RationalWiki talk:What is going on in the world?

What is going on?

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Greta Thunberg arrested again

Yesterday Greta Thunberg was arrested in Hague at an environmentalist protest for blocking a highway. It should be in WIGO. 🇷🇸 Serbian Arbiter (What would you have your arbiter do?) 15:01, 7 April 2024 (UTC)

Highlighting certain countries

"European UnionGay LGBT+ think tank ILGA Europe release its Rainbow Map for 2024. Top five countries are; Malta, Iceland, Belgium, Spain & Denmark. Bottom five are; Russia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Armenia & Belarus. Ireland came 15th and the UK came 16th out of 49 countries."

Is there any reasons for the extra mentioning of UK and Ireland? ^{— Unsigned, by: 2a0a:a549:20a1:0:f177:a8db:b3ce:f314 / talk / contribs}

because of the user base AMassiveGay (talk) 11:10, 17 May 2024 (UTC)

Ireland has a population of 5 million. That should be a higher user base than the large European countries? Are there any user statistics? ^{— Unsigned, by: 2a0a:a548:e3b6:0:a38b:e172:ee8:f45e / talk / contribs}

Taiwan has new president and the speech is chilling

'Stop threatening Taiwan', its new president William Lai tells China--John123521 (talk) 12:27, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Why is it chilling? That he's calling it out? Have you not heard about how China is trying to claim the Taiwan Strait as 'internal waters' and thus stop foreign [esp military] ships going through it? Or bullying 'patrols' around Taiwanese islands? KarmaPolice (talk) 15:04, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Guardian on Golden rice in the Philippines

As someone who is married to a Filipina and spending the winter time there every year. It's a non issue on Philippine media. In general, the most in the Philippines have similar problems than Americans. To much junk food, to much sugar, to little physical activities. The average Filipino eats six to eight cups of rice every day which is an additional huge carbon hydrate intake.It's not uncommon that they start suffering from diabetics type 2 in their late 40s. There is no general vitamin A shortage in the regular Philippine diet.

So why now this issue? There are a few mountain tribes who eat only rice. Nothing but rice. That's malnutrition and many of them die early. Only very few make it into their 40s. But the guardian figure of 100,000s of dying kids is heavily overblown. These tribes are relatively small. For years scientists are trying to convince them to add some local fruits or vegetables but they rejected. They tried Golden Rice. It was also rejected. What is needed? Another years or even decades of work. Golden Rice should neither been banned not seen as the only feasable solution. It should just be an option.

The Guardian published a piece of overblown lobby alarmism. They tried to balance it a little bit but it remains obvious. ^{— Unsigned, by: 2a0a:a548:e3b6:0:a38b:e172:ee8:f45e / talk / contribs}

'Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in more than half of all countries, especially those in Africa and South-East Asia.' (WHO report)

But I'm sure your own personal experience trumps the WHO and other experts. You considered the fact that they might have a better view of the big picture than you and that's what the article writer(s) were using as a factual basis? KarmaPolice (talk) 19:38, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

The AAAS estimated that 15% of Filipino infants and children have vitamin A deficiency, which is a number they may be obtaining from a DOST-FNRI survey that does indeed say the focus of the issue is among the poor and rural. Note that the Guardian estimate for 100,000 deaths per year due to vitamin A deficiency I think is a world-wide estimate, not specific to the Philippines (it matches the low-end of what is in the Wiki article on Vitamin A deficiency.)

The problem here is that the Greenpeace-pressured court decision does prevent Vitamin A rice from becoming "an option". As noted in the DOST-FNRI survey link, vitamin A deficiency is not an issue with most Filipino diets (if you include *anything* other than all-carb stuff like rice, it seems like you are covered) and I think the Matin Qaim quoted in the article is engaging in a little bit of hyperbole, considering that vitamin A also is available in other ways (eg supplemental pills). But it's an issue nonetheless for certain populations, of which Vitamin A rice might help. Greenpeace is not helping by engaging in GMO oogie-boogie here, which is not surprising for them. BobJohnson (talk) 20:54, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

There's questions on how well a human body can take up micros up via suppliments [the consensus appears to currently be 'better than nothing, but not as good as the Real Thing™'], staple fortification costs money [we in the West have been doing this to breakfast cereals, bread and fruit juices for a century] and we're all familiar with the use of flouride in drinking water [since the 1940s]. The idea of 'genetic fortification' is that it means the folks who consume the crop directly from the farms get the benefit, while traditionally the crop would need to be processed in a factory first. But we have to remember malnutrition is much more a contributory factor of early death rather than the direct reason; we see this in places where in the UK where millions of Britons [due to poverty and ignorance] are falling into the 'fat but malnourished' category [and I expect the Americans to be even worse here]. KarmaPolice (talk) 15:27, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

German legalities

Does this court case merit a mention here (or the Provisional Imperial Government page be updated). Anna Livia (talk) 19:31, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Self-referential question

Would RW reaching 8k articles be noteworthy enough for this list? Anna Livia (talk) 23:45, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

I think not. Wikidrama isn't really news, is it? However, I wouldn't say no to having a front page banner on the main page for say, reaching 10k or say, reaching our 20th (22nd May 27). KarmaPolice (talk) 00:53, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

"Useful idiot"

This phrase crops up now and again here, usually to describe a left wing politician who questions western foreign policy, and leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Should we also start using it about every politician who tries to justify acts committed in our name?

Nobody is right if everybody's wrong. London Grump (talk) 10:32, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

...that's not what useful idiot means. A "useful idiot" is one who thinks they are truly fighting for a cause, when in reality they are merely parroting propaganda or in some way being manipulated politically without them realizing it. It's a Cold War leftover phrase, but still occasionally applicable. These days probably the most prominent "useful idiot" is hardly left-wing: Tucker Carlson, whose unrequited love of Vladimir Putin and other strongmen is obviously done with zero critical thinking and with much regurgitation of strongmen propaganda. Simply questioning a Western foreign policy does not make one a "useful idiot". BobJohnson (talk) 12:57, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

Are there no examples of someone being called a useful idiot just for questioning Western foreign policy? In a field as charged as (geo)politics, I would be surprised if there were no examples of someone insinuating a critic is a propagandist or misled dupe to discredit their criticism. Carthage (talk) 13:06, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

According to the Wigo at least, she is not "just" questioning Western foreign policy, she supports downright dictators just because they are anti-western. If she isn't a useful idiot, she's extremely disingenuous. GeeJayK^{Where all evil dwells} _{Where every lie is true} 13:10, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

Notice I wasn't asking about Clare Daly. Carthage (talk) 13:11, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

Not in the exact words, but in the past I have heard Jeremy Corbyn be called things like 'a tool' or 'being naive' in regards to his foreign policy stances. KarmaPolice (talk) 13:17, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

I took a quick scan of news headlines, and it didn't take long to find an example of the phrase applied wrong: Heritage tool Nile Gardiner calling Kamala Harris "Hamas' useful idiot" in the Torygraph for... er, tepid pressure on Netanyahu to not invade Rafah, I guess. [1] (Although by the absurdly overwrought rhetoric in the column, you would think that Gardiner was reacting to someone killing a puppy or something.)

So, yeah, that's an example of that phrase being used quite wrongly. I'm sure there's many more examples out there. But when you are at the level of being a Russia spy apologetic (as the Wiki on Daly seems to indicate), I think the term "useful idiot" could apply. BobJohnson (talk) 14:22, 12 June 2024 (UTC)