Daily Archives: 15 December 2024

Thoughts of the day 15 December 2024

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I’ve been watching this video and thinking of the road rage incident I was involved in last Sunday. A car driver used his car as a weapon driving deliberately at me riding a bicycle. I wasn’t even knocked off my bike but it could have been much worse. His car had huge wheels, over a metre high. He dented his wheel arch with my handlebars, then was blaming me for the damage. If my handlebars had been an inch or two lower, my forearm and handlebars and the rest of me would have been getting dragged round with his wheel and I would have had life-changing injuries.

The police weren’t interested, I’m lower status than a car driver. The car driver and the police agreed that he has a right to deliberately drive into cyclists. I got arrested for thumping him and his missus. He was stamping on my bike wheel so I thumped him to make his stop. We started fighting, his missus got in the way and I unfortunately hit her too, she was stupid throwing herself in the way to protect him.

I’m getting a helmet cam. If I’d have had one, this car driver driving into me, threatening me, trying to steal my bike and stamping on my wheel would have been recorded. You should be wearing a helmet if you ride a bike. Get a cam for it.

8/5/25 This car driver deliberately ran into me then took my bike saying that he’s stealing it – that’s happened to me before in road rage incidents.

I’m not certain that him driving into me was caught on CCTV but the rest of it should be. The police can say that CCTV didn’t exist of course as they often do.

I stayed about 8 metres away for about 20 minutes. He then started stamping on my bike’s back wheel as he was calling the police. I wonder why he was calling the police – cyclist not being adequately deferential and respectful to him? I think that I can be heard on the police recording “Get off my bike cnut <smack of a thump in the face>. I only intended to smack him once but he retaliated and we got into a fight. I started winning because I’m a fit cyclist. His missus got in the way to save her husband. I’m fighting and his missus gets in the way … I smack her. It’s all over.

Policeman wasn’t interested in my account and I was arrested. The police claimed that there was an independent witness but I would demolish that so-called independence in seconds. Police were happy to arrest and prosecute me for smacking him and his missus (assault) despite him stamping on my bike wheel for no reason without any provocation apart from hatred for cyclists. Police are not willing to prosecute him for using his car as a weapon (assault, possible motoring offences), chasing me down the road (assault), stamping on my bike (criminal damage) just because he’s a cnut.

Continue ReadingThoughts of the day 15 December 2024

77 House Dems Call for ‘Full Assessment’ of Israeli Compliance With US Law

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Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Palestinians carrying empty pots line up to receive meals distributed by charity organizations in Khan Younis, Gaza on December 13, 2024.
 (Photo: Doaa Albaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Lawmakers told the Biden administration they are “deeply troubled by the continued level of civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering in Gaza.”

As Israel continues to decimate the Gaza Strip with American weapons, 77 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives this week demanded that the Biden administration “provide a full assessment of the status of Israel’s compliance with all relevant U.S. policies and laws, including National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20) and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act.”

Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) spearheaded the Thursday letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, with less than six weeks left in President Joe Biden’s term.

Since Biden issued NSM-20 in February, his administration has repeatedly accepted the Israel government’s assurances about the use of U.S. weapons, despite reports from journalists and human rights groups about how they have helped Israeli forces slaughter at least 44,875 Palestinians and injure another 106,454 people in the besieged enclave over the past 14 months.

“Our concerns remain urgent and largely unresolved, including arbitrary restrictions on humanitarian aid and insufficient delivery routes.”

House Democrats’ letter begins by declaring support for “Israel’s right to self-defense,” denouncing the Hamas-led October 2023 attack, and endorsing the Biden administration’s efforts “to broker a bilateral cease-fire that includes the release of hostages,” noting the deal recently negotiated for the Israeli government and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

“Further, we condemn the unprecedented Iranian attacks against Israel launched on April 13, 2024, and October 1, 2024,” the letter states, declining to mention the Israeli actions that led to those responses. “We must continue to avoid a major regional conflict—and we welcome the concerted diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and our allies to prevent further escalation.”

“We are also deeply troubled by the continued level of civilian casualties and humanitarian suffering in Gaza,” the lawmakers wrote, citing the administration’s October 13 letter imposing a 30-day deadline for Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Palestinian territory. “That deadline has expired, and while some progress has been made, we believe the Israeli government has not yet fulfilled the requirements outlined in your letter.”

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Asked during a November 12 press conference if the Israeli government has met the administration’s demands, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said that “we have not made an assessment that they are in violation of U.S. law.”

Shortly after that, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) forced votes on resolutions to block the sale of 120mm tank rounds, 120mm high-explosive mortar rounds, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Israel, but they didn’t pass.

Progressives and Democrats in Congress have been sounding the alarm about U.S. government complicity in Israel’s armed assault and starvation campaign—which have led to an ongoing genocide case at the International Court of Justice—to varying degrees since October 2023, including with a May letter led by Crow and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) and signed by 85 others.

Citing that letter on Thursday, the 77 House Democrats wrote that “our concerns remain urgent and largely unresolved, including arbitrary restrictions on humanitarian aid and insufficient delivery routes, among others. As a result, Gaza’s civilian population is facing dire famine.”

“We believe further administrative action must be taken to ensure Israel upholds the assurances it provided in March 2024 to facilitate, and not directly or indirectly obstruct, U.S. humanitarian assistance,” the letter concludes. “We remain committed to a negotiated solution that can bring an end to the fighting, free the remaining hostages, surge humanitarian aid, and lay the groundwork to rebuild Gaza with a legitimate Palestinian governing body. We thank you and the administration for its ongoing work to achieve those shared goals.”

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue Reading77 House Dems Call for ‘Full Assessment’ of Israeli Compliance With US Law

Israeli army deliberately bombed site to kill hostages inside: Al-Qassam Brigades

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https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241215-israeli-army-deliberately-bombed-site-to-kill-hostages-inside-al-qassam-brigades

Hundreds of demonstrators, holding Israeli flags and photos of prisoners, gather at the streets and march from Jaffa Street in Jerusalem towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, to demand a ceasefire and prisoner swap deal in Gaza in Jerusalem on December 14, 2024. [Saeed Qaq – Anadolu Agency]

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, said Saturday that the Israeli army bombed a location in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli hostages were held, confirming that the bombing was repeated to ensure their death, Anadolu reports.

Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for the group, said on Telegram: “The occupation army recently bombed a location where some enemy prisoners were present and repeated the bombing to ensure their death.”

“We have intelligence confirming that the enemy deliberately bombed the location with the aim of killing the prisoners and their guards,” Obaida noted.

He added: “Our fighters attempted to rescue the enemy prisoners and succeeded in retrieving one of them, whose fate remains unknown.”

Obaida held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government, and the Israeli army “fully responsible for this event and the lives of their prisoners.”

A video released by al-Qassam Brigades showed the bombed location and a person without clarifying whether they were killed or injured, with no facial features shown.

The video included a statement: “Netanyahu and [Chief of General Staff Herzi] Halevi seek to get rid of their prisoners in Gaza by all means.”

Israel estimates that there are currently 101 Israeli prisoners held in Gaza.

Read: Hamas reiterates efforts to end Israeli aggression in Gaza

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the ongoing conflict.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,800 victims, mostly women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on 7 October 2023.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and the blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Continue ReadingIsraeli army deliberately bombed site to kill hostages inside: Al-Qassam Brigades

Netanyahu tightens grip on power through Gaza genocide

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https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241215-israeli-army-deliberately-bombed-site-to-kill-hostages-inside-al-qassam-brigades

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 10, 2024 [Chaim Goldberg/Flash90/Pool/Anadolu Agency]

Despite overseeing what is widely considered to be a genocide in Gaza and facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes, as well as ongoing corruption charges, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strengthened his political position, according to a new poll which shows that his Likud party would increase its parliamentary representation in an election held today.

A Channel 13 News poll published yesterday reveals that Netanyahu’s coalition would win 57 seats in the 120-member Knesset, up from 55 in October, with Likud emerging as the largest party at 26 seats. The results suggest that far from weakening Netanyahu’s position, the devastating military onslaught in Gaza has consolidated his support base.

The polling data, reported by Haaretz, appears to challenge the prevalent Western narrative that Netanyahu is the primary obstacle to peace. Instead, it indicates broad Israeli public support for the military offensive in Gaza, which has killed at least 45,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded more than 106,000 others.

The survey shows Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition gaining strength while the opposition would slip to 58 seats, down from 60 in October. Key findings include:

The poll, conducted by the Maagar Mochot research institute in collaboration with Sample Project Panel and Stat-Net, surveyed 676 Israelis with a margin of error of 3.8 per cent. While Netanyahu’s coalition would still fall short of a majority, the strengthening of his position amid international condemnation of the genocide in Gaza suggests deep-rooted support within Israeli society for the current military campaign.

The results indicate that rather than facing political consequences for the unprecedented civilian casualties in Gaza and Israel becoming an international pariah under Likud, Netanyahu has instead seen his position solidify. This raises questions about the broader societal attitudes within Israel towards the ongoing assault on Gaza and the underlying motivations for what is often described as a war of annihilation against the Palestinians.

Amnesty: Israel committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Continue ReadingNetanyahu tightens grip on power through Gaza genocide

Bernie Sanders Says Defeating Oligarchy Now Most Urgent Issue

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Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Bernie Sanders attends during “Bernie Sanders: It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism” at Royal Geographical Society on February 22, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane)

“My friends, you don’t have to be a PhD in political science to understand that this is not democracy. This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is escalating his fight against the U.S. oligarchy with a new campaign directed at the nation’s wealthiest individuals—including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—who he says are key culprits in a global race to the bottom that is stripping people worldwide of political agency while impoverishing billions so that the rich can amass increasingly obscene levels of wealth.

Announcing a new series that will detail how “billionaire oligarchs” in the U.S. “manipulate the global economy, purchase our elections, avoid paying taxes, and increasingly control our government,” Sanders said in a Friday night video address that it makes him laugh when mainstream pundits talk openly about the nefarious oligarchic structures in other places, but refuse to acknowledge the issue in domestic terms.

“Strangely enough, the term ‘oligarchy’ is very rarely used to describe what’s happening in the United States or in fact, what’s happening around the world,” said Sanders. “But guess what? Oligarchy is a global phenomenon, and it is headquartered right here in the United States.”

While rarely discussed in the corporate press or by most elected officials, argues Sanders, the reality is that a “small number of incredibly wealthy billionaires own and control much of the global economy. Period. End of discussion. And increasingly they own and control our government through a corrupt campaign finance system.”

Since the the victory of President-elect Donald Trump in November, Sanders has been increasingly outspoken about his frustrations over the failure of the Democratic Party to adequately confront the contradictions presented by a party that purports to represent the interests of the working class yet remains so beholden to corporate interests and the wealthy that lavish it with campaign contributions.

In a missive to supporters last month, Sanders bemoaned how “just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to get their candidates elected” in this year’s elections, which included giving to both major political parties. Such a reality, he said, must be challenged.

As part of his new effort announced Friday, Sanders’ office said the two-time Democratic presidential candidate would be hosting a series of discussions with the leading experts on various topics related to the form and function of U.S. oligarchy and expose the incoming Trump administration’s “ties to the billionaire class,” including their efforts to further erode democracy, gut regulations, enrich themselves, and undermine the common good.

“In my view,” said Sanders, “this issue of oligarchy is the most important issue facing our country and world because it touches on everything else.” He said the climate crisis, healthcare, worker protections, and the fight against poverty are all adversely effected by the power of the wealthy elites who control the economy and the political sphere.

“My friends, you don’t have to be a PhD in political science to understand that this is not democracy,” he said. “This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy.”

Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingBernie Sanders Says Defeating Oligarchy Now Most Urgent Issue