Mon Blogcast: Back from non-vacation; Broncos insane win; Louvre heist

Just One Thing: The hostages come home

Yes, I know this happened over a week ago but I was on vacation and didn't get a chance to talk about it. I feel that I must make mention of it now because it's a remarkable turn of events, one that President Trump must get full credit for. (There's another issue mentioned below where I'm less positive about his position but regarding the Israel/Gaza "ceasefire", no matter what happens now it is absolutely due to Trump that the 20 remaining living hostages were returned to Israel.)

The "ceasefire now!" folks on the left have been oddly silent, including about their erstwhile allies in Hamas now lining up other Palestinians and executing them. That's because those people didn't care -- and most people don't care -- about the Palestinians. They only wanted a ceasefire when they thought it would happen in a time and manner that would effectively give Hamas a victory and leave Israel weakened and vulnerable.

Bill Maher asks where ‘keffiyeh-wearing college kids’ went as Hamas is ‘shooting everybody’

Unsurprisingly, Hamas (or splinter groups from Hamas) are trying to restart the war...because that's all they know how to do: US scrambles to save Gaza peace deal amid clashes between Israel, Hamas

The two primary negotiators for the US's role in the Israel-Gaza ceasefire were Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They were interviewed on "60 Minutes" last night. I wonder if Bari Weiss had anything to do with that.

Kushner and Steve Witkoff on CBS-60 Minutes discuss Gaza deal | The Jerusalem Post

"60 Minutes" Witkoff Kushner interview on Gaza deal takeaways

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What a win by the Broncos!

Per the TV announcers after the Denver Broncos' stunning come-from-behind 33-32 victory over the NY Giants yesterday: NFL teams had won 1,602 consecutive games when leading by 18 points (or more) with 6 minutes (or less) remaining in the game.

The Broncos scored all of their 33 points in the 4th quarter, and most of them in the last 6 minutes, to overcome a 19-0 deficit at the beginning of the quarter and a 26-8 deficit with 6 minutes left. It's the most points ever scored by the Broncos in the 4th quarter of a game. The Broncos had outscored their opponents by something like 36-0 in the fourth quarters of the six prior games this year.

The Broncos' 33 fourth-quarter points were the most in NFL history by any team that had not scored in the first three quarters.

The 19-point fourth-quarter comeback ties the Broncos record. The prior such comeback was in 1983 against the (Baltimore) Colts.

I note also that the Broncos won by one point...and the Giants' kicker missed two extra points after touchdowns, including one with 37 seconds left in the game that let the Broncos win by one point with a field goal.

NY coverage: Giants waste Jaxson Dart's late heroics as furious Broncos rally delivers gut-punch loss

This on a day when Demaryius Thomas was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame, next to Payton Manning: Broncos honor late WR Demaryius Thomas with Ring of Fame ceremony (If you don't remember, DT passed away four years ago at the age of 33...)

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Today's Guests

We're gonna nerd out a little with Andrew Shikiar, Exec Dir and CEO of the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance, talking about the use of "passkeys" to strengthen your online security rather than relying only on passwords.

FIDO Alliance: Reducing Reliance on Passwords

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Patrick McGee is a financial journalist, San Francisco-based correspondent for the Financial Times, and author of "Apple in China", one of the most interesting business books I've ever read. A basic concept in the book is that while people think that Apple used China to grow, the reverse is every bit as true.

Patrick McGee - author of Apple in China

Author of Apple in China: Apple in China - by Patrick McGee

Amazon.com: Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company

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Other Stuff
One of the great museums of the world, the Louvre (in Paris), was robbed of exceptionally historic and valuable jewelry yesterday in a remarkable daytime robbery that leaves far more questions than answers.
Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist (BBC News)

What the Louvre lost (Axios.com)

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Seems like it’s working now but it’s amazing how dependent so many businesses (and therefore consumers) are on one company: AWS outage takes major websites dark: What we know as recovery begins

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Ace Frehley, RIP: How Ace Frehley Made Himself a Rock Superhero - The New York Times

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Speaking of sports, we recently saw one of the greatest performances ever in a baseball game: Shohei Ohtani's Truly Awesome Performance - The Atlantic

Some other great sports performances: Shohei Ohtani's performance best ever? Think again

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Trump has been (almost literally) all over the map on this. First he had a position somewhat like this, then he said Ukraine might be able to take back territory while also saying he might give Ukraine long-range weapons (Tomahawk missiles), and now backtracking on all of that stuff: Trump says Ukraine's Donbas region will have to be 'cut up' to end the Russian invasion

His hesitancy to ever really challenge Putin is more than a little odd. And sends a bad message to other serious competitors, like China.

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Large "No Kings" protests around the country, including in Denver: Union workers, military brats among crowd at 'No Kings' protest

Trump says he's not a king and posts a juvenile and almost amusing video:

Trump says he's "not a king" ahead of nationwide No Kings protests

One of the political stories that got a lot of attention last week when I was on vacation was this: ‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat - POLITICO

I wrote a Substack about it: About those racist Young Republican messages

River Page (of The Free Press) has a take that roughly reflects my own views: Young Republicans Are Radicalizing Themselves Online

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I understand there are real issues of sex trafficking in some of these cases (though not in this one.) My question, separate from the fact that human trafficking is always wrong and should always be punished harshly, is "why should this particular kind of transaction be illegal?" Undercover operation at spa south of Denver ends in prostitution bust after complaint, police say - CBS Colorado

(For the record, I've never paid for sex, not even when living in Amsterdam with the famous "Red Light District." So I'm not championing the legalization of a service I'd be a customer of, just making an argument in favor of freedom and voluntary transactions.)

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Speaking of horrendous sex trafficking...I wonder if we'll ever know if that guy is really the mentioned prime minister: Virginia Giuffre was left bloodied and beaten by Prime Minister

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I've talked about the original version of this article previously on the show, but it's very important so I'm sharing again while also noting that this is now on a huge platform on The Free Press: I Thought Climate Change Would End the World. I Was Wrong.

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Trump seems somewhat likely to lose this one, but we'll see: Seventh Circuit Blocks Trump National Guard Deployment in Chicago | National Review (subscription may be required.)

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Some remarkable (and bad for taxpayers) numbers in this story and I bet a LOT of it is fraud: Medicaid spending surge for therapy sessions prompts Colorado to reinstate limits - Denver Gazette

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There's literally NOTHING he can do except lower tariffs on imported beef, but even then the supply of imported beef isn't likely to be enough to make a large difference in US beef prices...maybe something but nothing like getting back to prices we were used to a few years back: Trump vows beef price relief, touts imminent deal

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Poker under threat by government and the private sector: YouTube crackdown, Trump's "big, beautiful bill" threaten gambling

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For years, the official advice (not to expose kids to possible allergens) was exactly backwards, saddling millions will dangerous allergies, such as to peanuts. Peanut Allergies Have Plummeted in Children, Study Shows - The New York Times

Of course our anti-science secretary of HHS, RFK Jr, tries to attribute the rise in peanut allergies to vaccines. Ugh. https://chatgpt.com/s/t_68f622e8db3081918b2aec93c3ae695a

Here's another FDA move (FDA falls under HHS) that is being pushed by RFK even though it's likely untrue and certainly unproven: FDA Responds to Evidence of Possible Association Between Autism and Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy | FDA

The maker of Tylenol is fighting back with what strikes me as a strong argument (although that doesn't mean they'll win in court): kenvue-brands-citizen-petition-response

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I don't like student loan "forgiveness" which just means making taxpayers cover the remaining balance on a loan but at least this is only happening under programs actually passed by Congress and not just an illegal gift to borrowers at the expense of everyone else, as President Biden repeatedly attempted: Trump administration agrees to deliver more student loan forgiveness

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Who should we believe? Trump announces an end to US aid to Colombia | AP News

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Today's Videos

The creation of an addict?

Oh, come on! Give the little guy a win!

Skillz