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And so the world awaits the next stage of the Gaza conflict – politicalbetting.com
And so the world awaits the next stage of the Gaza conflict – politicalbetting.com
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And so the world awaits the next stage of the Gaza conflict – politicalbetting.com
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I'm not awaiting.
I'm ignoring for my mental health.
Don’t get why anyone would bother with it.
Your position appears to be that politics is entirely binary, and therefore every party has an obligation to co-operate in some fashion in service of the immediate goal of defeating the government.
They don't. I'm sure they'd all like that outcome, but they do have wider goals than a single by-election. They have their long term prospects to think about, their ideologies, the very reasons they exist as separate entities.
By your logic we should only have a single unity candidate at every by-election against a government incumbent since no one should stand in the way of defeating them. But we have more varied politics than that, which is a good thing.
I don't think that's overthinking it. I think expecting parties to stop acting like parties is unrealistic and, ultimately, not even helpful. It's just utopian thinking to expect people and parties to act in unity like that.
Edit: Funnily enough with all this talk of game theory I was in fact just watching a video on a youtube channel @Gametheory101 (though the topic was not, in fact, about game theory).
But then again that applies to pretty much every actor in this quagmire.
G’night.
Mr Bell, who has worked at the Guardian for more than four decades, said the newspaper had refused to publish any more of his cartoons, although it will continue to employ him until April 2024.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/15/guardian-cartoonist-steve-bell-anti-semitic-netanyahu/
@shaunwalker7
·
2h
I asked Barbara Nowacka, Civic Coalition MP, what an opposition win would mean for Polish women:
"Safety. Finally safety. Young women won't be afraid to get pregnant, young women won't be afraid to go to the doctor."
The true picture of A&E waiting times in Wales has been seriously under-reported for a decade, the BBC can reveal. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has established thousands of hours are missed from monthly figures.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-67056279
And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You...
Hamas already "slew the righteous", or at least the innocent. But regardless of whether you think Hamas is evil, which I do, Israel has the capacity to wreak 100 times as much destruction.
That would be a blow to the government, which called the referendum and included questions on the EU’s migration policies, among other issues. The exit poll for the elections also indicates that the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has lost power.
Whereas turnout for the elections was a record high of 72.9%, according to pollster Ipsos, for the referendum it was only 40%. For a referendum to be binding, the figure must be above 50%. The official results are expected to be confirmed by Tuesday at the latest."
https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/10/15/exit-poll-polish-governments-referendum-invalidated-by-low-turnout/
For instance:-
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1824049/cenotaph-palestinian-protest-mps-fury-israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_State_of_Palestine
The life expectancy at birth is about 75 years, and the total fertility rate is about 4, which is especially striking considering Gaza is almost entirely urban.
The net migration rate was estimated at -5/1000 in 2018, so a significant number of people are able to leave. (Or, at least, were.)
Unemployment is terribly high, so I assume many there are living on handouts from Qatar, and similar nations.
(Possibly significant: The population is almost entirley Sunni Muslim -- unlike Iran.)
It is always done years in advance.
RWC 2019 - draw done on 10 May 2017
RWC 2015 - draw done on 3 December 2012
RWC 2011 - draw done in December 2008
There will obviously be calls for significant change next time.
(a) Less illegal immigration
(b) Less corruption
(c) Closer ties to the EU
But he won for pretty much exactly the same reason that oppositions are winning worldwide: the cost of living.
For the first time in 30 years, people are seeing disposable income severely squeezed by inflation. Most voters have never experienced it before, and they're not happy.
Whether left wing or right wing, governments are in trouble.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4257650-biden-says-occupation-of-gaza-by-israel-is-big-mistake/
Well I never.
*No* voting system is perfect, because we all want different things from such a system. For instance, I want to vote for a named person, *not* a party (party list systems are an anathema to me). I quite like there being clear winners. I like to see a manifesto of ideas that might be implemented by the winner, not soe shady back-room coalition deals.
Others might laugh or sneer at those, but I quite like them..
"having everyone to vote for who or what they believe in"
That's rubbish, because unless you're a total party stooge, what you believe in probably does not match a single party.
As for rubbish arguments, saying that no voting system is perfect means we can't say which in might be more, or less fair is a failure of both rhetoric and logic.
Similarly with which party we might prefer over another.
https://x.com/collinrugg/status/1713653332898947122?s=61&t=s0ae0IFncdLS1Dc7J0P_TQ
The problem is people not liking the voting system because their team loses. elections cannot be a system where everyone wins - not, at least, in a democracy. And *every* party that looks at reforming the system look to do so for their own advantage, not for what might improve the system.
When talking about a voting system, instead of looking at what advantages me, or my party, we need to look at the fundamental principles and go from there.
And Labour and Lib Dems aren't interchangeable. If they were, they'd be the same party not two very different ones.
'Directly' also covers a multitude of sins.
I suspect it's more a ploy so that when Israel hit them with missiles they can pose as the victim.
I wonder if the Guardian have been paying Employers National Insurance etc on his employment the whole time he's been employed, or if they've been engaging in tax avoidance?
You disagree with FPTP. Fine.
But it’s not “crooked”.
You would prefer an alternative that would be better for your preferred party. Fine.
But don’t cast doubt on the legitimacy of the current system.
(Seriously, though, this latest one - with Netenyahu as a surgeon with boxing gloves. It seems a stretch to read that as a reference to “a pound of flesh”. I suspect that the Guardian is being hyper sensitive and/or was looking for an excuse to cut costs without paying a massive redundancy payment)
But presumably he has 6 months notice on his contract even if an independent contractor
it would be a mistake … for Israel to occupy … Gaza again,” Biden added. “But going in but taking out the extremists — the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south — is a necessary requirement.
He should have gone after the Patel one.
“Not proven” rather than “largely innocent” methinks
Edit: rereading it, the “is” is critical. It makes it a statement of geographical fact as well as equating Hamas to Hezbollah (which may be relevant from a US public perspective). It’s technically not a suggestion that taking out both is warranted, although it does lay the groundwork for a future northern incursion
But your (and others) constant insistence on viewing the critics of the current system as motivated by the interests of "their team" is grating.
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2023/10/11/the-guardian-rejects-steve-bell-cartoon-2/
LBJ bears the political scars of Vietnam
Netenyahu is claiming to be orchestrating a “surgical strike” on Hamas but his boxing mentality means that the damage can’t be restricted to the target
So if the PSC people want to go and march, they should be allowed. The balance to tread is when their banners and chants are genocidal - do we send the police in to remove such things? You can't stand in the street demanding the murder of someone else in the street - why should you be able to do so for the murder of someone elsewhere?
Study shows widespread concern over quality of managers, with 82% of bosses deemed ‘accidental’, having had no formal training
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/15/bad-management-has-prompted-one-in-three-uk-workers-to-quit-survey-finds
https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=361170
...According to a report submitted by the Ministry of Justice to Rep. Park Yong-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the immigration policy committee has not convened a single meeting since its initial appointment ceremony on Nov. 25, 2022.
The initiative to establish an immigration agency, a key promise of President Yoon Seok Yeol, gained traction after Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon mentioned it in his inaugural speech on May 17, 2022.
As Korea's immigrant population steadily expands ― at 2.24 million as of 2022, or 4.37 percent of the total population ― the need for an immigration agency has become apparent...
I think his problem is that, due to the modern doctrine of punching up/down, he feels unable to criticise racist speech from minority groups in his presence. Without that push back, he is getting immersed in some nasty stuff.
Nobody can agree who shot the last one.
Donate cash in a charity shop.
If you purchase some Dame Barbara Cartland's and take them off the market you get good deed double bubble.
Or get some bath salts for your significant other (if you don't want to be left smelling of roses for the next 3 months).
If you want to change something to fix it, fair enough. But first, you need to work out how and why it is failing (i.e. what needs fixing), and what you want the replacement to do, and only then can you start thinking about what that replacement should be.
I also dislike the idea that there's a 'perfect' electoral system. Any system will have flaws; and more importantly, given time politicians and political parties will find ways to exploit those flaws.
Trying to read the cartoon is interesting, though. Netanyahu promised a surgical removal of Hamas, which is clearly being referenced here. The boxing gloves obviously denote Netanyahu as being a pugilistic and aggressive politician (something I think Bell has put on Bibi before). Even the pound of flesh connotations could be interesting - obviously in this cartoon Netanyahu is doing this to himself not the Christian "victim" of the Shakespeare play - and could be a reference to how the current conflict is a self inflicted wound of Netanyahu's, something that is a pretty widespread view in Israel itself if the papers and polling happening there are anything to go by.
I am somewhat more surprised by the idea that Bell didn't know what the editor's note of "pound of flesh" was a reference to - either Bell isn't as well read as I would have expected or, as an artist, once you see in your art what you intended it is hard to see what others might think.
Might’ve been time to move on anyway tbh. Sometimes employers are just waiting for the right excuse (cf Danny Baker at the BBC).
That's why I don't see a long-term way out of this that will hold; it is in the interest of some actors in the region, who also place a low value of human life of their own side or the other side, to maintain the conflict.
That is another version of the point made for half a century that Arab Governments had an interest in keeping Palestinian refugees, or 'refugees' depending on your view, stateless and in camps.
I'd say that this will only be resolved when most of the Middle East is no longer a basket case. I have no idea how that would happen. A significantly declining birth rate is perhaps a small sign.
"Stats for Lefties 🏳️⚧️ 🇵🇸
@LeftieStats
🚨 NEW: A Stroud councillor has quit Labour after Starmer said Israel has the right to withhold water and power from Gaza.
In 2021, Labour had 15 councillors in Stroud. 11 of these (73%) have since left Labour in opposition to Starmer, costing Labour the council leadership."
https://twitter.com/LeftieStats/status/1713574208477839466
But to respond to your point, after talking to hundreds of voters over the weekend, it's clear that most voters don't see the parties as different in any significant way, and the appeals for tactical voting strengthen that perception (nobody asks for tactical votes from Reform UK, do they?). That might be a mistake - after all, we can all point to policy differences - but they elude the only vaguely engaged voter. After Starmer's move to the centre, and the general perception that the LibDems (and even, bizarrely, the Corbynite Greens) are centrists, what floating voters see is three similar parties squabbling, and it annoys them. In some cases it even means they don't vote for any of us.
I'm not actually arguing against tactical voting. But it would be good if the non-Tory parties agreed on some basic principles which respect the right of every party to make an effort:
1. The party that sees itself in the best position in win should use phrases like ". The Tories are [usual criticisms]. If you want to vote tactically to get them out, lend us your vote because ...". Don't use voodoo polls or disproportionate bar charts.
2. If a party can see that they're not in a position to win, they should argue for a positive vote. "You only get the chance to say how you think the country should be run every 4-5 years. Don't waste your vote on parochial and negative tactical voting, vote positively for us because..."
You'll still see parties who both think they can win adopting the first strategy, but put like that it avoids actually pissing everyone off, including the voters who we're all trying to impress.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SPDYNTFRTINMNA
someone else’s.
It’s a contrast between an anticipated heavy handed response (boxing gloves) and the claimed targeted strike (scalpel) at Hamas in Gaza
There have been so many anti-Semitic phrases and stories in Western history (Shylock is known to modern audiences from Shakespeare) that you are essentially saying any criticism is off limits.
If there has been any reference to weight - scales for example - then you would have a point t, but I don’t see it on this occasion
(To be clear I find Bell unfunny and unpleasant. He sails very close to the wind and has frequently crossed the line so I have little sympathy for him)
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/the-64-938-27-question-for-bankrupt-birmingham-council-why-did-all-163-school-run-taxi-contracts-over-the-last-three-years-cost-exactly-the-same-authority-faces-new-quiz-over-cab-firm-at-centre-of-11m-over-payment-row/ar-AA1if44j?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=ef55665575ee42dc87de6811a379bbfd&ei=9