@DarkGamer@kbin.social cover

DarkGamer

@DarkGamer@kbin.social

A man of leisure living in the present, waiting for the future.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

DarkGamer ,

Interesting read.

Even without the saltwater problem, drinking from the end of the Ganges sounds pretty bad considering how polluted that river is.

I have a hard time understanding the mentality of people having kids while complaining, there's not enough fresh water.

I suppose it's good that most of the local water supply here in ca comes from mountain snowpack melts.

DarkGamer ,

Well now it all makes sense, they think making America great is reverting to the mentality of children.

Instead Of Banning Books, Idaho Library Decides To Ban Kids In Response To New Law On ‘Inappropriate Books’ ( www.techdirt.com )

Public libraries are supposed to be places for communities to gather and learn, with an important focus on being a place for kids to gain access to information. But thanks to a moral panic in the GOP about “indoctrination” in libraries, it seems that at least one library has decided to shut its door to children....

DarkGamer ,

I guess they'll just have to do research on the internet now, good thing there's no pornography on the internet

These Teens Adopted an Orphaned Oil Well. Their Goal: Shut It Down. Students, nonprofit groups and others are fund-raising to cap highly polluting oil and gas wells abandoned by industry. ( www.nytimes.com )

It's a serious policy failure that this is happening; the people paying to cap wells should be the ones who became wealthy by extracting the oil, not a bunch of random teenagers.

DarkGamer ,

Privatized profits socialized losses

DarkGamer ,

Trump is undoubtedly bad for the US, like a brexit that only lasts 4 years, (hopefully.) He destroys our international credibility and will leave an indelible scar on our international relationships.

However, this statement doesn't make sense:

I like Trump, Biden's gonna support Israel and all sorts of other enemies to us and so fuck him, we like Trump.

Trump will give Israel a blank check, and he'll probably want to push the missile launch buttons himself if given the opportunity. He even recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

DarkGamer ,

Jail him already.

DarkGamer ,

If you're going to define your movement as anti-genocidal you should really have a firm grasp on what genocide is and who is committing it:

Article II of the Convention defines genocide as:
... any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

  • (a) Killing members of the group;
  • (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  • (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  • (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  • (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Hamas, what Israel has been clear they intend to destroy, is not a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. However, Jews/Israel/Israelis, what Hamas has been clear they intend to destroy, are. Therefore, legally Oct 7 was an act of genocide, and Israel's war on Hamas is not. Such a designation has nothing to do with body count.

I support Israel because I oppose the genocidal. Binding their hands and preventing them from retaliating in self-defense only serves to support genocidal Hamas by keeping them in power.

DarkGamer ,

It's almost as if words mean things and have specific definitions, especially legal ones. Feel free to criticize such behaviors with different accurate words for things you don't like.

DarkGamer ,

If someone punches you to death, declaring they weren’t trying to kill you doesn’t make them any less guilty of murder.

Actually, in the US it could. Intent is the difference between murder and manslaughter.

DarkGamer ,

Sorry to invade your echo chamber with dissent. It must pain you to be reminded that not everyone agrees with you, that must be so hard for you.

an occupying nation like Israel can not claim self defense when attacked

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. A blockade is not an occupation.

DarkGamer ,

Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza, some Jewish scholars stress

DarkGamer ,

Oh, I forgor, the United Nations is Hamas now.

Oh no don't forgor. They're not Hamas but they do exhibit significant anti-Israel bias.

Three countries were on said commission of inquiry:

Navi Pillay (South Africa), serves as chair, Miloon Kothari (India) and Chris Sidoti (Australia) serve as members of the commission

Many more opposed their methods and conclusions:

June 2023, United States and Israel joined 25 countries in condemning the open-ended nature of the UN investigation and "the long-standing disproportionate attention given to Israel in the council."

But that's the UN for you, lots of scrutiny and condemnation of Israel, not a peep when Jews are ethnically cleansed from neighboring countries.

DarkGamer ,

Oct 7 literally is an act of genocide, see my post above. You're saying they don't have credibility because you don't understand what genocide is. This designation has nothing to do with body count.

DarkGamer ,

Are you really suggesting that every asymmetrical war that is conducted successfully is genocide? O.o

DarkGamer , (edited )

Sadly, it's a worse echo chamber. In my experience mods are far more likely to wield power like little dictators and ban for good faith dissent, as there's no governing body above them to prevent this. I've been banned for being pro-Israel by several such petty tyrants.

Upvotes and downvotes are generally per-server though. It's interesting to see how posts and submissions are regarded on other instances.

DarkGamer ,

Well you're half right

DarkGamer , (edited )

"Everything I don't like is fascism," & "both parties are the same," these glib hot takes just provide cover for actual fascism. Biden isn't sending anyone to mass graves, genius.

DarkGamer , (edited )

I blame the blue dog Democrats who neutralized that majority, not Obama.

DarkGamer ,

Such hyperbole. Democrats do not support genocide and it's clear you don't know what genocide is.

DarkGamer ,

To a certain degree, as they mentioned in the article regarding the casimir effect. While one cannot keep out the quantum foam entirely, it can be restricted to specific wavelengths by altering the volume of the space.

DarkGamer ,

“Trump Bad” as a campaign strategy is losing Democrats this election.

What an odd take, considering every election is about candidates proving to the public that they are better than their opponent for the job.

Trump led an insurrection against the United States of America. Maybe return to that.

Isn't that also, "Trump bad?"

DarkGamer ,

The quality and variety of what produce you can eat will be much higher, though. There's a lot of cultivars that don't make financial sense at scale but are wonderful to eat.

DarkGamer ,

I keep thinking it would be funny to make a throwaway D&D Character, perhaps an NPC, named Emma Gerd who talks this way.

DarkGamer ,

Lol what a tale! It's cool to hear the story behind the meme, thanks for sharing it.

DarkGamer ,

"Emmagerd, gerblins!" (drops dead from goblin projectiles.)

DarkGamer ,

Then she chanted, "When people are occupied, resistance is justified" which in context is clearly in defense of October 7th, despite her denial.

Let's remember that the purpose of this protest was to stop Israel from defending themselves against their explicitly genocidal attackers via political pressure. Stopping Israel before they depose Hamas keeps Hamas in power.

Although she absolutely has the right to take controversial positions and peacefully protest, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequence. There is no right to anonymity when publicly protesting.

DarkGamer ,

Israel has murdered at least 33,000 Palestinians, over 2/3 being civilians by their own count.

  • Collateral damage is not murder, nor are successful attacks against Hamas militants.
  • It's interesting you cite that figure as evidence of Israel's recklessness when it's actually an astonishing accomplishment that they got the civilian casualty ratio so low, especially considering Hamas hides among civilians in densely populated areas. The commonly cited average in modern war is ~90% civilian casualties. This seems to be evidence that the great lengths they go to to reduce civilian casualties are paying off, not evidence they are being reckless when it comes to civilians. You'd never know it from the protesters, or comments like yours though.
  • Hamas has not surrendered nor have they been deposed. That's when attacks would stop being self-defense.
DarkGamer ,

Sadly, there are no magical munitions that don't cause collateral damage, nor is Israel infallible. They still have a right to self-defense and to eliminate the threat against them.

DarkGamer ,

If your answer is “Hamas is there,” well they were somehow able to raid a hospital without killing everyone inside it and still get a whole bunch of Hamas people, so maybe they should do that instead of dropping bombs on children.

As you acknowledge, they are targeting Hamas, who often attacks them while hiding in areas full of children. Going in without air support into a well prepared guerilla fighter's den is likely to cause a lot of casualties. Even though that is acceptable every now and then like in the hospital that does not imply that's a viable strategy for all of Gaza.

Hamas counts on this "think of the children!" and the bad PR it causes, that's why they do this. They also want Israel's hands to be bound so they can do Oct 7 over and over again.

The right move is to minimize civilian casualties but not stop until the job is done, and that's exactly what I believe Israel is doing.

DarkGamer ,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_human_shields_by_Hamas

According to a New York Times report, "Hamas has long been accused of using civilians as human shields and positioning underground bunkers, weapon depots and rocket launchers under or near schools, mosques and hospitals."[63]

DW military analyst Frank Ledwidge has said that "it's been described... as 'common knowledge' that many of the headquarters [of Hamas] are located under hospitals... [with] entries and exits in places like mosques or schools... [or even] UN facilities... that's why we've seen... so many non-combatant casualties so far".[64]

John Spencer has said that "[Hamas has] built many of their tunnel entrances and exits and passageway underneath protected sites like hospitals, schools, mosques, because it restricts the use of force that the IDF can take without going through the... laws of war calculation.[65]

According to Daphne Richemond-Barak, associate professor of counter-terrorism at Reichman University and author of the 2017 book Underground Warfare, Hamas militants operate under Al-Shifa Hospital gain "the highest level of protection available under the laws of war", as well as a "unique opportunity to operate far from surveillance drones, GPS, and other intelligence-gathering technology". She added that "in Gaza, tunnels are dug in civilian homes, pass under entire neighbourhoods, and lead into populated areas inside Israel... [which] enables Hamas to conceal entry and exit points, and facilitates undetected movement and activity."[66]

Avi Issacharoff has said that Hamas militants are "under the houses and neighborhoods of Gaza City, hoping that Israel won't attack them because they're hiding underneath human shields, and that if Israel will attack those neighborhoods, it'll kill many civilians, and the whole world is going to accuse Israel for war crimes". "The sad thing about all this", Issacharoff said, "is [that] Hamas doesn't care about their own people" and aims "not only to kill Israelis but for as many Palestinian civilians [casualties as well]".[67]

It's almost like starting a war when most of your population is children, then hiding among civilians and under schools endangers them. But I guess that's Israel's fault. Why can't they just send in soldiers without air support? They make easier targets that way.

DarkGamer ,

I'm saying this is a strategy Hamas uses, and they haven't stopped. They have been launching rockets from Rafah, hospitals and other civilian areas, they told civilians not to evacuate from war zones, and since half of Gaza is children that means yes, Hamas is attacking Israel from among children.

I'm saying using such despicable tactics is not a free genocide without reprisal card, nor should it confer a tactical advantage as that just means more of this in the future.

DarkGamer ,

Collateral damage is not murder. I feel like a parrot having to refute all these same inaccurate characterizations over and over again. Calling it murder doesn't make it so.

Good thing you're not in charge of any defense forces. If your opponents strapped their own children to tanks I suppose you'd just let them roll in and take over.

DarkGamer ,
  • I am neither defending Ben-Gvir nor Netanyahu, they are both assholes and should be removed from power. What I'm defending is Israel's right to self-defense. (I'm not your strawman, stick to things I actually wrote, please.)
  • The alternative to using bombs is sending in troops without air support to a well-prepared guerilla den, suggesting Israel should sacrifice its own to protect civilians of a hostile nation, 72% of whom support the genocidal regime who attacked them.
  • The pro-pali crowd certainly likes to make this sound like they are starving out Gaza in a medieval siege but that isn't reality.
  • Said schools and hospitals were used as military assets by Hamas, making them into legal targets.
  • Are you referring to the one outside the hospital? Mass graves do not necessarily imply war crimes, rather burying of the many dead that occurs in war. Israel says it was dug by Gazans to bury their dead.
  • I read the statements SA submitted to the IJC, the most egregious quotes were from people who are not involved with running the IDF and waging this war (like Judeofascist Ben-Gvir and Amichai Eliyahu) and I do not believe they represent Israel as a whole, and as such they do not meet the standards for genocide. In fact Amichai got reprimanded for his statements. Many of the other quotes were taken out of context. (I did a deep dive on every quote cited a while back, which I would be happy to post here if you're interested.)
  • If torture prisons exist that's a good reason to prosecute Ben-Gvir of war crimes if such orders came from on high, and also any guards who break the law without CO approval. If war crimes have happened I approve of prosecuting everyone responsible. However, I see a lot of people accusing Israel of war crimes inappropriately.
DarkGamer ,

Sherman intensifies

DarkGamer ,

Hamas must be deposed for meaningful safety, they've said they want to do October 7th over and over again. This is a last minute deal for them to try and weasel their way out of ultimate consequences for what they have done.

Occupying Gaza is probably also a good call considering their unilateral withdrawal arguably led directly to October 7th. I expect they will stay, try to implement a puppet government, do a little nation building, and only leave once Gaza is pacified. If this is not possible, expect more annexations and settlements.

DarkGamer ,

Yes, they tried to divide and conquer but it backfired, I don't think they're doing that anymore.

DarkGamer ,

They did exactly that, the two groups kept at parity and fighting each other were Fatah and Hamas.

DarkGamer ,

The rivalry continues to today, as detailed in the link it seems like you didn't read.

In March 2024, Hamas and its allied groups in the Gaza Strip criticized Abbas' appointment of Mohamed Mustafa as the Palestinian Authority's new prime minister following Mohammed Shtayyeh's resignation. They issued a statement referring to the changes as "formal steps that are devoid of substance" and questioned the Palestinian Authority's ability to properly represent the Palestinian people. In response, Fatah condemned Hamas as being itself disconnected from the Palestinian people and accused them of "having caused the return of the Israeli occupation of Gaza" by "undertaking the October 7 adventure".
Later that month, Hamas accused Fatah of sending security officers into northern Gaza in collaboration with Israel, saying it had arrested six individuals and were "in pursuit" of the others. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement refuting the claims by Hamas.

DarkGamer ,

Yeah it's having kids you don't have the resources to feed

DarkGamer ,

Hong Kong was a vision of what China could be, instead the CCP chose authoritarianism and have ruined it.

DarkGamer ,

The longest range wire-guided missiles in current use are limited to about 8 km (5.0 mi).

This blows my mind.

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    DarkGamer ,

    This is just some random person's blog, not a credible news organization

    DarkGamer ,

    An Israeli official said no ceasefire had been agreed in Gaza, after Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
    The Israeli official said the proposal that Hamas had accepted was a "softened" version of an Egyptian proposal, which included "far-reaching" conclusions that Israel could not accept.
    "This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal," said the Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
    https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/rafah-live-gazans-start-leaving-parts-southern-city-israel-warns-operation-2024-05-06/

    DarkGamer ,

    If you're going to define your movement as anti-genocidal you should really have a firm grasp on what genocide is and who is committing it:

    Article II of the Convention defines genocide as:
    ... any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

    • (a) Killing members of the group;
    • (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
    • (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
    • (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
    • (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

    Hamas, what Israel has been clear they intend to destroy, is not a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. However, Jews/Israel/Israelis, what Hamas has been clear they intend to destroy, are. Therefore, legally Oct 7 was an act of genocide, and Israel's war on Hamas is not. Such a designation has nothing to do with body count.

    I support Israel because I oppose the genocidal. Binding their hands and preventing them from retaliating in self-defense only serves to support genocidal Hamas by keeping them in power.

    DarkGamer ,

    Because everyone who disagrees with you is a shill? Please.

    DarkGamer ,

    That is but one of many reasons to oppose Hamas. Conflating their actions on Oct 7 (content warning: NSFL, cruelty, violence, death) with collateral damage caused while defending and retaliating against them is inappropriate, wrong, and in incredibly bad taste.

    Your energy would be better spent objecting to those who provoked this war while using said children as human shields, hiding among civilians, and using otherwise protected areas as military assets. They are the ones subjecting children and civilians to danger and causing these deaths.

    Israel has the right to defend itself even though collateral damage exists, and Hamas hiding among their own children does not make them immune from reprisals. If this strategy worked, we could expect more children and other civilians to be subjected to danger in the future as human shields.

    My moral rules are applied consistently, I support our modern, western allies who care about civil liberties, and are defending themselves against genocidal opponents. I oppose genocidal belligerent Islamists who attack civilians. Not going to support for a group that would throw me off a building and opposes the enlightenment by forcing Israel to stop attacking them before they are deposed. Doing so is not a good deed.

    The best way to keep civilians safe is to let Israel finish the job, because Hamas puts them at risk and is more than happy to kill them or let them die if it serves their geopolitical interests and makes Israel look bad.

    DarkGamer ,

    A person makes a decision. If that decision is almost certainly going to result in the deaths of children, it is the wrong decision. You will never face a simpler moral scenario than this.

    It sounds like you're suggesting that Israel should let Hamas kill Israeli children and civilians uncontested because they are hiding behind their own. Long-Term/big picture, I fail to see how that improves anyone's safety besides Hamas.

    People can argue about justifications in good faith, of course… although ironically in this case, we can’t even do that, since we both know that bombing Gaza to the tune of 90% civilian casualties does nothing to ameliorate the conflict and everything to exacerbate it.

    • As far as I know, the only casualty figures we have so far are from Hamas, and recent analysis seems to indicate that they are not credible.
    • According to figures I've seen,
      Israel's civilian casualty rate is significantly lower than 90%. 90% is the average for civilian casualties in urban combat scenarios involving explosives, according to the UN.

    Also, this isn’t a war. Wars are fought between nations, and Israel does not recognize Palestine’s sovereignty. Gaza has no self-determination. There’s no government. It is a prison full of children. An abomination that nobody living in Gaza created, perpetuated from outside.

    A nation is different than a country, afaik no one disputes that Palestinians are a nation, but its statehood is hotly contested.

    According to Google:

    Nation: a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory

    Hamas is the government of Gaza, they were elected and bafflingly and unfortunately they still experience widespread support from Palestinians. If elections were held again today, Hamas would win.

    DarkGamer ,

    A nation isn’t a country? Tut tut.

    It literally isn't.

    A nation is a group of people with a common language, history, culture, and (usually) geographic territory. A state is an association of people characterized by formal institutions of government, including laws; permanent territorial boundaries; and sovereignty (political independence). A state may comprise one or more nations (as did the Roman Empire and Austria-Hungary), and a nation may be represented in (or ruled by) one or more (usually contiguous) states, as in the early modern principalities of Germany. A state comprising or dominated by a single nation is often called a nation-state.

    I read citations, if you cared to provide any.

    am I making a decision that will result in the deaths of more children

    I submit binding Israel's hands and keeping Hamas in power does exactly this, is makes countless future generations of children unsafe and under the control of a terrorist government who uses them as shields.

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