“Truth? You can't handle the truth!”

[Funt Solo]

Yeah, I see what you mean. I know there is a lot of common ground - nobody is keen on the spilling of innocent blood, I'm sure. I expect we're all in agreement on that.

It's that being a launch pad to open the door to other, more hateful stuff, that I'm suggesting isn't a palatable (or, perhaps, even legal) thing to be doing.

Perhaps we can all agree just to change the subject?

[The Legendary Shark]

My opinion is that there must be a thread where these things can be discussed.

That said, I understand that this is a forum predominantly - but not exclusively - about a particular comic, which is why I limit such observations and opinions to threads such as this.

As to Funt's accusation that the speaker minimises the Holocaust, this is not so. He merely points out that Zionists use the Holocaust as an excuse, and are not averse to embellishing that tragedy for political ends - as the BBC reported in 2015. That an ostensibly Jewish prime minister should twist history this way to justify atrocities of his own minimises the Holocaust to a much deeper and more sinister degree than calling it out does.

These things are hard to look at and hard to comprehend. But we must look. Zionism is an inherently genocidal political ideology which is completely at odds with Judaism. It's not me saying that, it's people like  Rabbi Elhanan Beck, who I'd regard as more informed on the topic than me (link probably safe for work, so long as you're not working somewhere you really shouldn't). Agreeing with a rabbi doesn't make me antisemitic (not that anyone said it did), or at least it shouldn't.

We've come to fear talking about these things because to be labelled antisemitic is to be regarded as as a dreadful person. So many examples have been made, so many political and economic careers ruined over a misconception, an illusion, a lie. To question the Zionist Israeli government is not the same as being filled with antisemitic hatred. It's a fear that's been hammered into us as surely a hatred of Palestinians has been hammered into Israelis (CAUTION: Link leads to a piece by Abby Martin, who used to be on evil foreign news channel RT). But we've been played.

This fear is largely illusory (but, of course, there are dyed-in-the-wool bigots of all stripes in the world, so we must be on our guard) and we must see this illusory fear for what it is; emotional blackmail. I think most ordinary people would not endorse any kind of Holocaust, I know I wouldn't, nor belittle the stain on our collective humanity such tragedies leave. But neither should we have this grotesque history held over our heads like the Sword of Damocles, especially by a cynical and genocidal political ideology engaged in the theft of another country. I don't really think ignoring it will achieve anything, but talking about it might.

I think it is important for people to talk about these things honestly and without fear, even if it is only in one dark corner of a forum dedicated to a zarjaz comic.

[Funt Solo]

As to Funt's accusation that the speaker minimises the Holocaust, this is not so.

Yes, it is so:

0:28
the reason why I've had enough of Israel
0:31
bringing up the Holocaust as it carries
0:33
out a holocaust against Palestinians

From Wikipedia: "Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe"

From Wikipedia: "Since the start of the ongoing war, as of 18:00 on 23 November, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza, more than 14,800 people have been killed in Gaza"

So, he's either saying that the murder of six millions Jews (with no provocation whatsoever) is the same as a complicated conflict in which about 15 thousand people in Gaza have been killed, or that six million Gazans have died, or that only 15 thousand Jews died in The Holocaust. He's not really clear - which is why hyperbole is such a shit way to debate anything - but especially on a topic as heated as this one.

He's minimizing The Holocaust. You're spreading that around. Please - just drop it!

[Jim_Campbell]

My opinion is that there must be a thread where these things can be discussed.

No, you think that you deserve a forum to air your specific opinions on certain subjects. The question is whether this is the appropriate forum for that. I've come to the conclusion, after many, many years that the answer to that question is: no.

Find somewhere else for it. Start your own YouTube channel. Get a TikTok account. Whatever. Just stop shitting up this forum with your bollocks. Please.

[The Legendary Shark]

Cancelled.

Gotcha'.

Just please don't ban me until after the Advent Calendar, okay? ;-)

[Funt Solo]

Flat earthers - they so lame! Witness the truth:

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Mugs!

[Funt Solo]

Yes - these will be available on mugs ... and tea towels!

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

That was an awful, awful, truly terrible attempt at a joke about the topological homeomorphism between donuts and coffee mugs/tea cups.

[Hawkmumbler]

I wish I could find the clip of an Flat Earth Society spokesman thanking all the speakers that attended a convention in the good 'ol United States of Yeeeehaaaaw America for flying in to give lectures...from AROUND the GLOBE...

[The Legendary Shark]

From the Jerusalem Post:

"The entire Gaza Strip should be emptied and leveled flat, just like in A*schw*tz. Let it become a museum, showcasing the capabilities of the State of Israel..." Metula Council head David Azoulai.

Monstrous.

(Caution! This article also contains the "H" word!)

[The Doctor Alt 8]

When Flat Earthers Spent $20,000 Trying To Prove Earth Is Flat And Accidentally Proved It's Round

https://www.triplem.com.au/story/flat-earthers-spend-20-000-trying-to-prove-earth-is-flat-accidentally-prove-it-s-round-129953

[The Legendary Shark]

So this current A.I. conversation got me thinking about how it's going to be hard to spot fake images and even videos from now on, maybe even broadcast in real-time. Then I remembered that brief conspiracy theory flap from the early 2000s about video artefacts being proof that certain people were actually alien lizards hiding behind holographic disguises which glitched occasionally. Good fodder for sci-fi but almost certainly (and most hopefully) bollocks.

So why bring it up?

Well, connect another vague dot and a vague possibility looms into view. Classified research is presumed to be decades ahead of what's publicly known (although this, too, might be bollocks - a kind of "we're smarter than our enemies" propaganda war), so maybe, just maybe, those glitching lizards were early tests of "live" A.I.?

Not saying it's true, it's only a possibility. The A.I. available to the public now is often glaringly imperfect but, very rarely, convincingly real, so if the bods behind the scenes really are so far in front, we're going to have to be vigilant on so many levels.

But that's all just speculation and not the truth at all.

What is the truth, sadly, is that A.I. is, right now (and since 2021), being used to kill people. Don't take my word for it (or theirs, for that matter), but check out +972 Magazine's article mentioning the "Habsora" ("The Gospel").

There's a lot more at stake than art.

[M.I.K.]

Good lord... It would seem my digital telly gets more attuned to detecting holographic technology utilising alien lizard-folk and/or A.I. generated imagery when it's really windy and the outside aerial is wobbling about.

[The Legendary Shark]

Climate Change on Trial.

It's a bit of a clickbait title, but this short (15 part) podcast series following the recent (Jan/Feb '24) defamation case brought by prominent climate scientist Michael Mann against writer and broadcaster Mark Steyn (alleging an article by Steyn defamed him and his research) is fascinating. Using actors to bring to life court transcripts and presented by two engaging Irish journalists, this series is well worth a listen no matter which "side" one supports.