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You are here: Home / Politics / Slow News Day (Yes, That’s Sarcasm)

Slow News Day (Yes, That’s Sarcasm)

by WaterGirl|  March 25, 20244:03 pm| 86 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Israel, Open Threads, Politics

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President Biden is bringing his best game.

Slow News Day 1

Wowser, what could go wrong here?

This is a huge national security risk. https://t.co/u599vIM6Ug

— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) March 25, 2024

And this:

Made this point just now to @SarahLongwell25 while recording our @BulwarkOnline pod: If I were the NYAG’s office, I’m not sure I wouldn’t be pleased with the Appellate Division’s order cutting back Trump’s bond to $175 million. The reason is that if Trump can actually bond that…

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 25, 2024


.

That of course assumes Trump can post the $175m. But if he can’t, the State isn’t any worse off than it otherwise would have been—it would have to chase Trump around for the full amount ….

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 25, 2024

.
This is the clearest summary I have seen yet:

Update:

Financial fraud: Appellate grants in part his motion for a stay of asset seizures by lowering the bond requirement to $175 million. He has 10 days to post it and cannot borrow from NY Institutions. The full judgment ($464M + interest) stands pending appeal.

Election…

— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) March 25, 2024


.

Between this and the US abstaining today at the UN, Bibi is apparently not having a good day.

🚨BREAKING: Conservative Minister Gideon Saar resigns, and his party will leave Netanyahu’s emergency government
🚨Why it matters: Saar’s move will put more pressure on Benny Gantz and his centrist party to leave the government too

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 25, 2024

Good things are happening on a lot of fronts; now we just need to fund Ukraine.

I would sleep a lot better at night if we could do that.

Open thread.

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  • ...now I try to be amused
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  • Dean- 18 year stroke survivor. I have musings about strokee
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    86Comments

    1. 1.

      Baud

      March 25, 2024 at 4:11 pm

      👍

      Reply
    2. 2.

      rikyrah

      March 25, 2024 at 4:12 pm

      Very pissed about the lack of funding for Ukraine.

      Reply
    3. 3.

      Baud

      March 25, 2024 at 4:14 pm

      @rikyrah:

      Yes, it’s really the only thing left we really have to get done before the election.

      Reply
    4. 4.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 4:16 pm

      At this point, pretty much any day that’s not a good day for Bibi is a good day for me.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      Old Man Shadow

      March 25, 2024 at 4:19 pm

      @rikyrah: Yep.

      Also very pissed that the GOP traitors doing it will all probably be reelected.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      comrade scotts agenda of rage

      March 25, 2024 at 4:19 pm

      @rikyrah: ​
       

      When I came of voting age and look back at social issues of the last 43 years, there’s a ton of things I never thought I’d ever see happen:

      1) We’d elect a black man president.
      2) “Gay rights” (and everything related) would ever be put into law much less gain the kind of widespread acceptance we now see.
      3) The GOP become a party of the USSR/Russia.

      The song the British played when surrendering at Yorktown remains as pertinent then as it does today.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 4:20 pm

      In some ways, we are on a roller coaster, with a madman at the switch.  We have no control over the ups and downs, and we can’t get off.

      This is part of why I believe it’s so important that we are raising money for the groups with boots on the ground.  We can’t see the results day by day, but we are building something good that will pay off in November.

      We can’t afford to lose heart.  At least not for any longer than it takes for us to dust ourselves off and get back in the fight.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      Frankensteinbeck

      March 25, 2024 at 4:20 pm

      Okay, wait.  IS the ‘cannot borrow from NY institutions’ back on or not?  I’ve seen both sides claimed.

      Reply
    9. 9.

      Nora

      March 25, 2024 at 4:20 pm

      @Old Man Shadow: If I have anything to do with it, MY rep (a Biden district Republican) won’t get re-elected.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      Miss Bianca

      March 25, 2024 at 4:21 pm

      May be a slow news day for some, but not for me. Found out last night my younger brother was in the hospital. Found out this morning that it was because he had a massive stroke.

      And I’m sitting literally up to my ass in snow hundreds of miles away and there’s not a damn thing I can do about the whole situation except talk to his doctors on the phone.

      Hope none of the rest of you have anything that exciting going on!

      Reply
    11. 11.

      NotMax

      March 25, 2024 at 4:21 pm

      Slow? Spare us fast news days.
      :)

      Of historical interest in re: breaking news, interrupting programming (11:23 – 13:59) the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor for tag team rip ‘n’ read.

      Reply
    12. 12.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 4:22 pm

      @Frankensteinbeck: I keep seeing that he CAN NOT borrow from NY institutions – from sources that I believe are credible.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      Old Man Shadow

      March 25, 2024 at 4:22 pm

      I can’t recall the last time the US hasn’t vetoed a resolution to shield Israel. Biden has to be pretty peeved with Bibi.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 4:23 pm

      @Miss Bianca: My “slow news day” was sarcasm.

      So sorry to hear about your brother; that would be distressing beyond belief.

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Old Man Shadow

      March 25, 2024 at 4:23 pm

      @Nora: Good luck. Who’s your challenger so I can throw a bit of money their way?

      Reply
    16. 16.

      cmorenc

      March 25, 2024 at 4:23 pm

      I agree with Conway: also, it’s going to be easier to convince normies that if Trump is unable to come up with the revised bond amount without tapping foreign sources, that is both a big conflict of interest for a Presidential candidate and that Trump isn’t nearly the smart billionaire businessman he claims to be, but a precariously leveraged swashbuckler whose fortune is built on a house of cards.

      Also, $175 million sounds more like an amount he should be able to come up with according to his claims of wealth than $400+ million.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Kristine

      March 25, 2024 at 4:25 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Best wishes for your brother

      It’s amazing how much the effects of a stroke can be mitigated if it’s caught early enough.

      Reply
    18. 18.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 4:25 pm

      @cmorenc:

      a precariously leveraged swashbuckler whose fortune is built on a house of cards.

      Just wanted to see that again.

      Reply
    19. 19.

      OzarkHillbilly

      March 25, 2024 at 4:26 pm

      @WaterGirl: ​ we can’t get off.

      I did last week, totally disconnected from the news and had no idea of anything that was happening. It was nice and when the week was done, getting back on the roller coaster didn’t sound so bad.

      Reply
    20. 20.

      NotMax

      March 25, 2024 at 4:31 pm

      @NotMax.

      My bad. Got the timing check wrong; should read 11:23 – 29:13.

      Reply
    21. 21.

      thalarctosMaritimus

      March 25, 2024 at 4:33 pm

      @Miss Bianca: I’m so sorry. I’m holding you and your brother in my thoughts, and wishing a good healing for him.

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Shalimar

      March 25, 2024 at 4:33 pm

      Did something happen today?  Sorry, been busy writing my future New York Times Op-Ed: Benedict Arnold, Free Speech Hero of the Revolution

      The article after that will ask the critical question: Does Joe Biden have to know his son had naked pictures on his phone to be impeached, or is this a high crime that doesn’t require any mens rea?

      Reply
    23. 23.

      Miss Bianca

      March 25, 2024 at 4:34 pm

      @Kristine: Unfortunately, it had been 48 hours since anyone had heard from him – his coworkers finally did a wellness check because he hadn’t been to work in three days – so it’s very unlikely to have been caught early enough for a full recovery.

      But, let’s not borrow trouble…

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Old School

      March 25, 2024 at 4:35 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Here’s hoping for a quick recovery for him!

      Reply
    25. 25.

      Jay

      March 25, 2024 at 4:40 pm

      Beirut, Lebanon – Abbas Baalbaki, an environmental chemistry researcher at the American University in Beirut (AUB), has been looking at white phosphorous dropped by Israel onto Lebanese soil for nearly six months.

      Then, one day, a sample he and a colleague were looking at burst into flames.

      That should not have happened. The samples had been dropped over Kfar Kila on October 17 and collected on November 10 after it had rained in the area.

      They had been “spent” for nearly a month by the time Baalbaki tested them.

      He had read all the literature on white phosphorous and taken all the precautions – the samples should not have been active.

      “[They] began emitting fumes,” Baalbaki recounted to Al Jazeera.

      A few seconds of exposure to the fumes was enough to give Baalbaki brain fog, lack of concentration, extreme headaches, fatigue and stomach cramps for days.

      “I called my colleague and asked him how he was feeling,” he said. “He had the same symptoms.

      “I hadn’t understood how toxic it is.”

      https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/3/25/israels-toxic-legacy-bombing-southern-lebanon-with-white-phosphorus

      Israel is creating an Environmental “dead zone” in southern Lebanon, which provides 80% of Lebanon’s agriculture.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      randal sexton

      March 25, 2024 at 4:40 pm

      @comrade scotts agenda of rage: huh never heard that ‘world turned upside down’ story before.  I guess its somewhat apocryphal but interesting nonetheless

      Reply
    27. 27.

      Josie

      March 25, 2024 at 4:40 pm

      @WaterGirl: This is a direct quote from the court’s order. Note provision # 4.

      “It is ordered that the motion is granted to the extent of staying enforcement of
      those portions of the Judgment (1) ordering disgorgement to the Attorney General of
      $464,576,230.62, conditioned on defendants-appellants posting, within ten (10) days of
      the date of this order, an undertaking in the amount of $175 million dollars; (2)
      permanently barring defendants Weisselberg and McConney from serving in the
      financial control function of any New York corporation or similar business entity; (3)
      barring defendants Donald J. Trump, Weisselberg and McConney from serving as an
      officer or director of any New York corporation for three years; (4) barring defendant
      Donald J. Trump and the corporate defendants from applying for loans from New York
      financial institutions for three years; and (5) barring defendants Donald Trump, Jr. and
      Eric Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation in New
      York for two years.”

      If there is anything contradicting this, I haven’t found it.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      Baud

      March 25, 2024 at 4:40 pm

      @Miss Bianca:

      🤞

      Reply
    29. 29.

      cain

      March 25, 2024 at 4:44 pm

      @Miss Bianca:  Sending healing thoughts to your brother. I hope there won’t be any fallout.

      Reply
    30. 30.

      cain

      March 25, 2024 at 4:45 pm

      @Old Man Shadow:  That’s what I was saying in the previous thread!

      Reply
    31. 31.

      Josie

      March 25, 2024 at 4:45 pm

      @Miss Bianca: ​
       So sorry to hear this. I hope for the best for you and your brother.

      Reply
    32. 32.

      cain

      March 25, 2024 at 4:46 pm

      @WaterGirl:

      “Ho! Ha, Ha! Dodge! Parry! Spin! Oh.. fuck.. “

      Reply
    33. 33.

      cain

      March 25, 2024 at 4:48 pm

      @Shalimar: “243 years ago, the United States of America was born with a brand new constitution. Learn how this event years in the past could spell doom for Biden.”

      Reply
    34. 34.

      RedDirtGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 4:48 pm

      @Miss Bianca: So sorry for that terrible news. Holding you and your family in the light…

      Reply
    35. 35.

      comrade scotts agenda of rage

      March 25, 2024 at 4:48 pm

      @randal sexton: ​
       

      An excellent analysis of the story:
      https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/colonial-music-institute/essays/a-march-allegedly-played-at-yorktown/

      Even if not true, whoever concocted it was brilliant.

      Reply
    36. 36.

      NotMax

      March 25, 2024 at 4:49 pm

      FYI.

      In response to the devastating Maui wildfires in 2023, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture students are learning to digitally restore individual buildings in Lahaina using cutting-edge technologies such as virtual 3D modeling and artificial intelligence (AI). Source

      Rudimentary and not detail for detail accurate but it’s an interesting project which should become more refined in future.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      NutmegAgain

      March 25, 2024 at 4:52 pm

      I do feel a tiny bit better knowing that despite the lowered bond, Oily Orange Don is still on the hook for the half-billion. Still, just repeating everybody, but no ordinary person would get a proportionate reduction in bond. (Or would they? IANAL)

      Reply
    38. 38.

      ...now I try to be amused

      March 25, 2024 at 4:54 pm

      @Old Man Shadow:

      I can’t recall the last time the US hasn’t vetoed a resolution to shield Israel. Biden has to be pretty peeved with Bibi.

      Bibi’s bluff, called! Bibi must not have been paying attention; the withdrawal from Afghanistan showed that Biden is willing to take a political hit to do the right thing. Sticking it to Bibi is just a bonus.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      mrmoshpotato

      March 25, 2024 at 4:54 pm

      Oh orange shitstain, fuck off already.

      Reply
    40. 40.

      Hoodie

      March 25, 2024 at 4:55 pm

      @Josie: I think Conway’s on the right track in interpreting that order.  The stays on the bars on doing business, etc. are pretty meaningless;  it’s the money that counts and most puts Trump at risk.   $175M is still a shit ton of money and 10 days is not a lot of time to come up with it.   If he does have the cash, then he either has to give it to the state or pledge it to a bond broker who will charge him and arm and a leg.  If he can pay the bond, he’s also in less of a position to declare bankruptcy and won’t be able to claw it back if he does.  It’s  likely to make his cash situation even more desperate.

      Reply
    41. 41.

      NutmegAgain

      March 25, 2024 at 4:56 pm

      @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Saw a story today in the NPR universe about recovered music ca. 1800 that was composed by a Black man, who had been enslaved in CT. The evidence makes him among the first Black composer in the US, certainly in CT. Linky here, including some of his music played.

      Reply
    42. 42.

      Miss Bianca

      March 25, 2024 at 4:57 pm

      @WaterGirl: Sorry, my sarcasm meter appears to be malfunctioning today.

      ETA: But thanks to you and all the other jackals for your kind thoughts. Much appreciated, as always.

      Reply
    43. 43.

      Josie

      March 25, 2024 at 4:58 pm

      @Hoodie: ​
       I agree. I was just answering the question of whether or not he could borrow from a New York entity.

      Reply
    44. 44.

      Jay

      March 25, 2024 at 4:58 pm

      @Miss Bianca:

      Probably the most important parts of stroke recovery, are attitude, and doing the rehab. Yes, you can rebuild skills and abilities by doing the therapy, which rewires neuron paths to new parts of the brain.

      My Grandfather had 17 strokes over several decades and remained active and independent until the 16th one, which caused such violent personality changes that he was committed.

      My Grandmother had 6 over 30 years, the combination of the last, her age, and various other factors ended her independent living. She died at 92, with her mind and grudges all intact.

      My Dad had one. He was living with us, I noticed it immediately, gave him an aspirin and water and rushed him to the ER. It was a “mild stroke”, some slurring in speech, some numbness on the left side of his body, some loss of motor control in the left arm.

      But he quit, gave up. Refused to do the rehab, waited to die.

      After 6 months, he finally realized that he was not going to die, just yet, and decided to start doing some of the rehab. By then, 6 months of lying in bed 24/7 just watching the History Channel and pooping into diapers, had atrophied pretty much every muscle.

      He never walked again, moved into long term care, and lived another 20 years.

      I hope your brother recovers and does well.

      And I am sorry you cannot be there for him right now.

      Reply
    45. 45.

      FelonyGovt

      March 25, 2024 at 4:58 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Hoping for good news about your brother, and soon, and some peace of mind for you.

      Reply
    46. 46.

      NotMax

      March 25, 2024 at 4:59 pm

      @NutmegAgain

      In and of itself granting a reduction is far from without precedent. Do agree with surprise at the scope of it, though. Personally would have been much more comfortable with a reduction by $175 million rather than a reduction to it.

      Reply
    47. 47.

      zhena gogolia

      March 25, 2024 at 4:59 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Oh, I’m so sorry. that is really tough.

      Reply
    48. 48.

      rikyrah

      March 25, 2024 at 5:00 pm

      @WaterGirl:

      This is part of why I believe it’s so important that we are raising money for the groups with boots on the ground.  We can’t see the results day by day, but we are building something good that will pay off in November.

      We can’t afford to lose heart.  At least not for any longer than it takes for us to dust ourselves off and get back in the fight

       

      I hear you , WG,

      I feel you.

      Reply
    49. 49.

      MomSense

      March 25, 2024 at 5:01 pm

      Fuck this shit.  The legal system bends fucking backwards for the least deserving person ever.

      It wasn’t that long ago that I was a paralegal for an attorney who did criminal defense.  The shit that Donald gets away with is infuriating.  Nobody else keeps getting away with it.

      Reply
    50. 50.

      rikyrah

      March 25, 2024 at 5:01 pm

      @Miss Bianca:

      So sorry about your brother. That feeling of helplessness can be overwhelming. Praying for you both.

      Reply
    51. 51.

      catclub

      March 25, 2024 at 5:01 pm

      @Baud: Yes, it’s really the only thing left we really have to get done before the election.

       

      It was supposed to get done before LAST november.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      MomSense

      March 25, 2024 at 5:02 pm

      @Miss Bianca:

      Sending a big hug to you.  Please try to breathe.  We are all rooting for your brother.

      Reply
    53. 53.

      NotMax

      March 25, 2024 at 5:02 pm

      @Hoodie

      And every step along the way documentation must pass muster with the financial monitor under her expanded authority.

      Reply
    54. 54.

      Miss Bianca

      March 25, 2024 at 5:05 pm

      Thank you, jackals! I know many of us have come through some tough times recently, and this community is so supportive when that happens, it’s a blessing and I’m deeply grateful for it.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      Raoul Paste

      March 25, 2024 at 5:06 pm

      @WaterGirl: Well said

      Reply
    56. 56.

      Manyakitty

      March 25, 2024 at 5:08 pm

      @Miss Bianca: oh no! Hope your brother recovers quickly. How incredibly frustrating.

      Sending all the love.

      Reply
    57. 57.

      Baud

      March 25, 2024 at 5:09 pm

      @catclub:

      I didn’t mean to imply that it wasn’t overdue. Just that there’s not much else we need from this House.

      Reply
    58. 58.

      Doug R

      March 25, 2024 at 5:14 pm

      @rikyrah: In a better world, the US would be less problematic with funding Ukraine. However, it is wonderful to see Europe step up, especially France.

      Reply
    59. 59.

      Geminid

      March 25, 2024 at 5:20 pm

      Fifty-seven year old Gideon Saar served in Israeli governments during the last decade as a Likud Knesset Member. He challenged Neranyahu for leadership of the party in 2019 and lost. Saar left Likud the following year and formed the New Hope party. His party elected 6 MKs in the March, 2021 election and was one of the 8 parties that formed the Bennet-Lapid government in June, 2021.

      When Netanyahu engineered that government’s fall the following June, Saar formed an electoral alliance with Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, and their joint slate was named National Unity. They won 12 seats in the last election, held on November 1, 2022. They were in opposition until October 12 of last year, when the Knesset ratified a new emergency coalition agreement and Gantz brought his 12 MKs into the present emergency coalition.

      Now Saar has taken his party out of the government and out of Gantz’s party. This will not bring about a new election, but it may be a sign that Saar anticipates one before too long and wants to position his party for it

      Reply
    60. 60.

      Baud

      March 25, 2024 at 5:22 pm

      @Doug R:

      They’re going to have to keep doing it. We’re too unreliable right now, and will be for a while, given elections every two years.

      Reply
    61. 61.

      Dean- 18 year stroke survivor. I have musings about strokee

      March 25, 2024 at 5:26 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Ask the doctors how they are going to get your brother 100% recovered and don’t be polite about it.  Second ask how they are stopping the neuronal cascade of death occurring the first week. If they don’t know about the Rockefeller University report on the cascade of death from 2008, I wonder if you even have stroke doctors.

      Reply
    62. 62.

      Ohio Mom

      March 25, 2024 at 5:29 pm

      @Miss Bianca: I think it also has a lot to do with what part of the brain was damaged. Here’s hoping your brother’s stroke was in a part of the brain that does something easily done without.

      Sending good thoughts his way and yours.

      Reply
    63. 63.

      Ohio Mom

      March 25, 2024 at 5:38 pm

      @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Given the same situation, I would have also said, Nope, this country will never elect a Black man president, Gay Rights, another Nope. I think I would have considered it sad that both answers were Nopes.

      But the idea that the Republican party would become an arm of Moscow, I would have thought that was gibberish. One of those things that “isn’t even wrong.”

      Reply
    64. 64.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 5:59 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Not surprising that your sarcasm meter is off.  The whole back of your brain that normally handles that stuff is busy screaming oh my god about your brother, probably over and over.

      I’m so very sorry.  We feel so helpless when we are far away like that.

      Reply
    65. 65.

      WaterGirl

      March 25, 2024 at 6:20 pm

      @Dean- 18 year stroke survivor. I have musings about strokee: I don’t know if Miss Bianca is still around, so I copied your comment and sent it to her by email.

      Reply
    66. 66.

      The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

      March 25, 2024 at 6:20 pm

      @Miss Bianca: I’ve been there. My sister had a massive stroke several years back. We weren’t certain how much of her was left, and it took months to gauge how many areas of her life were impacted (short answer–all of them, Katie). For the first year afterward, it appeared that she would be permanently reduced to the intellect and perceptions of a child. It’s been over a decade, now, and she’s a fiercely intelligent and independent woman again, living on her own and making her own choices. It’s been a long road, and harder than I or anyone who hasn’t personally been through it can imagine, but she is ALL THE WAY BACK. It can happen, even when initial impacts are scary and overwhelming.

      Reply
    67. 67.

      Hoodie

      March 25, 2024 at 6:35 pm

      @Geminid: This seems to be getting lost in the somewhat overwrought furor over the appeals court ruling in the Trump fraud case.  Seems like a BFD that the US abstained in the UN, and this move by Saar in the wake of that could be significant.

      Reply
    68. 68.

      Manyakitty

      March 25, 2024 at 6:39 pm

      @Geminid: thanks. I wasn’t sure how to take his departure.

      Reply
    69. 69.

      Betty

      March 25, 2024 at 6:49 pm

      @Jay: Phosphorus provided by the US?

      Reply
    70. 70.

      Freemark

      March 25, 2024 at 6:51 pm

      Just saw DWAC stock is up 35% on the news of Trump’s reduced bond. Essentially DWAC is investing 300 million dollars in a company with a negative value and some people think its a great investment. So Trump will suddenly be worth 4 billion dollars. I realize that won’t be ‘real’ money immediately. But still WITEF.

      Reply
    71. 71.

      stinger

      March 25, 2024 at 6:52 pm

      @The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion: What a wonderful thing for your family. Thanks for sharing that, and may it give reasonable hope to Miss Bianca and to all of us.

      Reply
    72. 72.

      Miss Bianca

      March 25, 2024 at 6:53 pm

      @Dean- 18 year stroke survivor. I have musings about strokee:

      *blink* *blink* Uh…okay.

      He’s at Providence Hospital, which is actually a comprehensive stroke center for the region, according to their website.

      They have some pretty good doctors there – the top craniofacial team in the country at the time put my face back on straight after my bike accident at that hospital. Pretty sure he’s in good hands, but there’s a lot I don’t know about what to ask, so thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

      Reply
    73. 73.

      Omnes Omnibus

      March 25, 2024 at 6:54 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Good thoughts for him, you, and the rest of your family.

      Reply
    74. 74.

      Miss Bianca

      March 25, 2024 at 6:55 pm

      @The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion: Wow. Thanks – that’s good to hear. I’ll keep that in mind and try not to feed the brain gerbils with too much stressing out.

      Reply
    75. 75.

      Geminid

      March 25, 2024 at 7:05 pm

      @Hoodie: Saar telegraphed this move a week ago, so today’s Security Council resolution probably was not a factor here.

      This government is getting shakier though. Israel needs new National service legislation to keep the IDF up to strength, and the Netanyahu coalition’s bill adds to the obligations of those serving while continuing to shield the Ultra-Orthodox from service. Yoav Gallant, the Likud Defense Minister, says he will not go along and Benny Gantz says he’ll leave the government if Netanyahu’s bill passes.

      One Israeli described the political dynamic:

         My cousins were very much liberal but “wait until after the war” kind of people, but after their service was extended and more exceptions given out to Bibi’s extremist allies that are causing trouble in the [West Bank] they’re done with him. People are mad mad.

      Reply
    76. 76.

      Jackie

      March 25, 2024 at 7:10 pm

      @Miss Bianca: I’m SO SORRY! I can only imagine how helpless and stressed you’re feeling right now; not being able go to him atm. I hope there are other family members who ARE able to be with your brother until you’re able to travel! Sending healing thoughts to him and hugs to you!

      Reply
    77. 77.

      KSinMA

      March 25, 2024 at 7:13 pm

      @Miss Bianca: Oh, big hugs to you. I know all of us jackals are with you and your brother!

      Reply
    78. 78.

      Geminid

      March 25, 2024 at 7:26 pm

      @Hoodie: The Jerusalem Post has a good article based on an interview with a former IDF Operations Directorate head, Major General Israel Ziv, that addresses matters in and out of Gaza. It’s titled:

      Israel’s war in Gaza is lost and aimless, Hamas is still kicking– IDF [General]

      Former IDF maj.-Gen. Israel Ziv reveals the bitter truth about the war in Gaza, the debate with Americans, and the activity at Shifa Hospital.

      Hopefully this link is too short for me to mess up:

      https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-792864

       

       

      @Geminid:

      Reply
    79. 79.

      tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

      March 25, 2024 at 7:33 pm

      @NutmegAgain: Thank you for sharing this. So glad to see this bit of history brought to life.

      Reply
    80. 80.

      tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat)

      March 25, 2024 at 7:42 pm

      @Miss Bianca: I am so sorry to hear about your brother. I wish him a full recovery.

      Reply
    81. 81.

      Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

      March 25, 2024 at 8:09 pm

      @Geminid: If the ultra-orthodox were forced to serve, that would finally be fair. It would also finish Bibi. The downside is having religious nutjobs trained with weapons.

      Reply
    82. 82.

      Geminid

      March 25, 2024 at 9:30 pm

      @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: I read that most Ultra-Orthodox served in the IDF until the late 1970s, and the practice of granting large numbers of draft exemptions started under Begin’s Likud government and increased since then. But with the Haredi now accounting for 13% of Israel’s population, and the 20% of citizens who are Arab being exempt, the rest of the nation is hard-pressed to fill the IDF’s ranks.

      The problem extends to the overall economy. The Haredi are poorly educated and unsuited for work in a modern economy. Labor economists see this as a constraint on future⁷ growth. Fortunately, Israeli Arabs are better integrated into the economy now and pick up some of the slack.

      Proponents of Haredi servive see the IDF as a key institution for integrating Israeli citizens into a whole, which is why the Ultra-Orthodox rabbis oppose service. Their whole ethos is based on apartness, except when it comes to government subsidies.

      There is Supreme Court decision striking down these  draft exemptions. I’m not sure, but I think the court granted a period of time for the  government to come up with a new system and March 31 is some sort of deadline.

      Reply
    83. 83.

      Manyakitty

      March 25, 2024 at 9:55 pm

      @Geminid: long past time for the lazy Haredi schnorrers to put up or shut up.

      Reply
    84. 84.

      Paul in KY

      March 26, 2024 at 8:38 am

      @Miss Bianca: Very sorry to hear that! Hope they got him to the hospital in time. Saying prayers for your family.

      Reply
    85. 85.

      Torrey

      March 26, 2024 at 10:32 am

      @Miss Bianca:

      I am so sorry to hear this. Sending good thoughts to you and your family, and especially to your brother.

      Reply
    86. 86.

      Quaker in a Basement

      March 26, 2024 at 2:41 pm

      Why, Trump has a development at Seven Springs that’s worth exactly that much! Just sit tight while Eric pours the concrete.

      Reply

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