene Gesserit “Voice” in those novels—she perfected its use, but the skill itself was discovered by Raquella when she became the first Reverend Mother. And yet, it seems the creative team could not resist the chance to make their central character—and a Harkonnen, at that—the one who contributed this all-important facet of Bene Gesserit power. Like ya do. I’m never a purist in book-to-screen adaptations, and am adamant that ultra-specific adherence to text is often tedious in the extreme. That said, the world of filmmaking does have a tendency to bring out a lot of deep, silly clichés in storytelling, and we’re getting an abundance of them so far: The princess is romantically interested in the Atreides; the prince is a layabout bad boy of sorts; Valya wants to control everything with an iron fist while her sister wishes she would allow for more trust and flexibility; the mysterious solider, of course, comes from Arrakis and is somehow imbued with special murder power. We’ll see where all this leads, but that’s a heavy list right there. Hopefully we’ll wind up somewhere interesting. There are plenty of high points in all of this, of course. The design of this universe is intricate as ever, from the grand physical sets down to the textured costuming. The actors are a stunning group, with Emily Watson and Olivia Williams acting as firm anchors to every other tether on the board. Their sisterly rapport is an easy highlight of the show so far. Mark Strong is hilarious as an ineffectual Emperor of the Known Universe, just by virtue of how seriously he’s chosen to play the role. There’s also a very slight echo with the original Dune text, an aspect that I felt was entirely undersold in the film version: Duke Leto Atreides’ mistrust of his wife is ultimately what leads to his downfall, and here we have a similar tension between the Emperor and Empress. But there’s much more to unfold… Truthsaying and Visions Image: Attila Szvacsek/HBO I love this set of acolytes we’ve got and am fascinated to see where their journeys lead. (Probably nowhere good, alas.) The heavy cues for the use of Bene Gesserit power are a little much. They have to tap their fingers together as though meditating in order to access their truthsaying abilities? Isn’t that kind of a huge tell? Sorry, Richese being the family the Corrinos are about to get into bed with is a pretty great joke. Hi, Mr. Emperor, we’ve got Duke Moneypants here to see you about a dowry for your daughter… The Sisterhood having those computers is less of an issue in the books because they get destroyed early on, if memory serves. So that’s a pretty significant change, I’d imagine. Next week is fast approaching…[end-mark] The post <i>Dune: Prophecy</i> Premieres With a Heavy Prologue in “The Hidden Hand” appeared first on Reactor.