rattlesnake

Interestingly, there is also this. A New York Times poll found that a lot of former Trump-haters now see him favourably. Four Years Out, Some Voters Look Back at Trump’s Presidency More Positively The poll’s findings underscore the way in which a segment of voters have changed their minds about the Trump era, recalling those years as a time of economic prosperity and strong national security. [...] Garcia voted for Biden four years ago but has been unhappy with his handling of the border, crime, mental health and the rising cost of living. She plans to back Trump in November. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/four-years-out-some-voters-look-back-at-trumps-presidency-more-positively/#:~:text=Views of Donald Trump's presidency,York Times and Siena College.

I can't remember if it was Nokair or Airasia, but there used to be a Bkk-Mukdahan package deal where you would fly Bkk-Ubon and then get on a bus to Mukdahan straight from the airport. I did it over 10 years ago and don't know if it's still available.

Nutcases everywhere. Scary.

Only as a last resort. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option

There is some truth to that. Lots of women are instinctively, unconsciously wired to look for Alpha males, and therefore they are often attracted to loud-mouthed, vulgar cretins, often without even being able to explain it themselves.

What I find particularly interesting is the exposure on this issue. It is certainly not new (there are videos from the 90s of Rabbis encouraging Netanyahu to accelerate this process), but for the first time, it is under the spotlight for the world to see.

More and more people are going crazy these days. What happened, I wonder?

Okay, it's their brothers

No need to get confrontational, Lou. Next time you drive past any shopping mall or large shop at closing time, usually 8 or 9 pm, pay attention to the girls standing outside, looking at their phones. They are waiting to be picked up. Also the Thai guys parked on their bikes, waiting for their girlfriend to finish work.

I see them getting on the back of their motorbikes at closing time.

How do you know they are bored and desperate? Most of them seem happy to play on their phones all day in an air-conditioned space, and if you go to these shops at closing time you will see their Thai boyfriends waiting to pick them up outside.

You can refer to the ICJ case, which details Netanyahu's religious beliefs and his references to the Amalek and the prophecy of Isaiah (which dictates that Israel should annihilate its enemy, including children and animals) when talking about the Palestinians. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-31/biblical-story-amalek-south-africa-icj-genocide-case-israel/103403552

Seems accurate to me.

JFK planned to stop the Israeli nuclear program, but after he was taken out, it was given the green light by FDJ. Also notable is the Samson Option, which is a means of pressure used by the Israeli government to obtain US support. Golda Meir used it with Nixon during the Kippur War: "either send in US troops or we nuke the world". Nixon yielded. There is a Wikipedia section on it too, for those who like this source. The Shimshon Option: How Israel's nuclear gambit changed the course of 1973 Yom Kippur War https://www.republicworld.com/defence/global-defence-news/the-shimshon-option-how-israel-s-nuclear-gambit-changed-the-course-of-1973-yom-kippur-war/

Netenyahu's doctrine is to implement what theologian Youssef Hindi refers to as "active messianism", which consists in interefing on events to bring about the end times, instead of waiting for them to happen. According to the beliefs of members of the Likud and of the Rabbis guiding Israeli policy, this is a necessary step before the coming of their Messiah, the rebuilding of the Third Temple and the total domination of Israel over the world.

This is such a divisive, contentious issue that there is bias, hyperbolic language and hatred on both sides. The best way to raise awareness and discuss this matter entails, in my opinion, providing views from all perspectives. Of course the aforementioned sources are biased, but they give essential context.

A word on the actual substance, maybe? Here is another source for you, Moonis Ahmar and Andrew Higgins: How and why Israel helped create Hamas? One, it was purely in the Israeli interest to support and patronise first Mujama al-Islamiya and then Hamas. It also means that like the US which created and nourished various Jihadi groups in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Israel cannot escape from the responsibility of creating Hamas. Two, Hamas’ rise and surge in 1990s and thereafter the weakening of PLO and the Palestinian community strengthened Israeli occupation over West Bank and the blockade of Gaza. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2302309/how-and-why-israel-helped-create-hamas

Israel actively helped create and supported Hamas, in order to weaken Arafat's PLO. The strategy was to use this engineered terrorism threat to justify retaliation and the implementation of the occupation as per the Greater Israel plan (cf. Oded Yinon's book The Zionist Plan for the Middle East, 1982) and stall the creation of a Palestinian state. The Intercept wrote a good piece about it (pasting excerpts and the link below). Andrew Higgins also wrote a very good article for The Wall Street Journal on the matter in 2009, How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas, I am not posting it here as it is accessible behind a paywall, but I recommend it to those interested in furthering their knowledge on the issue. BLOWBACK: HOW ISRAEL WENT FROM HELPING CREATE HAMAS TO BOMBING IT “Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official who worked in Gaza for more than two decades, told the Wall Street Journal in 2009. Back in the mid-1980s, Cohen even wrote an official report to his superiors warning them not to play divide-and-rule in the Occupied Territories, by backing Palestinian Islamists against Palestinian secularists. “I … suggest focusing our efforts on finding ways to break up this monster before this reality jumps in our face,” he wrote. https://theintercept.com/2018/02/19/hamas-israel-palestine-conflict/

I detailed how Israel strategically bolstered Hamas to annihilate the two-State solution in the first pages of this topic. If the messianic party Likud had not eliminated Rabin, Arafat and the PLO in the name of their religious ideology instead of purposely arming Hamas, there would have been a two-state solution in the 90s and no second Intifada, no Operation Cast Lead and of course no October 7. The two-state solution is the last thing the Rabbi-led Likud wants and they will go all the way to achieve Greater Israel (which means no Palestine) if they aren't stopped. Iran is a related issue, but I can't go into that properly as it would be deemed off topic.

I've already told you I don't engage in the false "Hamas vs. Israel" dichotomy. Hamas in its current form is an Israeli creation. Prayers to the Palestinian people.

Agree. I like your avatar BTW.

8 April 2024: Israel’s war on Gaza live: Palestinians return to destroyed Khan Younis Palestinians return to destroyed homes in Khan Younis as most Israeli troops withdraw months after they invaded the city in southern Gaza. At least 33,175 Palestinians have been killed and 75,886 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139, with dozens still held captive. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/8/israels-war-on-gaza-live-palestinians-return-to-destroyed-khan-younis

7 April 2024: Israel steps up preparation for Rafah invasion despite Western warnings The EU and U.S. have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel goes ahead with its planned offensive. The U.S. and other Western allies have repeatedly called on Israel not to launch an all-out attack on Rafah, the last remaining area that has not come under the control of the IDF; Washington has called for a more targeted approach that would minimize civilian casualties. In a statement when the operation was initially announced in February, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the bloc “is very concerned about Israeli government plans for a possible ground operation in Rafah, where well over a million Palestinians are currently sheltering from the fighting.” https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-troops-prepare-rafah-invasion-gaza/

Big mistake IMO. Best to understand, intervene and rectify all erroneous assumptions being made.

A ‘war against humanity itself’: José Andrés still reeling from Israeli attack that killed his workers Chef José Andrés described Israel’s siege of Gaza as a “war against humanity itself,” days after the Israeli attack that killed seven workers from World Central Kitchen, Andrés’ aid organization that provides meals to civilians suffering from hunger due to conflicts. […] This doesn’t seem anymore [to be] a war about defending Israel. The Israelis at this point seem it’s a war against humanity itself,” Andrés said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” that aired Sunday. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/07/jose-andres-israel-world-central-kitchen-workers-00150942