I have a friend from my hometown who I knew since elementary school who is a Mason. He's only two years older than me. The fraternal orders gained a reputation of being dodgy and uncool during the 1960s. They weren't replaced with much as a replacement though.
I actually have a bar where I am a regular. It's nice. From what I've read, the English pub is undergoing a crisis that started because of high land prices and got worse because of COVID. The increased social intolerance against casual drinking and the fact that there are easier ways to earn a living, especially if big breweries can't legally subsidize pubs, doesn't help.
Ha. That's a lot of cynicism. This is UK Pride. I'm not sure if it is as commercialized as American Pride. I guess Pride in most Western developed democracies is more like an ethnic day event but that doesn't make it a joke.
There is nothing wrong with Pride requiring universal message discipline and telling both factions on this issue or factions on other non-LGBT issues to cut it out for Pride. As you point out this is something different.
The Jewish Press is reporting that Keshet UK's request was: "KeshetUK, which led the Jewish bloc in the gay parade for close to a decade, said it had no choice but to withdraw after parade organizers refused repeated appeals for protective measures, including antisemitism awareness training for Pride officials."
Yes, Jews have a long history of supporting pluralism and multiculturalism for obvious reasons. Sometime recently, the current champions of multiculturalism decided that Jews don't count for diversity purposes and we aren't a real minority.
For the recored, I do expect a certain amount of conformity and assimilation from immigrants rather than believing it will happen naturally and organically over time. That some groups are given all the benefits of liberalism but none of the requirements is galling.
I am rather touchy on this subject because there is a big increase in global anti-Semitism from all quarters; the White Right, the Further Left, and the Islamists but a lot of my fellow Jews are blind to this. You have further right Jews and further left Jews playing footsie with a lot of people they shouldn't. You have the Right and the Left passing the "no, you're the anti-Semite" ball between them when really both sides are filled with anti-Semites.
I have spent the past year plus, well really more, but especially in the past year plus, struggling to understand the cosmology of anti-Zionist Jews and the Pro-Palestinian Left and I don't get it. Palestinian leadership and other Muslim leadership has always been very clear that they want "Arab Muslim Palestine" and that there really isn't a place for the Jews in their independent Palestine or really the rest of the Middle East but you would think that they are using multicultural ANC style rhetoric though and the rest of the world is filled with multicultural paradises except Israel. I just don't get this level of willing blindness.
From what I can tell, a lot of anti-Zionists, Jewish or Gentile, act is that anti-Semitism from Non-Whites is only because of Jewish bad behavior and if Jews behave well by their understanding, there would be no anti-Semitism. This is so contrary to how they treat racism and bigotry towards other groups or really reality just defies belief. I don't get it. I don't get how people who can be so smart about all other forms of hatred get really dumb and stupid with anti-Semitism.
I expect that Jews be included in multiculturalism but apparently Jews are expecting to support multiculturalism because of our history while at the same time only being wypipo doing wypipo things. We get the worst of both worlds.
In today's "we are merely anti-Zionist not anti-Semitic, yeah right", the United Kingdom's largest LGBT group forced to pull out of London Pride because of safety concerns.
Way back in Obama's first term, Julian Sanchez wrote how the American Right was ending up in a system of epistemic closure because they are only exposed to people that agree with them. Being very online did that with large swathes of the liberal to left side of politics in the United States.
They are only talking to people they agree with and use the same jargon that they do. This turned a lot of social justice causes into something of a quasi-religion in how people approach them. When you point out that things like land acknowledgements or gender is a social construct is not how normies speak or see things, you can get a lot of push back from them. They don't know how to speak to people who aren't already in agreement and know the correct verbiage.
What a lot of very political 21st century people don't remember is that politics and news used to be a big source of entertainment for people. During the French Revolution, people went to the National Assembly not only because they were interested in what is going on but because it was the best theater show in Paris at the time. Likewise, the Golden Age of the Metropolitan Daily (TM) was because newspapers were a big source of entertainment. What we now call lifestyle sections always existed and they were always a lot more popular than the hard hitting news. Since people have many more entertainment options now, they don't need politics or the news to be a source of entertainment. This is why you get so many people without the faintest ideas of what is going on.
On LGM, another poster also pointed a related problem that society in most developed democracies is so high up on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs that politics becomes more about self-expression than forming policy. This is true for the entirety of the political spectrum even if it manifests differently on the left and right.
A lot of younger voters also like Bernie because he doesn't do the God thing like other Democratic candidates including Hillary Clinton did when necessary. I remember a poster on LGM describing Hillary Clinton as speaking fluent Methodist. Bernie Sanders doesn't do that and couldn't do it if his life depended on it. This really hurt him with the African-American faction of the Democratic Party but it got him a lot of popularity elsewhere.
Otherwise, this analysis is spot on. Bernie and even AOC's popularity has to do more with their personas than their policy preferences. There are a lot of people who do not understand this and believe that their popularity is more because of their policy preferences and they are tapping into a deep wellspring of unspoken for socialists. They aren't.
I'm joining the others on this. In local elections during November 2024 in some of the most left leaning places in the United States like Alameda County, the most left leaning Democrats lost to more moderate/centrist Democrats. California voters overwhelmingly voted for tough on crime ballot initiatives and rejected some liberals ones. Going full left is not the way to defeat Trump no matter how many people want it.
Clashes in Syria between Druze and Pro-Government forces. The trouble has seemed to have started because of an anti-Mohammed internet post that was attributed to a Druze cleric.
First, Netanyahu has ulterior motives in being in Gaza for this long. Mainly to save his own skin. Second, there have been plenty of other protests against Netanyahu. Third, getting out for some international politics isn't a bad thing. Put other pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.
It's the exact opposite of they wanted but just enough people voted for the politician that gave them what they don't want because they were angry at egg prices. Now thanks to avian flu, there aren't any eggs in the stores.
On “Open Mic for the Week of 5/5/2025”
I have a friend from my hometown who I knew since elementary school who is a Mason. He's only two years older than me. The fraternal orders gained a reputation of being dodgy and uncool during the 1960s. They weren't replaced with much as a replacement though.
"
I actually have a bar where I am a regular. It's nice. From what I've read, the English pub is undergoing a crisis that started because of high land prices and got worse because of COVID. The increased social intolerance against casual drinking and the fact that there are easier ways to earn a living, especially if big breweries can't legally subsidize pubs, doesn't help.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/30/number-of-pubs-in-england-and-wales-falls-below-39000-for-first-time
"
Left without commment:
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lof5h56yus2r?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com%252F2025%252F05%252Fthe-cognitive-fitness-and-in-touch-with-the-working-american-candidate
On “Open Mic for the Week of 4/28/2025”
Ha. That's a lot of cynicism. This is UK Pride. I'm not sure if it is as commercialized as American Pride. I guess Pride in most Western developed democracies is more like an ethnic day event but that doesn't make it a joke.
"
There is nothing wrong with Pride requiring universal message discipline and telling both factions on this issue or factions on other non-LGBT issues to cut it out for Pride. As you point out this is something different.
The Jewish Press is reporting that Keshet UK's request was: "KeshetUK, which led the Jewish bloc in the gay parade for close to a decade, said it had no choice but to withdraw after parade organizers refused repeated appeals for protective measures, including antisemitism awareness training for Pride officials."
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/boycott/gay-jews-ousted-from-london-pride-parade-for-second-consecutive-year/2025/05/05/
"
Yes, Jews have a long history of supporting pluralism and multiculturalism for obvious reasons. Sometime recently, the current champions of multiculturalism decided that Jews don't count for diversity purposes and we aren't a real minority.
"
Trump wants to reopen Alcatraz. I suppose you have to put domestic political enemies somewhere if the Supreme Court won't let you deport them:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/04/trump-alcatraz-movies-tariffs-00326220
"
For the recored, I do expect a certain amount of conformity and assimilation from immigrants rather than believing it will happen naturally and organically over time. That some groups are given all the benefits of liberalism but none of the requirements is galling.
"
I am rather touchy on this subject because there is a big increase in global anti-Semitism from all quarters; the White Right, the Further Left, and the Islamists but a lot of my fellow Jews are blind to this. You have further right Jews and further left Jews playing footsie with a lot of people they shouldn't. You have the Right and the Left passing the "no, you're the anti-Semite" ball between them when really both sides are filled with anti-Semites.
I have spent the past year plus, well really more, but especially in the past year plus, struggling to understand the cosmology of anti-Zionist Jews and the Pro-Palestinian Left and I don't get it. Palestinian leadership and other Muslim leadership has always been very clear that they want "Arab Muslim Palestine" and that there really isn't a place for the Jews in their independent Palestine or really the rest of the Middle East but you would think that they are using multicultural ANC style rhetoric though and the rest of the world is filled with multicultural paradises except Israel. I just don't get this level of willing blindness.
From what I can tell, a lot of anti-Zionists, Jewish or Gentile, act is that anti-Semitism from Non-Whites is only because of Jewish bad behavior and if Jews behave well by their understanding, there would be no anti-Semitism. This is so contrary to how they treat racism and bigotry towards other groups or really reality just defies belief. I don't get it. I don't get how people who can be so smart about all other forms of hatred get really dumb and stupid with anti-Semitism.
"
I expect that Jews be included in multiculturalism but apparently Jews are expecting to support multiculturalism because of our history while at the same time only being wypipo doing wypipo things. We get the worst of both worlds.
"
I'm not but I sometimes feel the need to visibly express frustration.
"
I forgot the link:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/lgbt-jewish-charity-forced-to-pull-out-of-pride-over-safety-fears/ar-AA1E6G1u?ocid=socialshare&pc=HCTS&cvid=11f91002fcb94a508cfa50a7dcf6edce&ei=30&fbclid=IwY2xjawKE9FhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETF2aXlGWDRxM3JZNHU1STdjAR6DTIkZ7-gmsF9YhZ742mmqzmExB-YLQTcE6eJSSQWPR50WAPCeWb-An0M8bg_aem_geayahfvZacOgFZ90ryUDQ
"
Are you even capable of giving a clear answer or serious response?
"
Trump imposes 100% tariff on foreign movies. Anime fans join the resistance:
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t6ubj2wlhc34awzcymh3qpur/post/3loeysijf522m?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com%252F2025%252F05%252Fvery-stable-much-genius
"
In today's "we are merely anti-Zionist not anti-Semitic, yeah right", the United Kingdom's largest LGBT group forced to pull out of London Pride because of safety concerns.
"
Houthis fire a missile at Israel that hits near Ben-Gurion International Airport:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/04/middleeast/flights-halted-at-israel-airport-yemen-strike-intl
On “A Backlash Is Coming”
Way back in Obama's first term, Julian Sanchez wrote how the American Right was ending up in a system of epistemic closure because they are only exposed to people that agree with them. Being very online did that with large swathes of the liberal to left side of politics in the United States.
They are only talking to people they agree with and use the same jargon that they do. This turned a lot of social justice causes into something of a quasi-religion in how people approach them. When you point out that things like land acknowledgements or gender is a social construct is not how normies speak or see things, you can get a lot of push back from them. They don't know how to speak to people who aren't already in agreement and know the correct verbiage.
"
What a lot of very political 21st century people don't remember is that politics and news used to be a big source of entertainment for people. During the French Revolution, people went to the National Assembly not only because they were interested in what is going on but because it was the best theater show in Paris at the time. Likewise, the Golden Age of the Metropolitan Daily (TM) was because newspapers were a big source of entertainment. What we now call lifestyle sections always existed and they were always a lot more popular than the hard hitting news. Since people have many more entertainment options now, they don't need politics or the news to be a source of entertainment. This is why you get so many people without the faintest ideas of what is going on.
On LGM, another poster also pointed a related problem that society in most developed democracies is so high up on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs that politics becomes more about self-expression than forming policy. This is true for the entirety of the political spectrum even if it manifests differently on the left and right.
"
A lot of younger voters also like Bernie because he doesn't do the God thing like other Democratic candidates including Hillary Clinton did when necessary. I remember a poster on LGM describing Hillary Clinton as speaking fluent Methodist. Bernie Sanders doesn't do that and couldn't do it if his life depended on it. This really hurt him with the African-American faction of the Democratic Party but it got him a lot of popularity elsewhere.
Otherwise, this analysis is spot on. Bernie and even AOC's popularity has to do more with their personas than their policy preferences. There are a lot of people who do not understand this and believe that their popularity is more because of their policy preferences and they are tapping into a deep wellspring of unspoken for socialists. They aren't.
"
I'm joining the others on this. In local elections during November 2024 in some of the most left leaning places in the United States like Alameda County, the most left leaning Democrats lost to more moderate/centrist Democrats. California voters overwhelmingly voted for tough on crime ballot initiatives and rejected some liberals ones. Going full left is not the way to defeat Trump no matter how many people want it.
On “Open Mic for the Week of 4/28/2025”
Clashes in Syria between Druze and Pro-Government forces. The trouble has seemed to have started because of an anti-Mohammed internet post that was attributed to a Druze cleric.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-is-behind-latest-clashes-in-syria-between-druze-and-pro-government-gunmen/
"
First, Netanyahu has ulterior motives in being in Gaza for this long. Mainly to save his own skin. Second, there have been plenty of other protests against Netanyahu. Third, getting out for some international politics isn't a bad thing. Put other pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.
"
IDF reservists protest against Netanyahu in Israel, demand the end of the Israel-Hamas War. The only way forward if if Hamas and Netanyahu go away.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crldw5gklrro
"
It's the exact opposite of they wanted but just enough people voted for the politician that gave them what they don't want because they were angry at egg prices. Now thanks to avian flu, there aren't any eggs in the stores.
"
Happy Birthday Israel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=171nZBA3eTc
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.