Okay, now THAT hurt.

ugh, give it up, you're seriously and malignantly unfunny.

@russ,

how much do you actually know about the israeli-palestinian conflict? fifty years ago was the aftermath of the yom kippur war. in 1973 the Israeli government was EXTREMELY open to negotiating statehood for the Palestinian refugees, and remained so roughly until the millenium. the key term here is NEGOTIATING. The Israelis absolutely wanted to make a deal with the PLO and Syria, as they did with Egypt and Jordan. what you're saying about those in charge being unwilling to change the status quo because they continued to profit from it is true of the Arab side, but NOT the Israeli side.

~JL

The Arabs say they want their territory back, but they don’t want to talk to us, and they don’t want to negotiate with us, and they don’t want to recognize us. They want peace by immaculate conception.

—Abba Eban

It won't be perfect and it won't make everyone happy, but there are an infinite number of solutions that could work if they were allowed to be tried. We won't know for sure until someone actually tries.

Indeed! And, the same could be said of other geopolitical issues, if you know what I mean. Sadly, diplomacy has been a dying art for a long time and it may, I fear, be dead.

Another reason why we know that successive Israeli governments have not been serious about a Palestinian state is that, even in the 90s when there were a lot of negotiations taking place in an effort to reach the 'end goal' the land for a Palestinian state was never going to be a contiguous land mass - not even in the West Bank.

Israel has continued apace with the building of settlements throughout this period and is stepping that effort up now ... so, there is really no way for a Palestinian state to emerge. I certainly gave up hope for that a long time ago. But, recently, I have begun to wonder again, especially based on comments made since 10/7 by Ehud Barack essentially saying that there is still hope for a two-state solution - in fact, it may be the only hope for long-term security of Israel.

Of course, none of the above is to say that the PLO and Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist entities do not share a huge amount of blame for the state of affairs today.

Are you telling me that in all this time, no one could have figured out how to create a separate Palestinian nation? It won't be perfect and it won't make everyone happy, but there are an infinite number of solutions that could work if they were allowed to be tried. We won't know for sure until someone actually tries. It is like the ending of apartheid in South Africa and why the US doesn't have single-payer healthcare: no changes occur until those in charge are forced to act on behalf of the people! Change requires action. Those in power profit too much by keeping the conflict going and can keep the public masses pacified with their excuses for why change is impossible. Israel’s conflict with its Arab neighbors has meant hundreds of billions of dollars in aid being pumped into their economy over the decades. Conflict keeps the public distracted and allows those in charge to keep the focus off of corruption taking place. Until the people demand change and force the change to occur, change isn't going to occur. Well, at least until those in power figure out a way to make the change more profitable than the norm.

I know this is an oversimplification, but when discussing such a complex issue it is often the best way to keep focused on the final goal. Lots of very intelligent people have proposed solutions, but those solutions have been dismissed for not fixing everything that both sides demand. No solution will EVER FIX EVERYTHING! But demanding that it does is the perfect way to maintain the status quo.

Sorry, I was offline for a few days. I had stated:

Let’s be honest, Israel has never seriously considered a two state solution.

You responded:

this is demonstrably false, and needlessly lumps in the entirety of the Israeli political spectrum with their right wingiest right wing. at the moment most of the Israeli public has lost hope of it occurring in the near future, but for the most part it's what a majority of voting Israelis would like to have happen, if and when conditions permit.

I should have been more specific and said, “The government and those running the government of Israel have never been serious about a two-state solution.”

Sure, the vast majority of Israeli citizens may have been supportive or at the very least open to the idea of a two-state solution, but those in charge have not. How can I be so sure? Its been over 50 years

But, lately, I've been preoccupied with a whole other situation when it comes to live performances and the exorbitant ticket prices.

Case in point: the Eagles

I recently learned something very disturbing about at least two fairly recent Eagles concerts. It was demonstrated that Don Henley was not actually singing Desperado. He was miming to pre-recorded vocals. And, this wasn't the worst part of it. Not only was he miming to a pre-recorded vocal but that pre-recorded vocal was pitch-corrected! In other words, the concertgoers in attendance were not getting the live performance that they paid for. Was it just this song that was being mimed to or were there other songs not actually being sung in those two performances?

The sad thing is that we don't even know anymore what a "live" performance is. When I saw the Eagles a couple years ago in Toronto I assumed all of the songs were actually being sung live and definitely unedited by pitch correction. Now, I'm not so sure. Our tickets were purchased through Ticketmaster and were a little over $100, the average ticket price. Some tickets went for as much as a couple thousand dollars, I believe.

It is one thing if you are getting an actual live performance - it is quite another thing if you are paying big money and the 'live' part of the performance means only that the musicians and singers are actually present on stage and nothing more!

Here is the analysis video by Fil Henley of Wings of Pegasus that reveals what Don Henley was trying to get away with during at least two recent 'live' performances, one from 2023 and one from earlier this year.