Hanaguma

...and the Arab League chose the latter. And lost. They should be grateful that ANY Palestinians were allowed to stay in Israel after that atrocity. And hang their heads in shame at how they treated the Palestinians within their own countries afterwards.

...you forgot the most important bit... ...by the United Nations, and the subsequent invasion of Israel by the Arab League in an attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of the area.

Yes, a "province" of the Roman empire. In any case, this argument can be used by anyone to justify anything. All land was at one time occupied by someone who got kicked out by someone else, who then got kicked out..... The situation today was created by the Arab League invading Israel in 1948. They refused to abide by the partition of land into Jewish and Arab sections and basically got greedy. Much easier to just kill all the Jews and take ALL the land, they thought. Didn't work out too well and now we are dealing with the aftermath. Ask yourself, why are Palestinians so mistreated by their fellow Arab/Muslim brothers? Why do 2 MILLION Palestinians live in Israel with full citizenship, and virtually no Jews can do the same in the surrounding Arab/Muslim countries? I am not fully on board with everything Israel does, but I understand the roots of their paranoia.

You are joking I assume. The Jewish exodus was preceded by violence, rioting, and thuggery. There are literally no Jews left in any Arab/Muslim country. A grand total of 17 in Syria, for example, perhaps 40 in Lebanon, 50 in Yemen, perhaps the same in Egypt. As for the Palestinians who left in the 1948 invasion, it is true that some were coerced/threatened/ expelled. A lot however were told to leave by fellow Arab leaders to clear the way for a victorious Arab League conquest. After which they could all go back and claim the booty of victory- namely the property and land of the soon-to-be murdered Jews. The biggest difference is how the exiled were treated. Jews who migrated to Israel were welcomed and made citizens. Palestinians who migrated to most Arab lands were treated like dogs. Palestinians are not allowed to naturalize and become citizens in countries like Egypt or Syria or Saudi Arabia, they are kept in a perpetual state of rootlessness and grievance.

Really? There are about 2 million Israeli citizens of Palestinian heritage, not sure what you mean.

"Give me your arm" is one of the things cops say when they know they are being recorded. It is a pre-defense strategy to excuse their behavior. Same way they continuously shout "stop resisting" when arresting people who are being compliant or say "he made a furtive move to his waistband" to justify shooting an unarmed person. When there are too many cops shouting conflicting and confusing orders it is a recipe for disaster. Nothing the arrestee can do will prevent some form of retaliation. Like getting told "dont move" and "put your hands up" by different officers at the same time. They need to be trained that, in situations where multiple officers respond, ONE officer is designated at the "caller" and the others enforce the call. But instead all too often every cop at the scene feels the need to chime in and start shouting.

Nah, within hours of the attack Democrats were playing it up as a partisan political event so they could use it in the mid term elections.

I thought the purpose of arming Ukraine was to stop the Russians, bleed them white, then force them to the bargaining table or to retreat. Not to mount offensive operatrions.

For the cost of one Abrams tank, you can buy 50 Javelin anti-tank missiles. Plus training on the Abrams is a 22 week course. So when will these machines actually arrive and will they do much good? From my time in the military, tanks were not considered defensive weapons anyway. They are best used on offence. So why does Ukrain suddenly want offensive weapons?

As I recall, it was the Democrats who first tried to politicize this crime, trying to paint the perp as some kind of right wing MAGA loving loser. When in fact the last of those words was the only accurate one.

IF the Israelis actually are committing genocide against the Palestinians, they are doing a pretty poor job of it. The population in places like Gaza is exploding (maybe I should use a better adjective)... When I hear people fighting about "ancestral lands" it makes me yawn. Same everywhere. Native people want their "ancestal lands" back, Russia wants their "ancestral lands" in Ukraine, China wants their "ancestral lands" in Taiwan, all the same. Back in 1948 the Arab League tried to get back the "ancestral lands" by killing all the Jews that lived there. They failed. Now they need to learn to accept the consequences. If you want to be Palestinian anywhere in the Middle East, Israel is probably the best place to be. Palestinians are citizens, vote, are in government, and have protection. It is a messy region, Israel is the least messy of the countries there.

Good plan. Because of course if Putin is 'retired' in a very final way, the next guy to take over Russia is sure to be more reasonable and sane...

Isn't there a bit of irony in the free democracies defending a country that isn't one?

In other words, NABAT. Funny that your very first post in this discussion was: It's clear that there's a very strong case against him (Trump) for obstruction of Justice. Whereas in the Biden case, it's not at all clear that it was Biden who took these documents. In other words, NABAT.

This was an interesting and I thought rather evocative interview on a Canadian news show called "The Agenda". The guest is a native man who went from alcoholism to being a Crown prosecutor- he wants alcohol banned from all native reserves, as it used to be. Definitely worth a watch IMHO;

Much the same problem on isolated Indian Reserves and communities in Canada. It is dark and freezing cold for 6 months of the year, there is no economic base, people are going to do whatever it takes to get through the winter. Even off the reserves, heavy alcohol use among native Canadians is 60% higher than non natives.

Predictably, this discussion has turned into a "NABAT" festival- "Not As Bad As Trump". How about letting each situation rise and fall on its own merits?

They go together. His advice was based on his observations, which are questionable. From my observation and experience, the most important factor in child rearing success is ability in the Japanese language.

Thanks! No problem, I found it. See above.

Your quote does not appear in the article, which was written by a student for a job hunting website. ETA: I did find his article eventually. He gives terrible advice, telling parents to send their kids to international schools. Unaffordable for most people here and also again an expat choice. If you want your kids to go to university here, the international schools make it almost impossible to do so.

The government here could build fewer bridges to nowhere and trainlines to cities that don't need them. There is a lot of pork and duplication of activity at all levels of government. A lot of paper gets shuffled, printed, and disposed of that could easily be done online by far fewer staff. And, God forbid, perhaps a slight rise in taxes.

That is part of it. A big part is the corporate/business culture. There is a whole culture built around men as the warrior/businessman, devoting their heart and soul to Big Poppa Corporation. There are many government programs to encourage both men and women to take parental leave etc. but few men actually take advantage of them. There is a LOT of social pressure put on men to put work ahead of family. IMHO a much easier answer would be just to simply bribe people. Five hundred bucks a month per child would probably do it.

Actually these days many Japanese DO spend their golden years overseas- in places like Thailand. But they only do so if they can have services rendered in their mother tongue for the most part. And they would still draw their national pensions just as if they stayed home, and still are eligible for national health care benefits just as if they stated home. So exporting the oldsters really isn't a solution. It would not decrease the cost of their care in any appreciable way. As for wealth concentration, Japan is already quite egalitarian. If you look at the Gini Index, Japan ranks more towards equal than most other developed countries- on par with most European countries and better than the US/Canada/Oz. What do you mean by "redistribute the wealth" exactly? Have the government rob people at the point of a gun and give their wealth to others?

If you think Japanese women are subservient to their husbands, you haven't met very many Japanese women! (my wife included). Women run the consumer economy here nearly 100%. I think a lot would happily be stay home mothers if their husbands weren't worked to death by their employers.

Yes. It has happened to many of my friends, as well as (perhaps a random example) the fact that Miss Japan winners lately have been biracial. Other than that, there are many successful biracial ladies here.