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A selection of the front pages as more horror stories seep out – politicalbetting.com

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  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,926

    RobD said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    RobD said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    That's not what it says.
    It says so right at the bottom, that it is confined to the above listed groups only.
    It says registrations of interest, not applications.
    Good point, although it still isn't fair to exclude one section of society based on their race and gender from registering an interest.
    How on earth do you come to that conclusion?

    If an organisation, whether in the public or private sector, realises it isn't getting many applications from a particular group of people, that is obviously a concern as there is a whole group of potentially very capable individuals who aren't applying.

    So the organisation might want to do some things such as holding events to encourage more applications from under-represented groups, and it makes no sense to open that out more widely.
    Because it's an unfair advantage. The website states that these events will provide the candidates with further information about the job, and tips as to how to succeed in the interview. Why shouldn't that information and advice be available to everyone who applies?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
  • Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Are you able to apply, at a later date, if you have not registered an interest ?
    Yes. I've already posted the relevant words:

    "Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    Still, it's quite a good filter. I'm not sure if people who can't understand pretty simple written information would be cut out for a career at GCHQ.
  • GhedebravGhedebrav Posts: 3,860
    Scott_xP said:

    Meanwhile...

    @RubyJLL
    🚨cutting whatsapp messages from cabinet secretary simon case and former downing street head of comms lee cain

    "i was always told that dom was the secret PM...the real person in charge is carrie"

    "we look like a terrible, tragic joke"

    "i cannot cope with this"

    https://x.com/RubyJLL/status/1712769777238778062?s=20

    Oof. Simple Simon won't come out of this well. Odd that he refers to government as 'we' with Lee Cain as well.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,624
    RobD said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    RobD said:

    Ghedebrav said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    That's not what it says.
    It says so right at the bottom, that it is confined to the above listed groups only.
    It says registrations of interest, not applications.
    Good point, although it still isn't fair to exclude one section of society based on their race and gender from registering an interest.
    The doctrine of indirect discrimination makes it very hard for organisations to justify not having equal representation.
  • Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:

    Irish politics has not distinguished itself over this conflict.
    The most virulent pro-Hamas western voices are so often Irish. It’s quite noticeable. A fair few Scot Nats and Welsh nutters too, so it’s a Celtic thing

    But the Irish lead the way
    There was a particular awful comment from a Scottish Green MSP.
    Maggie Chapman is an excrescence.
    I had to Google that, I’m no dunce either. That’s a great word and most apt.
    In masonic first degree ritual, there's a reference to "superfluous knobs and excrescences", which sums her up even better.
    Impressive that you have enough excess time and energy to perpetually excoriate pols in countries in which you don’t live and who have zero effect on your existence.

    Not dissimilar to those folk who vicariously rant about the injustices done to eg the Palestinians from some leafy suburb while wearing a keffiyeh.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,523
    The House GOP still in chaos:

    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4253448-steve-scalise-drops-out-speakers-race/

    Possibilities:

    1. Jordan gets it. Has Trump backing and is hostile to Ukraine aid. But opposition to him is "starting to emerge".
    2. The GOP says "oh well" and gives it back to McCarthy. Possible but hard to imagine.
    3. A compromise candidate emerges and exhausted GOP House members settle for them.

    Any of these cases could be aided by the Democrats offering to support someone, but (a) they probably won't and (b) it'd label the winner from the start as "tool of the Democrats".

    My guess is 3, but IANAE.
  • The House GOP still in chaos:

    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4253448-steve-scalise-drops-out-speakers-race/

    Possibilities:

    1. Jordan gets it. Has Trump backing and is hostile to Ukraine aid. But opposition to him is "starting to emerge".
    2. The GOP says "oh well" and gives it back to McCarthy. Possible but hard to imagine.
    3. A compromise candidate emerges and exhausted GOP House members settle for them.

    Any of these cases could be aided by the Democrats offering to support someone, but (a) they probably won't and (b) it'd label the winner from the start as "tool of the Democrats".

    My guess is 3, but IANAE.

    Speaker Trump......
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 13,677
    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
  • SirNorfolkPassmoreSirNorfolkPassmore Posts: 7,149
    edited October 2023
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Are you able to apply, at a later date, if you have not registered an interest ?
    Yes. I've already posted the relevant words:

    "Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    Still, it's quite a good filter. I'm not sure if people who can't understand pretty simple written information would be cut out for a career at GCHQ.
    I know you’re not the brightest sequin on the Pearly King, but you can surely see that GCHQ is trying a modified version of this, with new words to evade the law


    “Royal Air Force unlawfully discriminated against white male recruits in bid to boost diversity, inquiry finds”

    https://news.sky.com/story/royal-air-force-unlawfully-discriminated-against-white-male-recruits-in-bid-to-boost-diversity-inquiry-finds-12911888
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,552
    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    Any type of racial profiling is disgusting IMO.
  • The House GOP still in chaos:

    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4253448-steve-scalise-drops-out-speakers-race/

    Possibilities:

    1. Jordan gets it. Has Trump backing and is hostile to Ukraine aid. But opposition to him is "starting to emerge".
    2. The GOP says "oh well" and gives it back to McCarthy. Possible but hard to imagine.
    3. A compromise candidate emerges and exhausted GOP House members settle for them.

    Any of these cases could be aided by the Democrats offering to support someone, but (a) they probably won't and (b) it'd label the winner from the start as "tool of the Democrats".

    My guess is 3, but IANAE.

    My snap thought on a skim read of your post was why the fck are they going to bomb Jordan.
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Pathetic. Right now no-one can apply. Be a man and admit when you are wrong.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,348

    Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:

    Irish politics has not distinguished itself over this conflict.
    The most virulent pro-Hamas western voices are so often Irish. It’s quite noticeable. A fair few Scot Nats and Welsh nutters too, so it’s a Celtic thing

    But the Irish lead the way
    There was a particular awful comment from a Scottish Green MSP.
    Maggie Chapman is an excrescence.
    I had to Google that, I’m no dunce either. That’s a great word and most apt.
    In masonic first degree ritual, there's a reference to "superfluous knobs and excrescences", which sums her up even better.
    Impressive that you have enough excess time and energy to perpetually excoriate pols in countries in which you don’t live and who have zero effect on your existence.

    Not dissimilar to those folk who vicariously rant about the injustices done to eg the Palestinians from some leafy suburb while wearing a keffiyeh.
    It's one of the purposes of this forum. Most of us views on people such as Trump, Netanyahu, Zelensky, Putin, and even such luminaries as Maggie Chapman.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,926
    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    Even worse for rich white men.
  • boulay said:

    Eabhal said:

    MaxPB said:

    Allegedly an Israeli diplomat has just been stabbed in Beijing. There's a fairly graphic video of the fight, but no idea when it was filmed, or if it shows what is claimed...

    The day of jihad has started.
    All unconfirmed at the moment.

    I hope Sunak has CTSFO/special forces hovering near the Jewish community in London though.
    It’s an absolute fucking disgrace that in 2023 citizens of this country should have to pull their children out of school, be in fear and need armed protection from another set of citizens of this country.

    I’m sure I will get abuse but I cannot not say that if you live in a country, hate what it stands for, hate it’s freedoms, hate fellow citizens to the point of violence because of their heritage or religion and want to turn it into a completely different country alien to centuries of enlightenment then please please fuck off and live in a country where the laws, customs and attitudes exist that you wish for.

    First, there is more than one Jewish community in London. Second, the schools which closed acknowledged there was no specific threat against them or their children; it was just a precaution.
  • theProletheProle Posts: 1,206
    Stocky said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    A joke surely?

    "Women from any ethnic background" - that just means "women" doesn't it?
    Plus presumably any men who feel like wearing a frock from time to time...
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,859
    Leon said:

    Plausible scenario

    Israel invades Gaza. Unsurprisingly, a LOT of Gazans are killed - as it is quite difficult for 1.1m Gazans to move house in 24 hours

    Israel slogs on. Even more die. The West Bank erupts and Hezbollah attacks. Israel is now fighting on 3 fronts, one of them internal

    The west funnels aid to Israel. More Gazans die. Now major Arab nations “facilitate” attacks on Israel
    - Iran, Syria. Perhaps Jordan, even Saudi

    It looks like Israel could lose. America steps in. Europe is afire with deadly riots by Muslim populations. Iran attacks American interests. America attacks Iran. Russia takes advantage and sweeps Ukraine

    World War 3

    But you only ever post implausible scenarios

  • RobD said:

    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    Even worse for rich white men.
    Civil service salary structure of lowish early pay but high pension, especially for senior staff, of course favours those with family money.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 32,552

    Thanks to whoever linked to the video about TfL stopping one-day travelcards next year.

    With this and the Ulez extension, it really does seem as though Khan wants to stop visitors from those weird places called "out of London".

    One day travelcards are the best value tickets for people visiting London for a short time.
  • Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    wHy iSNt TheRe a WoRLd MEns mEnOpaUSE DaY?
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    More likely, they're recruiting thick spies because that's all the UK can afford these days.

    Public service and working for the King is all very well, but I suspect there are easier ways for top maths grads to make more money than GCHQ are offering here.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
    They’re just doing what the RAF did, you dribbling cretin

    “In the recruitment year to March 2020 and the year to March 2021, a total of 161 ethnic minority and female recruits were "pulled forward" onto initial training ahead of white men.

    "We found that concerns were raised at the time by R&S [recruitment and selection] staff but that those who led the initiatives believed that they were 'pushing the boundaries' of positive action rather than acting unlawfully," the report said.”
  • BurgessianBurgessian Posts: 2,747

    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    Let me ask you two questions. Again not loaded.

    1. Do you think Israel should defend itself against Hamas so as to prevent what happened on Saturday from happening again?

    2. If so, how?
    1. Yes they should.
    2. They should enter Gaza a find every Hamas militant or armed Palestinian and kill them. They will take significant casualties themselves doing this but that is the price of war.

    What they should not do is have the sort of scorched earth policy advocated by Bart and others on here. They should not simply sit back and drop bombs on Gaza killing thousands of civilians in the process. This will be horrible for the IDF but that is the price of being part of a civilised nation rather than simply a barbaric terrorist.

    Of course this won't stop what happened on Saturday happening again. After 75 years of each side killing each other with little care for innocents on either side, the continuing cysle of violence will solve nothing. Eventually there will have to be a peace deal and both sides will have to accept the other's right to live in the region.

    But that won't happen under the current leadership of either side and Hamas's attacks on Saturday have pushed that far into the future.
    That's not unreasonable but you have to remember that Israel is a democracy and its leadership has to have some regard for what its people want. And what they want is the complete elimination of Hamas. No ifs and buts.

    Israel was supposed to be the one place in the world, after generations of pogroms topped off by the holocaust, where Jews could feel safe. That's the whole point of Israel. And its hard to reconcile that with a neighbour intent on your utter destruction.
  • Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    wHy iSNt TheRe a WoRLd MEns mEnOpaUSE DaY?
    Is this still part of the cryptography test? If you add up the capital letters scrabble points and divide by the number of spaces......
  • glwglw Posts: 9,906

    More likely, they're recruiting thick spies because that's all the UK can afford these days.

    Public service and working for the King is all very well, but I suspect there are easier ways for top maths grads to make more money than GCHQ are offering here.

    UK government embarks on bargain bin hunt for AI policy wonk
    https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/13/uk_deputy_director_ai/

    For many of us, the £75,000-a-year ($92,000) role with a gilt-edged civil service pension sounds like a valid career move, but against roles being offered by Meta – $1.175 million to work in the labs at Menlo Park – it pales into insignificance.


  • TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    I think the short answer is that evil bastards who behead babies in their cribs deserve everything that is coming to them.
    Indeed. But that doesn't apply to the vast majority of people who are now dying in Gaza. So Max's question still stands.
    The Max that said this? Formatting-willing, perhaps someone else said it but it appears he did.

    "The tricky question for me is the impact on civilians. I’m sympathetic to the comparisons with Germany in WW2 - a regime needed annihilating and there was no way to avoid civilian deaths."
    And I disagree with him on that. I do rarely agree with you on some things as well you know. In spite of what you might think the world is not black and white. It is a concept you might consider exploring rather than constantly harking back to historical irrelevances.
    One man's historical irrelevance is another's historical precedence. Isn't law established via precedence?

    As I said yesterday (PB is nothing if not rehashing previously made arguments), your position is that Country A can do something that it believes is essential for its existence, and then arbitrarily make that something illegal for Country B to do. Why should Country B follow that "law" if it also believes its existence is at stake.
    Because it was agreed by all the civilised nations together. The UK and US and others didn't come along and say 'we are imposing this on you from now on but it doesn't apply to us. They said ' these are the rules we believe a civilised world should live by and we are willing to sign up to them even though we have no idea what the future might hold.'

    It is the same with chemical and biological weapons, with torture and with myriad other conventions on war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    The West is very quick to hold others to these standards and, where possible, to prosecute those who break the rules. We certainly should not then decide they no longer apply because we happen to sympathise with one nation which is 'on our side'.

    One of the first acts of the newly formed Israel after the 1948 war was to sign and ratify the Geneva conventions. Why shuld we not hold them to the same standard as they claimed for themselves, even though they knew then that they were in an existential fight against their neighbours?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277
    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
    I don't want to be accused of racial profiling but I can imagine a few scenarios where having some spies that aren't white could be kind of useful. Doesn't seem an entirely dumb move, and weird to see people on the right prioritising the niceties of employment law ahead of potential national security imperatives. I mean, maybe the security forces have gone woke, or maybe they actually know what they are doing. Just a thought.
  • Sean_F said:

    Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:

    Irish politics has not distinguished itself over this conflict.
    The most virulent pro-Hamas western voices are so often Irish. It’s quite noticeable. A fair few Scot Nats and Welsh nutters too, so it’s a Celtic thing

    But the Irish lead the way
    There was a particular awful comment from a Scottish Green MSP.
    Maggie Chapman is an excrescence.
    I had to Google that, I’m no dunce either. That’s a great word and most apt.
    In masonic first degree ritual, there's a reference to "superfluous knobs and excrescences", which sums her up even better.
    Impressive that you have enough excess time and energy to perpetually excoriate pols in countries in which you don’t live and who have zero effect on your existence.

    Not dissimilar to those folk who vicariously rant about the injustices done to eg the Palestinians from some leafy suburb while wearing a keffiyeh.
    It's one of the purposes of this forum. Most of us views on people such as Trump, Netanyahu, Zelensky, Putin, and even such luminaries as Maggie Chapman.
    I think even stupider posters would accept that the actions of Trump, Netanyahu, Zelensky and Putin have the potential to radically affect their lives, Chapman and some random SF councillor not so much (aside from triggering a stroke in the terminally reactionary).
  • glw said:

    More likely, they're recruiting thick spies because that's all the UK can afford these days.

    Public service and working for the King is all very well, but I suspect there are easier ways for top maths grads to make more money than GCHQ are offering here.

    UK government embarks on bargain bin hunt for AI policy wonk
    https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/13/uk_deputy_director_ai/

    For many of us, the £75,000-a-year ($92,000) role with a gilt-edged civil service pension sounds like a valid career move, but against roles being offered by Meta – $1.175 million to work in the labs at Menlo Park – it pales into insignificance.


    I seemed to remember they also offered a data scientist job for either Downing Street or the Treasury on £40-50k....you ain't get anybody good for that money.
  • boulay said:

    Eabhal said:

    MaxPB said:

    Allegedly an Israeli diplomat has just been stabbed in Beijing. There's a fairly graphic video of the fight, but no idea when it was filmed, or if it shows what is claimed...

    The day of jihad has started.
    All unconfirmed at the moment.

    I hope Sunak has CTSFO/special forces hovering near the Jewish community in London though.
    It’s an absolute fucking disgrace that in 2023 citizens of this country should have to pull their children out of school, be in fear and need armed protection from another set of citizens of this country.

    I’m sure I will get abuse but I cannot not say that if you live in a country, hate what it stands for, hate it’s freedoms, hate fellow citizens to the point of violence because of their heritage or religion and want to turn it into a completely different country alien to centuries of enlightenment then please please fuck off and live in a country where the laws, customs and attitudes exist that you wish for.

    Agree with this entirely. Nor would it be considered extreme in many other liberal European countries where they have exactly those policies.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 15,779
    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    If I'm after someone who can do fractions I certainly won't come running to you.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 55,277

    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    If I'm after someone who can do fractions I certainly won't come running to you.
    I’m the smartest person on this board by 7/8 of a standard deviation of 29 IQ points, I’ll have you know
  • The House GOP still in chaos:

    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4253448-steve-scalise-drops-out-speakers-race/

    Possibilities:

    1. Jordan gets it. Has Trump backing and is hostile to Ukraine aid. But opposition to him is "starting to emerge".
    2. The GOP says "oh well" and gives it back to McCarthy. Possible but hard to imagine.
    3. A compromise candidate emerges and exhausted GOP House members settle for them.

    Any of these cases could be aided by the Democrats offering to support someone, but (a) they probably won't and (b) it'd label the winner from the start as "tool of the Democrats".

    My guess is 3, but IANAE.

    I think you could see someone (maybe even McCarthy) getting in with Democrats abstaining, and part of the price being dropping the concession that a single House member can call a vote to remove.

    It's true that the Gaetz faction would be livid but, with that rule removed, what exactly are they going to do about it?

    It's also possible that someone clearly on the right (perhaps Jim Jordan, perhaps someone else) would do it with the proviso that the same provision is dropped.

    It's that provision that makes the current Congress with its narrow majority entirely ungovernable. If it isn't dropped, I can see whoever gets it beating McCarthy's (post-1900) shortest tenure record.
  • maxh said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    I think the short answer is that evil bastards who behead babies in their cribs deserve everything that is coming to them.
    Indeed. But that doesn't apply to the vast majority of people who are now dying in Gaza. So Max's question still stands.
    The Max that said this? Formatting-willing, perhaps someone else said it but it appears he did.

    "The tricky question for me is the impact on civilians. I’m sympathetic to the comparisons with Germany in WW2 - a regime needed annihilating and there was no way to avoid civilian deaths."
    And I disagree with him on that. I do rarely agree with you on some things as well you know. In spite of what you might think the world is not black and white. It is a concept you might consider exploring rather than constantly harking back to historical irrelevances.
    Whereas I often agree with you Richard and am uncertain of my views on this. What solution would you suggest that doesn’t involve civilian deaths?
    Sorry Max I missed this earlier. I have just posted my response toa similar question to Cyclefree upthread.
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
    I don't want to be accused of racial profiling but I can imagine a few scenarios where having some spies that aren't white could be kind of useful. Doesn't seem an entirely dumb move, and weird to see people on the right prioritising the niceties of employment law ahead of potential national security imperatives. I mean, maybe the security forces have gone woke, or maybe they actually know what they are doing. Just a thought.
    Bloody woke rubbish, a tin of Cherry Blossom polish and the ability to speak English with a heavy accent should be entirely sufficient.
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    If I'm after someone who can do fractions I certainly won't come running to you.
    I’m the smartest person on this board by 7/8 of a standard deviation of 29 IQ points, I’ll have you know
    I'm so dumb I don't even understand that response :)
  • Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    We are fine. We have already established ourselves and so really don't have to worry about this unless you really want to become a NED. Not so easy for the next generations.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,663

    Possibly taking people with 2:2s is not exactly hiring the best and the brightest. Given the work undertaken, cryptography, I would have hoped / thought, that a 1st would be required. That is still only filtering for the top 1/3 of graduates.

    That's bollocks.

    A first often indicates the hardest working, the best prepared, or the best (financially) supported , not necessarily the most brilliant.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited October 2023

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
    I don't want to be accused of racial profiling but I can imagine a few scenarios where having some spies that aren't white could be kind of useful. Doesn't seem an entirely dumb move, and weird to see people on the right prioritising the niceties of employment law ahead of potential national security imperatives. I mean, maybe the security forces have gone woke, or maybe they actually know what they are doing. Just a thought.
    Bloody woke rubbish, a tin of Cherry Blossom polish and the ability to speak English with a heavy accent should be entirely sufficient.
    Given it is specifically for a cryptography job...being able to do maths to a an extremely high standard seems like the first and foremost qualification, but they are happy to take applications from people whose degree marks would exclude them from most bog standard corporate grad schemes.
  • Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    If I'm after someone who can do fractions I certainly won't come running to you.
    I’m the smartest person on this board by 7/8 of a standard deviation of 29 IQ points, I’ll have you know
    So if we are looking for deviants....
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,410
    Dura_Ace said:

    Leon said:


    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Poor white men. When are we going to get a break?
    It's wrong to rule people either in or out depending upon which identity group they belong to, something they have no control over.

    It does great injustice to the individual.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,991
    edited October 2023

    Possibly taking people with 2:2s is not exactly hiring the best and the brightest. Given the work undertaken, cryptography, I would have hoped / thought, that a 1st would be required. That is still only filtering for the top 1/3 of graduates.

    That's bollocks.

    A first often indicates the hardest working, the best prepared, or the best (financially) supported , not necessarily the most brilliant.
    A first has been so devalued, that 1/3 of students are getting them. I believe something like 75% of students get a 2:1 or above.

    If a "genius" can't even get a 2:1 in the modern university system they have serious attitude / work commitment issues, which again doesn't sound like a good candidate for these roles. Universities also bend over backwards to support students who have life issues outside of their control.
  • maxhmaxh Posts: 1,224

    maxh said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    I think the short answer is that evil bastards who behead babies in their cribs deserve everything that is coming to them.
    Indeed. But that doesn't apply to the vast majority of people who are now dying in Gaza. So Max's question still stands.
    The Max that said this? Formatting-willing, perhaps someone else said it but it appears he did.

    "The tricky question for me is the impact on civilians. I’m sympathetic to the comparisons with Germany in WW2 - a regime needed annihilating and there was no way to avoid civilian deaths."
    And I disagree with him on that. I do rarely agree with you on some things as well you know. In spite of what you might think the world is not black and white. It is a concept you might consider exploring rather than constantly harking back to historical irrelevances.
    Whereas I often agree with you Richard and am uncertain of my views on this. What solution would you suggest that doesn’t involve civilian deaths?
    Sorry Max I missed this earlier. I have just posted my response toa similar question to Cyclefree upthread.
    Yep saw that and it turns out we are not disagreeing at all. There will be civilian casualties but the balance of risk needs to be on IDF casualties not Gazan civilians.

    A very difficult ask of Israel right now which, if they pulled off, would deserve worldwide respect. Actually that’s not quite strong enough - they’d deserve something much stronger.

    It’s probably in their long term interests to do as you suggest, but I imagine it will be a tough sell to an enraged electorate. Not sure Netanyahu is the person for it but we are where we are.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,859
    edited October 2023
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    If I'm after someone who can do fractions I certainly won't come running to you.
    I’m the smartest person on this board by 7/8 of a standard deviation of 29 IQ points, I’ll have you know
    Yet if we asked “which PB poster would you least want in charge of any crisis or any decision that is potentially critical or life-threatening?”, you would top the poll by miles. Indeed it wouldn’t be worth holding it, the outcome would be so obvious. There’s a reason that, while most of us have spent our lives managing actual stuff, your job has merely been to make up stories for others’ entertainment. A job that is also your hobby on here.
  • SirNorfolkPassmoreSirNorfolkPassmore Posts: 7,149
    edited October 2023

    Possibly taking people with 2:2s is not exactly hiring the best and the brightest. Given the work undertaken, cryptography, I would have hoped / thought, that a 1st would be required. That is still only filtering for the top 1/3 of graduates.

    That's bollocks.

    A first often indicates the hardest working, the best prepared, or the best (financially) supported , not necessarily the most brilliant.
    I once briefly had a boss who was probably the best paid and most sought-after tax lawyer in the City, who had got a 2:2 at a red brick university. By his own account, he spent too much time tinkering with cars, and was also pretty mediocre at a lot of law... but happened to be a genius in one rather niche area of it.

    That's not at all uncommon, I suspect. A lot of people with 2.2s aren't anything like that, of course... but, anecdotally, I have a hunch that there are more geniuses with 2.2s than with 2.1s. I have a 2.1 myself, and it is the degree of the perfectly competent plodder.
  • Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Powerful


    "How are you allowing this? They want us dead!"

    Jewish students confront the University of Washington after student organizations held a pro-Hamas rally on campus. #HamasIsISIS


    https://x.com/hananyanaftali/status/1712724898202730756?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    Strange how these US universities normally go to the nth degree to close down any potential offense caused by anybody....siding with nutters about Halloween party clothing that could be offensive, suspending Professors who tried to explain that the Mandarin filler word for ummm sounds rather like an highly offensive slur in English and you will hear this when you visit China.
    Perhaps if Hamas had used the wrong pronouns or culturally misappropriated some Israeli culture they’d be moved to act.
    IIRC Hamas isn’t a gay friendly organisation.
    Yet it does not stop groups like "Queers for Palestine" in their unwavering support.
    While they will be amongst the first Hamas "deals" with, most of the rest of us will also be dealt with eventually according to Hamas' chief

    https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-765304
  • eekeek Posts: 28,368

    This thread has fled the area

  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,998
    Since my copy of Asimov's original Foundation Trilogy is three steps away from my desk, I picked it up to answer the question MattW raised.

    Briefly, Salvor Hardin, the first Mayor of Terminus, is appalled when Lord Dorwin, visiting from the Empire, wants to find the answer to the origin question (which planet humanity came from) by reading centuries-old writers, rather than doing some digging himself.

    Later, when Hardin is meeting with the Encyclopedia board, he provides analyses of the ultimatim from Anacreon, the treaty between the Empire and Anacreon, and the assurances from Lord Dorwin.

    Hardin had recorded everything Dorwin had said, during his visit, and had given that, like the documents, to an analyst.

    Hardin summarizes: "The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Hulk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualfications--in short all the goo and dribble--he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out."

    (From "The Encyclopedists", the second story in the first book of the trilogy.)

  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 71,067
    (BBC)

    Note these delightful folk don't live in Gaza.

    ...In the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj al-Shemali, in southern Lebanon, people are preparing for one this afternoon. The camp is run by various Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad.

    I've come here to meet the mother of one of the militants from that group, who crossed into Israel on Monday and was killed by the Israel Defense Forces. This was one of several incidents involving Israel and militants from Lebanon that have occurred along the border since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.

    Azab Mousa, 45, said she was “proud” of her son, 22-year-old Hamza, and that she had “encouraged him” to go ahead with the attack. “He told me what he was going to do... I stood by his side and made sure he wasn’t going to give up,” she said.

    “If I had 10 sons, I’d send them all to do the same, because we need to reclaim our land.”

    The family arrived in Lebanon from Syria in 2011, after the start of the civil war there, and have never been to the place they call Palestine.

    Hamza’s brother, 20-year-old Mohammed, said he was not affiliated with any group but that he was willing to do something like what his brother had done. “Every man here is proud of him.”..
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,073

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    If I'm after someone who can do fractions I certainly won't come running to you.
    I’m the smartest person on this board by 7/8 of a standard deviation of 29 IQ points, I’ll have you know
    I'm so dumb I don't even understand that response :)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/68–95–99.7_rule

    Leon is boasting that he is in the 50-85% percentile (where 0 is the dumbest and 100 is the smartest) of smart people. I'm buggered if I'm working out the 7/8ths thing
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,376
    Ghedebrav said:

    Taz said:

    To get a proper perspective on the conflict, this American sitcom reduced it to a threesome

    Watch this episode, it is a belter

    https://curb-your-enthusiasm.fandom.com/wiki/Palestinian_Chicken

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Are you able to apply, at a later date, if you have not registered an interest ?
    The Palestinian Chicken episode is brilliant.
    One of the best.

    Occupy this !!

    F*** me like you f*** my people

    😂😂😂😂
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,073

    Since my copy of Asimov's original Foundation Trilogy is three steps away from my desk, I picked it up to answer the question MattW raised.

    Briefly, Salvor Hardin, the first Mayor of Terminus, is appalled when Lord Dorwin, visiting from the Empire, wants to find the answer to the origin question (which planet humanity came from) by reading centuries-old writers, rather than doing some digging himself.

    Later, when Hardin is meeting with the Encyclopedia board, he provides analyses of the ultimatim from Anacreon, the treaty between the Empire and Anacreon, and the assurances from Lord Dorwin.

    Hardin had recorded everything Dorwin had said, during his visit, and had given that, like the documents, to an analyst.

    Hardin summarizes: "The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Hulk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualfications--in short all the goo and dribble--he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out."

    (From "The Encyclopedists", the second story in the first book of the trilogy.)

    Most useful post today, thank you. :)
  • Jim_MillerJim_Miller Posts: 2,998
    edited October 2023
    On "neocon": In the US, the term was often used by anti-Semites, to disguise their anti-Semitism. So they would say "neocons", and then follow that by two or three Jewish sounding names -- and their audiences would understand what they were saying.
  • Northern_AlNorthern_Al Posts: 8,375

    Possibly taking people with 2:2s is not exactly hiring the best and the brightest. Given the work undertaken, cryptography, I would have hoped / thought, that a 1st would be required. That is still only filtering for the top 1/3 of graduates.

    That's bollocks.

    A first often indicates the hardest working, the best prepared, or the best (financially) supported , not necessarily the most brilliant.
    I once briefly had a boss who was probably the best paid and most sought-after tax lawyer in the City, who had got a 2:2 at a red brick university. By his own account, he spent too much time tinkering with cars, and was also pretty mediocre at a lot of law... but happened to be a genius in one rather niche area of it.

    That's not at all uncommon, I suspect. A lot of people with 2.2s aren't anything like that, of course... but, anecdotally, I have a hunch that there are more geniuses with 2.2s than with 2.1s. I have a 2.1 myself, and it is the degree of the perfectly competent plodder.
    Agree. But it's also a non-issue, because the GCHQ job doesn't preclude applications from those with a first. The 2:2 mentioned in the advert is a minimum, not a maximum.
  • GhedebravGhedebrav Posts: 3,860

    Possibly taking people with 2:2s is not exactly hiring the best and the brightest. Given the work undertaken, cryptography, I would have hoped / thought, that a 1st would be required. That is still only filtering for the top 1/3 of graduates.

    That's bollocks.

    A first often indicates the hardest working, the best prepared, or the best (financially) supported , not necessarily the most brilliant.
    A first has been so devalued, that 1/3 of students are getting them. I believe something like 75% of students get a 2:1 or above.

    If a "genius" can't even get a 2:1 in the modern university system they have serious attitude / work commitment issues, which again doesn't sound like a good candidate for these roles. Universities also bend over backwards to support students who have life issues outside of their control.
    2:2 also opens it up to people who are changing career. Imagine a talented software engineer in their mid-40s who wants a different challenge, but got their 2:2 back when it was a ‘drinkers degree’.

    (I may or may not be a proud owner of a Desmond, albeit with panic Masters icing on top.)
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 4,931

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
    I don't want to be accused of racial profiling but I can imagine a few scenarios where having some spies that aren't white could be kind of useful. Doesn't seem an entirely dumb move, and weird to see people on the right prioritising the niceties of employment law ahead of potential national security imperatives. I mean, maybe the security forces have gone woke, or maybe they actually know what they are doing. Just a thought.
    I can understand GCHQ not wanting to recruit white spies for e.g. Gaza.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319
    DavidL said:

    malcolmg said:

    DavidL said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    I think the short answer is that evil bastards who behead babies in their cribs deserve everything that is coming to them.
    Still murderers of civilian's on both sides should get same treatment David. There have been issues from both sides in past years which have led to this horrific mess. We are seeing plenty of pictures of children in tatters and dead babies from Gaza now as well. None of it makes it right.
    Murderers I agree. But there is a moral difference between cutting a child's throat and, for example, firing at a school being used by gunmen even when it has civilians or even children in it.
    I do agree
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 54,582

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”. And right now you can’t apply if you’re a white man

    I’m right and it’s a clear discrimination against white men, but they have probably used this weasel wording - which you applaud - to avoid the law against racial discrimination

    Also: isn’t it great they’re deliberately recruiting thick spies on the grounds of Diversity? That’s really gonna help
    Now you're not just being a bit of a fool who failed to click the link to verify the position. You've been directly presented with the correct information, and choose to continue with the falsehood.

    Look, it explicitly says, "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application" and then you say "Registering an interest is just another way of saying “applying”". That's not a misunderstanding on your part... it's a lie.
    I don't want to be accused of racial profiling but I can imagine a few scenarios where having some spies that aren't white could be kind of useful. Doesn't seem an entirely dumb move, and weird to see people on the right prioritising the niceties of employment law ahead of potential national security imperatives. I mean, maybe the security forces have gone woke, or maybe they actually know what they are doing. Just a thought.
    I can understand GCHQ not wanting to recruit white spies for e.g. Gaza.
    GCHQ are the brainboxes at the listening post doughnut at Cheltenham, not the James Bonds of MI6.

    Foreign languages would definitely be an advantage there, but that’s still no excuse for an overtly sexist and racist recruitment campaign.

    If they wish to up their recruitment from under-represented groups, then get out to the careers fairs at the universities, and make pitches to those groups directly. Saying “apply now if you’re from these groups, but that’s not really an application because that would be illegal”, doesn’t wash. See the RAF case from only a few weeks ago.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319

    viewcode said:

    Taz said:

    Sean_F said:

    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    Taz said:

    Irish politics has not distinguished itself over this conflict.
    The most virulent pro-Hamas western voices are so often Irish. It’s quite noticeable. A fair few Scot Nats and Welsh nutters too, so it’s a Celtic thing

    But the Irish lead the way
    There was a particular awful comment from a Scottish Green MSP.
    Maggie Chapman is an excrescence.
    I had to Google that, I’m no dunce either. That’s a great word and most apt.
    I had to Google "Maggie Chapman". I am sometimes very naive.
    She was one of the members of the Holyrood committee that ruled out flying the Israeli flag at the Scottish Parliament. Given the SNP enthusiasm for flags that was quite a message for Scotland's Jewish community.
    She is a real nutter
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,319
    Taz said:

    To get a proper perspective on the conflict, this American sitcom reduced it to a threesome

    Watch this episode, it is a belter

    https://curb-your-enthusiasm.fandom.com/wiki/Palestinian_Chicken

    Leon said:

    Incredible. GCHQ advertises jobs with remarkably weak qualifications required. Just a 2:2

    However, white men are not allowed to apply. Flat no. How can that be legal?

    https://x.com/westminsterpup/status/1712796851299119554?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

    If you click through to the actual advert, that simply isn't what is happening. The invitation is to register an interest in a forthcoming vacancy but:

    "A registration of interest does not constitute a job application, nor will such registration have any bearing upon the recruitment process itself.

    Any individuals who register their interest and who decide subsequently to apply for Maths and Cryptography Roles opportunities will need to complete an application form once the window for applications has opened.

    Once the window has opened, we will welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of their ethnic background, gender, disability and/or any other characteristic(s). All applications will be assessed solely on merit."

    I do wish you'd just once perform even the most basic due diligence to check what you're sharing is actually true.
    Are you able to apply, at a later date, if you have not registered an interest ?
    Seems not if you are white
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,310
    Chris said:

    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    Let me ask you two questions. Again not loaded.

    1. Do you think Israel should defend itself against Hamas so as to prevent what happened on Saturday from happening again?

    2. If so, how?
    It's noticeable that the only answer to maxh's question so far has been that "evil bastards who behead babies in their cribs deserve everything that is coming to them", which is absolutely nonsensical, given that the question was about civilians in Gaza.

    Would it be any easier to answer another question - are you horrified by the casualties among civilians in Gaza?

    Yes - I have been saying this from the start. In war innocent civilians are killed. And it is extremely sad. I wish it could be otherwise. I have even suggested a way (pie in the sky, no doubt) as to how it might be avoided.

    I have been posting these two questions for days now. And no-one has given me an answer. So I am starting to think that those who say Israel should exercise self-restraint because otherwise Palestinian civilians will be killed are simply saying that Israel should not defend itself and must just put up with massacres. That is a morally reprehensible view to my mind. If this happened to us we would not take such a view. We have no business expecting Israel to behave differently to us. It as if Jews must be expected to be victims and to be blamed if they try to avoid this.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 50,249

    TOPPING said:

    TOPPING said:

    DavidL said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    I think the short answer is that evil bastards who behead babies in their cribs deserve everything that is coming to them.
    Indeed. But that doesn't apply to the vast majority of people who are now dying in Gaza. So Max's question still stands.
    The Max that said this? Formatting-willing, perhaps someone else said it but it appears he did.

    "The tricky question for me is the impact on civilians. I’m sympathetic to the comparisons with Germany in WW2 - a regime needed annihilating and there was no way to avoid civilian deaths."
    And I disagree with him on that. I do rarely agree with you on some things as well you know. In spite of what you might think the world is not black and white. It is a concept you might consider exploring rather than constantly harking back to historical irrelevances.
    One man's historical irrelevance is another's historical precedence. Isn't law established via precedence?

    As I said yesterday (PB is nothing if not rehashing previously made arguments), your position is that Country A can do something that it believes is essential for its existence, and then arbitrarily make that something illegal for Country B to do. Why should Country B follow that "law" if it also believes its existence is at stake.
    Because it was agreed by all the civilised nations together. The UK and US and others didn't come along and say 'we are imposing this on you from now on but it doesn't apply to us. They said ' these are the rules we believe a civilised world should live by and we are willing to sign up to them even though we have no idea what the future might hold.'

    It is the same with chemical and biological weapons, with torture and with myriad other conventions on war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    The West is very quick to hold others to these standards and, where possible, to prosecute those who break the rules. We certainly should not then decide they no longer apply because we happen to sympathise with one nation which is 'on our side'.

    One of the first acts of the newly formed Israel after the 1948 war was to sign and ratify the Geneva conventions. Why shuld we not hold them to the same standard as they claimed for themselves, even though they knew then that they were in an existential fight against their neighbours?
    The number of occasions that prosecutions for war crimes has happened is a meagre handful.

    There seems to be a lot of whinging that The Hague is The New Imperialism, but it is harder to get into than the Reform Club.
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,310
    maxh said:

    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    Let me ask you two questions. Again not loaded.

    1. Do you think Israel should defend itself against Hamas so as to prevent what happened on Saturday from happening again?

    2. If so, how?
    1. 100% yes. It would be utterly intolerable for them to do anything else.

    2. At the moment I can’t see a better option than an occupation. My caveat, for what it is worth, is that the IDF should be prepared to accept military casualties on their own side rather than perpetrate civilian casualties needlessly. I recognise this is a very difficult ask, which is part of why what Hamas does (using civilian shields) is so reprehensible. I think it is incumbent on the more powerful side to be more restrained, esp given they effectively have a blank cheque from USA.

    Bigger picture, though, is that my issue with your position is the question you’re not asking: do you think that, by accident of birth, a baby or child in Gaza should be more expendable than one in Israel?
    Didn't see your response when I posted just now.

    Thank you.

    My answer to your question is no. No-one should. The reality of life is that some are. Hamas is responsible for treating the children in Gaza as expendable by deliberately putting them in harm's way. But far too many seem to think that they should not be blamed for this - only Israel.

    The brutal reality is that the Israeli government - like every government - puts the interests of its own citizens first. In the choice between an Israeli child and a Palestinian one they put the former first. The tragedy for Palestinian children is that their own government does not do the same. It is happy for them to be killed. It wants them to be killed. And far too many will ignore this and revert to a comfortable position of blaming Israel for this.

    When a people have had such brutality inflicted on them, there is something deeply unpleasant about those not affected telling the victims to turn the other cheek and rise above it all.

  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,310

    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    Let me ask you two questions. Again not loaded.

    1. Do you think Israel should defend itself against Hamas so as to prevent what happened on Saturday from happening again?

    2. If so, how?
    1. Yes they should.
    2. They should enter Gaza a find every Hamas militant or armed Palestinian and kill them. They will take significant casualties themselves doing this but that is the price of war.

    What they should not do is have the sort of scorched earth policy advocated by Bart and others on here. They should not simply sit back and drop bombs on Gaza killing thousands of civilians in the process. This will be horrible for the IDF but that is the price of being part of a civilised nation rather than simply a barbaric terrorist.

    Of course this won't stop what happened on Saturday happening again. After 75 years of each side killing each other with little care for innocents on either side, the continuing cysle of violence will solve nothing. Eventually there will have to be a peace deal and both sides will have to accept the other's right to live in the region.

    But that won't happen under the current leadership of either side and Hamas's attacks on Saturday have pushed that far into the future.
    Thanks for your response. I do not advocate a scorched earth policy either. Israel has the worst possible leader at such a time.
  • maxhmaxh Posts: 1,224


    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.

    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew
    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    Let me ask you two questions. Again not loaded.

    1. Do you think Israel should defend itself against Hamas so as to prevent what happened on Saturday from happening again?

    2. If so, how?
    1. 100% yes. It would be utterly intolerable for them to do anything else.

    2. At the moment I can’t see a better option than an occupation. My caveat, for what it is worth, is that the IDF should be prepared to accept military casualties on their own side rather than perpetrate civilian casualties needlessly. I recognise this is a very difficult ask, which is part of why what Hamas does (using civilian shields) is so reprehensible. I think it is incumbent on the more powerful side to be more restrained, esp given they effectively have a blank cheque from USA.

    Bigger picture, though, is that my issue with your position is the question you’re not asking: do you think that, by accident of birth, a baby or child in Gaza should be more expendable than one in Israel?
    Didn't see your response when I posted just now.

    Thank you.

    My answer to your question is no. No-one should. The reality of life is that some are. Hamas is responsible for treating the children in Gaza as expendable by deliberately putting them in harm's way. But far too many seem to think that they should not be blamed for this - only Israel.

    The brutal reality is that the Israeli government - like every government - puts the interests of its own citizens first. In the choice between an Israeli child and a Palestinian one they put the former first. The tragedy for Palestinian children is that their own government does not do the same. It is happy for them to be killed. It wants them to be killed. And far too many will ignore this and revert to a comfortable position of blaming Israel for this.

    When a people have had such brutality inflicted on them, there is something deeply unpleasant about those not affected telling the victims to turn the other cheek and rise above it all.

    @cyclefree I’ll reply on here to avoid restarting things on a new thread.

    I think it is crucial to distinguish between ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’ when considering responses to Hamas’ atrocities.

    I agree with much of your post but would match your brutal reality with another. It is part of the utterly invidious position that the Israeli government finds itself in that if they do value their own children above those of Palestinian children, they are likely simply to perpetuate the violence in the region. That is a ‘what is’ statement, not a ‘what ought to be’ statement.

    And, from a Gazan perspective, your last paragraph could in a different sense be applied the other way around. They might not have experienced terror in the same way, but they have experienced brutality from Israel. Perhaps necessary brutality in Israeli eyes.

    I don’t think we have the moral authority to tell either side to turn the other cheek. In my view instructing a million Palestinians to abandon their homes and communities is asking them to do just that.

    It is probably an entirely intractable problem overall - if there IS ever to be a long term solution, my gut is that it requires almost inhuman restraint from the IDF in how they respond, as well as an acceptance on the part of ordinary Gazans that their lives are going to be uprooted once more. I doubt I would have that restraint were I directly involved on either side, but sometimes a distant
    perspective is needed.
  • maxhmaxh Posts: 1,224
    Err…not sure what the 1st 3 paragraphs are! They’re not mine…
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Leon said:

    Don’t come running to me when British security collapses because we’ve got a load of spies who can’t do fractions

    Let's hope they can at least use full stops.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,368
    Cyclefree said:

    Cyclefree said:

    maxh said:

    Nigelb said:

    ydoethur said:

    Foxy said:
    And when (if) those 1.1 million have left and Israel has occupied Gaza City, will it withdraw and let them go back?
    The Palestinians won't believe so, as since 1948 that's not tended to be the case.
    Which is of course one of the reasons why 'Egypt should just take them all' isn't likely to be an easy solution.

    It might seem odd to us to be so passionately attached to somewhere like Gaza, but many are.
    There won't be anything much left in Gaza to be attached to. Hamas are not these poor downtrodden innocents imprisoned by the beastly Jew (ssshhhhh don't mention Egypt). The are genocidal terrorist psychopaths.

    Like ISIS before them they need to be eradicated. That means killing most of them. Because they aren't going to just give up or reform - like Jake and Ellwood they are on a Mission from God. They have no interest in the innocents in Gaza other than using them as human shields. And as for Egypt and the rest - they have no interest in the civilians either. They are political pawns left to suffer *by them* for regional points scoring.,

    This has to end. The status quo can't be sustained, there is no viable status quo ante to wind the clock back to. We need a long-term solution for the diaspora issue and with respect to Egypt and Jordan and Syria their mission of leaving people in multi-generational refugee camps as Someone Else's Problem is also over.

    Israel has demonstrated in recent years that it wants diplomatic solutions. Reaching out to make all kinds of previously unlikely alliances. But if diplomacy doesn't work, it will impose a settlement militarily. And as wounded as it is, and as armed as it is, woe betide any of the powers around it who think they still get to disrupt this.
    Genuine, not loaded question.
    Why is your and others’ entirely appropriate horror at the actions of Hamas not matched by a horror of indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians in Gaza?
    I can think of a few reasons, and am trying to understand whether my moral equivalence between a civilian Palestinian death and a civilian Israeli one is mistaken.
    How do you justify this to yourself? (Again, this sounds loaded, it isn’t).
    Let me ask you two questions. Again not loaded.

    1. Do you think Israel should defend itself against Hamas so as to prevent what happened on Saturday from happening again?

    2. If so, how?
    1. Yes they should.
    2. They should enter Gaza a find every Hamas militant or armed Palestinian and kill them. They will take significant casualties themselves doing this but that is the price of war.

    What they should not do is have the sort of scorched earth policy advocated by Bart and others on here. They should not simply sit back and drop bombs on Gaza killing thousands of civilians in the process. This will be horrible for the IDF but that is the price of being part of a civilised nation rather than simply a barbaric terrorist.

    Of course this won't stop what happened on Saturday happening again. After 75 years of each side killing each other with little care for innocents on either side, the continuing cysle of violence will solve nothing. Eventually there will have to be a peace deal and both sides will have to accept the other's right to live in the region.

    But that won't happen under the current leadership of either side and Hamas's attacks on Saturday have pushed that far into the future.
    Thanks for your response. I do not advocate a scorched earth policy either. Israel has the worst possible leader at such a time.
    Bibi has been pre-occupied with saving his own skin and keeping himself out of jail. He has done this by undermining the police, the military, intelligence services and the judiciary. Anyone who called his integrity into question he attacked and weakened. The Israeli military were ill prepared for such an horrific strike from Gaza because they had their boots on the ground in the West Bank. Why?

    Bibi is in a bind. Scorched earth is his redemption.
This discussion has been closed.