Most people never did it.

There were some bad roads in the Balkans as well.

"There is just absolutely no reason to travel that way."

Some people liked to see all these places and meet people. The journey itself would be an adventure. The other alternative would be by sea.

I used to know someone who travelled to India overland long before the Beatles made it fashionable for westerners to visit.

The problem is that the suspension would not be great back then.

You've got to admit Holmes is an interesting character though.

I really don't.

Fair doos. I find con artists and hoaxers fascinating.

Nah I find her typical of the silicon valley variant who chases VC money without any sense of business or product development experience.

Seriously? She was a fake in every sense of the word, copying everything down to Steve Jobs' mannerisms, photo-ops, and black turtleneck sweater.

The only interesting bit is how so many investors were unable to see through the obvious act and also failed to do the due diligence which is the One Job of VC firms (i.e., if I'm an investor, I'm trusting the VC to do real due diligence, otherwise why wouldn't I just invest directly in the companies).

I find her interesting because she is such a fake. More than Steve Jobs in some ways. I'm always fascinated about how people can be taken in.

Touché — worth looking more into that aspect!

There are other groups that could claim the same: Romany/Gypsies would be a big one but no one seems to want to claim a North Indian homeland for them; Sikhs might be another.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but if there are other groups who are being discriminated against, and have a strong connection to a specific place on earth - be it Romany, Palestinians or whoever - I definitely wouldn't be the one objecting their right for self-determination. The way I studied Zionism as a child was clear: through our (Jews') right to a land we can understand the right to land of others.

Roma do have a supposed homeland in India and have been badly persecuted. There is an exceptionalism about Zionism. Many features can be found elsewhere. When I've seen Haredi in Israel, they look like Eastern Europeans to me in their mannerisms, dress (inappropriate for the heat) and even language. I personally think European Jews succeed better in the USA than Israel. Israel is under siege all the time. I have spent a few months in Israel. I left with a very different opinion.

Although Palestinian nationalism does predate modern Zionism as it was originally directed at the Ottoman Rulers.

Fair comment. They are two different things.

I think it's taking things too literally and pointedly ignoring the subtext while unintended or not having subtext of their own.

feels like sophistry

the article connects the two, so they are not orthonogonal either:

> But even as things got noisy in public, Masad met eerie silence professionally. “My calendar was suddenly empty, because I was talking about Palestine,” he said. “Replit was not a hot company anymore. We did a layoff. And at the same time, a lot of my friends were no longer my friends. I was no longer invited to parties.”

> Potential partnerships dried up. Masad became a frequent topic in pro-Israel tech groupchats, a source said, where some investors accused him of being antisemitic.

> A Replit investor who requested anonymity to speak candidly told me Masad’s public persona has been “really challenging,” and he’s had to defend the founder in investor circles. I asked if Masad had lost business because of his views. “I’m sure the answer is yes,” the investor said.

I had to get counselling and therapy in the past, but I have never had ones as described in the text. They didn't continually flatter me, or text me outside of the business side of things.

If you wanted to simulate my family there would probably be ages between messages.

I know the part of Scotland where he has set up shop. There used to be a lot of toy farmers and small holders popping up round there and failing within a few years. Most of them were from big cities and from England, and pretty clueless about farming. They would often try something exotic like quail (if they had little money) and alpacas (if they had more). Mr Duxbury seems to be going down a similar line, although he does have a farming family background.