There is one big flaw with socialism: socialist governance seems to require concentrating an extraordinary amount of power in elite government decision makers; this tends to produce a new ruling class, the widespread deprivation of political rights for everyone else, and crippling poverty.

Probably both. Divert pressure off the front. Disrupt supply lines and infrastructure (roads, bridges and railroads). I’ve also heard mention that one axis of advance is towards a nuclear plant.

I’ve seen some keyboard warriors theorize that the Ukrainians intend to capture the plant as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Russian because Russia currently holds a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. My (wild ass) guess is that if they make it to the plant, they will just destroy its ability to generate power, then retreat.

Russians really like raping.

Russian values? I assume he means rape, murder, theft and rape.

Yes, deliberately going after civilians when there is no nearby military target would be terrorism. Attacking a member of a military organization’s chain of command is a legitimate target.

From what I have read, this war keeps dragging on because Israel can’t agree on what to do after the fighting stops. Hamas obviously hasn’t been destroyed and Israel either can’t or won’t do what is needed to destroy them, yet they don’t want to agree to a cease fire either.

A lot of people in this sub don’t seem to understand what the definition of terrorism is. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is the use of violence against civilians for political aims. Hamas is a paramilitary organization, let’s just call it an army for ease of discussion. There is currently an actual shooting war going on (no cease fire) between Hamas and Israel. Members of an army’s leadership are legitimate targets during times of war.

Now, attacking an army’s leadership in a third country (I’m counting Gaza as country 1 and Israel as country 2 for this discussion) can have big, negative repercussions for the country that does the attacking in the 3rd country. However, this assumes country #3 is trying to remain neutral. Iran is anything but a neutral 3rd party in the conflict. They have armed and trained Hamas for decades as well as threatened to destroy Israel many, many times over 40 years. For Israel, there was no real downside to killing that Hamas leader in Iran.

I may be mistaken. I’ve done some Googling. Wikipedia tells me that Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Yemen declared war on Israel when it was founded in 1947. It ended in an armistice (basically a cease fire). In later years, Algeria and Morocco attacked Israel along with others. In 1979, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel, it was the first country to do so. Jordan did so later, but I am not sure when. All of those other countries still are technically in a state of war against Israel. I don’t see any mention of Iran being at war with Israel in the past, so I don’t think Iran is technically at war with Israel.

Both Hezbollah and Iran are both at war with Israel and have vowed to destroy Israel many, many times.

I believe there are two possibilities: either an Israeli agent snuck inside the house and planted the bomb or they were able to ‘turn’ someone who has access to the house and convince them to plant the bomb. Either way, it doesn’t look good for the IRGC. Heads will roll, perhaps literally.

I think the DEA is the only entity at the Federal level that cares about marijuana. Drug warriors are gonna drug war.

I found the first part where the guy was digging in the rubble, then later searching the tunnel to be inconclusive. I couldn’t tell who or what was going on.

However, the second part, where the guy is handcuffed in his underwear, surrounded by soldiers, then later on it looks like the same guy being herded through a building… that doesn’t look good. Someone below mentioned a possible prisoner swap. I don’t think prisoner swaps are handled like that.

Does he “claw” the towel? By this I mean he reaches up to the towel and stretches, resting his front paws on the towel, then flexes his claws so that the catch into the fabric of the towel. Then, when he is done stretching, because his claws are embedded into the towel, pulls the towel down?

Wasn’t access to the Hamas tunnels found in a hospital early on in the invasion of Gaza? Also, didn’t the director of said hospital admit to being a member of Hamas?

My father-in-law got a Master’s Degree in Computer Science 30 years ago. IIRC, it was heavy in C programming and involved typical CS fare like algorithms, pointers, sorting, data structures, etc. He was a high school math teacher at the time (he’s now retired). He took the classes mostly because he enjoyed learning.

I did ok during the Dos/Windows 95 era, but as time went on, he seemed less and less able to solve his own computer problems. He can’t even Google a problem effectively (or even remember to try to Google his problem).

Most recently, I had to hold his hand while he bought a new computer at Best Buy and then further hold his hand as he went through, step by step, the Windows 11 installation/first time start up process.

<sigh>

Ahh… I had forgotten your link from earlier. Yes, it is the one you posted.

I agree with you the shenanigans of the settlers… their constant ‘settling’ only aggravates things. It was explained to me that since only truces and cease-fires exist between Israel and Palestinians, there are no fixed borders, so the land is up for grabs. Once a peace treaty is signed and borders are established, then the settlers will be removed. I understand the reasoning, but I’m not so sure just how smart this strategy is.

Do you really think you can eliminate Hamas?

I don’t “think” anything. I’m just repeating what Israel has been saying since last October. I’m no expert in tunnels, tunneling or tunnel warfare, but I believe all of the tunnels are now mapped out and the vast majority of Hamas’ fighters are trapped underground, so I would presume it is a matter of will plus endurance if the IDF can achieve its goals, but even if the IDF does defeat the Hamas fighters in Gaza, the Hamas leadership lives outside Gaza (Qatar, i think), so the fight will probably go on, as long as Hamas’ leadership still exists.

“In fact the more innocent people you murder the more you secure the next round of recruits”. Israel tried to co-exist with Hamas in Gaza for close to 2 decades. The October attacks were the result. The vast majority of Israelis want revenge and are out for blood. They may be adopting the Roman strategy of “Let them hate us, so long as they fear us.”

I just read that a cease-fire resolution is making its way through the UN and that previously Hamas accepted the terms and Israel said it would. It has 3 stages, with the 1st stage involving the exchange of hostages for Hamas prisoners. I honestly think Israel will break the cease-fire after they get their hostages back.

It’s an easy prediction, but I predict more misery for Gaza in the coming years, no matter what options Hamas and Israel choose.

Yes, Israel rejected the deal because they want Hamas destroyed, either as an unconditional surrender by the remaining Hamas fighters or as some kind of ‘Alamo’ last stand by Hamas. If the IDF fails to make further progress, they may reconsider the deal.

Israel has the land it has as the result of coming out on top in previous wars. Israel won’t give up any land until a genuine peace deal is achieved, which isn’t likely anytime soon, since Hamas explicitly rejects any kind of peace deal with Israel, only cease - fires.

You are correct that many Gazans were children the last time elections were held in Gaza, but according to opinion polls taken shortly after the October 7th attack, about 70% of Palestinians (both in Gaza and the West Bank) support the attack on Israel and the taking of hostages. You reap what you sow.

I’m not justifying the murder of anyone. Hamas wants civilian casualties (involuntary martyrs) so as to elicit sympathy from the world.

Sadly, there will be future civilian casualties in Gaza in the coming weeks and months unless some drastically changes or Hamas surrenders.

Hamas could have just let the IDF and the rescued hostages go. Instead, they chose violence… with predictable results.

I’ve got Win 10 and it works fine. I have no reason to upgrade to Win 11. If any new ‘feature’ gets added to Win 10, I will disable it.