Podcasts about kuwaitis

*) World leaders condemn terrorist attack in Ankara Global leaders condemned the terrorist attack on a defence facility in Ankara, Türkiye, where five people were killed and 22 wounded. Turkish President Erdogan denounced the attack on Turkish Aerospace Industries, calling it "heinous." Russian President Putin and US Secretary of State Blinken both expressed their condolences, with Blinken reaffirming the US's support for its ally Türkiye. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also condemned the attack, emphasising that NATO stands with Türkiye against terrorism. *) Israel heavily bombards southern Beirut Israeli warplanes carried out more than 17 air strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut's southern suburbs, in one of the most intense bombardments. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the Israeli attack included four strikes in the suburb of Laylaki, which destroyed six buildings and caused fires that spread across a wide area. It also said that Israeli aircraft destroyed the office of the Al Mayadeen TV channel affiliated with the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which was located in an apartment. *) G7 moves forward on $50B Ukraine loan, backed by frozen Russian assets The G7 is advancing a $50 billion loan package for Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, according to the White House. The US will contribute $20 billion, while the remaining $30 billion will come from allies like the EU, UK, Canada, and Japan. Interest earned on Russia's frozen assets will serve as collateral for this unprecedented financial support. *) Saudi Arabia, Iran conduct joint military drill in Sea of Oman Saudi Arabia recently conducted joint military exercises with Iran and other nations in the Sea of Oman, according to a Saudi Defence Ministry spokesperson. Brigadier General Turki al-Malki confirmed the naval drills in a statement following reports from Iran's official news agency ISNA that the two countries are planning additional exercises in the Red Sea. *) Kuwait bans controversial 'Call of Duty' video game Kuwait has banned Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 due to its depiction of Saddam Hussein and scenes from the 1990s Gulf War. Activision confirmed the game won't be released in Kuwait, but the government has not officially acknowledged the ban. Trailers showing burning oil fields and Iraqi symbols have sparked controversy, reminding Kuwaitis of painful memories. This is the latest geopolitical issue for Call of Duty, which has previously faced bans in countries like China and Russia for controversial content.

As you probably heard, 35-year-old Jullebee Ranara, a Filipina who had to move to Kuwait to make ends meet and support her family as a domestic worker, was brutally killed in 2023.She was tortured, raped, and murdered. As if this grueling ordeal was not enough, Jullebee's heartless perpetrator even burnt her body, threw his victim in the desert, and ran her over with a vehicle.Based on a report from Vice World News, there are over 268,000 Filipinos currently working in Kuwait, most of which consist of domestic workers. The Kafala system governs migrant workers in Kuwait, and various human rights group says that the Kafala system is a legal framework utilized in most Gulf states that authorizes employers to have full control over the legal status of migrant workers. Unfortunately, Jullebee Ranara's gruesome murder is not the first incident that happened to a Filipino in Kuwait. This recent incident appears to have caused a ton of frustration in how the Kuwaitis view less of Filipinos. It is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by the international community. CONNECT WITH US▸ https://linktr.ee/phmurderstories Here are links to our social media accounts, case photos, episode notes, and sources!YOUTUBE▸ www.youtube.com/phmurderstories DISCORD SERVER▸ https://bit.ly/3n38Tuh IG CHANNEL▸ https://ig.me/j/AbaOmN2HytgKay0F/ SUPPORT OUR SHOW ON PATREON▸ www.patreon.com/phmurderstories DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed by the podcast creators, hosts, and guests do not necessarily reflect the official policy and positions of Podcast Network Asia. Any content provided by the people on the podcast is of their own opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second of our series on Privatisation and Popular Capitalism, we look at the biggest and riskiest privatisation of all - the 1987 sale of the UK's 31% stake in BP. How the Chancellor Nigel Lawson gambled that the markets were good for a quick £7bn. Prepare for the world's shortest pricing meeting, diplomatic rows with Kuwaitis and lots of long faced underwriters. And our guest Philip Augar delivers the verdict: was it a disaster narrowly averted or a triumph for the new City of London?Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Philip Augar.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.In association with Briefcase.News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Bader Al-Saif, a U.S.-trained Kuwaiti academic. Together, they discuss Kuwaitis' perceptions of the Israel-Hamas war, U.S. geostrategy, and where Kuwait itself is headed almost 35 years after Iraq's invasion of the country. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Will Todman and Leah Hickert to explore the perceptions and use of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict elsewhere in the region. Transcript, "Bader Al-Saif: Kuwait's Perceptions, People, and Progress," CSIS, February 6, 2024. Bader Al-Saif, "الكويت بعد الغزو... بين الفرص الضائعة وآفاق العبور نحو كويت جديدة” [Kuwait after the Invasion... Between Missed Opportunities and Prospects for Crossing into a New Kuwait], Al Majalla, August 3, 2023.

In this compelling episode of 'Adams Archive' with Austin Adams, we dive deep into the recent eruption of conflict between Hamas and Israel, ignited by a shocking attack at a music festival. However, this isn't just a retelling of events; it's an attempt to comprehend the emotional and historical weight of the Israeli-Palestinian territorial disputes. Austin steps back from the rapid-fire conclusions and reactions of the media to present a well-researched understanding of the situation, from its deep-rooted religious aspects to the modern-day power struggles. Questioning the prevalent narratives, Austin refuses to merely echo popular sentiment. Instead, he encourages listeners to think critically, challenge widely accepted stances, and arrive at informed opinions. Join us in this essential exploration as we seek truth amidst the chaos. Join the conversation and think beyond the headlines with 'The Adams Archive'.   All the links: https://linktr.ee/theaustinjadams Substack: https://austinadams.substack.com   ----more---- Full Transcription    Hello, you beautiful people and welcome to the Adams archive. My name is Austin Adams, and thank you so much for listening today. On today's episode, we are going to be discussing the war that has just broken out between Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. and Israel. Now, this has been something that I've been sitting on for a few days. I believe the original attack, which happened at a music festival happened a little over about five or so days ago now. And I sat and didn't say a word. And the reason that I did that was because so many people were so quick to call for war. So many people were so quick to give a Pretty strong position for something that they likely didn't have historical context on and I didn't want to be one of those people I was somewhat familiar with this particular situation in Palestine and the difficulty that was going on there for a while due to the Um, Israel basically, um, you know, we'll get into the context of it, but, but to me, it was, it was a hard topic to discuss because so many people were so emotionally charged and anytime that you see. emotions extremely high after a singular event with very little information coming out, and the media calls for war, you have to stop and think, do we, or can we trust the organizations that are giving us this information? Um, can we trust that the people of influence who are calling for war have our best, best interest in mind, or are they being potentially paid? So when all of that comes up to me, I wasn't educated enough to speak out initially. So I paused, I went dark on social media, since this happened until today, and didn't give my opinion that much because it was very heated. But today I will. Today, we'll dive into the historical context of the. Israeli Palestinian Dispute of Territory. We will dive into the religious context of the land that they occupy. We will dive into the current events and the terrorist attacks and the retaliations that are happening between Hamas and influencers. And we'll question the narrative, as you always should. So, today will be a little bit more serious episode, but I appreciate you being here. Uh, I value you more than you ever know, and I hope you realize that I'm not just gonna come on here and say whatever, whatever I think I should say based on where some people may or may not think I fall within the political spectrum. So, you got the wrong guy. Alright? Alright, so today. Alright, so today. We're going to jump into the Palestine and Israel. Let's jump into it. The Adams Archive. So if we realized, if we realized one thing over the last four years, it's that when Everybody on social media, everybody on mainstream media, all of the celebrities, all of the political organizations, all of the, uh, Historically corrupt politicians, all of the the same people that were pushing the same things that we knew have been going on for the last four years that were not in our best interest when all of these people are pushing the same narrative, the same talking points. The same, something should be going on in your head, right? When everybody out there is saying the same thing, ringing the same bell over one to two specific talking points at a singular time, it's time to stop. It's time to question the narrative and it's time to do your due diligence. And that's what I did. Okay, now where I'm going to start this podcast off is by giving you the historical context and not from myself. I'm actually going to pass the microphone to Lex Friedman, who just dropped a podcast today, where he discussed some of the historical context. Um, I want to do this justice. Um, he did a, a podcast that was three hours with Jared Kushner and they got together and this was the opening that they had that I thought was pretty concise surrounding what is the actual issues that we are discussing here. All right. So let's go ahead and listen to that. And then we'll walk through some of these articles that I'm seeing or that I pulled up for us here. So here we go. And now, dear friends, here's Jared. Krishna did a lot of this conversation before the Hamas attack on Israel, and we decided to sit down again and finish the discussion to address the current situation, which is still developing. If I may allow me to summarize the situation as it stands today, it's morning. Monday, October 9th, on Saturday, October 7th at 630 AM Israel time, Hamas fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel. The rocket attack served as cover for a multi pronged infiltration of Israel territory by over 1, 000 Hamas militants. This is shortly after at 740 AM. The Hamas militants went door to door in border towns, killing civilians and taking captives, including women and children. In response to this, Israeli Air Force began carrying out strikes in Gaza, also fighting on the ground in Israel to clear out Hamas militants from Israel territory and preparing to mobilize Israeli troops for potential ground attack on Hamas in Gaza. Now, of course, this is what it appears to be right now. And this Along with other things might change because the, the situation is still developing. The IDF is ordering civilian residents of Gaza to evacuate their homes for their safety. Benjamin Netanyahu declared war in several statements and warned Israelis to brace themselves for a long and difficult war. Just today, Israeli ministers ordered a quote, complete siege of. Gaza interrupting supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel from Israel to Gaza. As of now, October 9th, the death toll is over 1200 people and over 130 hostages taken to Gaza by Hamas. So As I said, the events are rapidly unfolding, so these numbers will sadly increase, but hopefully our words here can at least in part speak to the, the timeless underlying currents of the history and, uh, as you write about the power dynamics of the region. So for people who don't know, Gaza is a 25 miles long, six miles wide strip of territory along the Mediterranean sea. It borders Israel on the east and north and Egypt on the southwest. It's densely populated about 2. 3 million people. And there's been a blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt since. 2007 when Hamas took power. I can just summarize that Hamas is a Palestinian militant group which rules the Gaza Strip. It originated in 1988 and it came to power in Gaza in 2006. As part of its charter, it's sworn to the destruction of Israel and it is designated by the United States, European Union, UK, and of course Israel as a terrorist group. So given that context, what are your feelings as a human being? Uh, and what is your analysis as the former senior advisor to the president under the Trump administration of the current situation in Israel and Gaza? So I think you did an excellent job of summarizing a lot of the the context but Watching what's unfolded over the last 48 hours has been truly heartbreaking to see We're still in the early stages of what's developing but seeing the images uh on x of um You know, militants, uh, terrorists going door to door with machine guns, gunning down innocent civilians, uh, seeing beheaded Israeli soldiers, seeing, uh, young, 20 year olds at a rave, uh, dance party to celebrate peace, uh, with, uh, militants flying in and then you know, shooting machine guns to, to kill people indiscriminately, uh, seeing, uh, young children, uh, captive and, and held prisoner, seeing 80 year old grandmothers, a Holocaust survivor also being taken captive. Uh, these are just images. and actions that we have not seen in this world since, uh, 9 11. This is a terror attack on the scale of which, uh, we have not seen, and it's been incredibly hard for a lot of people to comprehend. Um, my heart goes out, obviously, to, uh, all of the, the families of the victims, uh, to... So what I'm gonna look for here is there's a couple spots within this episode that I believe might be of a bit more value to you. Um, before we get, uh, into listening to everybody else's opinions, I just want the facts, right? Um, so let's go and jump to 10 minutes and 28 seconds in and see what they have to say about the  families of those who are helping. And power will make the right decisions to paradigm you about the journey towards this historic progress towards peace with Abraham, of course, but first on this situation to step back and some of the history, uh, is there things about the history of Hamas and Gaza that's important to understand what is happening now? Just your comments, your thoughts, your understanding of Hamas. I think you did an excellent job, Lex, of really giving the summary. Just a couple things maybe I'll add to it is that Hamas was originally founded from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which is a group that's caused a lot of issues in the region. Um, they've, uh, they've attacked Israel many times in the past. There's a lot of discussion about how Israel, uh, is an occupying power. Well, in Gaza in 2005, they withdrew from all the land and then they say Israel's an apartheid state. Well, Israel then gave governance of the region to the Palestinians. And then what's happened is, is the Palestinian people's lives have now gone down, not up since then. Uh, I will say that under, uh, Hamas's leadership, uh, in, in Gaza. The people have suffered the most are the Palestinian people and I see I've I've watched cries throughout my time in government from people saying, we want to see the Palestinian people live a better life. I agree with those people. I think that the Palestinian people in Gaza are essentially hostages in. Uh, in Gaza, you have basically 2. 2 million people that are being held hostage by 30, 000 Hamas, uh, terrorists, and that's really the problem. And I would just encourage people to, uh, to push their attention and energy in this moment and their anger towards Hamas. Those are the people who are killing innocent civilians, who are, uh, murdering indiscriminately. And those are the people So you can  hear him almost everything that he's speaking to his emotion, he's not kind of the again, this is Jared Kushner's not not speaking to the history where he was asked the history. He's not speaking to it. So let's jump over here. And let's see how this is summarized where it says The region known as Palestine has been inhabited by various people over millennia. By the 1800s and early 1900s, nationalism grew among both Arab, Palestinians, and Jews. Jews faced persecution in Europe and sought a homeland, leading to the Zionist movement. Many Jews began migrating to Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire, and later a British mandate after World War I. The Balfour Declaration, which is very important when we're discussing this, issued by Britain in 1917 expressed support for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. This raised concerns among Arab Palestinians about their rights and future in the land. After World War II and the Holocaust, there was increased sympathy for Jewish survivors and greater support for the Jewish state. In 1947, the United Nations approved a partition plan, which proposed dividing Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under international administration. However, tensions escalated, and in 1948, the State of Israel was declared, and Arab states intervened, and the 1948 Arab Israeli War ensued. So, Israel expanded its territory beyond the UN partition plan, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled their homes. So Israel expanded its territory beyond the UN partition plan, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes. That's where it starts to get complicated. Right. Since then, there have been several wars and uprisings. Key events include the 1967 Six Day War, where Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Sinai Peninsula in Golan Heights. The 1973 Yom Kippur War, Arab states launched an attack on Israel. The 1987 and 19, er, and 2000 Antifa Dadas. Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. And then in 1993, the Oslo Accords, which was an attempt at peace, establishing Palestinian self governance in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. So the main issues of the conflict include borders and territory. The status of Jerusalem considered holy by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, the rights of Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements within the West Bank, and security concerns from both sides. So that's a really fundamental. breakdown. It says attempts at peace have been made, but lasting solutions remain elusive. Both sides have experienced sufferings and losses and narratives vary based on perspectives. It's a deeply sensitive and multifaceted issue and we've just scratched the surface. Interesting. So if we start to break that down, what do you think the comparison, right? And this is what, what my position at this very point is, is. Specifically to kind of my position is to educate myself, right? Everything that we just talked about there is not something that I remember deeply studying, right? It's something that is very, what people use the word nuanced, which is kind of pissing off the people who are just pro Israel all the way. Um, but it is nuanced, right? It is a complex issue and there are. Valid points to both sides, essentially what that explained to you is that the, um, within Palestine, their land was taken over and, and declared as Jewish territory by Britain. Then when Israel became into power in 1947, when they approved the partition plan. Right. Dividing Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, Israel started to push that border closer and closer to Palestine and started to continue pushing out Palestinians. And so that's caused a lot of tension, including the four or five things that we just discussed. Now, when we look at both sides of the argument, the Israeli perspective is historical and religious connections. So Jews have an ancient historical and religious connection to the land, dating back thousands of years to biblical times. The Jewish Diaspora maintained this connection during their long history of persecution. Now, the next part of that is modern Zionism and right to self determination, this says. Given centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust, many Jews believe in the necessity of a Jewish homeland for their safety and self determination. Which, sure, that's a Maybe understandable, but maybe not at the demise of a completely settled culture, potentially, right? It says legal mandate supporters point to the Balfour Declaration and the subsequent League of Nations mandate as international recognition of the Jewish right to establish a homeland in Palestine And then security concerns. Due to hostile neighbors and multiple wars, Israel emphasizes its right to security. This includes control over certain territories deemed strategic for defense. And then terrorism. Israelis are concerned about attacks on civilians, rightfully, by Palestinian militant groups, underscoring the need for stringent security measures and military responses, right? That's where we've started to hear the words, open air prisons consistently regarding Palestine, basically saying that. Palestine or the Gaza Strip has walls built around it, not allowing anybody from the Palestinians to exit those walls. They can't leave their, their 140 mile strip of land without. Approval from the Israelis, or if they try to, apparently there's been many, many responses that were lethal leading to hundreds, if not thousands of deaths over this time period. So these people feel as if they're imprisoned. They feel as if their land is being encroached upon, that they're being forced out of their homes. And that is why you have these radicalized terrorist groups enacting terrorism. So, when everybody's pushing to say we're pro Israel or we're pro Palestine, there's a common denominator that everybody, I believe, agrees on, which is that nobody is pro Hamas with any sense to them. All of the actions that have happened have been completely and utterly horrible. Now what we get into, and what we will get into a little bit later, is that it really breaks down to Two main events, some of which I have questions around, but we'll get to that in a little bit Let's look at the Palestinian perspective It says historical and continuous presence Palestinians emphasize their continuous presence in the regions for centuries and the majority Status in modern times prior to the large scale Jewish immigration of the 20th century, right? They lived there They say they've been there their families their grandparents their great great great grandparents all lived in Palestine and now The Jews were given a piece of paper that says you can go take over their land and they didn't like that. It says displacement and Nakba, N A K B A. The 1948 war led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians known as the Nakba or catastrophe. Many Palestinians demand the right to return to their homes or compensation. The next point it makes is occupation and human rights. Palestinians oppose Israeli occupation on the West Bank and the blockades of Gaza, viewing them as violations of their rights. They demand statehood. Based on pre 1967 borders, East Jerusalem, Palestinians see East Jerusalem captured by Israel in 1967 as the capital of a future Palestinian state and highlighted significance to Muslims and Christians. Now, when people think of Palestine, it's a lot of people are just so specifically associating it with Muslims because of Hamas. But that's not the case. There's, I believe, 20 percent of the people that live in Gaza are Christians, right? So we have to make that distinction. This is not specifically and only related to religious backgrounds. It also has to do with, mostly, according to the Palestinians, territory disputes, right? And the fact that they believe that they've lived there, they've always been there, and you shouldn't just be able to hand a piece of paper to somebody and say, Hey, you can go take over their land. It says both narratives have deep emotional, historical, and political Elements. Many on both sides seek peace, but the question remains how to reconcile their respective narratives and aspirations. Thank you. Chat GPT. So based on that, now we have some of the historical background when we're talking about Israel and Palestine, right? Which is really what this conversation is about, but maybe it shouldn't be. Right. Maybe we're, we're harping too much on those historical backgrounds. And maybe Hamas who's enacting these horrible atrocious acts should just be obliterated off of the face of the earth. Maybe now what I think is a better perspective is understanding that again, once you realize that when the mainstream media, I'll say it again, the mainstream media, celebrities, Western governments, historically corrupt, consistently war calling politicians. Are all saying the same exact thing at the same exact time, all calling for extreme violence from saying there's a good guy and a bad guy, and here's who the bad guy is, and you should absolutely believe this is who the good guy is. Maybe. You should question the narratives. Maybe you should sit back before deciding to throw on a frickin football jersey and throwing a Ukraine flag on your head, or throwing a Palestinian flag on your head, or throwing an Israeli flag on your head. As you guys know by now, I am anti war. I enacts... Or, or intends to enact violence against you or somebody that you love. But when we're talking about the military industrial complex, it's generally not about the surface level conflict. And that's why when we get into some of the other things that we're going to discuss here, like the very first attack during the assault of Gaza, right. During that. Rave the the music festival, whatever was happening when we look at that and we say there was 230 or so people I believe was the final number of people who died from that event horrific terrible and Hamas was the one who enacted it But the question that I have is, how many times have we gone into a war under false pretenses? How many times have we seen the news articles saying weapons of mass destruction, right? Even when everybody's comparing this to 9 11. What percentage of the American public looks at 9 11 and puts a big question mark around who enacted that and why, right? We go back to the picture of George Bush throwing the airplane at the Jenga towers. A lot of people have some questions about 9 11 and a lot of people believe that it may have been an inside job, a false flag conducted on Americans by America or by three letter agencies or by our government or by the military industrial complex in order to convince Americans to send their children to die in a war. So when we look at this singular event, the one that set it all off, the one that we've seen videos of over and over again, 230 people died. But that does not mean that we don't question the narrative. That does not mean that we don't put a question mark around it and maybe sit and wait and ask some questions. Like, who is set to gain from this? Who is responsible for this? And should we immediately... Now, again, this is not sympathizing with Hamas. If you kill innocent civilians, you should die a horrid, long death, especially if they're women and children. So, unequivocally, very clearly, I do not support any of the actions that have happened here. But what I will say is, That we should, that doesn't mean that we blindly have faith in the mainstream media that has deceived us over and over and over again over the last 100 years. That doesn't mean that we have blind faith in whatever it is that they're telling us just specifically because they pissed us off because America is built off of patriotism and love, right, at least at the civilian level. In understanding that there is good and there is evil in this world and when there is evil that it should be destroyed and I don't disagree with that, but I am going to say that historically. When we go to war, which we very well may very soon, one of my biggest concerns about what's going on in Israel and in Palestine right now is that the U. S. intervention may or may not lead to a act within the United States, either enacted by the terrorist organizations that is enacting them in Palestine and in Israel right now, or potentially potentially. By the same people who enacted 9 11 in order to get us to go to war, and I'm not talking about the alleged pilots, I'm talking about the shadowy individuals who potentially crafted those actions behind the scenes in order to convince you and I to go to war. So my concern is for sure. We very well may have terrorists who crossed our borders while Joe Biden was bumbling and eating ice cream and sniffing young children's hair that are terrorists that are here today, that are in our communities, that are, that are calling for acts of war against Americans who are sitting, waiting, ready to make their move. The second they're called upon to do so. One very valid concern. My second concern. Is that Even if that is not the case, it is so easy to enact one act of terrorism under false pretenses as a false flag to convince you and convince I and convince everyone else in the United States that it is in our best interest to immediately engage in this war. And it doesn't just stop there. The second we step in. Iran will step in, right? Guess who was just having a meeting and exchanging handshakes with China just months ago? Palestine, right? You look at everything that's culminating here, right? You look at the same narrative playing again, that now we very well may be leading ourselves blindly shouting, asking for a world war, calling for it from the top of our lungs on social media over two events. One being what happened at the music festival and two under the fog of war. We have had articles that have come out saying, well, and let's, let's go back. Let's go back to one, one being what happened at the music festival. Now the times of Israel said that in Egypt, spy chief warned Netanyahu of the Gaza assault and was ignored. Now, the Prime Minister is actively denying that, but it says Abbas Kamel, the powerful head of Egyptian intelligence, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 10 days before the attack. In that report, Kamel, or Kamel, K A M E L, warned Israel that something unusual, a terrible operation was about to take place around Gaza. Kamel said reportedly aghast at Netanyahu's passivity. Upon hearing the report and there was a second article that came out that says Egypt Egypt intelligence official says Israel ignored Repeated warnings of something big Cairo official says is real Israel focused on West Bank instead of Gaza Egypt spy chief Said to warn prime minister of terrible operation. So there's your first one now. There's questions about that, right? We question the false flag narrative now. I threw out some some Polls today on Instagram and I'll kind of walk you through what those results were. My phone's dead So I let's see if I can pull it up here actually What I asked people was whether or not, yeah, it's gone. Um, what, what I asked people first was, do you have a strong opinion? Do you have a strong opinion in this war about one side or the other? Right. What I'm trying to gauge there is, is how many people are, are pro this or pro that, right? How many people have a horse in the game? How many people are wearing a jersey? I believe it was a little bit over 50%. So they had a strong opinion one way or the other about the war. The next question I asked was, are you pro Israel? Are you pro Palestine? Or, if you answer no to the above two, are you simply anti Hamas, and then are you something else, none of the above? The overwhelming majority, well, it was about 38 percent said they were pro Israel. Only about 4 percent of people said they were pro Palestine. 32 percent of people said they were anti Hamas, and did not identify as pro Israel. And then another 30%, or whatever the math is there, identified as. None of the above, which I found to be interesting, right? Because that's my position. I am not pro Israel I believe that there is certain specific aspects of this that should be addressed I don't think the right way to address those things is by killing innocent civilians Like Hamas is doing but that doesn't mean that I'm pro the the I'm not taking a side in in the overall underarching issue here. I will absolutely condemn people committing acts of terrorism, but I fall into that category. I'm not pro Israel. Again, I'll say that. I am not pro Israel. I am not. Pro Palestine. What I am is anti terrorism. What I am is pro questioning narratives. What I am is pro shutting up, being quiet, and letting things play out so that we can get out of the fog of war. Because as we know from Ukraine and Russia, how many articles, how many claims, how many videos ended up being video game footage? It's like how much propaganda will the war machine push out in order to convince you to beat the war drum and call your children to war, to enable them to enact a false flag on our own soil, to convince you that it's in our best interest to either spend our tax money or spend our children's blood to go to war with a country 7, 000 miles away from us over a territory dispute. That we have nothing to do with. They are playing all of our emotions. That is my position. And I won't allow it. I will, however, say that the acts if true, and if not conducted under false pretenses or under a false flag or under propaganda, are true. In the way that they are saying, then yeah, absolutely obliterate a terrorist organization all for it, but I'm not going to say in this territory dispute that I'm pro Israel. I'm not going to say in this territory dispute that I'm pro Palestine and a good way that I've heard this, uh, a good correlation to this, not a correlation, but a good analogy was when it comes to the Native Americans and the English settlers, right? It's like. If England shows up on your shores and decides to take over all of your land and you're a Native American and shove you into these small little settlements with people with machine guns standing around it saying you can't leave, and also we control your gas, electricity, and water consumption. And then those Indians, being somewhat savage, go and start scalping people as a response. It's like, yeah, maybe don't scalp people, but also maybe don't overthrow people from the land that they've lived on forever and expect no response. It's like there's no good position within the like, yeah, don't behead people. Don't commit acts of terrorism. Don't kill civilians and rape women. Also, don't displace massive populations via force and imprison them in small locations and expect them not to respond. And that's just such a controversial position to hold right now. And again, I'm open to being wrong. I've been wrong before. You guys know it. And I'll tell you when I'm wrong. But right now, I just in this territory dispute in this religious dispute, whether you're on the Jewish side, and you say it's a religious biblical conversation, or dispute, and you're on the Palestinian side and saying, Hey, dude, I've just I've fucking lived here for 400 years, a thousand years. Maybe don't throw me out of my house. It's like, it's all bad. None of it is good. Now it's really not good to commit acts of terrorism. But again, then you have to go back to questioning the narrative because why now, why now is everybody deciding that today is the day that we just accept wholeheartedly. Everything that is coming out of the mainstream media. Well, CNN said it, so it must be true. Fox News said it, so it must be true. It's like, why now? Why are we deciding today that everything that they say is true, when just three weeks ago, two weeks ago, everything they said was believed to be bullshit? Why are we not questioning narratives when we're being literally emotionally manipulated at the most fundamental and primal level, trying to say that, you know, they're doing this to children and this to women and this to, you know. It's like, yeah, if they are doing that, I agree. Blow them off the face of the earth. As long as you're not also killing women and children in the process. But... If we know anything, it's that the media lies. Influencers try to influence, and nobody knows what the fuck they're talking about, usually. Right, so that gets me to the next story. The next story being the, what came out a day or two ago. There was a journalist who said that When she was leaving an area, and I'll get you the name of her, um, cause I had her pulled up here, um, her name is, let's see, hmm, her name, Nicole Zedek, Z E D E K, for I 24 News. Now what she reported, is that there was 40, 40 babies had been found. In Kahar Aza, and some had been beheaded. It's not a war. It's not a battlefield. You see the babies, the mother, the father in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms, and how the terrorists killed them. It's a massacre. So the I D F major general Atia rou, who told the outlet at the time, the bodies were discovered. Now, Nicole Zdech claims that they chopped the heads off of children and women. And that comes from somebody who said, sorry, that was David Ben Zion. She allegedly, Nicole, overheard somebody, a soldier saying that that's what happened. Now, it doesn't sound like she saw it for herself and she's been constantly questioned about this. Now, the reason, and you're like, Oh my gosh, how could you question this horrific act? It's like. Again, this isn't a new playbook, right? You go all the way back to George Bush and, and getting us into the Gulf War, I believe it was, right? The incubator babies, right? Here's a clip that I found on that, if you don't recall that. Here it is from 15 years ago. August 2nd, 1990. Iraq attacks Kuwait, claiming the Kuwaitis are slant drilling into Iraq's oil fields. U. S. President George Herbert Walker Bush pushes for a land war against Iraq. But, polls show the U. S. public is split 50 50 on that idea. Then comes this eyewitness testimony before a congressional committee from a 15 year old Kuwaiti girl. The claim is she cannot be identified for fear of reprisals. While I was there, I saw the Iraqi soldiers coming to the hospital with guns. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators and left the children to die on the cold floor. The U. S. public is outraged. The result? Support for land war zooms. It's a turning point. Desert Storm is launched. 135, 000 Iraqis are killed. An estimated 1 million Iraqis, many of them children and old people, then die as a result of 10 years of sanctions. One small problem. There never were any incubator baby deaths. Not one. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's investigative flagship program, The Fifth Estate, reveals the girl to be the Kuwaiti ambassador's daughter, given her lines and coached in acting by the giant American PR firm, Hill and Knowlton. It's one phase in a 10 million joint U. S. Kuwaiti campaign of deception. This man is lying. I, myself, buried 14 newborn babies. That had been taken from their incubators. This man is lying. They had kids in incubators, and they were thrown out of the incubators so that Kuwait could be systematically dismantled. There were a lot of people who participated in a conspiracy. Yes, an out and out conspiracy of fake organizations, false documents, fraud, and disinformation. So, if a new man named Bush is in the White House and helps engineer a brazen deception in order to achieve global geopolitical goals as well as domestic and personal ones, It wouldn't be a first, would it? Great question. It wouldn't be a first, would it? So when you understand that that was all built off of a lie, it starts to make the narratives that we're seeing look a lot like a playbook. Of what went on to get us into previous wars with similar types of organizations So when i'm saying question everything i'm not saying that these things aren't true I'm, not saying there's no possibility because there's horrible people who do horrible things and we've talked about them before right, they usually just wear suits and not, uh, you know garbs, but However the point in this is that Don't just run blindly and call for war from the United States, right? There was the one of the polls that I did was do you believe that the United States will go to war to help? Israel there was between fit. I put it as 0 25 percent 50 percent and then 100 percent likelihood 64 percent of people said 100 percent 27 or something like that said 50 percent it was like 12 percent said 0% So more than 80 percent of people think that we're going to get pulled into this war. Now with the second question I asked on the back of that one was, do you think the United States should go to war? 90 percent of people answered, absolutely not. 80 percent of people believe that we will go to war. 90 percent of people believe that we shouldn't. And you have to realize the power of storytelling right when when they weaponize these types of stories these outrage stories against you and against I and build these narratives and have these in excitable enticing politicians telling these stories. You have to still, even under the emotions, even under the frustration, even under every bit of me that would love to just rip apart whoever would do that to a child. Every fiber of my being, I would love nothing more than to be locked in a room with somebody who did that to a baby and see what I could do to them. Every part of me. But again, that doesn't mean that we don't have to have a level of skepticism and level headedness. We're really starting to see shifting or sifting through the the influencers and narratives who is blindly going to follow the machine and who's going to At least continue their skepticism when it's ours, the, the, you know, I say our side, you shouldn't have a side when it's not the extreme liberal left pushing the narratives when it's the conservative right, when it's the, the libertarian party, when it's the, you know, when it's the people right of center who are starting to bang this war drum, it's amazing to me how many conservatives were anti war for the last seven, eight years. It's amazing to me And all of a sudden are calling for women and children to, to, or are calling for the men and the women of our country to go to war on behalf of Israel immediately without any confirmation of the atrocious acts that are being peddled as these stories, right? So quick to call for war. So quick to say that we should be backing Israel. So quick to say that yes, send our military operators over there to do what they do best. There is a profitable machine, a highly profitable machine behind war. And allegedly some of the congressmen were investing in war stocks just prior to this breaking out. That's interesting. So here is the woman on Buck, Clay and Buck show discussing this. Skepticism around the babies. Now, another layer of my skepticism around this baby decapitation situation is the fact that Netanyahu came out and said that they were beheading soldiers today. If it was completely confirmed 100 percent with validated evidence that this happened, why would he not also say that about the children, the babies, the toddlers that they're talking about here? Because all it does is add to his agenda. So if that is not true, or at the very least, it has not been completely confirmed with evidence outside of these one to two. Decently far left reporters, um, why, why would he not say that? So to me, that just adds another layer of skepticism around this story. Now, again, I, I can't tell you, I, I'm not just going to, I'm not going to continue backpelling. You already know my position. It's horrible. It's terrible. If it's true, but ask questions. That's my whole position on this entire thing. Right? And again, if these terrorists are doing these things, yeah. Destroy them. But that doesn't mean that Israel is right in this land dispute. And it doesn't mean that Palestine is right. It's, it's just too complicated. And I'm not the guy to solve that for you. Right, and honestly, I'm not the guy to give you the full history on all of this. There's other podcasts that you can listen to that are much more suited to that than I am. But, um, what I will tell you from a normal guy's perspective who likes to maybe take a... level headed approach to crazy issues like this is that always have a level of skepticism when it comes to calling for war. Because there's so much money and it's usually not from one of the sides that's fighting it. These are banker's wars. And there's actually a great breakdown of the banker's wars. Um, let's see if we can find any of these. It says all are all wars bankers wars. I believe there's a long long discussion About this from a let's see if I can find it. Hmm. There was a good Instagram called truth Truth behold or something like that that posted all the parts of it But I'll, I'll find it and I'll, I'll post it somewhere for you guys. Uh, but it's called Banker's Wars and, uh, I believe it's some sort of documentary for you. So hopefully that helps. Um, but all wars are Banker's Wars is essentially the idea. All wars. When we talk about the, the, the elite banking families of the world, the people that own the Raytheons, the BlackRocks, the Vanguards, they own all of it. These elite bankers, you know, their names by now, if you're listening to this now, there was even a, a. More interesting, uh, post on Instagram that I saw somebody post, which related, uh, Palestine, or I'm sorry, Israel, to the Rothschilds family, which said, let's see here if I can get it, here it is, it said, Baron Edmund de Rothschilds, the scion of the Rothschilds family, is the biggest individual stockholder in the Israel corporation. Which has invested roughly half of his 10 million overall in the state. After Edmund's death, his son's James de Rothschild's instructed PICA to transfer most of its land in Israel to the Jewish national fund. And on December 31st, 1958, PICA agreed to vest its rights to landholdings in Syria and Lebanon to the state of Israel. After Baron de Hirsch died in 1896, the Hirsch founded Jewish. Colonization Association, ICA started supporting the settlement of Palestine and Baron Rothschild's took an active role in the organization and transferred his Palestinian land holdings as well as 15 million francs to it. In 1970, Bank Kalal A Rothschild's family business in Israel increased its business volume by 80 percent to the amount of 137 million Aira, however you pronounce their finances. Um, so very interesting. Uh, another report that comes from finbold. com says that members of Congress purchased war stocks ahead of the Hamas attack in Israel. Another post that I found interesting, this was by ThatPatriotMom. On Instagram, stated problem, reaction, solution, round and round like a hamster wheel. This is the oldest trick in the book into manipulating the masses. There is a reason we are funding both sides of this conflict and I'll continue with that post in a second because she did a great job. We funded this. We gave Iran 6 billion. Right. You want to talk about problems that we should be solving. The problems that we should be solving are not 7, 000 miles away from here. The problems that we should be solving are at our borders, maintaining border security so that terrorists don't come here and do the things that these news companies are saying they're doing there. The problems that we should be solving here is the fact that Joe Biden gave 6 billion to Iran, which essentially funded this terrorist campaign in a prisoner swap, which they gave us. No money and an equal amount of prisoners. Right? I'm pretty sure I played that clip here. The problems that we should be solving is the fact that we funded and basically essentially created Hamas. Just like we did ISIS. Just like we did basically all of the other terrorist organizations to go against the larger enemies that we have. In fact, there was a, let me pull this article up for you guys, an ex CIA analyst. And this comes from RT. com an ex CIA analyst said 100 percent he is sure that Hamas is using US supplied weapons. Again, one more time for you, ex CIA analyst is 100 percent sure that Hamas is using U. S. supplied weapons. It says, Washington is expected to prioritize aid to Israel and put conditions on continued funding in Ukraine. Now I saw a meme that had rockets shooting up from one side and rockets shooting up from the other side. And it said, U. S. taxpayers and U. S. taxpayers, right? We are literally funding both sides of this war, and there's certain organizations and corporations who put our politicians in the power who are profiting off of it. So when you look at a casualty rate of 230 people, 230 people dying for a corporation to make tens if not Hundreds of billions of dollars of your tax dollars or the silent tax dollars, which is inflation over time because the federal, the Fed prints money in order to fund these things because we owe money. We don't have any money, right? So it says Hamas is using U. S. supplied weapons. To attack Israel, even, and I'll pull this up for you, Um, Hamas is using US supplied weapons to attack Israel, even as Washington prepares to step up military aid to West Jerusalem, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson told RT on Monday. He said, It's probably 100 percent sure that the weapons were supplied by the United States, Johnson opined. Opined? Opined? O P I N E D? Interesting. Is that the act of having an opinion? Huh, new word every day. And you guys are along for the ride to see how much of an indeed I am. Explaining that the only question was whether the Palestinian government's or militant groups weapons had come from U. S. supplies diverted from Ukraine, Afghanistan, or the Palestinian Authority. In the West Bank, noting there were no effective controls on the billions of dollars of arms and military financing funneled from the U. S. to Ukraine in the last two years. Johnson observed that even weapons supplied by Israel to Ukraine might have made it back to Hamas via the black market, suggesting the war unfolding in Gaza will tell us how extensive some of these weapons supplies have been. Huh. It says the conflict will also force a reevaluation of Washington's blank check to Ukraine. The ex analyst predicted Congress is going to insist that Israel gets put at the front of the line and that Ukraine's going to go to the back of the line. It's also going to embolden and make happen inspections and accounting in order to deliver to allow Ukraine to have any more weapons. Now that's interesting, right? It's like as soon as the money tree starts to dwindle for Ukraine, all of the sudden this massive war breaks out overseas. And just a fun fact for you, just one fun fact for you is that since World War II, we have funded Israel more than any other country in the world to the amount of 158 billion total. Fun fact for you. All right, let's see what else that we got here in some of these files I pulled up. Let's let's finish her, her, her comment there. It says this letter written in. On 8 15 of 1871, from high ranking Freemason Albert Pike outlined three world wars that would usher in the New World Order. It is debated whether or not this letter actually existed, but considering how accurate it seems to be, I will just put it out there for you to read and use your own discernment. The First World War must be brought about in order to permit the Illuminati to overthrow the power of the Tsars in Russia, and of making that country a fortress. Of aesthetic communism, the divergences caused by the agent tour or the agents of the Illuminati between the British and Germanic empires will be used to foment this war at the end of the war. Communism will be built and used in order to destroy the other governments and in order to weaken. The second world war must be fermented by talking about taking advantage of the differences between the fascists and the political Zionists. This war must be brought about so that Nazism is destroyed and that the political Zionism be brought enough to institute a sovereign state of Israel and Palestine. During the Second World War, which is exactly what happened, by the way, during the Second World War, international communism must become strong enough in order to balance Christ, Christendom, which would then be restrained and held in check until the time when we would need it to be the final social cataclysm. The third world war is the plan to bring Satanism into the mainstream and is detailed in my slides. Let's find that full letter. It says 815 1871 Albert Pike. I bet you we can find it. 815 1871 Albert. All right. Here we go. Here is the letter and it's coming from Lightshipministries. org And so it says it seems to the new world order Starts when people lose confidence in governments it is the feet of iron and clay as in the book of Daniel and Revelation 7 18 and Unfold or 7 into 18 unfolding before our eyes Interesting. For a short time, this letter was on display in the British Museum Library in London, and it was copied by William Guy Carr, former intelligence officer in the Royal Canadian Navy. And it reads what we just read about the First World War, right, was that it was, um, to permit the Illuminati to overthrow the power of the Tsars in Russia and making that country a fortress of aesthetic communism. Check. Um, the divergences cause the agent tour of the Illuminati between the British and Germanic empires will be used to foment the war. Check. At the end of the war, communism will be built and used in order to destroy the other governments in order to weaken the religions. So students of history recognize the political alliances of England, on one side, and Germany on the other, forged between 1871 and 1898 by Otto von Bismarck, co conspirator of Albert, Albert Pike, were instrumental in bringing the First World War. Okay, we talked about the Second World War, which says that after the Second World War, communism was made strong enough to begin taking over weaker governments. In 1945, at the Potsdam Conference between Truman, Churchill, and Stalin, a large portion of Europe was simply handed over to Russia. And on the other side of the world, the aftermath of the war with Japan helped to sweep the tide of communism into China. Now here's where it says, the Third World War. The Third World War, according to this Illuminati... Nostradamus, in 1871, says the Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the Agentur of the Illuminati between the political Zionists and the leaders of the Islamic world. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam and political Zionism Right? Islam being the modern Muslim Arabic world and Zionism being the state of Israel mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile, the other nations, once more divided on this issue, will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual, and economical exhaustion. We shall unleash the nihilists. And the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm, which in all its honor will show clearly to the nations that the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery, and of the most bloody turmoil, then everywhere the citizens obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries will exterminate those destroyers of civilization and the multitude disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits Will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine. of Lucifer brought finally out in the public view. This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement, which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time. Interesting. So since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, world events in the Middle East show a growing unrest and instability between Jews and Arabs. This is completely in line with the call for a third world war to be fought between the two and their allies on both sides. This third world war is still to come and recent events show us that this is not off. I wonder when this article was written. Well, it was before 2018. This was written in 2006. This article talking about this. Wow. Hmm. Very interesting. I want to see if we can get a copy of this full writing because that would be interesting. Hmm. So one website that this is pointing to is three world wars. com. And it says three world wars, tracking the progress of the planned three world Wars, I wonder when this was last updated because it looks pretty damn old and it looks like some shitty Website that you probably should question However, that doesn't take away from the validity that this person is essentially Figuring out exactly what they were going to do almost ten years ago now, right seven years ago Hmm an introduction or an introduction to conspiratorial history Albert Pike's plan for World War three Yeah, this website's not good at all. Um, let's look and see if we have, if maybe if at least has the documents. Now this looks better over here a little bit, um, 3worldwars. com slash Albert Pike 2. Um, and this says, continue from, uh, uh, Part 1, who was Albert Pike? So he should just be Albert Pike slash Albert Pike. It says, very few outsiders know about the intimate plans of Albert Pike and the architects of the New World Order. In the 19th century, Albert Pike established a framework for bringing in the New World Order based on a vision revealed to him. Albert Pike wrote a blueprint of events that would play themselves out in the 20th century with even more of these events yet to come. It is the blueprint for which we believe unseen leaders are following today, knowing early or not to engineer the planned third and final. World War, Albert Pike was born on December 29th, 1809 in Boston and was the oldest of six children born to Benjamin and Sarah Andrews Pike. See how long this is. Okay, I won't make you guys read it yourself. That's not too long. Um, let's see. Is there anything of value in here? Uh, he studied at Harvard and later served as a Brigadier General of the Confederate Army after the Civil War. Pike was found guilty of treason and jailed, only to be pardoned by fellow Freemason President Andrew Jackson. Interesting. So there's evidence. April 22nd 1866, who met with him the day the next day at the White House. On June 20th, 1867, Scottish Rite officials conferred upon Johnson the Freemasonry degrees, and he later went to Boston to dedicate a Masonic temple. Pike was said to be a genius, able to write, read, and write in 16 different languages, although I cannot find a record anywhere of what those languages were. In addition, he is widely accused of plagiarism, so to take a pinch. So take that with a pinch of salt At various stages of his life. He was a poet, philosopher, frontiersman, soldier, humanitarian, and philanthropist, a 33 degree Mason. He was one of the founding fathers and head of the ancient accepted Scottish Rite of free masonry. Being the grand commander of North American Free Masonry from 1859 and retains that position until his death in 1891. In 1869, he was a top leader in the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Wow. Now what you have to know about this is all of it can be like, they have all of these logs from all the Freemasons, um, that kind of like outlines who did what, when. So there is ways to corroborate this evidence. Incidentally, Freemason. RE itself was a fascinating subject and I could devote an entire website to that. Right. Okay. Thank you. Pike was said to be a Satanist who indulged in the occult, and he apparently possessed a bracelet, which he used in CO to summon Lucifer with whom he had a constant communication. He was the grand master of a Luciferian group, known as the Order of the Palladium or Sovereign Counsel of Wisdom, which had been founded in Paris in 1737. Uh, Pauladism, P A L L A D I S M, Pauladism has been brought to Greece from Egypt by Pythagoras in the 5th century. Interesting. And it was the cult of Satan that was introduced to the inner circle of the Masonic lodges. It was aligned with the Palladium of the Templars. In 1801, Isaac Long, a Jew, brought a statue of Baphomet, or Satan, to Charleston, South Carolina, where he helped to establish the ancient and accepted Scottish Right. Long apparently chose Charleston because it was geographically located on the 33rd parallel of latitude. Incidentally, so is Baghdad. And this council is considered to be the mother supreme council of all Masonic lodges in the world. Interesting. There's a monument. A confederate brigadier general as a lawyer, writer, see if there's a monument somewhere for him. The statue stands on a pedestal near the foot of Capitol Hill between the Department of Labor building and the Municipal building. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Lots more to be read there. However, so there's the third world war letter that breaks down exactly saying that it's going to be caused in this exact manner. That's pretty wild. I haven't read up on that at all.  

In this video, we'll share the latest Thailand news including reports of Kuwaitis causing chaos in Pattaya and massage shop raids.Whether you're a Thai resident or a tourist, this news will be of interest to you. We'll update you on the latest Thai news as it happens, so stay tuned!--I'm a victim of political persecution : PitaMove Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat has questioned whether he had been a victim of political persecution by the Election Commission (EC). He wrote in his Facebook post today that he would like to know whether the investigative committee had concluded its findings before the EC asked the Constitutional Court to suspend him from performing duty as an MP, even though the EC claims that the investigation process and its petition to the Charter Court are separate issues.Source - Thai PBS WorldConstitutional Court dismisses Move Forward Party's petition, clearing path for the next prime ministerial votingThe Constitutional Court's unanimous decision to dismiss the Move Forward Party (MFP)'s petition to rule on the constitutionality of the rejection of MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat's renomination by the 394 parliamentarians means that the upcoming Prime Minister (PM) voting can now proceed.Source - Thai EnquirerKuwaiti Motorcyclist Slams into Power Pole in PattayaA Kuwaiti tourist crashed his motorbike into a power pole in the small hours of Wednesday, August 16th. He suffered only minor scratches and injuries and was taken to a hospital by his friends.Source - The Pattaya NewsPatong massage parlour raids continuePHUKET: Patong Police have raided another massage parlour whose owner was caught operating the venue without a licence.Source - The Phuket News--Want to support the show? Then why not buy me a coffee! You can do so by following the link belowhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/thaiexpatshow--Interested in starting your own podcast like the Thai Expat Daily Show? I use Buzzsprout and I can't recommend it highly enough. It makes everything super easy. Sign up today to get on the path to making great podcasts!https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1751572--Check out our website and forum - https://www.thaiexpatdailyshow.com--LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos every dayhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB8khQ_NapVMDiW09oqL-rw--Listen to our podcast on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon or on our podcast website: https://thaiexpatdailyshow.buzzsprout.com--Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thaiexpatdailyshow--#thaiexpatdailyshow #thailandnews #phuketnewsSupport the show

The latest from Ukraine after an attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region, Kuwaitis take to the polls and news from Latin America with Monocle's Fernando Augusto Pacheco.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iisraelis tegutsev Kuveidi-Iraagi-Jeemini päritolu rockstaar Dud Tassa avastab ja taaselustab oma muusikalisi juuri.

With the the Middle East's first football World Cup underway this week, we look back to when Kuwait made its first and only appearance at the World Cup in 1982. The amateur side put in respectable performances against France and England. But, press attention focused on the Kuwaitis' team mascot, a camel called Haydoo, who became such a fan favourite that he even inspired a hit song. Sumaya Bakhsh talked to Kuwait's captain at the tournament, Saad al-Houti, about how Haydoo came to represent national pride for a team that had been dismissed by the foreign media as a bunch of camel-herders. This programme was first broadcast in 2021. (Photo: Kuwait players celebrate during the 1982 World Cup. Credit: Getty Images)

Featured speakers: Shaikha Al-Hashem, Dr. Ghanim Alnajjar, Dr. Courtney Freer, Mohammad Khlef Althunayyan, and Dr. Daniel Tavana. Several months after the political crisis in Kuwait, the crown prince Shaikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al Sabah announced an Amiri decree to dissolve the current session of the country's parliament, indicating that it would be resumed after early elections on September 28. The Amiri decree to dissolve parliament and hold new elections springs from enduring tensions between the legislative and executive branches, similar in many ways to previous political clashes that stalled the country's political life and undermined its public functions. The new Amiri decree marks the tenth time that the Kuwaiti leader has dissolved parliament since the country's first elections. In spite of this track record, many Kuwaitis are hopeful that the upcoming elections will bring a serious change to the legislative branch, and will lead to smoother collaboration between the parliament and the government. Several recent government decisions have led to optimism in this regard, including the appointment of a new prime minister, Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah, government efforts to end “tribal primaries” that unfairly allow tribes to coordinate their votes, and efforts to balance the relationship between the executive and legislative branches. Who is likely to win Kuwait's upcoming election? How could the opposition blocs change their agenda and behavior to win more seats? Will factions within Kuwait, such as Islamists, gain or lose seats in the upcoming elections? Will female candidates have a better chance? What changes are likely to occur in the balance of power between the legislative branch and the new prime minister?

I read the news today, Oh boy -- Apparently Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley are an item. Or at least they certainly were one of the most popular news stories when this episodes song came out entitled, That's Not Her Style. That's Not Her Style is the first song off of the Stormfront Album and was released as a single on August 4, 1990. While the media may think Christie jets across the country and "wines and dines with Argentines and Kuwaitis," she is actually much more down to earth -- so Billy says. Hmmm. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

On COI #313, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover China, North Korea, Russia, Afghanistan, and Iran news. Kyle discusses the U.S. Navy's plans to send warships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait. The Seventh Fleet intends to “contest” China's recent actions such as firing missiles over the island in response to Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit. Given the dangerous state of U.S.-China relations, further American aggressiveness could vastly escalate already soaring tensions. Besides China, North Korea is feeling squeezed by the American Empire and has recently conducted more cruise missile tests. The U.S. is currently conducting war games with Japan and South Korea and has more planned with Seoul, kicking off next week, that could include many tens of thousands of troops. Russian territory is continually being attacked in Crimea by U.S./NATO backed Ukraine. An explosion just rocked an ammunition depot in the northern part of the peninsula, with unnamed Ukrainian officials again taking credit as with similar incidents last week. This could drastically increase tensions. This comes soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained about recent leaks regarding Kiev's war effort and defense plans. President Joe Biden received a letter this week from 77 family members of 9/11 victims demanding that he release the $7 billion in Afghan central bank reserves held by the FED. U.S. officials recently said they would not be returning any of the money to Afghanistan, even though millions of people are facing death by starvation as a result of the sanctions policy against the Taliban as well as the liquidity crisis exacerbated by Washington's theft. Biden signed an executive order that would make $3.5 billion of the Afghan funds available to 9/11 families. The letter's signatories said this would be “legally suspect and morally wrong.” They said the money belongs to the Afghan people. Iran says there are three issues that must be resolved before they can agree to sign the ostensibly “final” draft the EU has proposed to restore the JCPOA. Washington initially refused to negotiate the draft text they already accepted. However, a day later the State Department spokesman Ned Price announced they were studying Iran's response to the European bloc. The Kuwaitis have appointed an ambassador to Iran and there are indications the UAE may follow suit soon. This throws at least some cold water on efforts to build a NATO style, anti-Iran alliance led by Washington and Tel Aviv. The Israeli national security adviser is headed to Washington reportedly out of fear that the U.S. may actually be considering reentering the JCPOA.   Odysee Rumble  Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash Qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Patreon Subscribe Star YouTube Facebook  Twitter  MeWe Apple Podcast  Amazon Music Google Podcasts Spotify iHeart Radio Support Our Sponsor Visit Paloma Verde and use code PEACE for 20% off our CBD

On COI #313, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover China, North Korea, Russia, Afghanistan, and Iran news. Kyle discusses the U.S. Navy's plans to send warships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait. The Seventh Fleet intends to “contest” China's recent actions such as firing missiles over the island in response to Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit. Given the dangerous state of U.S.-China relations, further American aggressiveness could vastly escalate already soaring tensions. Besides China, North Korea is feeling squeezed by the American Empire and has recently conducted more cruise missile tests. The U.S. is currently conducting war games with Japan and South Korea and has more planned with Seoul, kicking off next week, that could include many tens of thousands of troops. Russian territory is continually being attacked in Crimea by U.S./NATO backed Ukraine. An explosion just rocked an ammunition depot in the northern part of the peninsula, with unnamed Ukrainian officials again taking credit as with similar incidents last week. This could drastically increase tensions. This comes soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained about recent leaks regarding Kiev's war effort and defense plans. President Joe Biden received a letter this week from 77 family members of 9/11 victims demanding that he release the $7 billion in Afghan central bank reserves held by the FED. U.S. officials recently said they would not be returning any of the money to Afghanistan, even though millions of people are facing death by starvation as a result of the sanctions policy against the Taliban as well as the liquidity crisis exacerbated by Washington's theft. Biden signed an executive order that would make $3.5 billion of the Afghan funds available to 9/11 families. The letter's signatories said this would be “legally suspect and morally wrong.” They said the money belongs to the Afghan people. Iran says there are three issues that must be resolved before they can agree to sign the ostensibly “final” draft the EU has proposed to restore the JCPOA. Washington initially refused to negotiate the draft text they already accepted. However, a day later the State Department spokesman Ned Price announced they were studying Iran's response to the European bloc. The Kuwaitis have appointed an ambassador to Iran and there are indications the UAE may follow suit soon. This throws at least some cold water on efforts to build a NATO style, anti-Iran alliance led by Washington and Tel Aviv. The Israeli national security adviser is headed to Washington reportedly out of fear that the U.S. may actually be considering reentering the JCPOA.

ESSENTIEL, le rendez-vous culture présenté par Sandrine Sebbane.  En 1ère partie, une spéciale « Journée judéo-espagnole » du Festival avec François Azar, vice-président de Aki Estamos, pour parler de la « journée judéo-espagnole » du 23 juin. Julia Chardavoine, traductrice de la Méguila Salmantina, qui sera présentée lors de la journée judéo-espagnole En 2e partie, une spéciale « clôture du Festival » avec Alix Motais de Narbonne, responsable des projets culturels à l'Ambassade d'Israël, pour parler du concert de clôture du Festival « Dudu Tassa and The Kuwaitis », de la politique culturelle de l'ambassade et du partenariat avec le festival et Fabienne Cohen-Salmon, Directrice Adjointe à la culture du FSJU et en charge de l'organisation du Festival des Cultures Juives

Joey founded Supplyve in May of 2021 after seeing firsthand the rampant issues in Small Retail. He's a graduate of University of Maryland's Supply Chain program, and today sits on the technology council of the National Small Business Association. Give it a listen and let us know what you think?   Today's guest  Joey Rubinstein CEO Supplyve https://www.supplyve.com/ Podcast Hosts Jeff Roster Twitter https://twitter.com/JeffPR LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-roster-bb51b8/ Website https://thisweekininnovation.com Brian Sathianathan Twitter  https://twitter.com/BrianVision Website https://www.iterate.ai Podcast Website https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-f8asf-af2782 https://thisweekininnovation.com Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-innovation/id1562068014 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2QDqTUnt6jebdRHbRzSTJN LaunchPadOne https://www.launchpaddm.com/pd/This-Week-in-Innovation?showAllEpisodes=true Listen Notes https://lnns.co/2QPSfnizE5K   #innovation, #thisweekininnovation, #DigitalTransformation, #podcast, #retailpodcast, #emergingtechnologies, #5ForcesOfInnovation, #TRI2022, #Startup, #Startups, #Retailers, #retail, #retailtechnology, #retailtech, #futureofretail, #retailtrends, #supplychain, #VentureCapital, #VC, #Founders, #Entrepreneurs,#Gartner, #IHL, [00:00:00] Jeff Roster: Hello everybody. Welcome back to this week and innovation today. I have two very interesting guests. I have Joey Rubenstein, CEO of supply and kin doubt. Joey, welcome to the podcast. [00:00:11] Joey Rubinstein: Thank you so much, Jeff. It's great to be here. [00:00:13] Jeff Roster: And tell me a little bit about yourself and what you're up to, what your company's. [00:00:17] Joey Rubinstein: Sure. I studied a supply chain and entrepreneurship at the university of Maryland go TURPs. And basically after that, one of my friends approached me and he was running this independent retailer. [00:00:27] And he realizes, oh shoot. The way that we're doing our supply chain is really problematic. Everything was very manual. There were all sorts of issues in terms of the way in which they ordered, how they ordered from who they were ordering, when they were ordering you name it, they had problems with it. [00:00:40] We, started speaking to hundreds and hundreds of different people that were within the industry, trying to understand if this is a real problem or just something that was, localized [00:00:46] turns out it's a huge problem. So we dove in headfirst. [00:00:51] And basically what we're trying to do is we're trying to redefine their ordering process from their vendors and make their lives a million times. [00:00:58] Jeff Roster: So let me understand. When you [00:01:00] talk about independent, what's your definition of independent retailer? [00:01:03] Joey Rubinstein: An independent retailer is basically a one, mom and pop store all the way up to, as a chain of like 10 stores. [00:01:09] Jeff Roster: Very interesting. And today those retailers I'm thinking about my brother's place. It's probably a lot of paper. I'm not even sure. There's Excel sheets. There's probably, you're probably trying to try and replace physical [00:01:19] Joey Rubinstein: paper. Yeah. So actually initially we started out by interviewing like in-depth like a hundred different independent retailers. 93% of them were not using any sort of technology. They were using either Google sheets or pen and paper. The majority of independent retailers received their basically their orders through what's like paper. Like they actually get, invoices, physical paper, invoices [00:01:38] that's not to say that there are people that aren't familiar with technology and willing to adopt technology. It's just that up until now, they have been underserved. [00:01:46] . So basically the technology that, that we would be replacing is the technology that comes with the point of sale. So in every point of sale, that's basically where people swipe their credit cards. [00:01:54] A lot of times they have these tack on, supply chain software but they're very ineffective and they suffer from the same problem that [00:02:00] actually all the current technology suffer from even all the way up to SAP, which is that they require a massive amount of manual data entry. [00:02:06] So if I want to get my system up and loaded it on square, for example, I would have to type in, each individual product that's within my store. So let's say I have 10,000 products. It would take me 180 hours. Which is seven full 24 hour days just to type in my products. And that's not to mention when I'm actually getting, stuff into my store and I need to, update the inbound inventory. [00:02:25] While there is technology that is, technically within the stores, people don't use it by and large because it's just too cumbersome. And I think basically what we did is we built a product that, addresses all those things. It allows, basically minimal manual data entry and that's the long and short of it. And now, we're just, just getting running, we have a number of stores that are signed up we're, signed with a couple of vendors as well. [00:02:45] But the small market as an aside is very large as well. [00:02:48] There were 156,000, stores in our sort of initial starting market, which is to say convenience stores groceries and liquor stores. And that's really just the beginning because this is also applicable to, sports stores, sporting goods [00:03:00] stores, it's applicable to toy stores. It's applicable to you name it as long as they have barcodes. [00:03:05] And things are really looking good. [00:03:07] Jeff Roster: Yeah actually that was my next question. There is no segment that you need to worry about. You're not focusing on grocery or anything. Anything with a barcode [00:03:14] Joey Rubinstein: works for you in the short run. Obviously you need to stay focused in order to, build a viable business and all that stuff. [00:03:20] So we're starting with the grocery and the three I named before, which is, grocery convenience stores and liquor because they have a similar product set but then we're going to work our way out, as time goes on [00:03:28] Jeff Roster: very interesting now, Ken Dowd is on the line with us and Ken is on the advisory board, but I wonder if you could unpack a little bit how you two got connected and Ken, maybe you could tell us about your background because I couldn't even begin to do it justice. [00:03:44] Ken Dowd: I met Joey early on about four or five months ago. Very aggressive team. I met the whole team by zoom. What I liked about they did early on was they started small and had a lot of lessons learned on how they were working their [00:04:00] process. [00:04:00] And as you can see, they're building to larger efforts. But I liked advising these guys and talking to them. I'm a retired major general in the army. Did all the logistics most in Afghanistan and Iraq and Kuwait. In the 2014 timeframe, 2012. And Joey asked me to jump on the team and advise them on ideas and thoughts and way ahead. [00:04:22] But I would just tell you, these guys are very aggressive and they do a real good job on lessons learned. And then they build that into their process. [00:04:30] An aggressive team for an old guy like this, watching these guys try to improve process. Always makes me excited. [00:04:37] Jeff Roster: What's really interesting to me is for such a young startup to have such a strong advisory board. [00:04:41] That's what really, Can S same thing. I got a call out or I got a email out of LinkedIn, out of nowhere for some, some young guy doing something up in Palo Alto and it's I get a bunch of those. And for whatever reason I went up and. [00:04:54] A lot of it was because of the advisory board that, that Joey already put together. When I'm talking to startups, that's, I [00:05:00] highly recommend putting an advisory board together. And I think in this case, he hit it out of the park with some very big names. Yeah can I can't miss the opportunity to ask you some some military questions. [00:05:11] What can retail learn from your experience? You, have you worked in, or you actually you manage lead probably the most sophisticated supply chain in the history of man. I would think us, us, military. W what can we learn in retail from what you what you've done? [00:05:24] When [00:05:25] Ken Dowd: It was bringing in expertise from industry to show us how we might be able to do our processes and procedures in the supply chain. One thing I did as a GO (General Officer) was work with industry on ideas and things they might already have figured out. And then, as you talk about the supply chain and things like that we're coming out of Iraq in 2011. [00:05:52] We put a lot of this IT and processes that we learned from other large [00:06:00] IT industries in there to make our effort coming out of there very easily done. And then the supply accountability of all that equipment and trucks and personnel was outstanding. And so I just see, what Joey's pulling together. [00:06:19] There may be ways we can link up. On ideas to always improve both processes and DOD and retail. [00:06:30] Jeff Roster: Yeah. That's that's exciting. I'm an old supply chain person, myself. Mervyn's target. And lived in, lived and died in the supply chain. And I guess I'm happy and probably a little sad at the same time to see supply chain really moved to the forefront. [00:06:42] Not just because of the amazing things we've always done, but the fact now the entire world realizes how delicate a supply chain is. So any any expertise that we can drag into retail, I think is just phenomenal. [00:06:53] Ken Dowd: I think Jeff, a lot of it happens to like your background is relationships you build through [00:07:00] your time in the military through your time in industry. [00:07:03] There's always great ideas out there. And I think leaders have to take time to listen to those ideas and see if they'll help the process as we move forward. [00:07:13] Jeff Roster: Yeah. Very interesting. So Joey want to go back to the question about. Advisory teams and advisory boards. What, where did you get the idea to go after some pretty big names. [00:07:24] And if you want to drop some of the other names on your advisory board, feel free to [00:07:28] Joey Rubinstein: yep, absolutely. Basically what happened we're a young company. And it's really important to be able to look at your company honestly and say, see what the weaknesses are. [00:07:36] It's really important to have people that have time in these industries and that understand these industries really well. [00:07:42] So that way, even just the little things like where you can ask them questions, Hey, how on earth do does, this part of the supply chain work cause, cause people that have actually done things, over a course of 30 years they obviously understand things, more in depth than, somebody that is coming in fresh. [00:07:59] Again, there are [00:08:00] different advantages and disadvantages to each, perspective. There's actually a podcaster named Greg White with Supply Chain Now. And he was talking about how the most successful startups have, supply chain startups generally have people with fresh eyes and then excellent advisory boards. [00:08:13] So I took that to heart. I reached out to Ken, basically took a flyer. I said, listen, we're trying to do something really cool. You have a lot of experience in this would love to get you on board. And then we also added on Maxime Cohen. So Maxime is one of rethink retailers, 100 retail influencers of 2022. [00:08:33] Yeah. Oh, he's yeah, another guy's on there. I wonder who that is. Wonder how I found your name now anyways, but basically Maxime absolutely crushes it. In terms of retail analytics. He's one of the foremost experts in that he wrote actually one of the books on predicted. [00:08:46] Like analytics and how to, best guess what you should be stocking. So he's a really great expert and that fills a strategic need of ours, to understand cause analytics are really important part of what any company in this space is doing. And then we also added on Levy. [00:08:59] So Edith [00:09:00] Simchi-Levy is part of almost like a Royal family of supply chain. She's really one of these, long standing experts. She knows everybody in the supply chain. She also exited a couple of supply chain startups herself and basically wrote one of the original textbooks on supply chain. So people that really genuinely understand that we actually added another really excellent advisor yet, but things are, things are just getting close right now. So I'm not going to go into details, but, follow our LinkedIn, you'll see it there. And yeah basically each of them, really add something special to the team. [00:09:27] They've all proven themselves as really incredible assets, people that really want to help. And I think that sort of the approach that. Is that it's good idea to get as many, smart people in the room as possible, because if, if you get challenges to your opinions, so what ends up happening is that your opinions get stronger as a result. [00:09:46] That's our philosophy as a company and it's been working out really excellently. Like we've turbo-charged our business in a lot of different ways through that approach. [00:09:53] So we keep, like Ken was saying, we keep an open ear and an open heart and that's, that's been really effective. And I think that's, that's probably a good principle just in [00:10:00] general. [00:10:01] Jeff Roster: It might be a good principal. I don't see it done all that often. So congratulations on that. If you're listening to people that know what they're talking about, that's a, I think you're about 10 miles ahead from what I've seen over the 30 years or so can I wonder if we, can we get any fun, supply chain stories, military supply chain stories, and just maybe one from your experiences? [00:10:19] Ken Dowd: I guess the biggest one and one I'm proudest of the most is. The the Iraq drawdown in 2011 I got to be in charge of that oversaw all the efforts coming out of Iraq. And we had truck convoys going in there. We had airlifts going in there. We actually got airmen to drive our trucks because we had so much stuff to get out of Iraq. [00:10:41] And then the other thing was working with the Iraqis and the Kuwaitis to make sure we all cooperated to graduate. So I can remember standing on the last the border of Iraq and Kuwait watching the last M rep come out of Iraq. And I was just hoping that darn thing wouldn't break down [00:11:00]and it rolled out of there. [00:11:01] And it was a great day, but I had many of your friends on the sideline from the press watching those M reps move. And I was just so proud of our soldiers, airmen, Marines, and Navy folks who made all that happen. And it was all about teamwork. So that was an exciting one with all that stuff coming out of Iraq in 2011, and president Obama had just made the decision a couple of months before. [00:11:31] So we had to really execute plan, train, and rehearse, and it went very. [00:11:37] Jeff Roster: Wow. Hopefully hopefully all your experiences in retail are maybe a little less dramatic than that. But that they'll, there'll be as challenges and maybe in some regards. So it's going to interesting to watch how you folks run. [00:11:46] Joey, what, where, what regions are you operating in or which regions do you have customer wins at now. And can you talk about any customers. [00:11:55] Joey Rubinstein: Sure. We are in Israel. [00:11:57] And then we're also in the ne the Northeast of the U [00:12:00] S so we have, a few businesses out in New York, a few businesses out in the Maryland area. And we're, expanding trying to take that whole area. [00:12:06] So basically they're using our platform. They're really enjoying it. They're getting a lot of, a lot of pleasure and a lot of I would say gains as a result of what we built. And hopefully we'll be able to match up with these guys and provide them the best experience possible because in my opinion, independent retail and the conception of small business is probably the most important thing for a functioning, country. [00:12:27] The idea that people have financial, independence and are able to run their own lives. To me, that's really important. [00:12:31] Jeff Roster: Interesting along those lines, I just listened to a report talking about, as we. [00:12:36] Hopefully everyone realized at this point, we're in a baby, a formula problem. And somebody reporting that in New York city was saying hard to find it at CVS, but all the local bodegas for whatever reason and ethnic bodegas tend to have a lot of baby formula. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe just people don't know it's there, but if anybody doubted the importance of the supply chain over the last two years they haven't been watching the news. [00:12:58] So kudos for working with that [00:13:00] very important link. That most of us in retail have either started in independent retail. Have family members in are going back into the independent retail, but boy, what a backbone of the U S kudos on that. Hey, as we wrap up, I want to ask it, Joey, I want to ask you a couple of things. [00:13:15] The last two questions. [00:13:16] What advice would you offer for young entrepreneurs? What would you say to young people getting [00:13:20] Joey Rubinstein: started first and foremost? [00:13:23] The best way to learn is by actually doing things and by listening to people that have done things you can always re you can always iterate, right? You can always come up with and improve ideas, but unless you're actually out there and testing them out in the marketplace, so you're not going to really know what ideas are good, and what ideas are bad. [00:13:41] And this follows basically this line of philosophy from this book. That's very, well-known in the entrepreneurship world, which is like the lean startup by Eric Ries. Fantastic book. And basically what it talks about is, you, as an entrepreneur, what you really want to do is you want to get the quickest product that you possibly can out into the marketplace. [00:13:59] [00:14:00] That's viable the minimum viable product MVP. And then you want to basically see how that's, reacted to in certain circumstances. It means that you need to cut things out of the product and in certain circumstances. You need to add things to the product, but just by having, having the exposure and actually seeing things on the ground. [00:14:14] That's really important. And then the second thing is I think that people really discount their own agency, going into a philosophical perspective. I think that people have a lot more control over their lives than many people would like to admit. And agency's really critical. [00:14:27] Like at the end of the day, each one of us could say, I have this idea. I want to go make it a reality. And just because people say it's not a good idea, maybe they don't understand. And sometimes a lot of people can say a certain message and it turns out to be completely not correct. And that actually is something that, you, I think pretty much every early stage startup probably experiences a lot. [00:14:47] We're all speaking to, hundreds of different, investors and venture people, and they're all giving you all the doubt in the world. But then you'll see the people that manage to get through that because even the most successful with a few exceptions, even the most successful [00:15:00] ones, they all have the exact same sort of trajectory, which is to say there's a lot of doubt at the beginning, then things start moving forward and you keep plotting along. [00:15:07] So then all of a sudden that doubt turns into, huh, this is interesting. And really it's just about, proving yourself and not really listening to I would say negative feedback, as long as you've done your homework. [00:15:19] Jeff Roster: Awesome. And last question, what skills that you use now, do you wish you would have paid more attention to back in college or the early part of your career? [00:15:26] Joey Rubinstein: In college, I would say number one finance and accounting are important skills. But that being said, I think that, also more of a, like kind of a philosophical view of things. I think that kind of taking an outside perspective and figuring out what you're good at and what you really want to focus on and figuring that out as soon as possible. [00:15:47] That's a good thing because indecision really doesn't get you very far and it makes sense, people want to check out their different options. But I think that if you have a clear idea of what you want to do and then just work really hard to get to that idea as soon as possible. [00:15:59] So what you're [00:16:00] doing is, life essentially is cumulative. As you build in a particular direction, you're going to be more and more. So I would say, I would have paid more attention to the things that would have really pushed me in the direction that I'm going right now. [00:16:09] I would have paid a little bit more attention to the supply chain aspect of what I'm doing. Once I discovered that I really liked supply chain, which was pretty early on relative to marketing, I wish I'd focused a little bit more on that. [00:16:20] Jeff Roster: Fantastic. That's a good place to put a pin in it. [00:16:22] Joey Ken, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and tell us your story. And I wish you as say, as a proud customer of many independent retailers, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you can help us solve some of the, some of their supply chain problems. Thanks. Thanks for coming on board. [00:16:37] Joey Rubinstein: Thanks so much, Jeff. Thanks, Jeff.                    

We spoke recently with Alzainah about her journey in becoming a huge gardening/ cooking influencer in Kuwait, and the Middle East in general. For Alzainah, gardening didn't become a passion until she was in college, but that's common for many people. Before Alzainah began her advocacy for gardening, it was not looked upon as a viable hobby in the Middle East. Most folks there assumed that gardening is too hard because of the extreme heat. It is true that for 4 months it is hotter than Hades, but there are even plants that thrive in those conditions, which she speaks about. Now, thanks to her efforts, and others in the Middle East, gardening is fast becoming a popular hobby for Kuwaitis and others nearby. She also decided that access to quality gardening products was not where it should be, so she started Plantnmore, a gardening product distribution company. It was a pleasure and an honor to get to speak with her. You can follow her on YouTube and Instagram by searching: It All Grows. More great episodes are coming down the pipeline. Please Like this Episode and SUBSCRIBE for more content!

The former England cricket captain David Gower, the BBC’s racing commentator John Hunt, the five time Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft and Andrew Counsell from British Carriage Driving reflect on Prince Philip’s life through his love of sport. The Duke of Edinburgh passed away at the age of 99 this week. Gower recalls his many meetings with Prince Philip, while Cockroft tells us just how much she gained by completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Andrew Counsell discusses how Prince Philip internationalised the sport of carriage driving and John Hunt informs us of the Grand National’s plans to mark his passing. Maddie Phaneuf joins us to discuss how she balances life as an Olympic Biathlete and an environmental advocate. The American tells us she’s come under heavy criticism on social media for her stance on climate change and explains how poor air quality can affect an athlete. Phaneuf is hoping the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing could act as a catalyst for China to clean up their air. In Sporting Witness - we go back to the 1982 football World Cup and the first - and only - appearance by Kuwait. The Kuwaitis made a big impression at the tournament in Spain, because they had of the most memorable mascots in sporting history. The BBC’s John Murray joins us to reflect on the first two rounds of the Masters at Augusta National and the BBC’s John Bennett joins us live from the Etihad Stadium ahead of Manchester City’s game against Leeds United in the Premier League.

In 1982, Kuwait made their first and only appearance at the football World Cup, with their amateur side putting up respectable performances against France and England. But press attention focused on the Kuwaitis’ team mascot – a camel called Haydoo, who became such a fan favourite that he even inspired a hit song. Sumaya Bakhsh talks to Kuwait captain, Saad al-Houty, about how Haydoo came to represent national pride for a team that had been dismissed by the foreign media as a bunch of camel-herders. PHOTO: Saad al-Houty (Personal Collection)

In this episode of Academia Lite, Sean and Zak get into two thought-provoking papers: - Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshit by McCarthy, I. P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L. F., & McCarthy, J. M. - Astrological signs and personality in Kuwaitis and Americans by Abdel-Khalek, A., & Lester, D. Examining the irregular, the surprising and the downright funny of each paper, there is something for the academic in all of us. Website: academialite.com Twitter: @academialite Facebook: Academia Lite Instagram: academialite Email: Hello@academialite.com Music by Softly Softly - https://open.spotify.com/artist/7x5ZnnlIGAtbRrlj2La2Yl?si=iuNAXt7c * McCarthy, I. P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L. F., & McCarthy, J. M. (2020). Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshit. Business Horizons. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000768132030001 * Abdel-Khalek, A., & Lester, D. (2006). Astrological signs and personality in Kuwaitis and Americans. Psychological reports, 98(2), 602-607. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pr0.98.2.602-607

In addition to changing many aspects of our waking lives, coronavirus has also shifted how we dream. Institutions around the world have been collecting examples of dreams since the outset of the pandemic, and some researchers found a 35% increase in dream recall since lockdown. On Second Thought sat down with Harvard University Assistant Professor Deirdre Barrett to learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on our dreaming minds. Barrett has analyzed dreams of World War II soldiers, 9/11 first responders, and Kuwaitis under Iraqi occupation. Since March, she’s collected details on more than 7,000 dreams to study how people are responding to coronavirus in their dreams.

In the final episode of Season 1, Tamara and Hanna connect with a former Norton High School Alum, Jennifer Milnes to explore the strong female energy through the eyes of a woman in the military. In the podcast, small-town girl to global nomad Hanna mentions that she gravitates towards the male energy and she would like to remedy that by exploring her own feminity as well as connecting to other female energies. They thought a good place to start would be by hearing stories from strong women that grew up in their hometown. Jennifer Milnes enlisted in the Kansas National Guard at the age of 17, she has been working public affairs for the last 5 years, she has worked with Germans, Italians, Norwegians, Jordanians, Kuwaitis, Omanis, Nigerians, and Ethiopians. She has also traveled to Qatar, Iraq, and the UAE for military work. She is currently a Staff Sergeant and hopefully will be getting promoted to Sergeant First Class next month.The three of them discuss matters around the world, government, politics, growing up in a small town and what it is like to be a female in the military. Hanna and Tamara are very grateful that Jenn shared so openly about her experience in the military and look forward to having more strong female guests in Season 2 of Energy Never Dies coming to you in 2020.

Jews have been in Iraq for more than two-and-a-half millennia. Today, the entire Jewish community of Baghdad can fit in a single car. In this special Thanksgiving bonus, we bring you a conversation between Mishy Harman and Emad Levy, the last "rabbi" of Baghdad. It's a busy week. Many of you will be traveling, and those of you staying put will probably be cooking turkeys and preparing cranberry sauce. And while you are doing all that, we wanted to keep you company. With the kind of storytelling we do, most of our interviews end up on the proverbial "editing room floor." And we're often sorry about that, since we'd like you to hear them too. So today, in a new experiment for us, we bring you an edited version of an interview we recently recorded. Want to know what the last "rabbi" of Baghdad is thankful for? Listen and find out. Zev Levi edited this special. The end song, "Tahdini" is by Dudu Tassa & The Kuwaitis. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and by signing up for our newsletter at israelstory.org/newsletter/. For more, head to our site or Tablet Magazine.

Nato nel 1977 a Tel Aviv, Dudu Tassa è un protagonista di rilievo del rock israeliano. Tassa è un ebreo che ha le sue origini familiari in due paesi arabi, l'Irak e lo Yemen. Nel suo terzo album, che nel 2003 gli ha fatto fare un salto di popolarità nel suo paese, Tassa aveva già proposto una canzone irakena che era stata interpretata anche da suo nonno, Daoud Al Kuwaiti. Ma poi Tassa ha scavato in maniera più sistematica nelle sue radici familiari e musicali, ascoltando centinaia di canzoni di Daoud Al Kuwaiti e di suo fratello Saleh, che lavoravano col nome d'arte di Fratelli Al Kuwaiti, fra i maggiori innovatori della scena musicale di Baghdad fra gli anni trenta e cinquanta del secolo scorso, e poi emigrati in Israele. Tassa ha poi pensato di attualizzare alcuni dei brani con la sua sensibilità di giovane musicista rock: lo ha fatto con una nuova band a cui ha dato il nome di Dudu Tassa and The Kuwaitis, con cui ha pubblicato un album nel 2011 e un secondo nel 2015, coinvolgendo in questo lavoro musicisti e cantanti ebrei e irakeni. El Hajar è il terzo album della formazione, e il primo ad essere pubblicato in Europa: con molta finezza Tassa, che ha imparato a cantare in arabo irakeno, fa reagire il vecchio materiale con il suo gusto da rock alternativo, creando una bella comunicazione tra passato e presente.

Nato nel 1977 a Tel Aviv, Dudu Tassa è un protagonista di rilievo del rock israeliano. Tassa è un ebreo che ha le sue origini familiari in due paesi arabi, l'Irak e lo Yemen. Nel suo terzo album, che nel 2003 gli ha fatto fare un salto di popolarità nel suo paese, Tassa aveva già proposto una canzone irakena che era stata interpretata anche da suo nonno, Daoud Al Kuwaiti. Ma poi Tassa ha scavato in maniera più sistematica nelle sue radici familiari e musicali, ascoltando centinaia di canzoni di Daoud Al Kuwaiti e di suo fratello Saleh, che lavoravano col nome d'arte di Fratelli Al Kuwaiti, fra i maggiori innovatori della scena musicale di Baghdad fra gli anni trenta e cinquanta del secolo scorso, e poi emigrati in Israele. Tassa ha poi pensato di attualizzare alcuni dei brani con la sua sensibilità di giovane musicista rock: lo ha fatto con una nuova band a cui ha dato il nome di Dudu Tassa and The Kuwaitis, con cui ha pubblicato un album nel 2011 e un secondo nel 2015, coinvolgendo in questo lavoro musicisti e cantanti ebrei e irakeni. El Hajar è il terzo album della formazione, e il primo ad essere pubblicato in Europa: con molta finezza Tassa, che ha imparato a cantare in arabo irakeno, fa reagire il vecchio materiale con il suo gusto da rock alternativo, creando una bella comunicazione tra passato e presente.

Nato nel 1977 a Tel Aviv, Dudu Tassa è un protagonista di rilievo del rock israeliano. Tassa è un ebreo che ha le sue origini familiari in due paesi arabi, l'Irak e lo Yemen. Nel suo terzo album, che nel 2003 gli ha fatto fare un salto di popolarità nel suo paese, Tassa aveva già proposto una canzone irakena che era stata interpretata anche da suo nonno, Daoud Al Kuwaiti. Ma poi Tassa ha scavato in maniera più sistematica nelle sue radici familiari e musicali, ascoltando centinaia di canzoni di Daoud Al Kuwaiti e di suo fratello Saleh, che lavoravano col nome d'arte di Fratelli Al Kuwaiti, fra i maggiori innovatori della scena musicale di Baghdad fra gli anni trenta e cinquanta del secolo scorso, e poi emigrati in Israele. Tassa ha poi pensato di attualizzare alcuni dei brani con la sua sensibilità di giovane musicista rock: lo ha fatto con una nuova band a cui ha dato il nome di Dudu Tassa and The Kuwaitis, con cui ha pubblicato un album nel 2011 e un secondo nel 2015, coinvolgendo in questo lavoro musicisti e cantanti ebrei e irakeni. El Hajar è il terzo album della formazione, e il primo ad essere pubblicato in Europa: con molta finezza Tassa, che ha imparato a cantare in arabo irakeno, fa reagire il vecchio materiale con il suo gusto da rock alternativo, creando una bella comunicazione tra passato e presente.

 Time Stamps:1:48 – The Kuwait Scorpions rugby team started in 1946 as a way for British oilfield workers to compete against British military officers.2:40 – Our guests today are Aziz, the chairman of the Scorpions Rugby Club, and Hussein, the manager of the Rugby Club. They both play and work for the team administratively.3:10 – Kuwait paved the way for the establishment of the GCC, which now includes teams in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Understandably, there are some logistical challenges in traveling from country to country to compete, but these teams are all a part of Asia Rugby and compete frequently.5:17 – Since the tradition of playing rugby in Kuwait began with engineers and workers playing against the military, there are still occasional games against British and American military teams.6:37 – Mahdi compares Kuwait rugby to Kuwait baseball in that they were both trailblazers that have been slow to develop.6:48 – The Scorpions' organization has programs for children ages 3 and up, adult teams for competition, and veteran teams for ages 35+. The majority of those on the competitive teams are in their 20s or 30s, and the organization is known to represent all nationalities due to the high expat population.10:51 – The rugby club aims to teach the game to different age groups of different experience levels, but since Kuwait is often a transitional place, it is difficult to recruit players who will stick around to grow with the team.14:22 – The Kuwait Oil Company recently upgraded the rugby pitch with artificial turf and created a high-quality facility for the Scorpions' use, which has enhanced the atmosphere. There are shops and restaurants in the area, so rugby has become a family-friendly activity.18:32 – Liam talks about his experience playing rugby in England.20:06 – The Scorpions have Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts as well as a website, and they have noticed that most Kuwaitis engage with them on Instagram most. Since they are an amateur team, they do not have a budget for advertising, so social media is their primary promotion source.22:57 – The female Scorpions rugby team practices from 5-7pm on Mondays and the men practice from 7-9pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. During the preseason, they focus on fitness by doing HIIT workouts, and once the season starts in September, they shift to working on their skills through body weight and anaerobic exercises. They have also been using Titan sensor GPS trackers that allow them to train for peak performance.26:30 – They would like to acquire a scrum machine and some sleds, but there is not currently a budget for those types of things. Hopefully, they will be able to have someone in Kuwait make one rather than having to import. The KOC might have some budget opening up for the team in the future.30:45 – In March, the KOC is hosting a sports day with rugby, CrossFit, hockey, and soccer, as well as vendors to encourage the community to get active. Liam chimes in that this is going to be a great event and he hopes that the ministries will continue to pursue sponsoring events like this.32:48 – Mahdi and Liam talk about the importance to the community of kids getting more active and being involved in sports.33:48 – The rugby club is working on creating more programs that will encourage people to learn more about rugby and use it as a way to get active. They are currently hosting a flag rugby league that will have its final matches during the March Sports Festival.36:50 – Aziz and Hussein talk about the difficulty they have had finding venues for mixed sports and finding competition for the female team except for whenSupport the show (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl8NPB2H4Mf/?igshid=1m9w8d28oarlu&utm_source=fb_www_attr)

Summary:On this episode of The Project Kuwait podcast, Meg and Mahdi are joined by Hala Mahrous, a thyroid cancer survivor who came on to tell her story. She discusses her symptoms, her interactions with doctors along the way to her diagnosis, and her workouts before and after her surgeries.Time Stamps:2:21 – Hala, a thyroid cancer survivor, describes her symptoms and the timeline of her diagnosis: she felt something weird in her throat but assumed it was nothing so she didn't do anything until several months later when her aunt saw her from across the room and asked what was wrong with her neck. She went to an ENT who did an ultrasound and sent her to Kuwait Cancer Center to have a biopsy done. That very day, she went straight back to work where she is a behavior therapist for kids with special needs because she still assumed that everything was alright.8:00 – When she got the results of her biopsy, the doctors were not sure what it was, but they recommended that it be removed so they could determine if it was cancerous. It turned out to be a 4.5 cm tumor.10:52 – Before the operation, Hala did enough research to know that she wanted the doctor to remove her whole thyroid to avoid the chance of cancer returning if they only removed half of it. After the operation, she learned that the doctor had only removed half of her thyroid and she was not happy because she knew they would probably have to do another surgery to remove the other half.16:45 – After this first operation, Hala posted on Instagram about her situation, her frustrations, and her worries for the future, and she received a lot of encouragement and support. She was surprised to learn that her doctor has seen an influx in young Kuwaitis developing thyroid cancer, and he thinks it is due to their presence in the country during the Gulf War.20:15 – Meg explains that the thyroid controls everything in the body in terms of metabolism and its effects. Before her diagnosis, Hala was training twice a day to try to lose weight and not seeing any results, and it was likely because of the issues with her tyroid.22:21 – Hala was sent to a consultant after her first surgery, who confirmed that the tumor was cancerous and that the other half of her thyroid should be removed.23:36 – Hala's first surgery was in February, and her second was in September. She is now focused on just being healthy when she works out.25:55 – After her second surgery, Hala had to take radioactive iodine to kill any remaining thyroid and cancer hormones. She had to go on a low sodium diet for 3 weeks and avoid meat. After taking the iodine, she was not allowed to be close to anyone – friends or family – for 2 weeks, and she couldn't go to work because of the adverse effects it could have on those around her. 31:33 – The final step in her journey was a full body scan to confirm that all of the cancer was gone.32:50 – Many people told Hala that thyroid cancer is “the best kind of cancer to have”, and Hala, Meg, and Mahdi discuss the insensitivity of that statement.34:00 – Hala describes her husband's journey of supporting her so soon after losing his own father to cancer.37:45 – Meg talks about the benefit of allowing yourself to feel and release your emotions during the cancer journey, as she has walked this road with her mom this year.40:30 – Hala was unable to work out for a month after her final surgery because of the healing of her wound. She still hates working out, but she knows that she needs to do it for her health, and she does enjoy pilates and yoga. She thinks that even having a light workout is good for her psychological health and it helped her recover faster afterSupport the show (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl8NPB2H4Mf/?igshid=1m9w8d28oarlu&utm_source=fb_www_attr)

Summary:Mahdi's guest on this episode of the Project Kuwait podcast is Jennifer Allen, a physiotherapist who has relocated to Kuwait from Canada. Jen discusses with us the importance of physiotherapy and its far-reaching impacts on the body. She and Mahdi also talk about the biggest differences that she has noticed in her Kuwaiti clients from those she has served in other countries. Time Stamps:1:10 – Jennifer Allen is a physiotherapist from Canada who has been in Kuwait for about a year. She has previously worked in Mexico and Nepal as well, and she started out as a physical therapist. As a PT, she felt that she was not able to help her clients as much as she would like to because she wasn't knowledgeable about biomechanics.4:17 – Mahdi interjects that biomechanics means that you can alter movements based on the person's abilities.4:45 – Jen describes the two schools of thought on physiotherapy: (1) the goal should always be a neutral spine, and (2) if it isn't broken, don't fix it. 5:47 – Mahdi mentions that his shoulders are completely different because of playing baseball.7:05 – Jen says that Kuwaitis tend to be hyper-flexible compared to people from the other countries where she has worked. Being hyper-flexible and also relatively inactive as many Kuwaitis are can lead to collapsed foot arches and all of this can necessitate specific stretching.9:55 – Mahdi clarifies that collapsed arches means that people are knock-kneed. He also advocates for the benefits of physiotherapists because they actually physically observe the body through movements.12:16 – Jen says that the best way to exercise while being hyper-flexible is by focusing on remaining within a normal range of motion.13:00 – Jen touches on the differences in body composition between Canadians and Kuwaitis who have less muscle mass and more fat due to inactivity and the lack of infrastructure for walking.15:05 – Jen's most memorable quote of the podcast is “motion is lotion”, which means that the joints are nourished by the body moving.16:19 – Mahdi talks about his cousin, who he referred to Jen for assessment.17:28 – Jen explains the public healthcare system of Canada and the long waitlists and other restrictions involved in getting imaging done there. Whereas in Kuwait and other countries, there are business interests that encourage the frequent ordering of tests and imaging. This could cause doctors to treat the imaging results rather than the root cause or symptoms of the person.19:54 – Mahdi says that many people try to stay away from x-rays and similar tests because of the exposure to radiation.20:39 – Jen clarifies that pain and imaging are not related, but that some people have seen their pain increase or subside simply based on the results of their imaging.22:10 – Mahdi gives his experience after tearing his labrum and how his friend had a different experience with a different result.23:06 – Jen talks about the research behind rehab vs. surgery outcomes and the doctor's proclivity towards surgery if they are going to be financially compensated.24:28 – Mahdi chimes in about a recent study that stated that 70% of meniscal tear surgeries were, in fact, unnecessary.25:58 – Jen says that the most common injuries that she sees in Kuwait are neck and back pain due to inactivity.27:40 – Jen continues by saying that neck and back pain can be caused by a combination of pressure on the discs and ligaments and the lack of loading which causes atrophy.29:00 – Mahdi talks about people trying to overcompensate in their workouts, but this is only effective if you have the right trainer.30Support the show (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl8NPB2H4Mf/?igshid=1m9w8d28oarlu&utm_source=fb_www_attr)

Wow, these last few weeks have had so much news for Danny and I to comb through.  The gas attack in Douma and our government's response, John Bolton becoming national security adviser, the killing of Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip, and a whole host of other major stories.  Here's the Fortress breakdown of recent events.  Our whistleblower episode aires a week from today on the 20th, so keep an eye out for that. 00:40 - Danny's quick takes on tons of shit - John Bolton, Trump says leave Syria, killing protestors in Gaza 10:15 - Hector Barajas and the Deported veterans support house 18:35 - Pentagon raises budget more than the entire military budget of Russia 24:36 - Imprisoned veterans in Kuwait Ep 5.0 - Gold Star Families be damned (has story on the return of Marco Chavez from Mexico following his pardon from Gov. Jerry Brown) Ep 8.0 - Africa under the microscope (has story on the closing of USCIS offices near Army basic training locations, making it much more difficult for military recruits to become naturalized.) ACLU Report details how the US failed deported veterans Twice-Deployed Afghan War Vet Denied Citizenship Due To Felony Drug Conviction - MANYA BRACHEAR PASHMAN - CHICAGO TRIBUNE 11,800 active military members have a relative in fear of deportation - Lara Copp - Military Times The Army Is Testing A Mechanical ‘Third Arm’ Right Out Of ‘Aliens’ - Jared Keller - Task and Purpose She fought in Desert Storm, now the Kuwaitis are torturing her son and the US won’t intervene - Adam Linehan - Task and Purpose Killeen woman fights to free fiance from Kuwait prison sentence - Josh Sullivan - Killeen Daily Journal The Pentagon’s spending increase is more than Russia’s entire military budget - Vice News - David Gilbert Enjoy the show?!  Please leave us a review right here. Got news to share about our military or veterans?! Or just need to cuss at us for a bit?! Contact us direct by email at fortressonahill@gmail.com Not a contributor on Patreon? You're missing out on amazing bonus content! Sign up to be one of our contributors today! - www.patreon.com/fortressonahill A special thanks to our honorary producers Matthew Hoh, Will Ahrens, Ron Unger, and Gage Counts!!  Without you guys, we couldn't continue our work.  Thank you all so much!!! Facebook - Fortress On A Hill Twitter - Fortress On A Hill Soundcloud - Fortress On A Hill FOH is hosted, written, and produced by Chris 'Henri' Henrikson and Danny Sjursen Cover and website art designed by Brian K. Wyatt Jr. of B-EZ Graphix Multimedia Marketing Agency in Tallehassee, FL Music provided royalty free by Bensound.com Note: The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts alone, expressed in an unofficial capacity, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

My guests for this episode are Alex Nowrasteh and Andrew Forrester of the Cato Institute. Our topic is a working paper they recently published titled How Mass Immigration Affects Countries with Weak Economic Institutions: A Natural Experiment in Jordan. The abstract reads as follows: Saddam Hussein’s unexpected 1990 invasion of Kuwait forced 300, 000 Kuwaitis of Palestinian descent to flee into Jordan. By 1991, this large exogenous population shock increased Jordan’s population by about 10 percent. Jordanian law allowed these refugees to work, live, and vote in Jordan immediately upon entry. The refugees did not bring social capital that eroded Jordan’s institutions. On the contrary, we find that Jordan’s economic institutions substantially improved in the decade after the refugees arrived. Our empirical methodology employs difference-in-differences and the synthetic control method, both of which indicate that the significant improvement in Jordanian economic institutions would not have happened to the same extent without the influx of refugees. Our case study indicates that the refugee surge was the main mechanism by which Jordan’s economic institutions improved over this time. Does mass immigration destroy institutions? 1990s Israel as a natural experiment by Benjamin Powell, J.R. Clark and Alex Nowrasteh Jared Rubin's interview about political power and economic growth is complementary with this one. Rubin's theory is that the rising political influence of the bourgeoisie partially caused the economic growth in Northwestern Europe in the early modern period. In Jordan in 1990, the Palestinian minority was particularly urban and bourgeois, so the massive influx of Palestinians increased the political power of the bourgeoisie, thus creating political pressure for increasing economic freedom.  

Today on Sitrep:   Why the Kuwaitis want a greater British military presence in their country. There's a look at Britain's foreign policy in the region with LibDem Defence spokesman Lord Campbell.   The Defence Secretary has had his first grilling by committee. Defence Committee Chair Julian Lewis explains how Gavin Williamson got on.   What are the military options in Syria?  with Hamish De Bretton Gordon.   And why is the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the brink of humanitarian disaster?   THURSDAYS at 4:30pm UK TIME on BFBS RADIO 2 and at 6:30pm UK TIME on BFBS & UK Bases  

Today on Sitrep:   Why the Kuwaitis want a greater British military presence in their country. There’s a look at Britain’s foreign policy in the region with LibDem Defence spokesman Lord Campbell.   The Defence Secretary has had his first grilling by committee. Defence Committee Chair Julian Lewis explains how Gavin Williamson got on.   What are the military options in Syria?  with Hamish De Bretton Gordon.   And why is the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the brink of humanitarian disaster?   THURSDAYS at 4:30pm UK TIME on BFBS RADIO 2 and at 6:30pm UK TIME on BFBS & UK Bases  

Imagine an abandoned White House, covered with graffiti, open to the winds, full of trash, broken bottles and condom wrappers. Now go a step further and picture it against the background of the most beautiful Middle Eastern panorama you can conjure up. That is Tell El-Ful, a hilltop in East Jerusalem. Ever since we learned about the existence of a deserted Hashemite palace perched atop the mound, we’ve been on a mission to uncover its past. Like many other tells in the region it has a biblical past (perhaps), an archeological past (probably) and a historical one (most definitely). But more than almost anywhere else, this litter-strewn hill is a metaphor for life in these parts: It has seen tears and blood, dreams and hopes. It has been home to kings and shepherds, soldiers and tribesmen. And it has brought together lovers and enemies; Arabs and Jews; Jordanians, Israelis and Palestinians. The original music in this episode was composed and performed by Ari Wenig, with help from Yochai Maital. The final song, “Wen Ya Galub,” is by Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and by signing up for our newsletter at israelstory.org/newsletter/. For more, head to our site or Tablet Magazine.

We know that Bangkok’s expat community is much more diverse than a Canadian and an American can hope to represent. So this week, we reached out to the wider community and asked a simple question: Where do you go in Bangkok when you want a taste of your own country? Before we get into that, though, Greg regales us with his story about being summoned by Frank Lam, the founder of Foodland grocery stores (and the excellent Took Lae Dee food counters inside), who wanted to say thanks to Greg for including Took Lae Dee on his list of 50 Reasons Why Bangkok is the Best City in the World. Turns out Frank was the type of legendary character that you can only meet on a random Bangkok night, and Greg explains why. But back to the main topic of where to find a taste of home in Bangkok. Listen in to get these great insights from local expats: Hidden Hungarian hangouts Which restaurants Kuwaitis frequent for great middle eastern food Where a Spaniard suggests you go for amazing cheese, cold cuts, and olive oil Why Poles are jonesing for homemade pierogi and sauerkraut Places in Thailand Australians avoid to avoid more Australians Which soi off Sukhumvit is perfect for Germans who have a hankering for Schweinshaxe and Rotkohl The one spot that Singaporeans/Malaysians say you don’t want to miss Spots in Bangkok where Norwegians and other Scandinavians hang out other than IKEA A local church in Sala Daeng where Italians can feel like at home Why Russians day-trip out of Bangkok to get their homeland fix in Pattaya Why an Indian-descent Thai national asked an American to cook Thanksgiving dinner, paying him in quality craft beer from Bootleg Brothers Brewing Love, Loathe, or Leave We need to talk about privilege, Bangkok. It’s humiliating, it’s unfair, and it perpetuates stereotypes. Of course, we’re talking about the special parking spaces for supercars and superbikes in Bangkok. Those of us that don’t drive a Lamborghini or some 3000cc crotch-rocket are mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it any more! We Love Our Supporters! Before we recorded this episode, we recorded an entire episode about Evo’s recent trip to Indonesia and just why he might be slurring his words tonight. You can get that full episode when you join dozens of other people who help us keep the show free of annoying by supporting us on Patreon. Today, you’ll hear about one of our favorite patrons, Ciaran Faulkner, and his amazing life-changing -- or at least name-changing -- story. Want More Bangkok Podcast In Your Life? If it’s your first time experiencing The Bangkok Podcast, you really should get our show downloading to your phone automatically every week. If you use iOS, it’s a breeze to listen via Apple Podcasts. Android users are be able get the show any number of ways. And for bonus points, leave us a review on those platforms or however you listen to the show. We’d love to hear from you! You can add our official LINE account, comment on a post or send us a message via our Facebook page, tweet to us @bangkokpodcast, or simply via the contact form on our website. You may also be interested in Greg’s tweets of snarky Bangkok goodness, and you can see way too much of Evo’s face  on Instagram. If you’re really new, the Bangkok Podcast is co-hosted by Greg Jorgensen and Evo Terra. Together the have over 20 years expat experience in Bangkok, and are self-certified experts in living in the City of Angels. (Not Los Angeles. Thailand, silly!)

1. Syrian Rebels Report More Israeli Airstrikes Near Damascus Syrian reports are claiming that Israeli jets carried out even more airstrikes near Damascus. The allegations come just hours after the Israeli Prime Minister vowed to continue hitting weapon convoys that are making their way to Hezbollah, even though Russia has ordered Israel to suspend airstrikes. #Syria #AirStrike ____________________ 2. Thousands Of Reservists Take Part In Drill For War In Gaza Thousands of Israeli army reservists were called down to the Gaza Strip for the military's largest planned exercise of 2017. #IDF #Drill ____________________ 3. Israel Plans Mass Evacuations Should War Break Out Again Israel is drawing contingency plans to protect Israelis living near borders with the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in a mass evacuation should Hamas and Hezbollah plan to carry out an attack. #Evacuation #Israel ____________________ 4. Ethiopian Israelis Push To Bring 9000 More Immigrants Ethiopian Jews are taking to the street to push the Israeli government to let their remaining-relatives immigrate to Israel from Ethiopia. #Ethiopia #Immigrants ____________________ 5. Israeli Knesset Extends Paid Maternity Leave To 16 Weeks The Knesset has passed a bill extending paid maternity leave from 14 to 15 weeks. #Knesset #Maternity ____________________ 6. New Book On Israeli Military Tech Tops Best Seller List ILTV'S Steve Leibowitz sat down with The Jerusalem Post editor Yaakov Katz to talk about a new book "The Weapon Wizards" on how Israel became a high-tech military superpower. #StevenLeibowitz #YaakovKatz #Book ____________________ 7. Radiohead World Tour Set To Feature Two Israeli Bands An Israeli group called “Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis” are joining the British-rockers "Radiohead" on their U-S tour this spring and throughout the summer. #Radiohead #Band ____________________ 8. Stay Connected Anywhere In The World Eitan Livne, CEO of Orbit Technologies speaking at ILTV studio to talk about Orbit Technologies LTD, which for the past twenty years has been leading the way in satellite communications technology. #EitanLivne #OrbitTechnologies ____________________ 9. Omri Casspi Joins The NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves Israeli basketball player Omri Casspi has signed on to the NBA's "Minnesota Timberwolves" becoming the first Israeli-athlete to ever play in the US National Basketball Association. #OmriCasspi #Basketball ____________________ 10. Israel To Build First Regulation Size Baseball Stadium Israel is set to build a baseball stadium in Israel in Beit Shemesh after the Israeli baseball team scored three victories in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. #Baseball #Stadium ____________________ 11. British WWI-Era Liquor Bottle Stash Unearthed In Israel Israeli archaeologists unearthed British WWI-era liquor bottle stash. #Archaeology #Liquor ____________________ 12. Hebrew word Of The Day, BAK-BUK | בקבוק = BOTTLE Learn a new Hebrew word every day. Today's word is "osher" which means "joy/happiness" #Learnhebrew #Hebrewwordofday #Iltvhebrewwordofday _____________________ 13. The Weather Forecast Tonight has a chance of thunderstorms and flash flooding with a low of fifty-five or thirteen degrees Celsius. You can expect more possible storms tomorrow with a high of sixty-nine; or twenty-one degrees Celsius. #Israelweather #Israelforecast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what may be the pinnacle of hypocrisy, moments ago Hillary Clinton, while speaking live on national security and addressing the Orlando shooting took some time from her constant bashing of the Second Amendment and calling for a ban on assault rifles, to say some less than kind words about Saudi Arabia whom it accused of supporting radical organizations. This is what she said: The third area that demands attention is preventing radicalization and countering efforts by ISIS and other international terrorist networks to recruit in the United States and Europe. For starters, it is long past time for the Saudis, the Qataris and the Kuwaitis and others to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations.And they should stop supporting radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path towards extremism. We also have to use all our capabilities to counter jihadist propaganda online. This is something that I spend a lot of time on at the State Department.   READ MORE HERE: 

The Kuwait Investment Authority is planning a $5bn investment in infrastructure assets, mostly in the UK, strategically changing the way they invest. Bank equities, particularly in the West, have become less attractive for this sovereign wealth fund, so is this a blow for George Osborne’s quest to reprivatise Lloyds and RBS? Sharlene Goff is joined by Patrick Jenkins, banking editor and Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, private equity correspondent, to discuss this, the Co-operative group’s debt restructuring plans, and Barclays’ latest spat with the regulator. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.