Politics

I quote below the abstract of a recent paper from E.Carolina University, published last November in the Journal of Chemical Education, which has attracted the scorn of Jerry Coyne. This article presents an argument on the importance of teaching science with a feminist framework and defines it by acknowledging that all knowledge is historically situated and is influenced by social power and politics. This article presents a pedagogical model for implementing a special topic class on science and feminism for chemistry students at East Carolina University, a rural serving university in North Carolina. We provide the context of developing this class, a curricular model t…

They forget their 50 years old technology?

1) Russians are Nothing to do with Europe. Russia is the North. India is the South. China is the East. US and UK are the West. UAE and Saudi are the Middle. 2) How the Big Mouth West to fight with Japan. 2.1)--Japan defeated Russia in Manchuria. Japan lost 80,000 soldiers. Russia lost 70,000 soldiers. Russo-Japanese War, Wikipedia --In WWII, Russia defeated 600,000 Japanese soldiers in Manchuria. Russia lost 10,000 soldiers. Soviet invasion of Manchuria, Wikipedia 2.2) --Japan defeated the British Empire in Singapore. Japan lost 1000 soldiers and took 100,000 POWs. Battle of Singapore, Wikipedia --Japa…

BRUS: British-US alliance. My logic runs as follows There was Brexit, a breaking away of the EU, a giant on the world plane, and now Britain is alone. Britain's loss of the EU can be replenished in the form of the USA. The USA while not a global governing body of sorts like the EU, is still a force to reckon with, being the worlds most powerful nation. In any case it is better than nothing. USA is also the country best fitted to form an alliance with the UK. That alliance has won wars time and again for the UK, in WW1 and WW2, no reason it shouldn't prove fruitful in the case of a political alliance like BRUS. Thoughts?

Do you think they've made the right decision? Is there any other way they could have done it, apart from more gradually? It looks we are going into a new episode seeing China trying to renormalize its activities. I'm wondering about this on social, political and epidemiological levels.

My last foray into politics didn't seem to go down very well so here is a more light hearted one

We haven't had a good political discussion in a while, and I miss butting heads with INow, Zapatos, Peterkin, and Phi. New Zealand recently passed a law that makes it illegal to buy or sell sigarettes to anyone born after 2008. New Zealand passes legislation banning cigarettes for future generations - BBC News Now I think this is a valiant effort to combat the smoking problem and its related health and societal issues, but I don't like the method used. The ban currently affects minors, but in 4 or 7 years ( depending on age of majority ), those minors will be adults. Adults who have one less 'right' than any other adult who is a year or more older. …

Idle thought really: Would it be possible to bar politicians from setting policy on the mechanisms and procedures of government from their real job of governing their country and constituents? I envisage a separate pathway and committees for the maintenance of the government machine. The latter would be staffed by experts in the field. Candidates with nefarious intent wouldn't be able to twiddle with the levers of government to move the goalposts if they get elected. I'm particularly thinking of voting procedures within government chambers and outside of it in public elections.

It's just started today. Here it is on YT. For the UK it looks like it starts at 1am and will last a few weeks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63813122 This article has a good few examples for how the Chinese people are getting around the censor in the aftermath of the recent death of their former President. I wonder who will come out on top? The censors or the censorees? It has been ,I think accepted wisdom that the censor fights a losing battle ,rather like poor King Canute but the Chinese CP seems to be game for the fight Can it win ?

Young, strong, energetic people dropping like flies. This is happening all over the world not just in the United States but people refuse to believe the fact that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous. This has to be the most wet behind the ears generation of people in the history of mankind. The democrats are counting on us to get dumber and dumber by the minute. It's very easy to brainwash and control people who are not well-informed. You say?

Reports are coming out that Russian missiles have landed in Poland and killed at least two people. Is this enough to allow attacks on Russian soil? Should retaliation be swift or should we hump up and take this as Ukraine has done?

I am not startled the China virus. This is nothing new to me. Bill Gates, who is very passionate about world depopulation, spoke clearly to a large audience in 2013 about the coming killer virus. He knew about COVID-19 then and the aftermath of vaccines and boosters. By the way, I am not a fan of Bill Gates, George Soros and other billionaires who are selfishly thinking about reducing population for their own sick and perverted pleasure.

What say thee?

After WWII, the West did 6 things. 1) If you talk about the real GDP - the buying power, China is No 1, India will be No 2, the USA will be No. 3. 2) If you talk about the real GDP - the buying power, the top 5 will be China, India, the USA, Japan/Indonesia. There will be 0 European country. 3) England will be a second country. 4) The rest of the world consider Australia as Nothing. --The Malaysian PM Dr Mahathir said "Australia is a small country, and should act as a small country." --Australia has been described as “gum stuck to the bottom of China’s shoe.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/australia-called-gum-stuc…

How's it looking from the US side of the Atlantic?

Trump let loose a huge Freudian slip when he said this to Judge Jeanine Pirro on Sunday, March 13, in regard to Putin waging war on Ukraine. This is from the Newsweek story and would love to find the actual interview on Youtube, anyone know? Trump's word salad with Russian dressing, about Putin waging war on Ukraine: "You say, what's the purpose of this? They had a country. You could see it was a country where there was a lot of love and we're doing it because, you know, somebody wants to make his country larger or he wants to put it back the way it was when actually it didn't work very well," Trump said. Trump Says 'Lot of Love' Behind Putin Wanting to 'Make Hi…

Is steadily lowering their yield making them more likely to be used? Is there a case for specifying a minimum yield in a treaty between adversaries?

A leaked draft of the majority opinion shows that in SCOTUS is set to overturn Row vs. Wade, which was a landmark decision which effectively allowed abortions. Effectively conservative states are poised to make abortions impossible, which is like going to cause a significant public health problem.

As Britain prepares to select its third PM in just over 6 weeks, attention is being drawn to the curious nature of UK Conservative Party membership rules, and the critical role that members play in selecting a new PM. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/21/2130404/-How-did-the-UK-get-Truss-the-UK-may-be-able-to-blame-us-or-someone-else If a British PM voluntarily steps down from office, it does not trigger a general election. Instead a two-part internal leadership election process begins. First, a slate of candidates is chosen in a ballot by Conservative Party MPs at Westminster. The final selection is then settled by a vote of ordinary members of the Conse…

I am beginning to hear serious concerns about the possible use of nuclear weapons by Russia in it's invasion of Ukraine. Is this a serious threat or is it just more war mongering by Russia in it's desperation to take over Ukraine? Some people whom I respect seem to think this is a likely endgame for Putin others seem to think nukes would not make much of a difference at this point since the troops are so widely dispersed. This would seem to put a target on cities if they were used at all. Russia seems to be in chaos after the drafting of civilians was instituted with hundreds of thousands of men leaving the country. Are nukes and the threat of nukes Putin's last cha…

One could pen an entire encyclopedia on the 1000s of people and the spider's web of resources needed to enable an anarchist to enjoy their day at a protest. From the global logistics and manufacturing required to produce everything they are wearing to the manufacture of his flares and spray paint cans, and the diesel required to power the train he arrives on. The list would be so extensive that one could write an entire encyclopedia about his day at the protest. My conclusion is that "Anarchism only works because the majority of people aren't anarchists.

I am listening to someone singing "We shall not be moved" Very moving and my first inclination is to suppose that the moral and physical strength of that oppressed group was the overriding factor in the changes that brought an end to slavery in Europe and the USA. On reflection I am wondering if I was naive and whether there were other factors that brought about those changes. Can anyone say what they think might have been the main factors? It wasn't a case of economic change that made the practice less profitable,was it? Or the new communication technologies that shone a light on what was happening? It does…

Across the world right now, and perhaps always, there is a battle over how we the people… the orc hordes through the mothers of dragons… shall be governed. The debate is especially intense with shifting power and economic dynamics, shifting technological might, a rapidly warming cancerous climate full of droughts and floods, wars, starvation… migration… more fights not just for resources, but for lives and tribes. Some find the strongmen and authoritarian gang leaders appealing. Others find anarchy and the chaos of every man for themselves appealing. Most, however, say they want something more orderly in between. Something where we’re both free and connect…

Hey Ho the Democrats have won the election (just about). But in Sweden the Democrats are a right wing party. How cool is that ? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62908902