A Second Trump Term Scares Me…

This man understands, this person gets it!  Those of us not center, those of us not maga, those of us paying attention to what is happening and see what red states are doing to the LGBTQ+ and how hard they are trying to keep anyone not fully supporting them from voting … Yes we are scared.  We feel all the movement to the future acceptance of people who are different from the main stream, all the rights for black people, all the rights for minorities, all the rights for the disabled, all the rights for the poor, and all the rights that have been gained for the LGBTQ+ are being wiped away with the goal being removing us from public society so that we have no voice in the very country we live.  Welcome to the 1950s white cis straight men in charge society.  Hugs.  Scottie

Own Jones and Israel and Gaza

‘ERASE All Palestinians’ – Popular Israeli Podcasters Claim Most Share Their Genocidal Fantasy

Bad republicans

Some cultists in the caravan were armed.

Last year Texas police were ordered to pay $175,000 for failing to respond to frantic calls from people on the bus.

Marco Rubio, Trump Junior, and Jeanine Pirro were among the prominent cultists who celebrated the attack.

Trump later declared that the FBI should not investigate the attack, saying, “Those patriots did nothing wrong.”

Speak no evil

The childish stupid misogynist shit the right spews.

Keeping Trump’s campaign promises would increase the national debt by $5.8 trillion over 10 years, while Harris’ would cost $1.2 trillion.

She Posts Things of Beauty

Her cooking and home/yard photos are outstanding, her chow-chows are so pretty, and she also does toons:

http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2024/09/blog-post_5.html

Peace & Justice History for 9/4:

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september4

September 4, 1949
Paul Robeson, scholar, athlete, musician and leader, defying a racist and red-baiting mob, sang to 15,000 at a Labor Day gathering in Peekskill, New York.
 
Paul Robeson (at microphone) singing to the Labor Day gathering in Peekskill, New York
The story and photographs of what happened 
Film from that day narrated by Sidney Poitier 
September 4, 1954
The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) organized a demonstration against the H-Bomb in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The PPU dates back to October 1934.

Young Peace Pledge Union members today.
The PPU today
September 4, 1957
Elizabeth Eckford and eight other young Negroes were blocked from becoming the first black student at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Governor Orval Faubus had called out the National Guard to prevent the court-ordered integration of the public schools in the state’s capital.
President Dwight Eisenhower eventually sent in federal troops to guarantee the law was enforced.

Elizabeth Eckford
Read more Elizabeth Eckford followed and taunted by mob, 1957.
A very interesting related story: 
September 4, 1970
Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) began Operation RAW (Rapid American Withdrawal). Over the following three days more than 200 veterans, assisted by the Philadelphia Guerilla Theater, staged a march from Morristown, New Jersey, to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, reenacting the invasion of small rural hamlets along the way.

Operation Rapid American Withdrawal 1970-2005: An Exhibition: 
September 4, 1978
Simultaneous demonstrations in Moscow’s Red Square and in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. were organized by the War Resisters League, calling for nuclear disarmament.

My day shoe shopping plus some news

I forgot to shut off the A/C in the room.  Let me know if it causes too much background noise.  Also we had a thunderstorm during this recording, so you might hear some of it.   Hugs.  Scottie

My morning, my day trying to find sneakers, a few news articles such as Kennedy and chem trails, red states block methane regulations, Israeli settlers attack Palestinians and kill them, steal their homes / land, and think genocide is not a problem.

Justice Department Announces Terrorism Charges Against Senior Leaders of Hamas

Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Defendants Are Senior Leaders of Hamas Responsible for Planning, Supporting, and Perpetrating Hamas’s October 7 Terrorist Attacks in Israel Resulting in the Brutal Murders of More Than a Thousand Innocent Civilians, Including Over 40 American Citizens

NoteThe complaint was unsealed on Sept. 3 and can be viewed here

The Justice Department announced today the unsealing of terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions-evasion charges against six senior leaders of Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The charges relate to the defendants’ central roles in planning, supporting, and perpetrating the terrorist atrocities that Hamas committed in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 (the October 7 Hamas Massacres), involving the murders and kidnappings of countless innocent civilians, including American citizens, which was the culmination of Hamas’s decades-long campaign of terrorism and violence against Israel and its allies, including American citizens. The defendants are either deceased or remain at large. 

“The Justice Department has charged Yahya Sinwar and other senior leaders of Hamas for financing, directing, and overseeing a decades-long campaign to murder American citizens and endanger the national security of the United States,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “On October 7th, Hamas terrorists, led by these defendants, murdered nearly 1200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians. This weekend, we learned that Hamas murdered an additional six people they had kidnapped and held captive for nearly a year, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23 year old Israeli American. We are investigating Hersh’s murder, and each and every one of Hamas’ brutal murders of Americans, as an act of terrorism. The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations. These actions will not be our last.”

“Yahya Sinwar and the other senior leaders of Hamas are charged today with orchestrating this terrorist organization’s decades-long campaign of mass violence and terror — including on October 7th. On that horrible day, Hamas terrorists viciously massacred nearly 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, including over 40 Americans, kidnapped hundreds more, and used sexual violence as a weapon of brutality,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Since that horrific day, we have worked to investigate and hold accountable those responsible, and we will not rest until all those who kidnapped or murdered Americans are brought to justice. Our thoughts continue to be with the families of all the victims of this barbaric terrorist attack.”

“From the moment Hamas launched its horrific attack on October 7, the FBI has been dedicated to identifying and charging those responsible for these heinous crimes,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI has and will continue to relentlessly investigate these attacks on civilians, including Americans. Hamas is a Foreign Terrorist Organization with a long history of violence, and the group’s actions have resulted in increased terrorism threats in the U.S. and against American interests throughout the world. Countering terrorism remains our number one priority, and our work continues.”

“The core mission of the National Security Division is to protect Americans from violent terrorists and extremist organizations like Hamas,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel on October 7 are intolerable, and the Justice Department will not rest in our pursuit to hold Hamas accountable for perpetrating its campaign of terror, death, and destruction.”

“For decades, Hamas and its leadership have dedicated themselves to the eradication of the State of Israel, and to murdering, maiming, and brutalizing anyone — including dozens of Americans — who stood in their way,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “The October 7 Hamas Massacres – in which over 40 American citizens were murdered – is only the latest act of savagery carried out by Hamas. This office has long been dedicated to serving as a bulwark against terrorism, and striking blows against its leaders. Our commitment is clear: if you hurt one member of our community, you hurt all of us — and we stand with all victims of Hamas’ reign of terror. We will bring justice to this terrorist organization from the top down for the atrocities they have committed.”  

According to court documents, Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya, commonly known as Hamas, is a terrorist organization that was founded in 1987, and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the United States since 1997. From its inception, Hamas’ stated purpose has been to create an Islamic Palestinian state throughout Israel by eliminating the State of Israel through violent holy war, or jihad. Hamas also promotes attacks against the U.S. and its citizens and, over more than two decades, Hamas has murdered and injured dozens of Americans as part of its campaign of violence and terror. (snip-More)

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-terrorism-charges-against-senior-leaders-hamas

Israelis erupt in protest to demand a cease-fire after 6 more hostages die in Gaza

Snippets:

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting “Now! Now!” as they demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

The mass outpouring appeared to be the largest such demonstration in 11 months of war and protesters said it felt like a possible turning point, although the country is deeply divided.

Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, further pressured the government by calling a general strike for Monday, the first since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war. It aims to shut down or disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking, health care and the country’s main airport. (snip-MORE)

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-hostages-hersh-netanyahu-29496f50a9b1740bd3905035ffd23052

(Meanwhile, democracy in Israel doesn’t seem to be the system anymore, US Republicans’s statements regardless-) (This narrative runs current to the top. There’s a good feature at the bottom here.)

07.58 EDT

Arnon Bar-David, the chair of Histadrut Labour Federation, Israel’s main trade union which launched the strike, said he respects the decision by the labour court to end the strike at 14:30 (local time) 12.30 BST, according to the Times of Israel.

It reports him saying in a statement:

It is important to emphasise that the solidarity strike was a significant measure and I stand behind it. Despite the attempts to paint solidarity as political, hundreds of thousands of citizens voted with their feet.

I thank every one of you – you proved that the fate of the hostages is not right-wing or left-wing, there is only life or death, and we won’t allow life to be abandoned.

Meanwhile, the newspaper reports that the Hostages and Missing Families Forum encourages the public to continue the demonstrations despite the ruling. “This is not about a strike, this is about rescuing the 101 hostages that were abandoned by [prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu with the cabinet decision last Thursday,” the forum says, referring to the vote by ministers backing the IDF’s continued presence on the Philadelphi Corridor.Share

Updated at 08.11 EDT

07.42 EDT

The labour court’s ruling that today’s strike must end was welcomed by Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.

In a post on X, Smotrich praised the decision to end what he called a “political and illegal strike.”

The Times of Israel reports he said in his statement that Israelis went to work today “in droves,” proving they are no longer slaves to “political needs.”

He added: “We won’t allow harm to the Israeli economy and thereby serve the interests of [Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas.”

06.41 EDT

‘Strike was not as powerful as people expected’ – dispatch from Tel Aviv

Julian Borger

Julian Borger is the Guardian’s world affairs editor

Tel Aviv this morning did not feel like a society about to bring its government down.

The debris had been removed from last night’s demonstration on the Ayalon Highway, the motorway which passes through the city centre, and traffic was moving normally.

Protesters stopped traffic at a couple of junctions around the city but for the most part, the traffic flowed. The national rail line was working, though some buses and light railway lines stopped.

Private companies gave their staff the day off, but it was more in the spirit of some sombre holiday rather than the start of an existential struggle with the government.

Ben Gurion airport only closed for a few hours, and it was announced that the whole general strike would end at 6pm. It is not government-ending stuff.

Travellers line up at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.
Travellers line up at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. Photograph: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

The mood can best be described as bitterly realistic on Hostages Square, the name given to the plaza between the national library and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where hostage families and their supporters gather every day.

“I’m not sure the strike was as powerful as people expected,” said Debbie Mason, a social worker for the Eshkol regional council, the area of southern Israel abutting Gaza.

She made a distinction between what she hoped would happen and what she believed would happen, the latter being that nothing would change for the hostages.

“Unfortunately, there are too many things that are going to obstruct a deal, whether it’s on our side, whether it’s on Hamas’ side, it just doesn’t seem to be in anyone’s interest, that something should happen,” Mason said.

Hostage Square, established in the plaza between the National Library, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Tel Aviv District Court. Buses arrive here daily with youth groups from the kibbutzes, moshavs and towns from the area of southern Israel invaded by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Hostage Square, established in the plaza between the National Library, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Tel Aviv District Court. Buses arrive here daily with youth groups from the kibbutzes, moshavs and towns from the area of southern Israel invaded by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Photograph: Julian Borger/The Guardian

Rayah Karmin, who comes from Mabu’im, a village near Netivot, near the Gaza border, agreed that a one-day strike would change little.

“Only a longer strike will make the people in government understand that the economy of Israel is going to go down,” Karmin, a vitamin supplement salesperson, said.

She pointed out that all the demonstrations and strikes were up against an immovable political fact. If a ceasefire is agreed, the far-right members of the coalition, notably Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, will walk out and the government will fall.

“Smotrich and Ben-Gvir will leave Netanyahu, and then he will be without a coalition, and he will have to go home,” Karmin said. “And he knows that next time he won’t be elected, so he wants to stay as long as he can.”

“Bibi is a magician, a really big fucking magician,” Aaron, a 28-year-old legal adviser in a pharmaceutical corporation, said. He had been out on the streets for Sunday’s mass protests, but he had no illusions about who they were up against.

“If there’s a hostage deal, the government will fall, so they are not interested in a deal,” Aaron said. “What Ben-Gvir wants and what Smotrich wants, they get, because Bibi doesn’t want to go to jail. He doesn’t want to lose power, because Bibi will be voted out in the first election if the government falls.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/sep/02/israel-gaza-war-live-israel-faces-nationwide-general-strike-amid-public-anger-over-hostage-deaths-and-failed-ceasefire-talks