Simcoe Alkadhi

Martial Artist. Computer Scientist.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

He's a poor king, who quiets the fool.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@Absolute_Kganki @GlobeEyeNews It connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@preta_6 @RichardDawkins Interesting hypothesis, but if we assume that there's a relationship between sensitivity to pain and intelligence, wouldn't that suggest that less intelligent species are also less sensitive to pain?

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@ShannonBDouglas I'm not an art historian but the perspective and colour use in the image resembles the renaissance style, which didn't emerge until the 14th century.

Also the right hand looks a bit off.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

The world would be a safer place if everyone learned some practical self defence.

[Diana S. Fleischman @sentientist]

Once, on a late night train from London to Portsmouth a drunk man was abusive to the conductor, and threatened him bodily.
In front of me two large men sat apart. I stopped reading my book, waiting for them to glance at each other in a way that indicated "if shit goes down we have to cooperate".
And, that glance never came.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @patrissimo Could you give any examples of restricted technologies that, if the restrictions were lifted, would lead to decreased harm?

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@RukhsanaSukhan Happy birthday!

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @Lohvitcher @wil_da_beast630 Jews have been a persecuted minority throughout the Middle East for millennia, and the subjective experience of one man who was born in Iraq and lived there in affluence until age five does not, as you put it, "turn this whole narrative to ashes".

[Alexandros Marinos 🏴‍☠️ @alexandrosM]

This is, of course, false. One look at the story of the Iraqi Jews, and how the Zionists helped create a situation where they were forced to emigrate to Israel, turns this whole narrative to ashes.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @Lohvitcher @wil_da_beast630 Arab is an ethnicity, and the way you are using it does not even align with how Avi Shlaim defines the term, which is also nonsense ("you have to have lived in an Arab country").

Many native Arabic speakers in the Arab world are not ethnic Arabs.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@Slade70 Neither side leaves much room for nuance on this issue but it's still disheartening to see purity tests coming from the ones that purport to be progressive.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but as someone who's been into martial arts and gaming/D&D for decades, neither feels like they've been (or are in the process of being) "taken over" by women, and both benefit from more female presence in the space.

[Alaric @0xAlaric]

Every time there’s a male “thing” that gets taken over by women it follows the same format.

1. The hobby is an unspoken boys’ club, focused on a male-oriented activity (MMA, DnD, gaming, etc.)

2. A few women join, still a very small part of the overall community. They mostly join because they’re actually interested in the thing. They don’t want special treatment and participate mostly along the established male norms of the group.

This leads to some awkwardness among the men, but isn’t a death sentence in itself.

3. The women in the group are painted as pioneers, brave and laudable centers of attention for breaking barriers. So, more women join. Many more.

Now, they often join as a form of social status smurfing, or for a female peer group (which doesn’t exist naturally in male hobbies), or for access to men. This round usually has only a tangential interest in the thing at hand.

4. With more women involved, many of whom are not interested in the core of the subculture, the norms and practices change to accommodate them. The culture of an MMA gym becomes less aggressive and in-your-face; DnD communities focus more on romance/socializing and less on battles; gaming becomes what it is now.

The women of the second “wave” get a sort of stolen valor, for being “pioneers” in the subculture, even though their inclusion irreparably changed it for the worse, alienating the core (male and female) group.

The women of the first wave usually quietly grumble about this, but that’s it. Any man who complains is painted as a misogynist.

This happens in a different way in female-oriented hobbies dealing with men, but that’s a far less common situation.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @JjinUk64 I looked at the crosstabs. The trends are not as clear cut, especially given that they lump 18-34 into a single group, but they support my points.

The older cohorts view Hamas more unfavourably, and there are less (older) that have "never heard of them" or have "no opinion".

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @JjinUk64 "Intuitively, you really expect a 15yo to have an opinion?!"

I would expect a 15yo to be more informed by social media (eg X, tiktok, ig) than legacy media and thus to skew more left-wing, which would support the trend that can be observed from the polls.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @JjinUk64 I agree that the pie charts are noise and should be ignored.

There is a clear trend in most of the responses: The younger the cohort, the more sympathy w/ Hamas.

If we imagine an "11-17" column, based on the raw data, it would be more LIKELY to see the trend continue.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @JjinUk64 1. Hunch/personal bias. Younger people and unregistered voters more likely to hold left-wing ("post-colonial") views.

2. Imagine there was an "11-17" year old column. There is a clear trend on almost every question where the younger cohorts are more sympathetic to Hamas.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@JjinUk64 @alexandrosM Thanks, and agreed RE: Alexandros. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the man and the work he has done.

Can't speak to why, I just lament that this conflict has become another fault line upon which people who I generally regard as being on the same side are divided.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @JjinUk64 Also, if we account for GenZers aged 11-17 as well as aged 18-24 non-registered voters, the cohort would likely skew more in favour of Hamas, not less.

https://t.co/5gbt1qHPLt

[Alexandros Marinos 🏴‍☠️ @alexandrosM]

4. GenZ is 11 to 26 years old right now.

Claiming that the answers of the registered voters between 18-24 represent the whole 15-year window without even qualifying it is sheer madness, and the professor does absolutely know better than this.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

@alexandrosM @JjinUk64 From the second question alone you can see the difference in how Gen Z perceives the attack vs older cohorts.

Over 1/3 of 18-24s (36%) do not consider it a terrorist attack, vs approximately
1/4 25-34s (24%)
1/5 35-44s (20%)
1/7 45-54s (14%)
1/13 55-64s (8%)
1/20 65+ (5%)

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

I'd like to reiterate that I was not able to transcribe everything that was said, and in some cases I just summarized what I heard as best I could.

In case I missed anything significant or got anything wrong please don't hesitate to mention, thank you.

@preta_6 @JamesCantorPhD

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

Third consecutive day of hearings has reconvened after an hour long in-camera session which was closed to the public.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

Observing this hearing today.

Much of the past (first) hour was spent establishing @JamesCantorPhD's qualification and experience as an expert witness.

Over 20 cases in which he was called upon to provide testimony were cited.

[Simcoe Alkadhi @MrSiMr]

... assuming Dr. Cantor is determined to be a qualified expert witness.

Defence (respondent) has no objections. Panel approves and adjurns, to reconvene on October 31st.