Welcome to CaturSaturday, November 30, 2024: a special truncated edition of Hili as I’m getting acclimated to Europe. And it’s National Pie Day: here is a Thanksgiving pecan pie made by my friend Michelle (the one who baked cat cookies for me at CSICon):
It’s also National Mousse Day and National Mason Jar Day:
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the November 30 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*Justin Trudeau, the woke PM of Canada who is apparently not long for government service, flew to Mar-A-Lago to stave of the tariffs that Trump has threatened to impose on Canada.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew to Florida and met with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club on Friday evening, less than a week after the U.S. president-elect threatened heavy tariffs on imports from North American trading partners.
Neither the Trump transition team nor the Trudeau administration had provided a summary of the meeting by late Friday. Trudeau dined with Trump along with Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for Interior secretary, and Rep. Mike Waltz (R., Fla.), set to be national security adviser, according to a photo posted on social media by Senator-elect David McCormick (R., Pa.).
The threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico suggested Trump is eager to reopen the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a free-trade accord that came into force in 2020. The USMCA replaced the decades-old Nafta pact, which Trump had repeatedly described as the “worst trade deal ever made” for widening the U.S. trade deficit and costing America millions of manufacturing jobs, especially in the auto sector.
. . .On his Truth Social social-media platform on Monday, Trump said he would levy tariffs of 25% on imports of all goods from Mexico and Canada, accusing both countries of facilitating illegal immigration and fentanyl abuse in the U.S.
Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke a few days ago and they both described the meeting as positive. President Biden has criticized Trump’s approach with the tariffs.
Tight economic links between the U.S., Canada and Mexico mean that disrupting trade with tariffs would have far-reaching effects. Tariffs would likely drive up the price of steel and aluminum in the U.S. because Canada and Mexico are major suppliers of those metals to the U.S. market. The U.S. also buys almost all of Canada’s oil.
It would also drive up the price of everything for Americans, since goods are transported by vehicles that use oil. Trump apparently wants to start his term doing exactly what Americans voted against: imposing higher costs of living. As my father told me when I was a child (he was an economist), “Jerry, tariffs are never a good thing,”
*The Oxford Union had one of its customary debates, but this one was whether Israel was an apartheid state responsible for genocide. And the pro-Israel side lost! Unforgivable!
The Oxford Union voted for its controversial motion “This House Believes Israel is an apartheid state responsible for genocide” last night, with the society’s buildings surrounded by tight security and protesters rallying outside. The House saw 278 votes in favour and 59 votes against.
Can you believe that vote? Oxford students lack both a moral compass and a sense of history. They should be debating that for Hamas, not Israel. Hamas is, after all a true apartheid state, along with most Arab countries in the Middle East (how many Jews lived in Gaza before October 7, 2023?), and as for genocide, just read the original Hamas charter, which the terrorists continue to hold. No Jews left behind!
Speaking in Proposition were Palestinian poet Mohammed El-Kurd, Union President Ebrahim Osman-Mowafy, Israeli-American activist Miko Peled, and Palestinian-American poet Susan Abulwaha. Speaking in Opposition were British broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti, British barrister Natasha Hausdorff, Arab-Israeli journalist Yousef Haddad, and spy Mosab Hassan Yousef. Yousef is the son of terrorist organisation Hamas’ founder who then defected to become a spy for Israeli intelligence. He has been criticised for his hatred of Islam.
Outside the society’s buildings, around two dozen pro-Palestine protesters rallied on St Michael’s Street, their chants audible from the chamber. Oxford Action for Palestine, which called the protest, wrote that its purpose is to show “Zionists are not welcome in Oxford”. A protester told Cherwell that their reason is twofold: to show solidarity with Palestinian speakers, and to stand against the Union’s platforming of speakers.
Even with Natasha Hausdorff (the future Mrs. Ceiling Cat) speaking, the anti-“Zionist” faction won resoundingly. Elite schools in both the US and UK, it seems, are afflicted with Jew hatred, as it’s the fashionable thing to espouse.
*And speaking of a dearth of neurons among pro-Palestinian Brits, that was also on display by a bunch of artists who re demanding—DEMANDING—that London’s famed Tate Museum cut its ties with Jewish donors. No, not Zionist donors, but Jewish ones.
More than 600 artists are demanding London’s prestigious Tate Museum cut ties with Jewish donors and arts organizations in the latest of a wave of cultural pressure campaigns targeting Israel-linked philanthropy.
In an open letter to the institution ahead of next month’s Turner Prize ceremony, current nominee Jasleen Kaur joined past winners Charlotte Prodger and Lawrence Abu Hamdan in demanding that Tate sever connections with three major art organizations: the Zabludowicz Art Trust, Zabludowicz Art Projects, and Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
Their letter cites unsubstantiated claims from the International Court of Justice and United Nations about Israel’s “genocidal” response to Hamas’s October 7 massacre, while accusing the targeted organizations of “artwashing” – a term used to describe partnerships with museums and artists to obscure ethically dubious political connections.
Artwashing! As if those organizations give money to the Tate to hide the so-called humanitarian crimes of Israel. It is, there seems, no form of good stuff that Israeli groups can do without it being characterized as a form of “washing” (remember “pinkwashing”?):
“Tate’s partnerships with these organizations directly undermine its commitment to equality and social impact,” the letter states. “We believe Tate has a profound moral duty, if not a legal one, to divest from its affiliations with the Israeli state.”
The Zabludowicz family’s ties to Israel stem primarily from Poju Zabludowicz’s business dealings.
As CEO of real estate investment firm Tamares Group, he previously funded the British Israel Communication and Research Centre and technology companies with Israeli security contracts.
In 2023, the Zabludowiczes were forced to close their private London museum after facing years of similar anti-Israel pressure.
This shows as much as anything that antiZionism is the same thing as antisemitism.
*As always, I’ll add three items from Nellie Bowles’s weekly news summary in the Free Press, called this week “TGIF: Thankful edition.” Here Nellie tells us what she’s thankful for:
→ Freedom of speech: I’m thankful this year for the First Amendment. I never understood how precious it was, or how rare, but watching European countries send cops to people’s houses for barely controversial Facebook posts has shocked me. I know we have European readers and writers, so please know I stand with you, and I hope you don’t take it personally when I say I’m so glad our forefathers fled your lands and burned the boats. We’ll do our best now to save you through a process that I can only describe as colonialism (Free Press expansion into Europe). God bless America. And Little America, as we’ll call England!
‘Tis true that the UK is into punishing “hate speech,” or anything construed as hate speech, like people with yarmulkes showing up at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. That last sentence of Nellie’s is going to anger some people in Blighty.
→ The Kamala Harris campaign: I’m thankful for Kamala Harris’s campaign. First of all, they raised $1.5 billion dollars and spent it in 15 weeks. It sounds wasteful. But in fact, taking $1.5 billion dollars from some of America’s silliest people and then giving it away to hardworking ones is what I call distributive justice. Just think of the caterers who had to work around literally dozens of Kamala staff’s allergies and gluten intolerances. They deserved that cash. Think of the event planners, young women who want to save up for their own extravagant eco resort weddings. Kamala gave them a shot at Hawaii instead of the Dominican Republic. Think of the driver of that abortion van clocking overtime during the DNC who just told himself “eyes ahead, not your problem, eyes ahead.” So many worthy Americans.
But most importantly: I’m grateful that this movement refuses to accept they could have done anything better. Anything at all.
→ Matt Gaetz withdrawing: It was fast and complete. He went from MAGA superstar to appearing on Cameo selling birthday greetings, in record time. He made Anthony Scaramucci look like a veteran statesman. Never have I seen such quick justice. And I feel it’s a good omen for the next four years. Yes, these years will test us. Yes, the word shameless will likely be used a lot. But clearly, some shame worked. Courses were corrected. I’m thankful for that.
*This is a surprise: Syrian rebels have entered Aleppo, the largest city in the country and its commercial hub:
Insurgents breached Syria’s largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, according to a war monitor and fighters, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.
The advance on Aleppo followed a shock offensive launched by insurgents Wednesday, as thousands of fighters swept through villages and towns in Syria’s northwestern countryside. Residents fled neighborhoods on the city’s edge because of missiles and gunfire, according to witnesses in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country’s unresolved civil war, said dozens of fighters from both sides were killed.
Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighborhoods in 2016 following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.
. . . . But this time, there was no sign of a significant pushback from government forces or their allies. Instead, reports emerged of government forces melting away in the face of advances, and insurgents posted messages on social media calling on troops to surrender.
Robert Ford, who was the last U.S. ambassador to Syria, said the attack showed that Syrian government forces are “extremely weak.” In some cases, he said, they appear to have “almost been routed.”
This is a major embarrassment to the al-Assad regime—you know, the one that gassed its citizens. However, this is not necessarily a good thing: as Malgorzata opined, “This is two groups of bandits fighting each other, except for the Kurds” (also a faction of the rebels).
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili stil despises Kulka, and the coffee is located near the kitchen window. Hili’s order is designed to get rid of her nemesis:
Hili: Make yourself coffee.
A: Why?
Hili: Kulka probably wants to go out through the kitchen window.
In Polish:
Hili: Zrób sobie kawę.
Ja: Dlaczego?
Hili: Kulka pewnie chce wyjść przez okno w kuchni.
*******************
From Cat Memes:
From Strange, Stupid, or Silly Signs: a clever car owner:
From America’s Cultural Decline into Idiocy:
From Masih; the translation from Farsi is below:
In support of the 44th week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign on 6 December 1403 which is ongoing with the hunger strike of prisoners in 25 different prisons of the country every Tuesday. Issuing “bulk” death sentences, the strategy of Iran’s autocratic government to create terror” November 25 is International Day of Violence Against Women. The world should hear our protest and recognize gender apartheid as a crime and punish its perpetrators in Iran, Afghanistan and other parts of the world.
#Union_against_gender_apartheid #No_to_execution #woman_life_of_freedom #Global_campaign_no_to_execution_in_Iran https://t.me/no_to_execution_in_iran
Reader Simon calls this a groaner:
Eating too much cake is the sin of gluttony. However, eating too much pie is okay because the sin of pi is always zero.🖖
— Mr. Spock 🖖 (@spockresists.bsky.social) 2024-11-27T18:24:57.307Z
From Malcolm; a dog flummoxed by Halloween cat decorations:
From my feed:
This wrecks me—every single time.
— Joseph Fasano (@josephfasano.bsky.social) 2024-11-29T12:49:34.194Z
From the Auschwitz Memorial; one that I reposted:
A Belgian girl gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz. She was six
— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2024-11-30T08:05:32.375Z
Two tweets from Matthew; the first is a groaner:
Of course this is just 4 characters, but still it's comedy gold…
— Paul Eggleston (@pauleggleston.bsky.social) 2024-04-07T19:49:03.081Z
And the physicist Brian Cox’s cat, Herschel:
Here’s a picture of my cat asleep with its feet on its head. I can’t do this.
— ProfBrianCox (@profbriancox.bsky.social) 2024-11-15T15:50:10.964Z
