Meet Lavender - Weaponized A.I.

Meet Lavender, weaponized A.I. used by the government of Israel, developed in part in U.S. prior to A.I. being loosed on the public online as a parlor game several years ago.  If you are already acquainted with Lavender, maybe take the opportunity to refresh the connection based on what you may not have known.  It's elder sibling "the Gospel" and younger sibling "Where's Daddy", are briefly mentioned, in a +972 Magazine article, from 2024. 

Many people remain unaware that between 2005 and 2023, the R&D, plus field testing of the A.I. prototypes (at least in part), all were during and cause for the numerous attacks on the people and infrastructure of Gaza, within that same time frame.  That was in addition to the field testing of a variety of other weaponized technologies, including Israel's Iron Dome technology funded by U.S., and illegal use weapons there had been agreement to ban after WWII. 

The Lavender-type A.I. technology used as a weapon has long been in use on top of Israel's wall, in particular the wall that years ago contributed to turning Gaza into an open air prison, more frequently than not, as the repeated attacks on Gaza increased while R&D field testing of weapons used Gazans and the infrastructure of Gaza as targets.  Gaza since 2023 has been a televised genocide - flaunted, actually, by a lawless rogue nation, and its supporters (largely that means U.S.A. and its relentless Security Counsel vetoing). 

Lavender type A.I. technology was used to do extensive and repeated field testing damage to Palestinian lives in Gaza to prove its effectiveness, prior to 2023 by which time its use was already firmly entrenched.  During the R&D and field testing, again and again there were repeated attacks on  Gaza, as recovery work was progressing to remediate the previous damages (except for remediation of the loss of life).  The initial iterations of all three technologies were likely the prototypes tested in wars and numerous attacks on Gaza after 2005, onward,  from which "the Gospel", Lavender, and "Where's Daddy" all arose to become A.I. technology used as weapons.

From AlJazeera, "Five Israeli wars have been launched on Gaza since it disengaged from the enclave in 2005, aside from smaller incursions and bombing raids.

Before October 7, Israel said its policy was to 'mow the lawn' – attempts to degrade Hamas’s military capabilities by indiscriminately bombing Gaza every few years."

Defense is one thing.  Offense as the best defense is an entirely different circumstance, especially when propaganda presented as "intel from a  friendly nation" (so the story goes that U.S. buys into) has been believed, which pertains to the U.S. place in the Lavender story. 

The lack of veracity of information repeatedly provided to U.S. by Israel, well known to be an untrustworthy source of supposed "intel" that has been verified propaganda, oftener than not,  has been repeatedly proven through the decades.  Yet it is still denied by people who should make it a point to know better, like U.S. Congress who habitually approves military funding to Israel, knowing full well it is up to no good in the ways the funds are used. 

Who can forget the yellow cake hasbara fiasco associated with attacking Iraq, known from the start to be a bogus claim according to U.N. inspectors.  Lavender is a more recent clear example about the use A.I. was planned to be put to by the Israeli government to indiscriminately kill Palestinians.  Either that, or U.S. knowingly participated in collusion with Israel to intentionally create an A.I. weapon to be used in the genocide on Palestinians in Gaza.  

It is beyond belief that anyone  would be willing to accept that children, including toddlers and infants, are "low-ranking [. . .] potential bombing targets" (the +972 Magazine article, again), based on data about people living in Gaza that is fed into Lavender which has been programmed to determine innocents are enemies that should be killed!  Believing that is acceptable remains a fools errand for those still willing to be mislead about how A.I. was planned to be used as a genocidal weapon by Israel.

Perhaps being unaware of Lavender as an A.I. weapon is a matter of people simply not being able to comprehend the extent of evil that has been responsible for the damage that it is Lavender's fault for doing, right?  And that means people in the U.S.A., not only people in Israel, because our nation was instrumental in the R&D, field testing, and funding of the Lavender-like A.I. prototype projects, initially, that were installed on Israel's Wall.   Additionally, what shouts "taxation without representation" to the American people louder than that,  regarding the repeated funding Israel's demands that are without a moral compass?

Having been aware of U.S. involvement in the initial development of the A.I. weapons or not, it remains the responsibility of the American people to collectively put an end to U.S.A. cooperating with creating and funding Lavender-type A.I. technologies as weapons of war on Earth.  That is  especially vital when it is known from the start, in this case, they were intended to be used to destroy the lives, homes, and infrastructure of innocent people in Gaza, by testing A.I. weapons on them, then eventually using them as weapons of genocide on people in Gaza.  

Imagining that the excuse of preparing for war with Iran by creating those weapons could have been used by Israel to justify to the U.S. the killing of Palestinian people who the government of Israel has proven it considers are throw-aways, at its discretion, simply because they are Palestinian.  That is the height of what has become many crimes against humanity.  It is almost beyond imagination the U.S. would buy into cooperating with that excuse.   However, given the bizzarre and illegal rogue actions of the U.S. the past year and a half in particular that are without a moral compass or legal standing, and with the government of Israel having been trying to drum up support for its long dreamed of war with Iran so stated, repeatedly, throughout the decades, unfortunately it is not beyond imagination.  All the Israeli government needed to do was find a stooge that would buy into starting a war with  Iran, for Israel - which of course was always intended to be one of the U.S.A. administrations. 

The responsibility of we, the people, because of our own government not representing our own peoples' and nation's needs, first, continues to require a concentrated effort and push (or swift kick as the case may be) from the American people.  In this case  it is a require that our government put in place needed regulations with strict oversight, plus the will to enforce the problem of A.I. technology being  created to be used as a weapon, a for-profit weapon that has been  used for unjust illegal attacks on innocent people.  An underestimate in February 2026 of Israels damage, is the deaths of 75,000 between October 2023 up to the end of 2025, as reported by AlJazeera.  The count has held relatively steady since that time, of course with no end in sight yet, for a more realistic  update.

It is unforgivable that the use of Lavender AI technology escalated into a genocide, in which many crimes have been  acknowledged as crimes against humanity.  Those include the bombing of the hospitals, schools, and place of worship; the intentional killing of medical personnel, journalists, aid workers or arresting of those folks without charges for the purpose of torturing them in prison. Holding and torturing of prisoners remains  an ongoing crime, as are the continuing death by IDF of Palestinian people, still being reported on a daily basis - all aided by the rogue use of weaponized A.I.

U.S.A. needs to stop cooperating with what the government of Israel wants to dictate it must do for Israel.   Lavender is only one of many proofs, in one of the worst ways.  As usual, it is a "follow the money trail" issue to get to the root of corruption in U.S.A. and defang it because for-profit corruption and on-going criminality is at the foundation of what has additionally expanded into a damaging unregulated A.I. problem. 

Aguilar Interview Reveals Rampant War Crimes at Gaza Food Distribution Site

Thank you Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, and retired Colonel Anthony Aguilar, for the interview: I watched this Monday morning 28 July when it was only an interview with Aguilar, before final editing, entitled Former Green Beret Who Worked at Gaza Food Sites Reveals Rampant War Crimes.

Credit to the Palestinian people on the ground in Gaza who have been reporting this from the start, including via their phone videos as it happens; also medical personnel, aide folks, and journalists who have also been reporting the same which they have personally witnessed.

Additional verification from an articulate retired soldier may reach people who - unfortunately - might not choose to believe what is said by anyone else who diverges from the false narrative coming from the Israeli government and its supporters in our nation.

Some of the needed answers to questions that arose in an earlier brief TikTok from Aguilar, that circulated, are answered in the interview.

This is the brief description of the episode at the Democracy Now! YouTube channel:

As more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid at militarized aid distribution sites run by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a former GHF security contractor tells Democracy Now! he saw U.S. mercenaries and Israeli forces commit war crimes by indiscriminately shooting at starving Palestinians waiting for aid. "What I witnessed in Gaza, I can only describe as a dystopian, post-apocalyptic wasteland," says Anthony Aguilar, a retired U.S. soldier who worked as a subcontractor with UG Solutions in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid delivery operation. "We, the United States, are complicit. We are involved, hand in hand, in the atrocities and the genocide that is currently undergoing in Gaza."

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. (It's live streams can be viewed at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET.

A subsequent short video excerpt,  IDF Shoots Boy Moments after Receiving Aid from US Soldier is posted at OnePathNetwork on Instagram where Aguilar talks about a horrendous experience - a child having been shot almost immediately after he had touched Aguilar's soul, grateful for the food he had been given. It is accompanied by OnePathNetwork's following comment (if the video does not link it may be necessary to search at that profile):

Amir did not just “die”. He was killed by the IOF

IOF Shoots Boy Moments after Receiving Aid from [retired] US Soldier In a heartbreaking moment shared on a recent podcast, a [retired] US soldier recounted a scene that continues to haunt him from his time stationed at the GHF aid distribution point in Gaza.

Amir, a frail child, barefoot, walked 12 kilometres under the sun to reach the distribution point. He only received a handful of rice and lentils from the ground. He approached me, kissed my hand, and said: "Thank you." Minutes later, as he was leaving with the rest of the civilians, the Israeli army fired gas and bullets, and Amir was killed on the spot.

Scenes like this are not isolated. Aid distribution centres in Gaza have become death traps, where more than 1,050 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access food, many deliberately targeted with tear gas and live ammunition by Israeli forces and American private security contractors.

The lies and hypocrisy about what has been reported by Israel, are both different than the actual intentional harm being done (i.e. killing people, including children). Lies and hypocrisy are  part of what u.s.a. soldiers swear an oath to defend our Constitution against, thus defending our rule of law nation and people empowered with democratic process by our constitution.

Soldiers serving, and veterans, alike, are able to recognize what is and is not an illegal order, and are expected to be wary of illegal orders while serving - especially those given by "contractors" (exemplified by the Abu Gharib crimes), and by people in the military of other nations. Our people are well aware of what is illegal according to both UCMJ and u.s.a. laws,.

Good thing u.s.a. troops are not "officially" involved in the GHF front for murdering Palestinians to whom food is being distributed, unless they are there allegedly "distributing food" on personal tourist visas for the purpose of accompanying the IDF (as "tourists" - referencing the Democracy Now! interview above) while they kill Palestinians who are trying to survive picking up the food being distributed.

Dual citizen u.s.a. Reserves who are American Israelis and called up to serve by Israel in  the IDF should not be following those orders either because of being Americans. Otherwise they should be prepared to stand trial (IF they return to U.S.A.) for the crimes they commit as u.s.a. citizens and/or as service members - if they are still serving in the u.s.a. reserves too.

The same should long ago have been applying, also, to dual citizen American Settlers living in oPT who are routinely killing Palestinians, destroying their crops and homes.  And it should apply to all u.s.a. civilians who are there on tourist visas when they commit crimes.

The sane hard-line being taken by Canada is a good example for our nation to follow.

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Gaza

 I want to encourage the reading of an excellent Jamal K Kanj op-ed: "Why would six Israelis receive more attention than 41,000 murdered Palestinians".  While reading the op-ed it brought to mind watching Israeli people trying to debate and justify the torturing of Palestinian prisoner hostages.   Whatever other evil that brings to mind it also seemed to shout "White Messianic Superiority".   The Israelis  passionately trying to support those crime are clearly promoting abject hate.  And it also looks like they embody little or no traditional Semitic heritage and culture that has long been common to all the indigenous Palestinians, regardless of their religious belief.  

Knowing the origin of the majority of the early immigrant Jewish refugees (Russians from the Ukraine from the 1800s, onward, due to the anti-semitic pogroms), and the most recent immigrant refugees to Israel  (Ukrainians in the past few years).  The hate that motivates that debate seems to  indicate those particular folks do not embody the semitic culture of all indigenous Palestinian (of all religions and ethnicity).  Does that indicate those  imagining that torture is acceptable and debatable are either  1st generation immigrants to Israel, or the children of 1st generation of immigrants, and/or the descendants of the early quasi-religious political zionist zealots from Europe?

To be more clear, and very clear, I am not suggesting that problem exists in the indigenous native Palestinian demographic of Jews, Christians, and Muslims living in Israel and oPT, today or in the past.   However it does seems quite clear it is a problem that has thrived and grown through the generations which arrived with the immigrant refugees who already were, or shortly after were converted into zealous political zionists by the political zionist leadership when it arrived in Palestine shortly after WWI to create a "Jewish Liberation Army" in Palestine.  In fact there was nothing about the lives of the demographic of indigenous Jewish folks of Palestine from which they needed to be "liberated" divisively - politically or religiously - from the rest of the indigenous Palestinian population.  The Jewish Palestinians who did not want to cooperate with the violent "liberation" effort of the political zionist leadership were manipulatively extorted, which resulted in their cooperation.

As a result of current events, and history, reading the op-ed also causes wonderment  about how the quasi-religious zionist cult of "White Messianic Superiority" in Israeli, is  different than the quasi-religious cult of the supposedly surreptitious white supremacist "White Christian Nationalist" cult in U.S.A.?  I suggest they are near  identical, and that Israel's quasi-religious cult is as far removed from actual Judaism, as America's is far removed from actual Christianity.   If that collusion does not shout Fascism and more specifically the neo-Nazism of modern times, then I don't know what does so, more clearly..

I have come to the undeniable conclusion that the establishment of  Israel was/is a huge false flag long-term Nazi endeavor that preceded and promoted the rise of WWII Nazism; that the establishment of the political zionist state of  Israel was intended to attract as many Jewish folks to one place as possible to make it easier to victimize a huge number of them all at one time.  That was the actual intent of the anti-semitic Christian Zionists in the early 1800s who preceded and promoted secular Jewish political zionism that required 50 years to manifest.. 

All the quasi-religious efforts to use religion to justify what religion does not condone, for which  political zionism is notorious, always intended for the first victims to be the Jewish demographic.  Those folks were not religious scholars for the most part, so were able to more easily buy into the zealous pushing of the political zionist ideology by it's leadership. The same demographic, in these time is also seemingly the  the last to know the creation of the zionist state was intended to make victims of Jewish folks - all at the genocidal cost, also, of the indigenous Palestinians of every religion.  

Those leaders created and participated in the terrorist gangs in Palestine that engaged in the massacres of villagers which started the Nakba in April 1948 - the catastrohe and "exodus" of non-Jewish Palestinians from the region the political zionist terrorists wanted for a Jewish only nation.  The non-Jewish Palestinian people had been told they would be killed if they did not leave their homes and land behind that were in the territory the political zionist leadership (by then terrorist gangs) wanted.  The lightning speed massacres of people in numerous villages proved that.  A month after the largest massacre, in April, which resulted in the catastrophic leaving behind by non-Jewish Palestinians of their homes and properties imagining they would be able to return, that same political zionist terrorist leadership declared Israel to be a nation, and peopled the first government of Israel.  The descendants of some of those folks are still peopling the government in a seemingly inherited quais-royalty way. 

Clearly, the very creation of the rogue nation of Israel was based on a genocidal intention and series of actions targeting Palestinians.  Rogue nation, because the partition was intended to be peacefully negotiated - to resolution.  However, the political zionist leadership wanted the first draft in December 1947 of the partition to be the final draft.  That resulted a series of massacres in Palestinian village (though there had been a series of systematic massacres prior to that also) and the decision of the terrorist leadership to forcibly declare the territory they wanted as a Jewish only nation which they did in May 1948 - to prevent further negotiating of the partitioning of Palestine.  However, that did not entirely put an end to the efforts to negotiate - until the same terrorists (by that time the Israeli government leadership) assassinated the chief negotiator of the partition, in September 1948.

That same demographic of Jewish folks who were not religious scholars in those times, is also seemingly the same demographic these days - and the last to know the creation of the zionist state was intended to make victims of Jewish folks - all at the genocidal cost, also, of the indigenous Palestinians of every religion..  

What else could account for the Israeli leadership choices consistently between then and now, being so far removed from the values of the religion of the indigenous Jewish Palestinians, if not "white messianic superiority" of the European immigrants?  Even non-Jews know better about Judaism  than the  cult of the  Israeli government that professes and superimposes  the political zionist ideology on the Israeli people - which promotes atrocities that of course are antithetical to Judaism.  

From the start it has been the indigenous Palestinians (Muslims, Christians, Jews . . . ) who have been made to pay for all the crimes of that collusion of ideological cults that manifested and continues to be supported in Israel, predominately by the same so-called "Christian" and "Jewish" ideological political cults in the U.S.A. and Britain.  It is also at great cost to the people of U.S.A. and Britain, whose taxes are primary supporting the genocidal Israel political cult and it's genocidal citizenry. It is no mystery that the majority of Israeli adults embraces genocidal hatred of Palestinians, given there is a universal draft of 18 year olds.  They are drafted to embody and engage in abject hate, that is encouraged to genocidally target Palestinian people.  The full extent of that cost has yet to be comprehended by the majority of  citizens in U.S.A. and Britain.  Whether or not people elected and appointed to government positions are as unaware as the citizenry, or as corrupt as the political zionist collusion, likely depends on the number of people who buy into the ideology of political zionist white supremacy who are serving in our government. 

There are numerous tales of people who have been shoved out of office in our nation by the illegal Israeli lobbies (i.e. which are not registered as foreign agents) because so many are dual citizens of Israel and America, but always put Israel first when making decisions *for the American people* especially if they gave up their Israeli citizenship to be able to serve the U.S. government for the benefit of Israel.  As hard as our legislators in the Israel First camp try to convince themselves and everyone else in our nation that what is good for Israel is good for America - it simply ain't so. 

There remains a concentrated effort of the Israeli lobby to people the U.S.A. and British governments with those who are political zionist zealots, which has resulted in any means to an end efforts to replace legislators who do not want to cooperate with what Israel wants from our government.  The Israeli lobby is well-funded and throws money and perks into the political arena to get different people elected when the ones who have been elected do not want to cooperate with the Israeli lobby.  Those are the least offensive and least criminal methods employed.

Cynthia McKinney's story is a textbook case.  She refused to be silenced by the bullying and badgering of the Israeli lobby, and those who bought into that lobbies maligning of her about everything except Israel - because she would not cooperate with how the Israeli lobby wanted her to vote, in favor of Israel.  She was not the first nor the last person that happened to, but one of the more recent people who did not remain silent about the manipulative efforts, because she is among the folks who  stood up for what was best for our nation, and called out the manipulative, corruption, bribery,  extortion, and harassment  applied to persuade people in our legislatures to cooperate.  As a result the Israeli lobby put a full out effort with any means to an end in the 2002 election to support an opposing candidate who the party was also "persuaded" to support.  And of course as part of that entire debacle, the retributive political zionist Israeli lobby continued to malign Cynthia McKinney.  Even so she was elected again.  However, there was a continued concentrated effort to derail and harass her. 

Agree or disagree with her politics, views, opinions about collusion, she has never been afraid to ask the hard questions, to explore "sensitive" issues for the purpose of needed debated (in part sensitive because of the risk of ill-intent coming to light that would also implicate those who had chosen to cooperate with the ill-intended).  She knew what needed to be talked about and had the courage to state an opinion, whether or not other folks were willing to explore the issues more deeply that she brought up because they needed a closer look. When she brought up known collusions (which were not widely known) because of the need for further inquiry, there was always a concentrated effort to silence her and label her a conspiracy theorist when she was standing up for the best interests of the people of Georgia and the American people. 

Cynthia McKinney was a force of nature while she was serving in government.  She refused to be silent so that other folks could be comfortable about the status quo which needed to be questioned.  And lest it be forgotten , or perhaps never known, pertinent to present times, she was an early supporter of the international Free Gaza movement, which again resulted in active clashes with the political zionist machine, which included armed attacks by Israel on ships taking supplies to Gaza.  Israel prevaricated about the attacks. She has since earned her Ph.D. and has never stopped working for the best interests of the American people. 

Like I said above, hers is a textbook case about which there is much to be learned about both all the good she has done for our nation, and AIPACs discomfort with and targeting of Cynthia McKinney for being honest, not being silent about injustice and corruption, putting our nation first, and for not remaining silent about Israel's victimizing of Palestinians.

In U.S. the combined Christian/Jewish quais-religious political cult and collusion, of what appears to be primarily "white supremacists" exemplified by the political zionism of the Israeli government,  is totally antithetical to our Constitutional separation clause that protects religion from government and government from religion, while insuring individual freedom of worship.  That alone should raise the question of what looks like unconditional support from our nation, for Israel, at high cost to we, the people, when is in support of a nation that functions antithetically to it's claimed religious allegiance, and wants us to to violate our Constitution regarding our separation clause - is actually dedicated to that end.

I am very angry at all of the criminal conniving - in particular the corruption of our U.S.A. government's support by the political zionist state, no matter which administration, given that they have all promoted, supported, and financed it for relentless decades, while participating in the government of Israel's long-term hypocrisy, truth twisting, lying, and cheating, plus all the associated crimes of the myriad of false flag attacks (that are oh so obvious, yet elude the comprehension of so many, as intended).  Our legislative branch makes a career of ignoring those.

More recently there is absolutely NO excuse for the concentrated development of spreading the Gaza-like genocidal atrocities into the rest of oPT, also, from where most of the Palestinian prisoner hostages (including Palestinian children) originated long-ago, and have continued to originate without cause and without charges during the Gaza genocide.  Along with the ongoing genocidal actions in Gaza,  today's invasion of Jenin, still on going, is the most recent genocidal action targeting Palestinians in the rest of oPT.
 
As usual - there must be a disclaimer to fend off claims of a debate being valid about the fact that the political zionist Israeli government is targeting Palestinians with a genocide.   There is no debate.  A genocide has actually been occurring for many decades, based on the agreed upon International Law  legal definition of genocide to which Israel and most of the world's nations are signatory.  The  instances of the Israeli government's genocidal intent and actions simply have not been saturating the media through the decades.  And as many of us know they have intentionally been kept out of the media, moreso in U.S.A. than in Israel.
 
If you have not already done so, do read Jamal K Kanj insightful op-ed: "Why would six Israelis receive more attention than 41,000 murdered Palestinians".

The Unresolved Mandate of Palestine: Three Realities, Two Solutions

There are three realities created by the unresolved Mandate of Palestine, and two solutions which have been on the table for decades without either having been fully negotiated.

1. The unnegotiated Partition of the Palestinian Mandate, is the reality of the nations of the world which has yet to resolve the final boundaries of the partition.  It has been recognized as the legal  reality by the nations of the world for 75 years.  And it is known as the "The Two State Solution".  

2. The reality of the Palestinian people living in what the Israeli government has said is  "disputed territory" due to the unresolved Partition, is the brutal deadly martial law in the Apartheid Reserve/Reservation system Palestinians have lived under since 1967, for five generations, the very youngest being the start of the sixth generation.  The Palestinians living in the Apartheid Reserves are not citizens and have no rights.  It is the actuality.   And it is known as "The One State Solution".

3. There is also the reality of the Israeli people.  Their government denies both solutions, and will not negotiate either the legal reality that is the brutally deadly "Two State Solution" or the brutally deadly  dysfunctional actuality of the Apartheid "One State Solution".  And in its denial the Israeli government continues to blame and kill Palestinians with it's illegal relentless continual 75 years of betrayal through deceit and every form of fraudulent corruption it has used as an excuse to target Palestinians in their own land.  The Israeli reality is the basis of the "any means to an end" ideology of political zionism which is the foundational structure of their Israeli government.

In other words, in actuality the political zionist government of Israel has repeatedly betrayed the entire world of nations with its deceiving corruption by violating agreements, UN resolutions, the 4th Geneva Conventions, International Law, agreements to which is it signatory with conditions it has not  honored.  Of course the worst betrayal and harm has been the intentional victimizing of Palestinian refugees since 1948 (for 75 years) who have also been the target of Israel's very active brutal, deadly, illegal abuse since 1967 (for 55 of those 75 years) which is a very long list of violations.  It includes the atrocity of several genocidal attacks on Palestinian people, with the most frequent genocidal collective punishment (for being Palestinian) being indiscriminate killing of thousands of  people in Gaza.

It is a special type of betrayal the Israeli government perpetrates on the Israeli people.  Increasingly more people, worldwide, have been eventually realizing it is not possible, in good conscience, to remain silent and deny the relentless violations and crimes that have been occurring.  Increasingly more Israelis have realized the violations and crimes are a betrayal to Judaism, themselves, Palestinians, and the nations of the world, many of whom have trusted and loved the idea of the myth of Israel without having questioned the obvious contradictions, or relentless betrayals by the Israeli government.

The  people most overwhelmed by the 75 years of betrayal by the government of Israel when the actuality of it penetrates their consciousness, are those who have been accommodating it the longest until they finally start questioning what has been happening. Then they realize they have either been supporting it out of an  unconditional loyalty and  trust, or in ignorance, based in both cases on Israel's misleading hasbara which its staunchest political zionist cheerleaders outside of Israel also perpetrate.  When those who start doing their own research to prove people wrong who they want to believe are unjustly criticizing the government of Israel, then they increasingly feel betrayed as they  find that the context which was provided by people who they wanted to believe, was wrong and the actual facts having nothing to do with anti-semitism. 

Bogusly claiming anti-semitism, has long been the government of Israel's go-to response to all who speak up with bona fide facts about the fraudulent betrayals of the Israeli government - without a word of blame directed at Judaism or Jewish people.   Neither all Jews nor Judaism can not be blamed for the atrocities of the Israeli government.  The government of Israel has also made a bad habit of abusively targeting people everywhere in the world  in any way possible who refuse to be silent about the government of Israel's intended ongoing victimizing of Palestinian refugees in their own land.

Seventy five years  is too long for the world of nations to accommodate an overwhelming burden of denied betrayal by the government of Israel that not only has been directed at Palestinian refugees in their own land, but also anyone who speaks of the government of Israel’s long-term ongoing brutal betrayal to Palestinians in their own land.  It is also a betrayal to Israelis, and all the people of the world who at one time loved the idea and myth of a modern day Israel for what they believed it was, and had the potential to be without doing harm to anyone.

ethically reprehensible egregious hypocrisy

"Coalition of Holocaust Museums Condemn Russian ‘War Crimes’ in Ukraine" is an article about "An open letter signed by 17 Holocaust museums worldwide equates Russian violence to 'Holocaust by Bullets,' when Jewish people were 'shot and buried in shallow grave' in Ukraine in WWII"

Ethically Reprehensible

It truly is an ethically reprehensible attack.  It is surely reminiscent of WWII in Ukraine, and of the holocaust of the pogroms targeting Jewish people in the 18th and 19th centuries in Ukraine.  That earlier genocidal holocaust, as a reflection of anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe at the time, resulted in a huge influx of Jewish refugees from Ukraine being allowed by the Ottoman Empire to settle in Palestine which was part of that Empire at the time, even though the Ottoman's were at war with Russia part of that time.

Notice how the term "genocide" is carefully avoided in the article.  It was used days ago, in an earlier article.  Someone commented that to be considered a genocide requires more time.  That is not necessarily the case according to the internationally agreed upon definiition of genocide. That previous comment draws attention to the change in the current newer narrative from an Israeli news paper, even though the inference is genocide.  The intention is for others to claim it is genocide, instead.

Let's Be Clear

War is not necessarily genocide, even though it is almost always a holocaust.  

A holocaust that occurs during an armed conflict,is sometimes also a genocidal attack because of intent, without the armed conflict being a series of armed conflicts like war is.

Intention looms large in the agreed upon international definition of genocide:  "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group"

WWII was a genocidal holocaust.  So were the earlier pogroms in the "southern and western provinces of the Russian Empire" i.e. Ukraine with a large Jewish population then and now. (see "Pogroms")

Egregious Hypocrisy

As many are rightfully pointing out, the coverage of the attacks is also egregious hypocrisy, regarding the ongoing slow, long-term genocide of Palestinians in Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT); moreso because of the extension of sympathy of the Israeli government to the Jewish folks in Ukraine, although this particular article does not exclusively focus on only Jewish folks in Ukraine.

Many are asking where the coverage is of the genocide and holocaust in oPT - ongoing for over 70 years.  I am not expressing an opinion, one way or another, in referring to what continues to be oPT until or unless the genocide succeeds and/or all of oPT (with or without Palestinian people) is annexed and one nation is recognized.  I am pointing out the hypocrisy of media coverage about oPT which magnifies the egregiousness of the holocaust attacks everywhere - pertinent to the media bias being pointed out here, in oPT and in Ukraine.

For over 70 years the Palestinian people in oPT have been  targeted with a genocidal intent, as defined by the five acts specified in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Article II.  Intent and actions recognized as genocide have been openly and arrogantly stated many time throughout the past 70+ years and mirrored by actions. 

Because of being slow but consistent for over 70 years, the genocidal (because of openly stated intent) attacks and violence perpetrated on Palestinians in oPT, are not necessarily recognized as a  holocaust, although the devastating military attacks in Gaza during the ongoing long-term genocide of Palestinians in oPT have all been genocidal holocaust attacks - as part of a series of genocidal attacks.  So too was the rampage of 9 April 1948, 74 years ago, known as the Deir Yassin Massacre at the start of the war that was intended to claim all of Palestine, only ~four months after the recent, at that time, partition of Palestine 29 November 1947 

It is way past time for media coverage, after 74 years, about the long-term series of ethically reprehensible genocidal attacks on Palestinians in oPT.

                                         -30-

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Article II

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:

    a.  Killing members of the group;
    b.  Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
    c.  Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
        physical destruction in whole or in part;
    d.  Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
    e.  Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Loopholes in Our Laws That Do Not Prevent Torture

We are not responsible citizens as long as we allow loopholes in the imprecise ways some of our laws are written, so they do not actually support the spirit of the protection we want to believe has been enacted by laws that are being enforced.

Our nation has to stop doing, through creating loophole laws, what we collectively want to believe has been made illegal for our nation - for good reasons.  In this case, a problem that has recently been reported is one of many schemes throughout the years that has found our nation, once again, to be financing what we believe is illegal and being enforced - like extraditing people to other nations to torture them with our own people participating in the torture, or managing those who do the torturing; like financing animal experiments in other nations that torture animals.  We need to make the financing and participation in torture of people and animals, anywhere, illegal for citizens and permanent residents of our nation - and of course within our nation also for people who are not here legally, since the extent of that problem continues to loom large and laws apply to all living in our nation.

Clearly, our laws do not cover all the bases.  Unfortunately, what they do is create loopholes that, as too many laws are intended to do in some way or another, allow ways to violate because of not being precisely articulated to prevent the abuse.  Of course the result fools our own people as our nation slides further into the abyss of double-standard hypocrisy because of loophole laws designed to hide the hypocrisy of violations.  People in other nations are not fooled as easily.  They increasingly connect our nation to becoming more and more hypocritical and untrustworthy in contradiction to our nation's stated values, principles, ideals, because they experience our hypocrisy in their own nations to which so many of us seem oblivious.  We continue to believe are laws do what we assume they do, and are being adequately enforced.  People in other nations are often aghast that we allow this to happen when we are collectively empowered to self-govern - that is to actively participate in advising those who are elected and appointed to do what we need them to do for the benefit of our nation and other people also.  Truth be told our only effective laws are win-win, not win-lose at the expense of some in our nation or other nations.

Decent law abiding people in our own nation, do not expect loopholes to be built into our laws - in this case laws that make torturing people and animals illegal.  People do not expect imprecise laws to allow our nation to be financing the torture of people it chooses to torture, or to finance the torturing of animals in nations where those violations are not illegal.  People do not expect loopholes in the laws that allow us to pay people of other nations to torture people and animals we ask them to, on our behalf; nor do we expect our own people to be used - contractors and/or military folks - to engage in torture in other nations where torture is legal; nor where it may be illegal, but is overlooked and allowed - for profit that is extended by our nation, or any organization our nation is part of that fiances and participates in the violating abuse of torture.

We can not allow what has become the stress of well orchestrated and well timed perpetual crises, one after the other, to be obstacles that redirect us in ways that  prevent us from doing what must be done.  Laws must be revised so they are not misleading because of  built-in loopholes that do not precisely prevent abuse of the laws we believe exist - which we also want to assume are being enforced.  In this case the laws sound good but apparently do not precisely cover the ways in which people intent on refusing to say "no" to the evil of torture, are allowed to abuse the spirit of the law. 

The reality of the problem is more horrifying for folks who have recently recognized the loophole problem.  However, it is nothing new under the sun in humanities history so why is it a problem and how can it be prevented?  More precisely, how can we prevent it, because it is our collective responsibility to speak up about imprecise laws that allow violations by our nation we can not imagine - can not believe are occurring - until we know otherwise. 

Imprecisely written laws are so common it is near to impossible for some of us to believe that loopholes in laws are unintended by the people representing our wishes who write the laws on our behalves.  Enough of these folks are highly educated and skilled enough in the law and in being articulate, to avoid making space for the built-in loopholes we find in a myriad of laws that allow them to be violated in ways that do not more  precisely outlaw the violations it is in the spirit of we, the people, to want to prevent.

Sources
A few sources which suggest there is little or no effort to outlaw torture.  Although it all sounds civil enough and is better than nothing, there appears to be little or no effort to outlaw U.S.A. from financing, supporting, and/or causing the torture of people and animals in other nations.  After at least 9000 years of history recorded in writing which is accessible, "civil enough" and "better than nothing" is not enough and has not been for a very long time:

1.  We can not be assured of Wikipedia accuracy but the article provides a big picture view:
Wikipedia article:  Animal rights by country or territory

2.  Recent information from the animal protection group White Coat Waste Project:
White Coat Waste Blog 3 March 2022: Breaking: WCW Discovers NIH Pays For Cruel Kitten Experiments…In Russia!

3.  Also investigations from White Coat Waste Project from July 2012:
"The top recipients of NIH funds in 2020 were institutions in wealthy countries, with German and Canadian institutes receiving the most taxpayer dollars sent abroad for animal testing that year. Other major grant recipients included entities in Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Taiwan and Ghana."
Newsweek article:  Zebrafish on Ecstasy and Feeding Mice Human Feces: NIH Hikes Funding for Animal Testing

4. Clearly this bill does not go far enough to stop torturing of animals which it is not intended to do.  It seems primarily intended to manage who does not make decisions and in which nations torturous research can not be carried out that is financed by our nation:
117th Congress (2021-2022) text of H.R.5527: Accountability in Foreign Animal Research Act
"To prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health from conducting or supporting research on animals in certain foreign countries, and for other purposes."

5.  Three links about extradition which only seem to dance around the issue of torture without intention to outlaw it:

Carmichael Ellis & Brock law firm provides a brief synopsis of extradition, to and from our nation, including U.S. Citizens, none of which seems intent on preventing torture by U.S.A. of anyone, anywhere to include U.S.A. citizens:
Extradition from the US

ACLU from 2008:
Documents Reveal U.S. Knowingly Transfers Detainees To Countries That Torture

From CSR Reports, as much detail as anyone might want within the time frame of September 30, 2003 – October 4, 2016:
Extradition To and From the United States: Overview of the Law and Contemporary Treaties (downloadable)

6. Department of Justice website which may be the current Law and Treaties - but is not stated as such.  Reading the entirety of the 9-15.000, provisions may or may not specifically address an intention to outlaw torture:
9-15.000 - International Extradition And Related Matters

Is YOUR Opinion Based on Merit and Character . . . or Something Else?

I have watched a few reports from SKY News Australia - its political agenda seems similar to FOX News, which is not my priority go to news station.  Even so the brief SKY News video, below, about Kamala Harris conveys a lot of useful, though unpleasant, information.

What I understand the American who is being interviewed in the video to be conveying to people in other nations about the people in our nation, and the U.S.A. in general is, those who disagree with Kamala Harris about anything are considered to be racist and/or sexist.

Drawing that conclusion is the same as accusing those who selected her, and accusing her of having agreed to the appointment, because the purpose was for her to fulfill some type of quota because she is Black, Asian, and a Woman; not because of her proven merit, skills, and abilities as an individual.

I see . . . however if that was the case there would have been transparency associating that with her selection. Right?  Am I being sarcastic, here?  Yes, a little, but about the transparency problems of our government, in general.

What the American who was interviewed conveys to me is an effort to blame Americans for being sexist and/or racist when they are not in lock step with the stated views of someone in government who is considered to be qualified to fill the position.  As far as I am concerned if Kamala Harris was not capable of filling that position, she would not have been appointed to fill it by someone who was also appointed to fill that position in a past administration, and knows the responsibilities of it, well.

If anyone wonders who is trying to keep racism and sexism "alive", to give it an increasingly destructive life of it's own, consider that the news interview at the end of the video is representative of the thinking of those who are actively working at doing so.

Who wants to make up the rules that if you aren't a stanch fan of Kamala Harris it is because you are racist and/or sexist? If that isn't YOU, then it must be someone else, right? But who and why?

Live there if you want to, but don't expect me to join you.  It is not good for our nation.  It is also not my own reality - not the one I have been part of working to keep alive and healthy so that it thrives, since before I was an adult - that being the reality that it is the content of character of people that matters most, and how we apply it to the work we do and our personal lives.

We are all entitled to our political opinions without being considered to be racist and/or sexist because of our opinions, when they have nothing to do with race or gender.

The American People and the American Police

There is an article at the Mondoweiss website that is long and worth reading. It is not an easy read, but it is a necessary read:  Israelizing the American Police, Palestinianizing the American People, by Jeff Halper*.  The title says it all, actually.  I encourage it as a "must read" article but it will not be easy.  However, understanding the background it provides is vital for understanding what seems to be a collection of insurmountable obstacles plaguing our nation (pun not intended but it fits).

Although it may seem so, this is not an article that is putting all the blame for U.S.A. wrong-doing on Israel.  But U.S.A. could not do what it does without Israel.  Read on, and you will better understand.

As an American I was "Palestinized" in numerous ways many decades ago which is why I have been pushing back against the "Iraelizing" of our government, since. Of course it also woke me up to injustice in general, and my responsibility to understand how to prevent it in my own nation and elsewhere too, especially when our nation is causing it or supporting it. Standing up to injustice . . .  and living - it is NOT a one man or one woman job, for damned sure!

The Israelizing of our nation has been very publicly showing up in the past several years (for those who were not paying attention to the Middle East until after 9/11).  It seems most evident in the criminal behavior of some in our U.S.A. police forces who get themselves and their entire force in trouble. In earlier decades U.S.A. police were shipped to Israel to be trained. In more recent decades the training is done by Israel in U.S.A., also, or instead, sometimes locally, so an entire police force can be trained. Many may be unaware of that.  Also most of the training is financed by U.S.A. military aid to Israel, from the funds promised in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement between U.S.A. and Israel every 10 years, which provides for well over $40 Billion U.S.A. military aid to Israel every time the agreement is renewed. 

We see some of the most obvious results of U.S.A. military aid to Israel showing up in the militarization of our own police forces, nationwide, which as Halper says is part of the process of creating "the American Security State" with Israel as the model.  The MOU demands that a certain amount of those funds to Israel be invested in military related U.S.A. products and services.  Two examples would be the purchasing of aircraft, and providing militarized training to U.S.A. police forces.  The percentage of the MOU not required to be used on American products and services for Israel's military use, can be put to "military use" in Israel.  But "military use" is interpreted differently in a militarized nation because defense forces, occupation forces, law enforcement, and the population, are all dedicated to the security of a militarized nation which Israel is and has been since 1948.  So any use to which "military aid" is put in Israel is considered to be for "security" - which nine times out of 10 ends up harming Palestinian population in the occupied territories or building housing for immigrants to Israel in Palestinian territory which international law makes illegal. Both Israel and U.S.A. are signatory to agreeing to international law, yet Israel violates it and U.S.A. finances the violating.  Something is very wrong with that picture, but it is fact, none the less.

Jeff Halper's long Mondoweiss article needs to be read. For those concerned about police officers who are committing criminal acts, and worse getting away with it, this article is background - the big picture of how that evolved.  More precisely  how that increased and became more wide-spread, as well as becoming  public knowledge, particularly since the turn of the most recent century - which shows U.S.A. on the way to becoming a "security state".  Divide and conquer is always how the game progresses, and "security" is the name of the game from which, together all the turmoil arises.  Beware.

If you are not already familiar with any of the history in the Mondoweiss article then it will not be an easy read. It is not easy even for those who are already familiar with some or most of the aspects of the big picture that is presents.

However, the understanding provided can shine a light on the way forward, but it requires warrior souls, committed to non-violence. The collective well-orchestrated interrelated dilemmas with which we are all confronted - "the obstacle" - is a dangerous weapon that has gone undetected by too many for too long . . . and it is not painless to learn about it, though much less painful than loosing all of our freedoms if we do not choose to educate ourselves and be responsible citizens who use the rights properly with which we are empowered to "persuade" all aspects of government at all levels, to do right by us - the American people.

As the article makes clear, Israel can can not be blamed for U.S.A. wrong-doing. U.S.A. efforts to move towards dictatorship are responsible.  Governments everywhere will try to do so unless the citizens are empowered by law to stop that from happening. And we, the people are responsible too, for not realizing that is something all governments eventually try to do, at first, in ways that are not noticeable.  They only become emboldened when they succeed at the unnoticeable erosion of our legal rights.  Some of the ways we miss what would otherwise be noticeable can be due to crises being magnified (whether manufactured or real) the intent being to redirect our attention away from government sleight-of-hand wrong-doing so that our attention is consumed with whatever crisis is looming that saturates the media 24/7, and in some cases the lives of most.  This is not our first rodeo as a nation in that respect, but you wouldn't know it.  "Fool me once shame on you.  Fool me twice shame on me", pertains.  Be aware of government policies there are efforts to advance or roll-back when the nation is in crisis. 

The way in which our Constitution was crafted informs us of the danger of government trying to move towards dictatorship, because of the protections and rights with which it empowers us.  However, we are empowered IF and ONLY IF we, collectively, use our protections and rights as we are supposed to do to prevent government from becoming dictatorial.  It's known as collective "self-government" and requires a lot more participation then only voting.  We never know how vital self-governing  is and how much responsibility for it belongs to each and every one of us, until there is danger that confronts everyone. That is a reason we want to elect Representatives and Senators who want to advocate for what their constituents need and want, rather than people who kow-tow to the highest bidder which is not always party politics but instead sometimes, illegally, the wishes of a foreign nation, any and all foreign nations, instead of we, the people  People who do that really do not belong in office representing our wishes, which they do not do.  There is a word for people who do that which some may know.

Israel does play a big part in the dilemma's of the U.S.A. because U.S.A. has empowered Israel to do so - a classic "vicious circle" situation.  The U.S.A. empowering Israel's criminality, is returned in kind by Israel supporting U.S.A. efforts to move in the same direction of government control and abuse (by labeling it "security") as the Israeli government started out with in modern times when political zionist terrorist groups orchestrated attacks on Palestinian villages, massacring the Palestinian people who did not leave - then in 1948 declared all the land of the Palestinian people to be the nation of Israel.  Perhaps the easiest way to truly understand the relationship is to consider that  if U.S.A. and Israel were children in elementary school, we would keep them away from one another because they each influence one another to be increasingly naughty - daring one another toward dangerous collusive ends, type of naughty.  Anyone who does not already understand the meaning of "Israelizing the American police" and "Palestinianizing the American people" will understand after reading the recent history presented by Jeff Halper in his  Mondoweiss article which is vital, at this juncture, for all to know and understand.

*About the author.

The Bungling Chaos Effect of Unpreparedness on Crisis Management

This is not about me, but I can not remove “me”, or anyone else from what needs to be said, so I start with me.  I have never been nor have I ever wanted to be an "I told you so" person.  It has seemed primarily associated with egotistically demanding credit, and guilt tripping others about having been  wrong or not competent enough.  So, even though I am still not willing to be that person on a personal level, I have no trepidation about shining a light on government for falling down on the job, primarily because of political party partisanship, when political parties are obviously corrupt and becoming more corrupt as time passes while the corruption remains unaddressed.  That translates into the political parties  doing what they are doing, through neglect,  to facilitate the development of government tyranny - claiming the entire time the potential for tyranny does not exist, and that they are not exacerbating the potential for the tyranny they deny while contributing to it.  Does the term “cognitive dissonance” come to mind? 

Why is this on my mind?  And why a harsh look at a harsh but denied reality?  Because the process of unchecked increasing corruption is being denied.  I would like to be wrong about this, of course.   I truly would.  Please prove me wrong.  That none of the evidence points in that direction does not make that an easy task.  Consider that each tiny hole which goes unnoticed, in every little brick in the wall between corruption and no corruption, weakens the wall, like the unnoticed start of a cavity in a tooth that weakens a tooth.  It is our job to be vigilant about the tiny little warnings of problems instead of neglecting them, so that we can prevent them from developing into huge problems.  An example was reported in the news this morning.  The really great news is that the cleaning of masks with hydrogen peroxide gas has started - thousands at one time in a few hours!  It is not a recently proven effective process.  However, the news is that it has just now received government approval - probably approval for financing to make scaling possible.  So, it has just been implemented.  One of the people who created the process honestly says they had not considered scaling.  But what was the use if government refused to approve the high value and use of the safe and effective procedure?

Since the battle against CoVid-19 became imminent, then peripatetically started, repeated thoughts of the plagues that we know have decimated populations  periodically throughout human history, have come to mind.  So too does the more recent handling of potential pandemics in Africa which did not become worldwide catastrophic disasters also come to mind.  And perhaps the reason these thoughts come to minds is in recognition of the huge extent of acquired knowledge, skills, and technologies since medieval times  -  health oriented, but also communication oriented, and everything else that makes lives easier and often more hygienic at the same time - all of which have evolved to being reality since plagues ravaged entire populations.  Along with and because of the progress there has also been an evolution of universal common sense that  progress has fostered in populations, worldwide.  This  recognition  gives rise to questions.  Why are we not driven to ask why a culture of unpreparedness and ignorant bungling exists regarding the reality of the current battle with the "enemy" identified as such last year while there was still time to decide when to initiate appropriate preparedness plans?  Why?  Can it be attributed to incompetence or ill-intent, or both?  Did we have preparedness plans in place?  And if not why not?

Another stark contrast these questions shine a harsh light on is why our nation is so quick to provide funds for military combat based on flawed, misleading "intelligence" - supposedly accurate information from supposed "trustworthy" nations considered  "friends" of our nation, even in preference to reliable information from our own people.  Evidence demonstrates our nation has  misplaced trust in some nations which have been hard at work for decades proving they are neither trustworthy nor friends.  It has been ongoing since the armistice of World War II.  It continues to be unconscionable that we fund the battles other nations want to fight which never were ours, but also are not worthy battles because they are motivated solely by greed and control that depend on retributive deprivation of those already in control who were not depriving those who want control, or anyone else. 

Asking these questions  actually demonstrates how far down the road of corruption our nation has traveled given that our nation has become a willingly handmaiden in support of such illogical unworthy battles for which it has allowed other nations to  dictated our participation, including demanding that we take responsibility for engaging in combat which harms others and our own people. Of course part of that demand is the financing of our participation which depends on depleting our nation of funds needed to maintain our own infrastructure and domestic needs.  So these questions also demonstrate how much mistrust of government competency and intentions being on the path to corruption has created, rightfully so, as a pervasive attitude in we, the people.  It can only be understood when we recognize it is a matter of corruption steadily creeping in that has been ignored for decades, like tiny holes accumulating in all the brinks in the wall between corruption and non-corruption which, collectively, eventually creates a point of no return leading to the wall crumbling.  

So I suppose thoughts of instances of “the plague” in millennia past come to my mind as a lesson in stark contrast now that we have now gone to battle, in a world war, on a different level and on a different front with a much more elusive enemy we are united, worldwide, in needing to defeat - at least to manage in ways that prevent ongoing catastrophe.  So why the unpreparedness and bungling as a hallmark of crisis management which, because that has been the reality of response, has also created the foundation for catastrophic disaster that could have and should have been mitigated from the start? 

And why were we not prepared as a nation, as individual nations, to realize the culture of unprepared bungling would be predictable?  Why were we not prepared as nations to minimize disaster from the start?  Why were all our national  agencies not coordinated in the past, and not trained through field exercises (yes, like the military) to be prepared to effectively hit the ground running when/if it ever became necessary to do so? Why?

Looking at how catastrophic world wide disasters have been avoided, even as recently as the past decade, because of the comprehensive ways the dangers were managed and mitigated in Africa, would be one place to find guidance.  Looking to common and effective military logistics for organizational preparedness is another place to seek guidance.  Those who have been elected and appointed to represent the quality of life of the constituent needs and wishes, equitably, of we the self-governing people, need to use their time wisely to give up competitive party partisanship for the purpose of asking one another these question and more.

And as importantly we, the people, need to take our responsibility to direct those we elected and who have been appointed to seek functional solutions through preparedness by connecting with people and experienced organizations that have effectively managed and prevented the problems of unpreparedness, and the chaotic bungling unpreparedness it creates when crises threaten to rise up to confront us, rather than after they overwhelm us due to our lack of required preparedness.

Because government is tasked by we the people to do so for the benefit of all, funded by our taxes, it needs to seek direction from people and agencies which can provide effective good leadership and direction about how to transparently implement preparedness, how to train to be ready to implement effective procedures that work, and how to mandate effective functional coordination through needed oversight.   Government just needs to give the coordinating of that responsibility for success the priority it deserves, then to just do it.  It is not necessarily easy. But it really is that simple.

Still Impeachment Proceedings . . .

I am listening to the closing arguments of the last hearing before the vote on impeachment - or "roman circus"* proceedings as it has become to some of us.

Anyone putting on the news has no choice, anyway, since all other news is not being reported. I consider the "news blackout" to be threatening actually. However, the most immediate problem is that all three of the o.t.a. channels I receive - ABC, NBC, CBS - include a very high pitched squeal that could drive anyone crazy, or at least cause an insufferable headache.

So, I have had to turn off the t.v. and am watching CNN on the computer - without the high pitched squeal - at least without it being so evident. Perhaps it is at a higher frequency on the computer - and/or perhaps somewhat neutralized by other EMF interference of which there is way too much surrounding my immediate environment.

Whatever else is being discussed, I have to doubt the suitability of those serving in our legislative branch if they are not all able to be on the same sheet of music in their understanding of what actually constitutes "a point of order".  Those of us who are not familiar with the rules associated with procedure, particularly "point of order" in the House during an impeachment hearing (which likely constitutes most of the public), are being asked to "believe" one or the other when it comes to who is "correct" about point of order.  Clearly, point of order requests can be valid, and/or they can be intended to be delays and rabble rousing interference with the proceedings.  Both intentions result in the proceedings having a "roman circus" atmosphere.

As I put on the t.v. as Jerry Nadler was speaking.  I thought Nadler's statement about the "common ground" facts that all agree on, was on point.  However, part of what he said set-up what the opposition to impeachment is wanting to focus on as double standard hypocrisy of the impeachment -  trying to use it as an opportunity to try to present credible excuses for President Trumps words and actions that are considered to be violating behavior from a  president - by pointing out corruption of the Democratic party (i.e. made so public during the most recent presidential election). 

The Judiciary person who responded after what appeared to be Nadler's opening statement was true to what has become the bad habit defamation nature and tactic used by the far-left when marginalizing individuals with the intent of preventing their participation in the subject being discussed.  He immediately started attacking the impeachment committee, and leveling many of the accusations onto it that have been leveled at the President as part of the need for impeachment.  In that performance was  an example of what is known as a "Southern Republican" - which is as much of an oxymoron caricature as any I have ever witnessed.

Point is that it is not the impeachment committee which is on trial.  And undermining professional proper impeachment procedures, in an effort to "get-back" at the democratic party for its  corruption in the most recent presidential election, is the wrong time and place for such an effort.  Yes, absolutely I am in favor of putting individuals in the democratic party on trial for that corruption - but an impeachment hearing is not the time and place to discuss the need to do so.

Fact is the Republican party is no less corrupt than the democratic party publicly demonstrated it is.  It has traditionally been less rambunctious in its dishonest clever efforts to be corrupt.  And of course the corruption of the Republican party during the Nixon era was also spoken of, which still is not the time and place for the two parties to be pointing the finger of corruption at one another - corruption for which both are guilty and need to be accountable in appropriate time and place.

Do I think President Trump has done something right?  The fact is that all presidents are remembered for what they have done wrong.   And impeachment proceedings are also not the time and place for an accounting of what Trump is considered to have done correctly, because impeachment is about what he is considered to have done wrong.  Do I think President Trump did something wrong?  Yes, I think he has done a lot of things wrong, foreign and domestic, primarily targeting specific demographics in our nation to verbally attack; also targeting demographics internationally through  establishing foreign policy that put teeth into his verbal attacks.  Has he put teeth into his domestic verbal attacks on specific we, the people, demographics?  Given the legislation he has put an end to I can only say yes - especially because of those regulations and laws that are associated with protecting everyone from toxic pollutants in our environments.  Putting an end to regulation of, and protection from pollutants of our air, water, and soil (which also means weather patterns, and food are affected), compromises the quality of life of all demographics, some of which are being directly and specifically targeted more than others but which ultimately also results in pollutants in those environments eventually moving beyond those environment which are first being targeted.

I do not know all the president has followed through with, domestically, in support of his verbal abuse targeting of some demographics because given that I refused to vote for either presidential candidate in the election, I have been trying to not pay a lot of attention to the "roman circus" our government has publicly become.  And even though I am not an advocate of apathy which prevents people from being the responsible citizens we are all supposed to be, I do not feel guilty about maintaining my own sanity by ignoring the damage and potential damage that saturates the news reports which are associated  with someone I did not vote into office, given I also did not try to put the other candidate into office either. 

The most recent presidential election was another turning point into blatant in-your-face corruption in our nation's history, which we still may be able to turn around.  So, rather than become stressed out by the current reality, I have been putting my energy into hoping the next different administration will be an improvement, and into hoping that we, the people, are willing to be serious about providing good choice candidates of good character who are willing and able to actually do a good job of being president instead of succumbing to either the appearance of promoting self-interest or the promoting of self-interest, both of  which undermine our nation.  Not only my hope, but the hope of we, the people, for the next presidential election depends on the parties not indulging in corruption, again, to force their candidates into office through lying to and cheating we, the people.

The way I see it, private citizen Donald J. Trump - that is wheeler dealer, skating on the edge of ethical and going over the line too many times, Donald J. Trump - can not successfully use his "managing business" methods as president.  They are undoubtedly considered to be violating to many and offensive to many more, although they are not illegal in the way they are when President Donald J. Trump uses private citizen Donald J. Trump's methods to get what he wants as a president.  Doing so makes him a violator, as president, which becomes valid reason for impeachment proceedings.  The private citizen methods he uses to get what he wants, as president, are considered to be an abuse of the power of his office when he uses them as president.  It is easy to understand that is a serious problem for our nation.

The only other comment I want to make about what is considered cause for impeachment  is that we may never know if President Trump's intentions are good because of the obtuse, dictatorial, verbally abusive ways he publicly tries to force his intentions rather than to successfully use our system of government, respectably, as it is intended to be used to bring about desired results.  Yes, I do believe the legislative body, and we, the people, need to be convinced the choices and actions of our current president are well intended instead of being violations.  However, the opposition has not been able to credibly make that case. Instead our legislative body has collectively determined President Trump's intentions are questionable enough there is need for impeachment proceedings.

Dictatorial, wheeler dealer, verbally abusive, bull in a china shop, elephant in the living room tactics that are not civil, do not demonstrate good intentions - nor have they ever been considered the hallmarks of good intentions.  I consider the unacceptable situations which have come into existence in our government within that environment, to actually be easy to understand as being unacceptable enough to constitute intentional violations.  The American people do, indeed, deserve better as, by extension, do those nations of the world who are victim to what has become our nation's regressive government, in large part due to our government being enthralled with endless armed conflict.  We do deserve better in what have become the increasingly  painful efforts of we, the people, to collectively, evolve by living up to our nations stated values, principles, and ideals, absent government corruption which, when it exists, limits our ability to collectively do so.

Our system of government is intended to prevent dictatorship and domestic armed conflict through due process which was originally established as a democratic process for we, the people, within our constitutional democratic republic.  It is the system of government we are empowered and entitled to use as a collectively self-governing people.  It is the system which our legislative body is supposed to use properly in their work of representing we, the people.  They have collectively found cause to call for impeachment proceedings on behalf of we, the people.

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*In the third century BC the first roman circus appeared which eventually lead to it hosting gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights. The events became increasingly cruel and fatal to animals and those who were enslaved to provide gladiator entertainment, because of slave status, considered  to be non-persons. The same activities were later hosted in the later notorious Colosseum, commissioned before 100AD, which became so notorious (for persecution of Christians, among others) due to enslaving people to participate in gladiator fights, and be made subject to wild animal combat.

Occupied Palestinian Territory Is Not Israel - at Least Not Yet

Watching the news about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar not being welcome to  visit Israel I'm astounded.  Who started the rumor that they were going to Israel and who believes it?  The stated purpose was a visit to oPt i.e. Occupied Palestinian Territory, i.e. oPt, i.e. Gaza and the West Bank, and Jerusalem, i.e. the remnants currently recognized as Palestine, internationally.

Maps depict Palestinian loss of land over several decades.

The third map from the left shows in green the Palestinian territories Israel took in the 1967 war.

see "The Occupation" at PalestinianPortal.org.

It's not the fault of those who want to visit oPt that they have to enter the West Bank through Israel, or Gaza through Egypt with Israel controlling the entrance/exit, like Israel also controls the Jordan entrance/exit.   It's not their fault the nations of the world did not make Jerusalem an international city, not under Israel's dictates, so that everyone would be welcome and the folks to whom it is an important site for their religions could visit, or any reason other folks want to visit too, given interest due to Jerusalem’s long history.

And who started the rumor that BDS is for the purpose of the destruction of Israel?  Who wants to believe that and why?  Wanting Israel to decide to put an end to political zionist policies that violate international law it is signatory to,  because of the way it manages the occupation, is not about destruction of Israel.  It is about stopping the destruction of the Palestinian people because of the illegal policies of the government of Israel which result in brutality, infrastructure destruction, and death of Palestinian people who live in the oPt.  

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction all together become a system that tightens the screws by peaceful economic means to persuade nations to make necessary changes.  It is not violent and does not advocate the use of weapons and violence to change political policies.  It worked to change policies of South Africa for the purpose of abolishing apartheid when the international community of nations applied BDS to South Africa.  We were discussing how the same needs to be applied to Israel in the early 90s.  It also took decades for the South Africa BDS effort to become organized enough internationally, too, to make a good difference as intended.

Fact is the Palestinian people have a legal right to resist the occupation.  Saying so is not necessarily advocating the use of violence.  It is simply stating a fact to enhance understanding of the choice BDS is.  That bears repeating.  "It is simply stating a fact to enhance understanding of the choice BDS is."  Those who use violence are wrong because it leads to 10 times and more damage being done to Palestinians.  Those who would be tempted to use violence know that, which is why when violence is reputed to be from Palestinians it is often suspected to be an undercover false flag operation of the government of Israel. 
 
Why would Palestinians want to take violent actions that would result in all Palestinians being targeted by destructive policies of the Israeli government, in vengeful retribution?  That the U.S.A. behaves as it believes Palestinians want to invite violence, is disingenuous.  As astute as folks in government can be  about other issues, they can not believably claim total ignorance about Israel/Palestine issues to the extent that the only sources they are willing to believe are those enabled by the Israeli government to spread the hasbara the American media and government want to so willingly buy into and spread as fact.

Are Men Afraid of the #metoo Movement?

Talk about an assumed attitude of privilege which also embraces ageism!  On a news program, today, a young woman was saying one of the negative side-effects of the #metoo movement was that men no longer feel comfortable around young women.  Really?  Really!  I mean Really?!  All I could think was are you sure you don’t want to rethink and reword that comment?

I agree that the #metoo movement has an effect of  making some men uncomfortable because of fearing they could be falsely accused.  Men, in general, do not deserve to have to be fearful because of those in their ranks who are violators, especially those who are serial offenders.  But woman, in general, also do not deserve to be in fear of being attacked by men, because when they do report violations they are not believed so those who violate get away with violating instead of being apprehended. 

The problem is with dishonesty, and an unwillingness and inability to discern what is and is not factual - to the point of denial which results in a lack of thorough investigation.  The only people who do not invite investigation are the violators and those who enable them.  That is a truism.

It is the men violating who are at the foundation of the fear some men have of being dishonestly accused, not the  woman who  have chosen to report violations and expect to be believed to the point of an investigation being mandatory because of reporting the violation.   If there was not so much refusal to believe woman and investigate the violations they report, then there would not be so much fear in men who are not violators. 

And what about men who may not be sure about whether or not they have been considered violators? Well, wondering, alone, makes a statement.  If a man makes an effort to contact someone he may need to find clarity from, then it is a statement which is an indicator of decency, as long as the intention for contact is not intended to be obnoxious and threatening.

Clearly, the refusal to believe woman is associated with the high numbers of violators, and repeat offenders in particular, who  have the power of influencing others to the point that others choose the corruption of enabling the violators and their offenses.  So it is understandable there has been an increase in some  men fearing they could be unjustly accused.  I think that fear is likely to be directly proportional to the amount of women who are unjustly accused simply because they are not believed and their claims are not properly investigated when they do report violations.

The way to minimize fear is for thorough, objective, investigations which are never subject to the corruption of threats and/or  pay-off by violators who claim their careers and lives will be ruined when they are held accountable.  They, and apparently, the mores of our society have been buying into not ruining the lives of violators, and instead condoning the ruining of the lives of those who were violated. 

And of course it must be stated that some boys and men have been violated, and that some people have been violated by same sex violators. It also must be stated that #metoo is not only about sexual assault, rape, unwelcome touching and sexual innuendo in the workplace, but that it is also about harassment of all types in the workplace and everywhere else. 

However,  the issue is about reporting violations which are not believed and not investigated which  becomes a situation that precipitates the fear of  being unjustly accused because of not being believed, and adequate investigation being withheld.  It is the conundrum  of a stereotypical "vicious circle".  In reality logic tells us that the problem is disbelief, and that the only way to alleviate that is to investigate claims until all the facts make evident exactly what happened.  It really is that simple.

What I do not agree with, and what stinks of privilege and ageism in a young woman "of a certain age" who is clearly old enough to know better, is that she said men do not feel comfortable around “young women” - as if older women invited violation, or acquiesced to and wanted to be violated in their younger years - as if they are not still considered potential targets of violation along with anyone else violators want to violate and believe they can get away with violating. 

If it would not come across as sexism and ageism I might say that perhaps part of the problem of fear is actually the attitude of righteous privilege which some young and not so young woman want to assume - those who have not learned the wisdom of extending forgiveness to individuals who give them the opportunity to do so.  When in doubt, extending that opportunity is always the correct choice and the only one which will alleviate fear.

Another Home Grown Terrorist Attack

9 dead in shooting at black church in Charleston, S.C. 
This is brief USA Today coverage in the form of a video and an article.

I feel the loss like everyone else who is offering condolences about the senseless terrorism.  But my anger, for numerous reasons, is currently stronger than my sympathy - admittedly a way of avoiding pain.

Once again the media suggests that a young white guy who opens fire on a group of people has committed a hate crime.  For God's sake what is wrong those whose job is journalistic oversight . . . the editors?  A good reporter will get it right, and if he of she doesn't then a good editor will.   Of course the crime was motivated by hate.  That is a given.  But it is actually a terrorist act.  And the person who commits a terrorist act is commonly referred to as a terrorist.

Apparently the brand of hate that motivated the terrorist was racism.  Notably, the type of heinous terrorist crimes that have too often been perpetrated on Americans by Americans are being committed by young white males, not all of them motivated by racism.  But journalists have not taken it upon themselves to bring that pattern to public attention for scrutiny and debate.

Used to be only Arabs were considered terrorists simply because of being Arab.  That still happens but it has morphed more fully into Muslims being considered terrorists simply because they are Muslim, which covers a lot more territory than simply blaming Arabs for being terrorist because they are Arab.

We all know that if the person who entered that church to kill worshipers had been a Muslim he or she would immediately have been, if not referred to as a terrorist, considered to have most likely had ties to Muslim terrorists as part of a worldwide Muslim plot to terrorize the world - which is the basic unwarranted assumption that has been cultivated politically and in the media, about Muslims in general, for decades.  Never mind that the beliefs of the bad guy Muslims don't bear any resemblance to folks who embrace the character of Islam.   Never mind that so many non-Muslims have no interest in understanding what Islam means to Muslims.  They prefer to imagine and accept the media spin.  A criminal who is Muslim is an excuse for media to try to limit Islam to being the psychopathic criminal's definition of Islam.  It is not considered that the Muslim criminal is trying to blame Islam in an unacceptable dishonest way as an excuse for committing crimes.  Conversely, any criminal not Muslim, or not African American, is considered psychopathic as if "the devil made him do it", like we are being invited to be sympathetic because he had no control over his actions. 

It is past time for that double standard to end.  The less than objective attitudes of media often reflected and perpetrated by too many government officials, are too pervasively damaging for the attitudes not to be recognized as the serious problems they are, nationally.  It does no good to associate perpetrators of crimes with whatever religions they may have chosen, or whatever ethnicities they may have been born into (other than, or in addition to being American).  Doing so merely feeds into what have become overt political efforts to blame entire religions, ethnicities, and races for the crimes of individuals.  Religious, ethnic, and racial labels hung on terrorists only shine a light on the prejudices being perpetrated by media and government . . .  and on the prejudices of whatever industries are currently financing  media outlets by purchasing advertising which in turn buys unobjective prejudicial reporting intended to seem innocuous.

At issue here is the media, once again and still, trying to soft peddle an act of terrorism by a homegrown terrorist.  They want to label it only as a hate crime.  Of course it was motivated by hate.  Again, that is the motivation for most crimes and a given no matter why the hate exists or in what form it is perpetrated.  But what journalists need to report is exactly what it was: an act of terror perpetrated by a home grown terrorist.  We used to be able to depend on the fourth estate to tell it like it is.

Of course the compulsory search for any sort of connection to Muslims surely has already been put into motion; the compulsory searches for addictions, treatment for mental problems, abusive childhood, connection to military service, also.  But what is wrong with the media that it does not refer to the crime as a terrorist act perpetrated by a terrorist BEFORE whatever details, if any, the investigation will lead to as motivation for the crime?  If true to form we are likely to be subjected to overly sympathetic justification for a white boy's "crime" instead of his terrorism.  Is there some unwritten s.o.p. being promoted by government that dictates we are supposed to label terrorism by one of our own a "hate crime" instead?  It seems so.

Journalists do not need to know a person's race, creed, color, motivation or connections to others before labeling the crime and the criminal, appropriately, as a terrorist act perpetrated by a terrorist.  Yet we allow journalists to get away with prejudicial editorializing in place of being objective - and government as well.  What is wrong with us that more of us do not speak up about that problem?

Farooq, who drew my attention to the link, up top, has this to say with much more brevity, about the lack of journalistic integrity:

Black shooter = Gangsters!
Muslim shooter= Terrorists!
Professional shooter = Hero!
White shooter = troubled loner.

Below is President Obama's comment.  He does such a good job of addressing the crux of any issue at many levels.  Here, he certainly speaks my mind as he expresses the sympathy and sorrow that I dare say our entire nation is experiencing.   I truly admire our president for the articulate manner in which he expresses himself on our nation's behalf, particularly when he must comment on another overwhelming sorrowful tragedy.

But I still want to know why a terrorist act is being presenting merely as a hate crime.  Perhaps if we recognized home grown terrorism for what it is and prosecuted it as such the problem would not be reoccurring.

President Obama Delivers a Statement on the Shooting in South Carolina