A news article dated 5th October 2023, which I have linked here so that we can have a think about how we define peace. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/5/israeli-troops-kill-two-palestinians-in-occupied-west-bank-clash

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/13/politics/intelligence-assessment-dumb-bombs-israel-gaza/index.html Nearly half of 29000 bombs 😞

I'm glad that what we are seeing isn't a genocide then, because that would be really bad 😞 I'm glad that flattening entire neighbourhoods isn't carpet bombing, because that would be a war crime 😞 We must be watching different videos (which I think given the algorithms online is actually a very real possibility). I personally do not believe much of the propaganda being disseminated. Nowhere in Gaza is safe: that is abundantly clear. No amount of leaflets and warnings is enough, except that it makes some people feel better about the numbers of civilian deaths. Allowing people to believe that if the civilians had only done the right thing, the thing we told them to do, then they wouldn't be dead now. Blaming the victims. Of course it is not acceptable to allow criminals to get away with awful crimes. They should be brought to justice. But justice does not look like the suffering of an entire population of people: forced to leave their homes, or bombed inside of them. That looks like genocide. So I say again - how many civilian deaths is too many?

7000 dead children. More than 16000 dead civilians.

I know the numbers. It is blindingly obvious that the international community does not care at all about civilian deaths. It is a disaster for us all. Today it is civilians in the Middle East, but tomorrow it could be you and I.

The levels of hate in the world at the moment is astonishing. Antisemitism is rife. Islamophobia is rife. Far right groups spewing hate in all directions. None are acceptable. All are heinous. I'm sorry that you feel so targeted both by my post and by your experiences. But please don't attach meaning to my words that is not there. The title of this thread is about 'world events'. I think the thread should include at least a mention of the killing of thousands upon thousands of civilians because somebody in their neighbourhood committed a crime.

I agree. And that is a tragedy. Too afraid to post about innocents being massacred. What a dismal thing.

BUT NOT MY POST!! It in no way targeted Jews, or Americans, or Brits, or Kiwis, or Muslims. My post was only about how many civilian deaths there have been. And how it is an unacceptably large number. No matter 'who started it' those people were still innocent. And if you just reply to every reasonable argument with "BUT HAMAS" then we will get nowhere 😞

But not here on this thread though 😞 That's my point. There should be an outcry! Here as well!

Absolutely nothing to do with Jews. I intentionally didn't mention nations, religions, races. This is to do with not enough being done by the entire international community to stop a disaster that has been going on for 2 months, killing thousands of people. And the complacency of people and governments across the world in the face of such huge numbers of deaths.

Your logic is so flawed. To continue with your analogy - the man runs home and shoots neighbours from his house, which is filled with his whole family. So the police drop an unfathomably huge bomb on the house, killing everyone inside. You and I both know that the correct action for the police is to endeavour to punish only the person who committed the crime. Bombing his house and murdering his family is only another crime. Two wrongs don't make a right.

It was a general 'you' - not directed at you personally. It is a massacre. It is infuriating to watch this thread unfold totally ignoring the insane numbers of deaths. The international community usually agrees that no civilian deaths are acceptable. But this time the world is turning a blind eye.

More than 16,000 confirmed killed. Thousands more under the rubble of houses destroyed by obscene amounts of bombs. 7000 DEAD CHILDREN!!! How many dead Palestinians will be enough??

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After one of my babies I was gifted a bouquet made of fruit. It was the best postpartum gift I ever received. The website is www.fruitfuloccasions.co.uk They do next day delivery across the UK

Wolf was one of the names we have also considered. Not many people have them here. Do you do kitchens????

I'm not reading much again. I finished Rethinking School (and promptly recommended it to my sister who has a little boy who is not enjoying his time in school). I have started reading Free-Range Kids, which is mindless, and preaching to the converted, but hey ho. My time recently has been taken up by my kids and my house. Two of my boys have become obsessed with horses so we recently started a loan of a pony for one of them, and bought a little horse for the other one. It has been really exciting, but I've been out of the house even more than normal. My daughter is in training for a national climbing competition during the last week of April. She is hoping to be selected for the national team this year, so wants to do well. We bought an old house at the end of last year. We have been living in it, but not very much works well - the bathrooms are all pink and the carpets all floral and the kitchen all brown :) It needs completely remodelling - which is hugely exciting, but very time consuming. After much deliberation, we have finally decided on the cooker we want. One decision down! (We are going to have an AGA if anybody is interested, because we have a big, old, rural farmhouse) (And that concludes the longest post about myself that I think I have ever written on the internet!!)

I made it back too! Hi everybody :) xxxx

You definitely want to drive. We once did a trip in South Island driving between motels (not as dodgy as US ones :leaving: ) and it worked out great! June is winter in NZ, and whilst day times can still be warm and sunny, you could end up with quite cold temperatures at night, and/or lots of rain (otherwise I would say get a camper van and not bother with the motels.) With only 7 days I wouldn't bother getting down to South Island unless you fly. I don't think 7 days is enough for more than 1 island. There is plenty to do and see in North Island - and it is still beautiful albeit not quite as empty as South Island. The photo in my avatar was taken in the Coromandel peninsula - at the top of North Island :) I agree with DebinNZ that jet lag is worse travelling east.

My son is asking to learn more about the world wars, particularly the second world war. We have been through SOTW 4, and covered those books in the main, but he wants more depth. Any suggestions of a guide to use? I know that I could make it up, but I don't tend to do well following my own initiative!!

I like the gracious Quran translated by Hammad (your first link). It reads easily, and is a solid translation. Another option I like is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Noble-Quran-Rendering-Meaning-English/dp/1842001280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514838998&sr=8-1&keywords=Bewley+Quran I don’t like the Oxford version you linked to - I find the English too old fashioned. The study Quran you linked is an enormous book - you definitely will need to ‘study’ it, not just read it iykwim. I dip in and out, but I can’t take too much in one go. Also, my own teacher (mainstream western Islamic scholar) has said that there are parts that are factually incorrect - tread carefully with it. There is much good in it, but be aware that not all Muslim scholars will agree with it (as if such a thing existed anyway!)

I just started my dd with pullover sports crop tops. They have been a good introduction I think. It’s scary isn’t it??!!

Thank you both - any recommendations as to which particular model??