"What the media get wrong is..."

[Athanasius]

Oscar, your conduct is way over the line in this thread, and if I were Rebecca or Fenris, I'd be far more ticked off (rightly), which is to say I think they've been conservative. Fenris especially, who has just experienced the worst, senseless, malicious, unnecessary killing of Jewish people since WWII. I mean, honestly, now it's working me up. How could it not? We're talking about a terrorist organisation and (elected) political group that denies the holocaust and says they'd do it for real. And what do they do? They start doing it for real.

"Hamas is mean like Joker". Seriously? How flippant can you be? Unreal. If I said that, I'd get over the hangover and apologise to Fenris because surely I'd have been drunk to type that out, oh great intellectual.

Since tensions are running high with everyone, I'm going to give the thread a break. Please do not spill over into other threads, or I'll start giving accounts a break. I'll re-open the thread in a day or two.

in fairness to me, the joker is one of the meanest batman villains is he not?

Do you know in the final episode of Buffy season 6, when Andrew is trying to explain something by means of comparison with Star Wars and he gets called a nerd and told to be quiet? Yeah, well, no one here is reading Batman comics knows who, say, Emperor Joker is, or Mr. Mxyzptlk. Not to mention, importantly, that it's fiction. What's happening now is not fiction, and a comparison to fiction isn't appropriate unless you want to come across as flippant and frankly, unserious.

[Fenris]

"What the media gets wrong is..."

Mainstream media around the world reported that an Israeli strike had hit a hospital in Gaza, killing 500 civilians.

In actually, a missile fired towards Israel by the terrorist group Islamic Jihad fell short. It landed in Gaza, in a hospital parking lot, where it set several cars on fire. The hospital was not even damaged.

However much contempt you have for the media, it isn't enough.

[DavidGYoung]

The mainstream media in the form of the BBC reported that it is currently unknown which side the missile came from.

They also cite their sources for the competing claims, as well as point out when people they asked refused to comment at this early stage of the investigation.

That seems fair enough to me.

[Slug1]

"What the media gets wrong is..."

Mainstream media around the world reported that an Israeli strike had hit a hospital in Gaza, killing 500 civilians.

In actually, a missile fired towards Israel by the terrorist group Islamic Jihad fell short. It landed in Gaza, in a hospital parking lot, where it set several cars on fire. The hospital was not even damaged.

However much contempt you have for the media, it isn't enough.

I just heard that the Palestinian Army has begun to hunt down Hamas fighters in Gaza. Quite a turn if true.

[Fenris]

The mainstream media in the form of the BBC reported that it is currently unknown which side the missile came from.

It's not unknown. It was a PIJ missile, it hit a parking lot, the hospital is undamaged. There is video footage of the missile, along with a phone call between Hamas members acknowledging that it was a PIJ missile.

They also cite their sources for the competing claims

One of the "competing claims" comes from a terrorist group known as Hamas, who carried out a pogrom against Jews last week.

That seems fair enough to me.

Which says more about you than about the strength of the "competing claims"

[Fenris]

I just heard that the Palestinian Army has begun to hunt down Hamas fighters in Gaza.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not. There is no Palestinian Army in Gaza. There's Hamas.

[RabbiKnife]

Mein Gott in Himmel.

[Slug1]

I just heard that the Palestinian Army has begun to hunt down Hamas fighters in Gaza.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not. There is no Palestinian Army in Gaza. There's Hamas.

I never joke about war. Hearing reports that members of the PLA are being spun up to help the citizens of Gaza. This action is pitting the PLA against Hamas in the area.

[Fenris]

The NY Times ran the story with a picture of a destroyed building that is not the hospital.

This isn't "competing claims". They're not even trying to get the story right.

[Fenris]

Hearing reports that members of the PLA are being spun up to help the citizens of Gaza. This action is pitting the PLA against Hamas in the area.

The PLA was the "military arm" of the PLO, a terrorist group. The PLO became the PA, who is the governance in areas ceded to the Palestinians in the West Bank.

The PLA therefore no longer exists.

The PA controlled Gaza from 2005 until 2007, when Hamas killed PA police and government officials and forcibly took control. The governance in Gaza is Hamas and only Hamas. They do permit other terrorist groups to operate in Gaza, like PIJ for example.

[Fenris]

"Competing claims"

Gentiles claim that Jews murder gentiles to use their blood in Passover Matzos

Jews claim they don't do that.

Genius: I can't tell which one is correct.

[Slug1]

The NY Times ran the story with a picture of a destroyed building that is not the hospital.

This isn't "competing claims". They're not even trying to get the story right.

I just saw this pop up in a feed, which mentioned The NY Times:

[Slug1]

Hearing reports that members of the PLA are being spun up to help the citizens of Gaza. This action is pitting the PLA against Hamas in the area.

The PLA was the "military arm" of the PLO, a terrorist group. The PLO became the PA, who is the governance in areas ceded to the Palestinians in the West Bank.

The PLA therefore no longer exists.

The PA controlled Gaza from 2005 until 2007, when Hamas killed PA police and government officials and forcibly took control. The governance in Gaza is Hamas and only Hamas. They do permit other terrorist groups to operate in Gaza, like PIJ for example.

Understood. If the reports are accurate, members (former) are being called up (i said spun up earlier). Waiting to see if this develops more and if they will actually defend/help evacuation of civilians in Gaza.

[Fenris]

Understood. If the reports are accurate, members (former) are being called up

Who would be calling them up? The PA hasn't had any authority or government members in Gaza for the last 16 years.

[Oscar_Kipling]

Oscar, your conduct is way over the line in this thread, and if I were Rebecca or Fenris, I'd be far more ticked off (rightly), which is to say I think they've been conservative. Fenris especially, who has just experienced the worst, senseless, malicious, unnecessary killing of Jewish people since WWII. I mean, honestly, now it's working me up. How could it not? We're talking about a terrorist organisation and (elected) political group that denies the holocaust and says they'd do it for real. And what do they do? They start doing it for real.

"Hamas is mean like Joker". Seriously? How flippant can you be? Unreal. If I said that, I'd get over the hangover and apologise to Fenris because surely I'd have been drunk to type that out, oh great intellectual.

Since tensions are running high with everyone, I'm going to give the thread a break. Please do not spill over into other threads, or I'll start giving accounts a break. I'll re-open the thread in a day or two.

in fairness to me, the joker is one of the meanest batman villains is he not?

Do you know in the final episode of Buffy season 6, when Andrew is trying to explain something by means of comparison with Star Wars and he gets called a nerd and told to be quiet? Yeah, well, no one here is reading Batman comics knows who, say, Emperor Joker is, or Mr. Mxyzptlk. Not to mention, importantly, that it's fiction. What's happening now is not fiction, and a comparison to fiction isn't appropriate unless you want to come across as flippant and frankly, unserious.

I have my doubts about how many pop culture/sci fi/fantasy/nerdy references people on this board would fail to recognize, I mean, your post as case in point (you used to go by xel'naga for pete's sake).Outside of that though, I understand what you are saying, the Joker comparison really seems to have ticked off folks other than Fenris and I could have used a different non fictional reference that perhaps would have worked or perhaps would have had folks thinking me a self serious pompous know-it-all who pulls references out to lord my intelligence over them. I mean that happened anyway because people do not like what I have to say or how I say it or for how long I take to say it, or even the questions I ask.

That is folks in this thread other than Fenris though, My take on my interaction with him is that unless I approached the conversation with  clearly telegraphed pain, repulsion and desire for righteous retribution against Hamas then it wasn't ever going to be enough. He had no interest in my actual point which was entirely irrelevant to how malignant and horrible Hamas is and had everything to do with our perceptions of the media ...which is ostensibly what this thread is about. The Joker line was dismissive because it was a dismissal of stuff that wasn't the point, perhaps it was unkind, lacked empathy or any number of things, but I had no interest in popcorning back and forth about how bad Hamas is or spending a bunch of time proving that I don't stan terrorism because, like, obviously. To the question of population density in Gaza, talking about Hamas' evilness is as relevant as bringing up the Joker.

Yes, I know none of this did me a single favor, suffice it to say iRL I actually have no friends, and no one likes me precisely because i'm like this. I know. I know. I know.