Beltway Insider: Biden, Israel, Ukraine, Climate COP, Abortion, Giuliani, Rape: A Weapon of War

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 17 December 2023 15:42; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden welcomed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House this week, he continues to seek help from the United States in his determined and globally united effort to stop Putin's advances into eastern Europe.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending December 17, 2023 increased by 1.0% to 38.7% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by ).4% to 55.4% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Biden, Israel Exchange Strong Words

President Biden, this week, as the international support for Israel continued war efforts against Hamas begins to wane as Israel continues to pummel Gaza with indiscriminate bombing, targeting not just known Hamas targets, but in increasing portions civilians also.

"White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that remarks by President Biden expressing concerns over Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in the Gaza Strip "reflected the reality of global opinion." Biden said at a fundraiser that Israel's air campaign is eroding its international support — some of the sharpest criticism from Israel's closest ally over its offensive in Gaza," reported The Washington Post.

Israel has responded to the strong words from Biden, by explaining they expect the current phase of the war, which can be interpreted as air raids and deconstruction of the vast underground network of tunnels built by Hamas, that includes war rooms and munitions bunkers. As the current phase is seen as indiscriminate bombing the expected phase will be specific and targeted shelling of Hamas strongholds.

U.N. Resolution

The United Nations voted on a Humanitarian Ceasefire, as the indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has caused Israel to lose support for its continued assaults on Gaza which has predominantly caused the most vulnerable citizen, the infants, toddlers, and children, the most suffering.

"The United Nations is tracking the incidence of 14 diseases with "epidemic potential" and is most concerned about soaring rates of dysentery, watery diarrhea, and acute respiratory infections, according to a list the U.N. is currently using for Gaza seen by Reuters on Tuesday," Reuters reported.

Along with the epidemic potential of diseases, the weather conditions, including strong winds, and heavy rain, flattened the Rafah refugee camp creating floods, and with no shelter Gazans were forced to spend the cold nights on wet sand.

The humanitarian crisis has further eroded support for Israel, with only ten nations supporting Israel and voting against the purposed UN Humanitarian Cease fire.

Israel has agreed to allowing humanitarian aid through the border at Karen Shalom, which has remained closed since the beginning of the October 7, war. All humanitarian aid into Gaza has come through Egypt, to the south.

"The Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza opened on Sunday for aid trucks for the first time since the outbreak of war, officials said, a move intended to double the amount of food and medicine reaching the enclave," Reuters reported.

With humanitarian aid reaching the displaced Gazans from both the north and south, it is possible that the Humanitarian ceasefire will soon be in place.

World News: Biden, Netanyahu, and Conflict Drift

Ukraine's Zelenskyy Visits Washington

President Biden announced continued unconditional support for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as the leader who refused to allow tyranny to take his homeland, stood beside the president in a joint press conference.

"We'll continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment as long as we can, including $200 million I just approved today in a critical needed equipment: additional air-defense interceptors, artillery, and ammunition," Biden said.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, 22 months ago, in February of 2022, no nation, believed the Ukraine could withstand the Russian invasion. Now, today, nearly two years later, Russia, for every step gained, has suffered defeat, for every solider killed, has lost as much, and as lost nearly their entire stockpile of weapons.

Ukraine stands between Russian and Western Europe, the resilience of the Ukrainian people and the determination to stop the advancement of tyranny, must be supported, especially by NATO allies.

"Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv on Thursday (28 September 2023), underscoring NATO's powerful support for Ukraine in talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his government. Calling Kyiv "a city with a special place in the hearts of the free world," Mr Stoltenberg paid tribute to President Zelenskyy's leadership and the heroism of the Ukrainian armed forces, welcoming that Ukraine is "gradually gaining ground" in its hard-fought counteroffensive," NATO officials reported.

COP28

The United Nations held its 28^th Annual Climate Conference of the Parties, or COP28, in Dubai, where an historic agreement by more than 200 nations to "transition away" from fossil fuels, which will help limit an increase in the earth's temperature.

"For the first time, the outcome recognizes the need to transition away from fossil fuels – after many years in which the discussion of this issue was blocked," Guterres said in closing out the Dubai summit that stretched from Nov. 30 until this week. "Science tells us that limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees will be impossible without the phase out of all fossil fuels on a timeframe consistent with this limit. This has been recognized by a growing and diverse coalition of countries," Foxnews.com reported.

This action will go a long way to prevent the disastrous effects including increased risks of disruptions in weather patterns, droughts would last longer, jeopardizing populations and crop production, and warmer waters would increase the severity of hurricanes, catastrophically affecting the economies along the eastern United States seaboard and other countries.

Rudy Giuliani

For Trump Attorney and former U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani, has been ordered by a jury to pay $148 million to two election poll workers in Georgia resulting from statements the former attorney to then President Trump, that the Atlanta election workers manipulated the absentee ballots.

"The jury decision marks a stunning downfall for Giuliani, after his attorney warned jurors that a penalty of tens of millions of dollars could mark "the end" for the former New York mayor and onetime Manhattan U.S. prosecutor, whose law license was earlier suspended over his election falsehoods," The Washington Post reported.

The jury debated for nearly nine hours before returning with an award that was nearly triple what the plaintiffs had sought.

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Abortion Drug Case Goes to Supreme Court

The Abortion issue will once again be heading to the Supreme Court, who announced this week that they would hear arguments on the Abortion Drug, mifepristone, which has become increasingly more difficult to obtain as more women seek to terminate pregnancies at home, after the court's landmarked ruling, in June 2022, overturning the 1974 decision in Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed women the right to terminate their pregnancy on demand.

"The justices agreed to review the mifepristone case as the broader issue of abortion access remains divisive politically and legally. A pregnant woman in Texas this week lost her legal battle for permission to end her pregnancy, after she had left the state to obtain an abortion. Last week, a Kentucky woman went to court asserting the state's abortion restrictions violate her constitutional right to privacy," reported The Washington Post.

Autonomy in reproductive care has remained a hot button and divisive issue as many, states immediately banned abortions, and then not surprisingly women, in traditionally red states, decided they would challenge the male hierarchy and united creating grass roots campaign to have the fundamental right of self-governance or autonomy in reproductive care included in the state constitution which resulted in significant victories for women's rights of independence throughout the nation.

For men, vasectomies, which cut the supply of sperm and therefore any possibility of reproduction and without doubt represent a pro-choice position, are not mandated by any federal ruling, even in states where Abortions have been severely restricted or eliminated.

Coronavirus Totals

The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens, should receive at least one shot of an updated covid vaccine.

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the 7-day period ending December 17, 2023, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide reached 772,138,818 confirmed cases, an increase over the past 7 days of 247,251 cases worldwide. The total worldwide death toll increased by 1,258 to 6,985,964 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated December 13, 2023, from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

As hospitalizations and infection rates continue to rise in the United States, some jurisdictions are suggesting new mask mandates. For the 7-day period ending December 17, 2023, new Covid hospitalizations in the U.S. increased by 23,804 to 6,568,418. The coronavirus has claimed 1,159,864 total U.S. deaths, adding 1,679 deaths, over the past week. (Data updated December 9, 2023, posted December 8, 2023, from the CDC).

Rape: A Weapon of War

Rape should be one of those words that people use cautiously, and when the "word" is spoken it should be conveyed with the insidious and sinister truth of what it entails. Rape is not a nice word, rape is a brutal weapon of war, and thanks to the judicial system the crime of choice for many.

Statistically, rape crimes, in societies not at war, are rarely prosecuted, which adds to the association of the perfect crime. If rape is reported, even though shield laws prevent the victim's identity from being exposed, the detectives, if they are objective and without bias, will dig into a victim's past.

The list is shocking of the well-known names in business and industry, in politics, in the entertainment industry, in real estate, finance, law, medical, academia, professional sports, military, and of course in war. Rape, it seems, is fair game and rapists everywhere have embraced the belief that the law works in their favor, and it does.

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"While RAINN's work focuses on the crime of rape and supporting survivors in the United States, we condemn all sexual violence around the globe. Rape is an evil act that has harmed millions of survivors and has been used as a tool of armed conflict and terrorism. Most recently, we are horrified by and condemn the rape of women and girls by Hamas in Israel on October 7. No decent person can defend, or should attempt to legitimize, rape," Scott Berkowitz, RAINN President and Founder said.

The long-term trauma resulting from sexual assault derails lives; to report it is career assassination. For those who just hope to breathe again, to take one breath without the reminders, the road is long. For some the death is a better option than living daily with the reminders, and the failure of the system, who dig deep to find a steer clear of prosecution.

And the same system is in operation around the world.

Emmanuelle Debever, the French actress, who was relatively unknown in the United States committed suicide this week, after a television documentary in France aired, in which she was featured her accusations of rape and sexual assault against the French actor Gerard Depardieu.

"Her allegations against Depardieu are not new. In a Facebook post in 2019, Debever said her co-star tried to grope her as they rode in a carriage on set. "This monster allowed himself to enjoy plenty during filming, making the most of the intimacy inside a carriage," she wrote. "Sliding his fat paw under my skirt to, in his words, 'make me feel better'…I didn't allow it to happen,"' reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Depardieu has been accused by many other women, as the television program Complément d'Enquête aired snippets of another actress Helene Darras who initiated an official investigation.

Justice Watch: And They Got Away With It (Part 4)

America's Civil War

The New York Times published an extensive investigative piece "Women at Fast-Growing Realty Firm say They Were Drugged and Assaulted, by Deborah Kamin, detailing the fast-rising eXp realty and the shocking accounts of GHB aided rapes allegedly perpetrated by two of the up-and-coming real estate firms' top executives, which details multiple women explaining the same account, all the same details. The endings were always the same. No prosecution, lack of evidence, it boils down to it's a man's world, women are fair game, and the free pass for the rapist, which is legitimizing rape.

One day, possibly, there will be a jurisdiction that will prosecute, which will then expose widespread, large scale sexual violence and rape. The numbers for prosecution in cases like this need to pass the triple digit mark before judicial organization determine that it is out of control.

The only justice for victims, now, is a life sentence of injustice, taunts, and intentional reminders as the rapists through career and character assassination continue to destroy every attempt to rebuild and expect the effort will be too overwhelming and end in suicide. It's unfathomably unbelievable. And yet, prosecutors in every jurisdiction operate by the boy's club standard.

Justice Watch: The Perfect Crime (The Victim X Story Pt. 2)

No decent person can defend or should attempt to legitimize rape. And yet, we have a system that refuses to prosecute rapists, it is legitimizing the violence.

There is a commonality between the New York Times reporter's effort to speak with prosecutors who, after making these egregious decisions, refuse further comment and conversation and the Hudson County SAVA Unit, who refused any further contact with the victim. The second intake of the victim, as New Jersey, has a system that forces the victim to report the crime, and then if it is deemed legitimate, is required to follow through to another location, and be transported, and the "report" is then funneled through internally. No big deal, just another woman raped.

Three security doors, two roommates, GHB, DNA, and a roommate who explained to her gal pal, which establishes collusion, "I don't know why she reported this rape when she didn't report the others."

Even when to enter the apartment one would have to pass through three security doors, living with two roommates, and in the morning made sure to have the medical evidence necessary for prosecution and still no prosecution.

If that isn't legitimizing, I don't know what is.

For more information on President Joe Biden w ww.whitehouse.gov.