Dr. Gonzo

I think they just reap the benefits of American politics relying on lobbying because being elected is expensive - and they’ve got a well funded and strong lobby in the US.

It's interesting seeing Christians getting attacked in Jerusalem while the world is busy with this conflict thought:

Iran's weapon exports to Hezbollah in Lebanon have really ramped up in recent weeks. And now Hezbollah's getting more and more involved in the conflict. I feel bad for Lebanon. The government has no power. Nobody really wants to get involved in another brutal war other than Hezbollah - the country is in a bad way right now. The last time Hezbollah and Israel fought, it was essentially a stalemate - but the cost to Lebanon was high. If Hezbollah keeps escalating, Lebanon's going to see itself getting the Gaza 2023 treatment. It benefits nobody in Lebanon for them to be at war with Israel once again. It's a country that relies on tourism and the last time they fought, the IDF blew up Beirut's international airport. That would probably happen again... and this time the country is still in recovery from the horrific port explosion.

Hippos kill more people than any other animal every year, they'd be my last choice. What are we fighting the animals off with? Our fists? If so... uhh I pick living over participating.

26 17

Can I bring a laser pointer? If so - the tiger. Otherwise probably the crocodile or the aligator or whatever the fuck that is. Cos I can climb a tree and I doubt they can.

Yes

Christmas isn’t a very Islamic holiday tbf

Tbf loads of people have been calling what Israel has done to Palestinians genocide, even before this massive flare up in the conflict. It is genocide, according to the UN definition. It maybe doesn’t have international recognition… but there have been loads of genocides that definitely were genocides that don’t have international recognition because of geopolitical reasons. It’s wrong to not recognise genocide but it’s not exactly unique to this conflict.

So what the fuck do you think Hamas were thinking on October 7? How was it meaningful resistance? They knew it would lead to Israel obliterating Gaza. They were counting on it. I’m not playing the card of anyone being responsible. I’m not doing mental gymnastics to justify the unjustifiable. I’m not going to do that. If you can rationalise the indiscriminate bombing of a densely populated area with tons of children for a sustained period of months - you’re a monster. By the same token, if you can rationalise a savage terror attack like Hamas’s… you’re also a monster. It’s easy (and safe) to cheer on a terror attack sitting behind a computer screen in the west. But make no mistake, Hamas knew what their attack meant for the people of Gaza - they were counting on it. So by cheering Hamas on, don’t think you’re not one of the many westerners who don’t value middle eastern lives. The kids of Gaza deserve better than having their government use them as sacrificial lamb pawns in geopolitics. I don’t know what it is about this conflict that causes so many to lose the ability to have objective rational thought & why some are so quick to leave humanity behind. The propaganda of this is so wild, I hope it’s well studied. The inception of Israel was poorly thought out and western countries are to blame. But genocide is wrong, full stop. Terrorism is wrong, full stop. The governments and leadership of both Israelis and Palestinians have failed their citizens, their neighbors, and the world - for decades. Justification of any of their recent crimes is impossible.

I mean... with Hamas you haven't even said they're bad. You said what they did was akin to a slave revolt (even though... they're meant to be the fuckin' government of Gaza). You think the Houthis shooting missiles that... aren't doing anything other than interfering with shipping lanes and are going to cause the US Navy to strike (which means more death for Yemenis) is a good thing. To your credit, you did come close to saying the Houthis are bad (but at this point, I'm going to have to assume that's because they're Shia) - but you still think they're doing a good thing. So you're taking bad actions that haven't resulted in anything other than death of innocents - and you're attributing good qualities to them because you've taken a side. You taking a side and seeing these things as "bad" or "good" is very much seeing the world in black and white.

You’re the one looking at it in black and white, genius. So yes, that is emphatically “gonna be you” I’m not sitting around praising Hamas, the IDF, the Houthis, etc. You’re the one who’s now praised Hamas and the Houthis. You’ve obviously taken a side. And you think it’s just to back one of two genocidal sides. I laughed at the media trusting bit though

What you said wasn’t complicated. It’s just fucking stupid. If you recall, it’s not too many posts ago you conflated the Houthis with the whole of Yemen. The Houthis are awful people, you’re just praising them because they’re attacking the right people” in your eyes. Propaganda is wild, no sane person should sit by and praise the Houthis for involving their civil war ravaged country - that’s suffered its own genocide at the hands of the US & Saudi Arabia - in this conflict. It’s also insane that nobody gave a fuck about Yemen for years but now they’ve gotten themselves involved in this stupid conflict so the pro-Palestinian crowd love the Houthis now. What a world!

Lol your “case by case” basis is: do these human rights abusers hate the human rights abusers I hate? “No good guys, but I’ve taken a side in a conflict between two human rights abusers so I’ve clearly decided one side is good.” Alright you’ve lost me on “at least your ideologically consistent”

I started Cyberpunk 2077 last night. Seems ok, I didn't get very far. Hilarious that I could give my character a massive cock though.

Yeah I mean at least you're ideologically consistent. I'm sure it won't be long before you twerk for Khamenei. I don't think Faisal's statement is true of modern day Saudi Arabia, tbh. You don't have generations of people getting increasingly cushier lives built off the back of oil suddenly willing to give up living these cushier lives to go back to living in tents and eating lizards. The stability of the house of Saud ruling the country depends on their ability to not piss off everyone living there all at once - so they'll keep treading the fine line between voicing support for Palestine while also doing what they can to keep the oil flowing. Faisal might have cared about things like "Arab unity" and the idea of "the Arab state" - I don't think MBS does, or if he does... I don't think he cares about it as much as he cares about money and power. The only thing that'll force Israel's hand to show more restraint is international pressure being put on Israel by its allies & Israelis demanding accountability from their government, imo. The rising civilian death count has already brought about a change in public statements from the UK and we're seeing divisions in Biden's administration with some members of his staff calling for a ceasefire & a split between Biden & Haris over the support given to Israel. The whole world should be calling for a return to following international laws & a return to the internationally recognised borders.

Lol literally praising the Houthis stopping international shipping lanes. By the way, the Houthis aren't really the government of Yemen - there's been a ceasefire but the "legitimate" government of the country is very much at question. There's the internationally recognised government of Yemen, which is a Saudi puppet. And then there's the Houthis, who are a Iranian proxy group... so an Iranian puppet. While these are the belligerents of the Yemeni civil war, there's a good case to be made that neither is a legitimate government for Yemen. Yemenis deserve the right to self determination rather than have their country be a battleground between two despicable regimes.

Yeah, even if those 3 were Hamas combatants - that would have been a textbook war crime to shoot someone unarmed and surrendering. Instead they’ve shot 3 of the hostages. The IDF has got a serious problem with restraint and so many Israelis or pro-Israelis have a serious problem with viewing Palestinian civilians as human. If you’ve looked at any of the IDF footage of the combat, you will see lots of GoPro videos of IDF soldiers seeming very jumpy and very quick to pull the trigger, a lot of soldiers aren’t following the rules of engagement and are firing first and worrying about what they’ve shot after the fact. So I’m not really surprised by this.

Yeah... probably not a good idea to take ketamine in a hot tub

Have Hamas leadership really fled from Qatar to Turkey? I’d have imagined they’d have gone to Iran. I feel like it’d be easier for Mossad to get them in Turkey.

26 24

Stock market reacting well to positive inflation news - Dow Jones hits its record high and my stocks are making me erect.

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-president-regulatory-agencies-government-e68011d7be18ba4156d17ef6f2c2eaaa I suppose the cartels are enough overside for AMLO's government. I feel a bit bad for Mexico, because the guys a total joke of a leader, but... they voted for him and in a democracy you get the leaders you deserve, even though Mexican politics is fucked purely because of the drug problem their neighbor to the north has.

did you meant to type nude?

I like how it's just signed "Rabbi" - I wonder if it worked in spreading hate. It seems like it would only work on the very stupid.