Saturday, July 06, 2024

What Trump & Republicans' Project 2025 Would Mean for Trans Rights (Spoiler It's Not Good)

PROJECT 2025

 

Protests in London and Jordan as more are slaughtered in Gaza

 

As noted in the video above, a large protest against genocide took place in London today.  lliam Mata and John Dunne (LONDON EVENING STANDARD) report:


Hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators braved the rain in central London on Saturday, calling on the newly elected Labour government to take action over the situation in Gaza.

Photos show supporters of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) gathering at Russel Square before embarking on their march to Porticullis House. 









UK SOCIALIST WORKER reports on the protest:


On the demonstration, Tom, an NHS worker from Nottingham, said, “The Tories are out but we need to keep going, get bigger and get stronger. That’s the only way to pressure the Starmer government to act.

“Just because there’s a change in government the Palestine movement isn’t going away,” he said.

And Tom slammed trade union leaders, saying, “When trade union leaders say we need to give Starmer time I think it’s a load of rubbish.”

Marcher Liam said, “There’s no way I wouldn’t be here, regardless of the election outcome. For me this is the most important issue of our generation.

“It wasn’t voting that made me feel like I could impact what’s happening in Gaza,” he added. 

“We can’t leave it to people in parliament to raise the question of Palestine. We have to do that.”

Protester Lily said, “There are some good people in the Labour Party but the majority doesn’t care about what we want.

“Even if the Greens had won, I’d still be out protesting. Nothing has changed in Gaza, so why should anyone stop protesting? How else can we try to change things?”


ALJAZEERA reports, "There have been large demonstrations in the Jordanian capital, with several local activists publishing videos on X showing large crowds of people waving Jordanian and Palestinian flags and holding up banners showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza."

And the slaughter in Gaza continues, the death tolls increases.  ALJAZEERA notes, "At least five journalists were killed in attacks by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours in Gaza as bombings and air strikes across the besieged enclave intensified.  On Saturday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said separate Israeli strikes killed three journalists in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the territory and two in Gaza City, raising to at least 158 the number of media workers killed since the current war erupted on October 7."


The five were 'terrorists.'  Remember that.  Everyone who dies is a 'terrorist.'  The Israeli government is only targeting 'terrorists,' or that's the lie it insists upon.  Even the baby buried today -- noted in this AP video with this slug line "Mourners prayed over the bodies of 12 Palestinians, including a baby, outside a central Gaza hospital on Saturday after they were killed in the latest Israeli airstrikes on the besieged enclave" -- was a 'terrorist.'


If they aren't terrorists that would mean the Israeli government was committing War Crimes and they insist that's not happening.  One of the many lies the Israeli government tells each day and has continuously for the last 274 days.


The big attack today was on  Al-Jaouni School.  Australia's ABC explains, "Al-Nuseirat, one of Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, was the site of stepped-up Israeli bombardment on Saturday."

Rushdi Aboualouf and Tom McArthur (BBC NEWS) report, "Video from the scene of the Nuseirat school strike shows adults and children screaming in a smoke-filled street covered in dust and rubble, as they run to help the wounded. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that the attack targeted the upper floors of the school, which is located near a busy market."  CNN quotes an unnamed "displaced man" stating, "There was a swing here, swings were here, (children) were playing. What was their fault? We barely found this place in the school, but even the school is not safe."

At least sixteen are dead from the attack (that number may increase as some of the injured do not survive) as noted in this ALJAZEERA video.




ALJAZEERA quotes Al-Aqsa Hospital's Dr Mohmmed Tahir:


I entered the ER, and there was absolute chaos. The first thing I saw was the three or four children on the floor, one of whom had horrific injuries to the lower back, a flesh wound that went all the way down to the spine.  He had trouble moving his legs. So, I can only imagine that he had a severe spinal cord injury. Bear in mind, we don’t have a CT scanner at Al-Aqsa Hospital. It’s not set up as a trauma centre, so this hospital, which should normally run with a capacity of 200, has 600 patients. You have children lying on the floors, men lying on a floor, injured people everywhere. It’s chaos, and you’re dealing with an already broken system.


THE IRISH TIMES quotes Mahmoud Basal (Gaza Civil Emergency Service) stating, "The attack on the school meant no place in the enclave was safe for families who leave their houses to seek shelter," 


Gaza remains under assault. Day 274 of  the assault in the wave that began in October.  Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion.  The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction.  But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets:  How to justify it?  Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence."   CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund."  ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them."  NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza."  The slaughter continues.  It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service.  Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide."   The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher.  United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse."  THE NATIONAL notes,  "Gaza's Health Ministry said on Saturday that at least 38,098 Palestinians have been killed and 87,705 injured in Israel's war on Gaza since October 7. The latest toll includes 29 people killed and 100 others injured in the 24 hours to noon that day, the ministry said."   This number has not yet been updated on Friday.  Months ago,  AP  noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing."  February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home."  February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

  



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

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





The following sites updated:



Diana Ross at Red Rock! - Thank You (June 27, 2024)

Chain Reaction- Diana Ross special guest star @ Spain Tv - 1993 -

Israeli attack on UN school used as shelter in Gaza kills at least 16

Cher - Love And Understanding - TOTP - 1991

Project 2025 Leader RAISES THE STAKES w/ Threats of Violence IF DEMOCRATS DON'T SURRENDER!!!

Unforgettable Live

Marsha Ambrosius - One Night Stand (Lyrics) [New Song 2024]

You Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Gotta Hand It To Amy Coney Barrett

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Diana Ross - Ain't No Mountain High Enough (with Orchestra)

Valerie Simpson on "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

Ashford & Simpson Live at Anthology San Diego

Transphobe J.K. Rowling Smears David Tennant, Then Gets BODIED on Twitter and Goes Silent

 

RAYE - Hard Out Here

New Issue of The BlackCommentator Cover Story: Let’s Not Talk About Trump Anymore

The Black Commentator Issue #1007 is now Online

  June 27, 2024

Read issue 1007



The Black Commenentator | P.O. Box 2635A weekly publication dedicated to economic justice, social justice and peace.,
Tarpon Springs, FL 34688-2635


Carly Simon singing Halfway 'Round the World

All In With Chris Hayes on MAGA Supreme Court

Bonnie Raitt - Nick Of Time (Official Music Video)

 

Congresswoman Bush Statement on the Supreme Court’s 2023-24 Term

 July 02, 2024

Congresswoman Bush Statement on the Supreme Court’s 2023-24 Term

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 2, 2024)— Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) released the below statement following the end of the Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term:

“The Supreme Court will do anything to embolden and empower dangerous extremists threatening communities like St. Louis. This far-right majority on the Court does not serve the people of this country—it serves Donald Trump and his MAGA cult, and wealthy corporations exploiting our communities. Each passing day, the Court continues to lay the foundation for a future where our rights and freedoms are stripped away, our democracy is degraded, and Donald Trump can evade accountability and advance Project 2025 unchecked.

“In the past week, the Court’s right-wing, pro-insurrection faction has granted Trump partial immunity from criminal prosecution and opened the door for complete impunity for his role on January 6th, greenlit the criminalization of homelessness, left millions of people in states like Missouri and Idaho vulnerable to bans on emergency abortions and other attacks on reproductive rights, and enabled a total assault on the power of federal agencies to regulate polluters, pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, companies who violate labor rights, and other bad actors. Its cruel and callous decisions flout decades of precedent in order to shield the wealthy and powerful, including the 34-times-convicted former President, from accountability for the harm they have caused our communities. 

“Let me be clear—this Court is an empowered arm of a growing fascist power grab and it will not stop here. These right-wing justices have no interest in protecting democracy; in order to safeguard democracy, Congress must act. That’s why I have introduced and supported groundbreaking legislation to hold Members who helped incite the insurrectionist accountable, secure and expand our reproductive rights and freedom, protect our unhoused community and build more housing, and ensure agencies can take action against Big Oil, Big Pharma, and other harmful corporate actors. It’s also why I co-lead the Judiciary Act to expand the Court, support impeachment proceedings against lawless justices, and support legislation to enact a binding code of ethics and term limits. While this far-right Court may not have our backs, our movement does. We will continue our work to turn this Court into a body that protects our rights instead of stripping them away.” 

Congresswoman Bush is a leader in advocating for access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s attack on reproductive rights and the rights of unhoused people.

 

Congresswoman Bush is also a leader in the movement for court reform in Congress. Alongside Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representatives Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Hank Johnson (GA-04), and Adam Schiff (CA-30), she introduced the Judiciary Act, legislation that would expand the Supreme Court by adding four seats to create a 13-Justice bench. Just last month, Congresswoman Bush called for the resignation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and in April 2023, Congresswoman Bush called for the impeachment of Justice Clarence Thomas after a barrage of ethics scandals.


Stevie Nicks - Juliet

 

NEWS: Just One Year After Casar’s Thirst Strike, OSHA Proposes First-Ever Federal Heat Rule

 

NEWS: Just One Year After Casar’s Thirst Strike, OSHA Proposes First-Ever Federal Heat Rule

proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers from the extreme heat — as extreme weather becomes more common in states like Texas under the climate crisis.

The Biden Administration’s announcement comes just one year after Casar’s all-day thirst strike with Texas workers on the sunny steps of the U.S. Capitol, and just two weeks after OSHA visited Austin to talk with workers about heat protections. The rule-making process for OSHA can typically take seven years, but with so many workers’ lives at stake, the Department of Labor and OSHA prioritized and expedited the new federal heat rule.

“For decades, workers have been organizing for federal protections from the extreme heat. Despite opposition from big corporations, these working families are finally winning the protections they deserve,” said Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas). “Greg Abbott tried to take rest breaks away from everyday Texans, but now we’re one step closer to securing heat protections for all Americans on the job. Employers can adopt OSHA’s proposed rule and protect their workers today. For those workplaces who don’t, I will work with the Biden Administration to finalize this rule as soon as possible.” 

The federal heat rule proposed by OSHA will protect tens of millions of American workers who face extreme heat on the job outdoors and indoors. The heat rule is expansive, and it would finally give American workers the right to rest, shade, and water. Casar said this continues to prove that President Joe Biden is the most pro-worker president in generations. 

Background: 

In 2010 at the age of 21,Casar led a thirst strike on the steps of Austin City Hall

with Workers Defense Project to call for rest and water break protections. Austin passed rest and water break protections that year. Casar then helped pass local rest and water break protections in Dallas in a multi-year campaign that culminated in 2015.

In July 2023,Casar held a nine-hour thirst strike with Texas workers on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and urged Joe Biden and Department of Labor Acting-Secretary Julie Su to protect workers prior to Texas House Bill 2127

becoming law. The state law, championed by Governor Greg Abbott, eliminated local protections against extreme heat such as Austin and Dallas

ordinances that require water breaks for workers.

Days after Casar’s thirst strike, Biden announced new executive actions

to protect workers from extreme heat, including increased enforcement of heat-safety violations by the Department of Labor. He highlighted that his Administration’s actions

were for workers “who literally risk their lives working all day in blazing heat, and in some places don't even have the right to take a water break. That's outrageous.”

Just two weeks ago, Casar welcomed

Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Doug Parker to Austin for a labor town hall with 100+ Texas union leaders and workers. Parker shared that the Biden Administration would soon announce a federal rule to protect workers from extreme heat on the job.

###

Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.

Dionne Warwick | I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself | Live | 1967

What They Are Saying: Wisconsin Leaders Praise Baldwin’s Work to Bring Home $49 Million for Wisconsin Tech Hub

 07.03.2024

What They Are Saying: Wisconsin Leaders Praise Baldwin’s Work to Bring Home $49 Million for Wisconsin Tech Hub

Tech Hub projected to bring more than 30,000 jobs and $9 billion of economic development in first 10 years to Wisconsin

WISCONSIN – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced that Wisconsin’s Biohealth Tech Hub is set to receive $49 million to grow the state’s personalized medicine and biohealth sector – advancing research and innovation, growing our economy and creating jobs, and boosting American competitiveness in a cutting-edge industry.

Public and private partners, including the over a dozen founding members of Wisconsin’s Tech Hub Consortium, praised Senator Baldwin’s work to secure this investment. Here’s what they’re saying:

“Senator Baldwin and the administration of President Joe Biden are demonstrating forward thinking that’s moving Wisconsin in the right direction. This deployment of CHIPS and Science Act funding will spur medical innovation while, simultaneously, boosting our economy,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “The jobs created through this investment will produce direct and indirect benefits all across the region.”

“Senator Baldwin and President Biden have consistently delivered for our community and our state,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “Wisconsin’s selection as a Tech Hub will drive further innovation in the state’s growing biohealth sector and help create opportunities for middle-class families. I’m excited to collaborate with the Wisconsin Tech Hub team to make sure Madison has the infrastructure, housing and workforce we need to support our growing economy.”

“Milwaukee County boasts a proud tradition of excellence in manufacturing and innovation. Thanks to Senator Tammy Baldwin’s leadership and funding from President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, this incredible investment will help carry on that legacy by growing our regional economy, boosting workforce development efforts, and supporting research and innovation in medical sciences and biotechnology that will help foster healthier communities,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “I look forward to Wisconsin's designation as a Tech Hub delivering meaningful results and opportunities for workers and families across the Badger State.”

“The BioHealth Tech Hub will spark innovation in the area of personalized medicine and the Universities of Wisconsin are poised to help lead. I’m thrilled our universities have joined so many top-notch partners – in both the public and private sectors – who are working together to achieve one goal: to improve health care for all Wisconsinites. It’s a proud day for our state,” said Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman.

“This recognition and funding to advance Wisconsin as a BioHealth Tech Hub is an amazing opportunity for Wisconsin,” said Wendy Harris, Regional Innovation Officer for the Wisconsin BioHealth Tech Hub. “We already have strong companies here, but this new funding will help us to collaborate and drive new projects that increase our competitiveness and make us a global leader in the industry. We have a great team that worked tirelessly over the past 18 months to showcase our Wisconsin biohealth industry and our ideas to advance our technologies. It is great to see these projects funded right here in Wisconsin, where we create and make the technologies. What a great win for our state!”   

“This award is an investment in creating a safe, skilled and diverse talent pipeline that will meet the needs of our state now and into the future. We at WRTP | BIG STEP are excited to be a part of this momentous initiative and thank Senator Baldwin for her unwavering support,” said Lindsay Blumer, President & CEO of WRTP | BIG STEP.

“Madison College has always addressed workforce needs, and the opportunity to contribute to the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub program and the emerging biohealth economy is incredibly exciting. We are eager to work with industry leaders and collaborate with the UW System and Milwaukee Area Technical College to scale our collective expertise and support the broader consortium initiatives. We are grateful to Sen. Tammy Baldwin's dedication to the Tech Hubs and the bipartisan financial assistance the state of Wisconsin provided, as well as the efforts of non-profit organizations, public officials, and business and industry leaders who made this happen,” said Mark Thomas, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Madison College.

 “Every day at University Research Park, I see University of Wisconsin – Madison innovation become companies and create jobs for Badgers,” said Aaron Olver, Managing Director of University Research Park and Chair of the Wisconsin BioHealth Tech Hub Consortium. “By teaming up with partners across Wisconsin, we have the chance to create thousands of jobs in healthcare, technology, and manufacturing across Wisconsin and cement our global leadership in biohealth.”

“What fantastic recognition of the great work being done in Wisconsin!  The EDA’s $49M Phase 2 award to the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub is a testament to all we know is true – there is great science, great work, and great people doing amazing things here.  The projects this award supports will further grow both our industry-leading companies and the next generation of biohealth startups, creating value for patients across the USA and around the world,” said Jessica Martin Eckerly, CEO of Forward BIOLABS, Consortium Member, and co-lead of one of the projects.

“It is a tremendous honor for the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub to receive a Phase 2 designation and grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration,” said Jay Hill, Vice President, Advanced Technology of GE HealthCare, and lead representative on BioForward Wisconsin’s Consortium. “We thank the Administration for their leadership and look forward to harnessing Wisconsin’s strengths to address critical healthcare challenges and drive innovation. GE HealthCare is proud to have played a leading role in BioForward Wisconsin’s consortium. We are excited to have worked with partners across the state to achieve this important achievement that will strengthen Wisconsin’s ability to lead a transformative era in healthcare.”

“The EDA's investment demonstrates a commitment to drive the economy and contribute to a flourishing society. It's a win-win,” said Mara Lord, PhD, Senior Vice President of University Engagement and Strategic Planning at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “CAREScan is designed to revolutionize healthcare delivery by bringing personalized medicine directly to people’s doorsteps. Taking the time to build connections and trust with community members will enable this novel platform to scale with new innovations and technologies that can be offered to individuals where they live.”

“Employ Milwaukee is excited to be a BioHealth Tech Hub partner leading inclusive community engagement and workforce development components in Milwaukee,” said Julie Cayo, Interim CEO and Chief Planning Officer of Employ Milwaukee. “This investment will drive the economic prosperity of underserved populations through youth apprenticeship, summer youth employment, scholarships in Biohealth Tech Hub industry pathways, and wraparound supports for our job seekers and workers.”

“Wisconsin continues to be a destination for high-value employment, which will be further enhanced by our successful Biohealth Tech Hub application,” said Jim Paetsch, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Milwaukee 7. “Our companies and postsecondary institutions are well-positioned to lead in the precision medicine sector, which is poised for significant global growth.”

"This is a groundbreaking opportunity for Wisconsin, Milwaukee Area Technical College and the consortium," said MATC President Vicki J. Martin, Ph.D. "We are committed to expanding our biohealth programs and focused on equipping our diverse student body with the skills needed for careers in Wisconsin's growing Tech Hub.”

Yesterday, Wisconsin was one of 12 Tech Hub applicants awarded a Phase 2 Implementation Grant under the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program. Over the first 10 years, the Tech Hub designation is projected to create more than 30,000 jobs in the personalized medicine sector and over 111,000 indirect jobs attributable to the Tech Hub in Wisconsin. Additionally, the Tech Hub is projected to create $9 billion worth of economic development in Wisconsin within the first decade.

As a member of the Commerce Committee, Senator Baldwin helped write and create the Tech Hub program in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and has advocated for Wisconsin’s Tech Hub and investing in the Badger State’s growing personalized medicine and biohealth technology industry every step of the way. A full list of her work to secure this funding is available here.

###

Diana Ross - Theme from Mahogany - Live at Red Rocks 6.27.24

 

Susanna Hoffs Matthew Sweet Different Drum

The Bangles - James (Live in Pittsburgh, 29.10.1986)

 

Senator Murray Tours Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Discusses Women’s Health Research Initiatives

 

Senator Murray Tours Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Discusses Women’s Health Research Initiatives  

Senator Murray: “Fred Hutch is on the cutting edge of ending cancer and improving cancer outcomes for women—it’s exciting to see Fred Hutch continue to play a critical role in President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, which I am going to keep working to support as we negotiate and write our government funding bills.”  

***PHOTOS of yesterday’s event HERE*** 

Seattle, WA – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, toured the expansive new Fred Hutch Cancer Center clinic building in South Lake Union, and heard from doctors and scientists about advancements they are making in the field of women’s health. Since 1992, Fred Hutch has served as the coordinating center for the federally funded Women’s Health Initiative. Fred Hutch receives more funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) than any other independent research institute in the country and collecting three Nobel Prizes. Murray discussed the Women’s Health Research Initiative that President Biden launched last year and her ongoing work to support cancer research, menopause research, and more.

“It was great to see the impressive new treatment and lab facilities at Fred Hutch and talk with so many doctors and scientists who are at the cutting edge of eliminating cancer and making important discoveries in the field of women’s health,” said Senator Murray. “We’ve known for a long time that women’s health issues are under-researched and underinvested in—that’s true even when it comes to cancer. I’ve worked hard going back decades to boost funding for women’s health research, improve diversity in clinical trials, and push the federal government to prioritize women’s unique health needs. Fred Hutch is on the cutting edge of ending cancer and improving cancer outcomes for women—it’s exciting to see Fred Hutch continue to play a critical role in President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, which I am going to keep working to support as we negotiate and write our government funding bills.” 

Fred Hutch is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the Pacific Northwest with 5,700 employees treating more than 40,000 patients each year. In addition to women’s health research, Fred Hutch was a leader in the international scientific community’s response to COVID-19: tracking and modeling the virus’s spread, developing diagnostic tests and treatments, learning how the virus interacts with the immune system, and coordinating large-scale vaccine trials for the COVID-19 Prevention Network. 

Senator Murray has been a champion of improving and expanding access to women’s health care throughout her career. Senator Murray was the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to tackle the opioid crisis, strengthen our mental health care system, and boost NIH research, including to support then Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot—as the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Health Committee, Murray specifically pushed to include policies that would require NIH to improve inclusion of diverse populations in research and to address gaps in knowledge around safe and effective therapies for pregnant and breastfeeding women. This year, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murray secured $235.5 million in the FY2024 Labor-HHS appropriations bill for the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to support breast cancer screening and diagnostic services to uninsured and underinsured women as well as $22.4 million for CDC’s cancer prevention, early detection and treatment, survivor support, and health equity activities within the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. In March 2023, Fred Hutch opened a new clinic building on the South Lake Union Campus, completing the largest construction project in the organization’s history. The six-story, 150,000 square-foot outpatient cancer treatment clinic features a patient-centered design, highly specialized treatment clinics and state-of-the-art procedure suites.

In May, Senator Murray introduced the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act, comprehensive new bipartisan legislation that would be the most expansive effort so far to boost federal research on menopause and would—for the first time—coordinate the federal government’s existing programs related to menopause and mid-life women’s health. Murray’s bill would authorize $275 million over five years to expand federal research on menopause and strengthen health care workforce training, public awareness and education efforts, and public health promotion and prevention to better address menopause and mid-life women’s health issues. Murray is also a strong supporter of the SCREENS for Cancer Act that advanced through the Senate HELP Committee in December; the legislation would update and reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program at $275 million through FY2028. 

###

BIBI & Jackson Wang - Feeling Lucky (Official Music Video)

Nina Simone - Rich Girl (Live)

Nina Simone - Backlash Blues (Live at Montreux, 1976)

Meet the BIPOC Press: Is Worker-Owned Media the Future of Journalism?

Tracy Chapman performs Amazing Grace a cappella

Clarence Thomas Is Already Trying To Kill Worker's Safety Rules

Diana Ross - Eleanor Rigby (Live on TCB, 1968)

Is There Anything Drake Could Do to Get His Black Card Back? And Other Left Coast Conversations

Sonny & Cher "Living For You" 1966 Promo Film

Trump RESPONSE to SCOTUS SHOULD Be DISQUALIFYING

President Biden sits down for interview with George Stephanopoulos l ABC News exclusive

Has US Liberal Democracy Reached The End?

'Disgusting' Trump bible; 'Corrupt' SCOTUS & Trump immunity; Roland CRUSHES Gingrich | Best of #RMU

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CORRUPT Supreme Court’s AWFUL SECRETS Get EXPOSED

Gaza War Sit Rep Day 273: The Freedom Israel Insists On

How Lily Tomlin found liberation in exploring her characters | American Masters | PBS

Freedom for Julian Assange Featuring Kevin Gosztola

Darker Than Blue 7/5/2024 - Community Control Over Police Gets New Life With DC's New Crime Bill

Trump World ‘panicking’ as Project 2025 gets on the radar of voters

The U. S. Supreme Court Makes Being Homeless A Crime | The Amanda Seales Show

Libs of TikTok and Heritage Foundation GLOBAL anti-LGBTQ+ movement

Trump supporters' Project 2025 outlines 'dark and anti-democratic' vision for the U.S.: Vance

Our Political Depression Problem w/ Rick Perlstein | MR Live - 7/5/24

Project 2025 Architect Threatens Violence if Americans Reject a Trump Dictatorship

Cher - If You Could Read My Mind (The Cher Show, 10/26/1975)

 

Iraq snapshot

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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


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

Paul Rudnick Tweets:  


ALJAZEERA notes:

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

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

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


And still the slaughter continues.



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


Everyday Violence

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

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

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

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

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

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

One or Two Legs

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

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

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

These are the stories of Gaza.


These children are dead and dying and let's not pretend that those lucky enough to survive are not going to be haunted by their own childhood for the rest of their lives.  Let's not also not forget the countries feeding this nightmare, making it continue.  ANADOLU AGENCY (via MEMO) notes:
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Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, now stretching into its 10th month, has been marked by severe civilian casualties and widespread destruction, significantly fuelled by Western arms.

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

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




I've seen and done things I want to forgetI've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meatBlown and shot out beyond beliefArms and legs were in the trees
I've seen and done things I want to forgetComing from an unearthly placeLonging to see a woman's faceInstead of the words that gather pace
The words that maketh murderThese, these, these are the wordsThe words that maketh murderThese, these, these are the wordsThe words that maketh murderThese, these, these are the wordsThe words that maketh murderThese, these, these are the wordsMurder
These, these, these are the wordsThe words that maketh murderThese, these, these are the wordsThe words that maketh murder
-- "The Words That Maketh Murder," written by PJ Harvey, first appears on her LET ENGLAND SHAKE album



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

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

I am not interested in liars.

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

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

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

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



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

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



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

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


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

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

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

Why bring this up now?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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


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



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


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


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


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

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

 



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

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


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

This does appear in the Wednesday snapshot:


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


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




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

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

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

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

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

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


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




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

  



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

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






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