Strega

The challenge facing the current American administration is not the pace of change, but its utter lack of a coherent vision for what should replace existing structures. This is not the “traditional conservatism” so often touted during GOP campaigns, where reform is pursued with caution and respect for institutional continuity. Instead, it is a rec…[Read more]

Assessments of educational quality are not so positive in the United States, unfortunately. To be sure, there are committed teachers and administrators doing good work in many elementary and secondary schools. But overall, the picture is not bright, and this seems especially true in the case of science education.

Joe Rogan is the key science and…[Read more]

Have a great week everyone!

IDF soldiers are reporting they are ordered to shoot Palestinians lining up for food. I call this terrorism.

And docs are so overworked i think that it is understandable that they can’t always give good care.

One of my professional roles is to improve the IT systems of small medical practices. Most are owned by one MD with maybe a 2 or 3 other medical staff. They close every Wednesday afternoon. I once asked what she did for those afternoons. “About 5 o…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Israel, like all of us, could use more medicine, more professionals, and more quality in both, provided by a free market in healthcare.

Which countries are successful at this kind of free market?

I would characterize Israel to be way more “left/liberal” than right/conservative Iran.  Jews have comprised much of the leading liberal Intelligentsia in many Western countries for decades. Historically, Israel was dominated by left-leaning parties but has become more conservative and defensive over the decades. Easy to see why.

I’m currently in skimming mode for most long posts, but this paragraph popped out, as I’m feeling again how much I hate ads for products that will never interest me.

jakelafort wrote:
The answer/solution is so simple. It lies in what i keep saying here how humans can be led like dogs can be conditioned. We will as a species believe and behave any…

[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
@popebeanie So, if it takes slaying every last Palestinian man, woman, and child to make Israelis feel safe, that’s a valid justification?

PopeBeanie wrote:
But I’m open to hearing humanistic solutions that would actually work.

(In those Trolley Switch scenario studies, it seems I’d be one of the few people who’d be willing to wor…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
@popebeanie So, if it takes slaying every last Palestinian man, woman, and child to make Israelis feel safe, that’s a valid justification? File that along with “We had to destroy the village in order to save it” under the topic “The dystopian ‘logic’ of war.”

The need a change in ideology. The brainwashed goals they strive for ar…[Read more]

@PopeBeanie

So, if it takes slaying every last Palestinian man, woman, and child to make Israelis feel safe, that’s a valid justification?

File that along with “We had to destroy the village in order to save it” under the topic “The dystopian ‘logic’ of war.”

It’s obvious that centuries of persecution by both Christians and Muslims are responsible for the current situation of a militant Israel. Guilt-ridden, post WW2 Europeans and Americans were happy to export Jews to Palestine, land of zero Mideast oil and lowly Arabs. And you better believe Arabs were in-turn forced to evacuate by gunpoint. Places…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
If Netanyahu isn’t a war criminal, how high has the bar been set?

So here’s the irony/unfairness/cognitive dissonance in my current but potentially changing belief: Sometimes war crimes are necessary to thwart other war crimes.

Sorry, I really can’t land on a conclusion that honors a more humanistic perspective. Wait, except p…[Read more]

If Netanyahu isn’t a war criminal, how high has the bar been set?

jakelafort wrote:
I am not going to waste my time debunking all of the BS that Unseen continues to forward

Followed by 3100 words attempting to debunk the facts.

Several organizations and bodies have issued statements or reports characterizing Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as a genocide or a war crime. It is important to note the specific legal terms they use, as there are distinctions in international law.

Declarations of Genocide or Acts of Genocide

International Court of Justice (ICJ): In a case…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
The U.S. should declare “A plague on both your houses” and stay out of it.

I’d be really happy if Iranians can defeat their theocracy, which would (imo) likely defeat major support for hamas, hezbollah, and houthis in the long run. And it would keep nuclear bombs out of the hands of terrorist, apocalyptic servants of their pur…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Some serious FAFO going on in Trump’s base.

Gawd I hated forcing myself to listen to that very long list of anecdotes copy/pasted from social media as if they’re meaningful, statistically. I generally skim youtube comments to get a feel for the room, where the idiocy in comments can be horribly tribal and angsty, but I won’t ever d…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
@Pope Beanie Don’t be naive. Trump has a pathology. Psychopathology? Sociopathology? or a toxic blend of both? I think that’s for sure.

Pathology or whatever, he’s a wannabe authoritarian, with enough minions to support that dream/fantasy. I said some time ago that his erratic behavior could come in handy one day, and maybe the cea…[Read more]