Split New York City Mayoral Race

[Tigers!]

blah blah blah...You are quick to excuse his support for Palestinian violence ... blah blah blah

I've checked in a few times to this ridiculously derailed thread and I will repeat again what I said before.

The cause of the dem loss is well-documented. It was most related to economics.

That SHOULD BE the end of the thread. However, some people want to use the thread as their own personal platform to go on ad infinitum in attacks against anything related to Democrats.

It isn't worth the effort to read every page in this thread, but I will continue to check in every long while to yet again point this out to people.

Your stamina and dedication is an inspiration to us all.

 

[pood]

Ha, I like that video and I like Mamdani!

What a surprise!

I also eat at NYC halal food carts,

Spoken like a true islamoleftist.

Spiting of Derec: mission accomplished!

Incidentally, before sitting down to write this, I grabbed a coffee from another halal cart. I paid a buck instead of the $3.76 I would have had to pay for the same coffee at the white-bread corporate Starbucks one black away.

Also, there is no such thing as an “islamoleftist.” This is a made-up word by right-wing hate media to stir up simple-minded people against both leftists and Muslims. Not surprisingly, you took the bait.

What you and they call “islamoleftist” describes people who do not wish to see 2 billion Muslims worldwide dehumanized and Otherized by the actions of a tiny number who claim to speak on behalf of all Islam. But simple minds cannot parse this. They require simple binary black-and-white, good-vs.-evil narratives because they lack the brain power to process shades of gray.

Do you not care that halal slaughter is unnecessarily cruel?

Is it? Evidence? It requires ritual slaughter. So do kosher food practices.

American industrial farming requires placing animals for long periods of time in suffocating and degrading pens, thereby torturing them.

Or that you are indirectly paying some Islamic cleric to pray over the meat before it is "certified halal"?

Oh, yes, Little Derec, and I also bow toward Mecca five times a day even though I am an atheist.

and yes the price is going up.

But is it going up more than other food trucks and other food establishments? If not, why single out halal?

Because halal food carts are basically the face of food carts in NYC, though I’m sure what Mamdami has in mind would apply to other carts. There are five hundred such carts spread out all over the city. They exploded in popularity in the 90s, because the food is cheap, decent and mostly healthy. I know it must make you extremely angry to know that 750,000 Muslims live in NYC — 22 percent of the population! — and they like to eat halal! A great many cab drivers are Muslim, and halal food carts are perfect for them. Of course, many non-Muslims, like me, eat from them too. I know,.though, that it angers you no end that there so many peaceful, hard-working, law-abiding Muslims living in NYC because it demolishes your simple-minded caricature of them that has been fed to your simple, binary mind by the Right-Wing Fascist Hate Machine.

But Derec thinks this is bad, to lower prices.

Did I say that? No, I did not.
I merely commented that
- there is no need to single out halal food trucks
- Momdani's policies will not lead to lower prices - quite the opposite.

You have no idea if that is true.

 

[pood]

Incidentally, to further spite Derec, there are some 275 mosques in NYC, more than in any other metro area in the U.S. And mosques are breathtakingly beautiful, especially the interiors.

 

[Derec]

I've checked in a few times to this ridiculously derailed thread and I will repeat again what I said before.

While there should have been a dedicated NYC Mayor Election thread I guess, discussing Mamdani here is not a derail as he is seen by some as the future of the Democratic Party.
Example: Mamdani’s Massive Victory Should Show Democrats Where the Party’s Future Lies
By all means, if you want somebody like JD Vance or Eric Trump to win in 2028.

The cause of the dem loss is well-documented. It was most related to economics.

And as I have said before, this is an overly simplistic assessment. Economics, especially inflation, presented a headwind, but it was noyt an insurmountable one.

That SHOULD BE the end of the thread.

Nope.

 

[Derec]

Because, as I said, these are not generally things the rider wants. People don't ride city buses for a hobby. They are riding the bus in order to do something else - go to work, go to the shops, go to a show;

But the riders benefit from the ability to hop on a bus and go where they want to go. Why should they not pay a reasonable fare?

The bus is part of the infrastructure that enables these economic activities, it is not an economic end in itself, and should have its costs paid by society at large, in rough proportion to the benefits each member society reaps from the existence of infrastructure.

Agreed. But riders reap a larger share of the benefit than non-riders. So why should they not cover part of the cost of maintaining a transit system though fares?

A simple way to approximate who benefits, and by how much, from infrastructure is to look at people's income. Higher income implies more benefits from the existence of infrastructure.

Like most of your hot takes, this is too simplistic.

 

[Derec]

Spiting of Derec: mission accomplished!

How bored must you be to make spiting me into a mission?

Incidentally, before sitting down to write this, I grabbed a coffee from another halal cart. I paid a buck instead of the $3.76 I would have had to pay for the same coffee at the white-bread corporate Starbucks one black away.

Incidentally, I am writing this at my local Starbucks. Unlike a cart, it has a comfy seating area. Unlike any halal place, I can get a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich or a ham and cheese croissant.

Also, there is no such thing as an “islamoleftist.”

Of course there is such a thing. You are one.

This is a made-up word by right-wing hate media to stir up simple-minded people against both leftists and Muslims. Not surprisingly, you took the bait.

All words are made up by somebody, even if it is by some Protoindoeuropean thousands of years ago. Sure, Islamoleftism is a neologism. But it describes a real phenomenon of alliance of far-left ideologies and Islamism. Of course, you also deny that there is such a thing as Islamism.

What you and they call “islamoleftist” describes people who do not wish to see 2 billion Muslims worldwide dehumanized and Otherized

Nope.

Is it? Evidence? It requires ritual slaughter. So do kosher food practices.

It requires the animal's throat to be sliced.

American industrial farming requires placing animals for long periods of time in suffocating and degrading pens, thereby torturing them.

Not a fan of that either. Your point?

Or that you are indirectly paying some Islamic cleric to pray over the meat before it is "certified halal"?

Oh, yes, Little Derec, and I also bow toward Mecca five times a day even though I am an atheist.

Whether or not you personally do that or not, Little Poodie-Woodie, by buying halal meat you are helping pay for everything that goes into halal certification. Including paying the aforementioned Islamic clerics.

Because halal food carts are basically the face of food carts in NYC,

[citation needed]

though I’m sure what Mamdami has in mind would apply to other carts. There are five hundred such carts spread out all over the city. They exploded in popularity in the 90s, because the food is cheap, decent and mostly healthy. I know it must make you extremely angry to know that 750,000 Muslims live in NYC — 22 percent of the population! — and they like to eat halal!

That explains why NYC is fertile ground for antisemitic, pro-Hamas protests, esp. after the 10/7 massacre.
It is also another consequence of misguided and suicidal immigration policies.

A great many cab drivers are Muslim, and halal food carts are perfect for them. Of course, many non-Muslims, like me, eat from them too. I know,.though, that it angers you no end that there so many peaceful, hard-working, law-abiding Muslims living in NYC because it demolishes your simple-minded caricature of them that has been fed to your simple, binary mind by the Right-Wing Fascist Hate Machine.

There are also plenty of Muslims in NYC that are not very "law-abiding", and have in fact conducted or attempted Islamic terrorist attacks in NYC. Shahawar Matin Siraj. Ahmad Khan Rahimi. Akayed Ullah. Sayfullo Saipov. And so on.

You have no idea if that is true.

I do. Having to pay your workers at least $30/h is not conducive to cheaper prices.

 

[bilby]

If I catch the train to work, my employer is a beneficiary

Yes.

as am I.

How? Do you enjoy the trip that much that you still take the train on your days off? Or are you not, in fact, travelling for your benefit at all?

 

[bilby]

In Melbourne there are lots (and more coming ) of tolls roads.

Yeah, toll roads are deeply unethical. But TransUrban make huge profits, so they are very popular with TransUrban, and with the politcians they own.

 

[bilby]

I have often wondered who benefits from the infrastructure of graveyards? Certainly not the persons therein.

The persons who want to remember and have a place to grieve over their deceased relatives and friends.

Graveyards, like funerals, are for the living, not for the dead.

Just as public transport is not for the passengers, but rather is for the people who want people to be here, rather than there, such as shopkeepers and employers.

In my experience, many commuters are just as unhappy about having to be on the bus, as they are about one day having to be in a graveyard. It's an inevitability to which they are resigned, not an experience they would seek out for their own benefit.

 

[bilby]

But the riders benefit from the ability to hop on a bus and go where they want to go.

Do they, though?

 

[pood]

Spiting of Derec: mission accomplished!

How bored must you be to make spiting me into a mission?

It wasn’t a mission. It was pure amusement, and it worked flawlessly, which amused me.

Incidentally, before sitting down to write this, I grabbed a coffee from another halal cart. I paid a buck instead of the $3.76 I would have had to pay for the same coffee at the white-bread corporate Starbucks one black away.

Incidentally, I am writing this at my local Starbucks. Unlike a cart, it has a comfy seating area. Unlike any halal place, I can get a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich or a ham and cheese croissant.

And at a halal food cart, I can get coffee, croissants, Danish, donuts, drinks of all kinds besides coffee, lamb over rice, chicken over rice, fish over rice, chicken salad, chicken biryani, lamb shawarma, foods that white-bread Starbucks does not offer and the food I get at the cart is all cheaper than the food at Starbucks. Who cares if there is no indoor seating?

Also, there is no such thing as an “islamoleftist.”

Of course there is such a thing. You are one.

No I am not, Unless Islamoleftist means, someone like me who does not want to see people like you indict as terrorists nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide for the crimes committed by a tiny fraction of Muslims who claim to be speaking for Islam. People who do so indict all Muslims are called Islamophobic bigots. You are one,

This is a made-up word by right-wing hate media to stir up simple-minded people against both leftists and Muslims. Not surprisingly, you took the bait.

All words are made up by somebody, even if it is by some Protoindoeuropean thousands of years ago. Sure, Islamoleftism is a neologism. But it describes a real phenomenon of alliance of far-left ideologies and Islamism. Of course, you also deny that there is such a thing as Islamism.

There is no alliance by me with Islam because I am an atheist and do not think many Islamic cultural practices are good, just as I dislike the cultural practices of many religions.

What you and they call “islamoleftist” describes people who do not wish to see 2 billion Muslims worldwide dehumanized and Otherized

Nope.

Yep. See above.

By the way, :”nope” is not a very good argument, but I’m sure it’s the best that you can muster.

Is it? Evidence? It requires ritual slaughter. So do kosher food practices.

It requires the animal's throat to be sliced.

And American industrial farming practices require the animals to be slaughtered as well

American industrial farming requires placing animals for long periods of time in suffocating and degrading pens, thereby torturing them.

Not a fan of that either. Your point?

The point is to ask why you are singling out halal food preparation rituals and not, say, kosher food preparation rituals or American farming food preparation rituals. However, I already know the answer. You are an Islamophobe.

Or that you are indirectly paying some Islamic cleric to pray over the meat before it is "certified halal"?

Oh, yes, Little Derec, and I also bow toward Mecca five times a day even though I am an atheist.

Whether or not you personally do that or not, Little Poodie-Woodie, by buying halal meat you are helping pay for everything that goes into halal certification. Including paying the aforementioned Islamic clerics.

Excuse me? The money goes to Islamic clerics? Are you daft?

What are you reallly saying, Little Derec? That Muslims should not be allowed to eat or serve food in NYC?

Because halal food carts are basically the face of food carts in NYC,

[citation needed]

Look it up yourself. I’m not getting paid to educate you. You’re uneducable anyway.

though I’m sure what Mamdami has in mind would apply to other carts. There are five hundred such carts spread out all over the city. They exploded in popularity in the 90s, because the food is cheap, decent and mostly healthy. I know it must make you extremely angry to know that 750,000 Muslims live in NYC — 22 percent of the population! — and they like to eat halal!

That explains why NYC is fertile ground for antisemitic, pro-Hamas protests, esp. after the 10/7 massacre.
It is also another consequence of misguided and suicidal immigration policies.

I see. So Muslims should be excluded from New York City. Even though the vast majority of them are peaceful, law-abiding, and hardworking.

A great many cab drivers are Muslim, and halal food carts are perfect for them. Of course, many non-Muslims, like me, eat from them too. I know,.though, that it angers you no end that there so many peaceful, hard-working, law-abiding Muslims living in NYC because it demolishes your simple-minded caricature of them that has been fed to your simple, binary mind by the Right-Wing Fascist Hate Machine.

There are also plenty of Muslims in NYC that are not very "law-abiding", and have in fact conducted or attempted Islamic terrorist attacks in NYC. Shahawar Matin Siraj. Ahmad Khan Rahimi. Akayed Ullah. Sayfullo Saipov. And so on.

There are also plenty, and I mean PLENTY, of native-born white people in NYC and across the country who are not law-abiding.

You have no idea if that is true.

I do. Having to pay your workers at least $30/h is not conducive to cheaper prices.

Exscept that Mamdhani’s minimum-wage proposal has exactly jack shit to do with his food carts proposal. So you flaunt your ignorance again.

 

[ZiprHead]

I disagree that he has been entirely consistent. He used to be an old school leftist, concerned with class and not so much with identity politics. After 2016 he adopted more of an identity politics vibe though. He even took on the Islamofascist Linda "Cockroach" Sarsour as a surrogate.

Irony is dead.

 

[bilby]

I used to go to a Fish and Chip shop in Leicester that was called "Halal Fish and Chips". I always wondered what the correct procedure was for the ritual slaughter of a potato, but never dared ask.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[pood]

View attachment 51199

Great platform!

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

I've checked in a few times to this ridiculously derailed thread and I will repeat again what I said before.

While there should have been a dedicated NYC Mayor Election thread I guess, discussing Mamdani here is not a derail as he is seen by some as the future of the Democratic Party.
Example: Mamdani’s Massive Victory Should Show Democrats Where the Party’s Future Lies
By all means, if you want somebody like JD Vance or Eric Trump to win in 2028.

So now you are trying to derail the derail with other derails and accusations.

The cause of the dem loss is well-documented. It was most related to economics.

And as I have said before, this is an overly simplistic assessment. Economics, especially inflation, presented a headwind, but it was noyt an insurmountable one.

In other words, you want to make ad hoc reasons so you can keep the platform you took.

That SHOULD BE the end of the thread.

Nope.

Yes.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

"free" buses,

There are many places around the world that have free buses. And NYC already had it.

Public transportation is infrastructure. Infrastructure should be free at point of use, and funded through general taxation, because the users are not the primary beneficiaries.

If I catch the bus to work, my employer is the beneficiary. If I catch the bus to the store, the store is the beneficiary.

When you drive on city roads, you get the road for "free". Why should the same not apply to riding a city bus?

Free isn't good.

You would get the homeless using the buses for a climate controlled space.

Things whose use is not inherently self-limiting should not be free.

 

[Jarhyn]

You would get the homeless using the buses for a climate controlled space.

So?

Maybe it would make sense then to make climate controlled spaces for people that aren't busses, and are also free.

 

[bilby]

Free isn't good.

You would get the homeless using the streets for a living space.

Things whose use is not inherently self-limiting should not be free.

FTFY.

What is your proposal to collect street use fees from users?

Perhaps we should worry less about restricting supply, and more about reducing demand - after all, you are (rightly) unconcerned about people who have homes using free buses "for a climate controlled space".

So maybe your "problem" is not to do with buses, nor with free access to "Things whose use is not inherently self-limiting", after all...

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Earlier today I had lamb shawarma from a halal food cart. It consists of a giant ton of lamb shawarma, a giant ton of rice, a giant ton of mixed vegetables, and a giant ton of salad with tomatoes and radishes and other goodies, and some nice, spicy hot sauce. Served up by a wiry old silver-haired Muslim gentleman who reminds me of a peasant Van Gogh painted in 1888. He is always very affable and so far has blown up no buildings. Price: seven dollars.

You just have his target mixed up. Given your description he's trying to blow up your waistline rather than buildings.