Sympthsical
Sympthsical's Journal"I'm a Jew at 'The Guardian.' I Don't Feel Safe at Work."
What people are being real, real - disconcertingly - quiet about. Read the whole thing.
I don’t understand. I know people, Israelis, who were murdered. They did not “die,” as if in some kind of accident. I saw footage of terrorism. It was not an “assault.”
. . .
I go back the next day. I look at the front page. A photo of Gaza and “violence escalates.” Israelis “dead” but Palestinians “killed.” If they can’t empathize with the Jews now, they never will.
I email the editors. I tell them that my newspaper’s coverage has been upsetting. They tell me that their thoughts are with my family but they stand by the paper’s reporting.
https://www.thefp.com/p/jew-at-the-guardian-dont-feel-safe
Jury finds John Hopkins liable for $220 million in Maya Kowalski case.
There's a Netflix documentary, Take Care of Maya, about this. The conduct of the staff at the hospital is completely vile. The jury agreed and took them to the cleaners. Watching the verdict being read is rough viewing. Maya, her father, and her brother completely break down.
These people drove a wife and mother desperately trying to care for her daughter straight to her death.
The Kowalski family previously alleged that the hospital played a role in separating Beata's daughter Maya from her family, which contributed to Beata's death by suicide.
As a child, Maya was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a rare neurological condition that causes excruciating pain in response to the slightest touch, PEOPLE reported previously. In 2016, she was checked into Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital for debilitating stomach pain. While there, hospital staff reported Beata to the Department of Children and Families after she requested Maya be treated with ketamine, saying the drug had helped her daughter in the past.
Due to her requests, Beata was accused of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Through a psychological evaluation, it was eventually determined she did not have the mental illness, however, she was placed in state custody and remained in the hospital away from her family for more than three months, PEOPLE previously reported.
https://people.com/take-care-of-maya-trial-hospital-found-liable-mothers-suicide-munchausen-by-proxy-accusations-8400157
UCLA Protesters: "Beat that effing Jew!"
They didn't say effing. It's a pinata of Netanyahu. Which, meh. Good job, Super Serious Adults I Definitely Want to Hire Someday. But at about 23 seconds in . . . And the crowd cheers.
So . . . when do we acknowledge that maybe - just maybe - there's a real big problem going on here on our campuses?
Silence is becoming complicity.
https://twitter.com/AYM_Higher_/status/1722471983823130635
The Decolonization Narrative Is Dangerous and False
A very long article, but very worth reading (just slip into "reader view" in your browser to see the whole thing).
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/decolonization-narrative-dangerous-and-false/675799/
So many good parts that can be excerpted, but one that is particularly salient to here, I think.
Of course, some protesters chanting “from the river to the sea” may have no idea what they’re calling for; they are ignorant and believe that they are simply endorsing “freedom.” Others deny that they are pro-Hamas, insisting that they are simply pro-Palestinian—but feel the need to cast Hamas’s massacre as an understandable response to Israeli-Jewish “colonial” oppression. Yet others are malign deniers who seek the death of Israeli civilians.
The toxicity of this ideology is now clear. Once-respectable intellectuals have shamelessly debated whether 40 babies were dismembered or some smaller number merely had their throats cut or were burned alive. Students now regularly tear down posters of children held as Hamas hostages. It is hard to understand such heartless inhumanity. Our definition of a hate crime is constantly expanding, but if this is not a hate crime, what is? What is happening in our societies? Something has gone wrong.
In a further racist twist, Jews are now accused of the very crimes they themselves have suffered. Hence the constant claim of a “genocide” when no genocide has taken place or been intended. Israel, with Egypt, has imposed a blockade on Gaza since Hamas took over, and has periodically bombarded the Strip in retaliation for regular rocket attacks. After more than 4,000 rockets were fired by Hamas and its allies into Israel, the 2014 Gaza War resulted in more than 2,000 Palestinian deaths. More than 7,000 Palestinians, including many children, have died so far in this war, according to Hamas. This is a tragedy—but this is not a genocide, a word that has now been so devalued by its metaphorical abuse that it has become meaningless.
I should also say that Israeli rule of the Occupied Territories of the West Bank is different and, to my mind, unacceptable, unsustainable, and unjust. The Palestinians in the West Bank have endured a harsh, unjust, and oppressive occupation since 1967. Settlers under the disgraceful Netanyahu government have harassed and persecuted Palestinians in the West Bank: 146 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were killed in 2022 and at least 153 in 2023 before the Hamas attack, and more than 90 since. Again: This is appalling and unacceptable, but not genocide.
"From the River to the Sea" pops up at UC Berkeley
And "Long live the Intifada" for the bonus round.
Everyone just really wants peace, y'all. Totally. Not. Antisemitic.
For those who doubt Hamas attitudes toward civilian sacrifice
Excellent interview by a Al Arabiya journalist with a Hamas spokesman. You might have to gather yourself after witnessing actual challenging journalism. We're not very used to it anymore. How is it she's going harder than many journalists in the West? That's weird.
Transcript of the Hamas spokesman's reply after the journalist berated him for civilian deaths.
Dear Sister, nations are not easily liberated. The Russians sacrificed 30 million people in WWII in order to liberate it from Hitler’s attack. The Vietnamese sacrificed 3.5 million until they defeated the Americans. Afghanistan sacrificed millions of martyrs to defeat the USSR and then the US. The Algerians sacrificed 6 million martyrs over 130 years.
The Palestinian people are just like any other nation. No nation is liberated without sacrifices.
Hamas will fight the Jews to the last Palestinian. A high civilian death count is just the price of their genocidal business.
So, who wants to start negotiations with them?
https://twitter.com/arash_tehran/status/1715354932595847322
Orionid meteor shower this weekend
Tonight and tomorrow night will be the best viewing. This is probably the easiest annual shower to locate, because most people are able to find Orion in the sky with the three star belt. That's the radiant and all the meteors will travel out from that direction.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-how-to-watch-the-orionids-meteor-shower-this-weekend-180983108/
The Orionids will be best visible in the hours after midnight to anyone in the world with clear skies and minimal light pollution. You won’t need any special equipment to view this shower, but NASA recommends finding a dark place and setting up a sleeping bag, blanket or lawn chair for comfort.
If you’re located in the Northern Hemisphere, lie down with your feet facing southeast. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, your feet should face northeast. You’ll see the most meteors if you look to the lower half of the sky, unless the sky near your horizon is brightly lit, per the International Meteor Organization (IMO). You should allow at least 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust—avoid looking at your phone or a flashlight, otherwise your night vision will need another 30 minutes to kick in.
The Orionids travel at about 148,000 miles per hour into Earth’s atmosphere, often leaving spectacular glowing "trains" that can last several seconds to minutes. They can also sometimes turn into fireballs, or very bright meteors, per NASA. Usually, stargazers watching the Orionids can expect to see a meteor every few minutes, though in rare cases, observers have seen three times as many. Stronger activity is not expected this year, per the IMO.
UC Davis professor threatens Jewish journalists, families
Good thing she's at a university. It's "the place for making mistakes"
Otherwise there could've been a problem. People who want her fired just have no sense of intellectual curiosity.
https://www.mediaite.com/online/uc-davis-professor-under-fire-over-posts-threatening-zionist-journalists-and-their-families/
Edit: Eesh, another one. What is going on in academia?
https://13wham.com/news/nation-world/chicago-art-professor-under-fire-for-calling-israelis-irredeemable-excrement-in-wake-of-hamas-invasion-school-institute-mika-tosca-israel-palestine-terrorism-terrorist-middle-east-conflict-chicago-illinois
Spotted some "From the River to the Sea" signs at S.F. Gaza protest
What a treat for everyone.
"I am very against genocide. Sometimes. Subject to Terms and Conditions, not available in all ethnicities."
It's going to be verrrry difficult to claim to be anti-Nazi while this is allowed to go on so permissively.
Kaiser strike settled
CNN link below. I have it from some upper sources that it's a 21% increase over a 3 year contract with new minimum wage at $23/hr.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/business/kaiser-permanente-strike-deal-reached/index.html
