yunyun333
16d ago
Israel fought the Suez Crisis on US & UK's behalf.
UK and France. The US told them quite firmly to stop, which they did. The US was not particularly pro Israel until Lyndon Johnson, who let himself get bossed around by his very pro-Israel foreign policy guys.
Israel didn't directly instigate Iraq 2 of course, but many of the higher ups in the executive branch who were pushing for an invasion of Iraq were ardent Zionists (see the Office of Special Plans, which also involved an espionage scandal involving an analyst passing information to Israel through AIPAC).
yunyun333
21d ago
Trump digs himself in deeper with every new quote. Epstein "stole" young girls from him? Now why would he say something like that?
yunyun333
22d ago
There's been widespread malnutrition and hunger of course, but few actual deaths directly from starvation until recently.
yunyun333
22d ago
Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but Westerners don't have a problem with guerrilla tactics if it's their side doing it.
yunyun333
22d ago
The first article quotes IDF officials praising the UN system as effective in distributing aid and having found no proof that Hamas was systematically stealing aid from the UN, although they did steal from smaller organizations that didn't always have boots on the ground. It's been widely reported that various armed gangs have formed in the power vacuum to steal and resell aid at extortionate prices.
yunyun333
22d ago
Gaza pre war had an obesity problem. I don't think anyone was accusing them of being underfed.
yunyun333
22d ago
it is impossible to prevent civilians from starving because Hamas takes all the food.
Pretty much no one was starving to death before Israel implemented more stringent aid restrictions this March.
yunyun333
22d ago
Guerrilla warfare certainly isn't uniquely Western but is positively viewed and admired. Most Americans seem to have broadly positive views of the Viet Cong, whose calling card was using innocent villagers as cover.
yunyun333
27d ago
Despise is a strong word. Sure the Babylonians annihilated Jerusalem, but the Israelites did foolishly try to rebel, and moving around conquered populations was a common tactic. Cyrus the Great famously let the exiles return and rebuild their temple. They did get into conflict with the Greeks and Romans over their unique heno/monotheistic thing.
yunyun333
1mo ago
Epstein DID kill himself. Also there's no client list. Stop asking questions
The US Department of Justice and FBI have concluded that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not have a so-called client list that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life - contradicting long-held conspiracy theories about the infamous case.
According to a two-page Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI memo, investigators found no "incriminating list" of clients and "no credible evidence" that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals. Investigators also released footage they say supports the medical examiner's conclusion that Epstein died by suicide while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. The memo adds that investigators "did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties".
Some have claimed the conclusions reached in the memo contradict statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Fox News interview that aired in February. "The DoJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients, will that really happen?", Bondi was asked on Fox, to which she replied: "It's sitting on my desk right now to review". White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Monday the attorney general was referring to all the files that are related to Epstein's crimes, rather than a specific list.
Well, there you go. It's been almost 6 years since Epstein did/didn't kill himself, and now we can close the book on the whole sordid mess (his primary accuser also happened to die by suicide (?) a few months ago). Epstein just wasn't a diligent record keeper. In unrelated news, Netanyahu nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
yunyun333
1mo ago
The bigger problem was that everyone was asleep. My phone does go off with a weather alert when anything worse than a thunderstorm pops up, but it probably wouldn't wake me up. If you live near a danger zone then you ought to install a dedicated warning app that's really loud.
yunyun333
2mo ago
"What's so bad about murder? Everything happens according to God's plan, therefore if someone commits murder that must be God's plan."
Don't Christians say this all the time? When good or bad things happen, it's "all part of God's plan". Either God exerts agency in this world or he does not.
yunyun333
3mo ago
So Trump and Vance whine for the past year about how sending over weapons is too expensive and we need to stop, but 4 'slightly bigger' mineral deposits of questionable economic value will serve as a casus belli for dropping in American soldiers?
Hell, he's apparently gotten Ukraine actually paying for U.S. weapons now
Isn't Ukraine mega bankrupt? They'll be effectively paying America with America's own aid.
yunyun333
3mo ago
The U.K. is apparently going to buy U.S. Beef
Britain and the EU won't buy beef from hormone-fed cattle. The way they talk about it, this probably won't change.
Ukraine Mineral Deal
As discussed previously this is a nothingburger, but if it makes Trump happy, good job Zelensky.
yunyun333
3mo ago
I skimmed it but I'm a dilettante. It really is quite a fascinating field.
I agree that if you're willing to approach it with faith, then a lot of it is unclear enough for faith to hold up.
yunyun333
3mo ago
There are people that argue this. For example: https://www.academia.edu/97411885/This_Generation_in_Matthew_24_34
Like this last group of scholars, I would suggest that, in Matthew 24:34, η γενεα αυτη denotes the people of Israel who are unfaithful to God. I will seek to demonstrate that thesis in these lectures by showing that (1) qualitative uses of γενεά were common in ancient Greek literature, that (2) this specific qualitative use of γενεά was used in Deuteronomy 32, which is the source of Jesus’ “this generation” sayings in Matthew, that (3) this allusion to Deuteronomy 32 is part of a larger pattern in Matthew of portraying Jesus as the new Moses who will lead His people of Israel out of exile and into their promised land under His theocratic rule, and that (4) this specific qualitative sense best fits the immediate contact of Matthew 24:34.
But again it all strikes me as special pleading, even though I'm sure this scholar put a lot of high quality research into it. Apocalypticism is a dominant theme from early Christian documents. They expected Jesus to return soon, because Jesus said he was returning soon. The prima facie reading would be what people back then understood.
yunyun333
3mo ago
Again, I've looked through many commentaries, they are pretty unambiguous about this line. I feel confident enough not to bother pirating a more modern one.
Still not really seeing engagement with my point about Matthew 16:4.
Sure, it could be a group of people - contemporary people. Which is in line with every other place he uses it.
yunyun333
3mo ago
You'll be forgiven if I take a Reddit source (which itself sources to scholarly works from between 15 and 20 years ago to represent the modern academic consensus) with a grain of salt. I'm not sure that it's wrong, necessarily, but 2009 was a long time ago.
Biblical scholarship has been a thing for hundreds of years, and the Bible isn't getting many updates. This is not a particularly dynamic field, so I think sources from 2004 are fine in this regard. You can pick up just about any introductory new testament textbook or scholarly commentary and find the same view. It's not controversial like, say, the authorship of the pastoral epistles. Here's what, for example. RT France has to say about it in his commentary:
Jesus’ condemnation of ‘this generation’ is a prominent theme in Matthew; see, apart from this passage, 11:16-19; 16:4; 17:17; 24:34, and especially 23:29-36, which shows that it refers to his contemporaries, not just Jews or men in general, as those in whom Israel's age-long rebellion has culminated, and on whom judgment must therefore fall.
More seriously, why do you think "generation" is the best translation for genea here (which can also be translated "nation" and or refer to a people group – Christ repeatedly, including in the section immediately prior, uses this word when referencing the Jews who opposed his teaching.)
Because that's how it's translated in like every English translation, such as the NRSV, the biblical scholar version. More seriously, here's a comment stolen from academicbiblical:
The "this generation" (γενεὰ) is Jesus' contemporaries. Jesus is prophesying the imminent arrival of the eschaton within the lifetime of those around him. This interpretation is the consensus of scholarship. See W.D. Davies and Dale C. Allison Jr, Matthew 19-28: Volume 3 (International Critical Commentary), 2004.
'All these things' refers to the eschatological scenario as outlined in vv. 4-31 and declares that it shall come to pass before Jesus' 'generation' has gone. In favour of this is the imminent eschatological expectation of many early Christians (cf. esp. 10.23 and Mk 9.1) as well as Jn 21.20-3, which reflects the belief that Jesus would come before all his disciples' had died. So most modern commentators.
...
We favour interpretation (ii). γενεὰ plainly refers to Jesus' contemporaries in 11.16; 12.39, 41, 42, 45; 16.4; and 17.17 as well as in the close parallel in 23.36, and the placement of our verse after a prophecy of the parousia is suggestive. If it be objected that this makes for a false prophecy and raises the issue of 2 Pet 3.3-4, we can only reply that some of Jesus' contemporaries were perhaps still alive when Matthew wrote, so he did not have the problem we do. In summary, then, the last judgement will fall upon 'this generation' just as earlier judgements fell upon the generation of the flood and the generation in the wilderness.
The earliest Christians believed that Jesus was returning soon, real soon. That's why Paul has to reassure the Thessalonians that the dead will rise and join Christ before them, the living. You can see the evolution of this belief in John, the last gospel to be written (multiple generations after Jesus's death), where the imminent apocalyptism of the Synoptics has completely vanished, because obviously Jesus hadn't returned yet. There's also the little passage at the end of John, where Jesus remarks, "If I want him [the beloved disciple] to remain until I return, what is that to you?". Now whether or not Jesus actually said this, clearly people thought he did, and so they thought the beloved disciple would be alive when Jesus returned. But because the beloved disciple died in the meantime, the gospel of John has to make clear that Jesus was making a hypothetical statement.
yunyun333
3mo ago
The best way to close Malacca is with anti-ship mines – they are small and terribly cheap (it would probably be affordable for Malaysia or Indonesia to buy tens or even hundreds of thousands of mines) and it could require hours to clear each one.
These countries also need the strait, don't they? Why would they want to blockade it for everyone?
yunyun333
4mo ago
Deporting him is one thing, but sending him straight to the gangster's prison for the worst people imaginable because he wore a chicago bulls hat is a bit much. They should at least ask Bukele to let him out.
yunyun333
4mo ago
Trump exempts smartphones and computers from new tariffs
US President Donald Trump's administration has exempted smartphones and computers from reciprocal tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports. The move comes after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China. The exemptions also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.
Some estimates suggested iPhone prices and other electronic goods in the US would have gone up three times if the costs of the tariffs had been passed on to consumers. Trump's move takes off "a huge black cloud overhang for now over the tech sector and the pressure facing U.S. Big Tech", said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note, according to the Associated Press.
The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research. It says as much as 80% of Apple's iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India. Along with fellow smartphone giants such as Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid over-reliance on China in recent years. India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs. As tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days.
Lot of sound and fury, but it seems at the end of the day nothing will happen. Over/under on how many more 'exemptions' we'll end up with?
yunyun333
4mo ago
Both those things were motivated by angry Palestinian refugees wanting to fight Israel while their host countries weren't so keen. One reason this whole situation is such a mess is that King Abdullah annexed the West Bank which was supposed to be the core of the new Palestinian state, which also happened to make Palestinians a majority of the Jordanian population. Obviously the Palestinians were more keen on attacking Israel than Jordan, especially post-67.
As for Lebanon, Israel set up a false flag terror group attempting to provoke the PLO into war during a ceasefire. They also attempted to assassinate the American ambassador to Lebanon.
Terence Tao: I’m an award-winning mathematician. Trump just cut my funding.
He seems to be referring to how the admin took an axe to science funding by ctrl+F-ing for 'woke' dictionary terms: underrepresented, minority, diverse, etc. The problem is that the effects seem to be about indiscriminate regardless of whether you were a true believer or merely box checking. Will we see upgraded diversity science pledges in the next democrat admin? Researchers might have to carefully consider the political leanings of their funding proposals in election years.
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