Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalIsraeli forces arrest Palestinian 'doctor of the poor'
Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician known as the “doctor of the poor” in a pre-dawn raid on his home in the occupied West Bank, prompting widespread condemnation.
Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a physician widely known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested before dawn at his home in the al-Tira neighbourhood of Ramallah.
He was later taken to the police station in the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, where he is believed to be under interrogation by the Special Investigations Unit. Israeli authorities have not said why he was detained or where he is currently being held.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the arrest is believed to be connected to Al-Rantisi’s position as chair of the Union of Health Work Committees, a Palestinian non-profit founded in 1985 that operates clinics serving thousands of patients each year, particularly in rural communities with limited access to healthcare.
The organisation was declared an “unlawful association” by the Israeli military in 2020 under emergency regulations dating back to the British Mandate for Palestine. Two years later, Israeli forces shut its headquarters in Al-Bireh. Despite those measures, the group remains legally registered with the Palestinian Authority’s interior ministry.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/25/israeli-forces-arrest-palestinian-doctor-of-the-poor
Fucking hell. This is untenable.
Mona Khalil, sea turtle conservationist, killed in Israeli strike in Lebanon
When war arrived again in Lebanon, Mona Khalil refused to abandon her beloved beachfront home or the endangered sea turtles she had dedicated her life to protecting.
During the last conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024, the environmental activist reluctantly fled her property in the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mansouri, which doubles as a marine conservation area, and took refuge in Beirut.
Her friends say she resented every second of being driven from her home. So when war began anew in March, Khalil stayed put.
She died on Friday from wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on her home earlier this month. She was 76.
"She chose her own destiny," Assad Serhal, Khalil's friend and fellow conservationist, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "She wanted to die there, and she did."
On June 4, an Israeli strike hit Khalil's house. Her assistant, an Ethiopian woman, is recovering from burns, according to the Guardian. But Khalil succumbed to her wounds in a Beirut hospital.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/mona-khalil-obit-9.7246301
Dirtbag Israelis
Sounding off about something in new cars (at least 2019 on)
I don't know who thought it was a great idea to put Bluetooth technology in all new cars AND completely eliminate CD players at the same time. Bluetooth is a great thing for navigation or podcasts or whatever UNTIL you hit a blind spot, and believe you me, there are plenty of those in Virfinia and east Tennessee, where I do most of my driving, BUT it has a tendency to go wonky also. Mine did for awhile this paat winter until I discovered that my car had decided my phone was an iPod. WHAT? It took awhile to disabuse the car of that notion. Also, it gets notional about playing some internet radio stations and even local radio. 
But what is further annoying is not being able to play favorite music in the car without downloading it to my phone, which uses us a lot of bandwidth and is annoying as hell. And worse than that is being unable to listen to books on CD, something that literally saved my life during long commutes and when I was a travel nurse. Heck, I suppose those have gone the way of the dodo too. Listening to books on Bluetooth is not the same because you have to a) wait for them at the library and hurry up with them when you finally get them or b) pay for them via Audible or c) use something like Librivox and listen to classics, and Librivox has not worked well for me even at home.
Dammit, auto manufacturers, just give us back our CD players!
New York sweep by Israel critics shines light on a fraught issue for Democrats
When Varun Venkatesh cast his ballot in New York’s primary this week, he thought about “a good litmus test for me as a voter.” He wanted to know what the candidates are doing for the Palestinian cause.
The 27-year-old Brooklyn resident decided to support Claire Valdez, who was backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, over Antonio Reynoso, another progressive who was the choice of the Democratic establishment, because she had “a clear and more consistent stance.”
Valdez triumphed in her congressional primary, as did two other insurgent candidates endorsed by Mamdani, and Israel was a key issue in each of the races. Now the question for Democrats is how many more voters like Venkatesh are out there as the party charts its path toward the November midterms and the next presidential election.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which responded with a yearslong counterattack that left more than 73,000 dead. About 1,000 have died since a ceasefire was reached in October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry that does not differentiate between civilian and combatant casualties.
Human rights groups and a United Nations commission have described Israel’s actions as a genocide, a charge that’s been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
https://apnews.com/article/mamdani-democrats-new-york-israel-palestine-01de0690f2fb99e89cb40817b7da0f66
Is the tide turning?
Tucker Carlson says he'll no longer support GOP
Longtime conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said on a podcast that “there’s no chance I would support the Republican Party” ahead of the November midterm elections, dismissing the political affiliation he’s defended as a pundit for decades, including as one of Fox News Channel’s most popular hosts.
“Not gonna support the Democratic Party,” Carlson was quick to add, speaking late last week on the show “Can’t Be Censored.” “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Carlson, who has amassed a large following on his own podcast since being fired from Fox News in 2023, has more recently diverged from the party, a disillusionment supercharged by President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran in February.
Carlson supported Trump in 2024. After the war began, he apologized for supporting the then-presidential candidate and “misleading people,” saying it wasn’t intentional.
He’s repeatedly criticized the war as being at the behest of Israel at the expense of Americans, and attacked the party for failing to represent its own voters, citizens and nation
https://apnews.com/article/tucker-carlson-republican-party-podcast-support-2da45ec63516d0cc9f0d2ea1891839d2
So is he gonna start his own party or run as a Libertarian when he runs for President? And will he take (or even get) AIPAC money?
Anyone else watch the Ecuador-Curaao game in World Cup last night?
Holy shamoley, what a defensive marvel! On both sides, really, but especially on Curaçao''s. The ball was in their backfield for what seemed like 90% of the second half, but Ecuador could not score! Could NOT, despite repeated and clever attempts. The defenders were amazing, but I am in absolute awe of Curaçao's keeper, Eloy Room, who made save after save and kept coming back for more. And despite their thrashing from Germany, they're still in and Ecuador is out! Just amazing.
I teach religious studies. Vance's book on his conversion is one of the worst things I've read.
Vice President JD Vance’s new book, “Communion,” is not only his story of his conversion to Catholicism in 2019, it’s also his pitch to Republicans, especially religious ones, about why he has the mettle to be the party’s 2028 presidential candidate. Writing a book has become a prerequisite for a presidential run, but as a professor who has read some awful writing, I find that Vance’s new book ranks among the worst things I’ve read. As has been reported, there’s a United Methodist Church on the cover of this book about converting to Catholicism, and that choice of illustration serves as a metaphor for the ignorance and inauthenticity found within.
Vance’s account of his conversion from evangelism to atheism and then to Catholicism is familiar to those of us who study religious switching in America. According to the Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, 35% of American adults were raised in a different religious tradition than the one they practice.
But on his promotional book tour, Vance is proving himself to be woefully inept about his faith. For example, on his Tuesday appearance on ABC’s “The View,” he couldn’t answer questions about how he squares his recently found faith with the Trump administration’s policies. He seems confused about what Catholicism is and doesn’t seem to understand that Christian beliefs aren’t the same as a list of conservative talking points.
Thus, in “Communion” we get his disjointed story about how he was attracted to the Catholic Church despite his divergent views from its teachings. If nothing else, “Communion” confirms what was already obvious: Vance is not the theologian he thinks he is, and indeed, he knows very little about the Catholic faith. Despite his lack of knowledge, in his short time as vice president, he has had the temerity to question Pope Francis’ motivations for criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration policies and to lecture Pope Leo XIV on when war is morally justified.
https://www.ms.now/opinion/jd-vance-book-communion-2028-presidential-race
If it's half as awful and inauthentic as "hillbilly Elegy", I won't even bother with it because I'd just get disgusted halfway through and hurl it across the room into the trash
Why aren't we talking about this?
The fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by police who were responding to a shoplifting call this week has ignited simmering tensions between police and Black residents in the small town of Senatobia, Mississippi.
The death of Kohen Wiley is the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have outraged community members in recent years. It has led to protests and calls for greater police accountability in the town of 8,000, with some civil rights activists pointing to Kohen’s death as another example of a Black life lost over something of nominal value — in this case, allegedly stolen diapers.
“We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child,” Bernice King, the daughter of civil right icon Martin Luther King, Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. “That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse.”
There are still many unanswered questions about the shooting and what led up to it.
Senatobia police responded to the shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Sunday, where they found two women and a child leaving the store, getting into a car and driving away. According to a statement released by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation: “Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene.”
Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said her son and her friend, who was driving, were hit by gunfire. In a video posted on social media Wednesday by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Wiley said her friend was not driving toward the officers because they were “all on the right side and she was driving towards the left.”
She also disputes the shoplifting claim, saying in the video that she believes her friend paid for the diapers she was carrying.
https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-child-killed-police-6765009a76070ab7e3578396dff0f6b7
There is no state in which shoplifting is a capital offense, besides which this baby did nothing.
Who else is watching World Cup?
I've been laid out with a horrible cold, so I'm using that as an excuse. I'll usually watch soccer, or as I prefer to call it, futbol, if I can get a chance, so this is fun for me, especially before it boils down to the "favorites". I like seeing the teams that haveessentially NO chance, especially if they can put up a good fight ar even score against a stronger team, the way Curaçao did while getting clobbered by Germany yesterday. I found the most exciting match to be Scotland and Haiti, which Scotland won 1-0 in a great defensive battle by both teams; I probably appreciate those sorts of games because my daughter was a defender for most of her 12 years as a player so I know how the game works. (PS: Scotland plays a bit dirty, but don't tell me mam, OK?)
James Talarico Claps Back At Ted Cruz And Ken Paxton's Relentless Attacks On His Masculinity
Texas Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico fired back at his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Friday after the two Republicans echoed MAGA insults about his masculinity.
“I’ve said before, and I will keep saying that real men serve others; weak men serve themselves,” Talarico told MS NOW’s “The Briefing” host Jen Psaki. “And so I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man, and I don’t think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is.”
(snip)
“Here’s what real men don’t do,” Talarico said Friday in response to the attacks. “They don’t lie and cheat their way through life, they don’t sell their soul to the highest bidder, they don’t steal from other people in order to enrich themselves.”
The Democrat hailed his adoptive father, Mark Talarico, as a true masculine figure, recalling how he would not only mow their lawn but his elderly neighbor’s as well, without being asked and without even talking about it.
“He just did it because that’s what a man does,” Talarico said. “A man takes responsibility, a man upholds his commitments to his family and his neighbors. A man does what’s right, even when no one is watching.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-talarico-texas-ken-paxton-ted-cruz-masculinity-manhood-attack_n_6a2c168ee4b0942fb777ab89?origin=home-latest-news-unit
BAM! I like this guy better all the time.
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Gender: Do not displayHome country: USA currently
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