Announcing Gaza Verified
I’ve been having video conversations over Signal with people from Gaza who have Mastodon accounts on the fediverse in an effort to vouch for their authenticity.
This week, I whipped up a site to formalise this and to enable them to add a verified link to their Mastodon bios. Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of time they need to spend proving that their accounts genuinely belong to a person suffering through genocide and famine in Gaza and help them with their fundraisers.
The first four accounts belong to:
• @Aseelsehwel
• @NouranKhaledGh
• @joynewacc
• @mohshbair
If you want to get on the site, please contact me. See the guide for more information: gaza-verified.org/guide
Please share and donate to their fundraisers if you can.
Thank you!
💕
CC @palestine
#Gaza #Palestine #FreePalestine #fediverse #mastodon #verification
Gaza Verified
I’ve personally had video conversations on Signal with the people from Gaza whose Mastodon accounts on the fediverse are listed here and I verify that their accounts are genuine. – Aral Balkangaza-verified.org
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Silmathoron ⁂, jak, 🐦🔥nemo™🐦⬛ 🇺🇦, Ecologia Digital, Nouran 🍉, viq, Aral Balkan i 8Petros [$ rm -rv /capitalism/*] reshared this.
Flatten your sugar curve and mellow your mood at the same time, with this simple trick:
To a thermal glass/mug add:
- 6 ice cubes
- 1 Tbsp of brown cane sugar
- 2 Tbsps of #apple #cider #vinegar (Bio preferred)
- 100 ml of dark #Caribbean #Rhum
Shake or stir, whatever you wish.
Sip, cautiously repeat (not too many times).
Have Fun!
Trump and the Art of Extortion
Friends,
Today the Senate Banking Committee will consider Trump’s nomination of economic adviser Stephen Miran to be a governor of the Federal Reserve. Trump would like to get Miran confirmed in time for the Fed’s rate-setting meeting in two weeks.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has asked lawyers for Lisa Cook, the Fed governor whom Trump is trying to fire, to file more briefs as she pushes back against Trump. The law says a president can fire a member of the board only “for cause,” which normally means professional neglect or malfeasance. Trump alleges that Cook has committed mortgage fraud, but she has not been charged with any crime or convicted of any wrongdoing.
If Trump succeeds in getting Miran confirmed and firing Cook, he would be on track to have a majority on the Fed board. He’ll get a chance to name a new chair in May when Jerome Powell’s term ends.
Given everything else Trump is doing, why worry about the Fed?
Control over the Fed will give Trump power over the central bank’s decisions on interest rates.
He says he wants to lower borrowing costs — making it cheaper for America to pay interest on the national debt, for businesses to get loans, and for Americans to buy homes.
But if he controls the Fed and reduces borrowing costs, lenders will correctly assume that the Fed can no longer be relied on to control inflation. As a result, lenders will charge more to lend money — a higher “risk premium” — whether lending to the United States or to businesses seeking commercial loans or individuals getting mortgages.
In other words, if Trump controls the Fed, he’ll end up with the opposite of what he says he seeks. Longer-term interest rates will rise (it’s already starting to happen). And as longer-term rates rise, the stock market will fall (put on your seatbelts, folks).
So maybe lower interest rates isn’t the real reason Trump is so intent on controlling the Fed. What else could be on his mind?
With control over the Fed, Trump also gets the Fed’s power to oversee Wall Street — making the rules that big banks must follow to operate safely and manage risks appropriately. The Fed is also a lender of last resort during crises.
And why does he want these things? Trump operates on such a different plane of policymaking that it’s often hard to understand what he’s doing and why. Let me try to put it together.
Think of all his moves — whether controlling the Fed, or occupying American cities, or unleashing ICE on immigrants, or imposing import taxes (tariffs) on American consumers, or attacking American universities and museums, or shaking down CEOs, or punishing his “enemies” — as motivated by an unquenchable thirst to accumulate bargaining power over every other actor and institution in the world.
The more bargaining power he has, the more he can extort from them the things he most cares about: money and subservience.
We are dealing with a sociopath who is continuously seeking new ways to force others to reward him with personal wealth and total domination.
Money is not enough. He relishes the submission of others. He craves obsequiousness, groveling servility, and ass-kissing. He detests criticism. He wants to get even. He wants a Nobel Prize and his face carved on Mount Rushmore.
His goal is to achieve, or be perceived to have achieved, omnipotence.
Trump’s art of extortion involves finding things that other powerful actors and institutions depend on — research funding for Harvard (and other universities); access to the American market for Canada (and other countries); avoidance of environmental regulations for Big Oil; access to the government for Big Law; federal funding and freedom to operate without federal troops for mayors of “blue” cities and governors of “blue” states; supplies and components from abroad for big corporations.
Then he uses that dependence as pressure points to extort more money and submission.
Control over the Fed gives Trump way more tools for extortion. With control over interest rates, he can get America’s biggest corporations and the world’s biggest nations to bend to his will. With control over the big banks, he can get Wall Street to submit to his whims.
Normal policy debates are over what’s good for the public (hence “public” policy). But we’re no longer in a world of normal policy debate. The central question inside the Oval Office — and among Trump’s enablers in the White House and Congress — is what will enrich Trump and strengthen his dominance over everyone and everything else.
The most important public policy debate we ought to be having is how to peacefully and lawfully rid America and the world of this menace.
This post has been syndicated from Robert Reich, where it was published under this address.
Trump and the Art of Extortion
How to understand his desire to control the Fed (and everything else)Robert Reich
8Petros [$ rm -rv /capitalism/*] reshared this.
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Petroskowo. Zostaliście ostrzeżeni., 8Petros [$ rm -rv /capitalism/*] i peertube reshared this.
muppeth likes this.
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Sibrosan i 8Petros [$ rm -rv /capitalism/*] reshared this.
Hm. Has Chris Wright published the calculation how he come to the conclusion? - I made a rough one and come to the rseult that it will be several 100 times more electric energy than we consume primary energy?! ...
Maybe Chris Wright is a genius maybe he is one like Trump ... i'm not unsure.
I'm assuming human yearly use is ~145 PWh / year.
Also assuming an average solar panel yield of 500 kWh / square meter / year.
(note that typical nominal output (MW) ratings are useless for this yield calculation, because how much MWh did you actually make?)
In my napkin calculation this means you need about 290 billion m^2, so 290 thousand km^2, so about 6 times the Netherlands.
It's a very rough calculation with outrageously lazy assumptions, for my own entertainment.
What an idiot.
#uspol #RemoveTrump #EpsteinFiles
INDIANS ARE THE LOST TRIBE OF ISRAEL
'' INDIANS ARE THE LOST TRIBE OF ISRAEL ''......from the movie " Cat Ballou " (1965) !
It seems to be based on this report
iea.org/reports/key-world-ener…
Specifically section 3 Final Consumption which states energy use in electric form is about 20% of the total.
(This is referenced by the Wikipedia article on Electric Energy Consumption en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electr…)
a recent calculation came out to 50km X 50km of solar would power the entire world.
Obviously needs storage and be spread around, but a bit different.
$Alt4You Please add to your photo.
A tweet from Secretary Chris Wright (@SecretaryWright) Profile photo of a smiling man in a suit and tie in front of an American flag, with a blue check mark and an official-looking badge icon.
The tweet reads:
"Even if you wrapped the entire planet in a solar panel, you would only be producing 20% of global energy.
One of the biggest mistakes politicians can make is equating the ELECTRICITY with ENERGY!"
Czy Trump żyje?
internet szumi spekulacjami na temat zdrowia Trumpa, który na tydzień zniknął z widoku publicznego. Pojawił się wczoraj, podczas konferencji prasowej na rzekomo przełomowy temat: przeniesienie centrum dowodzenia Sił Kosmicznych z Kolorado do Alabamy.
Nieoceniona Connie Willis pisze na FB:
"Trump przemawiał otoczony przez całą grupę swoich ludzi – J.D. Vance'a, Pete'a Hegsetha, Tommy'ego Tuberville'a itp., którzy stali po bokach i tuż za nim, jakby chcieli go utrzymać w miejscu i zapewnić mu stabilność. (Ktoś skomentował, że nigdy wcześniej nie widział takiej aranżacji w Gabinecie Owalnym i spekulował, że do ostatniej chwili nie wiedzieli, czy będzie on w stanie stanąć na nogach podczas tego wydarzenia). Wyglądał na nieco wątłego i opuchniętego, miał zmrużone oczy i był bardziej pomarańczowy niż zwykle, ale nie tak jak na zdjęciach z ostatnich kilku dni, na których wyglądał, jakby był u progu śmierci."
Tymczasem w szatni rezerwowych rozgrzewa się JD Vance.
CW Daily
Remember to Drink Your Ovaltine Okay, so the press conference was a dud, as predicted (see this morning’s post). Or, as Ralphie would say disgustedly in A CHRISTMAS STORY, "A crummy commercial!"....www.facebook.com
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Co mam zrobić, jeśli mój mąż mnie bije? Praktyczne porady dla żon wojskowych
Co mam zrobić, jeśli mój mąż mnie bije?
Praktyczne porady dla żon wojskowych
- Twój mąż-wojskowy przeżywa ogromny stres. Porozmawiaj z nim, spróbuj się wczuć w jego sytuację.
- Nie ujawniaj wszystkich szczegółów w mediach społecznościowych.
- Nie wypada prać brudów publicznie. Posty w mediach społecznościowych mogą zniszczyć karierę Twojego męża.
- Jeśli bicie nie zagraża twojemu życiu, wytrzymaj. Niedługo się to skończy.
- Postaraj się maskować sińce kosmetykami.
- Unikaj jaskrawych kolorów stroju i makijażu. Mogą one sprowokować męża do nowych wybuchów [agresji?].
- Przeanalizuj swoje postępowanie. Czemu twój mąż Cię uderzył? Czym go sprowokowałaś?
- Poproś męża o przebaczenie.
Akademia Komunikacji
Milczenie to nie słabość - to mądrość
QR kod prowadzi do ac-psy.com.ru/
Znalezione przez Michała Strelnikova na FB
Войдите на Facebook
Войдите на Facebook, чтобы общаться с друзьями, родственниками и знакомыми.Facebook
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8Petros [$ rm -rv /capitalism/*] reshared this.
Co mam zrobić, jeśli moje państwo mnie bije?
Spodziewam się epidemii zatruć grzybami i metanolem. Rosjanki zasadniczo nie są z tych uległych.
Już o 8:20 zaczynamy relację "prawie jak live" z dwóch procesów, które mają odbyć się dzisiaj - 2 września 2025 - w budynku Sądu Rejonowego w Białymstoku. Pod budynkiem sądu od godziny 9:00 zaplanowana jest także demonstracja solidarnościowa.
Śledźcie relację, bądźcie z oskarżonymi. Pomaganie nie jest nielegalne. Pushbacki są.
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Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦, Extinction Rebellion Polska i Tomasz Oryński reshared this.
Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦 reshared this.
Aral Balkan
Unknown parent • • •Daniel
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •I'd like to encourage everyone to prefer trusted organizations for donations, such as the Global Sumud Flotilla or UNRWA or others.
Aral Balkan
in reply to Daniel • • •@helmet91 What are you taking about? There is no “verification video.” Which account are you talking about and what is this proof you purport to have?
I’ve *personally* had video chats over Signal with all four of the people verified on the site currently and I am in touch with them daily.
Daniel
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Daniel • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@helmet91 And her older brother, Yousef, has an English Literature degree and was just recently asking me if I could help him find work. Does that sound like a scammer to you?
mastodon.ar.al/@aral/115062517…
I really think you’re jumping to conclusions here.
Aral Balkan
@helmet91 And her older brother, Yousef, has an English Literature degree and was just recently asking me if I could help him find work. Does that sound like a scammer to you?
mastodon.ar.al/@aral/115062517…
I really think you’re jumping to conclusions here.
Aral Balkan
2025-08-20 18:31:28
Daniel
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Daniel
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •I mean, they're not supposed to use anything but a camera for a video that is meant for proving their authenticity.
This was more than a year ago: arstechnica.com/information-te…
AI is evolving rapidly, it's only becoming easier to pull off such scams. This is why I cannot recommend video calls as proof.
I do have ideas for validation that could be implemented before you accept Gazan profiles, but none of them would be 100% scam-proof either. Some strengthening wouldn't harm, nonetheless.
Deepfake scammer walks off with $25 million in first-of-its-kind AI heist
Benj Edwards (Ars Technica)Aral Balkan
in reply to Daniel • • •@helmet91 These people are literally faced with genocide and famine and you’re out here acting like a dollar-store Sherlock Holmes.
I’ve told you several times now that I’ve had live video conversations over Signal with Nouran and her brother Yousef.
I don’t know what your problem is but what you’re doing by spreading this FUD is deplorable. I just saw that you wrote this blog post also: helmet91.com/post/how-not-to-g…
Congratulations, you are slandering people who are trying to survive genocide and famine.
Please think long and hard about what you’re doing here.
How not to get scammed
helmet91Aral Balkan
Unknown parent • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •ΞVΞ🌸
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •This is gold. Thank you
Loading...
David Culley
Unknown parent • • •zy
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Coralie Renée
Unknown parent • • •Thank you so much for having checked it out.
It looks suspicious because of the same toot send 5 times.
💖💖💖
Solène de Montmarin 🇲🇲💚🇵🇸
Unknown parent • • •Do you have any news from @Aseelsehwel ?
Aral Balkan
in reply to Solène de Montmarin 🇲🇲💚🇵🇸 • • •Solène de Montmarin 🇲🇲💚🇵🇸
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@Aseelsehwel
Aral Balkan
in reply to Solène de Montmarin 🇲🇲💚🇵🇸 • • •RFanciola
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
Unknown parent • • •@Kiloku @HarrietMonkhouse Please see mastodon.ar.al/@aral/115162421…
Aral Balkan
2025-09-07 09:58:19
@Kiloku @HarrietMonkhouse Please see mastodon.ar.al/@aral/115162421…
Aral Balkan
2025-09-07 09:58:19
Harriet Monkhouse
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Amir Khan
Unknown parent • • •are you familiar with the
@tech4palestine set up by @paulbiggar ? What youre doing is something they would certainly appreciate and maybe even help support.
Also look up UpScrolled. An instagram alternative they’ve build to help Palestine. It’s really quite impressive 🍉🇵🇸
Aral Balkan
in reply to Amir Khan • • •Gaza Verified
gaza-verified.orgChris Morgan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •gaza-verified.org/ by
@aral
makes it so easy to donate to help people in Gaza. Aral verifies each account. I just donated a small amount to each of the accounts listed and it's easy. They are mostly gofundme or chuffed.org
Gaza Verified
gaza-verified.org