SpaceCowboy

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

I tend to agree. There's already too many firearms out there (more guns than people) so it won't be all that effective in the short term.

But I think it's more of a thing that will take generations for there to be a change. And yeah it's pandering for votes, but it's also about opening up conversation, which is a step in the direction of a cultural change. A cultural shift away from buying guns for paranoid reasons about protection from "those people" back towards guns being used for hobbies like hunting and target shooting won't be easy to accomplish. But gotta start somewhere.

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

Don't forget about geothermal. Could be a good option in places where you have a workforce with skills at drilling deep underground.

SpaceCowboy , 9 days ago

Seems like a nut.

Also he's not in office. It's kinda like getting upset if George Santos said something insane.

I get that people are working hard to find evidence for the "Israel = Nazis" narrative that's currently trending, but kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel aren't we?

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

You think people should be arrested for mentioning Nazis?

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

I see people constantly invoking the Nazis to make excuses for the actions of Hamas. The logic is "Israel is like Nazis therefore everything Hamas does it permissible." It's idiotic reasoning but it's commonplace here.

This guy is similarly idiotic. If you're outraged by what this guy is saying, look at the rationalizations people on here do everyday in support of Hamas. It's the same eye for an eye kind of thinking. "Other side is Nazis, therefore we should do horrible things!"

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

I guess you just pretend not to see comments all over Lemmy expressing support for Hamas?

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

Here you are claiming antisemitism isn't a problem in the same sentence where you're implying all Jews are just like the worst one you can find.

SpaceCowboy , 9 days ago

If that's the case, they obviously don't want to hire black people.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

If you make a textbook covering Newtonian physics, the textbook is copyrightable even though the work of Isaac Newton is public domain.

Similarly, while the Lakota language is public domain, textbooks and lessons designed to teach it are owned by whoever creates those textbooks and lessons.

There is nothing preventing someone else creating textbooks to teach to Lakota language as the language public domain. If it's effortless to create such a textbook, then it shouldn't be a problem. If it's very difficult to create such a textbook, then the people that made that effort should be compensated. It's hypocritical to say the creation of textbooks didn't involve any effort while also being unwilling to match that effort to create the textbook yourself.

Copyrights can be bought of course. Raising money to simply buy the copyrights to these textbooks might be a better use of donation money than an attempt to use white guilt on the legal system. I'm not a lawyer, so who knows, maybe they can claim they own the copyright on the language itself, a language that existed before Steamboat Willie. But it feels like a waste of time to me.

A clean room re-write of the books probably wouldn't cost too much if the company that owns the copyrights to these textbooks don't want to sell the rights for a reasonable price.

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

That assumes they are paying attention to this.

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

Yeah... it's a joke that makes me sad though.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

Don't get me wrong, I'm not faulting you or anything... it's both absurd and sad that major alarm bells have been going off about Trump for a very long time and a lot of people don't notice or look the other way.

Better to laugh than cry I guess.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

How do you prove you're not racist?

You don't. If someone is falsely accusing you of being a racist, that's on them, not on you.

Now if someone is calling out a specific action or something you said... well have a listen to what they have to say. They may be right or may be wrong, but if you're listening to people and are willing to learn you're not a racist.

If someone thinks that you being Hungarian makes you a racist... you're right they're being xenophobic. That's on them. There's no point in wasting your time on someone that's looking for a reason to dislike you because of where you're from. Even if you could prove you're not a racist, they'd find some other way to rationalize a reason for disliking you.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

I didn't trust Open AI before. But the the Kremlin signalling disapproval of it makes me slightly less distrustful.

Sure they still suck, but at least they're not on Putin's side.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

Who's "they"? Jews?

You're the reason there has to be a Jewish state.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

Ethiopia has done way worse rather recently:
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/10/09/ethiopia-is-deliberately-starving-its-own-citizens

You just didn't care about it because it doesn't fit a simple good-guy/bad-guy narrative that makes it easy to blame people you've been predisposed into thinking are evil.

Also aid is getting into Gaza. There's a pier built by the US and the IDF has implemented a daily 11 hour tactical pause so aid can flow in. Israel doesn't normally do military campaigns this long so doesn't have the resources to deal with this kind of crisis. Other countries aren't stepping up because who wants to commit ground forces to Gaza to distribute aid? No one.

Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire would be a big help, but why would they? Starving Palestinian children helps their cause because it makes people like you so angry you will just blindly support Hamas.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

What you’re saying is that in reality Israel is pretty much a Fascist authocracy, like Ethiopia, hence having the same disregard for human life, especially children. That does make sense.

Nope. I'm saying you don't care about black people. When millions of black people were starving you simply didn't care.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

All of the government? Even the members of parliament that are in opposition to Netanyahu? Even those in the government working to send aid to Gaza?

The only thing that's apparent is you're filled with hatred. Just trying to determine the extent of your hate.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

Yeah, probably. Fascists always want to use violence against all opposition to them.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

I'm not the one that said what's happening in Gaza is the worst thing to happen since the Nazis. See the problem with constantly being hyperbolic is that it results in all kinds of horrible implications. The implication of the statement that Gaza is the worst thing to happen in 75 years is that you're at best ignorant of history, and at worst you've dehumanized victims of the many atrocities that have happened in that time period.

So which is it? The victims of what happened in Ethiopia, what's happening in China, the victims of the Rwandan genocide, the victims of the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the people of China that starved in the "Great Leap Forward" (this list goes on and on) aren't people so therefore you don't need to even consider these events of the over 75 years since the Nazis held power? Or are you simply ignorant of history?

It's probably best just to claim ignorance and refrain from hyperbole in the future.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

A group of genocidal terrorists is better than a democracy by a wide margin?

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

Hamas went into villages and murdered everyone they could find. They weren't targeting military and some civilians being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They planned an attack to murder as many civilians as they could and executed that plan.

Before that for about a decade and a half they've been firing rockets towards population centers. It's only because Israel spent billions of dollars to protect their civilian population that Hamas hasn't been able to kill more civilians. And what do Hams spend their money on? Palaces in Qatar and tunnels under Gaza to keep themselves safe while they leave their civilian population at the mercy of an army they claim to be committing genocide.

SpaceCowboy , 9 days ago

When people try to "both sides" genocide in an attempt to normalize it in an effort to rationalize the horrific acts committed by their side, then yeah I don't give a lot of leeway.

SpaceCowboy , 9 days ago

Ah yes, the far right tactic of claiming that anyone that recognizes the existence of racism is a racist.

SpaceCowboy , 9 days ago

What are you talking about? You need to chill, you're not even making any sense now.

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

Kinda a nothing burger really. The military doesn't want conscripts unless there's an existential threat to the country.

So there's two scenarios:

1. Selective service continues to exist and is only used if there's an existential threat to the country
2. Selective service is eliminated and is re-instated only if there's an existential threat to the country

Option 2 is preferable since it eliminates the cost of a program that will likely never be used again. But it still doesn't eliminate the possibility of a draft since if the country were under an existential threat in the future, legislation can be passed to bring it back. So Option 2 isn't effectively different from Option 1, other than the cost savings.

As it is, selective service is basically just a political talking point, and a way to "own the libs" or whatever. The best way to argue against it is to make an argument around the cost of a program that doesn't really accomplish anything. But the libs take the bait and argue about not wanting to be drafted, which isn't wrong, but that makes the libs look weak in the eyes of many, and it allows Republicans get to make hay about their opposition being weak.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

If you don't like it when people treat you like a child then stop talking like a child.

Protip: When you put the word "fuck" in the same sentence twice, you sound like a teenager.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

Yeah I never understood wanting to vote for the "guy I want to have a beer with" thing.

The guys I have beers with are nice enough and funny at times, but I sure as hell wouldn't want them running the country.

I want a boring as fuck, never misses any details, workaholic kind or person running the country. Someone I wouldn't want to have a beer with because all they ever talk about is their job.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

Passion only gets you so far, kid. We're in the age of disinformation, being emotional all the time over things you see on the internet makes you act the same way as a boomer. My conversations with young people have been trending towards going the exact same way as my conversations with MAGA boomers who are also very passionate about the disinformation they've found on the internet by "doing their own research." Being upset on the internet isn't something to be proud of.

Critical thinking is more important than emotion in the age of disinformation. Try harder to think more critically and less emotionally.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

And even bigger aspect of international law that people don't seem to understand is who writes international law.

What we call "international law" is actually just a variety of treaties most countries have agreed to follow. So international law is actually just a vague consensus among the leaders of the countries of the world.

So international law doesn't actually prohibit world leaders from doing the things they want to do. Because they wouldn't agree to treaties that wouldn't allow them to do what they want.

War is something countries do, so war is not against international law. But there are defined rules to conducting a war in international law. Sometimes there are civilian casualties in a war, so civilians casualties in a war doesn't automatically mean the country broke international law. Blockades? That's something countries want to do so that's legal, in fact the rules around a blockade is defined in the oldest of international law.

Countries have militaries that wear uniforms so there's additional protections for soldiers in uniform than there are for combatants that aren't in uniform (like Hamas). Uniformed soldiers held captive are prisoners of war and must be released when the war is over. Non-uniformed combatants are basically stateless criminals and can be held indefinitely even after a war is concluded. Countries don't need to take civilians hostage, so that's against international law.

So Hamas taking hostages, civilian, off duty soldiers, even uniformed soldiers on duty, it's all illegal. They aren't following the rules of war and are criminals under international law.

As long as Israel follows the rules of conducting blockades and rules around how to conduct a war, these are legal under international law no matter how much people want to scream genocide.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

I think the whole premise is wrong. It's based on the narrative that news organizations have an agenda to push some kind of bias. Sure some are (like FoxNews) but many aren't like that.

There are people working for news organizations that will have a bias (they're human) but different people working for the same company can have different biases.

It also pushes the idea that the news isn't real, that it's a made up thing and you just have to choose the one that conforms to how you want things to be. But there is reality and there is the truth. If a respectable news organization quotes Joe Biden, you can trust that Joe Biden said those words. It's something that happened. If they quote Donald Trump then that is something he said. That doesn't mean what Biden or Trump said was true, but it's true that they said those words.

Most of the news is just reporting on facts. With a little bit of news literacy you can know the facts and when a small amount of bias slips into a story you can recognize it and disregard it.

Something like Ground News is a statement that bias is more significant than fact. Even if were the case that bias is more significant than fact, then why should we trust Ground News to not be biased themself? When they say something is left biased or right biased, how can we be sure it's not their bias isn't influencing how they're categorizing things?

Sure the news industry is producing more and more opinion pieces now because opinions are cheaper than gathering facts. A lot of people apparently like being told how to think about things. But usually opinion pieces are marked as such. Ground News doesn't help with the emphasis on opinion in the media, it's just putting a meta layer of their opinion on opinion pieces and labeling all news as opinion.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

In my honest opinion whoever proposed this, approved this, and ultimately executed this should be persecuted for something akin to shouting fire leading to a stampede and deaths.

That would be Donald J. Trump. It's in the article.

We knew he was bad at managing the pandemic and we know he was bad at foreign policy. This was a two for the price of one deal.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

He followed orders and ran an effective disinformation campaign.

Think of the Pentagon as a bureaucracy that just does what they're told. If the President says they should invade a country X, they draw up the plans, figure out the logistics, and invade country X. If the President says invade country Y, same thing, just with country Y instead of country X. They follow orders, it's kinda a big thing in the military.

Trump ordered a disinformation campaign in the Philippines, so this guy ran an effective disinformation campaign in the Philippines. If the President wanted to run a disinformation campaign in Russia this would be a guy they'd want to do it.

Follows orders and is good at his job, that's the criteria needed for a promotion.

The blame lies on Trump for giving the order.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

Are you claiming that a disinformation campaign is a war crime and therefore an illegal order?

That's kinda a stretch don't you think?

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

Well sorry to break it to you, there's no international law making disinformation campaigns illegal. It was a bad order to be sure, but not an illegal order.

Soldiers are responsible when following an illegal order. When it's a bad order, then it's the person giving the order that's responsible.

It's just how military works. They have to follow the law, but not your personal morality. I mean what's the morality around killing a person because they're wearing a different uniform? Do you think that's fine while a disinformation campaigns are crossing the line?

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

The law isn't based on your feelings.

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

It is what it is. War is a much more horrible thing than a disinformation campaign. So let's just make war illegal, problem solved!

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

Whether Russian, Iranian and Chinese disinformation campaigns against America are legitimate or not isn't all that relevant. They're happening and will continue to happen regardless of how legitimate anyone considers them to be.

Eventually there may be treaties countries will agree to stop doing disinformation campaigns. But Russia, China, and Iran aren't going to sign on to these agreements if they're the only ones with the capability to conduct disinformation campaigns. Why would they give up their capabilities to disrupt their adversaries if their adversaries didn't have the capability to disrupt their countries with disinformation? Gotta have Mutually Assured Disinformation before you can get everyone to agree to stop these activities.

Just how global politics works.

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

We're already at the bottom, son.

SpaceCowboy , 11 days ago

Thinking the world conforms to your feelings is basically the definition of delusion.

SpaceCowboy , 10 days ago

Is it a crime to kill a person simply because they're wearing a different uniform from you?

That's what the military does, right? They kill people for wearing a different uniform. What's the morality around that? Is it more or less moral to lie to someone than it is to kill them?

We can debate the morality of the existence of militaries all we want. But people in power in places like Russia aren't having that debate. They will use their capabilities to expand their power in absence of a force to oppose them. We need military capabilities and that we means we need to have people willing to kill people for wearing a different uniform. God forbid they might lie to people sometimes, right? Killing people we're fine with, but disinformation crosses the line!

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

A lot of Hamas viewing a ceasefire deal "postively" but not actually agreeing to anything realistic.

Right now Israel has agreed to the US proposed ceasefire deal. Hamas once again are saying they are looking at it "positively" without agreeing to it. The UN Security Council has a binding resolution which Hamas is ignoring now.

Ever consider that the people that brutally murdered over a thousand people in a day might be capable of lying? They talk a lot about wanting a ceasefire but it's all just talk. There's a ceasefire agreement in front of them right now... and there's just more talk from them.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

Now you're just making things up and going full ad hominem.

You're wrong and you know it.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

International law generally doesn't work in favour of criminals, buddy.

This is not a crime. Nothing done against Israeli citizens is, actually.

Nobody is going to take claims of Palestinians being dehumanized if you're dehumanizing Israelis while doing it. You're a monster saying that other people are monsters.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

Sure... let me know when Hamas actually agrees to the deal instead of just saying bullshit like "we look upon this positively."

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

I keep up on the news. I've read most of those things before... when they happened.

You may feel like if you can show people the information you're getting from a youtuber or tiktoker will convince someone. But you didn't consider that someone that doesn't get their news from youtube and tiktok may have seen these things already along with some other information that your favourite youtube/tiktok personality didn't tell you about.

Social media just isn't a good news source. You're getting a filtered version of events. Read the newspaper every day, you'll be informed about things beyond a narrative from someone trying to appease an algorithm.

SpaceCowboy , 12 days ago

If I went to a march and saw someone waving a flag of a group that committed genocide, I'd like to think I'd be brave enough to confront those people and tell them they're just making us all look bad and they aren't helping.

But realistically I'd probably just go home.

Either way I wouldn't associate myself with that kind of thing. The march would be a waste of time anyway, it's not going to influence anyone to join a cause that's for the genocide of the people they hate while claiming their people are victims of genocide. And if pretty much everyone went home when someone breaks out these kinds of flags, they'd soon get the point that they are hurting the movement even if no one confronted them about it.

At any rate everyone that went to this march accomplished exactly nothing because these people brought these flags. Probably worse than nothing... they likely lost support because of this.

If you care about Palestinians you should be willing to confront these people that are hurting your movement. If not, it's just a get-together to hang out with people that support the genocide of Jews.

SpaceCowboy , 9 days ago

Prominent people in BLM made it clear that they didn't condone the violence being done by a small group of people.

The Palestinian protests can't denounce Hamas, a group that murdered over a thousand people in the most brutal ways imaginable. Which is far beyond some looting that occurred during the BLM protests. While prominent people in BLM denounced the looting, we hear basically nothing about people in Palestinian protests denouncing Hamas.

Do you really think that looting is the same thing as massacring villages? If so, you may have lost perspective.

SpaceCowboy , 8 days ago

I think you're missing the point. Looting isn't comparable to massacring villages and even then, prominent voices in the BLM movement denounced the looting.

That isn't happening with Palestinian protests.

Based on nothing but this article.

I've seen many images of people cosplaying as Hamas at protests. It's fairly commonplace. This is not an isolated incident.