Tuesday, February 6: "Self Defense"
How far does an apartheid state's "right to defend itself" extend?
For years we’ve been told that the apartheid state of Israel has an inherent “right to defend itself”, which is about as obfuscatory as the English language gets. There’s never really any follow-up regarding what exactly constitutes ‘self defense’ or when the line is crossed into deliberately attacking other countries.
Earlier this week, the navy of the apartheid state of Israel targeted a UN aid convoy heading from southern Gaza to the northern part of the region, destroying a shipment of much-needed humanitarian aid. This isn’t the first time Israel has committed such a crime, and it almost certainly won’t be the last. While the US and UK are keeping busy supporting the apartheid state and pulling funding from critical organizations like UNRWA, Israeli settlers block aid trucks from crossing the border day after day and Israel holds other trucks endlessly in “inspections”. In the rare instances that a truck does manage to get into Gaza, the murderous Israeli forces often shoot the Palestinians trying to get to the aid. Now you tell me which part of this sounds like self defense?
Meanwhile, the president of the apartheid state Isaac “Bougie” Herzog (that’s his actual nickname, I promise I can’t make this stuff up) met today with senior officials from TikTok in Jerusalem. Herzog wanted to discuss the important matter of how the Chinese-owned social media company has allowed the proliferation of anti-Israel and antisemitic content across the platform. So on one side you’ve got tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, starving, and denied any aid, and on the other side you’ve got a guy complaining that the big bad TikTok isn’t being very nice. This world is beyond parody and beyond cruelty.
Side Items
Trump Can Still Get Smacked: The orange bozo and former president has been in and out of courtrooms seemingly forever, but a federal appeals panel found earlier today that Trump can in fact still face trial on charges that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. This flies in the face of the Donald’s claim that he’s somehow immune from prosecution. Whether or not Trump will be found guilty of anything or what consequences he’ll suffer remains to be seen
Chubby-Fingered Royalty: Imagine waiting your entire life for an opportunity, spending 74 years lurking in the shadows, constantly being overlooked and underestimated by family, friends, and the world at large. Now imagine it’s finally your time to shine, but suddenly your plans are derailed by a pesky diagnosis. Such is the tragedy for the king of England, ol’ fat-fingered Charles III, who was diagnosed with cancer according to Buckingham Palace representatives. This comes less than 18 months into his reign, which is almost sad until you realize that his entire existence would’ve been more useful if he’d taken up garbage collection or ditch digging. Charlie has decided to suspend his public engagements, but he’ll continue with ‘state business’, whatever that means, and most importantly he won’t be handing over his constitutional roles as head of state. Because of course he won’t, the poor bastard’s been waiting 75 years for a whiff of the throne
Forever Swimming in Circles: I really enjoyed this piece from my buddy Ryan on the lasting impact of Mac Miller and his deep connections to the North Carolina hip hop community. It might not exactly qualify as news, but the article is a welcome trip down memory lane. Ryan has re-launched a music blog called SuperEmpty that you should absolutely check out/subscribe to if you’re at all interested in hip hop, North Carolina, or the intersection of the two