Best Slow Cooker Recipes for Summer BBQ Sides: Effortless & Delicious https://www.cookwithcooker.com/best-slow-cooker-recipes-summer-bbq-sides/ Summer BBQs are all about enjoying great food and good company, and when it comes to side dishes, the slow cooker is your secret weapon. Imagine preparing sides like creamy coleslaw, baked beans, or tangy BBQ corn on the cob without hovering over a hot stove all day. Slow cookers do the heavy lifting, allowing you to enjoy the sunshine and your guests without stress. In this article, we’ll explore some of the best slow cooker recipes for summer BBQ sides that will elevate your next cookout. If you’re new to slow cooking or need inspiration for other meal ideas, be sure to check out easy slow cooker recipes for beginners, perfect for any occasion. 1. Creamy Slow Cooker Coleslaw A BBQ isn’t complete without coleslaw. It’s the perfect balance of crunch and creaminess, and it pairs wonderfully with grilled meats like pulled pork or ribs. The beauty of making coleslaw in a slow cooker is that the flavors meld together beautifully over time. You won’t have to worry about it wilting or getting soggy. Ingredients: 1 medium green cabbage, shredded 1 medium purple cabbage, shredded 2 large carrots, shredded 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tbsp honey Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Combine the shredded cabbage and carrots in the slow cooker. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and stir to coat evenly. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring halfway through. This creamy coleslaw is sure to be a hit at your BBQ. If you’re in the mood for more fresh and healthy side dishes, be sure to try paleo slow cooker soups. 2. Slow Cooker Baked Beans Baked beans are a classic BBQ side, and when made in the slow cooker, they’re even better. Slow cooking allows the beans to absorb the smoky flavors and spices, creating a rich, comforting dish. Ingredients: 2 cups dried navy beans (soaked overnight) 1/2 lb bacon, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup molasses 1/4 cup ketchup 1 tbsp Dijon mustard Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Drain and rinse the soaked beans. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, sauté the onion until softened. Transfer the beans, bacon, onions, and all remaining ingredients into the slow cooker. Add enough water to cover the beans. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the beans are tender. These savory, smoky baked beans will have your guests coming back for seconds! For other hearty, satisfying meals, consider browsing keto pressure cooker dinners. 3. BBQ Slow Cooker Corn on the Cob Nothing screams summer like juicy corn on the cob, and making it in the slow cooker is the easiest way to get perfectly cooked corn without firing up the grill. You can add BBQ seasoning for a smoky twist. Ingredients: 6 ears of corn, husked and cleaned 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 tsp garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Arrange the corn in the slow cooker, stacking it vertically if necessary. Dot the corn with butter and sprinkle with smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours, or until the corn is tender. Serve this BBQ corn as a delicious side dish alongside your grilled meats. For more easy and fun recipes, check out instant pot meal prep for weight loss. 4. Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Mash If you’re looking for a healthier alternative to traditional mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes are a great choice. This slow cooker recipe creates a creamy, slightly sweet dish that pairs perfectly with BBQ chicken, ribs, or burgers. Ingredients: 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup milk 2 tbsp maple syrup Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Place the diced sweet potatoes in the slow cooker and add just enough water to cover them. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, until tender. Drain the water and mash the sweet potatoes with butter, milk, and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This sweet potato mash is the perfect side for any BBQ spread. Looking for more healthy recipes? Visit dairy-free Instant Pot desserts for a tasty treat. 5. Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese Mac and cheese is a BBQ staple that everyone loves. While it’s traditionally made on the stovetop, a slow cooker version is just as delicious and much easier to prepare, especially when you have a crowd to feed. Ingredients: 1 lb elbow macaroni, cooked 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup milk 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp garlic powder Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Cook the macaroni according to the package instructions and drain. In the slow cooker, combine the macaroni with all other ingredients. Stir everything together, cover, and cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. This creamy, cheesy mac and cheese is guaranteed to be a crowd favorite. If you’re looking for more kid-friendly recipes, check out healthy Instant Pot meals. 6. Slow Cooker Grilled Vegetables Grilled vegetables are a fantastic addition to any BBQ, and while you may traditionally grill them, you can also use your slow cooker for a more hands-off approach. The result is perfectly tender veggies with all the smoky flavors you love. Ingredients: 2 zucchini, sliced 1 bell pepper, sliced 1 red onion, sliced 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp dried oregano Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Toss the vegetables with olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Place them in the slow cooker and cover. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, stirring halfway through. These veggies are a great way to add some color and nutrition to your BBQ spread. Looking for more healthy meal ideas? Don’t miss gluten-free slow cooker soups and stews for cozy comfort food. Conclusion: Slow Cooker Recipes for Effortless BBQ Side Dishes Slow cookers truly shine when it comes to preparing delicious, hands-off side dishes for your summer BBQ. Whether you’re serving creamy coleslaw, smoky baked beans, or tender corn on the cob, these recipes are sure to make your BBQ spread even more memorable. For more slow cooker tips and recipes, check out our guide on how to cook perfect rice in a rice cooker, or browse other one-pot slow cooker meals for large families. With these recipes in your arsenal, your next BBQ will be a delicious success! Outbound Links: The Kitchn—BBQ and Grilling Recipes: A site with tons of ideas and tips for BBQ, including slow-cooked sides that go perfectly with grilled meats. https://www.thekitchn.com/slow-cooker-bbq-recipes-229412 #Cooking #Recipe #Food #Outdoors #Ideas #SocialMedia #Style #MothersDay #LifeLessons #Sports Leave a Comment Comment

China's AI chatbot DeepSeek shocked Big Tech, but questions over data security remain He who controls the semiconductor may not control the universe. image Telegram Whatsapp Back in 2023, OpenAI founder Sam Altman dismissed the idea of building a competitive Artificial Intelligence (AI) model on what then seemed like a meagre US$10 million (S$13.5 million) budget. "It's totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundation models," Altman declared, fielding a question from the audience at an Economic Times Conversations event. Two years later, Altman's dismissal seems to have been proven completely wrong with the debut of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI chatbot that was ostensibly trained for just US$5.6 million (S$7.6 million). DeepSeek is thus challenging entrenched assumptions about the AI industry, and shaking up the "Big Tech" world. It's not just "Big Tech" that is spooked by DeepSeek's debut, however. Concerns have been raised about the security of the information being fed to the Chinese AI chatbot, and the degree to which it might allow the Chinese state to exploit user data. The White House, for instance, is evaluating the application on national security grounds, Reuters reported. Either way, as United States President Donald Trump put it, the application is indeed a "wake-up call" for both the overlords of the tech world, as well as for national security watchdogs around the world. 'You don't need a billion-dollar data centre anymore.': Ho Ching Former CEO of Temasek Holdings Ho Ching, made a post on Facebook about DeepSeek's disruption, explaining why it is "blowing people's minds". While AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini require "billion-dollar data centres" replete with expensive graphics processing units (GPUs), DeepSeek achieved comparable results on a relatively lean budget, and with a "few good GPUs". Nvidia's high-cost H100 chips, for instance, were once seen as vital for generative AI technology, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world: DeepSeek, however, claims to have not used Nvidia's H100 chips, which are banned in China, to train its AI model. As a result, DeepSeek's debut caused an upheaval in the stock market and wiped nearly US$600 million (S$810.6 million) off Nvidia's market capitalisation. As Ho put it, "the 'moats' of big tech companies look more like puddles" now. Not everyone believes DeepSeek's claims, however. Tesla's chief executive officer (CEO) Elon Musk, for instance, believes that it is "obvious" that DeepSeek is surreptitiously using the H100 chips. Musk's suspicion is not unfounded, given that there have been allegations of H100 chips being secretly smuggled into China in the past. Nevertheless, Ho believes that there is no catch to DeepSeek's success. "Anyone can check their work. The code is public. The technical papers explain everything. It's not magic, just incredibly clever engineering," she wrote. But, could the chatbot be spying on you? DeepSeek has become one of the most downloaded apps on Apple's app store in countries such as Singapore and the UK. Experts who spoke to The Guardian, however, expressed concerns that the Chinese state may be using DeepSeek to gather data or information. Currently, there is no concrete proof that data submitted to the chatbot is indeed compromised. All the same, China's national intelligence law states that "all state organs, armed forces, political parties, social groups, enterprises, public institutions, organisations and citizens, shall support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence efforts." Former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng, for instance, posted to Facebook that he deleted the DeepSeek app as it "stores data in China and censors stuff": The chatbot certainly is quite circumspect when it comes to taboo topics in Chinese politics, such as the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 or territorial claims in the South China Sea, reflecting party lines on these matters. So, share your data and information with DeepSeek at your own risk. "An inflection point" Moving forward, DeepSeek appears set to radically change the AI industry. Ho explained how DeepSeek's debut sent up 'big tech' companies like Meta, Google and OpenAI: "DeepSeek did this with a team of less than 200 people. Meanwhile, Meta has teams where the compensation alone exceeds DeepSeek's entire training budget ... and their models aren't as good." Ho argued that DeepSeek's disruption will make AI development far more accessible, thus increasing competition. Ho added: "This feels like one of those moments we'll look back on as an inflection point. Like when PCs made mainframes less relevant, or when cloud computing changed everything. AI is about to become a lot more accessible, and a lot less expensive. The question isn't if this will disrupt the current players, but how fast?" Top photo from DeepSeek. https://mothership.sg/2025/01/deepseek-big-tech/?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ms

The Worst Thing About The Gaza Holocaust Is Knowing It Will Happen Again Caitlin Johnstone Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): The official death toll from the Israeli assault on Gaza has continued to climb at about the same rate it was climbing before the ceasefire went into effect, despite the ceasefire more or less holding. This is because the pause in the slaughter has given Palestinians the opportunity to dig up the remains of those who’ve been buried under the rubble all this time, allowing some to be added to the Gaza Health Ministry’s count. Even if the ceasefire continues to hold, we can expect the death toll from violent trauma to keep climbing for a very long time. The footage we are seeing from places like Rafah and Jabalia are completely apocalyptic, with hardly any visible structures remaining even partially vertical in some areas. Many of the dead have been lying there for over a year. Many would have died slow, agonizing deaths over hours or days trapped beneath the wreckage without the possibility of rescue. “Contrary to western propaganda, Gaza health authorities took a conservative approach to casualty figures, listing only recovered identified bodies,” journalist Craig Murray wrote on Twitter. “Now hundreds of unaccounted bodies are being dug from the rubble daily. Mothers are digging for the skeletons of their children.” https://x.com/MacaesBruno/status/1881035001535598665 I remember back in the early days of the Gaza holocaust you’d get mobbed by Israel apologists on social media if you described what you were seeing as carpet bombing. They’d show photos of Dresden or Hamburg and say “THIS is what REAL carpet bombing looks like!”, and those photos looked exactly like the footage we are seeing of the wreckage of Gaza today. This was a deliberate and methodical demolition of a civilization. An entirely intentional operation to turn a densely populated area into an uninhabitable wasteland, with the goal of eliminating and displacing a population who were deemed undesirable because of their ethnicity. And it’s very possible that operation will resume in a few weeks’ time. President Trump is now on record saying he is “not confident” that the ceasefire will continue through all three phases, dishonestly claiming “It’s not our war. It is their war.” To whatever extent you can call the methodical carpet bombing of a defenseless population a “war”, the US government has been equally as responsible for waging it as Israel. Insiders from the Israeli military and government have stated over and over and over again that the assault on Gaza would not have been possible without US assistance, which the US could at any point have chosen to withhold this entire time. Israel depends on the US about as much as any foreign US military base does, so the White House has always had more than enough leverage to force it to stop its ethnic cleansing campaign. And this is to say nothing of the assault on the West Bank being waged by Israeli forces and extremist settlers, with no apparent pushback from the Trump administration. This comes as Israel’s Shin Bet agency declares that its “multi-front war” is now focused on the West Bank. Trump has appointed virulent Zionists to his cabinet like Mike Huckabee and Elise Stefanik, who are highly supportive of Israel annexing the West Bank in its entirety. https://x.com/UNRWA/status/1882111344876388611 The most horrific thing about the Gaza holocaust is knowing that it’s going to happen again. Even if this ceasefire somehow manages to hold, some other nightmare will be unleashed by the US-centralized empire somewhere else in the world in the coming years. We can be absolutely certain that it will happen again because nothing has been done to ensure that it doesn’t. No major policy changes have been put in place. Nobody has been punished — not the government officials responsible, nor the media who ran cover for their criminality this entire time. They torched the place and then walked away scot-free, just like they did with Iraq. The reason nothing has been done to prevent other Gazas from happening again is because they want other Gazas to happen again. The US empire depends on nonstop violence and abuse to maintain its planetary domination; it’s not going to intentionally hamstring itself from using those tools wherever it needs to. The US empire will continue terrorizing and abusing the world until it is brought to an end, as surely as an object will continue falling until it hits something. _______________ My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to find video versions of my articles. If you’d prefer to listen to audio of these articles, you can subscribe to them on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud or YouTube. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley. Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 Featured image is a screen grab from footage shared on X by UNRWA. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-worst-thing-about-the-gaza-holocaust

Is Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let It Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off the Map”? *** First published on October 17, 2023 at the outset of Israel’s act of genocide against Palestine. Revised in April 2024 There is an ongoing propagandIa campaign which categorically denies the existence of a False Flag, the objective of which is to justify the genocide against the People of Palestine. The evidence is overwhelming. A False Flag conducted by US intelligence in coordination with US-NATO is a criminal undertaking. . Introduction. Was it a False Flag? Military operations are invariably planned well in advance. Was “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” a “surprise attack” ? Or Was it “A False Flag”. In the words of Philip Giraldi: “As a former intelligence officer, I find it impossible to believe that Israel did not have multiple informants inside Gaza as well as electronic listening devices all along the border wall which would have picked up movements of groups and vehicles. In other words, the whole thing might be a tissue of lies as is often the case.” A Tissue of Lies “A Tissue of Lies” has served to justify the killing in the Gaza Strip of more than 35,000 civilians, of which 70% are women and children coupled with total destruction and an endless string of atrocities. The Cat is out of the bag. Netanyahu has tacitly acknowledged that it was “A False Flag” which was intent upon justifying a carefully planned genocidal attack against Palestine: “Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” he [Netanyahu] told a meeting of his Likud party’s Knesset members in March 2019. “This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.” (Haaretz, October 9, 2023, emphasis added) Does this candid statement not suggest that Netanyahu and his military-intelligence apparatus are responsible for the killings of innocent Israeli civilians? On that same day of October 7, 2023 Netanyahu launched a carefully planned military operation against the Gaza Strip entitled “State of Readiness For War”. Military operations are invariably planned well in advance. Had “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” been a “surprise attack” as parroted by the media, Netanyahu’s “State of Readiness For War” could not have been carried out (at short notice) on that same day, namely October 7, 2023. South Africa’s Legal Procedure against The State of Israel On January 11, 2024, The Republic of South Africa presented to The Hague World Court, a carefully formulated Legal Procedure against the State of Israel predicated on The Genocide Convention. This legal procedure, however, has not contributed to repealing the ongoing genocide and saving the lives of tens of thousands of civilians. I should mention that the False Flag issue –which constitutes a crime against humanity– was casually ignored by the ICJ. Our suggestion is that an investigation followed by a legal procedure pertaining to the “False Flag” should be undertaken. The heads of State and heads of government who have endorsed Israel’s Genocidal Acts are from a legal standpoint complicit. The ICJ Judgement was contradictory. The Presiding Judge (former legal advisor to Hillary Clinton) was in conflict of interest: The ICJ Judgment of January 26, 2024 assigns the Netanyahu government representing the State of Israel –accused by the Republic of South Africa of genocide against the People of Palestine– with a mandate to “take all measures within its power” to “prevent and punish” those responsible for having committed “Genocidal Acts”. (under Article IV of the Genocide Convention) Sounds contradictory? What the ICJ judgment intimates –from a twisted legal standpoint– is that Netanyahu’s Cabinet which was “appointed” to implement the “prevent and punish” mandate cannot be accused of having committed “Genocidal Acts”. See “Fake Justice” at The Hague: The ICJ “Appoints” Netanyahu to “Prevent” and “Punish” Those Responsible for “Genocidal Acts” By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, April 24, 2024 Our intent is to provide a broad and detailed understanding of the false flag issue pertaining to Palestine The titles of the videos, articles and texts presented below: Is the Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let it Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off the Map”?, by Dr. Philip Giraldi. Video: ICJ Hearings in The Hague, Text of Israel’s Secret Intelligence Memorandum. Planning the Forcible Exclusion of Palestinians from Their Homeland Video: “False Flag. Wiping Gaza Off the Map”, Interview. Michel Chossudovsky with Caroline Mailloux “False Flag. Wiping Gaza Off the Map”, by Michel Chossudovsky Gaza Strikes Back. It’s Another 9/11 or Pearl Harbor? But Who Actually Did What to Whom? “This Was More Likely a False Flag Operation”, by Philip Giraldi In solidarity with the People of Palestine. Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, January 11, 2024, September 14, 2024 Part I Is the Gaza-Israel Fighting “A False Flag”? They Let it Happen? Their Objective Is “to Wipe Gaza Off the Map”? by Dr. Philip Giraldi October 8, 2023 Am I the only one who read about a speech given by Netanyahu or someone in his cabinet about a week ago in which he/they in passing referred to a “developing security situation” which rather suggests (to me) that they might have known about developments in Gaza and chose to let it happen so they can wipe Gaza off the map in retaliation and, possibly relying on the US pledge to have Israel’s “back,” then implicating Iran and attacking that country. I cannot find a link to it, but have a fairly strong recollection of what I read as I thought at the time it would serve as a pretext for another massacre of Palestinians. As a former intelligence officer, I find it impossible to believe that Israel did not have multiple informants inside Gaza as well as electronic listening devices all along the border wall which would have picked up movements of groups and vehicles. In other words, the whole thing might be a tissue of lies as is often the case. And as is also ALWAYS the case Joe Biden is preparing to send some billions of dollars to poor little Israel to pay for “defending” itself. Part II VIDEO. ICJ Hearings in The Hague January 2024 ICJ Hearings 1. January 11, 2024. Click Here to View the ICJ Hearings, 2. January 12, 2024. Israel’s Legal Team’s response to South Africa, ICJ The Hague at 10 am. Video in Real Time 3. Video: South Africa’s Closing Argument against Israel for Genocide. January 11 Hearing at the World Court Part III Israel’s Secret Intelligence Memorandum Planning the Forcible Exclusion of Palestinians from Their Homeland by Michel Chossudovsky October 2023 An official “secret” memorandum authored by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence “is recommending the forcible and permanent transfer of the Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinian residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula”, namely to a refugee camp in Egyptian territory. There are indications of Israel-Egypt negotiations as well as consultations with the U.S. The 10-page document, dated Oct. 13, 2023, bears the logo of the Intelligence Ministry … assesses three options regarding the future of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip … It recommends a full population transfer as its preferred course of action. … The document, the authenticity of which was confirmed by the ministry, has been translated into English in full here on +972. See below, click here or below to access complete document (10 pages) For further details and analysis see: “Wiping Gaza Off the Map”: Israel’s “Secret” Intelligence Memorandum “Option C” by Michel Chossudovsky Part IV Video: “False Flag. Wiping Gaza Off the Map” Interview: Michel Chossudovsky and Caroline Mailloux October 17, 2023 To comment or access Rumble Part V “False Flag”. Wiping Gaza Off the Map by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky October 12, 2023 . Introduction . Early Saturday October 7, 2023, Hamas launched “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” led by Hamas’ Military Chief Mohammed Deif. On that same day, Netanyahu confirmed a so-called “State of Readiness For War”. Military operations are invariably planned well in advance (See Netanyahu’s January 2023 statement below). Was “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” a “surprise attack” ? U.S. intelligence say they weren’t aware of an impending Hamas attack. “One would have to be almost hopelessly naïve to buy the corporate state media line that the Hamas invasion was an Israeli “intelligence failure”. Mossad is one of, if not the, most powerful intelligence agencies on the planet.” Did Netanyahu and his vast military and intelligence apparatus (Mossad et al) have foreknowledge of the Hamas attack which has resulted in countless deaths of Israelis and Palestinians. Was a carefully formulated Israeli plan to wage an all out war against Palestinians envisaged prior to the launching by Hamas of “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”? This was not a failure of Israeli Intelligence, as conveyed by the media. Quite the opposite. Evidence and testimonies suggest that the Netanyahu government had foreknowledge of the actions of Hamas which have resulted in hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian deaths. And “They Let it Happen”: “Hamas fired between 2-5 thousand rockets at Israel and hundreds of Israeli are dead, while dozens of Israelis were captured as prisoners of war. In the ensuing air response by Israel, hundreds of Palestinians were killed in Gaza.” (Stephen Sahiounie) Following the Al Aqsa Storm Operation on October 7, Israel‘s defence minister described Palestinians as “human animals” and vowed to “act accordingly,” as fighter jets unleashed a massive bombing of the Gaza Strip home of 2.3 million Palestinians…” (Middle East Eye). A complete blockade on the Gaza Strip was initiated on October 9, 2023 consisting in blocking and obstructing the importation of food, water, fuel, and essential commodities to 2.3 Million Palestinians. It’s an outright crime against humanity. It’s genocide. It is worth noting, that Netanyahu’s military actions are not targeting HAMAS, quite the opposite: he is targeting 2.3 million innocent Palestinian civilians, in blatant violation of the Four Basic Principles of The Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC): “….respect for and protection of the civilian population and civilian objects [schools, hospitals and residential areas], the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives.” [Additional Protocol 1, Article 48] Ironically, according to Scott Ritter, Hamas’ has acquired U.S. weapons in Ukraine. . This was Not a “Surprise Attack” Was the Hamas Attack a “False Flag”? “I served in the IDF 25 years ago, in the intelligence forces. There’s no way Israel did not know of what’s coming. A cat moving alongside the fence is triggering all forces. So this?? What happened to the “strongest army in the world”? How come border crossings were wide open?? Something is VERY WRONG HERE, something is very strange, this chain of events is very unusual and not typical for the Israeli defense system. To me this suprise attack seems like a planned operation. On all fronts. If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say that this feels like the work of the Deep State. It feels like the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been sold, once again, to the higher powers that be. (Statement by Efrat Fenigson, former IDF intelligence, October 7, 2023, emphasis added) Ironically, the media (NBC) is now contending that the “Hamas attack bears hallmarks of Iranian involvement” History: The Relationship between Mossad and Hamas What is the relationship between Mossad and Hamas? Is Hamas an “intelligence asset”? There is a long history. Hamas (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya) (Islamic Resistance Movement), was founded in 1987 by Sheik Ahmed Yassin. It was supported at the outset by Israeli intelligence as a means to weaken the Palestinian Authority: “Thanks to Mossad, (Israel’s “Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks”), Hamas was allowed to reinforce its presence in the occupied territories. Meanwhile, Arafat’s Fatah Movement for National Liberation as well as the Palestinian Left were subjected to the most brutal form of repression and intimidation. Let us not forget that it was Israel, which in fact created Hamas. According to Zeev Sternell, historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “Israel thought that it was a smart ploy to push the Islamists against the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)”. (L’Humanité, translated from French) The links of Hamas to Mossad and US intelligence have been acknowledged by Rep. Ron Paul in a statement to the U.S Congress: “Hamas Was Started by Israel”? “You know Hamas, if you look at the history, you’ll find out that Hamas was encouraged and really started by Israel because they wanted Hamas to counteract Yasser Arafat… (Rep. Ron Paul, 2011) What this statement entails is that Hamas is and remains “an intelligence asset”, namely “an “asset” to intelligence agencies” See also the WSJ (January 24, 2009) “How Israel helped to Spawn Hamas”. Instead of trying to curb Gaza’s Islamists from the outset, says Mr. Cohen, Israel for years tolerated and, in some cases, encouraged them as a counterweight to the secular nationalists of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its dominant faction, Yasser Arafat’s Fatah. (WSJ, emphasis added) “The Hamas Partnership” is confirmed by Netanyahu “The Cat is Out of the Bag” “Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” he [Netanyahu] told a meeting of his Likud party’s Knesset members in March 2019. “This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.” (Haaretz, October 9, 2023, emphasis added) Does this statement not suggest that Netanyahu and his military-intelligence apparatus are responsible for the killings of innocent Israeli civilians? “Support” and “Money” for Hamas. “Transferring Money to Hamas” on behalf of Netanyahu is confirmed by a Times of Israel October 8, 2023 Report: “Hamas was treated as a partner to the detriment of the Palestinian Authority to prevent Abbas from moving towards creating a Palestinian State. Hamas was promoted from a terrorist group to an organization with which Israel conducted negotiations through Egypt, and which was allowed to receive suitcases containing millions of dollars from Qatar through the Gaza crossings.” (emphasis added) . The Dangers of Military Escalation? Let us be under no illusions, this “false flag” operation is a complex military-intelligence undertaking, carefully planned over several years, in liaison and coordination with US intelligence, the Pentagon and NATO. In turn, this action against Palestine is already conducive to a process of military escalation which potentially could engulf a large part of Middle East. Israel is a de facto member NATO (with a special status) since 2004, involving active military and intelligence coordination as well as consultations pertaining to the occupied territories. Military cooperation with both the Pentagon and NATO is viewed by Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) as a means to “enhance Israel’s deterrence capability regarding potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria.” The premise of NATO-Israel military cooperation is that “Israel is under attack”. Does Israel’s agreement with the Atlantic Alliance “obligate” NATO “to come to the rescue of Israel” under the doctrine of “collective security” (Article 5 of the Washington treaty)? In recent developments, U.S. military deployments in the Middle East are ongoing allegedly to avoid escalation. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: There is always the risk that nations and/or organisations hostile to Israel will take try to take advantage. And that includes, for instance, organisations like Hezbollah or a country like Iran. So this is a message to countries and organisations hostile to Israel that they should not try to utilise the situation. And the United States have deployed, or has deployed more military forces in the region, not least to deter any escalation or prevent any escalation of the situation. (NATO Press Conference, Brussels, October 12, 2023, emphasis added) Netanyahu’s “New Stage” “The Long War” against Palestine Netanyahu’s stated objective, which constitutes a new stage in the 75 year old war (since Nakba, 1948) against the people of Palestine is no longer predicated on “Apartheid” or “Separation”. This new stage –which is also directed against Israelis who want peace— consists in “total appropriation” as well as the outright exclusion of the Palestinian people from their homeland: “These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me [Netanyahu]: The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.” (Netanyahu January 2023. emphasis added) We bring to the attention of our readers the incisive analysis of Dr. Philip Giraldi pointing to the likelihood of a “False Flag’”. Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, October 8, 2023, Above text updated on October 12, 2023 . Part VI Gaza Strikes Back. It’s Another 9/11 or Pearl Harbor? But Who Actually Did What to Whom? “This Was More Likely a False Flag Operation” by Dr Philip Giraldi October 16, 2023 . “As a former on-the-ground intelligence officer, I am somewhat convinced that this was likely more like a false flag operation rather than a case of institutional failure on the part of the Israelis.” It’s amazing how America’s thought-controlled media is able to come up with a suitable narrative almost immediately whenever there is an international incident that might be subject to multiple interpretations. *** Since 1948 Israel has expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, has occupied nearly all of the historic Palestine, has empowered its army to kill thousands of local people, and has more recently established an apartheid regime that even denies that Palestinian Arabs are human in the same sense that Jews are. Netanyahu-allied government minister Ayelet Shaked memorably has called for Israel not only to exterminate all Palestinian children, whom she has described as “little snakes,” but also to kill their mothers who gave birth to them. But when the Arabs strike back against the hatred that confronts them with their limited resources it is Israel that is described as the victimand the Palestinians who are dehumanized and portrayed as the “terrorists.” Media in the US and Europe were quick to label the Hamas offensive breaching the formidable Israeli border defenses as “Israel’s 9/11” or even “Israel’s Pearl Harbor” to establish the context that the Israelis have been on the receiving end of an “unprovoked” attack by a cruel and heartless enemy. Israel has responded to the attack with a heavy bombardment of Gaza that has destroyed infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, while also cutting off food supplies, water and electricity. It has demanded that residents of north Gaza, all 1.1 million of them, evacuate to make way for a possible ground offensive but there is nowhere to go as all the borders are closed, and the United Nations is calling it a demand with “devastating humanitarian consequences.” Journalist Peter Beinart has commented “This is a monstrous crime. It’s happening in plain view, with US support.” And the United States government is indeed typically on the same page as Israel. President Joe Biden, citing fabricated stories about dead Jewish babies, speaks of how Israel has a “duty” to defend itself, while the Palestinians somehow have no right to protect themselves at all, much less to rise up against their persecutors in a struggle for freedom. And Washington has also unhesitatingly chosen to directly involve itself in the conflict, completely on the side of the Jewish state, asserting repeatedly that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and telling the Israelis that “we have your back” while also dispatching two aircraft carrier groups to the scene of the fighting as well as the 101st Airborne to Jordan and increasing the readiness of Marines stationed in Kuwait. The White House could have taken more aggressive steps to encourage a ceasefire and talks but has chosen instead to issue essentially toothless calls to let the trapped civilians escape while also backing a devastating Israeli military response. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Oct. 12, 2023. – Secretary Antony Blinken on X Israel is also hosting the worthless and brain dead Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who will be providing advice along the lines of his insightful comment that Hamas is “evil” and “worse than ISIS.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken is already in Jerusalem, announcing that the US is there to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unity government “as long as America exists” after first saying “I come before you not only as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew.” Blinken’s explicit association of his personal religion with his official role as a representative of the US government makes clear that a key element in why he is there is because he is “a Jew.” Perhaps he should recuse himself from policy making involving Israel as being “a Jew” would not appear to be a United States national interest and is likely to produce irrational responses to developing situations. If all of this sounds a lot like Ukraine it should, except that in Ukraine the US and NATO are fighting against Russia, which is being demonized for occupying what is claimed Ukrainian territory, whereas in Palestine they are supporting the occupier of actual Palestinian territory, Israel. Funny thing that, and the word “hypocrisy” comes immediately to mind. As it turns out, however, I am somewhat on the same page as much of the media, agreeing that the Hamas incursion is something like 9/11, though I am sure that my take would not be found acceptable to the CNN Jake Tappers of this world. My thinking is that Israel knew in advance about 9/11 in the United States due to its extensive spying network and chose not to share the information because it was to their advantage not to do so. Indeed, a pleased Netanyahu even stated several years later that “9/11 was a good thing because it made the United States join us in our fight.” That the attacks killed 3,000 Americans did not bother the Israeli government as Israel has a long history of killing Americans when it can benefit from so doing, starting with the attack on the USS Liberty in 1967 which killed 34 sailors. So too in this case in Gaza, Netanyahu may have decided to encourage an unexpected development, making it like 9/11, that would enable him to escalate and “mow the grass” as the Israelis put it, in the remainder of Arab Palestine. And bear in mind that the actual incident that triggered the uprising was a rampage involving at least 800 Israeli settlers in and around the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, beating pilgrims and destroying Palestinian shops, all without any interference from the nearby Israeli security forces. The rioting was clearly allowed and even encouraged by the government. Drawing on my experience as a former on-the-ground intelligence officer, I am somewhat convinced that this was likely more like a false flag operation rather than a case of institutional failure on the part of the Israelis. Israel had an extensive electronic and physical wall backed by soldiers and weaponry that completely surrounded Gaza on the landward side, so effective that it was claimed that not even a mouse could get in. The Mediterranean side of Gaza was also tightly controlled by the Israeli Navy and boats to and from Gaza were completely blocked. Egypt tightly controlled the southern part of Gaza bordering on the Sinai. So Gaza was under 24/7 complete surveillance and control at all times. Israeli military intelligence also certainly had a network of recruited informants inside Gaza who would report on any training or movements, easy enough to do when you can approach people who are starving and make them an offer they cannot refuse just for providing information on what they see and hear. And then there was a warning from the Egyptian government to Israel ten days before the Hamas attack, with Egypt’s Intelligence Minister General Abbas Kamel personally calling Netanyahu and sharing intelligence suggesting that the Gazans were likely to do “something unusual, a terrible operation.” Other media accounts reveal how Hamas trained and practiced their maneuvers publicly. There were also assessments made by US intelligence, which were shared with Israel, suggesting that something was afoot. So, given all of the evidence, there likely was no intelligence failure to anticipate and counter the Hamas attack but rather a political decision made by the Israeli government that knew what might be coming and chose to let it proceed to provide a casus belli to destroy Gaza, vowing that “Every member of Hamas is a dead man,” and then go on from there. And “from there” might well include Lebanon, Syria and Iran, possibly with the assistance of the United States to do the heavy lifting. Iran in particular is already being blamed by the usual suspects as a party involved in the Hamas attack, so far without any evidence whatsoever, which is typical of how these stories evolve. Image: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits Al-Aqsa, 3 January (Social Media) And Israel has moved far to the right politically to such an extent that it might appreciate a little ethnic cleansing to demonstrate its seriousness. Netanyahu and other senior government officials in his cabinet have recently been making passing references to a “developing security situation” in the country to justify the intensifying of the raids by the army against Palestinian towns and refugee camps. The new government in Israel has also placed police under the control of ultra-nationalist Jewish Power party head Itamar Ben-Gvir as National Security Minister. He has been exploiting his position to call in particular for a war to destroy Hamas in Gaza, which is precisely what is happening. Gaza might be of particular interest to Ben-Gvir and others as it uniquely shelters an armed and organized resistance in the form of Hamas, which, oddly, was founded with the support of Israel to split the Palestinian political resistance with Fatah controlling the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. There is another issue relating to the recent fighting that one would like to know the answer to, namely how did Hamas get its weapons in the first place? Some were clearly manufactured from parts and scrap but others were sophisticated and, as Gaza is blockaded on all sides, smuggling them in becomes problematical. One argument is that they were supplied by Iran and others to be brought in by tunnels, but the tunnels on two sides would end up in Israel and on the third side in Egypt. The fourth side is the Mediterranean Sea. So how did they arrive? Is there a possible triple or even quadruple cross taking place with different parties lying to each other? And should there be concerns that after the American armada arrives off the coast of Gaza there just might be some kind of false flag incident engineered by Netanyahu that will involve Washington directly in the fighting? And there is what amounts to a related issue that should be of concern to everyone in the US and generically speaking the “Western world” where human rights are at least nominally respected. The message from almost all Western governments is that Israel has a carte blanche to do whatever it likes even when it involves war crimes to include mass forced displacement or genocide. In this case, the coordinated government-media response which is intended to protect Israel from any criticism almost immediately began circulating fabricated tales of atrocities while also delivering a hit on freedom of speech and association. President Biden, who should be trying to defuse the crisis, is instead adding fuel to the flames, saying of Hamas that “Pure, unadulterated evil has been unleashed on the earth!” In Florida the arch Zionist stooge Governor Ron Desantis met with Jewish leaders in a synagogue to announce draconian measures against Iran to include sanctions on companies that are in any way linked to that country. One might point out that those businesses have done nothing wrong and Desantis also called for “eradication of Hamas from the earth.” His intellectual depth was at the same time revealed when he said the US should not take in any Gazan refugees because they are “antisemites.” And in South Carolina, America’s favorite he/she Senator Lindsey Graham is calling for a US attack on Iran as well as declaring the war against Hamas to be “a religious war” and urging the Israeli army to invade Gaza and do “Whatever the hell you have to do to” to “level the place.” And the Europeans are equally spineless in their deference to Israel. The Israeli president declared the that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza, and not long after that top European Union representatives met with him to offer their unqualified support. Meanwhile in France, the spineless and feckless government of Emmanuel Macron has sought to outlaw any gathering that expresses support for Palestinian rights. And in the UK, the Home Secretary Suella Braverman has proposed criminalizing any protest against Israeli actions or anything in support of Palestine to include banning any public display of the Palestinian national flag, which she regards as a “criminal offense toward the Jewish community in Britain.” She has also said that “I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world, and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.” Berlin’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has also classified the use of the expression as a “criminal offense.” The manner in which most Western political elites are lining up unquestionably and even enthusiastically behind Israel and its craven leaders’ desire for bloody vengeance is truly shocking but comes as no surprise. Beyond the issue of Gaza itself, some in Israel are arguing that Netanyahu has personally benefitted from the unrest through the creation of the national unity government which has ended for the time being the huge demonstrations protesting his judicial reform proposals. If all of this comes together politically as it might in the next several weeks, we could be seeing the initial steps in what will develop into the complete ethnic cleansing of what was once Palestine, in line with Netanyahu’s assertion that “the Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the Land of Israel.” So all of the former Palestine is now a land to be defined by its Jewishness where Jews are in full control and are free to do whatever they want without any objection, referred to by the Israeli government as “an exclusive right to self-determination.” And it has all possibly been brought to fruition by the enablement provided by the current developments in Gaza. The original source of Dr. Giraldi’s October 16, 2023 article. Gaza Strikes Back. It’s Another 9/11 or Pearl Harbor but Who Actually Did What to Whom? “This Was More Likely a False Flag Operation” By Philip Giraldi, October 16, 2023 *** Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is [email protected]. He is a regular contributor to Global Research. Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles. https://www.globalresearch.ca/is-the-gaza-israel-fighting-a-false-flag-they-let-it-happen-their-objective-is-to-wipe-gaza-off-the-map/5835310

The Mental Load of Motherhood: Paige Turner’s Advice for Modern Families This week, Morgan DeBaun sits down with Paige Turner, a content creator and mother known for her honest conversations about the realities of parenting, the mental load mothers carry, and the importance of equitable partnerships. In the episode, Paige shares her journey from a career in broadcast journalism to becoming a prominent voice on TikTok, where she sparks critical conversations about the challenges modern women face in balancing work and family life. The conversation explores how the mental load affects mothers, why equity in the home is important, and the societal factors at play. Morgan and Paige also examine the “tradwife” trend circulating on social media discussing the potentially problematic implications of romanticizing the social media version of this lifestyle. Throughout the episode, they reflect on the pressures social media places on women to excel in every area of life, often creating unrealistic expectations. Morgan and Paige close out the conversation by discussing the current political climate and the need to engage in conversations surrounding the politics of parenting on social media and in daily life. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone navigating the complexities of modern parenthood or seeking to understand the broader societal changes needed to support families. Tune in to hear Paige’s insights that serve as a reminder that parenting is a shared responsibility, and change starts both at home and in the policies we advocate for!