No group has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion, while investigations are ongoing.

Concerning. Unfortunately, considering the Syrian government’s many enemies, it could be nearly anyone.

Illegal information. How fantastic. /s

Jesus Christ.

Those look very similar to me. I would say Japan is now where Poland will be in 10 years. Why it’s a problem for Japan but not Poland?

That’s the thing about population pyramids - they don’t just move up evenly. They’re adjusted by the ongoing mortality of each age group and the size of the next age group down. Poland and Japan are on the same trajectory, but Japan is, effectively, much further along. More ~30-40 years than ~10. The emphasis is less on the largest ‘boom’ generation, and much more on the general trend of the ‘youngest’ generations shrinking, growing, or being stable. In Poland, it’s uneven - closer to shrinking than stable, but more stable than Japan, which is only shrinking.

Even relatively small differences can have an outsized effect in making the older generations an ever-larger proportion of the population despite their lifetime mortality going up with each age bracket. Compare the percentages here. “Boom” generation aside, Japan’s retiree cohort is roughly 150% the youth cohort. That’s not a good sign. For Poland to end up with those numbers in a decade, it would have to have effectively no mortality in the elder cohorts - extremely unlikely.

That being said, it is a problem for Poland going forward - as well as many other developed countries.

It is, but not as bad. The EU’s birth rate is higher than Japan’s, and the EU is much more immigrant-friendly - and if that makes you suck in air through your teeth, let me clarify - that’s a relative estimation. SK and Japan are… infamously hostile towards immigration.

I don’t go in for sports ball, but I do enjoy the memes

I mean, South Korea and Japan’s birth rate is a serious problem.

The issue is less that they’re going ‘extinct’, and more that the population pyramid is gonna look real fucky going forward, and that comes with… economic issues. And potentially cultural issues.

Me, at 80 degrees: “A little chilly in here.”

Yep! Funny enough, the only recorded Roman emissaries who made it to Han China claimed to be representatives of either Antoninus Pius, or his adoptive son (the dual issues of uncreative Roman naming conventions and translation issues makes it unclear).

“For a successful summit, I would say all we need is for Trump not to go against NATO, or criticise NATO, or undermine NATO’s role,” Peter Bator, Slovakia’s former ambassador to NATO, told AFP.

So it’s going to be an unsuccessful summit.

Explanation: Antoninus Pius is one of the longer-reigning Emperors of the Roman Empire. Why does no one remember him? Because he did nothing.

Not literally nothing, but his reign contained little in the way of excitement. No great invasions or defenses, no fundamental reforms in yet another misguided attempt at adulation or military glory, no crisis that was allowed to blossom to such a stage. Just a quiet, diligent man who was noted to enjoy fishing in his down time, keeping a steady hand on the tiller of state. When his ~23 year reign was over, letting the gears of government turn with nothing more than addressing problems and clarifying legal issues as they arose, the Empire looked much as it had when he had inherited it - just with a bit more of everything - charitable organizations, completed infrastructure projects, legal protections, slave rights (but still slavery, because the past is a shitty place), money in the treasury…

Antoninus Pius did nothing, actively. By inaction, he chose the best possible course of action in his reign. o7

Wu wei is a Taoist concept Romans were unlikely to have been aware of.

Sounds like skillful maneuvering by Vanuatu to maximize their own welfare. Well done!

Very awesome!

Funny how our opponents can give us some of our best tools.

Yet the silence of American evangelicals on Palestinian Christians, and their loud support of Israel, continues unabated.

Hey! My day’s always brightened when I see your posts!

As long as people enjoy my reposts, I count my time well-spent!

after an Israeli strike on her family’s home in Lebanon

So an assassination.

I hate this fuckwitted timeline

The only unpredictable thing about this is that it was a coin toss as to whether Israel would admit it.