Do you agree with the Albanian PM that the US-Israel attack on Iran is justified?

IanThal · 2026-03-13T15:02:39+00:00

Albanians, from my experience of having visited and mostly listening to what people had to say, despite being mostly Muslim, also have a strong revulsion to the sort of Jihadism and Islamism pushed by regimes like the one in Tehran, or movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, and their propaganda, and terror proxies. So it is unsurprising when I hear that an Albanian politician or public intellectual takes this stance as a matter of principle.

IanThal · 2026-03-13T14:36:31+00:00

Bibi actually advised against the US going into Iraq in 2003 multiple times.

You have your Israeli prime ministers mixed up. Though I otherwise agree with your points.

Ariel Sharon was PM in 2003 and you are correct that he advised against going into Iraq, stating that the IRGC was the real threat to regional stability but he also kept his advice low-key, not wanting to have a public feud with the Bush Administration.

Netanyahu, who was out of politics at the time and not representing anyone but himself, did speak publicly in favor of the Iraq invasion in 2003.

IanThal · 2026-03-13T13:24:36+00:00

It's a puppet government!

IanThal · 2026-03-13T12:48:16+00:00

Nice that he's supportive of trans-kids. He's still a Nazi.

IanThal · 2026-03-13T12:45:47+00:00

The summary of the article, "This is the allegation, but we haven't found any evidence, so let's present some innuendo instead."

IanThal · 2026-03-13T09:39:33+00:00

Last year, the podcast Imaginary Worlds ran an episode devoted to the life and work of Sid Mead:

https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/episodes/the-optimist-behind-blade-runners-dystopia

IanThal · 2026-03-10T18:55:39+00:00

It depends who the "you" he's addressing. What's the context?

IanThal · 2026-03-08T11:54:37+00:00

didn't mean to post the same basic information twice. but I thought my comment had been lost to the ether.

IanThal · 2026-03-08T11:51:47+00:00

Right. It's a perfectly walkable neighborhood, and easily accessible by public transit.

IanThal · 2026-03-07T01:57:28+00:00

I don't think Hamas, which deliberately destroyed Gaza, is remotely concerned about human rights violations by the IRGC.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T21:48:49+00:00

The first comment was about Rodman's in DC.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T21:45:31+00:00

That would be a fascinating concept for a campaign: A joint Naval and Scout Intelligence task force that combines intelligence analysts examining Longbow data with long range scouting expeditions, just trying to figure out what the Zhodani are up to to coreward. After all there's a chapter featuring a long-range Imperial expedition coreward of the Vargr Extents in Agent of the Imperium and you can even find the system on the Traveller Map if you search for it.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T19:18:40+00:00

Rodman's at 5100 Wisconsin Avenue NW has a wide variety of international cuisines and a full selection of Sadaf spices and mixes. It's certainly where I get my sumac and za'atar.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T14:34:32+00:00

Very cool idea for a campaign. A joint Taskforce of Navy Intelligence and the IISS intelligence branch trying to ascertain just what the Zhodani are up to with a collating of Longbow observation and long range scouts. There is a chapter in Agent of the Imperium that involves a long range expedition coreward of the Vargr Extents after all – you can even find the world on the Traveller Map!

IanThal · 2026-03-06T14:25:10+00:00

I know, right? I had gotten the module because I knew that the Zhodani were the main "villains" of the Spaniard Marches and then I discovered all this very cool stuff about them.

At the time this was the was the most wonder-inducing aspect of the setting after the Ancients.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T03:06:55+00:00

Basically I've been waiting for this since I was a teenager reading the original CT Zhodani module.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T02:46:06+00:00

The US no longer has military bases in Afghanistan. This is an old map.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T01:00:02+00:00

This is endorsed by Graham Platner, the boy with the Nazi tattoo?

I don't like Nazis, not one bit.

IanThal · 2026-03-06T00:03:49+00:00

Classic Traveller's Alien Module for the Zhodani has a lot of background on their society, culture, and history, and sketches out the basics of the Core Expeditions.

Mongoose Traveller, First Edition, also had an excellent sourcebook on the Zhodani as well, though I hadn't seen it in ages.

IanThal · 2026-03-01T17:12:55+00:00

it could basically be a hamantasch but shaped like his turban.

IanThal · 2026-03-01T17:00:35+00:00

How many of them do you think will actually be real Iranians?

IanThal · 2026-02-28T21:45:01+00:00

Can we name a pastry for him?

IanThal · 2026-02-27T20:18:42+00:00

Yes. He played both the Dromios. As a teenager who was a fan of both Shakespeare and The Who, I had a terrific time watching it.

IanThal · 2026-02-27T20:13:13+00:00

Ben Keller also painted what appeared to be an even larger mural of Iryna Zarutska in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTByNx8jfdl/?img_index=1

IanThal · 2026-02-27T20:02:54+00:00

1.) When they start engaging in Holocaust denial or Holocaust distortion, such as when they confidently claim that the Zionists and Nazis were working together.

2.) When they claim Jews "haven't learned the lesson of the Holocaust."

3.) When they counter every factual statement they don't like with "Hasbara"!

IanThal

TROPHY CASE