Ann's Mega Dub: 6/30/24

Friday, July 5, 2024

NPR's continued bad music coverage just got a lot worse (Kat)

Those are Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Clarence Takes Another Dump" and "He Eats Dog" which went up on the Fourth. Kat here filling in for Ann I did two album reviews on the Fourth: "Kat's Korner: The late Melanie releases a live album" and "Kat's Korner: Judy Garland, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!"

Now let's talk NPR. I wasn't planning on slamming NPR. I saw the headline to a music story and thought, "I don't really cover Broadway," so I thought I should grab it. And I was familiar with the artist they were covering. So win-win, right?

Wrong.

Bob Mondello writes:

You may not know the name Leslie Bricusse (pronounced Brick’-us), but you very likely hum some of the songs he’s written: “Pure Imagination,” “What Kind of Fool Am I?,” "Talk to the Animals,” Superman’s theme “Can You Read My Mind,” “Goldfinger.”

And remarkably, some 60 years after his heyday, the composer-lyricist is having a moment.

Already I have a problem. Because those are co-written songs. Bob continues his blather:

In A Quiet Place: Day One, a woman who may be the last human survivor on a Manhattan infested with aliens checks her iPod and pulls up Nina Simone singing “Feeling Good.” She needs a song to express defiance and how, as her world lies in ruins, she exults in being alive. Sentiments Bricusse put to music six decades ago seem perfect.

That same song popped up on the premiere of the Netflix series Obliterated to help a bomb defuser steady his hand. And family audiences spent last Christmas singing along with “Pure Imagination,” crooned by Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka to tie him firmly with the Gene Wilder original.

See a problem? First off, how about the fact that OBLITERATED came out in November so maybe mention that and maybe put it after a film released in December. Or, Bob, did you write an article without doing the appropriate research.

Next problem: Anthony Newley. The songs mentioned above? The melodies, the music were all written by Anthony Newley.

And Anthony Newley is the only reason Leslie is known today. There are many lyricists from that time period and the bulk are forgotten. Why Leslie got attention to begin with is Anthony.

He was considered attractive. He was married to Joan Collins when he came to US fame.

By the early 1960s, he was known in the UK for film and television and for having multiple hits as a singer. He married Joan Collins in 1963 and the marriage would last for seven years. Joan was considered a very sexy woman and whenever a sexy woman gets with a man we might not otherwise notice, we tend to take a second look and wonder, "What's he got?"

STOP THE WORLD -- I WANT TO GET OFF. A huge musical on the London stage that he co-wrote with Leslie and that he (Anthony) starred in. His performance earned a Tony nomination when the show was moved to Broadway. Which is how he ended up starring in the original DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967). There were many other films. The one that has to be noted is CAN HEIRONYMUS MERKIN EVER FORGET MERCY HUMPPE AND FIND TRUE HAPPINESS? -- a musical he starred in (Joan Collins was the female lead), co-produced, co-wrote the script, co-wrote the music (not with Leslie) and directed. It was a hit film in the UK and around the world making four times its budget in film rentals. ("Film rentals"? Consider that the portion of your money that you pay for a ticket that the studio gets -- they don't get 100% of what you pay for a ticket.)

Why would you do that? Why would you write the garbage that Bob Mondello did? Leslie was basically a lyricist He won one Grammy -- for a song he co-wrote with Anthony. He won two Academy Awards -- one for a song he co-wrote with Anthony.

Without Anthony? I'd argue his work was forgettable. Some would disagree. For example, he wrote "Life In A Looking Glass" with Henry Mancini for the film THAT'S LIFE. Some don't consider that song forgettable, some consider it one of the worst songs ever written which is why it was nominated for a Golden Raspberry.

Ann needed a weekend off. She plans to be back Monday. At my site, this weekend (hopefully tonight) I'll be doing a book review.

___________________

ADDED 7/6/24, I forgot to do one thing Ann asked me to, she wanted to note Dona's "I Know This Much Is True: We Are Cheese (Dona)" about cooking grilled cheese sandwiches. I told her I would and then I completely forgot.

______________

Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, July 5, 2024. As the slaughter in Gaza continues, the official death toll has passed the 38,000 mark, 'progressive' David Sirota is pimping a candidate to replace Joe Biden and David doesn't want you to get how he's tricking you again (Israel loves David's choice -- environmental activists, First Amendment supporters, and opponents to genocide aren't crazy for Josh Shapiro), Joe Biden will be on ABC tonight with an interview while he tries to assure Democrats that he's up to the task of running for the presidency, and much more.

Today, the European Union's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Committee released the following:

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, have issued the following statement:

"The European Union is deeply concerned about the Israeli army orders to evacuate civilians from the area of Khan Younis. Some 250,000 people are impacted by the evacuation orders. These orders also threaten the patients of the European Hospital, one of the few remaining partially functioning hospitals in southern Gaza.

Injured and sick patients from the European Hospital, including pregnant women and elderly people, were forced to relocate to other facilities, such as the Nasser Hospital. Staff also tried to save medical equipment. This evacuation decision is certain to worsen overcrowding, and cause severe shortages in the already overwhelmed remaining hospitals, at a time when access to emergency medical care is critical.

Forced evacuations are creating a humanitarian crisis within the crisis. They exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, with nearly 1.9 million Gazans displaced within the Strip, as stated by UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag in the Security Council. There are no facilities to accommodate people, and humanitarian partners struggle to meet the immense needs of the newly displaced.

The European Union reiterates that for evacuations not to amount to prohibited forcible transfers, they must conform with International Humanitarian Law, guaranteeing safety in transit and proper accommodation in areas of refuge for Palestinians called on to evacuate. Israel is likewise responsible for guaranteeing that displaced persons are able to return to their homes, or areas of habitual residence, once hostilities end. Displaced people also need to have access to the necessary services and have their needs met.

Faced with the deteriorating situation, the European Union has mobilised all its crisis response and humanitarian tools to channel needed aid to Gaza. This includes medical supplies, drugs and medications, and a significant increase in EU funding to humanitarian partners.

A ceasefire is all the more important now, and would make possible a surge of humanitarian assistance to Gaza as well as the release of all hostages.

The European Union recalls the obligation to respect and implement the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 26 January and 24 May 2024, which are legally binding. The EU gives its full support to the comprehensive roadmap presented by President Biden and calls for the immediate implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 2735, as well as the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 2728, 2720 and 2712."

Also speaking out is the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. PRESS TV reports:

An international human rights organization says Israel is using water as another weapon of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by deliberately reducing the amount of water available to them, especially potable water sources.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a new press release issued on Thursday that the Tel Aviv regime is purposefully causing the death of over 2.3 million people as part of its genocide war.

The Euro-Med noted that its field team observed significant damage to a desalination plant in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, as a result of an Israeli strike. The attack claimed the life of a young man who was filling a gallon with water there and left several other individuals wounded.

The station, which provided services to at least 50,000 people in several nearby residential neighborhoods, sustained significant damage after being struck by an Israeli guided bomb that broke through multiple stories and detonated on the first floor.

Yet the US Congress has no such statement to make collectively? Nothing. However, US Senator Lindsey Graham has finally learned to breathe through his nose and did manage to speak while otherwise occupied. ALJAZEERA notes:

United States Senator Lindsey Graham has sparked anger after he responded to protests outside his home in Seneca, South Carolina, with anti-Palestinian remarks on social media.

“The Palestinians in Gaza are the most radicalized population on the planet who are taught to hate Jews from birth. It will take years to fix this problem,” Graham said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“When I hear ‘from the river to the sea,’ it reminds me of ‘the Final Solution.’ The Hamas terrorists are the SS on steroids,” he added, drawing a comparison to a Nazi paramilitary organisation, the Schutzstaffel (SS).

As part of the post, Graham shared a video of a small line of protesters — about 20 in total — who held up a large Palestinian flag on the road outside his home and chanted, “Lindsey Graham, we’re not done. Intifada’s just begun.”

Lindsey went on in the deleted post, per ALJAZEERA, to apologize to his neighbors for the disturbance the protesters were causing. Couldn't he have just used the excuse he usually does on his neighbors? "They're my nephews."

Paul Rudnick Tweets:

ALJAZEERA notes:

In response to Thursday’s social media post, Claudia De la Cruz, the PSL’s presidential candidate, compared Graham to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s clear from Lindsey Graham’s comments that he considers the entire Palestinian population to be ‘the enemy’, making his genocidal intent as clear as Netanyahu’s. He should be held to account for aiding and abetting war crimes,” De la Cruz said in a statement posted online.

A majority of Americans likewise disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza: The survey agency Gallup found in March that 55 percent oppose the military offensive, and approval dropped to 36 percent.

And still the slaughter continues.

That's a video report from NBC so maybe it'll still visible in the snapshot five hours from now? I always wonder, when a person or outlet thinks they want to be noted here: Do they really? Do they not know that when it's spotted here, there's a good chance that it will be restricted when the Zionists start complaining and spamming YOUTUBE? I don't know. At COUNTERPUNCH, Vijay Prashad notes the children of Gaza:

Everyday Violence

June 14: One child was killed by Israeli airstrikes in Zeitoun (Gaza City).

June 22: Two children were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Shujaiya (Gaza City).

June 25: Two children were killed by Israeli fire on al-Wahda Street, near Al-Shifa Hospital (Gaza City).

June 25: Three children were killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Maghazi refugee camp.

Each of these stories is about precious children, most of whom have not even reached the age of 10. Some of these children lived through the barbarous Israeli bombardment of 2014 when over 3,000 children had been killed. Sitting in the homes of families in Gaza City and Khan Younis in the aftermath of that war, I heard story after story about children killed and children maimed (Maha, paralyzed; Ahmed, blinded—my notebook a mess of loss and sorrow). As the bombs continued to fall in 2014, Pernille Ironside, then-chief of the Gaza office of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) saidthat 373,000 children needed “immediate psycho-social first aid.” There were simply not enough counselors to help the children, most of whom are now hardened because of the ugliness of occupation and war.

The violence that they experience has become a daily affair. But this kind of violence can never be mundane. “I am scared,” said Hind Rajab. I remember meeting a little boy who was playing with a football on the streets of al-Mughraqa. His father, who was showing me around, told me that the boy was not able to sleep, but would stay awake at night and cry. That was in 2014. That boy must now be in his early twenties. He might not be alive.

One or Two Legs

An Al Jazeera interactive website has the names of the children killed since October 2023, one killed every fifteen minutes; as I scrolled down the names, I felt ill, and then found this at the very end: “These are the names of only half of the children killed.” In early May, UNICEF director Catherine Russell said, “Nearly all of Gaza’s children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime.” In her statement, where she reported that 14,000 children have been killed, she said that “an estimated 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated.” These numbers are estimates and are likely to be undercounts.

A new report from Save the Children suggests that over 20,000 children are missing in Gaza. They are either under the rubble, detained by the Israeli military, or buried in mass graves. During a detailed briefing on June 25, the Commissioner-General of the UN Palestine Agency (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said something staggering: “And you take into consideration that basically, we have every 10 days children losing one leg or two legs on average. This gives you an idea of the scope of the type of childhood a child can have in Gaza.”

The story should not be real. It was the morning of December 19, 2023. Israeli tanks rumbled through the neighborhood of Rimal in Gaza City. Seventeen-year-old Ahed Bseiso was on the top floor of a six-floor building trying to call her father in Belgium to tell him that she was still alive. She heard a loud noise, fell, and called out for her sister Mona and her mother. Her family rushed up, carried her down, and laid her on the kitchen table where her mother had been making bread. Ahed’s uncle Hani Bseiso, an orthopedic doctor, looked at her leg and realized that he would have to either amputate it or she would die. He grabbed whatever supplies he could find and conducted the amputation without anesthesia. Ahed recited verses from the Quran to calm herself. Hani wept as he did the operation, which the family filmed and later posed on YouTube, which was reposted in many places.

These are the stories of Gaza.

These children are dead and dying and let's not pretend that those lucky enough to survive are not going to be haunted by their own childhood for the rest of their lives. Let's not also not forget the countries feeding this nightmare, making it continue. ANADOLU AGENCY (via MEMO) notes:

Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, now stretching into its 10th month, has been marked by severe civilian casualties and widespread destruction, significantly fuelled by Western arms.

Germany, as the second-largest arms supplier to Israel after the US, plays a major role in exacerbating the crisis.

Despite global condemnation and calls for an end to arms sales, Germany, alongside the US, Italy and the UK, continues to be the main supplier of military equipment that intensifies the violence and suffering in Gaza.

I've seen and done things I want to forget
I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat
Blown and shot out beyond belief
Arms and legs were in the trees

I've seen and done things I want to forget
Coming from an unearthly place
Longing to see a woman's face
Instead of the words that gather pace

The words that maketh murder
These, these, these are the words
The words that maketh murder
These, these, these are the words
The words that maketh murder
These, these, these are the words
The words that maketh murder
These, these, these are the words
Murder

These, these, these are the words
The words that maketh murder
These, these, these are the words
The words that maketh murder

-- "The Words That Maketh Murder," written by PJ Harvey, first appears on her LET ENGLAND SHAKE album

In the US, we're still caught in the will-he-or-won't-he. Joe Biden is the US president and the Democratic Party's presidential nominee for November. Could it change? It could. But those who think they're helping, those like professional idiots at THE VANGAURD? Zac and 'Cody', I didn't realize that they didn't even have college educations. I know they're idiots and I know they have no knowledge base and no core values. But just because you desire Joe gone, is that a reason to present your segments as Donald-is-a-truth-teller?

They're stupid and uninformed which is why any lengthy conversation they post needs to be fact checked. But they're just dumb blowhards.

I am not interested in liars.

Norman Solomon lied throughout 2008 in radio appearance after radio appearance, TV appearance after TV appearance. He had no dog in the fight, he insisted, but Barack was the best nominee. Those who read his printed opinion pieces at corporate news sites knew better -- and they saw something that you didn't see when he was reposted by COUNTERPUNCH or COMMON DREAMS or whomever: That he was a pledged delegate for Barack. He had to include that when he got actual payment from actual newspapers because if he didn't include it they could've gotten him for failing to disclose and that would have taken the whole syndicate his columns went through down. That's a liar.

We don't need liars in this debate. He elected to lie and we don't need him, can't trust him.

If you have whored yourself in the past, have lied to the American people and tried to trick them, you don't belong in this conversation. You are not to be trusted.

Tonight, on ABC's first hour of prime time, Joe will speak with George Stephanopoulos

Watch, make up your own mind. Also watch the way some try to spin it. Opinions are one thing and people can see the same thing and disagree but then there are whores.

David Sirota, come on down. The man who looks like a drunken doctor mangled his skull during birth with forceps has always been problematic. There was the moment when he attacked an Iraq War veterans mother and did so as though she didn't know what she was talking about. She knew what she was talking about and, sad for David, we knew why David was whoring -- she was rightly calling out US House Rep David Obey. Let's go back because David Sirota wants this forgotten. When we called him out in real time for attacking Tina, he sent us this most foul mouthed e-mail where he repeatedly stated he was going to sue. As I noted when he got an undeserved Academy Award nomination, I evened the score by printing up that e-mail and sharing it at every official Academy Award event I attended.

At any rate, Eve Conant (NEWSWEEK) in March of 2007 on Tina:

You might not know her name, but she's fast become a fresh face of the antiwar left. Missouri mom Tina Richards became an overnight YouTube sensation last week, when an encounter she had with Rep. David Obey in a Capitol Hill corridor went viral—just as Congress was debating a bid to rein in spending for President Bush's surge in Iraq. During the encounter, Richards approaches Obey, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to discuss her son, Marine Cpl. Cloy Richards—who suffers from undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries following two tours of duty in Iraq and a failure by the military health-care system to provide adequate treatment, his mother says. Obey responds patiently, at first, but the congressman grows agitated as the conversation continues, and he tells Richards that "liberal idiots" were pushing Congress to defund the war—which, Obey argues, would further hurt the cause of veterans whose health-care needs are already being shortchanged.

Richards, the CEO of Grassroots America, a nonprofit devoted to social-justice issues, has continued walking the halls of Congress since then, pushing members to end the war in Iraq. Cloy is due to be deployed to Iraq later this month despite his injuries, she says, and has threatened suicide if he is to be deployed again.

That's who David Sirota attacked in a piece that he later had taken down. In the piece, please note, he attacked her for not grasping how important David Obey was. As he relentlessly kissed David Obey's ass, he forgot to include that, woops, he had been paid by Obey for many years. That's what professionals call "disclosure." And that's why we called him out and he was furious and angry and then, a week later, while defending Obey yet again, he did manage to do the needed disclosure -- bare minimum.

His second attempt at the topic omitted Tina's name but did continue to lecture her and others because who knows better about war than David Sirota? Forget that Tina's son had served two tours in Iraq, David Sirota knew better than her. Knew better than everyone because, as he wrote, there are "idiot liberals" and they are wrong to "berate" David Obey or anyone like him.

Are you getting just what a piece of crap David Sirota is?

Why bring this up now?

David's been in the conversation regarding the nominee. David wants Joe Biden out. Okay, he's not alone on that. There are others who want the same. But David's also pimping a replacement: Josh Shapiro the governor of Pennsylvania who doesn't believe in mask mandates or addressing climate change. But for our focus here? Let's note this from ALJAZEERA:

While he may not have the national name recognition that his fellow governors Newsom and Whitmer enjoy, Shapiro is considered one of the top candidates to potentially replace Biden.

The governor, who previously served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, comfortably won his election in the Mid-Atlantic swing state in 2022. Since taking office, he has had positive approval ratings.

With regards to the war in Gaza, Shapiro has been a staunch supporter of Israel.

“The whataboutism used by some to justify Hamas’s unprovoked actions is ignorant and wrong,” he said last year. “There is no moral equivalency here. Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Shapiro has also been outspoken in denouncing what he describes as anti-Semitism by protesters who oppose the war in Gaza.

In April, he likened pro-Palestinian student protesters to the Ku Klux Klan. The campus protests, however, have been largely peaceful, and student leaders say accusations of anti-Semitism misrepresent their aim: to encourage their universities to divest from Israeli companies linked to the country’s human rights abuses.

“We have to query whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia making comments about people who are African American in our communities,” Shapiro told CNN.

And that's who David Sirota supports. David wants Joe Biden out and he wants Shapiro in. How exactly is David a progressive whatever it is that he calls himself these days? (I just call him an ass regardless.) Maybe David Sirota needs to sit his tired ass down and keep it down? (For the record, he never apologized to Tina.)

Some people are genuinely concerned that Joe is not going to win in November. They are in a panic and they might be right to be in a panic. It might be good to have a different nominee. But some people who are injecting themselves into this conversation are doing so for other reasons and are not being honest about it. We need to be sure, as the conversation continues, that the David Sirotas and Norman Solomons who have lied in the past to try to get you to vote for someone aren't part of this conversation. They aren't honest brokers and we shouldn't listen to them.

The ALZAZEERA article does a run down on a number of possibilities that a number of people are pushing. I've warned about Gretch The Wretch already so we won't quote from the article on her but you should look over the article and ponder why some people keep pimping a candidate that has so very little to offer? Well, I say they have nothing to offer and nothing that says American President -- I say that but maybe, like David Sirota, you're ideal President of the United States is a man who proposed to his wife in Jerusalem? What's more American than that, right?

Yesterday, the death toll in Gaza passed 38,000. So maybe not the best time to pimp Josh Shapiro -- who made a dozen trips to Israel before being elected governor and whose election as governor led to a front page story by THE TIMES OF ISRAEL insisting "Josh Shapiro's inauguration symbolizes a new age for Jewish politicians" -- an article that basically attacks Ed Rendell ("Josh shows up for us just by being so proudly Jewish and that is really something because Rendell, who I worked for and who I love, I mean, he never hid his Jewishness, but he didn’t wear it on his sleeve"). I know Ed, I've know him for years and this has been disclosed here repeatedly. One example of many, March 2012:

Trudy Rubin (Philadelphia Inquirer) admonishes Ed Rendell here. Trudy Rubin's one of the few journalists who doesn't forget Iraq so we note her columns. I don't think Ed's done anything wrong (as noted before, I know Ed). But we'll use that to note a few things about the MEK which has nothing to do with the US legal obligations to Camp Ashraf residents.

So Little Joshy -- whom THE TIMES OF ISRAEL dished was the best Jewish politician since Joe Lieberman!!! are your panties wet yet, girls? -- is just THE TIMES OF ISRAEL's cover boy and, I'm sure, nude centerfold.

He's clearly not who America needs and it's really past time that the left started holding David Sirota accountable or at least permanently tuning him out. Whether it's defending US politicians for prolonging the Iraq War or pimping a non-Green and pro-genocide man for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination or, for that matter, attacking the mother of an Iraq War veteran, David Sirota has shown us what he is and he's done so repeatedly.

I was going to include one of David Sirota's Tweets where he basically creams his shorts as he fantasizes about Joshua Shapiro but the person I'm dictating this too found something much more interesting.

I'm sorry, where above did I knock Emily Sirota for her husband's Zionist beliefs? I didn't. That Tweet is nothing but sexism. Jill Biden is the First Lady. I never held Laura Bush responsible for her War Criminal husband's actions. I don't understand why David needs to knock Jill or to tie her being on the cover of VOGUE -- a common thing for First Ladies -- to his desire to oust Joe Biden so he can get an Israeli loyalist nominated for president?

David Sirota is a piece of crap. You need to grasp that not everyone involved in the conversation on the issue of who the Democratic Party's presidential nominee should be is an honest broker. Some are in it to trick you and they will -- as they have repeatedly in the past -- lie to you and think they can manipulate you.

Regarding this topic -- following Wednesday's snapshot -- many e-mails came in to the public e-mail account (common_ills@yahoo.com) from people saying that here I was telling them to vote for whomever the Democratic Party's nominee was. I didn't do that. I'm sorry that I wasn't more clear but that was a huge, lengthy snapshot.

This does appear in the Wednesday snapshot:

So you're reality is Cornel West, Chase Oliver or a Democrat if you're voting for president in 2024. Donald's going to destroy Palestine even more. And his vile and disgusting comments in the debate received no pushback from Owen or Glynneth. Or anyone else.

If you're a Libertarian, Chase Oliver is a great choice. I can certainly understand someone wanting to vote for Cornel West -- since he's been on fire since rejecting a bunch of White 'leaders' trying to jerk him around. We've noted Laura Flanders' interview with his running mate earlier this morning but I will include it here in the snapshot as well.

In prior years, we covered everyone running for president -- whether they had a chance at the slot or not. In 2023, I noted here that I wasn't doing that. It's a lot of work and there are a lot of liars. When Howie Hawkins won the Green Party nomination for president, he won it. He did that by working his ass off. Dario and the other whores thought campaigning was Tweeting every other week. That's not a campaign. Then, filled with sour grapes, they tried to tank Howie by going around to various questionable platforms (CINDY SHEEHAN'S SOAPBOX, to cite one) where hosts would not only air their lies but also encourage them. Dario didn't run a campaign. Howie did and that's how Howie got the nomination. The attacks, the smears on Kevin Zeese, all of that nonsense was repugnant.

And Jill Stein was a part of that. And Jill's a worthless candidate. If the Green Party gives her the nomination, it deserves all the ridicule it gets.

So I noted that we weren't covering every campaign. I said we'd cover what we could of real campaigns. Cornel came alive as a candidate during the combative interview with Jimmy Dore and I have no problem highlighting his campaign. I wish I had time to note Chase Oliver. But my time is limited.

That snapshot was directed to those people who were voting Democrat or planning to. I worded that very badly in the snapshot and the person I was dictating it to even asked me if I wanted to include a statement like that and I responded, "_____ no, just get the damn thing up already." A feeling I've got this morning because this snapshot has gone on way too long as well. Expect Monday's to be much shorter.

But, no, I'm not telling anyone that they have to vote for the Democrat. I am voting for the Democrat and I'm doing that because I am so worried what's going to happen to reproductive rights, to the LGBTQ+ community, to our basic rights, to our citizens -- that threat Donald made against Liz Cheney is not something minor.

But some people don't want to vote Democrat and I understand that. And when I'm talking about do we keep or replace Joe, I'm speaking to other Democrats. It's a difficult conversation to have because a lot of 'celebrities' on the left -- I'm referring to pundits -- pose as Democrats but they aren't Democrats. They're Socialists, or they're Democratic Socialists, or they're this or they're that. And they try to butt into this conversation and pretend to be Democrats. I find that dishonest, manipulative and disgusting.

You're a Socialist who wants Joe out? Say you're a Socialist. But if you're a liar, you don't admit it, you won't fess up because you know the minute you do, the natural response on the part of many Democrats is going to be, this is a decision for members of the Democratic Party only.

Gaza remains under assault. Day 273 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL noted yesterday, "More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed since October, according to the latest figures from the enclave's health ministry. A total of 58 people were killed in the 24-hour reporting period, taking the overall toll to 38,011. Another 179 people were wounded, taking the total number of injured to 87,445. The majority of victims are women and children, according to the ministry." This number has not yet been updated on Friday. Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons. In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."

As for the area itself? Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells." Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."

Yesterday, Kat's "Kat's Korner: The late Melanie releases a live album" and "Kat's Korner: Judy Garland, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!" and Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Clarence Takes Another Dump" and "He Eats Dog" went up. The following sites updated since the last snapshot:

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Shady Menendez? Time for the verdict?

NBC News reports:

Defense attorneys in Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal bribery trial rested their case Wednesday without his taking the stand.

Menendez, D-N.J., briefly spoke to reporters after he left the New York courthouse and explained his decision not to testify.

"From my perspective, the government has failed to prove every aspect of this case," he said, adding that he did not believe testifying made sense and that he expected the jury to find him not guilty.

Shady Menendez should spend his prison time brushing up on his comedy chops. When he gets released, he could take this comedy act on the road.

He's a crook and the best his defense can muster -- besides trying to hide behind his cancer-striken wife -- is to claim that all those hundreds of thousands of dollars and all those gold bars were in the house because he didn't trust the banks because his Cuban father raised him that way.

Right.

Where did the gold bars come from, Shady? Or are we supposed to pretend that's how the US government pays members of Congress -- in gold bars?

S.P. Sullivan (NewJersey.com) reports:

The U.S. district court judge presiding over New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez’s second federal corruption trial says he has had enough of the drama.

“You’re not only making it a soap opera, you’re making it a bad soap opera,” Judge Sidney Stein reproached lawyers for the defense and prosecution as the case crawled into its eighth week Monday.

Someone with a community site -- Mike? -- proposed the death penalty being applied to crooked politicians. I think that should apply in Shady's case.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, July 4, 2024. The mess that is the Democratic Party currently is scaring the hell out of Democratic voters, the party needs to get its act together, the assault on Gaza continues with food deprivation continuing to be the Israeli government's go-to weapon of choice.

Okay, let's talk about reality and I don't mean the fact that Chris Hemsworth needs to accept that he isn't box office but, yes, there is that. No, what I'm talking about is the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

We had to deal with this garbage last week and we're still here with it. It's a media game for some and for a lot of whores it's just part of the destroy-the-Democratic-Party b.s. that they pursue every election cycle.

But for people out there, this isn't funny. It's not cute and it's very stressful.

Do you idiots have any idea what you're doing?

You clearly don't.

Rank-in-file Democrats are on edge and you're not helping.

If you're Norman Solomon -- see Marcia's "Shut up, Norman Solomon" -- you don't give a damn and we grasp that just like we grasp that you're not a Democrat.

If Joe Biden's going to be replaced, that needs to be dealt with immediately. This is not something that you can stretch out for weeks and weeks. If he's not going to be replaced, the subject needs to be dropped immediately.

I don't care one way or the other, honestly, what happens. I've said for two years now that I will vote for whomever the nominee is. And I've repeatedly pointed out this year and last that it might not be Joe Biden.

To those who think we cannot have a different nominee in November because it's too late, it logically isn't, it historically isn't. We'll come back to that.

To those who think -- or whore, scheme and plan (I'm looking at you, Norman) -- they can wage a long battle to force Joe to step down, we can't handle that.

One way or another, the American people need to know what's going on. I would've thought this was settled Monday. It's not.

Ava and I spoke with students on three campuses yesterday. This is stressing them out. If Joe steps down, great. We'll move forward. If Joe's not stepping down, your little war needs to stop. Right now, he is the candidate.

Due to changes and 'changes,' in our modern era most of us only know of a candidate being clear before the convention. In the not-so-distant past, the convention was where the nomination was settled.

Let's note Marianne Williamson.

Marianne Williamson has a largely positive message in the above. Whomever the nominee is -- even if it's Joe -- needs to utilize that messaging.

Can Marianne be the nominee? I don't know. No one knows at this point. If Joe steps down (and he doesn't have to), most likely the primary contestants don't matter at all. The personality challenged Dean Phillips got more votes than Marianne but no one in their right mind would pull for Dean Phillips.

Roland S. Martin has rightly noted that there's a level of disrespect with their current (forced) conversation that doesn't even seem to consider Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kamala didn't run in the 2024 primary and she's been seen as part of the ticket Biden-Harris. If Biden is going to step down, I don't know that Kamala's up to it. I would say the same thing about Joe Biden if this were 2012 and Barack was deciding to step down.

Why?

Kamala is the Vice President. She's a question mark as such -- the same way Joe was in 2020 when he ran for the presidential nomination. But she doesn't come with a clean slate. She has to answer for everything Joe has done as president -- Biden-Harris. If Joe's going to step aside, I don't know that we need a candidate who is so closely tied to him. "You and Joe did this and you and Joe did that and all I did since I left the White House was stuff my fat face and cheat on my wife." Isn't that what Donald would do at the next debate? So with regards to Kamala, that's the question to ask: Does the person who gave policy advice but did not make decisions need to be the candidate when she gets saddled with 100% of the responsibility for everything Joe did?

Kamala does have the presence to put forward a strong campaign. She also comes with baggage.

Less baggage than Gretchen.Whitmer. Kamala is a national known. Gretchen is not. Her behavior during the pandemic is reprehensible:

In May 2021, Whitmer apologized after being photographed with a large group of unmasked people, with no social distancing, at a restaurant in East Lansing.^[69]^[70]^[71] The restaurant was violating state-mandated social distancing guidelines that restricted indoor dining to six people per table.^[72]

You may or may not agree with the mandates she imposed in Michigan during the pandemic but it is her record -- the imposing of mandates -- and then she's not following what she imposed on others in the state?

May 26, 2020, Poppy Noor (GUARDIAN) reported:

“If you don’t live in these regions … think long and hard before you take a trip into them. A small spike could put the hospital system in dire straits pretty quickly. That’s precisely why we’re asking everyone to continue doing their part,” said Whitmer before she eased restrictions last Monday.

But Whitmer’s husband, Marc Mallory, might have missed that message. According to a local marina owner, Mallory called asking if the facility could put his boat in the water by Memorial Day weekend.

When Tad Dowker, the owner, said it would not be possible to dock his boat in time, Mallory identified himself as the governor’s husband and asked whether that might help him.

In a Facebook post that has since been removed, Dowker said: “This morning, I was out working when the office called me, there was a gentleman on hold who wanted his boat in the water before the weekend. Being Memorial weekend and the fact that we started working three weeks late means there is no chance this is going to happen … Well our office personnel had explained this to the man and he replied, ‘I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?’”

A spokesperson for Whitmer initially warned against rumors and misinformation when asked about the claims – although the representative did not deny them outright.

But today Whitmer accepted that her husband had made the call, calling it “a failed attempt at humor”.

Again, she imposed the rules. And she didn't follow them. Then you get her corrupt husband. And her office lies and said that didn't happen. Then she's forced to admit it did happen -- after having lied that it didn't -- and she tries to pass off her husband's corruption as "a failed attempt at humor."

That freak show doesn't belong on the national stage.

Her name should not be thrown around by pundits or the press but it is being thrown around.

She would be a nightmare candidate. And that is a consideration when anyone other than Joe is being considered. Joe's known. The country knows who he is. He has no new scandals and pretty much all the dirty laundry there is on him is already out there.

Whomever the nominee is -- Joe or anyone else -- the press and the GOP are going to try to destroy them.

On paper, John Kerry looked so good. Years in the Senate, a Vietnam veteran, very few rumors of affairs, etc. Then we were stuck with him. And the press did it's usual garbage. October 4, 2004, Geraldine Sealey (SALON) noted:

Avid New York Times readers probably recognize this quote from the paper of record's campaign coverage: "Who among us does not like NASCAR?"; or perhaps, "Who among us does not love NASCAR?" The paper has attributed some iteration of the quote to John Kerry in several opinion columns and news stories since March, always to make the point that try as he might, John Kerry just doesn't get the common, NASCAR-loving man, and when he tries to adopt a regular-guy persona, the result is laughably unconvincing.

As Sealey goes on to note, the quote -- which was not true -- popped up in the columns of Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and in the reporting of Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Again, completely made up. And the GOP made up their Swift Boat Bums.

And that'll happen again (and again and again because the press is so inherently f**ked up -- they need their lies or they can't function and because the GOP identifies your biggest strength that could attract swing voters and rips that apart).

And then we got the things John Kerry actually did. That embarrassing wind surfing. He looked -- and looks -- like Ichabod Crane and he was over 60 year old at the time, no one needed that in any swim ware or compression shorts.

Selecting another candidate as this point would have to be done very carefully.

Kamala is a known and there's nothing that they can throw at her that the whole country isn't already aware of -- unless the press didn't do their job in 2019 and 2020. That's not true of Gretchen. That's not true of the basically unknown man that David Sirota's supporting (Josh Shapiro). The national stage is not for the squeamish or the sensitive or those who have not been vetted by the national press. B-b-but we're talking governors!!!!!!

The state press? That's what we're expecting to have done the job? This is not meant as an attack on Sarah Palin. But John McCain picked her as a running mate because she was a governor. And the press in Alaska had 'vetted' her for some time. But the national press looked at her much differently -- in part because state press tends to kiss up to governors.

So this notion that someone's a governor so they've been vetted. No, they haven't.

If they're Gavin Newsom, you can say that. Gavin is on the national stage and has been for years. The GOP has vilified him for years on the national stage. Americans have an idea of who he is.

If the GOP was debating whether to dump Donald Trump or not (which they should), you could point to Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie as two governors who were known on the national stage.

So the point is Gavin's a good prospect if Joe was not the nominee. I love Gavin and have known him for years -- that's not the first time that's been disclosed here. My concern with Gavin is the ex-wife. I never trusted her, post-divorce she became a Republican and I'd wonder what she might be willing to do to tank Gavin if he was the nominee.

I want to get to Gaza in terms of the election. But let's wait on that so we can go from Gaza in terms of the election to what's going on in Gaza right now.

Let's talk about sexism for a moment. I agree with Roland that it's bothersome that Kamala is not even mentioned by the pundits and the 'activists' (fake ones like Norman Solomon). I don't like Kamala. Check the archives, that's long been disclosed. I've known her before she threw her hat in the ring to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. I don't like her. But don't tell me that she shouldn't at least be considered when she's served four years as the vice president and when she's a known figure on the national stage. Again, I think she would be too closely tied to Joe to be an effective candidate (weighed down by his baggage) but, if we're talking about replacing Joe, yes, she deserves to be part of the candidates we're considering. And it is sexism to pretend otherwise.

Sexism? It needs to stop with regards to Jill Biden. I've noticed how THE VANGUARD and others have distorted photos of her to make her look weird and strange. That's outrageous.

I know Jill. I like Jill. When she was The Second Lady, I believe she only got noted by me in one entry -- those entire eight years -- because I didn't want to sit in judgment on her. I noted before Joe took the oath for Vice President that I would not be noting her because if I did, I'd also have to note her if something negative came up. Nothing negative did in those eight years. We noted her once because of a column she'd done on veterans issues and we cover veterans issues here.

As First Lady? I've avoided noting her unless it was with regards to Hunter Biden and a line was being crossed in my mind that shouldn't be.

People have written outrageous things about her in the last four years and that's upset me but I haven't brought it here because there's a conflict of interest since I do know her.

But this is different because Jill's being distorted and attacked. There's no reason to photo shop her to make her look different.

There's also no reason for anyone to write a column or insist in a video that Jill needs to tell Joe to step down. Joe's the one to decide that. Who the hell are you to tell someone that it's their job to get their spouse to step down?

Who the hell are you?

That's outrageous and it's also very sexist. And her duty? Joe ran for office. She did not. Joe holds elected office. She does not. Her 'job' is to support her spouse. Her job is not to do whatever it is you want her to do.

I've got one more thing to deal with that I forgot and we're going to shoe-horn it in here. I noted that I don't like Kamala. I also don't like Liz Cheney.

That's one of two videos we noted in the last 24 hours on Liz.

I don't like Liz. I would never vote for Liz. We have never glorified her here. My favorite Cheney moment in my life was when Dick Cheney smiled at me thinking he might come over -- for an autograph? -- and I flipped him off and watched him scowl. That moment still makes me smile.

But anyway, what Donald Trump just did is outrageous. It is offensive. It should be seen as the threat to her that he meant it to be. This is why this idiot cannot be allowed to have four more years in the White House.

We didn't praise Liz when she was 'on our side' in the eyes of some on the left. We didn't do a revisionary take on her.. I didn't like her and I don't like her. But that's a threat on her life and it is outrageous that Donald Trump made it. That should have been headlines. THE NEW YORK TIMES should have immediately published an editorial calling for Donald to drop out of the race for making that threat.

If you're going to replace Joe you need to accept some realities. We're getting into Gaza now but I'll probably have a bit more on other things before we're actually there.

Joe is a disappointment on Gaza. And if another Democrat runs and is elected president in November, it's going to be the same.

Maybe not if Marianne's the nominee and gets elected.

But the reality is that basically any other Democrat is going to be operating as Joe did on Gaza.

It's our job to pressure Joe. It's our job to pressure whomever is elected in November.

I call out Joe here on Gaza all the time. I will continue to do so.

But I'm aware that there's a lot of money involved and I am aware that politics are corrupt.

I feel we need to be at point Z with regards to Gaza. I'd define that as the Israeli government ending its assault and of the Palestinian people having self-rule and that electricity and water do not depend upon or go through Israel.

That's where we need to be.

A Democrat probably only gets us to H on the A to Z scale.

A Republican in the White House takes us back to A.

Mike rightly noted last week:

Hey, Owen Jones, I'm looking at you. Shut your f**king pie hole. You're not an American, you don't live in this country. The only reason I've listened to you in the past is because of the plight of the Palestinians. I don't need you -- foreigner -- doing a segment with your 'thoughts' on the debate. Nor do I see how your attacks on Joe -- which pimp Donald Trump -- help Palestinians. Joe's not the one who moved the Embassy in Israel, for example. Joe's not the one in the debate Thursday night who made vile comments about Palestinians.

Exactly. Owen Jones embarrassed himself and acted a whore in that segment. We haven't noted him since. I'm not fond of whores or con artists. If Gaza is your issue, then be smart on it.

US elections really aren't your business, Owen. Butt the hell out. That's goes for Glynneth Greenwald whose chosen to make his life in Brazil as well. Their glee after the debate should have exposed them to everyone.

Donald will not help the Palestinians. Nor will Robert Kennedy Junior who's made that clear in his remarks (which is why the Libertarian Party refused to give him their nomination when he begged for it). Jill Stein! That dried up whore couldn't stand up on Iraq. When THE NEW YORK TIMES (Tim Arango) reported in September of 2012 that Barack Obama was secretly sending US troops back into Iraq, Jill didn't touch it even when her supporters begged her to -- even when her inner circle begged her to. She's a whore who rides any cause that's got attention. Otherwise, she's just doing her anti-vax nonsense. That's really all she's ever had. Not only is she a fake, she can't win.

A lot of money goes into each election cycle -- as Jamaal Bowman can attest -- and the Democratic Party and their nominee is not going to walk away from that or risk alienating those donors. Or risking those votes.

Joe deserves to be pressured, he deserves to be called out. And that's going to be true of any Democrat who could be in the White House in 2025 (except maybe Marianne).

Change happens slowly.

The Palestinians have suffered for decades. Today, they have the most support in the US that they have ever had. And if we talk about this issue and explore this issue, the support will increase. When that happens, we can see a US government that doesn't repeatedly give the government of Israel a pass -- not on bombing and attacking a US ship, not on carrying out a genocide.

It is our job to press on this issue. It is our job to do so in an informed manner.

That means (A) post debate you're not attacking the nominee that you can push especially when the nominee he's on stage with is make disgusting remarks about Palestinians gets a pass from you, (B) you grasp that a propaganda operation went on for decades -- carried out by the press -- that has given a false perspective of the 1948 creation of the Israeli government. That means you grasp that the people who first moved in in 1948 (moved into occupied territories) were willing to be in UK camps. The horror of the Holocaust didn't lead to a demand that, "No, you're not going to cage me." Why? Because it was already occupied land.

From The Holocaust Memorial Museum's HOLOCAUST ENCYCLOPEDIA:

In all, the British detained about 52,000 ma’apilim (illegal immigrants) on Cyprus, including about 1,300 from North Africa. The Cyprus detainees were primarily young people who had joined Zionist youth groups before departing Europe. Approximately 80 percent were aged 12 to 35, while 8,000 were between the ages of 12 and 18. The majority were orphans.

The mossad l’aliyah bet branch of the Hagana (an underground Jewish military organization) was responsible for organizing the illegal immigration movement. It was most interested in recruiting young and hardy immigrants who were dedicated to the Zionist cause and capable of participating in the struggle to create a Jewish state. The mossad l’aliyah bet relied upon the Zionist youth movements in the displaced persons camps of central Europe—Hashomer Hatzair, Dror, Gordoniah, Nocham, and Betar—to provide the immigrants. This arrangement determined the unique demographic make-up of the Cyprus camps. Despite the diverse political movements represented in the camps, the internees established a joint movement structure to represent their needs before the authorities.

Conditions in the camps

The British military ran the detention camps in accordance with the harsh model of the POW camp. Surrounded by barbed wire and watch towers, the camps were under constant guard. The Joint Distribution Committee provided for the welfare of the detainees, including supplying food and medical care, mitigating the hardships suffered by the detainees. JDC Cyprus director Morris Laub served as the representative of the detainees vis-a-vis the British authorities.

There were two types of refugee camps on Cyprus. Five summer camps (nos. 55, 60, 61, 62, 63) were located at Kraolos, near Famagusta. The detainees were housed in tents. Seven winter camps (nos. 64-70) were located at Dekalia. Housing there consisted of tin Nissen huts and some tents. After December 1946, the majority of the children and teenagers were placed in Camp 64, known as the youth village.

Conditions were generally harsh. People were squeezed into tents and tin huts that were unbearably hot in the summer and freezing cold in the rainy winter, with little furniture, no electric lighting, limited access to water, bad food, and poor sanitary conditions.

Approximately 2000 babies were born in the Cyprus camps. The births took place in the Jewish wing of the British military hospital in Nicosia. Four hundred Jews died during their internment on the island and were buried in the Margoa cemetery.

The British were successful in apprehending most of the 70,000 illegal immigrants who embarked for Palestine. Nonetheless, as space for refugees on Cyprus became scarce and ships continued to sail from Europe carrying ma’apilim, it became apparent to the British that the policy of detention in Cyprus was not successful in deterring the Ha’apala movement. The conditions in the Cyprus detentions camps and the sight of Jewish Holocaust survivors being held behind barbed wire also excited widespread criticism of British handling of the problem of Jewish immigration to Palestine. The British decision to send the refugee ship Exodus 1947 back to Europe in July 1947 instead of detaining its passengers on Cyprus represented an admission of the failure of the Cyprus deterrent.

For most of those survivors interned on Cyprus, the experience only served to strengthen their resolve to reach Palestine, which they almost all did following the creation of Israel in May 1948.

At one time, from 1946 through 1948, it was the opinion of the world leaders that these people could not just storm into Palestine. "The Jewish immigration to Palestine." The lie that some pro-genocide Americans keep repeating today that Palestine didn't exist and blah blah blah? It's a lie. And we need to call it out.

I'm hoping global pressure will be enough to end the slaughter in Gaza before the end of the year. In 2006, at THIRD, a roundtable, I upset some -- including Jim -- when I shared that the Iraq War would still be going on after we closed down THIRD. At that point, the plan was to close THIRD at the end of 2008. That was the plan. And it was 2006, before the mid-term elections. And Jim and many others were young and thought that the Iraq War would have to be over because the American people had turned against it. I understand why they thought that way. But that's not what I was expecting based on the life I'd lived. And I'm not expecting equality for Palestinians this calendar year. If I'm wrong, I'll be thrilled. But I'm not seeing it happening.

So we need to be pressuring whomever is the president and we need to be addressing this issue with our friends and our families and strangers and what have you. Education is our strongest tool in any peace movement.

Education means making smart choices as well. And a Democratic candidate who we need to get to Z but is only at H right now is always preferrable to a GOP candidate who is at A.

Owen Jones, who does not live in the US, looked at a US debate where one candidate outright attacked Palestinians and smeared Palestinians. Owen Jones did not make that the thrust of his video. Instead, he chose to focus on Joe and mock Joe and take glee in mocking Joe. And that might be fine if he'd done a video on Donald and what Donald said about Palestinians in the debate. But he didn't do that. He's made it very hard for me to take him seriously.

Norman Solomon's showing up to again attack Joe. I don't take him seriously. And a 78-year-old in October Democrat saying Joe needs to step aside? No, I don't take him seriously. (See Mike's "Hollywood poser Lloyd Doggett wants Joe to step down -- 78 in October, Lloyd should retire.")

And I don't take seriously anyone who doesn't live in the US trying to attack Joe. As Betty's "We are so screwed" and Rebecca's "posers and the crooked court'' note -- what do we have left right now in terms of remedy with regards to the corrupt Supreme Court -- prayer?

Tom Bateman (BBC NEWS) reports this morning:

Twelve former Biden administration officials who resigned over policy on Israel and the Gaza war say the government’s actions have endangered US national security.

The policies have further destabilised the region and “put a target on America’s back”, they say in a joint statement.

One of the 12 resigned only on Tuesday from the US Department of the Interior.

The US Department of State has previously denied such claims, pointing to its criticism of civilian casualties in Gaza and its efforts to boost humanitarian aid.

The joint statement by the former officials says: "America’s diplomatic cover for, and continuous flow of arms to Israel has ensured our undeniable complicity in the killings and forced starvation of a besieged Palestinian population in Gaza."

Maryam Hassanein is the latest official to step down. THE NATIONAL noted yesterday:

Maryam Hassanein, appointed by President Joe Biden to the US Department of Interior, resigned on Tuesday over the government's support of Israel.

"As a Muslim American, I cannot continue working for an administration that ignores the voices of its diverse staff by continuing to fund and enable Israel's genocide of Palestinians," Ms Hassanein wrote on X.

She joined the Biden administration in January but said: "It has become clear to me that I do not have a place in this administration."

Ms Hassanein became the latest of at least 10 government officials and staff members to resign over the US support of Israel as the civilian death toll grows and humanitarian crises worsen in Gaza.

Akbar Shahid Ahmed (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:

In 2020, Maryam Hassanein cast a ballot for Joe Biden in the first presidential election she was old enough to vote in because she felt he represented “hope” and a chance of “justice for Muslim Americans and for marginalized communities as a whole.” On Tuesday, Hassanein became the latest member of the Biden administration to publicly quit over the president’s policy in the Gaza war — and the youngest known resignee so far, at 24.

“I came to understand that even if the agency I’m working at is not producing foreign policy, serving in the administration in any capacity does essentially make you complicit in the genocide of the Palestinians,” Hassanein told HuffPost of her resignation from the Interior Department, which has not previously been publicly reported. She worked as a special assistant to the assistant secretary for land and minerals management.

She described quitting as a way “to leverage privilege” to make a statement against Biden’s support for Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed close to 38,000 people, displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s residents and plunged the region into a humanitarian crisis.

Hassanein joins a group of at least 11 resignees across the government who felt Biden’s approach made it impossible for them to continue serving under him. Many of them worked in national security positions, including veteran former State Department official Josh Paul, who was the first to quit in a development HuffPost first reported. Frustration with the moral and strategic toll of Biden’s support for the Israeli offensive has been significant across government agencies, sources have told HuffPost, with some saying it has reached heights only comparable to outrage among U.S. officials over the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Government officials have organized several protests and signed internal and public expressions of dissent.

Two of the group spoke with Leila Fadel (NPR's MORNING EDITION):

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

There's a small but growing number of resignations from the government and now the American military over U.S. policy in Gaza. Today, we hear from two service members.

Army Maj. Harrison Mann spent 13 years in the military. He describes his most recent job as assistant to the director who oversaw all things Middle East at the Defense Intelligence Agency, including the Israel crisis response. One day in the fall, he says, he couldn't do the work anymore.

HARRISON MANN: October 17, there was this explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza that killed upwards of a hundred people, and it was the only time that I'd seen the intelligence community actually make a concerted effort to investigate what looked like some of war crime. And in that instance, we determined that it was not the Israelis.

And that was very heartening for me 'cause I thought, wow, there's going to be intense interest in investigating possible war crimes or killings of civilians. But shortly after that process, I understood that that was an outlier and that we were really never going to drill deep into any killings of civilians ever again.

FADEL: After his resignation went into effect, he published an open letter online explaining that his decision to walk out was due to moral injury, noting that he is the descendant of European Jews.

MANN: Seeing videos of burnt corpses and dead kids and people starving to death, I think, should be very affecting for anybody, but if you're Jewish, you can't look at that and not think of your own people's history. It's impossible not to if you think that Arabs are human beings, too.

FADEL: I also connected with 1st Sgt. Mohammed Abu Hashem, a Palestinian American. He says his aunt's killing in a strike on her building in Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp in October sealed his decision to end a 22-year career in the U.S. Air Force. The strike, he says, killed nearly two dozen people, including children.

MOHAMMED ABU HASHEM: I never received a single answer from my leadership team or from our government as to what happened on that day. And it didn't matter how far I made it in the military that I was not going to be able to affect change based on the rank and based off of my leadership. On October 21, I submitted my decision to step away.

FADEL: Abu Hashem's aunt is one of six relatives he's lost in Gaza. Both Harrison Mann and Mohammed Abu Hashem say they resigned so they could speak out but also because they felt guilt.

MANN: You're going into work every day understanding that you're partially supporting this military that is deliberately starving and killing massive numbers of civilians.

FADEL: Israel denies that they're deliberately killing civilians. Biden has said it's possible that U.S. weapons have been used in war crimes in Gaza.

MANN: Could I respond to that...

FADEL: For...

MANN: ...Statement?

FADEL: Sure.

MANN: Yeah, I just say the Israeli military is totally dependent on the U.S. for munitions. Especially at the start of the war, they were expending them at an extremely high rate. So the idea that they even have anything left that's not U.S.-made is very unlikely.

At COMMON DREAMS, Ramzy Baroud notes:

Humanitarian aid should never be politicized though, quite often, the very survival of nations is used as political bargaining chips.

Sadly, Gaza remains a prime example. Even before the current war, the Gaza Strip suffered under a 17-year hermetic blockade, which has rendered the impoverished area virtually “unlivable.”

That very term, “unlivable” was used by the then-United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Situation of Palestine, Michael Lynk, in 2018.

As of mid-December of last year, “nearly 70% of Gaza’s 439,000 homes and about half of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed,” The Wall Street Journalreported, citing experts who conducted a thorough analysis of satellite data.

As tragic as the situation was in December, now it is far worse.

Sixty-seven percent of Gaza’s water, sanitation facilities, and infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged, according to a statement by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees, UNRWA, on June 19, leading to the spreading of infectious diseases, which has ravaged the beleaguered population for months.

The spread of disease is also linked to the accumulation of garbage everywhere in Gaza. Earlier, the refugees agency reported that “as of June 9, over 330,000 tons of waste have accumulated in or near populated areas across Gaza, posing catastrophic environmental (and) health risks.”

The situation was already disastrous. Indeed, three years before the war, the Global Institute for Water, Environment, and Health (GIWEH) said, in a joint statement with the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, that 97% of Gaza water was undrinkable and unfit for human consumption.

Yet, so far, any conversation on allowing aid to Gaza, or the rebuilding of Gaza after the war, has been placed largely within political contexts.

By shutting down all border crossings, including the Egypt-Gaza Rafah Crossing—which, on June 17, was set ablaze—Israel has politicized food, fuel, and medicine as tools in its war in the strip.

THE NATIONAL notes, "China has condemned Israel for its obstruction of aid into Gaza, warning that the man-made humanitarian crisis is at an unprecedented level and amounts to a 'serious breach' of international law."

Gaza remains under assault. Day 271 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll reaches 37,953 , with 87,266 injured." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

The following sites updated: