2024-08-31
For me, the last day in August is the end of Summer.
What better way to celebrate the time, than with memories from then?
2024-08-29
Still don't think Israel is not accelerating both their desire to incite a regional war, AND continue destroying the Palestinian people and their land?
Think again - the facts say otherwise.
Israel Launches Major West Bank Raid as Israeli Minister Vows Gaza-Like Attack
August 29, 2024
By Sharon Zhang / Truthout
Israel has embarked on its largest raid of the occupied West Bank in decades, launching attacks from the land and air against areas home to 80,000 Palestinians as Israel’s foreign minister is pledging “war” using the same genocidal tactics the Israeli military has used on Gaza.
Israel has attacked the West Bank with drone strikes and deployed military vehicles on the ground, with troops opening fire on Palestinians. Israeli forces are shutting down and destroying roads with bulldozers leading to Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas in the northern West Bank, effectively cutting the cities off from the rest of the West Bank. Jenin has a population of roughly 39,000 Palestinians.
The raid is especially sinister as it comes amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which experts say has been an opportunity for Israeli forces to test and hone violence against Palestinians. Alarmingly, Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz pledged that Israeli forces would handle the occupied West Bank the same way it has Gaza — where it has isolated the population and then carried out a genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign of unprecedented proportions.
Quote of the day - 08-29-2024
Sean Blackmon -
"There's nothing magical about Kamala's blackness or her womanhood that is going to make her class interest the same as the class interests of poor or working people in this country, black people in general, or around the world. And history shows this conclusively."
2024-08-28
Can no longer be silent on the ongoing genocide/crimes Israel is doing in Palestine.
This is now what I say to people - > to remain silent in a situation of injustice benefits the criminal over the victim.
Or to quote the late Desmond Tutu -
'If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.'
2024-08-24
So what are the differences between 'Blue-No-Matter-Who' and 'MAGA-Red'?
- One group cheers loudly when the US crapitalist ruling class kills brown and black people.
- The other group cheer loudly the US crapitalist ruling class kills brown and black people, but pretends they feel bad about it.
To be more blunt -
One uses lube when fucking your over, the other doesn't.
Next time you hear someone from one of those groups telling you that the other is the 'bad guy' and that their side is the one of the 'good guys', give them this analogy -
Imagine that someone from your side is driving down a street, heading to a highway to head say north.
But as soon as you get to that highway, you see a roadblock, and are unable to get on the highway. And that the their is a huge traffic logjam in front of you. Additionally by the time you stop, a traffic logjam forms behind you.
You can't go forward. You can't go back.
You are stuck, and there's no way to get out, and there is no one to help you.
Now imagine that someone from that other group (the one you consider evil) is coming from other side of the same street, -> on the other side of the highway. They too are headed to the same highway as you are, only they are entering it from the opposite side, and ... they want to enter the highway and head south.
And when they arrive, they also encounter a roadblock - and are also unable to get on the highway. And there is huge logjam in front of them. And by the time they stop, a traffic logjam forms behind them.
They are stuck, and there is no way to get out, and there is no one to help them - just like you.
That is the difference between Blue-No-Mattter-Who and MAGA-Red. They end up in the same place; where the US crapitalist ruling class wins.
And while it's true they start from different places - while it's true they offer 'cultural' and 'visible' differences to attract different voters - they both end up supporting the ruling class' wishes.
So who DOES support Kamala Harris?
All the same people who were supporters of George W Bush (who was far more damaging to this country than Donald Trump ever was).
IOW - Neocons.
Oh, and let's not forget who else the US capitalist ruling class fucks over.
Those pesky indigenous people here.
But let's be clear - in US crapitalism -
- No justice.
- No accountability.
- No responsibility.
Just virtue signaling for the KHive Karens, and henpecked.
2024-08-23
Taking last vacation before the end of Summer.
I always hated it when September started. Mostly because I hated going back to school (actually I hated going to school, period.).
Being put on a bus, going somewhere I didn't want to go, interacting with people I didn't want to see, new teachers, etc.
Granted I had friends who I was glad to see, but that was about really it. I wasn't white, and wasn't very athletic. While I had some brains, I was lazy and certainly wasn't top-of-class.
Besides, no matter how well I did, it was never enough, but that's for another post.
But coming back to next week - as my late father always used to say - Make the most of what you have.
2024-08-22
Why the bullshit responses Lula?
ZA: For many people, the fact that progressive governments took a stand against a popular government was shocking. Can you help us understand some of the internal and external dynamics which led to this development?
BA: I believe that the Lula government and President Lula are concerned about the Brazilian municipal elections scheduled for October. And he believes that defending the Maduro government will take votes away from the PT and its allied parties, especially in the big capitals, particularly in São Paulo.
We have to take into account that the logic of Brazilian foreign policy is one of active non-alignment, that is, seeking to build on negotiations with the United States, the European Union, China and Russia, seeking an intermediate situation in which it is possible to obtain advantages for Brazil, for South America. In this logic, Brazilian foreign policy avoids steps that could lead to a break in relations with the United States, although Brazil’s economic and political relations are privileged with China and other counter-hegemonic countries.
At no point does Brazil assume a position aligned with US imperialism. Nor does Brazil wish to adopt steps that would represent a break with the United States and the European Union. In this Brazilian foreign policy, which is currently underway of active non-alignment, there is also a bet that relations between South America, European governments led by social democracy, liberalism, specifically France and Germany, and also relations with the Democratic Party in the United States can help constitute and reinforce this non-aligned intermediary role of Brazil and can also help constitute an alliance that helps the Brazilian left fight the extreme right in our country.
I think that the tensions between Lula and Maduro have to do with this, that is, with the needs of President Lula’s government or the way President Lula sees these needs, to prevent a break with the United States and the European Union. From an external point of view and from an internal point of view, preventing a split, a split that would be dangerous for this broad front, for this alliance between the left and liberals that was formed to elect President Lula against Bolsonaro. Supporting Venezuela could jeopardize this broad front. President Lula is calculating that if he will openly support Venezuela, recognizing Maduro’s victory, it could also cause electoral damage.
2024-08-21
Quote of the day - 08-21-2024.
"Voting for genocide is the ultimate fascist act."
Bonus:
Everyone who wants to end Israel’s crimes or the proxy wars against Russia and China is forced to protest. Code Pink activists interrupted a Tim Walz appearance at the Women’s Caucus. Their chant was, “Stop killing women in Gaza!” Unlike the whining Karens who snitched on a protester or who snatched away a sign, they took it straight to the man who may be the next vice president and some of them were arrested in the process.
Doing otherwise is to be complicit. Of course the KHive Karens proved that there are many willing accomplices. Liberals may claim that Genocide Joe Biden is a good man, or that Trump and his supporters are the only villains in the country while they are either in support of or in denial about the fake democracy that tells the people their needs can’t be met while the system always does the bidding of weapons manufacturers, banks, fossil fuel producers, and big pharma.
2024-08-20
2024-08-19
Meanwhile, that same IDF that produced rape/violence-addicted people, trained the police forces in the United States.
Yes - this, leads to this -> https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/08/15/a-year-after-the-police-killing-of-eddie-irizarry-charges-dropped-against-killer-cop/
A year after the police killing of Eddie Irizarry, charges dropped against killer cop
Irizarry’s family and local Philadelphia community outraged after first-degree murder charge dropped and former officer Mark Dial released on bail
27-year-old Irizarry was shot and killed on August 14, 2023. Immediately after he was shot, Philadelphia police began to tell the media a series of events that later turned out to be false. Police initially claimed that what prompted Irizarry’s shooting was him lunging out of his vehicle towards officers, wielding a knife. Police had to quickly change this narrative, however, after it became clear that body camera footage would prove otherwise. “The body-worn camera footage made it very clear what we initially reported was not actually what happened,” said then Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw at the time.
Body camera footage, released on September 8, 2023, revealed a truth that was even more damning than expected. Dial was shown running to Irizarry’s car, shouting “I will f-cking shoot you!” only a few seconds before firing six shots into the car. Dial then placed handcuffs on Irizarry’s dead body before dragging him to the police vehicle.
Irizarry reportedly had a knife by his right leg, however, this could not have been visible to Dial. Dial’s lawyer claimed that the officer fired shots because he believe that Irizarry had a gun, although no gun is seen in the body camera footage.
Initial police reports in cases of brutality can often be contradicted when footage later resurfaces. If it wasn’t for Darnella Frazier’s brave filming of the police killing of George Floyd, it is possible that no protests would erupted—Minneapolis police’s initial report of Floyd’s killing was titled “Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction.”
Is this a psychopathic society?
65% of Israeli Jews oppose criminal prosecution for soldiers suspected of raping Palestinian detainees
A shocking new poll shows that almost two out
of three Jewish Israelis oppose criminal prosecution for soldiers
suspected of gang-raping Palestinian detainees at the Sde Teiman torture
facility.
And this seems to strengthen the pattern that has been documented: not only do Israelis seem to generally enjoy watching snuff videos of this systemic torture — they generally support the sexual violence, including rape, that has accompanied it. It confirms what we saw last week when Israeli journalist Yehuda Shlezinger lamented on Israel’s mainstream Channel 12 how gang rape is not an approved and regulated policy in Israeli detention centers.
That figure, 65%, also echoes the February poll saying that 68% of Jewish Israelis “oppose the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza residents at this time,” even if Hamas or UNRWA were out of the picture in terms of distribution.
The same INSS poll citing the 65% opposing criminal prosecution of the gang rapists incidentally cites an identical percentage of Israeli Jews as having “high trust” in the reports of the military spokesperson “throughout the war in Gaza” — an institution which generates incessant genocide propaganda. It is unclear whether there is a linear overlap between the two — those who have “high trust” and those who oppose criminal prosecution of the gang rapists, but it wouldn’t be a surprise. They can trust the military to protect the rapists.
None of the Hillary Clinton-style 'feminists' here in the United States have uttered so much as a syllable about this.
The one thing (aside from democracy, which tends to favor the majority) the rich and powerful truly fear ...
... are facts and evidence.
And they will do anything to prevent that from coming to the majority.
Case in point -
2024-08-17
Good fucking riddance - if confirmed true.
Revocation of the JNF’s charitable status indicates massive shift in how Canada views the Israeli occupation
The revocation of the Jewish National Fund's
and Ne’eman Foundation's charitable status suggests a massive shift is
underway in how Canada views the illicit funding of West Bank
settlements following the ICJ's opinion on the Israeli occupation.
2024-08-16
2024-08-14
A reminder about 'antisemistism'.
It originated in Europe.
The Chris Hedges Report: The Arab Jew Experience Exposes the Myths of Middle Eastern Antisemitism
By Chris Hedges/ The Chris Hedges Report
A significant justification for Israel’s existence relies on the narrative that, because of the alleged inherent and rabid antisemitism of Arabs and Islam, the Jews of the Middle East never had a home. Without Israel, it is said, these Jews would be left on the fringes of Middle Eastern societies, marginalized for an irrational prejudice against their religion and ethnicity by Muslims.
Historian and author Avi Shlaim details in his book, “Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab Jew,” through personal experience and historical analysis the lies that this narrative is constructed upon.
...
Chris Hedges: One of the fascinating points in your book is that there was, in the 1930s, the rise of an antisemitic party. But again, that was a European import, that this was fueled by German fascism. That was a fascinating point, that even the most virulent forms of antisemitism in Iraq were a European import.
Avi Shlaim: There was no history of antisemitism in the Arab world. Antisemitism is a European disease. Antisemitism was born in Europe. You can trace it back to the church in medieval times, which persecuted Jews because they didn’t accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In the Middle East, in the Arab world, there wasn’t a parallel tradition. In the 1930s, antisemitism was exported from Europe to Iraq in particular, and it’s striking that there was no antisemitic literature in Arabic. So antisemitic literature had to be translated from European languages into Arabic, and one example is Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” The situation of the Jews in Iraq was very, very different to that of the Jews in Europe. In Iraq, the Jews did not live in ghettos. In Iraq, the Jews practiced all the different professions. It took Europe much longer than it took the Arab world to accept the Jews as equal citizens, and we, my family and I, in the Jewish community, we had much more in common linguistically and culturally with our Arab compatriots than we did with our European co-religionists. So we were very much part of the fabric of Iraqi society. We are not a foreign body. There were thriving Jewish communities throughout the Arab world, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, in Egypt, throughout North Africa, but the Jewish community in Iraq was the most successful, the most prosperous, and also the best integrated of all the Jewish communities.
The leadership/ruling class of most (if not all) settler-colonial capitalist efforts is one of various forms of psychopathy; including sociopaths, narcissists, and above all, violence and murder, fueled by greed, money, and power.
And, one aspect of this leadership is a great deal of projection, along with a rather extreme inability to take accountability and responsibility for any of its actions.
Case in point -> https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/08/13/over-1500-israeli-settlers-led-by-minister-ben-gvir-storm-al-aqsa-mosque/
Over 1,500 Israeli settlers led by Minister Ben-Gvir, storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been one of the Israeli occupation’s provocative policies towards the Palestinian people, exemplifying the fact that the end goal of the Zionist project is incompatible with any semblance of Palestinian sovereignty
In a new assault on sacred places within the occupied Palestinian capital of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), around 1,500 illegal Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Tuesday, August 13. The settlers were led by Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir , and Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf. The attack comes as Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza completes 10 months, and Israel’s continuous provocations have put the ceasefire talks in jeopardy.
Shared Understanding.
The key to shared understanding is climbing into someone's head to see their reality, so they can see yours.
2024-08-13
Still think the US Empire and it's ruling class DOESN'T overthrow foreign governments over land, resources and wealth?
The former prime minister of Bangladesh says otherwise -
Edmundo González: Juan Guaidó 2.0
It's a pretty good sign (as if there aren't enough of them) that the United States isn't a democracy, nor has it ever really been one.
And, that the ruling class wants to convince the majority otherwise, along with the whole US Exceptionalism crap.
Here's the sign - Eliot Abrams is still trying to get his way and install dictatorships, overthrow foreign governments, steal their resources and wealth.
It's happening, again. This time he's evidently trying to have the US overthrow Venezuela's recently re-elected leadership despite all objective evidence proving their elections were quite free, transparent, and open.
And who just is Eliot Abrams? Well I'll let this article describe him ->
Biden Nominates Elliott Abrams, Death Squad Backer Convicted of Lying to Congress, to Gov’t Commission
What's the connection?
Code Pink says it best -> https://www.codepink.org/not_another_guaido
The Biden administration is following the Trump administration’s playbook — again. They just announced they are recognizing Edmundo Gonzalez as President of Venezuela in defiance of Venezuela’s institutions, which are currently auditing the election. This is exactly what Trump did in 2019 by recognizing an unelected opposition figure, Juan Guaidó, as president, and it turned out to be a disaster.
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