Biden to visit Israel, Jordan

President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and Jordan in an effort to keep the conflict between Israel and Hamas from exploding into a larger Mideast war.

The State Department said that Biden will fly to Israel and then Jordan on Wednesday. The blockade by Israel of food, water, medicine and fuel into the Gaza Strip is causing what many observers are calling a humanitarian crisis.

Additionally, there is some evidence that the blockade – along with the warning that 1 million Palestinians in Gaza evacuate –  leads to speculation that a full-scale invasion by Israeli forces may soon be launched.

Jim Jordan closer to speaker post?

Will Jim Jordan, the Congressman who ousted Kevin McCathy from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, succeed him?

It is starting to look that way as some traditional Republicans who had vowed they would never support the “firebrand” from Ohio are said to have “fallen in line.”

In order to take the top job in the closely-divided lower house of Congress, the GOP must muster 217 votes when an attempt is made to settle the issue around mid-day on Tuesday.

Some sources suggest that 10 “holdouts” still remained adamant in opposition to the far-right Jordan.

Who’s winning? Ukraine or Russia?

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had been stopped and that it had suffered combat losses at a ratio of eight to one.

At the same time, Russia has been pursuing a major assault against the city of Avdivka and observers say that it has suffered “heavy casualties.”

It may be that both sides are finding it difficult to gain an advantage against well-prepared and fortified opponents. As winter nears, military action becomes more difficult.

Sports: Cowboys beat Chargers, 20-17

Two well-matched teams battled back and forth across the SoFi field on Monday night, but it was the Dallas Cowboys who made the key plays when it counted, coming away with a 20-17 win.

With the score tied at 17 in the last five minutes of the game, Brandon Aubrey kicked a 39-yard field goal to decide the contest and improve the Cowboys’ record to 4-2, while Chargers slipped to 2-3.

Dak Prescott completed 21 of 30 passes for 272 yards and one touchdown for Dallas. Justin Hebert hit on 22 of 27 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice.

Weather: Warming trend coming

Our West Orange County area will see things heat up a bit right into the weekend before it begins to dip into the 60s. Tuesday will see partly cloudy skies with a daytime high of 81 (60). Wednesday will edge a little warmer to 82 (61) and maintain the partly cloudy skies, which will continued through Thursday with a high of 89 (63) and sunny skies.