Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): American rapper Macklemore has released a single titled “Hind’s Hall”, the name given to Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall by anti-genocide protesters in honor of the six year-old Hind Rajab who was murdered in Gaza by Israeli forces. The artist says all proceeds from the track will go to UNRWA.
I heard Macklemore's song a couple of days ago and was happy to hear it. Watching it is painful, but it is so good that it is being put out there. I was walking my teensy dog down the street today and a woman was coming the other way with a huge dog. He looked nice but big. I started talking to the woman and she was talking about somebody who was acting like an idiot and I just blurted out "like all that stuff that is happening in Gaza and nobody is stopping them". I couldn't believe myself. I had no idea who that woman was. But she looked a little surprised for a second and then she started talking about the horrible, sick, insane, nazi like stuff that is happening in Gaza. We ranted for about 15 minutes. It was good to meet a random person who actually saw what is happening.
I love that you blurted it out, it allows others the opportunity to admit their humanity too that is stuffed down because nobody wants to be called a terrorist supporter according to lying narratives (or if they are closed off, maybe a realization of how many random dog walking strangers care and think on this topic - opening a crack toward introspection).
The hubby and I own a bakery and started displaying Palestinian flags and keffiyeh in November. At first I was anxious and we did have some people ask awkwardly about them, ask if "anyone was offended" by them, or get uncomfortable when they saw our walls with Arabic writing. I even saw some people walk out without speaking to us and I suspect that they saw the flags. The other reaction we've gotten was whispered "we support Palestine too!" Or a hushed "thank you for displaying the flag" or "I'm Jewish but I think what's happening over there is wrong". The only time I know I can comfortably mention the genocide and know I'm not alone is when the customers are visibly Muslim, and then we share an unspoken solidarity that I treasure.
This genocide has completely upended my life, and the lives of so many of us, not anywhere near the horrible reality that Palestinian people are enduring, but a damaged life nonetheless. It may close my business and send my family and I to another country before all this is over. I am certainly not the same as I was a year ago. Now that genocide is ok, I guess nothing matters anymore.
Remarks by President Biden at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance Ceremony
excerpts:
-----------------------
But there is no place on any campus in America — any place in America — for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind — (applause) — whether against Jews or anyone else.
Violent attacks, destroying property is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. And we are not a lawless country. We’re a civil society. We uphold the rule of law.
And no one should have to hide or be brave just to be themselves. (Applause.)
To the Jewish community, I want you to know I see your fear, your hurt, and your pain.
Let me reassure you, as your President, you are not alone. You belong. You always have, and you always will.
And my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree. (Applause.)
Now, here we are, not 75 years later but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting. They’re already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis, that it was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten, nor have you, and we will not forget. (Applause.)
And as Jews around the world still cope with the atrocities and trauma of that day and its aftermath, we’ve seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world: vicious propaganda on social media, Jews forced to keep their — hide their kippahs under baseball hats, tuck their Jewish stars into their shirts.
On college campuses, Jewish students blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class.
Antisemitism — antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish State.
Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and October 7th, including Hamas’s appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews.
It’s absolutely despicable, and it must stop.
Silence — (applause) — silence and denial can hide much, but it can erase nothing. Some injustices are so heinous, so horrific, so grievous, they cannot be muri- — buried, no matter how hard people try.
In my view, a major lesson of the Holocaust is, as mentioned earlier, it’s not — was not inevitable. We know hate never goes away; it only hides. And given a little oxygen, it comes out from under the rocks.
But we also know what stops hate. One thing: all of us.
------------------------- end of Biden quote
Some have learned the lessons of the Holocaust and pour into the streets to protest Genocide.
Others have learned to manipulate the slur of antisemitism to intimidate and silence those that protest against Genocide.
He (Biden) links the Holocaust and October 7th: an insult to holocaust survivors. He talks about the exaggerated reports of sexual violence from Hamas. An insult to women who were actually violated on October 7th or in any other war. By Hamas or by Israeli soldiers. Any of us who have read about wars and the aftermath know that all soldiers on all sides everywhere have been known to rape women as symbolism of their takeover of their enemy's "property"
Occupy Wall Street was full of energy at first. Until it was infiltrated by agitators and dispersed by Bloomberg. That was a local movement against bankers and the fed. This time it’s the whole empire at stake and it’s a national movement against them. It will be a little harder to sweep this under the rug. Not to mention these are the kids who potentially will be holding the levers of power in 20 yrs. We are in for a bumpy landing as pan Arabism resurges and threatens everything AIPAC holds dear.
Occupy was nation-wide in scope. It was crushed by a coordinated campaign from the Obama administration in DC and enforced via local police.
I suspect the local cops will need more muscle to crush this one, but am unsure how the new movement will maintain momentum and an institutional anchor because the college semester is ending for summer break. We'll need concerts (Woodstock), protest events, random sustained actions to sustain and build momentum. I hope this planning is happening right now.
There's a long hot summer between now and the Democratic Party Convention in August in Chicago (an echo of Chicago '68)
Being of the Vietnam era myself and joining protests then, seeing the moral strength and courage of these students has brought me a glimmer of hope, albeit still a little faint.
I would add: Noticed how mostly only young, educated people oppose genocide and mass murder? Coincidence or what?....but that'd be heading towards tin foil hat territory.
Of course it's not only young people, Double Down News just posted this short video from a Jewish Holocaust survivor:
"Noticed how mostly only young, educated people oppose genocide and mass murder?" - they're not yet fully burdened by rents, mortgages, car loans, etc. Not yet fully realizing possible consequences for their activism. Maybe not even caring if prospects of late are not that bright and so fuck it all. Much easier when you got nothing to lose, or feel like it.
Mossad has already threatened protesters with lifetime employment bans via utilization of digital facial recognition technology. These kids know far more of the consequences that "adults" with mortgages.
Most kids know they'll not even be able to afford mortgages due to the cost of housing and high interest rates. They face a future of climate catastrophe, economic collapse, and decline of Empire.
Caitlin said it yesterday, paraphrasing Dylan: "when you ain't got nothin you got nothin to lose"
The irony is that many Wall Street institutions were founded because the white shoe institutions of the day either de facto banned Jews from employment, or didn't allow them to become partners, deal with clients, etc..
You got it Botty, nail, hammer, head. They know but don't give a fuck. I like to remind people of the famous line from 'Casablanca' - "It doesn't take much to realise that the problems of two little people don't matter a hill o' beans in this crazy world".
Wrong. They are trying to build their future and destroy the current capitalist, imperial, permanent war, exploitation, extractive, totalitarian, dystopian, and climate catastrophe world we've imposed on them,
I think younger people, I not being one of them, have the great organizing advantage of being in groups where they can meet with like minded people. They can talk with one another and learn from each other. I was in college during the Vietnam era, and could easily find people to protest with.
Now, many of us older people are retired and fairly isolated. Certainly there is no large group of peers with which I am associated with on a daily basis. I think that this may be a significant barrier to more older people getting back out in the streets. That and hip replacements.
I would say it has less to do with smarts and more to do with status. Those who have elite degrees and have worked a lifetime networking and building up a reputation have far more to lose by speaking up than most. It's a form of cowardice, don't get me wrong. But it helps explain the connection between nosebleed levels of education and the lack of outspokenness on this issue.
You could have "hit the nail on the head". Talking with extended family I found being brought up in pretty much the same environment and coming to opposite conclusions was puzzling. Now there is not a mention of anything but agreement on concern for grandkids in the future etc. I think experiences causing caution and a "lack of trust" is in the equation too.
Macklemore, a gay rapper would be welcomed and celebrated with open arms by Hamas and the Palestinians…he should put on a free concert there to raise more money lmfao…I’ll wait for the live album
Persecuted people understand what it’s like to be persecuted. That’s why historically marginalized groups (lgbtq, bipoc, neurodivergents etc) support Gaza. Your argument is irrelevant. Retire that lazy argument already its boring & outdated. Innocent ppl did not create this war.
It’s extraordinary that when lefties list marginalized groups they literally never mention children. Tells you all you need to know about the left’s failure where everyone under age 18 is concerned.
To be sure, the rightwing is emphatically cruel and hypocritical in this regard, but then I don't expect anything but cruelty and hypocrisy from them. I SHOULD be able to expect more from the camp that harps endlessly on "privilege," oppression, and marginalization. In this regard, the American left is largely a failure where children are concerned, heartily supporting industrial schooling as it does and generally dividing and conquering that demographic along class lines, to the exclusion of any discussion of child abuse. It's appalling, and the reason I stepped away from leftist activism several decades ago, until October 7th. If it's child advocacy you want in the United States (which would make you a rare bird indeed), then don't look left or right, look to the alternative education and attachment parenting communities. Even there you'll be hard-pressed to find acknowledgement of middle or upper-class child abuse (and the racism that lets their parents off the hook), but they're the only groups in the U.S. who see children as human beings worthy of respect and universally deserving of advocacy. The left is on the correct side of history on many or most issues, but it's little to no better than the rightwing when it comes to education or the reality of childhood in this godforsaken country.
That’s what you took from the song and this article? I love it when people like you expose yourselves and go off on tangents instead of addressing the topic because you can’t.
Caitlin has shown herself to be mostly an excellent writer on foreign interventionism which is why I read her
Despite that she and I are likely to part ways on domestic policy, I have still decided to read her for the quality and the very bold statements she has been willing to make on current politics.
Why is it that somebody is standing up for freedom for all so hypocritical? Do you know how many decades the Palestinians have been oppressed and no one seems to care in the past?
With age comes this thing called “LIFE EXPERIENCE “.
And wisdom, though I don’t claim this for all my fellow boomers.
BTW, if I weren’t 70 years old, I wouldn’t have had the privilege of living through the 1960’s. YOUR generation will never experience anything like it!
Hind’s Hall is not only righteous, politically speaking, but it’s Great Music! Oh, how I hope and pray that this will inspire many others with major platforms to speak up and speak out with courage and conviction to condemn the atrocities of the American and Israeli states and lobby for justice in this world!
From Australia, a fully paid up and totally subservient member of the American (little Israel) empire.
Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held a much-publicised meeting with rabbis and Zionist leaders last Friday at which he met their demands for his government to do everything it can to create the political conditions to shut down protests on Australian university campuses and more broadly against the genocidal Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
Albanese met with members of Rabbinical Council of Australasia on May 3, 2024.He used the 90-minute meeting at Sydney’s Central Synagogue to vow to do more to fight alleged “antisemitism.” He thus aligned himself with a vitriolic campaign by Zionist organisations and the right-wing corporate media to slander the campus protests and the widespread public opposition to the genocide as anti-Jewish, even though many Jewish people are actively involved.
Murdoch media outlets and the Liberal-National Coalition (partners in crime) are openly demanding a police crackdown similar to the violent attacks on campus protests across the United States. They have voiced fury that a national council meeting of university chancellors last Thursday did not call for such police operations. An editorial in the Murdoch media’s Australian last Friday accused the chancellors and vice chancellors of giving “free passes for anti-Semitic enemies of Israel at universities.” On the same day, a Murdoch tabloid, posted a venomous editorial comment claiming that anti-genocide protests in Australia and internationally amounted to “undisguised Jew hatred” and equating them to the Nazi holocaust. Good old holocaust again. Thought that one has passed on into history. But what a lot of tripe.
Hey, people out there. I think that Netanyahu and his Zionist brigades are being anti-Christian and anti-Muslim. That surely equals the well promoted fantasy of anti-Semtiism.
Murdoch’s mob, off again……….
"Yet anti-Jewish and pro-Palestinian protests and camps at our universities are being tolerated, even supported, despite their hateful message,” it further declared. “Why haven’t the universities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney, called in the police?”
Well, that was from Murdoch, something like the USA's CNN. That’s for starters.
Why haven't they, Murdoch??????? Because it is called 'Freedom of Speech'. How's that? Not something you support so it seems.
Probably doesn’t even remember what ‘freedom of speech’ means at his age. Off again getting married again, probably.
That's one way to engage the duped society - make the right thing "fun and cool". Just as long as we don't flatter ourselves the society got un-duped. Since that's how it got duped to begin with - by playing the "fun and cool" things empire provided them.
No cynicism - just history and its incredible tendency to repeat itself, which is obvious to anybody paying attention. Doesn't mean despair or idleness. Just cold realization of what this life is all about.
Sure. Constant fight and struggle. The notion some nirvana can be achieved at some point is same as believing pure capitalism or communism or some other ism is possible.
Also, we may be at the mercy of our Congressional reptiles, but we should be brutally mocking and ridiculing them. Who the fuck are they to pontificate on any damn thing; they’re the most reviled people in the country! Not one of them should be able to turn around without being reminded of the utter contempt with which the country regards them. They shouldn’t be able to get through an airport or eat out without being spat on, literally. Let’s give them the treatment they so richly deserve, whaddya say?
I wrote a song about privilege and the white moderate on the sidelines while Gen Z is standing up, inspired by MLK's letter from Birmingham jail, called FERDINAND if anyone wants to check it out. I posted it to my Substack if you'd like to read the lyrics and context. I love Macklemore's song and I'm hoping more artists step up and say something - we will all have a different take on the situation. Mine is definitely different in style and tone than his, but makes similar points about PAC money, the deafening silence of people comfortable not speaking up, etc. My goal was to call out the paradoxes we live with and the double-speak lies, and challenge people to take on a new perspective. I usually don't plug my own work in comments (sorry if that annoys anyone) but given I wrote and released it here on Substack and it's on-topic, I figured I'd share here. 🙏
"Netanyahu rap about how Zionism is rad while Tony Blinken plays guitar?"
Good heavens, NO! Now, that sort of video should be aged restricted to be seen by only those who are over age 140. Not Macklemore's rap. His song is the song of the 21st century, the song that the kids (and us oldsters, too) will be rapping, singing and humming and quoting from for the next decade if not longer. This is the protest piece the pro-Palestine peace movement has been needing to capture the imagination of the mainstream public and bring down the evil empire of Western imperialism once and for all. THANK YOU!
Wow, what a great song!!! That YouTube age restriction is total BS. It's just another way of tracking and surveilling people and getting them to help the government do it. You can see it on Rumble: https://rumble.com/v4tnhff-macklemore-hinds-hall.html
I’ve heard the name Macklemore before, but haven’t yet sampled his wares.
I am familiar with Lowkey, and I find his music to be motivational, empowering, honest, inspiring, powerful, and in spite of events on the ground, hopeful.
Then there’s Roger Waters, a fellow fossil from “my generation”, still supporting Palestinians after all of these years, in spite of all his financial success and largess. Carryin’ on without his buddy, John Pilger.
(Free Julian Assange!!!)
I think that popular music had a significant impact on the resistance to the American war in/on Vietnam back in the day.
If it was an element in a winning formula then, why not now???
“Four Dead In Ohio”
anyone???
My first big show, near the end of “Vietnam”, featured Roger—Dark Side Of The Moon & Wish You Were Here ( what a show!!!), moved me, and changed the course of my life, career, and consciousness.
Can’t the same be true today???
YouTube can’t restrict/censor “live” music festivals.
One “Wrench In The Gears” (thank you Allison McDowell) could be who/whom controls the “music industry”.
But, it never stopped Jimi
Hendrix.
When I see people, primarily youthful, walkin’ around with “buds” shoved in their ears and a tombstone in their eyes/hands, I ponder what un-brainwashing could be achieved with song(s).
When I attend the (now rare for me) occasional social gathering, there’s generally/always a soundtrack in the background.
Sometimes the foreground, when the music becomes the medium.
Who doesn’t appreciate music???
Shit, I got my polka pimping parents to attend, and appreciate, a good rock ‘n roll show on a couple of occasions.
They used to hate “that garbage”. The Beatles???
On the evil marijuana don’tcha know.
Fuckin’ Nixon!!!
Almost Biden’s twin.
Blinkin/Kissinger-kissin’ cousins.
Anybody disagree that music in powerful as fuck???
Can turn people???
The subject material is there, waiting.
And, the visuals emanating out of Gaza, and New York, and California, and the Israeli consulate in D.C. could, and should, prick the conscience of at least one nation.
I’m referring to the one(s) supplying the bombs and the bullets.
Put ‘em on the big screen(s) for many to see/appreciate/reflect upon.
Israel’s a lost cause.
Always has been.
I’m old, and I’ve lost “my chops”, primarily since I chopped off one of my index fingers last year.
But, I’ve got fourteen thousand watts of public address power, mics, and lights, and projectors, and screens, and thirty six channels.
I can still plug in the speakers, and run ”the board”, and troubleshoot.
If there can be Woodstock, and Live Aid, and Farm Aid, and Comic Relief, and Shelter From The Storm: A Concert For The Gulf Coast, why not a Shelter From The Storm for Palestine???
And, Farm, Food, Relief for Gaza???
Don’tcha think that everybody needs “a vacation” from the job, and a distraction, in order to concentrate their attention???
Yasger’s farm still available???
Some of them colleges on the naughty, nightly news must have amphitheaters!!!
But, the bastards have commenced the next set of mass murder.
I heard Macklemore's song a couple of days ago and was happy to hear it. Watching it is painful, but it is so good that it is being put out there. I was walking my teensy dog down the street today and a woman was coming the other way with a huge dog. He looked nice but big. I started talking to the woman and she was talking about somebody who was acting like an idiot and I just blurted out "like all that stuff that is happening in Gaza and nobody is stopping them". I couldn't believe myself. I had no idea who that woman was. But she looked a little surprised for a second and then she started talking about the horrible, sick, insane, nazi like stuff that is happening in Gaza. We ranted for about 15 minutes. It was good to meet a random person who actually saw what is happening.
Hi Susan
The Vietnam war protesters were wrong…until they were right.
The Iraq war protesters were wrong…until they were right.
The Gaza genocide protesters are “wrong” and they will be proven right. Of course, that’s a fact that we here already know.
I love that you blurted it out, it allows others the opportunity to admit their humanity too that is stuffed down because nobody wants to be called a terrorist supporter according to lying narratives (or if they are closed off, maybe a realization of how many random dog walking strangers care and think on this topic - opening a crack toward introspection).
The hubby and I own a bakery and started displaying Palestinian flags and keffiyeh in November. At first I was anxious and we did have some people ask awkwardly about them, ask if "anyone was offended" by them, or get uncomfortable when they saw our walls with Arabic writing. I even saw some people walk out without speaking to us and I suspect that they saw the flags. The other reaction we've gotten was whispered "we support Palestine too!" Or a hushed "thank you for displaying the flag" or "I'm Jewish but I think what's happening over there is wrong". The only time I know I can comfortably mention the genocide and know I'm not alone is when the customers are visibly Muslim, and then we share an unspoken solidarity that I treasure.
This genocide has completely upended my life, and the lives of so many of us, not anywhere near the horrible reality that Palestinian people are enduring, but a damaged life nonetheless. It may close my business and send my family and I to another country before all this is over. I am certainly not the same as I was a year ago. Now that genocide is ok, I guess nothing matters anymore.
this is incredible, powerful, amazing....no wonder the controllers want to ban tik tok.
https://www.tiktok.com/@andre17118/video/7366330939011583265?_r=1&_t=8mA6k2KBrXa
Biden links October 7th with Holocaust,
links Genocide protests with antisemitism.
The US has mandated eight days for Holocaust Remembrance each year.
And each President bows to The Lobby and must give a speech.
As this is a useful tool to support the Genocide of Palestinians
Biden didn't disappoint The Lobby.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/05/07/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-u-s-holocaust-memorial-museums-annual-days-of-remembrance-ceremony/
Remarks by President Biden at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance Ceremony
excerpts:
-----------------------
But there is no place on any campus in America — any place in America — for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind — (applause) — whether against Jews or anyone else.
Violent attacks, destroying property is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. And we are not a lawless country. We’re a civil society. We uphold the rule of law.
And no one should have to hide or be brave just to be themselves. (Applause.)
To the Jewish community, I want you to know I see your fear, your hurt, and your pain.
Let me reassure you, as your President, you are not alone. You belong. You always have, and you always will.
And my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree. (Applause.)
Now, here we are, not 75 years later but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting. They’re already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis, that it was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten, nor have you, and we will not forget. (Applause.)
And as Jews around the world still cope with the atrocities and trauma of that day and its aftermath, we’ve seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world: vicious propaganda on social media, Jews forced to keep their — hide their kippahs under baseball hats, tuck their Jewish stars into their shirts.
On college campuses, Jewish students blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class.
Antisemitism — antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish State.
Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and October 7th, including Hamas’s appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews.
It’s absolutely despicable, and it must stop.
Silence — (applause) — silence and denial can hide much, but it can erase nothing. Some injustices are so heinous, so horrific, so grievous, they cannot be muri- — buried, no matter how hard people try.
In my view, a major lesson of the Holocaust is, as mentioned earlier, it’s not — was not inevitable. We know hate never goes away; it only hides. And given a little oxygen, it comes out from under the rocks.
But we also know what stops hate. One thing: all of us.
------------------------- end of Biden quote
Some have learned the lessons of the Holocaust and pour into the streets to protest Genocide.
Others have learned to manipulate the slur of antisemitism to intimidate and silence those that protest against Genocide.
He (Biden) links the Holocaust and October 7th: an insult to holocaust survivors. He talks about the exaggerated reports of sexual violence from Hamas. An insult to women who were actually violated on October 7th or in any other war. By Hamas or by Israeli soldiers. Any of us who have read about wars and the aftermath know that all soldiers on all sides everywhere have been known to rape women as symbolism of their takeover of their enemy's "property"
Occupy Wall Street was full of energy at first. Until it was infiltrated by agitators and dispersed by Bloomberg. That was a local movement against bankers and the fed. This time it’s the whole empire at stake and it’s a national movement against them. It will be a little harder to sweep this under the rug. Not to mention these are the kids who potentially will be holding the levers of power in 20 yrs. We are in for a bumpy landing as pan Arabism resurges and threatens everything AIPAC holds dear.
Occupy was nation-wide in scope. It was crushed by a coordinated campaign from the Obama administration in DC and enforced via local police.
I suspect the local cops will need more muscle to crush this one, but am unsure how the new movement will maintain momentum and an institutional anchor because the college semester is ending for summer break. We'll need concerts (Woodstock), protest events, random sustained actions to sustain and build momentum. I hope this planning is happening right now.
There's a long hot summer between now and the Democratic Party Convention in August in Chicago (an echo of Chicago '68)
As long as the police and army will shoot when ordered, the rulers sleep soundly in their beds.
Being of the Vietnam era myself and joining protests then, seeing the moral strength and courage of these students has brought me a glimmer of hope, albeit still a little faint.
I would add: Noticed how mostly only young, educated people oppose genocide and mass murder? Coincidence or what?....but that'd be heading towards tin foil hat territory.
Of course it's not only young people, Double Down News just posted this short video from a Jewish Holocaust survivor:
https://www.doubledown.news/watch/2024/may/7/holocaust-survivor-absolutely-demolishes-israel
Well worth watching.
"Noticed how mostly only young, educated people oppose genocide and mass murder?" - they're not yet fully burdened by rents, mortgages, car loans, etc. Not yet fully realizing possible consequences for their activism. Maybe not even caring if prospects of late are not that bright and so fuck it all. Much easier when you got nothing to lose, or feel like it.
Mossad has already threatened protesters with lifetime employment bans via utilization of digital facial recognition technology. These kids know far more of the consequences that "adults" with mortgages.
Most kids know they'll not even be able to afford mortgages due to the cost of housing and high interest rates. They face a future of climate catastrophe, economic collapse, and decline of Empire.
Caitlin said it yesterday, paraphrasing Dylan: "when you ain't got nothin you got nothin to lose"
The irony is that many Wall Street institutions were founded because the white shoe institutions of the day either de facto banned Jews from employment, or didn't allow them to become partners, deal with clients, etc..
That's why I said: "Maybe not even caring if prospects of late are not that bright and so fuck it all."
You got it Botty, nail, hammer, head. They know but don't give a fuck. I like to remind people of the famous line from 'Casablanca' - "It doesn't take much to realise that the problems of two little people don't matter a hill o' beans in this crazy world".
"They ... don't give a fuck."
Wrong. They are trying to build their future and destroy the current capitalist, imperial, permanent war, exploitation, extractive, totalitarian, dystopian, and climate catastrophe world we've imposed on them,
The overlords have decided that this younger generation will own nothing and rent everything from them.
So no home loans or car loans then.
Perhaps the overlords don’t realise they are sowing the seeds of their own demise through boundless greed.
I think younger people, I not being one of them, have the great organizing advantage of being in groups where they can meet with like minded people. They can talk with one another and learn from each other. I was in college during the Vietnam era, and could easily find people to protest with.
Now, many of us older people are retired and fairly isolated. Certainly there is no large group of peers with which I am associated with on a daily basis. I think that this may be a significant barrier to more older people getting back out in the streets. That and hip replacements.
Hey Joy, some of us oldies are out there on a Sunday, marching in Melbourne. Come join us if you can.
Hmm, definitely the young have more energy but I am seeing with the old that it is the uneducated who are more aware. Strange
Yeah Carolyn, but the mature and experienced ( I try to avoid the O word) learned from 'Life' .
Unfortunately, not all learned the same lessons.
I would say it has less to do with smarts and more to do with status. Those who have elite degrees and have worked a lifetime networking and building up a reputation have far more to lose by speaking up than most. It's a form of cowardice, don't get me wrong. But it helps explain the connection between nosebleed levels of education and the lack of outspokenness on this issue.
You could have "hit the nail on the head". Talking with extended family I found being brought up in pretty much the same environment and coming to opposite conclusions was puzzling. Now there is not a mention of anything but agreement on concern for grandkids in the future etc. I think experiences causing caution and a "lack of trust" is in the equation too.
Thank you dave.jumanji for the link - it is very inspiring. Great generosity on the part of a really good person.
Dave …sigh.
Educated, educated, educated. All it takes is good common horse sense to realize when atrocities are committed.
100% true. Maybe if we had more people with 'horse sense' in our Govts. Something good might happen.
In that case there's apparently not much horse sense in the world and even less courage to act or even care.
"has brought me a glimmer of hope, albeit still a little faint."
For Palestinians or the U.S. ? :)
It's fair to say to sat for both and for the rest of the world. If Amerika can be reformed, the threat of global war - probably nuclear - goes away.
The state is a COERCIVE monopoly
Supporting it involves supporting coercion
HOA or condo association (or similar) governments would be better as they have a contract with those that they govern.
The state simply imposes itself as your government
Very affective video...thanks.
The problem is that the “governments” don’t care, one wit, what their citizens think!
That’s a pretty big hurdle.
Governments do care what their citizens think. That's why they work so hard to right the wrong thinking.
Macklemore, a gay rapper would be welcomed and celebrated with open arms by Hamas and the Palestinians…he should put on a free concert there to raise more money lmfao…I’ll wait for the live album
Persecuted people understand what it’s like to be persecuted. That’s why historically marginalized groups (lgbtq, bipoc, neurodivergents etc) support Gaza. Your argument is irrelevant. Retire that lazy argument already its boring & outdated. Innocent ppl did not create this war.
It’s extraordinary that when lefties list marginalized groups they literally never mention children. Tells you all you need to know about the left’s failure where everyone under age 18 is concerned.
How can you mention children when the very people being persecuted in Gaza are mostly children
Umm, huh? I’m not the one who leaves children off the list of oppressed groups.
Im a 20 year teacher & have. 2 kids. U dont need to tell me about children 🙄
The “righty’s” only seem to list fetuses as marginalized.
Commencing with the first breath, the fetus achieves exploitable labor status.
Too small to defend themselves against their adult “caregivers”.
If you (also) see children as an exploited group, good for you.
To be sure, the rightwing is emphatically cruel and hypocritical in this regard, but then I don't expect anything but cruelty and hypocrisy from them. I SHOULD be able to expect more from the camp that harps endlessly on "privilege," oppression, and marginalization. In this regard, the American left is largely a failure where children are concerned, heartily supporting industrial schooling as it does and generally dividing and conquering that demographic along class lines, to the exclusion of any discussion of child abuse. It's appalling, and the reason I stepped away from leftist activism several decades ago, until October 7th. If it's child advocacy you want in the United States (which would make you a rare bird indeed), then don't look left or right, look to the alternative education and attachment parenting communities. Even there you'll be hard-pressed to find acknowledgement of middle or upper-class child abuse (and the racism that lets their parents off the hook), but they're the only groups in the U.S. who see children as human beings worthy of respect and universally deserving of advocacy. The left is on the correct side of history on many or most issues, but it's little to no better than the rightwing when it comes to education or the reality of childhood in this godforsaken country.
Kids are people too.
Thank you, Megan.
The fact that my comment triggered you is hot
Who cares
The Spicy feminist
That’s what you took from the song and this article? I love it when people like you expose yourselves and go off on tangents instead of addressing the topic because you can’t.
Why are.you reading this writer? Why don't you go elsewhere? Best to ignore you me thinks...toot-a-loo....that's a good boy...ta ta...
Caitlin has shown herself to be mostly an excellent writer on foreign interventionism which is why I read her
Despite that she and I are likely to part ways on domestic policy, I have still decided to read her for the quality and the very bold statements she has been willing to make on current politics.
I took that another gay hypocrite is showing his true colors and now that you are triggered…so that pleases me. What else you got?
Why is it that somebody is standing up for freedom for all so hypocritical? Do you know how many decades the Palestinians have been oppressed and no one seems to care in the past?
Triggered? When you have to resort to lying….
Explain how he’s a hypocrite. What else you got? More lies I expect.
First explain why all Caitlin’s boot lickers are old fossils like you!
With age comes this thing called “LIFE EXPERIENCE “.
And wisdom, though I don’t claim this for all my fellow boomers.
BTW, if I weren’t 70 years old, I wouldn’t have had the privilege of living through the 1960’s. YOUR generation will never experience anything like it!
You are here to be an asshole. You should be escorted out and banned.
I suspect a lot of that comes from living through the vietnam war and the draft and Kent State.
So much seems like a replay
Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macklemore#Family_and_faith he's married with 3 kids.
Take off rainbow glasses when looking up stuff.
But he’s still gay….look harder it’s well known
why do you care?
He doesn't, he's bullshitting.
He used to be PHIL MEYER. Below is the link to Caitlin's Aaron Bushnell post where he was all over the place.
Why do you care what I care?
I don't.
Look "harder" seems your specialty so I'll leave it to you.
You’ve never even heard of him have you old boy
Of course. I'm not aware of any fag hangouts. Enlighten me, the hard one.
Hind’s Hall is not only righteous, politically speaking, but it’s Great Music! Oh, how I hope and pray that this will inspire many others with major platforms to speak up and speak out with courage and conviction to condemn the atrocities of the American and Israeli states and lobby for justice in this world!
From Australia, a fully paid up and totally subservient member of the American (little Israel) empire.
Australian Labor Party Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held a much-publicised meeting with rabbis and Zionist leaders last Friday at which he met their demands for his government to do everything it can to create the political conditions to shut down protests on Australian university campuses and more broadly against the genocidal Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
Albanese met with members of Rabbinical Council of Australasia on May 3, 2024.He used the 90-minute meeting at Sydney’s Central Synagogue to vow to do more to fight alleged “antisemitism.” He thus aligned himself with a vitriolic campaign by Zionist organisations and the right-wing corporate media to slander the campus protests and the widespread public opposition to the genocide as anti-Jewish, even though many Jewish people are actively involved.
Murdoch media outlets and the Liberal-National Coalition (partners in crime) are openly demanding a police crackdown similar to the violent attacks on campus protests across the United States. They have voiced fury that a national council meeting of university chancellors last Thursday did not call for such police operations. An editorial in the Murdoch media’s Australian last Friday accused the chancellors and vice chancellors of giving “free passes for anti-Semitic enemies of Israel at universities.” On the same day, a Murdoch tabloid, posted a venomous editorial comment claiming that anti-genocide protests in Australia and internationally amounted to “undisguised Jew hatred” and equating them to the Nazi holocaust. Good old holocaust again. Thought that one has passed on into history. But what a lot of tripe.
Hey, people out there. I think that Netanyahu and his Zionist brigades are being anti-Christian and anti-Muslim. That surely equals the well promoted fantasy of anti-Semtiism.
Murdoch’s mob, off again……….
"Yet anti-Jewish and pro-Palestinian protests and camps at our universities are being tolerated, even supported, despite their hateful message,” it further declared. “Why haven’t the universities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney, called in the police?”
Well, that was from Murdoch, something like the USA's CNN. That’s for starters.
Why haven't they, Murdoch??????? Because it is called 'Freedom of Speech'. How's that? Not something you support so it seems.
Probably doesn’t even remember what ‘freedom of speech’ means at his age. Off again getting married again, probably.
Excellent update from down under! Genocidal collaboration is global (especially in the west)…
That's one way to engage the duped society - make the right thing "fun and cool". Just as long as we don't flatter ourselves the society got un-duped. Since that's how it got duped to begin with - by playing the "fun and cool" things empire provided them.
Arn't you the cynical one! But I know what you mean - let's appreciate the good while we can. And if it helps the Palestinians ....
No cynicism - just history and its incredible tendency to repeat itself, which is obvious to anybody paying attention. Doesn't mean despair or idleness. Just cold realization of what this life is all about.
If life needs to be about something, then working towards breaking that mold needs to be a part of it.
Sure. Constant fight and struggle. The notion some nirvana can be achieved at some point is same as believing pure capitalism or communism or some other ism is possible.
Bot is a nihilist, not a cynic. And the Cynics got a bad name.
"Bot is a nihilist, not a cynic" - you have to explain unless you confused me with Karl Hungus who comments here sometimes.
The Cynics were a cult of dog worshipers. Were you aware?
Read this book - here's a video on it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utzym1I_BiY
Brilliant piece. Thanks for sharing. I really hope there is more like this to come. 🙏❤️
Also, we may be at the mercy of our Congressional reptiles, but we should be brutally mocking and ridiculing them. Who the fuck are they to pontificate on any damn thing; they’re the most reviled people in the country! Not one of them should be able to turn around without being reminded of the utter contempt with which the country regards them. They shouldn’t be able to get through an airport or eat out without being spat on, literally. Let’s give them the treatment they so richly deserve, whaddya say?
"Macklemore attacks Biden, the brutal police crackdowns on protesters... with lines ...like “The Nakba never ended, the colonizer lied.”" 📢
When we rid the world of war profiteers we are much more apt to rid the world of war.
I wrote a song about privilege and the white moderate on the sidelines while Gen Z is standing up, inspired by MLK's letter from Birmingham jail, called FERDINAND if anyone wants to check it out. I posted it to my Substack if you'd like to read the lyrics and context. I love Macklemore's song and I'm hoping more artists step up and say something - we will all have a different take on the situation. Mine is definitely different in style and tone than his, but makes similar points about PAC money, the deafening silence of people comfortable not speaking up, etc. My goal was to call out the paradoxes we live with and the double-speak lies, and challenge people to take on a new perspective. I usually don't plug my own work in comments (sorry if that annoys anyone) but given I wrote and released it here on Substack and it's on-topic, I figured I'd share here. 🙏
"Netanyahu rap about how Zionism is rad while Tony Blinken plays guitar?"
Good heavens, NO! Now, that sort of video should be aged restricted to be seen by only those who are over age 140. Not Macklemore's rap. His song is the song of the 21st century, the song that the kids (and us oldsters, too) will be rapping, singing and humming and quoting from for the next decade if not longer. This is the protest piece the pro-Palestine peace movement has been needing to capture the imagination of the mainstream public and bring down the evil empire of Western imperialism once and for all. THANK YOU!
Wow, what a great song!!! That YouTube age restriction is total BS. It's just another way of tracking and surveilling people and getting them to help the government do it. You can see it on Rumble: https://rumble.com/v4tnhff-macklemore-hinds-hall.html
For people struggling to find him here's his bio page with links to his various outlets:
https://macklemore.co/bio
The song can be found directly on his youtube videos channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Macklemore/videos
I’ve heard the name Macklemore before, but haven’t yet sampled his wares.
I am familiar with Lowkey, and I find his music to be motivational, empowering, honest, inspiring, powerful, and in spite of events on the ground, hopeful.
Then there’s Roger Waters, a fellow fossil from “my generation”, still supporting Palestinians after all of these years, in spite of all his financial success and largess. Carryin’ on without his buddy, John Pilger.
(Free Julian Assange!!!)
I think that popular music had a significant impact on the resistance to the American war in/on Vietnam back in the day.
If it was an element in a winning formula then, why not now???
“Four Dead In Ohio”
anyone???
My first big show, near the end of “Vietnam”, featured Roger—Dark Side Of The Moon & Wish You Were Here ( what a show!!!), moved me, and changed the course of my life, career, and consciousness.
Can’t the same be true today???
YouTube can’t restrict/censor “live” music festivals.
One “Wrench In The Gears” (thank you Allison McDowell) could be who/whom controls the “music industry”.
But, it never stopped Jimi
Hendrix.
When I see people, primarily youthful, walkin’ around with “buds” shoved in their ears and a tombstone in their eyes/hands, I ponder what un-brainwashing could be achieved with song(s).
When I attend the (now rare for me) occasional social gathering, there’s generally/always a soundtrack in the background.
Sometimes the foreground, when the music becomes the medium.
Who doesn’t appreciate music???
Shit, I got my polka pimping parents to attend, and appreciate, a good rock ‘n roll show on a couple of occasions.
They used to hate “that garbage”. The Beatles???
On the evil marijuana don’tcha know.
Fuckin’ Nixon!!!
Almost Biden’s twin.
Blinkin/Kissinger-kissin’ cousins.
Anybody disagree that music in powerful as fuck???
Can turn people???
The subject material is there, waiting.
And, the visuals emanating out of Gaza, and New York, and California, and the Israeli consulate in D.C. could, and should, prick the conscience of at least one nation.
I’m referring to the one(s) supplying the bombs and the bullets.
Put ‘em on the big screen(s) for many to see/appreciate/reflect upon.
Israel’s a lost cause.
Always has been.
I’m old, and I’ve lost “my chops”, primarily since I chopped off one of my index fingers last year.
But, I’ve got fourteen thousand watts of public address power, mics, and lights, and projectors, and screens, and thirty six channels.
I can still plug in the speakers, and run ”the board”, and troubleshoot.
HELP WANTED
From the River to the Sea
Say it, Play it, Sing it, Share it.
Hi Mike
“Imagine” by John Lennon.
“Chicago” (how appropriate!) by CSNY.
“Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire.
Many others familiar to our generation that apply today.
I’m not very familiar with rap, but I applaud artists like Lowkey and Macklemore.
If there can be Woodstock, and Live Aid, and Farm Aid, and Comic Relief, and Shelter From The Storm: A Concert For The Gulf Coast, why not a Shelter From The Storm for Palestine???
And, Farm, Food, Relief for Gaza???
Don’tcha think that everybody needs “a vacation” from the job, and a distraction, in order to concentrate their attention???
Yasger’s farm still available???
Some of them colleges on the naughty, nightly news must have amphitheaters!!!
But, the bastards have commenced the next set of mass murder.
No time to waste.
Seems nobody remembers Bob Dylan at the forefront of anti-war messaging.
Not necessarily nobody.
But then, this isn’t a war.
It’s Systematic Genocide!!!
Thanks Caitlin, that is encouraging ❤️🩹 my heart and prays are with the people of Gaza.