This is the News!

[The Legendary Shark]

The Committee to Protect Journalists claims that 36 journalists and media workers have been confirmed dead (31 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 1 Lebanese) as of yesterday.

~57, now.

Here are just three that caught my eye:

November 23, 2023 - Mohamed Mouin Ayyash, a Palestinian journalist and a freelance photographer, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, along with 20 members of his family...

November 20, 2023 - Ayat Khadoura, a Palestinian freelance journalist and podcast presenter, was killed along with an unknown number of family members in an Israeli airstrike on her home...

November 20, 2023 - Alaa Taher Al-Hassanat, a Palestinian journalist and presenter at AlMajedat Media Network, was killed, along with multiple members of her family, in an Israeli airstrike that hit her house...

I counted sixteen instances of journalists being killed in their homes. Imagine if that had happened in Iran or Ukraine.

Imagine if any of this happened in Iran or Ukraine. According to the United Nations, in the 640 days since the war in the Ukraine began, at least 10,000 civilians, including more than 560 children, have been killed and over 18,500 have been injured. The world was outraged.

By comparison, in the 50 days since the "War on Hamas" began, 14,800 people have been killed in Gaza alone, including about 6,000 children and 4,000 women, with unknown numbers of injured, starving, and sick. The world shrugs.

Putin - bad guy. Netanyahu - good guy. (This isn't me defending either but questioning the judgement and loyalty of our media and governments over the last 75 years.)

[Funt Solo]

The world was outraged.

China wasn't outraged.

[The Legendary Shark]

Sorry about the above dp - I only just noticed it.

[Funt Solo]

One of those "let's end the news on a high note" segments:

Most Australian Interview Ever

[Funt Solo]

The French are really good at protesting:

Rural France turned upside-down by farmers

[Funt Solo]

Always baffling when people thank Grud for having survived a natural disaster, but don't blame Grud for having sent the disaster their way in the first place. Why is Grud juggling babies anyway?

Baby found alive in tree after Tennessee tornado

[rogue69]

TikToker crying for being shouted at for asking for accomodation with her "Time Blindness" & lateness

https://www.comicsands.com/time-blindness-accommodations-tiktok-debate-2662286937.html?

[The Legendary Shark]

The best candidate for the impending U.S. (s)election?

[Dandontdare]

Always baffling when people thank Grud for having survived a natural disaster, but don't blame Grud for having sent the disaster their way in the first place. Why is Grud juggling babies anyway?

Baby found alive in tree after Tennessee tornado

[Funt Solo]

See, there's hope for the world: Tetris: US teenager claims to be first to beat video game

[The Legendary Shark]

And I thought I'd beat it every time I made the rocket go up on my hand-held. O, the innocence of youth...

[M.I.K.]

TikToker crying for being shouted at for asking for accomodation with her "Time Blindness" & lateness

https://www.comicsands.com/time-blindness-accommodations-tiktok-debate-2662286937.html?

Just thought I'd reply to this to point out that time blindness is an actual thing which doesn't necessitate quotation marks, and is relatively common among folk on the autistic spectrum and also those with ADHD. So, (depending on what the job is), it's not totally unreasonable for her to ask about it.

[Funt Solo]

TikToker crying for being shouted at for asking for accomodation with her "Time Blindness" & lateness

https://www.comicsands.com/time-blindness-accommodations-tiktok-debate-2662286937.html?

Just thought I'd reply to this to point out that time blindness is an actual thing which doesn't necessitate quotation marks, and is relatively common among folk on the autistic spectrum and also those with ADHD. So, (depending on what the job is), it's not totally unreasonable for her to ask about it.

It's one of those things (the story) that probably gets a lot of mileage from people who are ready to get all gammon-faced about a supposed lack of worth in a younger generation, or the fact that mental health support is now stronger and more talked about (& more diagnosed, and more understood) than it has been in the past.

Of course, looking at it simplistically, it isn't okay (all things being equal) to rock up to work late. On the other hand, one might imagine that someone who struggles with estimating or tracking the passage of time might struggle to get to work on time - and especially perhaps for their first couple of shifts.

It doesn't take too much brain power to figure out that there are methods we can use to help, though. Without wanting to be facetious, we have access to time-telling devices, and even travel-time estimators (usually in our pockets) that would allow us to fight back against our nature (if it were tripping us up).

On balance - and it's not really entirely clear from this young person's TikTok - it does appear that they may be somewhat deluded about how much the world is willing to bend, as regards being able to rock up to work on time. (At the same time, it should be possible to explain that to them without being aggressive or belittling.)

Accommodations are things that tend to happen for folk in education, and allow them some leeway. The world of work isn't really set up the same way, for the most part. So, one can imagine a young person's confusion switching from one system to the other.

(Or, y'know, shelve your humanity entirely, go off and make a Netflix special in which you belittle the f*ck out of a bunch of minorities for $$$, like Ricky COCK Gervais. My favorite rebuttal so far has been by Frankie Boyle, although I also appreciated James Acaster's take.)

[The Legendary Shark]

When on 15 October 2023 I wrote in this very thread,

"We've got to figure out how to South Africa the shit out of this thing,"

I had no inkling that South Africa would be the country to stand up and call Israel to account before the International Court of Justice.

For anyone who's interested in watching two rather long videos of court proceedings, here are the two arguments:

South Africa presents its case against Israel at the ICJ.

and

Israel presents its case at the ICJ.

I have little hope that this proceeding will go anywhere as politics will decide the outcome, not law. (I suspect the U.S. and U.K. judges will likely dismiss South Africa's case or abstain - because both those countries (among others) have actively supported and aided Israel's actions, which leaves them open to charges of assisting genocide.) There is always hope, though, that with a little luck international law will prevail.

[Funt Solo]

BBC Article: Pope Francis says sexual pleasure is 'a gift from God'

So much wrong with this. First - creepy! Second - advice on sexual activity from the Catholic church? Last time I looked, the priesthood was a collection of crusty virgins and/or child molesters. (Links to Wikipedia pages.)

Quite why the BBC sees fit to propagate this sort of dangerous bullshit under the banner of "news" speaks to a wider problem with our cultural doffing of the cap to this ancient brand of chicanery.