The News Thread

[HamburgerBoy]

iirc, many murderers will claim self-defense in the course of their legal defense. Even if blacks and whites, whether validly arguing self-defense or not, claim self-defense at the same rate, the statistics will naturally be skewed to show more blacks failing to claim self-defense than whites, on the simple basis that blacks commit murder more often.

 

[CiG]

New Zealand bans sales of homes to foreigners.

New Zealand's parliament has banned many foreigners from buying existing homes in the country - a move aimed at making properties more affordable.

The ban only applies to non-residents. Australians and Singaporeans are exempt because of free-trade deals.

New Zealand is facing a housing affordability crisis which has left home ownership out of reach for many.

Low interest rates, limited housing stock and immigration have driven up prices in recent years.

 

[viewerfromnihil]

New Zealand bans sales of homes to foreigners.

That's a rather misleading title, coming from the BBC. Banning sales to non-residents, considering the ascendant Chinese elite and New Zealand's increasing status as a vacation destinations, makes sense. Why let prices rise because of home purchases from people who aren't even going to live there?

 

[rms]

isnt that exactly what the title suggests?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Yeah I'm about as laissez-faire as you can get when it comes to most things global trade-related, but the fact that all nations don't try to curtail speculative investment on real estate is baffling when they tax the fuck out of their own citizens already. If not a ban, why don't governments at least add a foreign-national non-resident property tax bonus? Like, charge them triple or something, anything that at least improves social service funding for local residents.

 

[CiG]

isnt that exactly what the title suggests?

What I was going to say. The title is just a more crude version of what BO said lol.

 

[Einherjar86]

I think BO was pointing out that the title will be read by many as denying housing to low-income immigrants and those in desperate need of shelter--not to vacationers looking to buy a second (or third, of fourth) house.

It's crude, but it's also highly suggestive considering our current geopolitical climate.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I think any title that contains "Bans... foreigners..." immediately triggers a fight-or-flight response in people left-of-center.

 

[CiG]

Yeah I certainly didn't interpret it that way. Besides, since when do low income immigrants and people in desperate need of shelter buy houses?

 

[Dak]

Yeah I certainly didn't interpret it that way. Besides, since when do low income immigrants and people in desperate need of shelter buy houses?

A point lost on privileged urban Americans.

 

[rms]

It's crude, but it's also highly suggestive considering our current geopolitical climate.

Asians fear Chinese $'s more than we know

 

[Einherjar86]

Just letting you guys in on a little secret about "privileged urban Americans."

BO's comment was on point because that headline would trigger a response from left-of-center readers, as HBB said. And it doesn't have to, given the information that BO provided. But we live in a social media culture of headlines, clickbait, and news notifications. Everything needs to be miniaturized for expediency. Not the fault of those who hold certain values, just the limitations of the information regime.

 

[rms]

cant just admit it's a non logical interpretation of the headline based on leftist biases?

 

[Einherjar86]

You can't just admit that interpretation isn't a matter of logic, but of values. There's no baseline "logical" interpretation of language, as the failure of logical positivism in the early-20thc has already demonstrated.

 

[CiG]

Either the title gets you to click based on the words included and their relation to certain topics that interest you, or you attack/avoid the article based on its title and you're an idiot. I take a title with a grain of salt most of the time, often I barely even register them as a sentence and just look for relevant words in them.

But it's the case that information saturation requires clickbait. It's really no different to OTT cover art on albums or movies which are used to manipulate consumption. Judging a book by its cover is simply the act of using your time economically, like any other resource that you shouldn't/wouldn't just piss away on any old thing that comes along.

 

[Einherjar86]

But it's the case that information saturation requires clickbait.

I agree 100%. And all BO was saying was that the headline is misleading and/or politically suggestive based on the language used. That's all. He wasn't even objecting to the content of the piece.

 

[CiG]

Oh indeed. I simply thought it was funny that his description of the article more or less matched the admittedly crude title. It was a good example of political correctness making something more turgid than it needs to be.

 

[Dak]

https://www.newsweek.com/teenager-who-escaped-isis-slavery-says-captor-found-her-germany-1076808

As I've said, immigrants/refugees/etc. are not a homogeneous suite.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

50% on steel Russia needs to take note on how to properly punish offenders with tariffs.

Edit: Ugh. They need to stop bringing up that whores name ever time Armenians are mentioned.

 

[The Ozzman]

Every time I see this mentioned, it is from a questionable source in terms of credibility. Now it is legitimate:

South African government begins seizing white-owned farms

https://www.news.com.au/finance/eco...s/news-story/8937f899bd3f131bfc4ffb648ea5c53b