vxbush 12/30/2023 5:05:25 AM

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Good morning, campers. I'm actually awake on a Saturday morning. I' going to quote Instapundit today (written by Ed Driscoll) because it's just a perfect encapsulation of leftist thinking: 

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THE SUMMER OF LOVE CONCLUDES IN A DARK WINTER: Seattle dismantles BLM garden after rampant homelessness, drug use create ‘public health and … safety issues.’

The city of Seattle has dismantled the Black Lives Matter Memorial Garden after rampant homelessness and drug use overran the area, posing significant risks to the public.

In 2020, amid heightened racial tensions and anti-police fervor, Seattle activists established the garden in Cal Anderson Park, located in Capitol Hill, the home of the infamous former Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. Organizers of the garden claimed it was intended to memorialize victims of police violence and to provide organic food for underserved communities.

However, seemingly from the beginning, the garden has been plagued by violence and filth, creating significant “public health and public safety issues” in the area, a statement from Seattle Parks and Recreation claimed. According to the statement, members of Seattle’s Unified Care Team have conducted 76 tent encampment removals in just the past year alone “to keep public spaces clean, open, and accessible to all.”

The garden has also become a hotspot for illicit drug use, creating other issues for area residents. Other problems in the garden include “vandalism of Cal Anderson public bathrooms” and an infestation of rodents, the statement said.

Naturally, “Seattle Bulldozed Its Communist BLM Garden [and] Liberals Are Reacting Exactly How You’d Expect” (Video):

In a surprising move, the city of Seattle decided to remove the community garden co-op that sprung up following the riots of 2020 and the creation of the “autonomous zone.” Now, liberals can’t cope with the reality that it’s gone.

But why? The message of the left in 2020 was any property memorializing the past misdeeds of out-of-control totalitarian leftists was fair game for destruction, no matter what strange misbegotten notions true believers had of any historic significance. Why should the memorial for CHAZ be treated any differently?

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VX again here. Mindless flailing to do anything to stay in power seems to be the order of the day, wasting money over and over again without a thought as to the consequences of their actions. JCM, if you have additional details to share, please do. 

vxbush 12/30/2023 5:14:43 AM

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Ah, watch the news writers at the Wall Street Journal spin for Gaza. I can't read the WSJ article, but Haaretz has written a summary, which I can read: 

Approximately 70 percent of the homes in the Gaza Strip and half of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli airstrikes since the beginning of the conflict, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report indicates that out of 439,000 homes, around 300,000 have been destroyed. The report also states that Israel has dropped 29,000 bombs on the strip, affecting not only residential areas but also Byzantine churches, ancient mosques, factories, malls, hotels, theaters, and schools.

Additionally, it is reported that most of the damaged infrastructure, including water, electricity, communication, and health facilities, cannot be repaired.

That last paragraph? Bollocks. Of course it can be repaired. It will just take someone to do it and money, which of course Gaza doesn't have. Note also that nowhere does this summary indicate how many tunnels have been destroyed, which seems far more important than the number of houses. 

vxbush 12/30/2023 5:37:47 AM

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From the site IsraelHayom.com, which I know nothing about but seems insanely ad heavy: 

Eleven senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Syria were killed in an overnight attack on Damascus International Airport, the Saudi Al-Hadath network reported Friday, citing sources.

According to the report, which has no confirmation, most of the officers who made up the senior command of the Revolutionary Guards and other pro-Iranian militias in eastern Syria were killed in the attack.

The Syrian side of the Iran-Israel conflict is not something I know much about. I need to find time to learn more. 

vxbush 12/30/2023 6:01:02 AM

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vxbush 12/30/2023 6:14:09 AM

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vxbush 12/30/2023 6:17:32 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 5:

Oh, that article I linked to goes into great depth about the actual considering of a canal in the 1960's that was quickly dismissed, but the idea won't die. I'm guessing someone--Iran? Hamas?--decided to bring it back up to help their cause. 

Kosh's Shadow 12/30/2023 9:09:25 AM

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In #4 vxbush said: Given that Israel is so dependent on US weapons, and given that the uniparty government is more interested in communism and is decidedly anti-Israel, does Israel have the capacity to make its own weapons? If not, what would it take for them to start building their own? 

Remember Obama's big "Aid to Israel" deal he made to look supportive?

Before that, most of the money went to the US arms manufacturers, but some went to Israel. That deal made ALL aid spent in the US so the US has control over what Israel can do and reduce Israeli arms manufacturing.

I have read that the US is restricting helicopter deliveries and IIRC, precision weapons - the latter, of course, needed to reduce civilian casualties, which the US claims to want. OK, the administration wants to reduce Gazan casualties by letting Hamas stay in control.

Israel can still make weapons, but has less capacity than before. 

vxbush 12/30/2023 10:00:20 AM

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In #7 Kosh's Shadow said: Before that, most of the money went to the US arms manufacturers, but some went to Israel. That deal made ALL aid spent in the US so the US has control over what Israel can do and reduce Israeli arms manufacturing.

Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten that. Do we have a similar type of agreement with anyone? If not, then it seems horribly unfair (and yes, intentionally so). And no such agreement is in place with the Palestinian Authority, I'm sure. Insert eyeroll here. 

In #7 Kosh's Shadow said: I have read that the US is restricting helicopter deliveries and IIRC, precision weapons - the latter, of course, needed to reduce civilian casualties, which the US claims to want. OK, the administration wants to reduce Gazan casualties by letting Hamas stay in control. Israel can still make weapons, but has less capacity than before. 

Hmmm. Okay.

Kosh's Shadow 12/30/2023 1:09:34 PM

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Palestine, a state under occupation, is a myth

But we knew that already.

The article does give me a new idea of where the "Palestinians" can go - Syria. They deserve to be ruled by Assad, but there is another reason:

They considered themselves Syrian before the modern re-creation of Israel

Take, for example, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, who testified in 1937 before the Peel Commission, which the British government established to investigate the outbreak of Arab violence in the British-ruled Land of Israel.

Abdul-Hadi told the commission that “there is no such country as Palestine! ‘Palestine’ is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria.”

A decade later, in May 1947, the representative of the Arab Higher Committee told the UN General Assembly much the same.

Kosh's Shadow 12/30/2023 5:49:01 PM

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