Saturday: Hili dialogue

June 7, 2025 • 6:45 am

Welcome to CaturSaturday, June 7, 2025 and shabbos for Jewish cats. It’s National Black Bear Day,  Here are some Ursus americanus cubs being human-raised until they’re ready to be released into the wild:

 

And it’s Graduation Day at the University of Chicago. I’m locked in my building but have access to Botany Pond, so the ducks won’t go hungry. Yesterday they had their “montiversary,” as they hatched on May 6 and hit the water on May 7. (I guess today is “First Swim Day”.)

It’s also National Fun Day, Metric System Day (will we ever join?), Sweet Potato Day, National Beer Day, National Coffee Cake Day, and International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, in which at least half a million Tutsi, and members of other groups, were slaughtered.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the June 7 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*In a telling sign of enmity, the PA daily—the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority—has urged Hamas members in Gaza to kill their leaders, release all the hostages, and then commit suicide! (The PA and Hamas have never liked each other.) This is from Palestinian Media Watch, with the PA daily quotes doubly indented:

While the Palestinian Authority has spent months leveraging the civilian suffering in Gaza to criticize its political rival, Hamas, today the official PA daily took things a step further. The paper called on Hamas leaders to emerge from their tunnels in Gaza armed with two bullets: one to be used on the Hamas political leadership living in luxury in Qatar, and the other on themselves—arguing that suicide would be preferable to the disgrace they should feel for the countless Palestinian deaths they have caused.

“Leave [the tunnels] with your handgun, with two bullets in its magazines… and then admit your crime. Then aim it [the gun] at the heads of your admired [Hamas] politicians, in [foreign] capitals… Ask yourselves what benefit this gun has, and the answer will come to you from the last bullet, since your suicide is better than disgrace.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 5, 2025]

Hamas should unconditionally release all Israeli hostages, the PA daily continues, because Israel is killing three times the number of hostages every day.

“Enough, Hamas leaders. Release them [Israeli hostages] now. Unconditionally remove the handcuffs of death from more than two million [Gazan] hostages who are still alive, and from twenty [Israeli hostages] who you are still haggling over.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 5, 2025]

This reflects the ongoing messaging from the Palestinian Authority, which continues to defend the horrific atrocities committed against Jews on October 7 as “legitimate resistance,” while simultaneously criticizing Hamas for enabling Israel’s reentry into Gaza and its subsequent counteroffensive. In doing so, the PA seeks to bolster its popular support by defending the October 7 massacre—an event widely celebrated among Palestinians—while also shifting responsibility for the claimed 55,000 deaths in Gaza onto Hamas.

Despite this, recent polls indicate that Hamas remains significantly more popular than Fatah, especially since the October 7 attack elevated Hamas terrorists to the status of Palestinian icons. According to surveys conducted in May 2025, 59% of West Bank Palestinians still believe that the October 7 assault on Israel was the “correct decision” [PSR]. In the hate-saturated Palestinian consciousness, their one day of glory, in which they raped, tortured, burned families alive, and murdered nearly 1200 Jews, was worth the cost of 55,000 Gazans lives.

This enmity is one reason why there can’t be a two-state solution now. It can’t be run by Hamas because they’re terrorists, and it can’t be run by the PA because they’re less popular than Hamas, even though the PA also fosters terrorism, as in their “pay for slay” program that rewards Jew-killing. So who runs the “Palestinian state”?

*The WaPo, in yesterday’s morning announcement, says: “What happened? Their alliance publicly imploded. Musk used X to fire off memes, put-downs and explosive allegations against the president. You can scroll through every insult here.” The Epstein accusation by Musk is particularly nasty:

Here are a few if the back-and-forth tweets between Musk and Trump in chronological order: the Battle of the Narcissists:

 

 

*As usual, I’ll steal a few items from Nellie Bowles’s weekly and snarky news column in the Free Press, called this week “TGIF:  The real housewives of Pennsylvania Avenue.”

→ Biden press sec turning on Biden: Speaking of trashy, the Dems are turning on each other all over the place. Some are announcing they’re not even Dems. That’s what former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has done. Karine has declared herself an Independent Voter and announced a new tell-all about Biden, positioning herself as a lone, brave voice of truth. Her book is called Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines. Which is strange, because she spent two years viciously enforcing those party lines and lashing out at anyone who dared challenge the acuity of her boss. She was the press secretary in charge of the biggest press-driven cover-up of a president in history. She promoted the term cheap fakes to describe real videos of an obviously confused old man wandering deliriously through the world. And now Karine wants to claim independence and make it her whole thing, like she’s a Free Press columnist or something.

But here’s my real issue: Only now that Biden’s down does Karine Jean-Pierre have the guts to kick him. Biden’s out of power. He’s done. He’s dying. So now the knives can come out! Now for the unveiling of how bad it always was. Where was all this independent-minded reporting when Biden was powerful? Crickets. I guess we need these Biden takedowns for the historical record. But I reserve my admiration for folks who kicked Biden while he was president. Which is why I admire only myself. Just keeps it cleaner.

→ Dyke March bans me, specifically: Organizers of the New York Dyke March—the special lesbian event at New York Pride weekend—banned Zionists from participating. So now, to participate, you need to believe that the country of Israel should be disbanded and all Jews should be expelled from that land, and also be into home renovations and motorcycles. Right. Well. I’m fine, thanks for asking. See, every time I go for a walk, it’s a Dyke March. I don’t need a special flag. My Tevas say enough. My many children. My tactical clothing. It’s all that’s required.

In other news, Ana Kasparian, executive producer and host of the popular online leftist news show The Young Turks, is toying around with blaming Jews for 9/11. She wrote: “I’m old enough to remember the ‘dancing Israelis,’ who happened to be Mossad agents filming and celebrating as the planes hit the World Trade towers.” There’s nothing people won’t blame on the Jews. Except for good things. Ana will never give us credit for anything good.

Meanwhile, over at the University of Michigan, in a botanical garden, hundreds of blooming peonies were destroyed, and signs were added that read: PLANT LIVES DON’T MATTER. HUMAN LIVES DO. This will surely win people over to the cause of the Palestinians. Then in Toronto, outside a pizza shop, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy was doing one of his on-camera pizza reviews when someone screamed at him “Fuck the Jews.” We’re entering the stage of antisemitism when many great and highly differentiated people start to get one very specific word hurled at them.

Ana Kasparian? Seriously?

→ Something new in the trans sports battles: A leaked medical report from 2023 appears to indicate that Imane Khelif, a boxer who competed in and won women’s boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is a biological male.

Doraine Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, told Newsweek: “The IOC would not revoke medals won by athletes who were eligible according to the rules it set for the boxing competition in Paris. . . . those rules did not require competitors to be biologically female.” If you have XY chromosomes but a ponytail? You, too, can win women’s boxing. Are you a male who wants to (legally!) punch women in the face, and are you okay being called Paula for two (2) days? I’ve got just the sport for you.

Now something interesting is happening. Around the company, women are balking. In Washington State, audience members booed when a male handily won the girls 400-meter dash. Which, to be clear, I think is mean and people shouldn’t do—the teenager should never have been put in that position—but it’s interesting to note that the taboo around this is falling and frustration is mounting. When a male won the girls’ high jump at Oregon’s state track and field championships last week, two teens stepped off the podium in protest. This kind of broad pushback is new.

I do think that there’s been a sea change in the boosterism heaped upon trans women competing in sports against biological women, so I predict that women’s sports, which have been changing their rules to prohibit this, will increasingly do so. I’m not sure what the Olympic women’s boxing rules are now.

*Here’s a mystery: a lot of large balloons in the water around the North Korean warship that capsized upon launching.

North Korea confirmed Friday its capsized warship was upright and stable, but a layer of intrigue lingers around the salvage work: Why the armada of massive balloons?

Satellite imagery shows dozens of balloons floating around the 5,000-ton destroyer that toppled into the water at a May 21 launch event attended by the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

The balloons aren’t thought to have played a leading role in righting the vessel, a task that appeared to have been primarily accomplished with cranes, maritime experts said. But the balloons could have helped keep the ship afloat, obscured the view from the skies or lifted objects off the destroyer, they added.

North Korea’s use of balloons for salvage operations of a warship lacks a modern precedent, said Decker Eveleth, a weapons analyst at CNA, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank, who reviewed recent satellite imagery of the warship.

“It’s all a mystery,” said Eveleth, who counted roughly 40 balloons. He estimated that each balloon measures about 20 feet wide.

North Korea is no stranger to using balloons in unusual ways, having sent thousands filled with trash into South Korea last year.

The warship-adjacent balloons weren’t mentioned in a state-media report championing the salvage operations on Friday. The “Choe Hyon-class” warship represents a crown jewel in one of Kim’s top priorities: modernizing his Soviet-era naval fleet.

The 41-year-old dictator has vowed to have the destroyer fixed by the end of this month, a timeline that naval experts have called ambitious. The vessel, which is currently at a shipyard in the northeastern port city of Chongjin, will be moved to a dry dock in Rajin, state media reported. The repair work should take seven to 10 days.

Warships and balloons have a historical connection. So-called “barrage” balloons—blimp-shaped floating devices—created aerial obstacles or defended ground targets during both world wars. More recently, Russia has deployed tethered aerial devices for border surveillance and intelligence gathering.

Nick Childs, a senior naval analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, said modern navies wouldn’t turn to large balloons to provide buoyancy to a submerged ship. Instead, the balloons could signify that North Korea lacks equipment like heavy-lift cranes.

Here’s a Sun video suggesting what caused the disaster and also showing the balloons:

Who knows? But I’m pretty sure that whoever The Great Leader deems responsible for the capsized ship will be executed. Four of them have already been arrested.

*Transgender U.S. military troops faced a deadline yesterday to leave the service. If they do so now, they get some money, but the gutsy ones are staying to fight in court.

As transgender service members face a deadline to leave the U.S. military, hundreds are taking the financial bonus to depart voluntarily. But others say they will stay and fight.

For many, it is a wrenching decision to end a career they love, and leave units they have led or worked with for years. And they are angry they are being forced out by the Trump administration’s renewed ban on transgender troops.

Active duty service members had until Friday to identify themselves and begin to leave the military voluntarily, while the National Guard and Reserve have until July 7. Then the military will begin involuntary separations.

Friday’s deadline comes during Pride Month and as the Trump administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, saying it’s aiming to scrub the military of “wokeness” and reestablishing a “warrior ethos.”

Warrior ethos my tuchas! These troops were doing satisfactory service, and are being deep-sixed because of their chosen gender presentation. I still see no big problem with transgender troops, and I have heard no reports of trans womn attacking biological women in the service. This order should be rescinded, but it won’t be.  More:

“They’re tired of the rollercoaster. They just want to go,” said one transgender service member, who plans to retire. ”It’s exhausting.”

For others, it’s a call to arms.

“I’m choosing to stay in and fight,” a noncommissioned officer in the Air Force said. “My service is based on merit, and I’ve earned that merit.”

The troops, who mainly spoke on condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals, said being forced to decide is frustrating. They say it’s a personal choice based on individual and family situations, including whether they would get an infusion of cash or possibly wind up owing the government money.

“I’m very disappointed,” a transgender Marine said. “I’ve outperformed, I have a spotless record. I’m at the top of every fitness report. I’m being pushed out while I know others are barely scraping by.”

That Marine makes my point.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is, I’m told, really waiting for a miracle.

Andrzej: Are you waiting for somebody to open the door for you?
Hili: No, I’m waiting for a miracle.
In Polish:
Ja: Czekasz aż ktoś ci otworzy drzwi?
Hili: NIe, czekam na cud.
And a picture of the affectionate Szaron:

*******************

From CinEmma:

From The Dodo Pet:

From Meow:

Masih is still quiet, so we have JKR explaining why a lot of people are misinterpreting the UK Supreme Court’s decision on sex (i.e., you can’t legally change your natal sex by getting a certificate):

It’s good to see Obama again, and a bit of rationality (note, though, that his administration deported several million undocumented immigrants):

From Luana. The authors resisted publishing this study, and you can see why. But, thank Ceiling Cat, it’s now published:

Greta is sailing motoring to Gaza with enough supplies for a dozen people. Isn’t it hypocritical of her to use gasoline instead of the wind? (For more on this train wreck of a mission, see here; h/t Norman).

From Simon, a post by a comedian:

Starting to really regret my DOGE tattoo

— Brent Terhune (@brentterhune.bsky.social) 2025-06-05T23:05:22.862Z

From Malcolm, some kitty amusement:

One I reposted from the Auschwitz Memorial:

A French Jewish boy was gassed to death upon arriving at Auschwitz. He was ten years old, and had he lived, he'd be 93 today.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-06-07T09:40:35.903Z

One post from Dr. Cobb. Now what is Satan knitting?

Good one 😆

— Nina Willburger (@drnwillburger.bsky.social) 2025-06-04T17:47:12.094Z

 

23 thoughts on “Saturday: Hili dialogue”

  1. That’s the Minotaur, not Satan. Also, what’s wrong with Obama deporting illegal immigrants? They’re here illegally; they should be deported. I’m not bothered by Trump deporting them either, although he should return them to their countries of origin and not send them to foreign prisons. And of course Trump should respect any judge’s orders regarding any immigrants who should not be deported.

    1. Daedalus, Icarus, Theseus, and Ariadne. All familiar names and intimately associated with the story of the Minotaur.

    2. True Adrienne – Obama was joked about as “Deporter in chief”. I remember graphics explaining how wildly deportations upticked during his tenure.

      I still like him but he was very human. The “dear colleague” letter moves were sneaky and wrong.
      best,

      D.A.
      NYC

      1. Yes, the procedures Holder’s Justice Dept (presumably with Obama’s approval) put in place at colleges and universities regarding sexual assault allegations were terrible. I was glad to see DeVos revoke them.

        And we have Obama to thank for some of the transgender coverage in the ACA and protections in federal law.

        1. That’s true Adrienne, but I’d argue the entire trans world was different during his administration. In those days (recall the North Carolina bathroom kerfuffle) – trans was something niche, incredibly rare and not hard to make reasonable accommodation for. That was my memory and my personal ethical position.

          That was before the real rise of trans madness which (variously estimated) started around 2014-ish, getting out of control later. HA! I know I never predicted what could happen – and has.
          cheers,

          D.A.
          NYC

  2. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
    Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars. -Gwendolyn Brooks, poet (7 Jun 1917-2000)

    1. A salient quote. How is this distinction to be discerned – as cult gnostics want to invert and claim power over the distinctions?

      Knights always tell the truth.
      Knaves always lie.

      “Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”

      -Blaise Pascal, Pensées
      sec. SECTION XIV: APPENDIX: POLEMICAL FRAGMENTS, no. 864
      17th c., posthumous, (1670 2nd. ed.)

      ccel.org/ccel/pascal/pensees/pensees.xv.html

      BTW “Pascal’s Wager” is supposed to be in that^^^

    2. IMHO it is worth evaluating this as :

      • psyop – particularly Woke Right, but that’s a wild guess
      • “Reality TV”

  4. “The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth and truth be defamed as a lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world—and the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this end—is being destroyed.”

    -Hannah Arendt

    https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/on-fake-hannah-arendt-quotations-2024-08-04

    “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears.”

    George Orwell
    1984

    “UNLIKE GAY identity, which, though deliberately proclaimed in an act of affirmation, is nonetheless rooted in the positive fact of homosexual object-choice, queer identity need not be grounded in any positive truth or in any stable reality.”

    -David M. Halperin
    1995

      1. The quote is a famous mis-quote, as the author of the site explains.

        I only just got it into my notes, so it is a little jumbled but I think it’s the right one.

        2. Bryan, I think you posted an authentic Arendt quote; the false one is this:

          “This constant lying is not aimed at making the people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore. A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and lies cannot distinguish between right and wrong. And such a people, deprived of the power to think and judge, is, without knowing and willing it, completely subjected to the rule of lies. With such a people, you can do whatever you want.”

          Anyway, thanks for the quotes!

  5. Michael Wolff, Trump watcher and writer has claimed to have seen photos of Trump with topless girls of uncertain age. The Epstein files may be extremely embarrassing for Trump.

  6. Regardless of what I think about Trump or Musk, “Battle of the Narcissists” is a good name for this fracas.

  7. I don’t know how much these post-Administration memoirs will add to the historical record. They all seem to be very self-serving and self-exculpatory. They will likely only make their authors look worse, if not in absolute terms, then for not defending what they did (and didn’t) do in supporting the Biden Administration’s actions and policies.

  8. When I read that story at Palestinian Media Watch—yes, I know it’s not healthy, but I do check that site out regularly—it became (yet again) crystal clear the kinds of people we’re dealing with. The PA is vying for control of Gaza by trying to convince the west that they are the good guys. This is how they try to seduce us—by telling Hamas leaders to shoot themselves in the head? These are the ones we should rally around?! Never do they speak of peace. It’s always violence. Hamas is a death cult and so is the Palestinian Authority. The west needs to understand that Hamas, the PA, and their supporters are not like us.

    1. YES Norman. Pal Media Watch is as chilling as MEMRI.org I watch both screaming at the computer: “Don’t people KNOW this?” “How can they NOT know?” – goodness it isn’t like it used to be 20 years ago when the threats and madness were (mostly) in Arabic media.

      Then I wonder if knowledge of the whole horror would even move the needle.
      Countering it, like WEIT (or I at https://democracychronicles.org/kindergarten-jihad-who-plays-the-beheaded/ – published here before) have an uphill battle.

      D.A.
      NYC

  9. I never thought I’d say this, but in this narcissists’ feud, it really looked like Trump was sad after Musk’s dramatic turn-around. Of the two narcissists, it actually looked like Trump was the adult in the room. Think about it. Trump gave him access to the whole government, and even debased himself selling Tesla cars on the White House lawn for Musk. When has he ever been that nice to someone? The betrayal had to hurt. His public reaction yesterday was remarkably restrained.

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