What on earth is an appropriate response...

[Griffin NoName]

My son is married to a Japanese female. So add that to the tally.

.......Surely, if half the population of the world was universally against human-human violence, we would have made some progress by now?

Um. Surely if men and women's brains are created equal, we would have 50/50 Directors on the Boards of UK companies?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Not a fair comparison, privilege tends to remain in the group that owns it in the first place, for instance, the University of Florida (where my son is attending) has the following demographics:

Race	Student Body	State Demographics
NH White	56%	57%
NH African American	7%	17%
Hispanic	17%	23%
Asian	7%	3%
International students	9%	-

In a truly equal world the table above where the different populations are represented should match or be very close to the state demographics, which in this case only happens with whites, but both Hispanics and Blacks are underrepresented while Asians are overrepresented.

OTOH in US demographics 51.1% of the population are women vs 48.9% of men but in UF the ratio is 54:46 which means that women are overrepresented (and according to my son the trend keeps going up). This one is an interesting trend that also shows up in High, Middle and Elementary school as a higher level of achievement for women than for men. It has been argued that women naturally have an advantage to remain focused from an early age compared to men, and that testosterone during and after adolescence increases the difference.

So to sum up, if anything Boards of Directors should have more women than men just going by achievement, but I'm sure that those are overwhelmingly old white men, regardless of the demographics of the UK, not because they're better at their jobs but because they are very good at keeping their influence.

[Aggie]

OTOH despite all the xenophobic attempts to the contrary over millennia, men have absolutely no problem mating with women of other races, countries or religions.

Not to change the subject...
They do if they're old, fat and ugly men...

Only if they're old, fat, ugly and poor men.  Rich ones have no issues. Wealth can be very much a relative thing, as far as that goes.

.......Surely, if half the population of the world was universally against human-human violence, we would have made some progress by now?

Um. Surely if men and women's brains are created equal, we would have 50/50 Directors on the Boards of UK companies?

If men and women's primary focus in mate-finding was the same, then perhaps; perhaps you'd also see the rates of cosmetic surgery and makeup use become equal between men and women.  Until then, you'll continue to see men motivated by power and money and clawing to the top at any cost, as it's the most reliable way for a man to be regarded highly by high-status members of the opposite sex (or same sex, as may apply...). You'll also continue to see women (even the very brightest in the business world) leverage beauty into power.  I do not believe the latter is exclusively male-driven, either (i.e. that prettier women get promoted by chauvinistic men over plainer but more talented ones).  I've worked in enough environments with significant numbers of female personnel to have seen how beauty is used between women to achieve and enforce social dominance.

[Griffin NoName]

Yes, Zono.

I don't disagree Aggie.

[Griffin NoName]

Now reports of Jews saying they don't feel safe living in Britain. Big increase in policing Jewish areas. It's like we caught a virus from France and Belgium. I wonder where they would feel safe.

[Swatopluk]

Probably not in Israel. One kind of fanatics lobbing (highly inefficient) rockets into the land, another kind lobbying the government for an "Armenian" solution and parts of the government itself dream about Nuremberg laws of their own (some of them likely as only the first step).

As usual, I feel inclined to propose the Cyprus plan (Kick ALL those quarrelers, both Greeks and Turks, out of Cyprus, transfer Israel there, create a Palestinian buffer state between Germany and Poland, then let the Chinese nuke the Holy Land and especially the Holy Mount out of existence for good).

[goat starer]

Extreme... But not without merit...

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Too complicated regarding Cyprus and the Palestinians, but warning the inhabitants a week before nuking the place out of existence, and let the sea cover what remains sounds far more agreeable. The problem is the radiation. OTOH using antimatter may be a cleaner alternative.

[Griffin NoName]

The Chinese probably export goods to the Holy Mount.

[Swatopluk]

The radiation is a feature not a bug there. Otherwise the Holy Mount would simply be replaced by the Holy Lake The Lord will rise out of at the End of Days.
Spike the bombs with cobalt!

[Griffin NoName]

By the way, just wondering, do you consider this an appropriate response?

[Swatopluk]

Appropriate highly dependent on the context.
In the present company, I'd consider it to be within reason.
If there was anyone directly affected present, I'd be far more careful.
The "Cyprus Plan" is an example of an extreme 'out of the box' approach to a problem that seem to be unsolvable by 'reasonable' means.
It aims at a number of root problems and connects them in an unconventional way. It could be used as a serious discussion starter.
Admittedly it is at least in part an angry reaction to the way the idiots on location and their backers and opponents abroad sabotage anything that coluld improve the situation. Like a parent that may threaten to smash a favorite toy that two kids cannot stop quarrelling about (and create havoc while doing it on a regular base): "If you handle it this way, then neither of you deserves it!". Cyprus is a similar problem in the neighbourhood. In that case the advantage would be that there would be a natural place for both the Greeks and the Turks to go while the Jews would need a place of their own that presently does not exist (outside the disputed territory on the Eastern Mediterranean coast).
The 'Holy Land' has been the cause of bloodshed for thousands of years now and the only way to prevent it from staying that way would be to get rid of it for good. The only way would be (since it cannot be wished away) to use burnt/salted earth on a level that could not be reversed in the forseeable future => spiked nukes would be about the only option and China the only 'neutral' power to do it (all other states owning enough nuclear weapons are too deeply involved).
The removal of the 'Holy Land' would get rid of one of the main focal points of terrorism-connected conflicts (be they real or just use Israel as a tool to incite a target audience). It would by no means solve ALL problems there but enough to at least consider it (in theory).
I try to imagine how milleniarists and their ilk would cope with a physical irreversible removal of the base of their (real or pretended) faith, the place where the events of Revelations are supposed to take place, since that faith is so crude that it requires certain physical features to be present.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Holy Lake? You're thinking too small, I'm thinking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean finally connected by something as large as the Ormuz Strait, no more dead sea, no more Israel or Palestine, a large coast for Jordan reaching into Lebanon. Granted, it would probably take all the nukes in the world detonated underground and it may not be enough, but the point would be that nothing would ever be there anymore. Note, the point is not to kill everybody living in Israel/Palestine but to erase the idea of a Holy Land, in fact it could be read as the fulfillment of some sort of rapture, and who knows, it may even bring a peace that would last a thousand years.
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Personally I think it would be a shame for all the archaeology that would be lost under such 'solution', but then again, the status quo has proven very destructive anyway.
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As a serious proposal it may not be appropriate, even if pragmatic (in theory), but I agree with Swato that in the absence of a solution (short of the disappearance of Palestine one settlement at a time) making radical proposals may bring some context to the problem.