Uhuh.
Anyway, breaking news is that Iran has also launched cruise missiles, so now Israel's going to retaliate with a significant strike against Iran. And in case you haven't been paying attention, Israel are less than great on proportionality.
Never a dull day.
The Israeli far-right gained power in part due to Hamas, PLO and Hezbollah attacks.
It's an endless spiral of violence, reprisal and even more violence.
didn’t Israel start this by bombing their embassy in Syria?
Israel bombed their embassy in Syria as a response to Iran helping Hezbollah and Hamas. At one point an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman said October 7th was a response to the death of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, although they later retracted that. The Israelis wanted Soleimani gone because of his role in supporting Hamas and Hezbollah and earlier attacks on Israel, including his involvement in the 2006 war in Lebanon. Etc. etc. etc. on and on back to before Iran became Iran.
The middle-east is an illustration of the idiom "An Eye for an Eye Will Make the Whole World Blind".
Ah, yes. But here's the thing.
If you make a polite and reasonable comment about veganism and it's met with hostility, you're more likely to come across as the good guy and those attacking you come across as arseholes. People reading the exchange are more likely to think that the guy defending veganism or animal rights may have a point.
If you come in all guns blazing, and attack people, people are just as likely to think you're the arsehole.
Oh, of course. But once you accept that all humans are flawed, you're more likely to empathize with people who make poor choices, relate to them, and become more convincing.
So for example, you don't call people hypocrites and a murderers, which will inevitably cause them to become defensive and double down. Especially in a conversation where people are already expressing that they dissaprove of animal abuse. Instead you say something like:
"Same here. Animal suffering also makes me sad, and I couldn't help but think that I was part of that. I slowly transitioned to eating no meat a while back. But I know it's hard to make changes. If anyone wants tips, just ask. No judgement."
Or perhaps:
"Yeah. Food's really becoming expensive. One thing that does help, is that I eat vegetarian curries. They cost less to make and it's not that hard. I found this cool recipe and use a rice cooker so I can take care of the kids while it cooks."
I mean, imagine people who own a fairphone and buy only fair trade chocolate, went around calling the rest of us cunts. They might have a point, but it really wouldn't help them win the argument.
Now read the rest of the paragraph you chose to ignore.
I'm vegan and have been for years.
Your moral pontificating may be good for your own ego, but at the end of the day Burger King's vegan nuggets have done more to promote veganism, than lectures from the terminally online. Be honest with yourself. You're not doing it to convert people. You're doing it to feel good about yourself. Vanity. It's the Devil's favourite sin.
You know how I convert people? I make them nice food and give them recipe tips.
Imagine you're about to eat an ice-cream. You see a kid drowning in a pool. You could save him, but instead you choose to eat your ice cream. You put short term pleasure before saving a child's life. Evil, right?
Now imagine that you can't see the kid. You know he's going to die, but instead of donating a bit of money to a charity, you buy that ice cream, drink that fancy frappucino, buy that t-shirt or overpriced gadget you didn't actually need to buy. You put a short term endorphin rush above saving a child's life.
This is you. This is everyone. Humans are all evil to a degree. We are all hypocrites to a degree. We allow that kid to die, those workers to get abused, those animals to suffer. The only excuse we have is that we are animals and that we largely act on instinct, even if we rationalise our choices afterwords, often telling ourselves we're not bad people.
Once you accept that basic fact, mostly because life experience has forced you to come to terms with your flaws, you hopefully become more humble. You gain character, wisdom, and honesty. And here's a silver lining: once you realise that you're also deeply flawed and approach fellow humans with humility, you often end up becoming more convincing.
Of course, the first step is to accept that convincing people to be less evil, is more important than vanity and holding to the idea that you're somehow better than them.
Here's Norm McDonald telling a joke about hypocrisy:
Been like that for a while.
For example, /r/videos supposedly has 30 million subscribers, but you can sometimes hit the front page of that sub with 50 upvotes.
Subs like that have been decimated by tiktok, so it's safe to assume most of the subscribers have left. It simply doesn't make sense.
I really liked mini Yoda. I don't get why you hate Disney so much.
So much great content. Really is the golden age of television now that the companies like Disney and Netflix are all trying to compete with each other.
I always enjoying pirating their shows and movies.
They were getting more radical anyway.
Why would Ukraine condemn an attack on a country that is supplying Russia with drones used to kill Ukrainian men, women and children?