We may be looking as Israel finally bringing Iran into irrelevance.
And, how absurd can our government’s bureaucracies be? I have a story that will show you.
A Little Ahead of Schedule
Israel has decided to go right after Iran.
- This operation was run by Israel’s intelligence group, the Mossad and has been dubbed “Operation Rising Lion.”
- They attacked Tabriz, Kermanshah, Tehran, and Natanz (uranium enrichment facility). Each hold nuclear facilities.
- Over 100 targets were hit across Iran, including missile manufacturing sites, storage facilities, and other infrastructure critical to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The strikes involved more than 200 Israeli fighter jets dropping over 330 munitions.
- Israel Defense Forces launched a sweeping strike on Iran following months of attempted, and seemingly failed, nuclear negotiations.
- Israel carried out strikes in Iran, adding that explosions were heard in the capital of Tehran.
- Israel said it launched “Operation Rising Lion” to target Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure
- A state of emergency has been declared across Israel as the country braces for an Iranian response.
- Commander-in Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, was killed during Israel’s airstrikes on Iran.
- The strikes came after Israel first threatened to go after Iran’s nuclear facilities in early November following a series of back-and-forth missile attacks between April and October last year.
- The United States has been rather subdued. They said we had nothing to do with it, but support Israel.
- Currently, the Navy is moving a missile ship and a destroyer to Israel.
- Iran responded with a drone counterattack, and Israel declared the strikes were only the first wave in a broader campaign to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
- Iran’s mission to the United Nations is calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council following Israel’s launch of Operation Rising Lion.
- “The Israeli regime and its backer — namely the United States — shall be held fully accountable for these blatant violations of international law and their grave consequences,” the mission wrote in a post on X.
- “Israel, the most terrorist regime in the world, has now crossed every red line, and the international community must not allow these crimes to go unpunished,” Araghchi wrote.
A Man, A Myth, A Legend!
Absurd!
According to Fox News:
Picture this: you lace up your shoes, take a breath of fresh mountain air, and hit the trail in the Grand Tetons National Park. You complete a legendary speed record in the world of ultra-running, and fellow runners are celebrating you. Then, you’re slapped with a federal crime.
Sounds like a joke, right? Sadly, it’s real—and it’s happening now to Michelino Sunseri, a 32-year-old bartender and record-setting mountain runner.
Sunseri ran a trail that hundreds if not thousands before him had done: he took a well-worn trail, one that’s been used for decades by hikers, climbers, and runners alike. There was no gate. No park ranger stopping people. Just a tiny sign about “erosion” half-hidden in the sagebrush. But that was enough for the National Park Service to charge him with a federal crime.
Now, Sunseri is looking at up to $5,000 in fines, a possible six months in federal prison, and worst of all—a permanent criminal record. To add insult to injury, he could also be banned from the Grand Tetons National Park, the mountains he loves, for the next five years.
This isn’t justice. This is overcriminalization.
Sunseri should not be a criminal. He didn’t vandalize or hurt anyone. He ran a trail. He did not damage the trail, and he was open about it. He posted his record-breaking run on a digital app, and that’s when government bureaucrats decided to make an example of him.
When federal bureaucrats act as lawmaker, judge, and jury, there’s little any of us can do. As a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you that the Department of Justice wins 90% of its cases. And too often, there is no common sense, no grace, no understanding. Just raw, unchecked power.
And here’s the truth: it can happen to you.
When the government creates a maze of vague rules and hidden signs and then prosecutes people who violate them without knowing and without intent, it’s not justice. It’s about power and control.
Sunseri’s case is a warning to all of us. It shows what happens when Americans are expected to follow rules they can’t even see. No one in the entire federal government keeps track of them all, but we estimate there are more than 300,000 federal statutes and regulations that carry federal criminal penalties.
And remember, once convicted of a federal crime there is no expungement of your record. Even if you’re pardoned, your criminal record follows you for a lifetime and prevents opportunities for housing, education and employment.
Sunseri’s case isn’t about a trail. It’s about the growing divide between everyday citizens and an out-of-touch bureaucracy that thinks it knows best. It’s about the erosion of liberty in the name of government authority.
We cannot sit back and let this continue. Government overreach is real, and this case is Exhibit A. We need laws written by elected lawmakers—not unaccountable federal agencies. We need clarity, not hidden signs and gotcha rules. And above all, we need a justice system that remembers the difference between a criminal—and a man who just loves to run in the mountains where he lives.
What a Shock
According to the Daily Wire:
Prominent community members of Alaska’s North Slope warmly welcomed top Trump administration officials last week while ripping into the prior administration led by former President Joe Biden.
A trio of Trump cabinet officials – Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright – traveled to northern Alaska last week to announce that Biden-era restrictions on oil development in the region would be rescinded. The cabinet officials met with North Slope residents in Utqiagvik, Alaska.
Inupiat tribal leaders and officials greeted the news enthusiastically, according to video of the meeting obtained by The Daily Wire.
“When we had a similar meeting with the former Secretary of the Interior, that rule was announced after everybody got on the plane and flew out,” said Josiah Patkotak, mayor of North Slope Borough. He added that the prior administration’s rule “was contrary to what the public comment was.”
“Here we are, full transparency from our own secretary, and I think that deserves another round of applause,” Patkotak said after Burgum announced the administration’s intent to scrap the Biden-era restrictions.
Last year, the Biden administration banned oil and gas exploration and drilling across 10.6 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska (NPRA), a reserve set aside decades ago by Congress for future oil development. The administration put tight restrictions on development on another roughly three million acres of the reserve. In total, over half of the roughly 23-million acre reserve was locked to development.