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Jeffrey Sachs on the Moscow attack: On Macron:

And that they plug into their AI that 20 casualties are acceptable to get 1 junior Hamas member or 100 for a senior member. It seems Israel hide behind Hamas as an excuse to ethnic cleanse, including the excuse of perpetual victimhood and ‘existential threat’. The only nuclear power in the region backed by the worlds superpower is so threatened that they provoke all their neighbours and bomb a Iranian embassy in another country they aren’t even at war with in the first place. And then Israeli spokespeople say to their allies in Europe and America that this threat of Hamas is coming for you and is going to destroy Western civilisation. Trauma distorts our perception of reality. They are hypersensitive to threats due to past traumas the collective suffered (Holocaust being the worst) and amplify small ones into big ones - like mistaking a mouse for a lion. Hamas is a thorn in Israel’s ass, not a Mediterranean tsunami about to wipe Isreal off the map. Past traumas are used to justify present day traumas and agendas. Israel punish the many who have never harmed them because they cannot punish the few who have.

@Karmadhi You used the right word there which is IF true it would be damning for Israel. Here’s the link to the article for easy access whoever wants to read it: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/ It’s quite long and in depth. It’s from an independent Israeli magazine and not Al Jazeera so that excuse can’t be used lol. @Nivsch Could it explain the 7 aid workers deaths - how is it that in a de-conflicted safe zone they were struck? And not only once but three times as they were running from the previous strikes? Did the AI malfunction or was it a IDF soldier overlooking this? The point is that the blame can’t be put on the AI similar to how a lot of Zionists scapegoat Benjamin Netenyahu for the cause of all the barbarity. Theres clearly a systemic issue of dehumanisation towards Palestinians among the society that shows itself in the countless videos the world has seen - a relatively high number for such a small population. The AI also isn’t doing all of this on its own - the inputs and data have been put in by humans (IDF). If they can accept 20 civilian deaths for 1 junior commander and 100 for a senior Hamas official that says all you need to know and debunks this ‘humane’ ratio claim. It may hurt Israelis to become aware of such things and they may be in denial of their ‘developed’ society being capable of such things but this is where humility and courage to face unsettling truths is important - though you have been coming on the forum daily to read criticism of your country which shows your good faith and strength to be open to truth - even when forum members have been rude to you, I respect that. But even if we take the death toll out of it - simply displacing almost 2 million people and destroying their homes for nothing to return to and then starving them is by itself appalling. Even injuring 70’000 who have limited or no access to proper care and who are being treated/amputated without anaesthesia is horrific. Yet a lot of Zionists attempt to justify this in their bloodthirsty hunt for Hamas and as a pressure tactic to make Hamas give up. They cry over 134 hostages (that they rain down 2000lb dumb dumbs on) yet hold over a million women and children hostage by their starving stomachs to pressure Hamas - any honest human with a heart can see this as simply wrong.

Genocidal AI Israel has developed an AI called "Lavender" to generate kill lists, with almost no human verification to double check the targets selected by the machine: only a a “rubber stamp” check of about “20 seconds” just to make sure the AI target is male. Moreover, the Israeli army "systematically attacked the targeted individuals while they were in their homes — usually at night while their whole families were present — rather than during the course of military activity". In fact Israel developed another automated system called “Where’s Daddy?” used "specifically to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences" In fact the article reveals a ratio, I think for the first time: "according to two of the sources, the army also decided during the first weeks of the war that, for every junior Hamas operative that Lavender marked, it was permissible to kill up to 15 or 20 civilians... The sources added that, in the event that the target was a senior Hamas official with the rank of battalion or brigade commander, the army on several occasions authorized the killing of more than 100 civilians in the assassination of a single commander." A ratio of 20 civilians killed for one target works out to about 95% civilian deaths.

IQ is having intellectual horsepower, wisdom is knowing which horse is worth riding on and in what race. Put another way; intellect answers questions, wisdom knows which questions are worth asking and getting answered. The power of AI belongs to those knowing how to use it - which is why Leo’s conversation was so insightful and fascinating. From another thread: Logic and intellect can bring smarts but not wisdom. To have a accurate map of reality and human nature requires humility and courage to face truths that may unsettle us. A mighty intellect can enlarge the ego which will then use the intellect to strengthen any delusions it may have and further rationalise to shield us from staring into reality. Truth requires us to pursue perceived terrifying insights to their conclusions, that in the end may not be as terrifying if only we could get to them. Maybe this is where the warrior spirit of stage red needs to be integrated - the virtue of bravery and courage. Without courage or humility, otherwise intellectual heavy weights are not strong enough to emotionally/spiritually handle their own intellects. They will instead build more elaborate systems of thought that are tightly self-consistent and logical in their own closed loop of delusion. Within their bubble of logic it all maps together cohesively, but none of it survives first contact with reality which it is divorced from. While they exhibit logical thinking (a sign of intellect), the way they apply that logic is flawed and inaccurate, leading to foolish outcomes (signalling lack of wisdom). Cowardly self-delusion dressed up in fancy intellectual lingerie is still just cowardly self-delusion.

“The charity said that its team had coordinated its movements with the Israeli military and that it was traveling in a “deconflicted zone” in two armored cars branded with the World Central Kitchen logo and a soft-skin vehicle.” - NBC News The West are all talk at the moment about it because 7 of their own died. Shame that 30’000 dead (majority women/children), 70’000 injured, almost 2 million displaced and who knows how many 100s of thousands on the brink of starvation wasn’t enough to get them to do something but this just might…

Logic and intellect can bring smarts but not wisdom. To have a accurate map of reality and human nature requires humility and courage to face truths that may unsettle us. A mighty intellect can enlarge the ego which will then use the intellect to strengthen any delusions it may have and further rationalise to shield us from staring into reality. Truth requires us to pursue perceived terrifying insights to their conclusions, that in the end may not be as terrifying if only we could get to them. Maybe this is where the warrior spirit of stage red needs to be integrated - the virtue of bravery and courage. Without courage or humility, otherwise intellectual heavy weights are not strong enough to emotionally/spiritually handle their own intellects. They will instead build more elaborate systems of thought that are tightly self-consistent and logical in their own closed loop of delusion. Within their bubble of logic it all maps together cohesively, but none of it survives first contact with reality which it is divorced from. While they exhibit logical thinking (a sign of intellect), the way they apply that logic is flawed and inaccurate, leading to foolish outcomes (signalling lack of wisdom). Cowardly self-delusion dressed up in fancy intellectual lingerie is still just cowardly self-delusion. *Regarding UK rap in particular, Skepta and Dave are the heavyweights - def check them out.

Saddest thing about the aid workers being hit by the IDF is that much needed aid has been turned around and heading back to Cyprus. Typically, when numerous videos showcasing extremist views and actions circulate online from a country, it suggests to the public there's an issue with extremism among its population. The perceived scale of this issue will vary based on whether the country has a large or small population. For Israel, the volume of extremist content that emerges appears to be quite high relative to its population size. In contrast, if a similar quantity of material were to come from the United States, it might be more easily dismissed as representing a smaller fraction of its vast population, which exceeds 300 million, compared to Israel's roughly 10 million.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/01/al-jazeera-faces-security-threat-ban-after-israel-passes-new-law-benjamin-netanyahu “Israeli legislators have approved a bill paving the way for a ban on Al Jazeera and other international news outlets perceived as posing a threat to security”. IDF clearly have the capability to target with precision yet there always seems to be “collateral damage” this time citizens of the UK, Australia, Canada. Some comments saying it’s a failed Hamas rocket that fell.

@Nivsch True, even if people expect more of Israel as they are more developed the point is under international law all parties are equal subjects to the law. Even by international law - a occupying power has more obligations to those it occupies. When someone has more resources and rights than another group that usually comes with more responsibility and expectation - international law attempts to equalise that to an extent. Forced expulsion, displacement and creating uninhabitable conditions for a group in their homeland can all constitute "deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group" under the genocide definition from the UN Geneva convention. Its one thing to go after Hamas, but the entirety of Gaza is being levelled to the ground and food crops and plants being grazed and uprooted - which means it is uninhabitable. Collective punishment can tend to sound like a casual slap on the wrist for being naughty but when it becomes the intentional eradication or expulsion of a people it starts to fall under the banner of genocide. Also, genocide doesn't have to be written in state policy for it to be true - of course it won't be. Check the video below: The argument that warning civilians before destroying their home makes a nation moral is also false. Whilst that definitely minimises loss of physical life, that home was part of someones life. People get upset when they lose or damage their belongings - imagine them losing their homes with no insurance to re-home them. Being warned their about to lose their home is like a robber warning someone he's about to rob them - it doesn't make it any better and in fact is traumatising.

''Human Rights Groups: Israel is committing grave Human Rights violations US: We don’t think they are Experts in International Law: Israel is breaking International Law, including International Humanitarian Law US: We don’t think they are The ICJ: Israel is plausibly committing genocide, stop arming them now or you will be complicit US: We don’t think they are The UN: This ceasefire motion is binding for all UN members US: We don’t think it is When ignorant US politicians reject the world’s experts on everything they claim to stand for, simply to facilitate war crimes on behalf of a colonial outpost, how can anyone with even a tiny shred of morality or intellectual integrity support these charlatans and this festering, blood-soaked charade?''

Immigration crises really means assimilation crises. If theres no wider vision or values that allows different cultures or peoples to transcend their differences for the common good theres bound to be issues. Often marginalisation leads to radicalisation. Immigration isn't bad but excessive unchecked immigration which can't integrate with the host country in a timely manner is - especially if the host countries natives are being sidelined in favour of the migrants and the migrants are viewed as competition for the states resources.

Ideology shouldn't trump humanity. People can accept Zionism if it means statehood and safety for Jewish people but not ultra-Zionism if it means a Jewish ethno-state at the expense of indigenous people. Ultra-Zionists hijack the suffering of the Holocaust for their own ends. They nationalise and racialise Judaism as Islamists wish to globalize Islam and religionize every aspect of their society - economics, politics, social customs. Israel claims their approach to be security-centric but just see it like this: If a house or shop gets robbed and the people in it are massacred in the process, fortifying security means installing locks, cameras and security guards - security is about being defensive and not going on the offensive. Justice involves going after the violent perpetrators - not destroying, blockading and starving the entire town in pursuit of them and claiming every innocent life lost as collateral damage or a human shield.

Another perspective:

The ICJ ruled that it’s a plausible case for genocide - will take years for the final verdict if it ever comes. Collective punishment is very clear and evident though. Genocide spans a broad spectrum. At its mildest interpretation, it could be fears of cultural or demographic displacement, as seen in some reactions to immigration. At its most stark its the outright and deliberate extermination of an entire group of people. It’s not always a single sudden event but can be a lengthy process in the making. The worlds watching tracks being laid out for a disaster train, with a starving, trapped population and IDF gearing up for their Rafah operation. That's why even Israel’s own allies are straightening their backs and discourse now - even big names among the American right like Joe Rogan, Alex Jones and Candace Owen are calling it as such which will impact the collectives view on the conflict. Maybe it’s just the trajectory of what’s coming and what’s occurring that is getting clearer - and people don’t want to be seen as being on the wrong side of history.

The problem often is that religion loses its breath and essence when it dances with dogma. Its own followers inflict damage skeptics never could. Also, when people use the term religion what are they usually referring to exactly. Traditions and societal customs or practices are often conflated with religion which is of the spiritual domain, not of the operational domain of how a society should best function. They become like scaffolding built around the raw, pulsing truth of essential religion and become one and the same that when you critique tradition people take it as a attack on religion. I guess for the awakened one, religion isn't just superstition, but eternal truth colorized through mythic story. They can discern whats literal to what may be metaphorically pointing to the transcendental. Historic descriptions of the past aren't taken as prescriptions for the future - records of history aren't always taken as road maps. That doesn't mean we can't extract timeless wisdom, but that societies can age out of certain practices and that tradition becomes a guide and not a jailer. The predicament of the debate between the atheists vs the theists is that their both coming at the same reality from different vantage points yet think they are talking about different realities. Atheist materialists see existence as a clock, ticking without a clockmaker. Religious theists see the clockmaker in every tick and tock like a divine hand orchestrating everything. Atheists can reduce God and existence to a mechanical self-sustaining machine whilst theists can personify God and existence. Both hold fragments of truth which is why discussions can be frustrating. Science questions the operations and how of existence whilst religion is a quest for the one operating behind existence- the one steering, infusing, and expressing itself through existence. Found this video interesting. From 14:07 speaks on why societies always seem to have a religious impulse however that may be manifest.

This isn’t news but analysis related to the recent news of the resolution: From the tweet: “So never before have we been able to see in such an obvious way the immense contrast between the rules-based order and international law. And there's no going back, the curtain was pulled: if they hadn't noticed before, the world now knows for sure that the US (and Israel of course) is quite literally a rogue state, operating outside international laws and norms, and outside the most fundamental moral principles. There's no overstating how consequential this is for the integrity of international relations. By doing so, the US effectively destroys the world order it largely created after WW2 because it effectively tells everyone that the set of institutions, rules and norms that underpin it are meaningless. We're effectively now in a world system where everyone realizes the police, the government, the basic set of beliefs, have become completely corrupted. This changes everything.”

Maybe this source is okay: https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-793420 IDF Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi: A US State Department official claimed that Israel "systematically" sexually abuses Palestinian women. If Israel’s own allies are questioning Israel to this extent you know things have gone too far.

Yoga can orient and guide your body's existing systems and structures toward a state of bliss, but it doesn't reconstruct or re-engineer those systems and structures. It doesn't grant immunity from the world. The focus shouldn't be on magnifying such assertions to the point they hinder practitioners. Especially if many of them already harbor superstitions, belief in miracles, and a mythic interpretation of religion.

Providing dots doesn't mean connecting them in a way that suits a narrative. I haven't commented, just provided some links to provide food for thought. Whats your take on the situation so far? Who benefits from this and what purpose could it serve?

Even the right wing are dividing as they can't remain silent any longer or be seen to be 'on the wrong side of history' in retrospect as Israel continues and defies the worlds condemnation. The US initially plays the role of an accomplice, only to later paint a target among their ally as the protagonist villain. By scapegoating Netanyahu, they conveniently sidestep scrutiny of their own institutions and elites that facilitate his regime's actions. This just shields these institutions from accountability and evades the need to change them and disrupt invested interests. Ultimately, it shifts the burden of guilt onto others while protecting their own interests.

Haven’t gotten into it yet but from the comments this seems to be a good back and forth.

I always remember this old video of Robbie Williams as a display of charisma and self amusement. Though not a parallel example to Jack Black because one could say he’s good looking but still.