This is unbelievable. The activity magnet set is called “Civil Rights.” It should have been called “Civil Wrongs.”
Target has since taken the product off the shelves. I almost hope this was made in China; how disgraceful if it was an American product. I mean, how many people look at this during its production?
The username issue has been fixed and I’m hopeful that the issue has been resolved for good. Thanks for waiting it out.
Thank you for reading today's post. Have an InterStellar Day! ~PrP
Your insult resulted from your lack of preparation. The P*/2 have heat-sensitive pits on their extremities. They help them locate each other because they do not have eyes. They also aid in detecting warm-blooded prey like you even in darkness. You asked for this meet-and-greet assignment.
If you expect to welcome new arrivals from the ohust section of the Milky Way, then this can not be repeated. Very few of us have ever met beings from that sector of the galaxy. Their technology needs to be better understood before they will be allowed to enter the M-Gate. Insulting them slows the process of integration.
You criticize without accepting your responsibility for selecting the best candidates for such roles. We asked to be the ones for the m&g assignment. We presented data to show that we were familiar with this species of intelligence, yet we were denied.
If you had greeted them via their vertical light receptors the “insult” would not have happened. They adapt well to different worlds, are highly sensitive to perceived insults and are formidable in battle. Earth would not be a place they should be allowed to explore. They are ectothermic so their suits regulate their body heat. They require a constant heat that boils water on earth. Earth presents an availability of prey suitable for their sustenance. That prey would amount to anything breathing on the planet, including other aliens.
You were denied because you are competing predators. You differ in your feeding habits which are influenced by the amount and type of prey you require for sustenance. That decision stands.
You were allowed on earth because your metabolism is so slow and your ability to digest and use the nutrients from your prey efficiently that you don’t require as much food. It was accepted that your impact upon the human population would be minimal.
That is the one of the few reasons you were allowed to hunt on earth. We non human eaters do not trust you to “M&G” new arrivals as you would probably the checking to see if they should be added to your menu. Oh, and it was not lost to us that the P*/2 have added your species to theirs.
All here know of your resistance to our exploration of your solar systems, so your input here is suspect and you should refrain for entering the conversation.
This topic is closed for discussion here.
Hooray to the Oregon Supreme Court for upholding the will of Oregon voters. I would love to see this law spread to other states and Congress:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/oregon-republicans-banned-ballot-trump.html
Brilliantly read and supported by a court. But don’t count on that bought and paid for SCOTUS to do the same.
Today in black history:
Alfred L. Cralle invented a mechanical device that you know by the name of the ice cream scoop. On February 2, 1897, the 30-year old was granted U.S. Patent #576395.
Fuck the niggers and their month.
Did You Know
There’s a scientific reason for this. Laundry detergent is made up of surfactants, which are compounds that lift dirt and stains from clothes.
The dirt and germs come off the clothes and go into the water. They get trapped in the surfactant and then, when the rinse comes, the surfactant goes down the drain. If you use too much detergent, it can’t rinse out, so the surfactant actually resettles back into your clothes and all of the dirt resettles back into your clothes with it. So more detergent means your clothes are actually dirty.
AT AROUND NOON on the 5 September 1936, a pair of fisherman came across a woman floundering her way through a bog in in Cape Breton, on the eastern shores of Nova Scotia. In the background somewhere was her single-engined Percival Vega Gull aircraft, its nose buried deep in the moss and the peat and its tail sticking in the air. Blood streamed down the woman’s face and black peat went up to the waist of her formerly white overalls: ‘I’m Mrs Markham,’ she told them. ‘I’ve just flown from England.’
Taken to a local farmhouse, the aviator asked for a cup of tea and for a phone. She was directed to ‘a little cubicle that housed an ancient telephone’ built on the rocks, ‘put there in case of shipwrecks,’ she recalled. Over the line she told the operator: ‘I would like the airport notified and could you also ask someone to send a taxi for me?’
Beryl Markham, 33, had just succeeded in becoming the first person to fly non-stop, solo, from Europe to North America. She was also the first woman to fly east-west non-stop, solo across the Atlantic. Heading against the wind and into uncertain weather, it was an audacious achievement, but because she had not reached her intended destination – New York City – she initially considered herself a failure.
Within hours, however, she realised that the world saw it differently. The feat placed her alongside the greats of the golden age of aviation, not least Charles Lindbergh – the first person to fly the Atlantic solo – or Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly the Atlantic (she went east-west, like Lindburgh, with the prevailing winds) or indeed Britain’s Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930.
Congratulations flooded in from around the world. Earhart told the New York Times: ‘I’m delighted beyond words that Mrs Markham should have succeeded in her exploit and has conquered the Atlantic. It was a great flight.’ And a day later Markham arrived in New York where she was feted and given a hero’s welcome – including a motorcade through the city and a suite at the Ritz-Carlton. ‘America,’ she pronounced, ‘is jolly grand.’
Fraud: What are the biggest cons pulled off successfully across history?
Imagine being the Prince of Monaco. You’re kind of struggling financially, you need a cash insertion rather badly. And you need to add glamour to your name. So you throw out your nets in Hollywood, trying to catch yourself a princess. You aim high — Grace Kelly, an Oscar-winning actress and one of Hollywood’s biggest earners.
You then tell her family and Grace that they need to pay for the privilege of marrying into your blue-blooded clan. They bite the bait, and cough up a dowry worth, in today’s currency adjusted for inflation, about 20 million dollars. A huge sum. Hollywood’s biggest upcoming star bankrupts herself to marry you. Because she so desperately wants to be a princess, and live a fairy tale life. Moreso than Grace herself, it’s her family that wants this.
Now you, an obscure European royal leading a tiny nation state, are married to one of the world’s most beautiful and famous stars. Despite being in quite a bit of trouble prior to the marriage, and looking like discount Gomez Adams. And she paid YOU for it.
Kalinka Bamberski, a 14-year-old from France.
In the summer of 1982 she stayed with her mother and stepfather, Dr. Dieter Krombach, in Lindau.
On 9. July of the same summer, Krombach killed the young girl. The next day he informed the authorities that he had simply found Kalinka dead in the morning. The exact cause of death could not be determined during the autopsy, and Krombach got away with the murder. This made Kalinka’s biological father, Andre, go suspicious and do further research on his own.
Although the authorities were unable to determine the exact cause of Kalinka’s death, there were several indications of the original autopsy:
Kalinka’s body had several punctures, fresh blood stains and a “white substance” in the area of the genitalia, as well as undigested food near the neck, which indicated, that she died shortly after a meal.
Andre, who rightly suspected that his daughter had been raped, requested further investigation.
Indeed – this time the authorities discovered clear evidence that shortly before her death, Kalinka had been injected with a drug called “Cobalt Ferrlecit”. It is a substance, that can cause immediate malaise and nausea in a victim.
Andre filed a complaint against Krombach, but the German courts ruled that the evidence was insufficient to support an indictment.
Despite considerable suspicions, Krombach was not charged.
In 1995, however, Krombach was sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter by a French court.
In addition, in a German trial in 1997, Krombach admitted that he had anesthetized and raped another girl with cobalt ferrlecite – the same substance that had been found in Kalinka’s body. Numerous other girls testified that Krombach also raped them with the same drug.
The German judiciary then deprived him of his license as a doctor, but did not sentence him to a prison sentence.
Unfortunately, in 2001 Krombach’s French homicide sentence from 1995 was overturned by the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that Krombach was unable to, to defend his case in the French trial.
Not only the 1995 French judgment was annulled, but all attempts to extradite him to resume the proceedings were also rejected.
For Andre, however, the case was not yet over.
He was deeply frustrated with the failure of the international legal system,.
The could not to ensure justice and so Andre decided to take the right into his own hands.
In 2009 Andre and three other men secretly kidnapped Krombach from Germany, beat him as a diaper and left him tied up near a French police station, so that the French authorities could hold him and enforce the 1995 judgment.
The French authorities and courts ignored Germany’s request to extradite him. On the contrary – they officially brought Krombach to justice again.
After other victims testified that Krombach had injected the same drug to rape them, Krombach was. Finally sentenced to 15 years in prison in October 2011 for manslaughter.
Kalinka’s father, Andre, was sentenced to a suspended sentence for Krombach’s kidnapping.
How do I think about it?
For me, Andre Bamberski is a heroic father who spent 30 years of his life creating justice for the death of his daughter.
Yes, he violated the law – but the refusal to condemn Krombach earlier and the ignorance of all the evidence against him show a clear failure of the international judicial system.
I applaud Andre for his determination and commitment.
In 1856, twenty-three-year-old widow Kate Warne walked into the office of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in Chicago, announcing that she had seen the company’s ad and wanted to apply for the job. “Sorry,” Alan Pinkerton told her, “but we don’t have any clerical staff openings. We’re looking to hire a new detective.” Pinkerton would later describe Warne as having a “commanding” presence that morning. “I’m here to apply for the detective position,” she replied. Taken aback, Pinkerton explained to Kate that women aren’t suited to be detectives, and then Kate forcefully and eloquently made her case. Women have access to places male detectives can’t go, she noted, and women can befriend the wives and girlfriends of suspects and gain information from them. Finally, she observed, men tend to become braggards around women who encourage boasting, and women have keen eyes for detail. Pinkerton was convinced. He hired her.Shortly after Warne was hired, she proved her value as a detective by befriending the wife of a suspect in a major embezzlement case. Warne not only gained the information necessary to arrest and convict the thief, but she discovered where the embezzled funds were hidden and was able to recover nearly all of them. On another case she extracted a confession from a suspect while posing as a fortune teller. Pinkerton was so impressed that he created a Women’s Detective Bureau within his agency and made Kate Warne the leader of http://it.In her most famous case, Kate Warne may have changed the history of the world. In February 1861 the president of the Wilmington and Baltimore railroad hired Pinkerton to investigate rumors of threats against the railroad. Looking into it, Pinkerton soon found evidence of something much more dangerous—a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln before his inauguration. Pinkerton assigned Kate Warne to the case. Taking the persona of “Mrs. Cherry,” a Southern woman visiting Baltimore, she managed to infiltrate the secessionist movement there and learn the specific details of the scheme—a plan to kill the president-elect as he passed through Baltimore on the way to Washington.Pinkerton relayed the threat to Lincoln and urged him to travel to Washington from a different direction. But Lincoln was unwilling to cancel the speaking engagements he had agreed to along the way, so Pinkerton resorted to a Plan B. For the trip through Baltimore Lincoln was secretly transferred to a different train and disguised as an invalid. Posing as his caregiver was Kate Warne. When she afterwards described her sleepless night with the President, Pinkerton was inspired to adopt the motto that became famously associated with his agency: “We never sleep.” The details Kate Warne had uncovered had enabled the “Baltimore Plot” to be thwarted.During the Civil War, Warne and the female detectives under her supervision conducted numerous risky espionage missions, with Warne’s charm and her skill at impersonating a Confederate sympathizer giving her access to valuable intelligence. After the war she continued to handle dangerous undercover assignments on high-profile cases, while at the same time overseeing the agency’s growing staff of female detectives.Kate Warne, America’s first female detective, died of pneumonia at age 34, on January 28, 1868, one hundred fifty-six years ago today. “She never let me down,” Pinkerton said of one of his most trusted and valuable agents. She was buried in the Pinkerton family plot in Chicag
When Frances Perkins was a little girl, she asked her parents why nice people could be poor. Her father told her not to worry about those things, and that poor people were poor because they were lazy and drank. Eventually, she went to Mount Holyoke College, and majored in physics. In her final semester, she took a class in American economic history and toured the mills along the Connecticut River to see working conditions. She was horrified. Eventually, instead of teaching until she married, she earned a masters degree in social work from Columbia University. In 1910, Perkins became Executive Secretary of the New York City Consumers League. She campaigned for sanitary regulations for bakeries, fire protection for factories, and legislation to limit the working hours for women and children in factories to 54 hours per week. She worked mainly in New York State’s capital, Albany. Here, she made friends with politicians, and learned how to lobby.
On March 25th, 1911, Frances was having tea with friends when they heard fire engines. They ran to see what was happening, and witnessed one of the worst workplace disasters in US history. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was devastating, killing 146 people, mostly young women and girls. Frances watched as fire escapes collapsed and fireman ladders couldn’t reach the women trapped by the flames. She watched 47 workers leap to their deaths from the 8th and 9th floors.
Poignantly, just a year before these same women and girls had fought for and won the 54 hour work week and other benefits that Frances had championed. These women weren’t just tragic victims, they were heroes of the labor force. Frances at that moment resolved to make sure their deaths meant something.
A committee to study reforms in safety in factories was formed, and Perkins became the secretary. The group took on not only fire safety, but all other health issues they could think of. Perkins, by that time a respected expert witness, helped draft the most comprehensive set of laws regarding workplace health and safety in the country. Other states started copying New York’s new laws to protect workers.
Perkins continued to work in New York for decades, until she was asked by President Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to serve as Secretary of Labor. She told him only if he agreed with her goals: 40-hour work week, minimum wage, unemployment and worker’s compensation, abolition of child labor, federal aid to the states for unemployment, Social Security, a revitalized federal employment service, and universal health insurance. He agreed. Similar to what she had worked for in New York, her successes became the New Deal, and changed the country and its workers forever.
So while you may not know her name, you certainly know her legacy.
https://jainarayanshistoryhelthspace.quora.com/The-saddest-celebrity-moment-ever-caught-on-camera-1
https://www.quora.com/What-is-Denzel-Washington-famous-for
Robert Smalls
There are some historical figures whose achievements are so great and unbelievable that they read like a script from a Hollywood movie. Robert Smalls is one such figure. Smalls managed to capture an entire Confederate military transport ship by himself and free his family and the rest of the slaves onboard. He then sailed towards nearby Union ships and surrendered. Abraham Lincoln was so impressed by Smalls that it’s thought he contributed to Lincoln’s decision to allow Black soldiers into the army.
If you want them back, then do something more than visit them with 5.??? Earthquakes. Start with 7.2 and take it to 9 and up if they continue to resist.
Best Divorce Letter Ever
Dear Wife,
I am writing this letter to let you know that I am leaving you forever. In our seven years of marriage, the truth is that I have been a good husband to you and I have absolutely nothing from that.
These last couple of weeks have been really hard for me. Your boss told me that you left your job just today and that, well that was the final straw.
Two weeks ago, when you came home after work, you did not even notice that I had cooked your favorite dish, I had a brand new haircut or a new pair of boxers.
You just ate for a couple of minutes, you watched all of your soaps and went straight to bed. The truth is that you don’t care about me, you don’t tell me you love me anymore, and you don’t touch me or anything.
Either you do not love me anymore, or you’re cheating on me, no matter in which case, I have to say it’s over and I’m leaving.
Your Ex-husband
P.S. Please, do not try to find me. Your sister Carla and I are moving to West Virginia together! Wish you the best and I hope you have a great life!
Dear Ex-Husband,
Believe me one thing. Getting your letter really made my day perfect. Yes, we have been married for seven years, but a good husband is completely different from what you have been.
Yes, I watch TV shows, but I do it because the soaps drown out your nonstop griping and whining, but this doesn’t seem to work.
And yes, I noticed your brand new haircut, but the first thing I thought was that you look like a girl. And you know I was raised not to say anything in case I cannot say something nice.
That’s why I decided not to speak about it or comment on your haircut. When you made my favorite dish, you must have gotten me mixed with my lovely sister, since I stopped consuming pork seven years ago.
When it comes to your new boxers, I didn’t comment since you still had the $49.80 price tag on them and I hoped that it was a coincidence that my lovely sister Carla had borrowed $50 from me the same day.
But even after all, I still cared about you and I loved you, and I believed that we might make this work. So, when I got lotto for 15 million dollars, what I did was quit my job and bought us two tickets to Hawaii.
But, by the time I got home you were already gone. I guess there is a reason for everything. I genuinely hope that you will have the life you always desired.
Moreover, according to my lawyer, the letter you sent me ensures that you won’t get a dime from what I got now. So, there is nothing more to say but take care.
Your Ex-Wife – Free, and Rich
P.S. I believe I haven’t told you this, but my lovely sister Carla was actually born as Carl. I hope that is no issue for you.
JOKE;
A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a case of beer, any kind except Schlitz. The bartender says, “What’s wrong with Schlitz, don’t you like it? The man says, “I hate that shit”. Last night I drank a whole case of Schlitz and blew chunks. The bartender says, “You drink a case of any beer you’re going to blow chunks”. You don’t understand said the man, Chunks is my dog.
Did You Know
The queens of black garden ant colonies can live for almost thirty years. Scientists believe that their longevity is the result of the higher expression of genes that are necessary for the repair of DNA damage.
February 8, 2024
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Did You Know
The eagle found on some U.S. currency (silver dollars issued from 1836 to 1839 and Flying Eagle pennies issued from 1856 to 1858) is modeled after an actual eagle that nested at the Philadelphia Mint in the early 19th century. Mint employees named him Peter Jefferson, and upon his death, he was stuffed—he’s still on display at the Mint.
The Sad State Of Affairs When Black Men Stump For Trump
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-black-men-supporting-trump-2024-election_n_65c2c020e4b0dbc806ae8577
White history is full of lies. ‘More People Need to Know About This History’: A Black Astronaut Speaks About Race and Space In the 1960”s.
https://gizmodo.com/more-people-need-to-know-about-this-history
Anytime two or more white boys are together running something you can be assured that it will be racist and fucked up. And they will most definitely lie about any contribution by anyone NOT a white male.
All the tangled conflicts in the Middle East, explained
The Israel-Hamas war has shaken up the Middle East. Who’s on whose side?
The October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza have upended Middle Eastern politics and created an escalating and increasingly complex security crisis that threatens to engulf the entire region.
But these events did not occur in a vacuum. In the past week, Hamas and Israel appeared to edge closer to a ceasefire, even as the US on February 3 launched attacks on Iranian-backed militias in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three American troops at the end of January.
Even prior to Hamas’s attack and Israel’s response, longstanding alliances and regional political dynamics in the broader Middle East were in a state of unusual flux. Major players including Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States are all reconsidering their interests in the region.
What follows is a look at where the region’s various power players — the combatants, those watching from the sidelines, and the groups and countries that fall in between — stand at the moment.
Tier 1: Active combatants
Israel
Goals: Israel’s two primary goals in the war in Gaza are the destruction of Hamas and the release of the over 240 hostages taken on October 7. But there are increasing doubts both from its allies and figures within the Israeli establishment about whether these two goals are compatible — and whether the first one is even feasible.
Prior to October 7, Israel’s main foreign policy priority had been normalizing relations with Arab governments, particularly Saudi Arabia, with whom it shared economic interests and a common enemy in Iran. This process had been supported by both the Trump and Biden administrations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government includes a number of far-right pro-settlement parties, had hoped to do this without making major concessions on Palestinian statehood — a strategy that appeared possible in part because the Palestinian issue had seemingly begun to lose salience for many Arab governments. While Israel had fought several previous wars with Hamas, the group was thought to be contained, and, to a degree, its ongoing rule over Gaza was tolerated and even supported by Netanyahu’s government.
October 7 changed all that, but even as the war in Gaza rages — bringing growing international condemnation upon Israel — Israel has also been locked in an increasingly violent confrontation with Iran-backed Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon. This border presents the greatest risk of the war spreading into a region-wide conflict.
Friends: The United States
In between: The Palestinian Authority
Rivals: Hamas, Iran, and the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” militia groups, particularly Hezbollah
Hamas
Goals: The extremist military group, which originated in the 1980s as a spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood, has a long-term goal of combating Israel. Its shorter-term goal, in launching the October 7 attacks, was to disrupt the process of normalization between Israel and Arab governments and to put the Palestinian issue, which had languished in recent years, back on the global agenda. It has succeeded in the latter goal, albeit at a horrific cost to the Palestinian people, with over 25,000 dead so far in the war with Israel, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. And with some leaders already eliminated by Israeli forces, it’s not clear how much of Hamas will be left in Gaza after the war is over.
Hamas is a longtime rival of Fatah, the party that dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the two even fought a brief war in 2007. But PA officials have floated the idea of the two sides working together to govern post-war Gaza.
Hamas’s political leadership is based in Qatar, which provides it with financial support, and the group has a presence in Lebanon and the West Bank as well. It has received significant financial backing from Iran since the 1990s, but US intelligence agencies believe Tehran had no advance notice of the October 7 attacks.
Friends: Iran and the Axis of Resistance, Qatar
Rivals: Israel, the United States
United States
Goals: The Biden administration has been the staunchest backer of America’s longtime ally Israel during the war in Gaza, providing billions of dollars in military aid and publicly defending the country’s right to defend itself, even as a growing chorus of countries have condemned Israel’s prosecution of the war. The US has also acted as a diplomatic shield for Israel, vetoing several motions calling for a ceasefire in the UN Security Council.
At the same time, as the death toll in Gaza and public criticism of the war in the United States has grown, senior officials, including Biden, have been increasingly willing to criticize Israel’s apparent disregard for civilians and lack of a plan for the day after in Gaza. Biden has also issued an executive order slapping sanctions on West Bank settlers involved in violence against Palestinians, an issue that has worsened since October 7.
Another main US priority has been preventing the Gaza war from spilling over into a wider regional conflict. The US, which maintains a substantial military presence in the region, is leading an international naval coalition to combat attacks by the Houthis in Yemen on shipping in the Red Sea. US troops in the region have also come under direct attack more than 150 times by Iran-backed militias, including a January 28 drone strike that killed three US troops. These counterattacks — which raise the risk of further escalating conflict in the region — could just be the beginning, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan telling CNN on February 4 that “there will be more steps to come.”
Friends: Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Rivals: Hamas, Iran, the Axis of Resistance
Iran
Goals: Since the October 7 attacks, Iranian leaders have publicly supported Hamas, but also made clear they will not intervene directly in the war.
But that doesn’t mean Iran has stayed on the sidelines. Tehran has responded by activating the networks of proxy groups it has built up throughout the Middle East, known collectively as the Axis of Resistance, which have carried out attacks against Israel and US targets. Israel has responded with strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria, including one that killed a senior leader in its Revolutionary Guard Corps in December.
The proxy strategy gives Iran a level of plausible deniability and allows it to impose costs on Israel and the US without giving them pretext to attack Iran itself. Iran seems intent on avoiding an all-out war with Israel and the United States and reportedly pressured the militant group Kataib Hezbollah to call off future attacks after the US suggested it was responsible for the killing of three US soldiers in late January.
Though it has acted mostly through proxies, Iran’s military has launched a few direct strikes in recent weeks, including one on what it described as an Israeli spy facility in northern Iraq and another on a separatist group based in Pakistan, though the latter appeared unrelated to the Gaza conflict.
Relations between the US and Iran have fallen to their worst levels in years, despite a prisoner exchange deal last year and several abortive attempts by the Biden administration to revive the Obama-era nuclear deal. While the US has been careful to avoid striking Iran itself, this is the closest the US and Iran have come to direct conflict during President Biden’s time in office. On February 4, a spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the US attacks in Yemen were “stoking chaos, disorder, insecurity and instability.”
Friends: Axis of Resistance, Hamas
In between: Qatar
Rivals: Israel, the United States, and, traditionally, Saudi Arabia, though relations have recently improved
Axis of Resistance
Goals: Since the early 1980s, Iran has cultivated a network of mainly Shiite militant groups throughout the Middle East. They’ve been employed to attack Israeli and US targets in the region and further Iran’s geopolitical goals, such as providing backing for Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria during that country’s civil war. These militant groups have varying degrees of independence from their patrons in Iran.
The most notable of these groups is Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based political party/armed group which is estimated to have around 20,000 active personnel, a substantial arsenal of rockets and drones, and which fought an all-out war with Israel in 2006. Though Hezbollah proclaimed victory in that conflict, it took heavy losses, as did Lebanon’s civilians. Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israeli forces since October 7, even as its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has stopped short of formally declaring war, perhaps looking to avoid a repeat of 2006.
The biggest surprise of the conflict so far may be the Houthis, the Shia rebel group that currently controls the capital of Yemen. The Houthis were best known for rebelling against their own government in a civil war that began in 2014, which led to a war against a Saudi-led military coalition that has claimed more than 300,000 lives. Since October, though, they have globalized their ambitions, launching missile attacks against Israel as well as against shipping passing through the Red Sea, causing a massive disruption to global trade. The US and its allies have carried out several airstrikes on the group but have so far failed to deter it.
Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq and Syria, most prominently Kataib Hezbollah, have also carried out dozens of attacks on US military targets, including the one that killed three US troops last month.
Friends: Iran, Hamas
Rivals: Israel, the US, and Saudi Arabia, despite recent Houthi-Saudi peace talks
Tier 2: On the sidelines — for now
The Palestinian Authority (PA)
Goals: In the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Hamas’s actions, but that criticism was later scrubbed from the official Palestinian news agency website. It’s a sign of the delicate position the deeply unpopular government in the West Bank finds itself in after October 7. According to a recent poll, 88 percent of Palestinians want Abbas to resign.
Many international observers, including the US government, have promoted the idea that the PA could take the lead in the governance of post-war Gaza. This would present immense challenges, given that the PA is having trouble governing the territory it already controls and would have an immediate legitimacy problem if it took power in Gaza on the back of Israeli tanks. It doesn’t help that the Israeli government itself is skeptical, with Prime Minister Netanyahu ruling out a “Fatahstan” on the strip, referring to the political party that governs the PA. Still, PA officials have suggested they might be up for it, though they have not ruled out including longtime rivals Hamas in their government — which would be another obstacle to Israeli buy-in.
The Palestinian Authority receives funding from the United States, the European Union, and from several Arab governments, though this funding has been reduced in recent years.
Saudi Arabia
Goals: Saudi Arabia has never formally recognized Israel, but it’s been an open secret for years that the two countries have had substantial coordination on security and intelligence issues — particularly when it comes to their shared rival, Iran. Business ties have been growing between the two as well.
Before October 7, the biggest geopolitical story in the region was the possibility of a US-brokered normalization deal between the Kingdom and the Jewish state. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the country’s de facto head of state, was reportedly more interested in a deal while, according to the New York Times, his father, King Salman, interceded to ensure that there would be “significant concessions” for the Palestinians as part of any deal, something that would likely have been a deal-breaker with Israel’s current government. That process is on hold for now, though neither side has ruled out that it could still happen.
For years, geopolitics in the Middle East has been largely driven by tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region’s main Sunni and Shiite powers, respectively, but in 2023, the two signed a deal, brokered by China, to restore diplomatic ties. Even amid the wider crisis in the region, the two governments have continued to hold regular talks.
The Saudis have also called for restraint from the US and other countries in fighting the Houthis, the Yemeni group with which the Kingdom has fought a bloody war for about a decade. That war has been in a state of uneasy ceasefire for the past two years, with regular peace talks between the two sides.
Saudi Arabia remains an important US ally in the region, though relations have been strained over a number of issues including US criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as Saudi Arabia’s refusal to cut ties with Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Qatar
Goals: Though it is also an energy-rich, Sunni monarchy like Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, Qatar has always pursued a more independent foreign policy. As a result, it has often angered its neighbors by doing things like maintaining cordial relations with Shia Iran, backing Islamist political movements throughout the region, and funding the TV network Al Jazeera, which gave notably favorable coverage to the Arab Spring protests that threatened so many Middle East leaders.
Qatar is well accustomed to playing both sides: It hosts both the largest US military facility in the Middle East and the political leadership of Hamas. It was also a major funder of the Hamas-led Gaza government before the war.
The US and Israel have mostly tolerated this dual role from Qatar, seeing it as a useful interlocutor for talks with the group. During the war, Qatar brokered deals that led to the release of hostages last fall and is closely involved with ongoing negotiations over a more long-term ceasefire.
But Netanyahu has recently called Qatar’s relationship with Hamas “problematic,” and it remains to be seen whether the country will continue to be able to straddle these divides.
Egypt
Goals: Egypt signed a historic peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and while relations between the two have never been exactly warm, there are close economic ties between the two. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who took power after overthrowing a Muslim Brotherhood-led government in 2013, also views Hamas (historically linked to the Brotherhood) as a threat. Since Sisi came into power, Egypt has worked with Israel to effectively blockade Gaza and destroy the smuggling tunnels that run under the Egypt-Gaza border.
Since the war began, one of the main priorities for Egypt — which already hosts a substantial refugee population from several other conflicts — has been to prevent a mass exodus of Gazans over the Egyptian border. Relations between Egypt and Israel have been strained by calls from some Israeli government officials to relocate Gazans into Egypt and to put the Gazan side of the border under Israeli military control. The two governments have also traded blame over the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Despite the government’s more ambiguous stance, there is significant pro-Palestinian sentiment among Egypt’s population. That has forced the government to crack down on anti-Israel protests, which can sometimes morph into broader expressions of discontent with the Egyptian regime itself.
The Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have dealt a significant economic blow to Egypt, which brought in $9 billion in transit fees through the Suez Canal last year. But, possibly due to the potential political backlash, Egypt has notably not joined the US-led naval coalition.
Jordan
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, ending an official state of war between the two neighboring nations dating back to Israel’s founding. Relations since then have been peaceful, if frequently strained. Jordan also hosts 2.3 million Palestinian refugees, a fifth of its total population, and officially serves as the “custodian” of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
Since the war in Gaza began, Jordan has been the site of major pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The country’s leaders and the royal family, particularly Queen Rania, have been unusually sharp in their criticism of Israel over civilian casualties in Gaza. Jordan has cut off a proposed energy and water exchange deal with Israel, while the country’s foreign minister has criticized Israel for having “not upheld” its end of the 1994 peace agreement.
Like Egypt, Jordan has made clear it will not change its policy of not admitting additional Palestinian refugees. The country also found itself in the crosshairs of the escalating conflict between the US and Iran on January 28, when Iran-backed militants attacked a base in northern Jordan where US troops had been based as part of the ongoing mission to combat the Islamist militant group ISIS.
“Dragging Canoe, a Cherokee warrior and leader of the Chickamaugas, was born in one of the Overhill towns on the Tennessee River. He was the son of Attakullakulla, a Cherokee diplomat. He was recognized as the greatest Cherokee military leader, and from a young age, he wanted to be a warrior. He earned the name “”Dragging Canoe”” after he dragged a canoe as a young boy to prove his strength to his father.
Dragging Canoe became the head warrior of the Overhill town of Malaquo and fought against white settlers who were encroaching on Indian land. He worked to achieve their removal and planned a three-pronged attack against them. However, the Cherokees suffered heavy losses and were ultimately defeated.Despite many Cherokee leaders arguing against further fighting, Dragging Canoe refused to submit. He established new towns on Chickamauga Creek in the winter of 1776-77 and formed the Chickamauga group, which included discontented members of various tribes.
They fought the 1781 “”Battle of the Bluffs”” near Fort Nashborough and defeated American army troops when they invaded the Chickamauga towns in 1788. As he aged, Dragging Canoe became a diplomat and worked to preserve Cherokee culture and establish an alliance with the Creeks and Shawnees. In 1791, a federation of Indian forces defeated General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory. Shortly after a diplomatic mission with the Chickasaws, Dragging Canoe died on March 1, 1792, in the town of Running Water, one of the towns he had helped to found.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2SD5C0Cvr2/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
What is the most violent town in California?
According to the comprehensive crime index from Safe and Sound Security, the most violent town in California is Emeryville, with a score of 0. The crime index is a measure that evaluates and compares the safety of communities across the United States, based on the reported incidents of crimes per 1,000 residents. A lower crime index score indicates a lower crime rate and a safer community, while a higher score suggests a higher crime rate and a potentially less safe environment.
Emeryville, a small town of about 12,000 people located in the San Francisco Bay Area, has a staggering violent crime rate of 8.00 incidents per 1,000 residents, which is much higher than the state average of 4.4 incidents per 1,000 residents. Emeryville also has a very high property crime rate of 123.93 incidents per 1,000 residents, which is the highest in the state and more than three times the national average.
The most common types of violent crime in Emeryville are robbery and aggravated assault, which account for 5.61 and 1.56 incidents per 1,000 residents, respectively. Emeryville also has a relatively high homicide rate of 0.19 incidents per 1,000 residents, which is higher than the state average of 0.04 incidents per 1,000 residents.
AT&T has put forth a proposal to withdraw landline service from most of the Bay Area, targeting places “where there is a demonstrated voice alternative,” The Mercury News reports.
Another instance in which the white boy says his shit don’t stink:
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to prevent the University of California from renaming the former Hastings College of the Law, which was named after a man linked to the slaughter of Native Americans.
Try naming something after someone who harms their race.
Google is joining Microsoft, Meta and Adobe in supporting a standard for labeling media that can describe who created an image or video, when and how it was created and the credibility of its source, the company announced today.
Why it matters: With Android smartphones holding a 70% global market share and 2.5 billion YouTube users, Google’s move gives critical mass to the industry’s effort to label AI-generated content and combat misinformation.
Why the sudden rush to give China all this new technology?
Many of you travel by the fusion of nuclei. Why not give the secret of this of producing a huge amount of clean energy to one or two states on earth who will share it with their neighbors? It would enable them to switch from nuclear fission to nuclear fusion for energy.
Just because you look like earth chickens doesn’t mean that you are related to them, so you say?
local officials have lauded the moratorium as a success, it initially faced criticism for indiscriminately targeting vendors who were permitted and those fencing stolen goods.
Dozens of vendors accused the city of taking away a critical source of income.
Imagine, demanding the right to sell stolen goods? OSF – Only in San Francisco
The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank is trying to fill 3,600 volunteer shifts by next Friday as part of an effort to receive a much-needed $25,000 donation.
The big picture: Food insecurity is a major issue in San Francisco, where 1 in 4 people who live in the city is at risk of hunger, according to the San Francisco Department of Health, but budget cuts have put the SF-Marin Food Bank in a precarious position.
I say quit feeding these bums, theives, and sons of bitches, then maybe they will go to some other city.
Fires linked to homeless encampments in San Francisco doubled in the last five years, The Standard reports. (SF Standard)
Somebody has the right Idea.
The historic rooftop bar Starlite, which previously achieved renown as Harry Denton’s Starlight Room, has reopened at the Beacon Grand hotel.
Hey, Sweetness, let’s make it a date.
Ever see a UFO? If so, you’re not alone. The San Francisco Bay Area had 32.5 UFO sightings per 100,000 residents between 2000 and 2023, according to National UFO Reporting Center data.
That’s compared to the national average of 34.3 sightings per 100,000 residents.
Why it matters: Discussion and reports of UFOs — or the more modern term, UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomenon) — have been going more mainstream in recent years amid a push for answers from lawmakers and others, Axios’ Alex Fitzpatrick, Erin Davis and Alice Feng report.
Some view UAPs as a national security concern — what people are seeing out there could be experimental craft from Russia, China or other U.S. adversaries.
Commercial and military pilots have also been increasingly public about their inexplicable sightings. That’s a sea change from decades past when pilots who talked openly about such matters were often ostracized.
Details: Anyone can submit a report to the UFO center, but volunteers there work to weed out what they consider obvious hoaxes or false reports.
n August 1999, two teenage girls: JB Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, were found dea-d in the trunk of a car by the roadside in Ozark, Alabama.
They had been r-aped and shot in their heads. The semen collected from the crime scene yielded no positive leads as the DNA was not matched with anyone in the database.
The k-iller, Coley McCraney, who was 26 at the time went back to living his normal life. He even founded a church and became a bishop with children.
About two decades later he was arrested and stands trial for the m-urder of the two girls.
Coley was arrested after the DNA sample collected from the crime scene was submitted to Parabon Nanolabs, a company based in Reston, Virginia. They can predict people’s physical appearance using DNA samples.
After Coley’s arrest, the police collected another DNA sample from him which was a perfect watch with the semen collected at the crime scene.
Caught that nigger for killing two young white girls.
Your attempt to beam up all the passengers and crew of that airline is exactly why you were stopped and banned from this Quad. This is not 1872 when you did that to the Mary Celeste. Humans now have the technology to miss and record their interactions with aliens.
Your complaint of premature action by Y*/` is hereby dismissed. You are banned for 121 years from this Quad.
Damn, today the news says 10,000 Gaza children have been killed. I doubt those figures because they come from Hamas. However, if they are even close to being true, I have to say the IDF, is failing miserably in their duty to Israel. They need to kill way more than 10,000 of those little bastards before they grow up to be the raping, torturing, kidnapping, and murdering savages that make up the adult males of Gaza. Oh, did I leave out the sniffing cowards the males are. They can go out and do their dirt, then return home to hide behind their women and children. I hope Israel sticks to the task of wiping out those disgusting beasts.
I hope you know that your government supported hamas to take control.
Hitler once said, I’m going to leave some ……… a live so the world know why I did it.