[BartSimpson]

raydan raydan:

So essentially, the USA is saying that they buy votes.

No, we're saying that we're no longer going to give money to countries that hate us and who want to kill the Jews.

[Freakinoldguy]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

I was out for a walk with a coworker who tells me Trump is threatening to cut all foreign aid to any country that votes in the UN to condemn the US for recognizing Jerusalem as the capitol city of Israel.

That'd be fuckin' awesome!

Seems like a waste of time when all he has to do is cut the US funding off to that anachronistic, pile of corrupt nepotism just so he could watch it implode.

[BartSimpson]

I think the UN is on his shit list.

[Zipperfish]

Too obvious, Nikki. Too gauche and not even enough at stake to make it worth the play.

[BartSimpson]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Too obvious, Nikki. Too gauche and not even enough at stake to make it worth the play.

Conversely, why are so many countries acting as if there's anything at stake by opposing it?

"Because it'll make the Muslims angry" ???


Well, hope they hate the US enough that they won't miss our money.

[N_Fiddledog]

The Dynamic Duo



Ya know what he's saying to her?

"America, Fuck Yeah"

[Thanos]

It's all OK because most of the people that are gonna die are the ones you don't like anyway. MAGA!

[ShepherdsDog]

More likely,"You're going to give me your ice cream, or you'll be looking for a new job tomorrow."

[herbie]

$1:

Because it'll make the Muslims angry

No, he does it to please his idiot followers who think Islam has something to do with it.
Just can't distinguish one thing from another. Ever.
Remind me of my buddie's Grampa back in the 1960s. Driving thru LA with his hat on, in his Caddy and points to a black guy - Lookit that n***, he's got a beak like a Yid!
My buddies Mom berates him for acting like that in front of the kids. So he answers, WTF is wrong? A n***'s just a n***, he ain't nuthin' else!
I see not much has changed in 60 years. A Palestinian's just a Muzzie, it ain't nuthin' else...
C'mon Bart you lived through those shit times. Shame on you for doing the same thing to someone else.

[Thanos]

How Donald Trump Fucked-Up Christmas For Practically Everyone!

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/12/christ ... s-at-risk/

$1:

Bethlehem. A week before Christmas, there was only a handful of tourists snapping photos of the huge decorated tree in Manger Square, with its strings of red and white lights. The large plaza in front of the Church of the Nativity was nearly empty except for a handful of visiting clergy.

Chalk the absence of visitors up to President Donald Trump's Jerusalem speech, which outraged Muslims, scared off tourists, and unnerved Christian clerics. It also bushwhacked Vice President Mike Pence's planned (now postponed) trip to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Cairo, which was meant to express solidarity with Mideast Christians. Church leaders were refusing to meet him.

"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively. Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.

Perhaps Trump thought his move would advance the "ultimate (Israel-Palestinian peace) deal" that he tasked his son-in-law and real estate lawyer to devise. But instead, he has doomed the effort.

And then there is Pence,a fervent Christian who urged the president to keep his pledge to his evangelical base and move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. If he thought this move would help Holy Land Christians, he was very wrong.

For starters, the president's move wrecked a pre-Christmas tourist season that is especially important to Palestinian Christians.

"Before the Trump statement, we thought this would be the best year in the past 10 years for tourism," I was told by Maher Canawati, who, with his father, Nicola, owns the legendary Three Arches gift shops in Bethlehem, specializing in mother of pearl and carved olive wood objects. Living in Bethlehem since the early 17th century, the family has managed to navigate political challenges over time; portraits of ancestors look down on Canawati, including one of his father posing with a Bethlehem Boy Scout troop.

"The city has 50 hotels, 20 built in the last four years," says Canawati. "Everyone thought things would be better. But now there have been many cancellations after the statement." Bethlehem's economy is at stake.

On a broader scale, Trump's move brought the Jerusalem issue back into the global limelight, which stokes religious tensions here. That also unnerves local Christians.

A United Nations vote Thursday calling for Trump to rescind his Jerusalem move passed by 128-9, with 35 abstentions. And the United States was outnumbered by 14-1 when it vetoed a similar resolution from the U.N. Security Council.

Trump's promise to withdraw aid to nations that voted yes puts the president in conflict with major Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt (whose Coptic Church leaders also rebuffed a planned Pence meeting).

"After Trump's statement," says Canawati, "churches felt it was wise not to welcome someone who made such a big statement against the Islamic world."

Ordinary Christians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem worry that Trump's perceived challenge to Muslim holy sites will destabilize the city and affect them. They are a minority who have lived for centuries alongside their Muslim Palestinian brethren, and always hope for calm.

On the West Bank, Palestinian Christians do not face persecution for their religious beliefs. Christian restaurants in Bethlehem serve alcohol without any problem, and Christian women walk with hair uncovered. "In Bethlehem, we are a minority, but the Palestinian government supports Christians here," Canawati said. "The post of mayor always goes to a Christian."

But political tensions have caused a steady emigration of Christian Palestinians to North and South America. Thirty-five years ago, Christians made up at least 70 percent of Bethlehem's population and Muslims 30 percent; today the percentages are reversed. Canawati told me there are 3,000 members of his family living in Honduras and only 250 in Bethlehem.

"Most Christian Palestinians feel caught in the middle," says the Rev. Peter Vasko, a Brooklynite and longtime resident of Jerusalem, who heads the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, which aims to help Christians remain there. "Israeli soldiers look at Christians as Arabs, while Palestinian radicals see them as traitors to the cause."

And the huge concrete border wall and fence that Israel has built to separate itself from most of the West Bank adversely affects Palestinian Christians, cutting them off from worshiping at Christianity's holiest sites in Jerusalem, and depriving many of jobs. Snaking around Bethlehem, it often turns what would be a 10-minute journey to Jerusalem into a lengthy ordeal, with Israeli checkpoints, if a Bethlehemite can get a permit to enter Jerusalem at all.

So what Christian Palestinians hope for most is that religious tensions will be tamped down, and they can get on with their businesses and worship.

"People are fed up with riots and demonstrations and resolutions," says Canawati. "We just want the simplest thing, freedom of movement to visit our country from north to south, pray in our churches, and definitely demolish this separation wall that separates us from friends.

"I have a lot of Jewish friends and relations with Jewish companies," he adds, and they try to overcome the political divide.

If a two-state solution ever happens, Canawati hopes it will have open borders "because we cannot separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem or East Jerusalem from West."

Trump's unilateral move on Jerusalem gained nothing for Israel, whose capital is and will remain in the Holy City. It served only to stir up religious tensions and disturb the Christians whom Pence claims he cares for.

"We pray God will give wisdom to leaders," says Canawati. "Everybody's waiting." We in America are waiting, too.

$1:

"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively

Most likely:

a) the Likudnik hacks at AIPAC who take their orders directly from the crook Binyamin Netanyahu
b) psychotic American Evangelicals who want Armageddon, preferably with as many nuclear weapons as possible detonated across the entire planet, to happen in their lifetimes so they can get Raptured and be with Jeebus forever after
c) the shitheads of the Bannon/Gorka/Miller variety who simply want a major war, any war as a matter of fact, to happen anywhere so they can get around to their main perpetual goal of America killing it's way to greatness (MAGA!)

$1:

Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.

They don't give a fuck what would, and will, happen in the region because of this stupid decision. They don't give a damn about Israel, except in the most obtuse manner possible, as long as extremist Israeli trash like Netanyahu, Likud, and their allied religious party maniacs stay in power. And they certainly don't give a damn about any Arab Christians, because their being Christians isn't enough to wipe out the "taint" of being Arab to the tiki-torch marcher types that Trump has such affection for.

And a Merry Christmas to you too, MAGAs. Here's hoping that one day each and every one of you get exactly what you deserve.

[BRAH]

Thanos Thanos:

How Donald Trump Fucked-Up Christmas For Practically Everyone!

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/12/christ ... s-at-risk/

$1:

Bethlehem. A week before Christmas, there was only a handful of tourists snapping photos of the huge decorated tree in Manger Square, with its strings of red and white lights. The large plaza in front of the Church of the Nativity was nearly empty except for a handful of visiting clergy.

Chalk the absence of visitors up to President Donald Trump's Jerusalem speech, which outraged Muslims, scared off tourists, and unnerved Christian clerics. It also bushwhacked Vice President Mike Pence's planned (now postponed) trip to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Cairo, which was meant to express solidarity with Mideast Christians. Church leaders were refusing to meet him.

"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively. Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.

Perhaps Trump thought his move would advance the "ultimate (Israel-Palestinian peace) deal" that he tasked his son-in-law and real estate lawyer to devise. But instead, he has doomed the effort.

And then there is Pence,a fervent Christian who urged the president to keep his pledge to his evangelical base and move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. If he thought this move would help Holy Land Christians, he was very wrong.

For starters, the president's move wrecked a pre-Christmas tourist season that is especially important to Palestinian Christians.

"Before the Trump statement, we thought this would be the best year in the past 10 years for tourism," I was told by Maher Canawati, who, with his father, Nicola, owns the legendary Three Arches gift shops in Bethlehem, specializing in mother of pearl and carved olive wood objects. Living in Bethlehem since the early 17th century, the family has managed to navigate political challenges over time; portraits of ancestors look down on Canawati, including one of his father posing with a Bethlehem Boy Scout troop.

"The city has 50 hotels, 20 built in the last four years," says Canawati. "Everyone thought things would be better. But now there have been many cancellations after the statement." Bethlehem's economy is at stake.

On a broader scale, Trump's move brought the Jerusalem issue back into the global limelight, which stokes religious tensions here. That also unnerves local Christians.

A United Nations vote Thursday calling for Trump to rescind his Jerusalem move passed by 128-9, with 35 abstentions. And the United States was outnumbered by 14-1 when it vetoed a similar resolution from the U.N. Security Council.

Trump's promise to withdraw aid to nations that voted yes puts the president in conflict with major Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt (whose Coptic Church leaders also rebuffed a planned Pence meeting).

"After Trump's statement," says Canawati, "churches felt it was wise not to welcome someone who made such a big statement against the Islamic world."

Ordinary Christians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem worry that Trump's perceived challenge to Muslim holy sites will destabilize the city and affect them. They are a minority who have lived for centuries alongside their Muslim Palestinian brethren, and always hope for calm.

On the West Bank, Palestinian Christians do not face persecution for their religious beliefs. Christian restaurants in Bethlehem serve alcohol without any problem, and Christian women walk with hair uncovered. "In Bethlehem, we are a minority, but the Palestinian government supports Christians here," Canawati said. "The post of mayor always goes to a Christian."

But political tensions have caused a steady emigration of Christian Palestinians to North and South America. Thirty-five years ago, Christians made up at least 70 percent of Bethlehem's population and Muslims 30 percent; today the percentages are reversed. Canawati told me there are 3,000 members of his family living in Honduras and only 250 in Bethlehem.

"Most Christian Palestinians feel caught in the middle," says the Rev. Peter Vasko, a Brooklynite and longtime resident of Jerusalem, who heads the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, which aims to help Christians remain there. "Israeli soldiers look at Christians as Arabs, while Palestinian radicals see them as traitors to the cause."

And the huge concrete border wall and fence that Israel has built to separate itself from most of the West Bank adversely affects Palestinian Christians, cutting them off from worshiping at Christianity's holiest sites in Jerusalem, and depriving many of jobs. Snaking around Bethlehem, it often turns what would be a 10-minute journey to Jerusalem into a lengthy ordeal, with Israeli checkpoints, if a Bethlehemite can get a permit to enter Jerusalem at all.

So what Christian Palestinians hope for most is that religious tensions will be tamped down, and they can get on with their businesses and worship.

"People are fed up with riots and demonstrations and resolutions," says Canawati. "We just want the simplest thing, freedom of movement to visit our country from north to south, pray in our churches, and definitely demolish this separation wall that separates us from friends.

"I have a lot of Jewish friends and relations with Jewish companies," he adds, and they try to overcome the political divide.

If a two-state solution ever happens, Canawati hopes it will have open borders "because we cannot separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem or East Jerusalem from West."

Trump's unilateral move on Jerusalem gained nothing for Israel, whose capital is and will remain in the Holy City. It served only to stir up religious tensions and disturb the Christians whom Pence claims he cares for.

"We pray God will give wisdom to leaders," says Canawati. "Everybody's waiting." We in America are waiting, too.

$1:

"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively

Most likely:

a) the Likudnik hacks at AIPAC who take their orders directly from the crook Binyamin Netanyahu
b) psychotic American Evangelicals who want Armageddon, preferably with as many nuclear weapons as possible detonated across the entire planet, to happen in their lifetimes so they can get Raptured and be with Jeebus forever after
c) the shitheads of the Bannon/Gorka/Miller variety who simply want a major war, any war as a matter of fact, to happen anywhere so they can get around to their main perpetual goal of America killing it's way to greatness (MAGA!)

$1:

Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.

They don't give a fuck what would, and will, happen in the region because of this stupid decision. They don't give a damn about Israel, except in the most obtuse manner possible, as long as extremist Israeli trash like Netanyahu, Likud, and their allied religious party maniacs stay in power. And they certainly don't give a damn about any Arab Christians, because their being Christians isn't enough to wipe out the "taint" of being Arab to the tiki-torch marcher types that Trump has such affection for.

And a Merry Christmas to you too, MAGAs. Here's hoping that one day each and every one of you get exactly what you deserve.

It's Fake News Forrest!

[Thanos]

Yes, anyone who lives there has absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

[BeaverFever]

BRAH BRAH:

Thanos Thanos:

How Donald Trump Fucked-Up Christmas For Practically Everyone!

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/12/christ ... s-at-risk/

$1:

Bethlehem. A week before Christmas, there was only a handful of tourists snapping photos of the huge decorated tree in Manger Square, with its strings of red and white lights. The large plaza in front of the Church of the Nativity was nearly empty except for a handful of visiting clergy.

Chalk the absence of visitors up to President Donald Trump's Jerusalem speech, which outraged Muslims, scared off tourists, and unnerved Christian clerics. It also bushwhacked Vice President Mike Pence's planned (now postponed) trip to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Cairo, which was meant to express solidarity with Mideast Christians. Church leaders were refusing to meet him.

"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively. Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.

Perhaps Trump thought his move would advance the "ultimate (Israel-Palestinian peace) deal" that he tasked his son-in-law and real estate lawyer to devise. But instead, he has doomed the effort.

And then there is Pence,a fervent Christian who urged the president to keep his pledge to his evangelical base and move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. If he thought this move would help Holy Land Christians, he was very wrong.

For starters, the president's move wrecked a pre-Christmas tourist season that is especially important to Palestinian Christians.

"Before the Trump statement, we thought this would be the best year in the past 10 years for tourism," I was told by Maher Canawati, who, with his father, Nicola, owns the legendary Three Arches gift shops in Bethlehem, specializing in mother of pearl and carved olive wood objects. Living in Bethlehem since the early 17th century, the family has managed to navigate political challenges over time; portraits of ancestors look down on Canawati, including one of his father posing with a Bethlehem Boy Scout troop.

"The city has 50 hotels, 20 built in the last four years," says Canawati. "Everyone thought things would be better. But now there have been many cancellations after the statement." Bethlehem's economy is at stake.

On a broader scale, Trump's move brought the Jerusalem issue back into the global limelight, which stokes religious tensions here. That also unnerves local Christians.

A United Nations vote Thursday calling for Trump to rescind his Jerusalem move passed by 128-9, with 35 abstentions. And the United States was outnumbered by 14-1 when it vetoed a similar resolution from the U.N. Security Council.

Trump's promise to withdraw aid to nations that voted yes puts the president in conflict with major Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt (whose Coptic Church leaders also rebuffed a planned Pence meeting).

"After Trump's statement," says Canawati, "churches felt it was wise not to welcome someone who made such a big statement against the Islamic world."

Ordinary Christians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem worry that Trump's perceived challenge to Muslim holy sites will destabilize the city and affect them. They are a minority who have lived for centuries alongside their Muslim Palestinian brethren, and always hope for calm.

On the West Bank, Palestinian Christians do not face persecution for their religious beliefs. Christian restaurants in Bethlehem serve alcohol without any problem, and Christian women walk with hair uncovered. "In Bethlehem, we are a minority, but the Palestinian government supports Christians here," Canawati said. "The post of mayor always goes to a Christian."

But political tensions have caused a steady emigration of Christian Palestinians to North and South America. Thirty-five years ago, Christians made up at least 70 percent of Bethlehem's population and Muslims 30 percent; today the percentages are reversed. Canawati told me there are 3,000 members of his family living in Honduras and only 250 in Bethlehem.

"Most Christian Palestinians feel caught in the middle," says the Rev. Peter Vasko, a Brooklynite and longtime resident of Jerusalem, who heads the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, which aims to help Christians remain there. "Israeli soldiers look at Christians as Arabs, while Palestinian radicals see them as traitors to the cause."

And the huge concrete border wall and fence that Israel has built to separate itself from most of the West Bank adversely affects Palestinian Christians, cutting them off from worshiping at Christianity's holiest sites in Jerusalem, and depriving many of jobs. Snaking around Bethlehem, it often turns what would be a 10-minute journey to Jerusalem into a lengthy ordeal, with Israeli checkpoints, if a Bethlehemite can get a permit to enter Jerusalem at all.

So what Christian Palestinians hope for most is that religious tensions will be tamped down, and they can get on with their businesses and worship.

"People are fed up with riots and demonstrations and resolutions," says Canawati. "We just want the simplest thing, freedom of movement to visit our country from north to south, pray in our churches, and definitely demolish this separation wall that separates us from friends.

"I have a lot of Jewish friends and relations with Jewish companies," he adds, and they try to overcome the political divide.

If a two-state solution ever happens, Canawati hopes it will have open borders "because we cannot separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem or East Jerusalem from West."

Trump's unilateral move on Jerusalem gained nothing for Israel, whose capital is and will remain in the Holy City. It served only to stir up religious tensions and disturb the Christians whom Pence claims he cares for.

"We pray God will give wisdom to leaders," says Canawati. "Everybody's waiting." We in America are waiting, too.

$1:

"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively

Most likely:

a) the Likudnik hacks at AIPAC who take their orders directly from the crook Binyamin Netanyahu
b) psychotic American Evangelicals who want Armageddon, preferably with as many nuclear weapons as possible detonated across the entire planet, to happen in their lifetimes so they can get Raptured and be with Jeebus forever after
c) the shitheads of the Bannon/Gorka/Miller variety who simply want a major war, any war as a matter of fact, to happen anywhere so they can get around to their main perpetual goal of America killing it's way to greatness (MAGA!)

$1:

Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.

They don't give a fuck what would, and will, happen in the region because of this stupid decision. They don't give a damn about Israel, except in the most obtuse manner possible, as long as extremist Israeli trash like Netanyahu, Likud, and their allied religious party maniacs stay in power. And they certainly don't give a damn about any Arab Christians, because their being Christians isn't enough to wipe out the "taint" of being Arab to the tiki-torch marcher types that Trump has such affection for.

And a Merry Christmas to you too, MAGAs. Here's hoping that one day each and every one of you get exactly what you deserve.

It's Fake News Forrest!

So fake there’s photos of Palestinian Christians in santa costumes protesting and clashing with Israeli troops.

$1:

PHOTOS: Palestinian Santa Clauses clash with Border Police in Bethlehem

https://972mag.com/photos-palestinian-s ... em/114967/

Must be nice to be a simple minded Deplorable. You don’t need to collect facts collect facts or read or assemble arguments, you can just yell “fake news “ and run away whenever you hear something that challenges your uninformed opinions. What surprises me that you think doing this somehow accomplished something other than wasting your time and energy.

[BRAH]

"I'm one of the baddest mother fuckas of all-time. I'm one of the best looking mother fuckas you've ever seen. Hold my drink bitch." MAGA!

[BeaverFever]

Repeating empty slogans over and over again instead of expressing original thought is also a sign of simplemindedness