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Israel has identified initial signs that Iran is recalculating its trajectory in Syria, giving the Jewish state an opportunity to go from the defensive to the offensive, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday.I can announce that we are identifying initial signs of loosening and recalculation by Iran regarding its plans in Syria, Bennett said at the New Tech conference. We just started and we will increase. We will go from a defensive concept to an offensive concept weakening, tiring and erasing the octopuss head by weakening its tentacles.For us, Syria is not only a threat but also an opportunity, he said. They send forces there and try to exhaust us, but we can turn the downside into an advantage. We have intelligence and operational superiority, and we are telling Iran clearly: Get out of Syria. You have nothing to look for there.Israel has warned repeatedly about Irans nuclear ambitions as well as its aspirations of regional hegemony. Jerusalem has admitted to hundreds of air strikes as part of its war-between-wars campaign to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the entrenchment of its forces in Syria, where they could easily act against the Jewish state.Bennett also referred to ongoing demonstrations taking place across Iran by citizens who are suffering from the economic sanctions placed on the Islamic Republic by the United States.The Iranian people are telling the Ayatollahs: stop wasting our money and shedding our blood in [needless] adventures. The Iranian people have had enough, he said, adding that we in Israel are corresponding with this message. The ground is burning in Iran, the embers are not extinguished, they are glowing.Last week, the IDF released more details of its new Momentum multi-year plan. One of the top priorities of Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavis plan, which aims to obtain a considerable military advantage over Israels foes, is to establish a new Iran Command.That same day Bennett said that Israel is engaged in a continuous campaign to weaken Iran and to remove its forces from Syria.We are constantly working to raise the stakes for Iran until we reach our ultimate goal: removing them from Syria. We will continue to prevent an Iranian presence on our northern border, Bennett said during a memorial ceremony at Kibbutz Dafna in the Galilee.For generations, we have been constantly fighting the arms of the Iranian octopus in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and we have not focused enough on the weakening of Iran itself, Bennett said, adding that there has now been a change in Israels way of thinking.We are in a continuous campaign to weaken the Iranian octopus. On the economic level, political, intelligence, military, and others,he explained. When [an] octopuss arms beat you, dont fight back with only your arms, but strangle the head. And so it is with Iran.The new Iran Command will be led by a major general and will be dedicated to and focused on analyzing threats posed by the Islamic Republic and planning Israels campaign against it.The plan will bolster the IDFs attack capabilities, including improved technological means for IAF jets to destroy enemy targets, increasing the militarys intelligence superiority; expanding its intelligence gathering on the Islamic Republic, including by satellites; and bolstering Israels cyber capabilities, both defensive and offensive.

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Bennett: We identified signs that Iran is recalculating plans in Syria - The Jerusalem Post

NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk-based Sailors have been at the forefront of seizing illegal weapons likely made by Iran.

The most recent bust involved the USS Normandy, a cruiser homeported at Naval Station Norfolk.

While conducting maritime security operations in the U.S. Central Command earlier this month, Sailors boarded a dhow, finding a large cache of what are believed to be Iranian-made weapons.

Among the weapons seized: 150 anti-tank guided missiles, three surface-to-air missiles, and other weapons parts.

"The boarding team seized the weapons and brought them aboard the USS Normandy for subsequent inspections. The weapons have since been made available for inspections by international partners and organizations," Captain William Urban, US Central Command Spokesman, told reporters during a Pentagon briefing.

The Navy says many of the weapons are similar to another cache seized by the USS Forrest Sherman in the Arabian Sea on November 25th of last year.

The USS Forrest Sherman is also homeported at Naval Station Norfolk.

In that case, the weapons were determined to have originated in Iran and were destined for the Houthis in Yemen, which violates UN Security Council Resolutions prohibiting the "direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer" of weapons to the Houthis.

International partner nations and organizations have once again been invited to inspect the weapons cache seized by the USS Normandy this month.

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Dozens of Iranian weapons seized by Norfolk Sailors in recent months - wtkr.com

Tucked in the northwest corner of Iran, Lake Urmia was once the second-largest saltwater lake in the world. At its peak, the lake once covered a surface area of 5,000 square kilometers (2,000 square miles), reports Iran's Radio Farda. Its waters attracted migratory birds including flamingos, pelicans, ducks and egrets, according to The Guardian. Tourists came for its turquoise waters, boats and believed therapeutic properties.

But then the lake started to dry out. Over the past 30 years, Lake Urmia has been getting smaller. At one point its size had been reduced by as much as 80%.

Researchers blame a prolonged drought and hot summer temperatures, as well as overuse of water, new dams and irrigation projects that divert water away from the lake, points out NPR.

As the lake has shrunk, most of the birds and tourists have left. Typically, the waters are full of algae, bacteria and brine shrimp that thrive in the highly saline conditions. The water in Lake Urmia is now eight times as salty as the ocean, according to National Geographic, causing these organisms to flourish and turning the once-blue waters a pinkish-red.

Beached boats lie stranded in the muck and remnants of piers stand in the shallow waters that lead nowhere. Salt storms have harmed local villages and farmers, forcing many people to relocate.

"Just 10 years ago, waves splashed against the walls of the villages here, but now the turquoise water has been replaced by an almost endless desert," wrote German photographer Maximillian Mann, describing his Lake Urmia photos in the 2020 Sony World Photography Awards.

"Salt, carried on the wind, covers nearby fields, causing crops to dry up. Robbed of their livelihood, the local population is fleeing to the surrounding towns, and the villages around the lake are dying out."

Remnants of a dilapidated dock on Lake Urmia after 2019 torrential rains have boosted hopes for the lake's survival. (Photo: Solmaz Daryani [CC BY-SA 4.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

But there is some good news.

Torrential rains in the spring of 2019 helped the lake regain water level. According to NASA, the lake surface area reached roughly 3,000 square kilometers (1,200 square miles), nearly doubling its volume from just a year earlier.

Other factors contributing to the revival include engineering to help unblock and desilt feeder rivers, the deliberate release of water from dams in the surrounding hills and better water management, particularly among farmers, Erik Solheim, Head of United Nations Environment, and Gary Lewis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Iran, write in Medium.

Although the water isn't deep, the rising levels are starting to make a difference.

"It was an emotional experience," Solheim and Lewis write. "Right before us was proof that the environmental problems we create can be fixed."

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Why Iran's Lake Urmia disappeared and may be coming back - Mother Nature Network

A list of certified write-in candidates for Californias March 3 primary election was released Friday, Feb. 21, by Secretary of State Alex Padillas office.

The list includes candidates seeking offices representing parts of the Inland Empire. Voters have to write in each candidates name and if that candidate is one of the top two vote-getters, he or she will advance to the Nov. 3 general election and be listed on the November ballot.

Ballots with write-in candidates take longer to count, and write-in candidates votes will not be included in the initial results posted on the Secretary of States website after polls close March 3.

Heres a look at the write-in candidates for offices in Inland areas:

CONGRESS

8th Congressional District (High Desert, Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs, Inyo and Mono counties): J. Green of San Bernardino, no party preference. Website: http://www.jgreenuscongress2020.org.

31st Congressional District (Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Redlands, Rialto, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, San Bernardino): Eugene Weems of Highland, no party preference. Website: http://www.eugeneweems.com.

36th Congressional District (the Pass, Hemet, San Jacinto, Coachella Valley, Blythe): Gina Chapa of Indio, Democrat.

41st Congressional District (Riverside, Perris, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley): Anza Akram of Riverside, no party preference.

STATE SENATE

25th Senate District (Claremont, Upland, La Verne, Monrovia, San Dimas, Pasadena, Glendora, Glendale, La Canada Flintridge): Kathleen Hazelton of Upland, Republican; Evan Wecksell of Sunland, Libertarian. Website: http://www.evan4senate.com.

31st Senate District (Riverside, Corona, Norco, Moreno Valley, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Perris): Rod D. Taylor of Norco, Republican; John K. Farr of Corona, Libertarian

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Heres a list of write-in candidates for Inland races on March 3 ballot - Press-Enterprise

(Pixabay)The public-policy expert has some interesting ideas. But they arent necessarily new ones.

Oren Cass, formerly a domestic-policy adviser to the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has launched a new organization, American Compass. Cass told the Washington Post that its goal is to think about what the post-Trump right-of-center is going to be. This debate is ongoing; Casss contributions to it will be familiar to readers of National Review.

Yet some of Casss immediate claims are worth questioning. Cass bemoans a purported domination of conservatism and the Republican Party by a market fundamentalism in many cases, held entirely in good faith; in some cases, more as a matter of political convenience. He also accuses conservatives of having for decades outsourced their economic thinking to libertarians such that libertarianism is now part of the prevailing orthodoxy (along with a progressive economics that is, he says, its mirror image).

The notion that libertarians have largely controlled the Right probably comes as a surprise to libertarians, who have watched helplessly over the past few decades as government has grown, debt and deficits have expanded, and the Federal Register accrues more pages (even as one of the consistent priorities of what Cass calls the inchoate earthquake of the Trump administration has been a concerted effort to fight this last trend).

Market fundamentalism, then, is a curious choice of villain. Few could survey the actual policy achievements of elected Republicans over the past few decades and claim they reflect that wholesale. Republicans during George W. Bushs presidency may have cut taxes, but they also increased spending (as have Trump-era Republicans), added a new federal agency, expanded an existing federal entitlement, and increased federal involvement in education. Bush himself proclaimed that we have a responsibility that when somebody hurts, government has got to move, imposed unilateral tariffs (as President Trump has done), and spearheaded the TARP bailout of the financial industry, sacrificing free-market principles to save the free-market system, in his words.

President George H. W. Bush famously raised taxes and was never fully on board with what he had called President Reagans voodoo economics. The degree to which Reagan himself was on board with what became known as Reaganomics is the subject of some debate, largely due to his utility as a totem for both sides of this argument. But he did intervene in the economy specifically in behalf of Harley-Davidson. And libertarian economics had very little sway in the actual policy of the Republican Party before Reagan. If Casss dispute is instead with conservative rhetoric irrespective of its purported practitioners actions, then he ought to make that clear. (Few would contest that many elected Republicans have been hypocrites in this regard.)

Some of the participants on Casss side of this argument, which is ongoing, sometimes act as though the very idea of government involvement in the economy were both brand new and some incredible panacea for our ills. The truth, toward which Cass gestures when he writes that he seeks to reassert ideas like these [that he proposes] for a conservative coalition that once understood them intuitively, is that skepticism of the free market has a long history within the conservative tradition. Before neoconservative became a dirty word, neoconservatives, such as Irving Kristol, were offering Two Cheers for Capitalism. As far back as 1957, National Review itself dissented from the market fundamentalism of Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, via Whittaker Chamberss famous review. Just a decade ago, there were the reformocons, who sounded a lot like Cass and company do now in arguing for modest federal support for families and middle-income earners. When these groups made arguments in public, John Galt did not take over the transmission, nor did some Cato Institute grandee keep them from making their points. What Cass seeks to reassert never really left, even if its perceived relative strength has waxed and waned.

This may all seem like angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin stuff. Indeed, much of this debate has the character of a think-tank panel that has spilled out into the real world (Casss specific chosen antagonist in his National Review article is a vice president of the Heritage Foundation). But it is easier to act as though we simply havent tried certain things instead of admitting that we have tried some, and that sometimes they do work, but sometimes they dont. Cass would have a better case that our existing government policy has been inadequate than that we do not have one at all. And why has it been inadequate? Libertarian-leaning economists have had plenty to say about that: in public choice (Buchanan), the distribution of economic information (Hayek), monetary theory (Friedman), and more.

I do not invoke the celebrated insights of some libertarians merely to reject the very idea that the government has a place in the modern economy. I happen to agree with the argument Cass makes in his book The Once and Future Worker that it is foolish to devote immense federal resources to promoting higher education while leaving all other post-high-school paths to a hodgepodge of mostly state-based and private programs. Yet federal economic intervention is hardly the herald of something entirely new, either in the economy as a whole or on the right. A compass can help you find your way, but its even more useful if you know where you already are.

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How New Is the Oren Cass Approach? - National Review