Yesterday was May Day: The Seattle Times estimated more than 1,000 people showed up for yesterday’s May Day march that began at Cal Anderson Park and headed downtown via Pine Street. We were there, too, speaking to labor leaders and organizers at the rally ahead of the march. Watch:
More Marching: Missed May Day? Want to keep marching? There is an All Labor March Saturday at the Washington State Capitol Building.
Trump Continues to Attack Press: Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting “cease direct funding to NPR and PBS.” In the order, titled “ENDING TAXPAYER SUBSIDIZATION OF BIASED MEDIA,” Trump writes: “Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.” Fuck that. Today would be a good day to donate to our local NPR stations, KUOW and KNKX, and PBS-supported Cascade PBS. KUOW posted a response to the news here.
Trump Continues to Attack Harvard: This morning Trump posted on Tr*th Social, “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” A Harvard spokesperson told the Boston Globe, “The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.” A law professor at the university calls it “unconstitutional.” The Globe has live updates here.
He’s Trying to Brainwash Us: You see it, right? By defunding press outlets, universities, and the arts, he’s attempting to stop the flow of information and eliminate free-thinking. He wants to squeeze out anything and everything that doesn’t bow down to him so all that’s left is government-sanctioned, brainwashing “Dear Leader” bullshit. This shit is what has made Kim Jong Un the butt of jokes in American pop culture for years! And now it’s happening here. As Charles Mudede wrote earlier this week, “WE HAVE A DICTATOR.”
Humanitarian Aid Ship Bombed: The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says one of the ships “carrying humanitarian aid and activists to Gaza” was bombed by drones. The attack caused a fire and a “substantial breach” in the hull. FFC says the 12 crew members and four civilians aboard are safe. Meanwhile, Israel continues its “blockage of food and medicine,” and Al Jazeera reports that “43 people have been killed in Israeli attacks” since Friday morning. And a humanitarian coordinator “warned that more children likely to die from malnutrition as ‘the whole Strip is starving.’” Tell me again, how is this not a genocide?
SPD Accused of Sexual Harassment: Jamie Tompkins was the Seattle Police Department’s chief of staff from May 2023 to November 2024. Now she “is demanding $3 million from the city and is threatening to file a lawsuit,” reports the Seattle Times, for “relentless rumormongering and sexual harassment by officers and managers.” Real ones will remember that SPD Chief Adrian Diaz was fired shortly after Tompkins resigned, after an investigation claimed Diaz “used his position of power to carve a path for his alleged romantic partner,” believed to be Tompkins. Diaz and Tompkins both say they were never romantically involved, and Tompkins says she didn’t write the letter. (Which was allegedly on an Ewok card. How dare anyone use Ewoks for evil.) We will have more coming today from Stranger contributor Carolyn Bick, so stay tuned to Slog!
RIP Jill Sobule: Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule died in a house fire yesterday. She was 66. If you’re unfamiliar, know this: Before Katy Perry there was Jill Sobule. Her 1995 song “I Kissed a Girl” was the “first openly gay-themed song ever to crack the Billboard Top 20.” And unlike queerbaiting astronaut Perry, Sobule was actually bisexual.
Diddy Doesn’t Take Plea Deal: Sean “Diddy” Combs appeared in court yesterday and rejected prosecutors’ plea deal in his sex trafficking case. He’s charged with “charged with racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution,” writes BBC. Diddy says he’s innocent; his lawyer says he’s just a “swinger.” This case is separate from the more than 100 assault allegations he’s being sued for. Jury selection in Diddy’s federal trial begins Monday.
It’s Happening: Vatican firefighters installed a chimney on Sistine Chapels roof ahead of the papal election. Conclave, baby! I am not Catholic and all I know about conclaves is what I saw in Conclave but neither hockey team I root for made it into the playoffs so I’m just dying to cheer for something. Pierbattista Pizzaballa! LFG!!!!!!!! (Enthusiasm based on name alone.)
Chile Issues Tsunami Warning: This morning a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Ushuaia, Argentina. Chilean President Gabriel Boric posted a tsunami warning on X: “We call for evacuation of the coastline throughout the Magallanes region.” (Related: Let’s all stop using X? Can we? It’s just one more way that Elon Musk and the Trump Administration are trying to control how and what information spreads. They’re attempting to choke-out media outlets and using X to platform misinformation and dangerous hate speech. Choke them back. Get off X. Anyway, watch out for a tsunami if you’re in Chile.)
I’m Sleepy: We were up late last night putting our May issue to bed. It’s all about the Seattle International Film Festival, and it’s stuffed with more than 100 film reviews! YOU’RE WELCOME! Anyway, because I’m too tired to write much more, but news keeps happening, here are a few more notable headlines. Please read this list in a breathless auctioneer voice. “Israel strikes near Syria’s presidential palace in ‘message’ to Sharaa”; “US weather forecasting is more crippled than previously known as hurricane season nears”; “Thousands Call on the Trump Administration to Return Kilmar Abrego Garcia”; “Photos reveal Trump cabinet member using less-secure Signal app knockoff“; “A massive tariff on millions of Americans’ purchases just went into effect — cue the chaos” “RFK Jr.’s latest vaccine plan threatens future of shots, experts say“; “Ports of Seattle, Tacoma warn of empty retail shelves, fewer labor hours for truckers, longshoremen“; “This cute animal is one of Yosemite’s ‘most dangerous,’ rangers say” (it me).
Decide for Yourself if Radio’s Gonna Stay: REM are releasing a new five-track EP, Radio Free Europe 2025, their first studio release since 2011’s Collapse Into Now. In a statement, singer Michael Stipe said, “Whether it’s music or a free press—censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere. On World Press Freedom Day, I’m sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe.” It’s available for streaming and download now. You can pre-order it on vinyl via R.E.M.’s online store. Proceeds will go to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
@50
Ooh ooh ooh… I think I gots this one.
Begins with a ‘Z’ and ends with an ‘ist’.
@50: Is there anyone here who does not believe in a Palestinian right to self-determination? If so, please identify any such person, by quoting the statement(s) the person made, which opposed Palestinian self-determination, and providing the URL for the quote.
(Please note, an observational statement of the type, “75-plus years of attacking Israelis has not created a Palestinian state, and so even more attacks upon Israelis seems unlikely to create a Palestinian state,” is not the same thing as saying a Palestinian state should not exist.)
tighty rightys ALWAYS wanna Tell ya
what ‘the Left’ thinks. They’re
Liars. they cannot Help
Themselves.
Wanna Know what The Left
ACTUALLY thinks? well,
wonder No More:
from the Chris Hedges Report:
Trumpland
The corporate
coup d’état and collapse
of American democracy began long
before Trump. He is simply snuffing out what remains.
The Christian fascists and oligarchs gleefully handing Donald Trump his sharpie and executive orders are not making war on the deep state, the radical left or to protect us from “antisemites.”
They are making war on verifiable fact, the rule of law and the transparency and accountability that is only possible with a free press, the right to dissent, a vibrant culture and a separation of powers, including an independent judiciary.
All of these pillars of an open society, as I detail in my book “Death of the Liberal Class” [first published in 2010], were degraded long before Trump.
The press, including public broadcasting, academia, the Democratic Party, a corporatized and banal culture, a judiciary that serves the billionaire class and a Congress bought by lobbyists, have been disemboweled.
They are easily picked off.
Few want to rise up to
defend them. They
sold us out. Let
them die.
–by Chris Hedges; May 3, 2025
fucking Oodles:
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/trumpland?
THIS is what
The Wormtongue
his Sychophants Psychopants
Sockbotts and fellow Fascists’ve been In-
sidiously Screeching for on these pages all these ages
A little Genocide
maybe not Quite a
Genocide, yet, justified
by a reaction to 75 years of
Concentration Camp deprivations
enabled by a prime minister
drunk on Power yet terrified of a
Home-grown Justice Department
and a Majority of the
Citizenry he Oversees
(a MASSACRE Backed
by OUR Tax Dollars)
yet another Symptom
much like our Homeless and
yet Also a Target of their Wrath.
Welome to
Trumpftopia
brought to US by
The Usual Suspects
see: Above, and,
most Likely, Below too.
their insidous Narrative
to Uphold & Defend
to the Death.
.
Ours.
why does it say
’51’ comments
when there’re
Actually 53?
@50, 51: “What’s the name for people who don’t believe in Palestinians’ right to national self determination?”
Why are you asking me? 😄 I’m on record multiple times calling for a Palestinian state, right next door to a Jewish state. It’s not just me, either. The two-state solution has been the UN-endorsed peace plan since 1947. That’s Zionism for ya! 😃
Sadly, a substantial number of Arabs, Muslims, and western progressives are so incensed by the idea of Jewish self-determination that they won’t accept any peace plan that would leave Israel in Jewish hands. Israel’s enemies been trying to drive the Jews into the sea since 1948, but all they’ve accomplished is the ruin of their own societies. Sad! 😉
ok,
wormmy.
@23: “That aid ship was off Malta, 1,000 miles from Gaza’s port. I can’t believe Israel would bother, but who else would have the capacity.”
From the linked story:
“There was no confirmation or further evidence of the claim that drones caused the blasts, but images of the Conscience provided by Cypriot authorities showed significant damage.”
There’s no evidence of any kind of attack, let alone of a drone attack. Simplest possible explanation would be an accident aboard ship.
@57: Apparently, the freedom flotilla people refused a rescue, refused a tow, and refused to allow a maritime safety inspector to board. The crew suffered no casualties. If this was the Israelis, they handled this with kid gloves. 😃
The freedom flotillas, backed by Turkish intelligence, have been attempting to run Israel’s naval blockade for over a decade. It always turns into a huge, embarrassing spectacle for Israel, which is of course the whole point. Apparently, Greta Thunberg was planning to join this year’s blockade-running effort, adding her star power to the spectacle.
Knocking out the ship using inert or low-yield munitions a thousand miles from Gaza would be an ingenious countermove. Instead of letting them cause yet another media spectacle in Israeli waters, let them bob around helplessly off Malta, refusing all offers of assistance and going nowhere! 😂
While the other Sloggers are continuing the rants about the Middle East, it seems Australia has elected the less-friendly to Trump party (as Canada did last week).
While here in the good old USA we have week after week of psychotic leadership, other nations are electing sane leaders.
@59
But it looks like Reform UK, did well in the local council races that just happened in the UK, which show a shift right at the local level at least. And in Germany, the AfD party had such a good showing that they had to be banned, in the name of Democracy of course. I think the AfD is a bit much myself but banning a party isn’t going to solve much for long.
Certain incidents in german history, and a certain occupying power, put some safety guards in the German constitution. Not banned, yet, but they might eventually get state funding reduced. If you reject a constitution, you can’t really expect it to protect you.
@59: “While here in the good old USA we have week after week of psychotic leadership, other nations are electing sane leaders.”
That’s related to the “rants about the Middle East.” Last year, certain of us commenters here asked the Stranger, and the Stranger’s supportive commenters, to suspend their relentlessly obsessive fanaticism about Gaza, if only just long enough to prevent Trump’s election. The answer we received was yet more snotty hate rhetoric about “Genocide Joe” and “Killer Kamala.” So, here we are.
yes
here you are
this place you Hate on
like clockwork
orange you
Cannot
look a-
Way
&,
this
sudden
Obsession
with the Schnott
have you a cold
Wormtongue?
are you even more
Phlemmy than as
per Usual?
@23, @57: Looks like we have some more information on the current state of the “Conscience”:
“It [the Freedom Flotilla, owners of the vessel] said Maltese authorities had also prevented the ship from putting into port to repair the damage and get help for four people aboard who it said suffered cuts and burns in the drone attack. It was the first mention of any injuries.
“Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta was continuing to offer assistance to the ship, but that Malta’s security needed to be safeguarded. He said the ship’s captain was continuing to refuse to allow a surveyor and Malta police on board.”
“Once it was verified that the ship’s cargo was solely humanitarian, Malta would facilitate repairs so that it could continue its voyage to Gaza, Abela said.”
(https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/ngo-says-malta-blocking-access-gaza-bound-aid-ship-hit-by-drones-2025-05-04/)
Well, once the Freedom Flotilla folks show the Conscience carries cargoes purely for humanitarian aid in Gaza, then they can get the ship repaired in Malta. Given the urgent humanitarian nature of their mission, they’ll certainly get right to that, now won’t they?
Also, they should do that expeditiously for the sake of their ship, which currently has no protection in international waters:
‘Acar, from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, said in a phone call earlier Friday that the vessel had been sailing under the Palau flag — but she added that the group was informed Thursday afternoon that Palau had removed its flag.
‘Palau’s foreign minister, Gustav Aitaro, said Saturday in a message to The Washington Post that, according to preliminary information, the vessel that caught fire had been deregistered “quite some time ago.”’
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/02/freedom-flotilla-conscience-drones-malta/)
Huh. Why was the Freedom Flotilla’s vessel not flagged, nor is now allowing inspection? Seems odd for a humanitarian mission., somehow…
@58, It makes one wonder what purely humanitarian cargo is on that vessel that they don’t want anyone to see.
@59, Only 1,356 days to go.
@63, Hamas was specifically formed to oppose the PLO, by violence if necessary, because they embraced a two-state solution.
Gazans elected Hamas to power because they supported a one-state solution. Even after Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza without conditions.
Gazans haven’t overthrown Hamas even after Hamas dismantled perfectly functional desalination and other infrastructure left by the Israelis to manufacture rockets, tunnels, and other infrastructure to attack Israel.
Yet you consistently come down on unilaterally stopping the military action that stops Hamas from picking off where they left off on October 7.
I didn’t realize you too wanted to continue to facilitate Hamas taking off where they left off on October 7, 2023. If you are advocating for the IDF stopping their attacks on Hamas, then you are de facto for Hamas rearming and resuming their pursuit of a one-state solution, because absent Gazans overthrowing Hamas, that is what will occur.
@65: I’d be very surprised if the freedom flotilla were carrying any weapons heavier than knives and improvised clubs. These people expect to be boarded by the Israelis, it’s the whole point of their operations. 😃
I suspect their reluctance to accept Maltese assistance has less to do with concealing weaponry and more to do with the fear that Malta will confiscate the ship. Malta is no close friend of Israel, but that doesn’t mean the Maltese are keen to serve as a home port for blockade-runners.
@67 ~ omg mister magoo aka O. .O
and yet not one Mention
of bibi’s Enabling
of Hamas?
and then the Softening
of Israel’s Border and
WHERE THE FUCK
was the IOF (idf)
on 10/7? Why
did they Not
Respond for
15 HOURS?
but
yeah
like Caitlin
Says — I’ll let her
speak for herself here
[Do Take Note]:
from Caitlin’s Newsletter:
It
Was
Never
About Hostages.
It Was Never About Hamas.
Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that freeing the Israeli hostages in Gaza was not his top priority, suggesting instead that defeating Hamas should take precedence over a hostage deal.
“We have many objectives, many goals in this war,” Netanyahu said. “We want to bring back all of our hostages. That is a very important goal.
In war, there is a supreme objective. And that supreme objective is victory over our enemies. And that is what we will achieve.”
Nothing the prime minister said here is true or valid — unless by “enemies” he means “all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”.
Netanyahu has been fairly transparent about the fact that Israel’s ultimate goal in Gaza is neither freeing the hostages nor defeating Hamas, but seizing Palestinian territory and removing its Palestinian inhabitants.
He has openly said that Israel will occupy Gaza via military force, completely ruling out the possibility of any form of Palestinian government for the enclave.
He has openly said he wants to enact President Donald Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, which explicitly entails removing “all” Palestinians and never allowing them to return.
So they’ve made this perfectly clear. This isn’t about Hamas, except insofar as an armed resistance group will make it difficult to forcibly remove all Palestinians from Gaza.
And it certainly isn’t about hostages.
And yet, bizarrely, this is how the western political-media class continues to frame this onslaught. They call it Israel’s “war with Hamas”, when it’s nothing other than an undisguised ethnic cleansing operation.
They prattle on about October 7, hostages, and terrorism, even though it has already been made abundantly clear that this has nothing to do with any of those things.
They act as though the admission was simply never made.
There is absolutely no excuse for continuing to babble about hostages and Hamas after the US and Israel said the goal is the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
They told you what this is really about.
They said it. With their face holes.
They said it right to you.
End of debate.
–Caitlin Johnstone; May 03, 2025
Plenty More
where This came from:
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/it-was-never-about-hostages-it-was
suck on it
@68: “I’d be very surprised if the freedom flotilla were carrying any weapons heavier than knives and improvised clubs. These people expect to be boarded by the Israelis, it’s the whole point of their operations.”
While that sounds good, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility someone at Freedom Flotilla decided to go full Lusitania on the Conscience. Hamas is low on funds, so arms purchases will be more difficult for them than usual. Simply sending them weapons would be much faster than Hamas stealing the humanitarian aid upon arrival, selling it for cash, and buying weapons.
“I suspect their reluctance to accept Maltese assistance has less to do with concealing weaponry and more to do with the fear that Malta will confiscate the ship.”
Which would explain why Ms. Thunberg had planned to board the ship from another vessel, off Malta. (Freedom Flotilla had said the Conscience did not make port in Malta for “bureaucratic reasons,” without futher elaboration.)
@69: The next time you ask the mods here to ban other commenters, how about you also ask for a ban on copy-pasting comments from one thread to another? I’d already answered that one, in another thread wherein you posted it:
“Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that freeing the Israeli hostages in Gaza was not his top priority, suggesting instead that defeating Hamas should take precedence over a hostage deal.”
Well, yes. If Israel rescues all of the current hostages, it’s possible for Hamas to kidnap more children out of Israel, and illegally imprison them in Gaza. If Israel defeats Hamas, then it will, by definition, free all of the current hostages, and also prevent future hostage-taking by Hamas. So seeking to defeat Hamas is the wiser choice. (Unless, of course, like the author you’re quoting, you believe Hamas’ kidnapping of Israeli children, and illegally imprisoning them in Gaza, was an act intended to further justice.)
(https://www.thestranger.com/news/2025/04/29/80036027/we-have-a-dictator/comments/36)
@70: “I wouldn’t rule out the possibility someone at Freedom Flotilla decided to go full Lusitania on the Conscience.”
If it was merely a deck fire, I’d agree it was most likely an accident or some kind of bizarro activist chicanery. But those deck penetrations would be difficult for even the most incompetent mariner to achieve by accident or even by design. The videos, photos, and crew testimonials are all consistent with a strike from a low-yield, low-speed munition. Something like a Coyote Block 3 would produce exactly the effects we see here.
I suppose it’s possible Turkish intelligence would hit their own activists’ ship as a false flag, but false flag operations are rare in real life, and wouldn’t likely be used against such a low-stakes target as a boat full of activists. At this point, I think the most likely suspects are the Israelis. They must be cackling with glee to see the freedom flotilla turn into Malta’s problem instead of theirs! 😂
@69, So no denial from you that you favor ending the attacks on Hamas so that they can rise again to resume violence against Arabs and non-arabs that support a two-state solution.
@72 — Ok.
let me see if I have this Straight:
if I don’t Refute your each and Every point
in your comments then I Must Therefore
Concur with Everything you write on
your each and every comment.
that’s Good!
that’s Wormtongue ‘logic’!
let us begin by You refuting
Everything Caitlin Johnstone Wrote
that I posted in her Newsletter, above.
we can Then
Proceed from There.
Okay Mr Magoo?
Your comments pick up
ALOTTA disparaging
adjectives & nouns
dircted at you here.
They’re well Deserved.
@70b.
except, WORMMY, you Didn’t Refute
Johnstone’s KEY FUCKING POINT
(which you Chose, most Un-
surprisingly, to IGNORE).
here’s another chance
(see if you can Do It
which I Seriously
Doubt you’ll
even bother
trying):
“Netanyahu has been fairly transparent about the fact that Israel’s ultimate goal in Gaza is neither freeing the hostages nor defeating Hamas, but seizing Palestinian territory and removing its Palestinian inhabitants.
He has openly said that Israel will occupy Gaza via military force, completely ruling out the possibility of any form of Palestinian government for the enclave.
He has openly said he wants to enact President Donald Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan for Gaza, which explicitly entails removing “all” Palestinians and never allowing them to return.
So they’ve made this perfectly clear. This isn’t about Hamas, except insofar as an armed resistance group will make it difficult to forcibly remove all Palestinians from Gaza.
And it certainly isn’t about hostages.
And yet, bizarrely, this is how the western political-media class continues to frame this onslaught. They call it Israel’s “war with Hamas”, when it’s nothing other than an undisguised ethnic cleansing operation.
They prattle on about October 7, hostages, and terrorism, even though it has already been made abundantly clear that this has nothing to do with any of those things.
They act as though the admission was simply never made.
There is absolutely no excuse for continuing to babble about hostages and Hamas after the US and Israel said the goal is the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
They told you what this is really about.
They said it. With their face holes.
They said it right to you.
End of debate.”
–Caitlin Johnstone; May 03, 2025
Plenty More
where This came from:
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/it-was-never-about-hostages-it-was
ok, wormmy.
Your turn.
@73: “let us begin by You refuting
Everything Caitlin Johnstone Wrote
that I posted in her Newsletter, above.”
Uh, well, as I’ve now noted in two threads already, the “hostages or Hamas” dichotomy she posits doesn’t really exist. As that’s the entire basis for her “argument,” the entire thing (at least, that you quoted) completely collapses.
@75: “the ‘hostages or Hamas’ dichotomy she posits doesn’t really exist.”
You’re correct, but progressives hope that a “hostages or Hamas” dichotomy does exist. Progressives hope that the only way Israel can recover the hostages is by acceding to Hamas’s political demands, that is to say, by handing Hamas a victory at the negotiating table which Hamas failed to win on the battlefield.
The notion that Israel might recover the hostages on terms favorable to Israel is, of course, hateful to progressives because they despise Israel. But such an outcome is the only just ending to this war. Even Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas to release all hostages and disarm in order to end the war. 😃 In their hatred for Israel, western progressives are trying to be more Palestinian than the Palestinians! 🤣
justify this, wormmy
from Bluesky:
Watson Institute’s Costs of War project: Israel has “killed more journalists than the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War
(including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined.”
Mass genocidal murder funded,
weaponized and backed by
Biden and Trump.
Metastasizes
in darkness.
Why won’t Trump demand from his master Netanyahu to let in the many courageous American reporters who want to tell Americans back home what is being done in their name and with their tax dollars?
Ralph Nader; 5/3/25
@nader.org
https://bsky.app/profile/nader.org
because if we can
SEE it we’ll no longer
fucking ALLOW it. is why
Contrast Trump’s statements. He tells Putin not to bomb civilian areas and exclaims to him “Vladimir, STOP!”
but he’s afraid to convey the same message to Netanyahu who is giving an even greater go signal, having broken the truce and blocked humanitarian aid since early March, to massacre the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Trump even supports expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and, in the past, annexation of the West Bank. Clearly Netanyahu is Trump’s master in this area of U.S. co-belligerency, weaponizing and political support of genocide.
–Ralph Nader; @nader.org
https://bsky.app/profile/nader.org
End OUR MASSIVE Massacre
in the Middle East cum
Our Tax Dollars
ah, yes, the psycho-
and sociopaths
Easily Justify:
Death
feels imminent for
96% of children in Gaza, study finds
Needs assessment by NGO re-
veals the huge psychological impact
of the war with Israel on young people
tonnes:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/11/death-feels-imminent-for-96-of-children-in-gaza-study-finds
from 4 months ago.
we’ve since stopped
allowing Aid into Gaza
BUT HAMAS!
BUT HAMAS!
BUT HAMAS!
BUT WHATT ABOUT
the hostages!?
“But it’s NOT about that!”
twist away
wormmy
twist
away
@76: “Progressives hope that the only way Israel can recover the hostages is by acceding to Hamas’s political demands, that is to say, by handing Hamas a victory at the negotiating table which Hamas failed to win on the battlefield.”
The Palestinians getting at the negotiating table what they failed to obtain on the battlefield has remained a persistent delusion of the international hard left for my entire lifetime, and I’m not a young man. We see it even now, e.g. pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Seattle declaring “We don’t want two states, we want 1948,” immediately after the 10/7 attacks. (https://www.thestranger.com/news/2023/10/16/79212000/as-a-ground-invasion-looms-thousands-in-seattle-protest-for-a-free-palestine)
@77, @78, @79: tl;dr, but you now have another great political victory to celebrate:
‘The war plan approved Monday includes “conquering the strip and holding the territory,” according to an Israeli official. It represents a shift in strategy for Israel since the collapse of a temporary cease-fire in March.’
(https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-approves-plan-to-occupy-gaza-control-aid-distribution-90412130?mod=hp_lead_pos8)
Good thing we no longer have “Genocide Joe” or “Killer Kamala” in office to restrain Israel in any way, shape, or form, and in their stead, have a president who has openly advocated for going well beyond even this new Israeli plan!
Please take your bow; you’ve richly earned it.
Hokay, wormmy
from Caitlin’s Newsletter:
Waking Up
From The Nightmare
Of Western Civilization
We don’t need horror movies.
We’re creating our own horrors in places like Gaza.
We don’t need dystopian fiction.
We’re living in dystopia right
here in our own society.
We don’t need fantasy stories about
scary monsters. The scary mon-
sters run our government.
Westerners will create a waking nightmare, psychologically compartmentalize away from its existence, and then go watch a movie about a fictional waking nightmare to give themselves a thrill.
We’ll sit on the edge of our seats watching made-up tales about psychopathic killers while psychopathic killers rule the world.
We’ll turn our backs on horrific acts of human butchery and then go watch fictional acts of human butchery, getting ourselves through any discomfort we might experience by reminding ourselves that what we are watching isn’t happening in real life.
Someone in my Substack comments just asked me if I’d considered the possibility that the world might be better off without humanity, because of all the horrible things that are happening while the vast majority of us do nothing to stop it.
There are certainly many ugly things about human behavior, and there are forces within us which absolutely do not deserve to exist. Our self-centeredness. Our competitiveness. Our hatred and prejudice.
Our seemingly limitless tolerance for unfathomable abuses so long as they are being inflicted on people in other countries whose anguished faces we don’t have to look at.
The delusions and trauma-based conditioning patterns we’ve been passing on from generation to generation since the dawn of civilization. The world would be better off without these things.
–Caitlin Johnstone; May 5
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/waking-up-from-the-nightmare-of-western
But over the years I have also become acquainted with dynamics inside the human organism which could make this world into a paradise, if we can only get out from underneath our delusion-based conditioning enough to realize them.
Within every human being sleeps the potential for selfless action and vast compassion. We all have within us the ability to heal.
We all have within us
the ability to shed egoic con-
sciousness like a reptile sheds old scales.
Maybe it’s silly, but I like to think of this potentiality as a kind of Chekhov’s gun for our species, sitting there onstage waiting to go off as humanity’s story unfolds.
I know for a fact that humans have the potential to awaken from the trance of the ego in profoundly transformative ways, and I choose to believe that the playwright put that potential there for a reason.
Every species eventually hits a point where it must adapt to changing conditions which threaten its existence or go extinct.
It just happens that in humanity’s case, the changing conditions which threaten our existence are the creations of our own minds. Ecocide. Nuclear brinkmanship.
Weaponized AI.
Biological warfare.
The further our egos carry us down the path of competition and domination, the more likely it is that we open up some existential peril down the road for ourselves that there is no coming back from.
We’ll either make the necessary adaptations and find a way to collectively unlock our dormant potential for selfless functioning on this planet, or we will go the way of the dinosaur.
I keep at this because I have seen far too many strange and miraculous things in my life to believe such an awakening is impossible.
And the good news is we have truth on our side. The human ego is an illusion; the self does not exist. Enlightenment is already here, closer to us than our own breath, just being overlooked amid the flailings of the deluded mind.
The propaganda is deceitful,
and the truth is getting more and
more exposure. Humans are getting bet-
ter and better at sharing ideas and inform-
ation about what’s really happening in our world.
We just need to open our eyes. We just
need to let truth get a word in edgewise.
That’s all that needs to happen.
We need to stop fixating
on all these made up stories
in our heads and on our screens,
and look deeply at what’s really going on.
–Caitlin Johnstone; May 5
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/waking-up-from-the-nightmare-of-western
take a bow
yourself, wormmy:
Caitlin Johnstone
SEES you. and
All of Us.
@80 “Good thing we no longer have “Genocide Joe” or “Killer Kamala” in office to restrain Israel in any way, shape, or form”
But they didn’t restrain Israel in any way, shape, or form, as an Israeli news investigation recently confirmed:
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250429-biden-never-pressured-israel-for-ceasefire-as-israeli-officials-boast-of-exploiting-us-support/
All she knows about the Conclave is what she saw in a movie?
I’m not Catholic either but it’s not exactly a secret.
Do people not read anymore?
@83: Your source is Qatari-funded, Muslim Brotherhood-associated media? Ha ha ha, this explains so much about your grasp on events in the Middle East! 😆
so sayeth the
Wormtongue’s
ai idf sockbott @85.
too funny!
hahahahaha
lololololololololol!
@83
that’s just our ol’
Wormtongue,
making it all
up as he
goes.
his
insidious
Narrative Al-
Ways takes Precedence
over his intellectual ‘honesty.’
.
.
What were you
Expecting?
@84: Biden paused weapons deliveries to Israel, over concerns about civilian deaths in Gaza. Trump has proposed expelling all Palestinians from Gaza. If you can’t see a difference there, then nobody can help you.
‘The Biden administration in late April decided to pause a shipment of 3,500 “dumb” — aka, unguided — munitions that officials expected Israel to use in Rafah: 1,800 of those were 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 of those were 500-pound bombs. U.S. officials were particularly concerned about the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact the massive weapon would have in a dense urban setting.’
(https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/15/biden-israel-weapons-policy-00158210)
@88
Right.
paused in April
Last Fucking YEAR
but you “win”
again wormmy!
@89: In addition to withholding thousands of units of air-dropped bombs from Israel, President Biden also allowed passage of a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire on terms unfavorable to Israel, issued economic sanctions against individual Israelis, and described Israel’s bombing of Gaza as “indiscriminate,” which is one predicate element of a war crime—this at a time when the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was applying for warrants against Israeli political leaders. By contrast, President Trump has reversed each and every one of President Biden’s anti-Israeli actions and has called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. So….not exactly the same thing? 😅
For progressives like thirteen12 @83 or Kristofarian @89, it’s an article of faith that Biden is just as bad as Trump on Gaza. But that faith is not borne out by the evidence. 😃
Not to worry, progressives. There is still plenty of time left in the Trump presidency for him to betray Israel. Trump has a long history of betraying US allies. He also, much like the progressive left, harbors a peculiar, deep-seated mistrust toward anything Jewish. 😉 Progressives hoping to see a breach between the US and Israel may yet get their wish!
@89: If you have a problem with thirteen12’s false statement @84, please do feel free to take your issue to him. It’s all I can do to correct his many large, obvious, and relevant errors of fact here.
@82: If Johnstone is your own personal Jesus, then that’s your problem, not mine. I’d rather have nothing to do with someone who has referred to shooting of children in their own homes as acts performed in pursuit of justice.
@88 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-says-blinken-told-him-us-seeking-to-end-inconceivable-weapons-halt/
“At the time, the White House delayed a shipment of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs over concerns that the IDF could use them in densely populated Rafah, as it had in other parts of Gaza.
But weeks later, in a highly anticipated report to Congress, the Biden administration said it found “credible and reliable” Israeli assurances that it would use US weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, allowing for the further transfer of American arms amid Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.”
@88; @90
is wormmy
getting Senile?
double-posting
Yourself’s a Whole
new low, even for You.
or was that
merely a cheap Ploy
a Weak attempt at Credibility
yes.
and Yes.
lol! lol!
@92: Yes, Biden paused weapons deliveries to Israel, specifically over concerns of harm to civilians in Gaza. That’s not in dispute to anyone but you (and maybe kristo’, who as usual isn’t clear). Trump has explicitly stated he favors expelling the entire Palestinian population from Gaza.
Again, if you can’t understand the difference, then nobody can help you.
@93: I don’t operate sock puppets. That you cannot understand or admit that is not my problem. You’re just going to have to get used to the idea that multiple well-informed persons can simultaneously tell you that you are wrong.
@92: Yes, Biden paused weapons deliveries to Israel, specifically over concerns of harm to civilians in Gaza. That’s not in dispute to anyone but you (and maybe kristo’, who as usual isn’t clear). Trump has explicitly stated he favors expelling the entire Palestinian population from Gaza.
Again, if you can’t understand the difference, then nobody can help you.
@93: I don’t operate sock puppets. That you cannot understand or admit that is not my problem. You’re just going to have to get used to the idea that multiple well-informed persons can simultaneously tell you that you are wrong. 🤣🤣🤣
@95
Okay,
wormmy.
@96: Impressive, you of all commenters here not recognizing copy-pasta, not even when both it and the original sit next to each other on your screen.
ok,
wormmy.