The split may be larger than the vote appears to suggest. Those worried about re-election will avoid publicly opposing an ally of Trump and the base, especially if they know that colleagues in safer districts will prevent him gaining a majority anyway.
Hyperreality
joined 2 years ago
Cows kill more people than dogs. That does not mean that cows are more aggressive than dogs.
Plenty of dogs referred to as 'pitbulls' are not particularly aggressive at all. Often they're less aggressive than dogs of other breeds. All dogs were bred to be hunting dogs. They all have a prey drive. They can all hunt small animals. Some of the most aggressive dogs, are also the smallest, but a pekingese is less likely to cause serious damage. Being nipped by a pekingese is unlikely to merit a police report. (I say unlikely advisedly. Even small dogs can be dangerous.)
The whole 'pitbulls are aggressive' line is a dangerous misconception. Here's why:
Predictably, someone encounters a pitbull type. They've heard all about 'pitbulls' being aggressive. But this dog is not even slightly agressive. It is a nice friendly dog. It is especially careful with the children. They go on the internet, and see a video of a child sleeping on a pitbull. The pitbull is incredibly careful with the child.
"People are clearly exagerating how agressive pitbulls are!" "My pitbull is a sweetheart!" "Did you know pitbulls were known as nanny dogs! I read it on the internet."
But large powerful dogs aren't dangerous because they're aggressive. They're dangerous because they're large powerful dogs.
The owner leaves a child alone with a large powerful dog. The dog is entirely unagressive. But then firework goes off, the dog panics, the child is in the way. The child tugs the dogs tail, the dog gives what would be a corrective bite for a dog but is far more serious for a child. The dog grabs onto the child's hand, then doesn't let go because he thinks it's a game.
Obviously, it goes without saying that you can train a pitbull type to be aggressive, just like you can train any dog to be aggressive. But gangmembers don't typically train pekingese dogs to be aggressive just like the police don't typically use a chihuahua to catch criminals. They want a dog that is dangerous because it is powerful and intimidating. They can train it to be aggressive and bite people if necessary.
As a life long dog owner, who actually knows a bit about them, here's how you solve the dangerous dog issue:
- mandatory registration and chip
- mandatory insurance
- mandatory training at a reputable school (which will also inevitably train the human owner out of the 'he wouldn't hurt a fly' nonsense or signal authorities if they notice the owner getting off on his dog being scary/dangerous)
Banning pitbull types? A short term fix which will result in another breed becoming the next aggressive arsehole fashion accessory.
Far right government, and I don't use that term lightly. Here's some quotes from/about finance minister Smotrich (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezalel_Smotrich)
"Anyone who wants to protect the Jewish People and opposes mixed marriages is not a racist."
he stated to Arab lawmakers that, "You're here by mistake, it's a mistake that Ben-Gurion didn't finish the job and didn't throw you out in 1948."
Asked what he would do were another intifada to arise, and a Palestinian child were to throw stones, he replied: "Either I will shoot him, or I will jail him, or I will expel him."
In March 2023, speaking from a podium that depicted a map of Israel that incorporated Jordan and parts of Syria and Lebanon, Smotrich denied Palestinian identity, saying that there isn't any "Palestinian history or culture", continuing by saying that there is "no such thing as a Palestinian people"
In 2006, Smotrich helped organize a "beast parade," where participants led goats and donkeys through the streets, in opposition to the Jerusalem gay pride parade.
In a leaked recording of a private conversation published in January 2023 by Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, he said "I won’t stone gays [to death] and you won’t force me to eat shrimp" and in an apparent sarcastic remark said "I may be a far-right person, a homophobe, racist, fascist, but my word is my bond". He has stated that gay pride parades are "worse than bestiality".
To stay in power Netenyahu seemingly forged a coalition with every rightwing cunt available. He didn't gain a majority of votes, but gained a majority in the Knesset thanks to a recent rule change that disadvantaged smaller (often less rightwing) parties. And of those voting for them, many did so because Netenyahu billed himself as Mr. Security.
Before this attack, they were already facing wide-spread protest. Now after this collosal failure, they will almost certainly lose the next election. They're going to do everything in their power to subvert democracy and cling on to power and prevent that. Without international pressure, they're going to take this opportunity to do all the horrible things they've been dreaming of. Honestly, if it wasn't for pressure behind the scenes, I wouldn't be suprised if had carpet bombed the entire Gaza Strip and Westbank by now.
To quote an opinion piece in Hareetz I found a few days ago:
I also recommend this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/07/30/how-israel-helped-create-hamas/
Which includes this quote:
But as Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center, observes, a strange, self-sustaining relationship remains. Israel's hawkish government — comprising many politicians who have little interest in seeing the creation of a separate Palestinian state — dwells on the security threat that Hamas's crude rockets pose. Hamas depends, Miller writes, on "an ideology and strategy steeped in confrontation and resistance." And so, he concludes, they are "two parties who can't seem to live with one another — or apparently without one another either."
Hamas and the Israeli government. A symbiotic relationship between the bloodthirsty and corrupt. Good luck to those caught in the cross-fire.
It's inevitable.
For a while we lived in a unipolar world. The US ruled the roost, for better and for worse. The world was relatively calm.
But now we're transitioning to a multipolar world. Things will become more and more unstable. More wars and the risk of escalation is part and parcel of that transition. So it's back to preparing for the possibility of nuclear war.
It's a shame really. Perhaps we could have tackled climate change if the world was more unified. Perhaps not, given the lack of progress so far. Or perhaps a different world order will help and offer new opportunities, if we survive the transition.
Covid may be dangerous, but for most people your immune system cures you of it.
Rabies, which is likely what that truck is carrying, is almost always fatal if you're not vaccinated in time and there is no cure.
No joke.
I look forward to buying this game in twenty installments, like Europa Universalis 4. Or perhaps they'll offer a subscription, so you don't have to pay $400 to access the full game.
Their (far-)right government promised security, but delivered one of the largest intelligence failures and tragedies in Israeli history.
The ruling coalition failed to gain a majority of votes in the last election, only getting a majority in the knesset thanks to a rule change which prevented smaller parties from getting seats.
They'll try to double down and use this 'opportunity' to entrench their power. Because if Israel held free and fair elections next month, they're all out of a job.
Turns out that once elected, it's hard to get rid of the far right and right wing populists. They'll happily burn the democracy that helped get them elected.
I suspect you made your mind up a long time ago, but for those reading the English version of Al-Jazeera appears to be relatively objective. The Arabic version is another matter.
The wikipedia article on Al-Jazeera has a litany of incidences, some as recent as a few years ago.
Obviously the internet is full of people who are either rabidly pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. Given that the truth is invariably the first casualty of war, it's important to be critical and not fall into cherry picking or cognitive dissonance.
Why not simply buy a house near public transport, in an incredibly expensive city.
Oh. Is it time for that Sartre quote again?
“Never believe that [they] are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. [They] have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
The reason average life expectancy used to be so low, is because infant mortality was ridiculously high.