Oh Boy It Never Ends: June 2024

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

NETFLIX and 20 NETFLIX original thrillers you need to catch

Let's start with some NETFLIX news:

Netflix is contemplating the launch of a free, ad-supported version of its streaming service in select international markets to expand its already massive global audience. The streamer’s 2024 upfront presentation saw Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria explaining that Netflix’s strategy is all about “engagement” being the most important aspect when it comes to success in the crowded market.

Netflix already has a subscriber base of over 270 million users around the world, but there are still many people put off joining any streaming platform due to the ongoing cost, potential rises in that cost, or simply that they don’t want to pay for something they would not use constantly. There are many people who make a compromise of buying a subscription for just one month, and rotating the platforms they use in order to see as much as possible without having multiple subscriptions active at once. Netflix’s plans to offer a completely free option would certainly attract a lot of attention.

So far, the comments made about turning Netflix into a free service in some countries are just foreshadowing, and are still a long way from becoming a reality. However, there is also the fact that this free version would seemingly not be available in the U.S., with Europe and Asia being the continents being considered to allow Netflix to compete with the FAST (free ad-supported television) market.

Of course, if it happened, we'd be the country to lose out. I don't know. I remember free internet. Do you remember that? I watched it/used it. You had to watch a commercial and then you had two hours or so of net. You didn't pay for it. You just watched a commercial.

Still on the topic of NETFLIX, Dais Johnston (INVERSE) says the best spy film you've never seen is on NETFLIX right now:

When do you think of when you imagine a spy movie? A suave British man wooing women as he sips on martinis? Tom Cruise attempting increasingly outrageous stunts? Men in overcoats exchanging secret packages at park benches? Regardless of how you envision the genre, odds are a man is at the center of the action, though maybe he’ll encounter a femme fatale who ties into the plot.

But five years ago, one movie explored the possibility of the femme fatale becoming the protagonist of her own story as she navigated twisted loyalties, took on bad guys, and outsmarted everyone in a thriller expertly crafted by an iconic action filmmaker.

Anna, directed by The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita’s Luc Besson, follows Anna (Sasha Luss) as she’s discovered in a rural market and instantly catapulted to fame as a supermodel, in a classic rags-to-riches story. But the rug is soon pulled out from under us; Anna isn’t just a down-on-her-luck girl from the tundra who gets a good break, but a deadly assassin and sleeper agent whose rise to fame was engineered by the KGB.

I actually have seen it and assume many others have too. I'm a fan of Luc Besson's films. ANNA had a great cast that also included Luke Evans, Helen Mirren and Andrew Howard.

So that's a film NETFLIX has to stream. It's not a film that NETFLIX made. On those, this is from THIRD:

20 of NETFLIX's best thrillers

TCM curates films on a daily basis. NETFLIX has been creating original films for some time. But they aren't really curating them and often the streamer appears to forget them a month or two after they debut.

We've come up with a list of 20 of the best thrillers NETFLIX has made.

1) THE GRAY MAN

2) THE MOTHER

3) THE TAKEOVER

4) GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

5) LOU

6) SECRET OBSESSION

7) LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND

8) THE KILLER

9) I CARE A LOT

10) BIRD BOX

11) KATE

12) SECRET OBSESSION

13) LOCKED OUT

14) ENOLA HOLMES

15) THE PALE BLUE EYE

16) CAM

17) ATLAS

18) POINT BLANK

19) MONSTER

20) FRACTURED

Posted by Third Estate Sunday Review at Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Betty, Ava, C.I. and I came up with the idea for that article. When everyone -- not just the four of us -- were working on it, it probably took an hour to come up with the twenty. In fact, it was supposed to just be a top ten; however, too many people were very passionate about this or that film and we couldn't get it down to ten.

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Julian Assange is said to be free, the Supreme Court agrees to hear a case in the next term on transgender cure -- a case that requires four justices recuse themselves, the press examines the Israeli government's killing of journalists, and much more.

Jintamas Saksornchai, Alanna durkin Richer and Eric Tucker (AP) report, "A plane carrying Julian Assange landed Tuesday in Bangkok for refueling, as the WikiLeaks founder was on his way to enter a plea deal with the U.S. government that will free him and resolve the legal case that spanned years and continents over the publication of a trove of classified documents."

Kevin Gosztola discussed the news last night.

Michael Kosnar, Ryan J. Reilly and Patrick Smith (NBC NEWS) explain, "A letter from Justice Department official Matthew McKenzie said Assange would appear in court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S.-controlled territory north of Guam, at 9 a.m. local time Wednesday (7 p.m. ET Tuesday) to plead guilty." REUTERS adds, "U.S. prosecutors said Assange wanted to go to a court close to his home of Australia but not on the continental United States." BBC NEWS spoke with Stella Assange and "Only after he signs a deal with an American judge in the US jurisdiction of the Northern Mariana Islands will Mr Assange be a 'free man', she said."

I can understand the desire to celebrate this but I'll wait to make sure the US government lives up to its side of the deal -- which apparently will be 7:00 pm EST tonight.

Hopefully, by this evening, Julian will be free.

But none of us in the US are free from the corrupt and crooked Supreme Court. Melissa Quinn (CBS NEWS) reported yesterday:

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider whether a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming health care for transgender minors violates the Constitution, setting the stage for a major decision on transgender rights in its next term.

The justices agreed to review a lower court decision upholding Tennessee's ban, which was appealed by the Justice Department and transgender youth who argue that the laws are outside the bounds of the 14th Amendment.

The case will be argued in the Supreme Court's next term, which begins in October, with a decision likely by the end of June 2025. The dispute thrusts the Supreme Court into the center of a politically fraught issue that has sparked a wave of legislative action by state lawmakers.

The Crooked Court has refused to fall basic laws and precedents and fashions rulings as though this was day one, year one and nothing had ever happened before they hijacked the Court.

There is little reason that, come the first Monday in October, this would be any different.

Except for the fact that four of the nine members of the Court should immediately recuse themselves from this case.

Molly Redden (HUFFINGTON POST) reports:

A group at the center of conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo’s network funneled $750,000 to an influential new lobbying operation that pushes anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the country, new tax records show.

Do No Harm presents itself as a grassroots association of doctors against gender-affirming care and diversity efforts in the medical profession. The group, which was founded in 2022, does not disclose its donors. But newly disclosed tax filings provided to HuffPost by Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog, show that the Concord Fund, the funding arm of Leo’s network, donated $750,000 in 2022 to Do No Harm Action, the group’s official lobbying effort.

Do No Harm also received more than $1.4 million from a nonprofit, the Project on Fair Representation, run by conservative activist Edward Blum, new records show. Blum, a conservative activist who helped engineer two Supreme Court cases that struck down affirmative action and major sections of the Voting Rights Act, is now a Do No Harm board member.

HuffPost previously revealed that Do No Harm received $1 million in seed funding from Joseph Edelman, a billionaire hedge fund CEO, and his wife, Suzy Edelman, who has said she considers “transgenderism” “a fiction designed to destroy.”

Leo is best known as the kingpin of a decades-long effort to pack the federal judiciary with conservative judges. As the leader of the Federalist Society, Leo assembled a vast and secretive network of wealthy donors and nonprofits to amplify the power of the conservative legal movement, culminating in Leo handpicking the list of former President Donald Trump’s potential nominees to the Supreme Court. While some of his efforts are highly public, others, like the funding of Do No Harm, occur with little fanfare.

Due to have been promoted for the Court by Leo, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett should recuse. Leo is a known transphobe and homophobe. I do not see how them being handpicked by this transphobe cannot impact on their decision making. But they aren't the only ones who need to recuse, Clarence Thomas needs to as well. This is from Emma Green's June 5, 2023 report for THE NEW YORKER entitled "Is It Possible to Be Both Moderate and Anti-Woke?:"

Suzy Edelman, another donor, who gave fair a million dollars in 2021, wrote in an e-mail to Weiss, “It’s your courage that inspired me to join the movement—not just to reform what’s been captured, but to build new, wonderful things.” I know Weiss a little bit—we’ve hung out in professional settings a few times over the years. When fair was founded, she had just left the New York Times in a very public way, and she was focussed on launching new organizations. “I think we are in a moment of profound change in American life, in which many old institutions are crumbling or have lost trust,” she told me recently.

[. . .]

Behind the scenes, there was deeper trouble. Suzy Edelman, one of the donors who gave a million dollars in 2021, had started asking questions about whether her gift had been used appropriately, requesting fair’s receipts and copies of the contracts that it used for volunteers and staff. For months, Edelman had also been questioning fair’s approach, particularly on gender issues. “Sex-based rights matter. Single sex spaces for women and girls must be protected. Transgenderism is a fiction designed to destroy,” she had written in an e-mail. She noted that fair had positioned its programs as an “alternative” to mainstream D.E.I., or diversity, equity, and inclusion, training, but, she said, “You can’t ‘DEI-lite’ this issue.” (A spokesperson for Edelman maintained that her concerns about fair were not related to its politics, only its “governance and use of charitable funds.”)

Weiss and Bartning exchanged terse e-mails about Edelman in August. “I am quite nervous that she has gotten to the Crows, which would be really damaging to me personally,” Weiss wrote, referring to Harlan Crow. (“I leaned on many of my personal relationships and friendships to help launch this nonprofit,” Weiss told me. “I was sick over the idea that their time, trust, and money wasn’t being properly protected.”) Bartning replied that he had recently spoken to Crow’s chief of staff. “She was complimentary of what we have accomplished, but said Harlan wanted to ‘let up on the gas a bit’ since their priorities/focus have shifted to more ‘in your face’ activism (my words, not hers).” (Crow did not respond to a request for comment.)

Harlan Crow -- that's Crooked Clarence's sugar daddy.

Bari knew what Harlan wanted and so does Clarence. And Clarence is also indebted to Leonard Leo. CREW noted last year:

Even as the Supreme Court was deliberating Citizens United, Crow reportedly provided the major funding for Liberty Central, another dark money group, this one with links to Justice Thomas. Liberty Central was a 501(c)(4) organization founded by Ginni Thomas in late 2009 that counted Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo as a board member. Ms. Thomas served as president through November 2010 and was paid a salary of more than $120,000. According to Politico, of the $550,000 in anonymous start-up funds the group received in 2009, $500,000 came from Crow, who also held an event for the group at his Dallas home a few months after it launched.

Even as the Supreme Court was deliberating Citizens United, Crow reportedly provided the major funding for Liberty Central, another dark money group, this one with links to Justice Thomas. Liberty Central was a 501(c)(4) organization founded by Ginni Thomas in late 2009 that counted Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo as a board member. Ms. Thomas served as president through November 2010 and was paid a salary of more than $120,000. According to Politico, of the $550,000 in anonymous start-up funds the group received in 2009, $500,000 came from Crow, who also held an event for the group at his Dallas home a few months after it launched.

It's all too incestuous and Crooke Clarence needs to recuse. Let's note this from QUORA:

Richard Gould-Saltman
·

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Juris Doctor in Law, University of Southern California (Graduated 1978)Upvoted by
David White
, JD & BS x 3 Law, University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law (1983)1y

The canons of judicial ethics require judges to avoid “not only impropriety, but the appearance of impropriety”. Hell, my wife, who’s a judge, won’t even provide restaurant reviews on Yelp or TripAdvisor for any place in So Cal, out of concern to avoid the appearance of endorsement.

You tell me: do the gifts to Thomas LOOK fishy?

They do look fishy and no reasonable person can suspend disbelief and pretend that a fair vote can take place without recusals.

Looking fishy. The whores like Ben Stiller and Jerry Seinfeld and that bald headed idiot Julianna Margulies have to regularly lie for the Israeli government because that government is committing War Crimes and each day more and more people catch on. Not only do they catch on, they shake their heads in disgust that so-called American citizens are whoring for a foreign government.

Their efforts to pretty up a genocide fail and expose them as the uncaring liars that they are.

RTE notes, "Two of the Israeli airstrikes hit two schools in Gaza City, killing at least 14 people, medics said. Another strike on a house in the Shati (Beach) camp, one of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, killed ten others." Jennifer Hansler (CNN) reports:

A high risk of famine persists in Gaza and the situation “remains catastrophic” as the war between Israel and Hamas continues, according to a report released Tuesday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

“A high risk of famine persists across the whole of the Gaza Strip as long as conflict continues and humanitarian access is restricted,” the report said. “Only the cessation of hostilities in conjunction with sustained humanitarian access to the entire Gaza Strip can reduce the risk of a famine occurring in the Gaza Strip.”

The report projects that 96% of the population of Gaza – more than 2 million people – will face crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of food insecurity through at least the end of September. Nearly half a million are projected to face catastrophic levels, the most severe level on the IPC scale where people “experience an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping capacities.”

The supporters of genocide can't pretty that up so they just lie about it and deny the children who have starved to death and insist it's not taking place (today THE TIMES OF ISRAEL throws reality out the door as it hops on that band wagon).

And when not killing and terrorizing children, the Israeli government makes journalists the target. This morning, Hoda Osman and Farah Jallad (INDEPENDENT) reports:

"Targeting of al Ghefari tower, which houses media offices, west of Gaza City,” read the chyron of Alhurra TV, a U.S. government Arabic broadcaster, just before 11:57 a.m. local time on November 2. The channel was covering the strike on an 18-story building, the tallest in the Gaza Strip. The building is visible in the far left corner of the screen when suddenly an explosion rattles the image. Debris and smoke fly live on camera. The presenter, unsure of what had happened, says, “We don’t know yet where this strike is, but it happened live just now.”

What the presenter didn’t know was that viewers were watching live on TV a strike on another media organization, Agence France-Presse, less than an hour after the one on the offices of Palestine Media Group in the al-Ghefari tower — the very building Alhurra TV was discussing while viewing the AFP live feed. AFP itself occupies the 10th and 11th floors of the 12-story Haji Tower, just a few hundred meters, or 0.2 miles, away on the same street.Targeting of al Ghefari tower, which houses media offices, west of Gaza City,” read the chyron of Alhurra TV, a U.S. government Arabic broadcaster, just before 11:57 a.m. local time on November 2. The channel was covering the strike on an 18-story building, the tallest in the Gaza Strip. The building is visible in the far left corner of the screen when suddenly an explosion rattles the image. Debris and smoke fly live on camera. The presenter, unsure of what had happened, says, “We don’t know yet where this strike is, but it happened live just now.”

Alhurra broadcast the strike live not because it had its own camera in the tower, but because the network was tapped into an AFP live feed from a camera set up on the balcony of the 10th floor. The attack caused extensive damage to the building and offices: a large hole in one side of the building, and significant interior destruction. Fortunately, no one was there. AFP’s Gaza City staff of eight had evacuated the building, leaving behind a mostly unmanned camera powered by solar panels, broadcasting a 24/7 live feed. AFP was the only one of the three major global news agencies still broadcasting live from the Gaza Strip.

AFP immediately contacted the Israeli military. The initial response was that there were no strikes on the building. Pressed for more details, the Israeli spokesperson said the army had carried out a strike nearby that “might have caused debris” but that “the building was not targeted in any way.” AFP said the extent of the damage cannot be explained by the military’s response and requested “an in-depth and transparent investigation.”

The condemnations were swift. AFP’s chair and chief executive Fabrice Fries said the bureau’s location was known and communicated to the Israeli military routinely “precisely to prevent such an attack and to allow us to continue to provide images on the ground.” The Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, issued a statement categorizing it as an “attack.” The International Federation of Journalists demanded “an immediate investigation.”

After the early November strike, the war in Gaza grew more intense and the number of Palestinians killed, reported to be over 37,000 today, continued to climb. The scale of the destruction was beyond anyone’s expectations.

The AFP incident was mostly laid to rest until Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism and its partners, including AFP, began looking into it as part of the Gaza Project: a collaboration of 50 journalists from 13 media organizations coordinated by Forbidden Stories to investigate attacks on journalists and press infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank.

CNA notes:

A collaborative investigation by international media outlets on Tuesday (Jun 25) shed light on the circumstances behind more than 100 Palestinian journalists and media workers being killed in the Gaza war, some while wearing a press vest.

A consortium led by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories and involving around 50 journalists from 13 organisations including AFP, The Guardian and the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism group (ARIJ) took part in the four-month probe.

It looked into strikes involving journalists and media infrastructure since Israel launched a devastating offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian militant group Hamas carrying out an unprecedented attack in Israel on Oct 7.

"More than 100 journalists and media workers have been killed," Forbidden Stories' Laurent Richard said in an editorial accompanying the Gaza Project's publication.

"Today's Gaza journalists have long known that their 'press' vests do not protect them," he wrote.

"Worse still, the protective gear might further expose them."

Harry Davies, Manisha Ganguly, David Pegg, Hoda Osman, Yuval Abraham and Bethan McKernan (GUARDIAN) explain:

As Israel’s offensive in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history, its military has repeatedly said it is not deliberately targeting the media.

“There is no policy of targeting media personnel,” a senior official said, attributing the record number of journalists killed to the scale and intensity of a bombardment in which so many of Gaza’s civilians have died.

However, an investigation by the Guardian suggests that amid a loosening of the Israel Defense Force’s interpretation of the laws of war after the deadly Hamas-led attacks on 7 October, some within the IDF appear to have viewed journalists working in Gaza for outlets controlled by or affiliated with Hamas to be legitimate military targets.

The investigation is part of the Gaza project, a collaboration led by the Paris-based non-profit Forbidden Stories, which has analysed the deaths of journalists in Gaza since Israel began its offensive.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) records at least 103 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in the war in Gaza. Other lists suggest that number is higher.

Since foreign media are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza, the work of documenting the war on the ground has fallen to Palestinian journalists in the territory, many of whom have continued to work despite grave risks to their safety.

In a war in which Israel has dropped tens of thousands of bombs on a densely populated territory, it is perhaps inevitable that so many journalists have been killed. Among the dead are also doctors, teachers, civil servants, aid workers, paramedics and poets.

Gaza remains under assault. Day 262 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "At least 37,658 Palestinians have been killed and 86,237 others injured in Israel's war on Gaza since October 7, the enclave's Health Ministry said. Over the past 24 hours, 32 people were killed and 139 injured." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons. In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."

As for the area itself? Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells." Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."

New content at THIRD:

The following sites updated:

Monday, June 24, 2024

Weekend box office

Via THENUMBERS.COM, here's the weekend box office.

1	(1)	Inside Out 2	Walt Disney	$101,210,550	-34%	4,440	n/c	$22,795	$356,393,666	2
2	(2)	Bad Boys: Ride or Die	Sony Pictures	$18,866,176	-44%	3,781	-104	$4,990	$147,002,067	3
3	N	The Bikeriders	Focus Features	$9,698,275		2,642		$3,671	$9,698,275	1
4	(3)	Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes	20th Century…	$3,812,029	-31%	2,410	-190	$1,582	$164,608,118	7
5	(4)	The Garfield Movie	Sony Pictures	$3,771,092	-21%	3,013	-398	$1,252	$85,313,343	5
6	(5)	IF	Paramount Pi…	$2,714,604	-25%	2,504	-502	$1,084	$106,552,708	6
7	N	The Exorcism	Vertical Ent…	$2,457,041		2,240		$1,097	$2,457,041	1
8	N	Thelma	Magnolia Pic…	$2,302,222		1,290		$1,785	$2,302,222	1
9	(6)	The Watchers	Warner Bros.	$1,900,379	-46%	2,423	-928	$784	$17,708,660	3
10	N	Rite Here Rite Now	Trafalgar Re…	$1,525,000		366		$4,167	$2,550,639	1

Did you notice how poorly BAD BOYS RIDE OR DIE PLEASE PLEASE DIE is doing? THE ROOT and others who churn out paid content tried to pretend that movie was a blockbuster. Yet in three weeks, it hasn't made what INSIDE OUT 2 has in two weeks. In fact, in three weeks, BB hasn't made even 1/2 of what INSIDE OUT 2 has made in two weeks. Little Willie Pinkett may be there cuck of choice; however, he's not the person paying audiences wish to see.

BIKERIDERS did well with a third place showing -- especially when you grasp that it was in 1,100 less theaters than Little Willie's film. Little Willie's film will crash a little more next week as theater owners movie it off their screens. 4,000 screens make sense for INSIDE OUT 2 but nearly 4,000 do not make sense for Little Willie as he shrinks and shrinks each week. Shy turtle.

In it's sixth week, IF is at number six. It's probably going to drop a lot more since it went streaming last Friday.

THE EXORCISM is a bomb. I'm not surprised. Russell Crowe might have thought he had something worth sharing when he slammed Dakota Johnson whom he has never met but the reality was it made him look like a bully. That's not how you want to come off right before your film opens.

I like Russell but even I found his targeting of Dakota Johnson offensive.

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, June 24, 2025. Despite right-wing lies, children continue to starve in Gaza, Israeli forces attack the International Red Cross and Red Crescent as well as the office of the United Nations, two US service members object publicly to the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, and much more.

Starting with children, Edward Carver (COMMON DREAMS) reports:

A 42-year-old white woman has been charged with attempted murder and injury to a child following her attempt to drown a 3-year-old Palestinian-American in the pool of a Euless, Texas apartment complex last month, according toCNN and other media outlets.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest civil rights and advocacy group in the United States, called for a hate crime investigation at a press conference Saturday and warned that the incident was part of an alarming increase in anti-Muslim hate since the war in Gaza began in October.

"My country is facing a war, and we are facing that hate here," the 3-year-old's mother, identified only as Mrs. H. due to safety concerns, said in a statement from CAIR's Texas chapter. "My daughter is traumatized. Whenever I open the apartment door, she runs away and hides, telling me she is afraid the lady will come and immerse her head in the water again."

According to CAIR's account and media reports of the May 19 incident, Elizabeth Wolf, a 42-year-old white woman, allegedly approached Mrs. H. making racist interrogations about what country the family was from and the foreign language they were speaking. Mrs. H., a 32-year-old Palestinian-American woman, was wearing a hijab as she watched her two children play in the shallow end of the pool.

Wolf jumped into the pool and tried to drag the two children to the deep end. The elder of the two escaped, but Wolf allegedly held the 3-year-old child's head underwater. When Mrs. H. tried to intercede, Wolf allegedly took the hijab and tried to beat Mrs. H. with it, and also kicked her to keep her away as she attacked the child. A man then rescued the child.

Wolf was initially arrested for public intoxication and was released on bond the next day. She has since been charged with attempted murder and injury to a child, according toCNN. Wolf has again been released on bail after paying at least $40,000 in bond fees.

Staying on the topic of children, this morning the aid charity Save The Children notes:

At least 10,000 people are reported missing under the rubble, presumed dead. Children are reported to make up 43% of total casualties in this devastating war.

So, it’s reasonable to estimate that at least 5,160 children are dead under the rubble.

As of February, an estimated 17,000 children were unaccompanied and separated from their families. This number is likely much higher now, with our team in Gaza finding more unaccompanied children every day.

Furthermore, the bodies of children have been among those recently found in mass graves with many showing signs of torture.

The UN has also raised the alarm about the mass detention of possibly thousands of people, including children, reporting cases of ill-treatment in detention by Israeli forces.

On the topic of children, in Thursday's "Iraq snapshot," we noted Jonathan S. Tobin's lie that children were not starving in Gaza -- a lie that THE NEW YORK POST attempted to multiply on Friday. Sunday, ALJAZEERA noted, "Two more babies have died from malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, bringing the known death toll from hunger and thirst to 31, health officials say." But these children apparently never existed in the eyes of Tobin or THE NEW YORK POST. In the real world, NDTV notes:

Gaza's hunger crisis is also a product of war. The Israeli military invaded the Strip in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border assault by Hamas on Israel. More than 37,000 Palestinians and nearly 1,500 Israelis have been killed since then, Gazan and Israeli tallies show.

The Israeli assault has destroyed swathes of Gazan farmland. In the early days of the war, Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza. It later allowed some humanitarian supplies to enter but is still facing international calls to let in more.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor, in seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, last month accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, among other alleged crimes. Netanyahu, calling that move "a moral outrage of historic proportions," said Israel is fighting in full compliance with international law and taking unprecedented measures to ensure aid reaches those in need.

Friday, on DEMOCRACY NOW!, Amy Goodman noted, "The first Palestinian athlete to ever participate in the Olympics died last week in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp after he was unable to receive medical care for kidney failure. Majed Abu Maraheel, a long-distance runner, represented Palestine in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was the flag bearer." DAWN notes that the civilians killed over the weekend include another professional soccer player:

Palestinian soccer player Ahmad Abu al-Atta and his family were killed in their home by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) said.

Abu al-Atta, 34, who played as a defender for the Gaza Strip team Al-Ahly Gaza, died along with his wife Ruba Esmael Abu al-Atta, a medical professional, and their two children after the airstrike hit their home in Gaza City, the PFA said in a statement released on Saturday.

Local media reported that the airstrike took place on Friday, but the PFA did not give a date.

As the deaths continue, ALJAZEERA notes this morning, "Israel kills Gaza’s Director of Ambulances and Emergency Hani al-Jaafarawi, considered a pillar in the enclave’s crippled health system, in an air strike in Gaza City." It's one War Crime after another. Friday, the Israeli government attacked the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. CBS NEWS notes that "the United Nations says no place in Gaza is safe and humanitarian conditions are dire as families shelter in tents and cramped apartments without adequate food, water or medical supplies." Robert Plummer (BBC News) notes that the attacks also left the "the office and residences of the International Committee of the Red Cross" damaged and Plummer quotes the European Union's "foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU condemned the attack and called for an independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable." Wednesday strike on Al-Mawasi began. Aurora Almendral (NBC NEWS) notes, "An investigation by NBC News into seven deadly airstrikes found Palestinians were killed in areas of southern Gaza that the Israeli military had explicitly designated as safe zones, including Al-Mawasi."

Sunday, the Israeli government attacked the UN aid center. ALJAZEERA reports:

At least eight people have been killed in an Israeli air attack near an aid centre that was the main headquarters of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip.

The air strike on Sunday hit the main gate of the organisation’s compound in Gaza City in the north of the enclave, injuring multiple Palestinians. The facility is used to distribute the little humanitarian aid that gets into Gaza.

Where's the red line, Joe?

While Joe Biden seems unsure where his previously declared red line went, others have found their own. Katherine Doyle and Courtney Kube (NBC NEWS) report:

The death of 6-year-old Hind Rajab in February after she was trapped under Israeli fire in Gaza sparked international condemnation — and for Larry Hebert Jr., an active duty U.S. airman, the incident accelerated his decision to seek conscientious objector status from the U.S. military.

“She looks almost just like my daughter, and that was something that was extremely hard to grasp, is that all these children that have aspirations and dreams and lives that many of us are living and want, and it’s wholly unjustified to support what’s happening,” said Hebert, who told NBC News in an interview that he worked directly on a U.S. operation to provide weapons sales to Israel.

After witnessing footage of death and destruction in Gaza, senior U.S. Airman Juan Bettancourt said he could no longer ignore the U.S. government’s role in the war, including its supply of weapons, diplomatic coverage and intelligence.

“I see the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians,” Bettancourt said during an interview in San Antonio, Texas, “all while the world watches through their smartphones.”

They have a red line. Joe? As the War Crimes continue, Joe can't find it. But REUTERS notes, "Israeli army forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military Jeep during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday. A video circulating on social media and verified by Reuters showed a Palestinian resident of Jenin, Mujahed Azmi, on the Jeep that passes two ambulances." THE NATIONAL notes the man's "family said there was an arrest raid and that he was injured, but when the family asked for an ambulance, the army strapped him onto the bonnet and drove off." Peter Beaumont (GUARDIAN) reports today:

The Israel Defense Forces have said they are investigating an incident in which soldiers strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the bonnet of a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

A video circulating on social media showed a man, variously identified as Mujahid Azmi or Fayyad, from the Jabriyat neighbourhood between the towns of Burqin and Jenin, tied to the front of an off-road vehicle that is seen passing two ambulances.

ALJAZEERA spoke with Mujahid and notes, "He says Israeli forces continued to beat him while he was injured." Willy Lowry and Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) report:

Mujahed Abbadeh grimaced as he shifted in his hospital bed, his right arm held by metal rods, as he told The National how he was arrested by Israeli troops, tied to the front of a military vehicle and driven through the streets of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The incident on Saturday was captured in a video that caused global outrage and an admission from the Israeli military that Mr Abbadeh's treatment was “in violation of orders and standard operating procedures”.

“I can’t move my leg,” Mr Abbadeh said. “My arm hurts tremendously. I feel very bad about what happened.”

The vegetable seller, 23, said the soldiers beat and abused him as they arrested him, despite finding nothing incriminating when they raided his family home.

“They were hitting me on my head, they were hitting me on my leg before even putting me on the jeep,” said Mr Abbadeh, who in earlier reports was misnamed as Mujahed Azmi.

Gaza remains under assault. Day 261 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "The Gaza Health Ministry on Sunday reported that 37,598 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7. The number of injured has reached 86,032, the ministry said." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted: