stevehobbes

joined 10 months ago
[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 1 points 10 months ago (5 children)

An Israeli company makes it, not Israel.

If you think that democracies do not spy on other countries, I’m not sure what to tell you.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol -2 points 10 months ago

They bought it from an Israeli company. The company isn’t Israel the state.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Is that true? I’m not aware of any Muslim states that anyone would refer to as progressive. Which ones are you thinking of?

The US has seen almost unparalleled peace and prosperity and I wouldn’t say becoming progressive is easy. We’re still fighting about reproductive rights here.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

I would be willing to bet that there are maybe, at most, 50 people out in Gaza out of 800,000. And even that might be high.

There are no protections at all in Gaza, and you’re quite likely to be the recipient of an honor killing.

So, if you were to ask anyone in Gaza if they’re gay, they’re going to say no.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 23 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (8 children)

Sadly, even with the most recent conflict, that’s almost certainly not true.

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

Israel has special visa/work permit/asylum process for LGBT Palestinians. I would bet there’s more gay and out Palestinians in Israel than there are in Palestine.

Gaza/Hamas are especially awful relative to the West Bank.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 44 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

It’s a strengthening of the courts - or returning to their previous strength before the law took effect.

With the bill’s passage into law, the High Court may no longer strike down administrative decisions that are deemed “extremely unreasonable,” beyond the scope of what a responsible and reasonable authority would undertake. The standard may no longer be applied to decisions made by the prime minister, the cabinet as a whole, or any specific minister. It also bars its use against a minister’s decision not to use his or her authority, and on ministers’ appointments of government workers.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 1 points 10 months ago

I should know better than to get sucked into this. But you’re right. I’ve been repeatedly told the most complex and longest lasting conflict in history is “simple”. Should stick to Israel bad / Palestine good, communists good / capitalists bad, no one likes nuance or shades of gray here.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

OK.... so any war crime is genocide now? It really feels like we're broadening the definition substantially. And don't get me wrong - war crimes are awful and should be prosecuted. But calling them all genocide feels.... dilutive to systematic extermination of a people.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It does not vary by state. Usually 7 or 13 are better/faster for individuals - but there's no reason you can't.

https://www.debt.org/bankruptcy/chapter-11/

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol -1 points 10 months ago (3 children)

But if it were a professional army conducting a genocide as you allege, wouldn't they be much better at it? This is where I keep coming back to.

I would agree with "professional army that is ranking military value significantly higher than minimizing civilian casualties" but that isn't genocide.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 0 points 10 months ago

Fair enough. There’s a lot of animosity there. But it feels like all of the reactions here are focused on calling it and framing it as a genocide at all costs.

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

They’re aligning with the US because the other party they could have aligned with has annexed their other ally once already, and then launched a full scale invasion to take more in the last 10 years.

You can say what you want about American democracy and probably be right - but it’s more little d democratic than Russia is currently by leaps and bounds.

One does not need to look at a Supreme Court ruling as a coup to see a dictator at work in Russia.

view more: ‹ prev next ›