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Someone said that things change only grave by grave. As in many other parts of the world, old grievances continue to poison the futures of the children.

The UN has identified the seizure of Palestinian homes and communities as illegal and racially-based. That sounds like ethnic cleansing to me, and the Zionists (Israel for Jews only) have agitated for the eviction of Palestinians for decades. These hard-right activists have the ear of Netanyahu who has stated that the Golan Heights and the West Bank should be permanently part of Jewish Israel. There can be no peace until there is a just and lasting peace that respects the rights of both. The extremism on both sides benefits a few who have vested interests in keeping the bloodshed going.

It seems that the Democrats are oblivious to the fact that the GOP is stacking the deck against them. If the Dems do not stop this avalanche of vote suppression and the individual state governors claiming the right to void any electoral outcome they do not like even if that outcome is provably legitimate, the GOP could govern indefinitely regardless of the will of the majority. This is a naked, unapologetic planned seizure of power.

It appears, upon further research, that I was wrong and you are correct. However ,the actions of the Israeli government in the past 20 years is still nothing short of ethnic cleansing: 1948 Palestinian exodus - Wikipedia

You are correct in describing the current situation, but it bears noting that for over 600 years, Arabs had total control over Palestine and the Jews had freedom of religious expression and there was peace for the most part. The change came when the UN at the urging of the US and Britain mandated a Jewish homeland. The British gave massive amounts of military equipment to the Israelis when they left and the ethnic cleansing began, continuing to this day. During the centuries that the Arabs held power in Palestine, they could have easily wiped out the Jews with little effort, but chose not to. The ethnic cleansing has provoked retaliation from the Palestinians and justified Israeli actions. The situation could easily be resolved. All the US would have to do is stop the massive subsidies of Israel and the Arabs nation could properly fund Palestinian infrastructure.

Leaked video lays bare right-wing dark money's 'ugly' role in crafting voter suppression bills All over the United States — from Georgia to Arizona to Iowa to Texas — Republicans in state legislatures have been pushing voter suppression bills that are designed to make it harder to vote. And CNN has obtained a copy of a leaked video showing the role that "dark money" in the form of Heritage Action for America (the Heritage Foundation's sister organization) has played in crafting these bills, some of which have already been signed into law by Republican governors who include Georgia's Brian Kemp and Florida's Ron DeSantis. In the leaked video aired by CNN and previously reported by Mother Jones, Heritage Action Executive Director Jessica Anderson can be seen bragging about the group's influence on those bills. Anderson, in the video, declares, "We're working with these state legislatures to make sure they have all of the information they need to draft the bills. In some cases, we actually draft them for them. Or, we have a sentinel, on our behalf, give them the model legislation so it has that grass roots, you known, from the bottom up, type of vibe." CNN host Chris Cuomo, before airing the video, explained, "We're going to show just how ugly the game has gotten when it comes to the effort to suppress the vote." And he went on to explain why Anderson's use of the word "sentinel" is important. Cuomo, the brother of Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, told viewers, "I want you to remember the word sentinel and the phrase, 'You know, they pass it along so it has that grass roots vibe.' This is the game…. Money matters." The CNN host noted how deceptive Heritage Action's claims are. Heritage, in a statement to CNN, claimed that its intention is to make voting more transparent; Cuomo disagrees. Cuomo said of Heritage, "You want to cheat. You want to limit how many people can vote — for minority groups and big urban areas, and those local officials you want cut out of the process. That's what you want because that is the far-right sale of White fright. These suppression advocates organize and then weaponize, many selling White fright and false notions that the election was stolen by big groups."

A few years ago, according to an article in Israel's Ha'artez newspaper, researchers took DNA samples from Jewish bodies over a thousand years old and compared them to current Israelis as well as Palestinians. Turned out that ancient inhabitants were more closely related to the Palestinians than the Israelis.

Sunday afternoon, there were dozens of people lined up at Sargent Sundae on Portage Avenue. Social distancing was theoretical at best and masks were mostly optional.

We can only hope that the flunkies who have proof of Trump's corrupt and illegal actions will come forward, to save their own butts if nothing else.

Trump DOJ Tried to Unmask User Behind Devin Nunes Parody Twitter Account -Reuters A newly unsealed court filing reveals an attempt by the Justice Department, in the waning days of the Trump administration, to force Twitter to identify the person (or people) behind a parody account that poked fun at Republican congressman and Trump sycophant Devin Nunes (CA). On November 24, 2020, Twitter was served with a subpoena demanding the name of whoever was running @NunesAlt, along with a gag order prohibiting the company from going public about the request.

Sad to say, we are now the worst-affected province in Canada, beating out Alberta, which was the object of pity and criticism. Worse yet, the word from the provincial health officer is that the worst is yet to come and not expected to improve until mid-June. We have poked fun at Alberta and Saskatchewan, but now Saskatchewan is predicting pretty much normality by mid-July. Our ICUs are full and healthcare staff are overloaded. We are in big trouble, folks.

Video From 2019 Shows Crazy QAnon Congresswoman Harassing AOC Through Her Office Mail Slot Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a problem. At some point, Republicans are going to have to look in the mirror and ask themselves is this the party that they want to be? And after they answer with a resounding “Yes!” then Democrats are going to have to find a way to handle this. I’m not talking about violence, but there has to be something in those old Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons that Dems can use to trick the GOP into falling off a cliff. Can’t the Dems just order something from ACME? Seriously, why is this proving to be so hard, because like it or not, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, isn’t just the new face of crazy in Congress, she’s the new face of the Republican Party. And they love this ****, and something tells me that if she keeps this up she’s going to end up on getting pummeled while some intern shouts “World Star!” A recently released video shows Greene during a 2019 visit to the U.S. Capitol with “associates who include a man who would later enter the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, Greene—then a conservative activist—can be seen taunting Ocasio-Cortez’s staff outside the congresswoman’s locked office by talking through a mailbox slot urging her to come out,” CNN reports. From CNN: In the video, from a since-deleted Facebook Live of Greene’s that was saved by CNN’s KFile, Greene tells Ocasio-Cortez to “get rid of your diaper,” referring to the congresswoman’s office as a “daycare.” Greene repeatedly indicates throughout her stream that security has been called on them. “We’re going to go see, we’re going to visit Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crazy eyes. Crazy eyes. Nutty. Cortez,” Greene says to the camera on the way to the congresswoman’s office, mispronouncing “Ocasio.” Either AOC wasn’t there, or she and her staff could recognize crazy from a mile away, because her office was locked, thank God. That didn’t stop Greene and her merry band of “Make America Great Again” hats as they began mocking the New York representative and her staff through the mail slot because that’s a totally normal thing for a grown-ass woman to do. Greene can be heard telling the congresswoman to open the door. “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I’m an American citizen. I pay your salary through the taxes that you collect for me through the IRS because I’m a taxpaying citizen of the United States,” Greene says, adding that members of Congress are “employees” who “work for us.” “So you need to stop being a baby and stop locking your door and come out and face the American citizens that you serve,” she says. “If you want to be a big girl, you need to get rid of your diaper and come out and be able to talk to the American citizens. Instead of having to use a flap, a little flap. Sad,” CNN reports. One of the MAGAts then comes to the mail slot and says, very ominously, “You can’t stay in there forever. Come out and play.

Subpoena Issued in Probe Around Trump Ambassador Pick A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena for documents and communications surrounding Donald Trump’s failed nomination of GOP donor Douglas Manchester for U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. It appears the subpoena was sent to Manchester’s ex-wife and seeks all material related to his political donations and his nominations in May 2017 and early 2018. It specifies communications between the Manchesters and Republican National Committee bigwigs Ronna McDaniel and Tommy Hicks or any member of Congress. Douglas Manchester declined to comment, and his ex-wife would not confirm she received a subpoena. CBS News previously reported that McDaniel hit up Manchester for a $500,000 donation while his nomination was stalled in the Senate. He replied, “As you know, I am not supposed to do any (political contributions during the confirmation process) but my wife is sending a contribution for $100,000”—and then suggested that once he was confirmed as ambassador, more would be coming. -Getty News

These people confuse liberty with license.

Liz Cheney says Republican colleagues voted her out because of 'threats on their lives' Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) revealed on Sunday that some Republicans did not come to her defense while she was being ousted from leadership because of "threats on their lives." "There was really nobody that came to your defense," ABC host Jonathan Karl noted during an interview with Cheney that aired on Sunday. "You were pretty much alone on this." "It is very important to stand up for what's right," Cheney replied. "I know that there are many members who have expressed concern about their own security." "And I think that's an important point," she continued. "We now live in a country where members' votes are are affected because they're worried about their security, they're worried about threats on their lives. So I think that's part of it." Liz Cheney says Republican colleagues voted her out because of 'threats on their lives' | Salon.com Trump's father wouldn't have to worry about getting into the US- he was a good Nazi.

There is an answer as to how the world can be created by a loving God and yet manifest in such an apparently cruel and uncaring way. And it does not involve Zeemu. Trump officials used secret terrorism unit to question lawyers at the border: documents Taylor Levy couldn't understand why she'd been held for hours by Customs and Border Protection officials when crossing back into El Paso, Texas, after getting dinner with friends in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in January 2019. And she didn't know why she was being questioned by an agent who'd introduced himself as a counterterrorism specialist. Levy was part of the legal team representing the father of a girl who'd died the previous month in the custody of the Border Patrol, which is part of CBP. “There was so much hate for immigration lawyers at that time," she recalled. “I thought that somebody had put in an anonymous tip that I was a terrorist." The truth was more troubling. Newly released records show that Levy was swept up as part of a broader than previously known push by the administration of President Donald Trump to use the federal government's expansive powers at the border to stop and question journalists, lawyers and activists. The records reveal that Levy and attorney Héctor Ruiz were interrogated by members of CBP's secretive Tactical Terrorism Response Team. The lawyers were suspected of “providing assistance" to the migrant caravan that was then the focus of significant attention by the administration and right-wing media. Officials speculated in later reports that immigration lawyers were seeking to profit by moving migrants through Mexico, and that “Antifa" may have been involved. The records were provided to ProPublica by the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, a public interest law firm and advocacy group that received them after filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit about the stops of Levy and Ruiz at the border in El Paso. Trump officials used secret terrorism unit to question lawyers at the border: documents - Alternet.org

Does this have anything to do with Catholic rituals?

Not good, but better.

Killing people in the name of an all-wise, all-powerful and loving God never seems to go out of fashion.

Texas GOP passes abortion ban based on weaponizing lawsuits against providers Legislation that would ban abortions after as early as six weeks — before many women know they are pregnant — and let virtually any private citizen sue abortion providers and others was given final approval by lawmakers Thursday and is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has signaled he will sign it into law. Senate Bill 8, a Republican priority measure, is similar to "heartbeat bills" passed in other states that have been mostly stopped by the courts. But proponents of the Texas legislation believe it's structured in a way that makes it tougher to block. The bill was denounced by hundreds of lawmakers and doctors — in letters circulated by opponents of the measure — who said its broad legal language could open the door to harassing or frivolous lawsuits that could have a "chilling effect" on abortion providers and leave rape crisis counselors, nurses and clinic staff "subject to tens of thousands of dollars in liability to total strangers." Abortion rights advocates say it is among the most extreme restrictions nationwide. The bill, which would take effect later this year, bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected without specifying a time frame. A legislative analysis and the bill's proponents have said that can be as early as six weeks, though state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, in a floor debate cited medical experts who say there is no fully developed heart at that gestational age and that the sound referred to as a heartbeat is actually "electrically induced flickering" of fetal tissue. The bill makes an exception allowing for abortions in the case of a medical emergency but not for rape or incest. It would be enforced by private citizens empowered to sue abortion providers and others who help someone get an abortion after six weeks, for example, by driving them to an abortion clinic. Those private citizens would not need to have a connection to an abortion provider or a person seeking an abortion, and would not need to reside in Texas. Texas GOP passes abortion ban based on weaponizing lawsuits against providers | Salon.com

South Carolina GOP panicked pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood's loss will trigger a statehouse insurrection Far-right, pro-QAnon attorney Lin Wood, who struck out trying to prove voter fraud in the 2020 election and is now facing an ethics investigation and a criminal probe for alleged illegal voting of his own, has embraced a new project: running for chair of the the South Carolina Republican Party. According to POLITICO, this bid is also likely to go down in flames today, as incumbent party chair, Drew McKissick will likely rout him among party delegates. But GOP strategists are privately scared that his loss will not put an end to the base's embrace of his conspiracy theories. "Like Trump, Wood is already accusing McKissick of election fraud — without any evidence — even before the first ballots are cast Saturday," reported Marc Caputo. Meanwhile, "Wood has gone so far as to make dark insinuations that McKissick isn't doing enough to stop 'the real pandemic' of pedophilia, and suggested he needs to resign over unspecified 'nefarious activities' with GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. Wood has also called the coronavirus pandemic a 'plandemic,' suggesting it was part of an organized plot." According to the report, Wood has even tried to cast doubt on the authenticity of Trump's endorsement of McKissick for re-election. "What's going to happen Saturday is that McKissick is going to win, and Lin Wood is going to say it was fraud and scream and holler conspiracy theories," Joel Sawyer, a former South Carolina GOP executive director, told POLITICO. "The problem in South Carolina is many of the people at the county level, the delegate level, have been echoing the former president's fact-free claims of election fraud, but those very people are now going to have to turn around and defend the legitimacy of this election. But they don't have a lot of moral authority to dispute fact-free claims of election fraud." South Carolina GOP panicked pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood's loss will trigger a statehouse insurrection - Alternet.org

The roots of this sort of thing go waaay back. About 20 years ago, I was part of a fledgling internet technology forum- then called a chat group. One of the members at that time reported, from first-hand knowledge, that a major American food company had been hacked and their entire accounts receivable was encrypted and held for ransom- the amount quoted was 12 million dollars that was paid as quietly as possible. One would think that the word would get around to all the major companies if not all larger organizations that they ought to upgrade their security protocols. I seem to recall that as recently as a few years ago, Windows 95 was still being used by some organizations. You get what you pay for.

Not statistically significant.

This wrinkle, that a state governor can order defiance of a federal subpoena or arrest warrant because the governor does not like it is absolutely bizarre, even for American jurisprudence. Can you imagine that a premier or delegate could defy a criminal arrest warrant for a member of that province because s/he did not like it?

Right wing goes nuts over gas shortage, invents elaborate reasons why it's Biden's fault Republicans and their allies in right-wing media have found a new attack line against President Joe Biden's administration, attempting to generate over the evolving nationwide fuel storage that resulted from the hack of Colonial Pipeline, a private company, which has sent Americans into long lines to top off their tanks at inflated prices. As tanks began to run dry at gas stations along the East Coast, right-wing pundits fired up the outrage machine and started blaming Biden and his administration. Fox News host Tucker Carlson, during his Tuesday opening monologue, tried to blame the shortage on Biden's policies, suggesting that the administration "approves" of the short-term gas crisis, reportedly caused by a Russian dark internet operation called "Darkside" hacking into Colonial Pipeline's data. "In case 2021 didn't remind you enough of a grimmer version of the 1970s, we now have serious gas shortages in a country that just recently was energy-independent," Carlson said. "All along the East Coast of the country today, people couldn't fill up their cars. The footage looks like Venezuela." Carlson further remarked, in skeptical tones, that "the official explanation is that some mysterious gang of cybercriminals hacked the software at a major American fuel supplier called Colonial Pipeline." "What is this about?" Carlson then posed to his audience. "Well, you know. On some level — let's be honest about it — the White House approves of this disaster," he continued, blaming the Biden administration's policies of gradually moving away from fossil fuels. "Yes, some gas stations are closed tonight," Carlson continued, before launching into a dystopian future fantasy. "But soon enough, the lunatics plan to close them all — every gas station in the entire United States, shuttered forever, to make way for some new, as-yet-undefined means of transportation that will magically replace the gasoline engines we've used for more than 100 years. This is a green revolution. So who cares about some old pipeline?" Right wing goes nuts over gas shortage, invents elaborate reasons why it's Biden's fault | Salon.com