bobbin

This current conflict in Israel is different from the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the other conflict engaging the World's attention.. The Russians are using WW2 tactics.. Indiscriminate missile and artillery attacks on civilians and vital infrastructure. Not to influence Ukrainian population, but to destroy lives and morale.. And Israel is using a modified version of the same.. The following is not original to me but comes from Thomas Friedman. A Jewish American reporter for the New York Times.. He suggests calling the Israeli response "Save the Children". Hamas is holding hostages to shield themselves but most people do not look favorably on this tactic, so Israel should take advantage of this.. Call on Hamas to engage seriously on hostage/prisoner exchange. Attempting to rescue the Hamas hostages militarily will not end well for the hostages or those attempting to rescue them. The following is my own input.. The previous exchange of 6000 Palestinians for 1 Israeli soldier, was a stupid move by Netanyahu, and by extension Israel. It completely ignored the future security implications for Israel. I believe many of the released Palestinians are active Hamas now, including several senior operatives. Plus it's not a good look... 6000 Palestinian lives are the equivalent of 1 Israeli life? No no.. Offer a maximum of 3 to 1. And that looks magnanimous on Israel's part. No senior Hamas or other big fish. The hostages are a cross-section of Israeli society.. including many children and old people. Also known peace proponents who have helped Palestinian civilians with access to advanced medical care. People for people.. Back to Friedman. He says that despite decades of experience, he does not know, and has never heard of, several far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet. They are there to help Bibi remain on top and to stay out of jail.. but they want to absorb the West Bank and other anti-Arab initiatives. He goes on to say that all senior leaders of the military and intelligence apparatus have apologized to the Israeli people.. with the glaring exception of Netanyahu, the man ultimately responsible to the Israeli people. He has to go, and go quickly. That is not his plan. He is still hoping to stay on top and out of prison..

Thanks for the link. Wow.. long read. I just skimmed quickly and I'll read it tomorrow morning. Interesting the discrepancy in the casualty figures.

Yes

The British Army and Police casualties figures you quote seemed low compared to references i had seen, so I did a quick Google... The British Army Museum quotes a figure of 750 Military and Police killed from 1945-1948. This figure does not include injured.. Another interesting fact emerged.. From 1920 until 1939, when Britain curtailed Jewish immigration so as to retain Arab support for the war effort, 100,000 Jews emigrated to Palestine. That would certainly have added to the "local" Jewish population. A further 250,000 emigrated after 1945 and prior to the conflict between Arabs and Jews that occurred after the British withdrawal. As earlier noted, the British became weary of the conflict with Jewish nationalists and departed prematurely, without a political solution in place. Essentially they left it to the Arabs and the Jews to fight it out amongst themselves...

Oh man.. The leg kicks this girl is going to be able to deliver!

Fun topic.. I was quite good-looking from my late teens until my mid to late 20's. Then a little bit less so each couple of years. As evidence I would say that all my serious girlfriends and my ex-wife were extremely attractive. I was 31 when i married my ex, who was 21 at the time.. We were rock-stars.. That marriage lasted 20 years and I console myself with the thought that I had her best years. Old(er) age is not kind to anybody in this regard.. I see pictures of very beautiful women then and now.. It's enough to make you want to cry.

I believe that it is true.. And if you think that JBCR is referring to the USA, then your knowledge of the background to this political/religious conflict is sorely lacking.. The British were given responsibility for the Palestinian Mandate after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WW1. The French were given responsibility for Lebanon and other areas for the same reason. Neither were meant to be permanent... At the end of WW2 Britain was still in charge and looking to discharge and end their responsibility for the Mandate. They were influenced by the Balfour Declaration but it was not a certainty which direction they were going to go.. Proponents of a Jewish State were openly in conflict with British Authorities, killing many (many!) British soldiers. They were what we today call terrorists. They assassinated the United Nations peace envoy, probably to ensure that there was no compromise agreement re the local population, including long-time Jewish residents (a minority). Meanwhile Jewish survivors of the Holocaust were pouring into the area... Cynics suggest that this was encouraged by various guilt-ridden European leaders... After 3 years of conflict with various militant Jewish organizations, Britain prematurely threw in the towel and left early, leaving the Jewish nationalists as the military power on the ground.. And here we are..

Wow, the moon really is made of blue cheese.. I have a friend who is unfortunately susceptible to numerous conspiracy theories.. just tried to "educate" me again the other day about Covid vaccines.. We are close enough that I'm able to laugh out loud and he doesn't take offense.. thank the imaginary friend in the sky.

I loves me weed.. but this is not the topic to be posting stoner memes.. and this is the second one in as many posts.. Maybe it's time for you to lay off the bong..

Got it. But sad you didn't read my thingy..

555 You can't follow what I wrote? Hmmm.

Oh no.. it's the confused emoji. If the topic is too difficult to understand best keep it to yourself..

Oh.. it's too difficult? Yes, it's much easier to unleash relatively un-targeted death from the sky..and hoping a certain percentage of the casualties are active Hamas operatives blown to smithereens.. shame about the innocent women and children.. How many Hamas gunmen where killed by the IDF in the mop up inside Israel? I vaguely recall 1000+.. These were part of the suicide group that stayed behind. So most of the beasts are dead already.. the ones who committed the most horrific acts. As for the difficulty of entering Gaza thousands of times to snatch people.. Firstly, the targets will not number in the thousands. This is what Israel gets wrong. There were probably a couple of thousand and half of them are dead already. Killed in Israel. Second and most importantly, I didn't say anything about "snatching" anyone. I'm talking about killing them there on the spot. The hit teams will be small but if some of them are killed this is still better than large numbers of Israeli reservists and innocent civilians. That is not so difficult unless you are trying to hit all the targets in a week or two. And I'm pretty sure that when Israel is talking about crippling Hamas that they are not talking about bringing any back for trial. I appreciate that in many of your posts you point out that both sides have done bad things, but your bias is clear..and that's OK if you are Israeli. I am not. Israel must not forget that the world is watching and forming their own opinions. I'm obviously not the first to point this out. As has been said so many time re the Ukraine/Russia conflict.. It's possible to win the war and loose the Peace. Is that real enough for you?

A further thought on an exchange of prisoners held by the Israelis in exchange for hostages.. Apparently the last such exchange involved 6000 Palestinians for 1 Israeli solder.. Well, that was a stupid deal on the part of the Israelis, apparently spear-headed by Netanyahu for short-term political points while ignoring the long-term security implications for Israel. Make the exchange negotiations public and transparent. And proportionate. The World will then have the opportunity to make their judgements. It's my opinion that this would be a more successful strategy for Israel..

As for allowing Hamas a "win" if the current illegal non-proportionate retribution is not allowed to continue.. Well, I think most of us are aware that Israel has been quite successful over the years in targeting and eliminating specific individuals.. I have no problem with a targeted response like this. Yes, it will take more time and it's not as flashy, but it is effective and will save thousands of innocent lives. As for the innocent hostages, including many non-Israelis ( 20 Thais?), make a deal for an exchange..

There are none so blind as those that will not see..

I have the same bike and I have been thinking of selling it.. The old saying (maybe not so old because it mentions airbags..) "On a bike you are the airbag.." I've been riding bikes for about 56 years but.. Get well soon..

555.. You walk up to to someone fitting that description and say it to their face.. instead of from behind your keyboard.. Go on.. I double dog dare ya..

JBCR.. you and I have crossed swords on the Cannabis in Thailand issue but on this much more important issue I stand with you. Funnily enough, some of your allies in the Cannabis discussion oppose you in this topic. Anybody trying to avoid the imposition of collective punishment will have my support. This is not an endorsement of the truly evil actions by some of the Hamas gunmen. I believe most of those beasts are dead already. One pundit noted that there seemed to be 2 groups in the Hamas attack. The first group, that did most of the evil acts carried no water, food or medical supplies. The second, "snatch" group had these supplies. The first group were literally suicidal and for most their wish was granted.

Gynecomastia is the proper medical term. It's a not uncommon side-effect of TRT, usually associated with higher doses.

Me too.. Unfortunate, because as it shows now, no indication of the credibility of a poster..

"Yeehaw..", he cried as he skied off down the slippery slope.. That is the one outcome guaranteed not to happen.

The main Pattaya roads are a disgrace.. Too much reconstruction going on at the same time.. I have a nice car but I will often call a Grab so I don't have the aggravation of dealing with detours and disappearing lanes.. It's going to be good in a couple of years but I'm running out of time!

Whoa.. to young by far to be associated with masturbation Bunny..

It might be time to close this thread.. but it won't happen.. and most can figure out why that is the case. I love You-Tube Premium! So much content about this issue.. And an almost equal amount of content devoted to the fallacy of religion..all religions.. I think most of us are just trying to make sense of this (long term) situation. Good luck with that! It's a true Gordian knot. Much better minds than most of the posters here have so far failed to resolve the issue. You have the pure "liberals" looking from afar.. the "my country right or wrong' Israelis (looking at you Mike and Dow), the conflicted Israelis (conflicted because they have a pretty good idea of the local situation), and the non-Israelis (usually American.. no blood on their hands! ) just itching to flatten another Muslim "target" (yagoda and a couple of others). Per You-Tube, Christian Zionism preceded Jewish Zionism. Christians were no slouches when it came to persecuting Jews. Probably because they blamed the Jews for killing Jesus...after Pontius Pilate gave the crowd the option of not killing him. Then the British failed miserably when it came time to retreat from Empire.. Give a British bureaucrat a map and a pen and there is no end of trouble they can create. India/Pakistan, Palestine/Middle East. Jerusalem should be the first International city. Important to three of the world's religions. No room for idol-worshipers of course.. In an earlier post I used the phrase imposed peace..Two peoples, not that numerous, causing problems in the neighborhood... Just scratching the surface, but I think I've made enough new enemies for now..