but the polling that showed 50/50 support for Israel vs Hamas among younger voters, was likely bad polling
This poll, asking people to choose between Israel and Hamas, with no option of "neither" og "dont know" had major "you're with us or you're against us" vibe. I imagine a big chunk of the people who chose Hamas, were just annoyed at the options and decided to say "f*ck it, I guess I support Hamas then".
I philosophically 100% on board with this.
However, when I step out of the philosophical realm and into the practical world, and when I forget about the rest of humanity, and just focus on my own little family, I think its obvious that some outcomes are a little bit better. All else being equal it is better to be taller and with a lower risk of diabetes and heart disease. This is true even if none of those things will change the course of history.
rudig
7mo ago
Nr 2 is certainly my impression too. Support for Israel is very bypartisan, whereas Jewish politicians are clustered on the democratic side. I'm not sure LGBT rights actually plays a big part here, more than general geopolitical alignment.
I actually suspect that Anthony Blinken is somewhat unsettled right now. He has no choice but to offer full support to Israel, but I think his idea of what is a proportion response is in this case, is very different to the current Israeli government.
rudig
10mo ago
Oslos immigrant population is 33%, granted some of the biggest immigrant groups are western European. But if you add up non-euro immigrants (the biggest of which is pakistani and somali) the number is still over 20%.
rudig
9mo ago
I went to university in norther Europe and in my 6 years of being there I can only remember one guys who had the combo of very nice facial aesthetics, stem PHD level of intelligence, athleticism and above 190 height, and he had an alcoholic father who drank himself to death. I think you are overestimating how many men who are actually this attractive and the ease by which a plain 35 yo woman can have unprotected sex with them.
These women have well paying jobs and often extended family who will help and support them. Im not so sure they will need more government assistance than many other "average" families. Granted we are in Europe where the social safety net is wide and parental leave policies are generous and daycare cheap. But again, this is something that all families benefit from.
"With a rather aesthetically displeasing mother it is likely the child will inherit some unfortunate mutations." Well, by this reasoning they would be much worse off if they would have procreated with their "looksmatch" and the children would have inherited twice the amount of unfortunate mutations.
I reckon the majority of Muslims will show up for Biden out of self interest. However Michigan in particular has a big levantine Arab community who care alot about this conflict. They are also mostly 2/3rd generation so wouldn't be affected by Trumps muslim ban.
With the razor sharp margins Biden got in several swing states, this could make him really vulnerable. He won Georgia with 12 000 votes, and the state has more than 70 000 Muslims.
I also wonder how this focus on Israel will play with other minority groups, like blacks and Hispanics. I think the feeling that your president and government is beholden to a foreign government you don't really care about can be alienating to alot of these voters. Particularly when Biden is not delivering on bread and butter issues.
rudig
10mo ago
So is Birdbox, where two black men and one asian man sacrifice themselves so that a white lady and two white kids can survive in the end.
You could do the same exercise with Islam 1940 and find that the biggest islamic empire decriminalized homosexuality (the Ottomans in 1858), while most of Europe still had laws penalizing sodomy until after WW2. Even Sweden didnt decriminalize sodomy until 1944.
You could look at the treatment of jews in the islamic world, and conclude that it was far more tolerant than the treatment of jews in most of Europe and Russia. Majority muslim Albania was the only country in Europe to come out of WW2 with a higher jewish population than before the war.
Basically, just as Islam 1940 could undergo huge changes, so can Islam 2022.
And without going into the whole can of worms that is colonialism (and I personally dont think religion or culture played a role here, as others would have done the same if they had the ability), one could look at a snapshot of Europe and her colonies in the first half of the 20th century and conclude that christianity is irredeemably violent.
I entirely agree and feel it is a somewhat departure from the feminism of my childhood, when women wanted to be equal to men also in burdens and responsibility. However I dont necessarily think thats what is going on in this case from Ireland. People generally have a stronger reaction to crime that strikes randomly, and its hard to protect oneself against. Someone murdering their own children, while absolutely horrific, is less likely to make your children less safe.
However that is exactly why Im puzzled this case does not get more attention in the UK. You are rarely more vulnerable than when you or your family need hospital care and you have no choice but to 100% trust the providers. The thought that a intensive care nurse is not just grossly negligent, but is deliberately doing harm is something else...
rudig
6mo ago
There is several things going on here. This is not only about islam, the Uighur situation is geographically/culturally more remote than anything the majority of muslims in the US know or understand. This is a case where optics really matter too. China doesnt broadcast the situation with the Uighurs. They deliberately go out of their way to not frame this in a religious/ethnic sense. You dont have videos of Xi invoking religious imagery of "children of light and darkness". China doesnt try to justify what is going on, they just pretend its not happening. On a global stage, China doesnt seem to have a problem with muslims. Seeing a many middle-easterns dont trust western news sources, its very easy to pretend nothing is happening with the Uighurs.
Both Israel and the palestinians on the other hand have a very active propaganda arms. The picture of Biden hugging Netanyahu will be spread far and wide. Many supporters of Israel invoke clash of civilization rhetoric that is popular on the christian right, but will rile up muslims. The toxoplasmosis of rage is in full effect here.
rudig
1yr ago
Its a verbatim translation of this op-ed from Norway: https://www.nrk.no/ytring/gutta-som-ikke-far-damer-1.16355535
Interesting read. I also enjoyed the comments.
Generally people are less likely to socialize if they (real or perceived) have low social standing. So people who cant keep up with the joneses financially will retreat sooner. I also think obesity plays a role here for the same reason. Im a MD and even though I know the official obesity stats, Im still shocked when I walk around the hospital. The number of really obese young people, who I almost never notice in the city. I think many of them feel so much shame, they retire entirely from social life.
This was a small regional unit who did not take in the most vulnerable newborns. The pasients under Letbys care were broadly expected to survive. Several of her victims were days from being discharged, and at least one of the twins probably should not have been in the NICU, according the medical witnesses (and Letby agreed to this). There is also a smoking gun here, as someone had injected 2 of the babies with insulin, something that is 100% intentional and could not have happened by mistake.
I still think the hospital massively failed by not picking up this sooner, but there is no doubt there was someone doing deliberate harm. Letby also admitted such in her testimony.
rudig
7mo ago
Egypt had for a short period a democratically elected leadership who was closely allied with Hamas. They were deposed in coup in favor the current president Al-Sisi, a move that almost certainly was supported by both US and Israel. Egypt is also the 2nd biggest recipient of foreign military financing from the USA (after Israel of course), so whatever decision Egypt makes about Gaza will be in lockstep with the US. However there is also the added problem that Al-Sisi knows Hamas is allied with his biggest opponents. Egypt is possibly the country in the ME where Palestinians have the most popular support, so I highly doubt the population seeing them as "psycopaths" is a big reason for blockage.
Oz actually did alot better than the R governor candidate, so the split-ticket voting was in his favor. Mastriano was the disaster candidate in Pennsylvania, and possibly dragged Oz down with him.
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