@BillW,
BillW wrote:
InfraBlue wrote:
What does "white" mean to you? Palestinians are considered to be racially caucasians.
In reality, not a thing. It is the most misused, politically racist terminology ever invented. Six to eight thousands years ago, high probability my ancestors were Hittites.
The Hittites would also have been considered Caucasians according to Johann Friedrich Blumenbach.
BillW wrote:BTW, Semite indicates a language grouping.
Some people considered it to be a race, as well.
@InfraBlue,
Heritage vs Ethnicity vs Race vs Culture vs Nationality vs Language vs Religion vs Sex
There lies the crux of humankind. Answer the question and what do you get, cut someone and they bleed. My ancient ancestry is of the Battle Axe Culture and of Viking Heritage. Do I believe that should be the way of th he world today? Of course not. We all live in the same space.
And, yet we have bloated, oafish, ignorant louts in charge of nuclear weapons.
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:Conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism only serves to detract and diminish acknowledgment of true anti-Semitism, like the massacre committed at the Pittsburgh synagogue, for self-serving political purposes.
Neonazis like this Omar character try to hide their antisemitism by directing their untrue false accusations "at Israel" instead of "at Jews".
Everyone can see through their ruse.
InfraBlue wrote:Aesop told of a boy who cried wolf too many times.
No one is crying wolf. People who make horrible untrue accusations that Israel is committing imaginary crimes are indeed neonazis.
@MontereyJack,
MontereyJack wrote:Never persecuting. Prosecuting his corrupt traitorious lackeys, yes.
When you abuse the law with the goal of sending innocent people to prison, that's persecution.
@oralloy,
oralloy wrote:
MontereyJack wrote:Never persecuting. Prosecuting his corrupt traitorious lackeys, yes.
When you abuse the law with the goal of sending innocent people to prison, that's persecution.
When you enforce the law by trying people and finding them guilty according to the preponderance of evidence and the deliberations of judges and juries, that’s prosecution.
@snood,
Abusing the law by misrepresenting facts and withholding evidence, all with the goal of maliciously convicting innocent people, is hardly enforcing the law.
You should be ashamed of yourself. But are you even capable of shame?
@oralloy,
oralloy wrote:
InfraBlue wrote:Conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism only serves to detract and diminish acknowledgment of true anti-Semitism, like the massacre committed at the Pittsburgh synagogue, for self-serving political purposes.
Neonazis like this Omar character try to hide their antisemitism by directing their untrue false accusations "at Israel" instead of "at Jews".
Everyone can see through their ruse.
InfraBlue wrote:Aesop told of a boy who cried wolf too many times.
No one is crying wolf. People who make horrible untrue accusations that Israel is committing imaginary crimes are indeed neonazis.
Israel and the Zionists' crimes are, unfortunately, too true.
Your use of the word neonazi is inept.
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:Israel and the Zionists' crimes are, unfortunately, too true.
Wrong. No such crimes.
InfraBlue wrote:Your use of the word neonazi is inept.
It is the appropriate term for a politician who falsely accuses Jews of horrible imaginary crimes.
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:oralloy wrote:Wrong. No such crimes.
Uh-huh.
This Omar thug is wrong to falsely accuse Jews of imaginary crimes.
InfraBlue wrote:oralloy wrote:It is the appropriate term for a politician who falsely accuses Jews of horrible imaginary crimes.
Nuh-uh.
I disagree. I feel that the term "neonazi" perfectly captures Omar's essence.
@oralloy,
oralloy wrote:
InfraBlue wrote:oralloy wrote:Wrong. No such crimes.
Uh-huh.
This Omar thug is wrong to falsely accuse Jews of imaginary crimes.
She refers to Israel and its very real crimes. Conflation of Jews with Israel is anti-Semitic. Don't be an anti-Semite.
oralloy wrote:InfraBlue wrote:oralloy wrote:It is the appropriate term for a politician who falsely accuses Jews of horrible imaginary crimes.
Nuh-uh.
I disagree. I feel that the term "neonazi" perfectly captures Omar's essence.
You're wrong.
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:She refers to Israel and its very real crimes.
No such crimes.
InfraBlue wrote:Conflation of Jews with Israel is anti-Semitic. Don't be an anti-Semite.
The only antisemites in this equation are people like this Omar thug who try to disguise their horrible false accusations against Jews by directing the false accusations against Israel.
InfraBlue wrote:You're wrong.
Opinions are not right or wrong. They are opinions. I feel that the term perfectly captures her essence.
Quote:New satellite images of North Korea suggest it is restoring a rocket launch site it had pledged to dismantle, say analysts.
The images were taken two days after talks between the leaders of the US and North Korea ended without them reaching a deal on denuclearisation.
The Tongchang-ri site has been used for satellite launches and engine testing, never for ballistic missile launches.
Work to dismantle it began last year but stopped as the US talks stalled.
The pledge to dismantle it had been seen as a confidence-building measure between Pyongyang and Washington.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47465082
What a success that summit was. Kim Jong Un got his photo opportunity handshake, a commitment from Trump to stop joint US South Korea military exercises, and now he's rebuilding his missile silos.
And Trump got to look like a ******* idiot, no surprise there.
And the next generation of jihadists are being given valid reasons to hate the West and its allies. This is a very disturbing read.
Quote:About 1,500 children are being detained by federal and Kurdish authorities in Iraq for alleged links to the Islamic State group, Human Rights Watch says.
A new report says the children are often arbitrarily arrested and tortured to force confessions.
HRW urges the federal and Kurdistan Region's governments to amend anti-terrorism laws to end such detentions, saying they violate international law.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials have so far made no comment.
The Kurdistan Region's government has previously rejected an HRW report which alleged that children were being tortured to confess to IS links.
In January, an official said its policy was to "rehabilitate" such children; torture was prohibited; and children were afforded the same rights as other prisoners.
The 53-page report says that at the end of 2018 the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities were holding about 1,500 children for alleged IS links.
At least 185 foreign children have been convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to jail terms, HRW cites the Iraqi government as saying.
The report alleges that the local authorities:
Often arrest and prosecute children with any perceived connection to IS
Use torture to coerce confessions
Sentence suspects in hasty and unfair trials
"This sweeping, punitive approach is not justice, and will create lifelong negative consequences for many of these children," said Joe Becker, children's rights advocacy director for HRW.
Last November, HRW interviewed 29 children held for alleged IS affiliation.
It says 19 of them reported that they had been tortured, including beatings with plastic pipes, electric cables or rods.
A 17-year-old boy detained by Iraqi security forces in 2017 said he was beaten on the soles of his feet and repeatedly suspended by his wrists for 10 minutes at a time by interrogators. They told him that he should confess to joining IS for three days, which he eventually did, according to the report.
After his trial he was transferred to a prison at Baghdad airport, where he remained for seven-and-a-half months.
"Every day was torture. We were beaten every day, all of us," he said.
One 14 year old said he was tortured into making a confession by officers from the Kurdish Asayish police force in 2017.
"They were beating me all over my body with plastic pipes," he said.
"First they said I should say I was with IS, so I agreed. Then they told me I had to say I worked for IS for three months. I told them I was not part of IS, but they said, 'No, you have to say it.'"
The report also points out that most of those interviewed said they had joined IS because of economic need, peer or family pressure.
Some cited family problems or a desire to gain social status.
HRW says that those Iraqi children who have been released are afraid to return home because of the stigma of IS membership and a threat of reprisals.
The human rights group stresses that international law recognises children recruited by armed groups primarily as victims who should be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47464315
@InfraBlue,
InfraBlue wrote:
oralloy wrote:
InfraBlue wrote:Israel and the Zionists' crimes are, unfortunately, too true.
Wrong. No such crimes.
Uh-huh.
oralloy wrote:InfraBlue wrote:Your use of the word neonazi is inept.
It is the appropriate term for a politician who falsely accuses Jews of horrible imaginary crimes.
Nuh-uh.
This is precisely the correct level of energy and intellectual engagement that should be devoted to arguing with this, and a couple of other posters.
@snood,
Yeah, I got a kick out of that. Next best thing to totally ignoring them.
Why isn't this scaring anybody?
The US federal deficit soared to $310 billion to start fiscal year 2019, up 77% from the year before
Bob Bryan
The US federal deficit just keeps getting bigger.
According to a report from the Treasury Department released Tuesday, the budget deficit — that is the difference between what the federal government takes in and what it spends — hit $310 billion in the first four months of fiscal year 2019.
Fiscal years for the federal government run October through September, so the data reflects the shortfall from October 2018 through January 2019. Based on the data, the deficit increased by 77% compared to the same period the prior year.
The shortfall was due to a 9% increase in federal spending, while tax revenues dropped by 2%.
The statements showed recent legislative changes supported by the Trump administration helped drive a significant portion of the deficit's increase.
The Republican tax-reform law, named the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, had a dramatic effect on the amount of money coming into the Treasury's coffers. Corporate tax revenues declined drastically, down just over 20% compared to the first four months of fiscal year 2018. The drop in personal income taxes was less drastic, falling around 5% compared to the same period last year.
The spending increase was mainly driven by the bipartisan budget agreement, signed into law by Trump last March.
Interestingly, Trump's tariff also boosted revenues to $25 billion for the first four months of the fiscal year, roughly double the amount collected last fiscal year.
The budget deficit for fiscal year 2018 hit $779 billion, the highest annual deficit since 2012, and the government issued more than $1.3 trillion in new debt during calendar year 2018. In February, the total national debt passed $22 trillion for the first time ever.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the combination of the increased debt from the GOP tax law and the higher levels of spending will result in a deficit around $900 billion for the full 2019 fiscal year.
