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LeftInTX

LeftInTX's Journal
LeftInTX's Journal
December 18, 2023

Is the format of DU temporarily messed up?

Or is it me?



ETA: I just switched browsers from Chrome to Firefox and don't have the problem, so I think it's me. Closed Chrome. Opened Chrome and still have the problem. Chrome on another computer doesn't have the problem.
Ugh....

December 16, 2023

90 terror operatives detained at northern Gaza hospital (video of guns hidden in NICU incubators and warmers)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-shin-bet-say-90-terror-operatives-detained-at-northern-gaza-hospital/

The IDF and Shin Bet security agency say that over the last few days, Israeli forces detained some 90 terror operatives at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and seized numerous weapons.

The joint statement says some of those detained at the hospital, which allegedly served as a Hamas base, participated in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

Troops of the 460th Armored Brigade and Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit raided the hospital, locating weapons, including assault rifles, RPGs, explosive devices, and military equipment belonging to Hamas operatives, the IDF says.

The statement says Shin Bet agents and interrogators of the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 questioned hospital employees, who admitted that weapons were hidden inside incubators in the maternity ward.

Video at tweet: https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1736081301621326327
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Hamas has so many arms it doesn't know what to do with them. Who even thinks of this s____? They're a walking, talking NRA!!! Hamas is so bored, that's what they do with themselves.

In other news. Hamas has more money that it knows what to do with!

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/nyt-israel-had-blueprint-of-hamass-financial-infrastructure-in-2018-but-didnt-shut-it-down/

NYT: Israel had blueprint of Hamas’s financial infrastructure in 2018, but didn’t shut it down

Israeli intelligence obtained comprehensive details of Hamas’s financial empire in 2018 but did nothing to shut it down and stem the flow of funds to the terror group, The New York Times reports.

According to the report, documents found on the computer of a senior Hamas official listed what amounted to a private equity fund worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

It included “Hamas-controlled mining, chicken farming and road building companies in Sudan, twin skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, a property developer in Algeria, and a real estate firm listed on the Turkish stock exchange.”

However, the report says that even though the documents were shared in Jerusalem and Washington, nothing was done to disrupt the operations.


December 15, 2023

Cenk Uygur filed for US President -Dem

He's not eligible, but is on the Texas SOS site.

December 13, 2023

Oh Jeez another one of their gotcha resolutions.

Will there be one every week?


House to vote to condemn college presidents’ antisemitism testimony

The House is set to vote Wednesday on a bipartisan resolution condemning the congressional testimony of three university presidents at a hearing last week that centered on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) — whose direct line of questioning during the hearing has gone viral — introduced the resolution on Tuesday with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.).

“This is not a partisan issue but a question of moral clarity,” Stefanik wrote in a press release introducing the resolution. “Which is why our colleagues from across the aisle have come together with us to introduce a resolution condemning antisemitism on university campuses as well as the morally bankrupt testimonies of the University Presidents from Harvard, [University of Pennsylvania], and MIT during last week’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing.”

During the hearing, Stefanik had pressed the university presidents on whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their schools’ respective codes of conduct, and all three struggled to respond directly.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4357218-house-to-vote-to-condemn-college-presidents-antisemitism-testimony/

_________________

What will it be next week, "You are anti-Semitic if you don't support Trump"?

December 12, 2023

Betelgeuse nearly disappeared - for some - in rare eclipse last night

https://twitter.com/Soc_AstroCaribe/status/1734390390227181816

Asteroid 319 Leona passed in front of the star Betelgeuse tonight and it seems that it only decreased its brightness for a couple of seconds and did not completely hide it, at least from the perspective of Italy. “Spikes” or glow lines disappear briefly. Video: Antonio Piras.

https://earthsky.org/space/betelgeuse-will-dim-disappear-asteroid-leona-dec-11-12-2023/

&t=1s&ab_channel=spacemovie


The bright star Betelgeuse did become fainter – and, for experienced observers using the right equipment, nearly disappeared – last night (night of December 11, 2023). The event occurred as asteroid Leona passed in front of the star. But the event was quick! And it was subtle: a momentary dimming of the star.

The tweet above – from Italy – shows what the eye would have seen: a dimming, but not a total disappearance.

I watched first in Sardina. It looked maybe 50% decrease for 2 seconds there. Then I flipped to Portugal and saw nothing. Betelguese must either be larger than thought in apparent diameter or the asteroid smaller.






_____________________
Betelgeuse eclipse the prequel:

https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2023/12/04/the-extremely-rare-betelgeuse-occultation-by-asteroid-319-leona-online-event-12-dec-2023/#google_vignette

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/betelgeuse-star-eclipse-orion-constellation-asteroid-leona-how-to-watch/

]Betelgeuse Is About To Be Eclipsed In A Rare ‘Ring Of Fire’
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2023/12/08/betelgeuse-is-about-to-be-eclipsed-in-a-rare-ring-of-fire/?sh=4f5823872078

Asteroid will pass in front of bright star Betelgeuse to produce a rare eclipse visible to millions
https://apnews.com/article/asteroid-star-eclipse-betelgeuse-b9e3796c1ca915afdb84ed41509da9c8

__________________________________________________________

Didn't know where to post this: Lounge, Science or Offbeat? A much anticipated astronomical event was a dud! (That's not unusual)

I'm glad a few people caught it on video.

Unfortunately, I don't think NASA had any telescopes on it.

Was this an over-hyped media astronomical event? It was supposed to last for 15 seconds. There was even talk of a "ring of fire"

Still looking around for better video.
December 7, 2023

'Life under Hamas is like under ISIS,' says Syria-born journalist deported from Gaza

Well written article. Slightly in-depth about a Syrian young woman who went to Gaza

Al-Sharif estimated that about a quarter of the Gazan population is involved with Hamas – as active operatives, public employees, or members of the security forces. The remaining 75 percent of the population, in her view, would much rather live without the terror group. “Gazans are very angry at the Hamas leadership.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/life-under-hamas-is-like-under-isis-says-syria-born-journalist-deported-from-gaza/

Manar al-Sharif was born in Damascus to a devout Muslim family that embraced the Palestinian cause and supported Hamas. But her views on the terror group changed dramatically after she spent three years in Gaza, including months behind bars in a Hamas jail.

Today, she is out of the Strip but still lives in a Middle Eastern country and works as a journalist. At 26, she is one of a handful of people persecuted by Hamas who managed to leave Gaza to tell their tales.

Al-Sharif’s family fled Syria for Egypt in 2013 during the Syrian civil war when she was a teenager. After completing high school in Cairo, she managed to convince her parents to allow her to pursue a degree. Her family insisted that she attend a gender-segregated Islamic university, so in 2017, she moved to Gaza City on her own and enrolled at the Islamic University to study journalism.

She dropped out of the course after only a few months, judging the curriculum “unprofessional” and permeated with Hamas propaganda, but decided to remain in the Palestinian enclave nevertheless.
December 7, 2023

J Street says it'll withdraw support for IDF's Gaza op without 'meaningful changes'

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/j-street-says-itll-withdraw-support-for-idfs-gaza-op-sans-meaningful-changes/


https://jstreet.org/press-releases/moment-of-truth-for-israels-government/
snips....

We are fast approaching a moment of truth: What happens if the Netanyahu government continues to ignore the admonitions and guardrails that J Street, the Biden administration and many Americans – Jewish and not – support?


While our belief in the legitimacy of a military operation remains unchanged, our support for the way in which that operation is conducted is not without limits.


If Prime Minister Netanyahu fails to modify the nature of the military campaign or to take the steps urged by the United States, J Street will call on the Biden administration to change course. Over decades, the US has built up considerable leverage and capital with Israel, and the President should be prepared to wield it in telling Israel that the time has come to stop this all-out military campaign.


If we do not see evidence soon that the government of Israel is, in fact, making meaningful changes to its conduct of the war and its attitudes regarding post-war arrangements, then J Street will no longer be able to provide our organizational support for the current military campaign.



J Street was created to serve as the political home and voice for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans. The views of the majority of American Jews were previously underrepresented and ignored in our politics. We’re changing that, and in the process transforming our national conversation about what it means to be pro-Israel. We advocate and engage on every level – in Washington, in political campaigns, in our communities and on campuses. By changing the conversation, we open up political space for elected leaders to support policies that advance a secure, Jewish and democratic future for Israel and reflect the shared values that underlie the US-Israel relationship.
December 6, 2023

American Experience: Taken Hostage - PBS

https://www.pbs.org/video/part-1-taken-hostage-american-experience-a56dcc/

https://www.pbs.org/video/part-2-taken-hostage-american-experience-b0xbv2/

Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world

If you didn't get to see this last year, watch it. It's riveting.

So many parallels with today.

PBS usually keeps videos online for a few weeks.

December 6, 2023

American Experience: Taken Hostage

https://www.pbs.org/video/part-1-taken-hostage-american-experience-a56dcc/

Revisit the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran, through stories of those whose ordeal riveted the world.

Episode two is also streaming on my Roku. (It will probably air tomorrow and be available online)

This is so riveting and somewhat parallels today. If you didn't get to see it last year, watch it now. It's very well done.

Profile Information

Gender: Female
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Member since: Sun Oct 14, 2012, 11:45 AM
Number of posts: 25,224

About LeftInTX

Always a Democrat. I can't understand conservatives. I try to understand them, but I can't. They don't make sense. Our country has gone so far right since 1981. I was just an average American who took many Democratic values for granted when Reagan was elected. It was like the rug was pulled out from under our society. Reagan ruined our country.
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