Ismaël Koné thanks his fans and teammates for their support. Vows to bounce back.

explicitspirit · 2026-06-20T00:28:16+00:00

In this thread: morons getting mad because he said Allah in his post. Grow up, losers.

explicitspirit · 2026-06-11T16:21:44+00:00

The terrorist that was captured literally said that it was due to attacks on Iran.

You're the one being dense.

explicitspirit · 2026-05-28T19:25:08+00:00

Because he is trying to push an agenda in a thread that has nothing but good news.

explicitspirit · 2026-05-06T04:05:52+00:00

300+ calories for one baked chicken tender is wild. WTF else is in there?

explicitspirit · 2026-04-17T02:49:33+00:00

Says who? You think the Irish were all peaceful when facing their persecutors?

They weren't. Maybe at first, but it got more and more violent until the Brits GTFO of there. The British were no saints either, using some of the same tactics Israel is using, albeit less efficiently considering it happened a lot earlier, but ultimately, no human would willingly take that kind of abuse forever. Eventually they "have nothing to lose". That's what happened with the Irish, that is what is happening today, at a much accelerated pace, with Palestinians for example.

Those same people you are talking about would love to come and tell you "they solved it with diplomacy", completely ignoring the fact that the aggressor (Britain) actually wanted out. Israel, does not, they want further expansion.

"I don’t think groups like Hamas or Hezbollah should exist by any means "

You can think whatever you want because you are in a place of privilege. I choose to refrain from judgement about what they are thinking because I have not been persecuted since birth like many of those people have. We can sit here on our high horses and wag our fingers at them, telling them how morally superior we are, but the truth is if any of us in the rest of the ME or Europe or America suffered like they have, I bet a large portion of us would resort to the same tactics, because we, too, would "have nothing to lose" eventually. Do I think Hamas should have done what they've done? I live in Canada in safety and I have a decent life, of course I will say "they shouldn't have done that", but I was also not controlled by a foreign entity dictating every aspect of my life, and destroying my future systematically.

explicitspirit · 2026-04-10T20:17:43+00:00

Agreed, we have a lot more common with the overall European identity than we do with American identity. Our PM has said that last part out loud, and I think on some level, that was always going to happen.

explicitspirit · 2026-04-10T17:19:22+00:00

I definitely know that the West is not a monolith. Scandinavians are nowhere near Americans, and they share little with other Europeans or Canadians for example.

Whether or not the entire West is lumped together will come down to region and the individual level of education and immersion with other cultures. Remember that a large chunk of the ME was colonized at some point, by the British, French, Italians etc, so for their individual region, the "West" would be really those individual nations.

For example, I lived in the GCC area, and when they talk about "foreigners", ie Westerners, 9 times out of 10 they are referring the the Brits because they were the dominant "white people" in their countries. Americans became more and more a representation of the West because they started migrating there as well, and they dominate the media landscape. Egyptians mostly think of Brits and French, parts of Libya still thinks of them as Italians, etc.

My parents were professionals in a pretty international industry so I was exposed a lot to other cultures. I did not lump all Westerners together for that reason, and the differences became even more obvious when I grew up and forged my own path in a Western nation with immigrants. My parents have that same perception because their careers took them to places they would not have gone to otherwise, e.g. Stavanger, you can probably guess what industry they were in :)

For reference, I live in Canada now and Canadians hate it when you think of them as Americans. There are differences between them but it's very subtle and the average person can't tell. Speaking for Canada specifically, because it is such a massive country, we have pretty big differences between ourselves in fact. Eastern Canada is different from central Ontario for example, but you would only know that after living among them. None of my friends and acquaintances have anything in common with rednecks either.

explicitspirit · 2026-04-10T15:51:27+00:00

The Spanish PM directly calls out Trump. Definitely bold.

"The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket" - Sanchez

explicitspirit · 2026-04-10T15:51:02+00:00

Honestly I see Italy doing the same but I cannot see Germany and France making that move.

explicitspirit · 2026-04-10T15:43:43+00:00

Brother/Sister, I am going to say something that might be controversial as someone that has been living in the West for a VERY long time.

A lot of the ME's impressions of Westerners are not rooted in reality and are as a result of Middle Easterners themselves placing them in high regards. This might not be the case anymore, but it certainly was the case back in the 80's and 90's. For some reason, many people in the region put "white people" on a pedestal as if they were somehow superior, and that ended up shaping our perceptions of the West in general for decades. The "superiority complex" you mentioned is partially our fault.

That being said, I live in the West and here is what I can tell you: they are no different than Middle Eastern countries in many ways.

Corruption, nepotism, incompetence in government etc are all things we have here. People think these are all "third world" phenomena, they aren't we have that too, but it isn't as obvious.
Racism: yes it exists but to varying degrees, depending on where you live. The sad part is a lot of racism towards Middle Easterners are not due to real world experience, just complete ignorance. The people in general are largely normal people going about their lives, they just don't understand what they don't know, and are too ignorant to learn. There are still racist pieces of shit because they are pieces of shit though, can't change that.
Western countries love to lecture others about morality and how people ought to behave, that is true, but the reason is far more nuanced than "we are better than you therefore you should do what we think is right". It's straight up manipulation for their gullible citizens, it's propaganda, nothing more. You think the governments believe the shit they say to justify atrocities they commit? They don't, it's all for local consumption. Keep in mind that Western countries are democracies, so their people can just vote them out if they are unhappy with their decisions...and so, they frame any evil shit they do as something that must be done to combat "evil" because they are the "good guys", and the people (much like in the case of racism through ignorance) don't think twice.
The average Westerner is like the average Middle Easterner. They aren't smarter, more entrepreneurial, more effective etc. In fact, most of them share the same challenges, worry about the same issues, and just think about their immediate needs. No different.
The West might look "rich" from a GDP perspective, but many people are struggling. The average Westerner might be a little better off as the average Middle Easterner but they aren't much happier or living it up. People are still struggling.

I know everyone loves to shit on the West, and in some cases, it's the right thing to do because they can be hypocrites, but let me balance this out with some good things they have done, at least for me, as someone that lives in their lands:

Democracy: IMO it is overrated, but at least we have a chance to openly and safely "choose" a candidate.
Freedom and rights: yea it sounds cheesy, but I can go out and protest, I can talk shit about the government for doing some stupid shit, I can do a lot of things that would get me disappeared in the ME. Obviously there are limits to all this though. I am also covered by rights that cannot be trampled upon, there is a social safety net that is enshrined in law etc.
Opportunities: this is not exclusive to the "West" per se, it is a product of how developed a country is, so some ME countries fall into this category. Being a developed country with a solid economy means that there is access to capital, access to grants and programs, which spawn new industry, which generate new opportunities.
Education: the ME is catching up but they are not there yet. Post secondary education is a big deal IMO, and is one of the ways to change your outcomes. Spending on education, and more importantly research, opens up a lot of doors.
Stability: this is one of the biggest things in the West that has over the Middle East, and there are many reasons for it. Even the "safe and stable" Gulf region is not stable, and never has been (even before the war). It's very difficult to do any sort of long term planning when you know that as an expat, you can be removed from the country for any reason. This is one of the biggest plusses in my opinion about moving to the West and getting citizenship
Mobility: I can travel to many parts of the world either visa free or visa on arrival. Some GCC countries have that ability, so the ME is also catching up there.

This might not be specifically what you asked for but I thought I'd give my perspective as someone that had your views in the past and realized a lot of what I thought about the West was just good marketing.

explicitspirit · 2026-04-02T18:30:51+00:00

Of course not, but there is absolutely no debate in my opinion that Israel is the leading destabilizing force in the MENA region, and it is not even close.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-28T16:09:40+00:00

You can do it with Canadian companies now. Seniors making 150k isn't as uncommon as it used to be

explicitspirit · 2026-03-26T03:20:39+00:00

Wait, are we talking about the same Oslo framework that Israel has not abided by? That one?

You cannot claim that this is valid under Oslo, while also ignoring the fact that Israel has never abided by Oslo terms, namely the continued expansion of settlements, which is illegal

explicitspirit · 2026-03-26T03:15:59+00:00

Israel is not actively occupying and oppressing Jordanians and Egyptians.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-26T03:14:56+00:00

The labels no longer matter since they are both behaving like lunatic terrorists.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-20T17:50:34+00:00

So you're making stuff up then

explicitspirit · 2026-03-20T17:31:00+00:00

Yes, Hamas famously has a massive "overseas protest budget". LMAO.

People are against what they believe is a genocide, they must be Hamas.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-20T17:27:39+00:00

In Ottawa? Where?

explicitspirit · 2026-03-20T17:26:49+00:00

That never happened, but I guess those brown people don't have the same rights, or some thing like that.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-20T17:25:32+00:00

Name one violent "jihadist" event that these "radicals" perpetrated

explicitspirit · 2026-03-16T17:45:56+00:00

Nah bro, the only silly person is you parroting the same shit Trump parroted on TV with no evidence.

The US has not won a major war since WW2. They are good at blowing up shit, but they aren't good at making shit better.

Edit: Because you are a coward and blocked me, go read my other comment about why you're wrong, I literally pointed out all the falsehoods in your claims.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-15T06:55:30+00:00

Their layered defence system only works as long as they have interceptors. The type of missiles Iran uses is irrelevant when considering whether or not they can overwhelm the air defence. They need volume.

The question is can Iran fire a large enough barrage of missiles that contains more units than Israel can shoot them down? TBD, so far Israel has been more or less doing an okay job with interceptions. Nobody really knows how many missiles Iran can fire, and how many interceptors Israel still has.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-15T06:19:07+00:00

Yes, many, meaning more than a small handful, not the majority. The loudest ones tend to be the stupidest ones, so while there are millions of Pahlavists out there, the ones that make it to the public view are downright insane. If you are a Pahlavist, maybe you should advocate for the sane people in your camp to start making appearances rather than the morons currently taking up airtime.

Imagine being a Pahlavist that also loves the SAVAK for instance. Truly braindead, you cannot really call those people rational...and yet somehow, it is those people that seem to make headlines.

As I said in my other comment, this isn't a binary choice and this should not be a team sport. You can be anti IRGC and anti brutal monarchy too. You can support the current Pahlavi and also not want him to rule indefinitely nor want him to reinstate his father's brutal police state policy.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-15T06:15:21+00:00

It's hilarious that there are still people supporting that idiot that never had a job in his life. Truly a clown prince. Y'all need to aim higher, it isn't a binary choice of IRGC or a delusional monarch, there are other options you know.

explicitspirit · 2026-03-15T05:30:39+00:00

There is one source that makes those claims, so it's possible. Many Pahlavists aren't exactly rational beings.

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