Gaza showdown

[sdedalus83]

I was going to find some cool fanart of the Four Horsemen from Good Omens; unfortunately 90% of Good Omens fanart is Crowley/Aziraphale slash.

[kyanwan]

Funny, my colleague said to me "we should just asphalt the whole middle east.... and then put McDonalds in one corner."

What is funnier is that he is somewhat related to jews and his aunt or something is living in Israel. Probably because his only impression of the country was that people there suck at driving causing traffic chaos 

Ain't gonna happen boss.

Let me elaborate.

Arabs have big families.   Almost like Africans -but-

Arabs happen to have jobs like this:   Engineer, Doctor, Pathologist, Computer Scientist, Lawyer, etc....

Africa on the other hand:  Poacher, Nigerian Fraudster, Starving Guy, Robert Mugabe, Somalian Pirate, Militant Group Member, etc.   Unless you open up that McDonalds in Mugabe's back yard - you're not making shit.   You might argue that the Nigerian Fraudster has cash - but he'll rob you right after he buys - so you're still out.   Tough place. 

They'd do better to leave it alone, open a pool hall & a couple restaurants, and plant a mall near it.  A net-cafe or two as well.   Screw McDonalds. 

Just think of the Middle East as rednecks on steroids (seriously man!   It's like the same shit over there. )   Betchya some alligator wrasslin' & waffle houses would be a hit over there.  See - they're probably pissed because there's not enough mud & swamps down there.   

The militant Palestinians have such short sighted goals, if they hold out just a bit longer they'll win the demographics game. Then shortly after that the middle east will be made unlivable as global climate change rears its ugly snake-like head, combining with an already limited water supply and pollution to make a hydra of despair. Then Jesus will descend from the sky on his flying walrus proclaiming our doom, and we'll all get the day off.

In other words, they're all way too stressed out about this occupation thing.

what your saying is commit lots of genocide now and save jesus some trouble right ?
or did i misread lol

I think he said just forget about it all because we're all gonna die in the end.

They should all go home and have some sex0r - and it's all good. 

[Nikkoru]

Funny, my colleague said to me "we should just asphalt the whole middle east.... and then put McDonalds in one corner."

What is funnier is that he is somewhat related to jews and his aunt or something is living in Israel. Probably because his only impression of the country was that people there suck at driving causing traffic chaos 

Ain't gonna happen boss.

Let me elaborate.

Arabs have big families.   Almost like Africans -but-

Arabs happen to have jobs like this:   Engineer, Doctor, Pathologist, Computer Scientist, Lawyer, etc....

Africa on the other hand:  Poacher, Nigerian Fraudster, Starving Guy, Robert Mugabe, Somalian Pirate, Militant Group Member, etc.   Unless you open up that McDonalds in Mugabe's back yard - you're not making shit.   You might argue that the Nigerian Fraudster has cash - but he'll rob you right after he buys - so you're still out.   Tough place. 

They'd do better to leave it alone, open a pool hall & a couple restaurants, and plant a mall near it.  A net-cafe or two as well.   Screw McDonalds. 

Just think of the Middle East as rednecks on steroids (seriously man!   It's like the same shit over there. )   Betchya some alligator wrasslin' & waffle houses would be a hit over there.  See - they're probably pissed because there's not enough mud & swamps down there.  

The militant Palestinians have such short sighted goals, if they hold out just a bit longer they'll win the demographics game. Then shortly after that the middle east will be made unlivable as global climate change rears its ugly snake-like head, combining with an already limited water supply and pollution to make a hydra of despair. Then Jesus will descend from the sky on his flying walrus proclaiming our doom, and we'll all get the day off.

In other words, they're all way too stressed out about this occupation thing.

what your saying is commit lots of genocide now and save jesus some trouble right ?
or did i misread lol

I think he said just forget about it all because we're all gonna die in the end.

They should all go home and have some sex0r - and it's all good. 

Well, you could say that about anything.

If your willing to kill and die for some place, it might as well be awesome, like Candyland or the lost continent of Mu - but these two historically screwed peoples are fighting with one another over a tiny scrap of land with barely anything on it.

[Stsin]

Ain't gonna happen boss.

Let me elaborate.

Arabs have big families.   Almost like Africans -but-

Arabs happen to have jobs like this:   Engineer, Doctor, Pathologist, Computer Scientist, Lawyer, etc....

Don't you mean the Arabs have the money to hire skilled workers?  I'm pretty sure most all the engineers are overseas workers from Britain, Germany, US, etc.  Even their military has contracted workers from overseas fixing their jets.  And this doesn't even count the massive number of Philipinos doing other work.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the impression I got when last in Saudi Arabia.

Africa on the other hand:  Poacher, Nigerian Fraudster, Starving Guy, Robert Mugabe, Somalian Pirate, Militant Group Member, etc.   Unless you open up that McDonalds in Mugabe's back yard - you're not making shit.   You might argue that the Nigerian Fraudster has cash - but he'll rob you right after he buys - so you're still out.   Tough place. 

They'd do better to leave it alone, open a pool hall & a couple restaurants, and plant a mall near it.  A net-cafe or two as well.   Screw McDonalds. 

Just think of the Middle East as rednecks on steroids (seriously man!   It's like the same shit over there. )   Betchya some alligator wrasslin' & waffle houses would be a hit over there.  See - they're probably pissed because there's not enough mud & swamps down there.   

Don't they have a lot of KFC's there already..well in Saudi.  Odd, that there were no mashed potato side dishes though.  So I guess if they aren't potato lovers, then it does make it unlikely for McDonalds to prosper there since it's their fries that make them stand out.  Plus McDonalds would have to become more 'kosher', lol.

It's ironic that these oil wealthy countries, don't have the power that you'd expect to go with it.  Being easier to pay for outside help than training their own, plus some religious sects holding them backwards, has much to do with it.  All that money and can't defeat a little country that they surround is hilarious.


btw, isn't it convenient that the US is now occupying Iraq?  Who said it was all about oil...well, not all directly.

[AceHigh]

Don't you mean the Arabs have the money to hire skilled workers?  I'm pretty sure most all the engineers are overseas workers from Britain, Germany, US, etc.  Even their military has contracted workers from overseas fixing their jets.  And this doesn't even count the massive number of Philipinos doing other work.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the impression I got when last in Saudi Arabia.

Highfive!

It's ironic that these oil wealthy countries, don't have the power that you'd expect to go with it.  Being easier to pay for outside help than training their own, plus some religious sects holding them backwards, has much to do with it.  All that money and can't defeat a little country that they surround is hilarious.

Yeah, but Israel is the modern world's Sparta. 3 year conscription for men, and then automatic enlisting in the reserve force and 2 years conscription for women. So technically nearly every adult is a capable soldier. So Isreal only needs 300..... 300 tanks and artillery positions that is. 

btw, isn't it convenient that the US is now occupying Iraq?  Who said it was all about oil...well, not all directly.

Damn, so it was about McDonalds!

[Proin Drakenzol]

Don't they have a lot of KFC's there already..well in Saudi.  Odd, that there were no mashed potato side dishes though.  So I guess if they aren't potato lovers, then it does make it unlikely for McDonalds to prosper there since it's their fries that make them stand out.  Plus McDonalds would have to become more 'kosher', lol.

There's a kosher McDonald's in Jerusalem, so it's not like it's impossible.

[nstgc]

Given that McDonald's doesn't use anything remotely similar to food, wouldn't all McDonald's items be kosher?

[kyanwan]

Ain't gonna happen boss.

Let me elaborate.

Arabs have big families.   Almost like Africans -but-

Arabs happen to have jobs like this:   Engineer, Doctor, Pathologist, Computer Scientist, Lawyer, etc....

Don't you mean the Arabs have the money to hire skilled workers?  I'm pretty sure most all the engineers are overseas workers from Britain, Germany, US, etc.  Even their military has contracted workers from overseas fixing their jets.  And this doesn't even count the massive number of Philipinos doing other work.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the impression I got when last in Saudi Arabia.

Filipinos?

(?)

From what I understand - they've got the following -

SriLanki - housekeeper
Korean - Engineering, construction
Western - Computers / Tech
Medical - all homegrown. ( Better treatment AND cheaper.  Just picture this:  Emergency Room visit:  $6.00.  Treatment is *EQUAL* or *BETTER* than the US.   Dental = Superior. )

Certain techie stuff gets pulled from outside.  With the population of westerners coming in - sure - it's getting to the point where you can get drawn in there.

But - thinking back to the way things really are ... the people who get educated over there - end up extremely skilled.

Saudi Arabia - that's an exception.  The government there is really putting the people down BAD.  They've got a tyrannical monarchy - and they're all out scum bastards.   I think that's an exception.

A better example is Dubai.   The population there:  9 foreigners.  1 Native.   The growth is so huge - they don't have enough people to staff everything.   That's why the importing of labor.  ( ...and they pay wicked good I hear. )

Other countries on the other hand - Jordan, Syria, Libya, etc - ain't so bad for the people.   If Saudi Arabia were more in step with Jordan - well - same thing.   Would be pretty good by standards here.

Anyways - Jordan's my personal worldview of the Middle East.  You could say - it's "a step down from Israel" as for the quality of life/modernness and economy - and improving ( a lot.  In the time between 1988-today it's seriously developed BIG TIME.  I'm not kidding - I went there ages ago ... and it was well, Middle East.   I went there today - it was like ... wow.   I could actually live here and deal with it... and like it.  Though - I'd not want to leave my home to live there.  So - just leave it as it's a great place to visit.  And - anyone out of the west, if you've got the guts to visit the Middle East - hang out in Jordan.   Friendly, secure, safe, and stable. )

Dubai on the other hand ... I'd rank that as a step up from Israel.

Shit.   That would be a step up from HERE maybe.  They're frickin' insane. 

[AceHigh]

Anyways - Jordan's my personal worldview of the Middle East.  You could say - it's "a step down from Israel" as for the quality of life/modernness and economy - and improving ( a lot.  In the time between 1988-today it's seriously developed BIG TIME.  I'm not kidding - I went there ages ago ... and it was well, Middle East.   I went there today - it was like ... wow.   I could actually live here and deal with it... and like it.  Though - I'd not want to leave my home to live there.  So - just leave it as it's a great place to visit. 

I respect Jordan because the King is a star trek fan and the queen is freaking hot milf.

And - anyone out of the west, if you've got the guts to visit the Middle East - hang out in Jordan.   Friendly, secure, safe, and stable

I don't watch Fox, so I know that it is safer to be in Iran then in Bronx during the night, but then again I am male.

[nstgc]

*in a robot-like voice* Why do you not watch Fox news? It tells us ev-er-y-thing we need to know. They never lie and Obama did not truely win. BUUsh will live forever. I pity you less informed person. But you are a furner so it is to be expected.

[Nikkoru]

I visited Iran last year as part of an architectural project, although the level of skill they displayed I certainly counted on for my work going in, I still didn't expect so many of the Iranians I talked with to be so conscious and opinionated on what was going on in the world, it made me feel parochial and unsophisticated.

Then again, I was only in Tehran for two and a half month and usually in the affluent areas.

[relic2279]

Everyone needs one of these:

(click to show/hide)

[Semnae]

Israel called a ceasefire and withdrew!   Come on Israel, where's your fucking follow through!?!  This isn't going to end until Hamas is overthrown.  Get back in there and finish what you started!

[AceHigh]

Israel called a ceasefire and withdrew!   Come on Israel, where's your fucking follow through!?!  This isn't going to end until Hamas is overthrown.  Get back in there and finish what you started!

WORD. This will be a bigger catastrophe when Hamas retaliates.

[lx4]

Israel cant destroy Hamas without a much larger and longer military operation, that has some real problems.

Israel has tried to minimize civilian casualties, even then hundreds of civilians have died if Israel would go all out it would probably be thousends and not hundreds of dead civilians.

A lot of Israeli soldiers would die, now amazingly only ten soldiers have died. Israel has tried to stay out of the highly populated areas of Gaza as much as possible, that would have to change

There is an election coming up in Israel and Kadima needs the Gaza war to be a success to win, they cant accept high Israeli casualties.   

The longer the war goes on and the more Palestinians that die, the more international pressure on Israel will increase. I think this is the most important reason why the Gaza war was cut short. Israel doesnt want to seriously hurt their relationship with Europe and its completely dependent on America. It needs American money, weapons and support in the security council.

The US isnt criticizing Israel openly but you can be sure they have been pressuring Israel. Now there is a new president, if Hamas strikes Israel again they can go back in with new support from the Obama administration and the fact that Hamas broke the ceasefire and not Israel will shut up Europe for a while.

Hopefully the war has been enough to teach terrorists that fucking with Israel has consequence. Israel has hopefully been able to destroy most of the rocket stockpiles in Gaza and stopped most of the smuggling from Egypt. Hopefully it has considerably weakened Hamas, I wish that Fatah can use this opportunity to take control of Gaza but I doubt it. Hamas has been terrible at killing Israeli soldiers but they have been very good at killing or breaking the arms and legs of Fatah members in Gaza during the war to stop any takeover.

[AceHigh]

Israel doesnt want to seriously hurt their relationship with Europe and its completely dependent on America. It needs American money, weapons and support in the security council.

I wish it was true. However as long as the pacifist media is going to be on the Hamas side, Europe will continue talking about brutality while forgetting that the champions in brutality is still Europe and it would take lot of million deaths to change that fact 

As for USA, I wonder how much weapons and money it can supply in the middle of a crisis. As for Security council we know that China and Russia will be neutral and USA will support Israel. UK and France's stance will depend on the bitching in Europe I guess.

[lx4]

I wish it was true. However as long as the pacifist media is going to be on the Hamas side, Europe will continue talking about brutality while forgetting that the champions in brutality is still Europe and it would take lot of million deaths to change that fact 

Europe can bitch and whine and complain (while making me ashamed of being a European btw), Israel is used to it. As long as Europe doesnt do anything to harm Israel they will be fine. The thing is that Israel is a tiny little country that is dependent on exports, almost half of which are being sold to Europe. Europe could destroy Israel with economic sanctions if it wanted to. It doesnt want to, most European politicians are satisfied with scoring political points by spitting on Israel. But the longer the war drags on the more pressure there will be to reconsider trade with Israel.

[Pigeon]

I saw a McDonalds in Kuwait, as well as a Starbucks and Costa.

Anyway, Israel really doesn't have anything to worry about. Their strategies thus far have worked. They just need to keep doing what they've been doing.

[nates1984]

I don't think becoming increasingly militaristic is a strategy that has "worked" for Israel.

No amount of tanks and bombs will take away from the fact that it's the god damn "holy land" because at the end of the day it really does boil down to religion.

Maybe it has worked in the short term, but not in the long term.

[Pigeon]

Sure it has. They haven't been invaded since what, '72?

As terrible the suicide bombers and rocket attacks are, it's significantly less bad than the full scale invasions they've faced in the past. Worst case scenario for a successful wave of suicide bombers or rockets is you have maybe 1000 people dead. Worst case scenario for a successful invasion is you, everyone you know, everyone with the same religion within 200 miles of you gets killed in an EZ-bake oven.

Israel can survive rocket attacks and suicide bombs forever. If they keep getting invaded, they'll eventually lose one. And then they're dead - all of them - permanently.