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Reflections on Palantir
311–320 of 658 posts
Re: Reflections on Palantir
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Re: Reflections on Palantir
#313Earlier quoted context omitted.
Man his speaking and writing style get so annoying after a while and I speak as someone who has seen him talk at DEFCON and HOPE multiple times. He has got this god like reputation among the hacker community. Might there be someone who isn't as attention seeking and who isn't just trying to make catchy speeches talking about the same ideas?
I tend to agree with you on this, but it's kind of an amusing comment given the linked article's comment on memes: "the most talented people tend to develop their own vocabularies and memes, and these serve as entry points to a whole intellectual world constructed by that person." Doctorow is not one of the examples he provides, but I'm not sure that any of this negates the point.
"Above all things we should avoid often talking of ourselves and giving ourselves as an example; nothing is more tiresome than a man who quotes himself for everything." is the quote I reach for from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9105/9105-h/9105-h.htm
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#314Note that Palantir's moral stature isn't as grey or debatable as made in the article, it is basically clearly complicit in the genocide in Gaza. In other words, if you read the article I would add one more bucket to the three categories the author provided to classify palantir's work - genocide assistance. from https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-jd-vance-peter-thiel-f... """ Not only did it provide information to…
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Defeating Israel is moral imperative. There was no Hamas on 1948 but they massacre people anyway. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre
> The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when Zionist paramilitaries attacked the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, killing at least 107 Palestinian villagers, including women and children.[1] The attack was conducted primarily by the Irgun and Lehi, who were supported by the Haganah and Palmach.[3] The massacre was carried out despite the village having agreed to a non-aggression pact.
Another example for 20 years ago (way before October 7). Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/16/israel2
> An Israeli army officer who fired the entire magazine of his automatic rifle into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl and then said he would have done the same even if she had been three years old was acquitted on all charges by a military court yesterday.
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
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It is because corporations benefit from exploitable labor and competition among workers. For this reason they promote a narrative that opposing illegal immigration is racist. The counter narrative would be that preventing it gives power to American workers (of all races) but no one seems to discuss that.
This is an obvious truth around immigration that makes me question the media's motivations.
Asylum applications are often contingent upon finding and keeping employment. ICE immigration prisons sell prison labor sold to state governments and corporations.
The public debate between "Immigration is a human right" and "Immigrants are criminals" is out of touch with the actual considerations motivating the laws and policies by US institutions.
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Defeating Hamas is a moral imperative. In that case what do you call the Netanyahu governament strategy of propping up Hamas? https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up...
A mistake? The Israelis didn't understand the extent to which Hamas views itself as engaged in a holy war. They (and many others, including me) thought that Hamas would prioritize building Gaza and providing services to its people over murder/kidnapping raids.
That's one theory. Another one is read the article.
The reason it matters is that under the second one Israel has no moral legitimacy, so saying things like moral imperative show how fucked up your morals are.
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
All I'm saying is that if any other country attacked Gaza using any normal means of war, they'd end up with the same statistic. Israel is not doing anything out of the ordinary for war. The statistics you quoted is a side-effect of Gaza's demographics. Note that I don't condone Israel's actions in Gaza. I'm just saying that those actions are no worse than one would expect, but this statistic is purposefully deceptive…
Just based on your comment, I can promise you I have payed attention to the conflict less than you and have less of a 'dog in the fight' in terms of supporting a side. I just noticed your comment begging the question regarding mortalities that reflect makeup of a civilian population being the null case in urban warfare that needs no explanation. It's a positive claim that requires empirical support, which you aren't…
Please re-read my statements, I’m choosing my words carefully.
Urban conflict in general produces civilian casualties with women, men, and children dying in proportions matching the demographics.
In the Russia-vs-Ukraine war there are relatively few dead children because the demographics of both counties skews towards adults — not because of the military doctrine of either side. Children make up less than 20% of the population and hence less than 20% of the civilian deaths.
Gaza has ridiculously skewed demographics with fully half of the population below the age of 18. (Don’t take my word for it, just Google it.)
Hence the civilian deaths in Gaza reflect this skewed demographics. Fifty percent of civilian deaths are children not because Israel is targeting children (as if they were cartoon villains!) but because fifty percent of the civilians are children!
I don’t disagree with the facts. It’s just that facts are being presented without the background detail to make Israel look insanely evil. Which they are not… they just a normal amount of evil.
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
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It is because corporations benefit from exploitable labor and competition among workers. For this reason they promote a narrative that opposing illegal immigration is racist. The counter narrative would be that preventing it gives power to American workers (of all races) but no one seems to discuss that.
I agree on both counts at a high level, but America always had cheap labor. It is what helps us have so much disposable income compared to other countries.
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
All I'm saying is that if any other country attacked Gaza using any normal means of war, they'd end up with the same statistic. Israel is not doing anything out of the ordinary for war. The statistics you quoted is a side-effect of Gaza's demographics. Note that I don't condone Israel's actions in Gaza. I'm just saying that those actions are no worse than one would expect, but this statistic is purposefully deceptive…
There’s no deception done imo. Your argument is that it’s ok that Israel has killed this many women and kids because they’re over represented in the population. Most people’s perspective is that you shouldn’t kill kids and women and target civilians, regardless of anything else. And you’re ignoring the mountain of evidence of israel deliberately targeting civilians. Just the other day the times published a thorough r…
> report on israeli snipers deliberately targeting toddlers.
Link please.
Re: Reflections on Palantir
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's interesting to watch these "talking points" bouncing around when there's a politically charged topic like the war in Gaza. (For reference: I have no skin in the game and support neither side.) Having said that: 65% killed being women and children is because of the demographics of Gaza , not because of any specific behaviour by Israel other than just "being at war" with their neighbours. It's a talking point used…
> Specifically, every one of us who worked in an emergency, intensive care, or surgical setting treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head or chest on a regular or even a daily basis. It is impossible that such widespread shooting of young children throughout Gaza, sustained over the course of an entire year is accidental or unknown to the highest Israeli civilian and military authorities. https://www.gazahe…
I can’t speak knowledgeably about the first point (I doubt many people can, fog of war and all that) but it is well known that Hamas set up command centres in or under hospitals to use them as human shields.
Are you telling me that Hamas deserves none of the blame?