Exactly this.
I teach physics. All you hear over here in the UK is that there is a shortage of physics teachers. There are plenty of people walking around with engineering or physics degrees who could do the job, but for reasons that nobody other then working teachers can understand most people would rather be doing something else. Rather than pay more or improve working conditions we're seeing more unqualified staff working in schools.
Another thing I hear is employers bitching and moaning all the time about a shortage of engineers. Again, this is just means they can't get enough people to work at a price that they're willing to pay. No shortage of bright students, but they all want to go into medicine or law.
This is true. However in all of 2017 there were 3 times as many murders in NYC compared to London. I think, that looking at this graph https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/...
it's somewhat difficult to imagine that this year there will be fewer murders in London than NYC. Then again, maybe I'm wrong.
The signals are noisy, on a short enough time scale it's possible make any sort of unfavourable comparison. If some guy breaks a five year dry spell by getting laid in the last half hour it doesn't make him Don Juan.
On a month by month basis in the very recent past then this is true. However, looking at such a short time scale probably isn't useful. For example, in January there were 18 killings investigated by the NYPD and 8 investigated by the police in London.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-4...
I think we need to accept that, whether we like it or not, there's always going to be some data about what you are doing recorded somewhere. If you're carrying around a computer with GPS and an accelerometer that constantly reports back to who Google or Apple or whatever apps you have installed, you shouldn't be too surprised when someone with enough resources is able to put together a pretty good picture of what you've been up to.
Well bugger me, it's true! I must have missed that when it happened. Thanks for the link.
I agree that there is a strong authoritarian tradition on both sides of the commons. There has been a lot of xenophobia going around lately. UKIP have dragged politics in that direction and the right wing of the Tory party have been happy to follow along. It's easier to get people to blame johnny foreigner for their problems that it is to get them to notice that their own society is screwing them over.
Hey man, I'm a card carrying leftie these days, but I think the Conservatives = Nazis line is a bit strong. Do you have a link for that 'innocent have nothing to fear' quote?
There is a deeply unpleasant and selfish element in the Tory party. Their housing policies are regressive and socially divisive, they are handing over the education system to a bunch of incompetent crooks and they want to privatise the NHS. That said, the Tory party is a board church.
Saying that Conservative policies are less extreme versions of Nazi policy is easy to say, but I expect you could say that about policies from all parties. Do you have any examples of specific polices? I really am interested in your line of thought here.
Good points. And I don't have any answers. Which is why I'm not confident in taking a strong position on this and it surprises me that so many people on both sides of the fence can be so certain. The real detail of international relations is outside of my day to day experience of the world. That being the case, my instinct is to leave well alone and not advocate for my military to go risk its ass in a theatre that I don't understand and for reasons that I can't be sure have been presented honestly.
In recent History, it's difficult to argue that Operation Deliberate Force was anything other than the right thing to do back in the 90's. That and the British in Sierra Leone certainly saved lives. But on the other hand they also engendered a gung-ho attitude to getting stuck into civil wars and oppressive governments that led to the almighty clusterfuck in Iraq.
Maybe I'm anti intervention only because I'm not sure enough to be definitively for it.
So concentration camps, gassing the populace are fine so long as they are kept small to mid scale????
Let's say I oppose the way in which the US criminal justice system puts people in gas chambers. Say I believe that both judicial and extra judicial killing are morally equivalent to murder and that states that execute prisoners are cruel and barbaric. In you view, would I be justified in calling for an invasion of those US states that carry out capital punishment?
This, Also, I feel like punching people in the throat whenever some chump starts bleating on about 'international law'. Just what the fuck does that mean, anyway?Last time I checked the freaking US wasn't participating in the ICC. Yet it's all 'for the good of mankind' bullshit whenever they head off on some poorly judged military adventure.
I honestly respect the interventionist position and I agree that there are honorable reasons to support a military intervention. Nevertheless, I disagree with it. First off, as the video you posted makes clear, it's not at all clear what;s going on. Without having a much better picture from the UN inspector guys then I'm not confident to form a firm opinion of my own. Do I think that the Syrian government might use chemical weapons? Sure. Can I say with reasonable certainty that they have? No.
The fog of war that surrounds this chemical weapons issue serves to highlight the high level of confusion on Syria at the moment. As other posters have commented, there are multiple competing factions and some of them are pretty unpleasant. It's difficult to imagine a suitably well defined mission for a limited intervention that would make things better and allow the UN / NATO / whoever to withdraw in good order in a timely fashion.
Added to this is the problem that Syria's air defenses, while not state of the art, pose a non trivial threat to western aircraft. Either we stand off and lob cruise missiles or we put in a lot of work suppressing these defenses. Neither of these options is appealing to me. I'm from the UK, and I appreciate the legitimately strong desire to avoid another WTC type attack. For all of that, I'm tired of having my friends sent off to sandy places to get shot at and blown up in military operations that have achieved little
People say that they want to stop any country becoming a base for terrorists. Fair enough. That's why we went to Afghanistan. The problem is that after a nasty and protracted struggle we're just going to hand the place back to the Taliban. I'm not exactly a pacifist but I'm sick of throwing troops onto complex and morally challenging battlefields where they can get killed for little gain. For all of their sacrifice can we honestly say that we've made the world a less shitty place?
I feel bad for people suffering under brutal regimes, but as a citizen of a democratic country I feel more responsibility for the guys who are supposedly executing the will of the people as expressed though ballot boxes in the west.
I pretty much agree, On the other hand, working though the whole thing rationally gives me a headache. I've always would this little game quite entertaining. http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/god.php
Slashdot Mirror
Exactly this. I teach physics. All you hear over here in the UK is that there is a shortage of physics teachers. There are plenty of people walking around with engineering or physics degrees who could do the job, but for reasons that nobody other then working teachers can understand most people would rather be doing something else. Rather than pay more or improve working conditions we're seeing more unqualified staff working in schools. Another thing I hear is employers bitching and moaning all the time about a shortage of engineers. Again, this is just means they can't get enough people to work at a price that they're willing to pay. No shortage of bright students, but they all want to go into medicine or law.
That you promise not to die?
This is true. However in all of 2017 there were 3 times as many murders in NYC compared to London. I think, that looking at this graph https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/... it's somewhat difficult to imagine that this year there will be fewer murders in London than NYC. Then again, maybe I'm wrong. The signals are noisy, on a short enough time scale it's possible make any sort of unfavourable comparison. If some guy breaks a five year dry spell by getting laid in the last half hour it doesn't make him Don Juan.
That was an interesting read. Thanks.
On a month by month basis in the very recent past then this is true. However, looking at such a short time scale probably isn't useful. For example, in January there were 18 killings investigated by the NYPD and 8 investigated by the police in London. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-4...
... or the UK or Japan or Australia or Germany. https://www.theguardian.com/us...
Yes. This is exactly correct.
I'm astounded.
it seems humans exceed what is physically possible
Either magic is real or your statement is false.
And then you'll buy another house. Which will cost more because houses have become more expensive.
Maybe one day, when there aren't as many asshats on the internet.
You know, I can see that happening one day. That's not to say that I'm very happy about it.
I think we need to accept that, whether we like it or not, there's always going to be some data about what you are doing recorded somewhere. If you're carrying around a computer with GPS and an accelerometer that constantly reports back to who Google or Apple or whatever apps you have installed, you shouldn't be too surprised when someone with enough resources is able to put together a pretty good picture of what you've been up to.
Yeah. Are we expected to react like they just cured cancer or something?
Well bugger me, it's true! I must have missed that when it happened. Thanks for the link.
I agree that there is a strong authoritarian tradition on both sides of the commons. There has been a lot of xenophobia going around lately. UKIP have dragged politics in that direction and the right wing of the Tory party have been happy to follow along. It's easier to get people to blame johnny foreigner for their problems that it is to get them to notice that their own society is screwing them over.
Hey man, I'm a card carrying leftie these days, but I think the Conservatives = Nazis line is a bit strong. Do you have a link for that 'innocent have nothing to fear' quote? There is a deeply unpleasant and selfish element in the Tory party. Their housing policies are regressive and socially divisive, they are handing over the education system to a bunch of incompetent crooks and they want to privatise the NHS. That said, the Tory party is a board church. Saying that Conservative policies are less extreme versions of Nazi policy is easy to say, but I expect you could say that about policies from all parties. Do you have any examples of specific polices? I really am interested in your line of thought here.
I'm here all week. Try the fish!
Good points. And I don't have any answers. Which is why I'm not confident in taking a strong position on this and it surprises me that so many people on both sides of the fence can be so certain. The real detail of international relations is outside of my day to day experience of the world. That being the case, my instinct is to leave well alone and not advocate for my military to go risk its ass in a theatre that I don't understand and for reasons that I can't be sure have been presented honestly.
In recent History, it's difficult to argue that Operation Deliberate Force was anything other than the right thing to do back in the 90's. That and the British in Sierra Leone certainly saved lives. But on the other hand they also engendered a gung-ho attitude to getting stuck into civil wars and oppressive governments that led to the almighty clusterfuck in Iraq.
Maybe I'm anti intervention only because I'm not sure enough to be definitively for it.
I was going to mod you up. But /. is lacking a +1 Righteous option.
So concentration camps, gassing the populace are fine so long as they are kept small to mid scale????
Let's say I oppose the way in which the US criminal justice system puts people in gas chambers. Say I believe that both judicial and extra judicial killing are morally equivalent to murder and that states that execute prisoners are cruel and barbaric. In you view, would I be justified in calling for an invasion of those US states that carry out capital punishment?
This, Also, I feel like punching people in the throat whenever some chump starts bleating on about 'international law'. Just what the fuck does that mean, anyway?Last time I checked the freaking US wasn't participating in the ICC. Yet it's all 'for the good of mankind' bullshit whenever they head off on some poorly judged military adventure.
I honestly respect the interventionist position and I agree that there are honorable reasons to support a military intervention. Nevertheless, I disagree with it. First off, as the video you posted makes clear, it's not at all clear what;s going on. Without having a much better picture from the UN inspector guys then I'm not confident to form a firm opinion of my own. Do I think that the Syrian government might use chemical weapons? Sure. Can I say with reasonable certainty that they have? No.
The fog of war that surrounds this chemical weapons issue serves to highlight the high level of confusion on Syria at the moment. As other posters have commented, there are multiple competing factions and some of them are pretty unpleasant. It's difficult to imagine a suitably well defined mission for a limited intervention that would make things better and allow the UN / NATO / whoever to withdraw in good order in a timely fashion.
Added to this is the problem that Syria's air defenses, while not state of the art, pose a non trivial threat to western aircraft. Either we stand off and lob cruise missiles or we put in a lot of work suppressing these defenses. Neither of these options is appealing to me. I'm from the UK, and I appreciate the legitimately strong desire to avoid another WTC type attack. For all of that, I'm tired of having my friends sent off to sandy places to get shot at and blown up in military operations that have achieved little
People say that they want to stop any country becoming a base for terrorists. Fair enough. That's why we went to Afghanistan. The problem is that after a nasty and protracted struggle we're just going to hand the place back to the Taliban. I'm not exactly a pacifist but I'm sick of throwing troops onto complex and morally challenging battlefields where they can get killed for little gain. For all of their sacrifice can we honestly say that we've made the world a less shitty place?
I feel bad for people suffering under brutal regimes, but as a citizen of a democratic country I feel more responsibility for the guys who are supposedly executing the will of the people as expressed though ballot boxes in the west.
.
I pretty much agree, On the other hand, working though the whole thing rationally gives me a headache. I've always would this little game quite entertaining. http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/god.php
Didn't you hear? All this internet is like this these days.
I don't know. It sounds like an adult site is the only place you'd want to be seen doing a bamfuder.