09/05 International Day of Charity

Charity

~~ Charity

It's International Day of Charity. You will seldom see me include in my lists of somehow notable persons who were born or died on a given day any "philanthropists". That's because the money came from somewhere and, more often than not, if traced to its origins, there is some unsavory history. Somebody robbed someone of 10 bucks, invested 9 and their child or grandchild gave 25 cents away, often repeatedly.

“Philanthropist. A rich (and usually bald) old gentleman who has trained himself to grin while his conscience is picking his pocket...”

~~ Ambrose Bierce

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?

~~ Robert Zimmerman

If you wish to have fun, I suggest you try a form of charitable behavior that I learned about, iirc, from the late Jon Carroll of the S.F. Chron. He suggested it as a holiday season endeavor, but it can be done at any time. First select a Gift Unit which is a unit of currency such as $1, $5, $10, $20 or on more. Second you go to your bank or, preferably, credit union and procure a reasonable stack of said currency units.Third you proceed to one or more of those parts of town where society has more or less sequestered the downtrodden, down and out, impecunious, and others of that general category. Walk down the street and without hesitation or condescension give one such gift unit to every panhandler you see, whether they be actively panhandling or merely curled up in a doorway under a blanket or ragged coat. That's it, when you're out of bread you go home and savor a bevereage while remembering the looks on their faces.

Freedom Fries!! Idiocy!! On this date in 1781, Rear Admiral François Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse (One of France's better admirals) won an enormous strategic victory over British Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves. De Grasse prevented the British from reinforcing, and, later, evacuating the British forces commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. In addition, de Grasse's actions allowed Jacques-Melchior Saint-Laurent, Comte de Barras to slip down the coast with another fleet and bring a fleet load of French armaments and siege equipment to George Washington's Continental Army and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau's Expédition Particulière, The combined effect was the surrender of Cornwallis, French control of the Chesapeake, and the eventual peace and freedom for the United States.

Nonetheless, much later France's refusal to join Bush the Lesser's Coalition of the Witless in waging an illegal unprovoked war of aggression against Iraq led to Congress and assorted other somehow even lesser savants declaring that French Fries should subsequently be known as Freedom Fries. Whatever.

For the record, de Grasse later got his ass handed to him off Jamaica by Rodney.

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On this day in history:

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1661 –- Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's Superintendent of Finances was arrested by D'Artagnan, captain of the king's musketeers. Really.

1774 -- First Continental Congress assembled in Philly

1781 -- A French naval victory in the Battle of the Chesapeake forced the British surrender at Yortown

1791 –= Olympe de Gouges wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen.

1793 -- Start of the Reign of Terror in France

1839 –- The UK declared war (The First Opium War) on the Qing dynasty of China.

1882 -- The first United States Labor Day parade

1914 -- Start of the first Battle of the Marne

1944 -- The Benelux Union was formed

1957 -- On the Road was published

1960 -- Muhammad Ali won an Olympic gold medal in boxing

1975 –- Lynette Fromme failed to assassinate Gerald Ford.

1991 –- The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, went into force, centuries too late.

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Some people who were born on this day:

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones

~~ John Cage

1847 -- Jesse James, Confederate guerilla, bushwacker, robber, killer; and - he robbed the Glendale train.
1850 -- Jack Daniel, founder of Jack Daniel's
1905 -- Arthur Koestler, journalist and author; wrote Darkness at Noon
1907 -- Sunnyland Slim, American singer, songwriter, and pianist
1912 -- John Cage, American composer and theorist
1921 -- Jack Valenti, creator of the MPAA film rating system
1928 -- Albert Mangelsdorff, trombonist and educator
1939 –- Claudette Colvin, nurse and activist
1939 -- John Stewart, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1945 -- Al Stewart, Scottish singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1946 -- Freddie Mercury, singer, songwriter and producer
1946 -- Loudon Wainwright III, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1947 -- Mel Collins, saxophonist and flute player
1947 -- Chip Davis, pianist, songwriter, and producer
1947 -- Buddy Miles, singer, songwriter and drummer
1949 -- Clem Clempson, guitarist and songwriter
1953 -- Paul Piche', singer & songwriter
1956 -- Roine Stolt, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1963 -- Juan Alderete, bass player and songwriter
1967 -- Arnel Pineda, singer and songwriter
1968 -- Brad Wilk, singer, songwriter, and drummer
1969 -- Dweezil Zappa, singer, guitarist, and actor

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Some people who died on this day:

One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk.

~~ Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse)

1857 -- Auguste Comte, sociologist and philosopher
1877 -- Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse), Oglala Lakota leader
1906 -- Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist and philosopher
1948 -- Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist
1977 -- George Barnes, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1992 –- Fritz Leiber, author and poet
1993 -- Claude Renoir, French cinematographer
1997 -- Mother Teresa, nun, missionary, saint, anti-condom activist, anti-family planning activist
2003 -- Gisele MacKenzie, singer and actress
2012 -- Joe South, singer, songwriter and guitarist
2015 -- Frederick "Dennis" Greene, singer and actor (Sha Na Na)

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

International Day of Charity (International)

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Today's Tunes

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Muhammed Ali

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Jessee James

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Jack Daniel / Jack Daniel's

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Sunnyland Slim

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John Cage (would've loved this, so I left it)

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Albert Mangelsdorff

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John Stewart

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Al Stewart

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Freddie Mercury

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Loudon Wainwright III

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Mel Collins

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Chip Davis

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Buddy Miles

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Paul Piche'

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Roine Stolt

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Juan Alderete

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Arnel Pineda

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Brad Wilk

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Dweezil Zappa

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George Barnes

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Joe South

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

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Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

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Lookout's picture

Another day, more rain and more predicted this week.

Some folks recorded 10+" yesterday. We had about 8". Major roads were closed, and buildings flooded.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Ci6WKuiPY]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO7XP4haUpY]
Flooding in northwest Georgia | Parts of Chattooga, Floyd counties get 10-14 inches of rain in the past 24 hours. Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency for Chattooga and Floyd counties.

I have not driven over the ridge to check out the steepest part of our road. The roads here against the mountain had minimal wash I'm happy to report.

Have a good labor day!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

@Lookout

I hope a good amount recharges the soil, water table and aquifers for future times of need. Thanks for the report.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

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Mayday-1.jpg

Art by Ricardo Levins Morales

(President) Cleveland’s choice to establish Labor Day in September deflected attention away from another explosive labor action — the Haymarket massacre of 1886, the origin of international observance of the May 1 holiday.

https://jacobin.com/2015/09/labor-day-may-first-american-labor-movement-...

Thanks for the charity music!

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enhydra lutris's picture

@QMS

labor deflected and still deflects attention from the bloody history of the labor and union movements in this country and has an anti-socialist and anti-communist motive and message. The one good thing about it is that it created a holiday between July 4 and Thanksgiving back when holidays were far fewer than today.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

Pluto's Republic's picture

The UN Office of the Commission for Human Rights released a document this week that completely exonerates the leadership of the Chinese region of Xinjiang from accusations of genocide or use of slave labor.

This document, which is 121 pages long, explains clearly how a spate of deadly terrorist attacks triggered changes which have been remarkably successful. Extremist violence is gone, and the people of the area have been lifted out of poverty, with education, jobs, free healthcare which has raised their longevity to developed world standards.

Wait, you say. That’s not the summary you read in the media.
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Really?
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Well, here are the facts. The UNHCR released a PAIR of documents on August 31: a 46 page one from their office listing concerns and a 121-page one responding to concerns.
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The mainstream media wrote fanciful articles purportedly based on the first
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– and hid the second.
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Why hide it? Well, the first is a summary of tired old sources which are mostly anonymous or recycled from western media. The second is from the actual working officials in Xinjiang, a place led by councils made up of ethnic minority people and Han Chinese people.
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But here’s the twist. Both documents say there’s been no genocide in Xinjiang. That’s big news. If the media was fair, that would be the headline.
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What about the concerns raised by the first document? Well, there are about 12 million Uyghur people in Xinjiang. But this quotes the tiny number of mostly anonymous people making horrendous allegations in the west, people who have been repeatedly tracked to western-funded groups like World Uyghur Congress.
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To give one example, the footnotes lead to allegations by people such as a lady named Sautbay. Trustworthy?
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Well, she told one interviewer that the terrible thing was that they were forced to eat pork!
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And told another interviewer that the terrible thing was that they were forced to be vegetarian!
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She told one interviewer that she was a camp detainee and another that she was a camp staff member. Her story changed so often that people on all sides realized it was some sort of political theatre. Well, you decide.
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While you are thinking about that, here’s a picture of her with mate of hers. That’s Michael Pompeo, former director of the CIA.
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Meanwhile, here’s something that the media wants you to forget. Just this summer, when this UN officer [image of Michele Bachelet] moved away from the demonization script, reporters denounced her work as terrible, marking her as someone who can never be trusted again.
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Now, when they have something that they can use to get back to the demonisation project, her department’s work is totally trustworthy again!
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You can’t make this stuff up!
A little healthy skepticism is a good thing. Peace.

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You have now been officially informed of what you already should have known.

All members of your government lied to you about this over and over and over and over again.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
enhydra lutris's picture

@Pluto's Republic

insidious propaganda campaign that will likely never die until the empire collapses. More of the same old shit, a wannabe color revolution that failed before it even came into being, another fine example of the desperate need to defund the CIA and all related outfits and programs and to outlaw propaganda by the US, first and foremost here at home, but also world wide. If the so called "shining city upon the hill" is built of nothing but lies, then it doesn't and shouldn't exist.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

CB's picture

@Pluto's Republic
I have been posting about the truth in Xinjiang for well over a decade, both here and in dkos. In dkos I was vilified by virtually everyone for doing so. It was one of the reasons (also Russia) that I jumped ship and came to c99%.

I now believe that dkos is actually a propaganda mouthpiece for the 'deep state'. Just look at how they report (or DON'T report) on Israel, China, Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@CB

read officebss' MOT (poetry heavy) and her WOWs (when I remember) So today the stream I got included the following, by Kos himself: Ukraine Update: Russia culminates, Ukraine advances on all fronts

be well and have a good one

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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 --

enhydra lutris's picture

is for some chunk of town that is much more susceptible to the Bay Effect than out house is; it is always warmer here, For example, yesterday was supposed to get to 88, but our yard got to 100. Today it is supposed to get to 101, so it will be definitely plenty hot out back. This is not good news during our perpetual drought. Ah well, life goes on

be well and have a good one, y'all

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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 --

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ggersh's picture

and are now feeling it's full effects!

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/05/russia-will-not-resume-gas...

Russia will not resume gas supplies to Europe until sanctions lifted, says Moscow
Kremlin blames western sanctions for failure to deliver gas through Nord Stream 1 pipeline

Russia will not resume in full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said, as concerns over Russian gas supplies continued to drive up energy prices.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed sanctions “introduced against our country by western countries including Germany and the UK” for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

“Other reasons that would cause problems with the pumping don’t exist,” Peskov was cited by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Peskov added that Russia’s full resumption of gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 was “undoubtedly” dependent on whether the west would lift its sanctions on Moscow. “It is these sanctions imposed by the western states that have brought the situation to what we see now.”

Peskov’s statements on Monday are the clearest indication yet that Russia intends to force the EU to lift sanctions imposed against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in exchange for Russia restarting its gas deliveries.

The leading Russian energy supplier Gazprom announced on Friday evening that a suspension of gas supplies heading westwards through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would be extended indefinitely, citing “malfunctions” on a turbine along the pipeline.

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@humphrey Is that some oops! Slipped! that Emmies are not competitive?
I am sick of Obama. And Trump. Well, everybody holding government office, to tell the truth.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

dystopian's picture

Hi all, Hey EL! Hope it's all good!

Sorry about that heat there EL! We are below normal the last week since the rains came, for the first time since early May.

In USA speak philanthropist = oligarch in Russian. Bill Gates giving half his money to his foundation so he doesn't pay taxes on it but still controls it, is not philanthropy. It is tax dodging.

A tip of the shot glass to Jack D. That one called Gentleman's Jack, in a Mexican (cane sugar) coke, makes a mighty refreshing beverage.

Migrant birds through yard today: 10-12 Orchard Oriole, 4-5 Baltimore Oriole, 6 Yellow and 1 Nashville Warbler, 2 Least Flycatcher, 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 1 Dickcissel, and the rest was not passage transients. A couple nice leftover breeders still here on territory but done nesting and now in molt are Vermilion Flycatcher, Summer Tanager, Yellow-throated Warbler and a couple Hooded Oriole hitting a hummer feeder.

Stay cool EL!

be well all!

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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

@dystopian @dystopian We saw a pair of scarlet tanagers this afternoon! Like a welcome home after being out of town a while.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

dystopian's picture

@on the cusp very cool OTC! Always great to see. They were waitin' for ya, wondering where you went. Wink I think there should be an avian welcoming committee for everyone, everywhere, all the time. Smile

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3 users have voted.

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

enhydra lutris's picture

@dystopian

in the yard here. Grossbeak still here.

be well and have a good one

edit fixed typo in subject

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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 --

dystopian's picture

@enhydra lutris Hi EL! Wow, that Grosbeak must have found something it likes there. Often on migration when a bird finds a good food source it will stick a few to several days fattening up whilst it can. I recorded a number of warblers that stayed 10 days in one spot, because the feeding was good. Many of the scarce or rare hummingbirds that pass through here only stay a couple or few days, but some longer. Of course with common birds such things are harder to tell, but with anything different much easier to detect this sort of thing. We have a female or imm. Calliope here now, thought I saw it yesterday but sure today, thankfully it stayed overnight so I could confirm the ID today. They really lean on the natural flowers and only go to the feeder as a last resort.

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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

enhydra lutris's picture

@dystopian

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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 --

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enhydra lutris's picture

@humphrey

expects these days.

be well and have good one

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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 --

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/05/middleeast/idf-shireen-abu-akleh-investig...

Jerusalem (CNN)The Israel Defense Forces have ​admitted for the first time that there is a "high possibility" Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed by Israeli fire while covering an Israeli military operation in Jenin in May, the IDF announced Monday.

"[I]t appears that it is not possible to unequivocally determine the source of the gunfire which hit and killed Ms. Abu Akleh. However, there is a high possibility that Ms. Abu Akleh was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire," the IDF said in a statement.

But the Israeli military does not intend to pursue criminal charges or prosecutions of any of the soldiers involved, IDF's Military Advocate General's Office said Monday in a separate statement.

"After a comprehensive examination of the incident, and based on all the findings presented, the Military Advocate General determined that under the circumstances of the incident, despite the dire result -- the death of Ms. Abu Akleh and Mr. Samudi's injury -- there was no suspicion of a criminal offense that warrants the opening of an MPCID investigation," the statement said. Abu Akleh's producer Ali al-Samoudi was wounded in the incident.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

The Great Pretender.

Perfection.

[edit=typo]
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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
enhydra lutris's picture

@Pluto's Republic

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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 --

I make a dozen or more charitable contributions. Every year.
Primarily for animals, but a cemetery here, a couple of schools get some $ there. I routinely cut my prices for legal advice for the poor, never go after anyone who skips out on their fees, and when I hire anyone to work on my property doing carpenter work, or landscaping, I give them water, I give them food. I also pay them way more than minimum wage, and often provide the equipment and pay for the fuel.
This is a cruel ass world, but individuals do not need to be. Handing out anything to a panhandler is possibly what feeds them that day.
You keep up the good work, EL! OK?

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp @on the cusp

good works ya do. Individual direct action, the small shit, is still a really big deal, moreso than some billionaire's "Joe Hotshot chair of Omphaloskepsis" at the U of whatever.

be well and have a good one

edit; fixed typos in last line

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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 --