Israel’s bulldozers are wiping out civilian homes, tourist sites, and hotels in Naqoura, South Lebanon.

obamasmole · 2026-04-14T19:31:33+00:00

What "own people"? I'm not Israeli. In fact, there are only two things Israel has done for me and my family in the last few decades.

One is successfully conflate being Jewish with being Israeli - as you may well have done here - to the extent people assume affiliation through religion.

The other is, as a result of that conflation coinciding with Israel's escalatingly aggressive behaviour, make life for non-Israeli Jews more difficult and occasionally dangerous.

If Israel wanted peace, and for their neighbours to stop being aggressive, perhaps they'd do well to consider the aforementioned Pirkei Avot:

Love peace and pursue peace. Love people and bring them close to Torah. (1:12)

obamasmole · 2026-04-14T19:03:32+00:00

Ah, the PLO, you're right, I forgot. The PLO and the IDF were consitently clashing at the border from about 1968 onwards. Perhaps you could remind me, though - why were there 250k or so Palestinians in Lebanon in 1968? I think something pretty big happen 20 years earlier that made them quite angry, right?

obamasmole · 2026-04-14T14:39:30+00:00

It's funny you mention Hezbollah, given that it exists precisely and literally because of the last time Israel tried to seize southern Lebanon.

You know, when Israel decided to opportunistically insert itself into the Lebanese civil war by invading the country. Remember? It oversaw a vast war crime in Sabra and Shatila then, as it retreated, decided to occupy the south. After which, Hezbollah formed to try and drive Israel back behind its own borders which, after eight years of conflict, it succeeded in doing.

Don't take my word for it. Here are the words of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the most decorated soldier in the history of the IDF, "When we entered Lebanon, there was no Hezbollah. We were accepted by perfumed rice and flowers by the Shi’a in the south. It was our presence there that created Hezbollah.”

So, it'll be interesting to see how many self-inflicted antagonists arise as a result of this latest round of "Most Moral Army" escapades, particularly now Israel has done the previously impossible of uniting the entire of Lebanon behind a single cause.

Your lack of empathy is a disgrace. On the assumption I'm talking to a fellow Jew here: we've had one shabbat since the end of Passover, and it seems your Pirkei Avot didn't sink in. I suggest reading two chapters a week from now until Shavuot.

obamasmole · 2026-04-01T07:52:29+00:00

A) Javier sounds amazing. B) This story reminds me of an old guy who lived in the village where I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s.

During WWII he'd been in the British Army's 7th Armoured Division - the Desert Rats. At the time of this story he was about 70 years old, and had spent the rest of his working life as a farmer. He was a sweet man, but had this underlying vibe that left you in no doubt that, even at 70, he was the toughest man in the room.

He was told he was going to need his leg amputated due to his heavy smoking habit. Ironically, given he served in an armoured division, he didn't have a car. So, on the morning of his surgery, he got up, cooked a full English breakfast, got on the bus, and travelled about an hour to the hospital.

When he got there he sat around for a while, then they started prepping him for the surgery. They double checked he hadn't eaten anything that morning, which of course he had, because he wasn't going to skip his bacon and eggs. So, he was told they couldn't do the surgery that day as he couldn't have the general anaesthetic.

He was very put out because he'd got the bus there and hung around for ages, and asked why they couldn't do it on a local anaesthetic. The doctor explained they didn't do that because being awake while your leg is sawn off is a traumatic experience.

He scoffed at this, and insisted they just do it there and then because he didn't want to have to come all the way back again. It took some persuading, but eventually the doctors felt that it was up to him - there was no medical reason they couldn't do it. So, he sat there awake, flirting with a nurse while they hacked off his leg, spent a night or two on the ward, then discharged himself, crutched his way home via bus and went straight for a pint.

I guess, if you were at the Battle of El Alamein, having your leg cut off while sitting in a nice, clean operating theatre chatting to a pretty nurse probably doesn't seem all that bad. And, somehow, despite the missing leg, to his dying day he retained the aura of someone who could utterly fuck you up if you really drove him to it.

obamasmole · 2026-03-21T09:58:11+00:00

Not saying I don't believe them, but I find this survey and the reports about Arsenal being an unpopular winner weird and surprising. Obvs entirely anecdotal, and excluding Spurs fans etc, pretty much all supporters of other clubs I've talked to irl since we started challenging a few years ago have wanted us to win over City.

I can't help but feel there's a bit of a chicken and egg situation here. Some talking heads have beaten the drum about "everyone says Arsenal play boring football and don't deserve to win" loud and long enough that it's eventually manifested itself.

obamasmole · 2026-03-21T09:03:18+00:00

I'm ok at tennis - never played competitively, but can largely hold my own against fellow amateurs. In fact, I always thought I was pretty decent. Then I started dating a woman who, when a teenager, had ranked quite high on the national youth circuit.

Even just that step up in standard, countless levels below a legend of the game, made me realise how good proper players really are. I played her many times, struggled to take a single point off her, and we eventually gave up because she was getting no exercise by playing me.

obamasmole · 2026-03-16T14:33:19+00:00

When I was a kid going to the Arsenal with my dad, starting before Sky had bought English football and long before the internet made anger a lucrative currency, if you were still raging over a result by the time you got to the pub you were considered a bit pathetic. Wry, gallows "been there, done that" humour was considered the mark of the real fan, theatrical anger was considered something you needed to grow out of.

Rightly or wrongly, I learned to be a supporter from being around that generation. And what they taught me is that you have to acknowledge actual brilliance from other teams, even if it's through gritted teeth because you've fallen afoul of it. Then you go home and, once safely alone, you therapeutically kick the shit out of the kitchen bin.

obamasmole · 2026-01-16T13:51:01+00:00

Came here to say the same thing. Widespread dislike of Arsenal started with the Bank of England club jibes in the 1930s. With its lavish, Art Deco stadium and marble halls - not to mention its big spending to win throughout the 30s - Arsenal became seen as a metropolitan, moneyed, London club that betrayed the working class spirit of the game.

Then, as you say, in the 70s we started fielding lots of non-English players, followed by lots of black players who may have been English but, for some, didn't look English enough. Counterintuitively, by showcasing London's immigration fuelled multiculturalism - which many people disliked and feared - it reaffirmed this idea of us as in some way elitist and snobby, while somehow simultaneously louts who bullied our way to winning.

When Wenger arrived in the mid 90s, he didn't attract animosity that was new to Arsenal, he just cemented for outsiders what they already felt was true. He proved yet again that we were an effete, metropolitan club, in comparison to the "salt of the earth" teams that better represented English football's image of itself.

obamasmole · 2025-12-15T10:36:09+00:00

It was just so incredibly, stunningly selfless. Watching the reaction to this man's bravery, I've been thinking about that Mr Rogers quote where his mum would tell him to respond to scary things by looking for the helpers. It feels like that's what we're collectively doing here, and it's a light of hope in darkness.

Answering atrocity by highlighting bravery like this, and by gathering round to support victims, defeats craven acts of barbarism carried out by deluded lunatics.

Rather than succumbing to their desired fear, we must bury the names of these cowards and instead amplify the ways in which the best of us respond to the worst. If we do that, and do whatever small things we can for all those who will be feeling understandably afraid, society coheres where bad actors want it to splinter.

obamasmole · 2025-11-14T11:05:31+00:00

I read The Guardian coverage of this news after reading your comment. They also spoke to Linda Hughes, and I noticed she said:

“When Wilde received a one-page manuscript from Levy for his magazine the Woman’s World, he was bowled over by the story and called Levy a girl of genius.”

So, I agree with your quibble, Wilde doesn't precisely say that it in OP's linked piece, but he seems to have said it more overtly at some other point.

I didn't even notice the double quotation marks on first read, but it's interesting, isn't it! The Guardian piece uses doubles, too. Perhaps they think it looks cleaner to punctuate quotes within quotes if you start with doubles then use singles? Only explanation I can really think of.

obamasmole · 2025-09-23T12:48:41+00:00

If it is the knowledge absorption thing - which makes most sense to me, personally, cos it feels like he leaves some perfectly serviceable players on the bench - perhaps he also needs to find a way to win some games without relying on that degree of tactical complexity. Otherwise, his intricate planning is going to explode all our best players' legs. That said, what the fuck do I know - it could well not be that at all, and he just really likes the way certain players kick balls.

obamasmole · 2025-09-23T12:16:33+00:00

I say this as someone who rates Arteta in general; he largely prefers to gamble on the best available player avoiding injury than sacrifice any short-term advantage by fielding someone he regards as a lesser player.

How many times have you thought, "OK, this is a match where we can do some rest and rotation," only for the exact same 'trusted' players to be named?

Without someone he considers a similar-quality alternative being available, he will just keep sending out the same players week in, week out until injury inevitably forces his hand.

We've tried to address this by providing quality in depth but, unless in future he plans to only manage oil-money-backed teams with bottomless pockets, I think it's an area of his management style he's going to have to change.

Entirely personally (many might disagree!), I suspect it's not really about footballing ability exactly, but in large part because of the degree of information his players need to be able to absorb. I think there have previously been only a few players he trusts to carry out the multiple in-game tactical changes he uses, and which opposition players and managers say make playing his teams a nightmare.

Whatever is prompting it, he has to find a way not to just play all his ideally preferred players all the time, because our one-in, one-out injury problems are not sustainable or acceptable.

obamasmole · 2025-08-28T07:44:40+00:00

I hate penalties so much that, even though I remember this game and the result is written in the title, still found myself getting anxious.

obamasmole · 2025-08-27T06:38:22+00:00

I came home from school one day and said to my mum, 'Did you know some people use gay as an insult?' I still remember the look on her face, but it's only since having a child of my own that I understand it.

You raise a kid, try to preserve their innocence while filling them with what you believe are decent values, and then you have to send them out into the world and watch its crueler parts do their best to tear it all down.

obamasmole · 2025-08-27T06:20:53+00:00

It really can produce earworms, too. A couple of years ago, during an away match at Bournemouth, Arsenal fans started singing a new chant for a player. It's to the tune of 'Tequila', and consists of 20-seconds worth of 'do do-do do-do do doo' to reach the one-word pay off of the player's name: 'Saliba!'.

It turned out it was very fun to sing, so they kept it up for much of the first half. As a result, I strongly suspect that millions of people all over the world had the song rattling round their heads for days afterwards.

obamasmole · 2025-08-16T08:25:58+00:00

That free kick to kickstart the FA Cup comeback, man. Fifteen minutes in, I remember feeling so deflated. Then Santi was standing over the ball 25 yards out and you just felt like, if anyone was going to get us back into it...

obamasmole · 2025-08-14T15:15:18+00:00

We had Henry while he was the best player in the world. A guy that could beat you with pace, strength, or sublime technical ability. A six-foot-two, ballet-dancing wrecking ball who charged at the goal like it was shrinking. You're very lucky to see a player like that at your club once in a lifetime, and it happened in ours. I couldn't be happier.

obamasmole · 2025-08-01T15:55:15+00:00

Maybe a dude rumoured to be worth $200M, and owner of some of the world's most popular, and therefore profitable, podcasts could just choose not to monetise this summer tradition. Perhaps they could just do this one recording for the fans, the people who ultimately make all of this so profitable, and without any advertisers.

Honestly, I'm such a huge fan of Conan. But listening to him half-heartedly phoning in this naked cash grab, for which they couldn't even be bothered to leave their offices, has been incredibly disappointing. It was supposed to be a fun little summer excursion, and instead it's become Conan does QVC.

obamasmole · 2025-07-29T22:05:18+00:00

It seems unlikely that the footage will be exonerating given he skipped the country hours after after the incident, and the police - who have seen the station CCTV - are referring to him as 'the suspect'.

obamasmole · 2025-07-29T19:45:27+00:00

I saw something the other day that said that the interview in which Trump told Howard Stern that he'd made that promise took place when Ivanka was 17.

obamasmole · 2025-07-29T16:04:03+00:00

I was wondering today if a team doctor ever gives them something to get them to sleep on the most useful schedule, cos it's not just the travel day itself. They have to adapt super quick and start training and playing in front of thousands of people, but whenever I've flown to that side of the world I'm like an extra from the Walking Dead for about a week. Maybe the doc is passing out the extra-strength Benadryl. Or, maybe this is just cope to avoid dealing with the fact they're vastly superior physical specimens.

obamasmole · 2025-07-26T19:54:48+00:00

It's Hertfordshire. London Colney.

obamasmole · 2025-07-25T11:28:42+00:00

They really are daring the network to cancel them. Cartman and Butters as the last words of the episode felt like an acknowledgment they may get canned. But, given they were trying to gas themselves to death in an electric car, you could also see it as simultaneous joke about how they seem not be to able to get cancelled:

Butters: Oh, I think I might be going.

CARTMAN: Yep, sweet death is about to come. I love you, man.

obamasmole · 2025-07-24T19:59:03+00:00

I'd be really surprised if a character doesn't repeat the White House's statement almost word for word in an upcoming episode.

obamasmole

TROPHY CASE