Heya, kids, here are some numbers that I find interesting and that you might find interesting, too.Daily Kos Israel-related pieces thus far in 2014: 385
Daily Kos Syria-related pieces thus far in 2014: 143
Thus a 2.7 to 1 greater interest in the Arab-Israel conflict among "Kossacks" than in the Syrian civil war during the current year.
Estimated casualties in current Gaza-Israel conflict: 1,500
Estimated casualties in current Syrian civil war: 150,000
Thus the catastrophe in human lives in Syria is approximately 100 times more devastating than in the Gazan conflict.
100 x 2.7 = 270.
This means - in a crude, but nonetheless ethically significant calculus - that "Kossacks" demonstrate 270 times more interest for every Gazan life than they do for every Syrian life.
That is a rather large disparity, don't you think? If it had worked out to, say, 3 or 4 times more interest in Gazan lives than Syrian lives it might have made some sense, given the media play that the Arab-Israel conflict generates.
But 270 to 1?
That seems rather... disproportionate.
Don't you think?
It's a proportionate response to the disproportionate response of the response that wasn't as proportionate as it should have proportionately been.
ReplyDeleteMe, I'm a partisan for proportionate portions of shwarma.
Back to the interest of Kossacks, I think it's something along the lines of JOOOOOOZ!!1!
Shawerma?
DeleteDon't even say that word to me because I love shawerma and I am starving to death, dadnabbit!
There is a little joint down High Street in Oakland called Lena's Soul Food Cafe and if any member of the Taliban decides they want to risk facing off against me and Laurie, we can be found there ordering up fried chicken, braised ox-tails, collards, and yams at around 6 PM this evening.
I don't think that they have the guts!
;O)
I have to say, Jay, I love this little hole-in-the-wall joint.
Probably the best red beans and rice that I have ever had.
You would like this place, I bet.
It is small, no nonsense, inexpensive, authentic, and delicious.
Laurie and I will be the only white people in the entire place and that's how I know the food will be good!
Sounds great! Now I want some mac and cheese. ;)
DeleteI've been into Dominican myself lately, hitting up as many of the little corner markets / take-out delis as I can here in Kensington. And there are many. Cibao is one of my new favorites. Carne de res guisada (Dominican stewed beef) over rice is one of the greatest comfort foods on the planet.
I particularly love the steam table places where I don't even know what the stuff is, and the person behind the counter doesn't speak English. My ears don't work too well to begin with, and I only speak pidgin taco truck Spanish and whatever I can remember of the two years of high school Spanish I took twenty years ago.
Adds a wonderful element of surprise. Just point to a rice or a mashed plantain base, and then point to whatever stew looks best.
"Gimme some of this, and top it with that!"
I gotta finally start up that lunch counter blog project, is what I gotta get around to doing soon...
I suspect part of it might be because the dingbats at dHamas think they might be able to actually DO something about it whereas they know they carry no influence over Syria. That and antisemitism/Israel hate. If you look at the cloying titles the terror loving SOB's use you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I get the impression they are falling over one another to get the perfect anti-Israel diary out there...almost DESPERATELY and you gotta know what that is about.
What we need to understand is that what blogs and magazines on the left are doing is carrying out their end of Hamas' media strategy.
DeleteThe strategy is this:
1) Shoot rockets into Israel until it has to respond.
2) Place Gazan women and children in front of those rockets in order to maximize casualties.
3) Complain that Israel is killing children (the blood-libel) and is indescriminately attacking civilians, which is precisely what Hamas does.
4) Count on the western-progressive news media and political blogs to condemn Israel for attacking children and women and cripples and puppies.
5) Thereby ratchet up the hate against not only Israel, but Jews throughout the world
It cost them, so far, about 1,500 of their own people to manufacture international hatred.
I suppose that they consider it worth it.
Btw, since this post, there have been 16 more diaries tagged Israel, containing 2,428 comments and 1,671 recommends; compared to one tagged Syria, which drew 3 comments and 6 recommends.
ReplyDeleteCase closed.