The ultimatum. It took over six months, a bunch of deflection, a lot of "I stand with" and my favorite, "Israel has a right...."
President Joe Biden sees his poll numbers. They ain't looking good. His base is cracking.
The fear of another Trump term keeps growing and I fear Democrats squandered a great opportunity to separate themselves from the status quo.
First and foremost, I am tired of hearing about Israel being "The Jewish State." That ends now! The United States built is core on the separation of church and state. Why the hell is the U.S. willing to accept a country that prides itself on a religious supremacy?
It is time to end the alliance with Israel.
The apartheid must come to an end.
With 35,000 Palestinians killed and numerous aid workers killed, Biden has had enough.
Biden on Thursday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable and warned Israel to take steps to address the crisis or face consequences, a stark statement from Israel’s staunchest ally.
The 30-minute conversation was the two leaders’ first phone call since an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. The killings have set off a furor inside the White House and Biden has been described as reaching a new level of frustration with Israel’s campaign.
“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” the White House said in a statement shortly after the call wrapped. “He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
Biden also said Israel needed to “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.”
In the phone call, Netanyahu admitted to his American counterpart that the Israel Defense Forces were to blame for the deaths of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers this week – and assured Biden that the Israeli government planned to announce measures to prevent such a mistake from happening again, according to a senior administration official.
Netanyahu told Biden that Israel was set on improving the tracking of non-profit workers inside Gaza and Biden affirmed that such steps were necessary, the official said. The prime minister also pledged during the call that Israel will soon announce new openings of humanitarian crossings, as well as procedural changes to limit civilian harm.
CNN reported Thursday afternoon that the Israeli security cabinet has approved the reopening of the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza strip, according to an Israeli official, in order to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Israel killed a humanitarian aid worker who has American and Canadian citizenship.
Jacob Flickinger becomes the latest American to die in an Israeli airstrike. The 33-year-old dual citizen leaves behind a wife and son.
Tawfiq Ajaq, 17 was the last American to die by Israeli forces. President Joe Biden did not offer any condolences or empathy for him. He was from Louisiana.
The junk food media will amplify this man's name and of course Israel will attack his name, the critics and revert to blaming Hamas. We will talk about it for a few days and it's back to business.
Flickinger and six aid workers were killed when three of their marked cars were destroyed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces. Haaretz cited Israeli defense sources as stating that a Israel Defense Forces Elbit Hermes 450 drone fired three consecutive missiles, hitting the cars one by one; the cars were travelling on a path "preapproved and coordinated" by the Israeli military.
The workers had been distributing food in the northern Gaza Strip, which has been "pushed to the brink of famine" by Israel's siege and blockade during the Israel–Hamas war. The attack occurred three days after a unanimous ICJ ruling (in the ongoing genocide convention case) that ordered Israel to ensure the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza.
World Central Kitchen was clearly marked. Israel deliberately attacked the convoy.
While driving in Deir al-Balah, a convoy of three WCK cars was fired on multiple times over 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) by an Israeli drone. Survivors of the first strike alerted the IDF, moving to the next car, which was then hit by a second missile. The wounded were then carried to a third vehicle, which was in turn struck by a further missile. All seven aid workers were killed, and their bodies were sent to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital where they were declared dead.
The attack led the World Central Kitchen to pause its operations in the Gaza Strip, and was condemned by countries around the world. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the incident, saying it was unintentional. World Central Kitchen founder, Spanish chef José Andrés, has said Israel attacked the convoy "systematically" and "deliberately". WCK called for an independent, third-party investigation into the attacks including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law.
Other humanitarian and aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip also suspended their operations after the attack.
Besides Flickinger, there were six others.
Saif Abu Taha (Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha), a 26-year-old Palestinian local from Rafah, he had worked as a driver for WCK since the start of the year.
Damian Soból, a 35-year-old Polish national from Przemyśl. Soból has worked with the WCK since 2022, engaging in relief efforts in Russian-invaded Ukraine. In February 2023, he traveled to earthquake-stricken Elbistan in Turkey with aid. In September 2023, he helped earthquake victims in Morocco. He then helped Gaza refugees in Egypt and then in Gaza itself.
Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom, a 43-year-old Australian national.
James Henderson, a 33-year-old British national who had served in the Royal Marines, he was a private security contractor with Solace Global.
John Antony Chapman, a 57-year-old British national who had served in the Royal Marines, he was a private security contractor with Solace Global.
James Kirby, a 47-year-old British national. He was a former soldier and a private security contractor with Solace Global.
This incident has become maybe the final straw. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen and Pope Francis condemned Israel.
The Iranian government is vowing to hit Israel after it committed another war crime.
The Israelis struck an Iranian consulate killing ten including top members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strike happened in downtown Damascus, Syria. It infuriated Bashir al-Saad. He and many Arab League members are threatening a trade embargo on Israel.
This isn't about stopping Hamas. It was already detailed since February 2023. They planned to Gaza and the West Bank by force. They needed to scapegoat us into believing that they were attacked first. This has been going on for over 70 years.
Time to hold Israel accountable. End the aid. Boycott the ethno-state.
Will Biden and Harris get the message? They're jeopardizing their reelection chances.
Though Donald J. Trump and President Joe Biden clinched their pledged delegates to become their party's presumptive nominees, the primaries still continue.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan have a large Arab American and Muslim population.
Many of them are at their point of no return. They will not support Trump, Biden or even express interest in third party candidates.
The president and the U.S. stance on Israel has not changed despite the intentional airstrikes on the World Central Kitchen aid workers in the Gaza Strip. Biden was "outraged" and "heartbroken" by the tragedy. He and members of Congress continue to give unprecedented amounts of military and financial aid to Israel.
Democratic voters are strongly souring on Israel but Biden and his party are ignoring them. Many are no longer in support of an ethno-state [aka the Jewish state]. Many are seeing the misuse of allegations.
Islamophobia is way worse than antisemitism.
Biden narrowly beaten Trump in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Losing any of these states can make Biden a one term president.
Both candidates and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are pro Israel, old and completely out of touch. The U.S. election is so controversial for the fact that Trump is still resorting to this "us versus them" rhetoric. He ain't even defending his only one term's accomplishments other than his ramming through Supreme Court justices and inept federal judges.
The very fact that Democrats are willing to back a fascist regime on the perceptions of it being an ally has turned off its voters. Also it will be a down ballot issue as well. Abortion is a top issue, as is the economy, democracy in our own country, infrastructure and giving military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Biden has to earn 270 electoral votes and so far I have his odds slightly impove to 48% chance of winning a second term. I had it at 44% chance.
Trump has a 47% chance to win another term. However, his legal issues are a problem as well as the enthusiasm waning. He has a 85% support from Republicans. 94% of MAGA support.
In Wisconsin, "uninstructed delegation" took 48,093 votes, or 8.3% on the Democratic side, with 99% of the vote reported by Wednesday afternoon. Biden had 510,450 votes, or 88.6%. About 3% voted for Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips, who has ended his campaign and endorsed Biden.
Biden not listening.
Voters displeased with Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war organized into a "Listen to Wisconsin" campaign that mirrored other states like Michigan and Minnesota, where a similar "uncommitted" option took about 13% and 19% of the vote in the Democratic primary, respectively.
The movement has picked up 26 delegates in other states. Biden has already earned the 1,968 delegates needed to secure his party's nomination. But uninstructed delegates could advocate for policy changes at the convention in Chicago.
Wisconsin's 8.4% percentage was less than similar "uncommitted" options in other states that held primaries Tuesday. In Connecticut, the uncommitted delegation was at 11.4% Wednesday afternoon with 98% of the vote in. In Rhode Island, it was 14.9% with 99% of the vote in — just teetering on the edge of picking up a delegate spot.
In Wisconsin, some voters on the Republican side also selected the "uninstructed delegation" option — about 2%, or 12,900. That option performed fourth best, after U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took 12.8% and 3.3% of the vote, respectively.
Republican voters may have picked those options as a way of protesting former President Donald Trump, who took 475,375 votes, or 79.2%. While "uninstructed" voters pose a challenge to Biden, his raw vote totals and percentage in his party's primary was higher than Trump's.
Regardless of what the Republicans and far right's "debunking" of Donald J. Trump's Grand Rapids stop, the former president did call immigrants "animals."
He has said it before when he was president and he still continues this dehumanizing.
Rehashing 2016 vibes, Trump continues his "us versus them" rhetoric when it comes to immigration, transgender Americans, President Joe Biden, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Hunter Biden, Muslims, Christians and every freaking culture war Republicans latched their agenda on.
We had a bridge collapse, tornadoes rip up the Midwest, gun violence and rising costs due to corporate greed. The fact that House Republicans refuse to pass any meaningful legislation is beyond me.
They rather name Dulles Washington International Airport after Trump, continue to give our taxpayer money to Israel and deny taxpayer money to Ukraine. They want to censor TikTok but allow X to continue its bastardization of truth.
Republicans have no real agenda.
Trump has no real agenda.
The presumptive nominee rather continue his campaign of dehumanizing and scaremongering. His rallies aren't big as they used to be. I mean he is campaigning in Michigan inside a small pavilion
His handling of the economy, the pandemic and the insurrection should deny Trump another term. His first term was marred with lies, disinformation and constant chaos.
Trump called immigrants in the United States illegally "animals" and "not human" in a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, resorting to the degrading rhetoric he has employed time and again on the campaign trail.
The Republican presidential candidate, flanked by several law enforcement officers, listed several criminal cases involving suspects in the country illegally in often graphic terms and warned that violence and chaos would consume America if he did not win the Nov. 5 election.
While speaking of Laken Riley - a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia allegedly murdered by a Venezuelan immigrant in the country illegally - Trump said some immigrants were sub-human.
The Democrats say, 'Please don't call them animals, they're humans.' I said, 'No, they're not humans, they're not humans, they're animals,'" said Trump, president from 2017-2021.
During stump speeches, Trump frequently claims that immigrants crossing the border with Mexico illegally have escaped from prisons and asylums in their home countries and are fueling violent crime in the United States.
While available data on criminals' immigration status is sparse, researchers say people living in the U.S. illegally do not commit violent crimes at a higher rate than native-born citizens.
Biden blames Trump for encouraging Republicans not to pass legislation in Congress this year that would have beefed up security at the southern border and introduced new measures aimed at reducing illegal immigration.
"Donald Trump is engaging in extreme rhetoric that promotes division, hate and violence in our country," Michael Tyler, Biden campaign communications director, told reporters on Tuesday ahead of Trump's speech.
"He encourages white nationalists and cheers on the disgusting behavior of the extreme far right," Tyler said.
Trump delivered his speech, titled "Biden's border bloodbath" in the city of Grand Rapids, where police said 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was murdered last month in her car by Brandon Ortiz-Vite, 25, who she was dating. Ortiz-Vite was in the country illegally, police said.
The murders of Garcia and Riley have allowed Trump's campaign to simultaneously play to fears among some Americans about violent crime and immigration.
Some 38 per cent of Republicans cited immigration as the country's top issue in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released in late February, as did about one in five independents.
Trump frequently claims without evidence that migrants have caused a spike in violent crime in U.S. cities. On Tuesday, he repeated an unfounded claim that Latin American nations are intentionally sending their criminals into the United States.
The genius of Nickelodeon sitcoms was a sexual predator.
The winners and losers of 2024.
Sean "Puffy" Combs.
Matt Schlapp
Matt Gaetz
Aaron Hall
Donald J. Trump
Might want to lawyer up. The train is coming.
Dan Schneider is a sexual predator. An Investigation Discovery documentary about the former Nickelodeon director is going to become an active criminal investigation. It is like the "Surviving R. Kelly" only it involves a children's network, some of the country's most popular talents and a disgraced child actor who became a focal point of the story.
Schneider, a former child actor himself got his break from the sitcom Head of the Class.
He went on to writing and producing sitcoms for Nickelodeon.
Schneider has since released a lengthy apology video on his YouTube channel, fueling further discussions from other Nickelodeon stars and further comments from the individuals featured in the documentary. In addition, several of the individuals who wrote letters to Brian Peck have publicly rejected supporting him, especially in light of the documentary.
In 2018, in the wake of the MeToo movement, ViacomCBS interviewed dozens of employees regarding their experiences with Dan Schneider. Although their review found no sexual misconduct by Schneider, the employees expressed that Schneider was controlling and verbally abusive towards them. Afterward, Schneider parted ways from the network.
Amanda Bynes had a mental breakdown post Nickelodeon.
During that time, director and producer Mary Robertson noticed a string of viral videos showcasing inappropriate scenes from Dan Schneider produced shows. One video she noted was one of Ariana Grande as Cat Valentine from Victorious pouring water on her face while lying upside down. Another clip depicted Jamie Lynn Spears in an episode of Zoey 101 getting viscous liquid squirted onto her face. Robertson thought that the two clips evoked pornographic imagery.
Robertson (with Emma Schwartz) later partnered with Business Insider reporter Kate Taylor to reach out to dozens of actors and crewmembers who worked on the sets of Schneider's shows. Schwartz noted that the many individuals who responded to the offer were relieved that they could share their negative experiences, but several more were still afraid to come forward with their experiences. They also attempted to reach out to Schneider himself, but he refused to appear on camera. His responses were still shown throughout the series through text. On the day that Drake Bell's interview was filmed, Robertson told The Hollywood Reporter, the entire set was quiet. Bell later told Robertson that a weight was lifted from him. On The Sarah Fraser Show podcast on March 22, 2024, Bell revealed that he went to rehab after his interview for the documentary.
Before they sat down with Bell, the directors petitioned the court to make the letters supporting Brian Peck public. They told Variety "We didn’t know what we would find...[b]ut what the letters allow us to do is get a window into who, in Hollywood, was supporting this man during a time that he had been convicted as a child sex offender." After the trailer for the documentary was released, Robertson told US Magazine that she attempted to reach out to Rider Strong and Will Friedle but neither responded. Kate Taylor and Olivia Singh later published several of letters featured in the documentary on Business Insider.
Robertson told The Hollywood Reporter that if the series became successful, she hoped they could make more episodes of Quiet on Set.
Can we do a Darwin Award for the most stupidest people on the planet?
You can't fix stupid!
You can't change minds!
You are completely trapped in stupid.
You are wrapped and emboldened in stupid.
The Colorado authorities seek information about a man who defected on products at a Safeway. The suspect, a registered sex offender masturbated and smeared his semen on cupcakes, donuts and muffins.
Customers who purchased these products or witnessed it will be traumatized.
Yeah, we all had messed up orders at grocery stores and fast food restaurants. We had bad customer service from cashiers, servers, managers and customer service. We all been frustrated with the service industry.
But for intentional and unintentional food contamination, it is very rare.
1. Restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores are forbidden from having chemicals near food. The federal and state authorities have strict guidelines to contamination.
2. Insect spray, rat poisons, unauthorized cleaning chemicals and glue traps are not used in restaurants, gas stations, bars and retailers.
3. All businesses use contactless pest control devices which involves no poison.
4. Any biohazard like blood, mucus, fecal matter, vomit, semen, vaginal fluid, saliva and hair, animal droppings, skin, tears, sweat and breast milk in food must be destroyed.
The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The suspect, Stephen Masalta, 32 is a former worker at a Fort Collins Safeway. He was suspected in a series of 20 indecent exposure incidents, they discovered shocking videos showing the man--a registered sex offender--contaminating assorted food products with a bodily fluid, including a special order of cupcakes later consumed by children attending a birthday party, records show.
The Smoking Gun reported Masalta was on the radar. A police investigation into a five-month-long string of lewd episodes outside different coffee shops in Loveland and Fort Collins involved this suspect.
A male suspect--wearing a face mask or gaiter--would appear in the predawn hours outside a shop and begin masturbating in view of workers inside. At times, the suspect was seen recording as he exposed himself.
Surveillance video from some of the crime scenes captured a silver sedan in the area at the time of the incidents. A detective concluded that, “the vehicle was a 2015 to 2017 Hyundai Sonata.” A subsequent search of law enforcement and sex offender databases revealed that a 2016 Hyundai Sonata with California plates “was associated with Stephen William Masalta,” who resided in Fort Collins, a city about 50 miles outside Denver.
Masalta, cops discovered, was “a sexual offender for installing hidden cameras” in the women’s bathroom of the New Life Community Church in Woodland, a Sacramento suburb. California police who arrested Masalta in 2015 alleged that he placed a phone inside a tissue box atop a toilet, and that the device--over a period of several months--surreptitiously recorded 14 women and six underage girls.
Masalta admitted to a Woodland Police Department detective, the Colorado affidavit states, that he “masturbated to the videos he made, including while he was still inside the church.”
After placing an electronic tracker on Masalta’s car--which showed him parking near Starbucks locations in Denver and Lakewood’s Hello Coffee--cops executed a search warrant at Masalta’s home on February 20 and seized three phones, two laptops, an iPad, and four flash drives. They also found a journal with Masalta’s name on it “where he discussed his sexual immorality, sex addiction, and deviant impulses.”
Ladies man here.
Masalta is pictured in the mugshot at left.
A search of Masalta’s car the following day yielded two more phones, plus printed images of women, some unclothed, “from angles where it appears the women may not know they are being photographed.” Some of the photos contained handwritten notes “about the women’s physical appearance and how the writer wants to have sexual contact” with them. “Ejaculating penises were drawn on some of the images.”
Additionally, Colorado cops noted, stains on the driver and passenger seats “fluoresced under an alternative light source,” indicating the presence of bodily fluids.
An examination of Masalta’s phones revealed a variety of vile videos. One clip, shot on January 4, showed “someone (presumably Masalta) masturbating and touching his penis to donuts in what appears to be a grocery store.” At the time of the recording, Masalta worked as a “night stocker” at a Safeway supermarket in Fort Collins. He was previously employed by Starbucks and 24 Hour Fitness.
The phones, cops allege, also contained evidence “pertaining to Masalta’s crimes at local coffee shops” and videos showing a man “masturbating and rubbing his genitals on food items at a grocery store.” Products that “came into contact with Masalta’s seminal fluid and penis include strawberries in a plastic sale container, donuts, cupcakes, and a large bucket of commercial pastry frosting.”
A Safeway manager who was shown screenshots told police that he believed the videos were recorded in the store’s bakery (seen below) and freezer areas.
“In one of the videos,” police reported, “Masalta touches his penis to and masturbates on a batch of 12 cupcakes.” The baked goods were a special order placed with the Safeway bakery by a female customer who requested extra sprinkles on the cupcakes. On an order label affixed to the cupcake container, a store employee had written, “Add Super Mario toys if we have.”
When the pred had hair.
The woman had ordered a total of 24 cupcakes, “and Masalta’s video shows him contaminating one box of 12,” investigators noted. The cupcakes were consumed at a January 28 birthday party for the woman’s son, which was attended by 16 children and several adults.
Among the charges filed against Masalta are 16 counts of attempted sexual assault on a child, a felony. “The cupcake special order label requesting sprinkles and Super Mario toys be included show the order was likely intended for children,” Officer RJ Tuttle stated.
Multiple detectives “worked to contact the families of children who ate the cupcakes.”
Since one of Masalta’s videos showed a sexual encounter in a car with a naked woman and his internet history included January 2024 searches for “prostitution denver co” and “worst place for prostitution denver co,” police contended that he “may be at increased risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases.”
Next scheduled for a May 10 court appearance, Masalta could face additional charges, according to investigators.
Israel says they "will get to the bottom of this". I doubt it.
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will just leave victims of Israeli crimes in the dark. They will not hold this evil regime accountable. An Canadian-American were among the victims of this war crime and terrorist attack by the Israeli regime.
It was seven people killed when the Israeli Defense Force launched an airstrike on the World Central Kitchen vehicle. No it was not Hamas. The evidence clearly shows a missile landing directly into the clearly marked WCK vehicle.
The humanitarian agency gave Israel the coordination and told them directly where they were going. The Israelis decided to strike the WCK anyway.
Cyprus, which has played a key role in trying to establish a sea route to bring food to the territory, said ships that recently arrived were turning back — with some 240 tons of undelivered aid.
The evil Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the country’s forces had carried out the “unintended strike” on “innocent people in the Gaza Strip.” He says officials are looking into the strike and would “do everything for this not to happen again.”
Yeah right!
The Israeli regime has killed journalists, doctors, humanitarian aid workers, women, children, disabled, domestic animals and even Israeli "hostages."
Footage showed the bodies, several wearing protective gear with the charity’s logo, at a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. Those killed include three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian, according to hospital records.
World Central Kitchen, a food charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, was key to the recently opened sea route, which offered some hope for northern Gaza — where the U.N. says much of the population is on the brink of starvation, largely cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces.
Israel will claim they're Hamas.
Andrés — whose charity has operated in several countries wracked by wars or natural disasters, including Israel after the attack that triggered the current conflict — said he was “heartbroken” by the deaths of his colleagues.
“The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The charity said the team was traveling in a three-car convoy that included two armored vehicles, and its movements had been coordinated with the Israeli army.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top military spokesman, said earlier that officials have been “reviewing the incident at the highest levels.” He said an independent investigation will be launched that “will help us reduce the risk of such an event from occurring again.”
Erin Gore, the CEO of the charity, said “this is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.”
UNRWA, the main U.N. agency in Gaza, said in its latest report that 173 of its workers have been killed in the territory since the war began.
Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250 hostages. Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive offensives in recent history.
In the face of a growing humanitarian disaster in Gaza’s north, several countries worked to open a sea route, hoping it would allow more aid to enter the territory, where supplies have only trickled in through the land routes controlled by Israel. The United States and other countries have also airdropped aid, but humanitarian workers say such efforts are far from sufficient to meet mounting needs.
Israel has barred UNRWA from making deliveries to the north, and other aid groups say sending truck convoys north has been too dangerous because of the military’s failure to ensure safe passage.
Three aid ships from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus arrived earlier Monday carrying some 400 tons of food and supplies organized by World Central Kitchen and the United Arab Emirates following a pilot run last month.
This could be the final straw for Australia, Canada and Poland.
Cypriot Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis said Tuesday that around 100 tons of aid had been unloaded before the charity suspended operations, and that the remaining 240 tons of aid would be transported back to Cyprus.
The United States, which has provided key military and diplomatic support for Israel’s offensive, has touted the sea route and plans to build its own floating dock, with construction expected to take several weeks.
Nael Eliyan, a displaced Palestinian, was in his tent about 100 meters (yards) away when he heard the explosion late Monday and raced to the scene. “Their injuries were serious, and they died quickly,” he said, describing them as “heroes, martyrs, brave people.”
The bodies of the aid workers were taken to a hospital in the southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, according to an Associated Press reporter at the hospital.
The U.S., Britain, Poland and Australia called for an investigation or an explanation from Israel and expressed dismay.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the U.S. was “heartbroken and deeply troubled” by the strike, while British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called it “deeply distressing.”
“It is essential that humanitarian workers are protected and able to carry out their work,” Cameron wrote on X, saying his country was working to verify reports of the deaths of U.K. nationals.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that Zomi Frankcom, 44, of Melbourne, was among those killed. Damian Soból was also among the victims, according to a post on Facebook by Wojciech Bakun, the mayor of the southeastern Polish city of Przemysl, where Soból was from.
This is an act of terrorism.
At least 32,916 Palestinians have been killed in the war, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. Israel blames the civilian toll on Palestinian militants because they fight in dense residential areas but the army rarely comments on individual strikes.
Two other apparent Israeli strikes late Monday killed at least 12 Palestinians, including five children, in Rafah, where Israel has vowed to expand its ground operation despite the presence of some 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
One of the strikes hit a family home, and a father and his three children, ages 7, 13 and 19, were among those killed, according to hospital records. Another hit a gathering near a mosque, killing at least six people, including three children.
Aid groups have repeatedly called for a humanitarian cease-fire, saying it’s the only way to reach people in need. The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker such a pause and a hostage release but the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas remain bogged down.
Israel is claiming Hamas is holding some 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others after freeing most of the rest during a cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Former president Donald J. Trump once again must pay the price for going too far.
He managed to post the $175 million bond to appeal the New York state court decision in his fraud case.
Trump was also issued a gag order in his hush money payment criminal case that was issued two weeks ago. That gag order was recently extended after he and the far right decided to target the proceeding judge's daughter.
Knight Specialty Insurance Company approved of this massive bond after Trump's legal team managed to win an appeal on the $464 million fraud decision.
That appeal will go through the New York courts and a final decision is expected to happen before the general election.
In a statement, Trump attorney [mistress] Alina Habba announced, “As promised, President Trump has posted bond. He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan M. Merchan and Manhattan [County] District Attorney Alvin Bragg were allowed to be criticized by the former president. Trump went too damn far by reposting on Truth Social and allowing his minions on X post about Merchan's daughter.
Trump has 34 criminal charges in this. He allowed former attorney Michael Cohen to pay adult entertainer/activist Stormy Daniels to keep an embarrassing story from reaching the public. He was running for president in 2016 around the time, the "grab 'em by the" came out. To do damage control, he paid the National Enquirer to bury the Daniels and Karen McDougal stories. Those amount to campaign finance violations.
Daniels, the most vocal has gotten death threats to this day. Trump is trying to paint her, Cohen and Michael Avenatti, Daniels' former lawyer as grifters and liars.
Now this gag order extended to family members of Merchan and Bragg. It was an imposed gag order on talking to Daniels, McDougal, Cohen, Avenatti, David Pecker, Hope Hicks and jurors.
The judge warned he has a zero tolerance for Trump's intimidation of witnesses and jurors. The former president is baiting the New York state jurist. He will defy the gag order.
The very definition of white privilege is Donald J. Trump.
What other criminal suspect is allowed to do such inflammatory actions that normal Americans are never subjected too?
What other criminal suspect is allowed to fight a federal criminal case that many of his followers failed to do?
Trump has 91 indictments involving his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and the stealing plus deliberate attempt of holding classified documents and federal papers.
He has state charges in Georgia for election interference in Fulton County. The former president and one of the suspects are appealing the decision to keep its prosecutor Fani Willis on it. They wasted two months trying to depict her as a corrupt attorney and an adulterer because she had a brief relationship with now removed special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
What bothers me is that he is trying to bilk his supporters with NFTs, phoney money, signed bibles, sneakers and autographs ball caps.
He is massively in debt. He has the Republican National Committee paying some of his legal fees. Even the demand to help him presidential campaign is exhausting. Many Republican donors and small donors are not putting out the dough. The endless campaign propaganda is turning off voters.
Trump faces lawsuits from bilked clients and those who believe his rhetoric on Jan. 6 ruined their lives.
Th exhaustive campaign propaganda applies to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and President Joe Biden. They are pushing exhaustive fundraising propaganda as well.
Trump's actions on Jan. 6 and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic are reason enough to deny him another presidency.
Biden's relentless support towards Israel and the economy should deny him a second term. Given the threat that Trump poses should be reason to vote for Biden reluctantly.
No one should undermine Kennedy. He is a serious threat to democracy. He is a conspiracy theorist [like Trump]. His rhetoric could endanger lives and his policies could inflict harm on science and medical professionals who offer abortions, vaccinations and medical treatments.
Israel killed WCK worker Zomi Frankcom and four others. This evil regime intentionally killed humanitarian aid workers.
Be warned graphic images and video. Take discretion.
Australia, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Great Britain: This is your ally killing your citizens.
Hey, U.S. and Canada, will you get Israel to admit they killed citizens of your sovereignty?
Are we still saying the troupe that "Israel has the right to defend itself?
Are we gonna blame Hamas for this?
Israel will "certainly" get to the bottom of this! Trust them.
After all, Hamas was inside the Al Shifa Hospital with 20 feet tunnels, weapon caches, bioweapons and plans to wipe Israel off the map. Hell the Israelis pointed out a calendar of Hamas workers. All the bullshit that American taxpayers are fed.
Malcolm Nance already has claimed that the WCK workers were already killed before the strike. I am so disappointed in him. He is a former Black Navy Petty Chief intelligence officer who I supported when Russia and Ukraine got into it. I supported him when that loser Tara Reade tried to play honeytrap on President Joe Biden. I am certainly not going to address his stance or his responses to supporters of Palestinian resistance and freedom. He attacks them like a rabid dog and it is disappointing that he only sees the Israeli view of this.
Five aid workers with the international humanitarian group World Central Kitchen (WCK) were reported to have been killed while delivering food in Gaza on Monday. The Gaza government media office blamed the strike on Israel — while the Israeli military says it's investigating the "tragic incident."
The source of strike could not be independently confirmed. You know why?
This is best description of the Israeli terrorists.
Because the Israel government must review a journalist's reporting before it release information. They are planning on banning al Jazeera and other networks that the regime portrays as inflammatory towards the state.
Commenting on the reports, the Israeli military said it is "conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances."
"The [Israel Defence Forces] makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," the military said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Monday.
WCK said it was aware of reports that members of its team were killed in an Israeli attack while delivering food in Gaza on Monday.
"This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER," the organization said in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Gaza government media office said four foreigners and one Palestinian were among the dead.
Mahmoud Thabet is a Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic who was on the team that brought the bodies to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. He told The Associated Press the aid workers were in a three-car convoy that was crossing out of northern Gaza when an Israeli missile hit.
Thabet said he was told by WCK staff that they had been in the north, co-ordinating distribution of newly arrived aid and were heading back to Rafah in the south.
Video footage from the hospital showed the bodies of the five dead. Several of them wore protective gear with the charity's logo.
Hospital staff showed the passports of three of the dead — they were British, Australian and Polish citizens.
The nationality of the fourth foreign aid worker was not immediately known.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the death of Australian aid worker Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom and said his government had contacted Israel to demand those responsible be held accountable.
"This is a human tragedy that should never have occurred, that is completely unacceptable and Australia will seek full and proper accountability," he said at a news conference on Tuesday.
I’ve seen the bodies & the videos fm HAMAS. These NGOs from @WCKitchen were NOT killed by a targetted airstrike or any heavy direct fire weapon like Hellfire, tank fire or 500kg bomb. The bodies are fully intact & identifiable.
"This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER"
World Central Kitchen says it's aware of reports that members of its team have been killed in "an IDF [Israeli military] attack" in Gaza pic.twitter.com/DH2PbBwLpQ
Israeli terrorists bombed 4 international aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity and their Palestinian driver. According to reports, they were foreign nationals from Poland, Australia, Ireland, and the UK.https://t.co/pTxuuA4NE7
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) April 1, 2024
These are the World Central Kitchen staff members that the israeli regime murdered today: the friendly faces of the food aid campaign pic.twitter.com/oDy4cB5rem
The Australian aid worker with Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, reported to have been killed by an Israeli air strike, along with 5 of her colleagues, appeared on MSNBC last fall
Saif Issam Abu Taha, the Palestinian driver of the World Central Kitchen delegation, along with four aid workers associated with the organization, was killed in a targeted airstrike that struck their vehicle in Deir al-Balah hours ago. pic.twitter.com/en4qqe3mut
IDF. Statement: Following the reports regarding the World Central Kitchen personnel in Gaza today, the IDF is conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.
The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery…
World Central Kitchen gave Israel’s army their coordinates, and the logo is right there on top of the car. This is what a targeted assassination looks like. https://t.co/YvPOZP89ug
On the day Israel bombed a foreign embassy in a third country, it also killed @WCKitchen humanitarian workers. Israel is crossing every possible red line, still with full impunity. Sanctions now. Indictements now.
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) April 2, 2024
Albanese said innocent civilians and those doing humanitarian work need to be protected and reiterated his call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza along with more aid to help those suffering from "tremendous deprivation."
Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, said the attack on WCK staff by Israel aimed to "terrorize" workers of international humanitarian agencies and deter them from pursuing their missions.
The evil Israeli regime killed innocent humanitarian aid workers.
The WCK, started by chef José Andrés in 2010, delivers food relief and prepares meals for people in need in communities hit by disasters or conflicts.
A flotilla of three aid ships organized by WCK, along with the non-profit organization Open Arms and the United Arab Emirates, arrived in Gaza from Cyprus earlier Monday carrying some 400 tons of food and supplies — the group's second shipment after a pilot run last month.
The Israeli military was involved in coordinating both deliveries.
The U.S. has touted the sea route as a new way to deliver desperately needed aid to northern Gaza, where the UN has said much of the population is on the brink of starvation.
WCK said last month it had served more than 42 million meals in Gaza over 175 days.
In a previous post from Monday on X, the WCK said its teams mobilize across Gaza daily to distribute food to displaced Palestinians.
"Our 60+ kitchens in southern and central Gaza are cooking hundreds of thousands of meals each day like this mujadara, a comforting dish of rice, lentils, and caramelized onions," it said.
Israel has barred UNRWA, the main UN agency in Gaza, from making deliveries to the north, citing the involvement of some UNRWA staff in the October 7 attacks on Israel. Other aid groups say sending truck convoys into northern Gaza has been too dangerous.
The UN-backed global authority on food security warned last month that famine was likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave of 2.3 million people by July.
Israel declared war on Hamas following the Oct. 7 militant attacks that saw 1,200 people killed and some 250 kidnapped, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli government believes some 130 captives remain in Gaza, but some officials have said at least 31 hostages are dead.
More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during Israel's military response since then, health officials in the territory say, most of them women and children.
The fascist state of Israel strikes an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.
Just think, consequences should come.
Tel Aviv should be struck by military fire. Cause these folks are lunatics.
Palestine, Iran, Syria, Lebanon are calling for the International Criminal Court to hold Israel accountable for this. The U.S. is warning Palestinians that the complaints to the ICC will not assure a two state solution. The American government under President Joe Biden has been lockstep with Israel. It is waning though.
Congress passed another budget bill that allows more taxpayer money to fund Israel.
More Americans are souring on the U.S. role in aiding Israel. The war has been a one sided and very destructive situation.
Israel has illegally conducted airstrikes in other sovereignties.
Israeli strikes hit an Iranian embassy annex building in Syria's capital Monday, state media said, as a war monitor reported six people were killed in the building.
Syria's official news agency SANA said "the Israeli attack targeted the Iranian consulate building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus".
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has stepped up strikes on Iran-linked militant groups amid its Gaza war raging against Hamas since October 7.
AFP correspondents at the site confirmed the building next to the embassy, an annex, had been levelled, in an upscale neighborhood of Damascus.
Iranian media also reported that the strikes in Damascus completely destroyed the annex building, and that the ambassador was unharmed.
"Hossein Akbari, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, and his family were not harmed in the Israeli attack," Iran's Nour news agency said.
Two AFP correspondents at the site confirmed the building next to the embassy, had been razed to the ground by the strike.
Britain-based group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "Israeli missiles... destroyed the building of an annex to the Iranian embassy... in Damascus, killing six people".
Syria's official SANA news agency earlier reported that "our air defence systems confronted enemy targets in the vicinity of Damascus".
The incident came days after the Observatory reported Israeli strikes that killed 53 people in Syria, including 38 soldiers and seven members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It was the highest Syrian army toll in Israeli strikes since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, said the monitor.
House majority has more priorities than actually working on behalf the American people.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) are going to cost the Republicans the House majority.
Ken Buck left and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) will leave in three weeks.
In order to stop them, many House members are considering endorsing their primary opponents.
Greene, being the most insufferable and laziest member of Congress, should be the Republican Party's top pick for a primary challenge. She has little accomplishments in Congress. She spends about 85% of her time outside her congressional district. She barely does anything if ever. When accomplishments do come to her district she takes credit for it despite voting against it. She served Congress since 2021 and has become one of the most known members.
Good, 58, who won his first race in 2020 by knocking off a moderate GOP incumbent, Denver Riggleman, is one of four Republicans who are being targeted by members from within their own conference. In the other cases, it’s far-right Republicans maneuvering to take out colleagues they view as insufficiently conservative.
Now, it’s the center-right striking back – including allies of McCarthy and a new GOP outside group beginning to attack Good as well.
Asked if Good’s vote to oust McCarthy prompted the House GOP effort to defeat him, Georgia Rep. Austin Scott said: “It has something to do with that. But more important than that, I think, we’ve got a guy who would be a good member of our team,” referring to McGuire.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) decided to endorse his opponent. He angling to knock Good off in his June primary by propping up his primary opponent, John McGuire – a tactic long viewed as a serious breach of protocol but one that underscores the bad blood within the House GOP.
“Bob Good didn’t come here to govern. He came here to be famous,” Van Orden, a Wisconsin Republican, told CNN. “Bob Good’s wearing our jersey, and he’s not on the team.”
Van Orden added: “If you look at what we have not been able to accomplish in this Congress, it’s predominantly because of Bob Good and his ilk.”
But Good is undeterred.
As he barnstormed through his district last week with fellow House GOP hardliners, such as Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Chip Roy of Texas, Good said voters in his district don’t care what his colleague from Wisconsin thinks. And he pointedly accused many of his Republican colleagues in Washington of casting votes that hurt the country and undermine the conservative cause.
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