(Lack of) US Iran Peace Agreement Part 5

@OnePeppyFatball ,

‘Well the realia he used this time was holding up a pager. Some of which killed children in Lebanon. And people laughed’

The pagers were really clever and held by members of a terrorist organisation. They were an incredibly efficient way to attack the enemy with minimum civilian casualties.

Far better than massive ordnance from the air.

I personally think it is wrong that they walk out. And I apply that to all of them. I understand the US did not even turn up for Abbas.

Just my view though. Because it is the UN. Best place for talking and listening to start. Honour the concept that the UN was founded on.

The disagreement and yelling can be done later. Maybe in the meetup in the pub around the corner, before they all fly home. A pub with plastic glasses of course.

Special stones that fly through the air like bullets and kill and wound people.

Room has emptied out at the UN as Netanyahu begins his speech.

And mortgage your house for the big man, you'll be blessed. Scandals galore particularly fascinating compared to the very demure laid back Clergy we have over here.

Here is a video about Trump’s spiritual advisor 😉🫠

"In a world of faith and flashy lights, megachurches and their pastors sometimes come with mega-drama… In Pastor Paula White's world, alleged marital affairs, bankrupting churches, and using church money to pay for plastic surgery aren’t unheard of. As a young girl who lived in a trailer and became a young married mother, she grew up to become a preacher after an affair with the associate-pastor of her church (and not before they ran off together to start their own church). She went on to lead a congregation of 22,000, became a multimillionaire, hosted a Christian TV show, owned a private jet and an 8,000 sqft. beach-front home. But no matter how high she climbed, betrayal, greed, and multiple scandals have followed Paula her entire career and three marriages. This is the scandalous story and luxurious lifestyle of Pastor Paula White"

s

I suppose someone has to post that meme now. I got the short straw.

Att, I will mark as sensitive, cos reasons.

Not for atheists such as me.

No idea about Rubio sorry. Replying to your other post.

😂

I saw a post saying Christian Nationalismis just Sharia Law with bacon and beer.

They think they can bring about the rapture and will all be taken to heaven no matter what they may have done wrong. Sola Fide is their belief.

A world run on Christian values.

Nothing wrong with that in my book as even Islam has similar values (help the poor, love thy neighbour etc) under a different name.

Trump's lot though, seem to be ignoring the New Testament and are planted firmly into the vengence and smiting of the angry God of the OT. It's all a power trip.

@RedTagAlan do you think Rubio is ignoring what 'yes' is, in Spanish?

I think any extremists are scary whether that’s Evangelical far right in the US or extremists amongst Israelis or Palestinians or Iranians etc.

Reform not quite as extreme but also scary and Restore are worse. Even the Green Party are too extreme for me these days.

Yup. Lot of discussion on that in a thread about the Farage sting, where Reform were caught taking illegal donations. James Orr, one of the guys who resigned, is deeply involved in the "Christian Nationalist" thing. Him and his wife. Pals with Vance and all that. A world run on Christian values.

It's NOT AI. Its called SI now. Trump decreed it :-)

Interesting data that. My understanding is that one of the big reasons that the Republicans are so set against "socialized health" is because it would massively impact military recruitment. And from the data you posted , 38% joining up to get healthcare is pretty big.

Sorry for the tangent.

The "Send Me Tour" is Hegseth posturing and cosplaying "God is on our side", a feature of the evangelical Far Right political playbook.

From AI on why people sign up.

The most useful recent data comes from the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Advertising, Market Research & Studies (JAMRS) Youth Poll, which surveyed Americans ages 16–21 about why they might consider military service. The Spring 2023 results asked respondents to select all reasons that applied, so the percentages don't add up to 100%.

Reason% saying it was a reason to join
💰 Pay / money
49%
🎓 Pay for future education
44%
✈️ Travel
44%
🏥 Health & medical benefits
38%
🛠️ Gain experience / work skills
35%
🤝 Help others
32%
💵 Pension & retirement benefits
31%
🧭 Experience adventure
29%
📈 Better my life
26%
🫡 Pride / self-esteem / honor
24%

What this suggests
A striking feature is that practical/economic motivations are extremely prominent. The top five were pay, education, travel, health benefits, and job skills. The same general pattern appeared in the 2022 poll: pay (48%), education (44%), travel (43%), work skills (36%), and health benefits/helping others (34%).
That doesn't mean people aren't motivated by patriotism. Rather, patriotism isn't among the top ten specific options in this particular 2023 question. Other research using veterans rather than prospective recruits finds a more prominent role for patriotism and duty. A recent NORC survey, for example, found that veterans commonly cited duty/patriotism, independence, educational benefits, and financial stability as reasons they joined.
There's also qualitative research on actual recruits: RAND found that employment and career preparation were the most commonly mentioned motivations in its focus groups, with benefits—particularly education benefits—coming next.
So, broadly speaking, the evidence points to two overlapping groups of motivations:
Material/practical: money, education, healthcare, job training, retirement
Personal/values-based: helping others, adventure, pride, patriotism, purpose, independence

Yes. And of course, when talking about things such as locations of hangers, 2 week info makes no difference. They could use google earth for that.

But checking for damage from strikes, that matters.

CNN had an article a while ago about a strike on a THAAD base in Jordan. That had sat images of damage. But the article was about a month after the event. So I think the delay was in force there.

Let's tot it up.
US funds/sells Israel military by USD...
China sells Iran most likely potentially militarily useful tech by CNY...

There's nothing like a neutral stance in journalism. 🤔

You're right that there's sensitivity over near time or close to near time imagery but even so there have been images coming out of the Ukraine conflict provided by US companies that have appeared to be less than 24 hours old.

Whether the rules have changed, how they apply to non-US outlets - don't know.

I recall something about the US saying commercial companies have to put a delay on sat images. 2 weeks or something. But I expect that would just be US companies ?