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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_politics

    Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the fundamental principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform.[1] The process of adopting radical views is termed radicalisation.

    The word radical derives from the Latin radix ("root") and Late Latin radicalis ("of or pertaining to the root, radical"). Historically, political use of the term referred exclusively to a form of progressive electoral reformism, known as Radicalism, that had developed in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the denotation has changed since its 18th century coinage to comprehend the entire political spectrum, though retaining the connotation of "change at the root".

  • Embracing yourself as a moderate in the face of a country supporting genocide, bragging about mass deportations, building concentration camps and having unidentified gangs abduct people on the streets, all while your healthcare, education and infrastructure are failing is part of the problem.

    The term radical refers to taking problems at the root. The US oligarchy is the root and both the DNC and GOP are symptoms of that root evil. As long as you want to treat symptoms, you are not going to solve the problem.

  • A weaker US will probably bring more stability.

    If we have a few, not too many, but a few power poles in the world, these powers will likely work to keep each other at bay. The US got completely unhinged after the fall of the Soviet Union. There was no one who could stop them after all. This lead to millions of people murdered by the US and its clients in the past 35 years. Bill Clinton's presidency alone killed about half a million Iraqi kids through sanctions on food and medicine for Iraq in the 90s, ironically after the US, Germany and other western countries had been major factors in building Saddam's chemical weapons and using them against the Kurdish minority and Iran. Then came the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, again killing hundreds of thousands maybe up to a million of people. Libya tossed into chaos, Yemen as a genocidal campaign that the Saudis couldn't have pulled off without US weapons, intelligence and assistance, killing hundreds of thousands again...

    US "liberal hegemony" has been the deadliest ideology in the world after Mao has died

  • What i ask myself in all of this is, whether the "sacrifice" of values wasn't genuine. Because if they are willing to compromise on genocide and ethnic cleansing, the question is how much of these values were there to begin with.

    And subsequently, if they are somehow "okay" with brown people being mass murdered abroad, how should anyone including these people themselves believe that they would do anything substantial to human rights violations at home. And lo and behold they do very little about it.

  • All the people that had criticized the "vote blue no matter who" line of the centrists as being destructive in the long run, especially as people here started touting completely deranged things along the line of "Yeah both Harris and Trump want a genocide, but Harris will make less bad of a genocide than Trump, so we should vote her.", are now having the "told you so" moment.

    The entire talk in the general election was nothing but gaslighting the voters who refused to vote for genocide. The entire claim of "party loyalty" and "change through the party is possible" was a set of lies peddled by the "centrists" that rather want a fascist win than a modest social democrat, who wants to observe basic laws of the US and basic international laws. Now that this "loyalty" goes the other way, the centrists just flipped the script, proving that none of their claims were serious to begin with.

    This is relevant, as it proves that the Democratic party is not the vehicle through which to bring positive change, at least not until all the DNC ghouls are kicked out of the party, publicly shamed and stripped of any political influence. Maybe Mamdani is a step in that direction, but we see how the DNC ghouls are already fighting back, as they have one goal and one goal only. To help the oligarchy exploit the people.

  • World News @lemmy.world

    Israeli weapons firm Rafael uses Gaza killing [of unarmed men] in marketing campaign

  • Well, in Germany we got hammered it in that any likening of anything that was not part of the Holocaust to parts of the Holocaust is inherently antisemitic and a new form of nazism. The Holocaust is supposed to be unique and special forever, as no one is as good at exterminating people like we Germans are and Jews are the eternal victims, hence Israel can't do any wrong. Conveniently ignoring how other victims of the Holocaust such as Sinti and Roma are still facing rampant systemic discrimination in Germany and also that understanding of Jewish victims being limited to Israelis or people loyal to Israel, whereas Jews who criticize Israel face various forms of repression in Germany.

    Now obviously that isn't the way it is taught directly, but it does involve a sick guilt pride on the one hand and the immediate shut down of any criticism of anything that actually does have parallels to aspects of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust. Or well, that is as long as the criticism is geared towards our allies such as the US and Israel.

    Unfortunately the whole debate has been deeply intoxicated and instrumentalized in the "Staatsräson" logic of unconditional support for any and every atrocity, as long as it serves the current Israeli state and its government.

    From the best attempt of a neutral perspective: In Auschwitz the Nazis murdered about 1.5 Million people. At its peak there were about 150,000 - 200,000 people concentrated there. From medicinal experiments on humans to random acts of brutal violence there has been all sorts of further gruesome atrocities piled on top of the systematic extermination. So in terms of scale the comparison really cannot come even remotely close.

    I do agree with you that these atrocities escalate and escalate quickly, when left unchallenged. The idea that Germany, Israel, the US or anyone other state entity truly learned a lesson of humanity from the horrors of the Holocaust and there would be a certain prevention unfortunately also is wrong. I remember how in school everybody was like "i could have never done this" or "i would have fought against this, how could the people?!" and now we see the same writings on the wall here in Germany again and most people do fuck all, if they don't already openly embrace it

  • The EU is not trying to “buy up Ukraine at a discount”, they are pushing for Ukrainian EU membership, which would be mutually beneficial. On the one hand, the EU would gain massive strategic food production and a large experienced military, and further buffer area towards Russia.

    EU tried to get its own minerals deal with Ukraine in the wake of Trump demands.

    https://www.politico.eu/article/critical-minerals-rare-earths-deal-eu-not-donald-trump/

    Also Ukraine joining the EU would not make a "buffer", unless you would argue in terms of first and second class EU countries, with Ukraine being designated to become a second class one. Ukraine currently is the "buffer" as it is aligned with the EU, but not part of it, so the EU does not bear the same responsibilities towards Ukraine as to other EU members.

  • The Suez channel is even more crucial to Israel than it is to countries like Spain or France for their link to East Asia.

    I have measured a rough example in maps:

    If a ship from Singapore to Marseille would go through the Suez Channel, it would be about 13,000 km without stops. Around Africa that would be around 22,000 km without stops (yeah i know that is optimistic), so a 70% increase which undoubtedly is bad.

    Now a ship from Singapore to Haifa would have its route increase from about 9,500 km to about 25,000 km, (again without stops) which is about a 170% increase.

    If the Houthis manage to effectively cut off that route, it will be driving prices up like crazy for Israel. If on top of it countries like Spain close the ports for ships carrying freight to Israel, it will further drive up their costs.

  • There can be various purposes to a ceasefire.

    • The most direct one is that a ceasefire gives a space in which diplomatic options can be discussed as both sides believe that there could be an opening where they gain more than with continued fighting.
    • The other direct option is that both sides believe that they can achieve a temporary ceasefire to rearm/regroup for subsequent fighting, believing that they can do so better than the enemy.
    • There could be external or internal political pressure to attempt diplomatic options, which will subsequently be derailed
    • There could be humanitarian reasons, albeit that seems to not be relevant these days, with humanitarian reasons being given as pretense at best
    • There could be religious reasons, such as the observation of a shared holiday, albeit that also seems to not be relevant these days

    For Ukraine as it stands there is little reason to believe that Ukraine will be able to retake their territory fully, unless the support from the West would come in the shape of boots on the ground and massive amounts of arms. As for Russia it seems Russia is slowly gaining territory while incurring high losses and taking very bad economic hits at home. So there could come a point of collapse of the Russian army. From Ukraines perspective however, unless that happens, if Russia gets weaker, they could always retreat to a reinforced line and take the gains they have made.

    Accepting defeat probably will not be taken lightly and will be the certain end to Zelensky's rule, so i don't think he's to enthusiastic about a ceasefire. But it also seems that the Western Allies, in particular the US are not willing to give Ukraine what it takes and rather see an end to the war, with the EU countries probably following the US in trying to recoup some of the military spending by buying up Ukraine at a discount.

    For Putin on the other hand it is questionable, if he can sell the current state as a "victory" that justifies the losses. I guess for Russia to agree to a long term ceasefire they would demand to keep the current territories and be immediately relieved of sanctions.

  • I just had a look at it. Note that this is the first source i came across. It seems to be in line with the arguments of Williams

    https://legalvision.com.au/4-things-to-know-about-exemplary-damages/

    Exemplary damages are one type of damages available for recovery in civil disputes. Sometimes referred to as punitive damages, these types of damages are the most rarely awarded damages in Australia. This is because the court awards exemplary damages with the purpose of punishing a defendant, which contrasts with the Australian courts’ emphasis on using the legal system to provide compensation.

    In general, damages are used to compensate a party for a loss and should aim to put them in the position they would have been in, had the wrongdoing not occurred. This means that usually, the court should not award a party more damages than their actual loss. In fact, the court must be cautious when assessing damages to ensure there is not an element of punishment (a punitive element) to them.

    The court awards exemplary damages as a form of punishment. Further, their purpose is to deter the defendant and the broader public from malicious behaviour or conduct. Typically, this applies where that conduct causes harm, warning them that such conduct will attract punishment. Generally speaking, this behaviour will include certain elements, such as:

    • malice;
    • abuse of power;
    • cruelty; or
    • violence.

    So it is possible that the court would follow the reasoning of Williams that the bank has abused its power in rushing to put the blame on him instead of investigating the fraud properly or taking measures to prevent the fraud. As bank customers seem to be regular victims of such fraud and the bank seems to generally just deny the claims instead of prevent the fraud, the argument of "abuse of power" and "malice" seems plausible to me. (Who is not a legal expert, leave alone in Australia)

    If the court follows the reasoning of Williams that the bank needs to be handed a punitive damage sentence to discourage it from abusing its powers against its customers, i find his calculation appropriate. His pension seems in line with typical pension rates in Australia and the damage from the fraud also seems to be in the usual range. So punishing the bank with a comparable relative damage doe snot seem unfair. One could argue that his calculation is still quite generous as he is targeting the banks profits after tax, while his pension has to cover everything, and his "disposable" income from the pension is much lower.

  • Experts said it is unclear if the cash brokers’ activities benefit Hamas, as some Israeli analysts claim.

    The war has made it more difficult to determine who is behind all sorts of economic activity in the territory, said Omar Shabaan, director of Palthink for Strategic Studies, a Gaza-based think tank.

    “It’s a dark place now. You don’t know who is bringing cigarettes into Gaza,” he said, giving just one example. “It’s like a mafia.”

    The UN has reported on Aid trucks regularly being looted by the Abu Shabab gang. A group of lowlife criminals, who are armed and supported by Israel to wreak further havoc in Gaza and exploit the population further. In one of their largest raids, they robbed and burnt almost a hundred UN trucks for Israel in November 2024. I wouldn't be surprised if Israel is funneling fresh cash to such criminal elements to further strengthen them and extract money from the people of Gaza through a middlemen allowing them plausible deniability. Note that the Abu Shabab criminals also have ties to ISIS. As Israel had consistently accused Hamas of "being ISIS" this shows once again that every Israeli accusation is a projection.

  • It also is less energy efficient as running the juice directly through a cable of course is more efficient than creating a magnetic field that then induces juice on the other side to flow again.

    It should be said that this is the principle of transformers, but they are built in an efficient way for it.

  • Williams had calculated that $1,338 was about 5.5 per cent of his annual pension.

    And $379.05 million was 5.5 per cent of NAB's 2022 profit after tax.

    "Things need to be proportionate," he said.

    In those documents, Williams claimed the bank:

    • Failed to secure his banking credentials and transaction data.
    • Failed to use its fraud detection protocols, which he said would have flagged the two transactions as fraudulent.
    • Breached its duty to "protect customers from unauthorised transactions".
    • Failed to comply with the ASIC ePayments Code by not conducting a fair and transparent investigation or reasons for its decision to not pay Williams back.

    Williams said the reason he was suing for the vast amount of $380 million was because he believed NAB demonstrated "a systemic abuse of power", knowledge of his vulnerability, "and deliberate disregard for fair dealing".

    The bank had about four weeks to respond.


    What a boss move

  • Note that countries like Israel, Turkiye, Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia try to undermine unity in Syria and exacerbate ethnic tensions. In particular Israels tries to instrumentalize Druze and YPG/PKK Kurds to restart the civil war and prevent the emergence of a stable and peaceful Syria.

  • Someone with the flick of a piece of wood can just murder you outright, with you having no way of defending against it. Before they learn to control it, the magic of the children just "flows" in uncontrollable ways. Maybe doing something silly like coloring hair, but maybe also destroying things and hurting people. For a non magical person in an entirely unpredictable way, without any possibility to intervene or repair the damage as easily.

    Keep in mind that there is no mention of the Dursley's ever receiving any sort of guidance on how to deal with a magical child. They are just expected to figure it out by themselves. Imagine you would have to deal with a special needs child, just that nobody is giving you any information, you can not reach out to anyone about it, you must keep it a secret as otherwise you get booked in the closed psychiatry and on top of it all the child at any point may burn down your house.

  • To be fair his aunt was really shitty to him. But that makes me remember the whole thing how from their perspective Harry ruined the once in a lifetime business deal of Vernon when he tossed the cake onto the business partner over dinner. They couldn't know about the whole Dobby business. And even if they did. Some strange run down creature just popping into your house to cause havoc, so your nephew gets kicked out of school, what the heck is that madness?

  • Because of that he develops anger issues and kind of locks the child in, which of course isn’t okay, but he doesn’t know what else to do. There is no government resources to help him. He doesn’t know how to reach the people who dropped the child off, however they seem to keep tabs on him and his family. Again from all he understands they are involved in some paramilitary actions.

  • Showerthoughts @lemmy.world

    Vernon Dursley, uncle of Harry Potter is just a normal bloke that loves his wife and gets roped into a paramilitary war for it.

    News @lemmy.world

    Pro-Israel professor Shai Davidai leaves Columbia University after 'mutual agreement'

    Palestine @lemmy.ml

    Pro-Israel professor Shai Davidai leaves Columbia University after 'mutual agreement'

    Palestine @lemmy.ml

    Spain and Ireland to join more than 20 states to declare ‘concrete measures’ against Israel

    Palestine @lemmy.ml

    I Was Inside the U.S. State Department - Until Gaza Broke Me with Josh Paul

  • In which country is that? "Our" Catholics are pretty darn easy and happy about everyone they can get, as a lot of people leave because of child abuse and corruption scandals keeping to emerge.

    Also "they" for the most part take their belief as serious maybe going to church once a year. The ones that go every Sunday are already the "hardcore" ones.

  • News @lemmy.world

    Pro-Israel website Canary Mission used to identify students for deportation, says ICE

    World News @lemmy.world

    Philo-Semitism from Buchenwald: German KZ memorial categorises Kufiya and demand for ceasefire as anti-Semitic | Matthias Monroy

    Palestine @lemmy.ml

    Philo-Semitism from Buchenwald: German KZ memorial categorises Kufiya and demand for ceasefire as anti-Semitic | Matthias Monroy

    World News @lemmy.world

    Israel plans to concentrate entire Gaza population into 'humanitarian city'

    World News @lemmy.world

    Pits, gunfire and panic: Palestinians navigate death at US aid points

    World News @lemmy.world

    US building air bases and ammunition warehouses in Israel

    World News @lemmy.world

    Palestinians left 'without shelter and water' as settlers empty West Bank village

    World News @lemmy.world

    Israel bombs ports, power plant in Yemen as Houthis fire more missiles

    World News @lemmy.world

    UK: 27 arrested under Terrorism Act at Palestine Action protest

    News @lemmy.world

    US consultancy firm [Boston Consulting Group] involved in GHF aid scheme modelled plans to 'relocate' Palestinians

    World News @lemmy.world

    The spy, private equity baron and ghost of a Trump donor: The revolving door behind a Gaza mercenary firm

    World News @lemmy.world

    The rise of paramilitary settler groups in Israel's West Bank strategy

    World News @lemmy.world

    UN report lists companies complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’: Who are they?

    World News @lemmy.world

    Israel has killed 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 2023