Posts Tagged ‘Israel’

How Free Speech Works

Posted: December 7, 2024 by datechguy in education, internet/free speech
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Good! I approve of that.

Zaphod Beeblebrox IV when informed the computer is trying to make tea Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

One of the things about free speech is that it mean that people you dislike and disagree violently with get to speak. Like this:

Students at Columbia University launch anti-Israel ‘Columbia Intifada’ newspaper: ‘Outrageous’

The post article has more

The hateful group’s four-page spread includes no bylines or any information connecting the articles to their respective authors, nor is there any solicitation for outside perspectives or reactions from readers.

The only words on the front-page masthead is a quote from a poem by woke extremist scholar Sophia Armen, which reads, “You, genocider — who remembers you?”

It almost goes without saying that I disapprove of the opinions of this paper and the people who write and distribute it on campus.

That being said I completely approve of this method of expressing these at best misguided and at worst violently anti-Semitic opinions.

It’s not occupying buildings or disrupting classing or any form of physical violence. It’s expressing their opinion is an open way and a person is not required to own or read said opinion if they don’t want to.

In short it’s making an argument and frankly there is no reason why such a weak argument can’t be countered by people making a counter argument.

By all means feel free to attack the paper and those who write and distribute it but I’m with Sarah Hoyt when she says:

FREE SPEECH INCLUDES THE RIGHT TO PUBLICLY EXPOSE YOURSELVES AS A**HOLES

The 1st Amendment covers everybody. Even A**holes. Full stop.

I Want to Note One Thing About All of the Brave “Death to Israel” Protesters Particularly Men of Military Age All Over the Western World on This Oct 7th 2024…

Posted: October 7, 2024 by datechguy in Israel, Israel vs Hamas, middle east
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…for all their fury expressed in public and willingness to intimidate police and administrators in western cities in the year they have been marching NONE OF THEM HAVE TAKEN UP ARMS TO HEAD TO THE MIDDLE EAST TO FIGHT.

Quite a few Jews have gone to Israel to fight and there is no shortage of Jewish citizens currently under arms but none of these brave protesters, whose men of military age would constitute a mighty army, for all their loud pronouncements are ready to go off to war to fight those who they claim are committing genocide.

They seem quite invincible when it comes to shouting and screaming and going after lone counter protesters with a mob behind them, but the prospect of facing an armed Jew, man or woman, even with numbers in their favor makes them wet their pants.

They are like the man on the train that Confederate Joseph Johnston encountered after the Civil War who loudly proclaimed the southern cause but when asked by the former general in what regiment he served said that circumstances didn’t allow him to fight. Johnston described him to a friend later as the type who were “Invisible in war and invincible in peace.”

These protesters are “Invincible” in the safety of the western world in places where the rules of free expression are stretched to their breaking point to allow them to denounce Israel as genocidal monsters.

But “invisible” when it comes to putting themselves on the line to fight against them when there is the risk of harm.

Unexpectedly of course.

Cue Python and the Ballad of Sir Robin:

Frankly if I was Israel I’d finance people to dress up like the minstrels in this skit and taunt them

Israel Passes the Test: A thought about the “Don’t Fear the Beeper” Attack

Posted: October 6, 2024 by datechguy in Israel, middle east
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Troi: Run programme.
Simulated Worf: The control system for the primary containment field is not functioning.
Simulated LaForge: Something’s severed the ODN conduit between here and the antimatter storage deck.
Troi: Geordi, could you repair the ODN conduit if you went into the crawlspace?
Simulated Worf: Sir, that crawlway is in a warp-plasma shaft. He would never survive the radiation.
Troi: I know that. Geordi, could you repair the conduit?
Simulated LaForge: Yeah, I think I could.
Troi: Then do it. That’s an order. (He exits)
Riker: End simulation. Something told me you wouldn’t let this go. Congratulations. You passed.
Troi: That’s what this was all about, wasn’t it? To see if I’d order someone to their death.

Star Trek TNG: Thine Own Self 1994 (Via Chakoteya.net)

Something hit me when I was reading this tweet by Yashar Ali

Particularly this bit of it:

The Mossad already got walkie talkies in the hands of Hezbollah back in 2015. The walkie talkies contained an extra large battery and also gave the ability of Mossad to eavesdrop on ALL Hezbollah communications, which it did for nine years.

Now while Hezbollah has been hitting Israel bigly over the last year, at least till operation “don’t fear the beeper” finally was launched they have also launched plenty of rockets and various attacks over the 9 years that Israel was collecting data.

That means that in order to keep Iran and their proxy terrorists in the dark during that time they would have had to allow some of those attacks to get through over that time as if they were unexpected because they could not risk them assuming their communications were being intercepted.

In hindsight of course this decision may in fact lead to the destruction of Hezbollah as anything resembling an effective fighting force and possibly to the freedom of the Lebanese from under the Iranian proxy’s thumb.

But to achieve that Israeli citizens were put at risk and some likely died.

It was a tough call, the time of call a person who has the lives of thousands or millions has to make or to quote the TNG episode above before Troi figured it out: “My first duty is to the ship.”

I’m old enough to remember when the US had leaders able to make those hard calls.

Five Fast Thoughts Under the Fedora I didn’t know Popeye was Jewish, Doing the Jobs Americans Won’t Do Anymore, More Brady less Mayfield, Hillary & The Left Expecting Their Slaves to Work, Dodging History

Posted: September 30, 2024 by datechguy in baseball, election 2024, elections, Israel, middle east, nfl, politics, Sports, under the fedora, war
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Israel’s utter decimation of Hezbollah in Lebanon has confirmed that they have reached the “That’s All I Can Stands I Can’t Stands no More!” stage of existence. In the absence of US leadership Bibi and company has decided to act in their own best interest and take out the trash rather than sit back and appease western governments afraid of angry Arabs.

With Tanks now at the border of Lebanon and the entire command structure of Lebanon gone suddenly the Lebanese is suggesting they will enforce UN resolutions to restrain what’s left of Hezbollah but Israel seems to have decided to take the John Wayne approach from True Grit on rats deciding to kill them rather than let them be.

If I was Iran I’d be damn scared right now.

Speaking of Israel I don’t know what is more embarrassing to me as an American.

  1. That a few days after the Houti’s attacks a group of US warships without any response from us Israel took out their entire oil and fuel reserves at Al Hudaydah port in retaliation for a ballistic Missile strike they conducted against them while they were busy in the north.
  2. That Joe Biden the president when asked about this strike into Yemen strike said this:

This is the man who just over three months ago the entire news media INSISTED was sharp as a tack and anyone who said otherwise was speaking “disinformation”

If you want to understand the difference between a champion and a good player look no further than this exchange when Tom Brady was asked about comments made by the current Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield concerning how the players wanted him to bring “the joy back to Football” lessening the strees they had during the Brady years.

Brady answered thus:

In fairness to Mayfield he has not done bad in Tampa Bay leading them to one playoff win and having a good start this year. When he manages that first Super Bowl Ring then he can talk.

Let me tell you fans in New England are learning the stress of no Super Bowl Rings these days

Some People are shocked that Hillary Clinton is demanding the MSM attack Donald Trump more which given the level they have hit him so far doesn’t seem possible.

I’m not

She is simply claiming the right to treat her slaves as she wishes.

Finally the Chicago White Sox managed to avoid the worst kind of history winning 5 of their final six to finish 41-121 with a .253 winning percentage. While they did set the record for most losses in a season at 121 which beats the 1962 Mets 160 their 41 wins means their winning percentage is .253 as opposed to the Mets .250 meaning that the Mets remain in a class by themselves.

It’s an even bigger accomplishment when you figure that by taking two of three from the Tigers they forced them into the 6th seed in the playoffs when a single win would have given them home field advantage vs the Royals so they had something to play for.

As the Monty Python crew sings, always look at the bright side of life

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