#A Palestinian worker. march of love

[hummussexual]

BY ABBY MONTEILApril 30, 2024

More than 60 LGBTQ+ organizations are calling for broadcasters, competitors, workers, and viewers to boycott 2024’s Eurovision Song Contest following the competition’s decision to include Israel in this year’s event, which takes place in Sweden.

Support for the boycott has come from LGBTQ+ organizations around the world, including QPEN in the United States, Queers in Palestine in Palestine, Pride in Protest in Australia, and Dyke March Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

“Israeli soldiers wave rainbow flags atop the ruins of Palestinian homes destroyed by the Israeli military in Gaza — a cynical attempt to rebrand Israel’s genocide as an act of queer liberation,” the boycott’s organizers said in a press release statement.

The statement likely refers in part to a viral November 2023 post from the state of Israel's official X account, which showed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier standing amidst rubble it what was reportedly northern Gaza holding a Pride flag that had “In the name of love” written on it in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. The post said that the soldier is “a member of the LGBTQ+ community” who “wanted to send a message of hope to the people of Gaza living under Hamas brutality.” The post was criticized by LGBTQ+ advocates for being a prime example of “pinkwashing.”

The statement continued: “Allowing Israel to participate in Eurovision — an international pop cultural event with a massive LGBTQ+ audience — further contributes to Israel’s desperate pinkwashing attempts.”

The groups’ press release noted that although Eurovision excluded Russia the day after the country invaded Ukraine, similar measures have not been applied to Israel following the January International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that it is “plausible” that Israel is committing acts of genocide in Gaza. While the ICJ stated that it would proceed on South Africa’s case charging Israel with violation of the 1948 Convention of the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the court did not order Israel to stop its military operations. Since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 and took 250 hostages, Israeli military actions have killed over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza and injured more than 75,000 Palestinians.

This isn’t the first time that artists and LGBTQ+ organizations have protested the international music competition’s inclusion of Israel. Back in 2019, over 100 LGBTQ+ groups endorsed a Palestinian call for a boycott of that year’s competition, which took place in Israel, following what Amnesty International described as “deliberate attempts” to kill and maim Palestinian civilians participating in protests in Gaza.

This past January, more than 1,000 Swedish musicians, including LGBTQ+ icon Robyn, called for Eurovision to exclude Israel from the 2024 competition in an open letter to the European Broadcasting Union, who said in a statement to Billboard that the Israeli public broadcaster KAN has met all the competition rules for this year and is eligible to compete.

Later, in March, over 1,900 queer artists and organizations called on the UK’s Eurovision contestant, queer actor and musician Olly Alexander, to boycott the competition out of solidarity with Palestine.

Eurovision 2024 is set to begin on May 7.

[catdotjpeg]

Protesters acting in solidarity with Palestine interrupted the New York City Pride March on Sunday afternoon, blocking a float from a major LGBTQ+ organization as it made its way down the West Village’s Christopher Street. The action started at around 2:30 p.m. one block from the Stonewall Inn, when activists unfurled a banner that read “No Queer Liberation Without Palestinian Liberation,” distributed leaflets, and sat down in front of the float representing the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to block it from proceeding, according to a report from Gay City News.

Footage of the action was shared on social media by the group Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), a “coalition of media, cultural, and academic workers who are committed to the horizon of liberation for the Palestinian people,” according to the group’s website. One video shows the protesters unfurling the banner and throwing red paint on the truck pulling HRC’s float as people in HRC shirts run out to intervene. Protestors sat on the parade route with a Palestinian flag and a banner reading “Palestine will be free” in red, black, and green. Another video shows New York Police Department officers arresting protestors as the crowd chants “Shame, shame!”

In a statement provided to Them, the group specifically called out pinkwashing, noting as an example a now-infamous November image shared by Israel’s official Instagram account showing an Israeli soldier standing amid the rubble in Gaza holding a rainbow flag scrawled with the words “In the name of love.” The caption read “The first ever pride flag raised in Gaza 🏳️‍🌈.” “But who among us felt anything other than abject shame when the rainbow flag was raised, purportedly ‘in the name of love,’ over a razed Palestinian neighborhood in January?,” the statement reads.“We refuse the identitarian navel-gazing that would tether us to such violent spectacles and their authors.” It continues, “There is no version of this where we pat ourselves on the back for fighting back, and then go back to ‘yes queen, glitter in the streets, corporate pride but watermelon stickers’ as we boots the house down fifth avenue behind our complicit ‘human rights’ organizations, hand in blood-stained hand with weapons manufacturers and the rainbow capitalists who use the language of our liberation to buy us into their military industrial hellscape while their lobbyists work against us behind closed doors.” A representative for WAWOG told Them that Sunday's protest was carried out by a group formed within WAWOG and comprising both WAWOG members and comrades. On the social media site X, the group wrote that HRC was targeted for its ties to arms manufacturers. Northrop Grumman, an arms manufacturer, is listed as a “platinum partner” of the HRC on its own donor website, alongside names of corporations such as Apple, Amazon, and Google.

[...]

When asked for comment, HRC directed Them to the organization's statement “Humanitarian Crisis in the Middle East,” last updated June 1.

“HRC’s mission is focused on advancing the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people in the United States and around the globe. Given our expertise, HRC’s work outside of the U.S. is focused on issues with a unique impact on the LGBTQ+ community, including the proliferation of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and policies around the globe," the statements reads in part.

According to Gay City News, onlookers joined chants of “Free, free Palestine,” as well as “Shut it down.” Some people on the HRC float joined in the chants, as well, per Gay City’s report. Police, some wearing rainbow NYPD insignia, zip-tied protesters’ wrists and denied journalists access to the protest to capture images of the arrests, Gay City wrote. The parade, which took place on the final day of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, was the latest example of pro-Palestine protesters using pride festivities to demand solidarity with people in Palestine. Earlier this month, protesters brought messages of solidarity to major cities across the United States, including Boston and Philadelphia. Disclosure: While not an active WAWOG member, this journalist signed an October 2023 statement from WAWOG voicing solidarity with people in Gaza.

-- From "Protestors Disrupted NYC Pride in Solidarity With Gaza, Blocking HRC's Float" by Mathew Rodriguez, 1 Jul 2024

[whyshedisappeared]

Dear World: I Don't Care

by Avi Lewis

I don’t care that you sympathize with Hamas

I know you wouldn’t tolerate any of the things they did to us if they would’ve done it to you

I don’t care that you’re outraged by Israel’s response to the massacre more than the massacre itself

I know you would do everything to eliminate such pure evil if you experienced it yourself

I don’t care that this doesn’t fit neatly into your carefully constructed narrative of ‘Israel as aggressor’ and ‘Palestinian as victim’

The truth hurts sometimes, but hey, don’t let facts get in the way of your feelings

I don’t care if you think we are at fault, that we had it coming, that Hamas’ actions’ didn’t occur in a vacuum (or to deny they ever happened)

If you feel that the poster of a kidnapped child hurts your cause, maybe yours is a lost cause

I don’t care about your calls for a premature ceasefire, about your demand that we provide them with electricity, that we stop fighting for ‘humanitarian reasons’

What of a humanitarian gesture to release our 230+ hostages – elderly, children, babies – snatched from their cribs?

I don’t care that you’ve rallied for Palestine as part of your march for LGBTQ rights, trans rights, workers rights, socialism, climate change, intersectionality, Black Lives Matter, fighting Islamaphobia and ‘all forms of racism’

Your gullibility would be laughable if it wasn’t so hypocritical. None of those things exist under Hamas

I don’t care that you ‘love Jewish people – just hate Israel’, that you have some friends that are Jewish, that maybe you’re ethnically Jewish yourself – and therefore you’re entitled to levy every libel in the playbook against us

Words matter. They lead to actions. When a lie is repeated often enough it’s accepted as truth. You are laying the groundwork for more attacks against us

I don’t care that you wave the flag of ‘human rights’, that you’ve become overnight experts in international law, that you shout fancy slogans you don’t understand such as proportionality, occupation and apartheid

Your humanity is selective. In your mind, human rights don’t apply to us because we are undeserving. You didn’t speak up when our women and children were horribly assaulted

I don’t care if you think we are colonialists, imperialists and settlers and that we should just go back to where we came from

We are back to where we came from

I don’t care if you believe in a one state solution, a two state solution, a federation, an internationalized Jerusalem or any other theory drawn up in your ivory tower

We won’t readily hold out our necks and endanger our lives in order to satisfy your thought experiments and placate your conscience from afar

I don’t care if you consider yourself anti-Zionist but not antisemitic

We’ve seen enough Jews around the world attacked over the last 3 weeks under the guise of ‘anti-Zionism’

I don’t care that you think we are too powerful, too technologically advanced, too sophisticated

If we didn’t build ourselves up to this point we’d get eaten alive by Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Iran and Palestinian terrorism

I don’t care that you blame us for 1948 refugees, for the fact that they have no state, for the keys that they wave in their fantasy of ‘right of return’

Three weeks ago we got a glimpse of what that ‘return’ looks like and what it means for our children

I don’t care if you think we aren’t real Jews, that Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism, that Jews are a religion and not a nationality and so we deserve no state

Your denials have zero impact on the strength of our ideals and the self-affirmation of our identity

I don’t care that you accuse us of flaunting the myriad of UN resolutions, inquiries and statements

They reflect more on the institutional decay of the UN than on us

I don’t care about your media coverage, the lies, the equivocation, the acceptance of Hamas talking points and statistics

You echo chamber is just a another weapon in their strategic arsenal

I don’t care that you accused us of bombing the Al Ahli hospital

It was only a matter of time before you found a symbol for Israel’s wickedness. The subsequent retractions were a fig leaf once the truth emerged that Islamic Jihad was responsible and that the hospital is still standing

I don’t care that you see us as a criminal state, a terror state, usurpers, baby killers, Christ killers, Khaybar Jews or any other depravity that exists in your mind

Your libels lay the groundwork for our dehumanization. Rings a bell. We will fight it

I don’t care that you’ve inverted the truth by accusing us of genocide

If positions were reversed and Hamas held the power we do now, you’d see what a genocide looks like

I don’t care that you’re angry, boiling and outraged

I don’t care that you’re glued to your TV screens and Telegram channels

I don’t care that you’re mad

I don’t care if you’re out on the street, waving your flag and chanting your slogans

We won’t die silently the way you want us to

For the first time in 2,000 years we are organized, we are motivated and we will defend ourselves

We fight for light over darkness

Morality over evil

Not that it matters to you – but we will stick to the rules and hold the high moral ground not because you expect it from us, but because they are a value for us

We will do so ethically and thoughtfully, for we are the People of the Book

Our power and strength are our necessity, because the alternative for us is:

Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Pittsburgh, Toulouse, Farhud, Hebron, Birkenau, Belzec, Babi Yar, Kristalnacht, Kielce and Kishinev

Do you think for a moment that we would return to that reality just to make you feel a little better?

You are deeply mistaken…

World,

For so, so long, I really, deeply cared

I cared about fitting in

I cared about what you think

I cared about being a model citizen

I cared about setting a personal example of how a tiny people in a tough neighborhood could still be a Light unto the Nations

How the world’s oldest minority – now a majority here – could treat its own internal minorities par excellence amidst the complicated and messy reality of ethnic conflict

How we could painfully dismember parts of our homeland and offer them on the platter of peace to Palestinians that want neither peace nor some parts (they want all of it)

How we could dazzle you with USB sticks, drip irrigation, operating system kernels, Nobel Prize winners, swallowable medical cameras, deep tech, quantum mechanics, generative AI and cures for disease

But now I’m finally accepting that you don’t care

You never did

You don’t see and you don’t hear

And because I cared about what you think so much, that so deeply hurts

But you don’t have my best interests at heart

You take issue with my base identity, with what I represent

Don’t expect me to wait for your approval this time

It doesn’t matter what I do, you’re not going to change

It doesn’t matter how I act, because your issue is with who I am

Now I’m going to block out your noise, and do what it takes to win this war

Today

Finally

I no longer care

[unhingedkorean]

Korean Protest Songs (in solidarity with Palestine)

In the spirit of solidarity for Palestine, I would like to offer two Korean songs dedicated for the martyrs of violent oppression. (From our own government... but we inherited our fight from the liberationists that fought against Japanese colonization.) I can only provide English translations, but I hope this effectively conveys the solidarity I have for Palestinians.

The free world demands free Palestine.

Marching for Our Beloved

This song was originally created for two of the victims of Gwangju Uprising Massacre. It is also sung at most leftist protests in South Korea. Other countries have translated and sang this song for their protests, e. g. 2016 China Airlines strike, Hong Kong protests, Myanmar Spring Revolution.

1982 original recording

the words said in the beginning before the song begins:

우리가 죽음을 이기고 합쳐지듯이 남녘땅과 북녘땅이 합쳐지소서 just as we defeat death and become united may the southern land and the northern land be united

a newer version by labor activist and musician Choi Do-eun

The lyrics are as follows. The versions vary a little because it was primarily spread underground due to government censorship, but the gist is the same.

사랑도 명예도 이름도 남김없이 한평생 나가자던 뜨거운 맹세 동지는 간데없고 깃발만 나부껴 새날이 올 때까지 흔들리지 말자 세월은 흘러가도 산천은 안다 깨어나서 외치는 끝없는 함성 앞서서 가나니 산 자여 따르라 앞서서 가나니 산 자여 따르라

And my own English translation with some poetic liberties:

no love, no honor, no name to leave behind a burning oath to keep going forward our entire lives comrade is nowhere to be seen, only the flag flutters let us not waver until the new day comes the time will pass by, but the mountains and the rivers know the endless roar of the awoken lead the way and the living will follow lead the way and the living will follow

Song of Wildfire

This is a tribute to a labor acitivist who died from torture by intelligence agency

밤새 내렸던 빗물에 젖어 어느새 들판에 초록빛의 노래 추운 겨울에 눈보라 치면 들불로 타오른 해방의 노래 타다 꺼지면 이몸 마저도 재가 되도록 붉게 타오르리라 이땅의 민중 민주의 그 날은 눈물과 피의 꽃이 만발하리라 캄캄한 어둠의 질곡 속에 불꽃으로 타오르라 타다 꺼지면 이몸 마저도 재가 되도록 붉게 타오르리라 먼훗날 노동 해방의 그 날은 반동의 피로 붉게 도색하리라 해방의 찬란한 길목에서 불꽃으로 타오르라 먼훗날 노동 해방의 그 날은 반동의 피로 붉게 도색하리라 해방의 찬란한 길목에서 불꽃으로 타오르라 해방의 찬란한 길목에서 불꽃으로 타오르라

my English translation with some poetic liberties:

wet from the rainfall all night already a green song on the grass field in the cold winter when the blizzard hits a song of liberation ablaze in wildfire if the fire goes out, even this body will burn up red into ashes on the day of people's democracy on this land the flowers of tears and blood will blossom everywhere in the turmoil of darkness, burn up into flames if the fire goes out, even this body will burn up red into ashes the day of workers' liberation will be painted red with the blood of the reactionaries be the flame that blazes the glorious path to freedom on the day of workers' liberation will be painted red with the blood of the reactionaries be the flame that blazes the glorious path to freedom be the flame that blazes the glorious path to freedom

[spacelazarwolf]

this is incorrect. nazis do not love israel. this statement from this article describes nazi germany's feelings about a jewish state:

“Basically the Nazis had a dual policy since the early 1920s. They ideologically opposed Zionism and the very idea of a Jewish homeland, since they believed that this would be yet another historical ‘base’ for the Jews to congregate and operate their world-wide conspiracy. On the other hand, they desperately wanted the Jews of Germany to leave,” said Shindler.

but that is not necessarily indicative of the politics of modern day nazis. on social media, neo nazis have started coopting extremist language to encourage violence against jews in the diaspora.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue also found that U.S.-based neo-Nazis had appropriated the language of Hamas and have been using the conflict in an effort to inspire attacks in the U.S. and on Jewish communities globally. The neo-Nazi accounts are spreading official terrorist content linked to the Qassem Brigades on Telegram, while also linking to "Resistance Axis" groups on the platform. Several members of extremist groups in the U.S. and Canada — including members of the Proud Boys — have posted on Telegram expressing a desire to kill or harm Jewish people, according to Advance Democracy, which studies far-right rhetoric online.

and this is not just on social media. this is becoming the norm in established and well known white supremacist circles.

As one of the lawyers who sued the white supremacists responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, I checked in on those defendants to see what they have said about recent events. Jason Kessler, the lead organizer, wrote that Palestinians have a right to declare that “Jews will not replace us.” Richard Spencer, a longtime leader of the alt-right (an expression he coined), posted that lighting the Roman Arch of Titus in blue and white in solidarity with Israel was “a reversal and subversion of Titus’ achievement” (the arch commemorated the Roman Empire’s defeat of a Jewish rebellion in A.D. 81). Nathan Damigo, founder of the white supremacist organization Identity Europa, posted on Oct. 7: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” The next day, white supremacist Matthew Parrott, a co-founder of the Traditionalist Worker Party, praised Hamas’ attack, stating that “every military act by the Palestinian forces is an act of freedom fighters” and comparing the massacre of families to “breaking out of a concentration camp to attack your guards.” And the National Justice Party, founded by white supremacists involved in Charlottesville, responded to the Oct. 7 attacks by marching in front of the White House with signs that said “No White Lives for Israel” and “Zionism=Terrorism,” expressly calling for the “destruction of Israel.” NJP’s website now encourages people to “begin to imagine a world where Israel no longer exists” in an article titled “Four Ways The Destruction of Israel Can Benefit The West.”

also please take one single second to examine the implications of explicitly aligning nazis with the only jewish state. you do not have to agree with the actions of the israeli government to not do holocaust inversion.

it doesn’t really matter if you aren’t intending to use “zio” as a slur because if i as a jew encounter someone using the word “zio”, i do not have the luxury of sticking around to find out if they’re just a little uninformed or if they’re a neo nazi like this guy:

[t-jfh]

Displaced Palestinians waited to receive donated food on Tuesday, the second day of Ramadan.

(Photo: Haitham Imad / EPA, via Shutterstock)

Workers transport sacks of humanitarian aid at the distribution center of the United Nations agency that cares for Palestinians, in Rafah, earlier this month.

(Photo: Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Cooking gas is so scarce that the air is acrid with smoke from fires burning salvaged wood and chopped up furniture.

(Photo: Said Khatib / Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

A woman takes care of a wounded man outside Rafah’s largest hospital. Medics say supplies are low and many types of medical care have stopped.

(Photo: Said Khatib / Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

‘Everything Is Difficult’: The Struggle for Life’s Basics in Rafah

Most of Gaza’s population fled to the southern territory of Rafah, hoping to escape the war. As they hunt for food and shelter, a potential Israeli invasion has added to their fears.

By Bilal Shbair and Ben Hubbard

The New York Times- March 14, 2024

•

•

Gaza has been the deadliest conflict for children in modern times.

(Photo: Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Children are bearing the brunt of the horrors in Gaza. How can this go on?

The horrors of Gaza are almost unspeakable. As difficult as all this is to read and to watch, it's important the world does not look away.

Rarely, if ever, have so many children been killed, injured or orphaned as quickly as Israel is doing so in Gaza right now.

"The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child," says UNICEF's James Elder. "And day after day, that brutal reality is reinforced."

UNICEF has compiled a range of statistics from Gaza. It says that a Palestinian child is killed every 15 minutes. Thousands more are missing under rubble.

One of every 10 children killed in Gaza did not make their first birthday. More than 1,000 children have lost one or both legs. Save the Children estimates that more than 10 children a day are losing one or both legs. Those having limbs amputated are having it done without anaesthetic.

On the testimony of a range of credible agencies, this is the deadliest conflict for children in modern times.

By global affairs editor John Lyons in Jerusalem

ABC News - 12 February 2024

•

•

Hiba Abu Sadeq has been living in a tent shelter with her family since last month.

(Photo: ABC News)

Hiba's walk to find food and water takes her past rubble from air strikes. (Photo: ABC News)

Every morning, 12-year-old Hiba wakes up in Gaza. She tries to keep herself and her family alive for another day

Hiba Abu Sadeq is like many other pre-teens. The 12-year-old loves her friends, learning at school and fashion.

But now she doesn't know if her friends are dead or alive, there is no school, and she has worn the same clothes for weeks.

The young girl has had her way of life ripped apart by the Israel-Gaza war.

By Middle East correspondent Allyson Horn in Jerusalem and ABC staff in Gaza

ABC News - 21 January 2024

•

•

COMMUNITY WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: The following ABC News article, ‘A devastating new term has emerged in Gaza's hospitals: WCNSF - Wounded Child, No Surviving Family’, contains graphic pictures and descriptions of war that some viewers may find distressing.

Dareen is just one of many orphans in Gaza hospitals known by the term WCNSF.

(Photo: ABC News)

Dr Khalil al-Degra says when they can't find families for children who come to the hospital, they are marked as unidentified.

(Photo: ABC News)

This grandmother was able to locate her grandson after turning up to a hospital and searching for lost babies. (Photo: ABC News)

A devastating new term has emerged in Gaza's hospitals: WCNSF - Wounded Child, No Surviving Family

Inside Gaza's overwhelmed hospital system, an influx of injured children arriving alone without any family has prompted doctors to coin a new term: WCNSF.

The heartbreaking label stands for Wounded Child, No Surviving Family and means the child is the sole surviving member of their family.

Eleven-year-old Dareen was given the term when she was rushed to hospital alone and unconscious after an explosion where she was staying.

By Middle East correspondent Allyson Horn and ABC staff in Gaza

ABC News - 6 December 2023

•

[riverdamien]

Coming Out Day--Oct. 11,2023

October 11, 2023

"So for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone, and a new being is there to see. It is all God's work". .2 Corinth.5:17."

Celebrated annually on October 11th, this day commemorates the journey of self-discovery and the courage it takes to openly embrace one’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression. This observance traces its roots back to 1988, when Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg chose this date to coincide with the first anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. National Coming Out Day now stands as a beacon of support and acknowledgement for those who have bravely shared their authentic selves with the world. It is also a reminder that many individuals within LGBTQIA+ communities face ongoing challenges in the journey towards self-expression.

Recently the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said: "A man is a man, a woman is a woman," Uganda have made being queer illegal and thousands have been executed, and in our country politicians are saying anti-gay comments.

I have known countless men and women, of all ages who lived in the pain of rejection, isolation,  and struggling with their sexual orientation; I have been lucky I came to San Francisco, or I would have never found myself, and would have been a  lousy minister; I remember one fifteen year old who committed suicide in front of me, and many others who died from suicide--all because of their struggle with "coming out". "Coming out" is a very painful process, like giving birth to a new life. It took me years with much therapy  to feel comfortable with myself.

In God's family there are no outsiders. All are insiders.  Black and white, rich and poor, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, questioning, brown, yellow, Jews, Palestinian, Roman Catholics, Independent Catholics, Buddhist, Hindus, Indian--all belong..

National Coming Out Day is a day in which all of us can come out and say that all of us are equal, and that LGBTQ individuals are simply human beings who are a part of the kaleidoscope of life.

The Trevor Project is supporting Queer Youth, and are finding that Transgenders are suffering more than ever before. We are walking "Forty Miles" this month, and have raised $420.00 so far. We invite you to join us on this hike in spirit by donating or walking!

Please send money to: (Mark it with our name Temenos Catholic Worker or you may send to us as well and we will add to our donation at end of month):

The Trevor Project

PO Box 69232

West Hollywood, CA 90069 US

2126958650

Deo Gratis! Thanks be to God!

===========================

Fr. River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

415-305-2124

=================================

Let Love Ache

Father, give me the courage to keep on loving.

when others keep on hurting.

help me to live an achy love, a gritty,

persistent and emptying love;

a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other

who has little left to offer in return.

And may I tread faithfully with heaven

through the unfinished work that surrounds me.

Commoners_Communion

Strahan Coleman

[dungeonqueering]

2021 Be Like

JANUARY

Bean Dad

Storming the Capitol

Impeachment 2

Reality Shifting Draco Malfoy Murder

Parler Hacked

Sea shanties are BACK BAY BEEEEEE

Inauguration outfits

BERNIE'S MITTENS

Militant Vegan Lady Tries to Bully Children and Gordon Ramsey

Executive Orders

Reddit Kills Hedgfunds with GameStonks

Politician openly believes California Wildfires were started by Jewish Space Lasers and somehow isn't removed from office for blatant antisemitism

Lady Dimitrescu,,, lady.... Tall

FEBRUARY

EEBY DEEBY

The Queen doing monarch shit on the DL

India Treating Farmers Very Badly

I promise I'm not a cat lawyer video

Trump Acquitted even though 57 / 100 voted against him.

Texas has no power, Cruz flies to Cancun for a vacay while ppl die

Rush Limbaugh dies, crab rave

WE LANDED PERSERVERANCE BAY BEE

Daft Punk retired. :(

Texas Freezes Over, Cruz goes to Florida this time.

March

Texas lifts mask requirements

Biden bombs Syria instead of helping people.

Dems pass the $1400 stimulus. No republicans support it, they could have included anything in that bill and the GOP couldn't have stopped them. They CHOSE to make it less.

Harry and Meghan on Oprah drag the royal family

NFTs enable art theft

Stimmy Time

The Pope says Catholics can get the J&J vaccine only if it's the only one available (it has stem cells)

Anti-asian hate crimes in Georgia

EverGiven runs aground in Suez Canal

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (Montero)

Shrimp Tails in Cinnamon Toast Crunch

EverGiven freed six days later.

April

Prince Phillip dies, crab rave

Mars Helicopter Ingenuity

ON 4/20 THEY CONVICT DEREK CHAUVIN ON ALL COUNTS FOR MURDERING GEORGE FLOYD

May

This is the May

Israel somehow being EVEN WORSE to Palestine.

An oil pipeline company's financial systems are attacked, so they can't properly charge customers. They shut off the pipeline rather than risk anyone getting free gas. People put gas in plastic bags.

Israel now attacking news organizations.

CDC lifts mask recommendation foolishly.

Legendary children's author Eric Carle passes away.

June

Pride Discourse AGAIN

Annakin and Padme meme

Batman isn't allowed to eat pussy because "Heroes don't do that"

People are surprised the FNAF guy is a republican

Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years

John McAfee dies in a Mexican prison, where he was for tax evasion. It looks mildly sus, but Crab Rave.

Britney Spears fights her Conservatorship

July

TSR is back and they're transphobes

Britney Spears loses her fight. :(

Bill Cosby released from jail.

The Olympics are being HELLA racist. Banning swim caps for natural Black hair, banning two Black women for their natural testosterone levels, and banning one Black woman (who may very well be the fastest woman ever) because she smoked weed one time (in a place it's legal) to deal with the fact that an interviewer told her her mom had just passed away.

Ocean is literally on fire because a pipe broke.

Oh btw Israel is still doing human rights violations and denying vaccinations to Palestinians.

Catholic run Canadian and american residential schools found to have hundreds of bodies each of indigenous children taken from their parents to be indoctrinated into white society. As of July 2, 1505 at 7 out of 504 schools.

Right wing protests in Cuba

Olympic anti-sex beds

Popeye the Sailor, Nonbinary Icon??

Steam Deck (100k pre-orders)

Lmao Tumblr thinks we'll pay for premium content. Cute. Love that for them.

Australia hires furry artist to draw furries to promote the Olympics.

Texas puts $10,000 bounty on anyone who helps anyone get an abortion.

Chuck Tingle got DMCA'd for music on Twitter

Cleveland changes baseball team name to not be so racist

Jeff Bezos goes to space and, unfortunately, survives

Blizzard employees (and Activision employees, Blizzard's parent company) threaten to walk after it's revealed that, unsurprisingly, the company treats women like shit up to and including a culture of assault.

Frito-Lay workers end 20 day strike with inches gained.

August

Delta Variant of Covid is 'as contagious as chickenpox'. Mildly vaccine resistant, but still mostly affecting the unvaxxed.

Chrischan arrested on... Look, don't worry about it. Don't look it up. She did a very bad crime, leave it at that.

Idris Elba is gonna play Knuckles?

QAnon guy murders his family

Federal board of education decides to enforce masks in all public schools for '21-'22 school year.

Britney Spears' dad is gonna step down from her conservatorship maybe?

Taliban starts taking over Afghanistan

Places are probably going to shut back down due to Delta Variant not being taken seriously.

Governor Cuomo of New York steps down over sexual harassment allegations. (Fuck him)

OnlyFans getting rid of porn.

OnlyFans backs down obvi

Hurricane

By Talos this can't be happening

September

The Supreme Court refuses to see case about Texas abortion bounty.

ABBA releases new music

Ford Germany makes gay trucks

There Are Many Benefits To Being A Marine Biologist

Steve from Blue's Clues gives us all closure.

Suez canal blocked again (but only for a few hours)

Bongcloud chess move

MET Gala outfits, discourse (unfortunately)

Lil Nas X's first album, Montero

Nicki Minaj's Cousin's Friend's Balls

Epik, far right web hosting service, hacked. Embarrassingly weak security.

Gabby Petito goes missing, found dead.

Elvira comes out, has had a girlfriend for 19 years.

Chris Pratt cast as Mario for some godforsaken reason

Grimes and Elon Musk break up

China bans cryptocurrency

DnD 5.5e announced

Britney Spears' dad removed from her conservatorship, it's now run by an accountant chosen by Britney

"I can't believe you've done this." Taken down from YouTube after 14 years. Owner disputes. Denied. Heavy social media backlash gets them to manually re-allow it.

October

Grimes does stuff for attention I guess.

Facebook goes down briefly.

Squid Game

Dawn's Kidney Donation

Twitch breached massively.

Even bigger breach than the Panama papers shows what we already been knew. Pandora Papers.

Dave Chappelle actively a transphobe. People somehow forgot about his bigotry from, like, 2 years ago.

Alec Baldwin kills a cinematographer in an accident involving a gun firing blanks. Proper safety checks weren't done because of non-union being hired by the producer... Alec Baldwin.

Margaret Atwood makes a bunch of transphobic posts.

Brian Laundrie's remains found in Florida.

Kat Von D's anti-vax Nazi ass moving to Indiana

Facebook changing their name to Meta, Mark Zuckerberg shelf Barbecue sauce.

Marilyn Manson converting back to Christianity thanks to Justin Bieber and Kanye West???? Probably to deflect from him being outed as a sex pest tbqh

November

Zillow algorithm buys too many houses, record losses for the company, fires 25% of staff.

Turns out Meta is already a company and FB failed to buy the rights, so Meta is doing legal action against FB.

The IRS to start requiring NFTs report transactions over $10,000 just like they do for cash. Crypto Bros freak out

Travis Scott concert gets people killed (not of COVID)

Mercedes Lackey thinks trans people don't belong in fantasy

Brittney is free!!

Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

The Queen's New Phase

Kyle Rittenhouse ruled not guilty despite going to a place specifically hoping for violence.

Hillary Clinton-Kin fanfiction on the NYT Best Sellers

John Deere Strike doubles their raises among other successes

NFT Pirate Bay Funged the Tokens

Omicron Variant.

December

Ponder the Orb

Gen Zers on Reddit use algorithms and effort to crash Kellogg's website with bogus job applications , thereby preventing scabs from applying.

Ben Shapiro's sister tries to slut shame Madonna by comparing her to Nancy Reagan. Turns out Nancy Reagan was PROLIFIC at oral sex while working in Hollywood. Trending #throatgoat #superhead

Kellogg trying to hire scabs going VERY BADLY

Giant Tornado kills factory workers forced to keep working at 3AM directly in the path of the tornado despite the company knowing the dangers

Anne Rice died, AO3 goes wild

Kellogg strike ends, workers get a pretty good deal!!

Tumblr censors stuff in a very bad way.

Betty White dies. :(

[mayfriend]

i've seen the bodies of more dead children in the past eight months than i can count, and i saw them through a screen. before this i had lived for twenty four years without seeing a single one. i've seen children with shredded skin, torn from bones by weaponry that i truly can't even believe was designed, let alone built, sold and used. i saw a boy crying that he wanted his leg back, the blood still seeping through his bandages. i saw a dog scavenging for food with the body of a dead toddler in its mouth. ive seen the death certificate of a baby without a name, because not only was he murdered just hours after birth, but so was every single member of his bloodline who might have given him a name. i've watched people died with bags of flour clutched in their hands that they were trying to bring back to their starving families. i've seen the bodies of those that starved to death, hollow faced and milky-eyed. i've watched dozens of people dig in the rubble of what had been their homes in search of the bodies of their loved ones. i've seen the body of a child dragged from the ash and he was identified by his velcro trainers. i've seen the zipties used to bind the hands of civilians -- men, women, children, babies -- and i've heard the screams of the people that were left behind. ive seen the videos of palestinians stripped and knelt and restrained just hours before they were put in those same mass graves, alive. alive. ive heard recorded baby cries being played to bring out victims to be sniped in the street. ive watched nurses ducking gunfire to rescue injured people left for dead just meters from a beseiged hospital. a beseiged hospotal, not the, because theyve done it over and over and over until it isnt even reported anymore. i've heard parents scream their dead child's name, touch their slack faces, hold their limp bodies with a white knuckle grip. a woman, dazed, refusing to wash her bloody hands because its the last thing she has left of her son. ive seen a little girl's final messages to her sister saying that her grandmother was plaiting her hair because she didn't want her to die scruffy. I heard hind's last call, six years old and surrounded by the dead bodies of her family, crying that she was scared of the dark and please, please, help her. Ive watched and watched and watched and every thing ive done -- every petition signed, every email to my MP, every march attended, every pound donated -- fail to stop the horror for even a single second. I think about the things that happen when I go to work, when I watch a show, when I read, when I sleep. I think about the noise of the planes, constant, unending. I think about the aid workers murdered, given the slightest bit more attention than the thousands upon thousands of dead gazans because they were from countries whose people were not considered acceptable collateral damage. the three Israeli hostages, murdered while waving a white flag -- would we have ever heard about it if they'd just been another innocent Palestinian waving a white flag? how many have been ignored now? a few days ago, hamas accepted a ceasefire deal and a mother thought it was safe to let her eighteen month old play outside -- but israel rejected the deal and sniped her baby in the head. All of this is just from the last eight months. palestine has been occupied for almost eighty years. and now this-- this fucking headline. israel MAY have breached humanitarian law in gaza. how do they sleep. how do they fucking sleep

the absolute fucking gall of that 'may'. hell, the absolute gall to call this breaking news like this is a surprise to literally anybody paying even the vaguest degree of attention to the fully fledged, US-backed genocide israel has been undertaking for eight months now. 'may'. eat fucking shit. 'may'. fifteen THOUSAND children are dead

[allthecanadianpolitics]

1. Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival – June 1-21

Established in Ottawa in 1996, the Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival (SSIF) is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that brings together Indigenous artists, performers, educators, students, and community members to share knowledge and celebrate Canada’s diverse Indigenous cultures. The former 4-day live event takes place in June: coinciding with National Indigenous History Month and closing on National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21). This year’s virtual programming includes The SSIMAs a new national Indigenous music awards program as well as Education Days, streamed performances, interactive family activities, arts and crafts, culinary and cultural workshops including the popular Pow Wow now socially distanced.

Twitter https://twitter.com/ottawasolstice/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/solsticefestivals/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/solsticefestivals/

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYnmJlZdwcGa-6nB6L4mJqA

Website: https://summersolsticefestivals.ca/

2. Stop Insuring Trans Mountain: Week of Action – June 14 – 21

Online and in-person

Join us for a week of action from June 14 – 21 targeting the insurance companies enabling the continued operation and expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. 

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻? The Trans Mountain expansion project would transport an additional 590,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta to British Columbia, and lead to a 700% increase in oil tankers in the Salish Sea. Many Indigenous communities have consistently and repeatedly rejected the Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project – but the Canadian government continues to plough ahead with construction.𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲? Current insurers of the pipeline are complicit in violating Indigenous rights and driving climate change through providing $500 million USD in coverage. Without insurance, the pipeline cannot keep operating, and its expansion can’t be constructed. That makes un-insuring Trans Mountain a critical way to stop the pipeline once and for all.Last year, Indigenous communities and activists pushed three insurance companies to cut ties with the pipeline: Zurich, Munich Re, and Talanx. We are not letting up the pressure.Trans Mountain is currently seeking insurers to back the project in the year to come, with a deadline of August 31. Right now we have a critical window in which to pressure insurers to rule out coverage for the pipeline and make Trans Mountain uninsurable.𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻:

Liberty Mutual

Chubb

AIG

W.R. Berkley

Lloyd’s

Starr

Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting

Marsh

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀! We will turn up the heat on these companies during the Week of Action through protests at office locations, digital actions, and more. Find your local or virtual event below.

Stop TMX Week of Action Supporter Toolkit:

http://bit.ly/TMXToolkit

Sign up to host an action in your community here:

https://forms.gle/LrrDdu8P62bir7eM7

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲!): Berlin, Bristol, Charlotte, Denver, Eagle River, Fairbanks, Fremont, Kaneohe, Ottawa, Montreal, Portland, Seattle, Rochester, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria

3. COVID-19, Social Safety Nets, and Sex Work in the Capital Survey – June 5 – June 30

The “COVID-19, Social Safety Nets, and Sex Work in the Capital” survey is a joint research project between University of Ottawa researchers and Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work Educate Resist (POWER). This survey of sex workers in the capital region seeks to better understand the economic impact of COVID-19 on sex workers and how they navigated social benefit programs created in its wake. The confidential and remunerated 10-12 minute online survey will remain open thru to June 30, 2021. 

For more information about the research or to take the survey, please visit https://www.powerottawa.ca/covid19

4. Protest at Ottawa CBC – Tuesday, June 22, 4:30PM

Rally Point: Sparks St. and O’Connor St.

OTTAWA! 

We are calling on you to join us Tuesday June 22 at 4:30 PM at CBC offices to protest CBC’s anti-Palestinian biases and dishonest reporting on Palestine.

CBC has refused to report on the 2021 Human Rights Watch report highlighting Israeli crimes of apartheid: https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution

They have reprimanded their journalists for signing an open letter to newsrooms asking for fairer coverage of Palestine.

And they have banned the use of the word “Palestine” in their broadcasts and digital media.

We demand change!!!

NOTE: Please abide by all COVID19 guidelines and social distancing measures. See you there!

Hosted by: CBC Palestine

5. OCAP Solidarity Speaker Series: Long-Term Care – Thursday, June 24, 11AM-12:30PM

Hosted by: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty

Join us again Thursday June 24th for our Solidarity Speaker Series event. This month’s spotlight is on Long-term Care and will feature speakers from Ontario Health Coalition, the EMPOWER network, and York University. Come learn about how the government has allowed this sector to be woefully neglected with deadly consequences and what we can do to improve legislation and shift away from the for-profit model of senior care.

Who you’ll be hearing from:

Pat Armstrong, Sociology Professor, York University

Cindy Huggins, PSW, EMPOWER network

Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition

The OCAP Solidarity Speaker Series is a recurring event, taking place on the last Thursday of the month, to spotlight rad organizations and individuals and highlight ongoing issues from an anti-capitalist perspective. We aim to educate, spark dialogue, and call folx to action in diverse and meaningful ways.

Hope to see you there!

More info and event link here.

6. Learning from the Movement OGs – Thursday, June 24, 4PM-6PM

Nothing happening in this historic era of protest has come from nowhere. This two hour panel will highlight the wisdom of movement OGs who have been doing the work—and are still doing the work—of Black liberation, Indigenous anti-colonial struggle, and migrant justice struggle, which has laid out the conditions of possibility for this political moment.

Panelists: Bridget Tolley, Lynn Jones, Beverly Bain, Harsha Walia

Facilitators: Robyn Maynard, Pascale Diverlus

Sign up here

Hosted by: Building The World We Want

7. Justice for Workers Outreach at Britannia Beach – Saturday, June 26, 12PM – 2PM

Join us for this community canvass at Britannia Beach where we will be speaking out about the need for paid sick days, fair wages and decent work for all.

This will be the first Ottawa outreach action for the Justice for Workers campaign and we would love it if you came by to help us collect signatures on our new petition!

Look out for our tent and volunteer team. Make sure to dress appropriately for the weather, and don’t forget to bring water and snacks. 

Sign up and check back for more details to be announced shortly. 

Materials and location info at this link. 

8. Stories from Insider Spaces: Exploring AGM Intervention as an Activist Tactic – Monday, June 28, 6:30PM – 8:00PM

Hosted by: Mining Injustice Solidarity Network

Registration information below!

Have you ever wished you could look the CEO of a harmful company in the face and say your piece? Want more information about a corporate project that’s impacting your community and wish you could get some answers? Come to this event and explore the strategic possibilities of Annual General Meetings (AGMs) with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN)!

All publicly traded companies are legally required to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs), where shareholders are able to attend, ask questions, and vote on important decisions.

This means that, once a year, companies with significant influence (including mining companies) are compelled to open up a space that is much more accessible to the public than many industry gatherings that happen behind closed doors. AGMs allow shareholders to hold company executives accountable. They can also be an important opportunity  for activists and impacted communities.

AGM interventions have been an important part of MISN’s strategic toolbox . We’ve attended AGMs to take notes for impacted communities, asked questions to unmask the misleading information shared by mining companies with their shareholders, hosted rallies outside of AGMs, led disruptions inside the meetings themselves, and more. Here are some examples: https://mininginjustice.org/archive/pastprojects/spring-into-action/

During this event, MISN members and allies will share their experiences attending AGMs, outline some of the different intervention tactics that we’ve used in the past, and provide some practical information on how you can research and buy a share in a company so that you can also attend its AGM.

The format of this event will include multiple speakers, video documentation of AGM interventions, and some opportunities to engage in small group discussion with other participants.

We hope you’ll attend if you are fighting a publicly traded company or are impacted by a company and want to add one more approach to how you organize against it.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!: http://bit.ly/StoriesFromInside  

9. Status For All March – Ottawa Rally – July 25, time tbd

In person, place tba

Join the rally in Ottawa on July 25th to welcome the arrival of the historic March for Status for All from Montreal! Across the country migrants have been organizing for full and permanent immigration status for all. Massive wins have been secured, but there is still a crucial final step to win. We will not stop until everyone has full and permanent immigration status, with no exceptions. We will leave no one behind.  

From July 18 and to July 25, migrants and their allies will march from Montreal to Ottawa, led by Solidarity Across Borders / Solidarité Sans Frontières, demanding that Justin Trudeau’s government grant full and permanent immigration status for all. 

Join us in Ottawa to welcome the march! Time and exact location will be confirmed closer to the date.

RSVP here: https://migrantrights.ca/marchtoottawa/

This rally will be in accordance with COVID safe guidelines: we ask all attendees to wear a mask and respect social distancing guidelines

[eretzyisrael]

But What About the Palestinians?

This morning I received a robo-call from the Rehovot city government to tell me that, as a senior citizen, if I had trouble getting an appointment for my Coronavirus vaccination, they would help me, and here is how to contact them. I remembered that some months ago I got a call from a human social worker employed by the city, who wanted to know how I was, how we were getting our food (this was during our first full lockdown), did we have local family to help us out, and so on.

I’ve had my differences with the city from time to time, but I am really impressed by this. They are using our tax money (Israelis pay local taxes based on the size of their homes and other factors) to provide services to the citizens! I realized how little I’ve come to expect from government, so this seemed like a big deal to me. But it’s still remarkable that they have programs in place to help those of us who are no longer “productive citizens” in an economic sense.

And then there is the vaccination program itself. The State of Israel paid a premium price for vaccines, and set up a system to distribute them. The logistics are complicated because the Pfizer vaccine, the first to arrive here, must be kept at -70 degrees C (-94 F) and then used within several hours of being warmed. As of Tuesday, 1,700,000 Israelis had received their first vaccination, including my wife and me.

We went to the designated location, where the four HMOs that all Israelis belong to had set up stations to give vaccinations; waited only a few minutes in an open area, and received our shots (for those who speak British, “jabs”). Information was immediately entered into the nationwide computer networks of the HMOs, and our appointments for the second dose set. This was much more efficient than anything I have ever experienced in any bureaucratic setting either here or in the US, even in the IDF.

Of course Bibi is taking credit for the whole thing, as our next expensive, unnecessary election approaches. But in truth he does deserve credit for making the deals with the pharmaceutical corporations that got us large quantities of vaccine early, even while the HMOs put together the system which is expected to vaccinate the entire population by the end of March.

So this morning I have a feeling that this country cares about me, and about the rest of its citizens. The institutions like the national and local governments and the HMOs are doing their jobs, at least in this connection. They government has not done so well in managing the lockdowns, especially the last, partial one, which seems to have hurt small businesses badly while doing little to slow the spread of the virus. There are plenty of other things to criticize, but still, I am proud of my country.

But the response of the world media to Israel’s relative success in fighting the epidemic has been more hostile than anything I recall since the last time Israel was forced to defend herself against deadly rocket attacks from Gaza. “What about the Palestinians,” they screamed. Why aren’t we vaccinating them, too? “It’s because Israel is an apartheid state!”

The accusation is everywhere, in mainstream and social media, from the human rights organizations, and even from Jewish groups like J Street.

And it’s nonsense. First, Arab and Jewish Israelis, as well as Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are treated precisely the same. Second, the PA and Hamas are responsible under international law for vaccinating their citizens. The PA has said they have ordered vaccines from several manufacturers and are awaiting their arrival. Israel has promised to give surplus vaccine to the PA after our campaign is over. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reports that Israel already gave the Palestinian Authority some 100 doses of the vaccine for “hardship cases” (probably the big shots in the PA). And the blogger Elder of Ziyon has debunked some of the accusations against Israel made by “human rights” NGOs here and here.

One of Israel’s greatest national concerns is the question of how it can become a better state, one that better performs the basic function of a state, to protect its citizens against man-made and natural dangers, and to provide economic and cultural opportunities for them. This is the purpose of our health care system, the IDF, and our Knesset, judicial system, central bank, and so forth. Although there is a certain amount of corruption it is incidental to the functioning of the overall state.

The vaccination project has been a positive force in our lives, illustrating that we need not always be passive and accept the blows that fall on us. And it shows that our big institutions (the HMOs are independent organizations, but closely controlled by the Health Ministry) can work smoothly when they have to.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are entirely different. Although they have government ministries, a health-care system, and many other services, they do not exist to protect their people and enable them to fulfill their economic and cultural potential. They have two functions alone: to enrich those Palestinians who are “connected,” and to fight the war against Israel with which they are obsessed. Corruption is essential, not incidental. Funds that don’t go into the pockets of the rulers go to prepare for war or to pay the soldiers. Palestinians know this and hate their rulers, but there is little they can do because the dictatorships under which they live don’t hesitate to use force against them. And in many cases, they are also slaves to their obsessive hatred of Israel.

Palestinian governments continue to encourage, pay for, and perpetrate terrorism against Israel, while “ordinary Palestinians” throw rocks at cars containing Jews, a pastime that has caused several deaths and countless serious injuries. A few weeks ago, an “ordinary Palestinian” viciously beat an innocent woman to death. Right now the concern in Ramallah is not how to vaccinate millions of Palestinians, but rather how to ensure that terrorists will continue to get paid despite Israeli restrictions on Palestinian banks.

Israel struggles to be better. Palestinians struggle to be worse. And yet, which side do the media, the Jewish Left, and the human rights industry take?

*** Sheldon Adelson died on Tuesday. He was one of Israel’s greatest supporters. He loved this country, and contributed massive amounts of his own money to make it better and to help improve its relationship with the diaspora, including hundreds of millions of dollars to Birthright, which has probably done more to counteract the hate campaign against Israel in the universities than all other PR initiatives put together. He also gave large sums to AIPAC, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Yad Vashem, and the Israeli-American Council. He and his Israeli-born wife, Miri, were the major donors to a new medical school at Ariel University. He donated several Magen David Adom ambulances and mobile ICU vehicles, including some that were armored to protect them against terrorist attacks. He started the free newspaper Israel Hayom (Israel Today), which is today the paper with the largest circulation in the country, shattering the almost total monopoly on news media in Israel held by the Left. His influence on Donald Trump was partly responsible for Trump’s pro-Israel policies.

Miri Adelson will certainly continue his philanthropy, but the Jewish people and the State of Israel have lost a friend who won’t easily be replaced. BDE.

Abu Yehuda

[newstfionline]

Thursday, February 25, 2021

COVID-19 cases falling (nearly) everywhere (Foreign Policy) New COVID-19 cases and deaths have dropped worldwide for the sixth consecutive week, according to figures compiled by the World Health Organization. The WHO recorded 2.4 million new cases last week, a drop of 11 percent compared to the previous week. The 66,000 deaths last week represented a 20 percent decline. Five out of the six WHO regions now show a consistent downward trend in new cases, although the trendline in the Eastern Mediterranean region remains flat due to continued case increases in Iran and Iraq.

Not to be sniffed at: Agony of post-COVID-19 loss of smell (AP) The doctor slid a miniature camera into the patient’s right nostril, making her whole nose glow red with its bright miniature light. “Tickles a bit, eh?” he asked as he rummaged around her nasal passages, the discomfort causing tears to well in her eyes and roll down her cheeks. The patient, Gabriella Forgione, wasn’t complaining. The 25-year-old pharmacy worker was happy to be prodded and poked at the hospital in Nice, in southern France, to advance her increasingly pressing quest to recover her sense of smell. Along with her sense of taste, it suddenly vanished when she fell ill with COVID-19 in November, and neither has returned. Being deprived of the pleasures of food and the scents of things that she loves are proving tough on her body and mind. Shorn of odors both good and bad, Forgione is losing weight and self-confidence. “Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Do I stink?’” she confessed. “Normally, I wear perfume and like for things to smell nice. Not being able to smell bothers me greatly.” A year into the coronavirus pandemic, doctors and researchers are still striving to better understand and treat the accompanying epidemic of COVID-19-related anosmia—loss of smell—draining much of the joy of life from an increasing number of sensorially frustrated longer-term sufferers like Forgione.

Biden to order sweeping review of U.S. supply chain weak spots (Washington Post) President Biden on Wednesday will formally order a 100-day government review of potential vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains for critical items, including computer chips, medical gear, electric-vehicle batteries and specialized minerals. The directive comes as U.S. automakers are grappling with a severe shortage of semiconductors, essential ingredients in the high-tech entertainment and navigation systems that fill modern passenger vehicles. Biden’s executive order, which he is scheduled to sign this afternoon, also is aimed at avoiding a repeat of the shortages of personal protective gear such as masks and gloves experienced last year during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. The president’s order, which had been anticipated, represents the partial fulfillment of a campaign pledge. But mandating a government study will be the easy part. Extensively modifying U.S. supply lines and reducing the country’s dependence upon foreign suppliers—after decades of globalization—could prove difficult and costly.

U.S. seeks to return to U.N. human rights body (Reuters) The United States will seek election to the U.N. Human Rights Council later this year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, marking the Biden administration’s latest international re-engagement. Blinken, addressing the council by recorded video, said that President Joseph Biden’s administration would work to eliminate what he called the Geneva forum’s “disproportionate focus” on U.S. ally Israel. The council, set up in 2006, has a stand-alone item on the Palestinian territories on its agenda every session, the only issue with such treatment, which both Democratic and Republican administrations have opposed.

Freedom of speech the real issue in Spain (Washington Post) Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in some of Spain’s largest cities every night for a week, often clashing with police. In Barcelona on Saturday, authorities said they detained 38 people and recorded injuries among 13. The anger of the young protesters is centered on the arrest of a man who until recently was an obscure figure: Pablo Rivadulla, a rapper better known by his stage name, Pablo Hasél. But the demonstrations are about far more than one man’s arrest, speaking to growing concern inside and out of Spain about the effect of the country’s anti-terrorism laws and lèse-majesté statutes circumscribing the freedom of expression.

Covid inspires 1,200 new German words (The Guardian) From coronamüde (tired of Covid-19) to Coronafrisur (corona hairstyle), a German project is documenting the huge number of new words coined in the last year as the language races to keep up with lives radically changed by the pandemic. The list, compiled by the Leibniz Institute for the German Language, an organisation that documents German language in the past and present, already comprises more than 1,200 new German words—many more than the 200 seen in an average year. It includes feelings many can relate to, such as overzoomed (stressed by too many video calls), Coronaangst (when you have anxiety about the virus) and Impfneid (envy of those who have been vaccinated). Other new words reveal the often strange reality of life under restrictions: Kuschelkontakt (cuddle contact) for the specific person you meet for cuddles and Abstandsbier (distance beer) for when you drink with friends at a safe distance. The words also capture specific moments during the pandemic. For example, Balkonsänger (balcony singer) is someone who sings to people from their balcony, which was popular during the spring lockdown. Hamsteritis, referring to the urge to stockpile food, was also commonly used at the start of the crisis.

China uses patriotism test to sweep aside last outlet for Hong Kong democracy (Washington Post) Serving as a district councilor in Hong Kong means addressing everyday concerns such as pest control, traffic issues and helping elderly residents pay bills. One of the few perks of the modest office is having a say, alongside tycoons and Beijing loyalists, in choosing Hong Kong’s leader. On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s government announced that anyone running for these local positions will need to be a “patriot”—meaning they must swear loyalty not to their constituents but to Beijing and the Communist Party—as China moves to quash the territory’s last avenue of democracy. The changes, which are expected to be introduced to the legislature—where there is no viable opposition—next month and become law soon thereafter, will trigger the expulsion of several young pro-democracy councilors, even if they read the oath as instructed. Disqualified candidates will be barred from running in any elections for five years. With Tuesday’s announcement, the councils, the only fully democratic body in Hong Kong, fall in line with China’s broader reshaping of a city once known for its boisterous political culture as democratically chosen representatives are replaced with Beijing loyalists.

The Mekong River (Nikkei Asia) There are 60 million people who live along the lower Mekong River, and they were in for a rough surprise in early January when China drastically cut the discharge from the Jinghong Dam in Yunnan Province. The “tests”—which were slated to end January 24—entailed cutting the flow of the river from 1,900 cubic meters per second to just 1,000 cubic meters per second, but the final day of tests came and went and the volume is still down. That this occurred in the middle of the dry season was particularly rough for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, countries that depend on the river. China has begun to draw international ire over their management of the river, which it has built 11 large dams on.

A Digital Firewall in Myanmar (NYT) The Myanmar soldiers descended before dawn on Feb. 1, bearing rifles and wire cutters. At gunpoint, they ordered technicians at telecom operators to switch off the internet. For good measure, the soldiers snipped wires without knowing what they were severing, according to an eyewitness and a person briefed on the events. The data center raids in Yangon and other cities in Myanmar were part of a coordinated strike in which the military seized power, locked up the country’s elected leaders and took most of its internet users offline. Since the coup, the military has repeatedly shut off the internet and cut access to major social media sites, isolating a country that had only in the past few years linked to the outside world. The military regime has also floated legislation that could criminalize the mildest opinions expressed online. So far, the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, has depended on cruder forms of control to restrict the flow of information. But the army seems serious about setting up a digital fence to more aggressively filter what people see and do online. Such a comprehensive firewall may also exact a heavy price: The internet outages since the coup have paralyzed a struggling economy. Longer disruptions will damage local business interests and foreign investor confidence as well as the military’s own vast business interests.

Iraq’s struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit (AP) Nasser Banyameen speaks about his hometown of Qaraqosh in the historical heartland of Iraqi Christianity with nostalgia. Before Islamic State group fighters swept through the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq. Before the militants shattered his sense of peace. Before panicked relatives and neighbors fled, some never to return. Iraq’s Christian communities in the area were dealt a severe blow when they were scattered by the IS onslaught in 2014, further shrinking the country’s already dwindling Christian population. Many hope their struggle to endure will get a boost from a historic visit by Pope Francis planned in March. Among the places on his itinerary is Qaraqosh, where this week Vatican and Iraqi flags fluttered from light poles, some adorned with the pope’s image. Francis’ visit, his first foreign trip since the coronavirus pandemic and the first ever by a pope to Iraq, is a sign that “You’re not alone,” said Monsignor Segundo Tejado Muñoz, the undersecretary of the Vatican’s development office. “There’s someone who is thinking of you, who is with you. And these signs are so important. So important.”

Syria’s economic woes (NYT) In a private meeting with pro-government journalists, President Bashar al-Assad was asked about Syria’s economic meltdown: the currency collapse that has gutted salaries, the skyrocketing prices for basic goods and the chronic shortages of fuel and bread. “I know,” he said, according to two people with knowledge of the discussion. “I know.” But he offered no concrete steps to stem the crisis beyond floating this idea: Television channels should cancel cooking shows so as not to taunt Syrians with images of unattainable food. As the 10-year anniversary of Syria’s civil war looms, Mr. al-Assad’s most immediate threats are not the rebel factions and foreign powers that still control large swaths of the country. Instead, it is the crushing economic crisis that has hobbled the reconstruction of destroyed cities, impoverished the population and left a growing number of Syrians struggling to get enough food. Food prices have more than doubled in the last year. The World Food Program warned this month that 60 percent of Syrians, or 12.4 million people, were at risk of going hungry, the highest number ever recorded.

The Deadliest Middle East Construction Project Since The Pyramids (The Guardian) On December 2, 2010, FIFA announced that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup —- a first for a Middle East nation. Over the next ten years, thousands of migrant laborers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka came to Qatar to work on the elaborate preparations for the world’s biggest football tournament. Sadly, during that period at least 6,500 of those workers died, according to an analysis by the Guardian. The findings were compiled from government sources, and mean that an average of 12 migrant workers from the five South Asian nations have died each week since the announcement was made. The total death toll is significantly higher because the figures don’t include deaths from other countries like the Philippines and Kenya that send large numbers of workers to Qatar. Also not included are deaths occurring in the final months of 2020. More deaths have undoubtedly occurred since preparations for the 2022 tournament continue.

The value of housework (Foreign Policy) In a landmark ruling, a Beijing divorce court has ordered a man to pay his wife for five years of unpaid housework during their marriage. The award does not amount to much, roughly $1,100 dollars per year, but marks a new era in Chinese divorce law after the government introduced a new civil code. Under the new code, an aggrieved spouse is entitled to seek compensation if they shouldered more domestic responsibilities—with no prenuptial agreement necessary. The case follows a similar one in Argentina in 2019, when a divorce court ordered a husband to pay his wife of 27 years $179,000 in recognition of her unpaid domestic work. According to Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) figures, Chinese women spend roughly four hours per day on unpaid work—with their U.S. counterparts clocking in nearly the same amount. American men are closer to closing the gap than Chinese men, however. American men spending about 2.5 hours per day on unpaid labor, while Chinese men spend just 1.6 hours.

[wack-ashimself]

israel is evil...

they believe they are superior to Palestinians....but...

Sometimes I think Palestine is a cover up.

By two means:

1-The middle east historically has some of the oldest human made artifacts. Knowledge IS power, and controlling the truth to the past (or outright destroying it) CAN lead billions to believe anything you tell them...which is not a good thing.

2-What better way to hide the fact your are killing MILLIONS (directly and indirectly thru war, CIA operations, controlling countries in secret, to businesses alike, like nestle using slave labor and stealing water) ALL OVER THE PLANET then by making sure EVERYONE focuses on Israel: World war 2 wasn't too far away, and it involves Jewish people so the scar is still slightly recent, but then make THEM the bad guys as zionists (which is a word NO ONE says). Like again, history controls the narrative, and war is a big part of history...so make a complex issue so layered and controversial, WHILE giving the people oppressed in the last big war billions WHILE letting them have nukes WHILE letting them kill babies and OPENLY LAUGHING ABOUT IT....you got one of the biggest stories of the past 200 years.

and as always: love Jewish people, fuck all zionist scum. (and if you do not know zionist=anyone who supports israel & what they are doing to Palestine. They fucking destroy buildings people are living in! Some people want to argue you HAVE to be Jewish to be a zionist, but I find they are...associated, not in stone. Especially cuz there is a ton of Jewish people who fucking hate israel. There was a huge march in NY not too long ago).

What’s fucked up is america has the most war crimes to date (of current regimes), but if you speak out against america you are anti america. Maybe I am anti your broken version of it; you’re doing EVERYTHING FUCKING WRONG and it kills billions. I am anti corporations. Pro worker owned business. All utilities to be self sustaining and localized. Anti banking and wall street. You can’’t create money from NOTHING! Anti federal reserve, CIA, FBI, most cops. Anti NSA, UNPAID DATA COLLECTIONS (you pay us, or fuck off with even my birth date)...pro basics of survival for everyone. We have people rich enough to save the world TWICE but don’t even attempt to once. Because they want to CONTROL it, not save it.ps-fuck capitalism. We are born of a shared planet, but less than 1000 OWN most of it? WTF?! That’s a stupid fucking plan.

[crazycoke-addict]

Why Demi Lovato is problematic

First of all, I just wanna is that I actually did loved Demi Lovato, so I’m not a hater or made this thread out of pettiness. As I grew, I have realised that going to Israel isn’t only problematic thing she has done.

Demi Lovato talks about she’s a proud feminist but does she even know feminism means. In a cosmopolitan interview, demi says that she was feminism before it was cool. She went on to tweet “#womenagainstfeminism because I am not a victim”. 

The problem with this is Feminism has been around since the suffrage movement, so it’s not a trend but Demi is making it out like it is. Nobody is claiming the word feminism because it’s for everyone. She’s like those hipsters who says “I was a feminist before it was cool”.

I think Demi uses feminism when it only benefits to her and I’ll give you a few examples to back up my opinion. First being when Zendaya had a doll made for her in which the doll is wearing dreadlocks. However Demi decided to tweet to barbie asking them to do a curvy doll. 

Demi is right that there need to be curvy dolls for girls who aren’t skinny to feel good about themselves. But racial diversity is important. Not only was this Zendaya’s big moment, it was also important for the black community to see a doll wearing a natural hairstyle. The other example is the whole Taylor Swift and Taylor gets bring up two times by the way. When Kesha accused Dr Luke of sexual and emotional abuse, Taylor was one of the people whom support her in silent by donating her money to help her out with the trail against him. Well Demi Heard about it and was not happy about it. Demi went on this twitter that Taylor should’ve spoken out in public to show her support. Even though speaking out is a good thing, you still need to prove your serious about this physically and that’s what Taylor did.

Taylor made an essay explaining she never had any ownership to her own music and how big machine records sold her music to scooter braun. Demi was one of the people who defended Braun by replying to Todrick Hall’s Instagram post in which he states that Scooter Braun was evil.

Demi explains how Scooter Braun isn’t homophobic because he was nice to her but that’s not how it works. She also shouldn’t compare her experience to todrick hall’s experience. Demi is a Mexican descent bisexual but I don’t think she has experienced racism nor homophobia. Demi is all about feminism when it benefits her and when Taylor Swift is mentioned. In 2018, Demi was doing a Q&A on twitter and somebody asked her what was the funniest prank she ever made.

Demi quote tweeted by saying she hired a prostitute to surprise her friend Max, the prostitute grabbed Max’s area without permission in which he jumped in surprise.

Although max said that he thought it was funny. My problem with this is why would you post something like this. Whether or not,it was supposed to be a prank, it was still sexual assault overall. Demi even tried to justify her actions which makes it even worse. 

Most recent one is being her visiting Israel. Demi posted a picture explaining how she went to Israel for spiritual guidance and show she wanted to visit places that the bible mentions. 

Israel is the last place if you want to go to and even if you do make a post mentioning Israel, can you at least Palestine. There has been a war conflict going on between Israel and Palestine. Many believe that the two countries are fighting over a one piece land when that is actually false. It’s actually about the conflict over territory between a nation-State, Israel which is one of the world’s most powerful and well-funded militaries, And indigenous population of Palestinians that has been occupied, displaced and exiled for decades. (please read “Israel-Palestine conflict 101″ for more information). According to Human Rights watch, Israel forces fired tear gas towards Palestinian demonstrators near the fences separating Gaza demonstrators and Israel. Between March 30 and November 19, security forces killed 189 Palestinian demonstrators, including 31 children And 3 medical workers and wounded more than 5,800 with live fire. 

When people started calling Demi out and even tried to educate her. Demi got defensive to the point where she was being arrogant. She even said voiced her opinion about not choosing a side. 

This similar to when Selena Gomez was called out for not speaking out about black lives matter and Selena replied by saying she didn’t care about two sides. This is a problem because you need to care about both sides and you need to make sure you on the right side. Demi made an apology note by saying she didn’t knew about the history but it’s been alleged that she was paid $150K go to Israel. She has even turned off comments because people were mentioning Palestine, showing her ignorance side. she later took down the story too.

Demi seem to have a hard time realise that sometimes her actions can harm people. There has been a pattern than whenever she gets called out, she gets do defensive and has bring up irrelevant things to the conversation.

[candy--heart]

If we nominate a candidate plagued by a litany of disqualifying issues, Trump will win. We can’t make that mistake again.

---- ---- ----

JOE BIDEN

has been personally involved in nearly every bad policy decision of the last 50 years. Currently coasting on name recognition and association with Obama, he can only go down from here as people realize he is more comparable to Trump than he is to anyone else. With all the negatives of Hillary’s failed campaign but none of the positives, he would almost surely see us lose the general election again. If you love your grandchildren at all please do not vote for Biden.

TOP 5 HIGHLIGHTS:

Led the fight against desegregating schools even years after it had been proven a success and defended by Republicans [Expanded 7/6]

Voted for the disastrous Iraq War, then escalated it, then lied about it, still says he’d “do it again,” and just hired a foreign policy advisor who helped Bush orchestrate the war before joining a lobbying firm for the military-industrial complex [Expanded 8/13, 8/29, 9/6]

Wrote the racist Crime Bill that intentionally led to record-breaking mass incarceration, positioning himself to the right of even Reagan and Bush

Opposed Roe v Wade and voted to allow states to overturn it like they are now, worked to undermine the ACA’s coverage of birth control, does “not view abortion as a choice and a right” and still opposed federal funding for it multiple times including during this election

Long history of creepily/patronizingly groping/sniffing/kissing/grabbing/condescending women and young girls just so many times, even including intimidation and continuing even now after his non-apology [Expanded 10/14, 10/29, 11/9]

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL:

Racist comments like this and this, and fondness towards if not impassioned support for so many of the worst racists and segregationists like this whom he chose to work with, as well as Republicans like George Bush, Dick Cheney, Mike Pence, and Jeb Bush. Generally has no understanding of racism in America [Expanded 7/27, 8/8, 9/13]

As part of his crusade against desegregating schools he was the only member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to block two black appointees to the Department of Justice

Has lied about marching in the Civil Rights movement multiple times, and seems to lie about attending an HBCU [Expanded 8/31, 10/29]

Horrible treatment of Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas hearing

Supports cutting Social Security and Medicare and raising the retirement age on multiple occasions, backing Paul Ryan’s efforts to do so, while voting to gut welfare

Led the disastrous War on Drugs, and somehow still opposes cannabis legalization (while simultaneously trying to destroy the growing industry by handing it over to the Big Pharma), yet two of his children escaped consequences for drug use [Expanded 8/31]

Pushed to expand death penalty, even to those on drug charges

Opposes Medicare for All while he and his campaign lie about it what it would entail, and wants to bring back penalizing those who can’t afford to pay for private insurance. He continues to praise Big Pharma to his ultra-wealthy donors and is the only candidate to refuse to meet with disabled healthcare activist Ady Barkan [Expanded 7/6, 7/27, 9/21, 10/14]

Originally claimed he “doesn’t have time” to propose his own healthcare plan, then proposed one that would kill 125,000 Americans and leave over 10 million uninsured (which he’s lied about) in a rollout sponsored by Big Pharma (even his own wife admits he’s not good on healthcare, and he’s let slip the true reality of his proposal) [Expanded 7/6, 7/27, 8/19, 8/26, 10/14]

Personally fought to make cancer medication unaffordable for patients in developing nations [Added 10/14]

Opposed equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community even very recently, only eventually coming around just 7 short years ago, and is still awkward at best on the issue [Expanded 9/22, 10/14]

Supported the NRA in passing massive anti-gun control legislation, and has blamed videos games for mass shootings multiple times [Expanded 8/5]

Opposes meaningful action on the climate crisis like the Green New Deal, instead pursuing the “middle ground” while his campaign attacks publications for accurately reporting this

He’s rated D- by Greenpeace in part because he supports fracking, oil and gas exportation, and the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure, and his campaign shot down the proposed climate debate and skipped MSNBC’s climate forum [Added 8/23, Expanded 9/6, 9/16]

Plagiarized fossil fuel groups’ language in his woefully inadequate climate crisis plan after his climate advisor made $1 million from one natural gas company alone. He then made uncomfortable physical contact with and rudely dismissed a young woman who asked him about this [Expanded 10/14]

Broke his own pledge to not accept fossil fuel money by attending a fundraiser hosted by his former advisor and current oil corporation co-founder/owner Andrew Goldman, and lied about it twice [Added 9/6, Clarified/Expanded 9/7, 10/14]

Voted to expand deportations and indefinite detention for immigrants multiple times and opposed amnesty for immigrants and supports requiring them to learn English

As VP his administration deported more people than any other in American history, deporting people at a higher rate than Trump’s administration even according to ICE themselves, and expanding the anti-immigrant system Trump now uses by 3,600%. He still refuses to answer for this and has gone as far as calling the police on immigration activists for passing out flyers [Expanded 7/9, 10/14]

As VP his administration built the inhumane concentration camps in which children separated from their families are still illegally caged, beginning the practice which Trump has now continued and resulting in the ongoing lawsuit claiming that ICE is violating the Flores Agreement by not providing basics like toothpaste and soap [Added 7/9]

Voted to build border walls and supported sending military to the border long before Trump

Voted to ban immigrants with HIV, locking Haitian refugees up in Guantanamo Bay

Spearheaded the Alliance for Prosperity which increased deportations, border militarization, privatization, and oil pipelines for American exploitation while worsening the refugee crisis

Architected Plan Colombia, internationalizing the War On Drugs resulting in mass death, displacement, and destruction of food crops, while opening the country to US business interests

Sides with Trump in backing right-wing coup in Venezuela

Voted to authorize invasion of the Netherlands if an American is tried for war crimes by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, refusal to participate in UN peacekeeping unless the US obtains immunity, and withdrawal of aid to countries that ratify ICC treaty

Supports Israel’s right-wing regime and apartheid in Palestine purely to protect US interests. A self-described Zionist, he blames Palestinians for multiple US-backed Israeli massacres, including an attack that killed 9 peace activists. Calls BDS “anti-semitic” and has a 100% rating from AIPAC [Expanded 7/4]

Recklessly threatens nuclear war with North Korea

Sided with banks to overturn Glass-Steagall and deregulate, leading to financial crisis, and has dishonestly tried to take credit for the formation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau despite actually helping strip state consumer protection [Expanded 10/18]

Defends billionaires hoarding wealth and promises to ensure it keeps happening at the expense of everyone else while voting to slash the top income tax rate and cripple the estate tax, resulting in $83 billion lost annually

Led the disastrous Bankruptcy Bill resulting in increased debt and specifically fought to make student loan debt more difficult to live with before dismissing the plight of Millennials who are now the most indebted generation ever [Expanded 8/26]

Lied about his own student debt multiple times, his own scholarship, and his own academic achievements, and has not proposed any plans to make public college tuition free or to abolish student debt [Added 8/26]

Voted against abolishing the electoral college that undemocratically elected Bush and Trump

Took $200,000 to help a Republican beat a Democrat to Congress despite being anti-abortion

Voted against enhancing labor protection enforcements

Voted for NAFTA, supports TPP, is generally to the right of Trump on trade, and argued against the prediction that China would become an economic competitor [Expanded 9/13]

Works with union-busters, voted to cut union pensions, continues to snub unions, and is generally bad for workers [Expanded 10/14]

Consistently sides with special interests and corporations against antitrust regulation and voted for the first antitrust exemption since 1922

Opposes net neutrality

Driving force behind the Patriot Act, supports warrantless wiretaps / mass surveillance while his son partially owns the Chinese government’s Islamophobic mass surveillance system [Edited 9/13]

Personally tried to prevent Ecuador from providing asylum for Edward Snowden

Says the CIA torture report is not a “black stain on this country” but a “badge of honor”

Worsened the opioid epidemic and made it harder to treat

Wants to make up reasons to jail anyone associated with a rave and literally bulldoze it down while his RAVE legislation lets kids die from preventable drug overdoses

Was the only senator to vote against expanding a child care tax credit [Added 7/29]

Has questionable electability based on receiving less than 0.22% in 3 previous Democratic primary elections. He has a history of insulting voters and is currently skipping major party events, hiding from the press, and holding only between a quarter and half as many public events as his rivals

Has questionable electability based on his infamous propensity for awkward “gaffes,” including many, many, many, many, many, many, many in this election cycle alone, to the point where he is literally unable to campaign [Added 8/9, Expanded 8/11, 8/13, 8/15, 8/23, 8/24, 9/2, 9/17, 10/14]

Plagiarized law school papers and campaign speeches (in which he lied about having coal miner roots), which ended his 1988 presidential run

His anti-progressive campaign surrogate Ed Rendell is a sexist, pro-fracking, pro-AIPAC Fox News supporter who approved bombing a black neighborhood in Philadelphia, killing 5 children and 6 adults [Added 6/26]

Used Charlottesville as a prop in his campaign video despite never even visiting once

Lied about getting shot down in Iraq and experiences in Afghanistan [Added 8/31]

Has no plan to reform the court system or counter its Republican takeover, has proposed re-nominating the failed Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, a nearly 70 year-old “moderate” who has opposed voting rights and human rights for Guantanamo detainees, and is fine with Kavanaugh remaining on the Supreme Court for life [Added 7/6, Expanded 9/16]

Is still openly courting Republican billionaires for donations, including John Catsimatidis, who’s compared taxing the wealthy to Nazi persecution of Jews

Endorsed by Alan Dershowitz, the millionaire Trump supporter accused of taking part in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex ring, after Biden’s son ensured a similar billionaire pedophile avoided prison after raping his own toddler

Voted to deregulate the credit card industry while a credit card company was his top donor from 1989–2000 and then hired his son

His administration awarded a $1.5 billion contract to his brother’s construction firm despite his brother having no prior residential construction experience

Has a long history of generally Trump-esque nepotism that he refuses to address [Added 10/14]

Broke his own pledge to take over 2x more money than Trump from lobbyists and special interests, including at least 13 billionaires, has the same general donor base as Trump, and very openly partakes in general corruption [Expanded 8/5, 8/11, 8/23, 10/14]

Flip-flopped on his initial opposition to using Super PACs and established one with military industrial complex and private healthcare lobbyists, even after admitting, “You shouldn’t accept any money from a Super PAC, because people can’t possibly trust you” just one year prior [Added 10/25]

His Senate chief of staff is now running Fox News’ lobbying operation [Added 10/14]

Hasn’t released any tax returns since 2015, which people seem to care about now [On 7/9 he released them to no media attention, revealing an $11 million increase in income in his first year out of office alone]

Seems to have found a loophole to avoid paying his interns [Added 7/12]

Unconvincingly co-opted Bernie’s education plan and slogan, and a Biden PAC plagiarized Kamala Harris’ slogan for its name

Despite his supposed frontrunner status he is a distant 5th in individual donors, raising questions of electability [Added 10/14]

“A lot of us sit around thinking up ways to vote conservative just so we don’t come out with a liberal rating. I’m really quite conservative…”

Meghan and the McCain family and Strom Thurmond have endorsed him, and Trump has donated to him

The worst part? He’s still not sorry for any of this (but wants a black man to apologize to him)

[nataliesnews]

WATCH THIS AMAZING VIDEO ABOUT HOW A DRONE SAVES A CHICK/  It was all over our news but Vernon sent it to me to send on to all of you.

The second is just for those of you who are sick of having their temperatures taken

   But the story of what happened to a Palestinian worker is not political but shows how low people are  prepared to go when they know that they are dealing with someone who has protection.  A man,  a Palestinian we know from the West Bank  was offered  two days of work by an Israeli in Jerusalem. But when he came to carry out the work the man told him that he had no money to pay him and was therefore cancelling. The man asked him at least to pay his travel expenses and he refused. My friend Shlomit phoned the man who first claimed that the man could not have come to his house as all the checkpoint are closed which is nonsense and in that case why had he offered to employ him. Then he claimed that the man had no valid work permit...again so why offer to employ him. Also not true as the man works in  Jerusalem. All lies which shows whom we were dealing with. Shlomit told him exactly what she thought of him and though neither of us are religious told him that as the High Holidays and Yom Kippur are shortly upon us  he should think of the morality of his actions

 This is a project my friend Ellen is helping with. I wish I could too. And again with all the criticism of Rivlin this does show the difference between he and Netanyahu. How come we never see pictures of the latter’s sons helping out anywhere?

“The day Israel’s president showed up to help me feed pandemic poor

Ruby Rivlin came to sort and pack produce for needy families and to learn more about today's food security challenges. That's true leadership

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-day-israels-president-showed-up-to-help-me-feed-pandemic-poor/”

I don’t know if I wrote about this before but this is what I put on facebook:

I am sure my eyes must have deceived me but this evening on Amnon Levy did I see the young Netanyahu making fun of the demonstrators at Balfour in what was obviously a staged performance. His father, mother, brother and about 12 others all sitting and laughing at his brilliant stand up performance and not one of them with a mask on or practicing social distancing???? I am sure that I could not have seen such absolute disregard of corona rules. Not when the government is again talking about a lockdown.

It was so obviously staged it could have been an advert for a theatre performance. Both their performances and that of Trump I think will maybe in future years be thought to have been satirical shows and not what really happened. Balfour, Trump and Covid…..this is really what is happening? Maybe I will wake up to find myself in a psychiatric hospital.

Later: I think the last two appearances of the Balfours must have been too much even for their own advisors because this morning a post appeared on facebook…not I am not a friend of his but people share…..of the village idiot, Yair, saying that he is not as bad as he is painted….or rather as he posts…..and he wants to meet with 10 leaders of the protests to discuss what is happening, Obviously it is so sensibly written it could not have been by him but by his father’s advisors. We will see…and read.

·       I am just listening to a detective story on Audible. In the beginning I thought it must have  been  written much in the past and then to my surprise I found it was written in 2020. It is written  as if after the first world war….just to remind you…the war to end all wars…. I know historical novels and such as have been written about Josephine Tey about the murder of the princes in the tower when a modern day detective  tries to solve the murder. But this is different. All the characters are from that moment in time. The amount of research that must have gone into A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd and it invokes a world which is long gone. When cars could not go over rough ground, when communication was not as easy as lifting a cell phone.  At a time when even to copy a photo was a problem unless you had the negative. Sometimes very funny when one woman is asked if she can think of any woman in the village who would be capable of murdering with a knife and she gives the names of three women who can butcher a pig or a sheep. The reading is also very old time. Dry and no histrionics.

·       I was on a walk of women….”Women of the world unite”. Someone said to me it is a march of love.  It turned out not to be organized by Women make peace…and I am not still not sure who DID organize it as I never managed to get a reply from anyone who had sent it to me. It did not seem political but was all for love. Many women, many children and in the beginning when I was waiting for the first group to arrive I thought even that it might have been something in support of Netanyahua. It was very much a happening. These were some of the signs

·        

“I am cooking for you a new reality” I asked her if she did not think we had enough  of a ztimas

I

I was not sure who or what these women represented and I never got near enough to ask them but someone said that it was in response to one of Bibi’s being asked why there were no women on one of his committees about he Corona and he said that that was a red light and what he meant by that is anyone’s guess because at that stage I really did not feel like listening to anything more about the Balfour Baron.

And then there was a woman with these signs saying yes to peace, yes to life, yes to equality amongst other things which was about as near to be being political as this went.  I left before the speeches began.

And in case this made you too cheerful here is some Netanyahus in a nutshell…..come to think of it that last word is so descriptive and I didn’t even mean a pun

Yair Netanyahu: My father is amused by the ‘aliens’ protesting against him

PM's son clarifies he was referring to costumed demonstrators; organizers of rallies say that to the Netanyahus 'we are not even human'

https://www.timesofisrael.com/yair-netanyahu-my-father-is-amused-by-the-aliens-protesting-against-him/

 Comptroller slams delays, waste in prime minister’s office-residence project

Plan has thrown valuable resources 'down the drain' as planners spent years working from outdated info; with costs estimated to have doubled, alternative location being considered

https://www.timesofisrael.com/comptroller-slams-delays-waste-in-prime-ministers-office-residence-project/

 Police said to place 24‎-hour security around Netanyahu prosecutor over threats

Days after man indicted for threats against son of Deputy State Attorney Liat Ben-Ari, the lead attorney in criminal cases against the PM, report says threats have escalated

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-said-to-place-24‎-hour-security-around-netanyahu-prosecutor-over-threats/

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-netanyahu-s-office-puts-a-hold-on-lavish-prime-ministerial-aircraft-project-

 PM's office halts test flights of Israeli 'Air Force 1' plane

Flight tests for the plane to be used by Israel's prime minister and president during their trips abroad suspended to avoid criticism over cost of hundreds of millions of dollars