Perspective

My Photo
Name:
Location: United States

Friday, January 31, 2025

Two of three hostages released so far

Yarden Bibas has been released by Hamas. But not his wife and two children. Notice that the kidnappers are dressed as civilians.



Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas have arrived at an IDF facility to meet family members

The Bibas family

Tomorrow some more Israeli and American hostages will be released by Hamas. One who is thought to be released is a member of the Bibas family, the husband/father, Yarden, but there has been no news about the wife, Shiri, and their two little kids, then 9-month-old Kfir and then 4-year-old Ariel ... see Kidnapping of the Bibas family.

I still remember seeing a video made by the kidnappers of the abduction of Shiri and her children, the look of terror on her face as the monsters closed in around her ...

I think the IDF believes she and her children are probably dead, but hope still lives. What has become of them? Why has Hamas not released them with the other civilian women?

Hamas to release Israeli father amid ‘grave concerns’ for wife and children

[...] The release of Bibas, whose wife, Shiri, and children, Ariel and Kfir, remain unaccounted for amid “grave concerns” over their wellbeing, represents a painful moment for the large numbers of Israelis and other supporters around the world who have long campaigned for the Bibas family’s release.

Video of Shiri Bibas holding on to her children as she was kidnapped by Hamas gunmen from the Nir Oz kibbutz became an enduring image of the 7 October 2023 attacks, with her son Kfir just 9 months old when he was abducted ...


Thursday, January 30, 2025

DEI



Trump blames the terrible aviation crash in DC on DEI hires. Because, as "common sense" teaches us, the only competent mammals on the planet are straight white men (whithout disabilities, of course).

Reminiscent of the Nazi regime, which went after Jews, the disabled, gay people, and minority groups like the Romani people.

Not surprising - hatred is the glue that binds Trump's followers together. Republicans, you must be so proud.

Our country's death spiral continues :(

The "innocent civilians"





More hostages released



The freeing of the two other Israeli hostages, Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, and five Thai nationals, amid a screaming crowd of Gazan civilians.

Israel releases Palestinian prisoners after delay over chaotic hostage handover

Hostage Agam Berger freed

Palestinian militants begin handover of three Israeli hostages in latest stage of ceasefire deal

Right, the "militants". Hamas terrorists (and Palestinian Islamic Jihad?) once again stage a grotesque ceremony in front of screaming and whistling audience of Gazan civilians, parading the hostage, making her wave to the crowd, giving her a "certificate of completion" and a "gift bag". Sick.



Wednesday, January 29, 2025

General Mark Milley



Trump's recently confirmed choice, Pete Hegseth, has used the power of his new position as Secretary of Defense to punish one of Trump's perceived enemies, General Mark Milley.

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Caroline Kennedy



Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, reads a letter she has sent to the Congressmen/women who will be voting for or against RFK Jr., her cousin. As I had said before of RFK Jr., he is a plague, and she makes that same case.

More damage

UPDATE: Apparently, the new White House press secretary has said this freeze will not apply to food stamps. But givrn the lack of honesty of the last Trump press secretary, I will reserve judgement on that statement.

There are a lot of services that will be impacted by Trump's decision to freeze federal aid ... at the moment, a judge has paused the order ... and one of those things, at least, will impact me ...

Here's everything potentially impacted by the federal loan/grant pause

[...] NUTRITION ASSISTANCE: Millions of American citizens who rely on nutrition assistance programs like SNAP, WIC, and school lunch programs will be left hungry as funding is cut off and non-profits who provide additional assistance lose federal funding.

But it's ok, because it's balanced by the wonderful fact that Google (Mark Zuckerberg) has decided Google Maps will now call the Gulf of Mexico instead the Gulf of America.

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Trump on Gaza

Chair of Arab election campaign for Trump blasts president’s ‘wild’ call to relocate Palestinians

The chairman of a group that lobbied Arab and Muslim Americans to vote for Donald Trump in the recent election comes out strongly against the US president’s call yesterday for Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza.

“We categorically reject the president’s suggestion that the Palestinians in Gaza be moved — apparently forcefully — to either Egypt or Jordan,” Arab Americans for Trump chairman Bishara Bahbah tells The Times of Israel ...


For context, let's revisit a news video from just before the last presidential election, in which Arab-American voters in Michigan blasted Biden for helping Israel against Hamas, and vowed to vote for Trump instead ...



Gee, you didn't see this stance of Trump's coming? You really believed the author of the Muslim Ban was going to be your advocate? You thought you could poop on Biden and the Democrats by voting for the Republican candidate and it would all be ok? Oh, that's right, you said iyou didn't care about the downside as long as you could stick it to Biden.

You brought this on yourselves.

More from The New York Times: Trump Pushes Jordan and Egypt to Take in Palestinians to ‘Clean Out’ Gaza

Saturday, January 25, 2025

The hostages

The four female hostages are safe, handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas, and then delivered to the IDF who brought them back to Israel.

But first, Hamas staged this bizarre scenario ...

The four hostages were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians and surrounded by dozens of armed Hamas men. They waved and smiled before being led off, entering ICRC vehicles and being transported to Israeli forces. - Reuters



Friday, January 24, 2025

Heartbreaker

So, Pete Hegseth is now our Secretary of Defense. God help us all :(

As I watch the slow-motion trainwreck which is my country under Trump, I find that listening to music helps me forget for a little while. Here's a song for tonight ...



Steal from the poor to help the rich



Republicans reportedly ready to cut Medicaid funding to pay for Trump plans

Republicans are reportedly prepared to cut Medicaid funding to pay for Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on immigration and to fund tax cuts that would mostly benefit the wealthy.

The GOP in the House and Senate have floated a series of ideas – many of which would target lower-income Americans – to cover the cost of extending tax cuts passed by Trump in 2017, the New York Times reported ...


Nooooo! Don't destroy Medicaid - it's the only thing keeping me physically functional!

God, I hate the Republicans.

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

The rioters



Trump pardons his "brownshirts".

Try to imagine what would happen to you or me if we beat the crap out of a police officer, the whole thing on video.

But the Jan 6 rioters are absolved.

Do you understand now?

There is nothing stopping Trump from doing anything ... anything ... he gets the urge to do. Hell, the Supreme Court has said he could have a SEAL team assassinate his political rival and that would be just fine. He doesn't have to worry about the voters - he's either a lame duck or a lifetime dictator - either way, he has no concerns about winning re-election.

This is what a plurality of Americans wanted. Can't wait until he turns on them.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Cecile Richards: RIP



Cecile Richards, Former Planned Parenthood President, Dies at 67

[...] Ms. Richards was the president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018, overseeing the country’s largest provider of reproductive health care and sex education during a period in which the organization was under sharp attack by conservatives, particularly under the Republican administration of President George W. Bush and President Trump’s first. She helped fend off a raft of attempts by Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass laws to restrict access to abortion or to cut funding for it ...

As I've mentioned before, I was a volunteer at my local Planned Parenthood one summer during college. Contrary to what many pro-life people say, PP is not some kind of abortion factory. What it was and is still is a women's (and men's) reproductive health clinic where people can get education, birth control, cancer screening, treatment for infections, vasectomies, etc, etc, etc, and yes, abortions. It's a good place, and Cecile Richards helped make it that way.

Monday, January 20, 2025

The inauguration

I've watched part of it. So depressing to see all the tech bros, even Tim Cook, gathered around Trump, knee pads at the ready (The tech bros have front-row seats at Trump’s inauguration, but what they want goes way beyond that).

I also noticed Melania's latest disturbing fashion choice.

And the incongruity of watching a draft dodger reviewing the troops was bizarre.

I feel I should speak warnings, like how the Trump administration's first victims will be the powerless: the migrants, the poor, gay and trans people, the disabled and sick. But who cares, right? Everyone already knows this and a plurality of them voted for Trump despite this, or because of it.

This all makes me think of the book and tv series, The Man in the High Castle, in which the Nazis rule the US and everyone (almost) is fine with that.



I don't think the US will ever come back from this.

Sunday, January 19, 2025

The Red Cross

Thinking about the Red Cross. You know, the Red Cross that never once visited the Israeli/American hostages in Gaza, though that's their job.

More from ABC

More on the hostages being released - ABC news.

You can see the Hamas terrorists waving their guns. You can also see the crowd of Gazan civilians screaming and jeering at the three young women, etc.

I recall videos of the civilian population doing the same on Oct 7 when living and dead hostages were first paraded through the streets of Gaza by their captors, some Hamas, some civilians.



Hostages released



Three young female hostages released today. ... First 3 Israeli Hostages Are Freed Under Gaza Cease-Fire. I haven't seen any news yrt about their condition.

Meanwhile, Hamas fighters have come out of their holes, wearing their uniforms and brandishing their guns after hiding as civilians during the war ... Hamas Tries to Show It’s Back in Charge of Gaza. I don't see how this war can be over until all of Hamas is finally crushed.

Saturday, January 18, 2025

The exchange



Sunday morning the hostage/ceasefire deal will go into effect, in which 33 Israeli and American hostages will be gradually released by the terrorists ... and it's still not known which of the hostages is alive or dead ... in exchange for at least 1,904 Palestinian criminals, some of them murderers and terrorists, from Israel prisons.

Yeah, that seems fair :(

Friday, January 17, 2025

Babylon 5



In this wretched time of worries, both personal and political, I find solace in watching old science fiction tv. My latest choice is Babylon 5 ...

an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski .... The show premiered in the US on January 26, 1994, and ran for five 22-episode seasons.

The series follows the human military staff and alien diplomats stationed on a space station, Babylon 5, built in the aftermath of several major inter-species wars as a neutral ground for galactic diplomacy and trade. Major plotlines included intra-race intrigue and upheaval, inter-race wars and their aftermaths, and embroilment in a millennial cyclic conflict between ancient races. The human characters, in particular, become pivotal to the resistance against Earth's descent into totalitarianism ...


The characters were great. My favorite person was Commander Sinclair, the first commander of Babylon 5. He reminded me so much of my grandfather. Sadly, the actor, Michael O'Hare, was replaced after the first season because of his battle with mental illness, and Bruce Boxleitner took his place at Babylon 5 as Captain Sheridan. Here's a short scene with Commander Sinclair ...



The show had a five year story arc in which a terrible and immortal enemy returns after 1000 years - the Shadows. They don't have some grand plan for universal domination, they just want to shake things up, keep everyone at each other's throats, promote chaos. Here some human slaves of the Shadows explain the idea to Captain Sheridan ...



The show ended after 5 years, but many more years had passed for the characters. Here is the end of the the last episode, the characters who had survived the war meeting at Babylon 5 one more time before the station is decommissioned and destroyed ...



Wonderful series.

Thursday, January 16, 2025

"A deal with the devil"



The Times of Israel's daily briefing discusses the ceasefire/hostage deal with editor David Horovitz.

Will the deal hold?

I hope the ceasefire deal works but I have to admit, I don't see how it can. Here's the deal that President Biden posted ...

- There's no mention of the unfairness of the number and kind of Palestinian priisoners Israel is expected to release in order to swap for hostages. Here's what The Times of Israel says about that ...

The TV report [on Channel 12] added that over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners will be freed in return for the 33 [hostages], including at least 250 terrorists “with blood on their hands.”

- And there's no mentionof getting rid of Hamas. This agreement appears to leave them unmolested in Gaza after the deal. The Wall Street Journal wrote about the regrouping of Hamas ... Hamas Has Another Sinwar. And He’s Rebuilding. And there's this ...



I hope for the best, but to expect terrorists to keep their word is just insane.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

A deal



More later as details emerge.

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Hegseth confirmation hearing



Watching bits of Pete Hegseth's Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense. It is sickening to see all the Republicans, even Joni Ernst, rolling over for Trump, their Lord and Master, to support someone even they know is both unqualified and a lying creep.

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Compassion

Among tens of thousands of displaced Angelenos, celebrities face the same devastating losses

Is it just me? When I see headlines like this, I do feel some compassion for those whose homes and neighborhoods have been lost to fire, but I can't help thinking that those living in the expensive areas, those who are rich and famous, will be ok. They still own their property, probably have insurance, and most likely have more than one home. Not to mention, just money.

At the same time that people in L.A. are being burned out, there are a lot of homeless people in California as well. Homelessness went up 18% in the US last year (and 12% the year before). Those people don't have any property, no insurance, no extra abodes, no money. They have nothing. But the news almost never writes aboit them, excpt as some kind of plague we normal people want to get out of sight. Where is the compassion for them?

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Pam Bondi



Why would we be surprised to learn that everyone Trump has chosen for his administration reflrcts rhe kind of person Trump himself is. God help us all.

Wednesday, January 08, 2025

L.A. fires



Horrible fires in my state. I'm 400 miles away up north, but I've been to L.A. many times, from when I was a kid (Disneyland!) to visiting my sister who lived there to on my honeymoon. The threat of fire in a city is so scary, given the strong winds and dry conditions. Makes you realize that no one is really safe.

Tuesday, January 07, 2025

The man who bought the world*

Elon Musk helped Trump win. Now he’s looking at Europe, and many politicians are alarmed

Really? When you let the richest person in the world buy a country ... mine .... did you not know he was going to then want to buy them all?

I think all the important people of the world were so busy being impressed by and trying to impress the cool zillionaire who made electric cars and sent rockets into space, that they forgot that he is also a mentally and emotionally disturbed person with no limits on his behavior.

Wake up, fools. Stop being his beta male suck-ups and put him in his place while you still have an independent democracy. Sadly, it's too late for us in America.

* The Man Who Sold the World

Monday, January 06, 2025

Jan 6

- Police and congresmen barricade the doors and draw weapons to defend themselves against the mob at the Capitol on January 6, 2021

More from Rachel Maddow ...



Four years ago, Trump supporters violently attacked the Capitol to try to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and keep Trump as presient (or dictator?) though he had lost the election.

Today the transfer of power was indeed peaceful because the Republicans won, unlike four years ago, and the Democrats actually respect the rule of law and the Constitution.

Next up on this - Trump will apparently pardon the "patriots" who peed and pooped in the halls of Congress and beat police men and women, while screaming "Hang Mike Pence".

My country is circling the drain :(

Sunday, January 05, 2025

Antony Blinken



From Blinken interview with The New York Times. Europe and many in the US have chosen to ally themselves with the bloody terrorists of Hamas. Oops - I forgot - we don't call them terrorists anymore, though they raped and tortured and kidnapped and murdered civilians. Now they are "militants". After all, we don't want to sound too pejorative - yesterday's terrorist could be tomorrow's head of state.

Saturday, January 04, 2025

Helen and Paris

I don't spend all my time online reading the news. Sometimes I visit the museums :) ...

Thursday, January 02, 2025

Listen to a soldier



Listen to a young Israeli special forces soldier talk about what it's like to be fighting in Gaza.