gedaliyah

gedaliyah , 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

Not to minimize the 2016 or 2020 elections, which a lot of sources say there was not a level playing field in the DNC, but this year there is an incumbent president. This is how incumbent presidents are always treated. It’s normal and fair and strategically sound.

The same thing happened when Donald Trump was incumbent and nobody made a fuss.

Edit for clarity:

normal - The incumbent candidate has preferential treatment within the party in every election cycle. There are various ways that this manifests, and is usually different depending on the exact circumstances. If one chose, they could drill down into specific details to make it seem exceptional e.g. “It’s never been done in with this specific mechanism or in this particular state.”

fair - If you want access to preferential treatment, become President. The President is the figurehead not only of the country, but arguably even more so of their party. It would be unfair for the party leadership to undermine them while in office.

strategically sound - Incumbent candidates win elections. There is something like a 65% advantage to incumbency. Moreover, a party has limited political, social, and financial capital. If they spend that capital in the primary race, then they start the general election at a disadvantage. There is evidence (and common wisdom) that a primary race actually generates more capital, but I’ve never heard any credible suggestion that it could be a net gain in any area. Running a primary means a less unified party, less financial resources, less voter confidence in the victor.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

Blocking doesn’t really work on Lemmy like it does on other platforms. You can mute people but it doesn’t limit them from interacting with you.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

You’re actually proving the point. The people who ran against him demanded funding and equal access to Party resources, but they were denied. The incumbent party will always tilt the field toward the incumbent president.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

That green pixel tho. I know it’s not the point at all, but I can’t unsee it.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

Seems like Iran would rather kill disabled people than give women the most basic autonomy. They just want to have the right to cover their hair or not. This is absurdity.

(Edit grammar)

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

But lo, I needeth it not for this tax form. I needeth only black. Why can you not simply print using the black ink?

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

FYI for any fellow Americans, you can probably do your taxes actually for free in minutes with well-designed software using cashapp. I’ve done it for the last two years and it is such a ridiculous upgrade from turbotax it’s hard to believe.

I have no idea about their privacy policies or anything like that but I know it’s super easy.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Because they used all that money they made from the free filings to pay lawyers and lobbyists to show that technically - technically - it really is free from a certain perspective. If you really squint.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Dated DEC 1:

On Thursday, Hamas killed four Israelis in a terrorist attack in Jerusalem and launched more rockets into Israel, which Israel said violated the ceasefire.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

It’s baffling that when you look into any of the backwards claims that “Israel funded Hamas,” they generally come down to the exact cooperation that activists demand of Israel.

On the one hand, people will demand that Israel allow equipment and infrastructure into Gaza, then accuse them of supplying the Hamas terror tunnels and rocket casings. People will chastise Israel for facilitating secret Qatari funds into Gaza from one side of their mouth while calling for open borders from the other side.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Doubtful.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Incorrect. The Aliyah movement to return to the land of Israel was primarily secular communists, and they purchased the land they moved to under the Ottoman and British mandate - they didn’t conquer it by force. Most Israelis are of Judean/MENA descent, not European.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Well, the world is not ready to talk about it, but Israel has been under bombardment by Hezbollah for months now.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Incorrect.

Hamas said the men were members of its armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Hamas has 30,000-40,000 fighters.

Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since Oct 7 and continues to do so.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

You might ask why Iran would do this. As it turns out, sponsoring terror is an extremely cost effective form of international diplomacy. Instead of spending billions on defense to attack and intimidate regional rivals, the government of Iran can spend several orders of magnitude less, say a few hundred million in guns and cash for extremist groups.

Iran doesn’t have to recruit or pay the soldiers, because someone else will do it for them; doesn’t have to finance or strategize an invasion, because the militants are already in the enemy’s territory; doesn’t have to face moral culpability on the world stage, because they can claim clean hands.

This is not just ideological for Iran. It is simple dollars and cents (or rials). Persia is a 5000 year old civilization, and they are happy to gradually carve away at their enemies until there’s nothing left.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Veni, vidi, vesci.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

This is one of a handful of police procedures that are ripe for abuse. Any officer wishing to justify a suspicion can claim that they “smell marijuana” and search a vehicle, home, etc. There is basically no way to contradict them. It’s not like we have smell recordings.

Another good example is field sobriety tests (walk on this line, count a number of steps, etc.), which have been shown to be highly subjective and inaccurate even when done correctly. Policing is maybe the last modern discipline that ignores evidence-based best practices.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Weird. Then why can I read the inscription in this photo of a text composed 3500 years ago? I guess some time traveler learned this totally invented 19th century language and taught it to the people back then, and also came up with Arabic and some other languages that are pretty closely related.

By the way, it says not to lie (although his hand is partly covering it).

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Spaghet

gedaliyah OP , 6 months ago

Sorry, I didn’t notice the date when I posted. I can take it down if requested.

gedaliyah OP , 6 months ago

Interesting! It could theoretically act like a Kinect if it were advanced enough, and you wouldn’t need any additional hardware.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Does anyone here actually speak Chinese? What does it really say

gedaliyah OP , 6 months ago

So we shouldn’t worry about American bigotry? That’s a weird hill to die on.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Cool, thanks for today’s world war III vibe.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

I hate having to be on meta for work, and this is a REGULAR occurrence. Obvious fake scam profile -> report -> no action taken. On Facebook I think it’s maybe around a 20-30% success rate for taking down impersonators. On insta, it’s about zero.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Unfortunately, a lot of people have to use them. They are two of the three largest social media platforms. As much as I love the fediverse, I don’t think businesses are finding many customers here just yet.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

It’s a double-edged sword. I love the fediverse for what it is, and if it continues to be a niche place for good people to socialize, that would be okay with me. I would also love to see the Fediverse or some future version of it become a permanent replacement for corporate-owned social media. That can’t ever happen if major social activities that humans engage in aren’t represented.

I would like to eventually see government communications, brand engagement, sales (if not ads), dating, customer service, political organizing, event coordinating, ticketing, vlogging, etc. as a part of fedi, meaning that people don’t have to rely on corporate-owned communication for online community. Would fedi also lose something precious in that process? Yes. would our society be a whole lot better? Absolutely.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

X is a Nazi bar and anyone still there is fine with that.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

The really tragic thing is that this is a unique opportunity to establish a Palestinian state with the kind of global support and Arab investment that it would need to succeed.

Most Israelis want nothing to do with an extended stay in Gaza. Another leader in Israel would be able to make it happen, along with ANY serious leadership from Palestine. Abbas is useless, and Haniyeh is delighted to send wave after wave of martyrs at Israel while cashing the aid checks.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Gosh it sure would be a shame if everyone here commented and liked this post. That would be just awful for the alleged rapist.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Wise elder: A rising tide raises all ships.

MAGA: Not if I punch some holes in the bottom of 'em!

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Don’t feel bad. I came to the comments to check exactly this!

gedaliyah , 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago)

Billy the Kid is one

Bill Evans

Bill Belichick

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Why is this still in the news cycle? How is this news?

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

So weird to think that for 90% of the world, Tux is just a free clipart of a penguin taking a number two.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Yum! Can I have some?

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

That’s a very alarmist interpretation.

The article admits in the first paragraph that it’s a possible mistranslation. If you’ve been following the rhetoric then you know this is not a new stance, it is a reiteration of the existing question of what body will administer Gaza after the war. Biden has said that the PA should be “revitalized” and assume control of Gaza. Netanyahu has said that the PA lacks the capability, credibility, and capacity to do so. As far as credibility, it’s hard to imagine that Israel is the better option. The idea that Netanyahu is better than the admittedly unpopular Abbas is risible.

Egypt has flat out refused to take on the job, the Arab league has floundered.

It seems like the best solution would be a UN transitional force that would rebuild Gaza with financial support from Qatar and UAE, who have expressed willingness. They would be responsible for maintaining order following the power vacuum of removing Hamas, PIJ, etc. They would have to bolster the PA, establish a police force, systems of governance, and roll out the transition for a peaceful transition of power to the PA (or a newly created body).

That’s no small task. The last thing anyone wants is another Afghanistan. The USA spent decades and billions of dollars to remove the Taliban and establish a democratic system. They finally admitted that it hadn’t worked and handed everything back over to the Taliban.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

On the one hand, it is a little frustrating to see this global focus when there is so little attention paid to the 1.7 million people displaced in Pakistan of the 6 million people displaced in Sudan, or the 86,000 people killed in Nigeria.

On the other hand, imagine the efforts that the world would go to to free a medium sized American city that was taken captured by terrorists and rebuild it afterword.

Israel may be the best equipped to maintain order, and they have an existential prerogative to do so. However, what does the eventual transfer of power look like in that scenario? The PA and the UN are maybe the only bodies with the credibility to manage and rebuild the area and form a stable and representative government.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

That’s not the significant part of the mistranslation, however. This article says that “Israel will take over the entire region” but the more accurate translation is “Israel must have security in the region.”

This article is using the most shocking possible translation just to get clicks.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

Jews and Arabs. They were collectively referred to as Palestinians at that time.

Here is the Jewish and Arab Mandatory Palestine national football team.

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

There’s never been a period of time when Jewish people weren’t living there. How can a group of people colonize the place they’re already living?

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

According to Google translate, the exact quote is:

מדינת ישראל חייבת לשלוט ביטחונית הכל השטח מערבת הירדן.

“The State of Israel must control the security of all the territory west of the Jordan.”

Reverso:

“The State of Israel must control the security of everything from the Jordan Valley.”

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

🤣

gedaliyah , 6 months ago

This seems like the answer. If there is no proprietary code and they did not actually reverse-engineer patented technology, I doubt they have a leg to stand on.

It costs nothing to threaten to sue, and it sometimes works.