Edit: my mom called to ask "are you alright? I saw there were some violent protests at work?" and I had to kinda hold back my instinctive reaction and try and calmly explain that I walked straight past the protests with no problem, and that no the word "intifada" is just arabic for "rise up" and doesn't actually mean kill all jews, and did you see how the police responded to the protests in Austin, why the hell would I want them on campus?
No idea if any of it got through to her, but maybe I'll type up a long ass facebook post to try and combat what I'm sure is a bunch of vile nonsense she's been seeing on there (though this would require me to remember how to log into facebook for the first time in over a decade)
They're calling the student protesters "Students of Hamas University"
Yeah, on at my barber shop too (my guy has a rented station partially walled off, but we wait in the general area). They were also saying that this was happening because Biden is too wishy washy on Israel which is fucking hilarious if it wasn't for all the people who believe them.
To be fair, they’re right but not for the reasons they think they are. Biden keeps wanting you to think he’s holding Israel to account while fully supporting the genocide, it’s duplicitous and why the students have had enough.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
+5
Options
facetiousa wit so dryit shits sandRegistered Userregular
irony
"I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde
Really don’t see Cuba get blamed all that often these days. I guess it just isn’t the same without ol’ Fidel.
That's right, the Cuban people just continue to get fucked over by Biden not reversing Trump's walking back the Obama-era easing of trade embargo and travel restrictions quietly in the background these days.
The trade embargo, etc., should have been rescinded with the end of the Cold War, but the fifty year-plus collective punishment of Cuba was never really about combatting the threat of communism, it was about teaching a lesson to the entire world what happens when a country dares to say that the welfare of their own people comes before the interests of American corporations.
Really don’t see Cuba get blamed all that often these days. I guess it just isn’t the same without ol’ Fidel.
That's right, the Cuban people just continue to get fucked over by Biden not reversing Trump's walking back the Obama-era easing of trade embargo and travel restrictions quietly in the background these days.
The trade embargo, etc., should have been rescinded with the end of the Cold War, but the fifty year-plus collective punishment of Cuba was never really about combatting the threat of communism, it was about teaching a lesson to the entire world what happens when a country dares to say that the welfare of their own people comes before the interests of American corporations.
My line of work has had people asking to ship hand made Iranian carpets to the states cause y'all are so mad about em it you want their nice rugs
Even took all the Cuban tabbacco seeds and grew it so you can have Cuban cigars that aren't Cuban
That's right, the Cuban people just continue to get fucked over by Biden not reversing Trump's walking back the Obama-era easing of trade embargo and travel restrictions quietly in the background these days.
The trade embargo, etc., should have been rescinded with the end of the Cold War, but the fifty year-plus collective punishment of Cuba was never really about combatting the threat of communism, it was about teaching a lesson to the entire world what happens when a country dares to say that the welfare of their own people comes before the interests of American corporations.
The reversal of Obama's opening the door to Cuba was nakedly cynical on both Trump and Biden's part.
The U.S. vote in the United Nations General Assembly against the resolution calling on the United States to lift its embargo on Cuba is another example of President Joe Biden’s reluctance to move away from Donald Trump’s Cuba policy. The first signal was the administration’s decision to reaffirm, with no real evidence, Trump’s determination that Cuba is not supporting U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
The reason for Biden’s failure to reengage with Cuba, despite promising he would during the campaign, is fear of Florida.
On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to reverse Trump’s sanctions that hurt Cuban families, restore travel to the island and engage with the Cuban government on issues of mutual interest. This modest agenda is more reminiscent of Clinton’s policy circa 1998 than Obama’s opening in 2014.
Biden’s Florida campaign strategy in 2020 was to say as little about Cuba as possible because nothing he could say would win votes and whatever he said would certainly lose some. This left the electoral battlefield to Republicans, whose carefully crafted appeals to Cuban Americans (and Venezuelan Americans and Colombia Americans) branded Democrats as socialists.
The result was a Democratic debacle. Biden won Miami-Dade County by just 7 percent, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 30 percent margin in 2016, a decline that put Florida’s electoral votes well out of reach. Democrats also lost two House seats that they thought were safe. Trump won more than 60 percent of the Cuban American vote — the most since Bush in 2000.
Where as with Obama's policy:
In the three decades since Cuban Americans became a force to be reckoned with in presidential politics, only one Democratic candidate has come close to winning a majority of their support — Barack Obama. He did it not by trying to dodge or downplay the Cuba issue, but by engaging it head-on and appealing to moderate Cuban Americans who favor a less antagonistic approach. In 2008, he won 35 percent of the Cuban American vote — at the time, the high watermark for Democratic presidential candidates. In 2012, he won 48 percent.
In the two years after Obama announced his decision to normalize relations with Cuba, Cuban American support for his policy increased from 51 to 56 percent.
Kelor on
+5
Options
HacksawJ. Duggan Esq.Wrestler at LawRegistered Userregular
They really yearn for those Cold War Days don't they
The thing that's become increasingly evident to me is that old maxim penned by Francis Wilhoit,
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Is actually quite apt for characterizing the M.O. of neo-liberalism in general, when applied with respect to foreign policy -- and neoliberalism is the ideology of either political party leadership.
The outright willfulness that Biden has in running cover for and enabling Israel, can only be explained in the sense that the US political class must believe that there are deserving foreign powers that deserve to be considered part of the 'in group' no matter how abhorrent their actions might be, and it would sure be a lot convenient for them if we were all coddled and numb to whatever horrors they choose to inflict on the people they choose to characterize as the 'bad guys'.
+19
Options
VanguardBut now the dream is over. And the insect is awake.Registered User, __BANNED USERSregular
The protests are working
Everyone who has shown up needs to keep showing up
California has a TON of very conservative areas, including coastal ones. We're talking the state of Prop 8 here, and a place with a looot of farmers and ranchers happily fulfilling stereotypes.
California has a TON of very conservative areas, including coastal ones. We're talking the state of Prop 8 here, and a place with a looot of farmers and ranchers happily fulfilling stereotypes.
I’ve lived here for nearly 37 years, I know.
I also believe there is, functionally, little to no difference between American liberals and conservatives.
Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call on April 26 with Mayor Eric Adams (D), about a week after the mayor first sent New York police to Columbia’s campus, a log of chat messages shows. During the call, some attendees discussed making political donations to Adams, as well as how the chat group’s members could pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus to handle protesters, according to chat messages summarizing the conversation.
One member of the WhatsApp chat group told The Post he donated $2,100, the maximum legal limit, to Adams that month. Some members also offered to pay for private investigators to assist New York police in handling the protests, the chat log shows — an offer a member of the group reported in the chat that Adams accepted. The New York Police Department is not using and has not used private investigators to help manage protests, a spokeswoman for City Hall said.
The messages describing the call with Adams were among thousands logged in a WhatsApp chat among some of the nation’s most prominent business leaders and financiers, including former CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and brother to Jared Kushner, former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
People with direct access to the chat log’s contents supplied them to The Post. They shared the information on the condition of anonymity because the chat’s contents were meant to stay private. Members of the group verified the chat’s existence and their comments.
The chat was initiated by a staffer for billionaire and real estate magnate Barry Sternlicht — who never joined directly, instead communicating through the staffer, according to chat messages and a person close to Sternlicht. In an Oct. 12 message, one of the first sent in the group, the staffer posting on behalf of Sternlicht told the others the goal of the group was to “change the narrative” in favor of Israel, partly by conveying “the atrocities committed by Hamas … to all Americans.”
The University Network of Human rights commissioned a report, working with the Human Rights centres of several major universities for analysis of whether Israel's actions constitute genocide.
In light of the extraordinary implications of a finding that Israel may be committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the University Network for Human Rights, the International Human Rights Clinic at Boston University School of Law, the International Human Rights Clinic at Cornell Law School, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, and the Lowenstein Human Rights Project at Yale Law School have conducted a thorough legal analysis of Israel’s acts since October 7, 2023, as situated in their historical context.
As set forth in the Genocide Convention of 1948 and as interpreted by international courts and tribunals, the crime of genocide requires that a perpetrator kill, seriously harm, or inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a group, in whole or in part, with the intent to destroy the group as such. The Genocide Convention and international jurisprudence form the basis of this report’s analysis of Israel’s conduct during the course of its military operation in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
After reviewing the facts established by independent human rights monitors, journalists, and United Nations agencies, we conclude that Israel’s actions in and regarding Gaza since October 7, 2023, violate the Genocide Convention. Specifically, Israel has committed genocidal acts of killing, causing serious harm to, and inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, a protected group that forms a substantial part of the Palestinian people. Between October 7, 2023, and May 1, 2024, Israel has killed at least 34,568 Palestinians and injured 77,765 other Palestinians in Gaza. These figures in total comprise more than 5 percent of Gaza’s population, with over 2 percent of Gaza’s children killed or injured. Approximately 14,500 of the Palestinians killed in Gaza have been children. Israel killed more children in the first four months of its assault than in all of the world’s conflicts in the past four years combined. Israeli forces have killed Palestinians regardless of their protected status under international law, with the current bombardment constituting the deadliest conflict for journalists ever recorded and the number of UN personnel killed reaching a degree “never seen in . . . history.” Israel’s military operation has destroyed up to 70 percent of homes in Gaza, and has decimated civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, universities, UN facilities, and cultural and religious heritage sites. A staggering 1.7 million civilians—over 75 percent of Gaza’s population—have been forcibly displaced as a result of Israel’s military offensive. Civilians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger and deprivation due to Israel’s restriction on, and failure to ensure adequate access to, basic essentials of life, including food, water, medicine, and fuel.
Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza have been motivated by the requisite genocidal intent, as evidenced in this report by the statements of Israeli leaders, the character of the State and its military forces’ conduct against and relating to Palestinians in Gaza, and the direct nexus between them. As this report details, officials at all levels of Israeli government, up to and including the Prime Minister, have made remarks that not only express blatant and unequivocal dehumanization and cruelty against Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, but also explicitly reflect intentions to destroy and exterminate Palestinians as such. The patterns of conduct of Israeli military forces in Gaza further reinforce the finding of Israel’s genocidal intent.
This is just the first few paragraphs, the full statement and the 100+ page report can be found on their website.
It also means that if my colleagues try to equivocate again by saying "oh, but it isn't genocide" I can respond with an actual study rather than going "nuh-uh"
Academia is a weird intersection of some of the most brilliant and loving minds and some of the most vile sentient turds, but the turds are almost always in charge.
I spent tonight hanging out with my generally-progressive uncle and his pretends-to-be-liberal-but-is-actually-pretty-conservative-on-issues-that-matter wife tonight, and most of the night was spent on niceties, personal anecdotes, etc
but right at the end there we did land on Palestine and she tried to pull out the "well it's complicated" and a strange "oh Palestinian deaths are overreported and we don't actually know how many Israelis have been killed" and I very extremely directly called her on her bullshit, but she pretty much just hemmed and hawed and deflected without acknowledging anything I was saying, so it was mostly a bunch of shouting into the void
but if nothing else I'm hoping that directly confronting people like her on her equivocating bullshit and not letting her just spout off and get away with it pushed the needle at least a little bit (and my uncle, her husband, mostly backing me up helped a bit, hopefully)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken directed his top staff to crack down on leaks about diplomacy relating to the Israel-Hamas war, saying clearly that he was “angry” with the constant stream of press reports revealing sensitive information.
In the meeting, Blinken urged those who report directly to him to help plug the leaks, particularly those related to the conflict in Gaza, according to three State Department officials. One of the State officials, granted anonymity to detail yet another private discussion, said Blinken’s message has since been sternly delivered throughout the department.
The secretary’s warning signals an increasing unease within the Biden administration that a constant stream of leaks complicates the State Department’s work, coming at a time when some officials have resigned in protest over Israel policy. It also underscores the intense frustrations gripping Biden’s team as they’ve hit walls getting hostages out of Gaza and increasing the amount of humanitarian aid for thousands of suffering Palestinians.
And while no administration likes unsanctioned leaks, Blinken, a decades-long aide to President Joe Biden, fiercely guards his boss’ decision space.
Senior State officials were particularly displeased to see some reports that lower-level aides believed Israel wasn’t using U.S.-provided weapons in accordance with international law. Mandated by a new arms-transfer policy to report on such matters, the administration last week announced it was “reasonable” to assume that Israel wasn’t complying with the law but didn’t formally make that assessment.
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-Masri, Commander-in-Chief of Hamas' military wing;
Ismail Haniyah, head of Hamas Political Bureau;
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel;
Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defence of Israel.
The Hamas ones are for these war crimes and crimes against humanity:
Extermination as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute;
Murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(a), and as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
Taking hostages as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(iii);
Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(g), and also as war crimes pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(vi) in the context of captivity;
Torture as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(f), and also as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity;
Other inhumane acts as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(l)(k), in the context of captivity;
Cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity; and
Outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(ii), in the context of captivity.
And the Israeli ones are for these war crimes and crimes against humanity:
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;
Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).
EDIT: Actually, I guess this is just them asking for the warrants and there's still a panel of ICC judges who need to go over it before sending out the warrants?
Neveron on
+19
Options
Zilla36021st Century. |She/Her|Trans* Woman In Aviators Firing A Bazooka. ⚛️Registered Userregular
How to know just how badly you've fucked up, and are about to find out, Netanyahu edition:
He's also now on record stating there's zero equivocation between Hamas and Israel. So yeah fuck him and he'll never hold Israel accountable in any way for the genocide they're committing. Which, we already knew but it's always nice to have it in official writing.
He's losing in November, that's basically a given at this point with how thoroughly he's chosen to make enemies out of his own constituents.
Posts
Ok, the kids are all right
Edit: my mom called to ask "are you alright? I saw there were some violent protests at work?" and I had to kinda hold back my instinctive reaction and try and calmly explain that I walked straight past the protests with no problem, and that no the word "intifada" is just arabic for "rise up" and doesn't actually mean kill all jews, and did you see how the police responded to the protests in Austin, why the hell would I want them on campus?
No idea if any of it got through to her, but maybe I'll type up a long ass facebook post to try and combat what I'm sure is a bunch of vile nonsense she's been seeing on there (though this would require me to remember how to log into facebook for the first time in over a decade)
I thought quotes were broken, how'd you get this to crosspost from the D&D Social Media thread?
To be fair, they’re right but not for the reasons they think they are. Biden keeps wanting you to think he’s holding Israel to account while fully supporting the genocide, it’s duplicitous and why the students have had enough.
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
irony
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
That's right, the Cuban people just continue to get fucked over by Biden not reversing Trump's walking back the Obama-era easing of trade embargo and travel restrictions quietly in the background these days.
The trade embargo, etc., should have been rescinded with the end of the Cold War, but the fifty year-plus collective punishment of Cuba was never really about combatting the threat of communism, it was about teaching a lesson to the entire world what happens when a country dares to say that the welfare of their own people comes before the interests of American corporations.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
My line of work has had people asking to ship hand made Iranian carpets to the states cause y'all are so mad about em it you want their nice rugs
Even took all the Cuban tabbacco seeds and grew it so you can have Cuban cigars that aren't Cuban
The reversal of Obama's opening the door to Cuba was nakedly cynical on both Trump and Biden's part.
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/560536-fear-of-florida-why-biden-doesnt-act-on-cuba/
Where as with Obama's policy:
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Is actually quite apt for characterizing the M.O. of neo-liberalism in general, when applied with respect to foreign policy -- and neoliberalism is the ideology of either political party leadership.
The outright willfulness that Biden has in running cover for and enabling Israel, can only be explained in the sense that the US political class must believe that there are deserving foreign powers that deserve to be considered part of the 'in group' no matter how abhorrent their actions might be, and it would sure be a lot convenient for them if we were all coddled and numb to whatever horrors they choose to inflict on the people they choose to characterize as the 'bad guys'.
The protests are working
Everyone who has shown up needs to keep showing up
And if you haven’t
Why not?
Cal is lefty the way California at large is lefty: it's really five old rich families hidden under a Coexist trenchcoat.
California has a TON of very conservative areas, including coastal ones. We're talking the state of Prop 8 here, and a place with a looot of farmers and ranchers happily fulfilling stereotypes.
I mean yes but that campus loves to toot their own horn about the protest movement in the 60s and 70s
I’ve lived here for nearly 37 years, I know.
I also believe there is, functionally, little to no difference between American liberals and conservatives.
A bunch of billionaires bribed the mayor of NYC to send cops on Columbia to undermine support for Palestine.
Do they actually name the billionaires or are they being cowards?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/16/business-leaders-chat-group-eric-adams-columbia-protesters/
This is just the first few paragraphs, the full statement and the 100+ page report can be found on their website.
but at the same time it feels a bit like "scientists conclude after rigorous study that water is wet"
http://www.audioentropy.com/
There is an actual scientific debate on whether or not water actually is wet.
They might even listen
A linguistic debate based on defining liquids as inherently non-wet.
What makes this especially stupid is the Golden Gate Park station is like four blocks away. Fuck whatever admin thought this was a good idea.
but right at the end there we did land on Palestine and she tried to pull out the "well it's complicated" and a strange "oh Palestinian deaths are overreported and we don't actually know how many Israelis have been killed" and I very extremely directly called her on her bullshit, but she pretty much just hemmed and hawed and deflected without acknowledging anything I was saying, so it was mostly a bunch of shouting into the void
but if nothing else I'm hoping that directly confronting people like her on her equivocating bullshit and not letting her just spout off and get away with it pushed the needle at least a little bit (and my uncle, her husband, mostly backing me up helped a bit, hopefully)
Good leaks only, please.
The Hamas ones are for these war crimes and crimes against humanity: And the Israeli ones are for these war crimes and crimes against humanity:
EDIT: Actually, I guess this is just them asking for the warrants and there's still a panel of ICC judges who need to go over it before sending out the warrants?
https://x.com/prem_thakker/status/1792603991249137977
He's losing in November, that's basically a given at this point with how thoroughly he's chosen to make enemies out of his own constituents.
and do it soon