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Yeah, that’s fair, I did not have that context originally. I should have quoted the article I linked, because the salient parts point out that it was strange the graffiti evoked the Israeli flag, which I had noticed originally:

Also the message in the medium was confusing. Conceivably a blue Israeli flag, or what immediately evokes it, could be seen as a pro-Jewish sign. Surely any genuine antisemite would have found a clearer way of expressing their hate.

I’m inclined to agree with the BBC’s conclusion:

As for the purpose of Operation Star of David, like all dezinformatsiya it seems to have been to sow confusion and anxiety. The fact that the symbol could be either pro- or anti-Israeli made it all the more interesting: that way both sides would be suspicious.

I notice the Times of Israel doesn’t consider this months-old information when continuing to reference it as evidence of anti-semitism.

Marking buildings with Stars of David is how the Nazis marked Jewish homes and properties.

But that’s unlikely to be what happened here: BBC

All your sources rely on the same primary source: the interior ministry. And I don’t see a breakdown of the acts. In a number of articles, graffiti of stars of David across buildings in France was categorized as anti-Semitic, which seems really weird to me because they weren’t defaced or altered in any way, just stars of David. On its face I would think that was…pro-semitic.

Either way, I’m not denying there has been an uptick in anti-Semitism and that any and all anti-semitism is indefensible. But there also seems to be a deliberate effort to embellish the narrative by treating anti-Israeli or pro-Paletinian acts as anti-Semitic. Then people react to that narrative with fear, and their fear is used to further credit the narrative.

The insidious part is that these stories treat the narrative as support for Israel’s ongoing aggression.

I feel for anyone who feels unsafe in their homes and communities. I can’t imagine the weight of the decision to uproot yourself and your family to emigrate to another country for reasons beyond your control, especially discrimination.

It’s worth noting, though, that this article seemingly goes out of its way to obfuscate what qualifies as anti-semitic acts.

"This kind of expression is no longer coming only from the extreme right, but also by the far left — and while it’s doubtful that it’s always antisemitic, anyone sensitive can feel that it’s never far away in certain discourse,” warns Wieviorka.

Palestinian solidarity is not anti-semitism, and there are abundant indicators (from this article and its links) they’re being conflated in France.

Hey go easy on yourself, we’re all phallic.

Haha, sorry to confuse things further but this is not true .

Tldr, “till” is its own word and is actually older than the word until, and they’ve been used synonymously for centuries. 'Til with an apostrophe is acceptable but has been less common, and til without an apostrophe is even less common.

Pride can actually be defined as pleasure derived from an achievement. There are meadows in your community right now with a sizable population of randy toads that would otherwise have been ripped out and replaced by cheap, cookie cutter (I assume) housing, if not specifically because of your interest and contribution.

Intent needn’t be part of the equation. Pleasure + achievement = pride. I’m proud of you for saving those meadows, for goodness sake take some for yourself!

Calibri is not actually the default font anymore! In M365, at least. Granted, it will be a long time before it’s not recognized as such.

My company uses Roboto. I like it a lot, but I think it’s gotten pretty popular. Do you know about fonts.google.com? Huge library that you can apply filters to, makes it really easy to browse.

Courtesy of my expansive Google skills (I searched “comic child sick exorcist” lol).

litterboxcomics.com

I have a soft spot for Jee-woon Kim, a Korean filmmaker probably best know for The Good, the Bad, and the Weird or I Saw the Devil. He’s gotten some big recognition, and even made an American debut with a regrettably forgettable post-gubernatorial Arnold Schwarzenegger movie (The Last Stand).

But in the 2000s, he made a string of really phenomenal genre flicks (the two mentioned above, as well as A Bittersweet Life and A Tale of Two Sisters) that got me into Korean cinema even moreso than Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon Ho, who I was also paying close attention to at the start.

His career has been less consistent though. The Arnold movie and his adaptation of Illang we’re both misfires. He does get good performances from his actors, and he can elevate a good script to it’s maximum potential, but he doesn’t do the same for bad scripts. I think his greatest strength though is his visual flair, and that just doesn’t generate as much attention as his contemporaries.

I read this more as “Heads of 3 top US colleges refuse to trap themselves in what was likely to be a performative thread of anti-Palestinian questions from one of Congress’s most shameless clown-people (Elise Stefanik).”

To be clear, from the article itself:

The university leaders all personally criticized anti-Israel activism.

On second thought, it may not have even been anti-Palestinian per se, but rather more careless exploitation in pursuit of CRT-adjacent nonsense.

Some Republicans sought to paint campus antisemitism as a product of universities embracing “the race-based ideology of the radical left,”

You seem really passionate about consuming inedible objects, and I admire your forthrightness.

I’d like to believe so too, but nothing spurs creative innovation like threats to power. But you’re certainly right that there’s no low-effort mode in business to unionization response. This may very well be the most they’re capable of.

“Like the companies, the trade union movement is global in the fight to protect workers,” 3F Chair Jan Villadsen said in a statement, adding that Sweden’s IF Metall union had asked 3F to help."

Powerful stuff. I find myself anxious about retaliatory escalation as unionization continues this spike in growth.

Desperate Gazans in Khan Younis packed their belongings and headed towards Rafah. Most were on foot, walking past ruined buildings in a solemn and silent procession. But the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza (UNRWA), Thomas White, said people in Rafah were themselves being forced to flee.

Desperation and confusion pressing in from all sides, blanketed in unavoidable fear. Throw in the video that auto-plays in the article of the hospitalized two month old, my stomach is turning upside down again.

Theoretically, should an emergency occur, I may contact one close acquaintance, like a family member, and ask that they notify anyone else who needs to know, like work, so that I don’t have to provide updates through multiple channels all the time. Or I don’t feel like answering questions about something private to someone, like my boss, who has no business with the details.

That part doesn’t strike me as suspicious, but the persisting concern from friends and colleagues (as well as the potential unreliability of the paper’s representatives) does.

Worked at the paper for 18 years, good. But it’s owned by Alibaba Holdings in China, bad. The paper claims they’re in the contact with family and have confirmed she’s safe and taking time for personal issues, good. But her friends, colleagues, and Hong Kong Journalists Association remain concerned for her safety, bad.

I don’t know anything about all the elements at play here but it certainly sounds suspicious.

I am impressed by your resilience that you didn’t immediately swoon over his intelligence, diligence, and confidence, which is what I would strongly presume was his actual expectation.

That’s what captivated me about The Room, it’s an unfiltered view into the mind of an insecure, narcissistic man-child. It frequently and inadvertently borders on comedy, sure, but I mostly found it pretty uncomfortable.