How do we seperate the liberalism and white supremacy inherent in your implicit claims of individualism and egalitarianism being ‘inherently’ better.

For most of us, religion is a political and sociological not theological position.

We don’t much care what people believe or don’t, it has no bearing on us.

What people do with them, the political positions and social systems affect us all.

Now, science has produced racism, ie the systemic categorization and stereotyping of people and animals into categories; which, the science oriented state & bureaucracy has then used to make judgment and policy.

What we’re contesting I guess, is that the scientific method is the only valid & ‘objective’ means of acquiring knowledge.

Now, we know objectivism is one of the cores of white fragility, how do you answer to this??

https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116

What I do find indisputable is that science and reason are superior to mythical and beliefs-based explanations of reality. The explanation of thunder as the rapid expansion of air following a lightning bolt is clearly superior in my mind to “the gods must be angry and that’s why we hear that frightening sound in the sky�.

A model case of false equivalency. Scientists can agree about the nature of thunder, and can explain how it arises or is produced, but they cant agree on the nature of mind and where it arises.

Science is useful tool, but can you make ethics based on the science, or build morality out of pure reason? They tried that during the French and Russian revolutions…

We now know quite well what causes thunder and what happens to our body, including our brain, when we die.

We dont know what happens to mind after death. There isnt even knowledge what happens inside persons mind after death, but we have empirical evidence that there is lots of brain activity after persons death, even after decapitation.

But if we go to those extremes of doubting everything that reason tells us our very conversation becomes pointless. You might as well say that 2+2 may be 5 and we are wrong in blindly assuming that 2+2=4, just because that is what modern mathematics teaches us. What is mathematics after all, not even mathematicians know where mathematics come from, you could very well argue (and you would be right). But rational communication becomes very difficult under such premises.

Extremes of doubting? Who defines what is extreme or not, and in my opinion my examples have not been as radically sceptical as you imply.

And besides, it doesn’t work that way. Scientists have no obligation to prove how we are not reborn into another creature after we die. It is those who make that extraordinary claim who must produce some evidence that this is true. But this has never been been observed. There is no empirical evidence of that phenomenon.

This is funny example of subjectivity of acceptable criteria. For us Buddhists to claim that mind stream annihilates after death is something that is not logical at all, and if someone claims so then he must produce evidence for it. All phenomena, energy and particles change forms and position, but nothing is ever annihilated out of existence, that such thing would happen for mind, is for us wild and crazy claim.

Here is what H.H. Dalai Lama says about the science and Buddhism:
“I have often said that if science proves facts that conflict with Buddhist understanding, Buddhism must change accordingly. We should always adopt a view that accords with the facts. If upon investigation we find that there is reason and proof for a point, then we should accept it. However, a clear distinction should be made between what is not found by science and what is found to be nonexistent by science. What science finds to be nonexistent we should all accept as nonexistent, but what science merely does not find is a completely different matter. An example is consciousness itself. Although sentient beings, including humans, have experienced consciousness for centuries, we still do not know what consciousness actually is: its complete nature and how it functions.”

We have already made some changes, at least in our school, His Holiness has urged that we should not anymore follow old Buddhist cosmological models, because the science has proven that they are wrong.

We have a very large system of epistemology, how to know what are acceptable and valid means of knowledge.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/2_Pramana_Epistemology_Buddhism.svg/642px-2_Pramana_Epistemology_Buddhism.svg.png
The basis for all knowledge is perception, but there are two other ways to gain knowledge, inference, or reasoning that if there is smoke, there must be fire, but its still not as sure way to know as to perceive the fire directly, and then we have trusted sources which for us are the words of the Buddha or Buddhavacana, still its not as reliable as direct perception, but Buddha left us instructions and guidelines how to test the validity of his statements. I personally know monks who have themselves directly experienced the truth of rebirth, and actually one of those monks promised to me that I could myself perceive that truth if I would go for an extremely long retreat and practice with him, I havent gone (yet?) but I trust my Geshes as valid sources of knowledge, I understand perfectly if others dont trust, its okay, everyone makes his own choices, choices that are always subjective…

a comer pic.twitter.com/sd1vRtgga9

— KFC (@KFC_ES) December 16, 2020

I read a new article

Russia Lost 5M Migrants During Pandemic
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/12/16/russia-lost-5m-migrants-during-pandemic-a72373

and got curious. Year or two ago Russian government announced easier migration path of ethnic Russians from abroad. What are the results so far?

Great Brexit success…for EU as in own words of “ardent Brexit supporter” it now “gives excellent access to supply chains, automotive talent and target markets” 😉

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, formerly the UK’s wealthiest person and an ardent Brexit supporter, announced this week that plans to build a new car manufacturing factory in Wales have been scrapped in favour of a site in France.

As a no-deal Brexit looms, the announcement was a blow to Bridgend where former Ford workers and residents were expecting a boost from the new factory following the closure of the 40-year-old Ford plant in September.

In a statement, Ineos Automotive, headed by Sir Ratcliffe, said the new site in Moselle, France, “gives excellent access to supply chains, automotive talent and target markets”.

The billionaire described the move as a “unique opportunity”.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/jim-ratcliffe-billionaire-brexiteer-who-19441353

And in theory, manned space flight would be very useful, if colonies become practicable. That’s a real question mark, though. Mars gravity might not be enough, for normal fetal development, even if the other kinks can be worked out. Sure, in theory, pregnant women could live onboard centripedal trains, but that seems too far-fetched.

We may have to accept the unpleasant truth that there is nowhere in the solar system worth colonising.

Especially, if civilization is going down the tubes.

Yep.

Another problem with space colonies – given the demographic collapse of the entire developed world is it plausible that space colonies could survive without continuing supplies of new colonists from Earth to keep the numbers up? Does anyone believe that space colonists are all going to have six kids?

If the space colonies on Mars or wherever end up with fertility rates way below replacement level is there any point to them? If the supply of new colonists from Earth dries up (extremely possible if governments on Earth suddenly decide to pull the plug on the space program for budgetary reasons) the Martian colonies would quickly die out.

the very crux of our debate is the Buddhist claim that there is a rebirth or continuum of mental aggregates. I am not claiming that science supports us, but similarly there is not strong enough scientific case that denies such possibility

Well, this is a bit like saying that there is no strong scientific case to deny that thunders are caused by angry gods.

We now know quite well what causes thunder and what happens to our body, including our brain, when we die.

Perhaps in a very profound and mysterious way the Amazon forest natives who believe that thunder is caused by angry gods are right and we, civilized people, are wrong.

But if we go to those extremes of doubting everything that reason tells us our very conversation becomes pointless. You might as well say that 2+2 may be 5 and we are wrong in blindly assuming that 2+2=4, just because that is what modern mathematics teaches us. What is mathematics after all, not even mathematicians know where mathematics come from, you could very well argue (and you would be right). But rational communication becomes very difficult under such premises.

And besides, it doesn’t work that way. Scientists have no obligation to prove how we are not reborn into another creature after we die. It is those who make that extraordinary claim who must produce some evidence that this is true. But this has never been been observed. There is no empirical evidence of that phenomenon.

I am in fact very careful not to take our current scientific knowledge as any ultimate truth. As I said in my previous comment, I don’t believe that our species is capable if having a full understanding of the universe, which puts me in disagreement with most top physicists. Besides, I know firsthand that scientists are just ordinary human beings and scientific research is not all pure and noble. There are whole fields of science that are too corrupted by politics to be taken seriously.

What I do find indisputable is that science and reason are superior to mythical and beliefs-based explanations of reality. The explanation of thunder as the rapid expansion of air following a lightning bolt is clearly superior in my mind to “the gods must be angry and that’s why we hear that frightening sound in the sky”.

City-to-city passenger rockets seem flat out crazy to me. There’s no possible way that they would ever be as safe as planes, as they experience much greater forces. Sure, they’ll get you there faster, but who is in that kind of rush?

That said, bigger rockets are very useful, if they can provide cheaper mass to orbit.

And in theory, manned space flight would be very useful, if colonies become practicable. That’s a real question mark, though. Mars gravity might not be enough, for normal fetal development, even if the other kinks can be worked out. Sure, in theory, pregnant women could live onboard centripedal trains, but that seems too far-fetched. Especially, if civilization is going down the tubes.

Navalny posted a positive tweet on the successful Angara A5 launch. As expected many of his followers were not happy.

Buddha not showing any evidence of having understood scientific concepts that we now teach our children in elementary school and saying that there must have been some genetic modification that allowed our species (or previous ones) to achieve Buddhist enlightenment are quite different arguments. But they do have in common that they insist in analyzing religious claims from a cold rational perspective, if that’s what you mean.

.
What religious or mythological there is in claiming that beings crave things, desire happiness, and try to avoid or avert uncomfortable states of being, or that there exists ignorance regarding the nature of subjective phenomena? Lets take a junkie and a doctor, its a totally subjective question to say whose more happy, right? But its clear that a doctor has less ignorance regarding the nature of phenomena, for he understood that trough hard work even unpleasant things can become sources of happiness, unlike the junkie who constantly escapes to momentarily happiness that is given by drugs. But both the doctor and junkie are driven by pursuit of happiness. There isnt anything inherently religious or mythological in questions like these, and such questions form the basis of our religion and the quest for enlightenment.

I am aware of the problem of defining what an observer is in quantum mechanics. But this is a very deep scientific issue at the very edge of our ability to understand reality. My understanding is that physicists don’t really know what constitutes an observation but they do know through repeated experiments that our observation makes wave functions collapse.

Other than that, there is no scientific dispute about the fact that anything of what we call mental activities takes place through our brains.

I dont know anything about quantum mechanics, but the very crux of our debate is the Buddhist claim that there is a rebirth or continuum of mental aggregates. I am not claiming that science supports us, but similarly there is not strong enough scientific case that denies such possibility, and I really mean it. How we see reality is inherently subjective, there is no objective reality accessible to us, or do you claim otherwise?

Its little bit hard to argue with you, because I am not sure of your position, do you claim that mind is purely product of materialist-chemical interaction, or do you claim that we dont know surely but only science can give us, not maybe definite, but at least somehow trustworthy answers?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theories_of_consciousness
Even reading just this link you will see that there are serious proponents of such theories as there are opponents, because Im not scientist I cant say who is right and it seems to me that even scientists cant say.

I have a question for you, if there are two brothers who have a similar upbringing and background, why then another brother can end up in a totally different way after hearing just couple kind words from some wise person? You cant possibly deny that people are not capable of changing by hearing some words put together, if those words are inspirational or engaging? If change is possible in such way, then its clear that there is a subjective and qualitative element in our lives, which cant be reduced into a purely materialistic model. If you claim otherwise then you are making claims that science is not making, or if you claim that science will one day know that the materialist model is correct, then thats not science, but claiming that your subjective unvalified and untested hypothesis regarding the workings of the mind is correct.

By the way I really know from my life such case of two brothers, another one is a physician and another one was an ex biker criminal who is now dead, because he committed a suicide.

Hmm if purely materialist explanation of our mind is true, then in such situation I think that there would be no free will, all in our mind would strictly follow electro chemical causal processes, in such situation world would be purely deterministic, and our discussion would be more or less pointless, because we couldnt choose what to believe, but everything in our mind is just purely produced by genes and chemical processes.

Happily there is legit and robust scientific evidence that meditation and Buddhist practices can change our brain to better.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/?outputType=amp

“Mindfulness meditation increased thickness in the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes, both linked to attention control, while compassion-based meditation showed increases in the limbic system, which processes emotions, and the anterior insula, which helps bring emotions into conscious awareness.”
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2149489-different-meditation-types-train-distinct-parts-of-your-brain/

So its clear even from a scientific viewpoint that our practices do bring beneficial results. Mindfulness or Vipassana is just one practice among many Buddhist meditation practices. Remember that Buddha never demanded anyone to believe anything, not at all, he just found a path to true happiness, but how can we know if his words are true? The Buddha has answer for that, he said that come and test my path, and you can yourself see if there are results or not, and decide if you want to go further on that path.

I myself have been a content on that path, yes there are often problems and obstacles, but such is life, still better to move on some direction than to stay in present state that is clearly not optimal.

One funny( or is it?) fact:
I literally cant find cases when Buddhists have persecuted or harassed atheists, but there are thousands of cases when atheists have killed and slaughtered Buddhists, only in Soviet Buryatia of the 1930s, Soviet state atheism led to killing of 18 000 Buryat Buddhist monks. In those times there were only 400 000 buryats in whole Russia. Same happened in Mongolia, Cambodia, Tibet and China. There are some intellectually dishonest atheist individuals who claim that communists were not somehow atheistic, but they were, there is even now a rule in China that only atheists can become members of the communist party of China.
http://asiarussia.ru/articles/13979/

Well archaeology isn’t the same thing as history. History proper refers to written records, along with other accounts and material artifacts if they’re available. The Chinese obsession and interest in their history I refer to is via their historical literature which is from roughly the time of Classical Greece and later to medieval times.

Stonehenge is from 3,000 BC and thus much older, and it’s as far as we know prehistoric since there haven’t been any accompanying written records discovered.

I believe there is some genetic connection between the modern English and the ancient Britons who built Stonehenge. But one reason the connection is not affirmed as strongly or at all by modern Britons is because the historical population movements and invasions into the British Isles over the past 2500 years by Celts, Romans, Vikings, Danes, and Anglo-Saxons. Modern Britons typically identify primarily with these groups and as being their descendants.

By contrast, China did not have these large population and cultural changes in the same period. There were small populations that invaded and conquered the government, such as the Mongols, but they were typically small and adopted Chinese ways and language, unlike the Celts or Anglo-Saxons who imposed or replaced their language and culture in Britain.

Because of China and East Asia’s isolation from other population groups by geographic barriers such as the Gobi and the Himalayas, archaeologists do tend to connect prehistoric archaeological sites in China to ancestral Chinese.

Well, nobody died in Starship case, but in a way you are correct. Titanic may have sank, but large ocean cruise liners continued to be built and operated and became a successful industry. You could get a cruise ticket fairly cheaply. Same will happen in space.

The difference is that ocean liners were actually useful. Manned spaceflight is not useful.

my brain still finds it easier to understand languages I’ve never even studied like Italian.

I can relate to that. The first couple of summers I spent in London during my early teens I probably learned more Italian than English, being all the time sorrunded by noisy Italians of my age.

There is something musical and contagious about the Italian language (or the people who speak it, I’m not sure).

Your English looks surprisingly good to me, considering that you had little formal education in English language.

I can think of authors that have posted on this site and still show a much more rudimentary English than yours after having lived in the US for many years. In my view anyway, I am not a native English speaker myself.

sometimes you are a little bit too repetitive with your arguments

I can bore to death anyone talking about natural landscapes, mountains, weather and climate but I am not aware of having used repetitive arguments with you.

Buddha not showing any evidence of having understood scientific concepts that we now teach our children in elementary school and saying that there must have been some genetic modification that allowed our species (or previous ones) to achieve Buddhist enlightenment are quite different arguments. But they do have in common that they insist in analyzing religious claims from a cold rational perspective, if that’s what you mean.

Maybe it’s my fault but I cannot evaluate any sort of claims in any other way if I want to make sense of what I read.

there is no consensus at all in the scientific community what mind is and how does it arise, all purely materialist models of consciousness cant explain how consciousness arises from non conscious matter.

No, sorry, I don’t agree with that and I don’t find the links you have provided to the work of a philosopher and a musical therapist very helpful.

I am aware of the problem of defining what an observer is in quantum mechanics. But this is a very deep scientific issue at the very edge of our ability to understand reality. My understanding is that physicists don’t really know what constitutes an observation but they do know through repeated experiments that our observation makes wave functions collapse.

Other than that, there is no scientific dispute about the fact that anything of what we call mental activities takes place through our brains.

As for quantum mechanics, I think that the fact that we are unable to fully understand nature and that only some very privileged individuals are able to grasp the most advanced subjects is very unsurprising. We are just an animal species with limited brain capabilities. If we were the only species capable of understanding everything, that would be truly suggestive of some God-like phenomenon, not the other way around.

there is empirical evidence that there some kind of field of energy in our brains, and changes in that field do change our consciousness, also electro magnetic fields dont just disappear into nothingness.

Quite honestly, I think that citing this in support of any transcendental explanation of our existence is grasping at straws.

Chemical and very weak electric reactions occur inside the brains of any animal species. I’m not sure what exactly happens to the very last electric activity in the human brain before an individual dies. My guess is that it just vanishes as it performs the duty of supplying energy for neuronal processes and that is that.

To be credible, the idea that these weak electric currents somehow survive after a homo sapiens dies and transform him into another living creature requires a huge amount of empirical evidence that is clearly nowhere to be seen.

I guess that in Buddha’s time and many centuries afterwards these notions of “mind”, “soul”, “energy” as separate from the material reality were perfectly natural. Not only people then (like now) needed to find explanations to their existence but these ideas were not too departed from their knowledge and everyday experience. I doubt I would have been an atheist in those times. Sadly perhaps, we now know a lot more about the universe where we live but the time for mythical explanations of reality is gone.

you could understand Hebrew

I have completed most of the Duolingo levels now for Hebrew. Although to be honest, my brain still finds it easier to understand languages I’ve never even studied like Italian.

and get rid of the Eilat airport (although I think that’s already done maybe)

Yes they removed the airport from Eilat, and they constructed a new airport in the desert (on a border with Jordan).

They had to build one of the highest fences, to protect the new airport from potential missiles fired, as it’s directly on the border with Jordan, and you could probably shoot down planes from the desert on the other side of the border. I’d wonder how safe that location really is.

Video Link

fast rail, to Eilat the entire time I was there.

First proposal for this train was in 2012. The approval to begin (planning) for the first section was passed in June 2020. https://www.railjournal.com/infrastructure/first-section-of-israels-eilat-line-approved/

So it surely won’t be completed for years (unless China really helps them).

However, train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has opened finally (after apparently18 years of planning and construction – they build a lot of bridges and tunnels, but it was performed before China began investing in Israel).

Video Link

Well, after living there for five years, I noticed how hard it was for Israelis to start building transit or new rail lines without fuckups, unlike the Chinese. They talked about a rail-line, any rail line at all, not even fast rail, to Eilat the entire time I was there. I suppose that if the Chinese are building it, then like the first video mentions, having it be operational in 2021 (!), is a distinct possibility.

[as an aside, I didn’t know you could understand Hebrew since somewhere you mentioned you lived there for a very short time; however, I suppose it’s an easy language and after being gone for a long time and not practicing, I still understood 80-90% of the video]

The canal in Eilat is a good idea, but they would have to destroy a hotel or two, and get rid of the Eilat airport (although I think that’s already done maybe). Eilat doesn’t have fresh water and the climate is harsh, but that hasn’t really deterred Saudi Arabia so I suppose it’s possible from a technical perspective.

I never thought it was possible for other reasons at the time because Eilat is too close to Egypt and Jordan, and those are Sunni Arabs with unstable demographics who hate Jews and can be radicalized by ISIS, but that threat has pretty much receded by 2018. At the time ISIS in the Sinai was pretty active. And they feel more confident now since the Jews now have more children than Palestinians and Trump helped with all those peace deals with the Arab dictatorships. I think the Ayatollahs made a bad mistake in deciding to be enemies of Israel, although they did pretty well in other places. They could have had a good ally and an alliance of minorities in the Middle East and the place would have been very different today, with Iran a much stronger player with completely different alliances. Israel would be weaker and still surrounded by more belligerent enemies on all sides though, I think.

Haifa port extension.

It’s not an extension of Haifa port. It is a new port being constructed on the other side of Haifa’s bay, a kilometre in the sea. China will operate only the new port, while the old port will be in competition with the Chinese operated port.

they managed to actually build something and that fast.

There’s also a new port being constructed kilometres North of Ashdod. New port will be operated by China, while the old port of Ashdod continues with Israeli managers.

New port near Ashdod is being built on an artificial island in the sea, like for Haifa. So in both cases the Chinese operated ports will quite physically far away from Israeli operated ports.

Here in the video shows both the new port being constructed outside Ashdod (at 0:24) and the port being built new Haifa (at 0:40)

Video Link

place in Eilat really, to set up the required infrastructure

The plan is using a canal, that would allow cargo to transferred onto trains, which will move it from Eilat to Ashdod.

Even aside from China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” – because Israel is making peace with Arab world, there will be apparently high demand for Eilat port. For example oil cargo will now move between from United Arab Emirates to Israel.

Probably such a project is far too expensive for Israel to finance, so it’s question the extent China would finance construction.

Video Link

Sorry Mikel that I called you boring, because you are not, but sometimes you are a little bit too repetitive with your arguments.

Last time I didnt have time nor patience to reply to your comment in a way that it deserved, for our Dharma is not very simple thing to explain to those who are not part of our weltanschauung/merkwelt, its like explaining chemistry to some one who had never heard about periodic table or structural formulas of molecules. Then there is my limited capability to express myself properly in English. I do understand almost everything that is written in that language, but I often have a lack of finesse when explaining more delicate and nuanced details of our philosophy. I must confess that I have had very little formal education in English language.

“Sovereignty resided in the body politic of the Khalsa Sikh.�

The root word of ‘khalsa’ can be translated as ‘purified’, but its meaning in a Sikh context is also understandable by looking at its application. It is important to understand what one is purified of.

pic.twitter.com/qbNT1dUsED

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2020

Well, nobody died in Starship case, but in a way you are correct. Titanic may have sank, but large ocean cruise liners continued to be built and operated and became a successful industry. You could get a cruise ticket fairly cheaply. Same will happen in space.

I dont know much about Celtic nationalism, but arent nationalist or racially minded English already out as a “cultural/political force,” havent they been out for a sometime already?

Its odd when people always forget that its not the French who first murdered their king, but the English.

Can there even be a worse crime or transgression committed by the people than that of regicide? Theres a deicide…

https://twitter.com/truthalwyswin/status/1338039617606410240?s=20

Video Link

I think it’s only 2 or 3 years old. The people in charge on the Technion side are mostly not engineers I believe, but general sciences, and the plan is maybe to make it into a research university in all fields, but they decided to start with engineering degrees to get a large number of students at the beginning and to build up a reputation first.

I heard that there were plans to create it about the time I was interviewing for a job at the Technion (I didn’t get it…), so I’ve been checking up on its progress every once in a while, looking at open positions just in case I need a new job. I figure that if I got to the final stage at the Technion proper, they would probably hire me at this place, but currently it would be a step down.

Of course there is big opposition to China-Israel cooperation from the US, since the latter was planning to use Israel as a research hub for military technologies. If the Chinese have a big presence and spying capacity, then it’s not that good of a research hub. Plus the Chinese could get up to speed with desalination technology, etc… It’s in Israel’s interests to increase cooperation with China but make it so that the US doesn’t notice it too much. It appears to me that the Chinese don’t have the baggage of Christianity or Islam, and they respect Jews for being successful in science and money things (the giant money gift by the Chinese billionaire to the Technion is perhaps the most glaring example), so in the long term, it would make sense for a strong Israel to align with a friendly, authoritarian government far away.

Thanks for the info on the Haifa port extension. It’s amazing that they managed to actually build something and that fast. Places can change quite a bit when you’re not there. The cargo train idea I agree is pretty dubious. There is also not enough place in Eilat really, to set up the required infrastructure, without destroying the environment and the tourism.

There’s something magical about cities built on archipelagos.

There’s something magical about the grandiose landscapes of the American West.

Here pioneers and Pony Express riders once risked being scalped by Shoshone raiders but now you can enjoy the serenity of virgin nature for hours on end from the comfort of a spacious and powerful SUV:

SpaceX Starship did a belly flop. Despite blowing up later it is a significant progress.

A bit like the maiden voyage of the Titanic, which was mostly successful.

sino-israel.org/media/

Shifting manufacturing to India won’t be a simple task.

Taiwanese IPhone Manufacturer’s India factory.

Video Link

Video Link

It may have Chinese government support as well, I’m not sure.

It is definitely a Chinese government project (for training young engineers with an Israeli designed syllabus). China-Israel projects seem to have only a character of “top down”, or operating through the Chinese government.

Expensive looking campus buildings. Atmosphere of students – to study engineering with a lot of patriotism?

Video Linkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY3nKAK1SsA

Yes I noticed about that story more than a year ago. It’s a kind of engineering school.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1272023946297233

–

In terms of “Belt and Road Initiative”, China is interested in the backup/alternative to Suez Canal via Israel, with the construction of an Eilat-Ashdod cargo train.

This would be an alternative cargo route from East Asia to Europe

However, apparently, trains cannot transport equivalent amount of cargo, and it would introduce an additional expensive reloading stage compared to a canal. So at best, it will be an alternative for a minority of cargo going through Suez Canal.

–
There’s also some kind of US opposition to China’s projects in Israel. For example, USA is trying to block China from buying the old port in Haifa.

But there is already a new artificial island being constructed to give Haifa more cargo capacity.

Since the northern Port of Haifa was inaugurated in 1933, preceding even the state’s foundation, it has served as the primary naval gateway for everything from waves of Jewish immigrants to container shipments.

But officials are now pushing forward with a privatization plan meant to make it more competitive, right as Shanghai International Port Group Co. prepares to open an advanced harbor next year in the same city.

Officials want to sell the older Haifa port for as much as 2 billion shekels ($586 million), but regardless of the final price, the first 1 billion shekels from any deal will go into upgrades like building a new deep-water platform.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-08-04/supply-chains-latest-israel-s-top-port-is-for-sale

Chinese government has already bought the new artificial island port next to Haifa. It looks like the artificial island port is being constructed a couple kilometres from Haifa.

Is the assumption that more is better always correct?

There may be an optimum number of scientists, engineers, etc, beyond which, no significant value is added. As automation increases, this will likely be more and more the case.

There is this modern assumption that bigger and more is always better. But that may be mistaken.

I do think Chinese have tremendous human capital, even though test scores say as much about motivation as they do innate ability (but that distinction doesn’t matter in this context).

However, the real challenge for China is to nurture a small intellectual elite capable of making creative leaps, and the larger pool to draw from, only increases the odds. Systems and practices, as noted, are a huge factor, and systems and practices are “sticky”, deeply embedded, and hard to alter.

I think the expectation that China will eventually develop a Western style intellectual pattern will lead to disappointment – and certainly not under the repressive CCP, where freedom of thought is not a priority.

Rather, if the best predictor of the future is the past, perhaps we should look at China’s last Golden Age to see what Chinas new Golden Age – if she is indeed entering a new one, as many Chinese claim, and not just getting more modern and wealthy – will be like?

That was over a 1,000 years ago, under the Tang. If the deeply embedded systems abd practices of Chinese culture have not changed too much, then they tend to produce a certain kind of mentality, whose most creative and impressive expression can be seen under the Tang.

That mentality, applied to Western science, may create a new kind of science, and a new kind of modernity.

Instead of expecting China to continue the Western tradition, we will hopefully get something new – and better. Less Promethean, and more humanistic.

Are conspiracy theories, a religious search for meaning?

Sure, there are conspiracies every now and then, but I’m talking about people who think conspiracy theories are basically the way the world works, and explains everything about history. Protocols stuff.

This kind conspiracy thinking, does the following

1) imposes order on a chaotic world. Randomness, which is frightening, doesn’t exist. All major world events are intentional and planned out. This substitutes for God.

2) history has a purpose and a direction.

3) I, my little insignificant self, am actually hugely important. The most powerful and brilliant minds of the universe spend their days strategizing about how to control and manipulate little old me. Before, God used to spend all his time involved in the petty lives of humans.

4) the bad things in my life are not random.

It is difficult not to see, that conspiracy thinking is basically a religious quest for freedom in a random and chaotic world. It is a meaning giving Life Raft.

In a deeper sense then, God is not completely absent in the face of human suffering. Suffering is a forge, to make the ‘weak’ and the ‘helpless’ who looks for help from the outside, strong enough, to find strength within.

https://sialmirzagoraya.substack.com/p/guru-nanaks-baburvani-a-sikh-theory

Been a lot of debate on Chinese soft power – or lack thereof – on this blog.

Vietnamese favour South Korean and Chinese TV shows, Chinese TV shows gained six out of the top 6. Not a single Japanese show. Nor any Western one.

Of course, China has long had a huge cultural imprint on Vietnam. But so has India over Pakistan, and that hasn’t prevented Pakistan from throwing periodical fits. The last such incident was their PM trying to push Turkish dramas in some sort of Islamic narrative-pushing (even though many thoughtful Pakistani critics pointed out that those TV shows are as much about Turkic ethnic identity as Islam, but fragile Pakistani identity needs whatever it can get ahold of). Similar enmity has engulfed Vietnam in various anti-China actions in recent years. Despite this, China is making cultural inroads.

***

This is a fairly sobering chart.

There are six levels in PISA. The sixth level comprises the top few percentiles in mathematics. In absolute terms, China has a huge lead (though China’s provinces in PISA 2018 was their “best foot forward”). The disclaimer at the bottom notes that even if you’d “only” apply a Taiwanese standard, it would still mean 20+ million kids at the highest levels compared to barely a million of the US.

As I noted in the TIMSS post, these scholastic tests ignore human capital migration, so these things are not quite as dire for the US. But it is going to be an uphill battle for the West.

Nevertheless, human capital is just one aspect. Systems is the other. That is where China had historically failed. It always had the intellectual werewithal to succeed, it just failed to nourish that talent and subsequently deploy it effectively.

The slide is coming from this small presentation by a German academic (h/t Infoproc).

***

Some thoughts on Greek, Persian, Arab, Indian, and Chinese science – a comparative perspective by an occassional commentator on this site who apparently has his own blog.

Celtic nationalism is mostly a proxy to attack the English, it’s no coincidence that 90% of Celtic nationalism is heavily allied with left wing/Marxist politics. It’s to give further credence to the idea that the English are a race of brutal fascistic oppressors deserving of their fate of being wiped out.

The leftist establishment will only back their hideously white culture and language insofar as it serves the agenda of destroying the English. Once the English are out of the way as a viable cultural/political force, and that day can’t be far off, they will drop the Celts like a piece of trash. Celtic nationalists are precisely what Lenin would have termed “useful idiots”.

https://twitter.com/PunYaab/status/1338125359670206473?s=20

I find it strange how Iceland is Eurosceptic and aggressively defends its large fishing grounds, and most leftists consider them absolutely heroic for doing so. Yet when Britain is Eurosceptic and tries to defend its fishing grounds, the left consider it racist and practically an act of war. Such double standards going on there.

https://i0.wp.com/starkeycomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Featured-Image-1.jpg?resize=1170%2C550&ssl=1

Its a consensus among historians that Gaelic was a language of majority of inhabitants of Scotland till 1200-1300 AD

But you are right that English or Anglo Saxon has been spoken for a very long time in parts of Scotland.

https://starkeycomics.com/2019/03/01/a-brief-history-of-british-and-irish-languages/

https://i2.wp.com/starkeycomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/1000AD.jpg?resize=752%2C1024&ssl=1

Gaelic has probably been in Scotland, mainly the Highlands, marginally longer than English due to Ireland being geographically closer than South East England, but overall both cultures arrived in Britain about the same time and were competing groups of colonialists.

I don’t get why Scots, who are mostly English-speaking Lowlanders, are considered Celtic because part of the country traditionally spoke a Celtic language. It would be like saying English people are Celts because Cornwall has a (revived) Celtic language, and Cumbria used to speak a Celtic language.

The Chinese are obsessed with their history. The typical Chinese is more familiar with their history, and historical allusions, references are a much bigger part of their culture and language than in the West. Chinese history and their massive corpus of historical literature along with poetry play the role in cultural consciousness that the Bible and literature and popular culture play in the West.

A lot of their interest in history seems very political though, like they will try to link the oldest archaeological sites they have to the modern day Han Chinese when in many cases there’s no evidence to do so.

It would be like if there was a political agenda in England to link Stonehenge to the modern English, which there isn’t and anyone who attempted to make such a link would be laughed at at best and probably considered a mentally unhinged “racist”. I have no doubt that if Stonehenge was in China, the Chinese would say it was built by the Han.

Okay, I have just sent an email to you. My email address starts with a letter T.

And on the other side, who wouldn’t want a cushy research job in sunny Shantou in this new Israeli university? A billionaire from Guangdong gave a whole bunch of money to the Technion on the condition they open up a branch in his hometown. It may have Chinese government support as well, I’m not sure.

https://www.gtiit.edu.cn/en/index.aspx

Though, when I was looking for work last it was rather new and not that well built up yet. It’s still fairly small actually, and it’s full of Israelis so it could be problematic from a workplace politics perspective. For me an ideal mix would be 20% Israelis and 80% normals.

From their ‘About’ page:

“GTIIT will be a state-of-the-art university dedicated to innovative research, environmental conservation, and social prosperity.

The university will advance Guangdong province, the People’s Republic of China, the State of Israel and all humanity.

A brainchild of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology will become a leading science and technology research university by leveraging the power of entrepreneurship and innovation with rich China culture.

Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology will focus on creating pioneering leaders and researchers, through close ties with local industry and topnotch graduate-level, masters, doctoral and postdoctoral level programs.”

More context

I was wondering to check with you on something – can you email me at [email�protected]?

Thanks!

Humor for the Open thread:

New Military Tactic Takes Advantage of U.S. Election Fraud

PEACE 😇
�

With this fellow, I think it was just a myth that he had a foreign background, but he was picked on for his nose, anyway. I’m thinking it must have been Chan. In the movie Painted Faces, he’s called “Big Nose.” I think it is meant to be biographical. And, since he was away from his parents while in the troupe, I can see how it would make sense for people to pick on him and question his antecedents.

…but at this point it’s seriously grating that I’m kind of a minority in my ‘own’ country in my mileu, at work, at home (the wog couple upstairs yell at each other 24/7, not completely sure what language), at play, etc.

I was used to this in bigger cities but I moved to a smaller town in the countryside in the North East of England and am pretty surprised by the level of diversity here, given the low level of economic activity compared to many other parts of the UK. There is a small number but broad range of non-whites (Turks, Indians, Pakistanis, Africans) and then Polish and Hungarian as well. If this is typical, together with the situation in the cities, the 2011 census data must be pretty out of date. Taking just England, it is maybe already over 20% ethnic minority and foreign born.

Some more Cyberpunk 2077 related stuff

And it is a furry taking issue, imagine my shock…

The NZ government recently released a report on the Christchurch attacks. One section of the report, which I linked in my original comment, is regarding the travel history of the gunman, Brenton Tarrant.

I find it quite interesting how well travelled he was (he apparently funded his travels with money he made from a BitConnect investment, of all things), don’t they say “travelling makes you less racist”?

Spirit, what are you trying to say with this post?

Hong Kong was handed over to China with the understanding that it would be gradually incorporated into the PRC. It would have some autonomy during this process, but it was never understood that it would be autonomous indefinitely or have independence.

The giant foreseeable error of the CCP Elites was economic.

A key driver of foreign business in HK was access to UK Law for contracts. The sharp decline in jobs & salaries was highly predictable as activities dependant on UK Law had to relocate. The Elite CCP did nothing to help workers in HK, even though Central Government action caused employment to decrease.

Why is anyone surprised? Ruthlessly diminishing prospects for parents and their children inevitably creates unrest.

PEACE 😇

So we both agree that Gaelic has been in Scotland longer than English, go raibh maith agat

Eastern Euro migrants don’t ‘balance out’ native displacement, they contribute to it.
I only have a positive impression of them at a personal level (in particular, gyms I go tend to be full of masculine, hardworking East Euro guys which makes me wonder where any native ‘men’ still exist at all) but at this point it’s seriously grating that I’m kind of a minority in my ‘own’ country in my mileu, at work, at home (the wog couple upstairs yell at each other 24/7, not completely sure what language), at play, etc.

If my only concern would be other white faces and access to the EU, why not just cut to the chase and move to Eastern Europe myself? (certainly it’s something I’d consider but that’s not the point here…)

We’ll see to what extent a ‘large’ increase in ‘Pakistanis, Indians, and Africans’ actually happens, but I’d expect that would push even more natives further towards Nationalism anyway which would be a benefit in my book.

@ AK:

Chinese Border Patrol in Tibet using exo-skeleton in the field.

https://china-defense.blogspot.com/2020/12/exoskeleton-equipped-china-army-border.html

They are quite a few people who fit this description. Some more open about their foreign ancestry than others. Here is one example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Wong_%28Hong_Kong_actor%29

I could give you a list of 20 people, all with “big noses” but very few of them would be of Jewish or of suspected Jewish ancestry ancestry. Bruce Lee definitely (Bosman), Jackie Chan no way! I know his family ancestry very well, in particular his family members who never left China. If he isn’t pure Han, I’ll eat my hat!

I’ve noticed that most serious scholars of Chinese history seem to be non-Chinese, mainly Westerners.

Most serious scholars of Chinese history are Chinese and Japanese.

Sinology in the West is actually a very small and weak field. You can be a China expert in foreign relations or even be in academic Sinology without really being able to read Chinese.

The Chinese are obsessed with their history. The typical Chinese is more familiar with their history, and historical allusions, references are a much bigger part of their culture and language than in the West. Chinese history and their massive corpus of historical literature along with poetry play the role in cultural consciousness that the Bible and literature and popular culture play in the West.

I was thinking that China has unnecessarily squandered its previously good reputation with Westerners out of some principle of making a point about Hong Kong.

China has little influence over its reputation among Westerners. Its reputation is largely going to be a function of Western elites and Western media. If Western elites decide to take a more hawkish stance towards China, as the US particularly has over the past few years, this gets reflected in media messaging which “manufactures consent” among the public.

Hong Kong was handed over to China with the understanding that it would be gradually incorporated into the PRC. It would have some autonomy during this process, but it was never understood that it would be autonomous indefinitely or have independence.

As a part of its more confrontational, hawkish stance towards China, the US basically broke the spirit of this understanding by promoting a color revolution in Hong Kong which lasted for much of the past decade. From the US perspective, this was a good strategy because either possible outcome was favorable to the US’s aims: Either the color revolution would succeed and Hong Kong would become an independent US satellite opposed to the PRC, or the attempted color revolution would be successfully suppressed by the PRC, which could then be portrayed as reflecting the excesses of the PRC and justifying the US’s more hawkish and confrontational stance.

China had no good options, really, and it’s understandable that they decided to suppress the burgeoning rebellion.

It has been so many years since I heard it, I forget. Who was that Chinese martial artist/movie star that the Chinese used to say had a big nose, and they suspected that he was part gweilo or something?

I know that Bruce Lee was like 1/8 Jew, or something, but I’m not 100% sure it was him, and not Jackie Chan. I suspect it was Chan.

I tend to think that nuclear war would be bad, but maybe that is because, if it happens, I would like it to be cataclysmic enough to end poz.

But what if Anatoly’s version of nuclear war is correct? Within 24 hours, the bulldozers clear the streets and ports and supermarkets are open again. Within a week, they start promoting women with radiation burns as the new standard in beauty, but only until the two-headed trannies reach maturity.

I am beginning to question, if it is appropriate to question peoples sacred idols. Socrates, as we know, was killed for it.

The reaction of people like AltanBakshi, Ano4, Daniel Chieh, and countless others, has made me reconsider whether it is right to question peoples sacred cows. Enraged by my presentation of alternative opinions, they lash out in fury, distress, and anxiety, threatened and afraid.

The most important thing in life, is that we become satisfied with ourselves and reconciled to life. To achieve this, we invent all sorts of myths, illusions, snd fantasies, narratives that we cling to as a life raft, amid the uncertainties and dangers of life. [go on, read the whole thing]

Instead of screwing with other cultures and their sacred cows, why not have a shot at revising judaism so you won’t be hated everywhere you turn up. Try to be more like parsis or something. You figure it out.

Judaism has been revised, and will continue to be, many times. Thats how it remains vital and alive, organic and adaptable.

In Judaism, you are supposed to be constantly adding and refining. It isn’t static.

As for being hated, if someone doesn’t hate you, you don’t exist.

Lol. And there, dear readers, you have it.

China and India vote against Israel in the UN, but in terms of policies China is one of the most pro-Israel countries, under current CCP leadership.

Chinese government builds much of the new housing and infrastructure in Israel, much like in Ethiopia. When I have last visited Israel in 2018, I saw many groups Chinese government looking workers, near the business parks, and large Chinese infrastructure projects with Chinese flags, such as the vast holes where they dig tunnels under the city of Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan.

There is more hidden and informal Chinese power projection in countries like Spain and UK. In Spain, Chinese people seem to own much small convenience shops, while in UK, there are many Chinese elite living in large numbers and probably buying apartments. In Israel, the Chinese power projection seems less secretive, more formal, and more composing of government workers.

I assume Chinese investment in Israel is related to “Belt and Road Initiative”. China’s government buy strategic assets in Israel, like its ports, and it even bought Israel’s dairy collective farms (and then they import this milk which is collectively farmed in the Middle East, into China).

China may be interested in Israel, because they view it as a potential trading connection between Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean (via its port on the Red Sea).

If I was Chinese, I would feel that investing in Israel was cleverer than investing in Ethiopia. In many ways, Israel has third world African standards. For example, in construction safety, Israel is more like an African country, than a European country, and hundreds of Chinese construction workers have been killed in Israel. But in terms of property rights, Israel is safer to invest in than probably almost all African countries. There won’t suddenly be a revolution and dictatorship in Israel that would expropriate foreign investors, whereas in Ethiopia the Chinese probably underestimate African political instability

For commercial reason CPR could not ignore the old gen (PS4/XO), due to 150 mio users.

But technically they should have only released it on the new gen (PS5, XSX, XSS) & PC only.

The old gen are completely overwhelmed. Low res, low textures, popups, lower density of NPCs/objects – but still only 15 to 25 fps.

Forum usually has a funny deference to precedency in comments.

Someone says an unusual claim (e.g. “Poles have a non-white outlook”; “Donetsk was the worst city in Ukraine”), and the result is a tree of comments about why the statement can be true, rather than about whether the statement is true.

If the first comment writes “Poles have a white outlook”, then there would be a discussion about why “Poles have a white outlook”.

despite being white seem to have a more non-white character and outlook,

Considering that Poles are European people, then the character and outlook of the population is a European one in a tautological way.

Poland is a lower income country for European standards, and the immigration from Poland to UK is unfiltered as it is EU member.

So what you are saying is that Pole immigrants have less “Stuff white people like” (i.e. hipster/bourgeois values) compared to English. Majority of Polish immigrants seem to be unglamorous, provincial kind of people (who go to West Europe to work as supermarket assistants, prostitutes, gangsters, hotel secretaries, carwashers, village drunks, etc). There is another proportion of immigrants who are educated professionals (doctors, pilots, scientists, engineers), but due to lack of selection in immigration, the skilled labour may be only the minority of the total immigrants.

It’s the opposite of Russians in London, where there is no open border, and therefore difficulty of the visa system results in a selection filter for skilled labour and more educated people among Russians (investors, students, engineers, etc).

Oh no, we got too cocky Polish bros

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/politics/supreme-court-election-texas.html

President Donald Trump called the case “the big one,” and 126 of the 196 Republicans in the House urged the court to take it. But the justices acted quickly to turn it down.

“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections,” the court said in a brief unsigned opinion.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said the court had no authority to refuse a case filed on its original docket, where one state files to sue another. But they said the would not have granted Texas any other relief and expressed no view on any of the issues raised in the lawsuit.

So the ruling was essentially a unanimous rejection of the Texas claims.

Poles/Eastern Europeans despite being white seem to have a more non-white character and outlook, relative to the native British any way.

It’s strange because Poland and other Eastern European nations are a lot more white (or European) demographically and culturally than the UK is at the moment. One of the things I appreciate about going to EE (usually Lithuania and Belarus) is that the feel of these places takes me back to how Britain was in the 1990s.

My wife, when she was in her 20s and early 30s always used to prefer to talk to British boomers and older, because they had more life experiences and values in common, whereas with British millennials this was mostly not the case.

I’m surprised that no one has started a Cybepunk 2077 comment at all. Let’s first all mock our host for not completing his grand opus:

https://mobile.twitter.com/akarlin88/status/1336796546843684864

From what I’ve heard, it needs patches.

Even the expensive, high quality fee for service translation system botch sometimes. There was a “scandal” about the U.S. shipping face masks to Israel during a shortage. This was 100% a translation problem.

A program produced output staying that the U.S. Department of Defense, Ministry of Procurement bought the masks. The U.S. DoD does not have ministries, so the translation was obviously wrong. It was an Israeli Ministry of Procurement that bought the masks.

PEACE 😇

The problem with you has an easy solution.

https://www.rxlist.com/thorazine-drug.htm#dosage

Psychotic Disorders — Increase dosage gradually until symptoms are controlled. Maximum improvement may not be seen for weeks or even months. Continue optimum dosage for 2 weeks; then gradually reduce dosage to the lowest effective maintenance level. Daily dosage of 200 mg is not unusual. Some patients require higher dosages (e.g., 800 mg daily is not uncommon in discharged mental patients).

I dont really dislike the CCP. Liking and disliking are too simplistic.

I think the CCP may have a useful transitional role to play for China, now. What I am primarily opposing is the idea that the current CCP is an ideal form of government for all time and should be reproduced in the West, and the absurd romanticism one sees on this site, that Chinese elites “care for their prople” lol.

I am mostly responding to the absurd and excessive admiration one sees here, because it may lead to the importation of very negative trends from China, that benefit elite exploitation of the masses, as certain people want.

Asian societies are not as impenetrable as you think, especially the Chinese. China has had periods of great cosmopolitanism, and sees itself as an “ur-culture” that spreads its culture to others. That self image, is less tied to race, to blood and soil.

Today, China is quite racist, but China is still recovering from its encounter with the West, so nothing about it is very normal now.

If large numbers of Jews settled in China, I am sure they would become a prosperous community with strong ties to the elite, like they have everywhere. Jews strive to become the best exemplars of whatever the prestige ideology of their host society is – in the West, it is Leftism. In China, it would be whatever is popular there.

Contrary to the culture of critique nonsense.

The West, was traditionally more closed to outsiders than China, and had particular animus towards Jews. If Jews could still make it in the West, then can make it anywhere.

Anyways, I dont think there will be any large scale movement of Jews, or anyone, to China, as the West will continue to be the world’s powerhouse of creativity and quality, and ambitious people will continue to prefer it.

Dislike of the CCP is irrational, as of recently it is drifting away from its Maoist theology and there is a renaissance of ancient Chinese culture.

The CCP believes that it can control the U.S. by controlling Wall Street. As a corollary to that endevaour, the CCP wants to make Wall Street more powerful at controlling Americans. Thus:

— Those who dislike SJW Globalism, dislike Wall Street Banks
— Those who dislike Wall Street Banks, dislike CCP Elites.

Or, to put it more simply:

— There are many reasons to like China and the Chinese people.
— There are very few reasons to like authoritarian CCP Elites.

Though I do give the CCP praise for their handling of non-Chinese occupiers in Western China.

PEACE 😇

Dislike of the CCP is irrational, as of recently it is drifting away from its Maoist theology and there is a renaissance of ancient Chinese culture. I remember reading that the Chinese can now openly admire Chiang Kai-Shek and admit Mao did bad things, so the ideological dogmatism is going away.

From a Jewish perspective, the only thing bad about China is that it is, like other East Asian societies impenetrable to outsiders, and they cannot control this behemoth in the making like they could with the Occidental nations. Perhaps it’s support of Iran is also disconcerting.

Eastern Europeans seem quite widely dispersed across the UK though, not just in major cities.

Native British people are probably more likely to live in rural areas than white immigrants, but overall native British people are quite heavily urbanised by Western standards.

You are correct on the Starlink, and other automatic stuff but they will run into problems with human certs. That’s US bureaucracy for you.

That said, I hope I’m wrong and you are correct across the board. 🙂

IMO the Falcon Heavy was delayed because as the Merlin engine evolved and got more powerful there was less need for the Heavy, this won’t happen with Starship, Musk wants to use it to launch Starlink satellites, 400 Sarlink sats on Starship is far better than 60 on a Falcon 9, cheaper too since they won’t be losing a second stage

The Gaels invaded Scotland from Ireland in the 5th century, around the same time as the Anglo-Saxons invaded through the South East and East coast of what is now England. So the Gaelic and English languages have been present in Britain for roughly the same amount of time.

Scotland before the Gaels invaded was obviously predominantly Pictish, who according to mainstream academia spoke a Brythonic language, as the whole of Britain did at that time but the Gaels replaced that with their own Gaelic language, either through assimilation or genocide. The ancestors of most Scots today were Anglo-Saxons, which is why most Scots have always spoken English and not Gaelic.

I would also highlight that there is no strong evidence that the Picts were even Celtic people of any sort, as the few stones that have been found with Pictish inscriptions have never been successfully deciphered at all, so the claim that Pictish was a Brythonic language is pure assumption based on the belief that the whole of Britain spoke Brythonic languages at that time, and likely a politically correct assumption to make the Gaels seem less like invading, genocidal foreigners.

It’s interesting that Bede described Pictish as a distinct language in its own right, separate from English, Brythonic and Gaelic.

Yes, this is likely the reason for such large disparities, if we compared apples to apples I think the rates of mixing with non-Europeans would likely be similar between British and non-British whites given a certain geographic location.

You are correct about lack of bicycling infrastructure in St Pete. My impression of the city was a crossbreed between Switzerland and Houston Texas. Switzerland because of excellent public transport, and Houston because everything is so huge and open. Except Houston sprawl has many small houses and little cookie cutter plazas and St Pete sprawl has gigantic apartment buildings separated by considerable distance and space is filled with parks and roadways and public transport stations. At least South side is like that. North side is more ritzy and more dense, and more modern, but I haven’t really made it past Begovaya metro station, so can’t comment on far north.

St Pete is too huge for bicycle, take subway in comfort instead.

Interesting video.

Its amusing to see Chinese still think Jews have big noses lol 🙂 If only we could be identified so easily!

There is no special animosity among American Jews to China. Opinion is divided in the usual way, although there is probably a positive attitude to the Chinese ethny.

Israel has no problem with China, and is only limited in its ties with China by deference to America. But Israel is always pragmatic, as it must be. Israel had warm relations with South Africa, aa well.

Its funny, but in the most hilarious, shameless, “let’s you and him fight” ploy, Ron Unz tried to act as if Israel is the primary enemy of China, because it controls America, etc, etc 🙂 I got a huge kick out of that. Nice try, Ron 🙂 I don’t think Chinese are stupid enough to adopt your petty obsessions.

My own anti CCP stance is driven by my liberalism, and has nothing to do with being Jewish.

But for many, there does seem to be a connection there. The antisemites seem to love and admire the CCP, but I attribute that to a spiritual kinship – “asshole” type people stick together. Thats why the antisemites like Iran and the CCP – assoholes admire each other.

I have to stop calling it China- what I dislike, is the CCP, not China.

Xi should have placed his palm facing downward.

Quick primer on space engineering programs – if Head Honcho promises some deadline, look who he is and follow this schedule:

1. Elon Musk. Add 5 years to promised timeline (he promised Heavy by like 2013, similar story with Crew Dragon).

2. Other NASA subcontractors (Boeing etc). Add 10 years.

3. Russians. Add 15 years.*

I am a fan of Elon Musk and I think he is a good rocketeer, but I’m also a realist.

*This may sound like I knock on the Russians but I really dont. I think Russians do pretty good for the budget, and they do have a strategic vision with their TEM project, which I approve of very much, more so than Musks’ rockets. People like to dump on Rogozin, but since he became a head of Roscosmos, Russians had a near perfect launch record. Prior to Rogozin, Russians would blow up at least one rocket a year. Now, personally, I would prefer more blow ups and more launches, but I’m not the one paying payload insurance, so I guess my opinion doesn’t matter that much in this case.

There might be a distortion here, if, as can probably be assumed, natives are less urban and so less exposed to blacks. Perhaps, Poles and other non-British whites would choose to segregate in white British cities, if that were an option.

Poles/Eastern Europeans despite being white seem to have a more non-white character and outlook, relative to the native British any way.

Socially they seem to gel more with the blacks and Muslims than they do with the British. Young Slavic men often seem to imitate and style themselves after ghetto black “gangstas�, presumably because they see them as a model of masculinity and toughness.

The typical British Sacha, from Eastern Europe.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Its a bit much to call Scottish Gaelic speakers invaders, Gaelic has been in Scotland before English existed, the Nordic invaders even switched to Gaelic

Blaming the push for Scottish independence on Catholics doesn’t really work either, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are both Protestants, in general the Scottish seem to vote for left wing governments but end up being ruled by the Tory party, I think that the reason they want independence

The Chinese Believe That the Jews Control America. Is That a Good Thing?

“Do he Jews Really Control America?â€� asked one Chinese newsweekly headline in 2009. The factoids doled out in such articles and in books about Jews in China—for example: “The world’s wealth is in Americans’ pockets; Americans are in Jews’ pocketsâ€�—would rightly be seen to be alarming in other contexts. But in China, where Jews are widely perceived as clever and accomplished, they are meant as compliments. Scan the shelves in any bookstore in China and you are likely to find best-selling self-help books based on Jewish knowledge. Most focus on how to make cash. Titles range from 101 Money Earning Secrets From Jews’ Notebooks to Learn To Make Money With the Jews.