Hyperreality

Also, what do you gain by assassinating a BBC journalist?

They'll be replaced and at the very least the PR fallout will be negative.

If someone of white European heritage burns down a synagogue frequented by what you consider people of white European heritage, would you still consider that racist given they're the same race? Or would you consider that less racist than someone burning down a church frequented by black people?

Vietnam is the most bombed country in the world.

And yet, according to polling:

Today, the Vietnamese view the U.S. in a positive light. About three-quarters of Vietnamese (76%) expressed a favorable opinion of the U.S. in a 2014 Pew Research Center survey. More highly educated people (89%) gave the U.S. especially high marks. Young people ages 18-29 were particularly affirmative (89%), but the U.S. is seen positively even by those who are old enough to have lived through the Vietnam War. Among those ages 50 and older, more than six-in-ten rated the U.S. favorably.

As you correctly say the US bombed them intensively. The US also committed untold war crimes.

Why do the Vietnamese see the US in such a positive light? Why are the communist government seeking closer (military) ties with the US?

Out of interest, would you describe Romani people (pejorative 'gypsy') as being white?

A third of Israelis are (family of) refugees/emigrants from the middle-east or north Africa.

It's not a 'white european' country, which you'd know just looking at them.

Imposing simplistic American notions of race on a complicated conflict is stupid and embarrassing.

If you think about it, it is quite an accomplishment that they managed to make communist Vietnam dislike them so much, that they'd rather engage in relatively close military ties with the US. Public opinion towards the US is also surprisingly good. I mean, the US committed plenty of atrocities during the war, so you'd expect them to be far more negative than those towards China.

While this is true, diesels often come from the factory with a conservative one size fits all engine tune.

You can usually make the car more fuel efficient and/or add a bit more power if you do it properly. Potentially you can even make it more reliable. One of the things manufacturers caught up in dieselgate did, is recall cars and give the engine a less polluting engine tune.

Obviously, that's not what most people do. They tune it to have as much power as possible (or if they're idiots roal coal) and are then surprised when the transmission or engine gives out prematurely, and the manufacturer no longer feels the need to honour the warranty.

You know how people say that a new car loses depreciates up to 20% just driving it off the car lot? Stuff like engine tuning is one of the reasons that difference exists. You don't know if the previous owner did stupid shit to the car.

it picks up thinks like infant mortality

Russia has a lower infant mortality than the US. Free healthcare. If anything, that lower infant mortality rate would lead you to expect a higher life expectancy than the US.

Although it's changing, the thing that drags down life expectancy in Russia really is alcoholism. Especially with older generations of men who drink like goldfish:

More than 30% of all deaths in Russia in 2012 were attributable to alcohol, according to WHO data crunched by the OECD. That’s by far the highest among the nations it tracked. ... More than 30% of all deaths in Russia in 2012 were attributable to alcohol, according to WHO data crunched by the OECD. That’s by far the highest among the nations it tracked.

Apparently, because younger people drink significantly less, life expectancy rose to 68 in 2018. Not too long ago, most Russian men didn't live past 65. I suspect that'll be a record for a while longer, given the average life expectancy and the scale of losses on the Ukrainian front.

the cause of that is for a large part Israel oppressing Palestinians , something that even many European Jews don’t support.

Here's some relevant quotes:

• These were human beings whom Israel dispossessed and expelled, whom it conquered again in their land of refuge and then turned into animals in a cage. They’ve experienced indiscriminate bombardments before, but now the worst of all is ahead of them. Israel has already announced that all the restraints it supposedly used in previous attacks will be lifted this time. Yes, hundreds of Gazans committed atrocious crimes, an outgrowth of 17 years of blockade and 75 years of suffering, with a bloody past and no present or future.

• Israel has held millions of people under a brutal blockade for more than 15 years with the support of the entire Western world. That is inhumane and inconceivable, and every solution to this bloody conflict ultimately includes respecting the rights of all people, both in Gaza and Sderot, to live with security and human dignity. And that begins with respecting the most basic rules as set down in the international laws of war, which are designed to reduce the harm to civilians.

• These are dark times: the fear of a catastrophe waiting to unfold. Israelis still don’t know the fate of their loved ones, everyday Palestinians are trying to survive under an all-out Israeli attack, the Israeli government and Hamas, both corrupt and bloodthirsty

Source: Hareetz. I suspect some would be surprised to read these kinds of opinions in a relatively large Israeli paper.

While assassinations aren't exactly rare in Russia, I do find it slightly funny when people immediately suspect foul play when old men in stressful jobs die in Russia. Especially in a country renowned for the prevalence of alcoholism.

I mean, the average male life expectancy is under 65 in Russia. This guy didn't even die particularly prematurely by Russian standards. And it's not as if he looks like the picture of health in the picture attached to the article.

I wonder if Trump will be jailed before the coming nuclear apocalypse.

So you can endlessly repost screenshots for imaginary points instead of having real-life friends or relationships because they're scary and hard work.