A project to enable sustainable living choices & support the development of a resilient, regenerative and equitable future. derrick@sparks Born at 315 ppm CO2.
Smith St. L. Spa., England
Joined April 2011
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SPARKS-SLC retweeted
A strong decision by the U.S. State Department – authorizing Ukraine’s purchase of Patriot interceptors to counter Russian ballistic missiles. Five hundred PAC-3 interceptors is a substantial number, and very soon – this winter – they COULD make for a highly effective defense package. However, it has been stipulated that deliveries may begin ONLY IN A FEW YEARS. We are asking our American partners to find a solution for the time when there is a real danger and a real need to use PAC-3 interceptors.
Right now, the Russians are attacking our energy infrastructure every single day. In just these past two weeks of October, there have already been more than 30 Russian strikes on critical parts of our power grid. It is right now, even before the beginning of winter, that Putin has started carrying out his operation to attack the systems that sustain life in our cities and communities. The targets are electricity, heating, water supplies, bridges, and life in our cities in general.
We did ask our American partners to provide Ukraine with a winter support package – at a rate of 100 Patriot interceptors per month. Five hundred missiles would be enough to protect our skies over the coming months – precisely when it is so important for Ukraine to be in a strong position in negotiations and for Russia NOT to succeed in breaking life in Ukrainian cities and communities.
The United States, our European partners, and other partners around the world have sufficient stocks of PAC-3 interceptors in their warehouses. Providing them to Ukraine right now – in the winter of 2026–2027 – and replenishing our partners’ arsenals LATER, in THE FOLLOWING YEARS, through this production already contracted and paid for by Ukraine and our partners would be the right approach. And it is entirely feasible.
We are grateful to President Trump. Importantly, we recently discussed PAC-3 interceptors with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Ukraine is grateful to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Administration overall for granting this authorization. But we are asking for decisions that can guarantee the protection of lives not the day after tomorrow or sometime later, but at the very moment the threat is there – when Russia is killing and destroying. I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine!
state.gov/releases/bureau-of…
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
A rabbi's response to our President calling Jews "lacking knowledge and disloyal" if they vote Democratic:
Rabbi Danny Maseng writes:
As a Jew
Since you called me out as a Jew, Mr. President, since you thought to call me disloyal or lacking knowledge by not voting for you, I’d like to respond to you personally, even though I have no illusions you will read this.
As a Jew, Mr. President, I am commanded to love the stranger who dwells among us no less than thirty-six times in the Bible you claim to treasure. I am commanded to have one law for the stranger and the citizen. No exceptions.
As a Jew, Mr. President, I am commanded to pay my employees on time, including undocumented workers at casinos, construction sites, or golf courses.
As a Jew, I am commanded to repay bank loans and investors.
As a Jew, I am commanded to never bear false witness.
As a Jew, Mr. President, I am commanded to guard my tongue and speak no evil.
As a Jew, Mr. President, I am commanded to never embarrass my fellow human being in public, lest I be accused of spilling their blood – including Ted Cruz or the late Senator and war hero, John McCain.
As a Jew, Mr. President, I take great offense in my president attacking Denmark, a country that gallantly saved its Jews from the Nazis, while most of Europe fell asleep.
As a Jew, Mr. President, I take umbrage in my Grandfather, the sainted Dr. Rabbi Harry S. Davidowitz, who inhaled poison gas in the trenches of WWI as a US Army chaplain, being called disloyal because he voted Democrat.
As a Jew, born and raised in Israel, I take offense at you calling me disloyal to America AND to Israel because I oppose your inept, ghoulish, uncouth, deceitful, inhumane farce of leadership. How many tours of duty have you performed for Israel during wartime? Or, for that sake, the USA?
As a Jew, Mr. President, I reserve the right to oppose Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (neither of whom called upon the help of a former KGB operative to help them in their election to office), while simultaneously condemning your divisive, racist rants and policies.
As a Jew who has proud Republican family members who I love and cherish, I am ashamed of what you have done to the Republican party; to conservative ideals – even if I do not share all of those ideals.
As a Jew whose Christian uncle fought heroically at the Battle of the Bulge for our country and for the salvation of Europe – I am ashamed by the mockery you visit upon his sacrifice.
As the son of a Christian pilot, later converted to Judaism, who led American pilots to glorious victory over Nazi Germany, I am outraged by your embrace of neo-Nazi’s and racists in America (that same pilot, who became a squadron commander in the Israeli Air Force, and fought for Israel’s independence).
As a Jew, I am disgraced by your fawning adoration of the worst dictators of our century – you violate Christian and Jewish values by doing so.
As a Jew; as a well-informed Jew who loves and cares deeply for Israel and for America, I condemn you and call you out for the divisive fool, the ogre, the ghoul that you are.
May my soul not enter your council, let me not join your assembly.
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
Basic education piece:
Not all Jewish people are Zionists.
Lots of Zionists aren't Jews.
The Board of Deputies largely self identity as Zionists.
The Media often report the Board of Deputies as the opinion of Jewish people.
Yet many Jewish people say #NotInOurName
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
The Government has until the end of the year to scrap the NHS-Palantir deal.
Do you want Palantir out of the NHS?
RT if you do.
Lets get them out.
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
Occupy Democrats
2͏h͏ ·
BREAKING: PANIC! Trump is DESPERATELY trying to stop Jack Smith from testifying in his own $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC.
Donald Trump sued the BBC for defamation, asking for a whopping $10 billion in damages. Now, he’s panicking about the one witness who might actually know something about the behavior that led the British broadcaster to publish what it did.
According to The New Republic, the BBC subpoenaed former special counsel Jack Smith to testify as part of its defense against Trump’s defamation suit. The suit claims the network defamed him with deceptive editing in a 2024 documentary about the January 6 Capitol attack.
Trump’s lawyers filed a motion Friday to block the deposition, arguing that “Smith lacks any personal knowledge regarding the issues in this matter.”
Their reasoning: Smith wasn’t at the January 6 speech, didn’t help prepare it, and can’t know what Trump was thinking. They say anything he gathered was “secondhand knowledge” from materials collected from other sources.
The BBC’s lawyers weren’t impressed. They wrote that “none of [Trump]’s arguments for blocking the deposition of Mr. Smith can withstand scrutiny.” They noted that Smith himself doesn’t object to testifying, and that Trump still has to prove he “did not foment or incite the January 6 Capitol riot,” which he claims the documentary falsely implied.
Then came the line that says it all: “No one forced Plaintiff to file this lawsuit and to dispute that his speech on January 6 incited the violence that followed at the Capitol. But as long as he chooses to maintain the case, he cannot commit the fundamental injustice of preventing the BBC from obtaining the evidence it needs to robustly defend itself.”
This isn’t Trump’s only dodge. His attorneys are also fighting efforts to make Trump himself testify, to subpoena his children, and to look into his finances. Trump sued over what the BBC said about January 6, and now he’s fighting every attempt to examine what actually happened.
There’s another problem for him. The BBC is funded by British taxpayers, so Trump can’t bully it into a hefty settlement or force it to back off its coverage the way he has with some American media companies.
So now he has two choices: drop the case, or actually try to prove his point and live with the consequences.
If Trump really believes he did nothing wrong on January 6, a deposition should be no problem. His lawyers’ desperation suggests otherwise.
Please like and share if you can’t wait to hear what Jack Smith has to say if the BBC successfully gets him to testify!
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
NEW: 🇮🇱 🇬🇧 Palantir has just OVERRIDDEN the Mayor of London after Sadiq Khan tried to BLOCK their contract with the Met Police.
Khan dared to oppose the foreign totalitarian Zionist spytech company backed by Peter Thiel embedding itself into our police, yet Palantir somehow managed to get the high court to overrule him…
Now they can bid again for the £50M contract.
If a company like Palantir, that uses its products to literally kill and control people, can force our own politicians to back down what does that mean for society?
Palantir is set to be embedded into British Police, healthcare and defence. A total takeover. @andyburnham this is travesty.
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
BREAKING: The Catholic Archbishop of the U.S. military enrages MAGA by announcing that Catholic soldiers must not take part in the public execution of Nidal Hasan.
Pete Hegseth is about to blow a gasket...
“In addition to supporting and subscribing to the statement by my brothers the Bishops of Texas, it is my duty to express my disapproval of what is proposed regarding the execution of the terrorist Hasan in the Archdiocese entrusted to my spiritual care to be done by those for whose salvation I have been constituted as the Archbishop for the Military Services, USA," stated Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who is in charge of Catholic pastoral services for the U.S. military.
He was referring to a statement put out by the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops condemning Hegseth's plan to livestream Hasan's execution because it would "make a spectacle of death" and fail to achieve "true justice." Broglio was no doubt drawing attention to the Texas bishops' statement specifically because Hasan committed his mass shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.
While we have absolutely zero sympathy for Hasan, we also adamantly oppose MAGA's efforts to turn us into an even more bloodthirsty nation where public killings are broadcast for the entertainment of the masses. We are the United States of America, not ancient Rome.
“First of all, I renew my expression of heartfelt sympathy to the families and friends of those who died in the attack at Fort Hood," Broglio continued. "It was an attack that disregarded the dignity of the human person. I had the sad duty of presiding and preaching at the funeral of Michael Grant Cahill, the only civilian killed in that attack."
“Secondly, I repeat the opposition of the Catholic Church to capital punishment. The Catechism was already clear and Pope Francis made it even clearer. The dignity of the human person is again at stake."
“Thirdly, do we really want to imitate the terrorists of this world and make a public spectacle of barbarically killing our adversaries? The crime committed by Nidal Malik Hasan was heinous, but does exposing the public to his execution serve any purpose? Has the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience, been considered? Will the exposure of a live-stream to the young and impressionable during the 250th anniversary year of our independence be able to be repaired?"
"The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world," he continued. "Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheel chair to the whole world? Does this decision reflect the dignity of the human person?"
“I call upon all men and women of good will to ask that this decision be reconsidered and, at the very least, do what is possible to keep the exposure to the live-streaming of the proposed execution from the vision of the young and impressionable," he went on.
"As I would in the case of a procured abortion, I oblige any Catholics assigned to the firing squad to request to be excused from this action contrary to the teaching of the Church," concluded Broglio.
Regardless of one's thinking about the Catholic Church's teachings on other issues, we wholeheartedly agree with their staunch opposition to the death penalty and particularly public executions.
Hegseth and Trump want to normalize this kind of brutality — likely setting the stage for even more heinous displays of fascist violence — and at the same time they know that it's red meat for their mindless, jabbering base who will delight in watching a Muslim be killed on television. The moral weight of history is on our side. We must stand up and stop this.
Please ❤️ and share if you oppose public executions!
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
THREAD — Current situation in occupied Oleshky (Kherson region), Sept 2026. Details of the disaster ongoing in occupied Oleshky.
Please amplify
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya'nın oğlu:
"Dünyanın tüm özgür insanlarına, insan vicdanlarına ve tüm sivil toplum kuruluşlarına sesleniyorum.
Babam artık nefes almakta ve konuşmakta zorlanıyor. Yüzü, gördüğü işkence nedeniyle tanınmaz halde.
Büyük bir yalnızlığa terk edildik. Dünyanın tüm özgür insanlarına ve kalbinde bir nebze insanlık olan herkese, çok geç olmadan babamın hayatını kurtarmaları için yalvarıyoruz.
Belki de bu son yardım çığlığımız olacak. Belki bir daha babamdan haber alamayacağız.
Sizden tek istediğimiz, size yalvardığımız şey şu: Gafletinizden uyanın, çok geç olmadan. Sessizlik babamın işkencesine ortak olmaktır."
#FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya #GazaGenocide #FreePalestine #Gaza
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
🚨 A Palestinian mom was shot point blank in her head by IDF soldiers while she was carrying her child.😡😡
Retweet and expose Israel if you have a little Humanity left in you‼️
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
There is something happing in the U.K.
Immigrants are actually leaving because of what they are witnessing in the U.K.
We’ve successfully bullied thousands of international doctors and nurses into packing their bags and moving to Australia. Finally, our hospital waiting rooms
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
🚨 URGENTE:
FRANCESCA ALBANESE, Relatora Especial de la @ONU_es expone ante el Consejo de Derechos en Ginebra…
"Me pusieron sobre una mesa de metal, presionaron mi pecho y mi cabeza contra ella, sujetaron mis manos al final de la cama y jalaron mis piernas con fuerza."
"Sentí una vara penetrar mi ano y a un hombre violarme. Empecé a gritar, así que me golpearon en la espalda y la cabeza."
"Mientras estaba vendada de los ojos, sentí a un hombre violarme y eyacular dentro de mi ano. Seguí gritando y recibiendo golpes, y escuché una cámara, así que creo que me estaban filmando."
"No puedo describir lo que sentí. Deseé estar muerta. En cada momento."
SON TESTIMONIOS de sobrevivientes PALESTINOS sobre torturas, violaciones y desapariciones forzosas en los Campos de Concentración y Exterminio ISRAELÍES
Más de 18.500 personas han sido detenidas desde el 7 de octubre. Al menos 100, incluido un niño, han muerto en detención. Alrededor de 4.000 también han sido desaparecidas forzosamente.
"Lo que se perdió en Palestina se perderá para todos nosotros."
-80.000 VICTIMAS INOCENTES en el GENOCIDIO de GAZA Y CISJORDANIA
-Entre ellas 30 mil MUJERES Y NIÑOS
-2 MILLONES de personas DESPLAZADAS de sus hogares
NO HABRÁ PAZ DURADERA EN EL MUNDO, MIENTRAS NO SE SOMETA AL CRIMINAL NETANYAHU, SOCIOS Y CÓMPLICES A LA JUSTICIA PENAL INTERNACIONAL
PALESTINA DUELE
🇪🇭💔🙏🏼
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
🔴Husam Abu Safia is one of 95 doctors sentenced to death by Israel.
His only “crime” was treating and caring for the wounded people of Gaza—people Israel wants dead.
If you don’t want to watch him face execution, share this.
SPARKS-SLC retweeted
He knew in advance, then did nothing for 7 hours before deploying the Hannibal Directive killing hundreds of Israelis with tanks and helicopter gunships... then the genocide in Gaza...
...all to save his own political skin.
edition.cnn.com/2026/09/08/m…
