RationalWiki talk:What is going on in the world?

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[edit] The last Jews of the MENA

I missed this great article by Radio Free Europe that discusses the fleeing of Jews in Tunisia. This has the unfortunate effect of ending one of the last Jewish communities in the MENA. It has been estimated that there are only 5 Jews in Iraq while the Jews in Yemen have fled due to the eruption of violence and the return of anti-Semitic prejudice. The Jews of Morrocco are also leaving to enjoy economic prosperity in Israel. I am curious what other's thoughts on this loss of culture were.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 02:36, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

It harms the countries that lose their Jews more than anybody else. IIRC the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire said something along the lines of "If they want to give us their best and brightest, sure why not?" upon hearing of the expulsion of Jews from Spain (or was it Portugal?) and he immediately granted them asylum. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 17:37, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
More racist Jew-loving from AvengeroftheBoN. Gotta love this user who can't quit Rationalwiki like some cocaine addict. On the article, I don't think any Jews should live anywhere in the Middle-East besides the Israeli coast and Jerusalem. pbfreespace3 (talk) 18:48, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
Let's not start the cycle of of direct user antagonizing, please. Also, there's no better way to convince someone that you're racist against Jews and not just opposed to the worst policies of Israel quite like the phrase "Jew-loving" used as a negative. Take a break, pb. ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 18:53, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
I fully realize this, but word police, much? It's not like I said "shifty Jew Avenger" or something like that. Would Judeophile have been a better and less offensive term? pbfreespace (talk) 19:38, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
Honestly, it was the sentiment not the exact phrasing. Liking Jewish people is probably not something you should treat like a problem. I get that he excuses horrible shit in the name of protecting Jewish people, but... uh... not wanting an ethnic minority to flee their home country is probably pretty reasonable. ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 21:00, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
You should lay off the weed, it's making you even more stupid than you usually are. NewFrenchHotness (talk) 14:27, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
Lay off the weed!? But it cures the cancer, the one in your soul, maaaan! Reverend Black Percy (talk) 14:34, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
The fuck? You want die Juden to be restricted from living in various countries? Look, I know you love to fellate the Palestinians, but that's fucking going way beyond the pale. Should we also restrict Muslamics from living anywhere other then MENA? What other religions or races should we restrict from living where? --Castaigne2 (talk) 18:43, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

"On the article, I don't think any Jews should live anywhere in the Middle-East besides the Israeli coast and Jerusalem." - Pbfreespace3 So you want to complete the ethnic cleansing of the Arab World of Jews? Honestly, go fuck yourself with a cactus.--The (((Kigel))) (talk) (mail) 15:20, 18 August 2016 (UTC) 15:20, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

PB, please tell me you're trolling?! Just for the record; saying "No member of [ETHNIC GROUP] should live in [LOCATION]" is pretty much as retardedly offensive as a statment can get. Also, your complaint about "racist Jew-loving" seems like a candidate dictionary definition of "the pot calling the kettle black". What's gotten into you!? Bathsalts? Reverend Black Percy (talk) 15:25, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

I just read sigl as Sieg in Pb3's sig line. Objective (talk) 18:22, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

Gee, I wonder why. --Castaigne2 (talk) 18:43, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
For the record I think everybody should be able to stay where they are. Regardless of ethnicity or religion. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 22:46, 18 August 2016 (UTC)
Of course, lol. Especially any ethnicity. There may be evil branches to religion (e.g. I would argue that practicing ISIS warriors can't live anywhere they like), but to even bring up anyone's ethnicity is just mind-boggling. As if that bit of information leads to any type of valid charge against an individual? It's insane. Absolutely insane. Racialist, even. I still have no idea what the fuck PB was going on about above, and I'm still shocked, frankly. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 10:38, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
I was saying they shouldn't live there for their own good. Of course the Muslims there aren't going to welcome them or treat them well. The fact that there are any Jews still left in these countries when they get free travel to Israel surprises me. Also, I'm not on bathsalts. I wouldn't do a drug like that.
To Kugelschreiber: I don't think we should restrict Muslims from living outside of the Middle East. This makes a lot more sense than Jews living in Muslims countries, as the West is much more tolerant of other religions and ethnicities than the Muslim world is. pbfreespace (talk) 01:27, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
Pb, swap "Middle East" with "Israel", and "Jews" with "Palestinians". See if you still agree with that statement. CorruptUser (talk) 17:22, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
"To Kugelschreiber: I don't think we should restrict Muslims from living outside of Israel. This makes a lot more sense than Palestinians living in Muslims countries, as the West is much more tolerant of other religions and ethnicities than the Muslim world is."
I don't see what that changes. PBfreespace (talk) 01:54, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Huntington, West Virginia heroin overdoses

Just by reading the number of deaths, I instantly thought "Yep, this involves fentanyl[wp]". I was right. It's not the heroin that's killing them, per se — and I don't exactly mean that heroin is harmless.

I mean that what the users are often told is "pure" heroin (meaning, with diacetylmorphine[wp] as the only active component) is infact either that mixed out with fentanyl derivatives/analogues, or just fentanyls without any of the diamorphine. And the fentanyls are waaay, way stronger per unit of weight and volume[wp] than any of the old semisynthetic morphine derivatives (and paradoxially, the fentanyl analogues are often unadulterated themselves, adding to the risk).

The amount of pure fentanyl required to get the average BMI adult man with no tolerance so high as to be able to perform minor surgery on him is about four grains of table salt. And fentanyl is generally sold relatively pure (!). To quote a Canadian doctor who was discussing fentanyl; "If you salt your eggs every morning, trying to get just those four grains with your fingers, some days you're going to get six grains, some days you're going to get eight..." And that is a lot stronger than "just" those four that could take you to that sweet, sweet edge.

And the fact that they're putting carfentanil[wp] on the market for users now is just insane; it was developed to sedate large animals like **** elephants and pandas. I kid you not — carfentanil's relative strength compared to morphine is in the range of 10,000–100,000 times stronger (see TOW link on equivalencies above). I cannot believe that street carfentanil can ever be dosed safely, by anyone, ever.

In fact, I cannot believe anyone survives a single brush with street carfentanil unless they have a sober pal with an epipen of epinephrine and Naloxone[wp] standing by. Signed, a long-time pharmacology nerd and former skooma opiate user. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 10:29, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

You mean the number of deaths nationally? The article says all the West Virginia overdoses were reversed with naloxone. Nitpick nitpick. You're right about the other stuff. And fentanyl is available for prescription legally in the U.S. despite being more potent than heroin. Hooray for the sound logic of the War on Drugs! --Ymir (talk) 11:37, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
I mean "globally", actually — That is, I'm not talking about the stats per se, I'm talking about what's facing young people and society today (for good or largely bad); a new illicit market of cheap, easily smuggled, über-powerful synthetic opioids combine with the information superhighway known as the internet. And misunderstand me right — I am a major opponent of the war on drugs. But that being said, from a former user's perspective, these are some harsh mistresses (fuckin' carfentanil, come on — did you see how strong I pointed out that is?!). That being said, I have absolutely no qualms about the use of fentanyl for medicinal purposes. It's a great substance for that, truly remarkable. Pure, safe, cheap, controllable... fentanyl helps a lot of people suffer less every day. Speaking of nitpick, heroin is also avaliable on prescription in the US. It's called diacetylmorphine. And further nitpick; fentanyl's potency is only higher than heroin relative to weight. The dose makes the poison, as I'm sure you're aware. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 15:21, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
Opioids being illegal makes them a lot more dangerous than the substances themselves are. Illegal substances are often adultered by stuff the consumer cannot possibly know and sometimes the dose is higher than the user expects. Which kills far too many people. Don't get me wrong, Opioid addiction would probably kill people even if it were legal, but it would not be as deadly as it currently is. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 16:57, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
You're preaching to the choir, my friend... Reverend Black Percy (talk) 17:11, 19 August 2016 (UTC)
Am I unclear? I was agreeing with you. I was just pointing out the silly logic (or lack thereof). And heroin isn't legally available in the U.S. It's Schedule I. It is available for prescription in the UK and some other countries. --Ymir (talk) 05:04, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Removing entry

Is there some special voodoo for properly removing an item? If there is David Gerard apparently didn't do it because the entry I added got the old poll number. --Ymir (talk) 08:49, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

You have to comment them out. Otherwise a new one with the same number as a previous one will get the previous one's votes. Commenting out looks like this: <!--this is commented out --> (ignore the nowiki stuff when copying the code). BicyclewheelToxic mowse.gif 06:16, 21 August 2016 (UTC)
David commented it out, but the next entry I added got the same poll number. --Ymir (talk) 06:16, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Hillary entry

Aside from the fact that this should be on WIGO:Election, what exactly is wrong with someone raising money for a politician other than the fact that money in politics in general is a pretty shitty thing. I read the article and could only tell the author thought I was supposed to be outraged, but without any clear indication of why. ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 13:49, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

I thought the Intercept piece should go in the WIGOW since it is about her time as SoS. My opinion of the piece is pretty meh compared to the AP piece but it shows how her staff was raising money while she was SoS.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 15:45, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
So what we have is evidence Clinton, who had already run for President in the 2008 primaries, was still interested in running for President five years later. I wouldn't call that news... --Forerunner (talk) 15:49, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
Well these people are buying access to the Secretary of State because said SoS wants to become POTUS which I would say is a conflict of interest.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 16:50, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

"Buying access to the SoS" there've been a million counter-articles since this one. eg, vox. http://www.vox.com/2016/8/24/12618446/ap-clinton-foundation-meeting Mʀ. Wʜɪsᴋᴇʀs, Esϙᴜɪʀᴇ (talk/stalk) 19:35, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Wow, that's a scathing tear down. They based their "half" assertion on the arbitrarily asserted idea that she'd only met with 154 people who weren't government officials? That's crazy inaccurate. ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 19:40, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
One, I am not convinced that unethical is going on. Secondly, the AP said, “more than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation” so that is my mistake for oversimplifying. Though, as I have said before, Clinton's certainly no more unethical than most politicians who accept these kinds of donations, her foundation is no more corrupt than say Romney's, and the way she generates her donations is fairly mainstream now for the Democrats.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 22:43, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
No offense but Ikanreed and Fuzzy you are not swallowing that whole Vox piece as a clever rebuttal to the AP, are you? I mean, the AP was saying that half of the private citizens that she met with were donors; the government officials, domestic or foreign, the Secretary State meets with should be expected since that is a part of the job while meeting with private citizens is a choice.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 03:27, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Why are people voting the train thing down?

I'd just like to know. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 13:38, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

At a guess, either because they hate Corbyn, or they hate Virgin, or they don't give a shit because it's an incredibly trivial and parochial story of no interest except to people who hate Corbyn or Virgin. Annquin (talk) 13:57, 25 August 2016 (UTC)
Well Corbyn "created" the story in order to put renationalization of the British train system on the agenda. But apparently he failed, as it has now become a partisan "he said she said" instead of a debate on the issues. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 14:15, 25 August 2016 (UTC)
its truly a measure of his incompetence, when british trains are derided for being overcrowded, he couldnt find a train rammed enough to make his point without looking like hes been caught in a lie. AMassiveGay (talk) 21:31, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Because you're Avenger and your autism can't help but focus on trains no matter how much you try and disguise yourself as someone else PBfreespace3 (talk) 00:53, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

You are increasingly sounding like your own parody. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 15:55, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Turkish Invasion of South Kurdistan/Syria

So Turkey has decided to invade part of Syria to combat "terrorists", which is a codeword for anyone Turkey doesn't like. They started by paying Arab and Turkmen mercenary men to take over a town and some villages, losing only one fighter. What a withdrawal battle! Then they began attacking the Kurds instead of pressing on against ISIS. Well, the Kurds fought back, and blew up a Turkish tank with a missile, killing 1 Turkish soldier and wounding 3. This is defending your territory against an invading army. Around the same time, Turkey bombed the Kurds in this area. We'll see what happens next. Thoughts? PBfreespace3 (talk) 01:03, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

You keep restarting this same discussion every month. Do you expect a different result? CorruptUser (talk) 01:36, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
I told you this was inevitable. The Kurds have doomed themselves: their provocation at Hasakah has alienated Russia and Assad, their refusal to retreat across the Euphrates and attack Raqqa will alienate the US, and the Arabs will not side with them against Turkey since most of them dislike the Kurds.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 02:09, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
That's a bit of an assumption. The part that Arabs dislike Kurds, that is. While Syrian and Iraqi Arabs hate the Kurds, Jordanian Arabs are strengthening ties with the Kurds. Or were, 2 years ago. Politics and all. CorruptUser (talk) 02:40, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
Well Rojava isn't in Jordan but I don't that Jordan will intervene to keep Rojava alive. They are already reeling from the massive influx of Syrian refugees and are trying to figure out how to educate and provide food to them all while human rights activists plead with them to take more and/or provide more. The Saudis are too busy wrecking Yemen with the rest of the GCC while they continue to arm jihadist in Syria. I don't see any future for Rojava as Syria continues to become a cesspit of imperial self-interests.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 03:17, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
As an aside, the Iraqi PM has apparently said he believes it is an "undisputed right" to allow the Iraqi Kurds to vote on an independence referendum.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 20:29, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
Apparently Salih Muslim indirectly implies the YPG can take on the invading Turkish forces, however I think this chest-pounding is highly delusional — if Erdoğan wanted he could wipe Rojava of the map in a matter of days. NameThatNobodyTakes () 22:39, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
Erdoğan might get a guerrilla war quagmire of Vietnam proportions on his hands if he tries to wipe out the Kurdish forces. And unlike Vietnam he won't have the convenient alternative of pulling out and cutting his losses. And remember that there are some very pissed of European countries right now that would love to fuck with Erdoğan for his hijinks. Unfortunately I think Sultan Recep the Petty is too enarmoured with his own megalomania to see the risks of what he is doing. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 22:45, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
The last thing Europe wants is Erdogan allowing more refugees to cross through Turkey or for Turkish immigrants to join them. I do agree that Erdogan would risk opening up a massive front inside his own borders.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 00:47, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
If Erdogan were to launch a full-scale invasion of Rojava with hundreds of thousands of troops, he would embroil Turkey in a guerilla war that would expand into Turkey's borders. The frontline would spread out across one fourth of Turkey's own territory, and plunge his country into further chaos as thousands of Kurdish militants from Syria flood into Turkey to wage war. That's why Erdogan hasn't done this yet. Instead he's doing piece-by-piece interventions that avoid this kind of violence. Pbfreespace (talk) 01:33, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Students carrying dildos to school

Isn't this old news? Evolution and Metamorphosis (talk) 22:19, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

What?! Link please! Never mind, found it. Less graphic than I hoped for. Regarding if it's old news; the link in question is dated to the 25th this month. I.e. not that old, methinks. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 22:20, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
Found it in the Blogs section. Evolution and Metamorphosis (talk) 22:31, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] British Bill of Rights

As reported earlier, the Tories are promising to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. I don't understand what the point of this transition is. Correct me if I am wrong, but May and the rest of the Tories don't plan on leaving the ECHR which can still rule that the British government has violated certain human rights; I also can't find any info on how the "Bill of Rights" will be notably different from the Human Rights Act. Does anyone who understands British politics or European law understand what is going on?--Owlman (talk) (mail) 03:38, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

Here is the what the Conservatives said about it in their election manifesto/campaign (pdf download). They want Britain to be responsible for overseeing its own human rights laws, without European Court of Human Rights rulings & precedents being binding within the UK or UK citizens being able to escalate a case to the European Court. This might ultimately mean withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights if the Council of Europe doesn't recognise the new bill as a legitimate approach to human rights law. €₳$£ΘĪÐWeaselly.jpgMethinks it is a Weasel 07:59, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
To me this is clear as day: If they think the ECHR does not go far enough when it comes to human rights, they can pass laws in addition to its requirements. The only reason to pass a law that is intended to replace the ECHR based law is to get rid of some things the ECHR wants. Maybe this is about the death penalty? another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost))) (talk) 17:06, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
They're tories so it's safe to say human rights are, in general, things they'd like to cut back on at least a bit. ikanreed You probably didn't deserve that 17:45, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
Well the only reasonable complaint I could find against the ECHR was that many of the judges don't understand Common law which means that won't understand the UK's laws. But even though the Tories likely want to reinstate the death penalty or indefinitely detain immigrants, I don't understand why they want to scrap the Human Rights Act unless they want to leave the ECHR; I doubt they want to leave the court since May herself may not want to fulfill Brexit and leaving the ECHR would be an even more extreme measure.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 18:03, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
No, they don't want to reinstate the death penalty within the UK. Check the pdf link I posted above & you'll see some examples of what the Tories' want to achieve: denying voting rights to prisoners (which they don't currently have in the UK but which the ECHR maintains that they should), deporting terrorists to their home countries (regardless of what will happen to them there), and excluding British armed forces overseas from the reach of UK/EU human rights law. The other important piece of context is the Investigatory Powers Bill[wp] (Snoopers' Charter) which the Tories are pushing through, giving the government & police massive data collection powers which almost certainly conflict with the ECHR. WéáśéĺóíďWeaselly.jpgMethinks it is a Weasel 19:06, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
Sorry, I meant to say that even if they(or a minority, at least) likely wanted to reinstate the death penalty I don't see how they could since the ECHR's rulings still apply to them. Even with the current platform you listed I don't see the point; if the UK still doesn't have to give prisoners voting rights then why do they worry about the ECHR's rulings, do they get.punished in some way?--Owlman (talk) (mail) 21:25, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
Forget about the death penalty. It's been defunct in the UK for 50 years. Technically it was completely abolished by the 1998 Human Rights Act so maybe that's what's confusing you, but it was already obsolete for decades prior to that & won't be making a comeback any time soon. It's completely irrelevant to repealing the Human Right Act.
The Human Rights Act obliged UK courts to apply ECHR rulings as precedent, rather than seeing them as "advisory" as the Tories would like. Sooner or later this would have made anomalies like depriving prisoners of the vote unsustainable. WeaseloidWeaselly.jpgMethinks it is a Weasel 21:53, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
Reintroducing the death penalty has been defeated several times in Parliament in the last fifty years, regardless of the party in power. However the ECHR has been looking at Britain's use of whole-life sentences, so perhaps that's what the tories want to protect. BicyclewheelToxic mowse.gif 21:57, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
(EC) Well that clears up the death penalty issue then. Anyways isn't the government already under no obligation to change a law that is incompatible with HRA which binds UK courts to the ECHR rulings?--Owlman (talk) (mail) 22:03, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

[edit] Protests in Kargoorlie, West Australia

The text of the link reads that "police kill[ed] an Aborigine teen for allegedly stealing a bike," but I can't find any mention of the police being involved in the death. How could anyone read the linked article and infer that the police killed Elijah Doughty? The killer is identified only as a 55-year-old man (from the rhetoric of the protesters, I'd say he's probably white), so I guess it's possible that he's a cop, but he was arrested and arraigned in court--an extremely rare outcome in killings by police and doubly-so in white-on-minority killings by police all over the world, so I'm just not so sure.
The story, as presented, seems to go more like this: An Aborigine teenager took a motor scooter without consent. The following morning, the owner of the scooter was driving his pickup truck and saw the teen riding the stolen bike, so he chased the kid, ran him down and left him to die. The guy was charged with manslaughter rather than murder, something the protesters view as part of a very long pattern of judicial racism in Western Australia. Hilarity Rioting ensues. --mobooz 01:30, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Whoops. I didn't mean to keep the police part; I was originally saying that the police and protestors clashed but it felt redundant.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 01:42, 31 August 2016 (UTC)


[edit] Nick Clegg

Fuck Nick Clegg and his fucking whining. If he hadn't sold the whole fucking country down the river in exchange for a whiff of political power, Osborne wouldn't have been in a position to do fuck all and we wouldn't be in the fucking state we're in now.

So fuck off, Nick Clegg, and find another way to sell your shit book. London Grump (talk) 20:23, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

I agree with you. I have always hated the BS "I'm sorry" routine politicians give when they betray their base. His deep thoughts about how UK voters felt about the tuition hikes are worthless.--Owlman (talk) (mail) 21:46, 2 September 2016 (UTC)
With you 100% London Grump. "Osborne slashed welfare to boost Tory popularity" whines Clegg. But you sat there and let him fucking do it! BicyclewheelToxic mowse.gif 09:03, 3 September 2016 (UTC)
He didn't just let him do it. He enabled him to do it. London Grump (talk) 19:55, 3 September 2016 (UTC)
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