Trump and all those who vote for him are aware that China is one of the most important sales markets for the EU, right?

I’m just trying to suggest a somewhat reasonable solution. I don’t think Israel could afford to keep this inhumane war going if they didn’t have the support of the US. Let us also not forget that it was radical right-wing Zionists who assassinated Yitzchak Rabin, the Israeli politician who first credibly promised peace in the region. What I want to say is this: Violence and hatred cannot be a solution - this only leads to more violence and more hatred, more misery and more suffering.

I did not frame this at all. I just quoted Biden and said that in the light of this quote from just a few days ago I couldn’t understand (“WTF”) why he is sending additional troops. Please don’t pin this on me. I get that you are trying to fight the good fight here (I agree that it would be awful for the whole world if Trump would win). I’m just saying that this is a bad move by Biden because deploying even more troops in support of Israel is not just morally wrong (that was my point as an observer from europe) it’s also very bad PR - that’s what I think at least, because I think the majority of sane Us-citizenens don’t want to have any part in the inhumane actions of the Israeli Government.

What misinformation? I said: Biden said he “criticizes” Israels attacks on UN peacekeepers and - still - he sends additional troops to Israel just a few day later. These are just facts.

What do you want me to say? With a view to the US election campaign, I’m glad to say: Vote for Harris/Walz! The apparent alternative Trump/Vance would be much worse even in this matter. I have no problem to say that because it’s true. That does not mean that you are fighting a just cause here - on the contrary. It just means that your political system is in shambles and that your moral compass if way off.

Absolutely. However, there is no need to destroy anyone. It would be enough for the US to give up its unconditional support for the Netanyahu regime. Then Netanyahu would be voted out and would go to prison for corruption in his own country.

The thing is that Israel was never attacked in a military sense. It was a terrible terrorist attack, that much is true. Israel retaliated - not only against those responsible, but above all against the Palestinian civilian population. The number of victims is simply disproportionate: the attack on October 7, 2023 claimed 1,200 lives; Israel has now killed more than 40,000 Palestinians (this is a conservative estimate). There is no longer any danger for Israel - and in terms of its military superiority, there hasn’t been any for the last 20 years. Lebanon is only marginally involved in all this. Hezbollah is not Hamas. I don’t want to go too far with all the his. It’s simple: what Israel is doing is wrong on any moral scale. Anyone who doesn’t see that is grossly misinformed.

Gtfo. If you need to play wargames maybe send some more support to Ukraine instead.

I am not a US citizen. My point is not that US troops are being deployed, but that this is a war of aggression that contradicts international law. The US should not support this - not in any way.

There are 100 more US soldiers deployed, aren’t there? I’m not a US citizen, but I still wonder why more troops are needed to help Israel in an war of aggression that violates international law.

“absolutely, positively”

US President Joe Biden has said he is “absolutely, positively” urging Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers during its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, following two incidents in 48 hours. Source

Some hours later: Biden absolutely, positively sends troops to help Israel out. WTF…

I did not know that either. I mean it’s a cool look, just very 70s.

I actually know very little about his political agenda. I just can’t help but wonder if this strange look is part of his political antics.

Javier Milei would really be a great cast for an Austin Powers villain. The guy looks more cartoonish every time I see him.

Well, in that regard not too much changed, I think. Record labels always mostly pushed music and artists with mass appeal. They still do but have lost a lot of their power to companies like Spotify, Apple and Google (YouTube). But these players do pretty much the same with their algorithms. So I don’t think that popular music has changed too much. There are still influential companies that can pretty much dictate what people listen to. I still don’t think it has become much worse, since back in the day you weren’t even able to produce an album without a record deal because studio time, distribution and all that was so expensive. Today you can produce everything yourself in your bedroom. Sure, it’s unlikely that you will be very successful marketing your record - but at least it’s somewhat possible.

I don’t think music has gotten any worse. However, it is much easier and cheaper to produce music today: you don’t have to be able to play an instrument and professional production is possible with comparatively inexpensive software on any standard computer. This and also the changes in distribution (no more need for sound carriers, …) have probably led to a lot more music being produced today than in the past. Of course, this does not mean that music has become better as a result, but it also does not mean that it has become worse. You just have to find the gems among the admittedly gigantic amount of junk.

I think the so-called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are a major problem of our time, because they are often defined incorrectly or misunderstood. All too often, decision-makers seem to think that the pure number of followers, for example, or engagement metrics such as likes would indicate that an account or post is successful. However, this is often not the case when other important metrics are taken into account. In e-commerce, for example, a large number of followers or high engagement figures in themselves mean nothing at all: it is not uncommon for e-commerce companies to invest a lot of money in social media management and for the KPIs of their accounts to rise accordingly - but still not sell anything via this channel (that means that the investment is not worth it, of course, because the costs are disproportionate to the sales generated; the ROI is often not good at all). I think a similar situation can be assumed for many science accounts on Mastodon, for example. Although the number of followers maybe not very high here because there are less active useres, the quality of comments can still be a lot higher. But unfortunately this cannot be quantified, or at least not easily. I therefore think that everyone should first think about what they want to achieve with their social media accounts. It then makes sense to define suitable KPIs instead of being impressed by what can be considered an indicator of success elsewhere and in a completely different context.

It depends, I would say. If the aliens ask unpleasant questions, they would probably be talked about and reported on continuously. Like:

Alien Ambassador: “Why are you destroying your habitat with your eyes open? We don’t understand. Your scientists have proven beyond doubt that you will become extinct if you don’t fundamentally change your ways. Why don’t you care at all?”

Continuous headlines:

“Aliens want to ban humanity from traveling”

“Space fascists want to raise gas prices”

“Go home job-stealing aliens: How outer world wokeness is destroying {any given country}”

…

Exactly. What’s more, demographic change alone has led to an urgent need for workers from abroad in Germany. This applies to low-skilled as well as highly skilled workers - for example in crafts, catering, healthcare, nursing, IT or engineering, just to name a few sectors. What the right-wing parties and their supporters are propagating is not only inhumane and amoral, it is also economically disastrous. It is these unscrupulous opportunists who are ruining the country with their racist hate; not the migrants - quite the opposite.