That’s understandable, but every complex situation requires a good deal of nuance. In this case, for example, not all Israelis are Zionists (anymore than all Palestinians are Hamas), and not even all Zionists (or Hamas) are “bad guys.” There are clearly some fucked up political agendas at work, and could well be more bad actors on one side than the other, and if you look close even “sides” become blurred. But there are definitely agents working to accentuate that distinction, and I don’t trust any of them. Which is different from saying all sides are the same. All I know is that war, greed, and power are all bad, and that good people are suffering, but beyond that I don’t know enough to take a public stand (though I’m working on some opinions).

Edit: let me clarify. I’m not trying to be neutral either. When I see something happening in my immediate world, in front of me, I will say/act for the common good. But I’m not going to read something online, about a place I’ve never been, and take a public opinion about it. I trust that there are people there, in that place, that are doing what I would do, and I hope they succeed.

If they practiced trying to cut some random cable in the East China Sea it might raise suspicions, right? Maybe better to practice somewhere else.

Wow, must be some rogue pirate vessel, because any formal government ship, especially one flying a bright red flag, would be too easy to identify. It’s a mystery. /s

Whadaya bet he was in his bathroom, maybe with boxes of documents but never mind that, practicing different faces late into the night. Oh joy.

It always amuses me how politicians and community “faith based” leaders can blithely condemn what scientists have been warning about for decades, as if they know better (with no training or experience). Anti-intellectualism is the Dunning-Kruger effect applied to politics, known as Populism, aka the idiots revenge.

These children cough syrups are sweetened using ethylene glycol and/or diethylene glycol, which are extremely toxic, especially to small children and cause acute kidney failure. Why? Because the non-poisonous propylene glycol usually used costs twice as much. Greed is killing our planet.

They mention high mercury levels as a trap or from wine that the emperor drank, but neither is likely (they often used to add lead to wine as a sweetener, but not mercury AFAIK). But, mercury contamination in tombs, especially in Asia, is very common from the heavy use of the deep red pigment cinnabar, also called vermillion, which is mercury sulfide.

Long time Usenet user, started Reddit in Feb 2013. There were a few scandals and growing pains, but it always felt like a (somewhat rowdy) community. As a user-centric volunteer generated forum I never imagined it would succumb to corporate greed, but here we are. Or, there we were. Lemmy feels like a breath of fresh air.