Cheaper to build, and probably also significantly cheaper to change or expand routes if needs change in the future, I would think.

At best, it sounds vaguely like marica, which is another common slur, but just like my reply ti some dumbass claiming veado and viado are the same in Portuguese, you would have to have some sort of developmental disorder to think Marieke and marica sound the same, or completely ignore Spanish orthography.

It’s only the same if you ignore Portuguese pronunciation, though, this is still some rightwing snowflake shit. Veado and viado will only sound the same if you speak some ignorant, backwater version of Brazilian Portuguese, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

Viado e veado não soam igual, mano, esse é coisa de homens frágeis, eu não sei de que você tá falando, mano. Deixe essa porra pros Bolsonaristas.

One thing many people have surprisingly low comprehension of is that people ≠ government.

Regular Israeli civilians did not partake in the war, did not cause the apartheid, and did not steal the land. They were born there, or went there on a promise of entering a friendly Jewish community - not of murdering people.

People defending this have a surprisingly low comprehension of the fact that Israelis, generally speaking, are literate and educated enough to be aware of the fact that most of the “Oh, we’re just a nice friendly Jewish community” is a lie and their taxes and labor will go towards supporting this stuff. Israelis are not stupid people, they are not incapable of accessing news and information from non-Israeli sources. The longer Israel continues to be such a predatory, imperial state, the less sympathy I have for the civilian population that says “Oh, I don’t actually support this, but my mom and dad live here and won’t move, so I have to stay here.” Well, fuck your mom and dad, and fuck you too if that applies to you. At this point, I only have sympathy for the small portion of the population who are either actively opposing this regime from within, or who are planning on leaving and are still in the process of finalizing their departure.

This is catastrophic when it happens to Palestinians, and not much better should it happen to Israelis.

Considering that the longer we avoid this for the Israelis, more of their neighboring countries are going to experience it, I will once again be unequivocal in saying, screw the Israelis in that case. I would much prefer that literally every resident of Israel gets told to screw off back to where they came from, rather than to see the genocide and displacement of the Palestinians be expanded to the Syrians, Lebanese and other neighboring nations, like Israel has already signaled it’s intent to do.

My sympathy for the Israeli people is directly proportional to their opposition to the actions of the Israeli government, which seems unlikely to change much, considering that this is just the continuation of decades of Israeli policy, rather than some exceptional state that only emerged because they were attacked once by Hamas. Contrary to what Israeli propaganda would have us believe, this isn’t something special that is only happening because the Israelis were shocked by one particular attack.

I think it was only “better” in the past, because it was far less likely for someone to have things like properly isolating headphones and portable devices that could replay sound. I say better in air quotes, because people who feel an incessant need to fill any silence with mindless small talk were still annoying as hell back then for those of us who just wanted to be left in peace to do whatever we were trying to do before someone decided that they urgently needed to remark “Oh, it’s really raining,” upon seeing rain out the window of the bus, or what have you.

I’ve never had an issue with actually talking to people, mind you, it’s just that I find many people in the US have an insanely extroverted approach to conversation and will try to force it no matter the context. If I’m at a concert, or a book club or something, sure, we’re there to hang out, have a good time and meet people. If you’re trying to make conversation at a bus stop just to make conversation, it’s unnecessary. I planned for this downtime, I brought a book with me that I wanted to read. That you didn’t plan anything to occupy your time and your mind with doesn’t make it my responsibility to entertain you for however long I happen to be next to you.

Mind you, I’m not opposed to any and all conversation, but to keep with the mass transit theme, I’ll give you a recent example of what I’m talking about.

Guy: “Hey, you’re reading a book.” Me: “Yes, I am.” G: “That book isn’t in English.” M: “I’m aware, thanks.” G: “But then how do you know what it says?”

On and on for twenty minutes. This sort of vapid conversation that exists only to fill dead air is annoying as hell, and makes me more inclined to just not engage with people. Mind you, I don’t hate any and all conversations. I’ve had other interactions that start from a similar, “Wow, that book you’re reading isn’t in English,” observation, but then transition into something worth sustaining, like if they ask if there are any pointers for studying language, or how they really enjoy books from one country and want to study that language, or something else beyond merely speaking every time they perceive something, to let us know they do, in fact, have functioning sensory organs.

The whole “Just speak with anyone around you and be super outgoing,” approach to social interactions with strangers that’s been normalized in the US would be considered pretty weird elsewhere. Sure, people be too lost in social media or games or whatever is a bad thing if people aren’t learning how to socialize at all, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people just preferring not to be available for interaction at any time and with anyone, and choosing not to engage with people when they don’t want to and have the means to block them out.

In short, a lot of folks just need to stfu and realize that not everyone wants to constantly talk, and they should learn to discern the time and place for it, rather than imposing their preferences on everyone around them.