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You know facts tayaravaknin but you always add Pro-Israeli nuance. I remember your inane post about Camp David. I didn't reply at the time, why bother?, but I will now. It will be a nice lesson for you.


There are two myths regarding camp David and Baraks offers.

1. Arafat was offered everything, the best offer ever, but kept saying no. This was later used by Sharon as the excuse to expand settlements, as Arafat could not be regarded as a reasonable partner for peace.
   This is the Israeli myth that you have used here.
   
   
2. Israel offers were awful, the West bank and Gaza split into 4 cantons. A non-viable state. This was proof of Israeli bad faith as it would not allow a viable Palestine.
   This is the Palestinian myth.
   
   The truth is well documented and all parties agree on what happened, but neither add any context that explains what happened. My sources are Dennis Ross's book, The Missing Peace, and articles I've read written by the Israeli Slomo Benami and Palestinian Hussain Aga, both Camp David negotiators. All agree on the facts but differ widely on value judgments.
   
   The offer was what was it was claimed to be by the Palestinians, its right there in Ross's book, but that was the starting point for Israel, by the end the offer was of a contiguous state with a Jordanian border. Palestine would lose 9% of the West bank but gain 1% of Israel, also Israel would control Palestine border and airspace, and East Jerusalem would be largely annexed. That was the Camp David offer, more was offered later in Taba, and this further offer is often conflated with Camp David offer for propagandist reasons.
   The Taba summit was as close to peace as the two parties have ever come. That's a good Wiki on it should you care to look. ( Barak pulled out of that negotiation to fight an election that he lost.) Both sides think they were 6 weeks from Peace. Sharon nullified the talks.
   
   The Palestinian myth focus's on the first offer, The Israeli myth on the 5 month later offer.
   Both are true, both fudge the timing.
   
   A thumbnail sketch of the Camp David talks.
   
   Barak wanted a Short sharp negotiation, he watched Rabin's political capitol drain away and did not want a repeat.
   Arafat wanted pre-negotiation with final talks after outline agreements made.
   
   Barak had a plan that Ross went along with it. The plan was, A high stakes summit, A low offer, after 2 days Arafat would be under pressure to get something out of the summit, then make a offer Arafat would find acceptable. The US agreed to go along with this.
   
   The trouble was the Palestinians would not play ball. Their position could be thought of as this, if you have a car worth $11,000. and some one makes an offer of $2000 you do not start haggling from there as if that is your start point its unlikely you'll get close to $11,000. If you start haggling at $9,000, you'll get closer. So Palestinians simply would not even start negotiating. They also were very aware that is was a Israel + USA v Palestinians, with all the America advisers being pro-Israel Jews, ( Ross was AIPAC's policy wings chief of staff.)
   
   Thus the no's. This angered the Americans. "Why can't you start haggling?" they asked, "Why are their tactics OK and mine not" was the Palestinian reply.
   The Americans shuffled back and forth, "the time for games was over start talking" said Ross. But the whole exercise was an Israeli game with the US going along with it.
   Each time the Americans came back with a offer they said, this is the final offer for starting, but each time the Palestinians said "No" the came back with a better offer. This made them look complicit with the Israeli's which they were.
   For example, Ross wrote "I will always side with Israel strategic necessities over Palestinian aspirations." ( something like that.) but surely for Palestine controlling your own border with Jordan is an absolute necessity, not an aspiration?
   
   The Clinton Parameters after this and the Taba talks based on them were much better. This is what the US should have done in the first place, present what they though was a reasonable deal and got the others to sign up and discuss it. Dennis Ross was incapable of pressurizing the Israelis.
   It would be like having your mother-in-law brokering your divorce. She's not going to be able to pressurize her daughter in favor of you.
   
   I've obviously not written this for you, but others might read it and know the truth, you'll plough on regardless spouting about the "great" Camp David offer in future threads.
   
   
   I suppose I could go into the other "great" such as the Olmerts
   
   Here's the story on that one.
   
   Palestinian leadership accepted the 2008 offer, but Olmert had resigned and announced an election which he did not win and thus the offer was null and void.
   The timeline is
   Offer made Sept 16th 2008 24 hours later [Sept 17th Olmert resigns.]
   
   Palestinians accept Olmert peace offer
   
   Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said that the recent peace offer made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is enough to get a final status agreement signed, but recognized that the outgoing Israeli leader does not have the ability to implement the proposal.
   
   "We could have peace in two days" if Olmert's offer could be implemented, Abbas told a group of Muslim clerics at the tail end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
   
   
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_legislative_election,_2009#Background)
   
   
   Feb 2009 Bibi Wins.
   
   
   

The OP is a bit one sided to be fair. He conveniently left out Taba Summit for example. So Here is a Comment someone wrote a long time ago about the Camp David talks( I will link it later in a quick edit Im on mobile now). The situation is much more nuanced than you think it is. The same applies for the different peace talks.


>That's not true. You need two to make peace, period. For example, as much as Barak was pro-peace, he couldn't do anything if Arafat kept rejecting his offers.

Please Educate yourself You know nothing of offers Nidarus.


Edit: Baraks "offers". Please read and digest and never refer to them again.

There are two myths regarding camp David and Baraks offers.

1. Arafat was offered everything, the best offer ever, but kept saying no. This was later used by Sharon as the excuse to expand settlements, as Arafat could not be regarded as a reasonable partner for peace.
   This is the Israeli myth.
   
   
2. Israel offers were awful, the West bank and Gaza split into 4 cantons. A non-viable state. This was proof of Israeli bad faith as it would not allow a viable Palestine.
   This is the Palestinian myth.
   
   The truth is well documented and all parties agree on what happened, but neither add any context that explains what happened. My sources are Dennis Ross's book, The Missing Peace, and articles I've read written by the Israeli Slomo Benami and Palestinian Hussain Aga, both Camp David negotiators. All agree on the facts but differ widely on value judgments.
   
   The offer was what was it was claimed to be by the Palestinians, its right there in Ross's book, but that was the starting point for Israel, by the end the offer was of a contiguous state with a Jordanian border. Palestine would lose 9% of the West bank but gain 1% of Israel, also Israel would control Palestine border and airspace, and East Jerusalem would be largely annexed. That was the Camp David offer, more was offered later in Taba, and this further offer is often conflated with Camp David offer for propagandist reasons.
   The Taba summit was as close to peace as the two parties have ever come. That's a good Wiki on it should you care to look. ( Barak pulled out of that negotiation to fight an election that he lost.) Both sides think they were 6 weeks from Peace. Sharon nullified the talks.
   
   The Palestinian myth focus's on the first offer, The Israeli myth on the 5 month later offer.
   Both are true, both fudge the timing.
   
   A thumbnail sketch of the Camp David talks.
   
   Barak wanted a Short sharp negotiation, he watched Rabin's political capitol drain away and did not want a repeat.
   Arafat wanted pre-negotiation with final talks after outline agreements made.
   
   Barak had a plan that Ross went along with it. The plan was, A high stakes summit, A low offer, after 2 days Arafat would be under pressure to get something out of the summit, then make a offer Arafat would find acceptable. The US agreed to go along with this.
   
   The trouble was the Palestinians would not play ball. Their position could be thought of as this, if you have a car worth $11,000. and some one makes an offer of $2000 you do not start haggling from there as if that is your start point its unlikely you'll get close to $11,000. If you start haggling at $9,000, you'll get closer. So Palestinians simply would not even start negotiating. They also were very aware that is was a Israel + USA v Palestinians, with all the America advisers being pro-Israel Jews, ( Ross was AIPAC's policy wings chief of staff.)
   
   Thus the no's. This angered the Americans. "Why can't you start haggling?" they asked, "Why are their tactics OK and mine not" was the Palestinian reply.
   The Americans shuffled back and forth, "the time for games was over start talking" said Ross. But the whole exercise was an Israeli game with the US going along with it.
   Each time the Americans came back with a offer they said, this is the final offer for starting, but each time the Palestinians said "No" the came back with a better offer. This made them look complicit with the Israeli's which they were.
   For example, Ross wrote "I will always side with Israel strategic necessities over Palestinian aspirations." ( something like that.) but surely for Palestine controlling your own border with Jordan is an absolute necessity, not an aspiration?
   
   The Clinton Parameters after this and the Taba talks based on them were much better. This is what the US should have done in the first place, present what they though was a reasonable deal and got the others to sign up and discuss it. Dennis Ross was incapable of pressurizing the Israelis.
   It would be like having your mother-in-law brokering your divorce. She's not going to be able to pressurize her daughter in favor of you.
   
   I've spent to much time on this. I'ii leave it here.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Take a deep breath and read on!

Note: I am against ALL genital mutilation of females, males and intersex. Please don't interpret this post as supporting any of these activities.

Everything I have posted below is factual; but it's supposed to be educational - to help folks clear up their confused thinking around this issue. Thanks

Genital Autonomy for all - Intersex, Male & Female

If the amputation of the mucus membranes of the male genitals results in a lowering of HIV infection; then it would not be unreasonable to assume that the amputation of the mucus membranes of the female genitals would produce the same effect. Indeed, as the total surface area of mucus membranes in females is so much greater than that of males, the effect may be even greater.

However, most western peoples will be repulsed by the idea of amputating parts of an infant female's genitals to obtain some future protection from a disease. All the more so, when nearly 100% protection can be obtain from HIV infection by use of condoms.

But this repulsion does not arise when the prospect of amputating parts of infant male genitals. This is clearly because such activity has become "normalised" in the west. This is the issue.

Like male circumcision, there are plenty of peer reviewed studies that show female circumcision is not a barrier to sexual orgasm and enjoyment. Some studies show that orgasm and enjoyment are reduced; and some show no effect.

You'll often come across members of the medical community saying that FGM has no "health" benefits, and if women have their clitoris amputated, then their sex life comes to an end. Then they say that MGM has lots of "health" benefits and that men's sex life is not affected.

But it's a myth that many women who have suffered FGM are unhappy and cannot have great sex lives. That's why they queue up to have their daughters' circumcised. Plus there are many so-called potential "health benefits" - such as a 50% reduction in HIV/AIDS.

The visible part - the glans clitoris - is only a small part of the whole clitoris. So when a woman suffers partial or total amputation of the external clitoris when undergoing FGM, only a small part of her clitoris is removed. Thus she often can enjoy a full and satisfying sex life.

The truth about the female clitoris

Learn how large the female clitoris is; and how the external glans clitoris is just a small part of it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/cliteracy_n_3823983.html
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/sexuality/a/clitoraltruthin.htm

http://www.amazon.com/The-Clitoral-Truth-Secret-Fingertips/dp/1583224734

"Seven Things to Know about female Genital Surgeries in Africa"

— By the public policy advisory network on female genital surgeries in Africa.

"Western media coverage of female genital modifications in Africa has been hyperbolic and one- sided, presenting them uniformly as mutilation and ignoring the cultural complexities that underlie these practices. Even if we ultimately decide that female genital modifications should be abandoned, the debate around them should be grounded in a better account of the facts."

http://www.taskforcefgm.de/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/hast81.pdf

Female Circumcision & Health Benefits

"Stallings et al. (2005) reported that, in Tanzanian women,
the risk of HIV among women who had undergone FGC
was roughly half that of women who had not; the association
remained significant after adjusting for region, household
wealth, age, lifetime partners, union status, and recent ulcer."

Note: when it's found that circumcising female genitals reduces HIV/AIDS it's called a "conundrum" rather that a wonderfully exciting "medical" opportunity to reduces HIV/AIDS.

http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=11&abstractId=2177677

"Georgia State University, Public Health Theses" — a USA University of international renown:

The Association between Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and the Risk of HIV/AIDS in Kenyan Girls and Women (15-49 Years):

"RESULTS: This study shows an inverse association (OR=0.508; 95% CI: 0.376-0.687) between FGM and HIV/AIDS, after adjusting for confounding variables."

"DISCUSSION: The inverse association between FGM and HIV/AIDS established in this study suggests a possible protective effect of female circumcision against HIV/AIDS. This finding suggests therefore the need to authenticate this inverse association in different populations and also to determine the mechanisms for the observed association."

"This study investigated whether there is a direct association between FGM and HIV/AIDS. Surprisingly, the results indicated that the practice of FGM turned out to reduce the risk of HIV. While a positive association was hypothesized, a surprising inverse association between cases of female circumcision and positive HIV serostatus was obtained, hence indicating that FGM may have protective properties against the transmission of HIV."

http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1113&context=iph_theses

"National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania - 50% reduction in HIV/AIDS in women who have have parts of the genitals amputated:"

http://www.tzonline.org/pdf/femalecircumcisionandhivinfectionintanzania.pdf

Female Circumcision Does Not Always Reduce Sexual Experiences

"International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Female genital cutting in this group of women did not attenuate sexual feelings:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2002.01550.x/abstract

"The Journal of Sexual Medicine" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Pleasure and orgasm in women with Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17970975

"The New Scientist" (references a medical journal)

Female Circumcision Does Not Reduce Sexual Activity:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2837-female-circumcision-does-not-reduce-sexual-activity.html#.Uml2H2RDtOQ

"Journal of General Internal Medicine" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Female "Circumcision" - African Women Confront American Medicine

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1497147/

Medical benefits of female circumcision: Dr. Haamid al-Ghawaabi

http://islamqa.info/en/ref/45528

"Pediatrics (AAP)" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Genital Cutting Advocated By American Academy Of Pediatrics

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/102/1/153.short

Genital Autonomy for all - Intersex, Male & Female

> please shut up.

Nope. You need to start learning a few lessons sunshine.

Note: I am against ALL genital mutilation of females, males and intersex. Please don't interpret this post as supporting any of these crimes.

Everything I have posted below is factual; but it's supposed to be ironic and educational - to help folks clear up their confused thinking around this issue. Thanks

Genital Autonomy for all - Intersex, Male & Female

Like male circumcision, there are plenty of peer reviewed studies that show female circumcision is not a barrier to sexual orgasm and enjoyment. Some studies show that orgasm and enjoyment are reduced; and some show no effect.

You'll often come across members of the medical community saying that FGM has no "health" benefits, and if women have their clitoris amputated, then their sex life comes to an end. Then they say that MGM has lots of "health" benefits and that men's sex life is not affected.

But it's a myth that many women who have suffered FGM are unhappy and cannot have great sex lives. That's why they queue up to have their daughters' circumcised. Plus there are many so-called potential "health benefits" - such as a 50% reduction in HIV/AIDS.

The visible part - the glans clitoris - is only a small part of the whole clitoris. So when a woman suffers partial or total amputation of the external clitoris when undergoing FGM, only a small part of her clitoris is removed. Thus she often can enjoy a full and satisfying sex life.

The truth about the female clitoris

Learn how large the female clitoris is; and how the external glans clitoris is just a small part of it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/cliteracy_n_3823983.html
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/sexuality/a/clitoraltruthin.htm

http://www.amazon.com/The-Clitoral-Truth-Secret-Fingertips/dp/1583224734

Female Circumcision & Health Benefits

"Stallings et al. (2005) reported that, in Tanzanian women,
the risk of HIV among women who had undergone FGC
was roughly half that of women who had not; the association
remained significant after adjusting for region, household
wealth, age, lifetime partners, union status, and recent ulcer."

http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=11&abstractId=2177677

Note: when it's found that circumcising female genitals reduces HIV/AIDS it's called a "conundrum" rather that a wonderfully exciting "medical" opportunity to reduces HIV/AIDS. This deeply sexist attitude must cease.

"National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania - 50% reduction in HIV/AIDS in women who have have parts of the genitals amputated:"

http://www.tzonline.org/pdf/femalecircumcisionandhivinfectionintanzania.pdf


"International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Female genital cutting in this group of women did not attenuate sexual feelings:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2002.01550.x/abstract

"The Journal of Sexual Medicine" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Pleasure and orgasm in women with Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17970975

"The New Scientist" (references a medical journal)

Female Circumcision Does Not Reduce Sexual Activity:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2837-female-circumcision-does-not-reduce-sexual-activity.html#.Uml2H2RDtOQ

"Journal of General Internal Medicine" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Female "Circumcision" - African Women Confront American Medicine

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1497147/

Medical benefits of female circumcision: Dr. Haamid al-Ghawaabi

http://islamqa.info/en/ref/45528

"Pediatrics (AAP)" — a peer reviewed journal of international renown:

Genital Cutting Advocated By American Academy Of Pediatrics

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/102/1/153.shortLike male circumcision, there are plenty of peer reviewed studies that show female circumcision is not a barrier to sexual orgasm and enjoyment. Some studies show that orgasm and enjoyment are reduced; and some show no effect.

Genital Autonomy for all - Intersex, Male & Female

This is true, but it's a deal the US offered. The guy who made the Saudi deal wrote a book about it. It's one of my favorites because when I read it, it was the first time I felt like I was getting an honest look at a how the world worked.

9/11 was basically a direct response to what is described in the book and what has come to be known as the "Washington Consensus". The "Washington Consensus" at its core is International politics run essentially by the military industrial complex.

Long story short, the US would offer to modernize a country and would construct loans, provided by USAID, to pay for this modernization but required American companies to do the work. Furthermore, the loans were constructed to make the country unable to pay them within 3 years. When the country couldn't pay, they had to offer up their natural resources and/or UN votes in addition to continuing to make payments.

Leaders of countries were approached with the plan to modernize along with a strong financial incentive for themselves ($100 million, as an example), those that said yes chained their countries to this destructive process. Those that didn't tended to die in plane crashes. Those that could evade assassination got their countries invaded.

The Saudi deal is a more complicated version of this basic deal constructed with more mutuality in mind. At its core the Saudis bought/buy American financial instruments. The interest from those payments goes to companies in the military industrial complex to fun building modern cities where tents once stood. In return, Saudi Arabia agrees never to shut off its oil supply. It's explained in detail in the book.

I know it's easy to start sounding nutty when terms like the "military industrial complex" comes up, but I'd encourage anybody interested to check out the book. It practically reads like a thriller. Very illuminating.

Not OP, but spent time on attack subs myself.

1. Rescues are possible well beyond the normal operating depths of a submarine. Check out this Wiki about the Navy's Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle.
   
   
2. The problem isn't whether there is capability, it is whether the North Koreans would allow us anywhere close to the situation to help. Russia/the USSR has lost a surprising amount of submarines over the years that the US may have been able to save. Pride and politics stand in the way. There is international law regarding/mandating the rescue of mariners in distress, too. In contrast, there have been at least a couple occasions where we were able to help with foreign sub rescues.
   
   
3. Can't answer for OP, but I will say most people in the sub force prefer "submariner," but pronounced like submarine-er. English speakers tend to pronounce the word like submariner. This is said to be offensive, as it implies the person is a sub-par mariner, rather than a person in the submarine force. As far as the coolest stuff that happens/happened on submarines, check out Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. It's a fascinating collection of stories that can be neither confirmed nor denied.

The Dictator's Handbook does a great job of explaining why this doesn't happen (this is a book written by some political scientists).

All of the members of the winning coalition (the 'inner circle' of the autocratic leader) absolutely do not want anyone else taking over. They've already cultivated close ties to that autocratic leader. If someone were to replace that autocratic leader, it is very likely that they will no longer be part of that inner circle. Any leader that would replace Kim, would likely replace Kim's old 'inner circle' (for reasons too long to fully explain here). So the inner circle of Kim all works together, to keep their leader in power, while simultaneously making sure that any threats to their autocratic leader's presence are squashed. In return, the autocratic leader keeps everyone in his inner circle very highly rewarded for their service (aka: those military leaders you are talking about, are rich beyond reason, compared those on the outside of Kim's inner circle).

The only time that military coups happen, is when the autocratic leader runs out of resources with which to buy the loyalty of their inner circle (or is a moron, and just neglects to do so). Kim is part of a dynasty, and has been well trained in this regard, I'd bet.

The book also covers how leaders at the end of their lives make sure that their power structures do not fall into disrepair. You'll note that before Kim Jung Un became the Supreme Leader, he was a "4-Star General" (with zero actual military experience). He was nominated to that post, by his father Kim Jung-Il. Why? Because Jung-Il, in failing health, wanted to make it absolutely crystal clear to his inner circle, that his rule would be continued by his son, and that they could count on his son to continue paying for their loyalty. (There's a good reason that family based dynasties work so well - because they make the inner circles of autocracies (which are essential to the operation of the state, and where the autocratic leader's power really comes from) confident that each member's position in the inner circle will be continued, despite the death of the leading figure of the regime.

I highly recommend "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins if you're interested in learning more about how governments, NGOs, and businesses profit from developing countries.

"Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led."

> Chinese textbook claim Tibet is always part of China, this is not correct. India textbook claim China has nothing to do with Tibet until 1950 invasion, that is not correct either.
>

This is incredibly basic understanding of academia. This is literally entry-level thought. Even at Wikipedia they've always disallowed sources based on criteria just like this. This is not something you should be trumpeting as giving your opinion authority, this is something you should assume everybody already knows.

Because they do.

> do yourself a favor to borrow a book called great game. https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223 At least learn some history of Tibet first.

I appreciate the offer, but I am already pretty well versed in this topic. Apart from anything else, your reccomendation lacks accuracy - the Great Game was between the British and Russian Empires, with Central Asia merely the staging ground. Moreso, that staging ground focused on the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan and the push to India, not the Himalayas. Tibet would be a passing reference in such a text.

>giving Glenn Greenwald a megaphone to spout his baseless venom however, is wildly unprofessional.

What specifically do you mean by 'baseless venom'?

I've watched his lectures at colleges, his debates on TV amongst the different news stations across the globe and read With Liberty and Justice for Some and not once have I ever thought his arguments were 'baseless' because he provides facts and empirical evidence that can be looked up and verified.

More recently the message he usually conveys is that he wants to shed light on what powerful people are doing in the dark. i.e. The NSA constructing a world wide, indiscriminate spy network that can be used against anyone at the whim of those who control it. Something that was considered wild conspiracy theory only 4 months ago.

How is this a bad thing? To want to inform the public of what powerful people are doing in the dark? To promote the ideal that investigative journalism is one of the main checks to power that we have?

Additionally his book "With Liberty and Justice for Some" gives quite a few examples about how there is a very real two tiered justice system dominant in the US. On one side you have the very rich who do not suffer for their crimes against humanity (Cheney/Bush & their false Iraq War, HSBC Laundering Billions for Drug Cartles, etc) and the full weight of the law coming down on petty drug offenses.

I can, however, understand how one would consider the words coming from Greenwald's mouth 'venemous'. His penchant for the truth and his debate skill usually cuts to the bone. Not once have I ever seen him lose a debate. Not once. And while that in and of itself is no indicator of the truthfulness of one's words ( this scene from Thank You For Smoking comes to mind ) it does merit a degree of respect. Especially when you do look up the things he has to say and find out they are rooted in truth.

Compare that with say, someone like Rush Limbaugh or Bill'O'Reily, who seem like divisive demagouges that appear to truly spout baseless venom. Many times when you look up what they have to say it's often half-truth or an outright lie. Twisted words for twisted people with twisted agendas.

Rush and Bill seem to feed off of and appeal to the very worst in humanity - fear, xenophobia, selfishness, greed - I don't see Glenn Greenwald doing the same kinds of things.

Can anyone read the article?

North and South don't care about the prize. Boon said we don't need a gold star we want peace. Give the gold star to trump.

Ugh. This comment section reads like:

hur dur dur dur. Trump is great and helped.

Trump did shit all nothing except a twitter war.
If you have any clue about politics and the times lines and events that happened under kim you would understand better.
Here watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rStL7niR7gs
or you could read the dictators hand book. You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.ca/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845

Read up on some of what has happened under Kim.

Kim was western educated.

He comes into power after his fathers death.

He has to then solidify his power or he will be disposed of, plain and simple. He has a brother you know.

This means he has to play the game. Continue with the old way forward.

But he has a plan. Kill brother. Kill Generals that would stop him. Continue with nukes to make sure no one can stop him and save face. Spout off rhetoric just like his father.

I can almost guarantee he wants to move NK to be more like China. There is huge GDP to the south and huge GDP to the west. He wants in on it. This will make him more rich and his loyal generals. Not only that it will pull the nation out of poverty and starvation.

NK is literally one really bad growing season away from millions dying, this is bad for any regime. The only thing that NK really has for export is rare earth elements and everyone needs those. Those require huge investment and know how to acquire.

Going forward after the deal is signed, you will see China coming in and helping build infrastructure to help with transportation and moving goods around faster to build up faster. The reason why China would be the one to do this; for several reasons. They don't want to become a democracy. They don't want those ideals. Also China has always been worried about the fall of NK, millions of people coming into China would be a disaster for them. The south will help with financing.

If anyone deserves a nobel peace prize it would be Dennis Rodman.

> Something perhaps better left to the free market perhaps?

You should check out the book Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism

Basically the majority of developed countries that currently promote open capitalism were in fact very protectionalist during their "growing up" period. And while they try to promote free trade when it benefits them, they'll readily revert back when it doesn't.

You think that you've just made a super intelligent point because you've pointed out the obvious fact that the US has issues with human rights and with over-criminalization. It isn't an intelligent point because you don't know jack shit about North Korea. You don't know dick about how people live there, and I know that because if you did, you would pull your head out of your ass and realize that the issues that the United States has are not even in the same order of magnitude as the issues that North Korea has.

I recommend that you read the following books to give you a better sense of life in North Korea, so that in the future you can be more educated on the subject:

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West

The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag

https://www.amazon.com/Hempcrete-Book-Designing-Hemp-Lime-Sustainable/dp/0857841203/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466731405&sr=8-1&keywords=building+with+hemp+lime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoYIBdzZYWI

"So we have here is a hemp shiv or also called the hurd which is the internal part of the stem of the pant. That’s mixed with a lime based binder, so with that lime based binder and the hemp we’ve got a negative carbon footprint. Now the difference between lime and concrete is that lime you don’t have to heat up as much with concrete you have to heat it up to almost 3,000 degrees which takes a lot of energy and does very poorly on the carbon footprint. Hempcrete actually sequesters carbon, let me tell you how it does that first of all any cellulose material would for example or hemp takes carbon in during its life cycle and usually when it decays it lets it back into the atmosphere. If you take that plant and put it into a wall and for example hempcrete than that carbon is now sequestered in the wall and not becoming part of climate change. This building what I’m building alone will sequester 20,000 lbs of carbon that’s a pretty big accomplishment. I think this is the best wall system in the world. I’m all about hemp I think hemp is an important thing to push because it’s food, fiber, building material, but really i’m choosing this building material because it’s the best in term of buildings styles. Why is this true? First of all because this is a breathable wall system. I don’t mean breathable for air we’re actually building an airtight wall, but it’s breathable for water. Why is that an advantage? Well in a typical wall you have a cavity that you seal tightly and you fill with insulation, well, water will get inside that cavity because that’s its job, in the world , our body is 70% water, it can dissolve any material anyway so what we want to do in a building is create a wall that welcomes water but doesn’t rot when it lets the water in and that’s exactly what hempcrete does. When humidity changes in the air outside the wall can take on that extra humidity and hold it until the humidity drops outside then it will let it back out in the meantime because the lime is wrapped around the cellulose the cellulose won’t rot. The lime is trying to go back to being a rock this means that this wall is going to get harder and harder and harder over time it’s going to petrify. So these walls will last for 1,000s of years not 40 years like what we are used to building."

> Putin is in power because he's backed by the wealthiest and the military.

Sort of, but we could phrase this is in the reverse. Putin is in power because he enables these people to remain rich and expand their financial empires. And because he distributes or facilitates the distribution of wealth and profits to key military/police factions. In a nutshell he has his hands on enough power/money to:

• Ensure the baddest men in Russia are on his side and compensated for assuming the risks associated with the difficult wet work necessary to maintain his hold on power (assassinations, cracking skulls, intimidating opposition, etc), and
  
• Keep other powerful instruments happy/loyal enough to allow Putin's continued hold on power.
  
  For more, watch CGP Grey's Rules for Rulers which is based on The Dictator's Handbook. There's also a conversation/video from the author at Big Think.
  
  

Piggybacking your comment to tell anyone interested in the situation in N.K. to read the book "Nothing to Envy"

This is true. When Jong Il was in power, and the famine was extremely harsh, free markets sprung up and foreign aid was available for sale. It was the first time a lot of people had been able to get white rice in years. I love to hear this; hopefully it's the beginning of the end for their government. When history looks back on what's been going on in North Korea, I'm sure it will judge the rest of the world harshly for letting this oppression go on so long, leading to the deaths by starvation of so many people.

There is an amazing but very dark book called "Nothing to Envy" link. It's an amazing snapshot of what's going on in that country, written at an interesting time. When Korea finally opens up, we won't be able to get the points of view of people who are absolutely indoctrinated with the propaganda of the North.

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

Highly recommend you give this a read, mate.

Lobbies give to people who will support them, that's why the money is useful. They're not going to help fund those who go against their interests. Help elect the friendly people, and then quietly remind them you helped them and they owe you.

Rather than reading reddit's analysis on how Israel keeps getting bank rolled by Uncle Sam.. You should read this excellent book about the Israel lobby in America.

https://www.amazon.com/Israel-Lobby-U-S-Foreign-Policy/dp/0374531501

The book is written by John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Even in the preface they go into great depths of how Israel manipulates it's funding by gaining the maximum funding from American tax dollars. For example, Israel doesn't buy weapons directly. They buy U.S. bonds, wait for them to mature and then cash out the bonds for additional interest. inflating the already massive amount of funding they receive. All at the expense of the U.S. tax payer.

Why do you sound so surprised? It's similar in America. Once you stop talking about "the little people" (i.e. at least 99% of us reading this) it happens frequently.

It's just easier to see it going wrong somewhere else, because all the flag-waving and "for the good of the nation" crap is more transparently-absurd when it isn't your own flag and nation.

• Here in the US, we have politicians who admit (in interviews and memoirs) to behavior which are federal felonies... and also war-crimes (under multiple ratified treaties), yet our political class always just says "It's time to look forward, not back"[2] and sweeps it all under the rug. Virtually every US presidency in the last four decades (including the current one) has vigorously protected the members of the previous one from investigations or prosecutions, anything on the scale from outright pardons to refusal to prosecute to back-room (but still documented) lobbying efforts.
  
  
• Even outside political offices... A wealthy hedge fund manager slams into a bicyclist with his car, and flees the scene, eventually stopping to call for a tow-truck from a Pizza Hut parking lot so that he can get his car secretly repaired. The cyclist, on the other hand, ends up being rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding, spinal injuries that need surgery, and eventually plastic surgery for the scars to his face and body. The manager, meanwhile gets caught by the police, but gets off with a misdemeanor[1] because, in the words of the prosecutor, "felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in [his] profession".
  
  
• Example: Conversely, while that rich guy gets off light (because prosecuting him might interfere with Rich People's Money) there's an unarmed homeless man, who non-violently robbed a bank (with his hand in his pocket to suggest a gun) and who refused to take more than a single $100 bill, giving the rest back to the cashier. He turns himself in the next day and confesses to stealing so he could stay at the detox center, and gets a minimum of 15 years (!) of prison. He'll probably die in there from old age before he gets out, because mandatory minimum sentencing laws prevents the courts from doing much else.
  
  And that's not even touching what the US does to whistle-blowers who try to expose possible criminality within the government.
  
  For a more in-depth investigation of recent examples (and who benefitted from pardoning who, who was punished for whistleblowing,etc.) try: With Liberty and Justice for Some.
  
  ___
  
  [1] For those unfamiliar with US law, most crimes are separated into either misdemeanors (minor crimes of misbehavior, like littering or parking your car where you shouldn't) versus felonies (things which are either "evil" or at least incredibly reckless, like stealing or killing). The distinction between the categories can matter quite a lot in certain situations.
  
  [2] Another variation is "We're not here to seek revenge, we need to focus on keeping it from happening again... like we said last time... and the time before that... and the time before that...."

Depends on your definition of a real thing. When a country has laws that incorporate their treaties into their own law, that's pretty real, in terms of the letter of the law.

It's just that we allow our leaders (or they allow themselves) to break the law, in general, when it suits them. (See With Liberty and Justice for Some by Glenn Greenwald [2011]).

Rather than watch the vice guide videos (which only show you the propaganda that the DPRK wants you to see) you should go read books like these:

• Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
  
• Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty
  
• The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
  
  These and other books give you amazing insight into what it's like to actually live inside North Korea. May of the defectors who have been interviewed for these books do indicate that they do believe in the personality cult around the Kim's, at least at a certain level.

There are similarities between this and countless other international bailout and assistance programs, from the Irish Potato Famine to the Australian treatment of Aboriginal communities from 1994 to 2012. Charles Smith had a good article on it this week.

>Especially fascinating to learn that the English Government provided ‘relief’ loans to Ireland at market interest with a condition that they could not be used to do anything productive. Basically they set up a scheme to pay a small proportion of each community to build roads, but not a cent could be spent on developing alternate Irish-owned industries or businesses for fear it would upset the rich English industrialists.

>The English imported cheap American corn meal which everyone was forced to buy with the English Gov. financed wages (closing the loop of giving with one hand, taking with the other and adding in a profit to boot) after the Irish had to export all their own grain and livestock to England to pay the land rents.

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjan15/debt-serfdom1-15.html

Similar tactics are documented extensively in Confessions of an Economic Hitman. For example, instead of financing a war they might finance "infrastructure improvements." The IMF gives several billion to a dictator, the dictator steals a large portion, and the rest is (over)spent on Western equipment (turbines, cranes, wire, etc). The country remains on the hook, left with an asset worth a fraction of debt's value.

After the new regime took power, they squandered (some legitimate spending, the rest stolen or wasted) their foreign currency and gold reserves. Now, they are being financed by European and American banks with the "condition" that that money gets spent on weapons from these same European and American countries, "closing the loop of giving with one hand, taking with the other and adding in a profit to boot." It's a tried and true tactic. The end result is an impoverished vassal state, borrowing to survive.

Check out Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. Great book.

On mobile and too lazy to format for a shorter link, but here you go!

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I love it! Been hardcore fan of BBdM & Smith for so long now, it's good to see someone do a video on their work!

For anyone else, read: The Dictator's Handbook

>rationale of every totalitarian government ever

Basically the rich are worried the average everyday joe will wake up
to the fact governments never worked for the people, aka they don't work for us, hence the spying. They are afraid that one day the average person might get a clue politically.

See here former national security advisor of the united states:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ZyJw_cHJY

The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy And Its Geostrategic Imperatives

https://www.amazon.com/Grand-Chessboard-American-Geostrategic-Imperatives/dp/0465027261/

The man in the video wrote the above book, once you read it you'll understand that it is the citizens they are worried about, which is why all states are secretly going into lockdown/military alert status and the rule of law is effectively over.

See here on the american militaries assesment of our future dystopia:

https://theintercept.com/2016/10/13/pentagon-video-warns-of-unavoidable-dystopian-future-for-worlds-biggest-cities/

More reading:

https://williamblum.org/

Godwin so soon, son?

Good thing we don't, then. But on the other hand, when given the chance, who ran to join the Nazis ? For reals, not a spurious conjecture of a nobody in the intarwebz.

Now, do you have anything relevant, or are you going to jump to the next stepstone now?

You'll probably find a lot of things in online-newspaper-article comments that'll make you want to hang yourself too, but the rather large number of people who're pinching the bridge of their nose and wondering what the hell they ever thought they were doing voting for Tony aren't the ones commenting in those places. :-)

The whole astonishing-hatred-for-Gillard thing is, ONCE AGAIN, Australia being a pale shadow of the USA. Look at what US right-wingers say about Hillary Clinton, and bing, there you go, Julia-hatred before the carbon paper.

(Hillary's pretty god-damned horrible in objective terms, but utterly wonderful compared with more popular candidates there, at least until Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken are real presidential prospects.)

The Kevin thing was... well, OK, he really is a prissy perfectionist who's an absolute bastard to work with. That's not why he got kicked out, but it's why all of the people nearest him disliked him, and shit like that's what dooms your political career.

(The Dictator's Handbook has an interesting and highly defensible explanation of why people stay in power: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Politics/dp/1610391845 . Boiled down, it's the duh-quote "only the people who do what is necessary to stay in power, stay in power", but there is of course more to it than that.)

What world do you live in? Seriously, I would really like to know what deluded fantasy that you live in where this kind of money goes back to the people. It doesn't. You think this tourism helps people, think its help them open their eyes? Well what happens then if their eyes are somehow magically opened by the tourists who they have little to no contact with. Its not like you can walk up to someone and start talking to them, or does somehow the sight of a foreigner open their eyes to over 60 years of continuous brainwashing? But say they are somehow magically opened, what then? They are stuck in a country where their neighbors would rat them out for a hint of dissent, and they and their entire family would be shipped off to concentration camps that would make the Nazis proud.

Are you so fucking naive to believe this actually helps the citizens? Every time we try to give aid to the North, we can't even get the simplest guarantee from them that they would go to the people. They can't even finish their own infrastructures without foreign help, and even if they finish the outside they don't even bother to work on the inside. The vast majority of their spending goes to the military, we know this for a fact, that's why they invest so heavily into nuclear weapons and they actually have been able to accomplish some things (albeit poorly).

Economic liberalization would be helpful to the North for a variety of reasons but this is all tightly controlled, regulated and run by the state. This is not some private enterprise of North Koreans, they are carefully, screened, chosen and watched by a state, whose only purpose is to keep itself afloat and to keep its top people rich off the backs of its own citizens. But this tourism is stupid, especially when people come back with these misguided ideas of "Oh it doesn't look so bad". To think that this benefits anyone other than the state is a complete delusion. If you actually want to learn something about North Korea I would reccomend those books.

Little bit south of Mexico, but this fits the bill nicely:

U.S. Invasion of Panama, 1989

Short version is that Noriega, the Panamanian president, who was also a CIA puppet and drug launderer, got a bit too wild for our tastes. Not sure if annex is quite the right word, more like "secured and returned to the service of the hegemony". See, Russia is way behind the times. They think that to own a country you have to physically capture it. Since the 60's onward we've moved to a much harder to notice model wherein we bribe a countries upper class to get what we need, with the threat of the CIA and "small scale invasion" in the background to make sure they comply.

If you'd like further reading you might check out "Confessions of an Economic Hitman", wherein John Perkins claims he engineered many of these financial arrangements. While I found his account credible, I do feel a reasonable mention of this book should also include the criticism that we are basically taking Perkins word for it, many have pointed out a lack of hard evidence to his claims. On the other hand, when your job is to rig economic forecasts and seduce country leaders into unfair trade agreements, one can see why there might be a lack of proper documentation. Great read.

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Also if you got poo on your face, you would definitely wash it off and not just use a paper towel to smear it, right???

This is one place to subscribe, won't get you next weeks issue but will definitely show support:

http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Hebdo/dp/B00007LMFU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=magazines&ie=UTF8&qid=1420740174&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=charlie+hedbo

> Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Loving-Care-Fatherly-Leader/dp/0312323220

Actually, it is the reverse. Saudi Arabia is acting on the behalf of the US. The US supplies all arms, targets, intelligence, logistical support, etc. Bush initiated covert operations in Yemen, using drones, special forces and agents. Obama continued these operations but determined that operations needed to be escalated to traditional bombing campaigns. President Obama felt that direct action by the US was not politically feasible so assigned Saudi Arabia to carry out the US's goals.

The book, Dirty Wars, covers this well and in depth.

I got this bidet a few months ago and it has changed my life. Honestly. It's amazing we use toilet paper at all with these things available. It takes 5-10 minutes to set up.

Comparative advantage is only fair between similarly mature economies/countries or else the stronger country can abuse the power difference.

See Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism for more.

Yes, promotion of EMP as The Current Danger a bit of a right-wing thing, though it seems to have reached its peak popularity a couple years back. Newt Gingrich was/is a prominent promoter of the idea.

There was even at least one significant speculative fiction book on the subject: One Second After, by William Fortschen, with a foreword by the aforementioned Newt Gingrich. If you look at the Amazon-suggested similar books, you'll probably notice a common ideological thread.

You should read The Grand Chessboard. You would enjoy it very much and then understand everything that is happening has been orchestrated for decades.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Grand-Chessboard-Geostrategic-Imperatives/dp/0465027261

My go to reading list,

Killing Hope, by William Blum

America's Deadliest Export Democracy, by William Blum

Who is William Blum?

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner

Enemies: The History of the FBI, by Tim Wiener

Who is Tim Weiner?

The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth about Economic Hitmen, Jackals, and How to Change the World by John Perkins

Confessions of an Economic Hitman, by John Perkins

Who is John Perkins?

Buy a subscription and support courageous journalism.
http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Hebdo/dp/B00007LMFU/ref=sr_1_1?s=magazines&ie=UTF8&qid=1420731545

I also forgot to mention AIPAC. They're one of the big reasons you see overwhelming support for Israel in the US Congress. Just keep in mind the US government does not always represent the citizens; hell, just look what happened over the past 10 years. As well, it's important to note that the aid we give to Israel is military aid which is used to support the MIC. I don't mean to keep replying but I'll put it this way: there is a lot to know about Israeli/American affairs. If you want to know more than the typical American does about the situation, I recommend skimming the Israel Lobby (fairly dense), Finkelstein, and Chomsky.

Can't recommend the book that blogger talks about highly enough. For the lazy, and non-lazy, it's Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea and one of the best contemporary nonfiction books I've ever read. SO GOOD.

The good old IMF. Anyone interested in more info about the IMF and World Bank should check out:
http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081

> foreign invader
Can you summarize Tibet history briefly? If you have no idea, do yourself a favor to borrow a book called great game.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223

At least educate yourself first.

Yes. The older generation that still remembers are in favor of unification, but the younger generations see them as another country, and a burden that they'd have to pay for (in an already highly competitive society). They see them as a massive amount of uneducated and brainwashed refugees they would have to pay for who would not fit into modern South Korean society.

North Koreans do escape and defect to the south. It is not an easy thing for them. They are looked down on by the South Koreans, and they are in a place where the language is different, their skills and credentials are no longer valid (I remember reading an interview with a girl who was a doctor in North Korea, but her credentials were not accepted by places in the South and she had to go back to school).

North Koreans who escape to the South are automatically granted citizenship. Right now, with a trickle of defectors, that is fine. But if the country fell, they would need to keep them sequestered in NK, and then deal with the North's disillusionment as they see how bad they are off compared to the South, and that they will likely never be able to have the lives that the South Koreans have achieved after reunification and the anger that will bring. The issue would reverberate long after, and it may only be the children or grandchildren of those from the North who will finally succeed in the South.

If you are interested in the history of North Korea, I highly recommend reading Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader, which gives a very good and complete history of North Korea from its founding till the 1990's.

After that, I recommend Nothing to Envy, which is a collection of interviews following the lives of six North Korean defectors.

Other Books to read:

• Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee--A Look Inside North Korea
  
• This is Paradise!: My North Korean Childhood
  
• The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia
  
• The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea

I highly recommend http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081

It helped change my world view, among other things like this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htF5XElMyGI

A lot of what is in the book makes sense when you can relate it to the real world of today.

> <$300

My dude, you can get them For $35 nowadays.
Best $40 I've ever spent.

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I want to do more to support them than just buy the next issue. I'm going to start by buying a 12 month subscription. I'm in the US and found that I can buy a subscription through Amazon (http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00007LMFU).

"Nothing to Envy" https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Envy-Ordinary-Lives-North/dp/0385523912

Good read if your into that stuff.

Also "Escape from Camp 14" https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Camp-14-Remarkable-Odyssey/dp/0143122916

That one is less about ordinary citizen's lives and more about the modern day concentration camps the North Korean government is controlling.

You do realize the CIA does/has done this with great success many times in history...

https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081

>They have smuggled TV shows from SK, they listen to radio, they work in some way or the other. They don't just sit at home and worship the Kims.

Some do, some don't. It depends on where you live in NK. The ones who would sit and remain in the country instead of bolting at the first chance most likely would. this is a good book about the situation

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/006097771X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1415992265&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

Cheers!

> Could never understand why the US backed Israel so vehemently.

Here's a good place to start.

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This book had a pretty big effect on my perception of US-Israel relations.

Two books you may find interesting:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374531501/ref=od_aui_detailpages01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1851684670/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A3PKWPJZ8PSW04&psc=1

also

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/pentagon-predicts-israel-will-drag-us-into-war-with-iran-7579420.html

> The reason why the Israel receives so much foreign aid is strictly out of the US's own interests.

This statement couldn't be further from the truth. The reason Israel gets so much military aid is almost solely due to massive lobbying efforts by Pro-Israel organizations.

Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer go into this with great depth in their book, The Israel Lobby.

Because Israel has the most organized and well funded lobbying effort and because a significant portion of the voting public is jewish.

You should read the israel lobby by mearsheimer, really insightful book.

Yet another example of how to move money from the state to the private sector. Where are the magic economic forecasts that would make John Perkins blush?

>The website lists Capital City Partners, a private real estate investment fund by global investors focused on investment and development and led by Emirati Mr. Mohamed Alabbar.

But the fact the it is a dictatorship turns it into a big disadvantage. At least for everyone that isn't part of the ruling class.

The source of the mysterious ozone-killing emissions is confirmed: China

Air quality worsening in China’s Yangtze River Delta in 2018, figures show


For all the faults democracy has, the simple fact that the ruler has to keep the majority of the population happy instead of just paying off a small number of key individuals to stay in power is an immeasurable advantage.

An excellent source that explain the rules that rule rulers.

The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

Also good start into the matter:

The Rules for Rulers

But that's a work of fiction. Here's a good book about the lives of North Koreans

https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Envy-Ordinary-Lives-North/dp/0385523912/

Good next up:

http://www.amazon.com/Overthrow-Americas-Century-Regime-Change/dp/0805082409/

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081/

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Deadliest-Export-Democracy-Everything/dp/1783601671/

Fair enough. What are the job prospects supposed to be from it - are there any numbers out from both "sides" that you know of?

Personally, I can empathize with the need for better immigration control and the like, but see building a huge wall as unnecessary and fairly archaic, kind of barbaric. As well, it strikes me right in the "why can't we all get along" zone which is admittedly somewhat naive, but I see construction of such a wall as sending the wrong message to the world and future. There are better ways to go about this, undoubtedly.

As an aside, have you heard of or ever read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins before? It's really fascinating and informative.

Some of the critiques of it are a little dismissive, but there are just as many that corroborate it, along with historical accounts, as well as what we see today.

Basically, it talks about how we made purposefully un-pay-back-able loans to Mexico a few decades ago, when they really needed the help, with the express purpose of getting leverage on them politically, economically, and socially. Now, to be fair, many of the people associated with the loans on the Mexican side are guilty of knowing what was going on, while others that may not have known the full ramifications were of the corrupt type and ran away with a lot of the money that was to go into infrastructure, but that does not take away from the States' goal from the beginning and subsequent fallout. In summary, we're responsible for the problems in Mexico more than we realize. That is another reason I do not support the wall. All together, it's just a bad, bad idea; spiritually, economically, logistically, politically.

Edit:

This goes on everywhere, throughout time. For anyone wanting to read more, I recommend The Dictator's Handbook . When I see these stories now, I recall passages from the book. For some quotes:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/16555815-the-dictator-s-handbook-why-bad-behavior-is-almost-always-good-politics

If you are from the US, check how much you give Israel in aid annually. Zero percent interest loans, grants, access to the most modern weapons, military contracts, military aid, diplomatic backing, etc. Their weapons industry is based on US contracts and access to US military technology.

• The US pays for military research
  
  
• Israel gets the technology for free.
  
  
• They use the technology in their own weapons industry.
  
  
• The US BUYS IT FROM ISRAEL
  
  
• Profit (for them)!
  
  If you do not believe me, read this book.

Would you like to know more?

https://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Our-Nature-Violence/dp/0143122010 (mostly for an overview of how systems of society drive behavior for better or worse)

https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845

https://www.amazon.com/War-Society-Europe-Regime-1618-1787/dp/0750916036 (mostly for the understanding on how economics developed into political power in the context of taxation to pay soldiers)

https://www.amazon.com/Oil-Curse-Petroleum-Development-Nations-ebook/dp/B007AIXLIS

​

And given the context, probably Hobbes.

I was thinking of something like this that you add to an existing toilet: https://www.amazon.com/Luxe-Bidet-Neo-120-Non-Electric/dp/B00A0RHSJO/

Money is a powerful incentive. I'm horrified and disgusted by it as well, but unfortunately it just shows that there is a price at which all morals are abandoned. This is what autocracies do and we let them because it's in our best interests to.

Edit: This may be a good reminder to look at CGPGrey's video on how leaders stay in power and track the similarities with recent conflicts in Venezuela and Syria. Also check out the book the video's based on.

https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1610391845/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497164331&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=dictators+handbook&dpPl=1&dpID=511siLPTlwL&ref=plSrch

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick, is an excellent if disturbing read if you're really interested.

Nothing to Envy

No, the rooms are in the buildings at either end where the cable lands. Those are the ... official? ones. But they can tap it even without your cooperation if they want to, as this book revealed around 16 years ago. They just prefer not to. Maintenance is easier, I guess.

Here is a link to a 12 month sub on Amazon, I think this is what you would want?

>I don't understand how his generals don't smell the weakness in him and stage a coup.

Video : here you go, Rules For Rulers.

Book Mentioned in the video Above : The Dictator's Handbook.

Read One Second After by William Forstchen for a pretty reasonable description of EMP devastation

You can subscribe for a full year through amazon here and this is available internationally. Not sure about individual issues however.

This takes < 10 min to install and takes up no extra room. Best damn purchase I've made in a long time.

The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt

Found this on amazon. It's a 52 issue subscription, though, so it is not cheap: http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Hebdo/dp/B00007LMFU/ref=sr_1_1?s=magazines&ie=UTF8&qid=1420736805&sr=1-1&keywords=charlie+hebdo

This is what they're talking about https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A0RHSJO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_k1p8AbPW6BASR

To subscribe to Charlie Hebdo from US http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Hebdo/dp/B00007LMFU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420840515&sr=8-3&keywords=charlie+hebdo

Pro Tip: Buy a Bidet add-on. They’re under $35 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Luxe-Bidet-Neo-120-Non-Electric/dp/B00A0RHSJO/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1525740136&sr=1-1&keywords=Luxe+Bidet+Neo+120+-+Self+Cleaning+Nozzle+-+Fresh+Water+Non-Electric+Mechanical+Bidet+Toilet+Attachment+%28blue+and+white%29

Here you go

https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845

Here:

http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Hebdo/dp/B00007LMFU/

https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845