Wanted

Interesting that the US wanted Shukr too.

I didn't realize that the government had a Rewards for Justice Program run by the State Dept, with rap sheets, wanted posters, and rewards offered for different terroists.

Somehow disturbing.

Hamas leader killed

We shouldn't be surprised. From November 2023: Netanyahu, Gallant say all Hamas members, even outside Gaza, are ‘dead men’.

If history teaches us anything, it is that the leaders of Hamas will be hunted down, even if it takes years. How long did it take the US to find Osama bin Laden?

Will this damage the chances for a ceasefire? I think it will do the opposite.

More Vance

I'm a childless cat lady. I'm not one of the regretful childless people that we see on the news. I have never been keen on having kids, and I mostly find them kind of scary .... they are humanity without the wisdom and restraint of experience.

And anyway, the world has too many people as it is. Really ...



Why do people like Vance (and institutions like the Catholic church) demean the childless, why do they glorify what is basically a replacemnt method that humans share with almost every other creature on the planer?

I think it has to do with being afraid, with wanting to control others.

Pete

Pete Buttigieg was on MSNBC today. He's one of those being considered as a possible vice president for Harris. I think he would be a great choice!

Maya Goren

People keep asking why the IDF is asking Palestinians in Gaza to move from one area of the humanitarian zone to another prior to sending troops in.

The answer is that Hamas has been hiding in the humanitarian zone among civilians, and the IDF has been getting intelligence about where those areas are.

It was intelligence from a terrorist detainee that led the Israeli army to find the bodies of five hostages killed on Oct 7 ... Hamas kidnaps dead people.

Thier bodies were not just inside a tunnel 60 feet under the humanitarian zone, but buried behind a wall of that tunnel. It's likely the families of these people would never have known what happened to their loved ones if that intelligence had not been gathered.

You can read more about the IDF action and the individual deceased hostages here ... Bodies of 5 hostages were found in tunnel in Gaza’s Israeli-designated humanitarian zone

Here's an article in The New York Post about the one female hostage, Maya Goren, a 56 year old teacher and mother of four ... IDF recovers body of kindergarten teacher kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7

Wildfire

This fire is about 90 miles north of where I live. Scary. And sad - all the animals, plants, people's homes burned up. So much terror and suffering :(

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

When I was young, this was my favorite Chicago song: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?. Here they are, 1973, at Caribou Ranch in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado ...

Gaza Poll

Interestin story from NPR on a polling pf Palestinians, from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, located in Ramallah, in the West Bank.

The Biden administration has opined that most Palestinians in Gaza don't like Hamas and do not support the Oct 7 attack on Israel that started this war. The poll shows the opposite to be true - a majority of those polled support the Oct 7 attack on Israel, and their support for Hamas is actually growing.

It's a long article but here's a bit of it ...

A pollster sheds light on Palestinian attitudes toward the U.S., Israel and Hamas

[...] The results from the latest survey, published on June 12, showed that more than 60% of Palestinians in Gaza reported losing family members in the current war, which has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians. Two-thirds of respondents said they continue to support the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which militants killed 1,200 people and took at least 240 hostages, and 80% believe it put the Palestinian issue at the center of global attention.

About half of those responding to the survey in Gaza said they expected Hamas to win the war with Israel and return to rule the Gaza Strip, while a quarter said they expected Israel to win ....

In the June 12 poll, 40% of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza said they would prefer Hamas to govern them, followed by Fatah (20%), the Palestinian National Liberation Movement in control of the West Bank and led by Mahmoud Abbas. Eight percent chose others. Support for Hamas over the preceding three months increased by 6%.

Shikaki explains this significant support for Hamas despite the suffering caused by the war: “The support for Hamas comes from various sources, but the most important one is because Palestinians share Hamas' values. They will support Hamas for that, even if Hamas makes wrong moves here or there." ....

The speech

The Times of Israel's daily briefing discusses Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress yesterday. Interestingly, they think the main audience for the speech was not meant to be the Americans or the Israelis, but the Saudis. Find out why.

Biden's speech

I just watched Joe Biden's speech from the Oval Office. I'm not ashamed to say it made me cry. I think he has been a really good president and it's a shame that he was not allowed to run again.

When the roof of my decrepit house was in such bad shape that I couldn't get homeowner's insurance, I wrote to my governor to ask for advice. He never even acknowledged that I had written. But when I finally wrote to Biden, he wrote me back an actual letter with all kinds of advice.

Maybe that's why he is a good president - he cares about people, even a nobody like me.

The speech

Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress. He brought along some Israeli soldiers who had fought and been wounded on October 7, as well as the recently rescued hostage, Noa Argamani.

I think he did a good job of reminding people of what is at stake for Israel. A lot of Democrats don't like him, even a lot of Israelis don't, in part because he does not pussyfoot around in making his points.

Maybe I'm wrong, but to me he seems like a guy who ultimately wants to save his country, and I remember his brother, who died saving the hostages in Entebbe.

Some pro-Hamas graffiti outside the Capitol today Kamala Harris condemns pro-Hamas protesters who burned American flag in D.C. ...

Terry Kath

One song by Chicago that I always liked, but didn't even realize was by them, is Make Me Smile, sung by guitarist Terry Kath.

Terry caught my attention both because he was said to be a really good guitarist (Why Jimi Hendrix Called Chicago’s Terry Kath The Best Guitarist In The Universe), and because, sadly, he died at age 31 from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Here is the song, performed at Tanglewood, 1970 ...

Learn more

So what's happening in the Israel/Hamas war?

Most of the news headlines I see seem to have taken sides, like this one from CNN ... Dozens killed and thousands flee as Israel shrinks ‘humanitarian zone’ in Gaza

I wonder where the information about the deaths came from. How may of the dead were Hamas fighters? Why is Israel asking people to move, and attacking in the humanitarian zone? I'd hope peole would want to know more.

Here's The Times of Israel's news briefing for today, which deals withe subject of these attacks, interviewing military correspondent Emmanuel Fabian ...

The park

Chicago, Saturday in the Park, written and sung by keyboardist Robert Lamm, 1973, about NY's Central Park.

Kamala Harris

Now that Joe Biden has officially ended his campaign for president in 2024, the press and elected Democrats ... you know, the ones who hounded him mercilessly to get out of the race ... well, they are all going on and on about what a great president and person Biden has been, about his wonderful legacy. You would think he had died, but I guess it's just that he's now "dead to them".

Their true focus is on who will take Biden's place. Most have endorsed Biden's choice ... Kamala Harris ... but a few prominent Democrats, like Pelosi and Obama, have not done so. Why not?

If Harris does get the nomination, who will she choose as her running mate? My favorite choice would be Mark Kelly. I really like him, and have done so since before he got into politics, when he was an astronaut. I like Josh Shapiro too, but I think Kelly would be more popular with voters.

Harris was my senator and I voted for her in the past in CA. But in a perfect world, I probably wouldn't have chosen her for president. For one thing, I don't think she will be as good a friend to Israel as Biden has been. And she doesn't sem as concerned about the elderly and the poor as someone like Bernie is.

And it still bugs me that the Democratic candidate for presient in 2024 will be someone no voters have voted for, but is instead chosen by the big wigs in the party. Not very democratic.

In studio

Yes, it's going to be all Chicago all the time for a while ... I'm fascinated by Peter Cetera's wonderful teeth :) In studio, 1973, Stronger Every Day.

Chicago

Here is Chicago, doing their song Old Days, 1975 New Year's Eve, sung by Peter Cetera.

Smoke-filled room

- AOC talks aboit the effort to remove Biden (and Harris)

Smoke-filled room ... In U.S. political jargon, a smoke-filled room (sometimes called a smoke-filled back room) is an exclusive, sometimes secret political gathering or round-table-style decision-making process. The phrase is generally used to suggest an inner circle of power brokers, a cabal of the powerful or well-connected acting to make decisions without regard for the will of the larger group.

Elizabeth Warren was on The Weekend today, and the first question she was asked was whether she was with Biden, or was one of those who wanted a different candidate.

Her answer was so disingenuous and passive-aggressive, and an example of what all of the Democrats who want Biden to leave have been doing.

First there's the "oh, Joe Biden has been such a good president, oh his legacy will be great, oh I just really love him". And then there is the lie, oops, I mean misdirection ... Warren says "Biden has a really big decision to make".

She and they know, as well as all of us know, that Biden has already make his decision, and has articulated it a million times, in public ... he is the candidate and he is running.

Then Warren went on to talk up Kamala Harris, the implication being, I guess, that she will support Harris to take Biden's place (she doesn't actually say that, though). And, as AOC has said, if you think the people who want to remove Biden are going to support Kamala Harris, think again - they want to have a whole new ticket, just a couple of months before the election.

But see, Warren and the others of her ilk can't be honest - instead they must flood the zone with poop. If they say "Biden is too old, he's lost it, and if he runs he will drag me down and I may lose my job" ... well, not only will Biden voters hate them, Biden himself will be pissed.

And see, they can't make Biden mad! Because he has a vast majority of the delegates and the only way they can get those delegates is to convince Biden to voluntarily give them over.

So there is this endless campaign, waged in the public view, to convince the voters Biden doesn't really want to be president again, and to convince Biden that he is dragging down the party with his hopeless and selfish attempt to retain power.

God, I hate these people. Because they are lying. And because they are moral cowards. They don't have the decency to be straightforward about what they want and why. And they don't have the decency to honor the millions of votes from millions of Democrats who voted for Joe Biden to be the candidate.

I thought they were all about "democacy" and "the will of the people". Nope, they are about securing their power and their money.

Kibbutz Be’eri

Israeli military inquiry says it ‘failed in its mission’ to protect southern kibbutz during October 7 attack

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) internal investigation into the failures to protect the kibbutz of Be’eri on October 7 found that the Israeli military “failed in its mission to protect the residents” and “was not prepared for the extensive infiltration scenario” by Hamas that day, which involved “multiple infiltration points by thousands of terrorists attacking dozens of locations simultaneously.”

Be’eri, located in southern Israel, was one of the hardest hit communities in the October 7 attacks when Hamas militants stormed the kibbutz, killing 101 of its residents, including children. Thirty people were abducted from the kibbutz that day ...

Today on The Times of Israel's daily briefing, they discuss the report on the Be'eri attack ...

Old

Biden did well, I thought, at the press conference tonight. But of course, that will not change the minds of those who want to dump him. That's because, despite all their disclaimers, their real reason for wanting to dump him can not be affected by new events or facts.

Joe Biden is old. And for those who think he's worthless, there can be no coming back from that. There's just no remedy for that. Best he can do is get out of the way.

So these people who dispute the worth of the elderly will not give up until they have poisoned the voters against Biden, and they have a new candidate. That candidate may not be as experienced as Biden, not as smart, not as good a person, not as capable. But that will be ok.

Because he/she won't be old.

George Clooney

Now it's Clooney who wants Biden to step aside, with an op ed in The New York Times.

Clooney used to be a supporter of Biden. Why would he suddenly change his mind? He says it's because the Biden he knew has suddenly changed into someone else .... wait, is this one of those body snatcher scenarios?

Or maybe it's not a coincidence that his wife was instrumental in attributing war crimes to Israel .... Amal Clooney was among the experts who advised on the ICC arrest warrants ... George Clooney called White House to defend his wife a month before NYT Biden take down.

Who knows. But making the choice of who should be president based on an actor's opinion just seems odd anyway.

Bernie

Bernie stands with Joe Biden, supporting him and his policies as some other Democratic senators try to oust Biden. Bernis said "this is not a beauty contest" and "to hell with the billionaire campaign donors" who want to get rid of Biden :) I'm glad to see this ... it's depressing how many Democrats I used to respect are now part of the eat-your-own feeding frenzy over Biden.

111° F

Where I live, it's a hot one, like seven inches from the midday sun.

Here above is Santana, vocals by Rob Thomas, with their song Smooth.

Friends

This song is in my head today. Joe Cocker performs on the German tv series Beat-Club in 1968.

The recording of this song was the one that really began his career, with Jimmy Page on guitar, and it reached #1 in the UK that year.

I didn't realize that he had died until I was looking this up. Sad. He is so yoing in this video ... I think he's 24 here.

Noa

Mother of hostage Noa Argamani dies of cancer three weeks after daughter’s rescue

Liora Argamani, the mother of recently rescued hostage Noa Argamani, has died of brain cancer, the Tel Aviv hospital where she was being treated said Tuesday.

Ichilov Hospital said in a statement that Liora “spent her final days alongside her daughter Noa, who returned from captivity, and her close family.” ...

Noa was able to be at her mother's side, not because of some tortured ceasefire agreement with Hamas, but because the IDF rescued her. She had been a prisoner of civilian Gazans in their home, because, you know, what family doesn't want its own slave?

I read the news every morning, and when I see the headlines about the Isreal/Hamas war, it seems like the world is confused about who the victims are.