More Protests

 Tzahal found the tunnel where some hostages were being held. As they approached, the terrorists killed six of them. The Israeli pacifist public accuses the government of the assassination, for not giving up to the terrorists. Large protests are being organized for this evening. It's not good, Hamas feels that we are breaking down. The whole world is unable to resist the psychological pressure of these criminals. 

Manipulation involves exploiting psychological vulnerabilities, cognitive biases, and social dynamics to achieve desired the outcomes the manipulator wants. Psychological manipulation exists in various forms, such as gaslighting, emotional blackmail, coercion, and deception.

Gaslighting is a form of manipulation where individuals are led to doubt their perceptions, memories, and sanity. The manipulator uses tactics such as denying their actions, contradicting facts, and undermining the victim's self-confidence to establish control. Gaslighting can have severe psychological consequences, including anxiety, depression, and a distorted sense of reality.

Emotional blackmail is another manipulation technique. The manipulator uses guilt, fear, or obligation to manipulate others into compliance. By exploiting the victim's emotions and vulnerabilities, the manipulator seeks power and control over the individual's decisions and actions. Emotional blackmail can lead to powerlessness, low self-esteem, and an erosion of personal boundaries.

Coercion is yet another aspect of psychological manipulation. It refers to using threats, intimidation, or force to compel individuals to comply with the manipulator's wishes. Coercive tactics include:

• Creating a climate of fear.
• Exploiting power differentials.
• Applying psychological pressure to manipulate and control others.

The effects of coercion can include a loss of autonomy, increased stress, and a compromised sense of self.

My opinion: All further negotiations should be suspended till all the hostages are in Israel. Organize a public trial of Sinwar in absentia, condemn him to death by hanging, and proceed to execute him. 

Inflation

 In times of inflation, of uncertainty, buy gold and silver. 

Kehilat HaEvionim (The Community of the Poor)

 One of the bizarre Jewish sects of the time of Jesus was the Evionim (Poors in Hebrew and Aramean). They were ascetics who lived in voluntary poverty. They rejected possessing wives and shared women equally (Scandalizing the Antiquity). Today they are included among the gnostics because of their "secret" knowledge and rituals. Some Berkeley hippies of my times (I was there! did not get laid!) tried to adopt similar ideas but it did not last. Being Americans, they left no theoretical literature I know of. The Jews wrote lots. The movie "Hair" hinted at them. Pic.

 Irenaeus (he may be making fun of them) explains the abundance and diversity of sects by saying that "numbers of them – indeed, we may say all – desire themselves to be teachers, and to break off from the particular heresy in which they have been involved. Forming one set of doctrines out of a totally different system of opinions, and then again others from others, they insist upon teaching something new, declaring themselves the inventors of any sort of opinion which they may have been able to call into existence" (Against Heresies, I, 28, 1)

Descendants of the Apostles

 

 

Ibn Batutta said that in Istanbul (13th century) he met descendants of the apostles. I am not the first to be amazed by this, there are some people out there who tried to research the family trees of the twelve. All twelve died violent deaths, and some authentic bones may be kept in churches. Yet it would be superfluous to get DNA samples since we know that all of them were pure Jews from Galilea, and their descendants are walking the Earth all over. To some extent, they must have been like me. 

Probably the most relevant verse is Mark 6:3. “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" The early Christian historian Julius Africanus reported (preserved in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical history 1.7.14) that Jesus’ close relatives were still known at the end of the 1st century and called desposynoi (meaning, “belonging to the Master”). At one point they were hauled up before the authorities who were searching for seditious behavior among decedents of the ancient King David. However, they were found to be “simple people who worked with their hands” and released.

History has long ago lost sight of the desposynoi but their DNA may exist in modern people who are unaware it is there.

Hypotension

• 
  
  I  am sleeping and sitting all day and my BP is a little lower than normal. I feel tired. 

• Falls and fall-related injuries: These are the biggest risks with hypotension because it can cause dizziness and fainting. Falls can lead to broken bones, concussions and other serious or even life-threatening injuries. If you have hypotension, preventing falls should be one of your biggest priorities.

The neighbors are celebrating something. I see fifty 18-year-old boys and girls twisting and jumping and dancing. The neighborhood is enjoying extra-strong music. Like "Ani meshuga... etc." Soon they will be in Gaza.

The Resolution of the Flynt Water Crisis

FLINT, MI – Flint Michigan property owners, businesses, and adults, reached a $25 million settlement with Veolia North America (VNA), the last private engineering firm Flint residents were seeking to hold accountable for its role in the devastating Flint water crisis. (No one died or got even sick). 

This settlement brings the total amount of the settlements reached on behalf of plaintiffs in the Flint Water Crisis cases to over $655 million. The case, a certified environmental water contamination class action, went to jury trial on February 13, 2024. The plaintiffs are represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, Susman Godfrey, and Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers.

 

The class action case was filed in 2016 against VNA and other defendants on behalf of more than 90,000 residents. The class action, which resulted in a landmark $626.25 million settlement against the State of Michigan in 2021, was officially certified against VNA and a second private water engineering company, Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN), in August 2021. LAN settled with residents last October.

 

The certified class action maintained that VNA failed to identify corroding pipes, exacerbating the Flint water crisis, and allowed the water contamination to last much longer than it should have, had Veolia recommended the correct remediation, including adding a corrosive chemical to the water supply.

Comment: This is crazy. The Flynt Water Treatment plant operators failed to add the chemicals provided to them to neutralize the acidity of the water supplied. The companies repairing the mains had nothing to do with the lead content of the water at the kitchen level - they were not even in the town. Yet Veolia "caused the contamination to last longer than it should have because it did not recommend"... to its client to implement what it was believed to be doing. (Had Veolia intervened, it would have been sacked for patronizing and overreaching its mandate). The State of Michigan paid the most while the city government and the operators were not even charged. They were 100% Afroamericans, that's why. They are supposed to have no agency at all. The conclusion is to get as far as possible and to have no deals with Flynt. 

El Hazmerreir de Gaza

Sinwarita

Some British papers wrote that Sinwar, the head of Hamas, is circulating in Gaza under female robes. I am expecting an avalanche of satirical media content. Already some Israelis are writing him that it is OK to be gay, it is normative and he may continue feeling "achla gever" (a Real Man)!

Hazmerreir translates as Laughing Stock. It sounds better in Spanish.