“I had to carry a decapitated body”: Gazan child after fresh Israeli strike on Jabalia

Israel is ensuring there will not be peace with Palestinians nor those of Palestinian desent. As this young boy said “God will take my vengence!” which you can beleive means he now is willing to hurt those who hurt him and those around him. But the question asked is true, where is the UN, where is anyone to help stop Israel. Hugs. Scottie

An Israeli air strike on a UN-run school sheltering displaced Palestinians at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more, according to a doctor at al-Shifa Hospital.

According to CNN, the Israeli Defense Forces allege the Central Jabalya Battalion took control of civilian buildings, adding collapsed tunnels were partly a reason for the destruction caused by the strike on Tuesday.

“I carried a body and another decapitated body with my own hands,” a Gazan boy said at the site.

At least 9,488 Palestinians including 3,900 children have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Saturday.
“There are 15 martyrs and the number is expected to increase,” Mohammad Abu Selmeyah, who is also an official in the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave, said.

During the conflict, Israel has consistently claimed it’s targeting Hamas militants following the Oct. 7 attack on the Israeli kibbutz, Be’eri kibbutz.
For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/10070941/i…

Bomb Threat Shuts Down Maryland Drag Brunch

Bomb Threat Shuts Down Maryland Drag Brunch

So the haters again got what they wanted. This is terrorism. They got something they hate / dislike shut down even though it was not harming anyone. Plus tell me how it is “protecting the children” to threaten to blow them up? I think we need to stop giving in to the threats. The bomb threats always turn out false, no bomb, and yet the events get cancelled. I am an atheist, a few weekends ago a church sent squads of believers in to our park without permission and they went door to door bothering people. Does that give me the right to threaten their church or them? This attempt to control what other people can do, see, hear, places they can attend, and how they dress is Taliban shit. It is horrible. Why? So a group of regressive people can be happy by forcing the world to be just like them? Hugs. Scottie

—————————————————————————————————————–

Washington DC’s NBC affiliate reports:

A popular restaurant and bar in Takoma Park, Maryland, received bomb threats on Saturday morning over a drag brunch and story time event. The restaurant, Motorkat, bills itself as “a safe space for people of all orientations and backgrounds.

Motorkat was forced to cancel the drag brunch to keep its patrons safe, the restaurant said in the release. Those with tickets will get a full refund.

Police were emailed a bomb threat toward attendees at the restaurant’s drag event, and the police department and a bomb squad “swiftly responded to the threat, ensuring the safety of both patrons and staff,” Motorkat said.

Read the full article.

Motorkat was forced to cancel a drag brunch and story time event after police received an email threatening brunch attendees. https://t.co/n9EsgNhRB0
— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) December 9, 2023

Bert_Bauer a day ago

Because drag brunch and story hours harms children but threatening to kill children, their parents and drag queens does not. How the warped conservative mind works.

Gustav2a day ago edited

It is strange the universities are getting push back on genocidal speech when calls for our elimination will be permitted because “religion.”

But religion vs. religion is unacceptable?

BlindBill a day ago

The threat was emailed to the police, not the restaurant, that is odd…and probably from a local source. Email should be easy to trace. Even if sent from a public library computer, time stamps and security cameras everywhere will help identify the terrorist. But if a maga police officer receives (or even sent) it will the electronic trail be lost like a rape victim’s DNA kit?

Octoberfurst BlindBill21 hours ago

Exactly my thoughts! How dumb do you have to be to email a threat? It could easily be traced back to the sender. But on the other hand, right-wingers are not known for their intellect.

Fire Crown Octoberfurst12 hours ago

Technically, it can be traced back to the IP address from which it was sent, not the person. That said, it’s not 100% true that an email can always be tracked back to the actual IP address, either. (And yes, I used to be a tech guy who worked with people occasionally tasked with tracking the source of an email – which usually led to some student spoofing the identity of a person of authority.)

Mow Octoberfurst18 hours ago

They prolly thought no paper to leave fingerprints on. /s

Mike P a day ago

Takoma Park and the rest of Montgomery County are fairly liberal areas right up against D.C. I’m worried that there aren’t “safe places” anymore. Maybe the concept was always an illusion.

2lostsouls Mike Pa day ago

This is my neighborhood, ate there last week. Every waiter I’ve had is gay which may be why it was targeted. Didn’t know they had a drag brunch.

bearLvrFL Mike Pa day ago edited

On the on hand, nothing is 100% safe, ever. On the other hand, our “reasonably safe spaces” require protecting…enhancing.

Halou a day ago

Perhaps a few high profile prosecutions and harsh prison sentences will convince people that making terrorist threats doesn’t qualify as “free speech”?

Kruhn a day ago

Takoma Park is as blue as it gets. It’s probably Indigo. If a drag brunch is threatened by a bomb, shows that this is a very serious threat to the LBTQIA community.

What, me worry? Kruhn21 hours ago

On the other hand, it’s super easy to call in a bomb threat, just to fuck with us and keep us in fear for our lives.

bearLvrFL kaydenpata day ago

I just watched an upsetting movie on Netflix last night about Americans turning on each other. So, one of my first thoughts was “did the email come from outside the police station or inside?”

crusaderrabbit 19 hours ago

Remember just a few years ago when this wasn`t a thing. Then the Repugs told the non-thinking rubes it was a thing, a very important thing along with CRT and “saying Gay”, etc. Though the rubes may have always disliked some of it most of it was stuff they never even thought about as being important until they were told it was. In fact now it is so important that a certain percentage of the rubes are willing to kill you over it to save our society. While they wait to be told what the next important thing is of course. It`s the time honored way the Repugs have always operated. Be afraid, be very afraid, only we can save you. You don`t need to think about it or ask why (as if you would anyway) drag shows are bad so get to work. Keeps the rubes occupied and keeps their votes and always works.

StudioTodd crusaderrabbit17 hours ago

I think it has more to do with hatred and fear of transgender people than it does with drag. The ignorant dimwits involved in the protests and threats don’t understand that they are not the same thing. They think that drag queens=trans and that they are “promoting transgenderism” when they appear in public.

NorthBayBrian19 hours ago

Grown adults, simply dressing up in whimsical, flamboyant costumes on a Saturday morning and trying to have some fun and help others do the same while they enjoy a meal. Sure, why not call in a bomb threat? That sounds just awful and depraved. Save the children! Christ on a cracker.

Yves R. Mektin JCF11 hours ago edited

Yes, I personally feel like Putin has had more direct responsibility with these recent flare-ups of homophobia and transphobia than Trump himself, not that Trump was totally innocent. Also, the willingness of big sports stars and sports associations/leagues to sell out to Qatar, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other sponsors/venues which are effing horrible for women’s rights and LGBT rights. This has been a big social back-sliding moment.

This Is Why The Media Wants to Keep You Outraged

From The Russell Howard Hour, Russell delves into the culture war peddled by the media.

Israeli interrogator sexually assaults Palestinian child detainee

https://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_interrogator_sexually_assaults_palestinian_child_detainee

This one is on the first boy I posted about, but from a different source and with a lot more detail of his abuse. At one point the boy was blindfolded and every time someone would walk by the would slap or hit him. I know that terror, that fear, of not knowing when those around you would explode in anger or casually take a shot at you to constantly show their authority and dislike of you. I 3 more of these to post today and then I am done with this subject for a while. The genocide and abuse over there I can not stop, but I can let people know what is happening. But even I need a break from it. Hugs. Scottie

Ramallah, February 10, 2021—An Israeli interrogator allegedly physically and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Israeli custody during interrogation in mid-January at a Jerusalem detention facility.

The 15-year-old boy* was detained by Israeli paramilitary border police forces from his home around 5 a.m. on January 13, 2021, in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya. Israeli forces transferred him to Al-Mascobiyya interrogation and detention center in West Jerusalem where he was bound and blindfolded and detained in an interrogation room. An individual accused him of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and then allegedly subjected the boy to physical and sexual violence amounting to torture, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

“Israeli forces routinely subject Palestinian child detainees to systematic ill-treatment and torture following arrest,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program Director at DCIP. “These latest allegations are a particularly disturbing reminder that Palestinian children in Israeli custody are vulnerable to all forms of violence. Israeli authorities must immediately investigate these allegations that amount to torture.”

DCIP maintains that all children must be entitled to have a parent present at all times during interrogation, as well as have access to a lawyer of their choice prior to interrogation and throughout the interrogation process. DCIP demands that all interrogations of children must be audio-visually recorded.

When he was detained on January 13, the boy was already subject to house arrest following a previous arrest in November 2020 and was scheduled to appear in court that day.

Upon arrival at Al-Mascobiyya interrogation and detention center, the boy was forced to sit in a hallway bound and blindfolded where he was subject to physical violence by those passing by, according to documentation collected by DCIP.

“Every two to three minutes, someone would come by and slap, push, punch, or kick me,” the boy told DCIP. “I kept silent and never said anything. I did not know what was going on, but it was painful and tiring.”

He was eventually brought into an interrogation room. “A man came to the room and told me his name was Captain Kamel,” the boy told DCIP. “He kicked me and punched me while shouting and saying I should tell him what I did. Whenever I told him I did not do anything, he would beat me harder. He threatened to shock me with electricity, but I told him I did not do anything.”

The boy alleges the individual then knocked him to the floor while blindfolded and raped him with an object, according to documentation collected by DCIP. The individual threatened that the sexual violence would continue unless he confessed to the allegations against him.

The boy was then made to stand against a wall, where the individual inflicted extreme pain on his genitals. “There are no words to describe that moment,” the boy told DCIP. The Captain subsequently threatened the boy, telling him that the physical and sexual violence would continue if he told his lawyer what had occurred.

Around 15 minutes after the incident, Israeli forces transferred the boy to another room where he met with a lawyer for about five minutes. Then, he was taken to a room where a man in civilian clothing introduced himself as an Israeli interrogator. The boy was interrogated for almost four hours, during which he experienced verbal abuse and was forced to sign papers written in Hebrew, the content of which he did not understand, according to information collected by DCIP.

With his court session adjourned for four days, the boy was detained in a room with four other children for three days. After that time, he was again taken to an interrogation room. He was interrogated for approximately four hours, at the end of which he was again forced to sign papers in Hebrew. The following day, January 17, he was released under the terms of house arrest pending another court session at a later date, according to information collected by DCIP.

“What he did to me was very oppressive and humiliating,” the boy told DCIP. “I want this house arrest to end because it is exhausting. I want my life back. I want to leave the house and see my friends.”

Palestinian children in East Jerusalem are prosecuted in Israel’s civilian criminal legal system, not the Israeli military court system, due to Israeli authorities’ unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem, a move unrecognized by the international community. Palestinian children living in East Jerusalem are generally subject to the Israeli Youth Law, which theoretically applies equally to Palestinian and Israeli children in Jerusalem. However, evidence collected by DCIP clearly demonstrates that Israeli authorities implement the law in a discriminatory manner, denying Palestinian children in East Jerusalem of their rights from the moment of arrest to the end of legal proceedings.

Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system are overwhelmingly subjected to widespread and systematic violence and ill-treatment, according to documentation by DCIP. Between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2019, DCIP collected sworn affidavits from 752 child detainees, describing their arrest, interrogation, and detention experiences. Of these, 72 percent were subjected to physical violence and 61 percent to verbal abuse. Less than one percent were threatened with sexual violence; however, sexual violence amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment are known to be underreported by child detainee survivors.

A 2015 study on sexual torture by Israeli authorities found that the sexual torture of adult Palestinian male detainees by Israeli authorities is systematic, and includes verbal sexual harassment, forced nudity, and physical sexual assault.

*The boy’s name is known to DCIP but is not disclosed here due to privacy concerns.

MSNBC & Fox News Join Forces To Smear Pramila Jayapal Following CNN Interview

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal is facing smears from both Fox News and MSNBC following her appearance on CNN this past Sunday.

I was going to do a video but maybe tomorrow.

Ron is still struggling with his leg, and today I needed to order my morphine. Florida is so regressive that you can not use any pharmacy computer system to refill morphine, which is a drug so old it is one of the most researched drugs of all time, but you must personally call in the refill on the right day and then pick it up on that day.

I called it in and from the fact that I got sent right away to the over fill call line instead of the actual pharmacy, which happens a lot because Walgreens is so understaffing and over whelming their store staff. They take the information and then transfer me to the pharmacy of the store I go to, which is just down the road. I wish they would just let the phone call go through to the store I use, as I then have to repeat every thing again.

So several hours later I get the notice the drug is ready, so I go in to get it. Then the first of many things happened that will stay with me. I am waiting in line as a woman is complaining that batteries for her blood pressure cuff wear out too soon and are far more expensive than she can afford. I understand that. But the person behind the counter while understanding can not change the price for her.

So I take the time to explain to her about lower cost rechargeable batteries and recharges that are reasonably priced. She keeps complaining while putting back five different packages of large numbers of batteries. I explained she needed to make sure the rechargeable batteries and the charger were the ones she needed for her blood pressure machine.

Then I step up to the counter, the person behind the counter who was a single mother who I am friendly with as I am almost all the pharmacy staff, simply because I am patient and care about them. She already had my morphine package ready, so I asked if she had a good day off yesterday and how her son had enjoyed the holiday. She rolled up her sleeve and her entire upper arm was bruised and swollen. I immediately became concern and asked her about it and if she was OK. Remember, I worked in an ICU and our concern was always if a patient felt safe at home.

She started to tear up, her lips trembling as she struggled not to cry. Now my entire focus was on her, fuck my morphine. She said it was her son. Now I was totally focused and concerned. I asked her if she was OK, if she felt comfortable talking, or if she would rather not tell me. She replied that her son has mental illness. I told her is she wanted to talk about it, I was here and would listen. Sadly, as she was thanking me, other people stepped up in the line behind me. She sadly shifted to her duty.

I talked to her as she processed my payment. Gave her my thanks and told her she was wonderful, and again if she needed something she had my contact information and “I gave her permission to contact me with it”! The last was important and with in hearing of her coworkers. I am serious, she could contact me and I did not want her in trouble for doing that. So after she thanked me, I left.

I went to the grocery story next door to get a few things. I won’t bore you with the stresses in there. But the most important thing is not the people I talked to in the store, but what happened after I put my stuff in my car, put my cart away, (I am disabled and some days need a walker to walk, but it pisses me off the people who just leave carts in parking spaces or in such a way they hit or will be hit by other cars. Several weeks ago I got so pissed at a woman who was clearly able-bodied who after putting her groceries in her car, left her cart next to my car almost touching it. I had been about to back out, but instead got out, walked around to the passenger side, walked up to her door looked in at her, then took the handle of her cart she left there, and put it in the space for them nearby. All while showing her I was walking with a cane. I then returned, looked into to her car, made an exaggerated shrug motion, and got back into my car. She backed out and left, never even acknowledging the event)

As I was about to open my car door when an elderly woman pushing a cart with a few things stopped almost behind my car. She and I were in direct sight. She was very elderly, had very white hair, had very white pale skin, with bright red pouches under her eyes. She had her left hand up to her brow and was moving it back and forth. By my dogs that love gravy, I was immediately concerned.

Mam’m, are you OK, I asked as I turned fully to her. She stood there a moment wiping at her brow and then turned to me and in a shaky voice said “Oh I am so tired, I am just very tired”! Oh crap, alarm bells are going off in my head. She then went on to say she was going home to rest.

Long story short, which my conversation with her was not. She rambled on about how she lived along but her brother was with her now. Oh, visiting I asked as I said I understood how having other in your home could be disruptive? Nope, and then came 20 minutes of the brother being a long haul truck driver and every part of the rest of her life for the last few years. I went over to her, again trying to assess if she needed assistance or not. She seemed in her senses, she knew what was going on, what year it was, the president, and she just wanted to talk it seemed. But she kept repeating she was very tired. I kept asking if she needed help, was there someone I could call for her. Nope she was not far from home she just wanted to tell me she was very tired, about her brother staying at her home right now, his job, her home, her other stuff.

As far as I could tell she was OK, but yes tired. But really only wanted to talk to someone, even a stranger in a parking lot of a grocery store. I must have talked to her for 20 minutes. My own legs had gone numb and I was leaning hard on the car. I really was stumped what to do, I had nothing I felt would raise red flags for the store if I asked them to help her, and I really felt she was just really lonely. So lonely she was willing to tell her story to a stranger who asked her if she was OK in a store parking lot. I was torn, but my own needs were screaming at me. So I said OK then, if you are sure you’re OK and don’t want me to call anyone or get the store to help, I need to go home. She said her goodbyes, happy weekend and pushed her cart forward.

When I got home, I talked to Ron. He really is the medical person, he spent nearly 20 years in ICU’s giving medical care. He told me I did everything right, I assessed her as best I could. He asked more detailed questions on her skin, her stance and other things I really couldn’t answer. He told me that as she seemed in her right mind, competent and did not ask for help, I really couldn’t have done more. Still I worried. Then I got angry. This old woman lived alone for a long time, she told me, that is why the brother visiting caused her issues. Why is the US so damn hard on older people who are alone? The wealthiest country on earth, number 1 In the GNP and military might, and a little old lady is standing in a parking lot telling a stranger how very tired she is. Hugs. Scottie. And now I am going to bed!

Democrats who swept Moms For Liberty off school board fight superintendent’s $700,000 exit deal

https://apnews.com/article/moms-for-liberty-pennsylvania-superintendent-fdd5dcecd0c8649bc73c09c76c769f17

The haters seen the writing on the wall and wanted to give a lot of money to one of them that helped them foment hate and harm to the LGBTQIA kids in schools. Because protecting kids was never the goal, doing the best for schools was never the goal. It has always been to promote and enforce their religious fundamentalist right wing views on students. And they will be back, that was the point of such a huge payout. To make others see the profit in harming the LGBTQIA kids. Hugs. Scottie

This image taken from video shows Superintendent Abram Lucabaugh and Board President Dana Hunter preside over a Central Bucks School District meeting in Doylestown Pa., Nov. 15, 2022. Democrats who swept out a Moms for Liberty majority on the board are challenging Lucabaugh’s last-minute $700,000 exit package. (AP Photo)

BY MARYCLAIRE DALE

Updated 12:26 PM EST, November 22, 2023

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania school board that banned books, Pride flags and transgender athletes slipped a last-minute item into their final meeting before leaving office, hastily awarding a $700,000 exit package to the superintendent who supported their agenda.

But the Democratic majority that swept the conservative Moms For Liberty slate out of office hopes to block the unusual — they say illegal — payout and bring calm to the Central Bucks School District, whose affluent suburbs and bucolic farms near Philadelphia have been roiled by infighting since the 2020 pandemic.

“People are really sick of the embarrassing meetings, the vitriol, they’re tired of our district being in the news for all the wrong reasons. And … the students are aware of what’s been going on, particularly our LGBTQ students and their friends and allies,” said Karen Smith, a Democrat who won a third term on the board.

The district, with about 17,000 students in 23 schools, has spent $1.5 million on legal and public relations fees amid competing lawsuits, discrimination complaints and investigations in the past two years, including a pending suit over its suspension of a middle school teacher who supported LGBTQ and other marginalized students.

The jostling — and spending — look likely to continue as Democrats who won a 6-3 majority in the Nov. 7 election prepare to challenge the severance package for superintendent Abram Lucabaugh, which was added to the Nov. 14 agenda only the night before.

Meanwhile, several voters in the quaint town of Chalfont filed a court petition Monday challenging the school board election tallies, alleging unspecified “fraud or error.”

Student Lily Freeman, a vocal critic of board policies on LGBTQ issues, decried the district’s spending priorities. She called the severance package a bad deal for both students and taxpayers.

“It’s kind of like a slap in the face,” said the senior at Central Bucks East High School. “Teachers are struggling, and there’s a lot of students that are struggling.”

“There are so many resources out there that we could be putting that money to,” she said, noting her school desperately needs better WiFi.

Neither Lucabaugh, who skipped the final meeting, nor outgoing board president Dana Hunter returned calls for comment. School board solicitor Jeffrey P. Garton said he was not involved in the severance agreement.

“I didn’t prepare it and gave no legal advice concerning its content,” Garton said in an email.

Some of the incoming Democrats tried to warn the outgoing board that the payout violates a 2012 state law designed to curtail golden parachutes bestowed on school superintendents, including one that topped $900,000. The law now caps severance pay at a year’s salary, along with limited payments for unused sick time and other benefits.

“The particular circumstances in this case are even more egregious. The board gave Dr. Lucabaugh a 40 percent salary increase (to $315,000) in late July of this year, making him the second-highest paid school district superintendent in Pennsylvania, and is now using that increase less than four months later to calculate a severance payment,” lawyer Brendan Flynn, who represents them, wrote in a letter distributed to the board before the vote.

Lucabaugh’s package includes more than $300,000 for unused sick, vacation, administrative and personal time during his 18 years in various roles with the district; $50,000 for signing the deal; and health insurance for his family through June.

The package also includes a puzzling ban on any district investigations of his tenure and an agreement that he can keep his district-issued laptop as long as he wipes it of school records.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage nixed that last provision on Friday when he ordered Lucabaugh, a defendant in middle school teacher Andrew Burgess’s retaliation suit against the district, to preserve documents that may become evidence in the case.

“It’s hard to imagine a lawyer drafted that contract,” said Witold “Vic” Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, who represents Burgess. “No lawyer would think that a school board could insulate an employee from any kind of of court action or criminal investigation.”

Freeman, the high school senior, declined to revisit the threats and sense of danger she said she and her family have endured as she took on the board the past two years. However, her forceful public remarks at last week’s meeting, posted to TikTok, have drawn thousands of views and comments.

“It was never about protecting kids. It was about erasing people like me from Central Bucks,” she told the board last week as it voted to make students play on sports teams based on their gender assignment at birth. “You continue to make policy after policy preventing people like me from just living our lives.”

On Monday, Freeman said she’s hopeful the tensions will ease under the new board: “I feel as if we shouldn’t have to worry about a lot of these things if our needs are being met.”

MARYCLAIRE DALE

Dale covers national legal issues for The Associated Press, often focusing on the federal judiciary, gender law, #MeToo and NFL player concussions. Her work unsealing Bill Cosby’s testimony in a decade-old deposition led to his arrest and sexual assault trials.

Jonothan Michael Dewey

Jonothan Michael Dewey …

I wish I had a way on your blog to express both my sympathy and my anger at what happened. I wish so much you would allow comments. But if this is the only way to show sympathy and anger at what happened, then so be it.

I want so much to give each of you peace and justice. But what I want is not going to happen any more than I can imagine what you wanted to happen, did. In truth, I really wish, with no documentation, you could have your wish. I know I would hate to know of the result, but something inside me says you are owed that. Hugs. Scottie

Biden Defends Israel’s Raid On Al-Shifa Hospital

The important thing to note is that Israel built the complex under the hospital when they controlled the area decades ago. Yes they knew the tunnels were there because they built them. If Hamas is guilty of working from a hospital, then why is Israel also not guilty of the same damn thing. Even if there was an entire battalion of Hamas fighters there, it doesn’t give Israeli military / government permission to do wholesale slaughter of civilians. Israel wants to keep being the aggrieved person who lost less than 1,400 people to violence when they have committed war crimes against 11,000 people, a third of them children. You can not wipe out an idea and feeling with military aggression. Israel is simply fostering the next generations of people angry at them for killing their families. How does any of this help peace? Hugs. Scottie

President Biden is asked by a reporter about the situation at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, and claims that Hamas committed the first war crime there by establishing operations within that hospital. Biden also claims that he’s been informed that the Israeli military brought in incubators and are allowing hospital personnel to leave.

Meanwhile, Human Rights activist Huwaida Arraf posted on Twitter screenshots from a report in Tablet about how Israel is so certain about the bunker and tunnel under Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza because they contributed to building it 40 years ago in 1983.