In todays news...

[Count Steer]

This is why I have nothing much to say about these types of wars, you can argue right and wrong but ultimately religion muddies the water so much that it's pointless.

It's interesting to hear unbiased and cogent opinion from folk who've studied these conflicts and their backgrounds (I was listening to an interesting podcast with Rory Stewart the other day, for example) but ultimately academic analysis means feck all to the people on the ground in the area who are born and will live and die in the surefire belief that their neighbour is evil and should burn in a fiery hell.

That's pretty much my point. Most of the people that suffer don't think their neighbour is evil and should burn in a fiery hell because of religion but because of what has been done to them. Yes, there are zealots but really they're not the majority. Sometimes, what's been done turns people into zealots but that's not where they started. It may be where they arrive and how they are recruited. Most (insert whoever is appropriate) just want to get on with their lives but when your family is getting blown to bits as a by-product of a power, money and control battle, sooner or later your kids will be out there throwing rocks or carrying shoulder launched projectiles etc and you'll have some more coffins.

To sit on the sidelines taking sides without the slightest attempt to understand why things are happening but comment based on existing prejudices is just a bit to me but that's the e-world innit. I decided to educate myself a while ago - soon after the 6 day war...as it happens. I just wondered why? So I started to read....and kept going.

I'm not claiming to be an expert. I'm just reasonably well informed.

[irie]

Brill, all we need now is someone that has read Bravo Two Zero and is now an expert on military intervention in the ME

No need for false modesty Potter, you're obviously speaking for yourself.

Have you ever been tested for autism?

Everybody is "on the spectrum", the question of where and the significance of that position depends on the viewpoint of the observer.

hth

[JackyJoll]

I don’t think there is a reliable autism test for old people.

[Noggin]

A friend of mine who (I am assuming) is Palestinian - I knew she was from that region but we never got into specifics - recently put a thing on FB that said

"Free Gaza from Hamas"

which i guess could come from either side in some ways.

Not sure what this brings to this particular conversation but I suppose in my mind it shows that there are always extremists and there are 'normal' people that want to be allowed to live without the fear brought on by the extremists - and they are on both sides of the border.

Some friends were at the original place where this kicked off earlier this month, for a rave/party or something like that (I've read very little about this). They'd gone to visit some family that live in that area of Israel. Whilst my friends managed to get out and a flight home (wildly diverted route, but home!), two members of the family they were visiting are still missing, presumed dead.

It's heartbreaking that an evening out on holiday with family that are local can end like that. And, that people have to live in that situation, on both sides of the border.


Arguing about someone on the internet's opinion or what you think of their knowledge etc just seems a bit petty in comparison. I get that a lot of people don't post much to back up their opinion and some of us would like to know more. The reason I rarely post on this thread is that I can't be bothered to get given links or told to 'read up on it' - if I have a question about your opinion, it's about 'your' opinion, how you came to that opinion. But often some of the comments here are just about 'scoring points' (in the posters mind) - like I said, petty

[irie]

I don’t think there is a reliable autism test for old people.

Is there a specific test to diagnose autism?

[JackyJoll]

I don’t think there is a reliable autism test for old people.

Is there a specific test to diagnose autism?

People do end up with a diagnosis.

I’ve avoided the company of any medic who might notice I’ve had the same bike since 1979.

And it was a bit of an old curiosity in 1979.

[ZRX61]

Is there a specific test to diagnose autism?

Over here people are graded on a scale of 1 to 3. 1 is "a little bit off at times", 2 is you might be non-verbal & difficult/impossible to deal with.. which I assume means 3 is you need to be in a rubber room.
Friends young daughter was just diagnosed as a 2. The mum isn't getting any help from her husband. He comes home from work, expects dinner on the table etc & then doesn't want to deal with the kid... but he's always been a miserable, opinionated, self serving prick who changes jobs every few months because he quickly alienates everyone he comes in contact with... then complains it's everyone else who is at fault. The mum is tearing her hair out & not getting any real help from the medical/mental health profession.. plus she's scared shitless to discipline the kid when she acts up.. which is apparently any time the kid is awake... then throw in the kid is also going through the *Terrible Twos*.. & her mum doesn't know what is autism related & what is because of the kids awkward age.

[irie]

Captagon, the Pervitin of the Middle East ...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_po ... zi_Germany

In an effort to make its front-line soldiers and fighter pilots fight longer, harder, and with less concern for individual safety, the German army ordered them to take military-issue pills made from methamphetamine and a primarily cocaine-based stimulant. After Pervitin, a methamphetamine drug newly developed by the Berlin-based Temmler pharmaceutical company, first entered the civilian market in 1938, it quickly became a top seller among the German population. The drug was brought to the attention of Otto Friedrich Ranke, a military doctor and director of the Institute for General and Defense Physiology at Berlin's Academy of Military Medicine.[5] The effects of amphetamines are similar to those of the adrenaline produced by the body, triggering a heightened state of alertness. In most people, the substance increases self-confidence, concentration, and willingness to take risks while at the same time reducing sensitivity to pain, hunger, and the need for sleep. In September 1939, Ranke tested the drug on 90 university students and concluded that Pervitin could help the Wehrmacht win the war.

Methamphetamine use is believed to have played a role in the speed of Germany's initial blitzkrie

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/9 ... d-in-syria

Captagon has featured large in regional diplomatic discussions as some Arab countries look to normalise relations with Syria.

The addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant mass-produced in Syria and smuggled to the Gulf states seemed to be a bargaining chip for President Bashar al-Assad in talks on reinstating Syria’s Arab League membership as nations looked to curb the illicit drug trade.
...
In 2011, after a brutal government crackdown on anti-Assad protesters, Syria descended into civil war. Internationally isolated and racked by fighting, the country was plunged into an economic crisis.

Although Damascus denies any involvement in the trade, observers say production and smuggling of the drug have brought in billions of dollars for al-Assad, his associates and allies as they looked for an economic lifeline.

According to a New Lines Institute report, the Syrian government uses “local alliance structures with other armed groups such as Hezbollah for technical and logistical support in Captagon production and trafficking”.

https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/article-769646

Hamas terrorists killed by Israeli soldiers were found to carry bags of synthetic amphetamine pills [Captagon] in their pockets.
...
The drug is popular among terrorist handlers and their murderous teams that need to fight for extended periods of time on little sleep without fatigue and without a significant decrease in alertness or performance. Thus, it helps terrorists fight longer and harder with less concern for their own health and well-being while resisting or ignoring higher levels of pain, the researchers wrote.

It is also believed to be used by Islamic State terrorists alone or along with other hallucinogenic pills to boost their fervor and go to battle without caring whether to live or die.

[ZRX61]

Captagon, the Pervitin of the Middle East ...

UK & US had the same policy during WWII. In the '80's the RAF were still lecturing recruits on it's use.. which lead to the following exchange between a mate of mine & the lecturer:
What did they give pilots in WWII?
Medals Sir.
I mean to keep them awake on long missions...
Strong tea Sir.
Not fucking tea, I mean what drug did they give them?
....?
Amphetamines is what they gave then
Oh, Billy whizz, crystal, blues, bennies, zoomers, cartwheels...
SHUT UP Sherwood! Is there something you'd like to confess to?
....
You may speak Sherwood
No sir.
ok then, So what did they give the pilots after the long missions?
Is that when they gave them medals Sir?
NO! They gave them barbiturates to help them sleep
Oh, reds, downers...
SHUT UP Sherwood!

At that point he was ordered not to speak unless asked/ordered to do so.

[Taipan]

Did anyones Govt installed phone alarm go off in the recent floods?

Crimestoppers is keen to make everyone aware that the UK Government’s new Emergency Alerts system is now live and will be tested on Sunday, 23 April at 3pm.
The system will enable people to be contacted via their mobile phone when lives are in danger. It will be used to warn you in the event of emergencies, such as severe flooding.

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campa ... 20and%205G.

[KungFooBob]

Holy crap, that's some pile up!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67204993

[JackyJoll]

Did anyones Govt installed phone alarm go off in the recent floods?

To tell me there’s a flood 200 miles away?

[Bustaspoke]

Didn't the government rehearse what would happen in major incident by sending everyone a text or some kind of alarm to their mobile the other month?
I never got the text...

[MrLongbeard]

Did anyones Govt installed phone alarm go off in the recent floods?

Crimestoppers is keen to make everyone aware that the UK Government’s new Emergency Alerts system is now live and will be tested on Sunday, 23 April at 3pm.
The system will enable people to be contacted via their mobile phone when lives are in danger. It will be used to warn you in the event of emergencies, such as severe flooding.

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campa ... 20and%205G.

Nope, the town flooded, roads closed, cars and a lorry crashed / written off, 1 local death, but they weren't serious floods so no need to fire the alert cannon.

[ZRX61]

Did anyones Govt installed phone alarm go off in the recent floods?

We get so many different warnings that I turned most of the fucking things off. Came to this decision where I leapt out of a chair in a Dr's waiting room thinking we were about to have an earthquake, when it was a notification about a car involved in a kidnapping 3 countries away.

Now I just get actual quake warnings.

[Count Steer]

Did anyones Govt installed phone alarm go off in the recent floods?

We get so many different warnings that I turned most of the fucking things off. Came to this decision where I leapt out of a chair in a Dr's waiting room thinking we were about to have an earthquake, when it was a notification about a car involved in a kidnapping 3 countries away.

Now I just get actual quake warnings.

Out of interest, what will you do if the big one comes?

[Greenman]

Did anyones Govt installed phone alarm go off in the recent floods?

We get so many different warnings that I turned most of the fucking things off. Came to this decision where I leapt out of a chair in a Dr's waiting room thinking we were about to have an earthquake, when it was a notification about a car involved in a kidnapping 3 countries away.

Now I just get actual quake warnings.

Out of interest, what will you do if the big one comes?

Look outside?

[Noggin]

Holy crap, that's some pile up!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67204993

Damn, I thought that a concrete lorry (you know, the ones with the turny barrel thing on the back!) going off the road over near Courchevel was bad!!!On Monday, October 23, at around 1 pm, a 32-tonne truck carrying a 7 m3 concrete mixer on its way up to one of Méribel's construction sites on route du Cruet flipped over on the outside of the hairpin bend, tipping over the low wall protecting the pedestrian walkway with its wheels in the air.


EDIT - Cement mixer truck?

On Monday, October 23, at around 1 pm, a 32-tonne truck carrying a 7 m3 concrete mixer on its way up to one of Méribel's construction sites on route du Cruet flipped over on the outside of the hairpin bend, tipping over the low wall protecting the pedestrian walkway with its wheels in the air.

The driver, slightly injured, was taken to hospital in Albertville.

The mayor's office has provided a crane and sufficiently powerful equipment to straighten the top.

[Count Steer]

We get so many different warnings that I turned most of the fucking things off. Came to this decision where I leapt out of a chair in a Dr's waiting room thinking we were about to have an earthquake, when it was a notification about a car involved in a kidnapping 3 countries away.

Now I just get actual quake warnings.

Out of interest, what will you do if the big one comes?

Look outside?

If the San Andreas fault goes whoopsee...what do you think outside will look like? I don't think they'll bother warning people tbh because there's not a lot they can do...apart from kiss their American asses goodbye, as it were.

[ZRX61]

Out of interest, what will you do if the big one comes?

Rush to the garage to protect the bikes