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"Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies."

-- Emily Bronte

News and Opinion

Worth a click and a full read:

Israel’s leaders committed genocide in Gaza and must pay for it. Their political and media allies must too

Unless those complicit in the Gaza genocide are held to account, the brutal consequences will be felt far beyond that shattered land. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas offered a respite for traumatised survivors. But Donald Trump’s declaration that he is not confident it will last has prompted renewed terror. From the new president’s decision to lift the pause on shipments of 2,000lb bombs to Israel, which were dropped repeatedly on civilians in so-called safe zones, to his pick for the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who once said there was “really no such thing as a Palestinian”, those hoping for lasting peace are right to worry that the carnage will soon begin again.

The assault on Gaza is normalising an almost limitless violence against civilians, all facilitated and justified by multiple western governments and media outlets. It is worth recalling the destruction of Guernica by Nazi and Italian forces during the Spanish civil war nearly nine decades ago. Guernica was one of the first aerial mass bombardments of a civilian community, and it scandalised the world. The then US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, deplored how “civilians, including vast numbers of women and children, are being ruthlessly murdered from the air”. The Times journalist George Steer wrote that, “In the form of its execution and the scale of destruction it wrought, the raid on Guernica is unparalleled in military history.” Alas, Guernica turned out to be a trial run for the aerial obliteration of European cities a few years later: the Nazi military leader Hermann Göring told the Nuremberg trials that Guernica allowed the Nazis to test out their Luftwaffe.

What of Gaza? Last week, Joe Biden claimed he told Benjamin Netanyahu, “You can’t be carpet-bombing these communities”, at the start of Israel’s military onslaught in October 2023. Presumably, the former president believed telling the world he has said this would aid his rehabilitation. But it seems more like an inadvertent confession of criminal complicity. The US, after all, handed Israel nearly $18bn worth of weapons the following year, when he knew, or should have known, that Netanyahu’s bombing campaign violated international law. In the first three weeks of the conflict, according to the NGO Airwars, at least 5,139 civilians were killed. This was a conservative estimate; the true number is probably higher. The bombs that killed them were supplied predominantly by the US. ...

The destruction of Guernica provoked widespread shock, but it’s worth remembering that after the attack, far more cataclysmic aerial bombardment became a new norm. An estimated 1,650 were killed there; in Gaza, the official figure of 47,283 Palestinians is likely a drastic underestimate, but the greater atrocity of Gaza does not trigger anything like the same establishment outrage today.

There must be a reckoning. Those who continued supplying weapons to Israel ought to be put on trial for helping to facilitate it. Those who used their media platforms to justify it should see their reputations in tatters. Without that accountability, even more depraved violence will become normal, even acceptable. This risk is particularly acute in an era when the far right is forming governments and when the climate emergency threatens even greater global turmoil. The complicit know that the only way to defend themselves is by demonising those who stood against genocide, and turning the world upside down. But if they get their way, that world will burn.

COL. Douglas Macgregor : The Coming World War III

Hundreds flee Jenin amid Israel’s deepening West Bank crackdown

Hundreds of people have fled the Jenin refugee camp and surrounding areas as an Israeli assault on the West Bank city enters its third day, amid a deepening crackdown across the occupied Palestinian territory. “Most of the camp’s residents were forced out, and I was made to leave my neighbourhood,” said 65-year-old Saleh Ammar, who fled the Jouret al-Dhahab neighbourhood inside the camp. “I saw with my own eyes the 12 large bulldozers they brought in: if they wanted to destroy an entire city, they could have done so.”

Israeli officials have labelled the latest escalation in the West Bank, codenamed Iron Wall, which began just days after a ceasefire in Gaza came into effect, as part of a shift in the aims of the war that began in October 2023, after an attack by Palestinian militants on Israeli towns and kibbutzim around the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said it was operating in Jenin to target Palestinian militants in the refugee camp, with the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, telling reporters in a briefing that the operation was intended to prevent militants “from regrouping” and attacking Israeli civilians.

Ammar accused forces affiliated to the Palestinian Authority of shooting at residents of the refugee camp before Israeli forces entered, to assist their assault. The PA launched its own assault on the camp in December, intended to target militias that oppose its rule. “I am so upset by the Palestinian Authority invasion – they burned the houses, installed snipers on the rooftops and opened fire randomly,” he said. “This continued until Israeli forces entered the camp … we are living between two fires.”

Microsoft deepened ties with Israeli military to provide tech support during Gaza war

The Israeli military’s reliance on Microsoft’s cloud technology and artificial intelligence systems surged during the most intensive phase of its bombardment of Gaza, leaked documents reveal. The files offer an inside view of how Microsoft deepened its relationship with Israel’s defence establishment after 7 October 2023, supplying the military with greater computing and storage services and striking at least $10m in deals to provide thousands of hours of technical support.

Microsoft’s deep ties with Israel’s military are revealed in an investigation by the Guardian with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and a Hebrew-language outlet, Local Call. It is based in part on documents obtained by Drop Site News, which has published its own story.

After launching its offensive in Gaza in October 2023, the IDF faced a sudden rush in demand for storage and computing power, leading it to swiftly expand its computing infrastructure and embrace what one commander described as “the wonderful world of cloud providers”. As a result, multiple Israeli defence sources said, the IDF has become increasingly dependent on the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google to store and analyse greater volumes of data and intelligence information for longer period.

The leaked documents, which include commercial records from Israel’s defence ministry and files from Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary, suggest Microsoft’s products and services, chiefly its Azure cloud computing platform, were used by units across Israel’s air, ground and naval forces, as well as its intelligence directorate. While the IDF has used some Microsoft services for administrative purposes, such as email and file management systems, documents and interviews suggest Azure has been used to support combat and intelligence activities.

As a trusted partner of Israel’s defence ministry, Microsoft was frequently tasked with working on sensitive and highly classified projects. Its staff also worked closely with the IDF’s intelligence directorate, including its elite surveillance division, Unit 8200. In recent years, documents show, Microsoft has also provided the Israeli military with large-scale access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 model – the engine behind ChatGPT – thanks to a partnership with the developer of the AI tools which recently changed its policies against working with military and intelligence clients.

'A Pattern of Genocide': Report Details Israel's Systematic Destruction of Gaza Health System

Less than a week into a fragile cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq on Thursday released a report detailing how "Israel has systematically targeted and attacked the healthcare system to the point of its collapse in a campaign of genocide."

The new report—titled The Systematic Destruction of Gaza's Healthcare System: A Pattern of Genocide—builds on previous publications, including from United Nations entities, and testimonies from medical professionals who have worked in Gaza since Israel launched its U.S.-backed assault in retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack.

"The Israeli occupying forces' (IOF) targeting of hospitals and health centers, the denial of adequate medical provisions into and around the Gaza Strip, and the abduction, torture, and killing of medical personnel is evidence of Israel's genocidal intent to: (i) inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and (ii) impose measures intended to prevent Palestinian births in the Gaza Strip," states the 116-page report.

"The concerted policy to destroy the healthcare system in Gaza is directly and causally linked to statements made by Israeli officials," the document continues, offering various examples and highlighting how it wasn't just hospitals—Israel also attacked "civilian residences, schools, shelters, mosques, churches, and other protected areas under international humanitarian law."

The report argues that "Israel's systematic campaign against Gaza's healthcare infrastructure as a whole is exemplified by the targeted destruction of al-Shifa Hospital," which is the largest hospital in the occupied Palestinian territory and "older than Israel." The document also addresses Israel's attacks on Adwan, al-Amal, al-Aqsa, al-Awda, Indonesian, Kamal, and Nasser hospitals.

These attacks along with the unrelenting Israeli bombardment of Gaza severely strained the healthcare system to the point that patients were ‘“waiting to die”...dying slow, agonising deaths from their injuries or..resultant infections’ (South Africa v. Israel, para 51). /4

— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) January 23, 2025

Along with offering a summary of facts and legal analysis of "Israel's systematic attacks on Gaza's healthcare system as acts of genocide," war crimes, and violations of international humanitarian law, the publication features recommendations for other countries and blocs, international tribunals, U.N. experts, companies, and healthcare professionals.

Al-Haq called on the international community to "name and condemn Israel's ongoing genocide," impose an arms embargo, support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and demand the release of Palestinian political prisoners and those who have been arbitrarily detained by Israel, including healthcare workers.

The report was published as the death toll in Gaza continues to grow, as displaced residents of the Palestinian enclave return to the remnants of their homes and communities decimated by more than 15 months of Israeli bombings and raids.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said Thursday that the official death toll rose to 47,283, after 120 bodies "were recovered from under the rubble" in the past 24 hours, and 111,472 people have been injured. Global experts warn the true death toll is likely far higher.

Israel faces a genocide case led by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its military assault and restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.

Al-Haq's report notes both the ICC warrants and the ICJ case, urging other governments to formally support the latter effort.

Throughout the 15-month assault on Gaza, Israeli settlers and troops also targeted Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank—where Al-Haq is based. However, since the cease-fire took effect Sunday, attacks in the West Bank have sparked fresh alarm.

In addition to pushing for the investigation of Israel's assault on Gaza, the new report urges a U.N. commission to probe "genocidal acts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including but not limited to killings of Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people."

Google rushed to sell AI tools to Israel’s military after Hamas attack

Google employees have worked to provide Israel’s military with access to the company’s latest artificial intelligence technology from the early weeks of the Israel-Gaza war, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The internal documents show Google directly assisting Israel’s Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces, despite the company’s efforts to publicly distance itself from the country’s national security apparatus after employee protests against a cloud computing contract with Israel’s government.

Google fired more than 50 employees last year after they protested the contract, known as Nimbus, over fears it could see Google technology aid military and intelligence programs that have harmed Palestinians.

In the weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas militants, a Google employee in its cloud division escalated requests for increased access to the company’s AI technology from Israel’s Defense Ministry, the documents obtained by The Post show.
The documents, which detail projects inside Google’s cloud division, indicate that the Israeli ministry urgently wanted to expand its use of a Google service called Vertex, which clients can use to apply AI algorithms to their own data.

A Google employee warned in one document that if the company didn’t quickly provide more access, the military would turn instead to Google’s cloud rival Amazon, which also works with Israel’s government under the Nimbus contract.

CRASHING oil price to CRUSH Russia

Trump uses Davos address to accuse oil producers of prolonging Ukraine war

Donald Trump has made a combative return to the world stage, accusing oil producers of prolonging the Ukraine war by failing to cut prices, and threatening tariffs on all US imports. In a typically blustering online address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the new president called on Saudi Arabia and the oil-producers’ cartel Opec to cut the cost of oil, in order to choke off revenues to Russia and halt the conflict in Ukraine.

“You’ve got to bring it down, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do before the election. That didn’t show a lot of love. Surprised by that,” Trump said. “If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately.” He added: “They should have done it long ago. They’re very responsible, actually, to a certain extent, for what’s taking place. Millions of lives are being lost.”

Trump also appeared to signal sweeping tariffs on imports to the US, warning: “If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff – differing amounts, but a tariff.”

He repeated his call for Nato countries to dramatically increase defence spending, to reduce their dependence on the US. “I’m also going to ask all Nato nations to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP, which is what it should have been years ago,” he said. He said lower levels of spending in recent years had been “unfair to the United States, but many, many things have been unfair for many years to the United States”.

Prof. John Mearsheimer : Can US and Russia Have Enduring Peace?

Trump ends security detail for three of his former officials despite threats from Iran

Donald Trump has ended security detail for three of his former administration officials so far since returning to the White House.

Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state, Brian Hook, a former top aide, and John Bolton, his former national security adviser, have had their security protections revoked within 72 hours of Trump’s second term.

Trump’s decision to remove their security details, which were believed to be provided by the state department, comes despite warnings from the Biden administration that both men faced ongoing threats from Iran due to actions they took following Trump’s orders during his first term as president.

Trump’s first administration had been particularly aggressive towards Iran. Most notably, Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Iran’s most powerful general, Qassem Suleimani, in early 2020.

Under US protocol, senior officials other than former presidents and their spouses are not automatically guaranteed ongoing protection. But US intelligence agencies deemed Hook, Pompeo and Bolton to be under significant risk, which prompted the Biden administration to grant them protection.

Trump pardons anti-abortion activists who blockaded clinic entrances

Donald Trump announced Thursday he would pardon anti-abortion activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances. Trump called it “a great honor to sign this”.

“They should not have been prosecuted,” he said as he signed pardons for “peaceful pro-life protesters”. The people pardoned were involved in the October 2020 invasion and blockade of a Washington clinic.

Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for leading the blockade by directing blockaders to link themselves together with locks and chains to block the clinic’s doors. A nurse sprained her ankle when one person pushed her while she was entering the clinic, and a woman was accosted by another blockader while having labor pains, prosecutors said. Police found five fetuses in Handy’s home after she was indicted. Trump pardoned Handy and her nine co-defendants.

In the first week of Trump’s presidency, anti-abortion advocates have ramped up calls for Trump to pardon protesters charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which is designed to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats. The 1994 law was passed during a time when clinic protests and blockades were on the rise, as was violence against abortion providers, such as the murder of Dr David Gunn in 1993.

Trump specifically mentioned Harlow in a June speech criticizing Joe Biden’s Department of Justice for pursuing charges against protesters involved in blockades. “Many people are in jail over this,” he said in June, adding: ”We’re going to get that taken care of immediately.”

"Shock and Awe": ICE Raids Begin as Judge Halts Unconstitutional Birthright Citizenship Order

US judge temporarily blocks Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship

A federal judge in Seattle blocked Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday from implementing an executive order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the US, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional”.

US district judge John Coughenour at the urging of four Democratic-led states issued a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from enforcing the order, which the Republican president signed on Monday during his first day on office.

The order has already become the subject of five lawsuits by civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states, who call it a flagrant violation of the US constitution.

“Under this order, babies being born today don’t count as US citizens,” the Washington assistant attorney general Lane Polozola told Judge John Coughenour at the start of a hearing in Seattle.

Polozola – on behalf of Democratic state attorneys general from Washington state, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon – urged the judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the administration from carrying out this key element of Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Republicans reportedly ready to cut Medicaid funding to pay for Trump Tax Cuts

Republicans are reportedly prepared to cut Medicaid funding to pay for Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on immigration and to fund tax cuts that would mostly benefit the wealthy. The GOP in the House and Senate have floated a series of ideas – many of which would target lower-income Americans – to cover the cost of extending tax cuts passed by Trump in 2017, the New York Times reported.

Among the proposals is a plan to reduce access to Medicaid, the government scheme which provides health insurance to low-income Americans, in a move which would cause 600,000 people to lose access to healthcare.

Trump has touted the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a key achievement of his first term. The legislation, which reduced the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, is set to expire at the end of 2025, and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated extending it would add $4.6tn to the deficit. On the campaign trail Trump repeatedly promised to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, but with the 2025 deadline looming, Republicans are scrambling to find a way to fund that pledge – along with the money required for Trump’s desired crackdown on immigration.

Along with the Medicaid cut, which would introduce work requirements that would effectively strip 600,000 people of their healthcare coverage, Republicans are considering ending Medicaid for non-US citizens, and repealing Biden-era tax credits which are designed to reduce health costs, the New York Times reported.

A 50-page document being circulated among congressional Republicans also proposes taxing income from scholarships and fellowships, rolling back climate change efforts passed under the Biden administration, and raising taxes on people who can use a free gym in the workplace.

Trump ORDERS Secret Govt Documents On JFK, MLK Assassinations To Be DECLASSIFIED

Trump orders release of thousands of classified files on JFK assassination

Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of John F Kennedy, which has fueled conspiracy theories for decades. The executive order the president signed on Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of Robert F Kennedy and the Rev Martin Luther King Jr. The order is among a flurry of executive actions Trump has quickly taken the first week of his second term.

“More than 50 years after the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert F Kennedy, and the Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, the federal government has not released to the public all of its records related to those events,” the executive order stated. “Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay,” it added.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said: “Everything will be revealed.” ...

The order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general to develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the remaining John F Kennedy records, and within 45 days for the other two cases. It was not clear when the records would actually be released.

Big oil spent $445m in last election cycle to influence Trump and Congress, report says

Big oil spent a stunning $445m throughout the last election cycle to influence Donald Trump and Congress, a new analysis has found. That figure includes funding from January 2023 and November 2024 for political donations, lobbying and advertising to support elected officials and specific policies. Because it does not include money funneled through dark-money groups – which do not have to reveal their donors – it is almost certainly a vast understatement, says the report from green advocacy group Climate Power, which is based on campaign finance disclosures and advertising industry data.

Fossil fuel interests poured $96m into Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and affiliated political action committees, the report found. Much of that was covered by megadonor oil billionaires, such as the fracking magnate Harold Hamm, the pipeline mogul Kelcy Warren and the drilling tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand. Additional contributions came from lesser-known oil and gas interests, including fossil fuel-trading hedge funds, mining corporations and the producers of offshore-drilling ships and fuel tanks.

Fossil fuel companies and their trade groups spent another $243m lobbying Congress. Those donors stand to profit from priorities set by Senate-confirmed Trump cabinet appointees, such Chris Wright, the fracking CEO who was tapped to head the Department of Energy, and Lee Zeldin, the former New York representative who has accepted more than $400,000 in fossil fuel-tied campaign donations and who will lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Big oil also spent some $80m on advertising to support their interests. That includes funding for ad campaigns run in swing states, such as one from the refining lobbying organization American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which railed against Joe Biden’s pro-electric vehicle policies, or another eight-figure ad blitz from top US oil lobbying group the American Petroleum Institute that promoted the idea that fossil fuels are “vital” to global energy security. Neither campaign directly endorsed Trump, but both targeted audiences in swing states.

‘Chaos agent’ Trump revives California water wars as experts warn of turmoil

It didn’t take long for Donald Trump to reignite the California water wars he waged in his first term. On his first day in office, Trump directed the secretary of commerce and the secretary of the interior to develop a new plan that will “route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply”.

In a memorandum titled “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California”, Trump directed the agencies to reprise the efforts of his first administration, which challenged the state’s environmental protection regulations, and allowed more water to be pumped for agriculture and cities. ...

Trump’s move didn’t exactly come as a surprise; Trump has vociferously attacked California’s water policies, taking particular offense at those put in place to protect the delta smelt, a tiny endangered fish scientists say reflects the declining ecological health of the waters it lives in. But the order, which relied heavily on misinformation about the fire disaster in Los Angeles to give urgency to the directive, showed a sweeping disconnect between Trump’s view of the issues and the intricate and layered policies already in place.

Moreover, experts told the Guardian, it could bring a new layer of turmoil to California’s complicated negotiations over water use, derailing years of discussions between state and federal officials, water policy experts, tribes, conservationists and farmers over how best to steward and distribute water. “Trump is a chaos agent,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director at Baykeeper, a non-profit environmental advocacy organization that has been part of the fight to protect the San Francisco Bay. “Anybody who thought he would not bring chaos to the situation or that he understands California water and environmental management is mistaken.”

Firefighters battle to keep upper hand on new wildfire north of Los Angeles

Firefighters fought to maintain the upper hand on a huge and rapidly moving wildfire that swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles and resulted in more than 50,000 people being put under evacuation orders or warnings.

The Hughes fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day had charred nearly 16 sq miles (41 sq km) of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64km) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.

Though the region was under a red flag warning for critical fire risk, winds were not as fast as they had been when those fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant on the latest blaze. By Wednesday night, about 14% of the Hughes fire had been contained.

Two fires broke out on Thursday afternoon in San Diego. The Gilman fire prompted evacuations for neighborhoods south of UC San Diego but fire officials had stopped forward progress of the blaze by 3.30pm PT. Meanwhile, a second fast-moving wildfire broke out in the Otay mountains area and reached nearly 150 acres (61 hectares) by 3.30pm PT as Cal Fire officials said the blaze had a “dangerous rate of spread”.

Late on Wednesday, a new 40-acre brush blaze, dubbed the Sepulveda fire, started near Interstate 405 – the country’s busiest highway – as well as the Getty Museum and the neighborhood of Bel-Air. By early Thursday morning, firefighters said they had contained it.

Also of Interest

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

The Chris Hedges Report: America’s Academic Gulag

Aid Group Sounds Alarm Over 'Disturbing' Israeli Rampage in West Bank

There Will Be No ‘Trump Effect’ When It Comes to U.S. Policy Toward Palestine

Israel ‘Committed’ to Ceasefire But Continues Burning South Lebanon Homes

Trump's Opening Cry To Russia Falls Flat

Zelensky Says US Troops Must Be Deployed To Ukraine for Peace Deal

Rob Urie: On Being Censored for the Last Four Years

SC Effectively Overturns Pentagon Papers Decision in TikTok Case

Boosting Reform Calls, Judge Finds FISA Section 702 Backdoor Searches Unconstitutional

‘Awe-inspiring and harrowing’: how two orcas with a taste for liver decimated the great white shark capital of the world

Say You Want an Evolution

A Little Night Music

Luther Allison – Dust My Broom

Luther Allison - Thrill is Gone

Luther Allison – It's Been A Long Time

Luther Allison – Please Send Me Someone To Love

Luther Allison – Give Me Back My Wig

Luther Allison – Raggedy And Dirty

Luther Allison - Bad news is coming

Luther Allison – Soul Fixin' Man

Luther Allison – Someday Pretty Baby

Luther Allison & Bernard Allison - Life is a bitch

Luther Allison's last recorded concert