#Jack Lew

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Brett Murphy at ProPublica:

In early November, a small group of senior U.S. human rights diplomats met with a top official in President Joe Biden’s State Department to make one final, emphatic plea: We must keep our word. Weeks before, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the administration delivered their most explicit ultimatum yet to Israel, demanding the Israel Defense Forces allow hundreds more trucksloads of food and medicine into Gaza every day — or else. American law and Biden’s own policies prohibit arms sales to countries that restrict humanitarian aid. Israel had 30 days to comply. In the month that followed, the IDF was accused of roundly defying the U.S., its most important ally. The Israeli military tightened its grip, continued to restrict desperately needed aid trucks and displaced 100,000 Palestinians from North Gaza, humanitarian groups found, exacerbating what was already a dire crisis “to its worst point since the war began.”

Several attendees at the November meeting — officials who help lead the State Department’s efforts to promote racial equity, religious freedom and other high-minded principles of democracy — said the United States’ international credibility had been severely damaged by Biden’s unstinting support of Israel. If there was ever a time to hold Israel accountable, one ambassador at the meeting told Tom Sullivan, the State Department’s counselor and a senior policy adviser to Blinken, it was now. But the decision had already been made. Sullivan said the deadline would likely pass without action and Biden would continue sending shipments of bombs uninterrupted, according to two people who were in the meeting. Those in the room deflated. “Don’t our law, policy and morals demand it?” an attendee told me later, reflecting on the decision to once again capitulate. “What is the rationale of this approach? There is no explanation they can articulate.” Soon after, when the 30-day deadline was up, Blinken made it official and said that Israelis had begun implementing most of the steps he had laid out in his letter — all thanks to the pressure the U.S. had applied.

That choice was immediately called into question. On Nov. 14, a U.N. committee said that Israel’s methods in Gaza, including its use of starvation as a weapon, was “consistent with genocide.” Amnesty International went further and concluded a genocide was underway. The International Criminal Court also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for the war crime of deliberately starving civilians, among other allegations. (The U.S. and Israeli governments have rejected the genocide determination as well as the warrants.) The October red line was the last one Biden laid down, but it wasn’t the first. His administration issued multiple threats, warnings and admonishments to Israel about its conduct after Oct. 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Government officials worry Biden’s record of empty threats have given the Israelis a sense of impunity. Trump, who has made a raft of pro-Israel nominations, made it clear he wanted the war in Gaza to end before he took office and threatened that “all hell will break out” if Hamas did not release its hostages by then. On Wednesday, after months of negotiations, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire deal. While it will become clear over the next days and months exactly what the contours of the agreement are, why it happened now and who deserves the most credit, it’s plausible that Trump’s imminent ascension to the White House was its own form of a red line. Early reports suggest the deal looks similar to what has been on the table for months, raising the possibility that if the Biden administration had followed through on its tough words, a deal could have been reached earlier, saving lives.

[...] Biden’s warnings over the past year have also been explicit. Last spring, the president vowed to stop supplying offensive bombs to Israel if it launched a major invasion into the southern city of Rafah. He also told Netanyahu the U.S. was going to rethink support for the war unless he took new steps to protect civilians and aid workers after the IDF blew up a World Central Kitchen caravan. And Blinken signaled that he would blacklist a notorious IDF unit for the death of a Palestinian-American in the West Bank if the soldiers involved were not brought to justice. Time and again, Israel crossed the Biden administration’s red lines without changing course in a meaningful way, according to interviews with government officials and outside experts. Each time, the U.S. yielded and continued to send Israel’s military deadly weapons of war, approving more than $17.9 billion in military assistance since late 2023, by some estimates. The State Department recently told Congress about another $8 billion proposed deal to sell Israel munitions and artillery shells. [...]

Throughout the contentious year inside the State Department, senior leaders repeatedly disregarded their own experts. They cracked down on leaks by threatening criminal investigations and classifying material that was critical of Israel. Some of the agency’s top Middle East diplomats complained in private that they were sidelined by Biden’s National Security Council. The council also distributed a list of banned phrases, including any version of “State of Palestine” that didn’t have the word “future” first. Two human rights officials said they were prevented from pursuing evidence of abuses in Gaza and the West Bank. The State Department did not make Blinken available for an interview, but the agency’s top spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said in a statement that Blinken welcomes internal dissent and has incorporated it into his policymaking. “The Department continues to encourage individuals to make their opinions known through appropriate channels,” he added. Miller denied that the agency has classified material for any reason other than national security.

Over the past year, reports have documented physical and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons, using Palestinians as human shields and razing residential buildings and hospitals. At one point early in the conflict, UNICEF said more than 10 children required amputations every day on average. Israeli soldiers have videotaped themselves burning food supplies and ransacking homes. One IDF group reportedly said, “Our job is to flatten Gaza.” Israel’s defenders, including those on the National Security Council, acknowledge the devastating human toll but contend that American arms have helped Israel advance western interests in the region and protect itself from other enemies. Indeed, Netanyahu has significantly diminished Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, killing many of the groups’ leaders. Then Iran’s “axis of resistance” received its most consequential blow late last year when rebel groups ousted Assad from Syria. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told the Times of Israel he worried that a generation of young Americans will harbor anti-Israel sentiments into the future. He said he wished that Israel had done a better job at communicating how carefully it undertook combat decisions and calling attention to its humanitarian successes to counter a narrative in the American press that he considers biased. [...] The repercussions for the United States and the region will play out for years. Protests have erupted outside the American embassies in Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, while polls show Arab Americans grew increasingly hostile to their own government stateside. Russia, before its black eye in Syria, and China have both sought to capitalize by entering business and defense deals with Arab nations. By the summer, State Department analysts in the Middle East sent cables to Washington expressing concerns that the IDF’s conduct would only inflame tensions in the West Bank and galvanize young Palestinians to take up arms against Israel. Intelligence officials warn that terrorist groups are recruiting on the anti-American sentiment throughout the region, which they say is at its highest levels in years. The Israeli government did not answer detailed questions, but a spokesperson for the embassy in Washington, D.C., broadly defended Israel’s relationship with the U.S., “two allies who have been working together to push back against extremist, destabilizing actors.” Israel is a country of laws, the spokesperson added, and its actions over the past 15 months “benefit the interests of the free world and the United States, creating an opportunity for a better future for the Middle East amid the tragedy of the war started by Hamas.” Next week, Trump will inherit a demoralized State Department, part of the federal bureaucracy from which he has pledged to cull disloyal employees. Grappling with the near-daily images of carnage in Gaza, many across the U.S. government have become disenchanted with the lofty ideas they thought they represented.

[...] In late May, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its assault on the city, citing the Geneva Conventions. Behind the scenes, State Department lawyers scrambled to come up with a legal basis on which Israel could continue smaller attacks in Rafah. “There is room to argue that more scaled back/targeted operations, combined with better humanitarian efforts, would not meet that threshold,” the lawyers said in a May 24 email. While it’s not unreasonable for government lawyers to defend a close ally, critics say the cable illustrates the extreme deference the U.S. affords Israel. [...] There are other likely reasons for Biden’s unwillingness to impose any realistic limitations on Israel’s use of American weaponry since Oct. 7. For one, his career-long affinity for Israel — its security, people and the idea of a friendly democracy in the Middle East — is shared by many of the most powerful people in the country. (“If this Capitol crumbles to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid — I don’t even call it aid, our cooperation — with Israel,” Nancy Pelosi said in 2018, weeks before resuming her role as House speaker.) That rationale aligned with the Democrats’ political goals during an election when they were wary of taking risks and upsetting large portions of the electorate, including the immensely powerful Israel lobby. [...] Even the State Department’s own public human rights reports acknowledge widespread allegations of abuse in Israeli prisons. Citing nonprofits, prisoner testimony and media reports, the agency wrote last year that “detainees held by Israel were subjected to physical and sexual violence, threats, intimidation, severely restricted access to food and water.”

ProPublica wrote a solid piece on how the State Department under Antony Blinken allowed Israel Apartheid State get away with its genocide campaign in Gaza.

Read the full story at ProPublica.

[tomorrowusa]

In addition to the clown car in the House of Representatives, certain Senate Republicans like Ted "Cancún" Cruz and Tommy Tuberville are creating bottlenecks for appointments related to national security and foreign relations. One of the appointments caught in that bottleneck is former Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew who has been nominated as ambassador to Israel.

Senate Democrats are pushing aggressively for quick confirmation of Jack Lew as ambassador to Israel after the attack by Hamas on Saturday. Lew was nominated in early September. But the attack, widely condemned by both parties and across the ideological spectrum, will kick the effort into high gear. It will jump start a broader debate over aid to Israel in an already chaotic fall. [ ... ] Lawmakers are also trying to supply aid to Ukraine after leaving it out of the last spending bill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that ”failure to support friends under attack — in Kyiv or Tel Aviv — will only embolden the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and fellow authoritarians.” [ ... ] Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has previously put holds on some Biden administration nominees for posts related to the Middle East, raising questions about how quickly Lew could move through the Senate. A spokesperson on Saturday said Cruz has not yet met with Lew but indicated deep concerns about administration nominees related to Israel. [ ... ] Biden administration officials also are eager to see Lew confirmed in light of the Saturday’s attacks in Israel. In a conference call Saturday, one senior official noted that he has yet to be confirmed. “Obviously it would be great to have him on the ground in Israel,” the official said. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is preventing many military promotions from a quick vote in protest over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. “This is serious business. If he wants to change healthcare policy at DOD, he can introduce a bill. But he cannot undermine our ability to help our allies and partners,” Schatz said on Saturday.

Tommy Tuberville is a nitwit trying to impress anti-abortion extremists back in Alabama by preventing Senate confirmation for officers in the US Armed Forces. Lyin' Ted Cruz is up for re-election in 2024 and is eager to display his hardline anti-Biden credentials in Texas by preventing the US embassy in Israel from having an ambassador at a crucial time.

If you live in Alabama or Texas, contact Tuberville or Cruz and tell them to quit making life easy for America's enemies and international terrorists.

U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators

[plitnick]

Biden won’t let Israel’s rejection of a Palestinian state interfere with his delusions

While Joe Biden tries to save the illusion of a two-state solution, Israeli leaders from Benjamin Netanyahu to Benny Gantz, and from Bezalel Smotrich to Isaac Herzog all reaffirm that there is no hope for a two-state solution. Some say never, some say not any time soon, but they are all agreed on opposing any serious settlement with the Palestinians. But does that stop Biden? Nope. I look into it…

[thejewishlink]

Religious Jew Jack Lew Expected To Be Nominated Ambassador To Israel

Former US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, a religious Jew, has emerged as the leading candidate for the next US Ambassador to Israel, according to Israeli journalist Barak Ravid. Lew, who has previously served as a cabinet member under Presidents Clinton and Obama and acted as White House chief of staff during the Obama era, has reportedly been pushing for the position, and he is the only candidate…

[docgold13]

Batman in The Golden Age

Paper cut-outs in the styles of Bob Kane; Jerry Robinson; Dick Sprang ; Lew Sayre Schwartz; Sheldon Moldoff; Jim Mooney; Jack Burnly; and Win Mortimer

[emma-ofnormandy]

"But the Kiwi fighting men have been sent north, so the camp's empty. If you need any help, there isn't any." SAS: Rogue Heroes S1E3

[pedroam-bang]

SAS Rogue Heroes (2022)

[celestite-caroline]

kaffedansen

[fairyheart]

I’ve been thinking about jack mercer from four brothers nonstop lately, he’s so cute 🥰

[cloudyfacewithjam]

SAS Rogue Heroes - Season 1 Episode 4

[adamsc0rpse]

JOSH HELMAN IN JACK REACHER !! 😍🙏

[girlactionfigure]

🇮🇱 🇺🇸 US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew confirms to the Conference of Presidents in Jerusalem that the US does not intend to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state and fully supports Israel’s war against Gaza. 

"There cannot be a militarized Palestinian State, but there must be a vision for a demilitarized Palestinian State,” the ambassador declared.

[k-wame]

2022 • SAS: Rogue Heroes • S1·EP2 • dir. Tom Shankland

[wearebackbagels]

Spies/assasins au

(The cathegories are loosely based on the one used in Traveller combined with some categories from DnD, here is the link if you want to have the explanations for each category https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute_(role-playing_games)  it could be good for some of these tbf)

( The scale used for rating is like the pH-scale, to get out of the 1-10 shit, which means 7 is neutral, anything higher than 7 is above the norm, anything less is lower than the norm, all ratings start out on 7 and can deviate from that. )

#001 [ Zirnheld, Andre ] Sniper- ’elite’, trained combat assassin.

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: wetjobs, infiltration, impeccable aim. 

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)  

Strength x/14 [^]____7 ____

Dexterity x/14  [^] ____8____

Endurance x/14[^]____7____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____8____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____9_/_7____

Education x/14 [^]____7____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____7_/_7____

Notes: (good at keeping it silent and fast).

#003 [ Sadler, Mike ] Field ag, wheel artist, weapons/explosives specialist.

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: photographic memory, good orientetion ability, can drive any vehicle there is.

 (Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months) 

Strength x/14 [^]____7____

Endurance x/14 [^]_____6____

Dexterity x/14 [^]___9___

Intelligence x/14 [^] ___11___

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^] ___10_/_11___

Education x/14 [^]____-____

Charisma/ social standing x/14 [^]___7_/ _9____

Notes: (agent does not have a drivings licence).

 [ Berge, Georges ] Cobbler, interrogator.

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: -

(Following ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months):

Strength x/14 [^]____{8}____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____{7}____

Endurance x/14 [^]____{7}___

Intelligence x/14 [^]____8____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____-_/_-____

Education x/14 [^]____10____

Charisma/ social standing x/14 [^] ____10_/_12____

Notes: -

 [ Mansour, Eve ] Intelligence officer, case officer, grifter, field agent {former}

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: persuation, recruition of agents.

 (Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____{6}____

Endurance x/14 [^]____{6}____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____{8}_____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____13____

Wisdom/ experience x/14 [^]____12_/_11____

Education x/14 [^]____10____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____12_/_10____

Notes: (always assume agent is one step ahead of you)

[ Stirling, David ] Case officer, agent handler, interrogator, field agent {former}

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: 

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____{7}____

Endurance x/14 [^]____{8}____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____{6}____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____9____

Wisdom/ experience x/14 [^]____9_/_10____

Education x/14 [^]____5____

Charisma/ social standing x/14 [^]____13_/_11____

Notes: (not good at interrogation)

#006 [ Essner, Walter ]  Field ag, raven and infiltrator. 

Mentionalbe skills/specialities incl: multilingualism, honeypots.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____4____

Endurance x/14 [^]____5___

Dexterity x/14 [^]____9____

Intelligence x/14 [^] _____9____

Wisdom/ experience x/14 [^]____8_/_12____

Education x/14 [^]____-____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____4_/_5___

Notes: (can talk dirty in 4 different languages)

#002 [ Riley, Patrick “Pat” ] Field ag, undercover agent and disguise coordinator {occasional}

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: kidnapping, break ins, sewing.

(Results from recrution) (ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____10____

Endurance x/14 [^]____10____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____7____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____7____

Wisdom/ experience x/14 [^]____7_/_9____

Education x/14 [^]____7____

Charisma/ social standing x/14 [^]____7_/_10____

Notes: (won’t bail you out)

[ Jordan, Augustin ]  Cryptologist, handler, interrogator and field agent/assassin {former}

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: decryption, encryption.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____{7}____

Endurance x/14 [^]____{6}____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____{8}____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____10____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____8_/_8____

Education x/14 [^]____8____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____13_/_12____

Notes: (keep agent away from weaponary at all times) (caution: agent uses unorthodox methods of interrogation)

[ Lewes, Jock ]  Scientific intelligence providor, weapons coordinator, inventor of arms. 

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: explosives, very creative ways of solving problems.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____{5}____

Endurance x/14 [^]____{8}____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____{4}_____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____14____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____7_/_{7}____

Education x/14 [^]____12____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____9_/_12____

Notes: the following can not be stressed enough: agent is not allowed access to ANY chemical compounds whatsoever. (If agent offers medical attention, refuse, agent is not a trained medic and does not know the difference between a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder)

007 [ Mayne, Robert “Paddy”] Field ag, hard man, sniper, 

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: bang-and burn operations, assassinations, could kill you with a butterknife, works well under pressure, creative.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____11____

Endurance x/14 [^]____10____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____9____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____10____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____~9_/_10____

Education x/14 [^]____-____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____7_/_~12____

Notes. Difficult to work with ( is fucking crazy)

008 [ Seekings, Reginald ] Field ag, special operations agent.

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: hand to hand combat, wetjobs, break ins, good with people.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____13____

Endurance x/14 [^]____12____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____9____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____7____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____6_/_9____

Education x/14 [^]____6___

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____~6_/_10____

Notes: (WILL throw hands if deemed necessary, which agent often does)

[ Fraser, William “Bill” ]  Tech operations officer, surveillance specialist.

Specialities incl: jailbreak, ciphers.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____{5}____

Endurance x/14 [^]____{4}____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____{5}____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____12____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____-_/_-____

Education x/14 [^]____-____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____6_/_8____

Notes: (agent most likely has your IP-address as you read this, change all passwords on all platforms you use as soon as possible)

004 [ Bruckner, Herbert ] Field ag, mole, infiltrator, double agent. 

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: impersonation, manipulation, clandestine operations.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____8____

Endurance x/14 [^]____7____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____7____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____12____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____10_/_11____

Education x/14 [^]____-____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____4_/_4____

Notes: (untrustworthy) (keep any unnecessary information away from agent)

[ Kershaw, David “Dave”] Surveillance and data analyst.

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: code breaking, ciphers.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____6____

Endurance x/14 [^]____7____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____6____

Intelligence x/14 [^]_____8_____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]_____-_/_7____

Education x/14 [^]____6____

Charisma/ social standing x/14 [^]____7_/_7____

Notes: (smokes good pot)( works well with agent Fraser)

005 [ Cooper, John “Johnny” ]  Field ag, raven, plant, undercover agent.

Mentionable skills/specialities: Infiltration, honeypots {occasional}, undercover jobs.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____6____

Endurance x/14 [^]____6____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____7____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____9____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____8_/_10____

Education x/14 [^]____10____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____4_/_10____

Notes: (can sharm his way into the pants of anyone)

[ McGonigal, Eoin]  Handler, instructor and trainer of recruits, field agent {former}

Mentionable skills/specialities incl: lvl 8 aim, good with people.

(Ratings are based on results from tests made during recrution aswell as observations made within the last six(6)+ months)

Strength x/14 [^]____7____

 Endurance x/14 [^]____7____

Dexterity x/14 [^]____8____

Intelligence x/14 [^]____10____

Wisdom/experience x/14 [^]____12_/_12____

Education x/14 [^]____11____

Charisma/social standing x/14 [^]____7_/_13____

Notes:-

Actors and media.

Tom Hygreck --- Veni Vidi Vici (2017)

Tom Glynn-Carney --- Stilts (2019)

Virgile Bramly --- Kill Skills (2016)

Sofia Boutella --- Hotel Artemis (2018)

Connor Swindells --- VS (2018)

Paul Boche ---()

Jacob Ifan --- Bang (2017 -)

César Domboy --- The Walk (2015)

Alfie Allen --- John Wick (2014)

Jack O’Connell --- ‘71 (2014)

Theo Barklem-Biggs --- (?)

Stuart Campbell --- Clique (2018)

Moritz Jahn ---()

Bobby Schoefield --- Locked Down (2021)

Jacob McCarthy --- The Last Summer (2019)

Dónal Finn ---()

[abs0luteb4stard]

|| W A T C H I N G ||

[lego-asoiaf-fan-minifigs]

Members of the Winterfell guard

First row: Lew (left), Donnis (middle), and Jacks (right)

Second row: Porther (left), Heward (middle), and Wyl (right)

Third row: Varly (left) and Cayn (right)

Fourth row: Quent (left) and Wayn (right)

Here's my LEGO adaptation of alexandrokayart's Winterfell guards fanarts, linked below:

Lew, Donnis

Varly

Jacks, Porther

Cayn

Heward, Wyl

Quent, Wayn