Jace, Extat

58 minutes ago, Mr. Chatywin et al. said:

 Life is strange and unfair. 

M'fucker had to sell his goddamn peanut farm! Sell it! 

And he only got one disgraced term for his trouble... 

War is not about equity. It is not about fairness or proportional responses. It is about concentrating violence to achieve a political effect. 

I mean for God's sake what would you have them do? You have an enemy polity that just marauded your citizenry, right next door. You cannot do nothing or else you're betraying your people in the face of invasion and kidnapping. War means civillian casualties, that is an ugly fact. 

I think the civillian body count from Iraq is at about 200,000. 

This is just what happens when these weapons are used. 

34 minutes ago, Larry of the Lawn said:

Bull shit.  The "special optics price" is because there are 20,000 dead people as a result of killing a few thousand terrorists.  

If you want history and violence to keep repeating themselves then maybe "shruggable" is a great policy.  

What I want is irrelevant to the facts of the matter. What I see is a military solution to a military problem. That is the fault of Hamas, this was not policy until Hamas broke the ceasefire with an invasion and slaughter.

33 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

This statement is, at best, disingenuous. No one has said to leave the terrorists alone so they can live a long life. 

 

Nah, just wishmaking about how they'll maybe go away on their own. That doesn't fly when they're your neighbor.

There's terrorism now. The point of the war is to kill the terrorists. Now.

Saying that there could be more terrorism tomorrow is completely shruggable because 1,400 dead Jews testify to the fact that Hamas has to go. No sovereignty in the world could do other than Israel is doing. They just pay a special optics price on account of that pesky Jewishness. 

Oh thank God. I was sitting here tryin' to pretend I don't care...

But fuck the Texans! 

3 hours ago, Kalbear said:

Both. And we have very good experimental data to back that up, both in humans with longitudinal studies, twin studies, cultural comparisons, MRIs of moral brain centers and in apes and other mammals. 

Which is also what we see with different AI models - both what they are and how they are trained significantly changes their exhibited behavior. 

 

Very interesting. 

What about divergent outcomes? Do we know if the platform corrupts input or can input corrupt the platform? I would suggest that both need to be possible for true intelligence. If the platform is truly a thinking thing then it should be able to be altered unawares and alter itself actively. Does that make any sense? 

Where does madness originate? Why does God allow suffering? Where is my good bra? When is HotD coming back???

These are the things I need to know! 

3 hours ago, Kalbear said:

 

 

In order for a social animal to exist some intrinsic moral behavior has to exist for that society...

You need to respect hierarchies and be worried about consequences of not listening to them. You need to cast out the other parts of the tribe that are dangerous to it when they are diseased...

Wait a minute, are we talking about Jaces or monkeys right now?

So are you saying that the variance in persons amounts simply to differences in training data? Or are the differences in the platforms?

Z, you're one of my favorites. 

...

Must... resist... glibness! 

2 minutes ago, mormont said:

The same was true ten years ago, when Israelis were much more optimistic about both questions. And the change in attitudes predates October 7th, so that wasn't it.

A more credible reading is that the side that has got 'more extreme' during this shift in Israeli attitudes is, well, Israel. This change in attitudes happens over the period when the US basically drops pressure on Israel for a two state solution and doesn't do anything of substance to push for peace, the Israeli right decides on the policy of divide and rule, the Israeli left stops talking about peace, and Israeli voters became more right wing. Since for much of that time Hamas' behaviour (deplorable as it is) doesn't change, it's not credible to assign blame to that factor.

I read this as being straight backwards. 

Ten additional years of terror attacks leads to decreased belief in peace... that makes perfect sense to me. 

16 hours ago, House Balstroko said:

I’d be surprised if Iran were to try something so overtly. I think they are happy with keeping it a proxy war as their leadership is already under intense scrutiny back at home. If the US were to get directly involved, you might be looking at an Operation Praying Mantis 2. 

Maybe, but I think the Tom Cruise movie will prove prescient if this is the case. It'd be a strike on their nuclear development facilities, which means home soil. Iran can't roll over and keep playing proxies if that happens, not and keep their status as a regional power. 

Interesting times.

3 hours ago, Kalbear said:

I was wondering why Hamas would advertise the death of senior leadership so actively. Normally they don't say this sort of thing. The reason is that they're trying to use it to bring Lebanon and more importantly Iran into the war. 

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-01-02-24/h_984020e4402e49c3660d1c39c10a8e7a

 

I'd pay a pretty penny to have the Iranian versions of all the news alerts I'm getting about Houthi attacks at sea on U.S. assets and civillian shipping. I'm sure the state department is all over it but I worry that current leadership is doing nothing as we slide into more conflicts. 

And what's worse, the potential alternative leadership we might get is fucking insane and shouldn't be in charge of a bake sale, let alone a possible east european war, a west-asian war, and an east-asian war all at the same time. 

27 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

 

In other news, I GOT MY LETTER FROM FDR TO MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER BACK FRAMED!!!! I was so worried it would get wrecked or stolen. It was sent just before he officially took his oath of office, dated  February 25, 1933. 

 

That's dope! Was your great-grandpa a supporter from his days as governor? '33 is pretty early.

Watching season 4 of the Harley Quinn show. 

God, it's hilarious. And Talia al Ghul is perrrrrrfect!

The Bengals have played well but that punt is probably about it for this one. Shouldda taken that 3.

Just now, A True Kaniggit said:

Hmmmm. 
 

I had an anecdote I was going to tell in defense of drill sergeant’s . 
 

But T.I.s aren’t drill sergeant’s, are they?

Oh I wasn't complaining. 

Drill sergeants are the very best Americans. I wish I could have one of those nutcases pop into my house once a week and scream me into productivity. 

On 12/26/2023 at 4:08 PM, Tywin et al. said:

. My brother who is an Army drill sergeant 

How did I miss this??

Anyway, slight digression. All drill sergeants like dogs because they are, to a man and woman, insane control freaks who can only get off when some other creature's will has been turned against itself. It just makes them happy. 

17 minutes ago, KingintheNorth4 said:

I'd say he's pretty quarterbacky. 

What a horrible thing to say about another human being. What's he ever done to you?

I tell ya, this Browning character ain't no quarterback. 

Kid's a Football Player!

Lamar is so fucking handsome! 

21 hours ago, Darryk said:

I'm sure it will change over time as the heat of pain and rage gradually wears off.

If there can be peace between Tyrael and Kalestine then anything is possible. 

INSOMNIA

Woo hoo! You tell 'em Wolfie. Go Lions.

1 hour ago, mormont said:

The Israeli government has ruled out both outcomes, so I don't believe either is 'likely'.

Well, shit. Y'know?

The west is in desperate need of dynamic leadership that can actually work diplomacy towards responsible outcomes. The leaders we have now make Chamberlain look like a bulwark of democracy. It's a real fucking problem. But this has to be resolved with U.N. powers putting their money and troops where their mouths are once Hamas is defeated. And Israel has to let them in.

Israel's current government is doomed, new policies can be encouraged with new leadership. Hopefully after the war constructive heads can prevail.

It seems to me that there are only two likely outcomes.

Your best case is that the Israeli government and some coalition of U.N.-led allies participate in a reconstruction of Gaza and support of a responsible government therein. Think Berlin in 1946, with different governments taking responsibility for different projects and management. This is your path towards something that maybe could be long term peace.

I've never killed anybody, nor particularly wanted to. I became a medic specifically because I wanted to save lives, not end them.