This is Gaza Today

 

Pentagon appoints convicted Jan. 6 rioter to counterterrorism role

 (I told you there were Black Bloc agitators in the crowd on Jan. 6)

from al Mayadeen English

The Pentagon has appointed a man convicted for his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot to a sensitive national security position within its counterterrorism and special operations structure, prompting internal concern over vetting and oversight.

Elias Irizarry, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to entering and remaining in a restricted building during the Capitol attack, has been assigned to a role in the Department of War’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office.

The unit oversees highly classified military operations, including counterterrorism planning, embassy security, personnel recovery, and hostage rescue support...

...

Despite his conviction, the sentencing judge noted that his prior record was “quite commendable” and offered to support his reapplication to The Citadel military academy in South Carolina, where he had been a student at the time of the riot. He was later readmitted and graduated in 2024...

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Trump confirms heated exchange with Netanyahu over Lebanon

from al Mayadeen English

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he sharply rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call earlier this week, criticizing the continued escalation against Lebanon while acknowledging that the two leaders continue to coordinate closely.

Speaking in an interview with Miranda Devine on the Pod Force One podcast, Trump confirmed the circulated reports that he described Netanyahu as “f***ing crazy” during a Monday conversation.

“I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon,” Trump said, referring to ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, undeterred by the ceasefire. 

Despite the unusually blunt exchange, Trump noted that it did not affect the relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv. “We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” Trump said.

The remarks offer a public glimpse into disagreements between the US administration and "Israel", seen before during the Biden administration, wherein the former president called Netanyahu a "bad f*****g guy". 

Wave Goodbye to the Last Normal Year for American Schools

from Slate

As schools send children home for the summer, we need to recognize a frightening fact: This could be the last year of public schooling the way we’ve known it. Donald Trump’s new school funding scheme, pushed through as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will kick in during the middle of the next school year, in January 2027. It’s going to create a financial tsunami for public schools. The real tragedy is that there’s no mystery to it: We already know what will happen, because the scheme is not really new at all. It brings us back to the bad old days, to the failed and inadequate divided school budgets from before the Civil War. Trump’s plan brings back the devasting problem that our modern public school systems were designed to fix.

The new program has been called a national voucher system, but in fact it is more like a private school subsidy. Here’s how it will work: Taxpayers will be able to deduct up to $1,700 each from their federal taxes, whether or not they have children in schools. They can send that money—a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their federal taxes—to “scholarship-granting organizations.” Those SGOs, in turn, will distribute money to families to use for educational services such as tuition discounts at private schools. Not every family will benefit—SGOs can give the money only to families who earn under 300 percent of their area’s median family income. Also important is that states will have to opt in, and every state will have some say in deciding which SGOs can participate. So far, we have 29 states officially signed up, and a complicated political back-and-forth going on in the rest.

It’s very different from the traditional voucher programs that started in the 1990s. Unlike vouchers, the money goes to the SGOs, not directly to families. Most crucially, the money will not be coming directly out of state education budgets. It will come from federal coffers, and that fact has tempted some Democratic governors, such as New York’s Kathy Hochul, to flirt with the idea of opting in.

At the school-district level, however, the potential budget damage could be severe. Every student who leaves their local public school to take a subsidized private education will take their state funding away with them. School budgets are cumbersome to change, with many fixed costs, such as buildings and personnel. Even if the number of students at public schools drops suddenly due to Trump’s private school subsidy—along with the funding that accompanies them—it will take time for schools’ financial liabilities to go down accordingly. Principals and teachers get the same salary whether their school has 500 students or 300; buses cost the same whether they transport 100 students or 50; furnaces cost the same whether they warm 1,000 students or 300...

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NDAA 2027 to Fuse Our Military with the Genocidal IOF and Other News

HI. I am back. Bronchitis again but starting zpack today. Just a quick video to let you know I am alright. One more day on my YouTube ban. Have a good one.

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Trump Admits ‘We Shouldn’t Have Been in Iran’

from Common Dreams

President Donald Trump said Saturday during an interview with his daughter-in-law that the US should not have waged war on Iran, while making contradictory claims about destroying Iran’s military and leaving it alone.

“You look at what happened with Iraq. We did so bad. It was such a foolish thing what we did. We shouldn’t have been there in the first place, by the way,” Trump told Lara Trump, who hosts Fox News’ “My View.” 

“We shouldn’t have been in Iran, but Iran has the capability,” he said, referring to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. 

Former US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last year that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and [the late] Supreme Leader Khamanei had not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” US intelligence agencies have repeatedly come to the same conclusion since the George W. Bush administration.

Trump claimed that without US bombing, Iran “would have a nuclear weapon right now and will be a whole different story.”

“If we didn’t hit them with B-2 bombers, nine months ago, they would have a nuclear weapon right now,” he said.

“Their military, we’ve sort of left it alone because we think that their military is somewhat moderate,” Trump said right after saying that “their navy is gone, 100%,” and “their air force is gone, 100%.”

The president also claimed that he will negotiate a “great” end to the war with Iran, or “we’ll just go back and finish it off militarily.”

“We’re close to a very good deal,” he said...

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Hasan and Cenk: Much Ado About Nothing?

by Scott Creighton

 

Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker have apparently been banned in the UK for calling out a genocidal regime for their murderous actions.

Specifically, Cenk has stated that his notification, while it said nothing of antisemitism, did say they were banning him from entering the United Kingdom due to his assertion that their government was subservient to Israeli demands.

So to prove him wrong, they banned him... on behalf of Israel.

ಠ_ಠ

‘Every choice has a price’: Speaker Qalibaf warns US, Israel over naval blocakde, Lebanon carnage

from PressTV

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has warned that the US naval blockade of Iran’s ports and Israel’s growing war crimes in Lebanon will come at a price for Washington and Tel Aviv.

In a post on his X account on Monday, Qalibaf said the US naval blockade imposed on Iranian ships and ports and the escalation of war crimes by the "genocidal Zionist regime" in Lebanon clearly show the US's lack of compliance with the ceasefire.

“The naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire,” he wrote.

The top Iranian negotiator in indirect talks with the US further warned against the consequences of continued violent acts, which would ultimately come at a cost.

"Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due," Qalibaf said, adding, "It will all fall into place."

The top Iranian parliamentarian’s warning comes amid Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire agreement, including repeated incursions north of the Litani River, deadly strikes on civilian areas, and displacement orders targeting southern Lebanese communities...

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IRGC retaliates with airbase strike after US attack on Sirik Island

from al Mayadeen English

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced early on Monday that its fighter jets targeted the airbase from which an attack on a communications tower on Sirik Island in Hormozgan province was launched.

According to the statement, the operation was carried out in response to the hostile aggression on the island, which originated from the airbase that was later targeted in retaliation. The IRGC warned that if such actions are repeated, its air force's response "will be completely different."

In its statement, the IRGC held the "hostile, child-killing American regime" that continues to violate the ceasefire responsible, sparking further escalation in the region, with Iranian military officials indicating readiness to respond more forcefully to any future attacks. 

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had announced earlier that it struck "targets" in Iran over the weekend, in the latest escalation testing a fragile ceasefire between Tehran and Washington... 

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Ukrainian Strike on ZNPP Dangerous Precedent of Targeted Attack - Rosatom CEO

from Sputnik News

The Ukrainian strike on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) may not be so dangerous in itself, but is a precedent of a targeted attack on a nuclear power facility important, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said on Monday. 

 

"The strike on the ZNPP may not be so dangerous in itself, but two points are important. The first is the precedent itself, the precedent of a targeted strike on a nuclear power facility," Likhachev told Russian media. 

 

Ukrainian forces carry out 50-60 drone and shell strikes on the territory of the ZNPP and Energodar every day, Likhachev added. 

 

The territories of Ukraine and neighboring Western states will be at a serious risk if the Ukrainian armed forces attack fuel at the ZNPP, the CEO added...

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