Meanwhile, out on the sunny Mediterranean, a small ship carrying a token amount of humanitarian aid and Greta Thunberg sailed to Gaza, protesting the Israeli blockade of Palestine. Israel has seized the ship and arrested all on board for the crime of attempting to deliver food to starving people.

This is exactly what they wanted, you know. A small ship, an unarmed crew, a negligible amount of supplies…the only way they could make a difference is if Israel drew attention to them with this kind of excessive military action. Thunberg is smiling because she successfully provoked the action they wanted.

I went on a news fast this past weekend. I did anything other than read what’s going on in this tyrannical hell hole of a country. Then what happens?

The president of the United States tries to instigate a civil war with California.

ICE thugs targeted Los Angeles and seized hundreds of people for deportation, and the California citizenry responded with protests and interfering with unlawful arrests…so Trump sent in the National Guard, and upon finding that most of the demonstrations were peaceful, decided to blow up the situation. An armed military presence! Tear gas guns! Barricades in the streets!

And then Trump came after Los Angeles.

Fueling the fury was the brutality with which federal agents had approached its targets, including a clothing manufacturer in Los Angeles’s garment district, and Home Depot in the Westlake district and a warehouse in South Los Angeles. The arrests were carried out without judicial warrants, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – advocates say that more than 200 people were taken.

Lawyers reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been holding detained families in the basements of federal immigration facilities, separating children and mothers from their fathers. Agents have refused access to attorneys and family members, according to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef).

As masked immigration officers ripped workers away from their jobs, other agents in riot gear attacked protesters with tear gas and flash bang grenades, escalating a handful of isolated demonstrations into a clash that roiled the city and spurred several hundred to join the protest.

Look at those brave bastards! They’re armed with cameras, flags, and signs, and they’re up against these guys:

Meanwhile, here in rural Minnesota, it was a quiet weekend, a bit on the cool side with occasional rain. I didn’t see any masked ICE gestapo, or any troops in military gear. We hear about occasional flare-ups in Minneapolis, usually driven by those ICE assholes trying to arrest workers, but nothing here.

I still stand with those heroes in Los Angeles.

Santa Ono was hoping to be appointed to the presidency of the University of Florida. I have sad news.

On Tuesday afternoon, Ono’s presidency was shot down in a 6-10 vote by the Florida Board of Governors, the governing board for the state’s university system. The move was made after prominent Florida conservatives questioned Ono’s past support of DEI and alleged inaction on combating antisemitism.

He was formerly the president of the University of Michigan. He wasn’t well liked there, either.

University leaders, faculty and alumni took aim at Ono for various reasons, from his decisions to curb DEI efforts on the Ann Arbor campus to his crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protesters to alleging he too easily changes his views on issues.

He seems to have been a wishy-washy Trumpian.

Ono oversaw cuts to the university’s long-standing diversity, equity and inclusion programs. This includes March moves to discontinue UM’s DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan and close its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Office for Health Equity and Inclusion.
…
Ono also saw criticism from both sides on his handling of pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism on the Ann Arbor campus. At least 50 people have been arrested in connection with pro-Palestine protesting at the Ann Arbor university since October 2023.

I’m a bit exasperated with this predictable rhetorical trick of claiming that protesting a genocide is “anti-semitic”. I don’t think murdering civilians is a standard Jewish value.