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"The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."

-- Mark Twain

News and Opinion

They’re Fetishizing The Bibas Kids’ Red Hair To Sell Genocide To White Westerners

The aggressive fetishization of the red hair of Ariel and Kfir Bibas is part of an absolutely disgusting war propaganda campaign aimed at white westerners, and we need to talk about it.

For those who don’t know, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were two Israeli child hostages who were killed in Gaza along with their mother in the early weeks of Israel’s genocidal onslaught upon the enclave. Israel claims without evidence that Hamas murdered them with their bare hands, while common sense says it’s much more likely that they died from Israel’s scorched-earth bombing campaign along with the many other women and children who were being bombed to death every day in the same area during that time. Israel has enlisted the help of Chen Kugel — the forensic pathologist who helped promote the bogus atrocity propaganda about “beheaded babies” on October 7 — to market its version of events regarding the Bibas family.

Israel and its supporters have been forcefully hammering on this narrative that Hamas murdered these two little children with their bare hands in order to manufacture support for ending the ceasefire and resuming Israel’s daily massacres across the Gaza Strip, and lately it’s been taking an even creepier turn. In Israel and throughout the western world, the fact that these children had red hair is being aggressively pushed into public attention at every opportunity.

Israel’s foreign ministry has released a brazenly propagandistic video featuring an AI image of a redheaded child while a narrator says Hamas murdered the Bibas children, asserting that “from today, every redhead will remind us: Hamas murdered them, and Hamas will do it again — unless it’s wiped out.”

This is pretty standard babies-on-bayonets atrocity propaganda, but it’s done with a twist — a highly racialized one.

Throughout the Israel-aligned world, the color orange is being used by government leaders to mourn the deaths of these children in the most public forums possible. Landmarks like the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, and the Brandenburg Gate have all been illuminated in orange lights explicitly to commemorate the ginger Bibas children, and orange balloons have been released throughout Israel and the west in their honor.

Paris, New York, Budapest and Berlin were painted orange tonight.

The whole world will never forget you Bibas family. pic.twitter.com/EiG2MJp9ct

— Eli Afriat (@EliAfriatISR) February 26, 2025

Why all this emphasis on the redheadedness of these children? Why make such a big deal about a seemingly trivial detail in their lives?

Well the answer is simple but ugly: it reminds westerners that these children were not like the dark children whose deaths we’ve been told to ignore for the last year and a half. It reminds us that these children were white.

Look at any photo of the Bibas kids and you will see children who look just like the white children you’ll see in any western nation. Westerners will look at them and see their own children, or children in their own community. The propagandists noticed the potential in this long ago, which was why they began ramping up the outrage machine as soon as a ceasefire was announced, pretending they didn’t know the children were already dead and promising vengeance and hellfire if they weren’t returned alive.

This is why when Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement in English the other day, he produced an enlarged photo of the children and spent some time pointing at them as he spoke. He wanted westerners to see that these were not the kind of children we were told to be indifferent toward as they were butchered by the thousands in Gaza. He wanted to make sure we could all see that they were white.

The idea, as with so much Israel apologia
, is to generate sympathy. If you sympathize with the children, you are more susceptible to narratives saying that Hamas must be destroyed and the ceasefire must end in order to avenge their deaths. If you sympathize with Israel, you are more likely to trust its narratives about what happened and what should happen in response. The western propaganda machine has spent generations killing off all sympathy for its brown-skinned victims in the global south, but our sympathy for white children has been left intact.

Propagandists are fetishizing the red hair of two dead white kids to market the reignition of the Gaza holocaust to white westerners. Israel apologists will deny this, but that’s plainly what’s happening. They couldn’t be more obvious about it.

Netanyahu sends delegation to Egypt to continue Gaza ceasefire talks with Hamas

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that he has instructed a delegation to depart for Egypt for talks on continuing the ceasefire in the war with Hamas in Gaza, two days before the first stage of the fragile agreement expires. The Israeli team is scheduled to leave Cairo, Egypt’s capital, late on Thursday, a statement from the prime minister’s office said. The announcement was made a day after Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, the last due to be released under the terms of the six-week first phase of the deal agreed in January.

Six hundred Palestinian prisoners and detainees who were supposed to be released over the weekend were freed overnight on Wednesday, 46 of them women and children. Some had had limbs amputated while in Israeli custody, and many were emaciated.

Stage one of the ceasefire is due to end on 2 March. Negotiations on how to implement the second stage – which would lead to a permanent end to the war – were supposed to begin weeks ago, but have been repeatedly postponed as the fragile truce has lurched from crisis to crisis. ...

Israel wants an extension to phase one of the deal in the renewed talks, government officials told Israeli media on Thursday. It is unclear what will happen if stage one expires on Sunday without an agreement on prolonging the first stage, whether the weekly batches of hostage swaps of stage one will continue, or for how long any extension will last. ... The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Israeli officials had confirmed the country would not withdraw its forces from the Gaza-Egypt border zone, as per the ceasefire agreement, which could once again plunge the truce’s future into jeopardy.

Hamas, responding to comments from Israel’s energy minister, Eli Cohen, in which he demanded the Israeli military remains on Gaza’s southern border, said that any Israeli attempt to maintain a buffer zone in the corridor would be a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement. In stage two of the deal, of uncertain duration, Israel is supposed to completely withdraw its forces from Gaza, in effect ending the war, and talks on future governance of the strip should begin. Reconstruction is due to begin in stage three, but there are huge differences on both sides about Gaza’s future.

Aaron Maté : Is the Ukraine War About $$$?

Israel To Remain in Philadelphi Corridor in Violation of Gaza Ceasefire Deal

Israel will not withdraw its troops from the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, in a violation of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

Under the agreement, Israel is required to leave the corridor this Saturday, which marks the end of the first phase of the ceasefire deal. But an Israeli official said on Thursday that won’t happen.

“We will not withdraw from the Philadelphi route,” an Israeli official said, according to Haaretz. “We will not allow Hamas murderers to roam our border again with trucks and rifles, and we will not let them rearm through smuggling.” ...

Throughout the ceasefire, Israel has continuously violated the agreement by blocking certain types of aid from entering Gaza and continuing to kill Palestinians. Since the truce went into effect on January 19, Israel has killed more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza.

Dr. Khaled Alser Speaks from Gaza; Survived 7 Months in Israeli Prisons After Raid on His Hospital

Jailed Kurdish leader calls for PKK to disarm – in shift that could shake up Turkey and Middle East

The ageing leader of a Kurdish militant group imprisoned on a remote Turkish island has called on the group to disarm and dissolve itself, opening the door to a fragile peace with Turkey after four decades of guerrilla warfare, attacks and reprisals.

Abdullah Öcalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), a group long regarded as a terrorist organisation in Turkey as well as in Britain and the US, issued the message in a letter read out by allies in Istanbul. “I am making a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility for this call,” Öcalan was quoted as saying. “All groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself.”

Öcalan’s message will have far-reaching implications across the Middle East, not least in Syria where Kurdish forces control significant territory, but also in Iran and Iraq. The 75-year-old is serving a life sentence at an island prison south of Istanbul, after being captured by Turkish special forces in Kenya in 1999. ...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has sought unilateral disarmament from the PKK, publicly quashing suggestions that Öcalan’s announcement would herald the start of peace talks. Some in government responded to Öcalan’s announcement with caution. “We will look at the result,” said the deputy head of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development party. ...

How the different factions within the PKK might respond to Öcalan’s call also remained opaque. The head of the Syrian branch of the PKK told Al Arabiya that disarmament must be accompanied by the group being “allowed to work politically”.

“If the reasons for carrying weapons disappear, we will lay them down,” he said, adding that Turkish attacks necessitated the group carrying weapons. The group would consult among themselves about how to implement Öcalan’s call, he said.

Donald Trump suggests he will back UK in Chagos Islands deal

Donald Trump has strongly hinted that he will back a deal in which the UK hands sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, including the Diego Garcia military base, which is jointly used by the US. “I think we’ll be inclined to go along with your country,” the US president told reporters during an impromptu press conference in the Oval Office with Keir Starmer, who is visiting Washington. He added: “I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well.”

The apparent backing may be a surprise to British officials, who had been prepared for possible pushback against the idea. Speaking the day before, David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, said Trump would have an effective veto over the plan, given the joint use of Diego Garcia.

The Conservatives have raised repeated objections to the draft plan to hand over control of the islands to Mauritius, with the Diego Garcia base remaining under UK control on a 99-year lease, and some in the government are also worried about the proposal. ...

Starmer has argued that the talks with Mauritius, started under the last government, are vital to secure the future of the military base, given uncertainty about the future of UK control of the islands after international court rulings.

Trump KICKS Zelensky OUT After INSANE Shouting Match

The Geopolitics of Peace - Jeffrey Sachs in the European Parliament

How Does Russia Define Victory in Ukraine?: With Russian Analyst Aleksandr Dugin

Trump says Putin would keep his word on a Ukraine peace deal

Donald Trump has insisted that Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” on a peace deal for Ukraine, arguing that US workers extracting critical minerals in the country would act as a security backstop to deter Russia from invading again. During highly anticipated talks at the White House with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, the US president said that Putin could be trusted not to breach any agreement, which could aim to return as much of the land as possible to Ukraine that was seized by Russia during the brutal three-year conflict.

But, sitting alongside Starmer in the Oval Office taking questions from journalists, Trump refused to commit to deploying US forces to support a European-led peacekeeping force, although he said the US would “always” help the British military in the unlikely event it needed it. He later indicated the US would make “great trade agreements” with the UK that could progress “very quickly”, adding that Starmer had tried to persuade him against imposing tariffs, saying: “He earned whatever the hell they pay him over there.”

The US president also appeared to make a significant concession on the Chagos Islands, saying that he was “inclined” to back the deal struck by Starmer, who at the talks delivered a letter from King Charles offering Trump an unprecedented second state visit. ...

After their bilateral meeting, Starmer said: “We’ve discussed a plan today to reach a peace that is tough and fair. That Ukraine will help shape. That’s backed by strength to stop Putin coming back for more. “I’m working closely with other European leaders on this and I’m clear that the UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal. Working together with our allies, because that is the only way that peace will last.” ...

The US president appeared to disagree with Starmer’s suggestion that, without a US military backstop, Putin would invade again. “I don’t think so. I think when we have a deal, it’s going to be the deal,” he said. “I think he’ll keep his word. I’ve known him for a long time now, and I think he will. I don’t believe he’s going to violate his word. I don’t think he’ll be back when we make a deal. I think the deal is going to hold now.”

Why are Western European leaders afraid of peace?

Judge temporarily blocks Trump’s mass firings at federal agencies

A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the US defense department and other agencies to carry out the mass firings of some employees. The US district judge William Alsup said in San Francisco on Thursday that the US office of personnel management (OPM) lacked the power to order federal agencies to fire any workers, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience.

Alsup ordered the OPM, the human resources department for federal agencies, to rescind a 20 January and a 14 February email directing agencies to identify probationary employees who should be fired.

Alsup said he could not order the defense department itself, which is expected to fire 5,400 probationary employees on Friday, and other agencies not to terminate workers because they are not defendants in the lawsuit brought by several unions and nonprofit groups. But he suggested that the mass firings of federal workers that began two weeks ago would cause widespread harm, including cuts to national parks, scientific research, and services for veterans.

“Probationary employees are the lifeblood of our government. They come in at a low level and work their way up. That’s how we renew ourselves,” said Alsup, a Bill Clinton appointee. Alsup handed down the order in a case brought by labor unions and nonprofits filed last week.

Ice contractor plans for surveillance boom under Trump migrant crackdown

The Geo Group, the largest single private contractor to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), said it was building out its surveillance business to be able to monitor hundreds of thousands or millions more immigrants than it already does.

The Geo Group, a private prison corporation and parent company of BI Inc, has contracted with Ice for nearly 20 years to manage the agency’s electronic monitoring program. It currently tracks approximately 186,000 immigrants using devices such as ankle monitors, smart watches and a facial recognition app, according to public Ice data. Due to increasing demand from Donald Trump’s administration, which has promised mass deportations, company executives said that they expect that number to grow past its previous peak of 370,000 to 450,000 immigrants within the next year. The remarks were made during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday morning.

“A little over two years ago, the ISAP contract utilization peaked at approximately 370,000,” George Zoley, the executive chair of the Geo Group, said on an earnings call on Thursday, referring to the agreement between Ice and Geo. “Returning to that utilization level would generate incremental revenues of $250m and even more if the contract exceeds the prior peak of utilization.”

While the company is still ramping up its production of additional GPS units in anticipation of an expanded Ice contract, executives said they are able to monitor “several hundreds of thousands” of people and are trying to position themselves to be able to monitor millions of people. Zoley said that the Geo Group, and its competitor in running private prisons and detention centers, Core Civic, are in expedited discussions with Ice to expand current contracts for detention facilities as well as electronic monitoring.

Musk Calls On RETIRED Air Traffic Controllers; Trump FAA Grapples With ATC SHORTAGE Amid NEAR-MISSES

DoorDash to repay $16.75m in pocketed tips to New York delivery workers

The delivery platform DoorDash is paying $16.75m to settle an investigation conducted by New York authorities that charged the company with using tips from customers to subsidize workers’ base pay.

Between May 2017 and September 2019, DoorDash used a guaranteed pay model to show delivery workers how much they would make before accepting a delivery. The investigation by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, found that under this model DoorDash used tips from customers to offset the base pay it guaranteed to workers rather than giving them the full tips.

Workers were only able to see tips if they were greater than the base pay the app had already guaranteed to pay, with the company paying at least $1 and then using tips to subsidize the rest of the guaranteed wage.

According to the attorney general’s office, if a customer tipped nothing, the delivery worker would receive the full amount of guaranteed pay for the delivery, such as $10, but if the customer tipped $3 on top that, they would still only receive $10 for the order. Despite the system, DoorDash encouraged customers to tip at checkout, claiming 100% of tips would go to workers.

The settlement includes $16.75m in restitution for workers and up to $1m in settlement administrator costs to help issue the payments to current and former delivery workers. Some workers could receive as much as $14,000.

Luigi Mangione Lawyer's EXPLOSIVE Allegations: Cops ILLEGALLY Detained Him, Searched Without Warrant

Most jurors in US pipeline case against Greenpeace have fossil fuel industry ties

More than half the jurors selected to hear a case brought by a major energy company against Greenpeace have ties to the fossil fuel industry, and most had negative views of anti-pipeline protests or groups that oppose the use of fossil fuels. The closely watched trial against Greenpeace in Mandan, North Dakota, showcased the difficulty in seating a jury in oil country, where many make their living in the industry. Greenpeace again on Wednesday sought to move the trial to another venue in the state.

Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based oil-and-gas company worth almost $70bn, has accused Greenpeace of defamation and orchestrating criminal behavior during the area’s Dakota Access pipeline protests in 2016 and 2017. It is seeking $300m in damages, which Greenpeace says could bankrupt its US operation.

Opening statements began on Wednesday in the case, which is expected to run for five weeks. In his opening, Energy Transfer’s attorney said he would prove his allegations that Greenpeace coordinated actions against the pipeline and defamed Energy Transfer, according to the Associated Press. ... Greenpeace, in its opening, said there was no evidence to back up these claims.

Dozens of potential jurors in an initial pool of about 100, which was whittled down to the final 11 by lawyers from both sides and by the judge, said they held negative views of the pipeline protests. They used terms such as “scary”, “chaos”, “destruction”, “disturbance” and “atrocities” to describe the protests and what the local area was left to clean up afterward. One said he was against protesting in general, saying he found it “kind of dumb”.

Greenpeace challenged nearly all potential jurors, trying to get the judge to agree they were too biased or had too many ties to the issue. In some instances, Greenpeace succeeded. On further direct questioning of individual jurors, some admitted they would struggle to be impartial toward Greenpeace or about the protests. Others insisted they would be able to assess the evidence objectively. ... Greenpeace filed a petition to the North Dakota supreme court on Wednesday to change the venue for the case. The county court where the case is being heard has denied three prior motions for change of venue.

‘Cruel and thoughtless’: Trump fires hundreds at US climate agency Noaa

The Trump administration has fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency housed within the Department of Commerce, the Guardian has learned. On Thursday afternoon, the commerce department sent emails to employees saying their jobs would be cut off at the end of the day. Other government agencies have also seen huge staffing cuts in recent days.

The firings specifically affected probationary employees, a categorization that applies to new hires or those moved or promoted into new positions, and which makes up roughly 10% of the agency’s workforce. “The majority of probationary employees in my office have been with the agency for 10+ years and just got new positions,” said one worker who still had their job, and who spoke to the Guardian under the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “If we lose them, we’re losing not just the world-class work they do day to day but also decades of expertise and institutional knowledge.”

Another anonymous staffer called the laid-off workers “dedicated, hard-working civil servants who came to Noaa to help protect lives and keep our blue planet healthy”.

“These indiscriminate cuts are cruel and thoughtless,” the second worker said.

It is not only laid-off employees who will be harmed by the cuts, the second worker said. Ordinary Americans who rely on Noaa’s extreme weather forecasts, climate data and sustainably monitored fisheries will also suffer. “Words can’t describe the impact this will have, both on us at Noaa and on the country,” the employee said. “It’s just wrong all around.”

Also of Interest

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

Understanding the Core Goal Of Western Governments & Western Decline

Seized, settled, let: how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israelis make money from stolen Palestinian land

Ukraine, War Propaganda, and the Return of Russiagate

Patrick Lawrence: Chihuahuas, Not Dobermans

Jeffrey Epstein: more files released related to late sex offender and financier

Corporate Media Offer Excuses for ‘Powerless’ Democrats

Space station’s lack of dirt may damage astronauts’ health, says study

Yanis Varoufakis: 'Capitalism is DEAD'

"The Globalists are the Racists:" Russian Analyst Aleksandr Dugin on the Loss of Cultural Identities

Starmer and Macron FAIL to trick Trump into war with Russia

A Little Night Music

Dr. Hook - Walk Right In

John Fahey - Poor Boy Long Ways From Home

The Black Keys - Poor Boy a Long Way From Home

Doc & Merle Watson - Minglewood Blues

Old Crow Medicine Show - Minglewood Blues

Grateful Dead - Big Railroad Blues

Grateful Dead - Viola Lee Blues

Ry Cooder - Viola Lee Blues

Carlisle Brothers - Gonna Raise a Ruckus Tonight

Buster Brown - Raise A Ruckus Tonight

Old Crow Medicine Show - Raise A Ruckus