Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

“There’s a reason why you separate military and police. One fights the enemy of the State. The other serves and protects the People. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the State tend to become the People.” ~ Commander Adama, “Battlestar Galactica” (“WATER”, Season 1 episode 2, at the 28 minute mark.)

“… In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression …

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way …

The third is freedom from want …

The fourth is freedom from fear …

VIDEO: FDR’s Four Freedoms Speech (1941) FOUR FREEDOMS-SPECIFIC EXCERPT, WITH TAX FAIRNESS — 31:13 to 33:29  

FULL SPEECH TRANSCRIPT: Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project

[1m 02s] Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig on KPFT Houston 90.1-HD2, Galveston 89.5-HD2, Goodrich 89.9-HD2, and Huntsville 91.9-HD2.  KPFT is Houston’s Community radio.

And welcome to our international listeners from Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgium, China, and elsewhere.

On this show, we discuss local, state, national, and international stories that may have slipped under your radar. At my website, THINKWINGRADIO-dot-COM, I link to all the articles I read and cite, as well as other relevant sources. Articles and commentaries often include lots of internet links for those of you who want to dig deeper. I do try to fact-check myself and include the links I use to do so.

It’s the 38th week of Trump’s military occupation of Washington DC; and 27 weeks since those states’ governors deployed National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana, at Trump’s request, which is where they remain for now.  

There’s a gubernatorial election in Tennessee in about 6 months. We’ll see how that turns out.

LAWFARE has a frequently updated chart of where US troops are currently stationed around the US. The link is in this show post at ThinkwingRadio-dot-com.

Due to time constraints, some stories may be longer in this show post than in the broadcast show itself.

1. If you live in Harris County, there is an election calendar I’ve linked to in this show post.
   1. REFERENCE: Blue Voter Guide
2. For those Houstonians who are in City Council District C, that Runoff is taking place now.
   1. Early Voting Centers are open through Tuesday, May 12 from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (except on Sun, May 10 when they’re open from 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) 
   2. On Election Day, May 16^th, polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
   3. And always remember that if you are on line to vote by 7PM, you cannot be turned away.
3. Next are two stories about Mayor Whitmire’s anticipated plans for a Houston Trash fee. From HOUSTONCHRONICLE[.]COM— Exclusive: Mayor Whitmire to propose Houston’s first-ever trash fee to help tackle $174M deficit; By Abby Church, Ryan Nickerson, Staff Writer | HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM | April 30, 2026/Updated April 30, 2026 4:24 p.m. TAGS: Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Monthly Trash Fee, Houston, Budget Deficit,
   1. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is expected to propose a monthly fee for trash services as part of a plan to close a $174 million deficit in the budget he will present Tuesday, Council Member Tiffany D. Thomas confirmed Thursday. 
   2. The new fee would start at $5 per month for the first two years, then increase annually by $5 until it reaches $25 per month, she said. Five other sources briefed on the plan said they were given the same information.
   3. The proposal would be a significant shift in how Houston funds one of its most visible and troubled services, and would make the city the last major Texas city to adopt a garbage fee. It also underscores the scale of the city’s financial strain, as officials consider a rare step – new revenue – to stabilize a budget that pays for police, fire and other core services.
   4. Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department has been a problem area for city leaders and residents for years. Missed garbage pickups were the top complaint to the city’s 311 help line last year, with missed recycling pickups not far behind.
   5. Houston has long been the only big Texas city without a garbage fee, though some of the sources said administration officials referred to the proposal as an “administrative fee” in their briefings. 
   6. Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth charge residents $25.75 to $64.10 per month for 96-gallon trash bins, the size Houston uses.
   7. As part of Whitmire’s budget plan, the roughly $100 million Solid Waste budget would be moved from the cash-strapped general fund and into the city utility system within Houston Public Works, Thomas and the sources said. 
   8. The general fund – which faces a $174 million deficit for the budget year that starts July 1 – pays for police, fire, parks, libraries and most other core services.
   9. In essence, such a change would mean funding Solid Waste with water and sewer bills and the new monthly fee, rather than primarily by property and sales taxes.
   10. Some of the sources said Whitmire’s budget plan also includes charging the city utility system a fee for its pipes occupying the city right of way, moving additional water and sewer funds from the utility system to the general fund. 
   11. It’s unclear how the proposal would affect Solid Waste services. 
   12. Whitmire’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The mayor and his office have not responded to requests for comment from the Houston Chronicle since August. 
   13. Whitmire recently has told other media outlets that he has “a solid plan to balance the budget without raising taxes.”
   14. The mayor repeatedly has said he would not seek new fees or raise taxes until his team roots out “waste, fraud and abuse” in city government, often pointing to a study he commissioned that looked into inefficiencies and mismanagement in city departments. Recommendations from that study led to consolidations in last year’s budget, and a voluntary retirement buyout program. 
   15. Whitmire also has increased the city’s costs, including by giving hefty raises to police and firefighters of 36.5% and 34%, respectively, over 5 years. 
   16. Advocates and council members have pushed for a garbage fee to help address the city’s longstanding budget issues for decades.
   17. Former mayor Kathy Whitmire rejected a trash fee as a way to erase a deficit in 1989. Solid Waste leaders under each of the last two mayors also pitched the idea, with proposed monthly fees ranging from $3.76 to $45.12.
   18. Council Member Joaquin Martinez has unsuccessfully pushed Whitmire, too, to back a garbage fee in budget discussions the last two years to help address the city’s persistent deficits. 
   19. Martinez on Thursday did not discuss details of the plan but said the city was exhausting all its options while seeking more ways to cut costs.
   20. [Martinez said,] “It’s these tough decisions that we need to make to ensure that folks have core services that they’re expecting.”
   21. The nonprofit Environment Texas has urged Houston leaders to adopt a trash fee for three years, said its director, Luke Metzger. 
   22. [Metzger said,] “A solid waste fee could help provide the revenue to improve recycling, waste reduction efforts and other things.”
   23. [Metzger added that] The fee could also benefit the environment if it is structured so that residents pay lower fees for having smaller bins. … San Antonio, Fort Worth and Austin all use tiered rates. 
   24. [Metzger said,] “That’s been found to encourage people to reduce their waste and recycle more because there’s a financial incentive to do so.”
   25. Council members in recent years have discussed other ways of bringing in more revenue, including by raising Houston’s property tax rate, which is the lowest of all big Texas cities. The council last fall voted 12-3 to keep the rate the same.
   26. Controller Chris Hollins has warned of cuts to city services if Houston does not find additional revenue. Without more cash, the general fund deficit could reach $463 million by 2030, according to the city finance department.
   27. An October report to the council’s budget committee from the controller’s office showed Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso were collecting $52 million to $165 million in revenue from their trash fees.
   28. The Chronicle called all 16 council members for comment. The six who responded had mixed reviews of the plan. 
   29. Council Member Sallie Alcorn, who chairs the council’s budget committee, did not discuss the details of the proposal but said the administration was putting forward a “smart budget” that maximized the city’s resources.
   30. Council Member Mary Nan Huffman said she has not been told the details of the proposal but said she is not confident the move would improve Solid Waste operations.
   31. [Huffman said,] “If we could guarantee the residents of the city of Houston that imposing a trash fee would guarantee that their services would be better, then maybe. … But I haven’t seen anything like that yet.”
   32. Council Members Edward Pollard and Abbie Kamin said they were not briefed on the plan. Kamin said any revenue generated by a trash fee would need to be dedicated to waste services. 
   33. [Kamin said,] “We have seen a pattern of raiding of other funds that are not for their intended purposes.”
   34. Pollard wondered whether the proposed fee would keep pace with inflation in the future.
   35. [Council Members Edward Pollard said,] “Did we think that through? … Is that the right number then, or will we be back in the exact same space that we are today with a fee …that is not going to actually make a real difference at that point in time?”
   36. [Council Member Tiffany D. Thomas] called for robust discussion on the proposal and other options the city could consider. 
   37. [Thomas said,] “I just don’t know if we’re giving Houstonians an opportunity to opine on what they can afford versus what other cities are charging.”
   38. MIKE: I’ve noted in the past that Texas is essentially a flat tax state. But while property taxes are basically flat taxes, they are, in a way, progressive taxes.
   39. MIKE: That is to say that while everyone pays the same rate, more expensive homes pay more total dollars. And if you assume that more expensive homes are owned by people with greater financial means, that’s about as progressive as Texas allows taxes to get.
   40. MIKE: According to ZILLOW, the median home sale price in February of 2026 was $292,500. But the average Home Price is about $426,558, and that’s the number to work from for the purpose of this calculation.
   41. MIKE: I’m linking to a site that explains the difference. But for our purposes, the average is what’s important.
   42. MIKE: Anyway, if the city wants an additional $25 per household for trash pickup, and if property taxes were increased based on the average home price — let’s round that to $400,000 — it should require only about 0.0625¢ per $100 of valuation to cover that trash fee.
   43. MIKE: While that’s still technically a flat tax, if a house is appraised for less, the owner pays less. If the house is appraised for more, the homeowner pays more.
   44. MIKE: So while a garbage fee is an entirely flat, regressive tax, an increase in the property tax rate is a flat but still somewhat progressive tax.
   45. MIKE: That’s why I would urge the city to raise the property tax rate. In lieu of a garbage fee.
   46. MIKE: But this story is from April 27^th. It had some useful information from some of our city council members and others, but there’s a follow-up.
4. This next story is from May 1^st and gives some updated thoughts on the expected trash fee proposal. From CHRON[.]COM — New Houston garbage fee plan could cost residents $300 a year; By Ahmed Humble, Senior Trending Reporter | CHRON.COM | May 1, 2026. TAGS: Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Trash Pickup Fees, Houston City Council, Houston Budget Deficit,
   1. For years, Houstonians have been able to avoid paying monthly trash pickup fees—even as most major Texas cities have charged for the service. Now, that could be changing.
   2. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is expected to propose a new monthly fee as part of his upcoming budget plan, aimed at closing a $174 million deficit, according to the Houston Chronicle.
   3. The proposed fee would start at $5 per month for the first two years, then increase annually by $5 until it reaches $25 per month by the 2032 fiscal year, according to local reports. The proposal still requires City Council approval and is expected to be formally presented Tuesday.
   4. Chron has reached out to the mayor’s office for additional comment. 
   5. Trash fees themselves are not uncommon. In fact, Houston is the last major city in Texas without one.
   6. Neighboring cities have long relied on similar charges to fund solid waste services. In Missouri City, for example, residents began paying about $20 per month earlier this year, according to the city’s website. 
   7. In larger cities, those costs can be even higher. San Antonio charges about $35 per month for standard service, while Dallas and Austin residents can pay anywhere from the mid-$20s to more than $60, depending on service level and bin size. Houston’s proposed fee, meanwhile — even at its highest point — would still fall on the lower end of that range.
   8. But the idea of charging for trash pickup isn’t new. City leaders have floated similar proposals for decades, often as a way to address budget shortfalls. Previous administrations considered monthly fees ranging from a few dollars to more than $40, but none were ever implemented. Even the idea of on-demand trash pickup was proposed back in February, per KHOU, intended only for delayed heavy trash and tree waste pickup and does not include illegal dumping.
   9. What makes this moment different is the scale of the city’s financial pressure. Houston’s general fund — which pays for core services like police, fire, parks and libraries — is facing a significant deficit, and officials have warned that without new revenue, cuts to those services could follow.
   10. At the same time, the city’s Solid Waste Department has faced years of complaints from residents over missed pickups and inconsistent service, adding to skepticism about whether additional funding would improve operations. 
   11. On social media, reactions were mixed.
   12. [One Reddit user said,] “Let me guess … we are going to be charged the fees and nothing is going to change.”
   13. Another added, “I personally don’t mind paying a trash fee, … But these people better be on time with trash, recycling, AND unlimited lawn waste.”
   14. For now, the proposal remains under consideration. If approved during Tuesday’s budget hearing, the fees would take effect as early as July. 
   15. MIKE: I think that there’s some relevant information, comments, and a couple of good ideas in this couplet of articles that help to consider the value of a trash fee and whether a trash fee is a good idea.
   16. MIKE: One very pertinent comment is whether this new fee would be guaranteed to go toward solid waste pickup and recycling.
   17. MIKE: Director, Luke Metzger of Environment Texas suggests that the fee could benefit the environment if it is structured so that residents pay lower fees for having smaller bins, but I have reasons to doubt that.
   18. MIKE: First, I wonder if having different sized bins would themselves cause problems and additional costs and headaches for Houston Solid Waste. For example, would the trucks have to be reconfigured to be able to handle more than one sized bin?
   19. MIKE: Would multiple bin sizes supplied by the city add extra costs for storage, handling, and accounting?
   20. MIKE: How would a resident be judged as eligible for a smaller bin? If a resident had a smaller bin but ended up with overflowing trash, then what? Would the excess trash simply be left to pile up on the street? Would there be fines? Would the customer be forced to get a larger bin, and if so, after how many violations?
   21. MIKE: There’s also the question of whether a new trash fee would actually mean an improvement in service. To my mind, there’s no meaningful way to assure that would be the case.
   22. MIKE: I’m mindful of the state lottery, which was originally sold as supporting education. Well, technically it does, but since money is fungible, all that means is that money from the state’s budget is moved around so that less goes toward education from the general fund. So, a guarantee of where money from a trash pickup fee is supposed to go is really kind of meaningless, since that simply means that the city can take funds now allocated to waste management and use them elsewhere.
   23. MIKE: And how much would a trash fee improve the city’s recycling performance, if at all? How much of the recycling that the city picks up actually gets recycled?
   24. MIKE: In researching this question, I found some additional information.
   25. MIKE: According to numbers I can’t satisfactorily substantiate from Google Ai, but which seem consistent with what I have often read or heard, “Houston’s overall recycling rate is low, projected at only 18% for fiscal year 2026, far below the national average of ~35%. Up to 40% of materials placed in green curbside bins are actually considered trash or contamination and get sent to landfills. Contamination includes plastic bags, food waste, and tangled hoses.”
   26. MIKE: Luke Metzger, the executive director of Environment Texas, recently had an opinion piece published in HOUSTONCHRONICLE[.]COM.
   27. MIKE: In that piece, he points out that so-called chemical recycling of plastics in Houston generally means that it gets incinerated.
   28. MIKE: Incineration means that these waste plastics are not even converted into fuel for generating energy. It’s just burned. What makes this even worse is that incinerating plastic generates chemical pollution into the air, typically near poor neighborhoods that are historically subject to excessive amounts of pollution.
   29. MIKE: In his opinion piece, Metzger himself points out that, “What they have done is create new pollution risks for communities that are already overburdened, like Baytown.”
   30. MIKE: So the need, fairness and impact of a trash fee on solid waste disposal service in general as well as any benefit it might provide to recycling efficacy are real questions that deserve answers.
5. Then there’s this discussion of Mayor Whitmire’s relationship with Governor Abbott, and whether the much-touted connections to Austin government that he sold as a benefit when he ran for mayor are really being helpful to Houston when the rubber hits the road. From CHRON[.]COM — Whitmire on Abbott clash: ‘I’ve voted against him more than any living human’; By Allyson Ackerman, News Editor | CHRON.COM | April 27, 2026. TAGS: Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Houston City Council,
   1. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is invoking a 40-year political feud with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to justify a risky strategy: negotiating with the state instead of launching an immediate legal fight over looming funding threats tied to Houston’s immigration enforcement policy.
   2. The comments come as tensions between City Hall and Austin escalate over Houston’s recently passed ordinance limiting police cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — a policy that triggered a rare rupture in Whitmire’s traditionally cooperative relationship with state leadership.
   3. In a recent appearance on a city-backed podcast hosted by Owen Conflenti, Whitmire leaned heavily on his long history of opposition to Abbott, arguing that years of political clashes have given him a rare advantage in dealing with the governor directly.
   4. [Whitmire said,] “And speaking of representing Houston, I’ve probably voted against Greg Abbott more than any living human as a 40-year state senator and certainly a senator [during] his entire career.”
   5. He argued that history isn’t just political trivia—it’s leverage.
   6. [Whitmire continued,] “So we have a relationship there. … He knows that I will tell him when he’s wrong. I disagree with him, but my commitment is to all of us Houstonians. … Being a nonpartisan mayor [and] listening to the entirety of our community, I have to build a consensus that will unite this community, protect all of our residents, and at the same time protect our finances.”
   7. … The dispute was triggered after Abbott demanded Houston repeal its new policy limiting Houston Police Department’s ICE cooperation, warning the city could lose more than $110 million in public safety grants if it refused.
   8. Houston City Council narrowly amended its recently approved policy limiting police interactions with federal immigration agents, after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold funds. That forced Whitmire to negotiate a compromise [that] he acknowledged did not fully reflect his original position.
   9. The 13–4 vote followed two turbulent weeks at City Hall marked by protests, a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton, and a widening political clash over how far Houston Police Department officers can go when encountering individuals with civil immigration warrants.
   10. The council’s original policy, approved 12–5, had eliminated a prior practice requiring officers to wait 30 minutes for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to arrive when someone was held on a civil immigration detainer. It also clarified that administrative warrants alone do not justify arrest or continued detention.
   11. But under mounting pressure from the governor’s office, Whitmire helped broker amendments that significantly softened that language.
   12. … Houston Mayor John Whitmire has [also] faced scrutiny over the cost of his city-backed podcast, 901 Bagby: Inside the Mayor’s Office, which has reportedly used about $60,000 in taxpayer funds, according to public records cited by Houston Public Media. The podcast, hosted by former KPRC 2 anchor Owen Conflenti, has released three episodes so far, each running roughly 17 to 27 minutes.
   13. MIKE: As a state senator, John Whitmire had the distinction of being the only Democrat allowed to chair a senate committee. He chaired the Senate Criminal Justice Committee from 1993 until his resignation in 2023. Probably because his position on prison conditions were pretty harsh, and therefore in line with Republican thinking on the subject.
   14. MIKE: I’m not entirely sure that that relationship with Lt. Governor Dan Patrick necessarily reflected any particular affection for Whitmire. Rather, I think that Patrick simply made a political calculation that there was value in being able to say that the Texas Senate was bipartisan enough to have a Democrat chairing a committee, when that Democrat pretty much aligned with his views on prison conditions anyway.
   15. MIKE: I’m not wonky enough to say authoritatively that Whitmire’s alleged relationships with Republicans in Austin have been helpful or not to the City of Houston, but to me, it sure doesn’t seem like it.
   16. REFERENCE: ‘You’re going to burn this city down with this:’ Inside the collapse of Houston’s ICE policy — HOUSTONCHRONICLE[.]COM, By Abby Church, & Matt deGrood, Staff Writers | April 30, 2026
6. Next, from HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA[.]ORG — Houston ISD plans to consolidate special education services, parent says after district meeting; By Bianca Seward | HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG | Posted on May 1, 2026, 2:06 PM. TAGS: Education, Education News, HISD, Houston, Local News, HISD Houston ISD, special education, special education in HISD, TEA, HISD takeover,
   1. Mireille Patman and her 15-year-old son, Teddy [live] in the Houston Heights. Patman is concerned about potential changes coming to special education services in Houston ISD.
   2. Houston ISD leaders held a small, invitation-only meeting this week with the district’s Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC), according to a parent who attended.
   3. The parent, Mireille Patman, said the nearly two-hour meeting Wednesday at HISD headquarters included a group of six parents, special education parent liaisons and district leaders who discussed imminent districtwide changes to access to special education services.
   4. [Patman said,] “I had more questions when I left.”
   5. Late last week, documents that leaked online and circulated on social media detailed proposed major changes to special education in Texas’ largest school district, which has been under state control since 2023. The documents appear to show plans to consolidate special education services to specific schools dubbed “specialty schools” in HISD. The plan as outlined in the documents would require many families to be transferred from their current or zoned school to a new school, where their special education services would be provided.
   6. The district has not responded to requests for comments regarding the documents, the SEPAC meeting or any plans the district may have for changes to special education.
   7. However, Patman said at the meeting, district leaders acknowledged the documents and expressed regret over the leak. Patman said district officials said they were “early editions,” “incorrect,” and “no longer apply” but that HISD leaders said they were still moving forward with consolidating special education students and services for the upcoming school year with plans to announce the changes publicly as early as next week.
   8. Patman’s son, Teddy, has Down syndrome and has utilized special education services for his entire time in HISD. Teddy just turned 15 years old and will be a freshman next year. The family has been planning and preparing for Teddy to attend Heights High School just a few blocks from their home.
   9. Patman says the timing of the proposed changes is a serious concern for her, noting that families with children in special education need time to acclimate and prepare for new environments. She wants her son to attend school in his neighborhood.
   10. [Patman said,] “The first thing I really did think about when I saw [the plan proposal] online was, ‘This is straight up segregation, however you want to look at it. … This is segregating a population of people as you’ve designated, and putting them in a group to not be seen.”
   11. [MIKE: I want to read that part again because it really struck me: “This is segregating a population of people as you’ve designated, and putting them in a group to not be seen.” I’ll touch on that comment again in my comments. Continuing …]
   12. Elected trustee Maria Benzon said she’s also concerned about the rollout of any major changes suggested in the leaked documents. Benzon said she worries about families having adequate time to adjust and ask questions about transportation or if they would like to change the school they might be assigned.
   13. [Benzon said,] “I’m really concerned about the lack of communication. … There’s no communication from the district to the family, saying, ‘Hey, the right thing is this, and this is why we’re going to do it … .’ Like, there’s not even a justification for these changes that’s being made to families.”
   14. Elected trustees in HISD currently have no voting power under the state takeover and say they have been given no details about any proposed large-scale changes to special education.
   15. Patman said she’s been an active parent in her son’s education and previously participated in SEPAC meetings. Patman said she was told the meetings are monthly, but isn’t sure if she will be invited back to participate.
   16. There are more than 20,000 students in the district utilizing special education services, and for years the department has been a weak area for the district. In 2021, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) dispatched conservators to oversee the department’s compliance after a special accreditations probe found “systematic failure in special education” had become “institutionalized” in HISD, and that the district had been aware of its deficiencies for “at least a decade.” Achieving full compliance with state and federal laws protecting disabled students is one of the requirements for the district to regain local control and exit the takeover by the TEA.
   17. Patman said she had trouble working with the district regarding her son’s special education services when Teddy was just 3 years old.
   18. “It’s been a yearslong battle,” Patman said.
   19. The lack of communication has fueled concern, confusion and some anxiety among parents. Benzon said families have concerns about some of the logistics of consolidating students and overcrowding.
   20. She said the district needs to be transparent about any plans to restructure special education.
   21. [Benzon said,] “This document is already circulating. It is out there in the public. … They need to do their due diligence and they need to speak about it, what is happening, and inform not just at the school level, but at a district level, what their plan is.”
   22. MIKE: So I want to refer back to that sentence about segregation equivalence: “This is segregating a population of people as you’ve designated, and putting them in a group to not be seen.”
   23. MIKE: As memory serves, many decades ago, “special-ed” kids used to be segregated in special schools. This led to stigma, ostracism, and additional social challenges when they entered adult life.
   24. MIKE: An article called “What Is Mainstreaming in Special Education?” describes mainstreaming as “the informal term for what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) calls education in the “least restrictive environment,” or LRE. The core idea is straightforward: students with disabilities have a legal right to learn alongside their non-disabled classmates to the maximum extent appropriate.”
   25. MIKE: Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), signed into law in 2002 by President George W. Bush, have both contributed to the current thinking and implementation of mainstreaming kids with special needs, rather than segregating them where they are unseen and unheard.
   26. MIKE: Mainstreaming serves two essential social purposes. It gives children with special needs an opportunity to learn how to relate to their age peers as well as in society at large. But at least equally important, it gives their age peers opportunities to regularize their attitudes and relationships about and with special-ed kids.
   27. MIKE: Attitudes about acceptance of others who are different — whether that difference is ethnicity, skin color, religion, or physical or intellectual disabilities — that normalization of acceptance starts very young.
   28. MIKE: There’s a song from the musical “South Pacific (1958)” that I’ve cited more than once, because it discusses the problem briefly and succinctly, in just over a minute. [“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”. PLAY CLIP: 1m 15s]
   29. MIKE: Maybe that should be our national anthem, sung at every ball game and auditorium gathering, because it’s a lesson that is invaluable, and too often forgotten or ignored in this country.
   30. MIKE: If HISD shifts special needs kids to “special schools” — and consider that to be in air quotes — that is a form of segregation, and it defeats an important part of the purpose of mainstreaming, which is adaptation and socialization for all the kids, not just the special needs kids.
   31. MIKE: I expect there to be lawsuits if HISD goes forward with this.
   32. REFERENCE: “The Rise of Mainstreaming in Special Education”— GRADUATEPROGRAM[.]ORG
7. From COMMUNITYIMPACT[.]COM — Conroe ISD adopts plans to decentralize its special education program for 2026-27 school year; By Cole Gee | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 3:39 PM Apr 27, 2026 CDT/Updated 3:39 PM Apr 27, 2026 CDT. TAGS: the Conroe ISD, CISD Deputy Superintendent Ted Landry, Special Education Students,
   1. At its April 21 regular board meeting, the Conroe ISD board of trustees adopted a new plan, dubbed the “homecoming plan,” to decentralize its special education program for the 2026-27 school year.
   2. CISD Deputy Superintendent Ted Landry presented the decentralization plan, the motivation for which is so that special education students no longer have to leave their zoned campuses for education.
   3. … Landry said the program currently operates as a centralized system in which students are bused to campuses where they are not locally zoned.
   4. The core idea behind the decentralized plan is to “ensure every student feels connected to their local zoned school community,” Landry said, while also making sure they are distributed in a way that allows every campus to provide individualized attention and resources for their success.
   5. The plan itself has been in motion for the last three years at the district’s secondary schools; this new adoption will be the “final stage,” Landry said.
   6. Many of the campuses have already been equipped for special education students. Landry said only minor adjustments, such as new desks or furniture, may be needed for the increase in students.
   7. … Landry said that moving students closer to their zoned districts isn’t just about supporting their social development; it’s also a “more responsible use of taxpayer funds.”
   8. An estimated eight bus routes are expected to be reduced by the new homecoming plan. The total cost for those eight routes is an estimated $800,000, while also freeing up eight bus drivers for other district needs, Landry said.
   9. CISD also confirmed that there will be no planned budget cuts for the special education budget or teacher positions; this is a structural shift for the district.
   10. … As previously reported, CISD has seen an increase in special education students over the past few years.
   11. Landry said the population has increased by 15% over the past five years, with 11,911 special education students currently enrolled in the district and 1,084 students waiting to be evaluated.
   12. CISD had already planned to invest $3.2 million into the special education program, Landry said. The district will invest $2.5 million into different special educational program needs, including but not limited to: 15 new dyslexia teachers; Four new speech pathologists; Four new diagnosticians; [and] Four new school psychologists.
   13. The remaining $700,000 allows the district to re-establish 24 additional teacher roles to help support the program, alongside targeted positional realignment.
   14. CISD plans to host open house nights at all campuses receiving new special education students in May in order to prepare them for the upcoming semester, Landry said.
   15. MIKE: Personally, I would not have expected this kind of forward thinking about education from Conroe ISD at the same time that Houston ISD is contemplating regressing educationally and doing exactly the opposite.
   16. MIKE: Not only that, but CISD is making the change partly because it’s more cost-effective to keep kids in their communities.
   17. MIKE: Maybe part of the case to be made to HISD is that busing special-ed kids to distant campuses is not only a disservice to the kids. It also has a significant cost penalty for the district.
8. In Republican historical whitewashing news, there’s this from TEXASTRIBUNE[.]ORG — Portrayals of Islam and people of color dominate discussion in Texas’ social studies rewrite; by Jaden Edison | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | April 10, 2026, 6:16 p.m. Central. TAGS: Texas State Board of Education, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Minorities,
   1. The Texas State Board of Education voted [April 10^th] to approve an early draft of the state’s new social studies plan, but not without clashes over the portrayal of Islam and the history of Black and Hispanic Americans.
   2. A Republican majority voted to approve the changes to social studies standards — known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS — proposed during a marathon meeting that stretched all of Thursday [the 9^th] and into early Friday. All five Democrats voted against the preliminary changes. Earlier in the week, they called for an investigation into a potential conflict of interest.
   3. A 2024 tax filing from the Texas Public Policy Foundation shows the conservative activist organization paid [$70,000 to] the Texas Center at Schreiner University to develop state learning standards. Donald Frazier, a historian advising the State Board of Education on social studies changes, runs the Texas Center.
   4. As the board continued its business Thursday and Friday, its right-most conservatives proposed significant changes to how students will learn about Islam and adamantly opposed Democratic attempts to expand lessons on the history of Hispanic and Black Americans.
   5. The board scrapped a standard that required students to learn about Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy. Some Republicans unsuccessfully pushed for students to learn that Muhammad, the founder of Islam, married a minor and that sexual assault, torture and the “killing of Christians and Jews” occurred under his leadership. Muslim Texans disputed that portrayal during public testimony.
   6. [MIKE: I’ll note here that those things are not necessarily untrue, but are not what need to be taught in basic social studies. Rather, I think it’s important for students to know such things as that we use Arabic numerals instead of Roman numerals, and many of the naked-eye stars have Arabic names. The fact is that there isn’t a nation, people, or religion that hasn’t done horrible things at various times in their history. Those histories shouldn’t be ignored, and contextual in-class discussion of them shouldn’t be forbidden, but they can be in more advanced courses, not in basic syllabi. In my humble opinion. Continuing …]
   7. Republicans also attempted to block students from learning about influential labor activist Dolores Huerta, whom Republican member Brandon Hall criticized for her politics and for not previously revealing allegations of wrongdoing by Cesar Chavez.
   8. The New York Times recently uncovered allegations that Chavez sexually abused young girls during his career as a prominent labor activist. Huerta alleged that Chavez also sexually assaulted her nearly 60 years ago, keeping the secret out of fear that people would not believe her, and that the allegations would undermine the farmworker movement.
   9. On Friday, some Republicans on the State Board of Education tried to limit what schools teach about the Black Power movement, arguing that students need exposure only to its contributions to art, music and fashion — not to its politics.
   10. Said Democratic member Tiffany Clark of DeSoto, who is Black,] “It seems as if, when it comes to Black and brown information being in these TEKS, we continue to undermine our experiences. … If we dig up everything that the founding fathers did …”
   11. Member Brandon Hall, R-Aledo, moved to cut her off.
   12. [Said Hall, appealing to board chair Aaron Kinsey,] “Our great founding fathers are being derided. … It is not germane to the topic at hand.”
   13. After a back-and-forth, members settled on a requirement for students to learn about “self‑respect, self‑determination, self‑reliance and the cultural pride of African Americans” during the Black Power movement.
   14. Such disputes have largely defined Texas’ overhaul of social studies standards over the past year as the board’s Republican majority has approved plans to focus on Texas and U.S. history, while placing less emphasis on world cultures, world history and geography.
   15. Democrats argue that conservative activists and the board’s advisory group have assumed control of Texas’ social studies rewrite and minimized teacher expertise. In previous years, teachers have normally guided the process.
   16. [Critics argue that the] Draft proposals of the social studies changes … prioritize memorization over critical thinking, and simplification over accuracy. They also note that the current plan focuses heavily on Western civilization over other cultures, lacks historical perspective of people of color, and prioritizes Christianity above other major world religions.
   17. [Said Houston Democrat Staci Childs,] “This is the opportunity. … We get to teach students something about Black people that’s powerful outside of slavery and being enslaved in shackles and chains.”
   18. This week’s meetings featured scores of people testifying on the board’s current approach, with students calling for instruction that includes diverse perspectives and challenges them to think critically.
   19. Hall in recent months has unsuccessfully attempted to prevent testimony from Muslim activists representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He and Pearland Republican Julie Pickren have pointed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s designation of the group as a foreign terrorist organization. CAIR has sued the governor over the label, calling it defamatory and false.
   20. Muslim advocates have continued arguing in favor of social studies instruction that portrays their religion accurately, fairly and without prejudice.
   21. [Said Sameeha Rizvi, a civic engagement organizer for CAIR-Austin,] “I ask you to choose academic integrity over political comfort. … Despite the false allegations being made, [neither] I, nor CAIR, nor those of diverse faiths are pushing any agenda.”
   22. The board is expected to finalize social studies standards in June, with classroom implementation set for the 2030-31 academic year.
   23. MIKE: This is of a kind with the Texas-run HISD, and is actually obliquely related to HISD’s current plan to segregate special needs students from the mainstream student population.
   24. MIKE: It’s about painting ideal pictures of history as seen through the eyes of people who are predominantly white and predominantly Christian, and they predominantly want to teach history through rose-colored, White Christian glasses.
   25. MIKE: They don’t want the “bad” or “uncomfortable” things taught because they’re embarrassed by the history (even if they won’t admit it to themselves), and how it reflects on their ancestors and their country.
   26. MIKE: The fact that they go to so much trouble to hide and suppress certain history actually just calls more attention to it; it confirmations the wrongness of it and their embarrassment about it.
   27. MIKE: I and others, however, believe that history ultimately needs to teach the good, the bad, and the imperfect, because without that knowledge and context, lessons can’t be learned, and our country can’t be improved.
   28. MIKE: People are complicated, and that also makes history complicated.
   29. MIKE: I’ve always considered it essential to remember that people are products of their time.
   30. MIKE: For someone born in a particular era, where things that we find abhorrent today are normalized, seeing those things as wrong requires a true, and rare, out-of-the-box thinker.
   31. MIKE: For that person to go against the normalcy of their time requires a great deal of courage. The changes they advocate often lead to ostracism and persecution. Sometimes, the changes and ideas they advocate only begin to take hold after their deaths because it can take generations for ideas that we consider self-evident today to gain traction.
   32. MIKE: Over the past few years, I remember learning histories online that were upsetting. But in addition to being shocked by that history, I found myself angry that I never knew it and was never taught about it.
   33. MIKE: And do you want to know how I learned those histories? It was from people in certain groups that very much remembered that it happened to them or their families or their country.
   34. MIKE: That goes back to a basic reason why unpleasant history still needs to be taught. It’s because people that were the victims of some history don’t forget because it’s passed down, generation to generation.
   35. MIKE: The Yugoslav civil wars that destroyed that country were fought largely over history and grievances that went back centuries, if not millennia, ago.
   36. MIKE: It’s trite to say, but we must learn from history in an effort to avoid repeating it.
   37. MIKE: That’s why whitewashing history is ultimately a self-defeating exercise.
9. In international news, there are stories from April that I’ve been putting off. I’ve edited down this next opinion piece quite a bit for time, but you can go to the link in this show post at ThinkwingRadio[.]com and read it for yourself. From DEANBLUNDELL[.]SUBSTACK[.]COM — BREAKING: TRUMP JUST LOST SAUDI ARABIA; By Dean Blundell | DEANBLUNDELL.SUBSTACK.COM | Apr 02, 2026. TAGS: Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump, Mohammed bin Salman, Ukraine
   1. On March 27, … Donald Trump stood at a podium in Miami — at a conference bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, in front of 1,500 of the kingdom’s investors and partners — and announced to the room that Mohammed bin Salman was “kissing my ass.”
   2. The President of the United States, on a Saudi-funded stage, publicly declared the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia a subordinate who must perform deference to retain American protection. A dominance display. Performed for investors. Broadcast on C-SPAN. On Saudi money. There was no walk-back. No clarification. No suggestion that Trump misspoke.
   3. On the same day, Zelenskyy was in Jeddah signing a comprehensive 10-year military pact with MBS, which REALLY pissed off the Trump Regime.
   4. While Trump was performing his humiliation routine in Miami, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence was signing a landmark defence memorandum with Ukraine — an integrated air defence pact covering drone warfare, electronic jamming, anti-aircraft systems, and AI-driven aerial threat detection. Not just a supply deal. A full security architecture partnership. Built by the country that’s been fighting off Iranian-designed drones for five years, it signed with the kingdom currently being bombarded by those exact same drones.
   5. Saudi Arabia didn’t ask Washington’s permission. …
   6. Here’s what Washington apparently missed: MBS had been absorbing Iranian ballistic missiles and drone swarms since … the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran, and Iran started retaliating against Gulf infrastructure. Saudi Arabia’s missile interceptors are being burned through faster than Lockheed Martin can manufacture replacements. The kingdom is under active fire in a war it didn’t start and didn’t formally join. It needed partners. Real ones.
   7. So MBS found them. In Kyiv.
   8. Ukraine sent over 200 drone warfare specialists to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. Thirty more deployed to Jordan and Kuwait. These aren’t advisors drinking tea in air-conditioned offices. These are battle-hardened technicians who’ve spent five years learning to destroy Iranian Shahed drones — the exact weapons currently raining down on Gulf infrastructure. And Zelenskyy walked out of Jeddah with 10-year defense partnerships signed with three Gulf states. Three. In one week.
   9. The strategic logic is devastating in its simplicity. Ukraine gains access to Gulf missile stockpiles — the advanced air-defence interceptors Kyiv desperately needs against Russian ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia gets the world’s most battle-tested drone warfare expertise, bypassing the American defence industrial complex entirely. [And] Europe gets an energy security corridor now running through a Ukrainian-Gulf partnership that Washington didn’t broker, didn’t initiate, and apparently didn’t see coming.
   10. The American defence monopoly in the Gulf is effectively over.
   11. Not because Saudi Arabia can pivot away from Patriot and THAAD overnight — those hardware dependencies are real and will take years to unwind. But the political dependency just cracked wide open. And in geopolitics, political cracks are where history lives. …
   12. Saudi state media covered the summit without mentioning Trump’s remarks. The Royal Court issued no statement. MBS said nothing publicly.
   13. That silence isn’t weakness. It’s the sound of a decision being made. …
   14. This is the part the foreign policy establishment keeps dancing around, so let’s just say it plainly: Trump is building a wall around the United States. Not a physical wall — an isolation wall. A wall made of alienated allies, broken compacts, and the steady erosion of the credibility that makes American security guarantees worth anything.
   15. Europe. Now the Gulf. One by one, the relationships that constituted the American-led world order are being stress-tested and found wanting. Not because America is weak — [but] because Washington is making itself untrustworthy. Unpredictable. Humiliating to stand next to in public. …
   16. Zelenskyy understood this faster than most. While Trump was calling him weak in the Oval Office and freezing his aid, Zelenskyy was deploying drone technicians to the Middle East, signing defense pacts with Gulf monarchies, and positioning Ukraine as a global security donor. In five years of war, he turned his country from a supplicant into a supplier. He walked into Riyadh at exactly the moment MBS needed a partner who wasn’t going to announce their relationship on C-SPAN for laughs.
   17. The death of the US-Saudi relationship won’t happen in a single dramatic moment. There’s no formal break, no press conference, no withdrawal of ambassadors. It’ll happen the way all strategic relationships die — quietly, incrementally, through a thousand small decisions made by leaders who’ve concluded they need options Washington won’t give them. …
   18. Ukraine is now a more important military partner to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf than the United States is in the one domain that actually matters right now: active threat response. America sells Saudi Arabia F-35s and Patriot batteries. Ukraine solves the problem Saudi Arabia has today — Iranian drone swarms raining down on oil infrastructure while American interceptor stockpiles run dry and Lockheed Martin’s production line can’t keep pace with the war. …
   19. And the strategic implications spiral outward fast. Saudi Arabia now views Russia as a co-belligerent — reports that Moscow is sharing targeting intelligence with Iran and supplying advanced drone warfare training have reportedly circulated at the highest levels of Gulf leadership, and the GCC finds them credible.
   20. Saudi Arabia has been coordinating with Russia through OPEC+ for years to manage oil markets. If Riyadh decides Russia is actively helping Iran kill Saudis, that relationship ends. And if Saudi Arabia floods the oil market to punish Moscow’s war economy, the pressure on Russia to negotiate in Ukraine increases dramatically. The Ukrainian-Gulf security pact doesn’t just change Middle Eastern defense architecture. It potentially changes the economics of Russia’s war.
   21. This is Trump’s isolationism in its purest form — not a formal withdrawal from alliances, not a policy declaration, but a steady accumulation of moments where Washington makes itself impossible to rely on. …
   22. The countries watching this aren’t waiting for America to fail. They’re just buying insurance policies. They’re doing it rationally, methodically, and with increasing speed.
   23. Zelenskyy understood the assignment faster than anyone.
   24. While Trump was freezing his military aid and calling him weak in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy was deploying drone specialists to the Gulf, signing decade-long security partnerships with three of the world’s wealthiest monarchies, and positioning Ukraine as a global security exporter. …
   25. Trump thought he was performing dominance [in] Miami, [but] He was performing the end of seventy years of American strategic primacy in the Gulf. …
10. That story leads directly to this one from BBC[.]com — The Iran war has strengthened Ukraine in surprising ways. …; By Katya Adler, Europe editor | BBC.COM | May 2, 2026. TAGS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Russia, , Ukraine-Russia War, drone expertise and technology,
    1. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky … strolled down a lilac carpet in Saudi Arabia in March, it marked a moment in the US-Israeli war in Iran. …
    2. Zelensky … has been seizing the moment, flying to the Gulf to publicly showcase the international value and marketability of Kyiv’s [battlefield lessons] in drone warfare.
    3. Ukraine says it has now signed deals with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar — all hit by Iranian missiles and drones in recent weeks — to share drone expertise and technology, tightening alliances and benefitting from business — and it hopes, defence deals — with wealthy US-allied countries.
    4. [Zelensky said,] “We want to help [Gulf states] defend themselves. And we will continue building such partnerships with other countries.”
    5. Initially, the impact of the Iran conflict seemed overwhelmingly negative for Ukraine. It threatened to divert Donald Trump’s already wavering attention from orchestrating peace efforts between Moscow and Kyiv, while pouring money into Russia’s fast-emptying war chest. …
    6. But Kyiv has consistently confounded international expectations since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
    7. And now it’s done so again: playing a deft hand at trying to turn the impact of the Iran war to its advantage, as Ukraine tries to get itself in the strongest position possible before eventual, hoped-for peace negotiations with Russia. …
    8. In the meantime, Zelensky has focussed on bolstering Ukraine where he can. Opportunism is arguably one of his most potent weapons.
    9. Saudi Arabia, which he visited again in April, has faced the same type of ballistic missile and drone attacks from Iran that Russia barrages Ukraine with …
    10. One of Moscow’s most powerful weapons has been the Iranian-designed low-cost, long range Shahed-136 attack drone, plus its own updated version, the Geran.
    11. While a Shahed can cost between $80,000 and $130,000 … , Zelensky says it can be intercepted with systems costing as little as $10,000 … . That’s far cheaper than traditional air defence missiles which cost millions of dollars.
    12. Threatened by Russian drone sightings in a number of European cities, Nato countries have been paying attention.
    13. Ukraine signed two substantial defence cooperation agreements with European allies in April. One was with Norway, for $8.6bn, as part of a $28bn package of support until 2030. The other was with Germany, including “various types of drones, missiles, software and modern defence systems,” valued at $4.7bn.
    14. As for the Gulf States, Zelensky said he hoped for their help defending Ukraine against Russia.
    15. Particularly because at the moment, the US has less military hardware available to sell to Europeans to help Ukraine, as Washington burns through supplies in the Middle East. …
    16. [Zelensky recently told French newspaper Le Monde,] “We would like Middle Eastern states to also give us an opportunity to strengthen ourselves. … They have certain air defence missiles of which we don’t have enough. That’s what we’d like to reach a deal on. …”
11. Next, an interesting piece from HAARETZ[.]COM — Analysis: Despite the Netanyahu Government’s Promises, the IDF Admits It Can’t Disarm Hezbollah; By Amos Harel | HAARETZ.COM | April 05 2026 TAGS: Lebanon, IDF, Iran, Hezbollah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Strait of Hormuz, 2026 Israel-Iran War, Analysis,
    1. Sometimes the truth is optional.
    2. A senior [Israeli Defense Force (IDF)] officer told military reporters on [the morning of April 3^rd] what should have been obvious … : The fighting in Lebanon, in its current format, will not result in Hezbollah’s full disarmament.
    3. It may, at best, advance the dismantling of the organization’s infrastructure south of the Litani River and inflict more losses. Israel could strive for a demilitarized southern Lebanon, but the airstrikes on Hezbollah command centers and bunkers in Beirut and the Bekaa will not result in the organization’s total collapse.
    4. Many senior IDF officers The problem is that the government is expressing different aspirations. In late March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted about the creation of [new security zones in southern Lebanon, the Syrian Golan Heights, and in the eastern half of the Gaza Strip.] Defense Minister Israel Katz … promises Hezbollah’s total defeat.
    5. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir agrees with his officers, but in a bid to reduce the friction with the political leadership, he too has made similar promises occasionally. …
    6. In the meantime, a double expectation gap emerged between the government and the military on the one hand, and the public on the other. The main one has to do with remarks by Netanyahu, his ministers, and also top IDF officers regarding the success of the previous war against Hezbollah, in the fall of 2024, which turned out to be temporary. Hezbollah lowered its profile but used the time to regroup.
    7. [Hezbollah] can’t cause as much harm to the military and the home front as it once could, but it is more focused in its actions and recognizes its opponents’ weaknesses. [On the other hand,], going into their fifth week in shelters, residents of northern Israel expect more from the IDF than the IDF intends to give them. A trust problem is developing that will affect residents’ willingness to return to confrontation-line communities.
    8. The IDF has seized the second line of border villages, [about 5-6 miles] into Lebanon, north of the border, buffering Israeli border communities from anti-tank missiles. During a recent meeting with Zamir, the mayor of one of these communities explained that while residents can handle the emotional strain of coping with rocket and mortar fire in wartime, not many will agree to stay when their homes are in danger of being destroyed. …
    9. Meanwhile, the IDF began systematic demolitions in the newly conquered Shi’ite villages after their inhabitants fled under Israeli threats. The area is larger and less dense, but the military already seems to have set a course that will result in the importation to Lebanon of the “Gaza model” — the near-total destruction of communities, citing strikes on infrastructure.
    10. Another crucial question has to do with the linkage between [the Iranian and the Lebanese theaters]. Should the U.S. decide to end the war in Iran, what happens in Lebanon?
    11. Hezbollah will find it hard to fight by itself against the IDF, particularly if all of Israel’s offensive resources (particularly the air force) are trained on it alone. In such an eventuality, much will depend on the American position, and on the question of whether they will once more try to push for a political settlement in Lebanon, or give Israel the green light to go on fighting for a while, in the hope of backing Hezbollah into a corner. …
    12. MIKE: This article then digresses into a lengthy discussion of Trump’s Iran war, which I’ve skipped because it goes beyond the title of the piece.
    13. MIKE: I think this opinion piece is interesting because of the strategic and political split it reveals within the Israeli governing establishment. It raises a question of whether Israel’s military and security goals are realistic and achievable. And if they’re achievable, how much death, destruction, and time, and what geopolitical costs, is Israel willing to pay.
    14. MIKE: It’s always important to remember that Hezbollah is not just a problem for Israel. It’s also a massive problem for Lebanon. Lebanon cannot really consider itself a fully functioning sovereign state while Hezbollah constitutes a government of its own with a substantial military of its own operating as an independent entity within the country.
    15. MIKE: It’s Hezbollah that keeps dragging Lebanon into this regional conflict.
    16. MIKE: It would be great — and in a perfect world, it would be supremely logical — for Israel and Lebanon to jointly formulate a plan to establish Lebanon’s full sovereign control over its entire territory, and in disarming Hezbollah. It’s actually in the ultimate interest of both countries. Sadly though, that’s not likely to happen.
    17. MIKE: There are currently three consequential regional wars going on in the world: The Russia-Ukraine War, the Israeli war against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, and the US and Israeli war against Iran which includes Iranian attacks against regional allies of the US.
    18. MIKE: Given the level of destruction being visited on this region and the calls for revenge that will be created and passed down to new generations, it’s really hard to see how any of the Western or Middle Eastern sides can “win”, but my guess is that the Iranians will have gained the most in the end. Not because they will have made new friends or achieved great victories, but because the US and Israel will have squandered much if not all of the goodwill that any of the people on any of the sides may have had for them. 

There’s always more to discuss, but that’s all we have time for today.