In the news

Good hands free protest hat.

If Paul Gascoign would just hand over his football kit it would all blow over - it is fundamentally about the Gazza Strip right?

^^^ awesome photo.
also kinda looks like some epic Renaissance scene with the conversations hapenning in the corners.

^^^ awesome photo.
also kinda looks like some epic Renaissance scene with the conversations hapenning in the corners.

I agree, so much going on. And all the subjects, with bold identities and characters. Everyone seems to be playing a part.

spot the mossad undercover agent

You always see those guys at the protests - probably worth remembering that the reason they're anti-zionist is that they believe when the Messiah comes, he's going to grant Israel to observant Jews - there isn't much clarity around what god is going to do to the people living there, but I imagine it won't be pleasant, given the documented track record. Bunch of nutjobs.

Can't believe that fracking won't be banned from national parks etc.
What bullshit.

Can't believe fracking won't be banned until more data is available.

Ow wait...UK government incompetence and corruption. Those party donations don't donate themselves.

Ministers will give the go-ahead on Monday for a big expansion of fracking across Britain that will allow drilling in national parks and other protected areas in "exceptional circumstances".

Does that mean exceptionally high profits?

Re Fracking- what sits better, paying Putin for gas, or extracting it from the UK?

I understand that there are concerns about the extraction method employed but is the risk of said methods equivalent to the risk of having to appease Russia in order to boil the kettle?

have you seen the effects it has had on some water sources in the US?

Tap Water In North Dakota Is Flammable (Result Of Fracking) [I DO NOT OWN THIS] - YouTube

How many Horsemen of the Apocalypse were there again?

There's an Ebola virus outbreak going down in West Africa thats killed as many so far in 2014 as you'd normally expect to die in 10 years.

This is getting worse before it's getting better, Dr Brisbane has now died of the infection and rates are increasing.

I wish disease got research and treatment funding due to mortality/morbidity not how much it affects rich old white people.

Rich old white people who are getting even richer off their fracking, flechette and anti-aircraft missile profits?

That'll be the ones

Feel like it's ridiculously puny worries given ukraine/gaza/iraq/most of the world but very glad my girlfriend's work are refusing to send her on a planned month's secondment in Sierra Leone due to the ebola..

^ I don't blame you. I'm still not too happy about my GF deciding that turkey is a nice place to visit for a mini-break with her friend in Oct given what's happening in syria and iraq at the moment and that's much less warranted than your concerns imo.

Re Fracking- what sits better, paying Putin for gas, or extracting it from the UK?

I understand that there are concerns about the extraction method employed but is the risk of said methods equivalent to the risk of having to appease Russia in order to boil the kettle?

We don't actually have that limited a choice. We could power our homes and industries without Russian oil or fracking.

Please try to think of the shareholders of our energy companies in these desperate times.

My heart goes out to them...

last winter we got by with a small, portable oil heater and cock all central heating. Gas bill came through the other week and it suggested our consumption had in fact gone up. A cursory call to the venal shitbags at british gas quickly established that they pretty much pull numbers out of their arse, so long as that number is bigger than the one they used previously.

last week i started getting some feeling back in my toes, so that's good too.

/csb

^ I don't blame you. I'm still not too happy about my GF deciding that turkey is a nice place to visit for a mini-break with her friend in Oct given what's happening in syria and iraq at the moment and that's much less warranted than your concerns imo.

Is Turkey significantly unstable considering their general "friends of the west" attitude and relative moderatism?

Honest question, it's seen as normal tourist destination but obviously has a lot geopolitically going on. I didn't realise there was meant to be any trouble there.

You always see those guys at the protests -

They are a sect related to Satmar that is pretty much despised by most Jews in the world. They are known to openly support anyone--- including terrorist organizations--- that pronounce goals of destroying Israel, NK figurehead Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss while not denying the Shoah--- his grandparents died in Auschwitz-- has been known to befriend Holocaust deniers who share his hate for Israel. A number of their members in the UK has been declared persona-non-grata by their Satmar synagogues. They are, to put it lightly, well meaning arogant fools. Its not also like Satmar are Zionists. Their previous Rebbe and founder (as a break-away cult from Sigheter, as his older brother was deemed their new leader when his father died) Joel Teitelbaum was a well known anti-Zionist. So much so that he let himself be saved by the Kaster train (a Zionist organized train) but saw to it that many of his followers stayed behind in Budapest to meet their deaths. After the war the Rebbe refused to accept that Zionists saved him but attacked the whole operation as evil. "G-d saved me, not Kaster"..His nephews now follow in the footsteps of the Rebbe with complete hate for one another and with two rival sects. One led by Aaron and based in Kiryas Joel--- the city officially with the highest level of poverty in the US--- and the other by Zalman in Williamsburg (Brookyn) with the great tradition of celebrating Simchat Torah (the Joy of the Torah,festival) by violently attacking one another (the joy of riots) . Satmar are currently the fastest growing and largest (Chassidic) Jewish sect in the US with over 120,000 members (larger even than Chabad, a worldwide sect whose followers believe that their Rebbe is the Messiah despite having died 20 years ago)...

probably worth remembering that the reason they're anti-zionist is that they believe when the Messiah comes, he's going to grant Israel to observant Jews - there isn't much clarity around what god is going to do to the people living there, but I imagine it won't be pleasant, given the documented track record. Bunch of nutjobs.

The basis of their position follows the Talmud Midrash

"Why/What are these Three Oaths? One, that Israel should not storm the wall {RaShI interprets: forcefully}. Two, the Holy One adjured Israel not to rebel against the nations of the world. Three, the Holy One adjured the nations that they would not oppress Israel too much"."

The Neturei Karta interpretation allows them to individually live in the land of Israel--- most of the NK members live in Me'a Sche'arim (Jerusalem)-- but to view the collective of Israel as violating the 3 oaths and, following the Satmar Rebber, heresy.

Many Satmar see the State of Israel in the way of the coming of the Messiah and the rebuilding of the Temple. That Israel is a secular country with a free democratic judicial (and not the Beth Din or rabbinic court ) and, worse still, using modern Hebew as a language, they see as near ultimate sin! Tschuva Tschuva Tschuva

When the "Messiah" comes? Then they can finally eat that BLT...:-)

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/hamas-didnt-kidnap-the-israeli-teens-after-all.html

Who cares, let's kill 'em all anyway...

pfff so what, if people were held to account for starting wars based upon made-up information, tony blair would be in prison.

also "BuzzFeed reporter"... hmmm.