[Cyberyeti]

johnu, on 2026-July-24, 17:15, said:

15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists were Saudi citizens groomed to be terrorists in Saudi Arabia. Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident journalist and Washington post contributor, was murdered by crown prince of Saudi Arabia. But yes, Saudi Arabia is currently a "friend" of the US because they are surrounded by powerful enemies surrounding them, and the US needs them to support their oil policies.

Has ever been thus, in the early 1980s the Saudis beheaded one of their princesses for adultery, and a program was made about it that offended the Saudis called Death of a princess. A satirical news program did a fake apology, I can't find the sketch, but they were described as something like a "Great country with an awful lot of oil".

[WasWinM]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-July-25, 04:58, said:

Has ever been thus, in the early 1980s the Saudis beheaded one of their princesses for adultery, and a program was made about it that offended the Saudis called Death of a princess. A satirical news program did a fake apology, I can't find the sketch, but they were described as something like a "Great country with an awful lot of oil".

And a form of Islam, Wahhabi, that is far, far, far fundamental.

[Zelandakh]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-July-25, 04:58, said:

Has ever been thus, in the early 1980s the Saudis beheaded one of their princesses for adultery, and a program was made about it that offended the Saudis called Death of a princess. A satirical news program did a fake apology, I can't find the sketch, but they were described as something like a "Great country with an awful lot of oil".

From 0:42

[Cyberyeti]

Zelandakh, on 2026-August-01, 15:54, said:

From 0:42

Thanks, I think it still sums up the fear many countries have of offending the Saudis

[Zelandakh]

Cyberyeti, on 2026-August-01, 16:34, said:

Thanks, I think it still sums up the fear many countries have of offending the Saudis

When it comes to (a thinly disguised) Saudi Arabia, there's always this evergreen classic. As it happens, the episode is loosely based on real events occurring on a trip to Pakistan in the late 70s. Presumably the writers felt the politics of dealing with Arab states would be considerably more fertile ground for humour.

[jillybean]

All's gone quiet here — and I don't think it should.
Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from a U.S. trade deal Friday night, cementing his position as a leading voice of resistance to Donald Trump.
Whatever people think of the economic fallout, I'm proud to be Canadian today.

[mycroft]

If the rumours(*) of the "last minute demands" are anywhere near correct, it was unequal treaties time.

It is going to hurt. A lot. The alternative is worse (oh, and "9 out of 10 provincial premiers agree!" Guess where I live).

(*) There's an image going around that looks "official" but nowhere do they post a source - even of the list. But none of the things on it are specifically contradicted by, say, this article (and its links) from the Globe and Mail. Do I believe it" More than I do the equally unsourced denials from American negotiators.

[PassedOut]

It's always heartening to see someone stand up to a bully. But it's disheartening when the bully represents one's country.

[pescetom]

jillybean, on 2026-August-23, 23:22, said:

All's gone quiet here — and I don't think it should.
Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from a U.S. trade deal Friday night, cementing his position as a leading voice of resistance to Donald Trump.
Whatever people think of the economic fallout, I'm proud to be Canadian today.

Kudos to Canada.
Although here in Europe and Middle East, we are starting to think about fallout, not just economic fallout.

[WasWinM]

jillybean, on 2026-August-23, 23:22, said:

All's gone quiet here — and I don't think it should.
Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from a U.S. trade deal Friday night, cementing his position as a leading voice of resistance to Donald Trump.
Whatever people think of the economic fallout, I'm proud to be Canadian today.

You should be proud every day. Nicest people in the world from my experience, are my northern neighbors.

[thepossum]

Does anyone else ever sit thinking how these four years are dragging so much

I know it's unfair to blame the **** of the world on one adminstration but it is so tiresome

Who knows what the CIA Director is doing in Moscow but whatever

Even the runnup to the midterms is dragging on

But seriously I have no idea who is behind the **** in this world and who is made to appear that they are - but are we not all entitled to an end to it

It's like spoiled children. Just lock them in their rooms and get on with life

Did you hear anything. Not me. Another glass of red?

And if we turn the tedtious media off I hear nothing except my favoruite music

[WasWinM]

thepossum, on 2026-August-26, 03:45, said:

Does anyone else ever sit thinking how these four years are dragging so much

I know it's unfair to blame the **** of the world on one adminstration but it is so tiresome

Who knows what the CIA Director is doing in Moscow but whatever

Even the runnup to the midterms is dragging on

But seriously I have no idea who is behind the **** in this world and who is made to appear that they are - but are we not all entitled to an end to it

It's like spoiled children. Just lock them in their rooms and get on with life

Did you hear anything. Not me. Another glass of red?

And if we turn the tedtious media off I hear nothing except my favoruite music

I can't point you to one particular evil Dr. No, but to a class of people who pull the strings with cash: the uber wealthy. They don't need a country; the world is where they live. That will last until the people finally say, Your money isn't any good here, but they won't mean they're picking up the tab.

[thepossum]

I'm becoming rather ostrich like

[jillybean]

[Zelandakh]

WasWinM, on 2026-August-25, 20:00, said:

You should be proud every day. Nicest people in the world from my experience, are my northern neighbors.

As one of your eastern neighbours, I could easily take offence to that...

[WasWinM]

Zelandakh, on 2026-August-29, 12:04, said:

As one of your eastern neighbours, I could easily take offence to that...

I would apologize, but I'm not Canadian.

[jillybean]

If we want to know how younger people are feeling, I recently had a conversation with my daughter that sheds some light on it

"I just feel it's a waste of time, I didn't even vote in the election a couple of days ago. (this young person was an avid political freak and voter) I expected the fall of the American Empire to be a catastrophic event but it's just stupid, look at Trumps tweets.  I will never see American excellence the same way again and that makes me sad
My American friends think that once his term is over things will go back to normal, I've only just realized that there is no coming back from this."

[barmar]

She's got a point. It's much easier to break things than to build them back up. The damage he's done to federal agencies and programs in less than 2 years may take years or even decades to repair. And that assumes he's replaced with a President who is so inclined.

[pilowsky]

barmar, on 2026-September-03, 09:20, said:

She's got a point. It's much easier to break things than to build them back up. The damage he's done to federal agencies and programs in less than 2 years may take years or even decades to repair. And that assumes he's replaced with a President who is so inclined.

It's hard to repair something that was always broken.
You can't fill a cup that has a hole in the bottom.
Even if you go to court to force someone to repair the hole, you'll have died of dehydration before you get an 'enforceable' order.
And that's assuming the lawyers haven't drunk all the water before you get to fix the cup and find some potable water.

[WasWinM]

We'll discover in November if this is some grand conspiracy to invalidate democracy in the US or just a bunch of hoodlum wannabes pretending to be tough guys.