In 1900, 25% of the Middle East was Christian. Then, partially due to genocides, ethnic cleansings, and other violence…now the Christian population is 4%.
After the Ottoman Empire fell, the Western powers split up the land into different countries, then, partially in attempts to consolidate these nationalistic states, the peoples of these new states committed atrocities against minorities.
In the Middle East, the peoples who didn’t have their own state, were often slaughtered, including the Jews, yet people think the Jews will be okay living in an Arab majority Palestine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD0jIXXjABM
What Would Abdul El-Sayed Have America Do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7MVyjL-rbk
US advisors and special forces have been involved in Yemen since Obama-times, fighting Al Qaeda terrorists, then also the Houthis. These missions killed some terrorists, but Yemen remains a major problem with no long-term solution in sight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LykKutgORVs
It sounds like the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy Jury was a liar who didn’t vote on the law. Whether you like it or not, defense by insanity is part of the law. If you don’t like it, write your representative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdv2ujuvC5U
Congresses and presidents give tax breaks for the wealthy and give the wealthy regulatory protection at the expense of everyone else because congress members and presidents are the wealthy. They are protecting themselves and people like them, screwing over everyone else.
https://www.capitalisnt.com/episodes/why-congress-protects-car-dealers-more-than-elon-musk-ft-eric-zwick
The Trump-Xi meeting didn’t change much, if anything important, but it does keep the conversation open, and, maybe more technical people can work something more substantial out.
A president meeting a foreign leader at the airport is rare and is a sign of deference and weakness. Xi stood at the top of his airplane steps, while Trump waited at the bottom like a subservient vassal. Probably doesn’t matter in the greater scheme of things, but goes along with Trump’s flooding dictators with love and praise while repeatedly violating the rule of law himself.
Despite Trump’s public subservience to China and its leader, and despite backing down at his attempts of major trade war against China, the Trump administration is still pushing back against China in smaller, yet important, and less headline grabbing, ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuiOsKZPuYQ
Maybe we’ve reached the end of history in the sense that domestic and international conflict is no longer about major differences in worldview, like Republicanism VS monarchy, or Communism VS Capitalism/Democracy, but relatively small ideological differences and a focus on: first-world middle class people making their lives relatively better, groups who haven’t done as well getting butthurt about their relative status, and great power contests more about territory, power, and security dilemmas than ideological differences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o51JjiGRGP8
Ethiopia is returning to civil war with an alliance of many groups with different interests working against the central government.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abf8ty-cKI8
What Airbags Can Teach Us About AI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUzfGELUOUo
The FBI was about to launch a corruption probe into Republican senator Susan Collins when Trump got into office and nixed it. Did Trump likely do this for legitimate reasons, or was he corruptly making government decisions to defend a senator who belongs to his political party?
Typical MAGA operators were involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2PjQi-c9mQ