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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:23:44 GMT -8
Who can drink 2 liters of gasoline? Jerry can.
This Shouldn't Really Need to Be Said, But Apparently It Does.
The vast majority of people who are critical of Israel are not anti-semites.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:24:33 GMT -8
How Dry They Are
Alarm bells are ringing over the Gaza Strip as freshwater sources are no longer available or running out to a growing and displaced population of Palestinians caught in a war between Hamas and Israel over the vicious slaughter of Israelis on October 7, 2023.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that people need 50 liters (13 gallons) of water daily for survival. Currently, people in Gaza only receive three, less than one gallon. In the south of Gaza, reporting shows only one liter (one quart) is available as refugees flood the area from the north.
Dehydration is now occurring, stated the WHO, as reported by The Guardian. Symptoms in people include dizziness, fatigue, and confusion. In severe cases, organ shutdown and brain damage occur. Fresh clean water is critical in a healthcare setting to prevent infections.
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Tuesday that Gaza’s last seawater desalination plant had shut down, bringing the risk of further deaths and waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery. Six water wells, three water pumping stations and one water reservoir – which collectively served more than 1.1million people – are also out of action, it said.
Israel cut off its sole water pipeline to Gaza, along with the fuel and electricity that power water and sewage plants, in the wake of the Hamas attacks that killed 1,400 people. UN experts have condemned the Israeli bombardment and blockade as “collective punishment”, which is a war crime.
After 16 years of a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade, imposed after Hamas seized control of the exclave in 2007, clean water was already one of the most pressing concerns in the strip. Almost 97% of the water in Gaza’s sole aquifer is not potable; without proper maintenance and with Israeli restrictions on imports and electricity, sewage treatment plants were overwhelmed years ago. Untreated waste has flowed directly into the Mediterranean for more than a decade.
Now, desperate civilians find themselves consuming the contaminated tap water, or digging new wells too close to the sea to drink and use dirty, salty water. “People are trying to fetch water out of dangerous places, like the wells at mosques. In fact, children were killed [by airstrikes] while trying to drink water at a mosque a week ago,” said Jamil al-Meqdad, a writer and researcher in Gaza City.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:31:12 GMT -8
Could RFK Jr Do Something Good By Splitting the Wack-Job Vote?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s abandonment of his Democratic bid for president in favor of an Independent run will likely draw votes away from Donald Trump – not President Joe Biden, Newsweek reported Wednesday.
Citing an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey of 1,218 registered voters, Biden would beat Trump 49 to 46 percent in a hypothetical head-to-head.
And the poll shows Kennedy's switch to be an Independent candidate is more detrimental to Trump than it is to Biden.
"With numerous polls suggesting Democratic voters do not want 80-year-old Biden to run for president again, it was believed that Kennedy may provide an alternative to these potential disillusioned voters as an Independent candidate," Newsweek's report stated.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"However, Kennedy, who has pushed misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, appears to be better liked among GOP voters and may syphon votes away from Trump in a 2024 election."
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:33:37 GMT -8
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:38:29 GMT -8
The Worst Job in the World
CNN’s Dana Bash reacted with consternation on Tuesday after Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) joked about the rationale behind his House speaker vote.
Buck voted for Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) during Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) failed attempt to secure the gavel earlier that day.
“Well, I guess my first question is, do you really want Emmer to be speaker?” Bash asked the congressman.
“No, I don’t,” Buck replied. “I don’t like Tom Emmer. I figured this would be the worst job in America.”
Bash followed up: “So just to underscore that — you voted for somebody because you don’t like them? It’s not because you want him to be speaker.”
“That says a lot about where we are right now,” she added.
Afterward, Buck tweeted a clip of the exchange to clarify that “this was a joke.”
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:43:12 GMT -8
Do Texans Really Love Their Gun Laws?
As authorities continue to investigate how the man accused of shooting and wounding three people at the State Fair of Texas on Saturday brought his weapon into the fairgrounds, the contractor who provides the fair with metal detectors said he is 100% certain that the weapon would have alerted the fair’s protection systems.
That leaves open the question of whether the alleged gunman, Cameron Turner, somehow circumvented the security systems in place, or whether the human security officers in charge of screening fairgoers responded appropriately.
Though the fair’s policy on guns appears ambiguous — simultaneously saying no guns are allowed and some guns are allowed — fair spokeswoman Karissa Condoianis confirmed the fair allows gun owners with valid licenses to carry to bring concealed handguns inside Fair Park. Those rules are more strict than Texas law, which has not required a license or permit to carry a concealed handgun since 2021.
Condoianis said Tuesday that Turner did not have a license to carry. That means a security guard should have prevented him from entering the fairgrounds with a firearm.
“The investigation into how he got a weapon into the fairgrounds is ongoing,” she said in a text message.
Turner said he was acting in self-defense when he opened fire inside the fair’s food court about 7:45 p.m. Saturday, sending masses of people into a panic and prompting the fair to evacuate. Turner was arrested and his weapon was recovered shortly after the shooting. He faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:46:18 GMT -8
Never Surrender to the Tie-Ranny
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:48:24 GMT -8
Russian sources disappeared after Trump declassified ex-spy’s evidence, UK court toldDonald Trump’s decision to declassify evidence given by a former British spy about the former US president’s alleged links with Russia led to the disappearance of two Russian sources, according to a court document. Christopher Steele, who used to run MI6’s Russia desk, compiled the notorious “Steele dossier” investigating Trump’s connections to Russia. In a witness statement released on Tuesday, Steele said publication of his testimony to the Mueller investigation on the matter, originally classified secret, was an “egregious and reckless act” that “served no purpose other than to expose me and Orbis [Steele’s company], our sources and our methods”.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 8:51:07 GMT -8
Devils Attack a Sun DevilArizona State Instructor Followed, Injured by Turning Point USA Crew Police investigate an altercation with a queer ASU educator as possible aggravated assault by an operative of the right-wing group. Two associates of the right-wing organization Turning Point USA followed a queer Arizona State University instructor on campus Wednesday [October 9th] afternoon, with one demanding he answer questions about “how long you’ve been attracted to minors” and “how long you’ve fantasized about minors having sex with adults” while the other filmed the encounter. The confrontation eventually turned physical, ending with the educator, David Boyles, posting a photo of himself with blood on one side of his face. “One filmed on his phone while the other shouted horrible and incendiary things at me, repeating standard right-wing nonsense about Drag Story Hour and also accusing me personally of pedophilia and hating America,” Boyles wrote in a now-private Instagram message cited by The Arizona Republic. Boyles, an Arizona State graduate and writing instructor at the university since 2015, specializes in “popular culture, digital literacy, visual rhetoric and the rhetoric of higher education,” according to his university bio. Turning Point’s Professor Watchlist—a database launched in 2016 that has resulted in academics receiving vitriol and threats for their alleged views—targets Boyles for, among other things, his advocacy of a program in which drag queens read books to children. 
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,028
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Post by hasben on Oct 18, 2023 9:02:58 GMT -8
This Shouldn't Really Need to Be Said, But Apparently It Does.
The people who call others anti-semites for criticizing the Isaraeli government are far right wackos or religious zealots or both.
The vast majority of people who are critical of Israel are not anti-semites.
Nearly every country in the world is opposed to Israel's action and human rights abuse. Netanyahu should be charged with war crimes in addition to his corruption and executed along with Hamas militants and commanders.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2023 13:54:03 GMT -8
This Shouldn't Really Need to Be Said, But Apparently It Does. The people who call others anti-semites for criticizing the Isaraeli government are far right wackos or religious zealots or both. The vast majority of people who are critical of Israel are not anti-semites. Nearly every country in the world is opposed to Israel's action and human rights abuse. Netanyahu should be charged with war crimes in addition to his corruption and executed along with Hamas militants and commanders. There has been a ton of blowback on those who have been critical of Israel. Here's one example: 3 law students from Harvard and Columbia lost job offers over student organizations' statements on the Israel-Hamas warDavis Polk has pulled job offers to three law students from Harvard and Columbia. The firm said the students were part of statements on the Israel-Hamas war that went against its values. This comes after a New York University law student also lost a job offer over a statement on Israel. The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell has rescinded job offers to three students from Harvard University and Columbia University, saying they were involved in student organizations whose statements on the Israel-Hamas war countered the firm's values. A spokesperson for Davis Polk told Insider on Tuesday that the students had their job offers pulled. Some Harvard students say their organizations signed an anti-Israel letter without them knowing: 'I didn't even see the statement'Several students at Harvard University said they had no idea their student groups were signing a divisive letter condemning Israel for Hamas' attacks. The statement, initially signed by 34 Harvard student groups, drew intense backlash because it blamed the Israeli government for a series of surprise attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7. "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the Monday statement said. One of the Harvard students to distance themselves from the letter was Danielle Mikaelian, who said she was a board member of a group that signed the statement. "I think it was egregious and have resigned from my role," Mikaelian wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I am sorry for the pain this caused. My organization did not have a formal process and I didn't even see the statement until we had signed on." Mikaelian, who was identified as a law student by the school paper, The Harvard Crimson, did not say which organization she had resigned from. However, she later tweeted that this organization had rescinded its support for the statement. The student wrote that she "prevented" another student group, of which she is also a board member, from signing the letter. "I also want to make it clear that I know firsthand some of my fellow students are in this situation too," she added. "I wasn't the only board member who stepped down today." Student statements like Mikaelian's have emerged online since the original letter was criticized by Harvard professors, US lawmakers, and CEOs like Bill Ackman, who controversially called for a list of the individual signatories so he wouldn't hire them. |
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,028
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Post by hasben on Oct 18, 2023 14:02:56 GMT -8
There has been a ton of blowback on those who have been critical of Israel. Here's one example:
"We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the Monday statement said.
Yeah but that's a pretty reckless statement. I would never say what Israel has done JUSTIFIED the Hamas attack. I would say they contributed to the cause but nothing justifies what Hamas did. The students should have criticized the brutality of the Israeli response. What Hamas did does not justify killing thousands of innocent civilians. Hamas and Israel are both guilty of war crimes.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 19, 2023 8:22:04 GMT -8
There has been a ton of blowback on those who have been critical of Israel. Here's one example: "We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the Monday statement said. Yeah but that's a pretty reckless statement. I would never say what Israel has done JUSTIFIED the Hamas attack. I would say they contributed to the cause but nothing justifies what Hamas did. The students should have criticized the brutality of the Israeli response. What Hamas did does not justify killing thousands of innocent civilians. Hamas and Israel are both guilty of war crimes. I agree that statement went over the top. The interesting question is how much Israel has contributed to the growth of Hamas by mistreating the Palestinians. Israel wasn't the only factor, with Iran and Palestinian corruption playing a role. It is a really messy situation. However, nothing really justifies Israel's inhumane policies in Gaza and the West Bank. |
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,028
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Post by hasben on Oct 19, 2023 12:59:38 GMT -8
The interesting question is how much Israel has contributed to the growth of Hamas
Netanyahu promoted and supported Hamas for years. That was his strategy to prevent the Palestinians from ever forming a legit govt to force negotiations. As long as there was only a fairly harmless terrorist group to represent Gaza the Israelis did not have to negotiate peace or a two state solution.
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