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Andy

@ andrewrgross @slrpnk.net

Posts
90
Comments
780
Joined
3 yr. ago

  • Israeli forces say they locate large underground weapons factory in Gaza

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  • I just want to preempt any debate over whether these claims are credible by saying that they are fundamentally not relevant to the long-term needs of this situation.

    Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel need to be afforded their human rights. Israelis need security, and will never get it from violence and ruthless persecution of this ethnic underclass they've created.

    My point is that if you diagram out the best of course of action, all nodes on that diagram that are based on what Hamas has or hasn't done lead to no meaningful difference. Their violence is abhorrent. There is no point is debating over their tactics or location however, because none of it changes the harsh realities that only a negotiation that provides Palestinians access to safe homes, education, food, etc. is going to bring an end to the cycle of violence, and I feel compelled to point this out whenever these distractions pop up, as they do on a daily basis.

  • OpenAI CEO says Muslim tech workers fear retaliation for speaking out

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  • u/Otter@lemmy.ca provided an output of its reasoning when asked to explain this behavior, and I think it's worth examining.

    The short version is that when asked why it can joke about some groups and not others it speculates that it maybe because it's output is based on training data, and its safeguards recognize that the training data on some topics is more likely than others to be lower in cultural literacy and higher in offensive stereotypes, and this can lead it to decline a request. That sounds like a fairly credible explanation.

  • OpenAI CEO says Muslim tech workers fear retaliation for speaking out

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  • That sounds like it was able to provide a pretty sensible assessment of its own limitations.

    I think this sounds like a pretty good implementation of guide rails. Obviously it's a little jarring to ask for a joke about one group and get a very bland-but-inoffensive joke, and then ask for a joke about another group and hear something like 'Error: my heuristics indicate low confidence in my ability to provide a joke about that group without saying something that would be considered offensive.'

    But that's better than having it give an offensive joke. And I think it's concern is valid. If it's learned humor from the internet, jokes about Muslims are far more likely to be unintentionally offensive. I hope it learns to tell jokes better, but until then this I think this more of a sign of success than failure.

  • Removed

    Trump tells Iowans to ‘get over’ school shooting at campaign event

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  • It's darkly funny to imagine something worse than that.

    'It's just kids -- so not exactly surprising to see it here. Anyway, get over it. Move on.'

  • OpenAI CEO says Muslim tech workers fear retaliation for speaking out

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  • I would second this. Based on what I've read, he seems like a pretty standard megalomaniacal tech billionaire, but when you're right you're right. And his take here is right, and I'm grateful for it. Especially coming from a fellow Jew. Our voices in particular are a powerful tool for protecting our Muslim brothers and sisters.

  • OpenAI CEO says Muslim tech workers fear retaliation for speaking out

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  • I've leaned that one of the most powerful tools for addressing whether a take regarding the conflict in Gaza is bad it's to try testing how the logic holds up if we apply it to a different group or side.

    I'm Jewish. I've got a lot of friends and family that are feeling uncomfortable speaking about the huge raise in antisemitism we're experiencing. Would it make sense to reply to that by saying, 'If they want to show support for Israeli genocide then they should rightly feel a fear of retaliation.'. ?

    Altman is correct. Jews and Muslims in America should be working together to support one another against the simultaneous rise in hate against our communities. We should also be frank in recognizing that most Muslims do not have as much institutional support as most of their Jewish colleagues, and both need and deserve it.

  • OpenAI CEO says Muslim tech workers fear retaliation for speaking out

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  • It's interesting, but, what practical lessons do we take form this?

  • Jordan and France drop humanitarian aid into Gaza by air

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  • That makes sense, actually. Thanks for the correction.

  • Jordan and France drop humanitarian aid into Gaza by air

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  • See, this is the kind of context I'm looking for.

    I highly doubt that any country would fly into combat airspace without coordination. That sounds a recipe for a massive international incident if a plane gets shot down.

  • Jordan and France drop humanitarian aid into Gaza by air

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  • Recognizing it as their airspace isn't legitimizing their claim to any territory, it's just an acknowledgement that they hold it fully in their control.

  • ‘What kind of life is this?’ Dire conditions in increasingly cramped southern Gaza

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  • I think about this all the time. I think about how unhappy it makes me to see a day wasted. If my kid spends a day in front of the TV I worry that he's missing out on something. And that assumes we have TV. I think about a few hours in an airport, and how erratic and miserable it makes my kid and the adults, and being stuck in this state while also constantly running from hellfire raining down, never getting clean, never getting a good meal, never getting a good night's rest... Hell does not seem sufficient to describe it.

    Btw, I think the comparison between Zionism and Nazism is unhelpful. It's not unjustified, but the comparison obscures more than it reveals, imo. I think saying that Israel and the US are committing naked genocide captures the situation pretty effectively, and produces much more effective discussions online. As soon as the Nazi comparison comes up, I think it gives people who are uncertain what to believe an excuse to dismiss the criticisms against the Israeli government, and defenders of the genocide an easy way to divert the conversation away from Israel's recent and not so recent war crimes.

  • Israeli embassy pulls video imagining Hamas attack in Seoul

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  • How did they make it? Was it acted out with actors? Synthetic media?

  • Hindu bus conductor fired for helping Muslim passengers: Does it reflect an increasingly polarised India?

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  • Thanks.

    Also, oof. That's sad.

  • Wisdom of the Ages

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  • This makes me feel quite old. They really deserve a second life, though. They hold up really well.

    It's also an odd time capsule of what Matt Groening was like as an early indie comic artist.

  • Israel grants Intel $3.2bn for new $25bn chip plant in "largest investment ever"

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  • I feel like this is short sighted, from a business perspective.

    I think that the movement to boycott-sanction-digest from Israeli companies is likely to expand substantially in the coming year. 3.2 B is a lot, but will it be worth it? Not sure.

  • Hindu bus conductor fired for helping Muslim passengers: Does it reflect an increasingly polarised India?

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  • It's behind a pay wall. What happened?

  • Hamas Police Officer Fatally Shoots Boy Approaching Humanitarian Aid Truck to Keep Others Away:

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  • I reject the framing of "Neither side": there are not two sides, there are many.

    First, I think what you mean is that the Netanyahu government and Sinwar's Hamas don't want a ceasefire. And technically, it's more accurate to say that neither side wants a ceasefire along the terms offered by the other.

    Secondly, though, I don't support either of these two parties. I didn't say "there needs to be a ceasefire when Hamas and Likud feel like it". Both sides are currently run by war criminals, and the matter shouldn't be in their hands.

    I'm an American Jew, and my primary interest is compelling my president and government to stop providing material/logistical/political support for genocide. I want conditions on aid to Israel, and a formal declaration that the US position is that the war has gone far beyond securing Israel's safety and is clearly destabilizing the security of Israel, the US, and the region (not to mention Palestinian noncombatants). And if Netanyahu and Sinwar don't like it, that's good because their interests are diametrically opposed to mine.

  • 2 women killed in Israeli attack on Holy Family parish in Gaza

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  • I think it's spelled Ben-Gvir, but I'm glad his name is starting to reach American ears. The guy is both the head of the national police and also literally a convicted terrorist.

    Biden and Blinken and their allies in media need to start recognizing that Sending weapons to a government that includes convicted terrorists has to be a red line. The guy was on Israeli AND American watchlists before he got appointed to be in charge of the entire Israeli police and prisons. That's just insane. And he's apparently the second most extreme member of the cabinet (the most radical is Bezalel Smotrich, who was charged but never convicted of terrorism).

  • Israel receives 230 planes, 20 ships loaded with US arms amid Gaza war

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  • I feel like Biden is trying to do the thing from The Producers at this point. I don't know why, but his decisions in the last three months only make sense to me if for some reason he feels like he needs to lose the presidency as hard as possible.

    I wish he would stop. He was literally my 10th choice in 2020, but I actually liked what he was doing for the first three years. And now it feels like he's trying to make Trump president again. Why??

  • Israel receives 230 planes, 20 ships loaded with US arms amid Gaza war

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  • What's the difference between giveth and taketh? These both seem like taketh.