Israel destroys 11 homes in West Bank village amid spiralling violence | Israel | The Guardian

People stand watching as a bulldozer rips down a structure.

1:03
Israeli troops demolish buildings in West Bank village – video

Israel destroys 11 homes in West Bank village amid spiralling violence

Fifty left homeless in remote hamlet of mainly shepherds, as beatings and demolitions in occupied territory increase

Israeli soldiers have destroyed 11 homes and other structures in an isolated community in the occupied West Bank, leaving 50 people homeless, amid a reported uptick in house demolitions and spiralling violence in the Palestinian territory.

Contractors with bulldozers accompanied by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops arrived in Umm al-Kheir, a village mostly home to shepherds, on Wednesday morning and demolished six houses, tent residences, an electricity generator, solar cells and water tanks, according to residents and Israeli activists who documented the proceedings. Agricultural land and fences were also damaged and trees uprooted.

The demolition has destroyed about a third of the village’s infrastructure.

Soldiers stand guard while a bulldozer pulls down a structure at Umm al-Kheir. Photograph: B’Tselem

“We have fought in the Israeli courts for years against this as most of the village is under threat of demolition and they have done this before,” said Eid Suleiman, a resident. “But they came this time without telling our lawyer. We didn’t have time to collect our belongings.

Source: Israel destroys 11 homes in West Bank village amid spiralling violence | Israel | The Guardian

Open Thread | What the Supreme Court Has Been Up To | 3CHICSPOLITICO

SCOTUS is compromised.
(https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1806347892896170379?s=03)

Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) posted at 11:53 AM on Thu, Jun 27, 2024:
Just so it’s clear, the 6 republican extremists in the Supreme Court who accept illegal bribes ruled yesterday that they can’t be charged with accepting luxury bribes in exchange for their votes. Corruption at the highest levels of US govt.
(https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1806370316274569299?t=uIBTxXU-6zvRrvmdsMHOQw&s=03)

Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) posted at 0:04 PM on Thu, Jun 27, 2024:
The EPA’s Good Neighbor rule is expected to save thousands of lives, reduce asthma cases significantly, and have more public health benefits.

That’s what the MAGA Supreme Court wrongly put on hold today.

We will keep fighting for it.
(https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1806373019104751641?s=03)

 

I want to be clear on the cases dealing with abortion. In their complete arrogance, they really thought that half the population of the country would just slink away, and be ok with losing body autonomy. That we haven’t, and that it’s become a loser for the Republican Party, they’re trying to be too cute by half because of the November 2024 Elections. Remember the abortion medication case was dismissed because of ‘lack of standing’. The question of whether the drug should be used and whether the FDA should have approved it – that wasn’t settled. The forced birth caucus has already told you that they are going to bring it back.

Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) posted at 9:30 AM on Thu, Jun 27, 2024:
Justice Jackson in the Idaho abortion decision: “To be clear: Today’s decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is delay. While this Court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position, as their doctors are kept in the dark about what the law requires. This Court had a chance to bring clarity and certainty to this tragic situation, and we have squandered it. And for as long as we refuse to declare what the law requires, pregnant patients in Idaho, Texas, and elsewhere will be paying the price. Because we owe them—and the Nation—an answer to the straightforward pre-emption question presented in these cases, I respectfully dissent.”
(https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1806334173323334078?t=Z-OmaRBQ5LNx7CxrvAGOiA&s=03)

Brett Edkins (@Brettkins) posted at 9:27 AM on Thu, Jun 27, 2024:
Justice Alito admits in his dissent that the Court is avoiding a ruling in the Idaho abortion case to avoid a political issue in an election year.

They are politicians in black robes. #ReformSCOTUS https://t.co/rBUW5Hr4Lk
(https://x.com/Brettkins/status/1806333457250881658?t=FX4U5zGrLAxmSiVbwHlYqg&s=03)

Source: Open Thread | What the Supreme Court Has Been Up To | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Songs I LIke (46) | beetleypete

Now 59 years old, Sam came to attention in the late 1980s with a series of hit records and accompanying videos. I liked her immediately, and was very interested in her vocal range and excellent singing voice. In 1988, she released her first album, ‘Stop’, and this single was released from it. I bought the album as I really liked the title track.

She already had extensive experience as a backing singer with some of the top names in the business. Over the years that followed, there were some medical issues that affected her voice, and she dropped off the scene. In 2015, she became a vocal coach for backing singers at The Academy of Contemporary Music, located just outside London in Surrey.

The lyrics are on the video.

Source: Songs I LIke (46) | beetleypete

Ryan McGee Hits a Home Run with His Book, Welcome to the Circus of Baseball | From Behind the Pen

The real measure of a ballpark’s character is how the place feels when it’s empty. -Ryan McGee

Well, this is a bittersweet ending to my participation in the statewide 2024 North Carolina Reads book club from NC Humanities. What a way to end this reading series than with the fifth book aptly timed for the season, and is a home run from author and a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, Ryan McGee.

Now, I am not an avid baseball fan, but I was delighted to read Ryan’s quirky, funny, and nostalgic account about how he started his career as an intern for a minor league baseball team, The Ashville Tourists, in Asheville, North Carolina. In the beginning, it seemed as if it wasn’t for bad luck Ryan would have no luck at all.

Ryan was hoping to land a job in professional baseball, so he was on his way to the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, host of the 1993 edition of the Baseball Winter Meetings, which was the bunkhouse stampede of sports job fairs, for babyface college graduates like himself. What Ron wasn’t expecting was crashing his brand-new Pontiac Grand Am on the way to this meeting, into the trunk of a much older car backing out of a parking space in the apartment complex of a girl he spent the night with. This accident made him run late to the fair, but he finally arrived albeit a bit frazzled and overwhelmed.

He applied for so many jobs but with no interviews. That was until the second day of meetings when he ran into a former neighbor from Raleigh, North Carolina named Steve Bryant. He tagged along with Steve and ate with him and some other dignitaries through a luncheon he probably was not supposed to be at, but he was. After the lunch, Bryant said to him that he was catching their business at a helluva time. It was fun and will always be. But, it was still a business so Bryant told him to go get himself a job. And by God, that’s what Ryan did.

The people Ryan worked with, no matter how dysfunctional they appeared to be were all one big family. One of the funniest incidences he mentions (and there were many) was the Battle of Hickory. As he led up to what happened, he said, “So many of the greatest battles ever fought is that no one truly knows who fired the first shot, the subtle pulled trigger, or secretly thrown stone that ignited a much larger conflict.” The Battle of Hickory was a “mascot” fight. You gotta read the book to see how the fight got started!

Ryan used many movie references that made his narrative feel like comedic Improv material. It was bittersweet leaving his family with the Asheville Tourists to take his job with ESPN, but it was an opportunity he would have regretted not taking. Ryan’s cast of characters, and trust me you couldn’t make this stuff up included Julio the Cat, a stray cat that became a fixture around the baseball compound. Long live Julio the Cat! Thanks Ryan, for a very entertaining memoir, whether you’re a baseball fan or not.

You can connect with Ryan on TwitterInstagramLinkedIn, and Facebook.

Source: Ryan McGee Hits a Home Run with His Book, Welcome to the Circus of Baseball | From Behind the Pen

Daily Hampshire Gazette – Northampton fifth in nation to approve Green New Deal for Schools resolution – Massachusetts

NORTHAMPTON — The city’s school district became the fifth in the nation to adopt the Green New Deal for Schools Resolution, a measure written by Northampton High School students that calls for advocating for ambitious climate-related goals for school districts at the state and federal levels.

The resolution, unanimously approved by the School Committee on June 13, names five different goals for the state to provide funding for in order to further sustainability for public schools. Those goals include:

■Update building and busing infrastructure run on 100% clean energy.

■Make school lunches out of locally-grown produce.

■ Provide job training for positions combating the climate crisis.

■Create climate disaster relief plans for school administration.

■Incorporate climate justice themes into the school curriculum.

Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette – Northampton fifth in nation to approve Green New Deal for Schools resolution