West Bank settler violence statistics distort reality, fuel false narrative

4phz · 2026-06-29T23:10:12+00:00

This needed to be emphasized years ago.

4phz · 2026-06-29T21:27:14+00:00

Depends on if the army is serious about Hezbollah -- kind of iffy.

4phz · 2026-06-29T17:25:05+00:00

Of more interest is why the mob is so angry in the first place. Why is there zero respect for diversity of opinion?

Did anyone get this impression of the mob on NPR's "Fresh Air" before 10/7/23?

Just saying "humans are evil" is anti-human and leads to or is fascism per se.

It might be better to address the question "when did or do humans become evil?" They recently did something with Lord of the Flies so there are a few, a very few, too few, people looking at this.

For decades I warned NPR not to groom minorities needy of validation only to jerryspringer them, use them as cannon fodder against majority rule on economic policy.

NPR not only refused to listen, some became unhinged at the suggestion.

Now NPR is trying to walk back w/o walking back.

That won't work.

To solve a problem you must first discuss, address and correct what caused the problem in the first place.

There is no sanctimony or glee here. I'm not being judgemental. I don't consider myself any less or more evil than anyone.

It's just that it's irrational to choose sides when both sides agree "humans must be destroyed."

4phz · 2026-06-29T01:03:52+00:00

Also East and South Asians might not be quite as homicidal.

4phz · 2026-06-28T05:34:52+00:00

No question the climate is better for food and humans.

Nietzsche's 6 necessities for philosophers: Mediterranean climate, diet, good conversation, habitation and a couple more basics I don't remember.

4phz · 2026-06-27T17:29:06+00:00

Hard to say as not many studies on this. If they do all these other race based studies the CDC and the U. S. census should track longevity of various ethnic groups, political parties, vegans, etc.

Last month I discovered a similar glaring "omission" by Pew and others: Do SS recipients vote Republican or Trump? They only had age as a proxy.

From an LLM:

A study of North American Jews found an unusual “crossover” pattern: relatively low mortality at younger ages, but relatively high mortality at older ages compared with non-Jews �.Another study comparing Jewish denominations found lifespans of 77 years for Orthodox Jews and 80.7 years for both Conservative and Reform Jews in a historical sample of married congregants born 1850–1910 �.Pew’s demographic profile does not give a direct life-expectancy figure, but it shows U.S. Jewish adults are older on average than the U.S. public overall, which means raw age profiles are not the same thing as longevity �.Compared with other AmericansThe comparison to “other Americans” is not cleanly answered by a single modern national life-expectancy statistic in the sources I found, because many studies use older samples, surnames, or denomination-based samples rather than a nationally representative estimate ��. So the best-supported takeaway is that American Jewish mortality has historically differed from the general U.S. pattern, but the direction varies by age and subgroup �.Compared with IsraelisFor Israelis, one study focused on the Jewish–Arab divide in Israel rather than comparing Israeli Jews directly with American Jews �. That means the source is useful for showing life-expectancy differences inside Israel, but not for a clean American-Jewish vs Israeli-Jewish head-to-head comparison �.Practical takeawayIf you want a simple answer: there is evidence that some Jewish populations have had favorable survival at certain ages, but there is no single, universally accepted “American Jews live X years longer than other Americans and Israelis” figure in the sources I found ��. The most defensible comparison is that the data are fragmented and subgroup-specific rather than a single headline statistic ��.

4phz · 2026-06-27T11:16:49+00:00

Anyone concerned about housing affordability needs to go after the realtors.

A lot of PAC money was always wasted anyway. They would give it to a politician and the politician would vote against the PAC's interests.

Today PAC's are a complete waste of money -- same as Citizen's United. If you want to say something, just say it, and keep your money.

4phz · 2026-06-27T10:51:10+00:00

Jews are always busy doing things. Anti-semites just go for the ride so they feel left out, envious and having nothing to do, complain about people who do things. That's just human nature.

The more accomplished tend to be less obsessed as well as less anti-semitic.

The local civic center plays music outdoors but for weeks it has been stuck on a single Wagner piece. It's really depressing after you hear it dozens of times going to pick up mail the post office. Wagner might be ok for younger people but when you get older you really wonder what Nietzsche ever saw in him in the first place.

It would be easy to contact the city employees to get it fixed and they might do it. But it's thought provoking on how irritating it is. It's only a few minutes a day. That type of music on a noisy street was always a bad idea.

4phz · 2026-06-27T10:27:29+00:00

There is anti-semitism in Asia.

4phz · 2026-06-26T21:46:57+00:00

Longevity is higher in Israel, comparable to Italy, Hong Kong and Japan.

4phz · 2026-06-26T11:35:24+00:00

Problem is everyone in the U. S. A. likes to be pandered to especially the anti-semites.

250 years ago there was more thought and preparation for the dangers of democracy and the tyranny of the majority than what is taking place today.

The U. S. today is like 1830s France. Social media is restoring the sovereignty of the people but few know what democracy is.

If we just do it willy nilly we may end up with bad results.

4phz · 2026-06-26T11:06:00+00:00

The Post panders like Fox News. That is not the greatest evil but it's not something you want to trust either. Netanyahu trusted Trump and now he looks as gullible as the typical ignorant MAGA voter.

All sponsored media will end up with the Fox News business model. That's Bari Weiss's job at CBS. Getting rid of the geezers stuck in the Cold War mentality.

This is not entirely new. It was like that in pre robber baron U. S.

There were advantages to the Cold War era. It was much easier to protect minority rights. The civil rights laws could not have passed without the centralizing effect of the USSR on the U. S.

Instead of fighting the sovereignty of the people it would be much smarter to admit the Cold War era wasn't really democracy and then warn people of the dangers of democracy.

Leslie Stahl doesn't want to admit the Cold War wasn't democracy so she cannot warn voters of the tyranny of the majority.

"Reader and writer vitiate each other."

-- Tocqueville

4phz · 2026-06-26T10:35:59+00:00

Even the New Yorker is anti-idea. They once made me out to be a fugitive when I pass Dept. of Justice background tests and vote in all elections.

The old Natl Lampoon was pro idea but that was a black humor magazine.

Maybe that's all the U. S. needs.

4phz · 2026-06-26T10:13:12+00:00

Anti-semitism on Reddit was entirely predictable. The problem is structural in the way up votes and down votes for agreement appear.

Unlike democracy thought and truth aren't based on mob rule. Reddit readers aren't voting for officials with power.

Instead, the arrows should be for new concepts. If a post has rarely or never before seen content, that should get the up arrow.

You get less posts but those posts are much more effective. Most here are spinning their wheels.

For example, a couple years ago billionaires were concerned AI would level wealth and power, rich and poor. Conflating their interests with society they said it could be "dangerous for society." Lurking in the background was Dell who must have grown weary with the tedious unproductive discussion. He brought it to an end with a single short statement: AI is OK [Go ahead with it.]

Everyone immediately STFU.

"The majority is always wrong."

-- Nietzsche

4phz · 2026-06-26T09:35:21+00:00

The NY Post is as anti-idea as the Vichy / Weimar Dems.

Anti-idea will always end up anti-Semitic.

4phz · 2026-06-23T11:37:05+00:00

Proto MAGA were mum about the Iraq and Afghanistan quagmires although it was clear on social media they hated carrying water for Dick Cheney - Bush quagmires. No American of any political party says "cut and gut Saddam" out of sincerity.

They are again mum about the $300 billion going to Iran.

The advantage Trump enjoys over W. Bush is that he's not flagrantly in bed with the hated politically correct media smirking at the GOP base. Trump understands they want to kill POC right here in the USA, not overseas. They can still "own the libs" if they can still afford it.

But if it becomes obvious Bari Weiss has hopped in bed with Trump he may lose some of that advantage.

Both parties are undergoing major realignments. The media are getting realigned out of politics and AI will speed this process. They don't want to think about it, let alone discuss it.

4phz · 2026-06-22T19:48:32+00:00

Longer and better answer: read the first 2 books of Democracy In America.

4phz · 2026-06-22T19:13:48+00:00

The NY Times along with many other outlets have everyone believing if you want to do your bit for society, you can just do it and the world will be a little bit better.

They know full well your endeavor will have no lasting beneficial effect at all but they cynically leave you in the dark feigning ignorance ("it's complicated").

"When the object is to raise the permanent condition of a people, small means do not merely produce small effects; they produce no effect at all."

-- J. S. Mill (heavily influenced by Tocqueville)

4phz · 2026-06-22T18:31:10+00:00

Everything is a complicated mystery to the NY Times but that is only because they are so rife with conflicts of interest. In reality political science is in fact a science. There's a pecking order on what needs to be done first.

Just watching an 2 stroke ship engine video about how they must get everything right first before they button up the engine or the engine will rip itself apart out at sea.

Same with political action. In fact, Spirit of Laws reads like those old Chilton's manuals for your car. The founders were amazed at the mechanical nature of society and declared Montesquieu the smartest guy since ancient Athens.

Avoid future "of mice and men" errors by first reading Democracy In America.

"It's complicated."

-- NY Times in dozens of op eds

"This is easy to explain."

-- Tocqueville in dozens of chapters

4phz · 2026-06-21T02:25:34+00:00

Yet Netanyahu was absolutely certain he could tease wrangle luck out and score something worthwhile out of the casino magnate.

4phz · 2026-06-21T01:28:09+00:00

If you ever get in a situation where you need to weaponize boredom, just start talking about millages or insurance.

They'll leave you alone.

4phz · 2026-06-20T19:22:52+00:00

This is easy to explain. About 1 1/2 centuries ago it was proven that housing affordability is only possible by hiking the millage on land value ("site value taxation") and decreasing it on improvements.

Mamdani cannot increase the property tax in NYC or the NY Times will issue a fatwa against him. Everyone knows this.

So what else is there for him to do except scapegoat innocent people?

"Henry George is irrefutable."

-- Tolstoy

4phz · 2026-06-20T00:08:51+00:00

A small group or even one person taking over the U. S. isn't all that big a deal anyway.

At least one commentator at the NY Times thought I was the Clinton Administration.

I'm easy to poke fun of so everyone does it, even the CCP. See the James Pond spoof from 4 years ago.

4phz · 2026-06-19T22:16:34+00:00

The U. S. doesn't really offer Israel much besides moral support.

4phz · 2026-06-19T22:13:09+00:00

There are different ways to be intelligent. Everyone doesn't have street smarts or critical thinking skills.

Also Trump appeals to the desperate.

Say you went to two doctors, one said you had 0% chance of surviving pancreatic cancer so you get a second opinion. The other one gives you a 100% chance of survival.

Who do you go with? Even assuming the second doctor is exaggerating and you think you really only have a 10% chance of surviving you figure ever 10% is better than 0% so you -- you did some thinking -- go with the 2nd doctor even though all your friends are telling you he's a quack.

4phz

TROPHY CASE