"The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting" Or reworded: "Belgian police stop our reporting simply because some foreign ambassador asked for it"
yeah this is called 'soft power'
The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
181–190 of 377 posts
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The American ambassador to Canada is also a complete clown Since we are talking about American ambassadors, Mike Huckabee, American ambassador to Israel, doesn't seem like to work for America, it feels like he is an ambassador for Israel
I can understand most of what our conservative party does but I do not understand their obsession with Israel. I feel the nation should be supported and deserves to exist, but that they're doing a lot of inhumane things right now and saying that in the USA right now gets you called an antisemite incredibly fast.
It we rule out the possibilit thet they have "something on them", which I rule only because it kills discussion I would guess that the reason is simple tribalism.
The opposing side hates them, so naturally, because we are all semi-developed monkeys, you need to support them. No matter what.
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like they had a legitimate question for the ambassador who reacted badly - which is no surprise for someone in this administration.
So a long article about them being kicked out and all they detail about their own actions is that "we asked him about it"? I'm not sure what "tacitly threatened" means, either. If they want sympathy, they probably should lay out the details of their actions more clearly. This just reads as some juveniles went to an event, tried to rile up an official (while filming the response in hopes of getting a juicy clip), then…
They were not an active threat. It was simply a lie. They were in fact invited.
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#184What is weird in all of this is why is the US obsessed with israel so much exactly! Was it a random choice; did they had a random number generator pick it? Why are they not going to such lengths for other random countries in the opposite side of the world for example? And if an official's number one priority is not the people that pay him and have granted him his power, should he be in that position? The US is turnin…
Interesting how the Overton window on this has shifted over the recent past. These are questions one wouldn’t dare verbalize not that long ago
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#185For additional context, tensions are already high surrounding the US ambassador after he directly insulted multiple Belgian politicians and also attempted to interfere with local criminal judicial proceedings.
For context: he's accused Belgium of being anti-semitic because a couple of Orthodox Jewish mohels are being prosecuted for practicing illicit medicine (i.e. performing ritual circumcision without a medical license). The investigation started after a complaint was filed by a rabbi, so it's hard to chalk this up to anti-semitisim, but that's modern day US diplomacy for you.
It's considered very anti-semitic in America to be against male genital mutilation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Defamation_League#Circumc...
When Iceland tried to ban it, the ADL had some very choice words about the potential consequences.
> Greenblatt sent Iceland's Parliament a letter regarding a proposed infant circumcision ban in that country, arguing that the ban should be rejected due to circumcision's religious significance and health benefits. Greenblatt also said that if the ban passed, the ADL would report on any celebration by antisemites and other extremists, asserting that this would deter tourism and harm Iceland's economy
It's scary stuff.
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you get trespassed then wouldn't the police get involved?
They weren't trespassing, they were invited! Aside: why do Americans always talk about trespassing as something that is done to the trespasser? Isn't trespassing the act itself? If I plant myself in your livingroom uninvited, then surely I am trespassing . Why do so many people instead say that I "get trespassed"?
Because in semi-public places, like a store, you are only trespassing if you've been told to leave (you are trespassed).
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can understand most of what our conservative party does but I do not understand their obsession with Israel. I feel the nation should be supported and deserves to exist, but that they're doing a lot of inhumane things right now and saying that in the USA right now gets you called an antisemite incredibly fast.
It's because Israel is necessary for hosting the Apocalypse, and they are eager for it to happen so Jesus will return. I wish that was a joke, but its not, and it's terrifying.
Which is just weird. There is nothing in their holy book like that, they just made it up and now it drives foreign policy.
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#188free speech, I fear, is in retreat
Europe (which could mean anything from the UK to Belgium to Hungary to Turkey) never had absolute freedom of speech like the US. But yes, even by the US standards to champion freedom of speech, it is in retreat.
I'm saying this with love, so hear me out: Turkey has nothing to do with what comes to mind when you talk about anything European, except maybe some parts of Istanbul and Izmir.
I was born and raised in Turkey, and I have been living in Germany for nearly two decades, and I have Greeks, Bulgarians and Kurdish in my family too (no. I don't take pills to survive), so I know what I'm talking about.
It's not about inferiority/superiority, it's just a completely, unmistakably different culture, perspective on life, degree of pragmatism, and... everything. Especially when it comes to the topic at hand, freedom of speech. I think the Ottomans have a lasting effect there. The Turkish search for the new sultan never ends. You may say that some tendency in dictatorship exists everywhere, but in Turkey, you'll see authoritarian ambitions in the speeches of even the most supposedly liberal people.
I also have to say, I'm not even talking about religion. Perhaps the most religious groups, Muslim or Christian or Jewish, are the groups with the most similarities actually.
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
For context: he's accused Belgium of being anti-semitic because a couple of Orthodox Jewish mohels are being prosecuted for practicing illicit medicine (i.e. performing ritual circumcision without a medical license). The investigation started after a complaint was filed by a rabbi, so it's hard to chalk this up to anti-semitisim, but that's modern day US diplomacy for you.
It's considered very anti-semitic in America to be against male genital mutilation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Defamation_League#Circumc... When Iceland tried to ban it, the ADL had some very choice words about the potential consequences. > Greenblatt sent Iceland's Parliament a letter regarding a proposed infant circumcision ban in that country, arguing that the ban should be rejected due to circumcision's r…
That isn't even the point though. The circumcision itself is perfectly legal in Belgium. The legal issue is with the lack of qualifications of the ones performing them in this case.
Re: The US ambassador had Belgian police stop our reporting
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
For context: he's accused Belgium of being anti-semitic because a couple of Orthodox Jewish mohels are being prosecuted for practicing illicit medicine (i.e. performing ritual circumcision without a medical license). The investigation started after a complaint was filed by a rabbi, so it's hard to chalk this up to anti-semitisim, but that's modern day US diplomacy for you.
For a bit of context https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brit_milah#Metzitzah "In three medical papers done in Israel, Canada, and the US, oral suction following circumcision was suggested as a cause in 11 cases of neonatal herpes " lovely.
From what I remember from an interview with the rabbi in question, the "oral suction" was not involved in this case. But because these procedures are being performed illocitly, it is hard to know what's going on or how sanitary it is.