Popular drugs used to suppress appetites such as Ozempic and Wegovy might be causing an economic impact at some large retailers who say that people are buying less food at the grocery store, impacting their bottom line. pic.twitter.com/vVHcMeABQN
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 5, 2023
I’m not a fan of Ozempic but might the sky-rocketing food prices have something to do with this?
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Clarissa's Blog 
Yeah, pretty sure it’s because we’re looking at the prices, and instead of buying two gallons of milk we get just one. And maybe the nice yogurt is a luxury we can do without. Et cetera.
I have been making careful grocery shopping lists and sending my husband to the store for me, to keep the bill down.
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I don’t know anybody who hasn’t reduced their grocery list because of the inflation. I’m cooking chicken livers today because they are the cheapest protein on offer.
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We are buying the 10# bags of chicken legs, because those are still under $1/lb here– once the meat is picked, I throw all the bones and gristle back in the pressure cooker with water and stew it until the bones are soft and the cartilage bits have liquefied. It’s good broth, and nothing is wasted. The remaining (barely) bones and bits that get strained out of the broth are buried in the garden and they grow tomatoes and pumpkins.
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The idea that ANY medications have affected the US general population to a degree sufficient to alter overall nationwide food consumption is just silly.
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I think it could also be the high price of Ozempic. That’s how it works, there is very little money left for food.
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The article I ran across for this specifically cited Walmart as losing a bit of custom.
Somehow I think Ozempic customers and Walmart customers don’t have a huge amount of overlap. But Walmart customers are the very first ones who are gonna be deeply affected by price inflation enough for it to curtail their grocery spending.
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Good point. The Ozempic ladies I know all have incomes in the 300,000-400,000 range.
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“might the sky-rocketing food prices have something to do with this?”
This seems very soviet…. find some weird implausible workaround to explain things that clearly have other causes….
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This is like basing the CPI on the price of luxury smartphones instead of rent and food. “Well, things are looking up, everybody can afford a smartphone now! The economy’s great!”
It definitely sends the message that no government agency gives a crap about my family’s life.
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“no government agency gives a crap about my family’s life”
And now they’re either too stupid or too jaded to be able to hide it….
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It’s really weird how we constantly get preached at that the economy is wonderful when we see daily how much more everything costs.
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Do they think we don’t notice? Or is it just that their target audience is still rich, and the propaganda is to keep those people from noticing?
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Today close to 6 am I woke to siren sounding. Turns out Hamas opened a war against us.
Right now at 16:30 TV says there are at least 40 dead and 780 injured.
“The IDF reported that from 6:30 on Saturday morning, 2,200 rockets were launched into Israel, as terrorists infiltrated across the Gaza border via land, sea and air gliders.”
“Israelis are believed to have been taken hostage in at least two communities near the Gaza border where IDF special forces laid siege. Hamas claims at least 35 Israelis were captured and transported into the Palestinian enclave.”
More here:
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rysg8i0l6#autoplay
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God, I just found out. I’m so sorry.
I’m praying for Israel’s swift victory.
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“Hamas opened a war against us”
This is terrible. I wonder how closely connected it is to military cooperation between Iran (hamas benefactor) and russia….
Will Netanyahu stop trying to destroy the courts long enough to respond?
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Oh, geez. I’m so sorry! I hope you and yours are OK– you’re in our prayers.
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From 9 am: Under the cover of rocket fire, mobile groups in pickup trucks broke into Israeli territory.
[From 11:48 am] Mosque loudspeakers throughout Jerusalem are calling on Muslims to rise up and wage a “Holy War” against Israel.
[From 11:48 am] Hamas terrorists control several Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reports 198 dead and 1,610 injured as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
Egyptian mediators conveyed a message to Hamas and Islamic Jihad that they would have to bear responsibility for what happened this morning. Egypt washes its hands.
16:27 — About 10 hours after the surprise attack on Israel was launched, armed terrorists affiliated with Hamas are still walking around Sderot [a Southern city located less than a mile from Gaza]. There is a fear that some of them are inside the police station and gunshots were heard from the place.
15:33 The IDF has not yet gained control over the seven settlements, cities and bases that were attacked by Hamas in the south, and additional forces are being poured into the region. It is estimated that gaining control over the centers will take many hours and even days, since the searches will also be carried out in the vast open areas of the Western Negev that are close to the border, where there is also a fear of the hiding of infiltrating squads.
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More food for thought from telegram channels:
It took 4 years (2016-2020) and 3 billion to build a high-tech underground wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The barrier may be the best in the world, but dozens of tenders with Hamas terrorists entered by land – simply through a checkpoint.
Egypt said that if a ground operation were carried out in the Gaza Strip, Lebanese Hezbollah threatened to enter the war in northern Israel. The situation ceases to resemble a local escalation and increasingly resembles a coordinated operation by Iran and its terrorist proxy structures.
100 killed in huge Hamas assault, 900 injured; many hostages said taken to Gaza; PM: Israel at war
“Washington has been working for months to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would mark a historic breakthrough in the Middle East and a diplomatic feat in an election year for US President Joe Biden” — suppose Iran didn’t like that and took steps this morning …
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And for what? Palestinians are going to be wiped out as a result of this attack. Their hopes for their own state dashed for generations. Why would they go on this suicide mission?
I’m shocked at people’s incapacity to consider the consequences.
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Hamas leaders are eager to explain “for what” and which consequences THEY imagine:
“Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the group is holding a big number of Israeli captives including senior officials enough to release all Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Hamas said the attack was driven by what it said were Israel’s escalated attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and against Palestinians in Israeli prisons. (Reuters)”
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This is either a liar or a useful fool. Nobody really thinks this is a productive way to get Israel to make concessions. This is going to be a generational trauma for Israelis, and I’m so so sorry.
Stay safe, keep giving updates. I’m thinking of you. This will be over very soon. The IDF will beat back these bastards.
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Thank you very much for your support.
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These bastards are no match for the IDF. They will be vaporized and serves them right. I hope this happens soon before the captured civilians suffer even more.
The world stands with Israel. Nobody is supporting Hamas. This is a very clear moral choice.
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Do you have any good news outlets for following developments? Haaretz is subscriber-only. Jerusalem Post seems OK. US outlets are having some bizarre linguistic difficulties because they’ve spent years being unable to say anything positive about Israel, and if they do it now someone might think they are (gasp!) C-C-C-conservatives. So it’s all these tortured headlines like “Israeli intelligence failure” and “Israel to stop supplying food to Gaza” etc. and seem unwilling to just go for “Hamas attacks Israel, Israel declares war” Truly weird. Why can’t we fire them and get better news coverage?
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Truly, a demon’s birthday is celebrated by demonic means.
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For real. Unless other countries are openly involved, I expect Israel to get it under control quickly… but it’s going to be a bloodbath. What does that do for Hamas? They running short on martyrs lately?
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I just saw really horrific footage of the attackers violating a dead body of a captured Israeli woman. My heart bleeds for her and the victims of this horror.
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“violating a dead body of a captured Israeli woman”
Unconfirmed: She was actually German in Israel for a music festival for “peace”
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I saw, horrible.
The inimitable Marina Medvin has compiled a thread with today’s atrocities:
It’s impossible to process it all at once.
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Glad you are ok el.
I’m still very confused how potentially thousands of Hamas operatives could just storm into Israel like that. You would think their movements would have been detected long ago and the Israeli military ready to deal with them. Very strange.
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Another explanation for Palestinian attack:
Очень кратко о причинах: бабло.
Бабло европейских спонсоров ушло Украине. А тут ещё и Азербайджан с Турцией показали экспансию ислама. Про страдательный народ Ближнего Востока стали забывать. Надо вернуть донаты на прежний уровень.
Всё. Остальное только обрамление.
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// Do you have any good news outlets for following developments?
I follow the Israeli news website ynet news, here is the English version:
https://www.ynetnews.com/category/3083
It is the best free website in Hebrew and in English that I know of.
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Thanks!
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Most important news today:
“The IDF attacked targets in South Lebanon on Sunday after mortar shells were fired at the area of Har Dov. No injuries were reported.”
If Hezbollah joins and opens a second front against us, this operation will change into something much larger and worse.
The numbers so far are “At least 300 murdered, dozens abducted to Gaza … Health Ministry says at least 1,864 wounded since surprise attack, 345 seriously”
I link to the following article by Colonel Richard Kemp, a former UK Armed Forces commander, since imo you’ll be interested. However, I wouldn’t overestimate Russian role; the people in the Middle East are much more capable to have truly long term and devastating wars than Putin’s regime. The quote I post below is the central point for me from this article.
// Hands that pushed Hamas attack forward are in Moscow
The instability created by attack on Israel is intended to pull US attention, as well as resources, away from the war in Ukraine and prevent Israel-Saudi normailzation
…
Up until now, the IDF has been constrained in striking first against potential threats by international pressure, including from the United Nations, world governments and the media, which has never been known to miss an opportunity to condemn Israel for defending itself against actual attacks – never mind pre-emptively hitting at its enemies before they strike. This attack has surely changed all of that. Israel will have no choice other than to deal decisively with the terrorist groups in Gaza, in a manner that it has so far refrained from doing. That will mean unprecedented violence against terrorist targets in Gaza and there will inevitably be civilian casualties, given the extremists’ practice of using human shields.
Such action is essential for the defense of the Israeli population. It is therefore necessary for political leaders around the world to steel themselves to give their sustained support for whatever action Israel needs to take – and not just in the short term. They must now accept a responsibility they have previously shirked: giving sufficient leadership to overcome the cacophony of anti-Israel voices in the media, so-called human rights groups and their fellow travelers in universities and elsewhere, which will inevitably flow from Israeli defensive military operations.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sj0dtokba
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I don’t think it’s about Ukraine or distracting attention from Ukraine, to be honest. I’d draw no conclusions at all until we know why Israeli intelligence had no idea this was going to happen. This is a serious operation that had to take a few months to prepare. How was that level of secrecy attained? I think this is a crucial question.
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\ why Israeli intelligence had no idea this was going to happen
Arestovich talks about that in the first 8 minutes of this video, the main point is from 7:30 – 8:10. Before 7:30 he talks at length about the role of the ‘peace process’ in today’s disaster both in Ukraine and in Israel.
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Another bit re our intelligence:
На вчерашнем заседании правительства (напоминаю, что страной нашей фактически управляет военно-политический кабинет, а правительство – просто сборище случайных людей, которым опасно сообщать лишнее) произошёл следующий диалог:
Министр Офир Акунис (бывший журналист): “Все граждане желают знать, что случилось с нашей разведкой”.
Министр Амихай Шикли (бывший командир роты в “Эгоз”): “Молчи!”
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What do you think about this discussion:
// Андрей Лошак пишет:
Я все думаю про трансеров, которые собрались на границе с сектором Газа на nature party – так в Израиле называют оупен-эйры в пустыне.
…
жизнь в мрачном мире архаики стоит недорого. Защититься, действуя только силой, тут нельзя. Задача цивилизации, если она не хочет быть снесена очередным “штормом аль-аксы”, – сделать все, чтобы там, за стенами, которыми “золотой” миллиард отгородился от остальных 7, повышался уровень жизни не только у диктаторов и их приближенных, но и у рядовых граждан. Чем выше уровень жизни – тем больше ценность человеческой жизни – тем меньше людей захочет брать в руки оружие. Иначе хтонь не победить
https://mi3ch.livejournal.com/5736490.html
And one of the commenters:
“УВЫ, это сильное упрощение и перед глазами яркий контрпример: Россия.
Уровень жизни там сильно возрос по сравнению с концом СССР и особенно по сравнению с 90ми за счет включения страны в международное разделение труда и благоприятствования со стороны Запада.
Результат? Россия пошла войной, поддержанной большинством населения, и истекает антизападничеством. Полезла из России хтонь
Так может надо было иначе, то есть держать страну в бедности, и только постепенно из нее выпускать? Чтобы и сейчас в Москве было чистенько, но бедненько”
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The standard of living in Russia only increased for a small number of people. It’s precisely that million which abandoned the country that had seen an improvement in their living conditions. They are still horrible people but they don’t want to fight physically.
The rest live worse than in the USSR. Not only materially but in every sense.
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“… might the sky-rocketing food prices have something to do with this?”
It’s a form of advertising.
You’re probably not cynical enough yet for this, but we’ll do it anyway.
There’s a formula: new miracle X is effective, and so adverse conditions Y occur as “unintended consquences”.
The idea is for you to forget about Y and to believe X is a new miracle, enhancing the advertising effect while suppressing the negatives.
So you’re meant to forget about the higher food prices and be amazed by new miracle X.
Ah, but what other adverse conditions could those include in this particular case?
Just this little one about how some of these GLP-1 agonists are now trending for an increase of pancreatitis cases …
But forget about it, new miracle X is effective! 🙂
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That makes as much sense as anything.
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Another interesting angle is the interests of China, Iran and Russia. I thought Russia wasn’t connected at all, but now wondering about the extent of its cooperation with Iran.
FIRST
Arestovich said that “the attack on Israel could be a coordinated tactic of Iran and the Russian Federation, which do not benefit from the signing of a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.” He also mentioned that the cruelty of murders, such as sawing off heads, reminds of the tactics of KGB.
SECOND — China would’ve been badly hurt by this new shipping corridor:
[9 September 2023] “US President Joe Biden … announced plans to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, an ambitious project aimed at fostering economic growth and political cooperation.
…
The corridor would help to boost trade, transport energy resources and improve digital connectivity. It would include India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union”
Arestovich mentioned it too in his videos. If Israeli region is destabilized, making this corridors pass through us will be much more difficult. Besides, the coming Israeli operation in Gaza will destroy the chances of peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, so this corridor and many other changes in the Middle East will come to nought.
THIRD and most convincing to me post in Russian:
“почерка ХАМАС в действиях основных групп нет от слова совсем. То, что мы с вами наблюдали 7 октября, мало походило на классические операции этой террористической группировки, а внезапно эволюционировать после десятилетий отсутствия эволюции, просто невозможно.”
https://trim-c.livejournal.com/5224995.html?view=comments#comments
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I agree that this is extremely well-organized and, as I said, the most significant factor for me is that the Israeli intelligence knew nothing. Israeli intelligence is world-class good. It’s not completely impossible to leave it in the dark but it takes extraordinary competence. How come Hamas suddenly acquired such competence?
I think there’s a new player who joined the game. I think we should not jump to conclusions but be prepared for new developments.
Again, I don’t see how this hurts or helps Ukraine. I wouldn’t discuss this attack in connection with Ukraine at all. I think this is about Israel and putting Israel in a horrible situation. There are many people who hate Israel for its own sake.
And finally, in larger terms, let’s think about this. Israel is the strongest nation-state on the planet right now. Not the strongest country but the strongest nation-state model of all. And it’s now under the worst attack in decades. I’m not saying anybody purposefully organized this to undermine the nation-state. I’m saying, instead, that there’s a logic of events that’s bigger than anybody’s individual intention.
The nation-state will either defend itself or not. We all know what scenario I’m rooting for.
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“I don’t see how this hurts or helps Ukraine”
One idea that came to my mind is that it could be a distraction pulling Americans (with their notoriously short attention spans) away from Ukraine toward Israel and/or aid to Israel could be prioritized over aid to Ukraine).
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Found in Russian why help to Israel won’t hurt help to Ukraine:
// Касаемо активно муссируемой пропагандистами темы про то, что “сейчас вся американская помощь уйдет Израилю” и “штаты вывезли из Израиля все снаряды и отдали их Киеву” стоит сказать:
Это гнилые вбросы, нацеленные на то, чтобы в очередной раз подорвать единство западного мира.
Армия Израиля сейчас опирается прежде всего на авиацию и армейские вертолеты, любые поставки помощи и снаряжения здесь никоим образом не сообщаются с помощью Украине, где концентрация на поддержке сухопутной армии.
Снаряды из Израиля Штаты действительно вывозили, но речь во-первых о собственно-американских арсеналах, расположенных на территории союзника. Которые были опустошены не полностью, а частично. И не затронули, конечно, немалые запасы взрывающихся штук собственно израильской армии.
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Exactly. Efforts to turn Ukraine against Israel under the pretense that the tragedy in Israel is inconveniencing Ukrainians won’t work. Nobody feels like that. Everybody is supportive. Everybody understands that Ukraine and Israel aren’t enemies or competitors.
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Another American help to Israel is sending ships and aircraft closer to Israel:
“The closest U.S. Navy assets are the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford and its carrier strike group, which is currently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.”
A blogger says “And don’t think that this is, as they say, “as a sign of solidarity.” You can display the Israeli flag as a sign of solidarity. A carrier strike group is a monstrous force capable of wiping out a small country. This is a direct warning to Lebanon and Syria not to get involved in this story.”
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The going theory on my newsfeed was that it was done to sabotage deals between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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“sabotage deals between Israel and Saudi Arabia”
Also possible…. and also possible is just the idea that they wanted to kill a bunch of Israelis…. looking at how they behaved (with the German tourists’s body) it’s hard to credit them with any kind of strategic thinking… if you look at the record Palestinians of all political stripes are notoriously bad at strategic thinking and always eager to kill random Israelis.
Occam’s razor – what we saw was the goal, if there are strategic goals then those belong to others
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Yeah, I have no opinion on the prevailing internet theories. Not enough info to see if any of them are more plausible than others.
But I’ve seen some of the footage released by the perps– and the cheering crowds seem an indicator of an absolutely ghastly home culture that fully supports the attacks. No, they didn’t need any larger strategy. Like raccoons in a chicken coop.
The coordination and change in MO does seem to point to outside involvement though– that wants an explanation other than total cultural degradation.
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“coordination and change in MO does seem to point to outside involvement though”
Yes. The overall plan and equipment has outside guidance written all over it, the conduct of those carrying it out on the ground was pretty much standard Palestinian behavior….
Back in the early 2000s the observation was made that the Palestinian ’cause’ seemed to be turning into a kind of irrational death cult…. I don’t think things have gotten better.
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Regarding outside involvement, everybody agrees on
“U.S.-based news outlet the Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that Iran had assisted Hamas in planning its surprise offensive against Israel and gained its approval to launch it. (Ynet)”
Also, this sounds the worst “Estimates that 150-200 were kidnapped to Gaza” and “Hamas claims to hold more than 100 Israeli hostages, including senior officers.”
We agreed to exchange Gilad Shalit for 1,027 prisoners. What will we do now?
Many commentors on Israeli websites call to deal with Gaza as if there were no prisoners there, while others do call to exchange.
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“We agreed to exchange Gilad Shalit for 1,027 prisoners”
In other words, kidnappers were rewarded… who on earth would assume that would encourage them to stop kidnapping?
“What will we do now?”
As heartbreaking as it may be…. no deal. But make it clear that the price will be greater than any possible reward.
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// kidnappers were rewarded… As heartbreaking as it may be…. no deal.
I am not sure it’s 100% black and white.
I read a Russian-speaking Israeli blogger, who mentioned the importance of Palestinian prisoners in the Palestinian ethos. He wrote that while we Israelis think “we left Gaza to them till the last cm”, Palestinians see the conflict as ongoing, partly because of prisoners in our jails. Releasing them is one of the main goals of this attack.
He also mentioned the 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange “when Hezbollah transferred the coffins of two Israeli soldiers in exchange for 5 Lebanese militants held by Israel as well as the bodies of 199 militants captured in Lebanon or Israel.” Now Palestinians try to achieve the same.
His final thought: “the question arises – why did we need these Gazan inmates, for whose sake they were always preparing kidnappings (from Shalit onwards)? Wouldn’t it be better this way: everyone who we can release in some situation should have been released (let’s say up to 5 life sentences), and everyone we are not ready to – they should have been hanged and handed over in boxes? And after this operation, the same question will arise in full force, especially with the leaders and those who showed themselves to the prisoners…”
Btw, using hostages has already begun: “Hamas claims 4 Israeli hostages killed in air force strikes on Gaza”
AND
//Sources from Hamas confirmed that Qatar had begun mediation talks with Hamas on a potential deal that could see them exchange female Israeli prisoners for the release of female Palestinian prisoners. … Hamas said it would initially agree to an exchange only if Israel releases all 36 female Palestinians currently in Israeli custody, according to one Hamas source. //
Other Arab news sources mention Hamas offering to release only elderly female prisoners in exchange for all Palestinian female prisoners.
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Regarding our kidnapped citizens, I read that there is already a video of our red-headed 6-years–old being beaten by sticks by Gazan children. Their parents apparently aren’t afraid of being found later by us.
Another idea that impressed me was found in a Russian lj. The blogger is an Israeli Jew, but I bet the commentor isn’t.
“About the hostages: the optimal, but very difficult solution is to find out from intelligence where they are sitting and try to bomb these places. At the same time, to make the pattern not visible to the Gazans and to Israeli pilots (otherwise they may refuse and raise a scandal and reveal the secret), add these goals little by little to the usual ones. This action in itself will send a decent number of Hamas members (obviously not 1:1 prisoners-guards) to the next world, and the blame for the deaths of the hostages can be put on Hamas and, in general, everyone will understand. After gigantic losses (several thousand killed by this point), another 150 will no longer play a role. And the pressure to return the bodies (what will be left of them when the house falls on them) will not be as strong. Almost certainly no one will have enough cynicism to implement it.”
The commentor doesn’t understand that doing so would destroy Israeli society worse than 1001 prisoner swaps, would turn us into Russia-lite. This mentality brings horrible life for the Russians, and would bring even worse results for us.
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I agree completely. This is Russian mentality, 100%. And we all know where that mentality leads.
Everything should be done to return the hostages home. Everything. There can be no calculations that include giving up on the hostages.
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Turns out this commentor is an Israeli Jew after all, and he cited Hannibal Directive to show me we’re already half-way there and murdering our hostages wouldn’t be “беспрецедентное предательство.” I still think he’s wrong.
\ The Hannibal Directive (Hebrew: נוהל חניבעל) (or “Procedure” or “Protocol”) is a controversial procedure that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have used to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces.
…
“the kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces.”
…
“by all means” was often interpreted literally, as in “an IDF soldier was “better dead than abducted”. In 2011, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz stated the directive does not permit killing IDF soldiers
…
There is however only one case where Israeli forces have been officially confirmed to be directly responsible for an Israeli death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive
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That’s soldiers, though. You can’t possibly apply the same thinking to civilians. I can’t imagine Israel giving up on the civilian hostages. These are completely innocent people, children.
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