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Do it for the kittens!

Closeup of Ovedience Plant

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Suckers and Losers? I Think Not!

My papa, Ronald Neal Thompson, WO1, USN

When draft dodger Trump said to Sen. John McCane, "I like people who weren't captured," I thought that was it. Surely, no current or retired service members would vote for the bastard. I was wrong.

When draft dodger Trump remarked to Gen. John Kelly, who lost a son on active duty, that those who give their lives in defense of our country and what it stands for are "suckers and losers," I thought that was it.. I was wrong.

An optimist I may be, but one capable of learning. Now that draft dodger Trump has been caught on video saying, "...everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they are dead," I know it makes no difference. There are veterans, my dad among them, who will vote for Trump.

For myself, peacenik though I may be at heart, as the daughter of veterans I find Trump's remark despicable.

My papa, a career Navy man with seventeen years of service, was lost at sea, on active duty. He is not a sucker and loser!

Mama did a hitch in the WAVES [click] in her early twenties. My dad graduated from the Naval Academy and served thirty years. There is not something wrong with them because they served their country honorably instead of lazing around, partying and corruptly amassing wealth.

It is inexplicable to me and a sorrow that Dad is a Trumper. Nor can I understand any service member or veteran supporting Trump. I do know this though:

Donald Trump is a worthless piece of filth.

I'm a pretty easy going gal - live and let live - and something of a softy. I'm inclined to feel sorry for people who are, for instance, clearly suffering from neurological difficulties and cognitive decline, even if they are creepy crooks.

No more!

He may well be terribly ill. He may have brain worm or brain rot or what-the-hell-ever. He does not deserve one thimbleful of sympathy. Nor does he deserve one vote. He'll get votes from those like my poor dad who have bought hook, line and sinker into Fox News propaganda and other alt right lies. He'll get votes from the hard MAGA haters. But I pray to God those benighted souls are few.

We cannot elect the stinking piece of filth that is Donald Trump to the highest office in the land!

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Priscilla Is on the Mend

Priscilla Kitty

Priscilla was very ill earlier this week. Sis caught this photo of her on Monday. We knew she was terribly sick, since she ordinarily doesn't allow anyone near her with a camera.

Mercifully, she has been steadily bouncing back, though she still appears to have intestinal issues. But, she's eating almost normally and drinking water. She joined Dad on the couch last night for snuggles and petting, something she hasn't felt well enough to do for several days. Best of all, she is back to full voice, making herself heard loud and clear last night and today.

A huge thank you to everybody who has been holding her and Dad in the Light - and, of course, to St. Gertrude of Nivelles! [click]

White Hostas and False Dragonhead (Obedient Plant) in the Side Garden

Sis took this photo earlier in the week.

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Move On There!

On Sunday, August 11, the Israel Defense Force yet again ordered displaced Gazans to move on [click].

You know the drill by now: When the IDF suggests a place for dispossessed Gazans to move on to, like clockwork that new place is bombed, and Israel issues a statement claiming hamas fighters, or a Hamas tummel, or a Hamas earthworm was there!

We all know Netanyahu is guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Anyone in his government that condones what is happening in Gaza as well as the West Bank is likewise a criminal. But it’s time, I think, to apportion the guilt equitably and where it belongs.

Every general who receives orders to continue the offensive in Gaza and decides to follow them rather than reject them as the immoral filth they are is culpable. And from those generals on down to the lowest buck private, every member of the Israel Defense Forces who carries out those orders is culpable.

Remember, all members of the military have an obligation to disobey illegal orders.

If a country ratifies an international treaty or convention, that treaty or convention becomes the law of the land.

So, if a prime minister, or a field marshal, or a master sergeant issues an order that violates, say, the Fourth Geneva Convention, that order is illegal.

Israel ratified the Geneva Conventions on July 6, 1951.

They are, therefore, Israeli law.

Upon joining the IDF, every servicemember is issued a copy of the Israel Defense Forces: Ruach Tzahal - Code of Ethics [click]. If a servicemember is unfamiliar with the Geneva Conventions per se, he nonetheless has a clear understanding of his responsibilities, including the duty to disobey and report illegal orders.

In other words,every bombadier, every tank driver, every rifleman deployed in Gaza knows what he ought to do and knows what he is doing. And, if he cannot see the casm between the two, he is morally bankrupt.

He is also guilty of violating the Ruach Tzahal and of war crimes.

Links
Israel keeps up strikes in Gaza as fears of wider war grow [Opens in a new window]

…None of this was authorized at any level, nor could it have been authorized. Any soldier who was ordered to do any of this should have immediately understood that the order was illegal and would have been obligated to disobey and report the abuse.

This same rule would apply in the case of any clear law-of-war violation. In combat, commanders must make difficult decisions to launch strikes that risk civilian casualties. The law of war does not require that commanders avoid any risk of civilian casualties, but it does mandate that strikes meet the tests of necessity and proportionality, meaning the value of destroying the target outweighs the risk of civilian casualties. When a commander makes a judgment call that destroying a particular target is worth the risk of collateral damage and his judgment is reasonable, his subordinates have to carry out the order, although they themselves might have made a different judgment.

Still, certain strikes might be palpably illegal. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits a wide array of attacks against protected persons. For example, attacks targeting civilians are explicitly prohibited under Article 27. So are attacks on hospitals, pursuant to Article 18. Reprisal attacks are also barred under Article 33, so if a commander orders his soldiers to harm the relatives of a terrorist or to destroy their property in retaliation for attacks on U.S. troops, that would be clearly illegal. His subordinates would be required to disobey the order. Recall that My Lai was a reprisal attack: Members of the unit later said the motivation was revenge for the recent killing of a popular sergeant by enemy forces.

When Can a Soldier Disobey an Order? [opens in a new window]
The Obligations of Israel and the Palestinian Authority under International Law (from 2001)[opens in a new window]

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As Sen. Sanders points out, the U.S. is the outlier. Most other countries in the world have a living wage, affordable or no-cost healthcare, paid family leave, and other policies Trump is trying to label "radical." It won't work. America is ready to join the civilized world. You tell 'em, Bernie!

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It’s Sunday

Frank Sinatra and Tony Mottola bring us this beautiful song.
Have a peaceful and quiet day.