!opinion
@lemmy.mlI think most people agree that rugby teams are too heavy. Players are under too much pressure to bulk up, beyond what is healthy. Bigger pack weight does give a big advantage in a match, but it does not make rugby a better game.
There should be a maximum team weight. Maybe 1500kg for 15 players. Teams can still use very heavy players, but they must keep the total team weight under a limit. So being very heavy is a slight disadvantage for a player. The existing incentive will be reversed, to keep below a limit, to a healthier weight.
Very heavy players will still be selected, only if they are skillful enough to be worth keeping, despite the difficulty they create in keeping the team under the limit.
This does reduce the advantage very heavy peoples like the Europeans have over lighter peoples like the Asians. So it might be unpopular among supporters. I think it would instead make things more interesting. It would mean more teams can seriously compete in international events.
After reading what Varadkar said about genocide yesterday (“Varadkar rules out joining South African genocide case”), there are many things you could say. I’m going to gloss over whether a man who contradicts himself in mid argument is fit to be in government, and focus on a bigger issue.
Genocide is where somebody selectively kills part of a population because of their race, religion, ethnicity, creed, etc.
It is not necessary to kill every member of of the target group, to commit a genocide.
Genocide is a two part process. The target population is first isolated in a certain place, then massacred. If non-target people are first given the opportunity to leave, before the massacre starts, then that is further evidence of genocide.
Common definitions of genocide (and there are several) focus on intent. Intent is difficult to prove. Definitions of crimes only make sense when they focus on the actual act, not on speculation about actor’s intent.
A bombing is not a genocide, nor is a massacre. Isolating a certain population inside a walled off region, and then bombing it, is a genocide. Isolating a people in a certain region, then withdrawing the supply of water, or blocking the importation of medicine, is also genocide. Driving into a town and shooting everyone, is not genocide.
After reading what Varadkar said about genocide yesterday ("Varadkar rules out joining South African genocide case"), there are many things you could say. I'm going to gloss over whether a man who contradicts himself in mid argument is fit to be in government, and focus on a bigger issue.
Genocide is where somebody selectively kills part of a population of a certain race, religion, ethnicity, creed, etc.
It is not necessary to kill every member of of the target group, to commit a genocide.
Genocide is a two part process. The target population is first isolated in a certain place, then massacred. If non-target people are first given the opportunity to leave, before the massacre starts, then that is further evidence of genocide.
Common definitions of genocide (and there are several) focus on intent. Intent is difficult to prove. Definitions of crimes only make sense when they focus on the actual act, not on speculation about actor's intent.
A bombing is not a genocide, nor is a massacre. Isolating a certain population inside a walled off region, and then bombing it, is a genocide. Isolating a people in a certain region, then withdrawing the supply of water, or blocking the importation of medicine, is also genocide. Driving into a town and shooting everyone, is not genocide.
I find most news sources and people think of all wars the same way. But that means they only understand the wars superficially. The two recent talked about ones, Palestine and Ukraine, are good examples.
Russia and Ukraine are very poor countries, with memory of extreme poverty and famine. They are obsessed with food security. The recent changes in Ukraine, the coup d'état, the broken peace treaty, etc, don't directly harm Russia, but they are perceived as worsening Russians' food security. This is a the thing that most frightens Russians. They must do everything they can to protect themselves against risk of famine. That is why there is a war.
When Russians say things like "we are acting against an aggression against us. This invasion is purely self-defense."
If you want to stop the war, you must address those concerns.
Israelis are obsessed with the old testament. It says that they are exceptional. Jews are God's one true people. They are precious and other people are disposable. It defines a chunk of the middle east that belongs to the Jews, and says it is their destiny to recapture it and expel or kill its inhabitants. It gives examples where a small crime can justify going to war. It justifies genocide by Jews against other tribes.
That is why there is continuous expansion of Israel into Muslin lands, including massacres and expulsions of Muslims by Israel. But any similar crime against an Israeli is leads to disproportionate and collective punishment against his whole people. That's why Israelis don't have a problem with this activity.
When Israeli statesmen say things like "they are just animals" or "what do you mean innocent Palestinian" this is what they mean.
If you want to stop the war in Palestine, you have to address that underlying rationale.
WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg condemned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday over a campaign video that criticizes former President Donald Trump for his past support for LGBTQ Americans.
“I just don't understand the mentality of somebody who gets up in the morning, thinking that he's going to prove his worth by competing over who can make life hardest for a hard-hit community that is already so vulnerable in America,” Buttigieg said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union.
The video, released on the DeSantis War Room Twitter account on Friday, the last day of June’s LGBTQ Pride Month, has been criticized by gay-rights groups and even some Republicans as bordering on homophobia. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
It shows footage of Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention saying he would do everything in his power to protect LGBTQ citizens. He had been pledging protection from terrorist attacks weeks after the shootings at the Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at that time.
The video also highlights “LGBTQ for Trump” T-shirts sold by the former president’s campaign and his past comments saying he would be comfortable with Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, using any bathroom at Trump Tower.
Shifting gears, the video also shows images of DeSantis, who is seeking the GOP nomination for president, accompanied by dark, thumping music and promotes headlines about legislation he signed into law restricting transgender rights. The images are spliced together with footage of muscular, shirtless men and several Hollywood actors, including Brad Pitt, seen wearing a leather mask from the movie “Troy.”
Asked by CNN to respond to the video, Buttigieg, who is gay, said he was going to leave aside “the strangeness of trying to prove your manhood by putting up a video that splices images of you in between oiled-up, shirtless bodybuilders and just get to the bigger issue that is on my mind whenever I see this stuff in the policy space, which is, again, who are you trying to help.”
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2023-06-26/stop-accepting-an-economic-system-that-forces-people-into-homelessness
A teacher can teeter on the edge of poverty nourishing young minds, while hedge fund managers can make billions doing little of value. Something's wrong with that.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-25/poland-election-democracy-authoritarianism
The coming election could embolden authoritarians abroad like Vladimir Putin, who is already waging war next door in Ukraine.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-24/adam-schiff-censure-joe-biden-impeachment-john-durham-kevin-mccarthy
The censure of Rep. Adam B. Schiff was only one of the Republicans' boneheaded attempts to weaponize the government against Democrats.