Israel Kills 7 Aid Workers in Air Strike - The Wednesday AM Quickie 4/3/24
Turns out 2023 was "an amazing year for the world's richest people." Do they expect applause? -Jacob
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THE BIG NEWS
Outrage As Israel Bombs Gaza Aid Convoy, Killing 7 People
Israeli forces struck a humanitarian aid convoy in Gaza three times, killing seven foreign volunteers. The aid workers belonged to the World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit founded by the chef and humanitarian Jose Andres. According to the WCK and other reporting, the IDF knew the convoy's itinerary, having coordinated with it as it does with other aid organizations. The team had just unloaded a shipment of food at a warehouse. Their vehicles were clearly marked – one munition went straight through the WCK logo on the roof of a car.
World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore called the strike "a targeted attack by the IDF" and said that her organization would cease operations in Gaza.
"The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing," Chef Andres posted on X. "It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon."
Among the seven killed aid workers were British, Polish, Australian, Canadian, and Americans volunteers fighting the famine induced by Israel's siege. The seemingly targeted killing has been described as part of a pattern of attacks on aid workers, despite existing deconfliction protocols and attempts to work with Israeli authorities.
Bearing a half-smirk in an apology video, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the strike and said his government was investigating. President Joe Biden called Jose Andres and expressed his condolences. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby worked up the strength to say he was "outraged." A number of political leaders in other countries expressed their own anger and called for an investigation.
Investigative formalities aside, it seems pretty clear what happened: Israeli forces executed an unnecessary and murderous strike against a clearly recognized aid convoy. President Biden has shown that he doesn't care about Palestinian lives. But he has previously said, "If you harm an American, we will respond." Now might be a good time.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
The Republican Party Has A Defamation Problem
From Donald Trump to Fox News to Rudy Giuliani, the Republican Party has become such a flagrant group of bullshit artists that defamation lawsuits have become a real issue. Lying about deep-pocketed voting-machine companies and weaving elaborate paranoid fantasies about one's political enemies turns out to be bad for business. According to a Washington Post analysis, prominent Republicans and aligned organizations like Fox News are more than $1 billion in the hole in defamation suits. Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake recently declined to defend herself against accusations she defamed a state election official, meaning that Lake may soon owe some money. The costs of finger-painting their own reality are adding up, but for Trump, who yesterday lied about speaking to the family of a murder victim, someone else always seems to be footing the bill.
Trump Sues Media Company Co-Founders
If you've seen "The Social Network," you knew this scene was coming: a successful startup hits it big after going public, and now one of the founders wants to oust the others. Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, two former "Apprentice" contestants who together own 8.6% of Trump Media & Technology Group. The other co-founders sued Trump first, claiming that he was planning to dilute their stake in the company. With Trump now trying to seize their shares, they may have a point.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Gabbard Declined RFK Jr. VP Spot Tulsi Gabbard says that she met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (they've become "good friends") and turned down his running-mate offer. RFK went with tech lawyer Nicole Shanahan, while Gabbard may be eyeing a place on the Trump ticket. via Axios and ABC News.
- Billionaire Used Car Mogul Comes to Trump's Rescue Don Hankey, the California billionaire whose fortune derives partly from giving poor people high-interest auto loans, is Trump's latest financial savior. A new profile offers more details about Hankey's decision to post Trump's $175 million bond along with his own business background. via WaPo.
- IDF Departs After Destroying Al Shifa Hospital After a multiweek occupation by Israeli forces, Gaza's largest hospital lies in ruins and the area is strewn with body parts and debris. The IDF claims that it was fighting Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the hospital complex. Eyewitnesses claimed that doctors were summarily executed, among other war crimes. via New York Times, Mediaite, The Cradle, and CNN.
- Amazon Ditches "Just Walk Out" Grocery Store Tech Amazon is doing away with the Just Walk Out system that allows grocery shoppers to walk out of stores without paying at a register or kiosk. The tech wasn't as smart as advertised: rather than automatically recognizing items that shoppers picked up, the system relied on 1,000 "data labelers" in India to verify information – the kind of invisible, low-wage drudgework that underlies a lot of AI systems. via Gizmodo.
SOME NUMBER
$90 million
That's how much money Jeff Bezos spent on a house on Indian Creek Island, a Miami area enclave that's also known as Billionaire Bunker. It's the third house that Bezos has bought on the island. He reportedly plans to live in the new one while tearing down the others. Bezos has pledged most of his mindboggling fortune to his climate-change-fighting Earth Fund, which may prove important when his island manse is flooding daily.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
4/3: It’s Hump Day! And Sam is coming to us LIVE from the Mass Torts Conference in Las Vegas!
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PARTING WORDS
"I’ve got to tell you, I wanted to have you on a podcast, and Apple asked us not to do it, to have you. They literally said, 'Please don’t talk to her.'"
-- TV host Jon Stewart speaking to FTC Chair Lina Khan. Stewart used to host a show on Apple, where he claimed he was discouraged or prohibited from pursuing certain topics. He's since returned to his old perch at "The Daily Show."
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