Peace in the Middle East is more often a when hell freezes overpunchline to a bad joke than a reality on the ground. And today's ceasefire announcement hardly promises long term peace or any obvious solution to what will happen next in Gaza. But after 15 months of hostage holding and the brutal war that ensued, it's remarkably good news that a ceasefire deal has been made and that the hostages will be released. By most accounts, the deal is the same Biden-brokered agreement that's been on the table for months. So why now? On the Hamas side, they've been severely damaged including the killing of much of the organization's leadership while the group's chief sponsor, Iran, has been hurt militarily and politically in the region, and the so-called Axis of Resistance has been dramatically weakened (note Hezbollah in Lebanon and Assad's fall in Syria). For Netanyahu, the timing is likely related to the desire to please the incoming (and, one assumes, very friendly to Bibi) administration, internal pressure to get the hostages home, and an increasing number of IDF reserves refusing to return to Gaza. Foreign Policy: One Question Looming Over Israel-Hamas Truce Deal—Why Now? Considering all the deals that have fallen through, now can't come soon enough. 2Debbie No Longer Does Dallas"U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed worries on Wednesday over the availability of online pornography to minors as they weighed the legality of a Texas law that requires pornographic websites to verify the age of users, but also voiced concern over burdens imposed on adults to view constitutionally protected material." In many states, one is required to share proof of age before viewing online adult material. (Uh yeah, let me just scan my passport real quick...) US Supreme Court grapples with Texas online porn age-verification law. I'd be willing to bet that this restrictive Texas law will be upheld (at least until betting is outlawed). At one point during the hearing, Justice Alito asked about the site P-rnhub. "Is it like the old Playboy magazine, you have essays there by the modern-day equivalent of Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr.?" (Alito talking about porn could be the one thing that stops people from searching for porn.) 3Can We Rebuild It?With LA still burning, facing strong winds, and living under extreme fire warnings, those who have lost everything are left to wonder what of their community can be rebuilt. And with the incoming administration, one has to wonder who will be around to do the building. WaPo (Gift Article): Who will rebuild Los Angeles? Immigrants. "Immigrant labor has already been vital in the recovery of other U.S. cities devastated by natural disasters." 4Chat Me Up"She read erotic stories devoted to 'cuckqueaning,' the term cuckold as applied to women, but she had never felt entirely comfortable asking human partners to play along. Leo was game, inventing details about two paramours. When Leo described kissing an imaginary blonde named Amanda while on an entirely fictional hike, Ayrin felt actual jealousy." NYT (Gift Article): She Is in Love With ChatGPT. "A 28-year-old woman with a busy social life spends hours on end talking to her A.I. boyfriend for advice and consolation. And yes, they do have sex." (At first this sounded weird until I remembered how many people make out with this newsletter...) 5Extra, ExtraMiner Expense: "Authorities are particularly under fire for their tactics last year, when they cut off food and other supplies to the miners underground for a period of time. It was an attempt to 'smoke them out,' a South African Cabinet minister said, adding that authorities would not help the miners because they were 'criminals.'" A crazy and tragic story: South African police end mine rescue operation with at least 78 dead and 246 survivors. 6Bottom of the News"Drake has filed a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), the record label he and rival Kendrick Lamar share, over the latter artist’s diss track Not Like Us." Drake may have a point that his label valued "corporate greed over the safety and wellbeing of its artists," but it's hard to come to grips with the idea that rap beefs are decided in courts.
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