> Where in reality, the war could have been over in 5 minutes if they released the hostages at any time during the past 3 years.
This talking point is very-much dated now.. Israel has said that they will not stop until Hamas is "eliminated". Netanyahu also threw in another condition to end the war: implementation of Donald Trump's plan to relocate Gaza's civilians [0]. So now I guess it doesn't end until ethnic cleansing is complete? That's lovely.
The idea of unregulated blue state militias has me chuckling a bit, given how said states have largely neutered their citizen's ability to own capable rifles.
We are to depend on our trusted local law enforcement to protect us, as well as our valiant governors who will assuredly call up local guards to do the same. Examples of brave, novel Democratic resistance to Trump abound these days. There's no need to worry!
The way blocking works on Bluesky is easily the most frustrating part of the platform I've encountered. I'm all for blocking trolls, spammers, etc but it seems even a mild divergence from the crowd gets you whacked. It's a bit stifling in my experience. I wonder if they'll change the way it works..
Indeed. I'm particularly getting concerned about co-infection leading to genes being swapped - short-circuiting the evolution needed to adapt to humans. The CDC reported this year's flu season is at the highest levels since 2009 [0]. A CDC study released in November showed ~7% of dairy workers who participated had evidence of recent H5N1 infection. Now we find out that the D1.1 variant that killed a person in Louisiana and sent a teenager in Canada into a coma is in cows [2]. That variant has the PB2 D701N mutation that's associated with mammalian adaptation.
I've been following this thing since February 2023, and it for sure feels like it's getting closer. I see you too are paying attention - cheers.
if it was aimed just at flat earthers or Qanon types that would be one thing, but that has not been my experience on Bluesky. folks cast quite a wide net and the slightest bit of opinion outside of the hive mind will get you on the shit list.
one would think the ranking member on the House Intel Cmte - my very own Rep - would agree with you, given how he'd be way more privy to such things than you, me, talking heads on TV, etc. yet he disagrees and cites free speech concerns [0][1].
in my mind none of these reasons add up. if this were truly about influence ops on social media we would not have blinders on for our own platforms' role in them. remember Cambridge Analytica and the 2016 campaign, or Facebook's role in the Myanmar genocide? or more-recently the ops Israel ran? furthermore if this were really about our data, we would again not have blinders on. the CCP can still purchase our data as we're all up for sale given our lack of data privacy/protection laws.
as such i tend to side with my Rep: this is bunk, and the pretexts flimsy. i believe the answer is to focus on education - critical thought particularly - and enacting data privacy/protection laws. i do not believe that would lead to 1).
now will that happen? i'm doubtful tbh. our own govt loves the fact that we're up for sale, for it allows them to side-step the need for a warrant. have a great weekend.
i don't think even that changed really tbh. 25 years ago spam was still terribly profitable, not to mention much easier to do than today. it was wide open. ah... now i'm feeling nostalgic :)
This talking point is very-much dated now.. Israel has said that they will not stop until Hamas is "eliminated". Netanyahu also threw in another condition to end the war: implementation of Donald Trump's plan to relocate Gaza's civilians [0]. So now I guess it doesn't end until ethnic cleansing is complete? That's lovely.
[0] https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-implementation-of-tr...