Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features boogie-woogie piano player Pete Johnson. Enjoy!

"The money power preys on the nation in times of peace, and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes."

-- Abraham Lincoln

News and Opinion

Gaza Shows Us The Difference Between Evil Autocracies And Free Democracies

We’re always hearing international conflicts framed as a battle between Free Democracies and Evil Autocracies. What is the difference between a Free Democracy and an Evil Autocracy? Well, let’s look at the situation in Gaza to help us understand the distinction.

In Evil Autocracies the leaders commit genocide for hateful and racist reasons, whereas in Free Democracies the leaders commit genocide for noble and righteous reasons.

In Evil Autocracies the police are summoned to break up student protests in order to ensure the safety of the government, whereas in Free Democracies the police are summoned to break up student protests in order to ensure the safety of the students.

In Evil Autocracies the government monitors political speech on university campuses to suppress dissent, whereas in Free Democracies the government monitors political speech on university campuses to suppress “antisemitism”.

In Evil Autocracies the government controls the media and ensures that it only reports information which serves their interests, whereas in Free Democracies it is billionaires who do this.

In Evil Autocracies they imprison journalists who report inconvenient facts, whereas in Free Democracies they do this also, but mostly they just kill them with airstrikes.

In Evil Autocracies they massacre civilians with bullets and blades, whereas in Free Democracies they massacre civilians with military explosives and siege warfare, like civilized people.

In Evil Autocracies political speech is heavily restricted by the government, whereas in Free Democracies political speech is heavily restricted by Silicon Valley in collaboration with the government.

In Evil Autocracies they mow down disobedient civilians and bury them in mass graves, whereas in Free Democracies they mow down disobedient civilians and bury them in mass graves, and then their allies solemnly say they’re waiting for more information about these very serious allegations.

In Evil Autocracies they bomb hospitals, schools and religious centers, assassinate cultural leaders and journalists, and deliberately target civilian infrastructure in the name of inflicting death and terror, whereas in Free Democracies they bomb hospitals, schools and religious centers, assassinate cultural leaders and journalists, and deliberately target civilian infrastructure in the name of self-defense.

In Evil Autocracies they flagrantly disregard international law, whereas in Free Democracies they flagrantly disregard international law.

In Evil Autocracies they drop bombs on areas full of civilians because of genocidal bloodlust, whereas in Free Democracies they drop bombs on areas full of civilians because of “human shields”.

In Evil Autocracies you’ll get thrown in prison if you go on TV and speak out against the government, whereas in Free Democracies nobody who would speak out against the government is ever allowed to have a TV job.

In Evil Autocracies people are afraid to speak out against war crimes, injustice and oppression because they’ll be punished, whereas in Free Democracies people are afraid to speak out against war crimes, injustice and oppression because they’ll be accused of hating Jews.

In Evil Autocracies they arm terrorists with AK-47s and RPGs to help them inflict violence and suffering upon the innocent, whereas in Free Democracies they arm terrorists with war planes and 2,000-pound bombs to help them inflict violence and suffering upon the innocent.

In Evil Autocracies people are kept too brutalized and cowed to rise up against their rulers, whereas in Free Democracies people are kept too propagandized and indoctrinated to rise up against their rulers.

In Evil Autocracies the media feed the public a nonstop deluge of propaganda and people know it’s propaganda, whereas in Free Democracies the media feed the public a nonstop deluge of propaganda and people think it’s the news.

Israel Dismisses US Call To Investigate Mass Grave Discovered at Gaza Hospital

Israel has rejected a US call for an investigation into a mass grave that was discovered at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

US officials have said they want Israel to investigate the situation itself and has not backed international calls for an independent investigation. When asked by POLITICO if Israel would conduct an investigation, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said, “Investigate what?”

Shoshani said the military had already cleared itself of any wrongdoing. “We gave answers. We don’t bury people in mass graves. Not something we do,” he said.

Ray McGovern: Blinken’s Juvenile Diplomacy

US finds Israeli units committed human rights abuses before Gaza war

The US has found five units of the Israeli security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights, over incidents in the West Bank before the current Gaza war, the state department has said. ... The units found to be involved in abuses in the West Bank are mostly from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but include at least one police unit. They have not been sanctioned, however, the state department said.

Four of the units were judged to have carried out effective remedial action after the US state department shared its findings with Israel. The fifth, an ultra-orthodox military unit known as Netzah Yehuda, drawn in part from West Bank settlers, was about to be blacklisted earlier this month under the Leahy laws, which ban US funding of any foreign military units involved in atrocities.

The unit had carried out no apparent remedial action despite having been alerted to the abuses and Israeli government lawyers had ignored communications about the issue for months, according to US officials. Shortly before the sanctions were due to be announced, however, Israeli government lawyers urgently contacted Washington and insisted that under the current 10-year US memorandum of understanding governing military relations with Israel signed in 2018, Israel should be given more time to respond to the US finding. US officials stressed that Leahy sanctions remained under consideration. ...

The Guardian reported in January that the Leahy laws were interpreted by different, more lenient rules in Israel compared with other countries. ...

Netzah Yehuda is now active in Gaza. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has described the unit’s potential sanctioning by the US as the “height of absurdity and a moral low” and vowed to resist any such decision.

Biden DESPERATE To Protect Netanyahu From The Hague!

ICC urged to delay possible war crimes charges against Israel and Hamas

Diplomats from the G7 industrialised nations have urged officials at the international criminal court not to announce war crimes charges against Israel or Hamas officials, amid concerns that such a move could disrupt the chances of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks. Israeli politicians including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have suggested that the ICC could press charges imminently after an investigation launched in 2021 that covers events starting in 2014. The inquiry has also been looking at Israel’s construction of settlements in occupied territory.

The ICC has not commented officially and has advised diplomats that it is not aware of any dramatic moves in the investigation. The prosecutor Karim Khan must have any request for an arrest warrant validated by three judges, and this final step would have to be completed if charges were to be announced this week.

But Israel appeared to be taking the rumours of imminent arrest warrants so seriously that late on Sunday the foreign minister, Israel Katz, sent messages to Israel’s embassies abroad advising them to prepare for a severe antisemitic backlash should the court take action. Reports in Israeli media suggested the warrants could potentially be against Netanyahu, the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi.

Katz said: “There is nothing more distorted than attempting to prevent Israel from defending itself against a murderous enemy openly calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. If the warrants are issued, they will harm the commanders and soldiers of the IDF and provide a morale boost to the terrorist organisation Hamas and the axis of radical Islam led by Iran against which we are fighting.” ...

Israel has made a string of announcements in recent days about allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza, but that appears to be a strategic response to renewed pressure from the White House rather than heading off possible ICC action. The ICC’s Khan said during a visit to Egypt in December that the investigation was “moving forward at pace, with rigour”.

Israel: ALL MEN In Rafah Considered Terrorists

“Take This Offer OR ELSE!” – Antony Blinken

Blinken urges Hamas to accept ‘extraordinarily generous’ Israeli ceasefire deal

The US secretary of state has said that “the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire” is Hamas, ahead of what are seen as last-chance talks to salvage a diplomatic solution before a threatened Israeli ground invasion in Rafah. Speaking at a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Antony Blinken said: “Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel.

“They have to decide and they have to decide quickly … I’m hopeful that they will make the right decision and we can have a fundamental change in the dynamic.” The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, told the same gathering that Hamas should accept the deal for a “sustained 40 days’ ceasefire”. ...

A Hamas delegation left the Egyptian capital on Monday, saying they would return again with a written response to the ceasefire proposal. ...

Israel is reportedly willing to accept the release of just 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, and a second phase of a truce that includes a “period of sustained calm” – a new response to Hamas’s repeated demand for a permanent ceasefire. It is also reportedly open to discussing the return of Palestinians to their homes in the northern half of the strip, and the withdrawal of troops from the military corridor that now divides the territory. ...

Even as hopes grew once again that talks between Israel and Hamas could finally succeed, at least 30 people were killed in airstrikes on Rafah. Strikes that hit three houses in the city next to the Egyptian border on Monday injured many more people, while in Gaza City, the bombing of two buildings killed another four people and wounded several more, medics said.

Houthis Down US MQ-9 Reaper Drone For the Third Time Since November

A military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthis announced on Saturday that their forces downed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone that was operating over Yemen and was carrying out a “hostile mission.”

US officials confirmed to CBS News that a US Air Force MQ-9 drone “crashed” in Yemen early Friday morning and said they’re investigating the cause. MQ-9s are estimated to cost $30 million each, and Friday’s incident marked the third time the Houthis downed one since November.

Besides losing $90 million in MQ-9 drones, the US has also used about $1 billion in munitions in its new bombing campaign in Yemen and other operations in the Middle East that started due to Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.

As starvation mounts across Gaza, the settlers are on the rampage across the W. Bank, and the IDF is about to attack Rafah, US youngsters who cry out 'NEVER AGAIN' are targeted. US university administrators committing moral suicide in public. https://t.co/hCuieZJ0Jd

— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) April 25, 2024

Israeli Holocaust Scholar Omer Bartov on Campus Protests, Weaponized Antisemitism, Silencing Dissent

Columbia begins suspending pro-Palestine protesters after ultimatum ignored

Columbia University’s pro-Palestinian protesters ignored an ultimatum on Monday to abandon their encampment or risk suspension. The university said it started suspensions early on Monday evening.“We have begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus,” the university said in an update on its website. “Once disciplinary action is initiated, adjudication is handled by several different units within the university based on the nature of the offense.”

The ultimatum, setting a Monday deadline of 2pm, had come after the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, announced that efforts to reach a compromise with protest organisers had failed. She said that the institution would not bow to demands to divest from Israel.

“It is important for you to know that the university has already identified many students in the encampment,” a letter written on university notepaper and headed “Notice to Encampment” read. “If you do not leave by 2pm, you will be suspended pending further investigation.” It added: “If you voluntarily leave by 2pm, identify yourself to university officials, and sign the provided form where you commit to abide by all university policies through June 30 2025, or the date of the conferral of your degree, whichever is earlier, you will be eligible to complete the semester in good standing.”

Protest negotiators informed the university on Monday that the demonstrators had responded to the ultimatum by voting not to dismantle the encampment.

FISA WEAPONIZED Against Americans, For Israel?

Police arrest more Gaza protesters at University of Texas-Austin

Protesters who returned to the University of Texas at Austin on Monday were greeted by dozens of law enforcement officers, many in riot gear. At least 43 protesters were arrested as police and campus security used pepper spray and flash-bang charges on the crowd.

The Republican governor, Greg Abbott, on social media reposted video of troopers arriving on the 50,000-student campus. “No encampments will be allowed. Instead, arrests are being made,” Abbott posted.

Students began to gather on the university’s south lawn Monday afternoon, chanting, “Free Palestine!” and “Whose lawn? Our lawn!” as they set up tents.

After news of the arrests broke, videos popped up on social media of protesters being sprayed with pepper spray as police were pushing them off the road. The defense attorney George Lobb said Texas state troopers used the pepper spray and flash-bang charges in making 43 arrests.

Video posted on social media showed police pulling individual students from a gathering on a grassy area where demonstrators sat and locked arms, some of them shouting, “Let them go!” State troopers in riot gear stood guard behind the uniformed police.

Jill Stein SOUNDS OFF On Protestors, RFK Jr, Cornel West, Biden

New Orleans police accused of excessive force as Gaza protesters arrested

Police arrested a dozen pro-Palestine protesters in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, as efforts to set up an encampment in the city’s center were suppressed by local law-enforcement officers.

Officers used batons and tasers on protesters who had congregated in Jackson Square Park, according to eyewitnesses and video reviewed by the Guardian. Three people received treatment in hospital as a result, according to two sources in direct contact with arrestees.

In a press release, New Orleans police said five officers received medical attention after “receiving blows” during the protest but all were in a stable condition.

The release added that two arrestees were charged with “hate crimes on law enforcement”. The department did not respond to a request for further comment on its use of force.

Starting around 4pm Sunday, roughly 50 people spread tents and blankets across the grass of Jackson Square Park. One attendee described the group as a mixture of “artists, queers, and community members, as well as families”.

Months After Israel Killed Poet Refaat Alareer, His Daughter & Infant Grandson Die in Gaza Airstrike

Israel Kills Daughter, Infant Grandson of Slain Palestinian Poet Refaat Alareer

The daughter, infant grandson, and son-in-law of Refaat Alareer—the renowned Palestinian poet assassinated last year in an Israeli airstrike—were killed Friday in another Israel Defense Forces bombing, this one reportedly targeting a building hosting an international relief charity in Gaza City.

Shaima Alareer, her husband Muhammad Abd al-Aziz Siyam, and their 3-month-old son Abd al-Rahman were killed in the strike on a home where they were sheltering in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, Anadolu Agency reported.

Siyam was an engineer. Alareer was an accomplished illustrator and the eldest daughter of Refaat Alareer—one of Palestine's most famous poets and professors—who was slain in a December 6 Israeli strike on Shejaiya that also killed his brother, sister, and her four children.

Rus Takes 2 Key Villages, Ever Bigger Gap Ukr Lines, New Rus Airbase Kharkov; UK: Sanctions Fail

Inflation Still DOGGING Biden’s Reelection

CNN: Trump CRUSHING Biden As Approval Hits 70 Year Low

Countries consider pact to reduce plastic production by 40% in 15 years

Countries are for the first time considering restrictions on the global production of plastic – to reduce it by 40% in 15 years – in an attempt to protect human health and the environment. As the world attempts to make a treaty to cut plastic waste at UN talks in Ottawa, Canada, two countries have put forward the first concrete proposal to limit production to reduce its harmful effects including the huge carbon emissions from producing it.

The motion submitted by Rwanda and Peru sets out a global reduction target, ambitiously termed a “north star”, to cut the production of primary plastic polymers across the world by 40% by 2040, from a 2025 baseline. It says: “The effectiveness of both supply and demand-side measures will be assessed, in whole or in part, on their success in reducing the production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.”

The proposal calls for the consideration of mandatory reporting by countries of statistical data on production, imports and exports of primary plastic polymers.

A global plastic reduction target would be similar to the legally binding Paris agreement to pursue efforts to limit global temperature increase to 1.5C above preindustrial levels, Rwanda and Peru said. “The target should align with our objectives for a safe circular economy for plastics by closing the circularity gap between production and consumption,” the countries said. “It should also align with our objective in the Paris agreement to limit warming to 1.5C. To this end, one such global reduction target could be a 40% reduction by 2040 against a 2025 baseline.”

Rain gardens and bathwater reuse becoming trends, RHS says

Rain gardens and bathwater are becoming gardening trends, the Royal Horticultural Society has said, as gardeners battle predicted water shortages caused by climate breakdown. At the Chelsea flower show this year, many of the gardens will be focused on reducing water usage. Rain gardens will be on show, including in the Water Aid garden, which includes a rainwater harvesting pavilion designed to slow its flow, collecting and storing it for irrigation of the garden and filtering it for use as drinking water.

Similarly, the National Autistic Society garden uses rainwater which is channelled away from the main terrace via a “waterfall roof”, which feeds into a mossy dell that acts as a swale during periods of high rainfall, holding rainwater until it can drain away into the subsoil. Rain is also channelled into areas planted with species that can cope with wet conditions.

According to the RHS, a rain garden is a shallow area of ground that receives runoff from roofs and other hard surfaces. It contains plants that can stand waterlogging for up to 48 hours at a time, with drought-tolerant specimens at the edges. The water fills the depression then drains, reducing the need for watering the garden as more moisture is held in the soil for longer. Rain gardens can absorb 30% more water than a lawn and reduce erosion by slowing heavy rainfall, as well as providing food and habitat for insects and birds.

In its own gardens, the RHS has hired experts to explore how grey water, such as from the washing up bowl and the bath, can be used safely and effectively. This includes researching plant and substrate combinations that support the right soil microbiology and plant functions to remove potential pollutants and ways to make the movement of water from house to garden more practical.

Fresh tap water is most commonly used for watering the garden, but as British people are being expected to reduce water usage by 20% by 2038 this may become less feasible. Instead, people will have to create gardens which are tolerant to drought, use water butts and start utilising grey water. One of the advantages of using grey water is that it is generated each day, so large storage tanks or reservoirs are not needed.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Opposing The Gaza Genocide While Supporting Biden Is A Dishonest, Nonsensical Position

What will happen if the ICC charges Netanyahu with war crimes?

US Working To Prevent ICC Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu

To Remove 'Cloud of Doubt,' Journalism Professors Urge Review of NYT Story on Oct. 7 Sexual Violence

We’re Jewish students at Columbia arrested for protesting Israel’s war

Plato’s final hours recounted in scroll found in Vesuvius ash

"We Don't Want to Trade in the Blood of Palestinians": Voices of Protest at Columbia University

In Gaza Protest, Columbia Students Occupy Hamilton Hall, Site of Historic 1968 Takeover

Professor: Campus Protesters Need SEX, Not Gaza Ceasefire

John Mearsheimer SCHOOLS Piers Morgan On US 'Freedom And Democracy'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfLQtX6xXeo

These protest infiltrators were too Avi-ous

A Little Night Music

Pete Johnson and Joe Turner - Roll 'Em Pete

Pete Johnson - Death Ray Boogie

Joe Turner With Pete Johnson's All Stars - Doggin' The Blues

Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons - Boogie Woogie Man

Pete Johnson ~ Dive Bomber

Pete Johnson and Joe Turner - Jumpin' Blues

Pete Johnson - Kaycee On My Mind

Pete Johnson - Rocket Boogie "88" (Pt. 2)

Pete Johnson - Pete's Blues

Pete Johnson and his Boogie Woogie Boys - Baby Look At You