WARNING: PSYCHIC DAMAGE AWAITS. LIBERALISM ON 12 COUNTS. BBC JOURNALISM MOMENTS AHEAD.

BBC's headline: Western ambassadors shun Nagasaki ceremony over Israel snub - BBC News.

Highlights:

• "The mayor of the south-western Japanese city, Shiro Suzuki, said on Thursday that Israel not being invited to attend was not politically motivated but added there would be no change to the decision.

Nothing is political. Repeat. Nothing is political.

• The remarks come a day after it was revealed that the ambassadors of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the US and the European Union had sent a letter to Nagasaki in mid-July saying "it would become difficult for us to have high-level participation" in the event if Israel was excluded.

The usual culprits.

• "It is unfortunate that they have communicated to us that their ambassadors are not able to attend," he said. British Ambassador Longbottom (who would not be attending) had said that the decision not to invite Israel created an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus (the only other countries not invited to this year's ceremony.)

Liberal moment.

• Mr Suzuki said security reasons, including potential demonstrations, were behind his decision not to invite Israel to the commemoration ceremony. But he said he regretted the ambassadors' decision.

This bits interesting. I actually think Suzuki might be trying to cover his tracks and appeal to liberalism/security while truly believing in his decision to boycott Israel. I don't know much about him, but as you'll see later in the article he did call for a ceasefire.

• US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel will also not attend. An embassy statement said the mayor of Nagasaki politicised the event by snubbing Israel.

POLITICIANS. STOP BEING POLITICAL. THE NUKING OF NAGASAKI WAS NOT POLITICAL. ISRAEL IS NOT POLITICAL. STOP BEING POLITICAL, OR I WILL HAVE TO POLITICISE YOU.

• A spokesperson told the BBC the ambassador would instead go to a peace ceremony at a temple in Tokyo. Israel's ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, who was invited to and attended a memorial ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday, said Nagasaki’s decision "sends a wrong message to the world".

Does it now, Cohen.

• In June, Mr Suzuki said Nagasaki had sent a letter to the Israeli embassy calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza.

Gottem. Ish.

• Israel's massive military offensive in Gaza has led to the deaths of almost 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says.

So they say, those Hamas terrorists. By the way, Israel doesn't kill. It leads to the deaths of persons.

• It was triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.

Had to get that one in. It's like the liberal version of getting the stone island badge in. Definitely no history before that point. Nothing to see here. No politics or history to be had here. Just good and bad. 👍

This one's a picture from the Brighton protest. Similar thing across the whole country. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/riots-uk-today-london-birmingham-protest-immigration-centre-b2592456.html - 'UK riots live: Up to 25,000 counter-protesters march in clear message to far-right after 100 rallies planned - Around 100 far-right rallies failed to materialise as thousands of counter-protesters took to the streets of the UK'

I went to a different one. 2 skinheads skulked around the outside but did nothing, then got bag searched by the police and told to go home. The whole counter protest turned into a celebration, with people marching the streets with slogans, music, singing, dancing, drinking, and so on and on. Just a big left-ish street party of all ages and races.

It was actually very heartwarming. I overheard a lot of great things. In particular, especially from older immigrant men, who expressed grateful surprise at the numbers and mixed demographic of the anti fascists. Many said they felt loved by the city. A very merry time.

Shithole country

How stupid do they think China is

Full on roaming EDL gangs. Pretty insane stuff. This article doesn't do it justice. Most of the footage I've seen has been on Instagram.

The craziest part is they started in response to a misogynist terror attack in Southport. The suspect of the terror attack was Welsh born, with parents from Rwanda, and is most likely Christian. So naturally they started lynching Muslims.

EDIT: This next part is dubious.

Apparently before it all kicked off there was a russian clickfarm that posted a fake article calling the suspect 'Ali Muhammad' or some sort of very stereotypical islamic name, before all the real information had come out.

I mean, not that you can really blame it all on that. It was just a fuse waiting to be lit.

More accurately investigated here: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-08-02/did-russian-disinformation-fuel-the-southport-protests/

Nature is healing

not bad

found guilty of supporting designated far right terrorists and letting their banana boats be used for drug smuggling

Blinken is number 1 spot for my least favourite guy of the year. Elon Musk in 2nd place.

On a similar note, I'm pretty sure the UK is still holding 2 billions of dollars in gold reserves from Venezuela.

"Ukraine’s entry this year is the rapper and singer duo Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil."

Jerry 'Heil'

“There are many wars now in the world and, of course, it is not easy to constantly keep attention on yourself so that people do not get tired of our war."

EDIT: upon further research of Jerry Heil:

'Heil began using her alias at the age of 15. After registering for the Russian social media service VKontakte, she used the name Jerry Mouse, referencing the cartoon character of the same name. She then changed Mouse to Heil, citing her desire to use whatever American surname she saw on the Internet first.

She has expressed her embarrassment for the backstory behind her stage name, calling it "moronic".'

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/may/06/eurovision-winner-jamala-says-ukraine-cannot-afford-to-boycott-contest

They key moronic 'US says' takeaways:

• "US officials said that China provided more than 70% of the $900m (£723m) in machine tools – probably used to build ballistic missiles – imported in the last quarter of 2023 by Russia."

"probably"

It's absurd how they link machine tools precisely to missile manufacturing and so on. Machine tools are involved in practically every industrial process involving technology these days, from kitchen wares to gym equipment to cars to semiconductors and yes, arms manufacturing. But there's no evidence to state that a significant portion of machine tools were then used in military manufacturing, rather than general goods.

• "They also said that 90% of Russia’s microelectronics imports – used to produce missiles, tanks and aircraft – came from China last year"

Microelectronics... you mean the microelectronics used in the booming commercial tech industry. It's reckless not to clarify alongside 'used to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft', microelectronics are used in 'literally everything else' too.

The very same liberal that will say these and things and then go on to turn a blind eye or defend explicit developer-client relationships between computer manufacturers and arms manufacturers in the US

Another day, another desperate attempt by paper tigers to undermine China's industrial capacity. Good luck attempting sanctions.

DIRECT ACTION GETS THE GOODS.

• Palestine Action said, “This victory is a direct result of sustained direct action which has sought to make it impossible for Elbit to afford to operate in Britain.

• “Before they sold the enterprise to a private equity syndicate, Elbit had reported that Elite KL operating profits had been slashed by over three-quarters, with Palestine Action responsible. Elbit directly cited the increased expenditure on security they’d been forced to make, and higher supply chain costs they faced.

• The first action at the site, in November 2020, saw activists smash into the building covered in blood-red paint.

• Between March and July 2021, roof-top occupations put the site out of action three times. Despite increased security, another roof-top occupation in July saw the site closed.

• In February 2022, activists decommissioned the site for weeks—closed off after an occupation that saw over £250,000 of damage.

• After this, Elbit erected a security perimeter around the site. One month later, six people were arrested after occupying the roof and smashing through, preventing the production of parts for Israel’s military machine.

FURTHERMORE:

• After the sale was completed last month, Elite KL’s new owners, listed as Griffin Newco Ltd, confirmed in an email to Palestine Action that they will have nothing to do with the previous owners, Elbit, and have discontinued any arms manufacturing:

• “Following the recent acquisition of Elite KL Limited by a UK investment syndicate, the newly appointed board has unanimously agreed to withdraw from all future defence contracts and terminate its association with its former parent company”.