Politics

In the US, apparently there is a new tactic in place to restrict or even abolish abortions. In a way it is a clever way to skirt litigation and basically banning abortion by threatening folks performing it, rather than banning the procedure itself. https://www.vox.com/2021/8/31/22650303/supreme-court-abortion-texas-sb8-jackson-roe-wade-greg-abbott

After the Russia elections Trump called Putin to congratulate him on having the powers of a dictator. "I'm proud of you Vlad, I would like the powers you have!" We would not have known about this if the Kremlin did not report it and some details were not leaked to the press. After Xi of China takes power for life, Trump remarked that was a good idea. "I'm proud of you Xi, I would like to have power for life!" We can only assume Trump envies Kim Jong-Un for his absolute power, as a "smart cookie". The House Intelligence Committee reached the conclusion that although Russia interfered with the US elections, it was NOT in favor or Trump. That is at odds with a…

I'm not sure whether many people are aware of this on SFN but most Muslim countries are poor and generally just doesn't compete that well in the global economy, apart from a few exceptions. Why are so many Muslim countries poor countries? What is the likely root-cause of this? What does everybody think?

In 2016, many Americans promised that they would move to Canada if Donald Trump won. Very few of them followed through on that promise. Among the ones who didn't, a popular claim was the notion that "Canada's too cold;" a phrase that came to mind this week because Lytton, British Columbia, recently surpassed Las Vegas, Nevada as far as record heat goes. I presume, if people believed Las Vegas wasn't hot enough for them, it wouldn't be profitable to air condition those casinos? Or was the idea less that the maximum temperatures aren't hot enough, and more that the minimum temperatures are too cold? If so, what of the fact that Vancouver,…

Years ago, at least in the context of Internet culture, it used to be taken as a given that being against vaccines was a leftist thing. But lately, amidst the deluge of right-wing anti-vaxxers like Tucker Carlson and Lauren Boebert, the myth that the vaccine is bad for you has been challenged aplenty, while the even more unmistakably disproven myth that anti-vax narratives were inherently a left-wing thing has been virtually ignored. How come there are no repercussions for that sort of myth? How come the people responsible for it get to walk away from this as if they hadn't just been caught in a lie? Now I'm not saying this…

In my retirement I have lots of time to kill, so I wanted to see Rush Limbaugh’s reaction to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th. His entire show for January 7th was available on Youtube for several weeks, but it is gone now. I listened to it a few times, taking notes. Then I completely transcribed the first 20 minutes because I want to understand Trumpers. Rush started his show on the 7th by saying that he was having a “hard time” (from his cancer and he died about 6 weeks later). Rush was a major factor in Trump winning in 2016, and 74.1 million votes in 2020, because of his large radio audience. Rush began his 1-7-2021 show exalting himself, repeating as…

Yesterday, 5-12-2021, Rand Paul called Dr. Fauci a liar about what happened in the Wuhan lab. Fauci needs to explain how he didn't lie to Rand Paul. Would someone please bring a microphone to Dr. Fauci? "Sen. Rand Paul said that Dr. Anthony Fauci lied Tuesday when he said that the National Institute of Health (NIH) did not fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology before the coronavirus outbreak." "I would say we don’t know for certain [where the virus came from], but I would say what Dr. Fauci said yesterday was verifiably false," Paul said. "He said no NIH money went to the Wuhan Institute for gain of function. Well, the main doctor there,…

https://news.gallup.com/poll/352397/democratic-republican-confidence-science-diverges.aspx I wonder if that 45% ticks upwards when their child needs medicine.

Wasn't part of the point of sex-segregating sports to make sure it's primarily a test of athletic skill, rather than of skill at not being distracted by one's opponent? Is it possible the introduction of athletes who are still anatomically of the opposite sex might make their opponents subconsciously realize this, and in turn, be a confounding factor in the extent to which it's about athletic skills?

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57773010 About 50 Republicans who voted against accepting the result of the General election,it seems. On balance is this a good developments or will it fuel what seems like a grievance culture? Seems like desperate times for Democracy in USA.So vital the anti democratic forces do not get another foothold in the institutions of power in the coming elections . Can they be headed off at the pass? According to the story "Toyota has said it will halt donations to members of the US Congress who voted against certification of President Biden's election victory."

Standard academic and research establishments are becoming increasingly political. Top journals like Nature, Science, Lancet etc. all support the same political parties and ideologies. One example is Nature supporting Biden here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02852-x. Can one trust the objectivity (core principle required for hard science research) of Nature after it supports one political party over another? Nature also constantly protects China as if it is a propaganda mouthpiece for China rather than a scientific magazine. It says that we should not debate the lab leak hypothesis of coronavirus because that annoys China and we need China at all costs …

Is this some attempt on Israel's part to stifle dissemination of news in Gaza territory.... cutting the area off from reliable external information to the Gazans?

There has been a big push lately to "defund the police". One problem that I see is that the police were never funded properly in the first place. Yes, they are given ridiculous and unnecessary amounts of military surplus vehicles (which they shouldn't have), but that actual salary for a full time officer is around 55,000 a year - quite low considering the cost of living these days and what their job demands. (Source:https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/police-officer/salary/) The issue I see is police are woefully undertrained. Jocko Willik, a retired Navy SEAL, was on a podcast recently and pointed out that for a 6 month deployment in Afghanistan, the Navy SEA…

The World Health Organization might be talking tough on China now, but back when it would have counted, they were obviously pandering to them. What, if anything, is the use of an "international" organization that can be influenced by any especially powerful country, let alone one with a track record of cover-ups, in ways that get hundreds of thousands of people killed? Is it to "investigate" these countries? Why trust an "investigation" in which the suspects let investigators in willingly, presumably believing they've already covered up all the evidence they need to cover up? Why can't each country just send spies to gather intel on each other country, and then let the pu…

Hello all, I am only 13, but I would like to correct all of you about this issue. 1) Muhammed was persecuted! When he opened up Islam for the first time to the idol worshippers ,he was laughed at. When he prayed near the Kabah, he was humiliated and stoned. People threw rubbish over him and tried every avenue to stop him from practicing his beliefs. Does this sound like Jesus and the Jewish rabbis? 2)The Islamic Caliphate might be compatible?! I say this because of many things. Muslims are a peaceful folk. The Quran teaches us to have peace, and so does the Torah and the Bible. Unfortunately, in all religions, you get a few violent people. Just because ISIS…

We are currently 100 seconds to midnight, closer than ever before... https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ And yet then things like these happen... News like this makes me question, whether or not I Am even real... Insane, unbelievable: https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7ebmd/us-military-personnel-spilled-nuclear-secrets-in-online-flashcards How anyone with that level of intelligence gets to even work there and bellingcat has to warn NATO about it is beyond me... Took LSD on the job LOL, ok I guess... At this rate they could deploy monkeys to handle their nuclear stockpile and let them press random buttons... What an utter travesty... Also we …

So, I'm at this place called Community Action in Beloit, Wisconsin; and it bothers me that person get within six feet of me. I'm gridlocked by the space-time continuum; and there is nothing I am able to do about people coming within six feet of me, such as me being flanked by persons. And then there is the questionable ethics of going into some place of the building that does not appear to be designated for public access, etc.. And so, when people come within six feet of me, I'm tempted to whip them down; but I don't. I'm glad, too, because I consider well enough that police might come by being really ignorant and say what I did was antisocial and unlawful; and that if I …

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/new-york-ag-s-offic-opens-criminal-probe-trump-organization-n1267887 Jail time for Trump? Is this just the beginning of something bigger? Can he just hide in Florida, or can they arrest him regardless of where he lives?

The tech industry is flexing its muscle. Facebook suspended Trumps account indefinitely. Twitter suspended him forever. Many of his cronies including Steve Bannon have had their YouTube accounts blocked. It’s similar to what they did to Alex Jones for spouting his conspiracy nonsense a few years ago. Along the same theme, Parler (the safe space to which all those living in Trumpistan and QAnon territory fled when they got tired of being challenged on their BS on other platforms) was removed by Google from the play store yesterday. Apple then also removed it from the App Store today. However, removing Parler from the stores just means new users can’t…

Here is no "economics" section on this forum and therefore I've decided to post it in "politics". There are some speculative claims that robots and machines cannot create profit to their owner by themselves. Only human labor can. An owner cannot exploit his robots and machines and make them create more values than they cost themselves + their maintenance. Could someone explain it in details and for dummies why is it so if it is true? Tendency of the rate of profit to fall - Wikipedia Does it mean, for example, that if I would an owner of a fully automated factory with zero workers it would be able to bring zero profit to me unless I would do some labor m…

Was Ron Johnson born with a foot in his mouth? It seems Ron, a white man who supports former President Trump, isn't afraid of white extremist. Go figure? Are there examples of other remarks, either liberal or conservative politicians are making you can offer that seem completely thoughtless? Paraphrasing Ron Johnson, Ron offered he knew the rioters at the Capitol were not dangerous however, if the rioters were black then the rioters would be dangerous.

I had once understood from a YouTube video that in the Soviet Union only the most serious criminals were sent to prison camps, including pedophiles (Note: Pedophile does not have to mean child molester)! This gives me a strange feeling, because I always thought that left-wing people and communist people in particular cared more about accepting other people. Of course the YouTube video with pedophiles could only have meant child abusers, but what I have also believed is that the acceptance of pedosexuality belongs to the left and NOT to the right conservatives!

He renewed calls tonight for infrastructure investment, $15 minimum wage, labor unions protection legislation, climate change jobs, and more. Let’s get to work. Doing nothing is not an option. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/upshot/biden-economic-plan-chart.html There’s also education funding directed to community colleges, free preschool, affordable childcare, and National paid family leave. If even 1/3 if what he proposes gets done it will fundamentally transform the United States in ways not seen since the New Deal and WWII.

Hey guys, I wanted to ask what you think about how the job market will develop in the future in general? What is important and what should an employed person bring with? Due to automation and digitalization, many professions will soon become extinct. How can we counteract the unemployment rate? I guess that the gap between qualified and low-skilled workers is getting bigger and bigger, because some “easier” tasks can't be replaced by robots (such as cleaners in a building or so)... which means that there are some who earn a lot and a lot who earn very little money in future (if that is not already the case…). What do you guys think what new developments will be taking pla…

Psychodelics were shown to have immense psychotherapeutic potential in 1960s. Why were they banned then? Not only they were banned from recreational usage but also from research and basically nobody could do anything with them for 40 years. Then it was lifted and it turned out MDMA cures PTSD in 2x as many people as 2nd best therapy and in weeks rather than months... What do you guys think?