This is the result of China’s “nine dash line.” If the countries impacted, Vietnam, Philippines, Mtaylasia, Singapore, Indonesia, etc., started a discussion at the UN, it would immediately implicate Taiwan, and nobody wants to touch that. So, local scuffles will continue, as China flexes her muscle.

Aza 'Merican maseff,… um, maybe try for mid-Atlantic.

That’s understandable, but every complex situation requires a good deal of nuance. In this case, for example, not all Israelis are Zionists (anymore than all Palestinians are Hamas), and not even all Zionists (or Hamas) are “bad guys.” There are clearly some fucked up political agendas at work, and could well be more bad actors on one side than the other, and if you look close even “sides” become blurred. But there are definitely agents working to accentuate that distinction, and I don’t trust any of them. Which is different from saying all sides are the same. All I know is that war, greed, and power are all bad, and that good people are suffering, but beyond that I don’t know enough to take a public stand (though I’m working on some opinions).

Edit: let me clarify. I’m not trying to be neutral either. When I see something happening in my immediate world, in front of me, I will say/act for the common good. But I’m not going to read something online, about a place I’ve never been, and take a public opinion about it. I trust that there are people there, in that place, that are doing what I would do, and I hope they succeed.

AI: “Um, …these aren’t the droids you want. Squirrel!”

“Iceland is green, Greenland is icy.” Oh, shit, it’s also the biggest island that’s not a continent.

(or)… but you can’t wipe your friends off on your saddle.

If they practiced trying to cut some random cable in the East China Sea it might raise suspicions, right? Maybe better to practice somewhere else.

Who plays Wash, …and Jayne?

Wow, must be some rogue pirate vessel, because any formal government ship, especially one flying a bright red flag, would be too easy to identify. It’s a mystery. /s

Whadaya bet he was in his bathroom, maybe with boxes of documents but never mind that, practicing different faces late into the night. Oh joy.

It always amuses me how politicians and community “faith based” leaders can blithely condemn what scientists have been warning about for decades, as if they know better (with no training or experience). Anti-intellectualism is the Dunning-Kruger effect applied to politics, known as Populism, aka the idiots revenge.

These children cough syrups are sweetened using ethylene glycol and/or diethylene glycol, which are extremely toxic, especially to small children and cause acute kidney failure. Why? Because the non-poisonous propylene glycol usually used costs twice as much. Greed is killing our planet.

They mention high mercury levels as a trap or from wine that the emperor drank, but neither is likely (they often used to add lead to wine as a sweetener, but not mercury AFAIK). But, mercury contamination in tombs, especially in Asia, is very common from the heavy use of the deep red pigment cinnabar, also called vermillion, which is mercury sulfide.

After 10 years on reddit, it wasn’t easy at first (at first being just the threat of apps not working). And I wasn’t sure where to go: Mastodon, Discord, Lemmy, etc. But as the communities grew, content increased, and I even found similar groups in the fediverse, I’ve been spending more and more time on Lemmy, and much more certain this the right direction.

his first initiative would be building a committee consisting of city, county and school district members to work towards a permanent memorial to honor the lives lost at Robb Elementary.

Well, there’s progress. /s