Notes From The Mountain Fortress
Understanding the Connection Between Trauma and Mental Health: A Path to Healing
My evil, but so sexy land. Can you love a monster? Yes, says Ari Shavit, if it’s hip, chic, sultry & … lecherous.
My Sexy Evil Land would have been a better title. Israeli books are at their most dangerous when they are self-critical and then celebrate how ‘sexy’ Israel is. Some notes while reading My Promised Land by Ari Shavit
ما انحنى في الصغر لا يستقيم في الكبر What bends in youth does not straighten in old age. Israel was born out of savagery, there will be no redemption.
The Israeli army worships an ancient doomsday sect, the Sicarii. Sounds bad? It is. The Myth of Masada. Understanding the Israeli drive for (self)destruction.
As I predicted a month ago US/Israel and Iran reach a ceasefire. But being right gets drowned in a sea of much more dopamine filled, bombastic predictions like ‘It’s over for Israel’ or ‘The US economy will collapse’ or ‘Tel Aviv will be flattened’. Preaching to a tribe is profitable, being sober is invisible. What I said versus what went viral, showing you we live in an attention economy
In 1982 ET came out, but something far more alien happened. A US president had the chutzpah to call out Israeli atrocities in Lebanon as a ‘holocaust’ and you could still find Israelis to protest against the Israeli engineered massacres of Sabra and Chatilla. Let’s dive deep⬇️
Why Aftercare Planning Is Critical for Long-Term Recovery Success
Not October 7th 2023, but October 5th 2004. Before Hind Rajab there was Iman Darweesh Al Hams.
Middle East Confessions, Travel, US Political Confessions
The US is probably a more restrictive society than Iran’s
Can I make you stop to read about some remarkable American generals you’ve likely never heard of? No worries, US leaders know far less about US history than you do (yes, don’t be modest).
Civil War Confessions, US Political Confessions
We see the Americans lose war after war, but somehow they never feel like losers. Well, here is why. On US Custerism and the war on Iran.
Authenticity Confessions, Middle East Confessions
A word on the Gaza stories and other anti-war stories I write
Books & Music, Cinema Confessions, Middle East Confessions
The most harrowing cinematic experience of my life :: The voice of Hind Rajab
Throwback to when I attended a lecture by Nawal El Sadaawi in Vooruit, Ghent, April 2009
on this day in history, Our Toxic Culture Confessions
The history update you didn’t ask for.
Civil War Confessions, on this day in history
Grant was no Trump. He didn’t do what got him attention, he did what got the job doneOn this day in history, March 10th 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant as commander in chief of all Union forces.
What the mainstream media is hiding about the war with Iran according to alternative media commentators. Satire in times of war.
On This Day In The American Civil War, 9th of March 1862 :: The first duel between ironclads ends in a draw. One of the two ships was ridiculed before the fight, but performed well. There is a lesson in that.
On This Day In History: 9th of March 1945, The US firebomb Tokio. Deadliest conventional bombardment in history. With a lesson strategists refuse to learn
On This Day In The American Civil War. 8th of March 1862 :: The Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia blasts wooden ships into oblivion
On This Day In The American Civil War: 8th of March 1862 :: The Battle of Pea Ridge ends with a Union victory
History Confessions, on this day in history
On this day in history: On March 8, 1965, the United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam.
Media Confessions, Middle East Confessions
An amazing recap of optimism about Iran’s war strategy
Why a ceasefire with Iran is the most likely outcome. With both Iran and Trump/Netanyahu claiming victory
5 rules to getting to sober analysis of a war situation. How you avoid becoming William Scott Ritter. How not to sit in echo chambers when others sit in bomb shelters. Peddling revenge narratives isn’t analysis
History Confessions, on this day in history
On This Day In History: 7th of March 1936, Nazi-America reoccupy the Rhineland
Iran’s strategy has failed. The Iranian equivalent of the German V1 and V2 rockets ended the same way. Scary on paper, good for morale, but in the end no miracle weapons
On This Day In History: On March 6th , 2021, Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, in Najaf.
The only real window for success Iran had. On October 7th Iran and Hezbollah missed their one opportunity to deal mortal enemy Israel a truly staggering blow. What if Iran had for once acted like the demonic state Israel and the US want you to think it is?
Israel only regrets not being much more aggressive EARLIER. Zhi Hauser is tired of Israel scoring mere tactical wins, he finally wants a total strategic victory for Israel. Will Israel ‘gazify’ Teheran, Beirut and other major cities to try and achieve that goal?
Media Confessions, Middle East Confessions
Classic Israeli Dahiya doctrine or a mistake? Why were over 160 school girls in the small Iranian town Minab killed?
Water weighs more than oil, strategically speaking. Why Iran should target desalination plants in Gulf states if it really wants to embarass the US
The most basic strategic mistake is forgetting that the enemy gets a say. Wishful thinking isn’t analysis. Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Jeffrey Sachs, Marandi, William Scott Ritter, Alex Krainer, professor Jiang and many other YouTube favorites are WILDLY overestimating Iran’s military capabilities and pretending US and Israeli strikes are having no effect on Iran’s missile launching capabilities
Can the US use the Kurds as a fifth column to destabilize Iran and get some areas to break away from Iran? They are certainly considering it. They have used fifth columns before, like in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria. This ‘Afghan model’ would run into serious problems though
Trump does foreign policy like he fucks: drop down, get off, get out, wham, bam, thank you, Ma’am. He will get bored with Iran
Dubai influencers will survive and continue to thrive after missiles targetting Dubai. Contrary to what mainstream media is pushing with headlines like ‘influencer paradise ruined’
Media Confessions, Middle East Confessions
How NOT to bring freedom to women and girls: bomb them into tiny bloody pieces. Israel presents itself as the liberator of the Iranian people, while doing what it does best: slaughtering kids. 160 die in Israeli-American strike on school in Minab. Victims of a bloody stalemate situation the Israeli and American leadership eagerly embraced
The faillure of Trump’s cowboy strategy on Iran. What does a strategic victory for Iran look like? Iran doesn’t have to do much to come out on top. The one thing Israel and America will probably be succesful at
Protected: Are you also in rebellion or am I the only one refusing to participate in a shallow, scripted, self-defeating circus?
No, this is not World War 3. The confirmed death of Khamenei sparks hysterical reactions online. What can Iran realistically do in response?
Middle East Confessions, US Political Confessions
What to expect from Israeli and American strikes on Iran
Is ChatGPT for or against circumsizing babies?
How Sleep Debt Impacts Emotional Stability
The human world is obviously optimized to keep humans in permanent low level torture and make them deny this, BUT you haven’t seen Bruno’s dream bus yet. We’re in a torture lab, but there are soothing flashes of innocence
My favorite German movie is Suck Me Shakespeer
Authenticity Confessions, Letters to a future soulmate
In my dreams am euphorically drunk
Warning: Punk Style Blog Post, only for people who don’t get overwhelmed by input easily. Let’s smash some illusions. A woman who is politely and respectfully acutely allergic to my intensity. Adult students who protect their own comfort with seemingly ‘rational’ world views. People confusing wanting to learn with wanting to want to learn (two entirely different attitudes). And jumping to I ain’t no God dang son of a bitch, Where Eagles Dare by the Misfits
The Confessor 