It's been a while

I've been busy lately and haven't had the time to properly sit down and do a post.  Man, a lot of things have happened since my last post. Obviously the war in Israel is the big one. I've always had a fascination with war history and so I did some research on this conflict and was intrigued.  I was going to give a long detailed take on this conflict but I'm only going to say a few tings. It's a sad situation which will be difficult to resolve because of the ingrained hatred on both sides which has only gotten worse now. Israel is entitled to a response and you can make the case that their response is largely disproportionate but such is war, especially when the weaker nation attacks the stronger one. With Israel being in the position of strength, it will dictate when this current war will end and set the terms for any cease fire or peace agreement; and given Israel's current right wing government, such terms will probably result in the Palestinians being  even worse off which means more resentment, more unrest in the long run. The issues that existed prior to this war will only grow worse. Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in the West bank is an example of how their current government doesn't give a shit about the Palestinians and is only concerned about increasing Jewish interests at their expense. It's one thing to try to justify a heavy handed approach in Gaza in the name of security (which I believe is punitive) but there's no justification at all for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank which understandability fuels further Palestinian resentment and violence. For there to be any chance of peace in the long run, Israel has to have a more sympathetic government towards Palestinians. They need to encourage the Palestinians to reject Hamas and other terrorist groups  by offering them a way out and a better life in exchange. Israel needs to show the first act of good faith but that's going to be politically extremely difficult and it definitely won't be with this government. Israel is always critical of Arab countries who don't recognize their right to exist but yet they treat Palestinians with similar contempt. Yes, I get that Israelis will say that this is only because Palestinians/Arabs have always had contempt towards Jews. The cycle of hate and blame needs to stop and it can only happen when both sides agree to wipe the slate clean and have mutual respect for each other's existence and rights going forward. At this moment it seems like an impossible task.  

Next post will be a market update which will come shortly.