The Evening Blues - 1-3-24
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features New Orleans guitarist and songwriter Earl King. Enjoy!
Earl King & Roomful Of Blues - There's Been Some Lonely, Lonely Nights
"The more syllables a euphemism has, the further divorced from reality it is."
-- George Carlin
News and Opinion
They’re Calling Ethnic Cleansing “Voluntary Migration” Now
Israeli officials are now openly admitting that they’re working on “encouraging” the migration of Palestinians from Gaza, ridiculously claiming that this migration would be “voluntary” despite their having deliberately made the enclave uninhabitable over the last three months.
The Times of Israel reports:
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s two senior far-right partners endorsed the rebuilding of settlements in the Gaza Strip and the encouraging of “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians on Monday, while hawkish opposition MK Avigdor Liberman called for Israel to reoccupy southern Lebanon.
“Speaking during their parties’ respective faction meetings in the Knesset, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presented the migration of Palestinian civilians as a solution to the long-running conflict and as a prerequisite for securing the stability necessary to allow residents of southern Israel to return to their homes.
“The war presents an ‘opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,’ Ben Gvir told reporters and members of his far-right Otzma Yehudit party, calling such a policy ‘a correct, just, moral and humane solution.’
“‘We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing,’ he said.
“The ‘correct solution’ to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict is ‘to encourage the voluntary migration of Gaza’s residents to countries that will agree to take in the refugees,’ Smotrich told members of his Religious Zionism party, predicting that ‘Israel will permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip,’ including through the establishment of settlements.”
The repeated use of the word “encourage” stands out in these remarks, given that encouraging Gaza’s inhabitants to flee their homeland is exactly what Israel’s actions since October have been doing. Once you’ve made 90 percent of Gaza’s inhabitants homeless with internal displacement, forced half the population into starvation via siege warfare, destroyed the enclave’s entire healthcare system to the point where disease is now running rampant, all while raining death and destruction from above in a wildly unpredictable manner with airstrikes routinely hitting designated safe zones, you’re offering the population some very strong “encouragement” indeed to vacate the region as soon as possible.
This obviously makes the argument for the “voluntary migration” of Gazans completely nonsensical, since violently coercing someone into doing something and ensuring that they’ll die if they don’t do it is the exact opposite of what the word “voluntary” means.
But that’s the slogan we’re seeing pop up again and again as Israel draws closer to its final solution to the Palestinian problem in Gaza. Netanyahu and his cohorts have been repeatedly uttering phrases like “voluntary resettlement” and “voluntary migration” to describe the plan for Gaza’s Palestinian inhabitants to either move to refugee camps set up in the adjacent Sinai Peninsula in Egypt or to be taken in by other nations around the world.
Netanyahu has said that a team must be established to “ensure that those who want to leave Gaza to a third country can do so.” Iraq invader Tony Blair was reportedly being eyed as a potential leader of such a team by Israeli officials, though Blair has denied this.
Mitchell Plitnick wrote the following on the absurdity of the “voluntary migration” talking point in an article for Mondoweiss last month:
“The term ‘voluntary emigration’ is likely to be heard quite a lot in the coming weeks and months, and it is one of the most cynical, dishonest terms one can imagine. There is, of course, nothing voluntary about people leaving Gaza. Israel has made the place unlivable, and that was before the current bombardment.
“Now, they are essentially being forced to leave under the threat of imminent death. The people of Gaza did not suddenly lose their attachment to Palestine. They will die if they stay, as will their children. If you cut off water, electricity, food, and medical care, destroy all the shelter, and then ask a person, ‘Would you still like to stay?’ their decision to leave is obviously not voluntary.”
But that’s the narrative they’re going with apparently.
And it’s nothing new; Israel has been falsely claiming for generations that its violent forced expulsion of Palestinians known as the Nakba was voluntary as well. In 2000 Palestinian academic Ghada Karmi wrote that “The Israeli version of history — that the Palestinians left voluntarily or under orders from their leaders and that Israelis had no responsibility, material or moral, for their plight — has been successfully marketed to the world community for decades.”
The plot to relocate Palestinians from territories desired by Israel is also far from new. In a 2002 article for The Guardian titled “A new exodus for the Middle East?”, Israeli historian Benny Morris writes that the agenda to “transfer” Palestinians to other countries has existed for as long as modern Zionism:
“The idea of transfer is as old as modern Zionism and has accompanied its evolution and praxis during the past century. And driving it was an iron logic: There could be no viable Jewish state in all or part of Palestine unless there was a mass displacement of Arab inhabitants, who opposed its emergence and would constitute an active or potential fifth column in its midst. This logic was understood, and enunciated, before and during 1948, by Zionist, Arab and British leaders and officials.
“As early as 1895, Theodor Herzl, the prophet and founder of Zionism, wrote in his diary in anticipation of the establishment of the Jewish state: ‘We shall try to spirit the penniless [Arab] population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it any employment in our country … The removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly.’”
This is a very, very old agenda, being presented as something brand new that is only just occurring to Israeli officials just now. They didn’t just come up with this. It’s been fantasized about for as long as Israel was a twinkle in its founding fathers’ eyes.
This is the real objective in Gaza. Not the “elimination of Hamas” (whatever the hell you want to pretend that would look like in practice), but the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas is not the target in Gaza. Hamas is just the excuse.
Israel’s Push to Expel Residents of Gaza
Senior Hamas figure Saleh al-Arouri killed in Lebanon
One of Hamas’s most senior officials, Saleh al-Arouri, has been killed in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut that threatens a significant and dangerous escalation of Israel’s war against Hamas and its related conflict with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The Lebanese prime minister, Najib Mikati, echoing fears of further regional violence, described the assassination as a “new Israeli crime intended to spur a new phase of conflict, following daily attacks in the south [of Lebanon]”.
The audacious attack hit Hamas’s office in Musharafieh, a southern suburb of Beirut. The television channel for Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said Arouri had been assassinated on Tuesday evening in an explosion along with five others while attending a meeting. A Hamas official, Basem Naim, also said Arouri had been killed in the blast. The group said two other officials in its armed wing were also killed in the attack.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Hezbollah said the assassination was a “serious assault on Lebanon”, calling it a “dangerous development in the course of war between enemy and axis of resistance … [that] will not go without a response or punishment. The resistance has its finger on the trigger.”
An Israeli military spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said Israeli forces were in a state of “high readiness” and prepared for any scenario after the killing of Arouri. Asked to confirm that Israel was behind the strike, Hagari told a media briefing, “we are focused on killing Hamas.”
Is Assassination of Hamas Official in Lebanon a Warning Sign of Wider War?
Hezbollah Vows REVENGE After Israel ASSASSINATES Senior Hamas Leader in Beirut, Lebanon
Gaza death toll passes 22,000 as Israel steps up war against Hamas
The death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza has climbed to more than 22,000 after a day of intense fighting across the territory, including in the southern city of Khan Younis, where the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) said five people had been killed in a second Israeli attack on its compound.
The day after Israel announced the first drawdown of troops from Gaza, there was no sign of relief for its residents, who after three months of heavy bombardment and weeks of ground fighting, are almost all displaced, hungry and stalked by disease. ...
Nearly three months into the war, no top Hamas figures have been killed or captured in Gaza. On a visit to soldiers stationed there, the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the government was planning for a long war.
“The feeling that we will stop soon is incorrect. Without a clear victory, we will not be able to live in the Middle East,” he said.
Terrorist Attacks KILL 100+ In Iran
Israeli Assault Causing Disease, Hunger to Rapidly Spread Across Gaza
With roughly 90% of Gaza residents displaced and seeking safety from Israel's bombardment and ground attacks, crowding into shelters in cities including the already densely populated Rafah, humanitarian agencies warned Tuesday that the spread of disease and the risk of starvation are showing no signs of slowing down in the blockaded enclave.
A week after the World Food Program (WFP) warned that about "half of Gaza's population is starving," the United Nations organization's chief economist said Tuesday that less than three months into Israel's relentless assault, the territory appears to meet at least one of the criteria for famine.
About 20% of the population faces an "extreme lack of food," Arif Husain toldThe New York Times.
"I've been to pretty much any conflict, whether Yemen, whether it was South Sudan, northeast Nigeria, Ethiopia, you name it," Husain told the newspaper. "And I have never seen anything like this, both in terms of its scale, its magnitude, but also at the pace that this has unfolded."
Skipping meals, particularly among adults caring for children, has become "the norm" in Gaza, the WFP said on social media.
Experts on Gaza's humanitarian crises—which gripped the enclave even before Israel began bombing Gaza in retaliation for Hamas' attack in October—are among those suffering, the Times reported, with International Crisis Group analyst Azmi Keshawi telling the newspaper that he is one of thousands of displaced people who has to go searching daily for sustenance to feed his family.
"Our daily nightmare is to go hunt for food," Keshawi, who is sheltering with his family in a tent on a street in Rafah, told the Times. "You cannot find flour. You cannot find yeast to make bread. You cannot find any kind of food—tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, eggplant, lemon, orange juice."
Human Rights Watch said last month that Israel is using starvation as a method of warfare—a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The lack of nourishment has put residents at heightened health and safety risks as many are sleeping out in the open without adequate clothing or blankets to keep out the elements, as colder winter weather arrives.
Along with the growing hunger crisis, the United Nations has been monitoring the spread of communicable diseases and healthcare workers' inability to adequately care for people due to Israel's blockade and refusal to allow in adequate aid. ...
Last week, the UNRWA posted a video on social media showing people desperately trying to reach an aid convoy in Gaza City.
"Gaza is just weeks away from famine," said the agency. "People are desperate and hungry. To prevent famine, more, much more food and other basics must be allowed in."
The group also reiterated its call for a humanitarian cease-fire to allow aid deliveries and protect civilians.
"Gaza is Joe Biden's war and this is Vietnam"
Survivors of Nova Music Festival Sue Israeli Security Establishment for Failing to Protect Them
Forty-two Israelis who attended the Nova music festival near the Gaza border that was attacked on October 7 have sued the Israeli security establishment for failing to protect the event.
The lawsuit filed a claim for $56 million against Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, the Israeli Defense Forces, the Defense Ministry, and the Israeli Police and says the agencies’ “negligence and the gross oversight” allowed the Hamas attack on the festival to happen.
“A single phone call by IDF officials to the commander responsible for the party to disperse it immediately in view of the expected danger would have saved lives and prevented the physical and mental injuries of hundreds of partygoers, including the plaintiffs,” the lawsuit reads.
Haaretz has reported that top Israeli military officials held consultations the night before October 7 to discuss warnings it received about a possible Hamas attack. But nobody in the Israeli military notified the Nova festival organizers of the threat even though the event was supposed to be under IDF protection.
Max Blumenthal: Max takes on the Israeli Press
Israel's war on Gaza silences its historic mosques
In a series of targeted strikes during its ongoing bombardment of Gaza, the Israeli army laid waste to dozens of mosques, including the iconic Al-Omari Mosque, renowned for its historical and archaeological significance. The destruction has left Palestinians, both in Gaza and in the diaspora, mourning the loss of a mosque with a unique heritage.
Since 7 October, Israeli forces have completely or partially destroyed more than 300 mosques and three churches. As a consequence, the affected neighbourhoods now suffer a void during prayer times, missing the soul-stirring call to prayer that once echoed throughout the city. ...
The Grand Omari Mosque was established during Caliph Omar bin al-Khattab's reign. Once a Roman temple and later a church, it became the largest mosque post-Islamic conquest. Located in Gaza's old city, near Palestine Square, it spans 4,100 sqm, with a courtyard of 1,190 sqm accommodating over 3,000 worshippers.
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities condemned the destruction of the Omari Mosque as part of Israel's plan to erase Palestinian heritage. It said the act violated international treaties, including the Hague Convention of 1907, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and UNESCO conventions on cultural property protection.
The ministry noted the mosque's historical roots dating back to a Byzantine monastery in the fifth century CE. It viewed the destruction as a "crime against the cultural heritage of the Palestinian people", symbolising their connection to the land.
Middle East escalation; Hardline neocons vs moderate neocons
British Defense Minister Says UK Ready to Take ‘Direct Action’ Against the Houthis
British Defense Minister Grant Shapps has said the UK is willing to take “direct action” against Yemen’s Houthis over attacks on Israel-linked commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Writing in The Telegraph, Shapps pointed to a recent incident where a British warship shot down a Houthi drone. He said the interception was “the first time that our Navy had shot down an aerial target in anger in more than 30 years.”
Shapps said the British warship demonstrated that “we are willing to take direct action, and we won’t hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.” ...
The Times of London reported Sunday that the UK, the US, and possibly a third country were preparing to launch airstrikes against the Houthis, either at sea or in Houthi-controlled Yemen, where 70-80% of the country’s population lives. Bombing Yemen would risk shattering the fragile peace in Yemen that’s been reached between the Houthis and the US-backed Saudi-led coalition.
Oil prices rise after Iran rejects calls to end support for Houthi Red Sea attacks
Oil prices have risen sharply after Iran rejected calls to end support for attacks by Houthi rebels on vessels in the Red Sea and sent a warship to the key trading route.
In the first trading session of the new year, Brent crude rose $1.73, or more than 2%, to $78.77 a barrel on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $73.36 a barrel, up $1.71, or 2.4%.
Prices were driven higher by fears of supply disruption amid the tensions in the Red Sea, which leads to the Suez Canal.
Some shipping companies have paused sailings on the route in favour of the longer trip around the tip of Africa. Rerouting the vessels adds expense and up to 20 days to deliveries for shipping companies.
State Dept FORCED To Condemn Israeli Ministers After They Call For MASS RELOCATION of Gazans
A day late and a dollar short, but better than never:
Bernie Sanders calls on Congress to block funding to Israel
Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator of Vermont, issued a statement Tuesday calling on Congress to block additional funding to Israel amid the war in Gaza, where more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks after Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October.
“While we recognize that Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attack began this war, we must also recognize that Israel’s military response has been grossly disproportionate, immoral and in violation of international law,” Sanders said.
“Enough is enough. Congress must reject that funding. The taxpayers of the United States must no longer be complicit in destroying the lives of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.” ...
“Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists who attacked them on October 7,” Sanders said in a statement explaining his vote. “They do not have the legal or moral right to kill thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children.”
New Massachusetts 'Tax the Rich' Law Raises $1.5 Billion for Free School Lunch and More
A new "millionaire's tax" in Massachusetts was expected to generate $1 billion in revenue last year to help pay for public education, infrastructure, and early childcare programs, but projections were a bit off, according to a fresh state analysis.
The state Department of Revenue estimated late last week that the Fair Share Amendment, which requires people with incomes over $1 million, to pay a 4% annual surtax, will add $1.5 billion to state coffers this fiscal year, which ends in June—surpassing expectations.
Universal free school meals, much-needed improvements to an aging public transportation system, and tuition-free education for community college students are just some of the programs Massachusetts' wealthiest residents have helped pay for after voters approved the law in 2022 amid growing calls across the United States to tax the richest households and corporations.
The amendment was narrowly passed via a statewide ballot initiative in 2022 despite claims by opponents that it would force wealthy residents and businesses to leave the state.
The state analysis of the law shows that requiring wealthy households to pay more in taxes to contribute to the greater good has overall benefits for the state, said observers including Jonathan Cohn, political director for Progressive Massachusetts.
"The Fair Share Amendment has had a great first year. Looking forward to many more!" said the organization.
According to Fair Share, which advocated for the passage of the referendum in 2022, $150 million of the new revenue has been allocated to expanding green infrastructure and other construction projects in schools, while it cost the state's richest taxpayers just $69 million to fund free school meals for every child in Massachusetts, "saving families hundreds of dollars."
More than $205 million is being spent to upgrade, repair, and maintain the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system, and $150 million is going toward bridge and road repairs. Expanded access to high-quality childcare and pre-kindergarten is being paid for with just $70.5 million, and $50 million is going toward tuition-free community college.
The investments are "only possible because the voters passed this constitutional amendment and we created this new tax," Andrew Farnitano, spokesperson for the Raise Up MA Coalition, toldWBUR.
"The money is going where it was promised," he added. "Those are fundamental investments in our economy that are needed to make sure it works for everyone."
Farnitano toldMassLive that revenues from the Fair Share Amendment are expected to increase as much as $2 billion by the time the 2025 budget goes into effect.
“Over the past few months, we've seen the impact, and that will only grow," he said.
An overall decline in other state revenue shows that the public spending would be impossible without the Fair Share Amendment, Farnitano told WBUR
A Politico/Morning Consult poll found in September 2021 that 74% of Americans agreed with the statement, "The wealthiest Americans should pay higher taxes," and a Gallup survey found in August 2022, three months before the Massachusetts law was passed, that 52% of respondents believed the U.S. government should "redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich," while 47% disagreed.
Congress CAUGHT Insider Trading On Gaza War
Bob Menendez faces fresh corruption allegations involving Qatar
Bob Menendez, already the subject of sensational charges concerning the acceptance of illicit cash, gold bars and a Mercedes Benz car, faces new corruption allegations, outlined in a superseding indictment made public on Tuesday.
The New Jersey Democratic senator has already pleaded not guilty on charges involving interests linked to Egypt. He is now accused of corruption involving Qatar, although he does not face new charges.
Prosecutors have previously described how in 2022, when Menendez’s home was raided, federal agents found a haul including almost $500,000 in cash, 13 gold bars and a Mercedez-Benz convertible.
According to the new indictment, Menendez’s work for Qatari interests produced more gifts of cash and gold as well as offers of gifts including tickets to motor racing events and luxury wristwatches.
The superseding indictment in Manhattan federal court did not identify a member of the Qatari royal family involved in the case, but said the individual was a principal of the Qatari Investment Co.
More than a third of US adults say Biden’s 2020 victory was not legitimate
More than a third of US adults believe Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president in 2020, according to a new poll.
According to the Washington Post and the University of Maryland, 62% of American adults say they believe Biden’s win was legitimate – down from 69% in the same poll in December 2021.
Thirty-six per cent say they do not accept Biden’s win.
Beaver ponds may exacerbate warming in Arctic, scientists say
The stream through western Alaska never looked like this before. In aerial photography from the 1980s, it wove cleanly through the tundra, thin as thread. Today, in satellite images, it appears as a string of black patches: one large pond after another, dozens of metres apart.
It’s a transformation that is happening across the Arctic, the result of landscape engineering on an impressive scale. But this is no human endeavour to reshape the world. It is the work of the North American beaver, and there is no sign of it stopping.
Were the waddling rodents making minor inroads, researchers may never have noticed. But the animals are pouring in, pushing north into new territories. The total number of animals is far from clear, but the ponds they create are hard to miss: in the Arctic tundra of Alaska alone, the number of beaver ponds on streams have doubled to at least 12,000 in the past 20 years. More lodges are dotted along lakes and river banks. ...
The new arrivals cause plenty of disruption. For some communities, the rivers and streams are the roads of the landscape, and the dams make effective roadblocks. As the structures multiply, more land is flooded and there can be less fresh water for drinking downstream. But there are other, less visible effects too. The animals are participants in a feedback loop: climate change opens the landscape to beavers, whose ponds drive further warming, which attracts even more paddle-tailed comrades.
Physics suggested this would happen. Beaver ponds are new bodies of water that cover bare permafrost. Because the water is warm – relatively speaking – it thaws the hard ground, which duly releases methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Scientists now have evidence this is happening. Armed with high-resolution satellite imagery, Ken Tape, an ecologist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and his colleagues located beaver ponds in the lower Noatak River basin area of north-western Alaska. They then analysed infrared images captured by Nasa planes flying over the region. Overlaying the two revealed a clear link between beaver ponds and methane hotspots that extended for tens of metres around the ponds.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
I Don’t Care What Religion The Genocidal Child Murderers Are
Ukraine SitRep: Tit For Tat, Tat, Tat - Russia Intensifies Missile Strikes
Capitol Rioter Ray Epps Gets Just 6 MONTHS for J6, Fuels FEDERAL ASSET Theories
Col. Douglas Macgregor: Wrongheaded US Military Priorities.
A Little Night Music
Earl King - The Things I Used To Do
Earl King - Come On
Earl King - Trick Bag
Earl King - I'm Your Best Bet, Baby
Earl King - Mama And Papa
Earl King & Roomful Of Blues - It All Went Down The Drain
Earl King - Let's Make A Better World
Earl King - Darling Honey Angel Child
Earl King & Roomful Of Blues - Somebody's Got A Tail
Comments
Hey, good evening
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allows for unbroken lines under the gray box
Zions are proposing to ship Palestinians to Africa now. Floating the idea.
Argentina suggests a discussion with the Brits to consider retuning their
islands to home rule. OH noes! exclaim the Brits. Hee hee. We'll see.
Like the 'tax the rich, feed the poor' program in Mass. Progressive.
thanks for the EB'S
evening qms...
heh, i'm surprised that the zions haven't yet contacted bezos about firing a bunch of palestinians into space in some of his floating space malls.
yep, the brits have a hard time letting go of the last shreds of their empire.
with any luck, massachussets idea of taxing the rich might spread.
have a good one!
Hi bluesters
Hey Joe!
Great tunes... Earl could really play. When Hendrix covers you, talk about a hat tip! Then groups like the Broadcasters or Room Full of Blues will back you, you gotta be good. Those 'kings' seem to all really rip ...
So, its the Beavers!?! Amazing. I was really wondering what was the source of the new methane emissions in the Arctic, but presumed melting tundra. Now we have a smoking gun. Fascinating. Actual science. They just released some in California, I think last week or so, maybe Plumas Co. up north. In places where they were, and they aren't melting permafrost re-introductions seem to help the ecosystem, increasing biodiversity.
First time I heard that warning tail slap I couldn't figure out what it was. First I thought someone was out there throwing rocks into the water. But I was in a place where I thought there was no one else around (timbuktu North Dakota). They dove when they did it, so nothing but ripples to see. Actually made me a bit concerned as the sound was so loud, it had to be something of size involved. It was paralleling me stealthily. Took an hour before I finally saw the beast and assuaged my concerns. Neat animals, except that 200 pounder JtC posted about a few weeks ago.
Thanks for the great sounds!
be well all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hiking thru the rockies
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got caught off guard by a beaver tail slap. Shattered the stillness (was on the look-out
for bears at the time) Sure gets your attention! Figure it was giving their buddies a
tail-down heads-up or warning me Yo' gringo, this is our hood.
evening dystopian...
that earl king could really write a song, too. he was very prolific and wrote a bunch of good ones.
heh, beavers accelerating climate change, whoda thunkit. i used to spend a lot of time poking around in an old, abandoned, overgrown mill town about 30 miles from where i live now (as the crow flies) which had quite an advanced beaver colony. the beaver were quite used to people coming by so if you didn't move too fast or do anything stupid, they were not inclined to zip into the water or put up an alarm. i spent many a happy hour observing them and being surprised at just how large they are.
True
..
it’s what Roosevelt promised in qo4i before any Jews were sent there. I don’t remember the king’s name, but he couldn’t understand why Jews should be sent there and taking others land and homes instead of them taking German lands and homes since they were the ones that did horrible things to the Jews. I posted about this a few months ago.
Weird how Biden says that he doesn’t want a wider war and yet he and Bibi are free to bomb the hell out of any country it wants. I think the 2 assassinations are attempts to get Iran to do something so the 2 can get their Iran war going.
Same thing with Ukraine bombing and killing Russian cities and civilians.
Welp so much for hoping for less war this year. It seems to be just getting started.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
evening snoopy...
it appears to me that both the ukronazis and the israelinazis lust for war exceeds their ability to prosecute it successfully. i suppose that they will continue their attempts to goad their neighbors into an imprudent response drawing the u.s. into the battle since it seems clear that world institutions are impotent even if they had the desire to put a stop to these conflicts.
perhaps they will both get more than they want of war.
Yeah I’m not seeing any desire to stop the never ending wars
I wasn’t paying attention to Russia or China during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but did they speak out against them? Was Russia in a place to do anything about them? They seemed quite effective when Syria asked for Russia’s help to defeat our terrorists.
Did world leaders speak out when we were killing tens of thousands of Muslims or were they silent like they are now while tens of thousands of Palestinians are being killed?
Sam is walking around the house saying that humans are stupid. She’s heard me saying that enough that she has started repeating it.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
hmmm...
i vaguely remember russia and china making noises about some of our post 9/11 interventions after some time had passed. that was also of course during a period when putin was still calling the west "partners" and engaging in significant trade and other connections as was china. at that time, russia and china had not come to the sort of rapprochement that they have of late and the u.s. domination of international institutions generally made any serious challenge unlikely to be successful.
russia had some success in countering u.s. aggression in syria, but it is well to note that u.s. troops and terrorists are still there.
my memory about challenges to u.s. islamophobia is now a bit fuzzy. i think that there were some, but none with the sort of teeth that could cause the u.s. to change its racist behavior.
Thanks for the update
Yeah I’ve noticed that our troops are still in Syria as well as our terrorists. But do you know why Syria can’t defend itself from being bombed by Israel? Didn’t Russia give them some air defenses to shoot down the jets that keep attacking it? Israel has bombed the Damascus airport at least 3 times since October with no repercussions from either Syria or Russia. And Putin still calls Bibi his friend…ugh. I’m confused about Putin’s response. Lavrov too hasn’t been stepping up.
Any new word on what’s happening at the UN? Or are they going to wait and see what happens with the genocide charges?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
heh...
russia has moved some air defenses into syria, but they are intended to protect russia's port (tartus?) not syria at large at this point. russia has contributed to some clearing of terrorists and probably other things that i am not aware of.
russia has long had an arrangement with israel, neither country wants to go to war with the other, so they generally grant pretty wide latitude to each other. israel came close to breaking the agreement with its support for the ukronazis and it is aware that russia could indeed ruin their whole day, but they continue to push the limits.
Ahh I didn’t know that
This just doesn’t make sense to me because it seems so hypocritical. It’s like Israel didn’t seem to have a problem with all the Nazis we brought here or the ones that went to other countries. They have hunted down some of the low hanging fruit Nazis, but didn’t go after the ones who were the worst or made the decisions. This world makes no fcking sense.
Israel also killed 20 Russians when they got Syria to blow up the plane that Israeli jet was hiding behind.
Larry Johnson
Pay Attention to What Vladimir Putin Says
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Good evening Joe, et. al. Thanks for the EBs, Joe.
Per Sputnik:
The article further states that reports of ammo production, if any, are only about cartridge cases, caps or warheads.
Seemngly, the Ukies are now even more dependent/parasitic, unable to even make small arms cartridges and hence an even greater drag on the US and European economies. Of course, NATO and Brussels seem willing to bankrupt everybody, but one wonders how long some of the member states will continue toplay along.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening el...
heh, now that the u.s. and eu/nato have a new nazi girlfriend who is going to need vast quantities of money, ammunition and weaponry to acheive her goals, i would guess that the ukronazis are going to have to get used to land cession and living within more circumscribed means.
So much good video Open Source Intelligence
....on display. More than can be dealt with on a particular news night. And yet, these fragments of thought each contain key particles of universal truth. When combined — like a witch's brew — these particles of truths form a Viewing Lens with the power to pierce the cloud of noise — the lies, the motives, the competing rationalizations, the chaos of self-interest — that we are immersed in. This, by the way, is the entire point of Artificial Intelligence, which is rapidly forming around us as we speak, almost entirely of its own volition. Because existence-as-we-know-it cannot continue piecemeal in the absence a processing algorithm to contain it. Otherwise it will all fly apart. (As demonstrated by uncoordinated Climate Change.)
Anyway.... If I had to choose the one interview that contained the most particles necessary for insight — I'd designate the Max Blumenthal video. Interviews with experts offer refined views and filtered judgements. But an interview with a gifted generalist/journalist is how you find the hidden connections and where you can sense the movement of the invisible hand.
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The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
evening pluto...
i'd join you in the choice of max blumenthal's interview. he dropped a fact that i was completely unaware of - that the fellow that israel assassinated in beirut was the same guy that they were negotiating hostage releases with, whose signature appears on all of the agreement docs.
that fact creates a whole new window of meaning on the israeli mindset and intentions.
Ditto
And even more that Max dropped was new data for me, since I have less exposure to a broad range of news these days.
I was really inspired by the EB tonight. Thanks, Joe.
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The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato