Criminal Justice & African Americans

Tuesday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to the Cruelest Day: Tuesday, November 28, 2023, and National French Toast Day.  I love the stuff and would get it as a special breakfast treat when I was a kid. It is indeed French, but could also be called “German Toast”, for, according to Wikipedia, its first mentions are these:

A 14th-century German recipe uses the name Arme Ritter ‘poor knights‘, a name also used in English and the Nordic languages. Also in the 14th-century, Taillevent presented a recipe for “tostées dorées”. Italian 15th-century culinary expert Martino da Como offers a recipe.

Here’s a fine photo of loaded French toast from Wikipedia, labeled “French toast topped with fruit, butter and cream, served with maple syrup.”  And I’m sitting here with my latte (my only breakfast), salivating like a horse.  Note the real maple syrup, essential to complete the dish. (I never use anything but dark maple syrup on pancakes or French toast, as there is no substitute.)

It’s also Red Planet Day, marking the launch of  launch of the Mariner 4 spacecraft on this day in 1964, Letter Writing Day (when’s the last time you wrote a real letter?), Turkey Leftover Day, and, in Japan,, Hōonkō, described thusly in Wikipedia:

Hōonkō (報恩講) is a holiday in the Jodo Shinshu tradition of Buddhism which commemorates the death of its founder, Shinran Shonin. . . . A typical service for Hoonko will consist of reciting Shinran’s hymn, the Shoshinge, and a reading from the life of Shinran. Followers will sometimes observe a strict diet that day, preferring to eat shōjin ryōri or “Buddhist cuisine“, though this is entirely optional. Temple services will often serve Buddhist cuisine after service, including vegetarian ozōni, adzuki, and mochi.

I’ll have all of that food, please.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this by consulting the November 28 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The latest on the Hamas/Israel war from the NYT: The good news is that more hostages have been released (three terrorists for every hostage, of course). The bad news is that Hamas is playing Biden and Netanyahu like a violing, dribbling out the hostages so as to prolong the cease fire, allowing Hamas to regroup. And world opinion will no start calling for a permanent cease-fire, which will be the end of Israel. The only reason there is not going to be a big one-time hostage-terrorist exchange, bringing all the hostages home, is clearly to buy time for Hamas. What other reason could there be? And why would Hamas want time. This isn’t rocket science.

The tenuous truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to hold for a fifth day on Tuesday, an act of continued cooperation that could allow for additional aid to flow into Gaza and the release of more hostages, prisoners and detainees than initially expected.

Qatari mediators announced on Monday that both sides had agreed to extend their initial four-day cease-fire, which had been set to expire on Tuesday morning, for two more days. Israel has not formally confirmed a cease-fire, but it has made it clear in past statements that it would continue to observe the truce as long as 10 hostages are released per day.

The Qatari announcement came a few hours before 11 more Israeli hostages — including 3-year-old twins — were released into the custody of Israel’s military late Monday.

Hours later, a Red Cross bus of Palestinian prisoners and detainees arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah as crowds cheered their arrival, according to The Associated Press.

It was the fourth swap of prisoners and hostages, one for each day of the cease-fire so far. The Israeli prime minister’s office said the released hostages included a 12-year-old boy and multiple members of four other families. The Israeli military said that they would undergo initial medical assessments and that its troops would accompany them until they were reunited with their families.

Do you seriously think that a two-day extension of the truce, leaving some hostages in the hands of Hamas, will placate the world. No, of course not.  Here’s the expected result:

The Biden administration welcomed the Qatari announcement of an additional two-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas and will continue pushing for the extension of the truce until all hostages are released, a White House official said Monday.

My worst fear is that this will result in a permanent cease-fire, Israel will withdraw to where it was before, leaving Hamas in power, but Israel will be weakened. And that might allow for more attacks from Hezbollah in the north and terrorists from Yemen. Even Iran might be emboldened.  And that could spell the end of Israel, which is clearly Hamas’s goal.

*The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) explains how “the multiple ways the U.N. encouraged Hamas’s orgy of mass murder, rape, and child-stealing; the U.N.’s efforts to demonize and delegitimize Israel; and its campaign to make Israel an international scapegoat, whipping boy, and pariah.” (h/t Rosemary)

. . . On September 22, 2001, the U.N. staged an “anti-racism” conference in Durban, South Africa that morphed into a festival of Jew-hatred.

Participants held up signs reading: “For the liberation of Quds [Jerusalem] machine-guns based upon FAITH and ISLAM must be used!” and “The martyrs’ blood irrigates the tree of revolution in Palestine!” and “Down with Nazi-Israeli apartheid!”

American and Israeli representatives walked out. But the U.N. has stuck to its guns, so to speak. There’s been a Durban II, III, and IV.

And last month Tehran became chair of a U.N. human rights forum – appointed by the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has become a club for human rights abusers.

Also last month, the U.N. General Assembly failed to pass a resolution condemning Hamas’s most recent war crimes.

Other U.N. agencies that are soft on Hamas include the WHO (World Health Organization); the U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention; and UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency), a welfare agency that employs Hamas members and confers refugee status on the millions of descendants of the 1948 Arab war against Israel. This definition of “refugee” applies nowhere else in the world.

Francesca Albanese, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on Palestine, argues that Israel has no right of self-defense because Gaza is a land “it colonizes” – ignoring the fact that Jews lived in Gaza centuries before armies from Arabia conquered and colonized the territory. Also, as noted above, all Israelis left Gaza in 2005.

It goes on in detail, but my space here is limited. Anybody who knows how the UN works in the Palestinian territories knows about this stuff, but the MSM ignore it. It is, for example, shameful that UNRWA actually employees members of Hamas.

*Norman points us to a list of the accused and convicted Palestinian terrorists who were traded for Israeli and other-nationality hostages so far. He adds: “This list was compiled by Laura Atkins at the Forward (citation provided by Atkins at top of document). On the Israeli side, hostages were kidnapped for being children, grandmothers, Jews. On the other side, detained and jailed for stabbings, shooting at people, placing bombs, etc. Those released on the Palestinian side appear to be terrorists who will re-enter the fight.”  As per Atkins’s request, I note that the material is credited to “Laura E. Adkins of The Forward. ©Laura E. Adkins, all rights reserved.”  Here’s the first two pages of 4½, with the terrorist affiliation of the prisoners indicated. Click to enlarge.

Some of these detainees may actually NOT have been charged, as Israel allows those detained to be held without charges almost indefinitely, a practice I abhor.  Others are being held for seemingly minor offenses like “throwing stones” (which is a crime, even in America, as it is a threat to bodily harm), but others released were held for attempted murder, stabbings, and so on, and an appreciable number were members of terrorist groups. Still, I’m happy to see that Israel is not releasing a lot of terrorists who have done serious crimes and were sentenced to serious time, but remember than only a small fraction of the hostages have been released, so Israel will have to realease a lot more arrested or convicted terrorists.

*Last Saturday evening, three Palestinian-American students (two with US citizenship, one a legal resident), were shot in Burlington, Vermont by a guy with a shotgun.

Burlington police on Sunday said that a “white male with a handgun” approached the three students as they walked through downtown and, “without speaking,” shot the three men at least four times before fleeing on foot.

“All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities,” the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. All three remain hospitalized, one with very serious injuries, the department added.

In a later statement, Burlington police said Jason J. Eaton, 48, had been arrested in connection with the shooting. After a judge granted a search warrant for Eaton’s residence, evidence collected “gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr. Eaton perpetrated the shooting,” the department said, adding that he will be arraigned Monday.

. . . the three men are students at Brown University, Haverford College and Trinity College, respectively, and had gathered in Burlington to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Awartani’s grandmother.

Immediately everybody start crying “hate crime,” even before a suspect was caught, but we still don’t know the motivation.  The shooting was reprehensible (I’m still not sure if we should even have the concept of “hate crime”), but targeting someone for their presumed nationality, race, gender, or whatever seems somehow more reprehensible. At any rate, it’s good a suspect was caught. He’s just pleaded not guilty.

A Vermont man suspected of shooting three college students of Palestinian descent pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of attempted second-degree murder.

Jason Eaton, 48, made the plea in a brief, televised appearance in Chittenden County Superior Court. A court affidavit quoted a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who went to Eaton’s Burlington apartment Sunday as saying Eaton “made a statement to the effect of: ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’”

The feds are investigating whether it was in fact a hate crime:

“As always, but especially right now, the Justice Department is remaining vigilant in the face of the potential threats of hate-fueled violence and terrorism,” [Attorney General Merrick] Garland said. “All of us have also seen a sharp increase in the volume and frequency of threats against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across our country since October 7th.”

News of the shooting prompted a wave of condemnation across Vermont and the United States. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that President Biden was “horrified” to learn of it and continues receiving updates as the investigation unfolds.

Much of the condemnation comes from assuming it’s a hate crime, but we know little about that so far.  But people are jumping the gun, like this one:

Awartani’s roommate, Aboud Ashhab, said that the shooting is not an isolated incident. Instead, he said, “it happened because of a system of violence” against Palestinians that is “perpetuated even when we are outside our home and we are abroad, in places like Burlington, Vermont.”

As to how they caught the suspect, I’m always amazed that they can do it so quickly, but they seem to have gotten the right guy

A court affidavit quoted a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who went to Eaton’s Burlington apartment Sunday as saying Eaton “made a statement to the effect of: ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’”

. . . Court documents say ATF and Burlington police seized [from Eaton’s home] a .380 pistol with rounds of the Hornady brand — the same brand as bullets collected at the scene of the shooting on North Prospect Street. They also seized other firearms, including two shotguns and a rifle, as well as technology including five cellphones and a backpack filled with hard drives, the documents say.

The documents include interviews with the three young men and other witnesses describing a relaxing holiday weekend of family events, such as bowling and a showing of the movie “Napoleon,” that ended with a stranger approaching the students and wordlessly shooting them.

But how did they find this guy?

*From the AP’s “Oddities section,” we learn about a loose moose that’s further south than he should be. This kind of story makes me anxious:

A herd of followers are tracking a moose on the loose in southern Minnesota, hoping the majestic animal’s journey ends safely after it was spotted Tuesday 140 miles (225 km) northwest of Minneapolis.

Fans have been tracking the young male moose for weeks and posting updates on a Facebook page that as of Tuesday had more than 18,000 followers.

Admirers call the animal “Bullwinkle” or “Rutt,” the latter in homage to a scatterbrained moose from the movie “Brother Bear.”

A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources big game expert told the Minnesota Star Tribune that moose typically only roam in northern Minnesota, making the now-famous moose’s visit to south and central Minnesota a rare treat. Todd Froberg, the agency’s big game program coordinator, said the young moose is likely looking for home territory or other moose and is expected to continue moving north.

“He’s lost, and he’s trying to get home to his family,” said Bernie Stang, a moose fan who spotted the animal in late October.

Amateur moose-tracker Brenda Johnson said traffic on the Facebook page, of which she is the administrator, picked up in September when the moose was spotted in Iowa near the border of Minnesota.

She suspects Rutt traveled from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa before coming back to Minnesota, based on news reports of moose sightings in South Dakota that match his description.

Rutt’s Facebook page is here.

I hope Rutt gets back home!  Here’s a photo from the AP article (caption is also from the AP):

In this photo provided by Bernie Stang, a moose, named Rutt, or Bullwinkle by his admirers, roams through Meeker County, Mn. Oct. 23, 2023 (Bernie Stang via AP)

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is waiting in the vestibule outside  (note that “crocs” are “crocsy”)

A: I will put on my crocs and go to see whether there are any apples left.
Hili: Let me in first.
In Polish:
Ja: Chyba założę crocsy i pójdę zobaczyć, czy są jeszcze jabłka.
Hili: Wpuść mnie najpierw do domu.
And a picture of Baby Kulka, whom Hili still hates:

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A Gary Larson Far Side cartoon sent in by Merilee:

From Barry:

A menu item from Linkiest:

From Masih: the brave young people of Iran just won’t give up:

See also

From Jez, who says, “This juggling act is insane and very hypnotic, especially with the sound up. I don’t remember seeing anything quite like it before”. It is stunning:

From the Babylon Bee, a satire that is close to reality. Be sure to watch the video:

From Malcolm: a cat that loves only one guy, and whose girlfriend cannot fool the moggy by dressing up like that guy. But she forgot about odor, too!:

From Barry, a HUGE gator in Lake Placid (New York):

From the Auschwitz Memorial, a Dutch girl gassed upon arrival; she was almost ten years old:

Once again we’re blessed by two tweets from Dr. Cobb. The first comes via Alice Roberts, and oy!

Honeybees stealing pollen from wild bees. There’s also a pdf auf Deutsch.

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