the Riviera (no, not the Buick)

[PozBearWI]

It would not be the first stupid venture Donny posed, started and failed in.  

What is unclear is he speaking as Donny the guy who buys (rather than develops) real estate?  Or as POTUS?  It is quite unclear if he sees a difference.  He seems to have deluded himself into believing he owns the USA.  

 

[PozBearWI]

7 minutes ago, BootmanLA said:

For those who forget their history: the middle East used to have just such a place, just north of Israel, in fact - Lebanon. Formerly a French mandate (the way Palestine - that is, Israel/Gaza - was a British mandate), Lebanon was independent not long after France fell in WWII, in a more-or-less bloodless transfer under the Free French (ie DeGaulle). From the early 1940's until 1975, Lebanon was above all else a resort country, with Beirut at its center. While it supported the Arab attacks on Israel in the 1948 war, they did not play a major role, and by and large there wasn't much fighting (especially in middle East terms) between them. Lebanon had Shia and Sunni Muslim, Maronite Christian, and Greek Orthodox leadership working together in about as multicultural a government as one could have imagined in the 1940's.

But as the PLO was driven out of neighboring states (particularly Jordan) and into Lebanon, inevitably conflict arose with the established residents, and civil war erupted in 1975 (with active interference from Syria and Israel), beginning decades of hot and cold war, shellings, bombings, assassinations, and more. The Syrian army finally withdrew in 2005 - 30 years later - but that hardly brought peace, as by this point Hezbollah was becoming entrenched in significant parts of Lebanon (thus bringing Iran into the fighting, albeit by proxy). Israel is still actively fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon (ie on its own border).

And today Lebanon is such a failed state that something north of 80% of its population is impoverished. As for tourism, that portion of its economy is a fraction of what it was pre-1975. Most of that tourism is from neighboring Jordan, from Saudi Arabia, or (for some reason) Japan, though in many years most tourists seem to be Lebanese visiting places they used to live, not foreigners bringing in new spending. 

How exactly Donold thinks he's going to do better in Gaza is beyond me. It's true that Gaza is surrounded by Israel and Egypt, so it would be harder for terrorists to sneak in and incite war. But certainly not impossible. 

Thank you!

[BootmanLA]

I mean, I know I'm old. But still:

When you ask someone today their impression of Beirut, the average person would say "bombed-out war zone full of rubble".

When I was a youngster, "Beirut" meant the place American and European expatriates went to live like princes for a fraction of the cost back home. Granted, it was exploitative and certainly not entirely justifiable from an ethical standpoint. But the point is, it existed, and it wasn't sustainable in that region. And neither will Gaza be.

[PhoenixTriad]

What, you don't want to retire to Gaza USA, or Greenland USA, or Panama USA?  How about Canada USA?  We all know the orange one is phuckin dumb, it's the 70 million dumbasses who voted for him that I can never forgive.

[PozBearWI]

44 minutes ago, BootmanLA said:

I mean, I know I'm old. But still:

When you ask someone today their impression of Beirut, the average person would say "bombed-out war zone full of rubble".

When I was a youngster, "Beirut" meant the place American and European expatriates went to live like princes for a fraction of the cost back home. Granted, it was exploitative and certainly not entirely justifiable from an ethical standpoint. But the point is, it existed, and it wasn't sustainable in that region. And neither will Gaza be.

Costa Rica 25 years ago, vs now, and potentially where it may be 25 years from now...

[hntnhole]

19 hours ago, PhoenixTriad said:

it's the 70 million dumbasses who voted for him that I can never forgive.

Well said.  I'm still trying too .... occasionally ..... 

[hntnhole]

19 hours ago, PhoenixTriad said:

you don't want to retire to Gaza USA

This references the one failure of the Biden Administration that I am having a tough time forgiving: 

It was the Biden Admin that gave all those bombs to Netanyahoo, which are what turned Palestine into the modern world's biggest contiguous pile of rubble.  If Biden had withheld these powerful bombs (Israel possesses none of this destructive power), there would at least be something for the Palestinians to return to.  I agree that the tunnels should be cleared - any prisoners remains returned, and then what's left of the tunnels collapsed. 

Oddly, the faded Orange Corpulence would wind up cleaning up the mess our previous Administration wrought.  I cannot imagine it will ever happen, but it would be at least some measure of Justice.  

 

[PozBearWI]

We sold arms to Israel as part of our strategic partnership by treaty.  Thankfully Biden was not too quick to abandon those.  I think Netty pushed them too far though and fear that may lead to worsening global instability.  

[nanana]

Time to get rid of the treaty. 

[hntnhole]

23 hours ago, PozBearWI said:

We sold arms to Israel as part of our strategic partnership by treaty

Of course.  Still, I wish Biden had refrained from allowing US "bunker-buster" bombs to be used wholesale against an entire people.  I haven't researched that treaty, but I doubt it included carte-blanche every single weapons-type in the US arsenal.  

11 hours ago, nanana said:

Time to get rid of the treaty.

Maybe .... but it's definitely time to re-negotiate it. 

It's long past time for Nettie to "retire".  

[PozBearWI]

Defiinitely @hntnhole renegotiating is in order.  The Israeli citizens need to make their own minds up about Nettie.  

I am glad though that we didn't abandon our agreement mid stream.  That would have our word count for nothing when it was being relied upon.  It was an agreement with the Israel citizens and the US, not Nettie and the US.  

[Erik62]

On 2/12/2025 at 10:14 AM, BootmanLA said:

I mean, I know I'm old. But still:

When you ask someone today their impression of Beirut, the average person would say "bombed-out war zone full of rubble".

When I was a youngster, "Beirut" meant the place American and European expatriates went to live like princes for a fraction of the cost back home. Granted, it was exploitative and certainly not entirely justifiable from an ethical standpoint. But the point is, it existed, and it wasn't sustainable in that region. And neither will Gaza be.

Just take a look at Iran over the same time period. Modern, women predominantly in Western attire, liberal. Now look😢😢🤬🤬🤬.

[PhoenixTriad]

26 minutes ago, Erik62 said:

Just take a look at Iran over the same time period. Modern, women predominantly in Western attire, liberal. Now look😢😢🤬🤬🤬.

Just take a look at the US over the same time period. America was respected; Americans were honored to serve their country, I was honored to serve.  Today I'm ashamed and embarrassed to call myself an American.  

[Erik62]

13 hours ago, PhoenixTriad said:

Just take a look at the US over the same time period. America was respected; Americans were honored to serve their country, I was honored to serve.  Today I'm ashamed and embarrassed to call myself an American.  

I HEAR you & THANK YOU for your service. I have never served, fate worked against me but, my family on both sides has a long history of service, in the Australian 🇦🇺 Defence Forces. Most recently, my father with 24+yrs in the RAN. 

  Just living in that service environment instils a sense of honour & loyalty to your elders, Veterans, flag, country & (for us) our Monarch. ANZAC Day, Remembrance DAY, Australia Day & the Monarchs Birthday used to be, almost sacred to child & adult alike. 

  Over the last couple of decades, this sense of loyalty & national pride has been actively, by government, allowed to "DIE". Australia Day (January 26) is now seen by many as "invasion day" & us white folks face  violence from indigenous & left wing radicals, both State & Federal governments encourage this activity, we get harassed & abused for wearing hoodies, caps or any clothing with flags or other statements of loyalty, Naturalisation Ceremonies once integral to our National Day have been stopped by many local government areas & as a final act of "Lets shit on our country" our National Flag is now OFFICIALLY partnered, with equal status, with 2 indigenous flags who represent less than 4% of our population. These three "National" flags are flown off ALL government buildings, schools , councils, community & private organisations. 

ASHAMED & EMBARRASSED 🤬🤬🤬!!! 

  YES, I hear you, LOUD & CLEAR 🫡🇬🇧 🇭🇲 🇺🇲!!!

[PozBearWI]

16 hours ago, PhoenixTriad said:

Just take a look at the US over the same time period. America was respected; Americans were honored to serve their country, I was honored to serve.  Today I'm ashamed and embarrassed to call myself an American.  

I understand.  I put in my six years as well.  And Viet Nam was hot an heavy.  It took a long time for us to get out of it, and it was another crook as president.  This is not our first rodeo.  It has aspects though that are horrifying and I am disappointed that our legislators are setting aside their oath to uphold and defend.  As I see it, they have all QUIT by action and perhaps we need to force an election and bring in a whole new crew.  Ones that aren't lapdogs to just one guy.  

Am I ashamed?  Nope, I didn't bring this on.  I am a poll worker, I am disappointed that so many of my neighbors got caught up on the nonstop run of BS coming out of 4547's mouth.