I'm not sure what you mean by "position discrimination", I said "positive discrimination" i.e. affirmative action, intentionally discriminating in favor of ethnic minorities. This does not appear to be legal in France.
Griggs v. Duke
Not familiar, but having looked at the Wikipedia page, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with positive discrimination. But, it would not surprise me if France had something similar Griggs v. Duke, in legislation or case law. It could also be that French employment law has protections which would make a Griggs v. Duke unnecessary; France has some of the strongest employee protections in the developed world, and America some of the weakest. Comparing this or that aspect of French law to this or that aspect of US law is all well and good, but you have to bear in mind that these laws are holistically connected to very different structures. A 1-on-1 comparison probably won't show much.
shakenvac
8mo ago
America, 1963.
One can argue that in current year the demand for racism outstrips the supply, and maybe you think that modern society's anti-racism is robust enough that we no longer need laws to make everyone behave... But it is trivially true that America did need those laws, Americans were (and to a lesser extent, still are) willing to discriminate against people based on race. It is also probably true that such laws have played a major role in America becoming a society that shunned racism.
I recently found out that France does not have anti-discrimination laws
This didn't seem right to me, a quick google search turned this up. maybe you are thinking of 'positive discrimination', which it appears France does not have.
Which characteristics are protected by [discrimination in the workplace] laws?
The characteristics protected are numerous: origin, sex, morals, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, family situation or pregnancy, genetic characteristics, particular vulnerability resulting from economic hardship, true or supposed belonging or non-belonging to an ethnic group, a nation or an alleged race, political opinions, trade union activities, religion, last name, physical appearance, place of residence, ability to speak in a language other than French, bank domicile, health and loss of physical ability.
shakenvac
8mo ago
In such a world, the word 'trans' wouldn't even mean anything.
In a nutshell, the entire trans debate is 'Trans women are women (Y/N)'. If you could perfectly transition from a man to a woman in every measurable way, the only thing that would separate a 'trans' woman from the 'genuine article' would be that the trans woman would have memories of being a man. That doesn't seem particularly important.
Would anyone living hard in the trans debate still have a problem with it then?
You'll always be able to find someone that fits the bill, but they would be anti-technology, rather than anti-trans.
shakenvac
8mo ago
Seriously? Wow, that's comic book levels of contrivance. Like, if it was Mr. Freeze doing something like that then I could buy it.
I guess they were going for some kind of twist? 'haha check it out it was the scientists after all bet u didn't see that coming😏'?
shakenvac
8mo ago
He probably just killed himself. God knows he had plenty of reason to; his life was basically over. He had already tried to strangle himself two weeks earlier. I get that it looks sus what with all the video cameras not working etc but there is a very parsimonious explanation: jails are often run like shit. Fuckups are the rule, not the exception.
I don't really see what an assassination would accomplish either. The theory goes that some powerful somebody wanted to cover up their sex crimes, but between Ghislaine Maxwell, the victims, and the staff, surely there were and still are plenty of witnesses to whatever (and whoever) was going on.
shakenvac
9mo ago
It’s not European sanctions that are preventing US states from obtaining lethal injection drugs. Yes I’m aware that some states were getting the drugs from, I think, the Netherlands for a while before they blocked the export, but the idea that the US, a country of 330 million people with the largest pharmaceutical industry on the planet, can’t possibly internally source drugs to kill people is absurd. The point being that it isn’t Europeans causing problems for the American death sentence, it’s other Americans.
I suspect that Alabama moving to nitrogen hypoxia is about 1% to do with humane-ness and 99% to do with the fact that unlike controlled drugs, it’s impossible to prevent Alabama from acquiring Nitrogen.
I remember this documentary! I watched it only once, when it came out, so it must have left an impression.
Honestly this seems like a big nothing to me. Even if you consider that the article wasn't really fair (though it seems reasonably balanced) it's not really reasonable to expect the BBC to have a consistent journalistic line on a specific, previously hypothetical execution method. the UN and especially the EU are just straight up against the death penalty - you can't join the EU if you have it - their opinions are not defined by a 15 year old speculative documentary. Also, the implication that Alabama was in any way shape or form concerned with the opinions of Yurop when they adopted this policy is hilarious.
The 'someone' they interviewed in the documentary wasn't some random from a trailer park - it was Professor Robert Blecker, who was (apparently) an extremely prominent figure in the death penalty debate. seems like the documentary made some effort to find a steelman for the pro-death-penalty side, no? Yes, yes, I know, journalists are the enemy, they love to misrepresent. But nobody forced that (probably very media savvy) professor to go on the air and talk about how humane execution is stupid because murderers should suffer. That "bloodthirsty cruelty is the point." was literally his point.
Edit: based on the timeline found by @sodiummuffin I’m going to take back the next paragraph about Alabama fucking it up. The guy actually did hold his breath for about 2 mins, struggled for about 2 mins, then passed out and died.
And as for the execution itself, it's pretty simple. They just fucked it up. the execution took 25 minutes and apparently the execute-ee was struggling for most of that. the 'holding his breath' excuse doesn't pass the smell test. Unless the guy was an olympic freediver he would have been able to hold his breath for, like, three minutes, then pass out and die. you can't survive in a nitrogen-only atmosphere for 20+ minutes, it's just physically impossible. Probably they didn't secure the mask properly or something and left the guy breathing diluted atmosphere.
Anyway, Alabama: Good idea, poor execution, 5/10 do better next time.
Israel as a destabilising force is overblown. The Middle East is unstable because of poverty, despotism, the smartphone revolution, the resource curse, and good old fashioned regional rivalry. Today, Few Arabs with real power actually give a fuck about Palestinians, and of those that do, even fewer give enough of a fuck that they are willing to upset the apple cart over it. Normalisation of relations between Israel and its historical antagonists was well underway before 10/7, and will be well underway again in 18 months or so.
Once you get past the racial animus, all that Israel is doing is using military force to deal with an uppity subpopulation, something Arabic states think is totally reasonable.
shakenvac
10mo ago
One more that i've not seen anyone mention yet: men cheat to fuck, women cheat to upgrade.
When a man finds a mistress, he keeps it as secret for as long as he can. If and when the wife finds out, she files.
When a woman finds a mister, she keeps it a secret only for as long as necessary to set up an exit strategy. When she has one, she files.
Certainly not the only reason but a contributor at least.
I don't agree at all with your estimation of the value of an Orca, because you’re mixing two concepts – the intrinsic value of a non-human animal and the value of having a flourishing biosphere which have plenty of magnificent things like Orcas. No way I would sacrifice 10,000 Orcas for one human, but that's less about the inherent moral value of an Orca and more about the fact that they are endangered. In a world where Orca are as common as Cattle I wouldn’t think twice, but we don’t live in that world. If we value ocean wildlife - even if the reason is simply to give more utils to humans in the long term - then an Orca is a precious natural resource, not one to be squandered over something so commonplace as a human.
I’m not sure how many humans I would be willing to sacrifice in order to restore the world’s oceans to the state they were in 500 years ago, but it would be many, many thousands.
shakenvac
10mo ago
A bit of everything I'd say. Concentration of force is probably the most difficult thing for Ukraine right now; They don't have access to the quantity of troops that Russia has. They make up for the disparity with better morale, leadership, and training (in that order) but they are close to fully committed, and if they concentrate for an attack they risk a counterattack on a weaker part of the line. Planning isn't something that Ukraine is bad at by any means, but creating and executing a complex plan is far more difficult when you are actively maneuvering against an enemy which is continuously disrupting your plans and demanding of your resources to stop their plans. Ukraine also doesn't have access to all the combined arms tools that you would ideally want to launch a successful offensive - air cover, precision missiles, massive weight of artillery fire - tools which are not really as important to the defense.
This is why it's so advantageous to choose the time and the place of hostilities. If there is a truce, Russia can take it's sweet time rebuilding it's stockpiles, rebuilding a professional army (the sort you would need to push an offensive), making complex plans and organizing them and drilling their soldiers, and then restart the war when they are good and ready. Ideally with a spot of deception to prevent Ukraine from knowing when and where they will strike. Russia is currently incapable of mounting complex offensive operations, and I'm sure the Ukrainians would like to keep it that way.
shakenvac
10mo ago
It’s not a bad idea, but it isn’t great either. Putting aside whether or not Ukraine would be willing to permanently lose that land that Russia has taken, The problem is that in modern warfare the offence is a lot more powerful than the defence. Fortifications, such as minefields, create delays and induce costs on the attacker, but they can’t really stop a concentrated, coordinated, and well planned attack. A truce would also allow Russia to restart the conflict at a time and place of their choosing. Fortifying a 600 mile front is far more difficult than breaking through that front on a ten mile frontage.
A truce would also give Ukraine time to lick its wounds and prepare, but the same is true of Russia - and Russia’s army has a lot more low hanging fruit to grasp than Ukraine’s, so a pause would be more valuable for them.
What all this amounts to is that IMO resumption of hostilities is highly likely, minefields or no, but at a great disadvantage to Ukraine compared to the current situation.
shakenvac
11mo ago
This would only work if you outlaw all other luxury brands. why would someone buy a $5k Statelyᵀᴹ watch at 5000% markup when they can buy a $10k Rolex at a 400% markup? Anyone who bought a Stately would just look like a rube - which is the opposite of what they want!
I think the signalling structure isn't wealth → class, but wealth → quality → discernment → class
shakenvac
11mo ago
IH needs to cease his policy of silence and be forthcoming (...) where his actual politics stand.
Plagiarism aside, this is a terrible idea. I have never seen this go well for anyone ever. Even a groveling apology/delete videos/promise to do be better rarely works.
Ever since I read FCfromSSC's Quality Contribution it's been stuck in my head. This part in particular seems relevant:
The other side is not looking for dialog. We are not participating in a good-faith conversation.
There is no way for IH to be forthcoming on what he believes without it being used as more evidence that he is a Nazi. IH's crimes are that he is clearly not a leftist and he has used many 4chan memes, including but not limited to Hitler references. For some, that is enough. For everyone else, the best he can do is not give the Stasi any more ammunition.
shakenvac
11mo ago
The ultimate basis of morality is our evolved brain structure. We have empathy that causes us to feel others' pain as our own and logic that allows us to deduce the consequences of our actions. everything else - from theology to utilitarianism - is just tinkering at the edges. In the final analysis I am a good person because when I do bad things I feel bad.
Yes I will agree that modern western culture is evolved from Christianity. This is evident in how compatible the Christian religion is with the modern Secular state. but it clearly isn't Christianity (alone) which brought us to where we are. For example, Nietzsche characterized Christianity as 'slave morality' but even that didn't stop Christian cultures keeping slaves for centuries - if anything slavery by Christian cultures was nastier than the slavery practiced by classical cultures that had no theological reason to spurn the practice. I think a genuine belief in a deity has a fairly marginal effect on how 'good' someone is.
I think it depends a lot on what you consider the boundary of 'truly sympathetic'. If by that you mean 'full-throated advocacy' then yes what you're saying is probably about right. But most of those who "don't care either way" would come down on the side of NATO and the US if you asked them.*
I also think this is one of those issues where the opinion of the general population deviates substantially from that of the loud and terminally online.
*If I were to bet on one country bucking that trend it would be France. They are quite haughty and resent having to rely on anyone, especially The Anglos, for anything.
shakenvac
11mo ago
Also worth mentioning is a political zeitgeist in which the EU has often historically protested American foreign policies (...) but also expected Team America, World Police to show up when war came to their doorstep.
I'm going to push back on this a little. You are right that there is definitely an attitude among some Europeans that the yanks are a bit too keen on war (though plenty of Americans feel the same), but when the rubber hits the road the Europeans have broadly been willing to muck in. Yes Iraq was an exception - though the Brits were there with you - but as you mentioned the 'Iraq war bad' position has broadly been vindicated. Afghanistan, which was only marginally more justified, got buy in from the Europeans. The Libyan intervention was, if anything, French led. I'm not aware of any major dramas surrounding US troops in Europe, most nations are just happy to have them there. As for Israel, European leaders have generally been very supportive in their rhetoric - often to the detriment of their own internal unity with their Muslim populations. You might argue that only America really offers proper material support to Israel, but this is done for very American reasons (Jewish lobby).
shakenvac
1yr ago
What struck me as dogmatic is the prolongation of life as the highest priority, the greatest possible good, regardless of anything. There is no consideration given to the possibility that maybe prolonging Indi's life is not a good thing for her.
It's in your comment too. If you'll pardon me trying to guess your thought processes, the only negative you can even consider is the economic cost of keeping Indi alive. If someone else is covering that then there is literally no downside.
This is only true if treatment is an unalloyed good, which, of course, it isn't.
shakenvac
1yr ago
mitochondrial disease which is almost definitely terminal.
I would like to hear your justification for the use of the word "almost" in this sentence - so far as I can tell this baby is doomed, and has nothing in her short future but suffering (insofar as she is even capable of feeling suffering at this point) and death.
The Catholics are being pretty Catholic about this and just trying to save the baby.
And the protestants are just being protestant about this and acting under pragmatism rather than dogma.
Look, I'm sure the folks at Bambino Gesu are operating with only the best of intentions, but good intentions don't heal babies with broken genomes. The Vatican would have better odds building a colony on Titan than of saving this child.
Indi is a British citizen. As such the court is bound to act in her interests. Not her parents, hers. It is blatantly obvious to me (and the judge, apparently) that any sentient creature with zero capacity to do anything but suffer is better off in a state of inexistence. Prolonging her life for the sake of, what, her parent's feels? Not justifiable.
shakenvac
1yr ago
Same. Whether or not this specific claim is true, it's certainly plausible.
shakenvac
1yr ago
There is almost zero chance that the blue octopus was a dogwhistle. Greta is simply a very cringe person who made the very cringe decision that a frowny plushie would be the perfect accessory to her little bit of always-stupid intersectionality. Gaza is being oppwesed by Iswaew that makes me vewwy angwy ヾ( •`⌓´•)ﾉﾞ
Claims that the plushie is in fact a vital prop for neurodivergent people to communicate their emotions are so goddamn eyerolling that they probably reduced Greta's Cachet more than the incident itself.
But then, since most dogwhistles are bullshit in the first place it is certainly gratifying to see progressives fall into the same traps that they have been setting for the past 20 years. Greta has mostly gotten away with minimal damage, but the Israel/Palestine war has for the first time seen the cancel culture machine turned against progressives in earnest. Losing out on a position at a prestigious law firm is the sort of thing that used to be reserved for right wingers. I haven't quite grokked what it is about this subject that has caused such a reversal. Israel's current status as victims, maybe? Or perhaps right wingers are becoming more savvy with the weapons of wokeism.
is this an association that was just invented yesterday to pile on Greta Thunberg?
Pretty much, though perhaps not invented out of whole cloth. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the 12-hour tabooing of the previously innocuous though perhaps slightly outdated term 'sexual preference' immediately after Amy Coney Barrett used the phrase.
shakenvac
1yr ago
Even if it weren't the law, once a refugee is on your soil it's practically impossible to return them anywhere without the consent of another country. If someone shows up on the shores of Sicily with no papers and no other country wants them what can you even do? You can't stick them on a piece of driftwood and kick them back into the ocean.
I mean… I’m not going to say it’s impossible that it’s a fake. Getting some of the Arabic blokes in the office to VA your intelligence transcript seems like the kind of unforced error that could happen when you are scrambling to regain control of the narrative. Though it would be such a stupid mistake that I still wouldn’t think it likely.
But the people who are shouting that this is an ‘obvious fake’ are the same people who only yesterday were telling me that this couldn’t possibly have been a Palestinian missile because it whistled like a JDAM, or that there were no rockets in the Palestinian armoury that could have done this, or that Gazan Ministry of Health death tolls are historically very accurate. Every claim so far that supports the Palestinian narrative has been easily falsified or just outright nonsense. And now I’m being told that this is an obvious fake, and it’s all a big IDF coverup, but this time I can’t make my own judgements because I don’t speak the language. And so I guess I’m supposed to take it on trust that this really is an obvious fake?
Sorry, no. When it comes to this incident, the pro-Palestinian side have been throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna give them a free win. So for now I’m going to wait and see how this shakes out, with a very high prior that this is all just the latest round of BS peddled by pro-Palestinian journos who mistake their shower thoughts for hard-hitting journalistic analysis.
shakenvac
1yr ago
If this video is indeed of the hospital explosion, then I don't see any way that this could be anything other than a Palestinian misfire.
I mean, what's the alternative? That an (apparently very large) Palestinian missile failed just above that hospital and then right when you would expect the debris to fall to the ground, just coincidentally at that point an IDF bomb crashes into the hospital? What are the odds!
If this was the Israelis, they clearly weren't planning on owning it... how insanely lucky for them then that a Palestinian rocket failed just above that hospital seconds before they blew it up. "Well Shlomo, glad that rocket failed exactly when and where it did, I honestly had no idea how we were gonna spin this."
There's nothing to grasp. Materialistic free will, AKA soft determinism, is an extremely convoluted and complex (and ultimately sophistic) web of reasoning created by very intelligent people who found the (obvious) conclusions of hard determinism to be repugnant, and so use their brainpower to maneuver around it as best as they can. They do this mostly by fiddling with definitions until they have bamboozled themselves into believing that they have proved something. Once you have accepted determinism, free will cannot exist, not in the way one usually thinks of it. The only way you can get around the free will problem is to:
Reject determinism - I have never seen anyone do that successfully.
Posit the existence of a soul which is outside the currently understood laws of the universe - and there are too many commonsense objections to this that I cannot resolve.
Soft materialism is in a category of beliefs that I have labelled as 'so absurd only the very clever could convince themselves to believe it'
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