MolotovHalfEmpty

I'm going to the pub to watch the England match again (for some reason) so here's a warm-up tune.

It's laser focused satire of a particular kind of English footy bloke.

And for non-Brits here I imagine it'll be like trying to understand something between a magic eye and iceburg of British lad culture.

Bedtime cats are on parade!

I was expecting some sort of 'emergency' Chapo episode but it seems that Felix was taking a break from gaming and shopping for fighter jets to spend the night hanging in a Waffle House. Clearly he wasn't too impressed with Joe's performance, so I guess that's a sneak preview of the next episode.

Biden campaign HQ hype campaign after the debate:

Biden comes out seemingly completely unaware of where he is, while his wife talks to him like a dog.

Jill Biden: "Joe, you did such a good job! You answered every question! You knew all the facts!"

(He absolutely did not, of course)

Doesn't let him respond, just let's him grin mindlessly, while she tries to whip up thr base about the fact that Trump lied.

Biden's face goes back to confusion when the crowd stop cheering and shout "lie" about Trump as though he has no idea who or what they're talking about.

Video Here Apologies for the chud twitter link, it was the only easy clip I could find

Taken by @JW_Hendricks on Instagram.

Posted here because we don't have a pictures comm.

Taken by Aline Manoukian in the Palestinian camp of Burj el-Barajneh, located near Beirut in 1988.

PodBean has gotten shitter and shitter, randomly stopping play when not on screen.

Google has just announced its taking Podcasts out behind the woodshed so you can pay them for YouTube Premium to watch video podcasts in the background in your pocket.

I just want something simple, free or a one off purchase, that is friendly to copying Patreon feed links etc.

Suggestions appreciated, although I still don't relish the idea of refollowing 50+ feeds again.

I'm the king of shouty things and wishing I was in the Budos Band now. It's still dead good though.

So much better than it probably should be. Some great dialogue sample choices too. Even the EQ/tracklisting video is slick.

A certified oddball banger.

More than 20 years ago British rap was giving way to an increasingly northern move that included J Cristie who, despite a shit line about China and a few dodgy refs, put out relentlessly anti-imperialist UK hip hop for his short, but very solid dominance of what remained of the backpack/conscious UK rap scene.

The next record (2006) brought a sequel to The Grip, written - in part, with some broader context - from the sympathetic perspective of a young auicede bomber. Naturally the UK paying attention shit itself and the rest happily ignored it.

So why is this back again (for fhe feed)? In the UK and online people have spent the whole week being bemused or insensed about Galloway winning an election and becoming a British MP. They reference some shameless performances or reality TV. People on the left rightly reference his chameleon status, socially conservative leanings, and recent TERF shit.

But you know why he won a protest by election? You know why he's not just sampled but distinctive contextual sample for one of the most important non-grime records in 2000s music? Because he was and is one of the only public personas in the UK who has been constant on this issue.

The fact that fucking Galloway was who got endlessly sampled then and is getting elected now is fucking shit, but an example of how much worse the UK was and is in general.

But no-ones reading this anyway on a post about 20+ year old BritHop. So why not ramble?

'Jews are predisposed to calling for genocide and it's part of our rich but often misunderstood quirky cultural heritage, but we can't actually do it, even when we are, because.... reasons' is one one hell of a take from a 'left' history professor and author:

As the author of ‘Jews and Words’, a book that celebrates the Jewish culture of debate and textuality, I must spell out something that the book didn’t mention, a negative aspect of our talkative legacy.

You may not like it, but here it is.

This morning’s proceedings in The Hague focus on genocidical talk in the Israeli public sphere. There are dozens of examples: ministers, Knesset members, influencers. Even the manipulative Netanyahu mentioned Amalek, the ancient people that the Bible singled out for eradication. Never mind that great rabbis have determined long ago that Amalek is obsolete, and the biblical verdict does not apply to any existing nation.

What stands on trial today is the ancient Jewish habit of speaking to each other as if no one else is listening. The Jewish habit of making extreme statements irresponsibly, unthoughtfully, without expecting any payback.

For so many centuries we have exercised a wild freedom of speech among ourselves, in our own languages, relying on our own argumentative balance mechanism: extremism and moderation may clash, and moderation usually triumphs. The House of Shammai is legitimate, but the House of Hillel, the moderates, usually wins. Israeli verbal culture inherited this freedom. But Israel is also a liberal democracy and member of the global community. Most of the loudmouths crying Genocide and Amalek are not aware of the profound dissonance, the huge damage, the justified outrage. Some don’t care.

Only a small minority wants actual genocide in Gaza and are morally crippled enough to carry it through: the extreme national-religious right. The fact that Netanyahu allowed these thugs into his government and echoes their discourse is an eternal blot on Jewish history.

Our disputative, wordy culture deserves to be celebrated, but it must denounce its dangerous outcrop of inciters to blind violence. Their Amalekite speech has become too viable to bear. Too doable.

No, Israel is not conducting genocide. But its ongoing rant about “flattening Gaza” is no longer a quaint side effect of our argumentative heritage.

It is a crime, a travesty and a harrowing blow to the best of Jewish traditions.

Later, from her responses:

This horrific, dirty, ugly war is not genocide. If that was our intention, Gaza would cease to exist on 8/10 and 500 of our soldiers would still be alive.

Ah yes, genocide has to be the instantaneous Thanos-like removal of a population just like it was in Germany during the... errrr....

In news that won't surprise people paying attention at the time but has finally been 'noticed' by news reporting (the way British media usually operates), the funds for Starmer's leadership election including illegal donations, breaches of electoral law, and a shady slush fund from shady interests.

I linked the Novara article as the Sunday Times original is behind a paywall, plus there's some other links for context.

What's interesting to me is why this is reaching the surface of the British media now. The press hedging it's bets in case the dissent in the Tory party does take down Rishi? Plausible deniability as they grow uncomfortable with Labour's massive polling lead? A warning shot for some perceive recent sleight?