[image: image.png] opening thoughts*: a friend, writer and professor posted this* I’m currently visiting Normandy, to honor the anti-fascist soldiers who gave their lives for America…and this is the thanks they get: An electorate that re-hires a choleric buffoon who’s dumber than a barrel of bricks. When asked yesterday how he birthed his brainstorm about reopening Alcatraz (which was shuttered 62 years ago because it was three times more expensive to operate than other federal prisons), the convicted criminal mustered this verbatim reply: “Well, I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker. We’re talking—we started with the movie making and will end. I mean, it—it represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, uh, I would say, the ultimate, right? Alcatraz. Sing Sing and Alcatraz. Eh, the movies. But, uh, it’s right now a museum, believe it or not, a lot of people go there. It housed the, uh, most violent criminals in the world, and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there. But they, as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up. And, uh, it was a lot of shark bites, lot of, a lot of problems. Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz. And just represented something, uh, strong having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country. And so we’re going to, uh, look at it. Some of the people up here are going to be working very hard on that. And, uh, we had a little conversation. I think it’s going to be very interesting. We’ll see if we can, uh, bring it back in large form, add a lot. But I think it represents something. Right now it’s, uh, a big hunk that sitting there rusting and rotting, uh, very, uh, you look at it, it’s sort of a [unintelligible]. You saw that picture that was put out. It’s sort of amazing. But it sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable. Weak. It’s got a lot of, it’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting. And I think they, they make a point. Okay.” BTW: * He lied. Three people did escape Alcatraz. They were never found, dead or alive, so the “shark bites” riff was bullshit, too.
*opening to the first segment about GAZA* headline: Israel plans to occupy and flatten all of Gaza if no deal by Trump’s trip This Is the Moment of Moral Reckoning in Gaza nugget: This is the longest continuous <www.wfp.org/news/wfp-runs-out-food-stocks-gaza-border-crossings-remain-closed> total siege Gaza has endured in the war. Israel is now openly exploiting aid as a tool of war; senior Israeli officials have declared <www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250416-israel-says-no-humanitarian-aid-will-enter-gaza> what effectively is the intent to use starvation as a tactic <www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/world/europe/israel-gaza-blockade-humanitarian-crisis.html> to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages — a clear violation of international law. Many Palestinians fear it is also part of a plan to expel them from Gaza, and aid groups warn that Palestinians could end up in “de facto internment conditions <www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/03/gaza-aid-displacement-humanitarian-crisis/287526ee-27de-11f0-ae6d-e4db528eba27_story.html> .”Israel’s blockade — and the deliberate delays, denials and excessive security procedures that surround it — is not just a failure of logistics. It is an engineered system of deprivation. The short-lived cease-fire in January proved inadequate to meet humanitarian needs. Aid increased beginning on Jan. 19, but was again cut off entirely by March. The intent to use hunger as leverage is explicit, and it is unconscionable….When we talk about peace, we must ask: What kind of future are we envisioning if an entire people is left to suffer starvation? Israelis will not be safer while Gaza remains under siege. Sustainable peace is built not through domination, but through dignity, freedom, opportunity and mutual security.This is the moment of moral reckoning. Will the world be complicit in Gaza’s collapse, or part of its recovery? www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/gaza-israel-aid-starvation.html Part One: Bob Sanders ride and GazaA 70-year-old Jewish former reporter turned activist is cycling across the country this summer in a 4000-mile Ride Against War on Gaza (RAW GAZA). Bob Sanders, also a founder of Not In My Name, NH – a group of Jews opposed to Israeli policy on Palestine — will fly out to San Francisco on May 28, and start cycling a few days later, almost 50 years to the day when he last embarked from the Bay area on his last transcontinental trek.RAW GAZA is backed by the national American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action and Veterans For Peace. The ride will raise awareness about Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank encouraged and paid for by the United States. It will also raise funds for humanitarian assistance and peace groups. “I feel compelled as Jew to speak out considering what the Nazi’s did to us,” Sanders said. “How can I then remain silent when a Jewish nation is systematically destroying and starving an entire population of two million people with my tax dollars? It can’t be antisemitic to protest this injustice. Never Again means never again for anyone, not just Jews.”With a sign on his back, Sanders plans to ride a gravel bike over the mountains and through the nation’s rural heartland, skirting the Great Lakes, arriving back at his home state around Labor Day. *Part two: work requirements for medicaid* Government Watchdog Expects Medicaid Work Requirement Analysis by FallWork Requirements Might Cut Medicaid Spending. But at What Cost? conversation with Sam Whitehead, correspondent, covers the South <www.kffhealthnews.org/news/author/sam-whitehead/> from his base just outside Atlanta. He previously worked as a health care reporter for public radio station WABE, where he chronicled the covid-19 pandemic as host of the award-winning podcast “Did You Wash Your Hands?” Before that, he was a general assignment reporter and fill-in radio host at Georgia Public Broadcasting. He also co-founded a long-running nightly news program on WRFI Community Radio in Ithaca, New York. He’s a graduate of Emory University. Listen online at www.wnhnfm.org/live. Listen anytime to the podcast at www.podomatic.com/podcasts/staff74238 <www.podomatic.com/podcasts/staff74238> podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attitude-with-arnie-arnesen/id1634055179 tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/Attitude-with-Arnie- <tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/Attitude-with-Arnie-Arnesen-p1711842/> Arnesen-p1711842/ <tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/Attitude-with-Arnie-Arnesen-p1711842/> Attitude with Arnie Arnesen, Alcatraz, Trump, Gaza, Bob Sanders, medicaid, work requirement, KFFhealthnews *KEEPING THE POT STIRRED SO SCUM DOESN’T RISE TO THE TOP* – Anonymous
*opening to the first segment about GAZA* headline: Israel plans to occupy and flatten all of Gaza if no deal by Trump’s trip This Is the Moment of Moral Reckoning in Gaza nugget: This is the longest continuous <www.wfp.org/news/wfp-runs-out-food-stocks-gaza-border-crossings-remain-closed> total siege Gaza has endured in the war. Israel is now openly exploiting aid as a tool of war; senior Israeli officials have declared <www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250416-israel-says-no-humanitarian-aid-will-enter-gaza> what effectively is the intent to use starvation as a tactic <www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/world/europe/israel-gaza-blockade-humanitarian-crisis.html> to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages — a clear violation of international law. Many Palestinians fear it is also part of a plan to expel them from Gaza, and aid groups warn that Palestinians could end up in “de facto internment conditions <www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/03/gaza-aid-displacement-humanitarian-crisis/287526ee-27de-11f0-ae6d-e4db528eba27_story.html> .”Israel’s blockade — and the deliberate delays, denials and excessive security procedures that surround it — is not just a failure of logistics. It is an engineered system of deprivation. The short-lived cease-fire in January proved inadequate to meet humanitarian needs. Aid increased beginning on Jan. 19, but was again cut off entirely by March. The intent to use hunger as leverage is explicit, and it is unconscionable….When we talk about peace, we must ask: What kind of future are we envisioning if an entire people is left to suffer starvation? Israelis will not be safer while Gaza remains under siege. Sustainable peace is built not through domination, but through dignity, freedom, opportunity and mutual security.This is the moment of moral reckoning. Will the world be complicit in Gaza’s collapse, or part of its recovery? www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/gaza-israel-aid-starvation.html Part One: Bob Sanders ride and GazaA 70-year-old Jewish former reporter turned activist is cycling across the country this summer in a 4000-mile Ride Against War on Gaza (RAW GAZA). Bob Sanders, also a founder of Not In My Name, NH – a group of Jews opposed to Israeli policy on Palestine — will fly out to San Francisco on May 28, and start cycling a few days later, almost 50 years to the day when he last embarked from the Bay area on his last transcontinental trek.RAW GAZA is backed by the national American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action and Veterans For Peace. The ride will raise awareness about Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank encouraged and paid for by the United States. It will also raise funds for humanitarian assistance and peace groups. “I feel compelled as Jew to speak out considering what the Nazi’s did to us,” Sanders said. “How can I then remain silent when a Jewish nation is systematically destroying and starving an entire population of two million people with my tax dollars? It can’t be antisemitic to protest this injustice. Never Again means never again for anyone, not just Jews.”With a sign on his back, Sanders plans to ride a gravel bike over the mountains and through the nation’s rural heartland, skirting the Great Lakes, arriving back at his home state around Labor Day. *Part two: work requirements for medicaid* Government Watchdog Expects Medicaid Work Requirement Analysis by FallWork Requirements Might Cut Medicaid Spending. But at What Cost? conversation with Sam Whitehead, correspondent, covers the South <www.kffhealthnews.org/news/author/sam-whitehead/> from his base just outside Atlanta. He previously worked as a health care reporter for public radio station WABE, where he chronicled the covid-19 pandemic as host of the award-winning podcast “Did You Wash Your Hands?” Before that, he was a general assignment reporter and fill-in radio host at Georgia Public Broadcasting. He also co-founded a long-running nightly news program on WRFI Community Radio in Ithaca, New York. He’s a graduate of Emory University. Listen online at www.wnhnfm.org/live. Listen anytime to the podcast at www.podomatic.com/podcasts/staff74238 <www.podomatic.com/podcasts/staff74238> podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attitude-with-arnie-arnesen/id1634055179 tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/Attitude-with-Arnie- <tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/Attitude-with-Arnie-Arnesen-p1711842/> Arnesen-p1711842/ <tunein.com/podcasts/News–Politics-Podcasts/Attitude-with-Arnie-Arnesen-p1711842/> Attitude with Arnie Arnesen, Alcatraz, Trump, Gaza, Bob Sanders, medicaid, work requirement, KFFhealthnews *KEEPING THE POT STIRRED SO SCUM DOESN’T RISE TO THE TOP* – Anonymous
