For months, the Tampa Bay Rays celebrated the signing of a deal between their group, the city of St. Petersburg, and the Pinellas County Commission.
Now, with the election of new members to the Pinellas County Commission it appears that the deal, as it stands now, could be crumbling.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan has been working for years to bring the team to Tampa and says it still remains a possibility if the deal in Pinellas officially falls through.
Less than one month after a ballot measure to overturn Florida’s six-abortion ban narrowly failed to get the support it needed to pass, Planned Parenthood has decided to relaunch a program at their East Orlando clinic that offers an increasingly in-demand form of permanent birth control: vasectomies.....MORE
Even the ex-IDF chief knows: stopping this is a moral imperative
Dear Friends,
Within minutes of the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Security Minister Gallant last month, came a flood of condemnations, an array of whataboutisms and countless allegations of antisemitism and “blindness.” But the true blindness is our society’s insistence, even now, to not see what we are doing in Gaza.
Starvation as a weapon, high-rise buildings bombed to take down an alleged “lookout,” lax rules of engagement and disproportionate use of firepower. We got to this point as a society by closing our eyes, covering our ears and shutting down any and every opposing voice.
This disastrous reality of endless bloodshed should’ve ended with a ceasefire and hostage deal long ago. Not because of the International Criminal Court’s decision, but because the reality is immoral and unbearable.
"We are now being dragged to occupy, annex, ethnically cleanse - look at the north of the Gaza Strip - transfer, call it whatever you want, and to settle in Jewish settlements. That is the matter."
The former soldier who made the statement above is not one of our testifiers. Far from it. These are the words of Moshe Ya’alon, the former IDF chief of staff and Israel’s former defense minister. And he didn’t misspeak, either.
When pressed, he only reiterated and reaffirmed his statements. "I stand behind the phrase 'ethnic cleansing.' I must warn you about what is happening here and is being hidden from us. War crimes are being committed here," he said, adding that he was speaking "on behalf of commanders who operate in the northern Gaza Strip and have been approaching me with dread."
His comments were quickly pounced on by many in Israel’s right. A former defense minister and chief of staff accusing the IDF of ethnic cleansing? This is a man who, during the Second Intifada, spoke of "searing the consciousness" of Palestinians. While he’s an opponent of the current government, he’s about as far from a Palestinian rights advocate as one can be.
A cynical word of advice for Ya'alon: if you want to say the IDF is ethnically cleansing northern Gaza without drawing the ire of the Israeli right, all you have to do is endorse what you're describing. Minister Bezalel Smotrich did exactly that last week, telling the heads of local councils in the West Bank that “We can occupy Gaza and decrease the population by half within two years.”
No one in the room called Smotrich delusional. No one there called him a traitor or a disgrace to the state of Israel. When Minister Avi Dichter called for a second Nakba, the only consequence he saw was Prime Minister Netanyahu telling him to "be sensitive."
But even had Netanyahu punished him for saying that, he would only still be shooting the messenger. The double standard around criticizing the IDF's actions exposes that all sides are seeing the same calamitous picture, but any who call on the calamity to stop are publicly berated in order to intimidate anyone else from further dissent.
The reality is that we are starving the residents of northern Gaza. Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out. Buildings that weren't bombed or shelled were torched by soldiers. The rest were scraped away by bulldozers. The fact that even someone like Ya’alon understands this only emphasizes what we all already know - stopping this is a moral imperative.
Consumer advocates say they’re preparing for sweeping changes at one of Washington’s newest financial watchdogs under President-elect Donald Trump, whose allies have promised broad deregulation of companies that handle Americans’ money.....MORE
How one woman’s passion for football led to her fight for women’s rights.
Khalida Popal’s passion is football and her purpose, fighting for women’s rights. Both put her life in danger in Afghanistan. Forced to flee and become a refugee, Khalida has found a new and stronger voice to help all women.
In this episode of Now You Know, Khalida talks about creating the Afghan women’s national football team, and how football gave her a sense of freedom that her country did not.
President-Elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan will have sweeping impacts across the country and here in Florida. But as capitol reporter Forrest Saunders learned, state leaders say it’s not going to be their problem. Plus, our political analyst Dr. MacManus joins us. We talk about if Trump’s immigration plans could impact farm workers, Trump saying he will sign an executive order to impose tariffs on everything imported from Mexico, Canada, and China, the powerplay between Tallahassee and Mar-a-Lago, and more.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has quickly begun to assemble the list of people he wants to serve in his cabinet and in other senior positions during his second term.....MORE
President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that he intends to nominate Massad Boulos, a billionaire businessman from Lebanon who is also father-in-law to Tiffany Trump, to serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.....MORE
Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker joins Sunday TODAY’s Hallie Jackson to discuss President-elect Trump’s controversial pick of Kash Patel to serve as FBI director.
It’s been called the closest the world has ever come to a vaccine against the AIDS virus.
The twice-yearly shot was 100% effective in preventing HIV infections in a study of women, and results published Wednesday show it worked nearly as well in men.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he is tapping Republican Florida sheriff Chad Chronister to serve as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.....MORE
Qassem Abu Khalaf and his wife Malak Hijaz have a library of hundreds of ingredients
A young Palestinian couple in Jerusalem have produced a range of perfumes (Méjana Fragrances) to embody the heritage of their people. Despite the horror of the war in Gaza, they hope their scents can still summon memories of a better time, as Sebastian Usher reports from Jerusalem.
Qassem and Malak chose the name Méjana for their company name, as it’s a word that describes the old songs that Palestinians sing as they are working. “Mejana has a special rhythm when you sing it,” Malak says. “It means joy and happiness."
Together The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music and Qattan Center for Children's Choir performs "My Homeland" on 06/11/2015 as part of the Let's Sing My Homeland Together event.
Lyrics (translated)
My homeland, my homeland,
Glory and beauty, sublimity and splendor
Are in your hills, are in your hills.
Life and deliverance, pleasure and hope
Are in your air, are in your air.
Will I see you, will I see you?
Safely comforted and victoriously honored.
Will I see you in your eminence?
Reaching to the stars, reaching to the stars
My homeland, my homeland.
My homeland, my homeland,
The youth will not tire, their goal is your independence
Or they die, or they die.
We will drink from death, and will not be to our enemies
Like slaves, like slaves.
We do not want, we do not want
An eternal humiliation, nor a miserable life.
We do not want, but we will bring back
Our storied glory, our storied glory.
My homeland, my homeland.
My homeland, my homeland,
The sword and the pen, not the talk nor the quarrel
Are our symbols, are our symbols.
Our glory and our covenant, and a faithful duty
Moves us, moves us.
Our glory, our glory,
Is an honorable cause, and a waving flag.
O, behold you, in your eminence,
Victorious over your enemies, victorious over your enemies.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday he would pick Kash Patel, the conspiracist and former chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense during the first Trump administration, to serve as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.....MORE
Young men swung to the right for Trump after a campaign dominated by masculine appeals
“I regret saying this, but a while ago I thought he was an idiot and that he wouldn’t be a good president,” said the 18-year-old first-time voter. “I think he’s a great bigot now.”....MORE
Food charity pauses Gaza work after staff killed in Israeli strike
The charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) has said it is pausing its operations in Gaza after a vehicle carrying its staff members was hit by an Israeli air strike.....MORE
Officials with the Tampa Bay Rays have responded to the Pinellas County Commission Chairwoman Kathleen Peters’ question about whether the team plans to move forward with the stadium deal.....MORE
Trump’s pick to lead the FCC poses a threat to free speech
Brendan Carr, Trump's pick for Chair of the FCC
Last week, President-elect Donald Trump promised to elevate Brendan Carr from commissioner to chair of the Federal Communications Commission, calling Carr a “warrior for free speech.” Nothing could be further from the truth.....MORE
