rattlesnake

Interesting (and welcome IMO) development.

I was expecting it. The political pressure is probably immense for them to retract their support, which they have not yet done. Macron is trying to balance several issues simultaneously. Expressing support for Israel (the way Biden did) could lead to a new uprising in France, including from the pro-Palestinian Muslim population (almost 6 million people), and that is the last thing he wants before the Olympic Games.

Good that you tried, my wife wanted to talk to him too, I thought it was better not to as you never know who you're dealing with. I recall sending an email to a local charity/organisation (can't remember which one) about him, I thought it might help, perhaps he had family back home who could help or something. Never got a reply.

The one who was on the Lotus parking lot most of the time? He vanished a few years ago, never knew what happened to him.

What I said is what I said. What you claim I "seemed to be" saying is the product of your biased interpretation.

I agree we should stop here. I think your excessive subjectivity on this issue is warping your perception.

If you read the article I posted, you wouldn't need to ask me all those questions. Here is the first paragraph (now updated to include Slovenia): France, Belgium and Slovenia released statements supporting the world’s top war crimes court and its chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, after Israel and the United States both harshly condemned the effort.

Now backing the ICC in its current endeavour, followed by a link to an article which gives the specifics.

Logically, yes, although Israel are catching up Hamas quickly in terms of degraded image.

You might interpret it that way, but that is not what I said.

I posted a relevant article above. France and Belgium support request for arrest warrants of Israel and Hamas leaders https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-hamas-latest-05-21-2024-2932f9c3878af8aee603bcc759a57cc6

Please quote the part where I purportedly said it is about prosecution. To me, what is notable is the continued exposure and degradation of Israel's image.

Indeed, but they conveniently stopped reporting these stats over a year ago.

No, I scrolled down for a few seconds and there you have it: Bibi was also quick to switch to his default position. All this is not relevant anymore because Israel has dealt itself a possibly fatal blow with this crisis and even very pro-Israel France is now backing the ICC. Netanyahu: ‘Absurd’ ICC bid to arrest Israeli leaders is ‘the new antisemitism’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-absurd-icc-bid-to-arrest-israeli-leaders-is-the-new-antisemitism/ France and Belgium support request for arrest warrants of Israel and Hamas leaders https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-hamas-latest-05-21-2024-2932f9c3878af8aee603bcc759a57cc6

Empirical reality supersedes paid-for narratives.

Biden does, unsurprisingly. Biden says ICC move on arrest warrants for Israeli leaders "outrageous" https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-says-icc-move-arrest-warrants-israeli-leaders-outrageous-2024-05-20/

Waiting for the pro-Israel posters to call the ICC antisemitic…

There should no longer be any "danger of infection", as the overwhelming majority of people are multiple-jabbed, which was, according to the "scientific" community, the politicians and the media of the entire planet, the only way to "put Covid behind us". So surely Covid is behind us, right? Or were we lied to?

97? 15 years here and I have only ever seen 91 and 95.

Not so sure about that, lots of Thais are totally unaware of international issues. I recall two distinct occurrences when I was asked by some Thais whether or not it was a good idea to go to Israel for work. Both times I said it was very dangerous and did not think it was a good idea. I recommended applying for berry-picking in Scandinavia. This was long before Oct 7.

Ditto. People always see the difference first, it's a natural human thing. In France my son is Asian, in Thailand he is "farang noi".

The other day, I read that fear of flying costs the airline industry millions through lost customers, which is why, in countries such as Switzerland, it funds courses to teach people to overcome their fears… and ultimately buy plane tickets.

Indeed. Or this example: The two sides of AstraZeneca’s vaccine ‘miracle’ Fit and healthy before the jab, the 47-year-old father-of-two has suffered a permanent brain injury that prevents him from working. [...] It’s a legal mess made more complicated because the Government indemnified AstraZeneca and other Covid vaccine-makers ahead of the mass rollout that began to much fanfare in December 2020. In other words, though AstraZeneca is one of the UK’s wealthiest businesses (it generated revenue of £37bn in 2023) it will be the British taxpayer that will foot any legal bills and damages should Mr Scott and 50 other claimants win their class action suit against the company. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/30/astrazeneca-vaccine-jamie-scott-class-action-side-effects/

An encouraging graphic. People aren't that dumb and are able to connect dots.

Of course it varies according to individuals, but it does not suit some people and it is certainly not a 100% harmless substance. I think there is a point to be made that deploying it without safeguards, the way it was in Thailand, was unreasonable. I smoked for 13 years, so telling me I don't know what I am on about is irrelevant. Just an opinion for debate… I thought you stoners were meant to be chilled (Just joshing!!)