Time to read THE LAST CENTURION?

Michael Everett wrote:

Dilandu wrote:One thing that coronavirus epidemic clearly demonstrated: socialism is better in dealing with large-scale disasters.

...yes and no. It's not socialism that is more able to focus on single-issue problems, it is authoritarianism. China may be a socialist country, but it is a highly authoritarian one (a small group lead, all the rest follow, dissent is not tolerated) meaning that as long as the leaders are competent, the projects initiated by them are generally fairly successful.
It is worth noting that China has been fighting an internal war against corruption ever since the days of Mao and while they seem to be holding their own, it is a never-ending struggle, especially since authoritarian societies do not have a free press to hold them to account, meaning that they rely on internal monitoring only.
No wonder China is one of the State Surveillance capitals.

Well, you also have the issue that apparently people in the US were avoiding getting tested because it was unclear who would be paying for the test (Pence announced today or yesterday that Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance would pay, ironically using a provision of the ACA).

Eyal wrote:
Well, you also have the issue that apparently people in the US were avoiding getting tested because it was unclear who would be paying for the test (Pence announced today or yesterday that Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance would pay, ironically using a provision of the ACA).

Didn't know that. Seriously, it's beyond ridiculous & start to tread into outright horrifying.

The Iranians are now accusing the US of creating the Coronavirus as a biological weapon:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-revo ... cal-attack

I have news for Iran. The Iranians might have already been targeted with w biological weapon that has had far more devastating results:


https://www.meforum.org/5000/strategic- ... s-iran-std

Aside from the effects of the inbreeding that is so common in Islamic countries, Iran is experiencing an epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, particularly Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia is particularly suitable as a biological weapon to target Muslim populations. Along with infecting humans, Chlamydia can infect sheep. Iran buys a lot of sheep from Australia. Iran insists that Australia ship live sheep rather than slaughtered sheep at much greater expense. Iran will not say why. While shepherds in Australia are often the targets of the same jokes as shepherds in America, it is easy to imagine a diabolical plot by some entity, possibly a NGO, systematically innoculating the export sheep with Chlamydia as the board the ship. The sheep will then infect any Iranians that molest them.

TFLYTSNBN wrote: Iran insists that Australia ship live sheep rather than slaughtered sheep at much greater expense. Iran will not say why.

...Really? You never heard about Eid al-Adha tradition among Muslim, which is linked with the traditional sacrifice of halal animal? Or that there are strict instructions in Islam, how exactly the animal must be culled? Do you know that Islam forbade the consumption of animal blood?

Seems not.

Dilandu wrote:

TFLYTSNBN wrote: Iran insists that Australia ship live sheep rather than slaughtered sheep at much greater expense. Iran will not say why.

...Really? You never heard about Eid al-Adha tradition among Muslim, which is linked with the traditional sacrifice of halal animal? Or that there are strict instructions in Islam, how exactly the animal must be culled? Do you know that Islam forbade the consumption of animal blood?

Seems not.

Actually, I did know that. I was simply ignoring it to make a joke. Since various Mullahs and Imans have actually written Fatwahs concerning the circumstances when bestiality is permissible under Islamic law, I am justified in making the joke.

https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/bestiality.htm

Of course since Bestiality is slightly more legal in America than in Iran you probably shouldn't unless you want some "glass houses" type comments.

Annachie wrote:Of course since Bestiality is slightly more legal in America than in Iran you probably shouldn't unless you want some "glass houses" type comments.

I had the impression that most of the windows where already broken...

It depends on your definition of socialism. Some confuse it as an authoritaranism or totalitarianism state. I regard it as where the state provides essential services like health and education for all citizens, as in all first world countries bar one.

Dilandu wrote:

Michael Everett wrote:...yes and no. It's not socialism that is more able to focus on single-issue problems, it is authoritarianism. China may be a socialist country, but it is a highly authoritarian one (a small group lead, all the rest follow, dissent is not tolerated) meaning that as long as the leaders are competent, the projects initiated by them are generally fairly successful.

Well, authoritarian capitalism generally tend to be fascism, which is notoriously bad in organising anything right. So, this hardly disprove my thesis (at least, not completely).

TFLYTSNBN wrote:


Actually, I did know that. I was simply ignoring it to make a joke. Since various Mullahs and Imans have actually written Fatwahs concerning the circumstances when bestiality is permissible under Islamic law, I am justified in making the joke.

https://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/bestiality.htm

Your sexual-themed jokes are incredibly boring, and your obsessive interest in proclaiming your sexual powers, frankly, caused nearly everyone to strongly suspect that your most common sexual partner in solely your hand.

Dilandu wrote:

Michael Everett wrote:...yes and no. It's not socialism that is more able to focus on single-issue problems, it is authoritarianism. China may be a socialist country, but it is a highly authoritarian one (a small group lead, all the rest follow, dissent is not tolerated) meaning that as long as the leaders are competent, the projects initiated by them are generally fairly successful.

Well, authoritarian capitalism generally tend to be fascism, which is notoriously bad in organising anything right. So, this hardly disprove my thesis (at least, not completely).

The chinese reaction to Corona shows both the advantages and disadvantages of authoritarianism quite clearly. On the one hand, yes, once the regime decided on a course of action, it was implemented swiftly. On the other, the bureaucracy's tendency to hide inconvenient news until they become truly unavoidable did delay the initial response for weeks.