Ann's Mega Dub

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Jill Stein always wants to whine

From earlier tonight, that's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Convicted Felon and Miss Sassy Variety Hour" I love and I also enjoyed Kat's "Kat's Korner: After a dull musical summer, Vanessa Williams emerges as much more than a SURVIVOR" about Vanessa Williams' new album. If it comes out on vinyl (not currently) we'll buy a copy for our collection.

Rachel Barber (USA Today) reports:

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is hitting back after New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said her campaign, which has attacked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for not being far left enough, "reads as predatory."

Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, has frequently questioned and criticized the country's two-party system but said that Stein's multiple attempts at the White House are "not serious." She goes on to blast Stein's "bad leadership," blaming her for the small number of Green Party candidates elected to local and state offices since she first became the party's presidential nominee 12 years ago.

"All you do is show up once every four years to speak to people who are justifiably pissed off, but you're just showing up once every four years to do that, you're not serious," AOC said. "To me, it does not read as authentic. It reads as predatory."

Jill can whine all she wants. AOC is right. And Ava and C.I. are tackling this in their piece that's going up tonight. Jill Stein is the problem. Ava and C.I. make that clear in their piece where they take on two morons who insist Jill is a good person but it's those Greens . . . No. It's Jill Stein. I can't make the point tonight without stealing from their work. And I never want to do that but especially not this go round when they've had to do three completely different pieces because the edition wasn't ready on time. So they kept having to go with something else because what was covered was no longer timely.

AOC's 100% correct and Jill is a predator because there are young people -- I'm talking in their 50s, 40s and 30s -- who could have used a run this year to build up their profile but instead we got old granny Jill Stein for the third time. Quit sucking the blood of the young to keep living, you vampire.

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

Tuesday, September 3, 2024. Junior sends out an e-mail blast asking others to help him get a job, Donald Trump's insult at Arlington only feeds more outrage with each passing day, polio vaccines start in Gaza, Israelis go on strike and protest Netanyahu and much more.

Yesterday was Labor Day in the US so naturally Robert Kennedy Junior showed up begging for a job. The e-mail was entitled "This Labor Day: A Call for Change" and though the address was still info@teamkennedy.com, he put his name to it as the sender and as the signer.

What followed was one the bleakest pictures in the world. Well, we can deal with photos first. Junior led the e-mail with a large photo of himself imposed upon the US flag and he'd been photo shopped to smooth out the facial tones and to take off some wrinkles. If he did that work himself, it was way too much for him because it left him wiped out. If he paid someone to do it, they quit after from exhaustion. That's the only explanation for the second photo that ends the e-mail -- a photo 12 years old. Junior is seventy-years-old and needs to deal with it. He can continue to abuse steroids -- or, as he insists, testosterone replacement therapy -- but they're not going to make him any younger (and they don't make him look younger). As Steve Kettmann noted last May at WASHINGTON MONTHLY:

But despite Kennedy’s explanation of his supplements, it’s not quite that simple. As someone who authored a 2000 New York Times lament about steroid use titled “Baseball Must Come Clean on Its Darkest Secret,” reported for The New Republic from Berlin on the legacy of the East German doping freak show, and helped write Juiced, the memoir of steroid slugger Jose Canseco, I politely call bullshit on the independent presidential candidate.

Steroids and synthetic testosterone are two names for the same thing. Allow me to quote from the Drug Enforcement Agency: “Anabolic steroids are synthetically produced variants of the naturally occurring male hormone testosterone that are abused in an attempt to promote muscle growth, enhance athletic or other physical performance, and improve physical appearance.”

The DEA lists the variations on the same basic molecule: Testosterone, trenbolone, oxymetholone, methandrostenolone, nandrolone, stanozolol, and boldenone. Put simply, it’s all about dosage. Think of the late broadcaster Rush Limbaugh on opioids: Take a modest dose, as prescribed by your doctor, and it’s health care; gobble pills like candy, and you’ve become a drug abuser. To this observer of the steroid scene, Kennedy gives every indication of being in the latter category and expecting the prestige of his last name, age, and wealth to shield him from scrutiny. He may be proved correct. Despite a few stories about how he came by that weird physique, the media hasn’t shown much interest. Perhaps they will, now that The New York Times has reported Kennedy’s claim that a parasitic worm was eating at his brain.

Get it? He's a juicer. And he's gone around in a roid rage which might explain his lies in Monday's e-mail about the US and the "American nightmare." Is it just steroids or is he back on the cocaine like the whispers say?

A heavy coke addiction would certainly explain his telling people they need to vote for Donald Trump but this passage from the e-mail explains it as well:

With your support, I will be able to yield significant influence in a new administration that cares about YOUR economy—not the war economy, the bank economy, the finance economy, or the Wall Street economy, and not the theoretical economy on charts and graphs.

Vote for Trump, Junior argues because Trump promised him a job if he'd get him re-elected.

The only thing sadder than being a joke? Being a dirty joke. Junior's achieved that.

Meanwhile, the object of his affection continues to bleed support from veterans. Ben Blanchet (HUFFINGTON POST) explains:

A progressive veterans group went after “disgusting” Donald Trump this past week following the GOP nominee’s controversial stop at Arlington National Cemetery that included campaign staffers’ altercation with cemetery officials.

“Now, maybe the greatest insult of all, turning a military cemetery visit into a political stunt with cameras in tow,” said a narrator in a scathing ad from political action committee VoteVets.

The ad arrives after an Arlington official during Trump’s visit to the cemetery (at the invitation of some family members of military service members killed in the 2021 Kabul airport attack), was allegedly “pushed” aside by campaign staffers after informing them not to film part of the cemetery where recently fallen U.S. troops were buried.

Federal law prohibits “political campaign or election-related activities” within Army National Military Cemeteries, according to a statement from the cemetery.

Trump has since shared a campaign video featuring footage from his visit while a campaign spokesperson has denied that a staffer pushed an official, claiming they were “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, on Saturday, declared that Trump “disrespected sacred ground” for a “political stunt” during the visit.

At THE TIMES OF INDIA, Chidanand Rajghatta notes Donald's long history of insulting people who have served in the military and Donald bragging about avoiding Vietnam (with bone spur claims). James Bickerton (NEWSWEEK) observes:

Donald Trump has over the past few weeks found himself embroiled in a number of controversies involving military veterans, a community that, according to one expert, he has developed a "complex relationship" with.

Earlier this month Trump was criticized by a prominent figure within Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group that provides support to former service personnel, after he suggested the Presidential Medal of Freedom is "better" than the Medal of Honor. Trump was also accused of "politicking" on the "sacred ground" of Arlington National Cemetery by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) after reportedly filming a video in an area reserved for America's recent war dead.

[. . .]

In response [to the Medal of Honor comments], the Veterans of Foreign Wars commander Al Lipphardt hit out at Trump commenting: "These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation's highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty."

[. . .]

In an interview with Newsweek IAVA chief executive Allison Jaslow said: "When I visit Section 60, it is to honor the fallen and remind myself that I was one of the lucky ones who made it home. There are plenty of places appropriate for politics—Arlington is not one of them.

"Any aspiring elected official, especially one who hopes to be Commander-in-Chief, should not be confused about that fact. Nor should they hide behind members of our community to justify politicking on such sacred ground."

Following Trump's visit, Charlotte Clymer, a veteran and former member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as "the Old Guard," who was formerly stationed at Arlington National Cemetery, wrote in a blog post that Trump "cannot extend proper respect to our military."

And at MSNBC, Brandon Friedman writes:

Serving in a unit like the 101st Airborne Division can feel like a job. It’s a normal, everyday thing. Even in combat. It’s not until after you leave a famous unit like that — after you leave the Army, in fact — that you realize it is a privilege to lead and serve alongside such soldiers.

It’s not until much later, among the regular people at the office, that you realize how unlikely it is that anyone around you would ever grab three guys and come running if you were pinned down or out of ammo. In the Army, you take those things for granted because everybody does it. They do it. They don’t question it. They don’t all survive.

I survived and I’m old now. Not truly old. I’m 46. But old in the Army sense. I’m no longer carved out of wood. My left hamstring groans at the thought of running more than a mile. Doctors have taken an interest in my colon.

But I realize this is a privilege. It’s a gift. Being old, I mean. Aging out. For once, I’m finally aware of the privilege in the moment. I am old. But I have friends who are still in their 20s. Friends who should be in their 40s. Some of them are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

That is what makes Arlington a special place. And for those of us who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, Section 60 — the burial site of hundreds of service members killed in those wars — is the inner sanctum. It is the most sacred plot among more than 600 hallowed acres. When I lived in Northern Virginia during Barack Obama’s administration, I avoided Section 60 studiously. It was too much, and still too close. There was always that looming sense that it could’ve been me. Maybe it should’ve been me.

So I didn’t visit until I was about to move back to Dallas. An Army buddy told me I had to go before I left D.C. So I did. Finally.

All of this is to say that, to combat veterans, Arlington National Cemetery has the same power that all holy places have. And that is why Donald Trump’s recent behavior is so repulsive.

Trump was so eager to use Arlington’s Section 60 as a backdrop for a campaign event this week that he may have broken federal laws against politicizing the burial ground to do it. Trump’s staff also shoved aside a cemetery official trying to stop them. He even posed for a photograph over a U.S. Marine’s gravesite, grinning and giving a thumbs-up. The moment was jaw-droppingly crass and vulgar, as all of Trump’s are. It defiled sacred ground.

And it is not going away.

There are stumbles, mistakes and even grave errors you can make on the campaign trail. And, if you're lucky, something else emerges that takes away attention. That's not the case here. This is an insult to the fallen. It weighs heavy on many Americans across the land. It does not just go away.

The outrage over his actions and words will simmer and continue to simmer and they'll reach a boil. His offense can't be smoothed over. He's not just running for president, he's a former president so he damn well should have known better.

America's seeing the real Donald Trump who, like Junior, looks around this country and finds nothing to take pride in but manages to dub it "America's nightmare."

Turning to Gaza, over the weekend

In other news, Lawahez Jabari, Rebecca Cohen, Hayley Walker and Sarah Dean (NBC NEWS) reported:

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American taken hostage in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, is among six hostages whose bodies were recovered Saturday.

"With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time," a family representative said.

President Joe Biden said the bodies of Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages held by Hamas were recovered in a tunnel under Rafah.

The other five discovered were Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Eden Yerushalmi, Oren Danino and Almog Sarusi. Would the six be dead if War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu had worked on an actual cease-fire instead of prolonging the assault on Gaza? It's a question more and more Israelis are asking themselves. Lauren Izso, Raja Razek and Kaanita Iyer (CNN) reported:

A group representing the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza has called for the public to mobilize after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported finding “a number of bodies” in the war-torn territory.

The demands by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum came as thousands rallied across Israel on Saturday demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

The IDF said in a statement Saturday that it had “located a number of bodies during combat in the Gaza Strip,” but it has not confirmed whether any of the bodies are those of hostages and asked the public to “refrain from spreading rumors.”

However, many Israelis have taken the statement to mean that more Israeli hostages have been found dead and it has amplified calls for the government to secure a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

THE NATIONAL noted:

The Hostages Families Forum, which has confirmed their deaths, has organised nationwide rallies and hit out at Prime Minister Netanyahu for failing to secure a ceasefire deal.

"Today, the entire nation will stand alongside the hostages' families to protest the cabinet's ongoing neglect if the hostages," it said, calling on the public to join a demonstration "demanding a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal to release the hostages."

"If it weren’t for the saboteurs, the excuses, and the spin, the hostages whose deaths we learned of this morning would probably be alive,” the forum said on X.

The anger and outrage only increased. Sunday, THE GUARDIAN reported, "Israel is braced for its first nationwide general strike since the Hamas attacks of 7 October, amid widespread public anger at the government’s handling of the war in Gaza after the discovery of the bodies of six hostages at the weekend. Israel’s largest trade union, Histadrut, ordered a nationwide general strike from 6am on Monday that is expected to bring large parts of the economy to a halt. Government and municipal offices were due to close, as well as schools and many private businesses. Israel’s international airport, Ben Gurion, is due to shut down at 8am local time (0600 BST) for an unknown period." A cease-fire could have delivered the hostages home safely; however, War Criminal Benjamin Netanyahu did not want a cease-fire for numerous reasons including it would allow the criminal case against Netanyahu to move forward. He's a corrupt politician who's in deep trouble and the assault on Gaza has allowed him to distract from that. We'll include this from WIKIPEDIA:

On 21 November 2019, Netanyahu was officially indicted for breach of trust, accepting bribes, and fraud, leading him to legally relinquish his ministry portfolios other than prime minister. Netanyahu's trial in the Jerusalem District Court began on 24 May 2020, with witness testimony starting on 5 April 2021. The prosecution listed 333 witnesses.^[1] As of June 2024, the trial is still ongoing.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Saturday's discovery of six dead hostages has only inflamed anger at Netanyahu who should not have taken nearly nine months to bring the hostages home. BBC NEWS noted, "The mayor of Tel Aviv says the municipality will join tomorrow's strikes, he says in a post on X, external. Ron Huldai goes on in the social media post to say the Israeli government 'abandoned' the six hostages whose bodies were recovered from an underground tunnel in southern Gaza." Holly Johnston and Taylor Heyman (THE NATIONAL) added, "Israel's Ben Gurion Airport will be closed for take-off and landings from 8am, the country's Trade Union Federation said, and schools would only open until 11.45am. Nurseries would be closed all day, the Teachers Union, a branch of Histarut, said." And ALZEERA reported, "Tevel Dan, the company that operates light rail services, in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area said train services will “operate in a reduced format” and that there may be disruptions and delays, according to YNet. In West Jerusalem, Cfir said the city’s light rail system will not operate until 12:00pm local time (09:00 GMT) because of the strike called by the Histadrut, the country’s largest labour union."

Sunday did see strikes and massive protests across Israel. THE JERUSALEM POST offers a photo essay here. Dearbail Jordan and Alice Cuddy (BBC NEWS) note, "Protesters - many clad in Israeli flags - descended on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, accusing PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of not doing enough to reach a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas during the 7 October attacks." Josef Federman and Melanie Lidman (AP) explain, "The mass outpouring appeared to be the largest such demonstration in 11 months of war and protesters said it felt like a possible turning point, although the country is deeply divided." And how were the protesters recognized by the police? CNN reports, "Police in Tel Aviv used stun grenades to disperse protesters on Sunday night, according to video footage and Naama Lazimi, a member of Israel’s parliament who was present at the demonstration. In video footage verified by CNN, police are seen throwing stun grenades at protestors blocking Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, who were calling for the release of hostages in Gaza."

ALJAZEERA adds, "The protesters chanted 'Now! Now!' and demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire with Palestinian group Hamas to bring the remaining captives home. Many Israelis blocked roads in Tel Aviv and demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem." IPS analyst Phyllis Bennis tells ALJAZEERA, "Clearly the best way to bring all the hostages home, to get the Palestinian prisoners released -- some 10,000 of them who are being held illegally inside Israeli prisons, 6,000 of them without any charges, and stopping this genocidal war that Israel is waging in Gaza -- the best way to do that is for the United States to stop sending weapons."

Barak Ravid (AXIOS) notes, "White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday told families of U.S. hostages held in Gaza that President Biden is considering presenting Israel and Hamas a final proposal for a hostage-release and ceasefire in Gaza deal later this week, two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting told Axios." What's holding it up? ALJAZEERA notes, "Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera that the Palestinian group has been ready to sign a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, but Netanyahu has prevented that from happening." Again, the minute the assault ends, Netanyahu has to deal with the criminal charges he faces for his corruption. BBC NEWS reports, "Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas to bring the remaining hostages home from Gaza"

Sunday also saw the Israeli government has bombed another school in Gaza. AFP quotes a Palestinian government spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, stating, "Eleven people, including a woman and girl, were killed when an Israeli air strike struck the Safad school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people.

Monday did see protest and strikes. Kim Hjelmgaard (USA TODAY) reports, "Protests and general strikes swept Israel on Monday as frustration and anger mounted over the failure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would free Israeli hostages held by the militant group in Gaza for nearly 11 months." The strikes were announced on Sunday. David Gritten and Robert Plummer (BBC NEWS) explain, "Israel's biggest trade union has said hundreds of thousands of people joined the general strike it called to put pressure on the government to agree a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas. Businesses, schools and transport were disrupted before a court ordered everyone to return to work, ruling that Histadrut’s strike was largely political." Haley Ott (CBS NEWS) adds, "While many private sector businesses were open as usual on Monday, municipal services as well as services at Israel's main air transport hub, Ben Gurion Airport, were at least partially disrupted. Banks were closed and hospitals were only partially operating, the Reuters news agency reported." Khaled Yacoub Oweis (THE NATIONAL) notes, "Thousands of people chanted 'free them now' at a rally near the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv on Monday night, demanding the release of hostages in Gaza."

Nadine Yousif (BBC News) reports, "Joe Biden has said Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal and ceasefire with Hamas, amid reports suggesting a new proposal would be sent to the Israeli prime minister as 'final.' The US president and Kamala Harris, his vice-president, met negotiators in the Situation Room to hammer out a proposal, as protests engulfed Israel on Monday over the weekend deaths of six hostages in Gaza." Eugenia Yosef and Lauren Kent (CNN) note, "The Hostages and Missing Families Forum praised US President Joe Biden’s comment that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas" and quote this statement, "The Hostages Families Forum commends President Biden and his administration for their actions and determination to secure the release of all 101 hostages. We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to demonstrate similar resilience, determination, and commitment to the lives of the hostages,"

In the face of the anger and fallout, War Criminal Netanyahu has issued an apology. I'm sorry? That's supposed to cover it?

CNN's Nic Robertson offers this take:

Gripped by swelling protests and labor union strikes, the weeks ahead for Israel are unpredictable. These well-tested democratic tools of change have toppled governments before, but it’s best to remember that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a political survivor extraordinaire.

Even now, Netanyahu and the hard-right nationalist members of his cabinet are working to shut down the legal protests and strikes through a court order, that seemed in the short term at least to have been successful.

Gaza remains under assault. Day 332 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. THE NATIONAL notes, "Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 40,819 Palestinians and injured 94,291 others since October 7, the enclave's Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The latest toll includes 33 people killed and 67 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added." Early on, Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) pointed out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." Months ago, 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 of acute food insecurity or worse." 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."

Polio is a threat in Gaza now thanks to the continued assault. We'll note this from NPR's WEEKEND EDITION (Saturday):

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Polio, which has been gone from the Gaza Strip for decades, is back as the war there continues. But there is the possibility of good news. Tomorrow, the United Nations will begin to vaccinate children in Gaza against that preventable and highly contagious virus. It'll be an enormous effort, one that NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy will follow from her base in Dubai. And she joins us now. Aya, thanks for being with us.

AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Thank you, Scott.

SIMON: Tell us about how this vaccination campaign's being rolled out.

BATRAWY: Well, the U.N. has really big aims here. They want to reach more than 640,000 children across Gaza to give them two courses of the polio vaccine. It will be given orally in droplets, but it needs refrigeration at every step, and pretty much Gaza has no electricity. They're just running on generators and fuel that's in short supply. Another logistical challenge here is that the whole population is displaced, and so it's not easy for them to reach U.N.-run clinics. But the U.N. groups leading this vaccination effort, which is UNICEF and the World Health Organization, they say the most critical factor is a pause in airstrikes so that the vaccines can reach all these children. Now, Israel says it's agreed to short pauses. Basically, it won't attack for about eight hours a day in specific parts of Gaza for the few days that this campaign is being rolled out, and Hames says they'll also cooperate.

SIMON: How did the polio spread there in the first place?

BATRAWY: Doctors tell me this was a combination of factors. You know, you have children, Scott, that haven't had access to vaccines, but also most of Gaza's hospitals have been destroyed or closed. You also have wastewater treatment plants and desalination plants that have been bombed, so people have been drinking dirty water to survive. And we know from the Gaza Health Ministry that more than 40,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire in this war, but we don't have a tally for people who've died from illness. However, we know there's been a huge spike in kids with infections and diarrhea. Children are hungry. They are malnourished. They're living in these overcrowded shelters or in the open in tents and with weak immune systems.

SIMON: And do we know how widespread polio could now be in Gaza?

BATRAWY: Well, there's already been a case confirmed in a 10-month-old baby boy who was active and crawling, and he's now paralyzed in one leg after contracting polio. And he is the first case of polio in a quarter-century in Gaza. Now, it comes after the Gaza Health Ministry and the World Health Organization - they sounded the alarm on this in July when they announced that the polio virus had been found in sewage water flowing in the streets around the tents of displaced people. And there are now at least two other suspected cases as well. Now, the symptoms for polio show in one out of every 100 to 1,000 people. So the doctors I spoke with say this means thousands of people in Gaza likely already have contracted polio. It is spreading, and one doctor called it a powder keg.

Yolande Knell (BBC NEWS) notes, "To be effective, the World Health Organization (WHO) says at least 90% of children under 10 must be immunised in a short time frame. It follows the discovery of the first confirmed case of polio in 25 years in Gaza, with a UN expert saying more children are likely to be infected and that there could be a wider regional outbreak if the virus is not dealt with." Amr Mostafa (THE NATIONAL) reported, "Teams will be based at the health centres affiliated with the ministry and international organisations, including the UNRWA, in addition to mobile teams that will tour the enclave including the camps of the displaced people, Mr Dahir said. Another round will start on September 17 and will revisit the same areas. Yousef Abu Al Reesh, Gaza's deputy minister of health, said vaccination teams would try to get to as many areas as possible to ensure wide coverage but he said only a comprehensive ceasefire could guarantee enough children are reached." The roll out depends on a level of safety and it's a level that the Israeli government is unwilling to ensure. THE NATIONAL reports this morning:

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that more than 160,000 children in central Gaza have received a first dose of polio vaccine, as part of an inoculation campaign that started on Sunday.The vaccination drive will continue in the centre of the enclave until Wednesday evening, the ministry said in a statement.

Vaccine doses will on Thursday be administered in Khan Younis governorate in southern Gaza for four days, the ministry added. It will then move to northern Gaza on Monday, with doses to be given out for another four days.

Kat's "Kat's Korner: After a dull musical summer, Vanessa Williams emerges as much more than a SURVIVOR" went up Sunday. The following sites updated:

KBLA - Tavis Smiley's talk radio

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Thursday, August 29, 2024

Mixed bag

Isaiah's latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Miss Sassy Will Not Be Denied or Upstaged" went up Wednesday.

This is going to be brief tonight because it was a very long roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin.

Do we need to talk about Caitlyn Jenner?

She's so disgusting. And people used to treat her like she was a God. She was never worth praising. And she hates everyone so her own family hates her. I don't blame them. She is a liar She is selfish. She is a friend to no one. The faded celebrity is in the news screaming and raging like the crazy old and ugly woman she is. She's mad because California's state senate passed it and she's blaming US Vice President Kamala Harris. She's crazy.

From the appalling to those worthy of applause, Joshua Allen (Queerty) reports:

With summer drawing to a close, the art world is looking ahead to The Armory Show, an art fair that brings leading international contemporary and modern art galleries to New York each year.

The Armory Show, which typically attracts around 65,000 people, is a significant platform for artists to exhibit and market their work to an international audience.

Although the art world is making strides in diversity, inclusion, and equity, there is still work to be done. According to a 2014 census report by BFAMFAPhD, 8% of working artists in the United States are Black. Still, Black artists only made up 2.2% of acquisitions and 6.3% of exhibitions in a period surveyed between 2008 and 2020.

Although Black artists are still underrepresented in the industry, Black artists, particularly Black queer artists, have had an outsized influence on culture. If you’re looking for evidence of that impact, look no further than the streets of any major global city, where the stylings of Jean-Michel Basquiat routinely influence graffiti and street art.

Or look to the halls of the Smithsonian to Kehinde Wiley’s official portraits of former President Obama.

Ahead of Armory week, and in celebration of the groundbreaking impact of Black queer artists like Basquiat and Wiley, we’ve compiled a list of 6 Black queer visual artists changing the way we see ourselves and others.

Use the link to meet the six.

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

Thursday, August 29, 2024. New published interview with Kamala Harris that the media seems to be missing, if Gaza supporters need a recommendation they should start planning a January 20, 2025 action right now, James Carville shows up late as usual, DEMOCRAC NOW! covers Texas Governor Greg Asshole and Attorney General Ken Paxton's assault on democracy, and much more.

Starting with the US presidential election, I believe the whine goes something like this: "Kamala hasn't done any interviews!"

That's what the mail brought me yesterday. Page 48 kicks off Caroline Wanga's six page interview with the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. The two discuss a number of issues including the economy. I'll note this from the interview

Kamala Harris: I have been working on that issue for years -- with my colleagues from the CBC [Congressional Black Caucus] when I was in the Senate and now as Vice President. Why? Because Black women in the United States of America are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women. And we know that there are a variety of reasons for that. But we also know that this is a health care crisis of the highest order, and it has received very little attention proportionate to the seriousness of the matter. So, I worked with my colleagues when I was in the Senate. We passed a number of ills. When I came in as Vice President, I continue to work on it. And one of the things I found is this: For women on Medicaid, which states can provide for postpartum care for two months up to 12 months -- and I realized when I came in as Vice President, only three states would extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from two months to 12 months. I don't have a problem shaming people sometimes, so I challenged the states to extend it. And now 46 states have extended Medicaid coverage for postpartum care. There is a direct connection between this and Black maternal mortality. But back to the other point about freedom of choice. The majority of Black women in America live in the South You know that in the South, we have some of the highest rates of Black maternal mortality. In the South, except for the state of Virginia, every state has an abortion ban. And what I find hypocrisy upon hypocrisy, by some of these extremists, is that the same ones saying they're passing these abortion bans because they care about women and children have been completely silent on the issue of Black maternal mortality. Don't come to us, gaslighting us about where you've been and where you haven't been, on important issues that relate to what we know every day affects our sisters, our mothers, our aunties, our grandmothers -- and could affect our daughters.

A few comments. The interview is not online. I have no idea if it will be posted or not. Currently at ESSENCE, Jasmine Browley has an article about Kamala and the opportunity economy that went up this week and Robyn Mowatt looks at political style. Second, the cover notes "COLLECTOR'S EDITION." If you're a subscriber like me, you may grimace. But they used a real sticker that peels off -- not a paper label that's basically glued to the cover -- and it's very easy and doesn't tear the cover when you remove it. After I removed it, I scanned for the image above (notice no tear in the lower corner) and took the cover off the magazine. It's now framed and up in my home office.

At NEWSWEEK, Menachem Z. Rosensaft writes:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares two important characteristics with former President Donald Trump: like Trump, Netanyahu is narcissistic, incapable of empathy for others who considers his personal interests and political survival to be of paramount importance, and, also like Trump, he desperately wants Trump to win the forthcoming presidential election in order for him to have a hope of staying out of jail.

That is pretty much all we need to know to explain Netanyahu's behavior some two months before the said election.

Trump's motivation is hardly breaking news. Most Americans—even hardcore MAGA activists who idolize Trump—understand that Trump's legal difficulties will either increase or decrease exponentially depending on who takes the oath of office next Jan. 21 as the 47th president of the United States. One scenario: he lives in the White House for another four years; the other involves at a minimum heavy fines and quite possibly an orange prison uniform.

What many observers outside Israel don't realize, however, is that Trump's Mini-Me Netanyahu is in the exact same boat.

Except that Netanyahu's situation is even more precarious than Trump's.

Netanyahu's present political situation is exemplified by the banana peel syndrome: he has one foot in political oblivion and the other on a banana peel.

[. . .]

And so, Netanyahu can be expected to continue trying to manipulate the world as he has done with an unfortunate degree of success over the course of the past 11 months. Except that he knows that Vice President Kamala Harris has his number. She is a former prosecutor, after all, and just as she has dealt with the likes of Donald Trump, she has bested antagonists who were far more sophisticated and less transparent than Netanyahu.

Harris made clear in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention that, "I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7th. Including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival."

This is why Netanyahu must be panicking at this very moment. In many ways, Harris must be his worst nightmare. He realizes, I'm sure, that while she is very much a friend and supporter of Israel, she is neither in his pocket nor a pushover—which he probably considers Trump to be in light of their past history.

And this is why Netanyahu is panicked at the prospect of a Harris presidency. She is certain not to allow him to continue running roughshod at the expense of the majority of Israelis who want him gone and the non-Hamas-supporting Palestinians who see no hope for any future while he is in control.

Gaza?

Regarding yesterday's "Iraq snapshot," a number of e-mails complain that I provided you no answers. I'm the critic and I'm focused on the election in the US. It's not my job or responsibility to provide you with what you should be doing -- does no one know how to think for themselves? -- but if you're so lost and confused, January 20th.

January 20, 2025 is inauguration day. Whomever is elected -- I hope Kamala -- they will be sworn into office on January 20th. Tons of press will be in DC to cover that and to cover the various parties taking place. So I'd make January 20th a day for protest and demands so that whomever wins the election, they grasp, from day one, that voices for peace are out there and are demanding an end to the assault on Gaza.

And if by some miracle the assaults has stopped prior to January 20th? Ending the assault is important, it's a genocide. But if it stopped at noon today, the Palestinians would still not be living in an equal society. So if, prior to January 20th, the genocide -- or this wave of it -- ends, you use the protest to shift to other needed demands.

January 20th will be here before we know it. It's a key day where a message can be sent to whomever wins the election and DC will have much more journalists than it usually does. That's what I'd be organizing and planning for right now. Doesn't mean other actions can't be carried out between now and then but it does mean you don't wait until November or December to plan a massive mobilization with all that requires.

I should also point out something that should be obvious especially all these years later. I have little patience for stupid people who want to be stupid. I enter any room expecting to be the least informed person in the world. As I've noted here before many times, I lost my memory. I had to relearn or learn for the first time -- who knows -- many things in history, many things in my own life. And when I went to college, my degree plan was what I made it. Meaning I took classes I was interested in and got way more credits than I needed. There is so much that I still need to learn and it has been decades since college for me and I didn't stop learning in grad school.

I get that there's a lot out there but I also get that some people are just lazy and I'm not here to spoon feed or wet nurse for that matter.

That is my biggest bias in the world, people who are comfortable being uninformed.

I noted what was going on in Texas yesterday and that I hadn't wanted to write about it because I didn't know anything about it until Monday. I didn't write that much yesterday. But before I did, I read as much as I could on it and did a conference call with thirty Texas community members about what was going on so I would have some idea.

I'm smart enough to know that I don't know everything. And if I weigh in on something, I've done some level of research before weighing in.

DEMOCRACY NOW! did a segment yesterday on the topic.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

We turn now to Texas, where the Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is raising concerns about voter suppression by targeting the country’s oldest Latino civil rights group, LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens. LULAC was first founded to fight discrimination against citizens of Mexican descent in Texas. Now it’s responding to a series of raids of the homes of LULAC members, state lawmakers and other Latino leaders in the San Antonio area last week.

Speaking to the media Monday, longtime LULAC volunteer, 87-year-old Lidia Martinez described how armed officers arrived at her home at 6 a.m. with a warrant to seize electronic devices, swab for DNA, as they collected evidence of alleged vote harvesting and identity fraud.

LIDIA MARTINEZ: I was in my nightgown, and I thought it was my next-door neighbor. And I went to the door, and nine officers from the Attorney General’s Office walked in. And they had a search warrant, and they told me that they were there because I had filed a complaint that seniors were not getting their mail ballots. And I said, “Yes, I did.” And he says, “Do you have the names?” And I said, “I have a few of the names.” And they came in, and I said, “Can I get dressed?” They didn’t let me.

They sat me down, and they started searching all my house — my storeroom, my garage, my kitchen, everything. And after two hours of questioning, they took me outside in front of all my neighbors and all the officers around me and — for half an hour while they searched the living room where I had been sitting. And after half an hour, they let me go back in the house, and they continued the questioning and asking me about LULAC members, in particular. And I told them, “Why are you all doing this?” And he said, “Because there was fraud.”

AMY GOODMAN: LULAC is calling on the Justice Department to investigate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over the raids. This comes as ProPublica and The Texas Tribune report Paxton has also used consumer protection law more than a dozen times to investigate a range mostly Latino-led organizations or groups who offer food and shelter to migrants and asylum seekers along the border. Paxton also tried to shut down the immigrant-led civil rights group FIEL in Houston, claiming it engaged in electioneering, but a judge recently shot down his effort.

All of this comes as prosecutors agreed in March to drop securities fraud charges against Paxton himself, that allowed him to avoid going to trial if he performed a hundred hours of community service. This is separate from more recent corruption allegations Paxton faced that led to his impeachment trial last year, in which he was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Texas Senate.

For more, we go to Houston, where we’re joined by Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, which is the Spanish acronym for Families of Immigrants and Students in the Struggle. And in Miami, Florida, we’re joined by Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC, the largest and oldest Latino civil rights group in the United States.

Juan, let’s begin with you. Explain what happened last week in Texas.

JUAN PROAÑO: Well, good morning, Amy. Thank you for having me.

As you said, you know, last Tuesday, to our knowledge, over 12 search warrants were actually presented to Latino leaders, LULAC members in San Antonio. In the case of Lidia, as you just described, eight armed officers came in. But in another case, Manuel Medina, almost 40 officers, armed with AK-47s, SWAT gear, came in — tactical gear, came into his home at 6 a.m. His daughter was sleeping on the couch downstairs, thought someone was breaking into the home. He was upstairs with his wife and his other daughters. They came downstairs. And they were held, interrogated for over seven hours.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Juan Proaño, what does this tell you about the efforts of officials in Texas to intimidate Latino voters?

JUAN PROAÑO: Well, I mean, you know, it’s pervasive. You know, we’ve been, obviously, doing a lot of research here. And it didn’t start last week. You know, this investigation on election integrity started over two years ago, essentially, at this point, also referred by another Republican district attorney there with no evidence at all whatsoever.

In June, we saw that they sued the archdiocese of Rio Grande Valley, Sister Norma Pimentel, which provides migrants with services that are in this country legally. Then we saw last month with Annunciation House, which provides refugee services, as well, obviously with FIEL, too, and we also saw 12 other nonprofits that effectively have gone through the same search and seizure process.

At least what we’ve heard from the courts, that this is unconstitutional. Effectively, the tort law that he’s using to, essentially, sue nonprofit organizations because they’re providing — because they’re 501(c)(3) organizations and providing services to immigrants is really blatant discrimination.

You know, our expectation was that he would, obviously, come after LULAC and sue LULAC, but, certainly, we were very surprised when he started to go after Latino leaders and actual LULAC members. Of those 12 that we know of, four of them are LULAC members, three of them are women in their eighties. And they were told not to talk to anyone post the search and seizure. They took their cellphones. They took their computers. They took documentations. In the case of Lidia, they took her calendar, which is essentially where she keeps all her doctor’s appointments, personal contacts, information about her prescription medicine. And she had just been to the doctor the day before and had to go back in order to get that. And so, she was left without any communication device at all to communicate with her family, and had to literally leave her home, go to another LULAC member’s house to get assistance.

AMY GOODMAN: So, can you talk about the timing of this, Juan Proaño? For the first time in LULAC’s history, established in 1929, LULAC’s Adelante PAC, the political action committee, endorsed Harris and Walz, endorsed Kamala Harris to be president. Do you think that there is a direct link? And explain the different parts of your organization.

JUAN PROAÑO: Sure. And thank you, Amy, for that question. So, LULAC, to your point, was founded in 1929 in Corpus Christi. It was actually founded as a 501(c)(4) organization. That is the entity that everyone effectively knows and commonly refers to, essentially, as LULAC. We have over 535 councils around the country. Every single one of those councils is incorporated. They actually carry the LULAC name and seal. We have over 240,000 members in all 50 states, and we have actually those 535 councils in 33 states and 207 cities. So we are the largest Latino membership organization in the country.

In addition to that, we have a 501(c)(3), which is our LULAC National Institute. So, all of the programmatic work that we do to provide programs and services to the Latino community is actually done through our 501(c)(3). The 501(c)(3) is actually incorporated in the District of Columbia.

And then, more recently, we actually established the LULAC Adelante PAC. And so, it’s actually a super PAC. And actually it’s incorporated in District of Columbia.

You know, I don’t believe that it is actually connected specifically to the PAC, primarily because all of the lawsuits and, essentially, the pattern of lawsuits are primarily targeting nonprofit organizations, and specifically 501(c)(3) organizations. They also only have purview over corporations that are founded in the state of Texas. So, you know, Paxton cannot go after the LULAC National Institute, the 501(c)(3) or the LULAC Adelante PAC. But, you know, obviously, it was very close in time. I believe the date of the endorsement was August 9th or August 10th, so less than two weeks ago at this point.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Juan, I wanted to ask you about a separate matter also related to elections. On Monday, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, announced that the state has removed over 1 million names from the Texas voter rolls. Now, purges are common in many states, but that’s a big number, and it’s obviously coming so close to the election.

JUAN PROAÑO: Yeah. I mean, look, we actually saw that. It came out about 5:00. You know, we started our advocacy campaign on Thursday night. It literally took us two days to get information about Lidia’s case and to begin to gather all the facts relevant to this case.

Really, it is his form of deflection, right? It’s his effort to basically say, “Look, you know, we have a million people that are on our voter rolls that we effectively are removing.” I actually went through those numbers. Over 467,000 of them, essentially, are deceased, right? Another 400,000 or so are, effectively, what they call in the suspended mode, but only 6,500 of those are actually what are classified, effectively, as noncitizens. So you’re talking about .0065%. Less than 1% of those are actually noncitizens. And only 1,900, which is 1/1000th of a percent of that million, have actually any voting history at all whatsoever. But to say that there is systemic voter fraud and voter harvesting happening in the state of Texas is absolutely false.

AMY GOODMAN: Juan Proaño, in a minute, we want to ask about LULAC’s study of Project 2025. But we want to bring in Cesar Espinosa, the executive director of FIEL, Families of Immigrants and Students in the Struggle. Cesar, can you start off by talking about what happened in your new office, your old destroyed by a hurricane, about the serving of a lawsuit against you by the attorney general, who himself is under investigation and went through an impeachment trial, now is serving community service, but he’s also doing this?

CESAR ESPINOSA: Well, so, we, unfortunately, lost our office. FIEL has been here in Houston for the last 17 years. And in the 17 years, we helped out so many Houstonians, regardless of their immigration status, recover from natural disasters. So, just a few days after hurricane hit or a day after hurricane hit, Beryl hit — excuse me — I was talking to my family about the fact that I was ready to get back out there, ready to serve our community and serve people and help people get back on their feet.

Unfortunately, though, this was not the case. We were hit by two storms: number one, the actual physical storm of Beryl, and then, second, the first day we moved into our new building, we were served with a lawsuit by the state of Texas, which really took us off guard.

AMY GOODMAN: And what does this lawsuit say? What have you been sued for?

CESAR ESPINOSA: This lawsuit was stating that we were electioneering by a series of social media posts who were interpreted by the attorney general of Texas as advocating for a certain party or certain issues. But at the end of the day, our institution and our work is based on educating the community, empowering the community, and getting community members from all walks of life to be integrated fully into U.S. society.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And the lawsuit was — Harris County Judge R.K. Sandill denied Paxton’s efforts? Could you talk about what the judge said?

CESAR ESPINOSA: Well, at the end of the day, the judge, Sandill, declared that the Attorney General Ken Paxton did not have standing in the case, that he was going too far. And at the end of the day, the case was dismissed. But this sends, really, alarms all over the state of Texas to many organizations who are trying to help our community and that they could be targeted, as well.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what kind of support have you received across Texas as a result of this attack by the attorney general?

CESAR ESPINOSA: Well, we are really overwhelmed by the amount of community support that we’ve received, the amount of support online, a lot of people coming forward and saying that the attorney general has gone too far. You know, I always tell my wife never to read the comments in the articles or things like that, but I myself went in and read. And what I read and what I gathered from all the articles, all the — everything that was published, is the fact that people from all walks of life, from any side of the political spectrum, are feeling that this attorney general is going way too far.

And then, on the heels of this, we hear about what LULAC is going through. And it’s just one thing after another after another. Then they challenged the parole-in-place program. So, there’s so many things that they’re doing trying to disenfranchise, trying to disillusion Latinos from participating, that it’s really like we are swimming up — swimming against the current here in the state of Texas.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Juan Proaño, as we listen to what’s happened to Cesar Espinosa and you describe the raids on your members, including the home of an 87-year-old, 35-year volunteer of LULAC, can you talk about what you’re demanding of the Justice Department, a review of these Texas raids, and how Paxton’s actions fit into the changing politics and demographics of Texas?

JUAN PROAÑO: So, you know, first and foremost, we stand in solidarity with Cesar and FIEL. They are doing absolutely incredible work. And in regards to Lidia, not only is she 87 years old, Amy, she is a grandmother, she is a great-grandmother. Her five brothers actually served in the military. One of her brothers was killed in the Vietnam War and received the Silver Star. These are American U.S. citizens, right? And so, you know, for us, it really kind of sort of goes beyond the pale, in regards to what these actions are.

We have actually reached out to the Department of Justice. We have actually sent a letter requesting an investigation of these voter suppression tactics currently underway in Texas. We will continue to stand strong, and we are organizing our allies, both in the African American and the Latino community, as well. We’re going to stand, and we’re going to fight.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Juan Proaño, could you talk also about LULAC’s new report, “The Battle Ahead: Latino Civil Rights vs. Project 2025”?

JUAN PROAÑO: Sure, Juan. And I apologize. There was one part there that I didn’t answer for Amy, a little bit about the demographics. So, in the last U.S. Census report put out by the Census Bureau, they reported that 12.1 million Latinos in the state of Texas. For the first time — right? — and really for some time now, Latinos actually outnumber non-Hispanic whites, which is at 12 million, OK? So, when you take into account not just the Latino population in the state of Texas, but the African American and Asian population, and even if you factored in two races or more, the minority community in Texas now stands at over 60%. Texas is and has been a majority-minority state. And so, that large demographic shift that you are seeing, you know, is prevalent. And so, we see these, effectively, as tactics for the Republicans to actually stay in control of the government in Texas. The demographics are shifting. They’re not going to be able to change that anytime soon. And they are going to have to deal with that sooner than later.

In regards to Project 2025, LULAC actually published a couple weeks ago really the first and only report that I see that analyzed Project 2025 through a Latino lens. Obviously, it’s been very widely reported throughout. It was obviously very prevalent in the Democratic National Convention’s platform. In Chicago, we were there to listen to Vice President Harris and Walz actually speak to that.

You know, I was very concerned, shocked, when I was watching the Republican National Convention on that Tuesday and they came out with “mass deportation” signs. You know, somebody thought about that. Somebody designed those signs. They ordered them. They printed them. They passed them out to thousands of people in that convention center.

That’s only one part of what is in Project 2025. You know, they’re talking about, effectively, programs which effectively are for unserved communities, of gutting that, the Department of Education, as well, limiting different types of visas which allow for pathways for citizenship into this country. It is systemic all the way through. It would impact not only Latino communities but other immigrant and minority communities across the country. And not just minority communities, it would impact a significant number of non-Hispanic whites, because it really cuts across socioeconomic factors, as well.

AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you both so much for being with us. Juan Proaño is CEO of LULAC. He was speaking to us from Miami, Florida. And Cesar Espinosa is executive director of FIEL in Houston, Families of Immigrants and Students in the Struggle. You can see all of our segments on the Republican and Democratic National Conventions and immigration and Project 2025 at democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González, for another edition of Democracy Now!

Now for the idiot Carville:

Author, actor, and political consultant James Carville warned his fellow Democrats that the polls may be over-projecting Kamala Harris‘s lead on Donald Trump.

Knewz.com has learned that this is not the first time the sentiment has been expressed and that Carville, like Harris’s inner circle, believes that she may have to work harder at winning the Electoral College.

One of the key reasons for his belief is that the former president has been historically under-represented by the polls—as seen in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

First? Cameos as yourself isn't really acting so let's lose the "actor" credit.

Second, while we shouldn't take anything for granted, it wasn't Carville who spent months and months ahead of the 2016 election explaining the polling and how it could be wrong and probably was. No, that was the work we did here. Do they even do research and methodology courses anymore?

We explained here that the polling was probably off. And we explained why.

Those reasons are gone in 2024.

Trump supporters, as we noted, were less than forthcoming. Why? They had made supporting Trump -- the media -- a bad thing. I did not invent my interpretation here. Anyone who studied polling -- especially political polling should have known (maybe they didn't want to say) that when there are values imposed upon answers, you're not likely to get honest responses.

Now I'm not in the mood to spend a great deal of time on this all these years later. But I think we can all agree that the MAGA crowd is not a crowd who can be embarrassed anymore. They're proud racists, proud bullies, proud lovers of Donald.

So I don't think we're going to see that issue -- Trump supporters being under-represented by their own statements -- this round.

Is the polling off on Kamala, it could be. I am only looking at raw data from the DNC and advising on what groups I'm speaking to and what areas the DNC should be emphasizing. And I haven't done that -- to this level -- in years.

But James Carville, as usual, has arrived eight years late.

Maybe all that time pursuing his 'acting' career has taken up too much time?

Gaza remains under assault. Day 325 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. THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 40,602 killed, with 93,855 wounded." Early on, Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) pointed out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." Months ago, 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 of acute food insecurity or worse." 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 NATIONAL's Sunniva Rose reports this morning:

The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday that Israeli cabinet members are spreading “unacceptable hate messages against Palestinians”.

Mr Borrell described their actions as “incitation to commit war crimes”, as he arrived for arrived for an informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.

He did not give names of the Israeli cabinet ministers he was referring to, but has in the past criticised Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Mr Borrell said he would call for sanctions against the ministers but that it was up to the EU's 27 member states to decide whether they all supported such a measure – which is unlikely.

Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib said that “Belgium supports more sanctions against leaders of terrorist organisations such as Hamas and violent settlers”.

Her Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom, said there was a “growing problem” of extremist settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

“We’d also like to talk about listing more extremist settlers,” he said.

Last night, Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Jill FrankenStein" and "Miss Sassy Will Not Be Denied or Upstaged" went up. The following sites updated: