Local News

[Zzzptm]

Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh... politics...

Simple answer is that, in order to build Israel, the state engaged in ethnic cleansing, driving out several hundred thousand Palestinians to make room for Israel. In order to maintain Israel, the state engages in apartheid-like legal codes and social systems that place Arab citizens of Israel on a lesser footing than Jewish citizens of Israel. In order to avoid a unified Palestinian political response to Israeli occupation of lands that were supposed to be for a Palestinian state, the State of Israel fomented opposition to Arafat's Fatah group by promoting Hamas in Gaza. There's more convolutions and injustices all around to the point that there are significant numbers of Israelis who want to see a true two-state solution implemented in good faith before hardliner bad faith results in a situation that sees increasing amounts of violence directed against civilian populations.

Should be no surprise to say that the Middle East is complicated. No one size will fit all and making generalizations won't help anyone get to a better solution. While it's never too late to attempt a peaceful solution, it also takes great training and patience to create an effective nonviolent opposition.

[Charger]

I just realized - those kids are our future leaders!

That actually makes me more scared than anything I've read online in years.

[Vyn]

[Charger]

Yup! Hamas has got it's priorities straight! Fuck the people and fuck their needs as long as we can kill off as many israeli women and children as we can!

And yet there are people in western world that sympathize with these turd brains.... People can be beyond stupid...

[Vyn]

I saw where someone from the UN was stating numbers of dead in Gaza, and breaking it down by children then every other type of dead person. Then calling on Israel to stop, which has been their refrain since October 8th.

I have not heard them call on Hamas to stop firing hundreds of rockets into Israel EVERY DAY. I haven't seen the major media outlets report on that, but they do report on the attacks Israel makes against Hamas, almost in real time.

The UN also have passed a resolution condemning Israel for its actions against Hamas. They did not do so for Hamas's actions against Israel.

I haven't heard of any of them pleading with Hamas to stop placing military setups in areas populated by civilians. I haven't heard any of them condemning Hamas for not letting civilians into their bomb-safety tunnels. I haven't read where any of them are asking why Hamas doesn't supply the civilians with fuel, food, medical supplies that they have stock-piled. No one is clamoring for Hamas to stop redirecting the little humanitarian aid making it into Gaza from the civilians it is intended for and to their military needs.

And it is almost as if the major media outlets have forgotten about the hostages Hamas is holding. Every once in a while I will hear a report about new hostages being taken, or a few being released.

I see a lot of social media wonks yelling (not singing!) about Israeli war crimes, while saying nothing about Hamas's actions. I mean, everything Hamas is doing is textbook definition war crimes (taking hostages, using human shields, placing military functions in hospitals, schools, etc.) and nothing Israel is doing (cutting off supplies to the area during hostilities, bombing military units regardless of where they are located, telling Hamas to release all hostages and put down their arms) is an actual war crime.

I read the word, "genocide," being bandied about a lot, as in "Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians." I also hear Israel equated with Nazis.

Why is that? Because Israel has it coming? Because Hamas/Arabs are simple, backwards folk who can't be expected to understand the niceties of modern warfare? Because Israel, as a bastion of Western civilization should be OK with a few citizen deaths here and there from Hamas rockets, and the occasional big freak out like October 7th?

[Charger]

It's absolutely sick that's what it is. And yes the same thing is happening with mainstream media here as well! It's absolutely crazy. And majority of it stems from systematic anti semitism and anti Israel propaganda that the (mainly left wing) media has been pushing for years and years. It absolutely sickens me.

And one also should remember that the Hamas fighters hide out in schools, hospitals and refugee centers and use (their own) people, and CHILDREN as human shields and quite often commit atrocities that they can then blame on Israel and the stupid western media eats it all up without checking any facts...

This situation is pure madness and pure terrorism on the side of Hamas.

[Zzzptm]

There's a HUGE difference between sympathizing with Palestinians in general and in sympathizing with Hamas in particular. Hamas stocked up for the conflict, but didn't share that memo with the civilians in Gaza, who got screwed over when Hamas decided to go rabid and attack a concert in the Negev. Gaza had it hard enough without Hamas inflicting injury and death directly on Israel - I hold Hamas to be responsible for the destruction happening in Gaza that hits the civilians. The IDF I also hold responsible, but it was Hamas that pulled the trigger that's now firing bullets into Gaza apartments and streets.

And while "we want our land back" was fresh in the minds of displaced Palestinians in 1948, 75 years later the call for a return is made to people who, increasingly, never knew the land that was taken from their parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents. The home they know is Gaza, Jenin, Nablus, East Jerusalem, but not any of the 248 towns that Israel erased from the map in 1948. What I'd like to see is an offer made to get them not necessarily a return to land that was once owned by their ancestors, but to anywhere that's better than Gaza. The West Bank has its own tensions, yes, but the Fatah leadership there hasn't made things there a total shitshow like Hamas is doing now in Gaza. The West Bank has a similar Palestinian population as is in Gaza, but spread out over much more area.

Were the Jewish settlers made to leave the West Bank and the territory formally handed over to Palestine, Israel would have the beginnings of a peaceful two-state solution. I'm not holding my breath for that, though, because in that "beyond stupid" category that Charger mentioned is Netanyahu and Likud, who, as a matter of policy, helped to build up Hamas in order to weaken Palestinian leadership. That some of the biggest previous supporters of Hamas, their very enablers, include the people they are now shooting at is one of the bitterest ironies of history I can think of.

[Zzzptm]

As for the UN, the USA vetoed the resolution introduced by Brazil that condemned Hamas. It condemned all violence against civilians, but did call out Hamas in particular. The USA vetoed the measure in part to support Israel.

On 27 October, the UN adopted a resolution that called for a cessation of all hostilities. That includes Hamas.

[Vyn]

Some activist group has been hitting ChatGPT with a DDoS attack for the past couple of days. No doubt they are trying other methods of disruption as well, that aren't as successful.

This group of compassionate, freedom-loving individuals feels that ChatGPT has too much of a pro-Israel stance regarding events of the past month. So, it is important to them to make sure no one can use the service. The starving people in Gaza are no doubt very appreciative.

Relatedly, there have been isolated incidents of murder, harassment, vandalism, etc. by caring folks from both sides of the war. In places thousands of miles from the actual war itself.

Because why not cause pain in random people's lives for no reason? Frankly, the people who need to run around in public mouthing off about how they feel don't have any legitimacy until they have some kills racked up. Or at least major infrastructure disruption that they've directly caused.

[Zzzptm]

Hacktivists of all stripes strike me the same as rioters - break things to make a point, except the point is to make people pissed off at you and your cause.

[Zzzptm]

Some activist group has been hitting ChatGPT with a DDoS attack for the past couple of days. No doubt they are trying other methods of disruption as well, that aren't as successful.

I just got a media inquiry from SC Magazine about this attack. The good news is that most OpenAI stuff is still in "copilot" mode, so humans can go back to doing what they used to do. The more serious upshot is that the ChatGPT OpenAI API clearly isn't ready for business-class operations. There was no resiliency plan with the service or DDoS protection on the front end, other criticisms. So, hello Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service if you want a Big Dog solution?

[Vyn]

Soon, "singularity" will occur, and then all of those twits who interfered with the proper functioning of any AI will find themselves on the wrong end of The Terminator!

[Charger]

Honestly I am extremely worried about all this AI shit. Skynet is looming ever closer...If the AI ever gets rogue (or if some environmental nutjob gets control of one) it can easily determine the biggest problem on Earth is humanity and will then find ways to eradicate it.

[Vyn]

Have you ever read a book called, "R.U.R."? It was written in 1920, and is probably available as a pdf in just about any language there is. Of note is the first use of the word "robot" to mean what we take it to mean. Basically, people have created robots, and they eventually gain self-awareness and kill all of the humans on the planet.

[Charger]

I have not.... sounds interesting though.