So, updates, updates.
Our ROGPR podcast has been “acquired” by Sputnik & Pogrom. They are mainly interested in the videos produced by our main host Kirill Nesterov, which you can now follow at:
- https://sputnikipogrom.com/go/rog/ [includes transcripts]
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Rgfh57ysU&list=PLWMT7gvwDZblEskpKw8kg0bkCrc0VYehV
Only available in Russian, unfortunately.
Apart from having my phone stolen, I also tried out the phall curry at Aladin Brick Lane – a somewhat more pleasant form of cultural enrichment, if one that I am not eager to repeat anytime soon. However, that’s one thing ticked off on my bucket list, and that is the important thing.
I am going to Portugal tomorrow today.
Will be spending a few days in Faro, a few in Lisbon. Let me know what to visit, what to do, suggest meetups, etc.
Posting will be light, since (1) I don’t have a laptop – but feel free to help change that: http://akarlin.com/donations , but also (2) I want to relax, since I haven’t had a proper holiday in years.
I have another Kholmogorov translation [see archive] in reserve that I’ll post in a couple of days.
Featured News
- W.D. Hill et al. (2018) – A combined analysis of genetically correlated traits identifies 187 loci and a role for neurogenesis and myelination in intelligence. James Thompson’s post.
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Count Dankula has been convicted of hate speech in the UK for getting his dog to do a Nazi salute on camera to wind up his girlfriend – and the guy’s a commie, LOL.
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Steve: Brazilian Fertility Clinics Look to American White Guys. Let bleaching commence.
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Nadiya Savchenko arrested in the Ukraine on terrorism charges, which even many Maidanists think are politically motivated (she became a big critic of Poroshenko & Co. after getting released from Russia). At least campaigning for her will be easy since you could just reuse the old memes.
* Jonathan Anomaly and Nathan Cofnas: What the Alt-Right Gets Wrong About Jews. See their article.
- Excellent trad architecture thread via Wrath of Gnon:
It is time for a thread on traditional urbanism, or town planning 13th century style. I will dispel some myths of modern dis-urbanism. pic.twitter.com/wUbkEuGy9a
— Wrath Of Gnon (@wrathofgnon) July 7, 2017
World
- Turks have finished up with Afrin rather quickly and successfully. Syria’s partitioning proceeds.
- Audacious Epigone:
- Gen Z: Molon Labe. Fascinating – and encouraging – that it is American youngsters who are the strongest on gun rights.
- Homelands. American Jews – at least those who identify as Jews in religion – are more ethnocentric [loyal to their homeland, in their case, Israel] than the Chinese, Japanese, English/Welsh, Canadians, and Russians.
- The day the Trump presidency died. Sad.
- Support for free speech among young college graduates has plummeted over last several decades. Would be interesting to see trends for just whites. Maybe somebody could dig into the GSS?
* Support for gun restrictions is rapidly declining.
- Alexander Mercouris: America First? Enter the über-hawks: Pompeo and Bolton
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Matt Forney is going to be covering the Hungarian elections.
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Also check out this unhinged Hungarian SJW (h/t reiner Tor)
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Ann Coulter names the globalist:
https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/status/971984922142416896
- Pan, Jennifer & Xu (2018) – China’s Ideological Spectrum
David Shor: “Ideological belief in China is strongly one dimensional, but economic conservatism is heavily correlated with social liberalism. There are basically no people with beliefs we’d associate with a western center-left party.” Same in Russia.
Russia
- Artem Zagorodnov: Why I’m Voting for Putin.
Powerful take:
- Ben Aris: The fall in Russian interest rates is snowballing
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Bryan MacDonald: Russian election: Western demonization of Putin has made him more popular in Russia
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Paul Robinson reviews two new books on the War in Donbass.
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Leonid Bershidsky: Escalation With Russia Just Became More Likely. Yep. EU stands with Britain on Skripal, and Bolton appointed in the US.
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Sputnik & Pogrom check how many of his 2012 promises Putin fulfilled as President [in Russian]. Answer: 22/65.
* NBF: Beijing city offer US$158K for top AI and biotech talent as Google software engineers make $200-600+K. [Yes, there’s a reason this is in the Russia section]
- Election results at my polling station:
Results at my polling station: Turnout = 61.8%, Putin = 73.5%, Grudinin = 12.1%, Zhirik = 3.6%, Sobchak = 2.9%, Yavlinsky = 3.3%. pic.twitter.com/IQc8lDc3HK
— Anatoly Karlin (@powerfultakes) March 22, 2018
- Grudinin shaves his mustache after all.
* In which Russian liberals swap their Gene Sharp handbook for Saul Alinsky’s [1, 2, 3]:
Second major Russian media outlet makes a moral stand and declares a media boycott against Duma’s senior member Leonid Slutsky after the parliament’s “ethics” committee completely exonerated him and berated the reporters who filed harassment charges for “waging info war”. https://t.co/HFnbZ0MXiu
— Alexey Kovalyov (@Alexey__Kovalev) March 21, 2018
- AP on Polish/Ukrainian/Russian languages:
Science & Culture
- NBF: Uber’s technically inferior self-driving system kills an Arizona Pedestrian. Google looks impressively dominant in this sphere.
In 2016, the reported miles before intervention in California were:
Google: 5,127.9 miles (635,868 miles driven, 124 disengagements)
BMW: 638 miles (638 miles driven, 1 disengagements)
Nissan: 263.3 miles (6,056 miles driven, 23 disengagements)
Ford: 196.6 miles (590 miles driven, 3 disengagements)
General Motors: 54.7 miles (8,156 miles driven, 149 disengagements)
Delphi Automotive Systems: 14.9 miles (2,657.7 miles driven, 178 disengagements)
Tesla: 2.9 miles (550 miles, 185 disengagements)
Mercedes-Benz: 2 miles (673 miles, 336 disengagements)
Bosch: 0.68 miles (983 miles driven, 1,448 disengagements)
Uber: 0.67 miles
- NBF: China versus USA in AI potential
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NBF: Interstellar race for the Universe. On Anders Sandberg’s most recent article.
* Rindermann, H. & Carl, N. (2018) – Human rights: Why countries differ.
- James Thompson:
- Emil Kirkegaard: How much should you trust IQ etc. information from The Guardian? Experts answer: not so much
@akarlin88 in PING dataset, using the simple genetic interpretation of the results, we found 100% heritability of the gap in the USA, which one can then infer ~67% for the USA White vs. SSA African gap from. In other words, about 10 IQ in environmental deficits in Africa. pic.twitter.com/GkChNcxtsz
— Emil O W Kirkegaard (@KirkegaardEmil) March 20, 2018
Also congrats to Kirkegaard for getting “recognized” by the SPLC.
* All disk galaxies rotate once every billion years. Our simulators are lazy.
* NBF: Lab Grown Meat will be served in restaurants by the end of 2018 and it will be healthier. I suspect killing animals for meat might be the next great ethical revolution (c.2050).
- New Scientist: Every human culture includes cooking – this is how it began
- Steve on B/W qualification gap in law schools:
Why is white-black qualification gap especially huge in law schools? On academic index (LSAT + undergrad GPA), race gap in law schools is not usual 1 but 2 standard deviations. Median white law student around 97th percentile black.https://t.co/H8GzurDgE8
E.g., Michigan: pic.twitter.com/eRnjk45Jq6
— Steve Sailer (@Steve_Sailer) March 16, 2018
* Gerald of Rivia vs. Henry of Skalitz
Powerful Takes
- Commenter Thorfinnsson is an endless source of extremely powerful (in a non-ironic sense) takes.
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Some blogger: “His site is a “collective” of writers he says, but in looking at them only a few are named and one of them, Anatoly Karlin, is a straight out conspiracy Nazi connected apparatchik for Putin.“
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My very powerful take on Georgian cuisine:
* Clone experiments:
- I came 3rd/58 people in predicting the results of the Russian elections at Alexander Kireev’s blog.
- Russia’s /pol/ acknowledges my power.
You should mention that the data is from 1974-1994, so not exactly recent. Would be interesting to know how it is today.
Henry of Skalitz is the protagonist in that new game that was criticized for not featuring blacks in 15th century Bohemia, isn’t he?
Any chance you’re doing a review of this one? Not that I want to encourage you to waste time on gaming…but at least it would be somewhat more interesting than Doom since the developers claimed to care about historical accuracy, and there was this controversy about it, so it does have some minor cultural relevance.
Yes, it’s certainly on my review list.
https://twitter.com/akarlin88/status/964997216724189184
If Navigant Research is to be believed, this may have changed: https://www.navigantresearch.com/research/navigant-research-leaderboard-automated-driving-vehicles
https://www.navigantresearch.com/wp-assets/uploads/2018/01/LB-ADV-18-LB-pic.jpg
Waymo remains a leader, but several of the automakers have caught up. General Motors reported as the leader, which is certainly heartening.
The big downside for the automakers vs. the tech companies is that they’re highly regulated and do not have monopoly profits to subsidize their R&D efforts.
See Fiat-Chrysler’s CEO Sergio Marchionne’s excellent slide deck about how brutally competitive the auto industry is: https://www.autonews.com/Assets/pdf/presentations/SM_Fire_investor_presentation.pdf
Money shot is on page 7. The auto industry invests its entire enterprise value in capital expenditures and R&D every 4.1 years. The average across industries is 17 years, including a surprising 19 years for aerospace and defense. The Boeing-Airbus duopoly and GE-Pratt & Whitney-Rolls Royce triopoly are clearly working.
The auto industry is consolidating, but the situation might get worse if Chinese automakers become globally competitive OEMs.
The automakers of course have some advantages over the tech companies. They have vast networks of testing laboratories and closed circuit tracks which the tech companies lack and cannot create quickly.
Automakers are also much more experienced in writing firmware for hardware, which makes the automaker alliances with hardware-oriented tech companies like Intel and Ericsson interesting.
And note Daimler’s alliance with Bosch, the world leader in ECUs.
This also calls into question Tesla’s long-term viability. Not only are they up against global OEMs with hundreds of assembly plants (Volkswagen alone is converting 20 assembly plants to EV production, and General Motors is allegedly going all-electric), but they apparently don’t have an edge in autonomous vehicles at all.
Their vaunted giga-factory is also being countered by massive projects in Sweden, Germany, and China.
Tesla has created a great brand in the luxury space (and luxury vehicles are 50% of global automaker profits), but Musk is basically attempting to accomplish the same production rampup Henry Ford achieved in half the time and expecting Wall Street to provide him with unlimited capital.
Tesla’s future might be to be acquired by a global OEM–if the share price comes down to Earth.
A negative take on Tesla: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/7-big-worries-that-could-hammer-teslas-stock-price-2018-02-07
LOL!
Last year one of my offspring drew my attention to this game video. For some reason one of my daughters thought I’d be entertained by the following view of the game designers’ supposed idea of a typical WW2 British strategic bomber crew;
https://youtu.be/Pn8dNz858fo?t=128
Two women, two coloureds and three white men (boo!) with moustaches. I was surprised they hadn’t given a couple of the latter rainbow handkerchiefs to signal their sexual “specialness”. As long as they are a minority overall, though, eh?
It did prompt a bit of contemplation on the willingness of virtue signalling propaganda victims to lie barefacedly in order to achieve the “greater good” versus the willingness of greedy moneygrubbers to lie barefacedly in order to sell more product.
Well, at least there were a few black airmen from the West Indies who served in Bomber command during WW2 so that at least is not completely made up (even if obviously exaggerated since the vast majority of RAF airmen were British, from the white dominions, plus some Poles, Czechs etc.).
There are lots of bizarre examples of this kind though, iirc they recently had some BBC production in which Eleanor of Aquitaine or some other medieval queen was played by an actress of Nigerian origin.
It also seems to be prominent in some video games now, iirc there’s even some shooting game about WW1 in which even German troops fighting in the trenches on the Western front are black.
I find it rather sinister given Africa’s demographic expansion, obviously the intent is to rewrite history to make an ever increasing presence of Africans in Europe seem completely normal.
To make it simple for simple minded folks of the alt-right when formulating your program just support the opposite to whatever Jews want. If you are too lazy or too stupid to define your own program watch the Jews and oppose them. Stop entertaining a silly idea of some white nationalists that for your support of Israel Zionist and Jews will help you fighting the left. Your slogan: Europe for Europeans and Palestine for Palestinians and Israel for Jews (each and every one of them).
To confuse. To make history irrelevant. Everything is made up. The world was constructed just yesterday. You are nothing and have no connection to past. No roots. No memory. You are being constructed. Anything goes. Except for Jews.
There was a recent update to Autopilot which was a huge jump in performance. AP2 lagged behind AP1 for quite a while, in no small part because the head of the AP program was changed 3 times in 2 years. But now they have Andrej Karpathy and it seems he had to rewrite the whole thing from scratch. So that was lost time but they are now gaining lost ground fast. The report you referenced is using older data.
That’s not the correct way to view it. The goal of Tesla was always to accelerate sustainable transportation. It would have been a failure if they were the only ones doing it.
Secondly, the advantage of the Gigafactory is that it is vertically integrated. This will give them greater cost control and far greater possibility to do independent innovation on battery prices. They can also custom-designed batteries for only their own cars. People relying on LG, CATL or Samsung have to deal with commodotised products.
The recent announcements does not change this disparity.
If you’re not all in on EVs, you will be dead. It’s that simple. The Chinese made a smart bet. They understood that legacy ICE(internal combustion engine) manufacturers have in some cases a 100+ year accumulated advantage and to break into such a system is very difficult, if next to impossible. So, much better to go all in on EVs. Chinese manufacturers only do well in the domestic market on ICE technology.
However, with EVs, they will have a shot on the global level. Of all the legacy makers in the developed world, I expect Nissan and Hyundai to do best. They are already having good models. GM’s Bolt is essentially the LG Bolt. LG supplied not just the battery but even the powertrain. GM just installed the seats and the chassis and put their sticker on it. But the core tech is Korean.
Of the legacy Western carmakers, the German ones do well, especially Daimler. Some may recall that Tesla was bailed out by Daimler back in 2008 and they had co-operation on batteries for a number of years.
Fiat is looking quite grim. Sergio has long been a laggard on EVs. Mazda doesn’t look good either. 10 years from now, a company like BYD will probably be a mainstream name like Huawei has become today. China also has the advantage of having the state backing a company like CATL to go up against Samsung, Panasonic and LG in battery production. They will have the complete supply chain needed for EVs.
Many Europeans are now waking up to this fact, hence the recent decision by the EU to create its own battery production network. But the Koreans acted faster. There are already factories in Poland and in Hungary by LG and Samsung respectively. CATL is also looking at a production base, most likely in Central Europe. LG recently announced they would triple production capacity from the earlier stated goal. The Polish factory will now produce 5 GW, the same as the planned capacity in Sweden (which is still in planning stage).
We’ll see how it shakes out. While Europe is (belatedly) acting on the EV revolution, at least some movement is fortcoming. In the US, aside from Tesla, there is not much. The only domestic manufacturer was GM, but as previously mentioned, the GM Bolt is really the LG Bolt.
I get a kick out of some of the conventions of “diversity.” Often in a group shot, you will see redheads because they are not blond Nazis, unless JJ Abrams is directing like in Force Awakens. If he is then gingers are Nazis and are given menacing aspects, speeches and backdrops.
There don’t seem to be a lot of black-haired whites in many shots. Not as many as one would expect, anyway. If you are going black-haired, you might as well go Asian or Hispanic seems to be the reasoning. Better to virtue signal or else reach a different market.
Of course, 90% of the miscegenation seems to be black men with white women, and it is so patently funny how artificial so much of it is. I saw one TV commercial recently, and I was struck by how phony the posture of the couple was. I can’t ever recall seeing that same “romantic” pose for people of such advanced age ever. It really felt like they were trying to push a message, but what was funny is they usually target women of child-bearing age.
unless there’s an massive, global, right shift in attitudes, it doesn’t look good for .co.il either.
whatsmore, I think I know which demographic all of the past injustices, real and imagined, will be pinned on. I’d like to be wrong about it.
which demographic?
He refers to Jews. If (or when?) it all comes crashing down, the Jews will be blamed for it. Which is possible. This risk is why I think it’s beyond crazy for Jews to support the multikulti madness.
Though I’m not sure it will happen. Obviously, by the time it all collapses, it will be mostly nonwhites, who will have more visible and easier to identify targets: whites. Mind you, Jews will be a part of it. But then they will have allies in other persecuted whites. Or the diverse ethnic groups will all have diverse enemies: some whites (some will include Arabs in that?), some Muslims, some blacks, etc. Who knows?
Sovok Joos, to be precise.
Top (first-hour Zios, kibbutzniks) and bottom (Palis, “Moroccans”, Eritreans) against the middle.
Look who bears the stigma of racism in Germany – why, the Ossis, of course. Or America – southern whites. It’s a bit of a class thing, too.
And I’m noticing a certain racialization of discourse (Youtube comments), too – Palis increasingly hate Israelis not qua Jews, but qua Europeans.
Oh, you mean in Israel? I have no idea.
I think it is quite possible, there seems to be a clear increase in antisemitic sentiment online. Unz review is the most “extreme” site I read regularly (ok, I sometimes read American renaissance as well, but I don’t read the readers’ comments there), but even on more mainstream sites I read it’s noticeable. It’s definitely around on German sites in relation to the migration crisis (that Barbara Lerner Spectre video is a favorite, now probably joined by Yascha Mounk’s statements on German tv). It’s not really surprising since it’s what tends to happen in many Western societies in times of crisis. And on some level I would actually agree that it’s deplorable and irrational behaviour. But on the other hand, if I’m completely honest, given the absolutely despicable behaviour by the representatives of many Jewish organizations, as well as the Israeli state (e.g. the head of the Jewish world congress Ronald Lauder has opined on the situation in Germany…he would like to see AfD banned, and the Israeli ambassador has made similar noises), I’m not really bothered by it on an emotional level. A lot of prominent Jews in Western countries seem to go out of their way to act in ways inimical to the interests of gentile whites. That doesn’t mean they’re solely or primarily responsible for our current problems (the demographic explosion in Africa can hardly be blamed on Jews, and Islamist violence isn’t just a reaction to the existence of Israel), but it does raise the question why one should be overly sympathetic to their concerns.
That makes more sense.
Israel was founded by European Jews as a settler colony.
A handful out of 125,000. It’s always irritating that the liars can so often find the odd black individual to supply a pretext for their wholesale and intentionally deceptive reimagining of reality. But it’s the women that annoy me as much as the coloureds (or rather, what annoys me is the dishonest manipulation at the root of their presence, in both cases).
Indeed.
Though as noted above it’s the cynical manipulative dishonesty of falsely introducing both women and coloureds where they pretty much weren’t, that bothers me. And utu’s not wrong in his explanation for that, I think.
Outsourcing the massive environmental damage involved in making and disposing batteries is not “sustainable”.
The whole scam only works because the Chinese would rather manufacture a brazillion rechargeable 18650 batteries rather than get rid of coal powerplants. (In a typically Chinese fashion of favoring dumb brute force over intelligent solutions.)
OT Anomaly and Cofnas’ article is sleight-of-hand. First they re-define right wing to mean economically liberal (instead of nationalist.) Then they showcase all of the laissez-faire economists – Jews aren’t left-wing after all, see, see?
I read in a Hungarian Facebook group that Vladimir Solovev, “the main propagandist of the Russian Channel One,” said the following, which means roughly that “once our troops will be stationed in the countries of Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Asia, these countries will all be our allies!”
The link is here, but apparently it’s a three hour long block:
https://russia.tv/video/show/brand_id/21385/episode_id/1735867/video_id/1833607/
Can someone somehow verify if it was really said there, and what the context was? I guess none of you have three hours, but maybe you could crowdsource it to some Russian forum. (Ideally, someone who watched the show could tell the context and where to look for it in the video. Or hopefully someone will do it for us in the Hungarian group, but I wouldn’t bank on it.)
So China finally launched the “petro-yuan”. Sure to get less headlines and clicks than all the Trump doessiers, the Skripal case or the war in Syria, but certainly much more historically significant. Don’t tell that to the Russiagatists (is that a word?), though. Brent tops $70 per barrel again as well.
https://www.rt.com/business/422314-petro-yuan-futures-dollar-death/
Sort of related, Alexander Mercouris on China-Russia relations:
http://theduran.com/china-hails-putin-win-backs-russia-skripal-praises-chinas-alliance-russia/
Why get rid of the coal powerplants if you have lots of coal and there is a huge energy demand?
Not even Germany which is much more in love with environmentalism than China has done that.
Apparently there’s a transcript:
https://grani-ru-org.appspot.com/Society/Media/Television/m.268082.html
But the last sentence (about the method having been tried) is the grani-ru blogger’s comment. So we still don’t have context, but this liberal Russian site thinks the same as the Hungarians.
Jewish knives now openly out for Jeremy Corbyn, basically for not being subservient enough:
Jewish groups attack Jeremy Corbyn over anti-Semitism
As with “Red Ken” Livingstone, the idea that someone like Jeremy Corbyn is actually “anti-Semitic” in any honest sense of the term is literally absurd. Outside of their own supporters, the target’s cynical political enemies and rivals, and the saddest of propaganda victims, jewish groups slinging of the “anti-Semite” smear term mostly discredits only themselves and helps to bring the smear term itself further into disrepute.
Also as with Red Ken, it’s quite entertaining to see a leftist like Corbyn who has spent his life slinging false smears of “racism”, “homophobia” etc, etc at political rivals and at decent folk alike, basically hoist by his own petard.
Neither of these, of course, have anything to do with “anti-Semitism” in the sense of disliking jews. Support for Hezbollah is simply one legitimate position on a dispute between foreigners (and indeed any honest, neutral observer would have to conclude that Hezbollah has the superior moral position in the dispute, having been formed to resist military aggression and occupation by Israel).
As for the mural, it’s perfectly clear that Corbyn’s expression of support for the mural was a thoughtless approval of “free speech”, before he realised that the piece of art in question was not the kind of free speech leftist hypocrites like him actually allow.
Because it is nice to be able to walk outside without needing to wear a mask and see the clear sky.
When even the oil workers are starving, the end must be near.
The Russian government’s strategy has always puzzled me. Giving loans secured against the foreign assets of the PDVSA seems a shrewd move. If PDVSA defaults, you get a foreign asset at a knockdown price. Same goes with cargoes of Venezuelan oil outside Venezuela. So far, so sensible.
However, the actions of Rosneft and others of obtaining exploration and production rights to large areas of Venezuela at “Fire Sale” prices, or as payment for a debt, seems very unwise.
When constitutional government returns to Venezuela, as it surely will, the likelihood is the new government might declare these actions “odious” debts or transactions. It might confiscate them without payment, or, more likely, repay the knockdown prices at which they were bought. If Rosneft and others wanted to stay in the Venezuelan market long term, their actions seem very counter-productive.
But Maduro, like Yanukovich, was a democratically elected president! Nothing wrong with supporting him and whatever he does after he won the election, since he won fair and square in 2013 he gets carte blanche.
This was sarcasm, but it’s interesting to see Putin pursuing a similar policy with Venezuela as he did with Yanukovich-era Ukraine.
Now? Haven’t these knives been out ever since he got elected, nay, since he was seriously running for leadership?
Correct, though in the case of Jewish lobbies vs Red Ken/Corbyn, it really is a classic example of “the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend”.
Imagine living in a country where your position on a Middle-Eastern political party is not a matter of great political importance and source of much media controversy and debate. But this is what happens when you have organised Jewish groups panicking over perceived loss of influence.
The problem for the Jewish lobbies is that he is very popular among the grassroots. This is the same problem in which the blairites found themselves in. The UK is interesting from a purely Jewish-political perspective. The Tories won something like 70% of the Jewish vote in the last General Election. This isn’t because UK Jews are more “conservative”. It’s because the Tories are better for Jewish interests.
The Tories are quite liberal on social matters(they introduced gay marriage), they are good for above-average income groups and they are very pro-Israel. It’s a trifecta. In many ways, US dems are quite similar to the Tories. The Dems are not very left-wing. They are pro-Israel, pro-Wall Street and their stance on taxes are quite neoliberal, too. It’s just compared to the dumpster fire that is GOP, anyone can look good. I’m referring to the meme that Jews are somehow inherently left-wing, whereas it is more about ethnic interests. It makes more sense to vote for Dems in the US and more sense to vote for Tories in the UK.
Corbyn in this sense is a break from the past. Blair was of course a neoliberal, too, as well as very pro-Israel. Corbyn is neither neoliberal nor is he very pro-Israel, so he gets almost no Jewish votes. For whites, the actual difference is minimal, because both Blair and Corbyn support the Great Replacement. Jews don’t mind that, what they do mind is the unstinting support for Israel that is going down the drain. It is not just about Israel. There’s a sense that Corbyn is more pro-muslim than pro-Jewish. Blair (and Obama, Clinton etc) were the opposite. See the previous point about perceived loss of influence.
We will likely see this in the US, too, over time. It will be the left, not the right, which will go after Jewish interests, such as support for Israel and (serious) tax hikes on the better-off and not the marginal stuff that the centrist/Schumer faction that currently controls the Dems are willing to sign off on.
Corbyn has shown plenty of spine so far, so it is likely he won’t suddenly cave now. That’s a good thing. I hope the US left draws inspiration.
I haven’t actually read the report (paywall, not on Torrents), and while I’ve driven cars with autonomous capabilities I’ve never used them. I tried radar/laser cruise control a few times and didn’t like it. The problem is that when someone in front of you is driving at the incorrect speed the autonomous vehicle adjusts to the incorrect speed rather than making efforts to correct the faggot in question (e.g. flashing your brights). Worse, if you’re not paying attention you won’t notice your speed has declined to an unacceptable level and that you must immediately take action.
So in other words I’m not equipped to judge the autonomous capabilities of various marques other than through third party representations made to me. I guess that probably goes for most of us.
GM’s autonomous vehicle program seems to be corroborated by numerous other press reports I’ve seen.
No, that is the correct way to view. The purpose of business is to make money. Accelerating “sustainable” transportation is a completely irrelevant goal except to the extent that it helps market the product.
Goals like accelerating “sustainable” transportation are the proper purview of government, not business. Government can of course incentivize business to achieve such goals as is done in various countries.
It would be much better for Tesla if they were the only ones doing it as competition is bad for profits.
Vertical integration has pros and cons like anything else. Did you know that Ford Motor once produced its own steel? On the flip side many early automakers did not produce vehicle bodies…at all. The chassis was shipped to a coach builder (a leftover from the horse and buggy days) for body finishing and fitting).
I am skeptical of “custom-designed” batteries being much of an advantage, as the custom design can be handle downstream of the manufacture of the cells. The cells can be packaged into battery modules of custom design with proprietary Battery Management System software.
That said, since the Gigafactory will be the world’s largest single production site, it’s possible that this sets up Tesla as the industry’s lowest-cost producer. This would then allow Tesla to supply other industries, and not just cars.
Announcements do not change anything of course. The question will be at what price these competing large factories produce batteries at. The point is that this is an extremely competitive and capital intensive industry in which it’s hard to get much of a “moat”.
I agree with this, and incidentally Berkshire Hathaway is a major investor in the Chinese electric automaker BYD.
China also has less need for conventional cars in that their cities are compact and linked by the world’s largest high-speed rail network.
In America electric cars are a poor fit for much of the country and I’m outraged by our government’s efforts to destroy ICE cars. You can have my small-block V-8 when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
There is an insane proposed increase of current fuel economy requirements by nearly 60% by 2025. No ICE cars available at all other than the Chevy Volt can meet the new requirements.
These requirements will make every car sold outside of luxury vehicles (which just pay a gas guzzler tax) 100% homosexual.
LG Bolt (and Volt) is right, but let’s not forget Tesla’s relationship with Panasonic. Incidentally, Daimler is a major equity holdr in Tesla as well.
The involvement of LG in the Bolt is why electric vehicles are such a depressing proposition for automakers. The most complicated thing about a car has always been the powertrain. That goes right out the window with electrification. They then turn into glorified sheet metal fabricators.
If you read the slide deck I posted from Marchionne, he’s basically asking to merge with someone. The strategy now seems to be to get good profits out of North America with muscle cars and trucks that people love but the government intends to ban since they hate us, and then merge with someone else.
Mazda doesn’t look good in EVs, but they could partner with someone else to get powertrains. They have also finally built their first assembly plant outside of Japan in Vladivostok which is interesting.
Agree on China. They kind of screwed up their car strategy initially compared to what South Korea and Japan did earlier, but now their EV strategy is smart.
White countries are all generally all lacking in strategic economic planning.
The faster US hegemony ends, the better for everyone. That said, the article is a bit too triumphalist.
This is a variation on the meme that if China sells US treasuries, then the US dollar will tank, cause massive inflation and an economic and/or currency crisis. But this was never on the cards. The greenback is still far and away the most dominant currency. International usage of yuan has actually declined in the last year or two. It remains at a modest 2-3% of global usage. China is also a nightmare from a rule of law PoV, whereas the US offers very good investor protection.
That said, the petro-yuan will give the Chinese greater domestic variance in the oil market and that can always be a good thing. I would be cautious about the more propagandistic narratives concerning global implications. There, the progress will likely be more modest in the short-to-medium term.
it’s at roughly the 35min. mark (not 23min. as in the grani transcript.) I think Solovyov was being facetious.
They’re discussing the new Putin documentary and multipolarity and how to make it work, given that there’s no way to enforce intl. agreements and whether a big guy with a stick is not better, after all, than many guys each with his own stick. The burly guy (Satanovsky) says that America can’t be trusted, not after Ghaddafi etc. Zlobin then asks what kind of design of the world Russia proposes concretely. Satanovsky says that if America played by the rules, that would be a start, which is met by applause but Zlobin doesn’t react.
Zlobin goes on to ask what Russia’s “national interests” are exactly and what are the criteria to gauge whether the current foreign policy corresponds with them, in particular the confrontation with the West. Also, the West is interchangeable – Russia may have disagreements with UK in one thing, France in some other thing etc. So how come that no one trusts America but line up to be its allies whereas Russia is alone against many.
Then Solovyov asks him if he would like that Russia had more allies (obviously setting up a joke) to which Zlobin says of course and then Solovyov responds with the phrase about troops.
Yes, the same stupid policy of supporting an unsuccessful kleptocrat.
These are roughly the questions I also have in mind.
Why so, Kemosabe??…
correction.
The technology has improved at a very rapid pace over just the last few years. Unless you tried a system which is not continually improving via an over-the-air update (which is to say, most systems right now) then your reaction is not surprising. Even a two year pause can be night and day. Tesla recently released their latest AP2 update and the difference is quite huge.
https://electrek.co/2018/03/15/tesla-autopilot-update-autosteer/
/r/TeslaMotors have been very critical of Tesla over the past year, but they have been ecstatic over the performance improvements. There are a lot of mini-reviews on that subreddit to look through if you want to see the differences. Including many with before/after Youtube videos. And that was just one update. Karpathy, after having been forced to re-write the full codebase is only now starting to accelerate.
Tesla is also making their own AP hardware suite. They are using a clunky Nvidia setup right now, with a full Titan GPU in the car. Jim Keller, who was behind the Ryzen AMD processor and worked on early Apple CPUs, is in charge. In just a few years we will see what a boutique solution can provide in terms of efficiency and pperformance in a given power envelope.
It’s not either/or and it is a mistake to view it as such. Business is not a charity, but it is possible to combine social goals with economic profit. Keep in mind that the car industry is extremely capital-intensive, as your previous Sergio reference hinted at, and Tesla is building everything from scratch. All the factories, all the supply chain linkages and they are investing in all the new tech at the same time.
They could slow down and just live off their very fat gross margins, and some have suggested they do so, but that wouldn’t appeal to someone like Musk who wants maximum progress at maximum speed. And the price of that is being a loss-leader for the time being.
Yes, I’m aware of that I am in fact happy you brought up that example. Ford is an excellent case-study of the importance of vertical integration when there is a paradigm shift.
Over time, as the car industry matured, the ICE legacy car makers offloaded more and more of their production onto their supply chain. Today, what separates a BMW from a Skoda is really the engine. Sure, the interior fit and finish is nicer, but even that is often outsourced.
ICE companies have specialised in engine construction and this is why many are sweating bullets over EVs. They have huge amount of sunk costs and the shift to EVs will mean a lot of expertise will become obsolete. Some will likely go under. You can bet that the calls for bailouts will only increase by the 2020s, along with softer emission standards and the like.
Tesla is doing the same thing now, and so is BYD. We all know about Tesla but few know that BYD is pursuing the same strategy. They are also investing in their own battery tech and manufacturing.
Compare and contrast with GM, which is so uncompetitive that they not only outsourced the battery but even the entire drivetrain(!) to LG. As the EV business matures, vertical integration will be less necessary but the early years will give an advantage to those who pursued it. Like Ford did a century ago or like Tesla or BYD is doing now.
Indeed, Tesla is more than just a car company. Their battery production will help with their solar business as well as providing energy storage, both on a large scale (see the recent deal with Australia) as well as to home buyers. The PowerWall 2 is quite competitive and costs are racing down.
🙂
Yep, I made a reference to this earlier in my comment. Generally, the US automakers are lagging the most here. The Korean and Japanese are ahead, some German ones are doing okay(at best). The Chinese are rapidly innovating.
I can’t claim to read his mind, but I’ll take your word for it. I will say this, though, Sergio and other dynosaurs have claimed that making EVs profitable is “impossible”. But Nissan is making a profit from their Leafs. Tesla could be making a profit if they weren’t extremely ambitious and trying to do everything at once, and preferably yesterday. Their gross margins are extremely good for the auto industry(upwards 20-25%).
The fact that Sergio can’t make money off EVs doesn’t say much about EVs; it says a lot more about his antiquated leadership and inability to innovate.
Norway certainly would be exception to that. They are not only rushing ahead to electrify their car fleet, they are even investing in making boats and planes electrified. And they want Norwegian companies to be at the forefront of that innovation. Sweden has been ridicolously reactionary in this, insisting that somehow biofuels must be used in airplanes, which literally nobody outside of Sweden thinks is a plausible idea.
That’s what happens you get when you have a ton of forest to tap into but not any real idea how to sell it, as in the case of the Swedes. But I’m fairly confident that they’ll get their act together soon, too. They just have to accept that their huge forests aren’t going to be of much help in this instance.
P.S.
If you want to read a little bit about self-driving, and why Tesla is doing it “the hard way”, this article is a good primer:
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/11/14/teslas-lack-lidar-autopilot-legit-provides-cost-competitive-edge-research-hints/
I absolutely agree. I’m not one of those nutcases who thinks that the US/Zionist/Reptilian collapse (whatever that means) is imminent or something. Just no unipolarity and I’d honestly rather see China as the number 1 too.
Hard to define what that number 1 position would require, to be honest and not even that important IMO, just close enough to the US in all aspects.
Nominal GDP is probably one those economic indicators where China has the most catching up to do? Although there are things like stock market size, “wealth”, overall oil and nuclear energy consumption, etc, but they matter less.
China also doesn’t need as many foreign military bases as the US and certainly not even similar official (nominal) military spending… It’s also less of an island than the US, somewhat less focus on blue-water navy (but more than the USSR). Even then, the first two island chains or even largely the whole of Western Pacific should be secure by the early 2030s.
Militarily Taiwan’s location is really quite strategic as well. Taiwan’s demise is of course certainly inevitable at this point, but it’s not clear when that’s going to happen. Possibly sooner than most people realize, however. Not a long time ago I thought it would be really unlikely to happen before atleast 2030-35 or so, but I’m not so sure anymore, depends on Emperor Xi.
As Professor MacDonald has ably demonstrated over the years.
The Conservatives are Conservatives In Name Only. There are few differences between them and the Liberals or Labourites. They are all pro-globalist, pro-EU and pro-Third World Immigration. The fact that some factions may be less Zionist than most is of little comfort or interest to those of us who are concerned about Britain’s indigenous population.
Obviously, the first-past-the-post favours the present parties. Any new anti-globalist party has to overcome high barriers to entry to obtain a parliamentary seat, unless they are highly concentrated in support. This applies in the US and Canada for the same reason.
Real change will not occur until after the coming Economic Depression. I expect all three present parties to be dissolved or reduced to unimportance
Thanks! That’s more context.
Yanukovich was very much forced on the Kremlin. The alternative was, after all, Poroshenko. It was hardly a choice. The Ukraine was and is a vital part of Russia’s near abroad.
There are no Russian vital interests in Venezuela. Getting the foreign assets of PDVSA might have been a sharp bit of business, but that’s where it should have stopped. Even viewed as an operation to stir up trouble for the Americans, Venezuela was useless, given its geopolitical irrelevance.
So maybe you’re right. Putin likes unsuccessful kleptocrats. The proof will be what happens after Maduro’s deposition. If Maduro ends up in Russian exile, I will regard the matter as proven.
( Rather like how Britain used to accept numerous West African kleptocrats in the 1970s, 80s and 90s )
These are roughly the questions I also have in mind.
Here are a several others:
How, and at what point, were the Skripals poisoned? (the following have been offered as explanations: Yulia’s suitcase, car exhaust, car door handle).
It has been reported that the European “allies” were convinced by the evidence provided by the UK. Is there in fact any actual evidence of Russian culpability, other than that “novichok” is a nerve agent “of a type developed by Russia (sic)”, and that there is “no plausible alternative (sic)”?
What news of the doctor who treated them on the park bench for 30 minutes with no apparent ill effect?
Regarding your second point, yesterday I read an article on Bloomberg which implied to me that the top secret evidence shared by Theresa May last week at the EU summit during dinner (!) was none other than the exact type of the Novichok agent. Something like “this was the AE538F type chemical!” To which the vast majority of EU leaders said “Oh, God! That’s horrible!” And immediately decided for the expulsion of Russian diplomats.
US charges 9 Iranians of hacking universities, businesses
Axis of evil resurgent.
True, it’s just becoming ever more shrill. And they’ve just taken it to a new level.
Indeed.
Yes, and therefore it’s great to see the jewish lobbies discrediting their own smear term tactic by using it against him with such transparent dishonesty. Every little helps.
That’s true, though it’s worth bearing in mind that jewish votes, per se, count for even less in the UK than in the US. They are only about 0.5% of the population here, as opposed to 1.7% there, and even given their demographic concentration the jewish vote could only even theoretically swing a maximum of about 10 seats in Parliament. In practice it’s just a couple.
Well, I’m not sure I’d really give him that much credit. He still kowtows to the antisemitism smear with the usual abject apologies, but he does stand up to some extent on the substance of policies and personnel. (And as an aside re spine, notice how fast he caved on the Skripal business when the jingoists applied some heat.) The problem is that the control of dissent via hate speech laws is too useful to the wider left for him to oppose the use of it by jewish lobbies, so he won’t take any firm stand that threatens to really discredit the pc smear tactic in general.
The bottom line, as I suggested above and your comment seems to suggest you agree with, Corbyn is in trouble with the jewish lobbies basically for not being subservient enough.
Contribute to diplomacy!
https://twitter.com/RusEmbUSA/status/978273613349556224?s=20
You can also over-estimate ethnic/religious ties, between people living in different countries – even when they are trying to pretend to be closer (which is Israel’s tactic) to try to get more donations and immigrants from the American.
Imagine if Germany tried to get donations from rich American German protestants and tried to get German Americans to immigrate to Germany.
That’s the kind of picture you would see – pretending to be similar to German American/protestant people like Trump, but with actually a very different mentality, and using various propaganda to try to appeal to what you think is sensibility of the Americans. (For example, Israel is making propaganda showing lots of black people and American style values of rich American Jews like Ronald Lauder).
American Jews and the richer American Christians are vastly more similar in their mentality with each other, than American Jews are to Israelis (who live in the Middle East – and whose mentality becomes more similar to other people of the region, i.e. Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians).
Last month I was staying with my friend and his girlfriend in Israel (they’ve lived there continuously for four years, he is just qualified as a doctor) – and when we mention politics, they have no idea about America.
They were sure that Jews must vote for the right-wing party in America. And they were certain that Obama was Muslim (Obama is Christian – the Muslim is only his father). And they love Trump, because he is rich and made his own money (actually Trump is not even so successful as a businessman, but people that don’t know English on our level don’t have a clue of this).
The mentality developed living in Israel are liberal, but not in ‘messianic American way’, but in practical Middle Eastern way (kind of like how Assad was liberal to different religions in his country).
I am paying for online/Skype Hebrew teacher (I’m preparing to take an intermediate level exam in Hebrew to reach B1-B2 level). My teacher came from a orthodox religious (Arab Jewish) origin, but has become an atheist engineering student. She has better English even than me, and her job in the national service was to teach American Jews Hebrew. She said that she grew up at school, to imagine American Jews as being the same as them. But then now disillusioned that they have different ideas.
She thinks that American Jewish religion is very different and closer to Christian values, than to Jewish values. Despite being atheist, she is very angry about American initiatives in Israel, like to end the gender-segregation at the Western Wall.
But Israel will never admit this publicly, as not losing the American Jewish money and support is a strategic objective.
They have to be careful to hide differences with American culture, because they rely so much on donations from wealthy Americans – for example, if you go to Israel, you can see many donations from Ronald Lauder family to the museums there.
America is very generous patron for them. But like with most patrons, you have to suck up and appeal to their values. In Israel there is more schizophrenia as well because they also have to appeal to the American Christians. On issues like gun control, rival American factions actually both using Israel to support their arguments.
Next you know – Iran is hacking your election and making facebook trolls to support Bernie Sanders.
This is why I think Tesla’s future may be to merge with a traditional automaker. I’m not foolish enough to be a Tesla bear, but the amount of capital they need to raise is extraordinary.
And truly the most valuable thing about Tesla is the brand, though of course that would not have been possible without the enormous investments and risks.
FCA’s problem isn’t just EVs, it’s sedans and small cars in general (in North America). GM and Ford have competitive sedans and small cars globally unlike them.
Hence they are coming out with large numbers of specialized performance trucks and muscle cars exceeding seven hundred horsepower in order to profit from premium margins.
Note that I don’t think EVs are impossible to make profitable (even in the absence of subsidies), and there’s clearly a market for them. Tesla has a notable achievement in that they produced the first ever non-gay electric car. The Nissan Leaf by comparison I would be ashamed to be seen in, and I have contempt for everyone who drives one.
As a net exporter of petroleum with a major current account surplus and vast accumulated reserves this is a completely irrational strategic decision on Norway’s part. It would obviously be cheaper to stick with ICE and drop fuel economy limits entirely. Maybe promote EVs in the Oslo area if public health merits it.
Cack-brained ideas like electrifying boats and aircraft outrage me. Unless there is a revolution in battery chemistry, the energy density of fossil fuels dramatically outweighs that of batteries. Refueling will also remain faster than recharging for a considerable time.
EVs are a superior option for short haul vehicles of course, which frankly includes most of the passenger auto fleet in typical industrial countries.
But boats? Planes? That’s insane.
Electrification is also likely inferior to nuclear powered transport, which has been ruled out thanks to atomophobia. It’s quite possible that battery electric vehicles would be more competitive than atomic powered cars in most cases, but no way in hell would batteries beat reactors in heavy machinery. In aircraft it would come down to a competition between reactors and kerosene based on airframe size and range requirements.
In a plutonium economy perhaps the most important role played by batteries would be grid-connected energy storage. This is an interesting space in our timeline as well.
Note that I did not respond to your other remarks as I don’t have anything to add, being largely in agreement. I’ll check out your links later.
If nothing else this has all been a very useful exercise in exactly why you shouldn’t hold automaker stocks for the long-term.
Yes, I understand that Israel is in some ways a very Mideastern country and quite alien to many American Jews, your observations are interesting. But that’s not what I was getting at. I just don’t think it can be denied that Jewish organizations in many Western countries (not just Germany with its particular history) act as fervent advocates of de facto open borders and multiculturalism, on the assumption that this is somehow good for Jews. I think that’s both disgustingly selfish (since apparently the interests of white gentiles count for nothing) and insanely short-sighted, given the very real acts of violence, up to and including murder, of Jews by antisemitic Muslim immigrants.
OT: http://www.bjreview.com.cn/Nation/201712/t20171229_800113368.html
China is embracing nuclear district heating. As nuclear energy in the West declines into irrelevance owing to hysterical atomophobia, China embraces nuclear heat.
Unfortunately, even China is not immune to atomophobia.
Highly disappointed in CCP leadership here.
Where was their vaunted dictatorship and police state?
This was a missed opportunity to fire a whiff of grapeshot against the demented atomophobes.
Incidentally these Beijing Review pieces now appear on two-page special advertisement spreads in the print edition of Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which is where I first saw this piece.
Clearly an effort to burnish China’s soft power, though the tone and style are unlikely to appeal to Western frequent flyer class.
It’s a money-making operation. How do you expect money-making operation to act? In an objective or moral way?
You have to look at who the donors of the particularly organization, and then consider what kind of actions would appeal to their politics and make them donate.
One of these is to find different causes, or to exaggerate about rising judeophobia and Islamophobia.
Often years – will be quiet, with very little judeophobia. As a result, the groups expand outwards their operation to include other races.
Originally ADL was designed for protecting Jews in the United States.
But nowadays, Jews are one of the most powerful groups in America, and face almost no discrimination.
One option for ADL is to dissolve and lose its million dollar jobs. As judeophobia falls, so will its income.
But it is an industry of its own, with employees and pensions to protect.
Alternative is to expand outwards to protect ‘lesbians, gays, latins, Muslims’, etc.
Or to over-exaggerate endlessly about judeophobia , or to find as many fights and causes as possible. To create new goals, new missions – and new ways to get more people to donate to it.
But I don’t think those organizations have much relation to actual immigration policy, which is decided by politicians, and who try to pick up on overall weltanschauung of the era.
It depends on the journey. The electrified very short-distance ferries and barges are currently far more cost efficient.
It’s a direct result of energy efficiency increase, which I can explain in physics.
But you can also just see in market that there are some uses to this.
“The Ampere, built by Fjellstrand Shipyar with Siemens and Corvus Energy, decreased emissions by 95% and costs by 80% (compared to standard ferries), as well as noise.”
https://insideevs.com/norways-electric-ferry-impressive-53-ordered/
Atomophobia is indeed irrational, when applied to modern Western nuclear power stations.
But not if applied to ideas like onboard nuclear-powered aviation, which is not safe or sensible from any perspective, and would be huge ‘white elephant’ to face engineering challenges to build.
The way to use nuclear energy in a plane. Is to create simple electric turbo-prop plane (more realistic as battery energy density keeps improving). And charge it up with electricity from the standard nuclear power station.
If I were a rich Russian, I wouldn’t buy any more property in London. I might sell what I already have.
The British just would be harming themselves, to the benefit of competitors like Switzerland.
The reason people invest in the UK, is because they assume protection of property rights, without being part of some internal British political games.
Along with Pinochet, who oversaw some of the grisliest torture policies in the post-war era (female prisoners raped by rats, etc.). Always remember this when Thatcherites speak of “Assad the Butcher.”
Calling Reiner Tor!
Well, you can read for yourself what the British government intends to do. Perhaps you can explain to them that what they are planning is going to hurt them.
and insanely short-sighted, given the very real acts of violence, up to and including murder, of Jews by antisemitic Muslim immigrants.
But, a cynic might add, this keeps anti-Semitism alive.
As I wrote elsewhere, Orbán knows we are a German colony and won’t do anything against the wishes of Frau Merkel. He never vetoed the sanctions against Russia either. Though initially he made no secret of his opposition to them. Recently he doesn’t even talk much against the sanctions. He was reprimanded back in 2014 and 2015, and now he is in line.
Why assume that these lobby groups have a hidden agenda? Or put differently, why assume that they are not sincere in these beliefs when we know that so many other white Westerners are?
Because they are quite capable of thinking in terms of demographic displacement when it comes to Israel. Also if you listen to intra-Jewish debates, they usually use the argument whether one course of action is good for the Jews or not. (The usual caveats apply. That’s not invariably true of each and every Jew, etc. But I’d go out on a limb here to assert that it’s overwhelmingly true of the leaders of these ethnic activist organizations.)
Portugal is still resisting (having issued that a declaration that “we take note of the situation”) but, now that Spain has fallen, for how much longer?
Digging into it tonight.
When Anatoly says “jump!”, I ask “how high?”
Interesting. I thought it was decided as an EU policy. I think one diplomat was the absolute minimum, at least unless one wanted to run into problems with the EU leaders.
I didn’t write that they have a hidden agenda, I’m not a believer in a conscious conspiracy or something like that. Ethnocentric animosity and a delusional view of present dangers (white gentiles always one step away from going full Nazi, Muslims not that bad by comparison) are enough as explanations. But that doesn’t make me more understanding of people like Ronald Lauder when they’re acting in ways inimical to my interests.
You are making the same error as German_reader here in looking for far-fetched explanations when the simple answer — they truly do believe what they say — is in front of your nose. Fear of rising anti-semitism has been a staple of Jewish culture every since the Holocaust, and it’s still very much alive. I meet these opinions all the time (in Sweden, yes, so they’re not altogether baseless).
That part is not factually true though.
They organized vast protest in Tel Aviv, for example, this week against plans to repatriate illegal immigrants.
(The NGO lawyers also successfully blocked the deportation plan in the Supreme Court).
All the signs in Hebrew, etc – it’s paid for by the NGOs like New Israel Fund (tens of millions of dollars a year from American Jews to make Israel more liberal).
I would like to know why the Skripals turned off their phone GPS just hours before they were poisoned.
I would also like to know how the British investigators came to the conclusion of the mini drone, and why they didn’t think of some other hard science fiction methods.
It’s a combination – they have many ‘true believers’ (they believe in liberalism).
And they also sense they need to raise money (they are a money making operation). That’s why, like any business, they are expanding outwards, and trying to expand their fundraising to new demographics.
If you know the salary and pensions of people who operate these groups – it is quite shocking, and even then (from a non-selfish motive), they will feel obligation to their employees to keep the donations flowing.
That’s a good argument, but my guess is that this is a case of double-think. That is, they are sincere about wanting open borders in Western Europe and equally sincere about not wishing that on Israel. It wouldn’t surprise me if this goes for Julia Ioffe too, despite her obvious smarts.
It’s not even just in intra-Jewish debates, someone like Yasha Mounk openly states that an increasingly multiethnic and multicultural Germany in which Muslims feel at home would also be good for Jews (which is of course nonsense given what many Muslims would like to do to Jews). And as far as I can see this is a very common argument advanced by Jewish organizations and individuals throughout the West. These people openly state that their perceived self-interest (opposed to the interests of majority society) is a primary motivation for them. I don’t think it’s exactly a crazy conspiracy theory to point that out.
I didn’t deny that. To some extent it may even be understandable given the Holocaust which is still barely within living memory. But it doesn’t really affect my views…unless you’re arguing that someone like Ronald Lauder is mentally ill in a clinical sense because of Holocaust trauma, he’s still responsible for his actions.
I’m also interested in the sudden Beijing visit of the beloved North Korean Field Marshal.
And Trump reportedly to scrap the Iran deal in May. Though Greasy will rightly point out that all such previous rumors came to naught. He might plan to do so, but eventually a grown-up talks to him.
Anyway, interesting times.
Something about making them register property.
If they would actually take the property, it would be highly irrational – as they would be ‘killing the Goose who makes the golden eggs’. In the sense, of losing their status as a ‘safe’ investment zone.
That said – Russophobia in Britain does not have entirely rational basis, and we can lead to irrational/impulsive acts, as we might be seeing the beginning.
Well sure, they certainly are sincere about that. But it’s obviously a completely hypocritical position and a sign of extremely dubious morality imo. Arguing that white gentiles should give up their nation states (because those somehow equal Nazism, no matter how liberal towards existing minorities), but wanting to preserve an exclusive state for your own group as a potential bolt hole in case things turn ugly, is an obvious double standard. I don’t see why one should have much sympathy for that (all the more so since it’s been effectively made a taboo to point out this obvious contradiction).
I don’t know the details of Ronald Launder. As an American, he is likely a lot less cynical.
The Russian equivalent – Moshe Kantor – is very rational and cynical in his work on tolerance though.
He first started as an ‘anti-nuclear weapons activist’. When the wind has changed, he is now a ‘tolerance’ activist’.
He’s trying to make himself indispensable to both Kremlin policy (which he follows to a letter), and also to market himself to both the Western Jewish community and the EU (where he has most of his exports).
His real name is Viatcheslav – but he started marketing himself as ‘Moshe’ in the West.
I can almost imagine trying this game myself, if I was very rich, and I wanted to make myself indispensable. I can re-brand myself with a new name – ‘Moshe’, a famous Jewish leader, who is fighting against national hatred and nuclear weapons.
And now you’ve arrived at the theory of Kevin B. MacDonald, who wrote that the best deceivers are self-deceived. Probably the Jews engaged in such activities sincerely believe in the idealism for us and the cold hard interests for themselves. They would idealistically sacrifice us, while also selflessly serving their own ethnicity, and in the meantime making a decent living for all their dedicated work and sacrifices, all the while seeing no moral issues with any aspect of this.
But then, you can also think of the psychopathic murderer to be innocent, because he cannot see the evil of his ways. I mean, he’s a psychopath through no fault of his own.
If you cannot find people like Abe Foxman or Ronald Lauder responsible for their activism greatly harmful to us, then no one is morally responsible for anything.
By the way I personally hate the gentile traitors way more passionately than these Jewish activists. A Blair or a Merkel should probably count among the most despicable human beings ever born. Compared to them, Bill Kristol is a morally perfect being. At least he tries to serve his own people.
They are perfectly sincere for Israel. And they do it all undercover in Israel, with huge funding, so that the NGO workers are one of the main industries in Tel Aviv.
Again – who do you think pays for things like free Hebrew lessons for the illegal immigrants there. (They use it very cleverly, to then have an organized media campaign literally publishing dozens of articles in the leading newspapers saying: ‘look these people speak Hebrew, unlike the Russians in Israel – how can you want them to leave’).
I’ve heard of that guy, he’s a leading proponent of wideranging anti-hate speech legislation in Europe iirc (forgot the details some EU initiative or some other pan-European institution – council of Europe? – iirc).
You know, they actually mentioned confiscation and/or asset freezes. But then again, confiscation always starts with registration. As I wrote, if I were a rich Russian, I’d probably move my assets out of the country.
Israel shouldn’t allow liberal American Jews into the country, these people are obviously subversives.
Anyway, don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming that all Jews hold views such as I described, I know there are others with more sensible views. But it’s definitely a personality type that exists.
As far as I know, it’s mostly Soros who pays for the Israeli NGOs. It’s definitely untrue of most western Jewish leaders.
See what I wrote to Dmitry. It’s mostly Soros paying these despicable Israeli leftists.
Then why do they behave in the same way in Israel.
This – is where the whole conspiracy theory falls apart to me.
Confirmation bias conspiracies (with lack of acknowledgement when it doesn’t match the real world). If you built a bridge like this, I would not trust to walk on it.
—
Offtopic:
Another issue which stops building a rational anti-immigration policy, is that when people labeling anti-immigration supporters as ‘racists’ – and then the reply of low-intelligence people on the internet is always – ‘sure’.
You can be racist or not (like you can prefer ice-cream or pasta). But that is not needed to have any anti-immigration views. It’s a quite separate topic.
It’s an oligarch who wants to protect his wealth, by making himself indispensable to the different elites: Kremlin, EU and Jewish.
Not to be confused with who he is pretending to be – i.e. someone who actually believes any of it.
You don’t say it outright, but there is the implicit assumption that they think themselves Jewish first and citizens of their countries second. My argument is that the opposite is true. They do consider themeselves [insert nationality] first, but their idea of what makes a good society is colored by the Jewish experience, which breeds a natural hostility toward homogeneous societies and nationalism.
The one thing that doesn’t fit this pattern is their position on Israel, but that is fully explained by their fears of what an Arab majority would do to the Jews there if handed the power (it sure wouldn’t be pretty.)
New Israel Fund is sponsored by the American Jewish – upper-middle class – community.
Anyone knows anything about the Dear Beloved Field Marshal of North Korea visiting Beijing?
I really wonder what motivates Soros…does he really believe in all that open society stuff he’s pushing and thinks he’s leaving a positive legacy? Or is he just a malevolent old man who enjoys causing chaos? Very strange in any case.
This personality is extremely common amongst wealthy Jews and upper-middle class Jews.
The issue is that there is no ‘double thinking’. They behave in exactly the same way in Israel.
They believe in their own koolaid. And if you do that – then you would believe that Israel should accept illegal immigrants, which is what they do.
Despite the reality being a bit more problematic:
E.g.
And the South of the city looking like:
I think the latter is true. He is a malevolent guy who likes to create chaos.
It’s a psychopathic personality disorder, which is also probably how he is in the boardroom.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2013/04/25/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership/#68b92f654104
If you want to restrict immigration, you’ll be accused of racism anyway, even if you’re merely using economic arguments it will be claimed that’s merely a cover for a hidden racist agenda. You can’t win by accepting the terms of debate the open borders utopians and “antiracists” set, they’ll accept nothing except total surrender.
In my opinion it’s better to come out openly and state honestly that yes, to a large extent it is about ethnicity/culture and collective identities. That Europeans have legitimate group interests must be the basis of any discussion, anything else is useless.
Any thoughts on the Dear Beloved Field Marshal of North Korea and his sudden secret visit in China?
There was the same issue in the right-wing inside Israel, which can be followed if you can read in Hebrew language media.
People like Miri Regev (Moroccan woman who is like Israel’s Donald Trump) were saying racist things about illegal immigrants being like cancer. This led to huge shock and upset in Israeli media – almost identical to what Donald Trump had when he said Mexicans are rapists. Result is to make it seem like a debate based on irrational racism, and to turn sensible people into supporting illegal immigrants (to think about how ugly racism can be).
At same time, there was Bukharan (from Uzbekistan) politician called Gideon Sa’ar.
He is on right-wing in Israel, but he is actually very anti-racist. His view was just to provide a hospital and good manners with the illegal immigrants, while determining if they are economic immigrants or real refugees. They find out very quickly they are economic immigrants – and he started to establish the program of voluntary repatriation (paying them to return to third-countries).
The plan he established, is still not yet being fulfilled (because of the Supreme Court and NGO hired lawyers). But it became a mainstream position – and one which the public can discuss the positives and negatives in a non-emotional way, and without having to have any negative feelings to illegal immigrants in order to support or oppose.
He clearly has no prejudice against the illegal immigrants – but is a good problem solver and made the whole situation clearer. Probably this guy could become like a Putin in Israel in the future if he would be in charge.
I reject that distinction, because even if we accepted only “real” refugees (in the sense of “there’s a lot of violence in my homecountry, an endemic war going on, no democracy and living conditions are really bad!”), there is absolutely no doubt that Europe would be overwhelmed and destroyed by endless waves of immigration, given the demographical trends in Africa and a few Islamic countries. Life will probably always be nasty in Afghanistan, Somalia, Niger or the Congo, and there’s a good chance there will be horrible cases of mass death in those regions. But at some point one has to harden one’s heart against all of this, anything else would be suicidal. Something like Germany’s asylum system must be completely abolished and replaced by a fortress Europe approach.
I see your point that inflammatory language like calling people “cancer” can often repel people…but on the other hand there might also be situations where it’s appropriate. I don’t think one can generalize about that.
According to agreed on UN Convention on refugees, refugees can apply for shelter in first safe country they reach only.
All that has to do – is enforce this law, and many countries should receive very few refugees.
Also the actual refugees (which I believe should have shelter), are only a small minority of immigration. They should be repatriated when their country is safe . i.e. they can have a permit to stay which they have to renew each year, until their country is safe. On the refugee issue, there is no moral obligation to give them citizenship or to permanent status. The morality justification, is just to give them shelter until the political situation is resolved in home country.
Indeed, but the best political argument for it amongst the upper and middle classes will probably be based upon a loud campaign to protect the countries in question from “brain drain” and “theft of human resources”, with arguments that these countries will never sort out their problems until evil white countries are prevented from stealing their best and brightest.
No need to come across as ruthlessly hard-hearted when a judicious use of the leftists’ own tactics – self-righteousness, virtue signalling and lying hypocrisy, will get the job done better.
The whole asylum law and treaty system is a dangerous anachronism, based upon theories appropriate in a long vanished time of very limited international travel opportunities. It is no longer fit for purpose, and we need a political campaign to end it.
In her courageous statement on Monday to the House of Commons, Theresa May (seconded by JC himself) repeated the damning evidence against the Evil Empire that had been cited last week by her Foreign Minister.
This would appear to be the only piece of “evidence”, apart from the “fact” that an exclusively Russian nerve agent was used (sic), that has been presented to the “free nations” of the world.
Several observations:
at the limit, one could perhaps entertain the (remote) possibility that Russia had built up a secret stock of novichok for military purposes, but the idea that they would have done so for the explicit purpose of a (1-time, for obvious reasons) assassination of a marginal target defies credibility.
The FBI also has evidence/information that Trump peed on a Russian prostitute in a Moscow hotel, but this does not prove anything (although it was apparently the legal basis used to launch the investigation of Trump and his associates). By complete coincidence, of course, that evidence/information comes from a UK source only 1-step removed from Skripal.
It would be very interesting to know the source of this latest information/evidence that seems to have arrived “out of the blue” and just “in the nick of time”, so to speak — it must have been within the last 6 months, since on 11 October 2017 the UK attended a ceremony at the OPCW to mark the completion of the destruction of Russia’s chemical weapons stockpile (3 years ahead of the required deadline) with nary a dissenting voice.
That argument makes only sense for professional immigrants, doctors, nurses, IT workers etc. It’s a separate issue from asylum and “refugees” where it’s supposed to be not about economic considerations, but about protecting vulnerable people fleeing persecution or war. To be brutally frank, quite a few of the “refugees” now infesting Germany are probably scum even in their countries of origin, being often of very low educational background or actually even illiterate, also often of marked criminal tendencies. You can’t really pretend that the problem with an illiterate Syrian with two wives and half a dozen children now living in a large house on German welfare payments (real case recently in German media) is that Syria now has to get by without such skilled and talented people…even more so with the many cases of “minors” who have social workers looking after them, but are ultra-criminal (up to and including committing murders). The issue with these people is quite simply that they’re parasites and undeserving of solidarity. It may be difficult to say so openly, but one can’t dodge this issue imo.
All true, but in reality it hasn’t worked like that for decades.
I’m in Portugal.
Preliminary observations:
* Seems pretty functional (based on totally representative sample of Lisbon airport)
* People are swarthier than I expected
* The stats don’t lie – very few minorities, so nice after Brussels and London
* Portuguese is a Romance language spoken in a Russian accent
Funny anecdote – only person I know who was personally affected by the haircut Cyprus applied to foreign (ie Russian) Bank deposits under EU pressure was… A liberal Russian journalist.
“Oligarchs” in Russia are far less pro-putin than average, and the ones in London are further selected for oppositionism. Which of course doesn’t negate the presence of regime thieves, but still, the Brits would have to be very careful to avoid “friendly fire”. Not sure they’re capable of that in principle considering the state of Russia studies in the West.
Another amusing fact is that the position of basically all political forces in Russia that are at least somewhat orthogonal to the Kremlin – communists (obvious reasons), nationalists, liberals (because they fantasize about it undoing Putin) – is, “Go for it.”
The argument doesn’t need to make sense, it only needs to be asserted loudly and sanctimoniously enough with denunciations of the moral degradation of those disagreeing with it. That’s how the arguments in favour of immigration worked.
In any case, while there’s no doubt you are correct about the nature of a lot of the “refugees”, any large number is going to include plenty of competent and qualified individuals who ought to be back building up their own country. And the more the pro-immigration nutters try to argue that the “refugees” will be an asset to the destination country, the more they support that case.
It’s an argument that has its place. I’ve certainly used it effectively with middle class do gooders to make them doubt their indoctrination.
Sure, but the context in Britain is somewhat different, since the mass immigration from 1997 onwards was justified not least in economic terms, and a “brain drain” from non-European countries actually does exist to some extent (e.g. nurses and doctors in the NHS).
In Germany that “brain drain” argument would make sense regarding Eastern European countries like Romania…regarding “refugees” it’s just not very plausible (it’s true they were presented as skilled workers with great economic potential in 2015…but you just have to use public transportation or go to a railway station to get a rather different impression…).
It’s also a bit of a double-edged sword as an argument, since truly convinced immigration fanatics might easily come up with counter-arguments (e.g. something like “the remittances migrants send back home are important for many 3rd world countries, more effective than development aid and easily compensate brain drain effects”). But maybe it works on some of the people who just go along with the dominant immigration propaganda out of conformism.
I read a Bloomberg article recently about immigration which I think made a pretty effectively case for immigration that requires a few things accepted:
1) A purely economic case could be made only for a few highly vetted immigrants: therefore immigrants are to be seen only as human resources for exploitation with temporary visas. Permanent stay must therefore only be earned through superlative performance.
2) Part of this then is understanding that no one deserves a home.
3) Although it is not “humanistic”, this also judges against family reunification or chain migration. Any additional family members must be justified separately, and with no expectation of permanent visa.
As far as accusations of racism go, its much like dealing with witch-hunters. You’ll be a witch no matter what you say or do.
Like many Swedes and other Westerners, your view of Pinochet has been fundamentally distorted by Marxist propaganda, something Paul Craig Roberts has asserted himself. For a proper discussion of this see Benjamin Villaroel’s article posted at VDARE.
https://www.vdare.com/articles/memo-to-trump-when-you-have-time-deport-moaning-marxist-ariel-dorfman
Villaroel contrasts the attitude to Pinochet to that of Hollywood’s favourite Communist dictator, Fidel Castro.
[ The Rettig Commission 1991 reckoned about 2,000 were killed ]
He also gives a very interesting table from Rummel on Communist Democide.
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF
By world standards Pinochet was not a particularly bloodthirsty dictator. Why was he singled out for attack ?
Back in the late 1960s, the Marxist left had already singled out Chile as the next Latin American country to undergo Communist Revolution. This was not only the view of Western Trotskyites but of the Soviet Government too. Even under Eduardo Frei ( the President before Allende ) the Soviets were transporting arms to various left-wing Chilean groups.
When Allende became President, this view seemed to be vindicated. There was a massive amount of Soviet and Western leftist propaganda whitewashing the numerous illegalities of Allende. After the removal of Allende, the Left felt cheated. Both Soviet and Western Leftist propaganda went into overdrive. Pinochet got the Saddam Hussein treatment – though by comparison with the latter his offences were limited. This was faithfully transmitted to the masses by left-leaning broadcasters in the media, just as today their successors purvey half-truths and propaganda against Putin or Assad or other people the Western Left don’t like.
In many ways, the allegations about the “grisly torture” policies of Pinochet are the lineal ancestors of the allegations about the “grisly chemical warfare” policies of Assad.
Your knowledge of British politics seems very limited. There are very few Thatcherites left in the British Conservative Party. Nearly all are dead, retired or purged – look what happened to the Monday Club. The people speaking of “Assad the Butcher” are representatives of a pro-globalist, pro-EU, pro-mass immigration, pro-homosexual marriage clique. They are CINO – Conservative In Name Only.
Pinochet was ‘Neo-Liberalist’ – which was actually an excellent economic program for Chile, and the main reason Chile is now the richest Latin American country per capita.
But his neoliberal program requires some intelligence to understand, and has become an ideology that upsets all different kinds of less intellectual groups that cannot understand how it works, and that is likely the real reason he is now more unfashionable than other Latin dictators who killed more people and (unlike Pinochet) ruined their country’s economy.
That doesn’t condone Pinochet for murdering opponents. But at least he murdered people and successfully reformed the economy. Which is a lot better than murdering people and not reforming the economy.
Haven’t heard anything that you wouldn’t have. Beijing is keeping it fairly down-low, I don’t see any particularly new from newspapers or Mandarin blogs I visit. I guess that there won’t be a mysterious train accident with no survivors.
“Low” rating to the victims of “Democide” in the USSR – 28 000 000? Very funny. And why spread such garbage?
The real numbers are well known
http://polit.ru/article/2007/12/11/repressii/
“…In fact, the number of prisoners for political reasons (for “counterrevolutionary crimes”) in the USSR in the period from 1921 to 1953, i.e. after 33 years was about 3.8 million people… during this period ( 1921 to 1954 ) has been convicted 3 777 380 people, including to capital punishment – 642 980, to the contents in camps and prisons for a term of 25 years and below – 2 369 220, into exile and expulsion – 765 180 people“.
I believe there is an Itchy Feet comic strip on Portuguese as Spanish plus Russian
Thanks! I actually expected your contribution, based on your knowledge of magic (a.k.a. “Chinese script”), and hoped for some new insight.
It’s interesting that Dear Beloved Field Marshal finally dared to visit the Chinese.
It could seem as a confirmation that he is not as independent of China as it seemed only a few months ago. But maybe it doesn’t mean much.
Your third point was also mentioned in the ZeroHedge article I linked with the thirty questions to ask about the Skripal murder attempt. Either the UK knew about it earlier, in which case they should have informed the OPCW before it certified the destruction of the Russian chemical stockpiles, or they learned about it later, in which case they should have informed the OPCW in the meantime. At the very latest, they should have informed the OPCW over the past few weeks. Have they done so?
In a way it’s fortunate that Trump just started his tariffs on Chinese goods, at least China will be less likely to play along the western deception on this matter. Though perhaps in exchange for the easing of the tariffs?
My first conclusion is that it’s an indicator he’s starting to feel more secure in his position – secure enough to leave the country unattended and to trust those he delegates control to while he’s away.
I’ve found that with the middle class do-gooder type I’m talking about – who are not fanatical immigrationists, just well meaning conformists – trying to convince them to go all the away to your aforementioned hard reality position is too much for them to swallow. The “building their own country” argument avoids the alienation such ruthlessness generates. (The remittances sent home argument is easily dealt with by waffling about building social capital and structures in the home countries.) As you say, it won’t work with ideologically committed immigrationists, but nothing will with them, in the short run -they’ve just got to grow out of it).
Oh yes, certainly. Though I already thought that when he offered negotiations to Trump. Unlike Anatoly, I thought he needed the nukes partly for domestic reasons (to show external strength, something allegedly behind the sinking of the South Korean vessel in 2010, an operation which was thought to be under his personal command to make him look fit for power in the eyes of the much older political and military leadership), and so giving them up might decrease his standing (in the eyes of his much older coterie), mortally endangering his life, as well as that of his immediate family. This is why I thought there was a danger of nuclear war: Kim might fear a domestic coup (as a result of appearing weak) more than even a nuclear war (which he might survive if the Chinese came to his aid).
Tangentially this reminds me of how the few black Germans (mostly of Namibian origin) were treated during the Nazi regime. The SS had no idea what to do with them. Sub-saharran Africans were officially considered an inferior race, so by law they were suppose to be sent to concentration camps. But because there were so few, there was never any official policy written down to handle blacks specifically. So, most SS agents on the ground kind of just awkwardly ignored them.
Very German in character… “Yes we hate this group and want to kill all of them. But we couldn’t possibly start until there’s some regulatory guidance on the issue.”
Esssentially what you say is true.
Pinochet’s government killed far fewer people than other Latin, never mind, world dictatorships. At the same time, it helped Chile to successfully industrialise, in part to counter sanctions. Neoliberalism was used to justify policies, it is true, but was only part of the story.
The economic transformation of Chile enraged the Western left even more, especially as the Soviet Union fell apart.
I started reading All The Kremlin’s Men by Mikhail Zygar. Don’t be surprised if pretty soon I will know more about Russia (or, at least, of Putin and his regime) then anyone else here. And I will make it known, lecturing you inferior beings on how to interpret events or how much more I know than you do.
Agreed. So what’s the motivation there? Is it purely the lust for power? Do people like Merkel and Blair really believe in nothing at all? Are they aware of the consequences of their actions?
Regarding what to visit in Lisbon, I’d suggest setting aside a half-day to see Sintra and its Moorish castle and go for a walk in the hills.
I’d also suggest visiting the Expo ’98 area along the Tagus in east Lisbon. It might not be terribly remarkable and can be a little desolate at times but it’s one of the only modernist areas of Europe that feels well-designed.
US Senators Appeal to Poland Over Property Restitution Bill
Always on the look-out for more shekels to take from the goyim. The Germans fell flat on their faces when faced with these pressure tactics. We’ll see if the same is true with us. So far, given the whining and worrying tone of the letter, that is a good sign (for us).
Why would ties with the US be strained because of a Polish-Israeli spat? After all, there is no such thing as the Jewish lobby, it’s all a conspiracy theory, goy.
Shouldn’t they be friendlier towards Poland right before planning to start WW3? Anyway, this tank deployment in Jordan is worrisome, but I guess just some usual exercises.
Then there is a detained Polish official on charges of spying for Russia.
On the other hand, apparently not all EU countries are expelling Russian diplomats. And New Zealand says they couldn’t find Russian spies to expel.
(Sorry, on a ZeroHedge reading binge.)
He also gave up power voluntarily.
Yeah, about that…
http://johnhelmer.net/the-swiss-have-stopped-smiling-at-russian-oligarchs-ukrainians-too/
This would include victims of artificial famines. 28 million is still at least double the real number.
We’ve discussed this before. The figure of “642 980,” for capital punishment does not include people executed in small-scale acts, people who died of treatable conditions in prison, people who died of beatings while in custody, etc. Official stats do not capture every single person killed by the Soviet regime. Actual number killed was around 1 million (and this does not include famines).
Nazis seemed to have had a soft spot for Africans. Didn’t Riefenstahl have her career after World War II in Africa? My impression is that they may have felt them to be non-human enough that they didn’t hate them as they hated Slavs or Jews. Nazis were pro-environment.
After some pressure from the US.
As far as I know, the Chilean economic miracle is not as straightforward as Chicago Boys fans like to state. What is true is that Pinochet didn’t destroy the Chilean economy, and he left it in relatively good shape, and well positioned to start an economic boom. But growth accelerated after Pinochet stepped down (mainly because there were two mini-depressions or extremely sharp recessions under his rule in the 1970s and then again in the early 1980s) under the social democratic government.
I have little doubt Chile would be substantially worse off if Pinochet didn’t prevent a leftist regime from emerging, but the Chilean economy didn’t grow so fast until the 1980s (or here), and his 15-year period, taken as a whole, is worse in terms of growth than the 15-year period after it.
Hardly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhineland_Bastard
If zee Germans exhibited less enthusiasm on this subject, it was only because of the miniscule number of black Africans in their domains.
What I’m hearing is that its actually a win for NK – having convinced Trump to meet with him, this allows him to effectively leverage to make Xi meet with him, something that China has been trying to avoid because it grants him larger legitimacy. But now he has that acknowledgment, at least.
Obviously given by the suggestions on WeChat to mysteriously disappear him, Dear Leader is not that popular in China. But he does seem to have played his cards quite well.
What has that to do with my comment?
So they didn’t murder them as they did to the Jews, and didn’t enslave/murder them as they did to the Slavs, they only tried to keep them out of the German gene pool. Sounds like they didn’t mind them too much.
An article from a tabloid, but not meaningless:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205901/Forget-Hitler–America-snubbed-black-Olympian-Jesse-Owens.html
My bad It was a response to a message Verymuchalive #109
I probably mistakenly clicked in the wrong place when I sent the response
Suggestions for Lisbon:
Don’t know if you go for museums, but the Gulbenkian Museum is well worth an afternoon, and has a very interesting story. In effect, it’s a mini-Hermitage/Louvre that was the private collection of Calouste Gulbenkian, “Mr. Five Percent” (for his share of mid-East oil deals which he negotiated) and one of the richest (if not the) people in the world. Gulbenkian was Armenian, born in Constantinople, received an engineering degree from Kings College in London at age 18, and became more English than the English (acquiring UK citizenship). It was his intention to bequest his fortune to the British. But they had the bad sense to declare him an enemy alien during the Second World War, and he wound up giving it all to Portugal. Gulbenkian was also well known for his belief that “vitality” could be preserved by being constantly attended by an 18-year old mistress. So for a period of 50 years or so, he annually changed mistresses, the exes all being sent into “retirement” with a generous pension plan.
the Alfama — the old Arabic/Jewish quarter on the hillside leading up to the castle
the National “Coach” Museum in Belem (Museu Nacional dos Coches); the Jeronimos monastery in Belem is also very impressive, and you can pay your respects to Vasco da Gama.
Hitler, ironically, despite popularity with people who try to divide the world into white and black skin people (and who ascribe only positive qualities to people with white skin, and deny them to people with black skin) – has killed millions of white people, while leaving the black people in peace.
In fact, he probably killed more white people than anyone else in human history. And he also did a lot in destroying their cities, architecture and cultural heritage (even Volgograd, for example, was actually a beautiful city, before it was bombed into rubble).
I thought the Chinese were mad at him because he didn’t want to travel to Beijing right after he became the Dear Beloved Field Marshal and Supreme Leader.
The original BAP.
Thanks for the recs.
Thanks for the detailed response. I did indeed hear about the torture practices from a socialist — alt-left blogger Ian Welsh — but his sources seem solid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinochet_File
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet
Either way, your figure of 5,000 executed people under his watch proves my point equally well — that people who defend Pinochet’s regime have no moral authority to point fingers at Assad.
It is, yes, so do correct me if I’m wrong. I took Thatcherite to mean “supporter of her back in the day,” and there are surely many such people still around. Andrew Sullivan springs to mind, and also John O’Sullivan.
Thor is a nutcase.
The recent, obviously highly orchestrated, smear campaign against Corbyn has been so absurd that my inherent patriotism and sense of fair play is compelling me to actually vote labour in the next election. The current Conservative Party is hardly much different except for their vile servility to the lobby.
Stalin is still considered by most mainstream historians to be responsible for more deaths than Hitlers. Besides that, Hitler was actually fighting for the white race, the people opposing him were no different to the anti whites of today, they were hell bent on killing other whites to impose their racial equality on this world, they are profoundly more destructive to whites than Hitler.
I can certainly understand that, but I manage to avoid being tempted to go that far by keeping three things in mind;
1 Corbyn and his ilk were the very inventors of this name-calling smear technique, calling anyone who disagrees with their views on mass immigration “racist”, anyone who disagrees with their politics “fascist”, anyone who disapproves of pretending homo sex is the same as normal sex a “homophobe”, etc. So there is a very real sense in which his treatment and the similar treatment of Livingstone is a matter of poetic justice, and no chance that electing a Labour government would do anything to help against the spread of “hate speech” censorship and speechcrime laws;
2 Corbyn caves as often as he resists – as he’s largely caved on Russia, so he also spends more time apologising to the loathsome creatures slinging the “anti-Semite” smear at him than he does disagreeing with them;
3 A Labour victory might remove the contemptible “Conservatives” from office, but it brings into office all the Blairites that Labour has so comprehensively failed to scrub out of their Parliamentary party, and also will bring with it a load more real true believers in mass immigration, multiculti nonsense, EU membership, “rubbing the right’s nose in diversity”, etc, all fired up with triumphalist enthusiasm It feels as though things couldn’t be worse than under the “Conservatives”, but they really could.
Not much would change in that regard under a Labour government, precisely because the charges against Corbyn are absurdly false. A minority of patriotic resisters to the Israel lobbies hobbled by fear of the antisemite smear and consistently outvoted by the cross-party pro-Israel consensus would be replaced by a minority of pro-Palestinian resisters to the Israel lobby hobbled by fear of the antisemite smear and consistently outvoted by the cross-party pro-Israel consensus .
Caiscais is a pleasant place for an afternoon at the end of a suburban rail line near Estoril , I would second Sintra also accessible by rail and Gelbukian Museum, have a good time
Only if one makes the absurd claim that Stalin was responsible for the Soviets killed in World War 2. This is what our friends on liberal campuses refer to as “victim blaming.”
In the whole Soviet Union, between 1921-1954 – 642,980 people were executed.
That can’t be true, about that number (or somewhat more) was executed just in 1937/38 during the Great Terror.
There exist 642,980 recorded orders of executions that were carried out. This number does not include people who died from beatings while in custody, people shot on the side of the road or hanged from a convenient lamppost, etc. Actual number of people killed was around a million. And this doesn’t include those millions starved to death, those killed while in transport, gulag deaths.
And, of course, by starting in 1921 you ignore the Red Terror during the Civil War. For example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Terror
In the Crimea, Béla Kun and Rosalia Zemlyachka, with Vladimir Lenin’s approval,[17] had 50,000 White prisoners of war and civilians summarily executed via shooting or hanging after the defeat of general Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel at the end of 1920. They had been promised amnesty if they would surrender
Feel free to push back on that one (as I know you will). There was (still is) a similar saga of property restitution in Latvia, too, but despite the debilitatingly annoying pressure from the State department, things are going very, very slowly and have in fact stalled – they were asking for the restitution of 270 properties and have only received 5 (after about 7 years of trying). And those are all religious related. Of course, this is a mini-case compared to the Polish one (and a letter from Senate is more serious than what we had), but it is important to establish caveats there (like Poland, very correctly, has done – money derived from these properties has to stay in the country). For us it is basically a fight between the government, local Jews (our real Jews who sided with us) and a more internationalized Jewish organization led by a Jewish banker who emigrated from Belarus in the 1980s and the Jewish organizations from the US (they did a loop with some NGO from Israel too, but the Israeli ambassador has actually been pretty decent about this but you know…). At one point, our justice minister stepped down because he refused to do what they wanted (nice allies, huh, destabilizing an “allied” government).
I completely agree with you that they need to be reminded that this is an issue between Poland and Israel exclusively. Push back, don’t worry – they can’t do much.
Btw, for the Russian readers here – my deepest condolences about Kemerovo. Especially to the grandmother who lost all her grandchildren (and daughter and daughter-in-law), I couldn’t even finish reading about it. There are simply no words…
But there was also a tidbit in the news where the head of the supermarket said that older boys of “various nationalities” used to come in and harass the children, and they had to ask them to leave repeatedly. And the fire started in the children’s play room. How is that possible…. what nationalities were they… are they going to talk about that…?
That’s the figure of the memorandum passed to Khrushchev.
There’s indeed various controversies or discrepancies.
“In 1956, the Pospelov Commission named the figure of 688.503 executed during this same time period.
In 1963, the Shvernik commission, gave a still larger figure- 748,146 killed during the period 1935-1953, of which 681,692 – in 1937-38. (including 631,897 on the decision of extrajudicial bodies.)
In 1988, in a KGB document submitted to Gorbachev, 786,098 people were shot between 1930-55.”
You really made yourself believe that Germans wanted to kill other people, that they thought about it and talked about it? Like most normal people Germans wanted to believe they are good and moral and wanted to be perceived as good and moral. People did not fantasize about killing.I was not part of the Zeitgeist. Killing does not come easy. People have inhibitions about it and usually it is not in the realm of possible thoughts. Only now after reign of Hollywood culture and video games killing is on the tip of your tongue. People lost inhibitions. The only think that keeps people from killing is fear of punishment. But let them kill and they will. It seems there is nothing to it. Germans when they were ordered they did kill. Americans do not have to be ordered. Killing is in their blood. Nobody did as much killing of soldiers wanting to surrender as Americans during WWII. American GI’s had to be motivated with ice cream for a dessert to bring live POWs. Their urge to kill was not coming form the top. Germans on the other hand had to be ordered to kill. And when they participate in massacres they had to anesthetize themselves with alcohol and many wept. They were not natural born killers as Americans already were. There was a big civilizational difference of which we forgot because the “barbarians” won the war and turned us all into them.
If you want a summary of the canadian historian Paul Robinson
“figure now generally accepted by historians of about 800,000 executed between 1921 and 1953 (of whom 700,000 were killed in 1937-38).”
https://irrussianality.wordpress.com/2016/08/29/stalinism-again/
Most likely the differences are caused by different assessment of the number of criminals among those executed.
In any case, the given figures of “Communist democide” (a low estimate of 28 million, a high estimate of 150 million) are absolute nonsense.
But you also wrote that the peasant scum deserved to die, so starving them to death was no biggie.
Correction: I argued that peasant scum who took part in the revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917-18 deserved to die. Yes, starving to death this scum – right thing (Unlike 10 million starving to death under Yeltsin (with the direct participation of the US and the EU) )
But along with peasant scum, along with the victims of the red terror of 1918-1920, anyway “28 million victims of the red democide” is complete nonsense
peasant scum who took part in the revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917-18 deserved to die.
Which peasant scum was this? Were they all peasants? If not, how was the “scum” identified?
Look, I don’t like the Yeltsin system or especially its western cheerleaders, but under Yeltsin no one forcibly prevented anyone from obtaining food. Taking the food from the peasants and then forcibly preventing them from visiting their relatives in the city and obtaining food from them was a bit different than making a large portion of the population very poor.
Under Yeltsin, the people (at least in some cases) definitely died of starvation. Applying the methodology of calculating the “victims of communism “(that is, all the increase in mortality due to the deterioration of living conditions should be considered the result of death from hunger – this is how Stalin’s” victims ” are calculated), we get that as a result of the organised by US/EU genocide at least 10 million people died of hunger in Russia in the 90s.
But all this is off topic . The bottom line is that even with all the dead as a result of deteriorating living conditions, the figure of “28 million victims of the red democide in the USSR” is still absolute nonsense.
@German_reader
Some colored blogger complained about it ( http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com/post/75252294049/hi-ive-been-looking-at-a-kickstarter-for-a ) and authors of the game were happy for such publicity, since the game was over budget and over time. Czech newspapers had a field day whenever this flared up in Western media.
No, what is absolute nonsense is your belief that 10 million people died of starvation in the 90s, if this really did happen one would think that somebody would have recorded this on camera and it would have made the news. The (((Bolsheviks))) starving millions however has plenty of evidence.
But the majority of Jews in Israel are primarily Sephardic (middle eastern), not Ashkenazi. I wonder what the proportions were back in 1949 or 1969.
I guess that a lot of the Jewish Israelis being visibly whiter than the Arabs, makes them a useful target on the basis of “white colonialism.”
I agree that we need to transition away from fossil fuels. But it needs to be done gradually to minimize the shock to the economy.
I’d be fine with a slow but large increase in the gas excise tax, but balanced by a generous long-term income tax credit for the purchase of all-electric and (for now) plug-in hybrid vehicles.
We generally should be shifting more of the tax burden onto polluting activities, taking some tax burden off of income from work, savings, and investment. Very gradually.
Did they also weep as they practiced human sacrifice?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest
You have little idea of what the weeping German soldiers were doing in the Eastern front.
It was kind of long time ago. Germans did not benefit yet form Latin Civilization of which they later became a part. If for example China had benefits of Christianity it would have abandoned the practice of cannibalism much sooner. Cannibalism was practiced in China still in 19 century and even during Cultural Revolution cannibalism for ideological reason (not because of hunger) was practiced.
You needn’t go back that far, after all German soldiers did commit a significant number of atrocities during WW2. More narrowly, the view of mass killings of Jews (and others) as some clinical process focused just on efficient killing is probably wrong…there was lots of gratuitous sadism involved (like humiliating orthodox Jews by shaving their beards or even setting them on fire, forcing them to crawl naked on the ground, also rapes of Jewish women etc.).
Utu’s reference to WW2 GIs killing prisoners (or not taking any) is of course correct only for the Pacific war (such cases were much rarer in North Africa and Europe). I guess there were elements of a race war in that conflict (same was true in Burma during the British campaign in 1944/1945…in his youth my father knew a guy who had been there as a British airman, and openly admitted, without regret, that after the sinking of Japanese ships Hawker Hurricanes would often strafe shipwrecked Japanese). But of course that wasn’t a one-way affair, since the Japanese with their brutal and racist conduct had greatly contributed to such a character of the conflict.
The scum is you. You are unhinged and deranged.
Speaking of Orban,…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZXVnrSWAAAVSNQ.jpg
Yes, hyperinflating old people’s savings to zero and then not paying them pensions is totally different. No one was forcibly prevented from anything!
But the point is not that 10 million really starved under Yeltsin. It’s that applying demographic methods to the number of victims can produce weird results. There is a trollish paper by a Russian scientist named Boris Borisov where he applies these methods to the Depression era America and “discovers” that FDR is responsible for 7 million deaths.
Ashkenazi are the Jews of the Jews.
They do not need a majority to be very influential and dominate politics.
I wrote about it at length in the other thread. Jobbik is no longer far-right, they might be to the left of Fidesz, or at least not to the right. Orbán will probably win, but there is now a chance of him losing.
In Israel, all the different groups are a bit racist to each other.
Mizrahi Jews (Middle Eastern Jews) are in the majority of the Jewish population in Israel. Many are darker than local Arabs.
But even Mizrahim are not a unified group and are racist between each other (between different nationalities of Mizrahi Jews).
Some offtopic.
But for example, the Arab Jews in are historically very racist towards the Kurdish Jews.
The Arab Jews in Israel use ‘Kurdi’ (what they call Kurdish Jew), as a synonym for ‘stupid’ and ‘ugly’.
Mizrahi Jews of low class were always very racist to Ashkenizim (they have some slang like ‘Ashkenut’). And I (learning Hebrew) can read racist comments written on social media posts, from them saying things like – ‘I don’t like your white Ashkenazi face’, etc.
Russian-speaking Jews are the bottom of the list, and receive the most racism. Often getting beaten up or being the subject jokes.
In the Soviet Union itself though, Ashkenazi Jews were very racist to Mountain Jews – and usually refuse to let their children marry them, even when they were all marrying non-Jews (Russians, Ukrainians, etc).
https://lenta.ru/news/2017/09/15/israel/
Try to re-read my message and understand the meaning of what is written.
As far as I know, something was paid to them. To be the equivalent of what the communists did in 1932-33, they would have needed to cut off all pensions, and then prevent them from getting some other livelihood, like selling their possessions or asking from their working age relatives etc.
The methods have limitations. You can apply them to famines or other types of mass deaths, but they are not good methods to establish whether a famine really did occur.
For example we know for sure what the increase in mortality in the 1990s was coming from. (Mostly, alcoholism.) We also know exactly how many children were born (vastly fewer than in the 1980s), so no need to guess how many died within a couple years.
In the 1930s, we have huge documentary evidence that a famine did occur, that the communist leadership explicitly desired mass deaths to politically break the backbone of the peasantry, we have many descriptions (even photos) of starving people (including both Party and NKVD reports), and finally we have funny looking statistics. The latter is used to estimate the number of deaths.
You guys pretend as if it was only the funny looking statistics.
The navigation museum is of course unique to Portugal. I can’t think of the exact name.
Melanf is right in the sense of reductio ad absurdum argument.
The ‘many multiple millions killed’ claims are based on demographic projections, and include events like famines, and you can play the same game with 1990s. According to this kind of game, any very severe economic or natural event resulting in lowered demographics, would become a genocide.
It’s not the real sense of genocide.
The fact that we know for fact at least 642,980 (and possibly with figures of over 800,000+) people were executed is bad enough, and I don’t think we need to make any excuses for Stalin and in fact much of Soviet machinery – as a tyranny – knowing that they oversaw many hundreds of thousands of innocent people executed – not to mention how many imprisoned in this tyranny.
Famine(s) definitely occured but I’d be skeptical about any particular horror story (including photos) and super skeptical about numerical estimates based on demographic data. What are good numerical estimates? Beats me; but I would start with internal NKVD reports; they had no reason to lie in their internal reports and the numbers in them check out in other cases. But I don’t know.
Unfortunately, the estimates of of the famine victims is being used as a political tool, so dispassionate discussion is currently impossible. Hopefully, the topic will eventually pass out of the political arena; then the real historical inquiry can begin.
In any case, 28 million as the “low” estimate of the victims of the Soviet Communist is utter nonsense. Here is an article by Timothy Snyder, a major Russophobe but a real historian. He is straining just to get to 6 million. Which tells us that this is probably the true high estimate.
This statement is obvious wrong. I gave you a link to Tauger’s article.
we have descriptions of starving people in 90s. People died of hunger or committed suicide to avoid death from hunger – it really was in the 90s.
The navigation museum is of course unique to Portugal. I can’t think of the exact name.
Museu de Marinha?
http://www.aviewoncities.com/lisbon/museudemarinha.htm
Is he? He excluded a large portion of the famine victims (almost 2 million, just for comparison, the number of those killed by the last Czarist famine was roughly 500 thousand), and he never even mentioned anyone killed before 1924, even though since 1919 Stalin was probably the second highest ranking official* after Lenin (and Lenin was seriously ill after 1922). Even if he personally didn’t participate in any atrocities (far from true), he was a powerful official of the regime. Had Hitler died in spring 1942, but his successor Göring continued exactly the same policies to the bitter end – would we then consider Hitler a much smaller monster? What if Himmler or Heydrich was the successor? Wouldn’t it make more sense to add together the two, and just calculate the victims of Nazism? Similarly, the victims of Soviet communism?
Snyder also seems to gloss over some mass deportations under Stalin’s rule, especially the wartime mass deportations. It is alleged that a third of all Chechens and a similarly high portion of Crimean Tatars died. That’d be a few hundreds of thousands added to his number. Maybe it’s untrue, but he doesn’t even mention them (unlike other categories which proved to be less murderous than previously thought).
*The other contender for the “second after Lenin” positions was Trotsky, but his power base was the army, so mass murder during that time period was probably more related to Stalin than to Trotsky. The other contenders, like Zinoviev or Kamenev never held such a powerful administrative position. In fact, only after 1924 did it become apparent how powerful the position of general secretary was. Malenkov didn’t even understand it in 1953…
Within one more generation, most of Sweden won’t be safe enough for any factories without a very expensive security ARMY to protect each facility and the employees traveling to and from the facilities.
They are heading for a civil war or subjugation by the Muslims and Africans who are settling and reproducing so rapidly there. I’d heavily discount any plans by the Swedes for any manufacturing or assembly of EVs, batteries, etc., in Sweden.
Anti Israel = Anti Semitism. I can’t tell if you are intellectually dishonest or just obtuse.
Corbyn is unquestionably an anti Semite and Livingstone and Galloway were as well.
German soldiers did no such thing. It was strictly prohibited. German collaborators were the ones who did that stuff.
It was (in the main part) the victims of the cholera epidemic, not starvation. The tsarist government fed parasites to peasants in famine conditions (despite the fact that even in famine peasants spent money to buy vodka) – it is well known haw it ended for the tsarist government.
It would be better if the tsarist government spent resources on industrialization.
Yes! Absolutely. And I would be okay with that it was part of some Kevin MacDonald evil plan to advance Jewish interests, but American Jews really believe this stuff. I can’t believe that there are people who don’t get this.
Rabbi Kahane once said, “Most American Jews think that Judaism is Thomas Jefferson.” Of course today American Jews don’t think that because Thomas Jefferson would be seen as too racist, but it was definitely true when Kahane said it back in the 80s.
What I didn’t realize about American Jews until Trump was just how much their liberalism was part of their identities as Jews. Before Trump, I would have just told you that American Jews had a weak to non existent Jewish identity and mainly just saw themselves as liberals.
What I hadn’t realized is that American Jews see being liberal and advocating for open borders and tranny bathrooms as a fundamental part of being Jewish. Tell them that Trump has the support of Israeli Jews and religious American Jews and it is just like, “does not compute”.
Furthermore, now that we are seeing the American Left become ever more anti Israel, American Jews can’t process how that could happen. To American Jews, Leftism = Judaism, so of course the Left should support Israel then, right?
That is seriously how American Jews think.
Pre Trump I would have agreed with you, but such an opinion to me seems untenable based on what we have seen for the last 2 years.
Neither, at least on this occasion. You are just advancing an untenable position.
Previously we talked about the Civil War in Finland. There was a rebellion by Slavic and Finnic peasant scum who were punished by patriotic, pro-Romanov White Germanic aristocrats and counter-revolutionary Finnish landowners, aided by some Cossacks and Swedish right-wing volunteers. But strangely you were offended by these mass executions even though almost every ethnic Russian that was executed by Whites in Finland “deserved to die” according to your own words…
Maybe you are just taking the inflated death toll numbers spread by Western propagandists a bit too personally and it has led you to develop some really strange defensive ideas like Stalin being some sort of a counter-revolutionary avenger.
So if I said, “I have no problem with Italians, I just don’t think they should rule Italy”, that wouldn’t be anti Italian?
I’m gonna go with “obtuse”.
Related to the ongoing jewish witchhunt agaisnt the Labour Party in the UK, it’s amusing to see another fool who tried to appease the jewish lobby and found out there is nothing to be gained by abasement, this time in France:
Mireille Knoll: Crowds jeer French far-right, far-left leaders after ‘anti-Semitic’ murder
There’s a longstanding trend of fools on the political right who think common cause can be made with one foreign lobby group (jewish) against another (muslim). Too high a price will always be demanded, and too little reward given, if any, for the abandonment of your core patriotic principles (even if you aren’t aware that that is what they are).
Anti-Israel is almost invariably related to Israel’s behaviour or (for those on the left) for its ethnocentric settler colonial nature, or both.
Italy’s behaviour is not noticeably bad, and nor is it an explicitly ethnocentric state. If it were the latter, you would find people like Corbyn, Livingstone and Galloway being anti-Italy. I don’t have to agree with them to recognise that basic feature of their politics.
But that’s the mainstream position of “antiracists” and open borders advocates today. And one that’s shared by the spokesmen of many Jewish organizations.
That being said, it seems a bit extreme to me to develop warm feelings towards people like Galloway, Livingstone and Corbyn just because of their stance on one issue that one happens to agree with to some degree…they’re still deranged anti-English leftie fanatics after all.
For this I apologize. I wish there was something more that I could do. I would like to believe that most Jews, worldwide, do not support open borders. I’m confident Israeli Jews do not (for purely ethnocentric reasons, in Israeli media there is huge concern about how dangerous for the Jews mass immigration of 3rd worlders to Europe is; also Israeli’s are just racist). I don’t know what Euro Jews think about immigration. American Jews are a problem, but as I’ve said before, they’ll be gone in 20 years.
…
Sincer reiner brought it up, I feel like I need to address the Iran thing again. I’m not sure I have been clear enough on why I am so confident that war with Iran can’t happen.
Okay, so Trump is threatening to tear up the agreement. But what people don’t understand, even people here who really should know better, is that the Iran agreement isn’t something that the US can leave. And by that I mean that it is literally impossible, even if Lindsey Graham became President.
The tl;dr of the Iran agreement was the sanctions got dropped, Iran gets the s-300 and Flankers that Russian had already promised them over a decade ago, Iran keeps 100% of it’s nuclear program and Iran gets to keep it’s ballistic missiles and bomb making program in exchange for a more expansive inspections regime than the standard NPT treaty provides.
If you read between the lines of Israeli and Saudi statements about the Iran agreement, their concern is not that Iran will be able to secretly develop a nuke. Rather their problem is that they just didn’t want the sanctions dropped period because the financial windfall that it gave to Iran makes Iran stronger which creates problems for Israel and the Saudis.
But Europe, Russia, China and to a lesser extent the US don’t really care if life is tougher for those states. Russia and China might even see it as a good thing. What they do care about is non proliferation, and the Iran agreement gives them that.
So let’s say that Trump decides to “tear up” the agreement. Great, now what? Europe, Russia and China are not going to re-implement the sanctions when Iran hasn’t violated the agreement. That horse has left the barn. So even if Trump declares the accord void, it will still exist as it had before.
And as for the paranoia that Trump might launch an attack on Iran, consider:
I admit that our political system is really confusing so I don’t blame you Euro’s for not realizing this, but Trump does not have the authority to launch such an attack by himself. Such a huge strike would absolutely require Congressional authorization. I promise you there is precisely 0% change that Congress would grant it. And if you think that the media would help Trump sell the war to the public, well, you just don’t realize what things are like here now. This isn’t 2003.
All of Iran’s nuclear sites have inspectors in them. I’ll admit that the US has done some bad things, but murdering IAEA inspectors would be a step waaaaaaaaayyy too far.
This is just another case of Trump being Trump. A few months ago there was a lot of concern that Trump would go to war with NK but in the end it seems like everybody has agreed to work it out diplomatically.
And unlike Iran, an attack on NK was a legitimate option (I still think we should have done it). But Trump still chose diplomacy. So you can be certain he’ll choose diplomacy in this case when he really doesn’t even have any other choice.
Another kind of fundamentalist – crazy – American messianic ideology, which is underlying current in all different types of American’s thought, and also probably one of the reasons Americans are both such energetic, successful and aggressive as a nationality.
Anti Israel = Anti Semitism
By this definition the large majority of Jews in the US before WWII, who were not pro-Zionist, were anti-Semitic. But not Eichmann (“If I Were a Jew, I’d Be a Fanatical Zionist”).
You’re the one who is being obtuse or intellectually dishonest. Jewishness is a religion, Israel is a state.
So are the majority of Members of Parliament from all the mainstream parties, as far as I’m concerned.
For me resistance to the influence of the Israel/jewish lobbies is not a minor issue, because the latter exercises a profoundly malign influence in the wrong direction in the three areas of politics that I regard as most crucially important:
1 Foreign policy and wars of choice
2 Freedom of speech and the ongoing tide of political correctness enforcement
3 Mass immigration and multicultural suicide
That said, the reason I have any soft spots for these men at all (they have been direct political enemies all my life, remember – I grew up and spent my younger years supporting NATO, the US alliance and the then Thatcherite Conservative Party) is that they are quite anti-establishment, especially in the area of the wars of choice that have blighted the past two decades, and since the 1990s that has been a major priority for me.
But as I explained to LondonBob further up this thread, even that sympathy won’t bring me to vote for Corbyn’s Labour Party, despite the abject treason of Cameron/May’s “Conservative” Party.
Israel is actually very liberal in its actions. And the whole thing is a bit shocking when you study the history.
They behave in a less violent, and more practical way, than European countries – as they really a Middle Eastern country, which is less controlled by ideology.
I agree with you that the European criticism Israel it is not so related to antisemitism or judeophobia.
It’s more related to ‘anti-imperialist’ mentality, and because Israel was against the Soviet Union side, and on the American side during the Cold War.
To some extent this still continues, as Israel is supported by Cold Warriors of America (such as John Mccain, as well Neoconservatism movement).
That said, the picture in Israel is very different if you will stay there. The Arabs or native Middle Eastern people were badly treated by the conflict – but they are not just Muslims, but also Jewish (a lot of the Jews in Israel, are actually Arabs ethnically and culturally), which were fleeing Arab countries during the Arab-Israel (early stages).
Also on the ground and in overall character, Israel is less an extension of America – than it is in geopolitical sense. The American, Australian and British nationality inside Israel (they are called ‘Anglos’), is one of the smaller groups in the country. It also has a strong Arabic and Middle Eastern character in many areas.
Latest German birth statistics (2016) are just out, it seems.
Your main error is believing the propaganda lies about Iran’s supposed nuclear weapons program. In reality, most of the rest of the world has been humouring the US and Israeli crazies on this for years. The Iran agreement was a way to step back from the confrontation of Iran imposed by the aforementioned US/Israeli crazies while pretending to keep taking them seriously.
Contrary to your assertion that the US can’t destroy the agreement, of course it can. The primary benefit for Iran is the ending of US enforced sanctions and all the costs and inconvenience that creates via the pernicious US enforcement and bullying systems that force other countries to comply with them willy nilly. All the US has to do to destroy the agreement is to reimpose those sanctions, or enough of them to make the Iranians consider it a dead letter. That’s exactly what the crazies have been threatening to do. And they hope that Iran’s annoyance at having the agreement broken will provoke some actions that will make manufacturing a pretext for war easier.
It remains to be seen what the US’s European poodles will do then – they are desperately hoping it won’t happen, because they will have to choose between going back to humouring the crazies again at huge expense and humiliation, or trying to persuade the Iranians to keep going with it by making it worth their while to do so, and telling them they won’t let the US bully them and their companies into complying with the US sanctions – and experience shows that’s not easy for the US’s satellite countries. Showing spine is the last thing they want to have to do.
As for your complacency about a US attack on Iran, if the US attacks Iran it will be to “put it back in its place” for Israel and Saudi Arabia (and for the Americans who share the widespread US obsession with Iran as an uppity country that refuses to pretend to like them and doesn’t kowtow) and to try to set back its military and economic development. Any attacks on nuclear sites will be mostly for show and propaganda. They will plan to escalate to nuclear weapons, if Iran gives them sufficient excuse to do it. The objective will be to put it in a situation analogous to that of Iraq after the 1990 war, even if they can’t hope for quite that degree of isolation.
The idea that the US president needs congressional authorisation for a war is an anachronism. The appropriate pretext will be made to arise to start the fighting, and jingoism and propaganda will then manufacture political consent for it. Most of the “never Trumpers” in the media and political elite are against Trump precisely because they don’t think he’s neocon enough – a concocted “terrorist threat to Israel” and a war with Iran will have them enthusiastically falling into line like Young Pioneers at a Party event. Whether they even bother with a Congressional rubber stamp is a matter mostly of convenience for them. And don’t make me laugh about the US regime worrying about a few UN inspectors.
The only issue that will determine whether the US goes to war with Iran, given the nature of the obsessives on Iran that dominate the US executive now, is: do they think they can get away with it militarily, bearing in mind all the consequences, and therefore politically. They desperately want to do it, but they fear to do it. For the argument that they can and probably will do it and get away with it, and how they’ll do it, read any of PeterAUS’s posts here on the topic.
Myself, I don’t think they can, but I’m not absolutely confident the likes of Bolton and Pompeo, and even Mattis, can be trusted to think strictly rationally on the topic of Iran.
One of the immediate questions that springs to mind is how do they define “German”? Anyone with a German passport? Anyone born in Germany? Presumably all the females amongst those “non-German” births will, when they give birth in a couple of decades, count as “German”.
From your perspective, perhaps. But the ongoing construction of settlements on occupied land and shamelessly illegal importation of settler colonists to populate them, and the ongoing systematic attempts to make life impossible for Palestinians who are in the wrong place as far as Israel is concerned, are not regarded as either liberal or civilised by most in Europe, especially amongst those on the left.
As I understand it, there’s a good chance the hardliner faction in Iran might withdraw from the nuclear deal if the US reneges on it. A lot obviously depends on the internal power dynamics in Iran though and how the Europeans, Russians and Chinese will react.
And personally I’m not just worried about a US attack on Iran (which would probably end in a disaster that makes the Iraq fiasco look insignificant by comparison)…I don’t want Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, and the nuclear deal looks like the best way to achieve that. If Iran continues with its nuke programme, there’s a distinct chance Saudi-Arabia and possibly the Turks as well will also get nukes. Islamic states in Europe’s wider neighbourhood having these weapons and using them as leverage against us (to blackmail us into acquiescing into further Islamization) is a nightmare scenario for me.
Regarding North Korea, if anything a “preventive” strike on them looks even more dangerous to me, given that it directly affects Chinese interests.
That’s a bizarre statement if you’re referring to post-1945 Europe. Maybe the view of Israel as a hardcore ethnostate is somewhat exaggerated, but there is no doubt that Israel at its core is a nationalist project for a specific ethnoreligious community…which is widely regarded as illegitimate in today’s West. And which European state would get away with doing something like Israel’s settlements policy? Ruling over a subjected population and taking their land isn’t exactly in accordance with the Western zeitgeist.
That’s a minor aspect. Personally I wouldn’t deny that traditional anti-Jewish sentiment does play a significant role in hostility to Israel (even if Israelis and their defenders tend to often exaggerate it). But the core issue is that Israel is a militant nationalist project. Left-wingers regard something like that as illegitimate (unless they’re philosemites and suspend their usual value judgements in the case of Israel), and anti-Israel right-wingers see no reason to defend Israel given the blatant hypocrisy of Jewish organizations in Western countries (“nationalism for me, but not for thee”).
Yes, there’s a baby boom amongst Syrians and other “refugees”. Basically they’re displacing us, we’re having to pay for it, and are supposed even to celebrate it (because it’s supposedly solving the demographic problem).
If the Islamic Kingdom (“UK”) harasses rich Russians too much, some european country with an actual climate and actual cuisine should announce that they’re welcome to resettle. Like Italy and Greece.
Looks like it goes by citizenship status, not by ethnic origin, so it will probably include some people of immigrant background.
This article has a graphic about the composition of births:
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/deutschland-geburtenrate-steigt-weiter-deutlich-an-15516425.html
At first glance it doesn’t look that bad, but the number of births by Syrian women (18 500, almost as many as by Turkish women…when there are far more Turks than Syrians in Germany) is pretty extreme imo. That’s not the behaviour of temporary war refugees, but of shameless settlers looking to stay long-term (having children born in Germany is of course useful for that).
And the left continues to agitate for quick and extensive “family reunification”. They’re even using violent knife attacks (latest incident: a 17-year old Syrian – actually of Palestinian origin – inflicting life-threatening injuries on a German woman after a row in a supermarket) as argument for that since supposedly having their family around will calm young men and prevent crime. Just perverse.
Nothing like that though. Feels more like how (I imagine – I have not been) Syria was under Assad – religious toleration, freedom for different tribes to self-govern and do whatever they feel, with the difference be – that there are multiple areas of European and American settlement spotted amongst it (i.e. Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv feels like tropical Europe).
People really need to spend some months driving around this country before commenting about ‘ethno-nationalism’ and so on. It’s kind of opposite of this kind of European ethno-nationalism ideal. If you want that, then look at Poland of something.
It’s even less like that atmosphere than Russia, which itself a multi-national country and mentality.
Atmosphere of ideological conformity, also is not there at all – unlike most European countries.
Behaviour is very dictated by pragmatic considerations. I believe any European country in the same region would be far more brutal (because intolerant of mess and mixing) than these Middle Eastern countries are. I would be a lot more brutal if I was politician in any of these – and I am above average in liberalism.
Spain and Greece (I only know Spain, but I assume Greece is similar) are wonderful countries for a holiday. But they are very closed societies for foreigners, with their own very closed customs and culture, which require to be a real (local born) Spanish person to access or feel at home with.
Also there is a physical difference, as the people are mostly – not all are, but the majority are – very dark in Spain, and everyone can see you are a pale foreigner, and nobody assumes you are a local. I know from my visits in Spain, when they don’t reply to me in Spanish (I’ve spent 2 years learning Spanish).
Whereas in London, there is a large cosmopolitan atmosphere, which is very welcoming for Russians. Even Russian bookshops, restaurants and cultural events can be found. There is a booming economy, with jobs available for professionally trained people. In addition there is a very advanced education system which is aimed at international students – although expensive.
The real alternative for the UK, will be Switzerland, France, Cyprus, Canada, etc. I also wonder about Australia and New Zealand. But for now the situation on the ground does not seem too bad.
Although in Syria, it was partly due to poor state capacity, where they have little ability to manage other communities, or to persuade them to state ideology. In Israel – there is more of this capacity, but they generally seem happy to leave a kind of social/ethnic/religious free-for-all and chaos.
Ahem, you know I actually want Assad to win because the alternatives (Islamist head choppers taking over) are probably a lot worse, but let’s not be naive, the rule of the Assads is still a brutal dictatorship resented by many Syrians. The elder Assad had pretty much the entire city of Hama flattened back in ’82, and much the same has happened in the current war. It’s a state held together (if barely) not least by the threat of regime opponents being disappeared by secret police and of ruthless collective punishment in case of rebellion.
Poland doesn’t run a quasi-colonial settlements porgramme or do all the other questionable things Israel does (let alone all those shitty Arab kleptocracies with their secret police thugs). All the Poles want is to be left alone in their sovereign country, without doing harm to anybody else.
How “white” Russian population of Vyborg, which was extriminated by the soldiers of Mannerheim, ““deserved to die” according to my words? It wasn’t the peasants, it wasn’t the revolutionaries.
For the collectivization of Stalin’s great merit in the fact that he saved the country in the conditions of the approaching WWII.
You have to offer the option as it was possible to carry out in the shortest possible time industrialization (in a country ruled by fanatics Communists) without hunger among peasants – and then you can condemn Stalin for the dead peasants. Otherwise, all the crying about the peasants are the most repulsive hypocrisy.
Yeah but these days the Tories are just as anti-English and just as deranged. And on social issues they’re every bit as leftie and fanatical.
It’s not a matter of developing warm feelings for Corbyn. It’s more a matter of possibly despising him marginally less than one despises Theresa May.
Israel is actually very liberal in its actions. And the whole thing is a bit shocking when you study the history.
Depends on your definition of “liberal”, I guess.
Not really. China was (and still is) a monotheistic culture, like the ancient Jews. (Though unlike the Jews they never had a covenant; this is the crucial difference.)
Because of this, the Chinese view cannibalism as a particularly horrific spiritual crime, unlike in the West, where cannibalism is viewed as serious mental sickness but doesn’t particularly carry any spiritual significance.
(Ironically, this probably means that cannibalism is more widespread in China. No doubt many Chinese practiced it just for shocking and transgressive purposes.)
People really need to spend some months driving around this country before commenting about ‘ethno-nationalism’ and so on.
I have spent a fair amount of time going around Israel & the Occupied Lands, and to say that this is a “normal” country is truly bizarre. First of all, I have never felt so intimidated entering a country as I did going through Israeli controls. I was subjected to a very tough and unnecessarily aggressive interrogation (why was I there, who was I going t meet, etc.) and was so shaken afterwards (and I have more than 40 years of experience of traveling in “dodgy” places) that I promptly forgot my pin number for my ATM card, something that has never happened before (or since).
Later, coming to the airport in a taxi owned by an Israeli Arab (which by its license plate or some other means identified the ethnicity of its owner), we were stopped by an Israeli soldier who pointed an automatic weapon at us and made us get out of the car. It was the third time in my life someone has directly pointed a gun at me (Algeria in 1990 and Azerbaijan 1992) and I do not consider it to be a particularly normal or liberating experience. But of course for me this was a transitory, one-off, event. I really felt for the taxi driver, this is what he has to go through on a daily basis.
For years I have worked (largely as a volunteer) for an NGO that seeks to help the native Christians of the Holy Land, whose personal roots there are of course far deeper than those of the large majority of Israelis. These people are not terrorists (none, as far as I am aware) but the indignities they have to suffer, particularly those living in Occupied Territories, are truly humiliating. For example, workers coming to Jerusalem to work on housing rehabilitation projects have to wake up at 3 am so that they will be able to pass all the humiliating formalities for passing between the Occupied Territories and Jerusalem. And then of course they have to repeat the process on their return in the evening.
The Israelis do not take active measures against the Christians of the Holy Land, they just make their lives increasingly difficult so that many (especially the young) have no option but to leave. The irony of course is that the “Christians” of the West are largely (and in the US almost exclusively) supporting this process.
So, yes you may have traveled all around Israel, but I question how much you have really seen.
I specifically mentioned the benefits of Christianity and not monotheism or Judaism.
Moscow’s trash uprising: An ecological catastrophe is unfolding around the Russian capital, and locals are fighting back
Any Muscovites heard of this? Got any additional details? How much of a problem is this, or is the headline sensationalist beyond the norm?
I have cousins who moved from ex-USSR to Argentina in the 1990s, they love it there.
A good rule of thumb you’d be well to adopt: anything you ever hear on the news related to Russia is always sensationalist beyond the norm.
What an evil man!
Most Russians were not hurt and most Russians killed in Vyborg by “soldiers of Mannerheim” did indeed “deserve to die” by your own words of agreeing with the punishment of revolutionaries. I can give a named example since I spotted one connection even in English language wikipedia. Two of the young victims were the children of this man…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgy_Bulatsel
…who was one of the highest-ranking officers to join the Reds in Finland. Now it is sad that his sons aged 13 and 15 ended up dying for the crimes of their father but, realistically, their father was part of a movement that had killed the royal family. In every rebellion in the history of the world if the rebels kill the emperor and his family and then lose the civil war the children of rebels get killed in revenge.
They purged the cadet school of revolution-sympathizers which turned out to be a futile effort as imperials like Mannerheim lost power and Finland was taken over by nationalists, socialists and liberals who shut down all the imperial institutions anyway. However whoever shot these kids was almost certainly a pro-Russian loyalist getting revenge for the dead Romanovs and not some russophobe. For someone who dislikes Red revolutionaries so much you’re strangely eager to push Red propaganda fictions about events in Finland and you’re strangely eager to leap into the defense of Red traitors in Finland as long as the Reds are ethnic Russian.
Vyborg had been the center of ethnic Russian revolutionary activity in Finland since at least 1905. Being on the railroad from Petrograd to Finland, it was the channel through which all support from Lenin’s government flowed to the Finnish Reds. It had been handed over to the Red Guards by Russian political genius Alexander Kerensky in September 1917 when he was worried that Cossacks and officers in Finland would be on the side of general Kornilov. This brilliant move later prevented the Finnish government from sending forces to aid Kerensky against Lenin’s coup.
In one of the many Vyborg massacres, ethnic Russian soldiers and Finnish Red Guards rioted during the Kornilov affair and 11 high ranking officers were shot and a large number of officers were beaten as assumed Kornilov supporters. I assume by names that most of these victims were ethnic Russian (eg. general Oranovski (Finnish transliteration)), though colonel Kyrenius was ethnic Swedish. The various massacres during the Kornilov affair were key in the collapse of loyalty to the Provisional Government among imperial officers in Finland.
When we talked about it eariler I assumed incorrectly that the mass executions in Vyborg were done mainly by Swedish far-right volunteers (since there was a massacre of Finns by them in my home region). It has been bugging me, I did some digging and seems like I was wrong: this was mostly a revenge massacre by imperial military aristocracy so it was your kind of a massacre since you love seeing revolutionaries punished so much. A part of the story was that Mannerheim had spent most of 1917 in Ukraine dealing with the World War and he did not experience these massacres in Finland so he seems to have not realized how vengeful and bloodthirsty the officer class had become before trusting them to discretely take out Red leaders.
But still, even though many technically innocent people were hurt, they had a much higher accuracy in hitting people actually connected to revolutionaries than Stalin starving whole social classes where the supposed motive of punishing revolutionaries is just your later interpretation. You know, if Stalin was actually interested in punishing revolutionaries he could have easily just jumped off a roof…
PS. I understand that it’s hard to get a picture of these events since I myself keep finding out that the Civil War was an entirely different story from my hometown in other places. I rather trust my hereditary knowledge of events in my hometown where it doesn’t really disagree much with the hereditary knowledge of Red descendants (with the difference that they of course hate my relatives who were in charge of the executions). Coincidentally, Mr Bulatsel actually participated in the battle over my hometown.
I can tell you all about how mass executions in my town worked after the White victory and the whole picture of an ethnic campaign against Russians that the Bolshevik government has apparently fed you is just not true. There were some people with ethnic grievances operating in the chaos but that was a side story (mostly a result of ethnic Swedish anger over migration of Finns and Russians to previously ethnic Swedish towns).
Is this a parody?
That might be a snub, but it had to be his subsequent activities that led to this level of dislike. So what I’ve gathered so far from some PRC conversations:
1) NK is even more disliked than I had thought. Chinese military officers were “joking” that in the event of a Western attack on North Korea, they might join the West.
2) Xi personally dislikes Dear Leader. Probably for being unreliable, and I suppose, being arguably the definition of corruption(lives well at the expense of his people).
3) Dear Leader wouldn’t care about world opinion, but now needs to broker a deal with the US. He had realized that without some sort of assurance that China will come to their aid in the event of a “just kidding, we’re killing you anyway under President Chelsea Clinton,” he might be lacking leverage.
4) As such, he has decided to try to rebuild his bridges. Autarky has found its limits.
5) ???
6) JUCHE IS LOVE! JUCHE IS LIFE! FIGHT FOR THE JUCHE IDEAL! The propaganda apparatus might be kicking in now in Chinese media to try to improve the opinion of the population toward North Korea.
Incidentally, I had long since associated NK as a “gangster nation” because back in 2010 or so, their diplomats seemed to be the only ones that seriously threatened violence(against South Korea, usually). Its interesting that non-trivial threats of warfare seem to now be within the Overton window for everyone. This is probably not a good thing.
Also the most positive thing I heard about NK: “They might live their life in a frog inside a well*, but at least their life is simple. That has to be nice.”
*”The frog in the well sees the sky as small” is a common Chinese fable.
http://emerging-europe.com/voices/ukraine-tech-goes-global/
Interesting article. I don’t know nearly enough about Ukraine’s IT scene to judge whether it is too triumphalist or not, but a cursory look at the recent trends does indicate a significant pick-up in IT activity. Commenter AP pointed out that venture capital investment into IT in 2017 tripled when compared to 2016.
Ukraine is an extremely cheap place with intelligent people. Sooner or later that disparity simply has to close, and there will be a lot of money made in the process. CEE is already doing quite well in the BPO sector and Ukraine has massive potential here. Let’s hope they do more innovative work in parallel. Ukraine already has world-class game studios such as 4A Games. The talent is there. Though, if I am not mistaken, 4A has moved to Malta due to the instability of the post-2014 Russian invasion.
There was a recent announcement by Nvidia that they had released a new Ray-Tracing technology engine, and of the three studios which announced early support, 4A Games was one. The other two was DICE(Swedish) and Epic Games(US). Speaking of 4A, I’m already looking forward to the next Metro game being released relatively soon, but that’s a tangential sidenote 🙂
Well if you had come to work for an Arab NGO in Israel, I would have banned you and not allowed you to visit. Again – liberalism that they allow these people to work and operate in the country.
Likewise for people working for Western NGOs in Russia – I don’t understand the obligation to allo them in.
But the actual life of the Arabs in Israel, aside from Western interference, is bizarrely tolerant.
In any Western country they would have been ethnically cleansed for a thousands times less conflict – and yet in Israel you can drive through Nazareth, and see posters in support of Jihadists (which we have seen), or you can see mosques in the center of Tel Aviv – e.g. opposite the dolphinarium.
The whole place is a mess and chaos of different groups.
I don’t say that the Arabs (who are both Muslims and Jews there, with a tiny minority of Christians as well) have not had a bad or unfair treatment. (Just as original minorities in every country – including Western countries such as Finland, America, Australia). But with the current conflict between too groups, there is a bizarre toleration of enemy group inside the dominant group. Actually it reminds a little of the over-toleration typical of Russia as well.
Assad protects all different religious groups in Syria, which was well seen by tourists who visited the country prior to Civil War. Prior to the Civil War, he was even planning to restore synagogues in the country.
Of course, there was an official state ideology of ‘Baathism’, but adherence to this was only really applied to in sense of loyalty to the state.
In the end, his tolerance has probably been his undoing. It could be noted that Assad’s wife herself is from the Sunni religion (while Assad is an Alawite). Equally the majority of the Syrian army are composed by Sunnis – while also constituted by Christian, Druze, and other nationalities.
A lot of this ‘toleration’ is a reflection of lack of state capacity compared to European countries though. And in the Soviet Union, they would have achieved a better situation through enforced secularization, and particularly liberation of women as was attempted in central asia.
This frog obviously doesn’t understand that the walls of the well are limiting said frog’s vision, and how when that is combined with his/her lack of “correct”, for want of a better word, depth perception is creating an illusion in the frog’s brain about the true scope of the sky.
It is easy for us to sit here and look down at the frog, but in actuality, the frog’s misunderstanding is totally reasonable given the imperfect information available to it at this juncture. Any of us would think the same were our circumstances the same as that of the frog.
That must be a hyperbole.
Well if you had come to work for an Arab NGO in Israel, I would have banned you and not allowed you to visit
It’s affiliated with the Custody of the Holy Land, which is the official representative of the Pope in the Holy Land via the Franciscans who have been there for 8 centuries, since the time of Francis of Assisi. So you would ban the Franciscans too?
Your idea of tolerance is truly bizarre. As is the attitude of the “Christian” west (I’m not even Christian for that matter) which is effectively promoting the destruction of Christianity in its earliest “home” (Israel, West Bank, Syria, Iraq, etc.).
Syrian nationalism, and Iraqi nationalism, is way different then western ethnic nationalism. Whereas European nationalism, along with Chinese, Japanese and Korean nationalism are “blood and soil”, Syrian nationalism is about loyalty to the multi cultural Syrian state. Syria has Arabs, Bedouin, Druze and Kurds. But according to Syrian nationalist thought, they are all equally Syrian. Obviously the Kurds disagree though.
There are only three Islamic countries that are blood and soil nationalist: Turkey, Iran and Egypt. And Pakistan sort of. The rest are just “tribes with flags”, in the words of Anwar Sadat.
You can believe in the Jewish religion without being a Jew. A Jew who rejects Judaism completely does not cease to be a Jew.
Jews are a people. Israel is their state.
What does the Torah say of banging on the Sabbath? Is it permitted on a day of rest?
Is the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Copts in Egypt also the fault of the West/Israel or do they get a pass on that one?
Is it the fault of Israel and the West that Syria’s Christian population has been dramatically declining since long before the Syrian Civil War?
Are Israel and the West to blame for Lebanese Christians launching a civil war against their Muslim countrymen when they realized that the Muslims were going to obtain hegemony over the country?
The bottom line is that nobody likes the Arab Christians. We’ll get rid of some, the Arabs will get rid of some, but they’re all going.
yeah. Not on Yom Kippur though.
Killing a dying man is still murder. The West’s and Israel’s actions greatly accelerate the demise of Arab Christians.
What kind of agreement there could be? Kim has no friends, as far as I can see. Trump cannot promise him that not one of his successors will attack him. Moreover, Kim’s dynasty cannot be safe from China.
But maybe he realized independence (i.e. becoming a fully fledged nuclear power) is unattainable.
Inasmuch as your argument is merely a criticism of the US sphere for failing to hold all the countries of the ME to account for their treatment of indigenous Christian populations, it’s fine and a point for legitimate debate about group loyalties, national sovereignty etc. Likewise if it is suggesting hypocrisy on the part of US sphere countries.
But as soon as you try to extend that to some kind of defence of Israel’s own behaviour, as is implicit in your comment, it becomes a “tu quoque” fallacy.
More damaging, perhaps, is that you implicitly adopt the position that Israel is to be judged by the standards of the surrounding Arab countries, when so often we are told that Israel is different – better – than those surrounding countries and should rather be classed with the countries of the more civilised US sphere. In which case, it should be judged by those standards. And indeed, that is what leftists do (without admitting it to themselves, because they cannot be honest about their opinions about third world nations), and inevitably Israel is found wanting.
But you and I share perhaps one position here – Israel should not be allowed to pretend to be a European country, in all those institutional contexts (football etc) merely because it cannot get on with its neighbours.
And this is precisely the position the leftists cannot accept, whether it is about Israel, Italy or any other “nation of immigrants”. It was last openly the position of any major western European countries in the 1930s, and since 1945 it has been regarded as anathema to the left.
That (among other issues to do with behaviour) is why those men of the left who have some personal integrity (I don’t include Blairites, mainstream Democrats and the like), such as Corbyn, Livingstone, and Galloway, will inevitably find themselves viscerally opposed to Israel. Nothing to do with absurd allegations of “anti-Semitism”, which are transparently intended to render taboo any criticism of Israel.
Trying to play every major power off each other while also having the veiled threat of nuclear power might be the strongest play he has with the cards in hand. It might not even have to be a real promise of assistance: the optics are necessary to present the appearance that China will intervene on their behalf.
The Great Game of incomplete information.
yeah. Not on Yom Kippur though.
Or on Christmas Eve (Nittel Nacht), as I recall, for fear of producing further apostates.
No I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying that I don’t like Arab Christians and that I don’t want them in the region but that in this case, even most of the Muslims of the region agree with me.
There is nothing to defend. If you want to blame Israel for the plight of Palestinian Christians, we will proudly take credit. If you want to blame Israel/Jews for the plight of Egyptian, Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese Christians, that is bullshit.
Getting rid of the Arab Christians has always been a joint Jewish-Muslim project. In fact, the Muslims got started on it hundreds of years before we did.
Russophiles are trying to rewrite history and make it seem like Arab Muslims all loved Arab Christians until Israel brainwashed them to see Arab Christians as their enemies. The reality is that on that score the Muslims needed no help from us.
Jews have always hated Arab Christians because for ~1800 years, Arab Christians persecuted the regions Jews. Arab Muslims don’t like Arab Christians because they got tired of having to protect their Jews from Arab Christian pogroms and deal with the non stop treachery of their Arab Christian populations.
Arab Christians alienated EVERYBODY in the region and now want to cry foul that their chickens are coming home to roost.
Maybe they should have been nicer to their Islamic and Jewish neighbors, no?
Christianity is fine in Israel – actually I see more churches than synagogues. Arab Christians are over-represented in many areas relative to their population. The only barrier – that Israel does not allow – is to missionizing of non-Christians (which is not something the Arab Christians are doing).
Also Israel has recently allowed Arab Christians to relist their nationalities as ‘Assyrian’ and ‘Aramaic’ (the latter for Maronites).
I was staying with my friend and his girlfriend in Israel last month. She wears a crucifix round her neck – it’s probably more comfortable than, let’s say, to wear a magen david round your neck in Paris.
Likewise you can visit Druze, Circassian villages. There is also Ahmadiyya Islam (which is protected in Israel, but persecuted in all neighbouring Muslim countries as heretics). And the Bahai faith.
In the Arab world, Christians have been tolerated for thousands of years, as a ‘people of the book’. The only real threat is the most radical form of Jihadism, itself rejected by the majority of Muslims as a completely counter to the historical faith.
That said, Christian Arabs get a more hazing treatment by the Arabs – for example, in the West Bank it’s well known that they have only started fleeing since the PA took control.
Historical Christian populations in the Middle East were always tolerated, as they did not engage in the same missionizing activity as in Europe. It’s the European form of Christianity which has this more totalitarian aspect, that made it more irreconcilable with other religions.
your sanitized Israeli propaganda is literally painful to read.
I appreciate the support, but this isn’t the right way to go about it.
Is support of the pecuniary kind is the most appropriate method to go about it?
No sanitized propaganda. I have spent months in Israel, can read Hebrew and have visited Arab towns there. I prefer my personal observations, to reading second hand nonsense and news stories.
If I was going to live in Israel, I would prefer they were far more brutal than they are.
your sanitized Israeli propaganda is literally painful to read.
Yes, the truth hurts. And the truth is that there have always been substantial Christian populations in the Middle East, and that it is only in recent decades that they are literally being decimated. And why do you think that is?
Well if they left in 1990s, they are probably easily pleased.
We all know the answer- rise of Jihadist movements, and loss of state capacity in states with secular nationalist agenda (Egypt, Syria and Iraq).
It reads like some kind of Maoist propaganda about the absolute freedom of religion provided by the People’s Republic of China, you imagine it was written by totally un-self-aware propagandists who didn’t realize what snippets like this tell outsiders about the issue at hand:
Can you imagine any western country banning a minority religion from proselytizing..?
The latter two are directly related to US policy, influenced by the Jewish lobby. In Syria, Israel directly is involved.
But you are correct in the sense that Israel or the US are not the only actors to be blamed, and that the primary reason is the disposition of the Islamic societies there.
Although this video doesn’t deal with Arab Christians, it does provide a window into just how clueless Israelis are about pretty much everything.
Behold as Israeli’s manage to get every single thing about Shia Muslims wrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiE_RfmOqrw
There is also an “Ask a Palestinian” version of the same question and while their answers aren’t interesting it is unreal how beautiful the Palestinian women are.
I’m not a great fan of this liberal mess they have in Israel. The churches everywhere I like, from architectural perspective. The complete independence of Arab towns, despite being in the middle of the conflict. Or the fact they skip army, but can go to university without taking psychometric tests – I don’t see this as a positive thing. But it did me a shock when I was told of it as I try to imagine a similar situation in Europe.
The Arab Christians do not proselytize. This is something in Israel, only from American evangelicals, who spend a lot on it.
One of the pre-conditions to visit Israel, is to not proselytize.
And if you a person – who has Jewish roots – wants to repatriate to Israel, then you are permanently banned if they say they follow a non-Jewish religion (they are counted as not-having Jewish roots).
Interestingly, this is not a problem for people without Jewish roots – so they can fill the forms as they want.
That’s all very well, but in that case you can hardly accuse other people who regard such attitudes and behaviour as unacceptable of “antisemitism”, as you did above with your assertion that: “Anti Israel = Anti Semitism“
In 2011, Assad has lost control part of his population, mainly in rural areas – due to low state capacity.
It’s his weakness that draws the wolves – his enemies (Israel, Turkey, America, etc) smell blood. But bleeding wound is the weaknesses of his rule, not just economic weakness, but probably over-toleration given for years to different movements to develop for years in the country – Sunni Islamist movement, Kurdish movements, etc. Assad was originally a liberal reformer.
The initial scenario is similar to what happened in Chechen Republic in 1990s.
Israel also went through a similar weakness and near falling apart, during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although neighbouring enemies could have very little influence, due to the stronger military deterrence and geopolitical position of Israel (as ally of the United States). Likewise in Russia during the 1990s – although America did try to secretly help the Chechen separatists.
In Egypt, there is probably a even more analogy to Chechen Republic situation of the 1990s, specifically located in the Sinai, where they have the lowest state presence.
Too true, haha. Rarely do I come across an article — any article — on Russia that isn’t littered with “in the age of Putins” and “in the shadow of the Kremlins.”
We all know the answer- rise of Jihadist movements, and loss of state capacity in states with secular nationalist agenda (Egypt, Syria and Iraq).
Nice try.
Loss of state capacity in Iraq? And why was this? The Christians there were doing quite all right before Shock and Awe. For Christ’s sake, Saddam’s foreign minister was Christian.
And in Syria the exodus of the Christians is due almost entirely to the Western-inspired destabilization/destruction of that country (which a certain neighboring Middle Eastern country was of course not entirely indifferent to).
In 2011, Assad has lost control part of his population, mainly in rural areas – due to low state capacity.
His “low state capacity” certainly wasn’t aided by massive inflows of arms from, or promoted by, the West.
Greasy you are Israeli?
I’m Jewish but not Israeli. I have no connection to or love for the secular Zionist state.
As the British Mandate gave way to the State of Israel, so will the State of Israel give way to the State of Judea. A real Jewish state.
As the British Mandate gave way to the State of Israel, so will the State of Israel give way to the State of Judea. A real Jewish state.
Enlightenment please: what will the state of Judea be like?
Read the comment you are replying to.
Assad has a weak state in 2011 and lost some portion of the population (it may not have been even a large portion in terms of total percentage of the population – I believe quite a minority, mainly in rural areas).
I would say weak state not just economically, but also in terms of his liberalism and tolerance.
Once your country has rebels running around in it – and ones which can be shipped weapons to – then obviously your enemies will jump on you (America even tried this with the Chechen separatists, in secret). You article is something about America doing this – which in Syria’s case they admit openly that they arm them.
Of course, the key for a state, is not to become so weak in the first place that you lose control of parts of the country, and your enemies can ship weapons into your borders.
I have a mixed view towards this kind of figure as Assad Junior. I respect that he was trying to reform and liberalize – but I would not have illusion about the consequences, and that the father Assad Senior would not have come to this situation.
In Syria, of course, the initial situation was not helped by the economic situation which was largely beyond his control. But they are poorer than Ukrainians, so there will have been a lot of anger that groups, such as Islamist movements, to feed on – and this occurred mainly in rural areas which would have been even poorer than the city areas.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2017/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=67&pr.y=9&sy=2010&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=922%2C463%2C926&s=NGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=
Instead of a Hebrew speaking Portugal, it will be a Hebrew speaking Turkey. As is directed by the Torah. The guy at 2:03 explains (albeit in a very convoluted way): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z94M5dUidxk&t=358s
And you can speak Hebrew? Or lived in Israel?
Because -if you have these – you will be rapidly shocked at the situation in Israel.
I cannot imagine, except a real Israeli leftist, to call ‘sanitized propaganda’ what is reality of the place, which explains why it is a bit of a disaster zone in there (even as I am quite a fan).
My friends in Israel, were telling me about the affirmative action policies for Arabs in the universities – where in some university, the Arab students skipped the army, have not paid tuition fees, and were accepted without psychometric tests.
Meanwhile, non-Arabs at the same university, have to take psychometric tests to be accepted, and spent years in the army, and have to pay (if they are not recent immigrants) thousands of dollars in tuition fees.
It’s a copy of ‘affirmative action’ in America, but a far more extreme level.
If you’re in Israel, you’ll fine all kinds of strange realities like this.
In many ways Israeli Leftists are more in touch with reality than other Israelis.
The fact is that Israel is a colonial apartheid state. It is a state that exists only because of the forcible expulsion of the Land’s indigenous inhabitants. Israeli’s are racist against Arabs and blacks to an absurd degree. Israelis do treat the Palestinians brutally.
Now reasonable people can debate whether those things are good, justified, or at least understandable, but pro Israel people invariably insist that they aren’t the case at all. It’s not honest and nobody buys it… except for Israelis themselves and their supporters.
Let’s everybody, on all sides, stop with the lies and propaganda. Let’s be honest about what the history of the region is and what is happening there today.
Lies, propaganda and sanitized versions of events serve absolutely nobody’s interests. The truth, the whole truth, is the only thing that can heal the region.
Instead of a Hebrew speaking Portugal, it will be a Hebrew speaking Turkey. As is directed by the Torah. The guy at 2:03 explains (albeit in a very convoluted way)
That’s a big help.
Trump said he’s about to pull out of Syria. Let’s hope Greasy is correct and there will be no more wars in the Middle East (or anywhere else).
That’s total nonsense. Mideastern Christianity wasn’t any less “totalitarian” than the Western variants in late antiquity, the late Roman/early Byzantine empire was riven by sectarian conflict and efforts of the imperial authorities to impose unity of faith. The difference comes down to Christians in the Mideast having had the misfortune to fall under Islamic rule which kept them as self-contained units that were barred from proselytizing, discriminated against legally and exploited economically.
The Arabs aren’t really part of the Israeli nation, why should they serve in the army? Would you give free weapons training to a potentially disloyal element? Seems like a very strange complaint.
Trump said he’s about to pull out of Syria.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Sure you might take this view (although there are Arabs which do go to the army), but then why the entrance free university, and no psychometric tests, while the non-Arab population is massively burdened and dreaming of emigrating to Canada for this reason.
I wonder if you will begin to understand the reality of the situation.
African Americans were brought to the country as slaves – but it doesn’t mean that the affirmative action is not a liberal policy, in some sense undermining of the country’s universities, and creating unfairness amongst present population.
Interesting name for a porn star.
What’s the ‘truth’. Nobody says that the Arab Muslim did not have injustice, as did the Arab Jews there.
It’s case where both sides have legitimate feeling of historical anger.
Ultimately, though, pretty irrelevant and of little interest.
It’s a situation of two hostile populations, one of which lives inside another dominant one (which is itself surrounded by a larger proportion of the former population).
In this situation, the dominant population is housing the other largely quite hostile population – and there is not lack of truth in this – fulfills various suicidal appeasement and liberal projects with it.
African Americans might also feel anger in America. But if I would go to live in a country, I would like one in which the hostile groups are assimilated or under control.
I would acknowledge that Circassians were historically oppressed. But if I go to live – or even vacation – Sochi, I am happy that this element has been assimilated and subdued.
Likewise, in America – it is fortunate for the visitor or resident, that native Americans are not shooting arrows at you, or being allowed a complete free-for-all of tolerance and independence.
That doesn’t mean, that they don’t have some historical reason to feel anger. Actually the more strong the historical anger, then the more they need to be under control or assimilated.
Can’t give you a lol right now…but thanks, at least something to smile about in this rather dark thread
(though the fact that the US president is an open adulterer and degenerate isn’t that funny if you think about it).
Well, Russia solved that issue by rather drastic means:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassian_genocide
One can of course argue that it would be better for long-term prospects if Israel just expelled its Arab population, but at least for now such open ethnic cleansing would be incompatible with Israel’s supposed status as a Western-style liberal democracy. Maybe norms will change again though.
The argument is not about whether Israel could be less liberal or even if it’s liberal in an objective sense. What I disputed is that it’s definitely less liberal by any metric than any other western country.
I can accept that for its own sake it should get even less liberal in many respects. Or at least, we can talk about that. Israel (or similarly, Apartheid South Africa back in the day) is probably more liberal than many (perhaps most?) western countries were just a century ago. But in the present world, it’s less liberal than basically any European country.
Two-state solution with landswap is the long-term solution to part of the conflict.
The other side is to subdue the interior population, which requires a stronger state authority – loyalty declarations for citizenship,* common military service, end of anti-national incitement on universities, etc. They don’t have to even take a Soviet approach. But the ultra-liberal one is the worst of the two options (it can lead to fracturing even in the strongest states, like we see in America).
With some populations – like the Druze – the loyalty has already happened for their own reasons, and they can live in their own free-for-all with no particular problems. I’ve visited in a Druze village, and the atmosphere for tourists is welcoming one (without the unfriendly tense atmosphere in East Jerusalem, Nazareth and even Yafo).
This kind of diversity is a bonus for residents, and even tourists enjoy it – when there are diverse groups, which have been brought under authority of state.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieberman_Plan
but then why the entrance free university, and no psychometric tests
You keep repeating that Arabs don’t have to take “psychometric” tests to be admitted to university, but are you sure you are correct? If so, I suggest you let Haaretz know so they won’t write any further erroneous articles:
the US president is an open adulterer
Actually, he’s not an “open” adulterer. What has changed is it is now accepted, indeed encouraged, for “adulterees” to go public with their stories.
Everything I’ve read indicates that this solution is rejected by the Israeli right and is increasingly becoming impossible due to Israel’s settlements building.
I’m fully in agreement with you on this. Dmitry’s perception seems quite bizarre to me. I don’t think he really understands the extent and nature of postnational liberalism in today’s Europe.
He’s a moral degenerate in any case, and it’s not surprising that someone who would cheat on his wife would also betray his voters. But of course his personal sexual conduct is the least of the problems with Trump.
it’s not surprising that someone who would cheat on his wife would also betray his voters.
A commendable morality, no doubt, but one that many mortals fail to live up to (all French presidents since Pompidou, for example, with the possible exception of the current one, at least 5 US 20th century presidents, etc.).
Well at least you can take solace in the fact that your chancellor is of impeccable morality.
Maybe there’s a connection to the present state of France.
It’s only moral to forgo something you could have…which isn’t the case with Merkel. I’m really surprised someone as ugly as her actually got married twice (maybe her husbands are closeted homosexuals though).
Anyway, there’s more than one kind of being immoral, and in her own way Merkel is clearly just as much a case of narcisstic personality disorder as Trump.
I was told this by my friend. But here you can see it reported for Ben Gurion:
https://www.0404.co.il/?p=83085
http://newspress.co.il/2017/10/28/arabov-prinimayut-universitet-imeni-ben-guriona-bez-psihometrii/
It’s only at Ben Gurion University – from social media comments, you can see how the tensions are over there (they’re having pro-Arab discrimination [no psychometric tests and half tuition fees] in one of the main universities, at a country where the same population is regularly killing them and not going to the army; at the same time most Israeli struggle to afford to go to university).
http://www.rotter.net/forum/scoops1/433419.shtml
It is kind of insane, and something which could lead to peasant’s uprising in other countries.
But every voter knows that – at least unconsciously – the moment they see him speak for the first time.
He’s not someone who hides his narcissistic and aggressive personality.
Voters are not making these decisions naively.
Voters often favour someone who seems to have very difficult personalities, as they reason it’s kind of aggressive person who can stand up for their interests.
In different ways, it’s the same with Putin, with Netanyahu. (You can see in the first second, that they are not ordinary ‘man on the street’, or ‘neurotypical’ – I guess it is the politically correct phrasing).
This is a gamble though – sometimes these strange people can be very good leaders.
I was was watching videos of Margaret Thatcher (one of the most successful leaders for the UK).
You can see the way she categorized the world in terms of weak and strong ( which is a kind of typical trait of psychopathic personality disorder – you should not marry a woman who talks like this)
You should not vote for a woman who talks like this either.
If we’re talking about immoral leaders with vicious personality disorders why has no-one yet mentioned Churchill?
So, it turns out that the Western anti-Russian coalition is increasingly becoming “Anglo” (to the extent one can call the US “Anglo” anymore).
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-29/kremlin-sees-cracks-in-west-s-unity-as-france-germany-keep-ties?
The central goal of the UK and later the US has been to prevent a German-Russian arc. France has historically been close to Russia as well. Nordstream 2 was also fully approved a few days ago in the least surprising development ever.
This underlines and will strengthen the current geopolitical trends. The US will double down in CEE to prevent further rapprochement between Berlin and Moscow. This will, bizarrely, give us more policy space to reject EU demands on migrants and the like. Of course, ZOG is a false friend. But even a false friend can be useful for some time, since, as the saying goes, nations do not have friends, only interests.
I also think that while Merkel is understandably pragmatic about an important Eastern neighbour, she will be limited in her actions since she has already shown that she is the most Atlanticist Chancellor Germany has ever had in its post-WWII history. German public opinion is also deeply hostile towards Russia, especially among elites.
Nevertheless, the ideal outcome would be a purge of NATO from Europe and a concomitant purge of ZOG cultural poison. Over time, a fully continental Europe would need to merge with Russia. It may not be Spencer’s European empire dream, since it would be a federation (and an uneasy one at that) but we’re also moving into a time period of rising great nations, superpowers. China and India will increasingly dominate not just Asia but the world. The US will continue to sink into a circus-like Brazilification with its polity more or less controlled by Jewish donors and media oligarchs. Such an external environment will make the case much easier to unite as the years go by and the space to act on your own shrinks and each of ours countries become more and more 3rd worldish, with a rising China and India on the outskirts, ready to pick us off one by one.
Whatever happens, I am somewhat pleased that there are still pragmatic people in Berlin and Paris. NS2 will provide us plenty of ammunition in the upcoming shouting matches over a new asylum regime with Berlin. It was always going to be approved, anyway. The timing is excellent for us, since the negotiations over asylum and the new EU budget will start in earnest in a few months. And the faster that Berlin and Paris breaks away from London and Washington, the better.
Which other countries? Affirmative action, paying for the welfare of dysfunctional ethnicities (which, coincidentally, also disproportionately engage in murder against the core ethnicity, including terrorism) is de rigueur in all western countries.
“Deeply hostile” is an exaggeration if applied to the general public, divided is more accurate.
Some recent polls (only in German, I’m too lazy now to look for English results):
https://www.tz.de/politik/umfrage-zufolge-wuenscht-sich-mehrheit-deutschen-annaeherung-an-russland-zr-9703489.html
58% of those polled in that survey would like some kind of rapprochement with Russia, 14% want relations as they are now, 26% want harsher measures.
AfD (81%), Linke (72%) and FDP liberals (62%) are most in favour, Christian Democrats and Social Democrats are divided (49% and 47% in favour of closer relations). Only the Greens (44% in favour of harsher measures) are an outlier, but that’s unsurprising given what this party stands for.
East Germans (72%) are more in favour of closer relations with Russia than West Germans (54%).
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/beziehung-zu-moskau-mehrheit-der-deutschen-gegen-ausweisung-russischer-diplomaten/21126800.html
A little over 50% regard expulsion of Russian diplomats from Germany because of the Skripal affair as excessive, 28% as appropriate, about 15% as not sufficient. Again East Germans (65%) are more likely to regard it as excessive than West Germans (48%).
Same with regard to more sanctions (52,6% against, 47,6% in West Germany, 70% in East Germany). And once again, Greens are most fanatical in favour (46,5%).
Anti-Russian sentiment isn’t universal in Germany, though it’s certainly significant in West Germany, given the strong Atlanticist orientation of the establishment.
Not only that, in Germany at least murders/rapes/violent assaults committed by “refugees” are now actually adduced as argument that we need to import more of them via family reunification.
And of course these things aren’t new phenomena, cities like Berlin and Bremen are now infested by criminal Lebanese clans who came as “refugees” in the 1980s.
Dmitry seems bizarrely clueless about the realities of the situation in Western Europe nowadays. Maybe there are some demented liberals in Israel. But at least nobody there would get the idea that one should allow mass immigration of foreign Muslims.
Even in alt-right paradise Hungary, under alt-right hero Orbán, we have special programs to increase Gypsy university education, or any Gypsy education, special funds to finance Gypsy culture, Gypsy self-government (they always steal the money), etc.
A few years ago some Jobbik politicians talked about the problem of high Gypsy fertility rates and the eventual welfare collapse and numerous societal problems this would entail, but they have moved left and no longer talk about it. No one talks about it in the public sphere.
I voted Brexit for the obvious patriotic reasons but I think a Europe shorn of British influence would be very desirable. De Gaulle was right to block British membership of the EU.
Yet Christianity survived with substantial populations in the region for over a millenia, Christianity looks unlikely to survive a century since the founding of Israel.
Christianity looks unlikely to survive a century since the founding of Israel.
In Europe or the Middle East?
I dislike Israel, but the trend can’t be solely blamed on Israel, after all the Turks did away with most of their Christian communities 30 years before Israel came into existence.
The US, other Western powers and Israel bear a lot of responsibility because of their support for hardline Islamic movements. But the fundamental reason just is that Muslims are viciously intolerant.
They invest – i.e. government infrastructure spending – for the main blocks, which Israel is going to be annexed in a two-state solution (as landswaps if it is bilateral negotiations).
Israel built these in strategic areas where they want to – e.g. widening the corridor to Jerusalem, or in some highlands.
The difference is that it is now almost certain Israel will try to annex Jordan Valley, because they don’t believe that IDF will be allowed to permanent presence there.
Here was the Olmert landswap which it is likely Israel will now never go back to, at least with Netanyahu (because it is absent the Jordan Valley).
http://israelstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ppp.png
–
The project since 1967 has also to build settlements along the Jordan Valley,* because they will try to permanently keep the army along the Jordan Valley (to stop weapons going into the West Bank – this was already in Yigal Allon plan).
The original settlements plan is a product of their defense ministry.
The discussion in Israel now that without permanent annexation, they will never be allowed to keep the IDF on the Jordan Valley.
So the settlements are in a sense a way of making IDF presence there a fait accompli.
(The controversial proposal in the Liebermen landswap in particular, is about giving up the Israeli Arab villages to annex to the West Bank)
–
Israel is trying to change its strategy now, so to never give the West Bank unmonitored access with Jordan. They might already try to annex the whole the Jordan Valley in the next few years.
There’s also a distinction between bi-lateral two-state solution, and unilateral one.
In the uni-lateral one, Israel will try to annex the whole of Area C, because they would not trust the PA not to declare war. In a bi-lateral one, they will have to pull out a lot of unauthorized settlements, but it would allow more land for the PA.
Which means a Palestinian state wouldn’t have real sovereignty.
I can to some extent understand the security concerns given the terrorist tactics used by the Palestinians, but that doesn’t seem like a solution that will lead to lasting peace (except if the Palestinians just give up due to the massive control exercised by the Israelis over them). But maybe there is no solution anyway.
Netanyahu’s view is to a ‘demilitarized Palestinian state’.
The view of Ayelet Shaked (the people further to the right of him) is that the PA territories be designated as a ‘confederation with Jordan’. Like city states, which are under Jordanian umbrella.
The PA actually already has a kind of semi-independence, but it’s currently only confined in the urban areas (Area A and Area B).
It’s not really comparable. Hungary is not at war with gypsies, or having daily gypsie terrorist attacks, or wars with neighbouring gypsy states.
German reader gave a more persuading example with the Muslim population, that was – in very suicidal way – partly invited to Germany. I cannot read German so I am not following what the exact debate is in Germany.
Israel had something similar, where the Supreme Court (around the 1990s) invited tens of thousands more Arabs into Israel and gave thems citizenship, by changing its family re-unification laws. I don’t know the exact time-frame, but it is another controversy that is discussed there as it continues each year.
The Israeli situation is more schizophrenic though. Because in countries like Germany, I assume they do not see the Muslim population as a threat. Whereas in Israel, it is two populations where everyone knows they are at war with each other. It’s more like Russians and Chechens in the past.
The Germans are committing suicide, but it seems a suicide from lack of knowledge about the danger.
The tolerance in Israel is in spite of knowing they are at war with another population – the Israeli left and Supreme Court are virtue-signalling with their enenies to a kind of Jesus level.
I’m not denying that countries like Germany will not become in a similar situation one day. And they will have a peasant’s uprising over this sometime – perhaps sometime in the 2060s?
But it’s currently an open-war situation in Israel. And yet despite it, there is still this suicidal policies often being often followed by the dominant population.
Compared to what is happening in Germany, where we are arguing that they are self-creating such a future open-war situation. But there is not yet some consensus view that there is any danger, or that the different populations (German vs non-German) would come into conflict.
Churchill cult to blame?
That’s interesting, thanks. I was basing my comment on the latest Eurobarometer poll.
https://i.imgur.com/mjSTiPZ.png
Generally speaking, elites in Western Europe tend to be more hostile to whatever the US MSM pushes as the enemy, whether that is nationalism, Russia or anything right-wing, really.
Russia is if anything a beacon of right-wing symbolism (whether that is accurate or not, is another matter) right now in the Western imagination. This also seeps into debates on the white nationalist space, where you have a bizarre fetishisation by people who know next to nothing about EE. The underlying reason for the vicious hostility to Russia from the liberal-left and the fetishisation from the nationalist-right is the same, both understand Russia as fundamentally a rejection of the liberal order.
As for Germany, let’s remind ourselves that it was Germany that led the rounds on Russia when it came to sanctions. Southern Europe and France were less willing to lead. Germany was re-inforced by the UK, Netherlands and the Nordics. Those countries are also among the most hostile in the Eurobarometer, which underlines the point.
Nevertheless, I appreciate the additional data you can provide to nuance the situation. One reason why I like Eurobarometer is that the questioning is equal across all countries so you get a better overview in an ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison.
Muslims are the 2nd most tolerant people in world, after Buddhists.
I have been blessed to know dozens of Muslims, mostly Arab but some not, and I enjoy talking to them about their faith. Literally every single one that I asked told me that they would have no problem with one of their children converting to a different religion or marrying somebody of another faith (although I’m sure Tahla wouldn’t agree with that).
As for the Turks expelling their Greeks, well the Greeks also expelled their Turks, and this exchange of populations set the stage for nearly a century of peace between Greece and Turkey. Sounds like a good deal to me. Also the Turks didn’t expel the Greeks because of Islam, but rather because Turks are fundamentally racist assholes. Even other Muslims don’t like the Turks.
The tensions going on today between Arab Christians and Arab Muslims are not because Arab Muslims don’t like Christianity, per se, but because:
A small minority of Jihadist nutjobs don’t want any type of co-existence so they seek to cause trouble. These Jihadist tend to focus the overwhelming majority of their efforts at their own coreligionists, however. The Arab Christians are mainly collateral damage.
There is some residual bad blood over the Arab Christians perceived tendency to side with foreign interests over national interests, particularly during the colonial period.
So I wouldn’t say that (Sunni) Muslims are intolerant, but that Arab Islamic societies are fractured and minorities suffer the worst in a fractured society.
why the hell are Poland and Czechia so high?
If you read the age breakdowns on the polls, those in the 18-29 range are more than twice as favorably disposed to Russia than those over 50.
That depends upon the manner in which the influence is wielded. Historically, Westminster has all too willingly been eager to play the role of Perfidious Albion. I could at least have a nominal understanding of such a role in previous eras, when it was doing so out of sheer self-interest, but the travesty of postwar Britain is that it has been doing the bidding of its Yankee master, which obviously is a non-European entity demographically by now, and ruled by a Semitic oligarchical class. A class which hardly has the best interests of Europe at heart.
I’m not anti-UK, and I agree with those that Brexit should be seen as a referendum on the EU rather than on Europe. To put it crudely: how many Brexit voters really agreed with the fever dreams of those who wanted to push for more Commonwealth immigration(which in essence means more Pakistanis) in exchange for EE immigration? I’d wager hardly any. If anything, the Brexiteers are guided by an acute sense of losing their country. Polski sklep may be preferable to Rotherham/Telford rape gangs, but neither is British.
Furthermore, speaking from a Polish PoV, the British often played a useful role in breaking French mania. The French were always closer to the profligate South in temperament and political persuasion. The Brits were useful allies in pushing for balanced budgets and competitiveness. The only disagreement I had with you guys was on your excessive deference to Chinese capital interests buying up everything without any counter-acting demands on reciprocity. You even allowed the Chinese to have a direct hand in British nuclear energy, a core part of national security.
Now, Germany is relying more on the Netherlands and the Nordics to be their attack dogs but on many issues, including on labour mobility, the Brits were very close to EE in your position. So, from a French PoV, you might be right, but France is just France. There’s more to Europe. You also had a strong role in pushing for a European defence initiative. I wouldn’t be so categorical about the UK if I were you.
I’ve already previously pointed out that Poland is the inverse of the West in terms of political attitudes. Our youth are more right-wing than their elders. The right-wing parties won around 60-70% of the vote in the last election as compared to the overall vote share of 45% among the general public. Normally, the youth typically lean heavily left-wing in the West and then grows conservative as they get older.
In Poland, they will also get conservative, but this implies that our electorate will become ever more right-wing as time goes along. Liking Russia is correlated with being right-wing in this day and age. So that’s a general pattern.
But there is also a more cultural aspect. The wall fell almost 30 years ago. I was not even born when it did. I was 6 years old when we joined the EU. This world is all that I have known. Many other young people share my outlook. We see Russia as part of the Slavic family. There is also a cultural affinity at play here. Czechia has always been more Western-oriented, so I wouldn’t be surprised if their affinity is somewhat less. On the other hand, we are more geopolitically exposed to Russia, so hostility on purely political/strategic grounds will be higher in Poland. Those two effects probably cancel each other out to some extent.
That was always the case.
The “Anglo” countries among the G7 are the G7 countries with the worst relations with Russia.
Continental Europe will be split between America and Africa, and China gets Russia.
Europeans ruled the World, now it is time for the World to rule Europe.
I find it difficult to believe that 72% of Germans have a view of Russia that is “total negative”. Sure, Russia isn’t trusted or liked much, but there’s no general perception of it as an immediate threat either among the general public as far as I can see, and quite a bit of sentiment that increased tensions with it aren’t in Germany’s national interests. But who knows, not a clear-cut issue either way imo.
This is exactly right, and it’s also why the present hostility to Russia was always written in the stars. Georgia, Ukraine, Syria — these were all very real conflicts, with real interests at stake, but the true impulse for the New Cold War was internal to the West: the fear of rising illiberalism at home.
By the way, are you really only 20 years old? Color me impressed.
Yeah, I’m surprised, too. I also imagined him to be older.
“total negative”.
I believe this refers to the total of negatives (some, a little, a lot) not “totally negative”.
Ah, that makes more sense, thanks!
There’s an article at American Renaissance about that Kingdom Come: Deliverance game that is somewhat interesting (not least because of the links to the many bizarre pieces criticising it for lack of diversity):
https://www.amren.com/features/2018/03/the-racial-politics-of-kingdom-come-deliverance/
Also this:
LOL
Does Israel want lasting peace? Israel can only survive as long as it remains in a permanent state of semi-war with a permanent siege mentality. Without the alleged threat of war wouldn’t the Israeli liberals simply destroy Israel from within the way liberals have destroyed every western nation?
It’s a bit like anti-semitism. Jews love and need anti-semitism because it allows them to maintain their cultural identity. Israel needs permanent conflict with its neighbours to maintain its sense of national identity.
The worst possible nightmare for Israel would be lasting peace.
So how do you explain the fact that Christian communities survived for centuries under Islamic rule?
The vicious intolerance does not seem to be a fundamental feature of Islam. It’s a relatively new phenomenon. Partly it’s a response to a century of idiotic and vicious western meddling in the Middle East. Partly it’s a response to the (very real) threat of western liberalism. Partly it’s because Arab secular states keep getting invaded and trashed by the Americans and their vassals, which leaves a vacuum that gets filled by extremist Islam.
The hostility to local Christian communities comes about because they’re the only available targets on which to vent frustration. It’s also possible that many Muslims are still operating under the entirely erroneous assumption that the U.S. is a Christian country, hence increased hostility to Christianity.
Militant extremist Islam is something the West has managed to create.
Then why do Islamists engage in vicious persecution of groups like Mandaeans and Yazidis which can hardly be considered as agents of Western imperialism, are completely powerless and have no links to foreign powers? Might it perhaps have something to do with Muslims’ deeply ingrained sense of superiority?
I’m opposed to Western interventions in the Islamic world since they have been indeed generally disastrous, but you’re engaging in the typical “people of color have no agency, everything is our fault” fallacy of all too many Westerners. It’s an arrogant delusion. The problems with Islam are intrinsic to the religion, and always have been.
This reads like a parody of something a college freshman who’s just taken their first course on post-colonialism would write. Religious minorities in the ME survived by allowing themselves to be heavily taxed and regularly publicly humiliated as a best case scenario during periods of relatively enlightened leadership. Otherwise large scale massacres and forced mass conversions were always a constant threat and are recorded as happening too many times to fit into a single book (and that’s just counting the ones that were significant enough to be written down). This was already a common and well-established pattern when most of today’s Western powers were still backwaters at the edge of the world.
Some funny/interesting quotes from the article:
I quite appreciate the fact that some random muttburger is more than willing to offer history lessons to the Czechs on their own country.
Who knows better, Masaryk or random US shitlibs? We need a GamerGate sequel to purge the game journalism ranks completely.
Well played.
This is the kind of games journalism we should see more of.
The game itself has been plagued by bugs and errors, which do not seem to be resolved quite yet. Folks are pointing this out in the latest Steam reviews as well. That is the only thing which keeps me from buying the game as of now.
Anyone wanting to buy the game should probably wait until the next Steam sale during the summer or maybe even the the winter. It was a rushed game and with some months of bug fixing, it should be much better.
First, for many centuries Muslims were a minority, and the taxes paid by infidels were the most important source of revenue. But even once they became a majority (a somewhat fragmented majority, with at least two different big strains), it was difficult to coordinate policy on a very high level. It’s easy to engage in pogroms (they often did), but difficult to sustain it and make a demographic impact.
I think it’s near impossible to engage in genocide without telegraph, and breech-loading rifles help a lot, too. Already in the 19th century there were attempts to exterminate the Alawite sect in Syria (the Ottoman Empire was not yet centralized enough for it to be pursued on an imperial level), which went nowhere, because the Alawites fought desperately and pitchforks and stones are not that much less effective weapons than hanjars and muzzle-loader rifles.
Almost immediately after the appearance of the telegraph and breech-loading weapons, you can see the first mass genocide of a religious minority in the Middle East. The expulsion of the Greeks was also accompanied by mass murder. Someone mentioned that the Greeks also expelled the Turks from Greece. I think it was only as a response, and of course there were many more Greeks in Asia Minor than Turks in present day Greece.
Since colonialism, Arab countries had mostly been ruled by at least somewhat pragmatic secular rulers, who didn’t want to engage in mass genocide of an educated segment of the population (unless they rebelled I guess, but Christians didn’t do that), but they have recently been toppled. (Of course, in many countries the secular rulers themselves hailed from and relied on minority groups themselves, as was the case in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, etc.) Still, there has been an inevitable move to ethno-religious homogeneity.
Not that Europe was that much better or more tolerant throughout its long and bloody history. I guess that’s just human nature: good communications (starting with the telegraph) and effective weapons (starting with modern breech-loaders) don’t go well with ethnic or religious diversity. Especially not with extremely low trust societies, like that of the Arabs. It’s probably somewhat better in Iran, though secularism might change the situation quickly, transforming them from a relatively homogeneous (90% Shiite Muslim) society to a much less homogeneous one (65% Persian). As far as I know, religious minorities have substantially decreased in Iran in recent decades anyway.
I’m tired of this, but I still disagree.
Jews love and need anti-semitism because it allows them to maintain their cultural identity
Which, if true, suggests why they (surprisingly to some) support the immigration of anti-semites.
Modern technology has certainly facilitated ethnic cleansing.
But the undeniable fact is that both Christian and Muslim minorities historically fared far better in Muslim countries than religious minorities (notably Jews) in Christian countries (with the major exception of Poland). This is confirmed by the significant populations of both Christians and Jews in Muslim countries at the turn of the 20th century.
As a minor point, the expulsion of the Greeks from Turkey following WWI had very little if anything to do with Islam, it was pure ethnic cleaning. It was also prompted by the unwise Greek invasion of Turkey in 1919 trying to collect on the territorial gains promised to them by the Allies.
I’m not convinced, at least if the reason for that religious diversity was the tolerance of Muslims.
In a clannish society there’s always fragmentation. Members of another clan could as well be aliens from another planet. You rarely want to have the same beliefs as they do, much less emulate them. So a new religion might find it easier to spread in such a society. But it might find it more difficult to impose itself as the sole religion of the realm. In Europe, there’s more individualism, but at the same time there’s more eagerness to emulate others, to be like the majority. Even if animosity towards other religions was lower in Europe, it’d lead to more religious fragmentation in the Middle East than in Europe.
But I didn’t say Europe was historically more tolerant, probably not, as long as we were still religious.
Perhaps no, but the holocaust also had nothing to do with Christianity, yet we never hear the end of how Christian intolerance led to it. The expulsion of the Greeks followed the few years earlier anti-Christian mass murder against the Armenians, which was enthusiastically supported by the population (and given the state and disorganized nature of the Ottoman Empire, would have been difficult without popular consent), and to my knowledge it was accompanied by violence against other Christian communities, including some pogroms against the Greeks.
Anyway, I don’t think Europeans are much more tolerant by nature. Multiculturalism leads to violent conflict, or at best mutual assimilation and so monoculturalism anyway.
He mixed up notes and cue cards from another internet personality he is playing somewhere else.
It’s true that violence wasn’t a one-way affair, the Greeks committed atrocities as well. But the process had begun earlier, the Young Turks had already taken the first steps towards expelling Greeks from Asia Minor in the spring of 1914 (!), before the outbreak of the European war.
You’re of course correct that Islamic societies were more tolerant than Latin Christendom until at least the 18th century. But that’s not saying much since Latin Christendom was one of the most intolerant civilizations in all of history. Islamic tolerance also has nothing to do with modern concepts of tolerance since it always was founded upon the clear supremacy of Muslims and the legal discrimination and economic exploitation of non-Muslims.
Captain….Konstantin Nazarov, as later told his wife Anna Mikhailovna Nazarova, ” left the house in the designated day …welcome the white Finns…he was arrested at 11 a.m. ” of Course he was shot
Soldiers of Mannerheim led the extermination on a national basis.
the Young Turks had already taken the first steps towards expelling Greeks from Asia Minor in the spring of 1914 (!)
But this can safely be attributed more to nationalism than to religion (which was my original point), wouldn’t you agree?
Calvinistic ones were even worse. They tended to exterminate, rather than convert and assimilate.
Anybody recognize the name of the author of this?
Tell us about yourself. Why do you hate Christianity that much? Where does it come from? Why do you sound like SJW when it comes to Christianity?
I may not have expressed myself clearly enough, Latin Christendom for me is everything that belonged to the Western Catholic church in the middle ages, including areas that later became Protestant. I’m certainly not in favour of the more extreme kinds of Protestantism.
That being said, the Dutch republic in the early modern era was markedly more tolerant than major Catholic powers like Spain.
It’s nothing to do with hatred, it’s an objective statement of fact. Latin Christendom in the middle ages was extremely intolerant of any kind of dissent or heterodoxy (just think about what happened to the Cathars). The only non-Christian minority that enjoyed some precarious toleration were Jews, and they were expelled from much of Western Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. Muslims in Spain and Sicily were also eventually all removed or converted.
Stating this isn’t even a value judgement, one can of course believe that tolerance for false or dangerous beliefs isn’t a virtue.
As for my personal beliefs, I don’t think I owe you any justification.
Yet strangely not one of their primary targets were Muslims.
Sure, the Young Turks were Turkish nationalists. I don’t think the issue can be entirely separated from religion though, adherence to Sunni Islam was an important part of the Turkish national identity they wanted to promote.
In any case, I don’t think pre-modern Islamic societies were that great for many of their non-Islamic subjects either.
Okay, so this idealistic pacifist opposed to the Russian chemical weapons program (while other countries were still operating such programs) and whistleblower of the truth turns out to be a Tatar nationalist.
It was more tolerant of Jews. Not of Catholics.
Ok, good point. But given the background to how it came into being (revolt against Spain, the atrocities of the Duke of Alba etc.), that might have been a bit much to expect anyway.
I read stories of the persecution of Christians in Tokugawa Japan. Essentially Buddhism was a state religion, and adherence to it was compulsory. Only religions which were compatible with it (Taoism, folk Shinto) were allowed. These religions (in the case of folk Shinto rather a collection of superstitions) allowed their adherents to be also Buddhists. I doubt if Islam or Sikhism tried to enter Japan, it would’ve been welcomed there.
Was it more tolerant than Christianity? Maybe, maybe not.
Except that I think a good third of the population was still Catholic in the 17th century, so they persecuted a large portion of the population.
By the way the same could be said of Spain, they just liberated themselves from Moorish rule, and the Jews often allied themselves with the Moors. Like serving as government ministers. (I think the Moors had more Jewish ministers than from the Christian majority, which I guess is what makes them the ideal Tolerant Society of the Middle Ages, but I think it’s more like an Assad type minority government allying itself with any other minorities.)
So hatred towards the Muslims and Jews was understandable. The Reformation never was strong in Spain, but the authorities could be forgiven for not allowing it, since it had led to a rebellion in the Netherlands.
Okay, so this idealistic pacifist opposed to the Russian chemical weapons program (while other countries were still operating such programs) and whistleblower of the truth turns out to be a Tatar nationalist.
He is in fact the head of the Tatarstant Government in Exile, which is a bit more than being a “Tatar nationalist”, especially when he is hosted by the Land of the Free and Brave (I remember growing up how “Captive Nations Day” used to be celebrated every year).
https://day.kyiv.ua/en/article/topic-day/21st-century-colonialism
Now if I were the exiled head of the government of the Confederate States of America, and also an expert in chemical weapons who was pointing his finger at the Northern States for their supposed use of my invention (our friend Vil has either claimed, or allowed himself to be credited, as a developer of Novichok), wouldn’t you find that interesting?
I am not suggesting that he is directly involved, just that this is a rather interesting situation.
You’re right, I didn’t mean to condone that.
From what I know about Spanish history (and there are large gaps in my knowledge, so I may be wrong), this is a bit of a conflation of different eras. As far as I know, the prominent role of Jews in government positions (vizier?) was during the caliphate of Cordoba (10th/early 11th century), also somewhat in the successor states (this was partly the reason for the anti-Jewish massacre of Granada in 1066). But after the caliphate had disintegrated – not least because of ethnic tensions between different groups of Muslims…so much for multiculti paradise! – Islamic Spain came to be dominated in the 12th and 13th centuries by the Almoravids and Almohads who were basically hardcore fanatics from the north African desert. They didn’t look favorably upon Jews (and during their rule the last native Christians of North Africa descended from Roman times seem to have left iirc), and many Jews emigrated to the Christian states in Northern Spain.
And after the Christians had reconquered most of the peninsula in the mid-13th century, the remaining Islamic state Granada was thoroughly Islamic in character and not very multicultural at all…I’m not sure Jews played a prominent role there at all. So it seems doubtful to me that by 1492 there was much of a genuine recent memory of Jews in Spain collaborating with or assisting the Muslims. Other factors probably were more important for the expulsion of the Jews.
Anyway, all those discussions about tolerance in the middle ages may of course be somewhat beside the point…the modern concept of tolerance as it has developed since the 17th century simply didn’t exist then. And given what it has led to, I’m having serious doubts about the merits of our concept of tolerance anyway.
I read stories of the persecution of Christians in Tokugawa Japan
Nagasaki was the center of Christianity in Japan (due to Portuguese influence, for a few years the city was actually directed administered by Portugal). Following the measures to eliminate Christianity, a small secret Christian community survived in Nagasaki, and was eventually able to come out into the open in the late 19th century. Works on a cathedral began in 1895, and when it was completed (in 1925) it was said to be the largest Christian church in Asia.
All this ended, of course, on 9 August 1945.
It’s also interesting that you never read about it. The wonders of the free press and media doing their job!
Regarding the Wagner incident.
https://www.polygraph.info/a/us-wagner-russia-syria-scores-killed/29044339.html
Can Russian speakers confirm what this source states? (I.e. that there was an audio recording of a Russian guy talking about having lost over 200 KIA due to the American bombing. The YouTube videos can be seen after scrolling.)
I’m quite skeptical, they only have identified nine dead contractors. Even this source only tells that.
I’m being the devil’s advocate here.
This might be consistent with Putin being behind these murders and the guy being a provocateur put on the list only so that he could make the dramatic – and, let’s face it, unproven – accusations, or that he hopes he could escape Putin by pledging loyalty to him and making such a bizarre declaration of the British as enemies.
I’m being the devil’s advocate here.
Yes, you are, but what seems certain is that being Putin’s “enemy” is a very dangerous position to find oneself in (Nemtsov, Berezovsky, Litvinenko, Skripal, etc.).
Objectivity is the last refuge of the arrogant person. You assume that you know history and the events that really occurred. All you know is just anti-Christian propaganda like any garden variety SJW knows and assume it is objective. All you know is a combination of Protestant anti-Papists, Jewish and liberal version of history of Christianity. You do not know economic and political motives behind Albigensian “crusade.” The same goes for the Jews. Their numerous expulsions had political and economic reasons and accusation of criminality that sometime were legitimate. Popes and Vatican usually tried to soften the anti-Jewish animus when it flared up. Actually the question that is rarely asked is why Jews were not hunted down in Europe and killed or forced to convert? Why did they survive as a group? Perhaps you should start with this question to make a first crack in the SJW version of history that was imparted on you.
Bravo! Few more awakenings like this one…
Nemtsov was killed by Chechens. The Russian government didn’t want to find the person who ordered the hit, but it’s easy to guess.
Because they had a special role in the Christian view of history; I don’t know the exact details anymore (and won’t look them up now), but fathers of the Church like Augustine argued they should be allowed to exist because even in their depraved nature they bore witness to Christianity’s truth. So in a sense Jews were privileged compared to other non-Christians. It’s also true that the church’s hierarchy often sought to protect Jews against popular anger (e.g. during the 1st crusade)…but imo this doesn’t change the fact that medieval Christendom was quite intolerant of dissent on the whole.
But anyway, your accusation of me being “SWJ-like” (lol), after the countless times you’ve called me a “cuck”, is hardly conducive to open discussion…I don’t appreciate such personal attacks.
By the way Politkovskaya also had a run-in with Kadyrov. Nemtsov was different in that the Russian government (including Putin) probably was angry about his murder. Kadyrov was reprimanded afterwards.
You mean Ramzan Kadyrov?
Yes. After that, Putin disappeared for a few weeks (apparently due to illness, but probably also to get to the bottom of things), and then Kadyrov wasn’t received in Moscow for several weeks. Kadyrov at first wrote on his Instagram page how he thought the people accused (he happened to personally know them) were such great people and sure to be innocent, but then after few weeks his tone changed, and mentioned the “former member” of his retinue etc.
Nemtsov was not the kind of person who people around Putin would like to see murdered. He was a previous deputy prime minister and once thought of as a possible Yeltsin successor. Even though he was an opposition figure, he was considered a member of the Russian political elite.
Anyway, I think the murder of Politkovskaya was a different category from that of Nemtsov, and neither was related to the case of Litvinenko. Which might actually be totally unconnected to the Skripal case.
Nemtsov was killed by Chechens.
I can easily believe that. But that hasn’t stopped the new address assigned to the Russian Embassy in Washington: Boris Nemtsov Plaza
https://www.rferl.org/a/boris-nemtsov-plaza-washington/29066220.html
In the West, you cannot just have many separate murders. They have to be a big conspiracy! Konspiracy Kookery is now widespread among our enlightened liberals. But they just cannot see how similar their thinking is to 911 truthers.
Tolerance is ability to bear pain and hardship. In Middle Ages they concerned themselves with tolerance as the tolerance of some evils that for various reason need to be left alone. Nowadays we are more like Voltaire:
But when you believe that there is only one truth and you are on its side to be tolerant puts much higher demand on you. It is not that cheap. It is a real pain and suffering.
Jews were tolerated and not forced to conversion because conversion had to be an act of free will and Jews were the outsiders who preceded Christianity. They were the enemies from without. Heretics on the other were enemies form within. They knew the truth and abandoned it. Could they be tolerated?
Excellent reference- thanks!!!
Peace.
“Just had a call with a guy; so they basically formed a convoy, but did not get to their (kurds) f*** positions by some three hundred meters. One unit moved forward, the convoy remained in place, about 300 meters from the others. The others raised the American flag and their artillery started ours really hard. Then their f*** choppers flew in and starter everybody. Ours just running around. Just got a call from a pal, so there are about 215 f*** killed. ”
That is, according to the record 250 “Russian mercenaries” was killed at a distance of 300 meters from the Kurdish fortifications (in the territories controlled by the Kurds). Lying on the road piles of corpses, standing on the road burned tanks and armored personnel carriers.
But there are no pictures.
mobile phones (belonging to the fighters of the SDF), at this time stopped working and the Kurds could not take a picture? Or is the whole story just a stupid fake?
Thanks!
The Skripal case is not getting any clearer. Now it’s claimed that the “most traces” were found on the front door of his home, but it was also found elsewhere, albeit in lower concentrations. Those must’ve been pretty low concentrations indeed, for this is supposed to be the deadliest nerve agent, and yet it so far failed to kill either targets, with one of them already on the way to recovery. So the concentration on the door handle must’ve been already low.
Anyway, how did the poison get elsewhere? Did they carry it around? How long did it take for this deadliest of poisons to stop them from moving around?
It just doesn’t seem to make sense.
Take a plane and visit around either country – Hungary and Israel – and you will rapidly change your mind.
Hungary (and at least half of European countries) are anti-illegal immigration utopia, by comparison to Israel (which is total liberal chaos, flooded with illegal immigrants, who it refuses to deport – as long as they are not Ukrainian or Georgian).
“Of a type developed by Russia.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-03/uk-authorities-unable-prove-novichok-nerve-agent-came-russia
Not funny but neither unusual historically: Charles II, Louis XIV, George IV* are all famous examples, not anything like the only ones either.
*(of resp. England, France, Britain)