Dear Critic,

«Trump has doubled down on support for Israel.»

Which Israel? Which of the two does he support?

You may be interested in this article, titled: "We have passed the stage of political polarization: Israel is already divided":
http://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/yokra14110274

It is in Hebrew and overall Google-translate does a pretty good job, but it made a gross error, wrongly translating "commemorating" as "of Zion", so here is the crunch of the article:

<<But we need to understand the dispute between Gallant and Netanyahu in a deeper way, which corresponds to the - crazy - fact that on the anniversary of October 7, two commemorating ceremonies were held in Israel. In other words, what is happening in Israel today indicates that we have already passed the stage of political polarization, and we have reached a situation where Israel officially behaves like one country, but in fact has already split into two.>>

Certainly, Biden supports one Israel, Trump supports the other!

Hi Paul
I agree that nuclear proliferation does not make the world a safer place. But your argument seems to be that every country is at risk of nuclear attacks by nuclear armed “nut jobs” and therefore every country is justified in having its own nuclear weapons. Hardly a case for non-proliferation. And as Fester points out, while many countries have had nuclear weapons for decades, and may at times have been tempted to use them, none has actually employed them against an enemy since WW2. Cooler heads prevailed against the "nut jobs". But I fear there are not many cooler heads in Iran and North Korea.

Hi Foxy
According to The Economist Democracy Index – probably the most widely cited measure of countries’ democratic status - Israel is categorised as a “flawed democracy” and ranks 30th in the world - one spot behind the USA (29), but ahead of Portugal (31), Italy (34), and Belgium (36). Iran is categorised as an “authoritarian regime” and ranks 153 out of 167 countries examined. Palestine is also “authoritarian” (115), as is Lebanon (112). No country in the Middle East and North Africa is categorised as a “democracy” except Israel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index

The University of Würzburg’s “Democracy Matrix” categorises Israel as a “working democracy” and ranks it 35 in the world, one spot above the USA.
http://www.democracymatrix.com/ranking

Freedom House considers Israel “free”
http://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores

Hi Fester and Rhian,

No one can tell who will be in charge of the world "next week" certainly not in the years to come. I'm not justifying anyone arming themselves with nuclear weapons, only one aspect of world dismemberment. Fester, I look over my lifetime and the greatest threat to world peace is United States, their record speaks for itself, did they choose to be the great belligerent power, probably not, but they did become so. As for a "paucity of criticism of authoritarian regimes, terrorists, and advocates of genocide," lets call out Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, Korea, Hamas, Hezbollah, Israel etc, etc, etc the list is very long, even Australia in our own way is a risk, we support militarism, and have a very poor record. I not only believe in nuclear disinterment, I also believe in non alignment, treaties have shown that they are a catalyst for war, and not a deterrent.

I think I've reached a point where the dead women and kids have taken a toll.
I no longer care what happens to Israel, if they attack Iran I hope Iran responds with great force and really punches Israel in the throat repeatedly.
If Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities, then I hope Iran launches a strike on Dimona.
If Israel launches a strike on Iran's refineries or or powerplants I hope Iran hits back twice as hard on Israels refineries and powerplants, and sends them back to the stone age.
If there's any good decent people in Israel they should leave.

Hi Paul,

The world is so complicated. I've long given up the idea of seeing things as good vs evil as I think the mindset will often result in people being mislead and thrown into conflict. Accepting that people will have a wide range of opinions on things, and the views held bear little or no relevance in defining them as good or bad, leaves me with a far more optimistic outlook.

On the subject of the Americans using atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you might note that nearly 250,000 Japanese were killed in the invasion of Okinawa. There is a view that the use of those weapons saved a great many lives. America was not the Great Satan as portrayed by imperial propaganda. Losing the war resulted in Japan becoming an independent, benevolent, and prosperous democracy.

Japan Asks America For PERMISSION To Save Its Currency As The Strong Dollar Wrecks Everything
http://youtu.be/yXVLutqSNHs

Sovereign countries don't need to ask for other countries permission Fester...

Japanese Cabinet Approves Largest Ever Defense Budget
http://news.usni.org/2023/12/22/japanese-cabinet-approves-largest-ever-defense-budget

The Japanese are on their way back, with Americas bombs and their approval.