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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 15th, 2023

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  • It is definitely true that the numbers are unlikely to be exact. That is both for the reasons others have noted, propaganda is definitely at play on both sides of any conflict. A second reason for the likely imprecise number though, is that many casualties are probably uncountable currently as numerous buildings have collapsed under bombardment. Fully surveying those sites for bodies is difficult with continuing combat in the area. We know the buildings are destroyed due to surveillance and other intelligence sources, but can’t yet know how many people were killed and injured during the destruction.

    There are also reasons that the UN and other international organisations take the figures seriously. This is primarily because of historical accuracy, this is not the first occasion of strikes in the area and surveys in the aftermath of previous incidents have generally shown reasonable reporting accuracy from the Gazan health authority. Additionally there are other international organisations on the ground and reporting corroborating evidence of mass collateral casualties. UNICEF has supported the reporting on the 3700 children killed so far, inclusive of civilians on both sides. Recently Doctors Without Borders here in Canada issued a plea to our government, based on their presence in Gaza, calling for ceasefire directly because of the unreasonably high number of collateral casualties.

    At this juncture it doesn’t seem likely that the numbers are precise, but even a much more conservative estimate would be quite shocking and aligns with action in the Syrian civil war (for example) much more than with action in western invasions or Ukraine. That suggests that, at the very least, insufficient effort is being put toward limitation of collateral casualties. It’s also important to remember that while the three-to-one rule of casualties in war is very loose, we are likely looking at much higher numbers of wounded than killed. That is badly complicated by the blockades, lack of power and water, as well as current military operations against the remaining hospitals in the area.

    Just my thoughts, not an expert.




  • I looked into it a bit, found a version of Fedora called Nobara. I bought a second m.2 drive and installed it. I almost never boot Win 10 anymore. The only gaming issue I have is anti-cheat not supporting it, come on Marauders, you look cool and I want to play. Also, some modding in things like TESV is a journey. Honestly though, simply using my rig feels better, faster, leaner. Gaming is great, Nobara has a setup wizard for my nVidia card as well as my XBox controller. It really isn’t hard to switch, I just thought it would be before I tried.

    There’s bugs and glitches I’ve had to troubleshoot, but whenever I find myself annoyed, I just think about how many glitches and issues I had with Windows. Nothing is perfect, but Linux gaming is pretty good.



  • You are correct, and my comment was dismissive. My issue, or maybe frustration is a better term, is that we are worrying about the potential future impact that the use of effective cluster munitions may have after the end of hostilities. This is a reasonable concern, but the genocide is a very pressing concern. It is extremely unlikely that the number of affected children who may theoretically suffer injury or death due to these weapons, can possibly match the number who are dying or being forcibly deported weekly in this conflict.

    Cluster munitions are an effective way to improve the kill and disable rate of Russian soldiers, and do so more efficiently with less barrels and rounds fired. Since destroying the Russian military as a combat ready force is the only way to end the war, it just makes sense in the cost benefit calculation to accept a theoretical future risk in addressing an immediate existential situation.

    So yes, there’s a story, I just don’t agree with my government creating diplomatic heat around vital weapon supplies.