WTF-Beta

Two generations earlier we had the great whiskey flood/fire of Dublin! Alcohol poisoning seemed to be a greater cause of death than fire or drowning in it ...

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/the-night-a-river-of-whiskey-ran-through-the-streets-of-dublin-1.2743517

Let 'em live in the filth they're creating in their state. Glad I shook the dust off of my sandals and departed that mess of a place over 50 years ago.

Try BlueSky instead...

Oi, what a pain.

I have a Canadian student in one of my classes. She came in today emblazoned in a red "Liberals" shirt. This one, in fact. She had been home in Ontario during the Liberal Party convention, paid her membership fee, and attended, voting for Carney. She said she attracted some TV coverage because she was up front, and rather younger than the average convention goer!

So, I decided to get the same tee, and I might wear it to class!

https://d1w8c6s6gmwlek.cloudfront.net/shamblestees.com/products/383/932/38393240.png

Hamas, not Palestinian Authority.

Not all prominent law firms are kissing the ring ...

https://bsky.app/profile/kekerllp.bsky.social/post/3lkygek5bvk2b

Kluurs, I actually agree with much of what is in your sources. Israel has behaved very opportunistically in its response, destroying and killing much more extensively than was likely needed to achieve military objectives. They have not effectively curtailed the worst instincts of their least ethical soldiers. Some in the IDF likely have committed war crimes by any serious person's definition. If and when this Israeli government falls we may get an objective commission to discover and report these things from within Israeli officialdom. Alas, we may have to wait quite some time for that. Netanyahu's political skill (and luck) should never be underestimated.

That still doth not a genocide make ... yet. For starters, despite the horrendous toll, most creditable estimates I have seen still report a civilian/military casualty ratio quite a bit lower than in most other wars, even wars conductive by "civilized" European nations over the past century. That fact does not excuse any deliberate targeting of civilians, like the Palestinian woman walking to her chemo appointment. The evidence of Hamas using the civilian population to shield its forces is overwhelming. But IDF soldiers who use that fact to butcher civilians for sport ought to be held to account. One can accept the former fact, and its conclusion that innocents may be killed in legitimate war, without excusing the latter fact, that some in the IDF needlessly and cruelly murder people.

The quote that began this thread is a contention by a Palestinian that any "leadership" that actually wants to lead a people should understand that surrender is sometimes the best option. Instead, we have an organization that is a modern authoritarian kleptocracy fueled by 9th century religious bigotry that sees Gaza as Götterdämmerung, except with some paradise afterward because Islam never ever loses and inch of land to infidels. Palestine, every inch of it, is a waqf from God!

Hamas must go. How do you do that without a lot of destruction given the organization's complete and utter contempt for its own civilian population?

I'm deleting nothing. Fuck 'em and fuck him.

I'm giving an interview on CGTN IChinese media) Monday night on the administration's assault on the Department of Education.

I just don't care. I will not bend the knee, kiss the ass, or offer up prior obedience.

@pique said in Great summary. From a palestianian no less.:

@Piano-Dad said in Great summary. From a palestianian no less.:

Hamza's argument doesn't play well on the American left.

You mean the antisemitic American Left.

If you haven't hung around a campus much, that is pretty much the left, at least its beating activist heart.

Israel is a colonialist cancer that has no claim to statehood in Palestine. The October 7th assault was justified resistance. A prelude to what is to come when Palestinians reclaim their land and expel the Zionist disease. From the river to the sea, baby!

Hamza's argument doesn't play well on the American left.

Smart decision.

I will start receiving it over the summer of 2026 ... or not.

You do NOT want to limit benefits for higher income earners, unless you really want to undermine the political genius of the program. Because it's a universal benefit it has much more support than programs that are targeted on the poor. It's an idea that sociologists Skocpol and Wilson call "targeting within universalism." You effectively target the poor but within a program that is universal.

Arguing against other lawyers who have sold their souls for about 2 pieces of silver.

The EU response of from their normal playbook. Hit at anger points. Motorcycles -- Wisconsin. Peanut butter -- Georgia. Bourbon -- Kentucky. Orange juice -- Florida.

Yes, some "blue states" will take a hit. Jeans are made in California, in a blue area. But agricultural products, even if from blue states, come from ruby red rural areas within them.

Well, "you're not allowed to" raise tariffs on Canada and Mexico either, according to the USMCA that Trump himself signed, but he does it anyway only because Congressional Republicans are jellyfish.

I always had a sneaking suspicion that the old vinyl format would prove more durable.

Nobody should be sharing intelligence with the US. It will go straight to Moscow ...

Perfectly sensible, except for the risk that Russian cruise missiles blow up the production capacity.

On Germany, I would be acquiring nuclear weapons capacity really fast. They need to scrap the nuclear arms proliferation pact pronto and publicly announce that Germany will join the nuclear armed club and move to develop platforms to deliver them.

They also need to rebuild their military and put double the number of young people under arms as professional soldiers, i.e. 400K, not 180K.

BTW, Columbia needs to grow a pair and fight back. Georgetown offers an example. These targeted budget cuts are illegal.