Weather: Who’s trying to have a frozen margarita on a rooftop tonight? WHO? Okay, maybe not frozen, but with the sun in full view and temperatures in the low 60s, I think outdoor drinking weather is truly upon us. Maybe Friday we can spring for the blended drinks since temperatures will be in the mid 60s. Check an actual weather website because this shit is subject to change as I’ve learned from spreading weather misinfo in Slog AM in the past.
Around town: Of course, there’s other things to do around Seattle that do not involve a $16 alcoholic beverage in the sun. Check out EverOut for the best recommendations for how to fill your free time. Tonight you could go see indie rock band Sheer Mag at Vera Project or 4/20’s Eve Eve Comedy Show at the Crocodile.
Eruption in Indonesia: Indonesian officials have ordered more than 11,000 people living within six kilometers of Mount Ruang to evacuate as the volcano erupts.
Video shows a spectacular lightning storm during an eruption on Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the area. pic.twitter.com/2oxRAHn8Ia
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 18, 2024
SPD: Wednesday afternoon, Seattle police officers shot and killed someone while trying to make an arrest at a hotel in Tukwila. In an obvious attempt at gaining public sympathy to justify the killing, the Seattle Police Department would only say that their investigation involved the “Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” and that their target “produced a fire arm” and was killed “after a struggle,” the Seattle Times reports. The TV news only cared about the story because a bullet grazed a cop.
Classic CONSERVATIVE City Council: Yesterday, the Land Use Committee rejected Chair Tammy Morales’s Connected Communities pilot program, which would loosen zoning restrictions for affordable housing in the midst of a housing crisis. Her committee colleagues Council Members Cathy Moore, Maritza Rivera, and Tanya Woo voted no, and Dan Strauss abstained.
I’m really disappointed. Seattle can’t waste any more time failing to provide affordable housing. We were elected to take action. This is not a controversial bill. Cutting red tape to let organizations like Habitat for Humanity build more homes is not controversial. https://t.co/sF06qKhyuH pic.twitter.com/FZqXhz0IJu
— Councilmember Tammy J. Morales (@CMTammyMorales) April 17, 2024
Not over: Personally, this vote really pissed me off. The “gentle density” conservatives grew smart enough not to outright oppose density and appropriated the language of social justice to help them accomplish their exclusionary goals. Instead of saying they hate density because they want to keep their neighborhoods wealthy and white, they say they oppose density for fear of displacement. Yesterday, Moore, Rivera, Woo, and Strauss showed their asses by opposing a bill designed to promote density and affordability specifically for communities at high risk of displacement, including “refugees, immigrants, communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities and people experiencing homelessness or at risk of economic displacement,” which would mitigate the very apprehension they pretend to have. On paper, they should all be bending over backwards to co-sponsor this legislation, but alas. I linked their contact info because the bill will still go to full council April 30, so there’s still time to convince them.
Conservative whine whine whine abt density under the guise of displacement concerns + then when a progressive finds a way to do density that specifically helps marginalized ppl their true, exclusionary colors show. They care more abt trees + parking + suburban vibes than people https://t.co/N1H3wWYKQ1
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) April 17, 2024
Round and round: Okay, remember how earlier this month Israel killed some Iranian officials at a consulate in Syria? And then Iran did a lil retaliation? That really could be the end of their dick measuring contest tbh, but, according to the AP, Iran’s president vows to launch a “massive” attack should Israel strike back even the “tiniest” amount.
Foreign aid: The AP wrote that President Joe Biden announced his strong support yesterday of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposal to send $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, $26 billion to Israel, and $8 billion to Taiwan. For scale, that one-time aid package, a drop in the bucket for the US’s continued support specifically to Ukraine and Israel, could forgive more than 40% of medical debt for Americans. Just saying!
Fuck Google: Last night, Google fired 28 workers who protested the company’s $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government. In an internal memo, Google’s head of global security wrote “If you’re one of the few [employees] who are tempted to think we’re going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again.” The group leading the protests at Google, “No Tech for Apartheid,” said that the firings were clearly retaliatory, and I agree! Like, no shit.
Asylum update: A few weeks ago, I wrote about the failure of the City, County, and State to get a group of migrants into longer-term housing so they can get their work permits and start making their own rent money. Just as Seattle seemed prepared to sweep them from the tennis courts where they established a makeshift camp, some donors swooped in and paid for some hotel rooms. When that money dried up, the Low Income Housing Institute helped extend the stays. Yesterday, King County awarded $2 million to nonprofits to help the asylum seekers. The Seattle Times has more information.
NO on 2117: According to Northwest Progressive Institute, the growing campaign to stop I-2117, which would repeal the Climate Commitment Act, unveiled a new website and campaign video yesterday. If you’re unsure whether ultra-wealthy farmer cosplayer Brian Heywood and that Star-of-David-mocking State GOP Chair Jim Walsh repealing a critical tax on major polluters is in your best interest, then take a look at the campaign’s introductory video. I trust most Slog readers already hate these fuckers and their slew of bad ballot measures, so maybe send it to mom or something:
Big money: Not only did the No on 2117 campaign drop a new site and video, they also flexed some high profile donors. Bill Gates and Tableau Co-founder Chris Stolte each donated $1 million. Though it doesn’t show up on their campaign finance filings just yet, No on 2117 claims big-time polluter Amazon also threw in a good chunk of change. As the Washington Observer wrote on substack, “The company’s involvement here is especially notable because it spent millions to defeat a similar carbon-pricing scheme on the ballot just six years ago.” Growth.
Day three: Former President Donald Trump will be back in court today for a third day of juror selection in his hush-money case. The jury pool is under intense scrutiny because, like, how do you live in New York City and not have a major bias for or against Trump?? The court picked seven jurors so far—an information technology worker, an English teacher, an oncology nurse, a sales professional, a software engineer and two lawyers, but the case still needs five more people. Maybe they should just bring in the Stranger Election Control Board? We’ll do it.
Tonight: I don’t like to inundate Slog readers with Ms. Swift, but her new album Tortured Poets Department drops at midnight (9 pm for us on the West Coast!!) and also this song felt like it applies to my life rn lol.
Yes, the weather predictions are a joke. A 10-day forecast for the Puget Sound area is absolute bullshit. They can predict maybe 3 days out, kinda. I know, I know, the Puget Sound convergence zone is so hard to predict the weather for. Two mountain ranges, ocean, inland waters, etc. I get it, the geography is hard. But don’t put out a 10-day forecast when you know it has little chance of being accurate!
Getting fired for violating company policies that you agreed to abide by isn’t retaliation. It’s simply consequences for your actions.
If your employers values do not align with your own you’re better off leaving anyway.
Are you “just sayin'” you’re an Isolationist and Ukraine should go get fucked?
“Not only did the No on 2117 campaign drop a new site and video, they also flexed some high profile donors. Bill Gates and Tableau Co-founder Chris Stolte each donated $1 million”
Is this another example of big money interests trying to buy an election or is this ok because it supports TS’s preferred political position? I’m still not sure where the line is on money in politics yet.
Regarding medical debt, in case you haven’t noticed – no, wait apparently you have no idea – Biden has already forgiven almost twice that amount in student loan debt. So what you’re saying is that he’s a Bad Man because he DoEsN’t Do EvErYtHiNg?!?! Just sayin’…
I’m still a bit stunned that two lawyers have made it onto the Trump jury. His team must be planning some procedural or technical defense. Also, one of the jurors said that he still has a flip phone and only gets his news from the NY Post so that certainly sounds like a sympathetic Trump juror lol.
Pretty wild that Hannah seems so blasé about Russia’s genocidal aims on a population of 38 million people. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/03/russia-ukraine-war-genocide-bucha-izium-icc-war-crimes/
@9: From your link:
“This wider dissemination of hate speech and incitement through social media platforms has the potential to mobilize large numbers of people to participate in or support genocidal actions. It also contributes to normalizing hateful rhetoric, which could further desensitize the public to the gravity of the situation and the potential consequences for the Ukrainian national group.”
Hm, “normalizing hateful rhetoric,” that somehow sounds familiar…
“If the world had any balls it would eliminate Israel (since it isn’t a real country, it’s an occupation of Palestine).”
(https://www.thestranger.com/elections-2024/2024/03/15/79427944/university-of-washington-students-bemoan-choices-for-president-contemplate-not-voting/comments/21)
I shouldn’t be surprised the self-proclaimed progressives like Ms. Krieg still have not figured out that eliminating zoning is more about the right-wing war on regulation than it is about affordable housing. Developers build the most expensive housing they think they can sell, they are not altruists seeking to make housing affordable. They also don’t build on a cost-plus basis. If you gave developers the land for free they would not drop prices a penny, they would just take the increased profit. Ms. Krieg’s trust in the free market is truly bizarre.
Max Solomon @5, these are literally Kremlin talking points. I expect to hear this sort of disinformation from individuals like J.D. Vance and Marjorie Taylor Greene, not a writer on a progressive Seattle media outlet. And based on what I’ve read before in this blog, it’s not entirely out of line with the editorial perspective.
It makes you wonder what’s up with this writer. Is she just a woefully uninformed and malign individual trying to be more and more provocative and shocking to drive page views? Or is there something more sinister at work? When you read the reports about how Russian disinformation campaigns have extended their tentacles into public discourse in Europe and the United States, you start to be paranoid and wonder who they have or haven’t gotten to, and who’s just an unwitting second-hand carrier and transmitter of this virus.
Of course, who knows what’s going on with this individual? There’s no way for any of us to get in these people’s heads and divine their motives. I just have to wonder if commenters like us are doing more harm than good by taking the bait and engaging with this content and trying to talk some sense? Are we just encouraging it? Is it better for us to ignore it? I don’t know what the right thing to do is, to the extent that what we do even matters.
Margorie Taylor Green: We can’t fund Ukraine’s fight against a fascist dictator. There’s a border crisis!
Hannah Krieg: We can’t fund Ukraine’s fight against a fascist dictator. There’s a medical debt crisis!
Putin’s genocidal war on Ukraine is causing far more death and destruction than the calamity in Gaza. Hannah appears as sanguine about that as say, Tucker Carlson or Majorie Traitor Greene.
To ignore, dismiss, or excuse an unfolding human tragedy whose scale is epic, whose ramifications are civilizational, then turn around, assume moral high ground, and demand some action in the Middle East makes no zero sense – logically, ethically, strategically. Only ideologically.
Johnson cannot be trusted. Adults in the room need to write their representatives to pressure them to sign onto the discharge petition to force a House vote on the Senate version of the foreign aid package. The petition requires only another handful of signatories. Tying Israeli and Ukraine bill has both parties walk together while the extremists moan. Its the only way forward. And time is running out.
@14
You claimed:
“Putin’s genocidal war on Ukraine is causing far more death and destruction than the calamity in Gaza.”
Actually, while the number of combatants killed or injured is staggeringly high, in 3 years Putin has murdered a number of civilians of similar magnitude that Israel has in mere months.
“Reuters reported in December that a Ukrainian civic group’s efforts to record combat and non-combat deaths had reached a confirmed figure of 24,500.
“Obviously, the 24,500 names are not the final number of dead (deceased), but by our assessment, it is no less than 70 percent,” the authors stated.
“That is, the real number of dead (deceased) in combat and non-combat situations is more than 30,000 people”
From:
http://www.newsweek.com/how-many-dead-russia-ukraine-war-update-troops-civilians-1864034
@16
Kudos on the Harrison Bergeron reference.
@15: First, that article repeatedly notes the large difficulties in determining how many persons have been killed and injured as the result of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Second, you used an estimate of dead Ukrainian soldiers, not civilians, as a later section of the article notes:
‘As of January 23, 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has recorded 29,330 civilian casualties in Ukraine, consisting of 10,191 killed and 19,139 injured since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022.
‘The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has said, however, that these figures are thought to be considerably higher, with reports “particularly from certain locations and from the immediate period after 24 February 2022” still pending corroboration.‘
Third, the death figures for Gaza do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas’ terrorists.
The problem with Our Dear Hannah is that she’s so binary. In her world, people who don’t agree with her are Conservatives, no matter what their other positions are. But she’s young. Presumably she’ll evolve.
As far as CM Morales is concerned, it’s too bad that she learned nothing from her dismal election results. In the meantime, he district continues to be neglected.
@18 Not to mention the 8 million Ukrainian refugees displaced and the 1.6 Ukrainians forcibly taken and repatriated into Russia against their will.
@20 Basicakky, in the “progressive” universe, these things are judged by the inverse of the color chart meme for Terrorist/Thug vs “Freedom Fighter”. It’s hilarious how the “progressives” are just funhouse mirror reflections of the MAGA hats.
@21 Sigh…”Basically”
yeah but we’re bored of russia and ukraine now. it won’t be fun again til it spills over or something really big explodes
@22 bro i can still njoy margs while people far away perish
Property destruction/costs to rebuild;
Gaza: $50 billion. Ukraine: $500 billion.
Displaced population;
Gaza(internally): 1.6 million Ukraine: internal (3.7 million), refugees: 6.5 million
Ukrainian and Russia military casualties (dead and wounded): 500k
Hamas/IDF: 3k
Other nightmarish concerns where Ukraine sadly demands priority attention; now the most festooned nation on the planet for land mines and unexplored ordinance, toxic industrial seepages for chemical heavy industries that fortunately do not exist in Gaza, severe riverine and freshwater system damage from the Nova Kakhovka dam destruction, a damaged nuclear power plant being held hostage by Zed forces while its cooling pools are now drained, massacres and rapes and torture by Russian forces that amazingly, easily exceed what Hamas did.
Again, if the chief thrust of the Strangers outrage concerning Gaza is on humanitarian grounds, why does Hannah have such a disregard for Ukraine?
“Instead of saying they hate density because they want to keep their neighborhoods wealthy and white, they say they oppose density for fear of displacement.”
So, building more expensive townhomes in the CD is o.k. now? From what I’ve read in the Stranger in the past, that was undesirable gentrification, so I am a bit confused.
@20, @26
Yep, was on my phone and attempting to get just civilians in Ukraine was difficult.
Of course there are more displaced in Ukraine, because there are more people in Ukraine and they are actually able to LEAVE.
Russia is conducting a scorched earth bombardment of areas, but most Ukrainian civilians are able to escape that bombardment, which Gazans can’t. There is no where to go.
Going by UN accounts of civilians to get the best comparison of apples to apples, the UN says that
“civilian deaths top 10,000” dated 11/23
https://ukraine.un.org/en/253322-civilian-deaths-ukraine-war-top-10000-un-says
“25,000 civilians killed in Gaza”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145742
What is notable is the difference in time that it took. More dead in Gaza in a much shorter period of time. As for the difference in cost, there is the difference between an actual independent country with its attendant infrastructure and ability to conduct global trade in Ukraine compared to Gaza that had been limited in its infrastructure by what Israel allows it to build. Israel simply doesn’t allow Gaza to have $500 billion of infrastructure in the first place.
But by no means does my contention with your version of facts be intended to mean that I am not in favor of aid to Ukraine. I am. The Ukrainians have a right to their own government and they are proving it with their blood, and they should be supported. I think the Gazas, all Palestinians, also should have a right to their own government. So I don’t support aid to Israel.
my favorite reader’s
comment on
the nyt’s:
The Israeli
Censorship Regime
Is Growing. That Needs to Stop.
the comment:
Israel
and its
proponents
have been caught
by surprise at the global
condemnation to its campaign of retribution.
The savagery of
Hamas on October 7 was
bestial, ruthless and appalling.
But it was also very successful. Hamas
knows it cannot destroy Israel on its own,
but it can goad Israel into doing it for them.
Israel under the reactionary regime of Netanyahu
has attacked an unarmed civilian population
with absolutely no consideration of mass
casualties, Geneva Convention rules,
guilt or even humanity.
[speaking of dehumanizing]
Netanyahu in particular is fighting
for his political life and personal freedom,
and no number of piles of dead Palestinian children
or acres of stolen Palestinian property in the West Bank
will instill an iota of compassion or even common sense in him.
Israel’s genocidal fury
is unjustifiable, dispro-
portionate and horrifying.
It is also serving to separate Israel
from the protection of the West
which it has taken for granted.
This
is precisely
what Hamas was
striving to achieve, and will
leave Israel alone and vulnerable.
The response has been
to try to shut down
all criticism.
Israel will not permit journalists in Gaza be
-cause they do not want facts recorded
nor Palestinians presented favorably.
The various pro-Israel groups in the West,
particularly in the US, target free speech
that demands Israeli accountability.
Shutting down speech will destroy Israel, not protect it.
–Shar; Atlanta
more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/opinion/gaza-journalists-censorship-israel.html#commentsContainer
[formatting mine]
‘Israel’s genocidal fury
is unjustifiable, disprop-
ortionate and horrifying.
It is also serving to separate Israel
from the protection of the West
which it has taken for granted.
This
is precisely
what Hamas was
striving to achieve, and will
leave Israel alone and vulnerable.’
Leaving Jews
PLANET-Wide
Vulnerable. Dump Bibi
Before it’s Too Fucking Late
Oh and END
The GENOCIDE
@28:
“civilian deaths top 10,000” dated 11/23
https://ukraine.un.org/en/253322-civilian-deaths-ukraine-war-top-10000-un-says
“25,000 civilians killed in Gaza”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145742
So, now you’re using older figures (11/23) than your original source cited (01/24) — and you’re omitting the caveat your original source gave, of these figures being on the low side.
Also, again, death tolls from Gaza do NOT differentiate between civilians and Hamas’ terrorists, so for an “apples-to-apples” comparison to Ukraine, you’d need to include all of the Ukrainian soldier KIAs as well.
“What is notable is the difference in time that it took. More dead in Gaza in a much shorter period of time.”
Notable, maybe, but definitely not surprising. Ukraine is a conventional fight between two national militaries. Gaza is an asymmetrical fight between regular army (IDF), and terrorists who actively use civilians as human shields. The Russian Army does not care if it kills Ukrainian civilians, but generally does not go out of their way to kill them. Hamas actively creates opportunities for IDF to unintentionally kill civilians in Gaza:
“Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure-hubs and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and commercial areas.” (https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf)
Hence, “More dead in Gaza in a much shorter period of time.” Just as Hamas intended.
@29: “It is also serving to separate Israel
from the protection of the West
which it has taken for granted.”
Wow, that is SO last week! Over the weekend, American, French, and British military units shot down scores of Iranian missiles launched at Israel. The Intercept claims the US alone shot down more Iranian missiles than did the Israelis:
“THE UNITED STATES shot down more drones and missiles than Israel did on Saturday night during Iran’s attack, The Intercept can report.
“More than half of Iran’s weapons were destroyed by U.S. aircraft and missiles before they ever reached Israel. In fact, by commanding a multinational air defense operation and scrambling American fighter jets, this was a U.S. military triumph.”
Tonnes more, triumphantly: https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/iran-attack-israel-drones-missiles/
20
yep
them
WMDs
manufacturers
testing out their WMDs
and Anti-WMD Munitions
that PROVES
everyone’s in Lockstep
with Israel’s Ongoing Genocide
you’re
helping
bibi Destroy
Israel & ya Don’t
even know it wormmy.
Carry on!
justify the
Genocide.
@31: Darn, it must be frustrating. You try and you try and you try to pin “genocide” on Israel, and only upon Israel, and then yet ANOTHER actor tries to kill Jews, for being Jews, on land it wants cleansed of Jews. Worse yet, all that happens is an international coalition of countries — countries with many loud pro-Palestinian protestors, no less! — successfully defend Israel. That’s gotta hurt. A lot.
Did Hamas commit genocide in Israel on 10/7? Yes or no?
Because if you cannot even answer that one simple question, why should anyone else care about your use of the word?
bibi’s making the whole Planet
Unsafe for Jews and you Need
Me to tell You if what Hamas
did on O.7th is Genocide?
that you don’t
Care about the
repercussions of
bibi’s Slaughter of
Palestinians is baffling.
Yeah. No response to one simple question.
‘one simple query’
demanded repeatedly since
about when Israel’s latest Massacre began?
latching onto the ICJ’s definition
whilst Ignoring their Demand
for Humane Treatment of
an Imprisoned people?
nah.
Wormtongue
can Demand till
the cows come Home
bibi Surrenders or he provokes
a Nukular Conflagration in the M.E.
it’s highly
Amusing or
Would Be were
not the Stakes so High
bibi’s
Keep-Outta-
Prison gambit’s
DESTROYING what
ole wormmy claims to
“protect'”: Israel’s Safety.
‘The savagery of
Hamas on October 7 was
bestial, ruthless and appalling.
But it was also very successful. Hamas
knows it cannot destroy Israel on its own,
but it can goad Israel into doing it for them.’
bingo.
@37: But was it “genocide”? That’s the question you won’t/can’t answer.
And, contrary to your querulous objections @36, I’m not asking for your interpretation of the definition of “genocide” in the Genocide Convention, which is the one the ICJ must and will use. I know what that definition means; it’s the definition the entire world has used for decades. I’ve made it clear I’m asking for your own personal definition of “genocide,” the one you are using to accuse Israel, and ONLY Israel, of genocide. Your own, personal, double-secret definition, which you will not share, even as you insist it is just so much better than the definition the entire world has used for decades. That’s the definition I’m asking you to use for Hamas’ attacks on Israel on 10/7. I have to ask you to interpret your definition because I honestly do not know what it is.
If you can use it on the daily, for Israel in Gaza, why can’t you use it even once, for Hamas in Israel?
i refuse to read your typically-vile barferage*
tho i’ll skim it on occ but for now @38:
‘But it was also very successful. Hamas
knows it cannot destroy Israel on its own,
but it can goad Israel into doing it for them.’
‘bingo.’
they
Even
goaded
wormmy
but that
was ez.
oh & yeah
Hamas IS a
Terrrorist Org.
but i could not care Less if
‘bestial, ruthless and
appalling’ actions
et fucking cetera
are or are not as horrific as “genocide.”
whilst YOU Ignore the IDJ’s DEMAND
for Israel to Humanize their little ‘War’
on a lightly-armed & Imprisoned people
but please
don’t let
that stop ya
ask me again
speaking of
terrorists and
Holy terrorisms:
“There
is no justify-
cation for terrorism. Ever.”
tensorna on December 8, 2023 at 8:44 AM
allow me to serve up a wee query
of mine own: is what Israel’s
Doing terrorism? will it Be
when the Body Count
reaches 35,000? how
’bout 40,000 Dead
men women and
including TWEN-
TY THOUSAND
CHILDREN. is
THAT gonna
be terror-
ism to
You?
i m Interested
to hear a fine
Definition
for that
one
too
@41: You’ve been quoting my use of the word, “terrorism,” for months, and you don’t even know what it means?
FAIL.
(You’re always terrible with the words, of course, but wow, that’s a humiliating admission, even by your miserable standards.)
Here’s a clue: terrorism, like genocide*, is a crime. Proving such a crime requires proving intent. Therefore, for Israel to be guilty of terrorism in Gaza, Israel’s accuser must prove Israel had the intent to attack civilians.
Good luck with that.
*The definition I know; not valid for any other definition.
bibi
NEVER
Intended
to Murder
those 35,000
Palestinians. it
was all on Accident
hell
Anyone
couldda done
That! it was an
Honest Mistake.
but
he gets
ALL THAT LAND
plus
KEEPS
OUTTA
PRISON!
lordy, lordy!
don’t thee Lord
work in Mysterious ways
@43: Why would anyone claim the deaths of civilians in Gaza were accidental? @30, I already quoted a much better explanation:
“Hamas has launched rockets, positioned military-related infrastructure-hubs and routes, and engaged the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from, or in proximity to, residential and commercial areas.” (https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf)
The deaths were not accidental; Hamas intended for civilians in Gaza to die violently, if the IDF pursued Hamas back into Gaza after 10/7. The responsibility for those deaths therefore rests with Hamas, not Israel.
The savagery of
Hamas on October 7 was
bestial, ruthless and appalling.
But it was also very successful. Hamas
knows it cannot destroy Israel on its own,
but it can goad Israel into doing it for them.
Hamas
musta seen
you comming
Wormmy. no one’s
been a better Apologist
(‘cept for Cap’n Ahab. duh.)
for booboo* nutnyahoo’s Genocide.
*oops!
from Vt. Senator Bernie Sanders
an Independent (& known Jew)
to me (to all of US) via Email:
No more US complicity
with Netanyahu’s war
machine in Gaza
It’s difficult
to comprehend
the severity of the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This war was begun by the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 innocent people and took more than 250 people hostage.
Israel’s response, however, has now caused
more than 33,000 Palestinian deaths
and some 76,000 injuries in Gaza
— two-thirds of whom
are women and
children.
Nearly 1.7 million people in Gaza,
75 percent of the population,
have been driven from
their homes.
Civilian infrastructure has been devastated,
and more than half of all buildings in Gaza
have been damaged or destroyed,
including more than 60 percent
of all housing units.
Israel
has the right
to respond to Hamas.
It does not have the right to go
to war against the Palestinian people.
At this moment,
Palestinian children are
dying from malnutrition and
hundreds of thousands of people
are struggling to survive from day to day,
foraging for leaves, eating animal feed, or split-
ting the occasional aid package among their family.
United Nations said that if nothing changes,
more than 1 million people will face starvation.
Let’s be clear:
This is a monumental
tragedy for the Palestinian people.
But from a moral perspective, it is also
a defining moment for Americans,
because the United States is
directly complicit in this
horrific war.
No, the US military is not dropping 2,000-pound bombs on civilian apartment buildings, but the United States is supplying those bombs.
No, the United States is not blocking the borders and preventing food, water, and medical supplies from getting to desperate people,
but we have supplied billions of dollars to the Netanyahu government, which is doing just that.
Despite the massive financial and military support the United States has provided to Israel for many years, the right-wing, extremist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
has continued to ignore increasingly urgent calls from President Biden and others to alter their military approach and to end the humanitarian disaster.
For months, thousands of trucks carrying life-saving supplies have sat just miles away from starving children — prevented from reaching their destination by unreasonable and arbitrary Israeli restrictions and a military campaign conducted with little regard for civilian life.
Last week, the world got more evidence of Israel’s indiscriminate approach when seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Israel has now killed more than
200 humanitarian aid workers
in six months.
Blocking
desperately needed US
humanitarian aid to Palestin-
ians is obscene and unacceptable.
It is also a violation of American law.
The Foreign Assistance Act is clear: No US assistance may be provided to any country that “prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
Israel is clearly in violation of this law . . .
The American people have had enough.
Most Americans are fed
up with Netanyahu’s war a-
gainst the Palestinian people
and do not want to see their taxpayer
dollars spent to support the slaughter of
innocent civilians and the starvation of children.
A recent Gallup poll showed that just 36 percent of Americans surveyed approve of Israel’s military action, with 55 percent disapproving.
A Quinnipiac poll showed that US voters surveyed oppose sending more military aid to Israel by 52 percent to 39 percent.
A March YouGov survey showed that
52 percent of Americans polled
said that the United States
should halt weapons ship-
ments to Israel until it
stops its attacks
in Gaza.
It is time Congress
and the president
started listening.
–Bernie Sanders
much More in the Boston Globe
from April 11, 2024
But from a moral perspective, it is also
a defining moment for Americans,
because the United States is
directly complicit in this
horrific war.
that’d be a
BINGO
Bernie.
@45: “The savagery of
Hamas on October 7 was
bestial, ruthless and appalling.”
And yet, you still cannot say whether or not it was “genocide.” So maybe your moral compass is the broken one here?
Why, exactly, would Hamas be happy with my correctly identifying them as the source of Gaza’s current agony? Wouldn’t they be more happy with your constant blaming of Israel — and only of Israel — for the violence Hamas intentionally brought down upon Gaza’s civilians?
@46: Thanks for demonstrating why the Democrats refused to allow Bernie to run as their candidate. I’ll take Pres. Biden’s muscular defense of an ally — of the 300+ missiles Iran launched, exactly TWO hit Israel! — over Bernie’s both-sides-do-it false comparison.
“In an obvious attempt at gaining public sympathy to justify the killing, the Seattle Police Department would only say that their investigation involved the “Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” and that their target “produced a fire arm” and was killed “after a struggle,” the Seattle Times reports.”
And here’s the video from SPD, which shows that rather than being an “obvious attempt to gain public sympathy,” the statement by SPD was completely factual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzvM7rhDrVI
When can we expect a public apology by Hannah to the Seattle Police Department?
which Billion will be thee Billion
that breaks the camel’s back?
word has it Biden’s taken
More than Any Other
Senator from AIPAC
Whose grip on US’s
teeny leetle balls’s
All Directly From*
‘Citizens United’
Informing us that groups
of soulless Money have
the same Rights and
Privileges as You
And it’s OKAY
To buy your Own
Lamakers & Make
Your very OWN Laws!
It’s totes
Nifty.
our tax dollars:
nyt:
House Approves $95 Billion Aid
Bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
After months of delay at the hands of a bloc of
ultraconservative Republicans, the package drew
overwhelming bipartisan support, reflecting broad consensus.
Thirty-seven liberal Democrats opposed the $26 billion aid package for Israel because the legislation placed no conditions on how Israel could use American funding, amid scores of civilian casualties and an imminent famine in Gaza.
That was a relatively small sliver of opposition given that left-wing lawmakers had pressed their colleagues to vote “no” on the bill to send a message to Mr. Biden about the depth of opposition within his political coalition to his backing for Israel’s tactics in the war.
“Sending more weapons to the Netanyahu government will make the U.S. even more responsible for atrocities and the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza which is now in a season of famine,” said Representative Jonathan L. Jackson, Democrat of Illinois. “The United States Congress must be the moral compass.
I continue to call for the release
of all prisoners and hostages.
I continue to pray and work
for peace, security,
and stability.”
–by Catie Edmondson
more [formatting mine]:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/20/us/politics/house-vote-aid-ukraine-israel.html
go Ahead
bibi! Spend
them Billions
on WHATEVER
the Fuck ya Wanna!
It’s:
On US!
ka-Chinga!
Never call it Genocide!
that just Makes it
Immoral.
@47 pass
Bernie wouldda
beat El trumpfster
to a bloody electiony
pulp; the “D”nc gave Us
Hillary.
eat
Shit.
actually
it’s precisely
what the ‘d’nc’s
given the Citizenry.
and
Here
we Are
and so it goes . . .
@49: “word has it Biden’s taken
More than Any Other
Senator from AIPAC”
Biden is a Senator now?
“Never call it Genocide!
that just Makes it
Immoral.”
Is that your position on ALL rape gangs, rape gangs that just rape Israelis, or rape gangs funded and directed by elite Iranian generals? Or some other type(s) of rape gang(s)? Please do so clarify.
@50:
“Bernie wouldda
beat El trumpfster
to a bloody electiony
pulp”
Absolutely! The guy from a remote state with three electoral votes and a smaller population than Seattle (!) would’ve wiped the floor with Trump!
(This perhaps explains why you simply cannot decide whether Hamas committed genocide — even your version! — in Israel on 10/7.)
but is it Genocide?
“In Gaza
The Sniper Drones
Are Crying Like Babies
They’re hunting civilians with
armed quadcopters
[drones] in Gaza.
The drones play recordings of crying babies and women screaming in distress in order to lure people out into the open, and then shoot them.
This is reportedly happening at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where people live in total darkness at night and have no connection to the outside world.
Other times the drones play the sounds of explosions and gunshots and rolling tanks, and sometimes songs in Hebrew or Arabic, all to terrorize these refugees hiding in the darkness afraid for their lives.
This is the sort of report that a critical thinker would normally dismiss as absurd atrocity propaganda if it was being made about any other military power, but this is the IDF we’re talking about, and this specific allegation is pretty well-supported now.
When the destruction of Gaza first began I used to read the jarring claims about the horrific things the IDF were doing and often think, “No, no way. That can’t be the whole story. It’s too cartoonishly evil. There must be some information missing.” Then a few days or weeks later confirmation would come out, showing it’s even worse than I thought before.
I don’t experience that kind of dubiousness when reading such stories anymore. There are only so many atrocities you can see documented, so many videos of IDF troops recording themselves gleefully behaving like monsters, so many hospitals you can see attacked, so many journalists you can see assassinated, before you read a new report about new unfathomable acts of depravity and find yourself saying “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
This baby-crying-sniper-drone story is something else, though. It’s like something out of a weird post-apocalyptic horror movie or something. It’s the kind of information that makes you sort of re-evaluate your previous assumptions about humanity, the world, and the kind of reality we’re experiencing here.
It is really astonishing, how cruel people can be. How cruel a whole nation of people can be made to be, if they’re indoctrinated just right.
You spend your whole childhood being indoctrinated into the belief that one group of people are inferior to your own and don’t deserve the same rights and treatment your group receives, and before you know it you’re blockading aid trucks from bringing that group food, and playing recordings of crying babies on an assassination drone in order to murder civilians at a refugee camp.
That’s how Nazi Germany happened, it’s how the genocidal apartheid state of Israel has happened, and it’s how the murderous US-centralized empire has happened.
It turns out it’s not all that hard to manipulate a population into supporting shocking abuses at mass scale with modern propaganda and indoctrination from early childhood.
It turns out the human mind is a lot more hackable than we’d like to believe it is, and that this can be used to unleash living nightmares upon our world a lot more easily than we’re comfortable acknowledging.”
–by Caitlin Johnstone
more, disturbingly
(or Enjoyably depending
on the level of your sociopathy)
https://soundcloud.com/going_rogue/in-gaza-the-sniper-drones-are-crying-like-babies
yeah.
Okay:
but is it
Genocide!?
or Terrorism?
wormmy:
NOT when
Israel does it.
Justify:
[speakin’ a
copycumpasta;~]
“There
is no justify-
cation for terrorism. Ever.”
tensorna on December 8, 2023 at 8:44 AM
‘There
Is No Justifi-
cation for Terrorism,’
Says Man Justifying Genocide
more, disturbingly:
https://theneedling.com/2023/09/02/there-is-no-justification-for-terrorism-says-man-justifying-genocide/
“It turns out
it’s not all that hard
to manipulate a population
into supporting shocking abuses
at mass scale with modern propagan-
da and indoctrination from early childhood.’
I guess This
is what it all
boils down to:
you’re being
Lied to.
“SPD: Wednesday afternoon, Seattle police officers shot and killed someone while trying to make an arrest at a hotel in Tukwila. In an obvious attempt at gaining public sympathy to justify the killing, the Seattle Police Department would only say that their investigation involved the “Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” and that their target “produced a fire arm” and was killed “after a struggle,” the Seattle Times reports. The TV news only cared about the story because a bullet grazed a cop.”
Wow, I expect stupid, snarky bad takes from Hannah, but holy shit this is probably the worst take she has ever written.
Watch the actual bodycam video of the cops smokin that pedo (who pulled his gun on the cops before they sent him to Hell):
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6CAjFkxQ89/
@52, @54: So, Johnstone’s belly-flopping down the same slippery mental slope which got Garb banned from here, eh? You really shouldn’t encourage either of their self-destructive tendencies.
Of course, even Johnstone has yet to accuse the IDF of gang-rape, so maybe she can still depart said slope laterally, instead of joining Garb, going face-first all the way into the mud hole at the bottom. (I really hope he’s doing better now.) Otherwise, it’ll be Protocols* for the remainder of her way down.
(Aforementioned pesky lack of gang-rape must really be grinding on you moral-equivalency folks by now. How do you stand it?)
*Got an over/under on when she joins the impressively-large number of unimpressive readers who’ve paid royalties — or at least tribute — to the last Tsar’s secret political writing service?
oh wormmy!
you say the
Darndest
things!
meanwhile
[belatedly]:
Israel
Wins Oscar
for Best Performance
as ‘Victim’ in Ongoing Genocide
“We want to thank the producer of this performance, Israel Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. Families like mine for blocking humanitarian aid at every checkpoint as hundreds of thousands of Gazans starve to death.
My talented actor colleagues who are always there to play dress up in the underwear of mothers we’ve murdered with me to destress from this high-stress performance
as the one and only True
Victim in this harrow-
ing drama.
And, of course, I want to thank all my friends abroad who suspended their disbelief enough to believe that there could ever be any rational reason to slaughter this many innocent people, most of which are women and children.
Thank you!
Thank you!”
Before Israel’s big win tonight, they got to high five castmate the United States when they won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in the same production of Ongoing Genocide for its role as “Enabler.”
At press time, England was receiving a lifetime achievement award for fucking over and fucking up more cultures and countries for generations than any other country in the history of human civilization.
more, savagely:
https://theneedling.com/2024/03/10/israel-wins-oscar-for-best-performance-as-victim-in-ongoing-genocide/
good olde
Jolly old
England!
good for Them!
& – OUR Tax Dollar$
Hard at work! . it’s
about Time we
won an Award
for Some-
thing.
carry on
gotta say
I Do miss
Garbby.
@57: No mention of Iran getting an award? From funding Hamas’ rape gangs, to their farcically failed and immediately foiled attempt to attack Israel directly, to most definitely not retaliating as Iran had most definitely promised to retaliate after Israel easily bombed one of that regime’s inland air bases with utter impunity — Iran’s malicious clown show, while not always harmless, did everything it possibly could to remind the world that Israel still Iives in a dangerous neighborhood, with bullies who want to destroy it.
And, after all of that effort, Iran doesn’t even get one single mention?
Boycott those awards!
(Protesting is important and good, right? So, I PROTEST!! You’re welcome, you’re welcome; please, not so much adulatory applause, just send money…)
ah
Yes
WMDs
Makers’
their Orgies
Of Destruction
Biggest dickusses vs
Ball bustin phallusses
Capitalistic $urplusses
Holy terror rained down
Upon masses awaiting a
God some god ANY god
to Come Save them from
the wickednesses
of their fellow man
but whattabout
The womenfolk?
@58: I hope Garb is getting some much-needed rest, and finds peace. Continuing as he had been doing here was helping no one, least of all him.
@60: “but whattabout
The womenfolk?”
Most of the women whom Iran paid Hamas to rape are still dead.
patriarchy
Requires
sacrifice
thru
Religion
or toxic Masculinity
take your Pick.
Garbby can
get excited it’s
true he’s a passionate
person whose buttons’re
pushed by a master manipluator
if i read you correctly who seems to
be here solely to make this thing go Away
he’s one of the
truest Spirits
i’ve met in
so many
Decades
plus
he can
see right
Thru you wormmy.
@63: Enter the search terms “Garb” and “subhuman” into the Stranger’s search engine. You can immediately see he had little hesitation in using that term to describe actual human beings here with whom he disagreed. He persistently could not disagree without becoming disagreeable, and as a result, he repeatedly engaged in the hateful personal attacks which, it appears, finally got him banned.
The man-made humanitarian disaster in Gaza should inspire passionate dialog, but Garb very easily moved from disagreement with other persons, to denying those persons’ very humanities. That’s not helpful to anyone, and especially not to Garb. One cannot degrade others without first degrading oneself, and Garb seemed trapped in an ever-downward spiral of such successive degradations. Again, I hope he’s doing better now.
Oh, and I like how Garb let me push his buttons, even though he could see right through me (?!?). You really don’t think very highly of him, do you?
does being a sociopath
make one subhuman
or only Appear to be
so? I believe the
Jury may still
be Out on
that one.
@65: Readers can and should take that as a bit of projection / subconscious confession from you. Your insult to a person who can no longer defend himself here was really low, even by your subterranean standards.
Garb was having problems, and one persistent symptom of those problems finally got him banned. So he’s not here to defend himself, and knowing this, @63 you describe him as such an incredibly hopeless patsy, he let an obvious “master manipluator [sic]” push his buttons. You may even be such a total incompetent with handling the words, that you actually believed you were paying him a compliment and insulting me; whereas in reality, you did exactly the opposite.
With friends like you, Garb needed no external enemies.
“You may even be
such a total incompetent
with handling the words, that you
actually believed you were paying him
a compliment and insulting me; whereas
in reality, you did exactly the opposite.” oh
Wormtongue at
Least you’ve come by
your Nickname honestly.
@67: Again, the opposite is true: your name-calling uses property you have stolen from its rightful owner. Therefore, neither I, nor anyone else, can claim to have acquired it “honestly.”
Don’t try to involve me in your thievery.
@68
the Mantle is
handed down to
those deemed Most
Deserving, Wormtongue
your
Complicity
is self-evident.