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Craig24

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Posts posted by Craig24

  2. Israelo-Palestinian Conflict: 2023 Edition

    in Terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism

    Posted

    7 hours ago, SpookyKitty said:

    This is false. You absolutely must always respect the rights of those trying to harm you. An entire body of criminal law exists to protect the rights of criminals and the accused. It carefully delineates what kinds of actions are justifiable or unjustifiable in the course of bringing a criminal to justice.

    That's fine but you must show me what Israel is doing wrong here.  Hamas has openly stated they exist to destroy Israel.  Hamas backs that stated intent in action (terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians).  Israel is left with two options:  Destroy Hamas (risking collateral damage) or take no action and be destroyed by Hamas.  If you see a third option that secures Israel from future attacks that somehow leaves Palestinians unharmed I'm all ears.   

  3. Israelo-Palestinian Conflict: 2023 Edition

    in Terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism

    Posted · Edited by Craig24

    20 hours ago, SpookyKitty said:

    The notion that Palestinians don't have rights is absurd.

     

    20 hours ago, SpookyKitty said:

    even radical Islamists, collectivists of all kinds, etc. still have rights.

    Yeah everyone does have rights but what point are you making?  How is this related to the actions necessary for Israeli security against terrorism?  Or is it your claim that acknowledging such rights prohibits risking collateral damage in a retaliation by Israel?  What option does Israel have that they are not undertaking that would adequately protect Israel and prevent the collateral damage that so many object to? 

  5. Republicans turning away from free market.

    in Domestic United States Politics

    Posted

    Found this online:

    Republicans Against Inequality

    Quote

     

    Tomorrow afternoon, these four Republican senators — Cotton, Rubio, Vance and Young — will speak at an event on Capitol Hill that’s meant to highlight the emergence of a populist conservative movement in economics. The event is organized around a policy manifesto, called “Rebuilding American Capitalism: A Handbook for Conservative Policymakers.”

    “We really like capitalism, but we recognize it’s not working right now,” said Oren Cass, a former aide to Mitt Romney and the executive director of American Compass, a think tank that published the manifesto.

    Cass is right about that: Income growth for most families has been sluggish for decades, trailing well behind economic growth. Life expectancy stagnated even before Covid. And polls show that Americans of all ideological stripes are frustrated with the country’s direction.

    “Capitalism is a complex system dependent on rules and institutions,” Cass told me. “And conservatism calls for building and maintaining institutions that work well.”

     

     

  8. About the Russian aggression of Ukraine

    in International Politics

    Posted

    3 hours ago, whYNOT said:

    The total facade exposed, that was Minsk, was conducted in order for Ukraine "to buy time", militarize its army with NATO and UK assistance, with the aim of eradicating the Donbas people

    You have my attention now.  I'm against innocent folks being eradicated.  Of course you have proof of this....

    I have my doubts.   

    https://theconversation.com/putins-claims-that-ukraine-is-committing-genocide-are-baseless-but-not-unprecedented-177511

    Quote

     

    Russia has made these kinds of false claims before. It sought to justify its invasion of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014 by framing them as humanitarian interventions.

    If Russia truly believed genocide is taking place in Donbas, it could have made its case in a more formal and less violent way. Russia could have shared evidence with different U.N. bodies, including the U.N. Office on Genocide Prevention, and petitioned for an investigation.

    Military intervention to prevent atrocity crimes – which include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing – only gains a degree of legitimacy if clear evidence has been provided to the international community. It’s also necessary to collaborate with other countries at the U.N. or other global or regional multilateral actors.

    Russia has not done this.

     

    https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/04/how-kremlin-distorts-responsibility-protect-principle

    Quote

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014 continued linking protection for ethnic Russians to military intervention. However, in this conflict, Russian-backed leaders in Donetsk participated in the Kremlin’s propaganda effort to justify the violence in eastern Ukraine. Claims of genocide against Russian-speaking Ukrainians increased in 2014 and have continued to the present war, as the Kremlin sought to provide a justification for its invasion. In recent speeches, Putin stated that Russia is protecting Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population from genocide. However, this justification is gaining little traction outside of Russia. On March 16, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a preliminary ruling that determined Russia did not have grounds to attack Ukraine based on claims of genocide and ordered Russia to stop its military operations in Ukraine and its support for armed forces in eastern Ukraine to further Russia’s war.

     

  11. About the Russian aggression of Ukraine

    in International Politics

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, whYNOT said:

    In fact, it was like someone had flicked a switch, when at the start of the war on 24 February, pro-Ukraine bot activity suddenly burst into life. In that first day of the war the #IStandWithUkraine hashtag was used in as many as 38,000 tweets each hour, rising to 50,000 tweets an hour by day three of the war". 

    Is this supposed to be evidence that Russia's invasion was provoked?  

  15. About the Russian aggression of Ukraine

    in International Politics

    Posted

    4 hours ago, whYNOT said:

    Ah, just that some people and countries do somehow object to a neighbor plonking nuclear-payload missile bases close by, like 10 minutes flight from their capitals.

    Yes becuz Russia has no nukes, no military, no history of belligerence and no territorial ambitions.  It's ok Europe.  Go right ahead and disarm if you wish.  Russia is no threat to you.  

  19. Russian invasion of Ukraine/Belief of Mainstream Media Narrative

    in Intellectuals and the Media

    Posted

    4 hours ago, whYNOT said:

    An obsolete Russian missile that Ukraine still has stocks of. Automatic western condemnations followed, and predictable Kremlin denials (but who believes them...?).

    Ok here's the politifact article debunking this claim

    Quote

     

    There’s no credible evidence that Ukraine was behind the April 8 attack at the Kramatorsk train station. A video used to bolster this claim is fake — it did not come from the BBC.

    The claim has largely been spread by pro-Kremlin accounts following reports of civilian casualties and contradict earlier Russian posts that initially took credit for the bombing. 

    The Tochka-U missile used in the attack, and the serial number on it, isn’t proof that it came from the Ukrainian army. Several news reports, legitimate photos and videos show that Russia has used these missile systems recently.

     

     

     

  22. Russian invasion of Ukraine/Belief of Mainstream Media Narrative

    in Intellectuals and the Media

    Posted

    50 minutes ago, whYNOT said:

    I acknowledge what I have endlessly repeated. ALL the media is guilty of the same thing. Pro-Ukraine, or Pro-Russian propaganda and censorship. I disapprove of each. One difference, RT and Sputnik have been largely banned in the West.

    I'm calling BS on this claim.  Which western governments have censored RT and Sputnik?  If you are able to link to RT as a source it's obviously not banned where you live and it certainly isn't banned here in the US.  

  23. Russian invasion of Ukraine/Belief of Mainstream Media Narrative

    in Intellectuals and the Media

    Posted

    As a follow up to my last post here's a NY Times article on Russian censorship since the beginning of the conflict.

    From the article:

    Quote

     

    Russia clamped down harder Friday on news and free speech than at any time in President Vladimir V. Putin’s 22 years in power, blocking access to Facebook and major foreign news outlets, and enacting a law to punish anyone spreading “false information” about its Ukraine invasion with up to 15 years in prison.

    The crackdown comes as the Kremlin scrambles to contain discontent over the war and to control the narrative as Russia faces its most severe economic crisis in decades as a result of this week’s crushing Western sanctions. Fearing prosecution, more independent Russian news outlets shut down on Friday, and the BBC said it had suspended all of its operations in Russia.

    Mr. Putin signed a law that effectively criminalizes any public opposition to or independent news reporting about the war against Ukraine. 

     

     

  24. Russian invasion of Ukraine/Belief of Mainstream Media Narrative

    in Intellectuals and the Media

    Posted

    1 hour ago, whYNOT said:

    You don't approve of (Russian) government sources - despite many international broadcasters being Gvt. owned - fine and good;

    Do you acknowledge that Russia literally censors any and all news that contradicts the pro Russian narrative on the conflict?  Why do they do that?  Do you approve of that?  How can that not cast at least a reasonable doubt on the veracity of what is reported?

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