IMAGINING NO DRAGONS

UPDATED for today in Boulder, Colorado

I'm not a band-following kinda woman...unless it's the Misha Siegfried Band....for obvious reasons. I prefer singers (Sting, Billy Joel, Adele, Lewis Capaldi, Aviv Alush)  over bands, but I do have a few favorites and my playlists reflect that. Yeah, Beatles top that list, Steely Dan, Bonzo Dog, and until this morning, Imagine Dragons. I loved that they played in Tel Aviv in 2023 despite protests. I love their lyrics. And sure, I like watching Dan Reynolds prance about the state shirtless. (What can I say? I'm not dead yet.) Three days ago, at their concert in Milan, Italy, Reynolds wrapped himself in and kissed a Palestinian flag. 

For a guy whose band members are HUGE supporters of LGBTQ+ rights, aligning with terrorists who advocate the killing of that very same community seems just too weird.  He kissed the damn flag and tossed it into the audience. I guess their stand with LGBTQ+ was performative, not sincere activism. Gone are the rainbow flags he once draped around his shoulders. I wonder how all those LGBTQ+ fans feel about that. Don't answer that. Lots of them are wearing the black and white kuffiyeh these days.

I don't understand how all these big celebrities have managed to miss the part about homosexuality being punishable by death in Gaza. What do they tell all those people who gave them money in support of their rainbow projects; that they no longer believe they have a right to live? Hmmmm. I don't wonder at all. All those LGBTQ+ FOR PALESTINE encampment and protest participants didn't get the memo about rooftop launch parties. 

Well, actually, I do. They don't do their homework. They believe what they see on X or Insta or whatever bubble they're living in.  They are all TSTL: Too Stupid To Live.

See, if they did their homework, if they actually googled something about world conflicts and famine, they might have noticed other places where slaughter goes unchecked and humanitarian aid is a joke.

This isn't really Gaza any more; it's the normalization of Jew hatred. There's the whole blood libel thing that keeps coming up....last week it was about Israel killing 140,000 Palestinian babies in 48 hours, and even though the BBC and everyone else walked that ridiculous story back, it was put out there by "reliable" news agencies. It doesn't matter if it was true or not, if they walked it back or not, it was out there and now it's fact regardless of the truth. Hating Jews is convenient. Hating the only country that is openly Jewish is convenient. Everybody's gotta hate someone and this particularly tiny little sliver of population wins that lottery time and time again. 

But I will tell you where babies are dying in droves and none of those Free Palestine lemmings give a shit about those babies: Sudan. From Rescue.org:

Before the war erupted in April 2023, Sudan was already experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis that left 15.8 million people in need of humanitarian aid. Two years of war have gravely exacerbated these conditions, displacing over 12 million people and leaving 30.4 million people—more than half of Sudan’s population—in need of humanitarian support.

Sudan now represents the largest and fastest displacement crisis in the world. It is also the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded.

Did I miss all the kadamol wearing protesters caring about the death toll in Sudan due to a civil war? Maybe Dan Reynolds would like a RSF flag for the next concert, or don a kadamol like these guys. It's kinda dashing, dontcha think?

On October 16th, just 9 days after the attack on the Nova Festival and adjacent kibbutzim, the UN issued a report on Sudan:

Siobhán Mullally, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said unaccompanied children and children from poor families have reportedly been targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in the outskirts of the capital Khartoum and elsewhere.

They’ve forcibly recruited women and children especially, she warned. 

Girls have also reportedly been abducted from Khartoum to Darfur for sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery.

To date, an estimated 9,000 people have been killed, over 5.6 million driven from their homes in the civil conflict between military Government forces and the RSF, and 25 million people are reliant on aid.

“The deteriorating humanitarian situation and lack of access to food and other basic services make children, especially unaccompanied and separated children on the streets, easy targets for recruitment by armed groups,” Ms. Mullally said.

The UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert stressed that recruitment of children by armed groups for any form of exploitation, including in combat roles, is a gross violation of human rights, a serious crime and a violation of international humanitarian law.

Addressing reports that children might be joining armed groups as a means of survival, Ms. Mullally emphasized that the consent of a child – defined as any person below the age of 18 – is legally irrelevant, and it is not necessary to prove the use of force.

She also voiced concern over lack of humanitarian access to children.

She called on all parties to the conflict to return to peace talks and reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement that would allow for the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance and ensure accountability for alleged violations.

“Urgent action is needed to address these pressing concerns and take effective measures to prevent child trafficking and provide effective protection to child victims and children at risk, in particular displaced, unaccompanied and separated children, refugee children and children with disabilities,” Ms. Mullally said.

Where was the outcry? Where were the protests? Where were the demands for the release of girls and young women taken for sexual slavery? Those are Muslim babies, too. See, those people weren't Jews, so they didn't have anyone available to take the blame. There weren't any Jews involved at all, ergo, there was nothing to protest. For the record, Israel supplies humanitarian aid to Sudan. Just thought you'd wanna know that for your next protest rally.

We are .02 of world population....and it's still too many Jews left alive for some people. Certainly all Jews are murderers and baby killers because no Jewish institution is ever left unscathed. Last week, it was a museum in D.C. and synagogues in Paris. Or today, June 1st, in Boulder, Colorado where a man tossed molotov cocktails at demonstrators, including children, calling for the releases of hostages held in Gaza. It doesn't matter where the Jews are, or where the institutions are, or the real history of who belongs in Israel...although recently I'm hearing Jesus was a Palestinian....as if he wasn't at the Temple in Jerusalem....where Mohammed was at the time even though Mohammed wouldn't be born for a few hundred more years. 

We are all pretty much getting seriously sick of having to explain to people why Jews are indigenous to the area once again called Israel. Yes, that's right, it was Israel with the same language, culture, and religion for a thousand years before Jesus. We are the poster children for indigenous peoples everywhere because we came home, we built a new nation, and we thrived. Indigenous populations dream about doing what we have done. And what's more, they should be looking to Israel as what one can do with drive, education, and will forged in steel to survive. 

We will not apologize for surviving as a people. We will not apologize for the return to our homeland. If anyone ever read any version of the Bible, it's not like we ever stopped worked to go home. You don't want us in your country? Great. We'll take out brains, our innovations, our musical instruments, our medical advances, and our Nobel prizes to Israel. Our homeland. Our Motherland. Our Fatherland. Our whatever we feel like calling it. For 5,000 years it's been Eretz Yisroel where the natives speak Hebrew and practice Judaism. That's not exactly a surprise now, is it?

If you wanna talk about colonizers, you'd better start with the Mongols, the Ottoman, the British, the Spanish, and the Arabs. Especially the Arabs who have spread their tent over large swaths of Africa, Europe, Eurasia, and Asia. 

You don't get to call us colonizers in our own tiny homeland. We're like the folks who refuse to sell out to the big developers and we're just fine and dandy with that. 

In fact, Hey! Get Off Our Lawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....Shavuot begins at sundown and I gotta get this sucker out the door!

With assorted lactose intolerant people, I decided, after considerable research, to make a vegan cheesecake for Shavuot that begins at sundown. I followed the directions closely, made all the suggested adjustments. The batter came out great, tasting just right. I looked perfect when I put it in the oven. I was so excited. 

Until I took it out. It did not set up the way I expected. It had a different aroma than what I'm used to. I haven't cut into it yet, so I can't tell you how it tastes. It'll be great....or an epic fail. Whatever. I tried. 

I have cut up fruit and a blueberry cobbler standing by just is case. They go just as well with Tuna Niçoise.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Redundancy.

The key to happiness?

Redundancy.