A Political Thread pt. 2

[Leonormous Boozer]

Anyone bringing aid to Gaza will have to deal with Hamas. Any organisation employeeing Palestinians will have to employ able bodied males who will be linked to Hamas, its not like there's much in the way of career opportunities in Gaza or that Hamas will take no as an answer. Realistically if colluding with local dissidents was enough to shut down aid workers in conflict zones, there'd be no organisations operating in this way in the world.

Is banning the UNRWA going to hurt Hamas massively? Doubt it. Will is hurt the civilian population? Of course.

Hopefully they allow another organisation bring aid there but no one will be near as effective as the group doing so for 50 years.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

When was the last time anyone got a rise above inflation?

Lower pay rises are just employers looking for excuses. Smaller business can be a bit more hand to mouth. But most people work for large businesses raking in profits.

I've been lucky enough to have had a few in recent years. For various reasons not expecting many more though.

I work for a smallish firm (under 100 people) and that being the case the impact of what you do is quite visible and can have a real impact. In a bigger firm you're often just another, easily replaceable, cog.

In my experience in the private sector most employers are actually quite keen to reward their staff well, especially in the kind of service industry I work in where a firm's most valuable assets are its people. But there are also some realities - unlike Planet Sport, most employers realise that the money has to be there. Plus you also have to go beyond just doing a decent job.

 

[Saintjay]

Unrwa: Israel bans UN Palestinian refugee agency, raising Gaza aid fears

Israel passes two laws which Western governments fear could have devastating consequences for civilians in the Gaza Strip.

www.bbc.co.uk

If ever there was a doubt about Israel supposedly being the "good guys"... They are a bunch of shits too. Now to see if the Biden admin will go through with their promise to stop military aid to Israel. Israel definitely timed this to try to influence the election in the USA.

If Biden does that I'm guessing the Jewish vote definitely goes for Trump. Some of the Muslim vote is going for Trump now

How much this will cost Harris is anyone's guess. I still can't decide if the Dems are just in a no win situation or they've messed up.

 

[Which Tyler]

The old reperations argument doing the rounds again.

Former British colonies owe ‘debt of gratitude’, says Robert Jenrick

Tory leadership candidate wades into reparations debate, arguing empire brought democratic institutions

www.theguardian.com

 

[Welsh Exile]

Former British colonies owe ‘debt of gratitude’, says Robert Jenrick

Tory leadership candidate wades into reparations debate, arguing empire brought democratic institutions

www.theguardian.com

lol, trust a Tory to go the complete other direction with it.

Joking aside, I think it's wrong to just focus on all the wrong doing of the empire (insert what the romans have ever done for us gif here) but it's beyond cheeky to ask for thanks from said colonised countries. But as I say, doesn't surprise me that's the Tory take.

 

[Welsh Exile]

If Biden does that I'm guessing the Jewish vote definitely goes for Trump. Some of the Muslim vote is going for Trump now

How much this will cost Harris is anyone's guess. I still can't decide if the Dems are just in a no win situation or they've messed up.

I'm not sure it's as important as is being made out but then I wouldn't trust my judgement on this election either to be honest.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Former British colonies owe ‘debt of gratitude’, says Robert Jenrick

Tory leadership candidate wades into reparations debate, arguing empire brought democratic institutions

www.theguardian.com

Are the Brits at it again?

That's one of those I had to make sure wasn't satirical.

 

[Which Tyler]

for once, the comments are worth reading

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/

 

[Which Tyler]

It's not that surprising considering how many terrorists they've found work for the UNRWA - almost feels more like a Hamas front at this stage, like when a bunch of unrwa workers were found to have taken part in Oct 7th and the UNRWA basically shrugged


It's separate from the UN, right? Like just linked by name? Can their work just be shifted to another organisation? Can the US military take over aid dispersal, like when they built that port?


I'm guessing it's sparked by this

UNRWA confirms terrorist killed by IDF who led Re’im shelter massacre was a staffer

UN agency also acknowledges Hamas Nukhba force commander Attawi was on list of names that Israel gave it, claims no action taken because its request for more info went unanswered

www.timesofisrael.com

Worth remembering "Israel says something" =/= "That thing is true"
Personally, I don't know enough about the situation, but I was under the impression that most of Israel's complaints about UNWRA were bullshit or significant exaggerations.

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/unrwa-claims-versus-facts-press-release-26feb2024/

What is Unrwa and why has Israel’s parliament voted to ban it?

Knesset vote to declare UN agency for Palestinian refugees a terror organisation offers no alternative route for aid

www.theguardian.com

 

[General Melchett]

I'm not sure it's as important as is being made out but then I wouldn't trust my judgement on this election either to be honest.

In a tight race (which it looks like this is) I think this could make all the difference in those swing states with Muslim/Arab Americans.

My fear is that things are now being carefully choreographed with election day next week. Hope I'm wrong but it wouldn't surprise me if there's an incident in Palestine next week that sends voters into the polling booths raging mad at the Dems.

 

[Welsh Exile]

In a tight race (which it looks like this is) I think this could make all the difference in those swing states with Muslim/Arab Americans.

My fear is that things are now being carefully choreographed with election day next week. Hope I'm wrong but it wouldn't surprise me if there's an incident in Palestine next week that sends voters into the polling booths raging mad at the Dems.

Maybe, I wouldn't bet my house against your prediction that's for sure but American Muslims seem to be pretty chill and I'm not sure how influential they are in the swing states but I haven't seen any data regarding this so obviously open to that. I'd say the same about the Jewish vote as well but again this is gut feeling more than anything else.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

American voters seem to disregard any nuance whatsoever. I'm pretty set in stone in my assessment of Gaza and Lebanon (more onside with Israel re Iran, they're a far bigger threat than the other two, although I would still rather they just didn't go there for obvious reasons) but Genocide Joe etc... is a bit much.

I don't think the democrats handled it well at all but anyone who thinks Trump would be better for Gaza is simply not listening.

Hard to tell what the deciding factor if this election will be (and I semi expect a Trump landslide to be honest) but I'm not sure its this. Puerto Rico has been politicised heavily, abortion and other feminist and civil rights issues are all in play too.

It's hard not to look from the outside in and think they're voting on anything other than vibes to be honest...

 

[ncurd]

This US election more than any other is known possible to predict. Harris is too much of a wild card and last time it was very much stop Trump. Dunno why that appetite doesn't appear to be there this time.

We'll see but I'd surprised if it was landslide in anything other than the electoral college. Those swing states are going to make 2020 look like a huge margin of victory.

 

[ncurd]

But I said in 2016 there was no way in hell Trump would win. I still can't quite fathom it.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I feel like indifference is going to be a big factor,
I reckon turnout is going to be way lower than last time, the amount of "they're as bad as each other" feels way up and the number of militant Trumpists are what will carry him through

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I feel like indifference is going to be a big factor,
I reckon turnout is going to be way lower than last time, the amount of "they're as bad as each other" feels way up and the number of militant Trumpists are what will carry him through

Kind of my thinking. I just don't see what gets you out to the polling station to vote for Kamala other than voting against Trump. And I don't see that being enough at all.

The democrats needed to push hard for another debate, or at least make out that Trump was running from one. The fallout of Kamala v Trump was the only time I thought the democrats were gaining a bit of momentum.

 

[Reiser99]

Joking aside, I think it's wrong to just focus on all the wrong doing of the empire (insert what the romans have ever done for us gif here)

Disagree completely. While I'm not saying those countries were technologically the same as European ones, many had thriving cultures and civilisations. It's a Western narrative that Europe civilised the natives and barbarians. On top, many of these countries have been left pretty crippled due to being exploited for their natural resources and continue to be exploited by Western companies. The few that are doing economically well are either ones with large white populations or are only just starting to become economically stronger like India. Yet many indigenous people still suffer. I'm not sure the benefits of the Empire do anything to offset what happened.

 

[ncurd]

Disagree completely. While I'm not saying those countries were technologically the same as European ones, many had thriving cultures and civilisations. It's a Western narrative that Europe civilised the natives and barbarians. On top, many of these countries have been left pretty crippled due to being exploited for their natural resources and continue to be exploited by Western companies. The few that are doing economically well are either ones with large white populations or are only just starting to become economically stronger like India. Yet many indigenous people still suffer. I'm not sure the benefits of the Empire do anything to offset what happened.

Not to mention all the murders/genocides in pretty much every country we tried to 'civilise'.

I was really surprised when a Malaysian co worker was actually pretty pro colonialism.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Disagree completely. While I'm not saying those countries were technologically the same as European ones, many had thriving cultures and civilisations. It's a Western narrative that Europe civilised the natives and barbarians. On top, many of these countries have been left pretty crippled due to being exploited for their natural resources and continue to be exploited by Western companies. The few that are doing economically well are either ones with large white populations or are only just starting to become economically stronger like India. Yet many indigenous people still suffer. I'm not sure the benefits of the Empire do anything to offset what happened.

Oh certainly, and I'm not trying to suggest that the good and bad are anyway comparable or some 50/50 split I'm just saying that there were some tangible benefits that eventually arose out of it like literacy and things like that but, again, I agree, this does not in any way out weigh the horrors which should clearly take precedent.

 

[Welsh Exile]

You could argue as well, that without the empire we would've lost WW2 which ultimately was a good thing. Try telling that to colonised people in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries though.