All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[hyped78]

I would like to see a country in western part of the World that doesn't have massive inflation right now.



Exactly.



Kind of. I know some people from a forum on one of our newssites who seem to have similar views and would identify as liberals (though definitely not progressive).



That is a huge oversymplification. It can be true to some extent in some countries, but due to multiple party systems, there are usually some combinations. And don't forget rightwing conservatives in christian parties and pseudo conservatives in far-right.



"They" has been used instead of "he/she" in situations when you don't know the person in question's gender for a long time. It's not just for people who use they/them pronouns. Your English is otherwise very good, so it's surprising you haven't come accross it yet. But you can always tell us your pronouns (or tell us your gender if that sentence is triggering for you) to avoid any confusion. (BTW, one of the reasons I picked my username was so that it would be obvious from it).

Well, all countries have inflation but some have much more than others. US 9.1% in June, France 5.8%, Germany 6.3%, Italy 3.8% (I've chosen the three biggest economies of the Eurozone), Japan 3.0%. So, simply saying that "everyone has inflation" is a somewhat lazy argument, as e.g. 9.1% isn't the same as 5.8% or 6.3%. Even the full Eurozone - including countries that were highly, highly dependent on Russian natural gas (unlike the US), posted inflation of 8.6% in June, below US inflation. Let's be more rigorous when discussing Economics.
The UK is on the highest end of the inflation spectrum... Brexit!

I do identify as Liberal/ Moderate but certainly not as Progressive/ Socialist. I identified as a Progressive/ Socialist when I was a teenager but then I grew up and got a job.

The meaning of the word "Liberal" in Europe, as being right-wing, is not a simplification. In fact, there's an european coalition of liberal parties and they're mostly right-wing, pro business, parties - it's called ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe):
https://www.aldeparty.eu/
ALDE includes parties like Germany's FDP and Ireland's Fianna Fail. Full list of member parties here:
https://www.aldeparty.eu/alde_member_parties

I know about the "they" pronoun, I work for a US company in the UK, so I hear it/ see it every day

[hyped78]

Not that I really want to open that can of worms again but it should be pointed out that though there could be more scientific research done regarding trans athletes in sports the performance of these athletes doesn't signify any actual advantage and that's really the critical takeaway.

If trans athletes dominated these sports there would be some cause for concern, but since that isn't the case the science is irrelevant.

In fact, it would almost make more sense to research why trans athletes aren't dominating these sports.

I don't know where you're taking that conclusion from but that's far from a certain truth
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-...study-n1252764

[hyped78]

Right? The bigotry has them as 'dominating', but the reality is they don't win. They almost never win! Which is why we know Lia Thomas' name and none of the others, but even if you compare Lia's time to her male time, or to the time of other female winners, she's well behind.

There are plenty of areas where real science has to be done, but the only thing that keeps trans women out of women's sports organizations is bigotry, of which there is a lot.

They don't win? Really?
https://www.outsports.com/trans/2022...al-world-title

And this is just the start, the tip of the iceberg.

[hyped78]

It's funny how conservatives suddenly embrace scientific research when they can use it as a convenient excuse.
Of course, we can assume the only results or evidence they'd support would be the results supporting their original preconceptions, no matter how thin or misconstrued.

I am not a Conservative but I posted several articles, some scientific, some interviewing scientists. I didn't see anyone doing the same, except spewing "bigots! bigots! bigoooots!".

What I am saying is that, at best, there is a debate to be had because the scientific evidence is inconclusive or not finalized/ requires more studying. For every scientific study and scientist that says "A" on this matter, there is an equal number of others that say "B", and many just say "it's inconclusive, we need more studies, more data". So obviously we can't say that it's a closed debate, a slam dunk, that's just ignorance and arrogance. For example:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...s-female-sport

"The International Olympic Committee’s new transgender framework has come under fire from medical experts who work for multiple sports federations, including World Athletics, World Triathlon and the International Cycling Union, who say it opens the door to unfair competition in female sport."

"However scientists, who are linked with the International Federation of Sports Medicine and European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations, want the IOC to think again. Writing in the British Medical Journal Open Science & Exercise Medicine, they also point out that the IOC’s new position that there should be “no presumption of performance advantage” for trans women “is in stark contrast with the outcome of the 2015 IOC consensus, the scientific evidence, and the subsequent assessment of numerous sports medicine associations/commissions”."

I am open to both sides of the evidence and I at least - unlike the "wokesters" on this thread - recognize that there is scientific evidence that points to both conclusions and that it might be on a sport per sport basis. All I'm saying is that until we get to the point that there is definitive and widespread scientific evidence (like in the case of the safety of Covid vaccines) that says "A" or "B" (and we might never get there), then don't allow them to compete in women's sports.

Or the same folks that say they are tolerant actually don't care about women's rights in sports and fair competition?

[hyped78]

😂😂

A close friend is Hungarian. I can assure you that while “there may be fewer “internal targets” there a fair degree of racism. And any discrimination tends to drift onto other targets. Tattoos…for example…really aren’t welcome.

There is racism everywhere, I am just saying that countries with less immigration have less "targets" to vent that racism. First time hearing that about tattoos, interesting!

[hyped78]

It's almost as if some people's perception that immigration is a reason for racism is ... not true?

No? Ask "your" AfD racist "friends" about that.

It's not JUST about immigration but it's also quite a lot about immigration. There's a reason why all far right parties in Europe have "reducing immigration" as one of the cornerstones of their proposed policies.

[hyped78]

Just ask the Roma.

Fair enough, good point

[Tendrin]

Geezus, you realize you can put all that in a single post by selecting the button in the right hand of every post you want to reply to, right?

And you need to knock off the 'woke' sneering. It's just making you a grossly obvious hypocrite.

[hyped78]

Geezus, you realize you can put all that in a single post by selecting the button in the right hand of every post you want to reply to, right?

And you need to knock off the 'woke' sneering. It's just making you a grossly obvious hypocrite.

Really, after insulting me yesterday left and right (and you weren't the worst, to be fair haha) I am a hypocrite for saying "woke"? Really?

I didn't realize about the multiple quoting - apologies and thanks for letting me know

[Tendrin]

Really, after insulting me yesterday left and right (and you weren't the worst, to be fair haha) I am a hypocrite for saying "woke"? Really?

I didn't realize about the multiple quoting - apologies and thanks for letting me know

No, it's just that you're plainly engaged in the very behavior you're accusing others of and have been the entire time.

[Tendrin]

More of this, please. It's way past time that some of the smears conservative politicians have engaged in, particularly against medical professionals, get them sued.

NDIANAPOLIS (WXIN) - An attorney representing Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who provided an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim, has filed a tort claim against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita - the first step in a defamation lawsuit against Rokita.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...858b7624a610b9

[hyped78]

The Administration is largely competent but conservative, and when you're those things any progress is going to be slow in coming. They're juggling a few things right now in the ongoing (though largely ignored, part attention span/part fatigue after 2 years) pandemic, the ramp up of the economy after the shutdown which was unprecedented and again is still in part ongoing which also impacted (and impacts) supply chain issues which also impacts the economy, greater energy demands because of the economy restarting driving up prices along with those supply chain issues adding to inflation,

(split up a bit) the unprecedented printing and distribution of money leading from everything to people hesitating to go back to work to people buying homes (often in rural areas, because of the pandemic) and wreaking havoc in their new local economies by buying up properties for more than the average native citizen can afford (sight-unseen, inspections waived, cash-on-hand, far above base asking price, etc.) which also drives up rents for middle and lower income people and crushing any dreams they might have of home ownership,

(split up again), Putin deciding it's now or never if he's going to capture territory for Greater Russia and us having to juggle diplomatic relations between NATO and non-NATO countries that rely on Russia for their energy supply (which impacts everyone's energy prices, including ours) and funnel aid without putting boots on the ground and starting WWIII, trying to handle China looking at that situation (at least initially, probably having second thoughts now) and then looking over to Taiwan as well as their own housing crisis and ramp up and energy/supply chain issues that are closely tied to ours because we rely on them for just about everything (including borrowing money),

(splitting some more) and dealing with the attempted overthrow of a legitimate election which both inflames the right's base while also highlighting the doubt of their own legitimacy (as ridiculous and continually disproven as it has been, we're also dealing with facts being optional for certain folks these days depending on which Team you support) and likely will lead to nothing as the two impeachments of Trump did,

(sorry, hate long paragraphs), and trying to get things done while not having the votes to overcome a filibuster from members of their own Party, as well as dragging women's rights back 50 years by the Supreme Court which has such a hard-right imbalance that we're left to wonder which rights go next and what they're going to do to enshrine christian theocracy as well as undermine democracy with absolutely no check on them,

(...) and still dealing with traditional problems in the Middle East like excusing Israeli war crimes/cuddling up yet again to the Saudis because of the energy crisis/continued bombings/troop deployments/etc. and the only good thing he did being one of the strongest criticisms of his Administration in the long-awaited abandonment of the Afghanistan occupation,

(...) and the fact that Joe's lost a step beyond what was already a serial fumbler and his Vice President being an absolute zero in the charisma or influence department and a liability for any plan to let Joe retire into the sunset if he somehow takes care of the problems listed above, and a son who records himself f##king hookers, weighing and smoking crack cocaine, flirting (at least) with his 14 year old niece and banging his dead brother's wife, making deals with Chinese and Ukrainian business interests, and generally being just about the worst example of a political "black sheep" as I can remember,

(...) and having to deal with the Trump Administration who set out to dismantle the system, norms, and career public servants who try to be impartial and just keep the gears of government turning for the good of all (the hated "Deep State") while also attempting to fix all of the other problems 4 years of grift and incompetence had on the country,

(...) and trying to put up roadblocks for any further attempt to delegitimize things like mail-in voting, certification of elections, or generally undermining democracy while also trying to convince their base to turn out in the midterms to hold onto what power they do have (not enough) to get things done so that we're not sitting through 2 years of manufactured scandals akin to Benghazi and further obstructionism from the right.

In short (sorry), he's got a lot on his plate. But as Trump likely would be a two-term President if not for the pandemic, facts on the ground and especially the economy determine elections. He gets the ship righted or at least appearing to be going quite strongly in the right direction by 2024 and he (or someone else, probably not Kamala) will be just fine.

I am reading this thread now. Let me start by saying that, unlike many folks on this thread, you obviously know the meaning of having a political debate and civilized/ constructive discussion on a politics thread. So thank you for this and I hope some of the other folks can learn from you.

Let me start by saying that, whatever happens, I think Biden is an honest and decent man. At a time when character matters (*cough* Trump *cough*, or even *cough* Boris *cough*) that already matters quite a lot.

I think that, generally speaking, right or wrong, we need to listen to the voters. The same voters that elected him in are now turning away from this administration:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/18/p...-us/index.html

It's all focused on the economy. There is still plenty of time to turn things around, of course.

Inflation - as I've posted before, there is high inflation everywhere for different reasons, but the US at 9.1% in June 2022 is definitely at the high end of the inflation spectrum and a good part of that is because of US monetary policy. Some countries, through a combination of higher interest rates, selling treasury bonds and overall removal of monetary mass from the economy, have made a better job of constraining inflation than what the US has done to this point. Remember that many European countries, for example, imported gas from Russia and food from the Ukraine. The supply chain issues are certainly global but the way each country has responded to inflation is local. Inflation in most western countries is bad, in the US it's worse!
From that CNN article: "Biden's approval rating in the poll stands at 38%, with 62% disapproving. His approval ratings for handling the economy (30%) and inflation (25%) are notably lower."
It's a bit the same about gas prices - they're up everywhere but the US, as an oil & gas producer, shouldn't have the same issues that some countries that produce zero oil & gas are facing.
I also think that Biden blaming the Ukraine invasion and "greedy corporations" is basically wrong.

Foreign Relations - I think Biden's stance on Russia and China has been good. However, for example, his recent trip to Saudi Arabia was a complete joke. Does this matter to the US voter? Probably not.

Big Lie - completely agree with you there, it's not easy to inherit a situation where a big chunk of the country thinks that the election was stolen. There's no easy way to overcome that.

Supreme Court Wade vs. Roe - well, blame the Democrat voters who didn't turn out, or didn't want to vote, for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Elections matter.

Afghanistan withdrawal - US had to leave Afghanistan and it was already decided that would happen. However, the actual withdrawal process could have been better managed.

Joe's age - when you say that he's "lost a step", I totally agree. It's clear, there's no reason to sugarcoat that he's lost a step - I mean, he's quite old, it's not a surprise.

Southern Border - I think you didn't mention this point but that's a complete mess (I guess that's on Kamala?)

I also mostly agree with your last sentence but I think the jury's still out on what will happen in 2024 (the economy is in bad shape; will it get better? no idea). What happens if the Democrats lose both the House and the Senate, how much can he do in the last two years of his term? What if Covid comes back with a fury?

[Gray Lensman]

Really, after insulting me yesterday left and right (and you weren't the worst, to be fair haha) I am a hypocrite for saying "woke"? Really?

I didn't realize about the multiple quoting - apologies and thanks for letting me know

You do realize Godwin's second law is about using woke as a perjorative, right? If you want people to not see you as some kind of bigot, stop using the language of bigots.

[hyped78]

No, it's just that you're plainly engaged in the very behavior you're accusing others of and have been the entire time.

The term "woke" insults you?

Literally, from the Oxford dictionary, it means "alert to injustice in society, especially racism. "we need to stay angry, and stay woke""

[hyped78]

You do realize Godwin's second law is about using woke as a performative, right? If you want people to not see you as some kind of bigot, stop using the language of bigots.

The language of bigots?

Attachment 122988

Or other examples - some books:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250308986/wokebaby
https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Social-J...s%2C224&sr=1-4
https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Young-Po...s%2C224&sr=1-2

Or search for #staywoke on Twitter. E.g. the first one that came up for me was:
https://twitter.com/hannahgib81/stat...13486186160128

I had also posted Obama's comments:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/p...ly/4095362002/