Hi Reader,
Summer has officially begun! I hope you had a good week last week. I am focusing my energy this summer on affecting change on my conditions and celebrating and having fun. Sometimes a new season calls for new circumstances; I am hoping for and leaning into that reality for this summer. What are your hopes and expectations for this summer? share them with me and I will get in agreement. Also happy Father's Day to all the father's part of this community.
Justice Dixon
We are featuring art from Justice Dixon, a graphic designer, on our website in a virtual art gallery! Check out some of his amazing work, find out more about Justice, and discover ways you can further connect with this artist. Click here to visit the Justice Dixon Art Gallery.
What I am Interested in This Week:
Israel Gaza War, What we Know so Far
We've been following this story since October 7, 2023, when members of Hamas launched a deadly attack on the nation of Israel killing 1200 people and taking 250 people hostage, from a concert. Hamas is a terrorist organization and the official government of Palestine after a 2006 election, the likes of which hasn't happened again since. This conflict is over 75 years old starting since the end of World War II and right now Israeli forces are are bearing down on Gaza and the Palestinians. Since October 7th the war has been relatively one-sided. Israel has leveled Gaza bringing the whole strip to rubble. The campaign started with indiscriminate bombing, where Israel was just dropping made in the United States bombs on any and everyone and thing. While leveling Gaza, Israel pushed the 2 million Gazan population of mainly women and children, into a literal corner in the city of Rafah. After a period of "will they, wont they, they better not," between the United States and Israel, Israel advanced a ground campaign in Rafah... Gazans were told Rafah would be a safe place to go.
Once the ground campaign started, Israeli officials told Palestinians that they can go live in a tent city on the outskirts of Rafah, so basically nowhere. Israel has killed around 37,000 Palestinians that we know of. The institutions in Gaza that keep track of things like death toll were destroyed. Israel officials have said that Hamas uses their civilians as human shields, as a justification for their murderous tirade. Israel has blocked and destroyed humanitarian aid trying to get to the Palestinians in Rafah. People are dying and are on the brink of dying from starvation. There are horrific images all over the internet of individuals, young and old, with their brains blown out of their skull from Israeli aggression. Israel has been accused of genocide by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There has been no permanent ceasefire and there are still around 116 Israelis being held hostage by Hamas.
United Sates officials say they don't want a larger war spilling into other regions, but that and frankly nothing the United States has done up to this point, has tempered Israel's aggression in the region, including attacking Iran, Jordan, and Syria. Money talks and BS walks. The United States is not withholding USD from Israel, the only real thing that may curb their behavior. The US built a makeshift dock in Gaza to help get humanitarian aid to civilians, but that has been a failure in execution and has been usurped for military purposes. Additionally, a sure fire way to at least try to remain in power is to be involved in a war. Netanyahu isn't interested in ending this conflict anytime soon in part because his political future is likely bleak if not non-existent. He is planning on addressing the United States Congress in July to state his case and likely as for money. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an October Surprise this year related to this war. Click here to watch a video where an Israel official says Hitler was right.
It's Time to, D-D-D-D-DDD-Debate!
that's a Yu-Gi-Oh reference not an old people joke. The 81-year-old Joe Biden and the 78-year-old Donald Trump are set to debate this Thursday June 27, 2024 at 9pm Eastern Time, moderated by CNN. This debate will be the earliest presidential primary debate in US history, happening before either man is officially nominated by their respective parties. The next debate isn't scheduled to happen until September, which in some respects is a lifetime away. This debate will be happening in Georgia where Trump is dealing with a pending lawsuit over election interference. Georgia is historically a solid member of the republican coalition only deviating on relatively rare occasions. The demographics in Georgia are changing however, since the covid-19 pandemic more people have moved to Georgia and the metro Atlanta area.
In 2016 Trump won Georgia over Hillary Clinton by 5 points. In 2020 he lost Georgia to Biden by a .3% margin of 11,779 votes, one of the closest votes in modern electoral history, if not ever. The Trump phone call of him needing Georgia's Secretary of Sate to "find 11,780 votes," is what put him in the hot seat in that state. This is also where we get some of the rationale for the "big lie," that the election was rigged and stolen. The 2020 election was certainly abnormal due things like mass mail-in ballots and various covert forms election interference, like the silencing of the Hunter Biden laptop story. Also Trump didn't run the best campaign in 2020, but that's in the past now. This is a fraught state for Biden as well as he is hemorrhaging the black vote right now in a way that has to have Lyndon B. Johnson turning in his grave. Atlanta, a mecca for black people in America, needs to be a place where Joe Biden can show strength and sure up a new democratic coalition and reaffirm the existing one. You can watch the debate on CNN and Max, click here for more details on this story.
We're Brothers, We're Happy and We're Singing, and We're Dictators!
You'll have to look that reference up. Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un of North Korea met in Pyongyang. The purpose of the visit from the Russian President was to sure up a long standing relationship between two nation states. Russia and North Korea having a working relationship that goes all the way back to WWII. Kim Jong Un literally rolled out the red carpet for Putin, with pomp and circumstance, including images of the leader and crowds of people chanting his name all across North Korea's capital. The two signed a revolutionary agreement designed to reignite the relations of the two countries and to provide military support to Russia and economic support to North Korea. Putin is looking to codify support with his closest allies as the war in Ukraine continues. He also visited another close friend in the leaders of Vietnam. The full details of Putin's excursions are yet to be revealed, including the fine print of this North Korea agreement; but in any case this was a diplomatic trip that has certain individuals in the west playing defense. Click here to read an article on this story.
Word of Encouragement
This week I want to encourage you in that God will make a way. Whether you acknowledge the ethereal as part of God, the universe, or something else; one, it exists even if as just a concept, and two, it is causing capital "L" life to conspire on your behalf. There is nothing that exists that God can't do. Be confident in knowing that God is working on your behalf. Your concerns are on his to-do list this week.
As always feel free to reach out. If you share your goals for this summer I will respond with something encouraging.
Have a fantastic week!