Notices by Simon Brooke (simon_brooke@mastodon.scot), page 2

@gfjacobs @selzero this is ridiculous. Palestinians are not just indigenous, they are in general genetically more closely related to DNA recovered from classical period Jewish burials than modern Israelis are.

"After the 7 October attack, 24,000 acres of olives were left unharvested in the West Bank after #Israel largely prevented farmers from accessing their orchards, resulting in the loss of 1,200 metric tons or $10m of olive oil – a key #Palestinian export and powerful symbol for Palestinian identity"

#GazaGenocide

Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, UN rights expert says | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/27/un-israel-food-starvation-palestinians-war-crime-genocide

"You don’t have to be a member of the SNP – and I’m not – to see just how little the nationalist cohort matters to the rest of the House. Stephen Flynn said his troops had been treated with utter contempt. Was he surprised? Was anyone?" -- Ruth Wishart

https://www.thenational.scot/politics/24142206.snp-cant-participate-westminster-leave/?ref=eb&nid=1948&u=e671d70c95fe09d863fcda0ac0a196a5&date=240224

@HeavenlyPossum There are Evil Villain Schools and evil villains do intentionally learn from one another. These days the evil villain schools are mainly online and folk like Andrew Tate are their professors; but elite public schools, for example, have been in the Evil Villain Education business for literally centuries, and there are also real life clubs and bars where wannabe Evil Villains go to hang out with their heroes and mentors.

Much like other subcultures, really.

@CloudyMrs I imagine the narrative comes from the UK #Labour spin team, don't you? They see everything as being about them.

Listening to several political podcasts from assorted British commentators this week, there seems to be a consensus that the #SNP's #GazaCeasefire motion was primarily a cynical ploy to embarrass #Labour.

This seems to me to be

a. Lazy;
b. Cynical;
c. Woefully ill-informed about Scotland;
d. Wrong.

Even ignoring the fact that the leader of the SNP's wife is #Palestinian, sympathy for the Palestinian cause on the left in Scotland is very widespread.

@montrebei that link is no longer working apparently because of a database error. Fortunately the @internetarchive has a readable copy:

https://web.archive.org/web/20240117063631/https://easternoak.co/maybe-its-time-we-started-talking-about-how-terrible-zionism-is-for-jews-too/

@Brendanjones @smach because it makes it much easier for human beings to write scripts that manipulate files.

@selzero people who believe that the God they worship literally WAS a #Palestinian #refugee, who fled from Judea via #Gaza into Egypt to escape persecutors who were massacring children, and yet who look at the current #massacre of Palestinian children in Gaza and think "hell yes! Let's give #Israel more weapons."

You could not make it up.

@aral I know. But could we not just pretend, for the sake of the children, that we actually care about ethics and respect and the decent treatment of other people and the protection of the oppressed and puppy dogs and motherhood and apple fucking pie, and that we're prepared to take clear, consistent action to eradicate things like actual #Genocide?

I mean, is that really too much to ask?

So let me see if I've got this right. There is an "International Rules-Based Order". The key institution which underpins this order is the #ICJ. The ICJ has ruled that #Israel must take action to prevent #Genocide in #Gaza. The main agency succouring those at risk of genocide in Gaza is #UNWRA. In an apparently-coordinated demonstration of contempt for the ICJ ruling, a number of key nations have withdrawn financial support for UNWRA, citing unproven allegations against some staff. >>>

So, should not all countries which support the "International Rules-Based Order" immediately sanction those countries which are displaying open contempt for the ICJ's ruling?

It the international community does not sanction those displaying open contempt for the ICJ's ruling, who upholds the "International Rules-Based Order" now?

@belwerks I'm busy restoring a gen 1 (2012, I think) Nexus 7 to be my daily-driver, Mastodon, Mail and YouTube device, and yes, with a new battery, it goes very nicely.

@youronlyone @autistics @actuallyautistic I think that's a feature of aging. I could do all sorts of intellectual tasks in my twenties and thirties that I absolutely cannot do now.

I'm pretty sure that it's true of "neurotypical" people just as much as it is of us.

@SallyStrange furthermore, ANY economist who has not given thought to the consequences for the deep future of the actions they are recommending today, is an illiterate reckless amateur hooligan¹, who should not be allowed out of doors without a straight-jacket and a leper's bell.

¹ or 'economist', as they call illiterate reckless amateur hooligans in the kleptocrat-owned media.

@ecosaurian @Wen @Roadwarrior29 I cannot see any good outcome of the coming election. The #SNP will lose seats – and frankly they deserve to, they have no vision and their administration has become very lacklustre – and #Labour are only marginally less worse than the #Tories.

A plague on all their houses.

Well, that's a first.

I cycled to a meeting today, only a twenty kilometre round trip but more than three hundred and fifty metres of climb. I went, as I usually do these days, on my electric bike. The battery was fully charged, the motor was ready...

And I did not press the button.

Two years ago, I would have struggled to do this.

@CloudyMrs I didnae listen after they had said they were only going to have an Israeli spokesperson on. I don't have the patience or balance of mind to listen to a #Genocide apologist justifying genocide.

In this episode, The News Agents, who claim to be credible journalists, ask: "Is #Israel committing #genocide in #Gaza?"

To investigate, do they interview an Israeli spokesperson? Why, yes, of course.

A South African spokesperson? Errrr... No.

A Palestinian spokesperson? Dear $DEITY, no, of course not!

What happened to journalistic rigour? What happened to balance?

Episode webpage: https://www.global.com/

Media file: https://dax.captivate.fm/b33534be-98fe-4add-bdbb-1797a01aeba1/12-JAN-01.mp3?aw_0_1st.showid=c49390b9-6909-4cd3-a974-e270cf686f27&aw_0_1st.episodeid=a9254d65-0c4f-4e81-8baa-c6aec9082c5c

"The data strongly suggests centre-left parties can build a coalition of voters who believe a strong welfare state, effective public services and real investment, for example in the green transition, are essential" – Björn Bremer, quoted in

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/10/adopting-rightwing-policies-does-not-help-centre-left-win-votes