Oh, What A Tangled Web

Tough week for Chief O'Hara

Like most Americans, I have a lotta rocks rattling around my head these days. The murder of children in prayer in the church of Annunciation School has rocked the Twin Cities in new and horrible ways. That Robin Westman was in transition only shifted blame calling to a new low, implying that all trans people are mentally ill. Really? How about the guy who shot in a crowd standing on a sidewalk the night before? From ABC NEWS:

A gunman opened fire with a high-velocity rifle at a group standing on a sidewalk in Minneapolis on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring six others, police said.

At least one of the seven victims appears to have been the target of the shooting, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara, who called the incident "deeply troubling."

That shoot has all but disappeared into the mists, and I don't even think he's been apprehended. It took a whole lotta hunting around to even find this from KARE-11

A man and woman are accused of being accomplices in a deadly south Minneapolis shooting last week, in which the gunman has not been arrested. 

Ryan Timothy Quinn, 33, and Tiffany Lynn Marie Martindale, 30, have both been charged with the felony of aiding an offender to avoid arrest in connection with the shooting that left one person dead and six more injured.

Funny thing about all this. Minneapolis, the city of George Floyd, Philando Castile, and Annunciation School is not even on the list of most violent cities in the US. Stay with me here. 

On August 11th, Newsweek published a list of the 30 most violent cities in the US. Thankfully, both Minneapolis and Saint Paul are absent from the list. But the list is worth mentioning. Notice that of the 30 cities, 9 are in blue states, and one is in a purple state. Washington, D.C. is not on that list. All the other cities are in deeply red states, yet President Felon has not ordered National Guard troops to any of those cities, but he has fingered #16-Chicago and #26-Baltimore as his next targets. Why is that?

Maybe it's because he doesn't want to risk upsetting his devotees? Or is he worried about managing the midterm elections in states he's less likely to win?

Defending our cities from crime,
weeds, and trash.

Or maybe, he just needs really, really expensive groundskeepers and trash collectors he doesn't have to pay? Maybe he'll be sending them over to his golf courses next. It doesn't much matter, but using the National Guard as groundskeepers and trash collectors is obscene. Who the hell do you think is paying for this? While government programs are slashed, burned, and ripped away from locations that are desperate for help, this is another colossal waste of capital. 

Is it possible the deployment of troops, Guard or federal, is a slow move toward manipulating the midterms?  But wait! There are other ways to undermine a nation. No matter how you dice up the optics, this is a power grab.

But it's not just the deployment of troops that undercut the sense of security and safety. It's financial and it hits the middle class directly. Cuts in renewable energy and transportation projects that are already underway and headed toward completion ultimately cost the government more than it saves. Thousands of workers are laid off. They lose that great golden egg of health insurance. Food security becomes an issue when you cannot buy groceries. In her Substack, Letters From An American, Heather Cox Richardson writes:

Another cut last week sums up the repercussions of the administration’s attack on renewable energy. On August 22 the Interior Department suddenly and without explanation stopped construction of a wind farm off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island that was 80% complete and was set to be finished early next year. As Matthew Daly of the Associated Press noted yesterday, Revolution Wind was the region’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. It was designed to power more than 350,000 homes, provide jobs in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and enable Rhode Island to meet its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2033.

The Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut expressed their dismay at the decision, noting that Revolution Wind employed more than 1,000 local union workers and is part of a $20 billion investment in “American energy generation, port infrastructure, supply chain, and domestic shipbuilding and manufacturing across over 40 states” by Ørsted, a Danish multinational company.

“Stopping this fully permitted, important project without a clear stated reason not only seriously undermines the state’s efforts to work towards a carbon neutral energy supply but equally important it sends a message to investors from all over the world that they may want to rethink investing in America. The message resulting from the President’s action is a lack of trust, uncertainty, and lack of predictability,” they wrote.

Connecticut governor Ned Lamont and Rhode Island governor Dan McKee, both Democrats, are working together to save the project. In a statement, Lamont said: “We are working closely with Rhode Island to save this project because it represents exactly the kind of investment that reduces energy costs, strengthens regional production, and builds a more secure energy future—the very goals President Trump claims to support but undermines with this decision.”

“It’s an attack on our jobs,” McKee said. “It’s an attack on our energy. It’s an attack on our families and their ability to pay the bills.”

Taking a page from Hitler's playbook, deny your population a way to earn a living and they will become desperate to feed their families and keep them sheltered. Denying Jews the ability to work made it infinitely easier to herd them into ghettos and concentration camps. Deny an entire political population the ability to earn a living and over time, they, too, will cave. 

Vote for me, and I will employ you.

This is one of the oldest ploys in the book, right up there with free ice cream at lunch; when you put families at risk, people will do whatever is needed to protect their own.

Sounds a bit draconian? Sure. But look around you. It's already happening. Although North Carolina is technically a red state, their AG is bright blue.  He's suing FEMA on behalf of his state:

I’m suing FEMA.

Why?

Because they illegally cancelled more than $200 million that was headed to North Carolina for water and sewer upgrades.

It was basically a flood preparation fund. Congress created it, funded it, and told FEMA to run it.

Before FEMA pulled the plug, they had approved over 60 projects across our state - mostly moving pump stations and sewer lines to higher ground.

A few examples:

• $22.5m for Salisbury to move a pump station. The city already spent $3m of its own funds getting started.
• $5.9m for Gastonia to move sewer lines out of the floodplain.
• $4m for Mt. Pleasant to improve drainage in the town center, which regularly floods and damages businesses.

And then there’s the Hillsborough pump station, where I spoke yesterday. It was set to receive $6m to move to higher ground. Also cancelled by FEMA.

But here’s the thing:

Three weeks ago, a tropical storm hit. The nearby river rose 24 feet and submerged the entire station. Millions of gallons of untreated sewage poured into the river.

I spotlighted this pump station because it’s a perfect example of why this funding matters - and what happens when it’s taken away.

Most people agree that keeping drinking water flowing and sewage contained is a legitimate use of public dollars. I appreciate that Sen. Tillis and Rep. Edwards have also urged FEMA to reverse course.

Heck, President Trump signed this program into law in his first term. He wanted it.

So we’re going to court, along with a number of AGs, and I’ll report back.

There is no way in hell that I do NOT believe this is scheduled manipulation. This is an attempt to restrict potable water for a large portion of North Carolina. There's a pattern of municipal control being established. It's easy to roll in troops with trucks of clean water and then call yourself a savior. Nothing happens unless there is something in it for Feckless President Felon. 

Without FEMA and other government agency assistance, come hurricane season, people will become violently desperate for aid and relief. What better way to cement your image as hero than to provide it...with strings. There are always strings. 

I used to think he was simply blind to the needs of the poorest states in the Union. Now, I think he knows exactly what he's doing. Voter suppression and disenfranchisement are useful tools with this administration. The push for paper ballots only, cessation of early voting, understaffed and undersupplied voter sites are all methods of stopping voters from casting ballots. The MAGA corps operates under the idea that they can control the outcome of any election if they can prevent voters from exercising their right to vote, and to some degree this is true. The attempts to overthrow the last two presidential elections point to that very issue. And if you think the MAGA GOP is not learning how to master electoral manipulation from those last two events, guess again. 

Scare enough people and they will elect the status quo. Feckless President Felon and his cabal are counting on that. 

Meanwhile, back at the Himalayas....

Someone is upset because President Felon claims to have negotiated the India/Pakistan ceasefire. That someone, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had a terse call with the former Nobel Peace Prize Would-be Candidate. From the New York Times:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was losing patience with President Trump.

Mr. Trump had been saying — repeatedly, publicly, exuberantly — that he had “solved” the military conflict between India and Pakistan, a dispute that dates back more than 75 years and is far deeper and more complicated than Mr. Trump was making it out to be.

During a phone call on June 17, Mr. Trump brought it up again, saying how proud he was of ending the military escalation. He mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Mr. Modi should do the same.

The Indian leader bristled. He told Mr. Trump that U.S. involvement had nothing to do with the recent cease-fire. It had been settled directly between India and Pakistan.

Mr. Trump largely brushed off Mr. Modi’s comments, but the disagreement — and Mr. Modi’s refusal to engage on the Nobel — has played an outsize role in the souring relationship between the two leaders, whose once-close ties go back to Mr. Trump’s first term.

Now, I guess plan B is to bring peace by removing all of the Palestinians from Gaza to make it into the Riviera of the Middle East. 

The leaked image from the Great Trust proposal 

The plan even has a name: GREAT TRUST- Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust. And who, exactly, do you think benefits the most from this scheme? It ain't the US and it sure as hell ain't the Israelis. Just think of it as a bigger golf course and enterprise destined to bankruptcy.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you had a lovely holiday weekend, thank all those pesky labor unions. 

No, they're not perfect, but they did a helluva a good job protecting We, the People.

More Stuff That Pisses Me Off

I used to believe in the strength of the Constitution. I used to believe that people who ran for office believed in the sacredness of the Constitution, the rule of law, and the ability of each branch of government to do its job for We, the People. Sure, I knew there were crooked politicians because that's  the nature of the beast. I was cogent while Nixon was president, and I'll admit, the resignations of both Spiro Agnew and Tricky Dick rattled me, but in my pea brain, I held on to the notion that more elected officials were committed to the good and welfare of We, the People than were crooked.

Well, that ship has sailed. 

A few things occurred this past week that have set my teeth on edge. 

Back in July of 2024, the Grifter-in-Chief told an audience of Christian evangelicals:

Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.

"I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote,

A year later. President Felon continues to remind us he cannot win an election without "assistance." In order to facilitate GOP control of congress, Texas is gerrymandering the state in such a way that can give five more districts to the GOP. I bet you didn't know there was a name for this: competitive authoritarianism.  A pro-democracy group called Civic Nebraska  really provided the best explanation:

Competitive authoritarianism refers to a system in which elections are still held, courts still convene, and newspapers still publish, but the very structures meant to ensure fairness, accountability, and civic participation are systematically hollowed out from within. In a competitive authoritarian regime, the surface-level features of democracy remain intact, but their integrity has been corroded.

Read that last line again. That kinda sums up what we are seeing and experiencing right now, dontcha think? 

And if the measure is successful in Texas you can bet your sweet butt other states will follow. 

Gov. Newsom

Therefore is it no surprise that Governor Newsom of California is sending a question to the voters asking if they should reapportion the state's congressional districts. From Newsweek:

California Democrats' ability to do so may hinge on the outcome of a ballot measure Newsom announced last week that would allow a new map drafted by legislators to temporarily replace the boundaries drawn up by the state's independent redistricting committee following the 2020 census.If the ballot measure is successful, it could neutralize efforts from Texas Republicans. But if it fails, Republicans may be able to net several seats in not only Texas, but also other GOP states like Indiana and Missouri.  A new poll from Newsom's pollster, reported by Axios, suggests a majority of voters are prepared to support the ballot measure. 

The poll, conducted by David Binder, showed that 57 percent of California voters are in support of the proposal. Only 35 percent were opposed to it, while 8 percent remained undecided. 

Among Democrats, the ballot measure had 84 percent support, while only 13 percent opposed it. Among Republicans, 79 percent were opposed, the poll found, according to Axios.

Gerrymandering has always been an issue, but this is raising it to an entirely new level. One can almost see the guts of American democracy....or what we thought was American democracy slowly seeping onto the floor. The redistricting is not the simply window dressing for congressional domination; it speaks to a broader coalition to alter our democratic process. 

Hegseth

Continuing along the line of increasingly aberrant behavior originating in the White House, President Felon has, on several occasions, referred to uniquely unqualified Pete Hegseth as his Secretary of War. Last time I looked, that wasn't a cabinet position, but that didn't stop President Felon from using the sobriquet, which leads a number of sources to report that he plans to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War. Of course, his statement in the Oval Office on Monday lends credence to this:

I don’t want to be defense only. We want offense too.

Well, he's already pretty offensive, but this adds a new layer to the playbook he seems to be using. From Politico:

[When] “we won World War I, World War II, it was called the Department of War. And to me, that’s really what it is,” Trump said at a press event with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. “Everybody likes that we had an unbelievable history of victory when it was Department of War. Then we changed it to Department of Defense.”

Thereby implying success at wars went down the tubes with the name change and by changing it back, the world is suddenly gonna think he is more powerful with bigger balls? Nah, I don't think so. At least not with Hegseth leading any sort of charge. 

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

And speaking of name changes, watch for The Kennedy Center to no longer be The Kennedy Center. According to NPR:

Republicans recently voted, as part of the "One Big Beautiful Bill," to dedicate $257 million towards improving the Kennedy Center, but to withhold significant funds unless the building's opera house is re-named after first lady Melania Trump.

JFK's grandson, Jack Schlossberg posted this on social media:

The Trump Administration stands for freedom of oppression, not expression. He uses his awesome powers to suppress free expression and instill fear. But this isn't about the arts. Trump is obsessed with being bigger than JFK , with minimizing the many heroes of our past, as if that elevates him. It doesn't. But there's hope — art lasts forever, and no one can change what JFK and our shared history stands for.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

First LA, then Washington D.C, now President Felon has his beady eyes on Chicago. Baltimore is in his sights as well. I'm thinking that Minneapolis-St. Paul can't be too far down the list. For a guy who claims he's trying to get the Nobel Peace Prize as well as the golden ticket to heaven, this is not the way to go. Dispatching armed National Guard troops into cities is not a normal power of the president. The state governor is the only one who can do that. 

From the New York Times:

President Trump directed the Defense Department on Monday to take a larger role in domestic law enforcement, including by “quelling civil disturbances,” as he threatens to broaden deployments of the National Guard in cities run by his political enemies.

The executive order, released by the White House on Monday morning, also formalizes the creation of specially trained National Guard units in the District of Columbia and all 50 states that can be mobilized quickly for “ensuring the public safety and order.”

This is a direct contradiction to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. The Brennan Center for Justice has a pretty good explanation. You can read the whole thing, and it is worth reading, but for brevity's sake, this is a good explanation of what happened during the summer of 2020:

In the summer of 2020, President Trump deployed the DC National Guard into Washington to police mostly peaceful protests against law enforcement brutality and racism. Simultaneously, over the objections of DC’s mayor, the administration asked state governors to deploy their own Guard personnel into Washington in Title 32 status, and 11 governors did so. Although these out-of-state forces were nominally under their governors’ control, it was later revealed that they were reporting up through the DC Guard’s chain of command for “coordination” purposes. That meant they were ultimately taking orders from the president. In this way, the Trump administration brought a large, federally controlled military force into Washington and used it for civilian law enforcement, all while skipping over the procedures in the Insurrection Act and evading the political costs of invoking it. That is exactly what the Posse Comitatus Act is meant to prevent.  

Moreover, the deployment of non-federalized, out-of-state Guard forces into a jurisdiction without its consent represents another threat to the Posse Comitatus Act. When operating in Title 32 status, Guard forces are exempt from the Posse Comitatus Act because they are under state command and control. A key part of that control is the governor’s right to decline a particular federal mission. That right is meaningless if the president can simply approach a different governor and ask her to deploy her state’s Guard into the unwilling governor’s state. In this scenario, the cooperating governor becomes a fig leaf for the president to use the military as a police force anywhere in the country, free from the constraints of the Posse Comitatus Act.

In  the case of troops dispatched to LA earlier this year, President Felon invoked Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code that allows him to call up the Guard under certain circumstances. California state officials immediately filed a legal challenge to the deployment which a federal judge ruled as illegal before an appeals court blocked the ruling. While Washington D.C. is a federal district, don't expect the other cities to just sit there. 

The last thing I'm gonna mention is the Justice Department. The amount of money being wasted on retribution against President Felon's "political enemies," is disgusting. The amount spent on this shit could be feeding children and caring for Veterans who are being screwed left and right. 

Never in my wildest imagination did I believe We, the People, could elect a grifter who put power and pockets above all else. And what's worse, We, the People, elected him twice...but with a strong economy between the two elections. We are rapidly becoming a banana republic with a doddering old fool as titular tinpot dictator. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I'm meeting with the lawyer and the finance guy next week

to make sure my ducks are in a row. 

It's a good thing to do. 

The Best Kinda Weekend

In a long overdue departure from my usual screed, I wanna tell you all about my fabulous weekend on Long Island. Yes, Long Island...two words, not Longuyland. You see, Long Island is my stomping ground. I grew up here...near and on the south shore of this rather populous strip on land. Right now, I'm sitting on my cousins' deck where it's 85° and 64% humidity which isn't too bad. There's a nice breeze with a hint of salt wafting in from the direction of the ocean, and frankly, it's just fine for this girl. Humidity here never feels as oppressive as Minnesota humidity. I have no idea why. Maybe it's the momentary feeling of being home....even if it's in Oceanside and not North Bellmore. 

I made this journey on a whim. I heard Elon Gilad was to be the scholar-in-residence at my cousins' shul and I could not resist popping in for the occasion. The idea was irresistible! I would fly in on Thursday,  spend time with my cousin Perdie, get to the cemetery to see the folks and our grandparents, then stay with her brother and sister-in-law for the weekend since their shul, B'nai Sholom-Beth David, was hosting the event. 

Friday was breakfast with one of my old friends from high school days, now a rabbi. Jerry and I communicate pretty regularly, so it was a treat to sit opposite him panim al panim, face-to-face. There was so much to talk about. Jerry lost his wife before I lost Ziggy, and he was an incredible rock when I was going through the early days. That Jerry found love again was of great solace; he encouraged me to find out who the new me was. Sometimes texting just doesn't do it, but sitting in one space laughing is always good.

Candy, me, and Andrea
I'm the short one.

At noon, Candy, the Mallomar Fairy, was picking me up at the diner to go to the beach. Sister of my BFF since 5th grade, beach and lunch from the Lido Deli has become our tradition. But when she pulled up, there was someone in the front passenger seat... her sister had made the trip from that other state, New Jersey, to join us. There was much screaming when I saw Andrea. We'd not see each other in person in a very long time and I was completely undone. See, here's the thing: Andrea knows the best and worst of me. When we're together, we're just us, in so many ways the same kids we always were. We're still laughing about the cemetery in the backyard (don't ask) and the goofy stuff we did. The shared history is both comfortable and comforting. Of course, Candy was so excited we let her play with us. Already, this trip was a screaming success.

   Before shabbat: Rabbi Lerner and Elon Gilad

Friday brought the first event with Mr. Gilad. He and Rabbi Lerner could have been twins, and yes, embarrassingly so, I mistook one for the other! But once the talking started, there was no mistaking one for the other.

For three days, I got to listen to a world-class etymologist. Like something outta my childhood, a guy was explaining the roots and origin of words...only this guy was much taller than dad. But on matter, when he started talking about shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, and Sumerian moon god, SIN.  I was in heaven!  The whole idea that our own lunar cycle was a bit off kilter until one took into account the Sumerian calendar was music to my ol' mythology lovin' ears. I was so excited to hear someone Jewish talking about this branch of storytelling! I must be living in a bubble to be so unaware that people are actively dissecting the connections. It's been a long time since I've sat in basic lecture mode and loved it. Usually I get fidgety, but not with Gilad talking. I was enthralled by his observations. And bonus! It was fun having people around me to talk about it in the aftermath.

As I'm sitting here trying to piece together the rest of the talks, I'm peeved that the shul did not hand out a flyer or guide to the weekend. So much material was covered that it's hard to keep track without taking notes, and you cannot take notes on Shabbat. And he talked about that, too: how we came to do what we do and don't do on Shabbat. My thinking needs to be updated.

At the seudat shlishit, Gilad spoke about the identification of animals mentioned in Tanakh. The very description of the mishkan, and the covering of the tent do not necessarily make modern sense:

And make for the tent a covering of tanned ram skins, and a covering of dolphin skins above.                                                                           Exodus 26:14

Dolphin skins?  In the desert they're gonna find dolphin skins? Sure, they are. There has to be one huge leap of distance between the Hebrew word, תְּחָשִׁ֖ (tachish,) then and tachish now since these days, תְּחָשִׁ֖ (tachish,) is what Israelis call dachshund and they really don't look much like dolphins. But never mind; Gilad's declination of how names change, the official arguments, the need to look at ancient languages like Sumerian and Persian as well as Greek, Latin, and Arabic is pretty much a cosmic game of telephone. The "official" debates about which word will move forward is fascinating. We really do take the establishment of definitions for granted and maybe we shouldn't.  I wish I could've taken notes on this because I would love to relay the tale of how animals in ancient texts are not always the same animals in translation to Little Miss and Young Sir.

When Gilad spoke about the human-made aspects of Torah, he spoke at length about the prophet Ezra who is probably the first guy to read what we now know as a Torah scroll in public....and we'll get to that in a bit. This was a cosmic shift for Judaism. Most of what he said was new to me, although some things were familiar. They reinforced what I already believed is true about us as Jews: that we are a work in progress. Judaism constantly evolves. The clearest indication can be seen in the reclamation of Hebrew as a spoken language. It grows and changes and most importantly adapts with time and information. Whereas there are no jets, air conditioners, or passports mentioned in Tanakh, we still need those words in everyday speech; they have to come from someplace. Like France has its guardian of French language, Académie Française, Israel has the Academy of Hebrew Language. Not without its infighting, it's what drives Hebrew forward. And therein lies the conviction that we do go forward, that we are not mired in another time or place. Hell, even the Haredim use computers. 

This is about much more than spoken language...it's how we got to be in the here and now...not in an echo chamber nor in a vacuum. We went from clan to tribe to people to a nation with a written history while much of the rest of the world was still unable to write. Written language, be it hieroglyphs or simple strokes of letter is a watershed event in any cultural identity. Once it's inscribed on stone, or clay, or  parchment, there is a record you can follow. 

When written Paleo-Hebrew is first seen around the 10th century B.C.E. changes progress. Stuff starts to be written down. Bit by bit we create a story for ourselves that can be repeated. Even when we were forced away from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, our uniqueness begins to solidify. In the mid 5th century B.C.E., Nehemiah, forner cupbearer to the Babylonian king, is sent back to rebuild Jerusalem as governor of Judea. During his tenure, a radical event occurs: Ezra the scribe sits at the Water Gate in Jerusalem and reads a scroll to the people.

…the entire people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the scroll of the Teaching of Moses with which the LORD had charged Israel. 

On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Teaching before the congregation, men and women and all who could listen with understanding. He read from it, facing the square before the Water Gate, from the first light until midday, to the men and the women and those who could understand; the ears of all the people were given to the scroll of the Teaching. Ezra the scribe stood upon a wooden tower made for the purpose, and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah at his right, and at his left Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam. Ezra opened the scroll in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; as he opened it, all the people stood up. 

Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with hands upraised. Then they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before the LORD with their faces to the ground. They read from the scroll of the Teaching of God, translating it and giving the sense; so they understood the reading.                                                               Nehemiah 8:1-8

This may very well have been the first public reading of Torah, and Gilad pointed out this was also the first time most people heard about the fall harvest holiday and building sukkah, something that, for us, is a basic part of the holiday. The reading of what is believed to be the Book of Deuteronomy is an important step in a renewal of the law as written. Once it is written the law becomes part of the people. The words matter. 

As you, gentle readers, already know, I've been blathering away on Monday nights for 15 years. That's 787 posts (not including this one) and a whole lotta words. Sometimes, I hit the mark, other times, not so much. Not important....it ain't baseball and I don't get a batting average in the blogosphere. What I do get, however, is a weekly dose of words....have i used the right one? Am I repetitious in my word choice? Am I conveying precisely what I wish (or should that be want) to convey? In fifty years, will my intent on the page change with the changes in spoken English? 

When Perdie and I went to the cemetery on Thursday, I told my dad what I was going to be attending this weekend. I could almost hear his chortle as I explained how excited I was to be in the same room as Elon Gilad. As a devoted follower on Insta, I knew what I was getting into and I told Dad how sad I was that he could not be sitting beside me. He would've gone bonkers listening to Gilad. He woulda had a thousand questions and a driving desire to debate his conclusions. And I would've enjoyed every minute of that, too.

Mr. Gilad, you really missed something not having my dad in the room. I guess you just have to put up with me instead.

Still short. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

You may not be able to really go home again,

but it feels so good to have a sojourn in the place of one's birth.

Especially if there is salt in the air.

Culturicide...It's What's For Breakfast

The Western Bamiyan Buddha of Afghanistan
before and after

I learned a new word today: CULTURICIDE. [Note: this is the correct form if you're talking about cultural genocide.]

I used to call it cultural genocide but today I found out this is an actual word. Let me lead you down last night's rabbit hole so maybe you can follow my thinking. Granted, it's not always all that cogent, but maybe you'll let the idea. 

There's lots of different ways to think about cultural genocide. I'm not talking about the cancel culture movement. I'm talking about what the US did to the indigenous populations here, what the Nazis did in Europe, and what the Taliban did to the magnificent Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.

Brigadier General Richard Henry Pratt supervised Native American prisoners in Florida and  believed strongly in the premise that one had to kill the Indian, save the man. Ultimately, he founded the Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania and was the architect of cultural genocide large swaths of our indigenous population. History.com provides an excellent description of how that worked in its article How Boarding Schools Tried to ‘Kill the Indian’ Through Assimilation; Native American tribes are still seeking the return of their children.

As part of this federal push for assimilation, boarding schools forbid Native American children from using their own languages and names, as well as from practicing their religion and culture. They were given new Anglo-American names, clothes, and haircuts, and told they must abandon their way of life because it was inferior to white people’s.

But that's only one kind of culturicide. The Nazis rounded up and slaughtered millions of "undesirable" people...like jews, Romani, and homosexuals, but they didn't  stop there. They looted art and monuments. They burned synagogues, churches, and museums...but not before scooping up their cultural artifacts. A huge repository of art and artifacts was hidden in of salt mines in Altaussee in Austria. While the movie THE MONUMENTS MEN shows those guys as the heroes saving the cache, it was actually the miners themselves who disarmed the Nazis plan to blow up the mine, thereby saving it all from destruction. [note: the Wiki article does go into the historical accuracy of the film.] 

As for the Taliban in Afghanistan...they followed the principles of ISIS and other Islamist regimes. They set out to obliterate anything that was not of Islam. They did not hide their loot in salt mines; they simply destroyed everything. If the rich cultural and artistic history of the Afghan people no longer existed........

We, the People, are not immune from being looted culturally. President Felon's desire to change the name of The Kennedy Center is the perfect example. Named for a president and first lady who embodied the expansion of America's cultural achievements deserves to be honored with that theatre. Neither President Kennedy nor Mrs. Kennedy stripped portraits of presidents they didn't like from the White House. They didn't decry exhibits that recognized the failures of America as well as the successes. 

But wait! There's more. A romance writer is cited as having written a superb description of culturicide in a rather dreadful (yes, I actually read it) book called JAKE. Adrienne Bell wrote:

...by destroying a culture’s art, you destroy the people. If you erase every reminder of their history, their symbology, everything... everything that made them special and distinct in this world, then you can make those people forget who they really are. And that’s what conquerors truly want.

Feckless President Felon is trying to rewrite our history in the most revisionist of ways. He is removing entire classes of our armed forces from recognition based on sex. Yes, sex. Whether it is homosexuality, transgenderism, or how about just gender...it doesn't matter. He's got people in his cabinet who actively believe women should not vote. 

To be very blunt: the White House is carefully curating what they think we should think. That, folks, is a form of culturicide. 

Now for the rabbit hole. Here's where my thought trains runs amok. 

I got to thinking about how President Felon is trying to build a garish addition for the rather sedate yet elegant White House. Here's what the White House says about it:

The White House State Ballroom will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space, with a seated capacity of 650 people — a significant increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House.... 

The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, it’s [sic] theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits. The East Wing was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated and changed many times, with a second story added in 1942. 

This rendering is a little too ornately designed for the simple taste of the nation's house. I mean, it's like more Versailles than the image America usually presents....non-royal. This is the antithesis of who we are....or who we like to think we are. He is not an Ottoman Sultan, nor is he a king of any kind. He is OUR frickin' temp employee. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

He thinks we don't notice what he's trying to divert us from seeing with this bullshiht sidestep. But sometimes, he cannot keep his big trap shut....and he didn't keep it shut enough on Monday (today as I write this.) 

In taking control of Washington, D.C.'s police force, he not only tipped his hand, but he exposed himself. Let me explain.

January 6th was, much like more recently in LA, a dry run in taking control of a city. He tried to overturn the election and used orchestrated violence to demonstrate how out-of-control the city of Washington was. It didn't work. He tried to take over LA, but while a little more successful, he did not end up running the government of LA or California out on a rail. He is attempting to try it again with this morning's announcement of wresting control of the DC police force using home-rule law. 

His claims that the crime rate is DC is higher than it's ever been is total bullshit. Go look for yourself: Fact check: Violent crime in DC has fallen in 2024 and 2025 after a 2023 spike. No other city in the US is subject to home-rule like DC, but that's not gonna stop him. And he said as much in his speech:

You look at Chicago how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don't even mention that anymore they're so -- they're so far gone. We're not going to let it happen. We're not going to lose our cities over this.

There it is, folks. This is nothing more than a harbinger of authoritarian control. Read the whole speech; it's a dilly.

You deny us the right to our own history. You change the facts in museums and the public square. You convince enough people you really just want to protect them....

And then you cancel elections because the people are being denied their true voice....the one that kowtows to him and his rhetoric.

Remember, you might not have seen it here first, but you've seen it here. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you haven't seed SIDESTEP

you need to see it. 

Now. 

A War of Attrition...And Then Some

Yahya Sinwar

In an article for The Free Press, Michael Oren points out that Yahya Sinwar is a betting man. I would agree with that. Sinwar made a couple of strategic bets when it came to wiping Israel off the map.

The first was that once Hamas terrorists broke through the Gaza border fence and began slaughtering Israeli civilians en masse, much of the Muslim world—Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Shi’ite militias in Syria and Iraq, and the Palestinians living in Judea, Samaria, and in Israel itself—would join in the onslaught. Israel, overwhelmed, would be destroyed.

Sinwar’s second bet was that Israeli society, already torn between those favoring and opposing the government’s judicial reform, would remain unbridgeably divided. Israel would be, in the words of Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah, “a spiderweb”—easily swept away.

He did not bet wisely. Neither of those two gambles came to fruition; he was not counting on Israel's response to an existential threat. But he made a third, less obvious bet: he believed in his ability to control the narrative, manipulate the news cycle, and turn the victim into the victimizer. Hold on to that thought for a moment. 

As of this moment, the remaining hostages have been held for 668 days. 20 of those who are still being held are believed to be alive. 30 are thought to be dead. That's how they returned the Bibas family. In body bags. That's how they returned about 57 hostages. Who is their right fucking mind keeps dead bodies? Oh, wait, we know the answer to that. The world saw what they did to dead bodies in the days after October 7th, 2023. And I am sure Hamas treated the bodies they took back with the utmost respect and dignity. NOT.

This past weekend, Hamas released videos of Evyatar David who was taken from the Nova Festival. In the video itself, he is shown digging what appears to be a trench. What he says, however, is 

What I'm doing now is digging my own grave. 

Word is that there are no negotiations for the release of hostages taking place at this time. 

But there is plenty of outrage and anger directed at Israel. Claims of mass starvation and refusal to provide humanitarian aid bounce around the press like ping pong balls. Never you mind that misinformation is spread uncontrolled by The New York Times and the BBC. They publish garbage, make sure it gets picked up by every antisemitic Tik Tok influencer, only to publish retrations so small they are all but invisible. Hate toward all Jews spreads like wildfire: we are child-killers, women-starving, family destroying Nazis bent on cleansing the world of Muslims. Never you mind all the documentation that says otherwise, the millions of tons of food, potable water, electricity, and other services Israel provides the people of Gaza. That is merely inconvenient tale-bearing. If you're interested, Humanitarian Efforts - Israel provides statistics on food air delivery.

HOWEVER....and isn't there always a however...remind me again in which war the party that was attacked provided food and water to keep the enemy alive? I seem to have forgotten which one that was. Is Russia currently providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine? What about the Saudis? Are they providing aid to the Houthis in Yemen? 

But never mind. If Israel is involved, all the rules are different because, after all, most Israelis are Jews and they are all rich and have to pay for everything because they control all the banks, right?

But getting back to Sinwar. He hit big when he figured out there was no terrorist attack too gruesome that would stop Israeli retaliation from being demonized as unnecessary aggression causing suffering to civilian populations. He guessed, rightly so, that Hamas could lob missiles at school yards and send suicide bombers into restaurants and hotels with impunity because the PR machine would call is justifiable resistance. 

So Hamas murders 1200 civilians and somehow, in the public eyes, it is not an act of war or aggression, but a form of legitimate resistance and Israel is blamed for the death of its own citizens. Hamas then uses its own people as shields, embeds itself in a labyrinth of tunnels beneath schools, houses, libraries, and hospitals in order to use them as launch points, but no one sees all those dead Gazans as anything but victims of the IDF.

Case in point, al-Ahli Hospital was hit by a misfired Hamas rocket, but the IDF was blamed... and continues to be blamed.

So here comes the attrition part. People bandy about the phrase "war of attrition," but not as many actually understand what that means. According to Wikipedia:

Attrition warfare is a form of military strategy in which one side attempts to gradually wear down its opponent to the point of collapse by inflicting continuous losses in personnel, materiel, and morale.The term attrition is derived from the Latin word atterere, meaning "to wear down" or "to rub against", reflecting the grinding nature of the strategy.

Israelis are tired. The Israeli government is fractured, There are rallies in the streets demanding the government do this, that, or the other thing. In the world arena, Israel is vilified again and again and again for defending itself.

And all Hamas has to do is sit back and wait. Seriously. 

According to the GOV.UK on July 29th, 2025,  Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued statement, part of which reads,

On the 7th of October 2023 Hamas perpetrated the worst massacre in Israel’s history. Every day since then, the horror has continued. The hostages are still being held today.  

The Palestinian people have endured terrible suffering. Now, in Gaza because of a catastrophic failure of aid, we see starving babies, children too weak to stand: Images that will stay with us for a lifetime. .....

The suffering must end. So today – as part of this process towards peace I can confirm the UK will recognise the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a Two State Solution. 

And this includes allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid, and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank. 

Meanwhile, our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza. 

We will make an assessment in September on how far the parties have met these steps.  

But no one should have a veto on our decision. So this is the way forward. We will keep working with all our international partners to end the suffering, get aid flooding into Gaza and deliver a more stable future for the Middle East.  

Huh? If you follow the link from GOV.UK, you can read the whole statement. What bothers the shite (that's British, you know) outta me is that nowhere in his statement does he hold Hamaes accountable/responsible for the debacle that is Gaza. Nowhere does it mention that they are the ones who put their own people at risk. NOR does it mention that the various governments of Palestine have repeatedly been offered statehood and have refused because they do not want a two-state solution. Their only goal is to wipe Israel off the map. 

The baseline truth at the end is that Hamas has no endgame, no exit strategy that does not include annihilation of Israel and a globalization of intifada. Right now, intifada is directed at Israelis and Jews in general. Will that ultimately expand to include other groups? Who knows....but the Druzim have been under attack in Syria. So far, I don't see anyone protesting those massacres. 

I would be exceptionally surprised if Hamas accepts such an offer with strong guarantees that they will leave Gaza. Oh, a few might take a symbolic exit, but if you think they're just gonna go away, I have a canal to sell you near Suez. 

Oren ends his piece thusly:

The supposed Israeli genocide of the Palestinians is now widely accepted as truth. A June 2025 Leger poll found that more than half of Democratic voters and all Americans under the age of 35 believe Israel is guilty of committing genocide in Gaza, as do a shocking 78 percent of Democratic primary voters in New York.

Typically, the charge has united both radical left and right—Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene with academics like Brown University’s Omer Bartov and lunatics like Candace Owens. Added to the brands of antisemitism I’ve experienced in life, along with deicide, pedocide, and conspiring to destroy civilization, Jews now stand accused of annihilating an entire people. And each day, it seems, more people co-sign this lie.

Yahya Sinwar died last October 16, felled by an Israeli bullet, but indeed his gamble on Jew-hatred continues to pay off. The impending recognition of a Palestinian state by Britain, France, and Canada not only punishes Israel for imperfectly defending itself, but incentivizes terror and strengthens Hamas’s hand in the ceasefire talks. Sinwar’s successors can now walk away from the negotiating table, perpetuate the war with yet more civilian casualties, and further immiserate both Palestinians and Israelis.

What better bet could have assisted the terrorists to obscure their atrocities of October 7? What wager would enable the West to finally cleanse its own genocide guilt by imputing that sin to the Jews? In his grave, Sinwar is still counting his earnings.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week 

Sometimes, pictures actually do speak louder than words. 

This is one such case:

notice the arm hand Evyatar David the can. 

Does that look like food is an issue for a Hamas operative?

 

Still captured from the video released by Hamas