Tag: talking points

LGBTQ community sounds alarm bells over Vance

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

LGBTQ community sounds alarm bells over Vance

In addition to a history of anti-LGBTQ statements, the Ohio Republican is the primary sponsor of at least two pieces of federal legislation threatening to sharply roll back transgender rights, including one proposal that aims to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors nationwide. 

That bill, the Senate version of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) Protect Children’s Innocence Act, would charge health care providers who violate it with a Class C felony, punishable by more than a decade in prison. It would also prevent institutions of higher education from providing instruction about gender-affirming care and cut funding for health plans that cover treatment.

Related:

Cis boys get gender-affirming surgeries more often than trans minors

Transgender kids rarely get gender-affirming surgeries — in fact, cisgender children are much more likely to get them, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Neoreactionaries

U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It + Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

U.S. Pushes to Shape Israel’s Rafah Operation, Not Stop It

Rafah has been at the center of a growing rift between Israeli and U.S. political leaders. Those tensions boiled over on Monday, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit to Washington by top aides to discuss U.S. concerns over the planned offensive on Rafah, where Hamas fighters are making a final stand. The tit-for-tat move was in response to the U.S. abstaining from a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire while also demanding the release of hostages.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, however, proceeded with his meetings at the White House and Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday, which had been previously scheduled. Gallant is part of Israel’s three-member war cabinet that includes Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, the prime minister’s chief political rival.

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Both sides also agreed that the Hamas battalions in Rafah must be dislodged so that the militants cannot attempt a comeback or continue to smuggle weapons into the enclave, which are prerequisites for ending the war and paving the way for a new political authority in Gaza. And that means trying to find ways to work with Israel on its Rafah strategy, for lack of better options.

Related:

Washington sends Israel more city-busting bombs to level Rafah

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Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan and it’s legally binding!

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The UN Security Council on Monday passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and “the urgent need to expand the flow” of aid into Gaza. There were 14 votes in favour with the United States abstaining.

Gaza: Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan

Related:

Why Today’s UN Security Council Resolution Demanding an Immediate Ceasefire Is Legally Binding

In conclusion, the resolution is – despite statements to the contrary – legally binding and creates a legally binding request for an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan and a legally binding request to immediately release all hostages. The obvious elephant in the room is enforcement: who is to enforce the Security Council resolution in the current situation? It ultimately falls to the parties of the conflict to heed the Security Council’s call, and to the Council itself to enforce its requests. Given the experience of the past months, this is no cause for enthusiasm. Yet, the fact that the Council could agree on the text, after five vetoes on the matter, is, perhaps, a shred of hope.

Anti-Imperialism in the US Today: What It Is and Is Not

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Fidel Castro, the world recognizes as a historic anti-imperialist figure, repeatedly warned that the main danger to humanity is US imperialism: “There is an enemy that can be called universal, an enemy whose attitude and whose actions…threaten the whole world, bully the whole world, that universal enemy is Yankee imperialism.” He fought to build a world united front against imperialism, of the world’s peoples and countries to oppose the barbarous actions of US imperialism. We see that anti-imperialist unity right now with United Nations votes and worldwide protests against the US-Israeli slaughters in Gaza, in what the New York Times in 2003 called “a second superpower.” 

Anti-Imperialism in the US Today: What It Is and Is Not

ADL Director sounds alarm over lack of support for Israel among ‘Gen Z’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Ms. Cat’s Chronicles.

ADL Director sounds alarm over lack of support for Israel among ‘Gen Z’

Greenblatt’s action plan to combat what he calls anti-Jewish “disinformation” has taken many forms but, so far, appears to focus primarily on the suppression of free speech on social media. In a joint press call on Nov 8th, Greenblatt joined several US politicians to gameplan a way to “combat terrorists and disinformation” on “China-owned” TikTok. During the call, U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer, and Don Bacon formally announced the “Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities Act,” known as the STOP HATE Act.

The legislation seeks to impose a fine of $5 million a day for any tech company that fails to adequately “fight disinformation” or refuses to submit lists of terms of service violations made by users. It also hopes to force TikTok to register as a foreign agent and clamp down on Al Jazeera for its reporting of humanitarian issues in Gaza.

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In March, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for police documents revealed that Florida-based law enforcement was taking direction and colluding with the ADL on how to curb First Amendment-protected activities. The communications between the department’s police chief and Florida ADL Director, Yael Hirschfeld, appeared to scold police brass for releasing prominent influencer Jon “Handsome Truth” Minadeo.

Previously:

Florida GOP Declares War On The First Amendment to ‘Combat Anti-Semitism’