In the news

Confirming what everyone knows? Russian soldier geo-tagged in Ukraine in instagram selfies.

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/07/31/selfie-addicted-russian-soldier-caught-ukrainian-territory-instagram-geo-tagging-0
http://instagram.com/sanya_sotkin

WWIII triggered by a selfie.

That means they have two ends. Are the ends in Gaza signposted?

The tunnels on the Israel side are not finnished. They break open the exit when needed.

Or could you simply use ground penetrating radar on the Israeli side of the fence and destroy them on that side without needing to be in Gaza in the first fucking place?

Before Israel discovered the tunnels they had used ground penetrating radar and came up empty. A number of people complained of hearing strange noises but nobody could explain them. Some of the ends seem to be right in the middle of Israeli towns. Even now one is not quite sure that the threat has been banished. HAMAS claim that they have even more tunnels. Most experts are quite shocked just how much manpower and concrete has literally been sunk into this--- literally a large block of the development aid and building materials provided by 3rd party donors. Knowledge transfer from the North Koreans it appears has also been much more extensive that previously thought.....

P.S.: The tunnels are not just for conducting raids on Israel but for troup and weapons movements within Gaza and as a kind of movable rocket launcher (for a real-life "Poke a Mole" experience).

You'll forgive us for calling you out as writing bullshit, what with your sterling reputation for balanced and in no way disingenuous original commentary, but [citation needed]...

The ignore option! I forgot about the ignore option. For so long I just thought of it as a way of silencing Jeez, so much so that I forgot it could be used on other people.

Goodbye EdwardZ. No more of your weird racist undertones for me.

Oh wow! EdwardZ. What a fantastic, well-balanced and reasonable comment you just made!
My opinion of you has completely changed for the better.

Hamas at work yesterday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04cnps9/the-fifteen-billion-pound-railway-3-platforms-and-plague-pits

Where's the ignore button?

I'm actually interested to see how this Hasbara Lorem Ipsum javabot develops. Right now it's pretty flawed.

Actually looks like it hasn't been upgraded for a while.

If we feed it the correct text and context, can we turn it against its masters?

The ignore option! I forgot about the ignore option. For so long I just thought of it as a way of silencing Jeez, so much so that I forgot it could be used on other people.

Goodbye EdwardZ. No more of your weird racist undertones for me.

So if the rest of you could please stop quoting his shit in your posts....

You don't have to read the quotes, do you? Like no one ever had to read what Jeez wrote. It's almost as if people like being wound up.

You don't have to read the quotes, do you? Like no one ever had to read what Jeez wrote. It's almost as if people like being wound up.

LFGSSyndrome®.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/8/1/1406872201083/9541f9fb-50c0-4bba-abde-7c101a8c46e4-460x276.jpeg

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/01/amazon-tribe-makes-first-contact-with-outside-world

That is absurd. A large number of Jews in WW-I fought in the German and Austrian armies. 4 million Jews lived in Eastern Europe. Russia was aligned with the UK and US but Jews in Russia were not. That is why the Revolution ended Russia's alliance with the West. With over 100,000 Jews serving the German army and Jewish scientists such as Haber working to advance the war effort and open questions of Jewish loyalty in the UK and US, its hard to suggest that the ....

Not absurd, I'm referring to the Balfour Declaration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration

1917, almost 100 years ago.

Laid the foundation for Israel through the period in which British had control over Mandatory Palestine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-28599828
4 London buses testing cyclist/pedestrian detection stickers

I quite like the idea of an audible alarm but I'd like it even more if there were one for the driver AND for the person outside the vehicle. I can't help but feel a bit sorry for the drivers who are going to be listening to it going tits at every junction as a never-ending stream of undertakers sails up the inside.

yes that has already proved a problem in testing at TRL. I don't really think technology is the answer

http://w01.freezepage.com/a/14069/09211XPDLSKVFJP/0

http://www.timesofisrael.com/times-of-israel-removes-an-unacceptable-blog-post/

Obama says that after 9/11, 'we tortured some folks'

No shit.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14898&LangID=E

So let me get this straight, the international organisation responsible for defing international law has voted to ignore their own laws? I'm sure that's a Monty Python sketch.

Just to throw my 2p...

As are the events in Iraq and Syria*.

*Where an uncountable number of dead are piling up in a day:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28456961

First, eyebrows makes an important point. If you're looking at numbers this whole situation is almost a non event with Syria still going on with no one in the international community giving a shit.

I also find the whole conflict interesting... it's basically an attempt to reverse history and create a set of favourable circumstances that never historically existed.

To all those who make arguments like "Well we can't just put the borders back to "... Israel are showing that history isn't static, you can move borders and re-write stuff... then defend it long enough that moving from the current position seems infeasible.

This is very true. What do you say to a 25yo Israeli who has been born in Israel? They didn't create the situation they're in and they've got to work out a way to make the best of it.

Aren't we only a few years away from the British fuck-up that caused it all?

Wasn't it WW1 and the need to get Jewish support to help bring the US into the war, that led the UK government to support a motion to assist in the establishment of a Jewish state within the region of Palestine.

I disagree with that and have to say that the blame the British rhetoric over the establishment is lazy. We've had a lot of faluts in our history, but I think that is overplayed. I also think it's really important for people to read the Balfour Declaration before they start commenting on it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Balfour_portrait_and_declaration.JPG

I think it's often overplayed. If you read it, it is very qualified and does not give the sort of carte Blanche a lot of people seem to imply it does.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-28599828
4 London buses testing cyclist/pedestrian detection stickers

I quite like the idea of an audible alarm but I'd like it even more if there were one for the driver AND for the person outside the vehicle. I can't help but feel a bit sorry for the drivers who are going to be listening to it going tits at every junction as a never-ending stream of undertakers sails up the inside.

yes that has already proved a problem in testing at TRL. I don't really think technology is the answer

I wonder if it could be tied to the indicator in some way - i.e. it only goes off if the indicator is on. Would put more onus on the bus drive to be clear about their intentions before making a maneuver too