Ido Flatow

Apple

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The US Senate has attached the so-called "TikTok Ban" to an Israel/Ukraine aid bill that will most likely be passed this Saturday. The bill will require TikTok's parent company ByteDance to divest their US interests or face a ban. A spokesperson from ByteDance provided this opinion, "It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually." While there are a number of underlying concerns with this action; First Amendment infringements, impacts to Americans who rely on this application for much of their living, and a clear example of political posturing and Chinese fear mongering, another takeaway for me is the clear lack of understanding by our elected representatives of how technology works. Instead of picking corporate winners and losers based on where the company is headquartered, our Congress should pass a comprehensive data sovereignty bill, similar to GDPR, to provide all Americas with better data privacy protections regardless of who has our data. Instead of calling our tech leaders into Congress for periodic reprimands they should take the initiative to work with these same companies and create a framework that better protects everyone's data.

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Indoctrination in Islam - Turning evil, from the cradle to the grave. On a psychological level - there is the question, are humans born evil, or made by environment. Or perhaps both? I’m always curious to here others take on this. Especially when it comes to ideology and the violence that comes with Radical Islam. 🚩 The ideological part is learnt & taught, as well as thr violence inflicted on other humans (as in 7th of Oct massacre). However, the severity of violence and the act itself, cannot be taught, it is very much individual and individually experienced. So the part that is learnt - stops to some extent at the real time violent acts - you can have the ability to stop, move forward or even accelerate and intensify the brutality itself. 🚩 The severity of this violence is something very intimate and to some extent - causation, correlation, inherent or in some cases, a mix. What is true in all cases - is that the ideological belief/idea - will make humans commit the worst crimes against humanity possible - and remove one self’s responsibility/guilt for it, as the violent act is a by product of the cause/idea itself. And ‘ideas’, are the most difficult to fight. The difference from other type of violence is that Radical Islam is justified by a victimhood and “resistance” status. Hamas, is no different than any other Terrorist group in that sense. But the wild spread Western support they got was.

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A heartfelt Mazel Tov to the Sages of Israel for passing a bill that enables every Israeli citizen to decide how they want to use Smartphone technology. According to the bill, anyone can choose to buy a Smartphone with all of its features, or a Kosher phone. If they exercise their free will to spend their money on a Kosher Phone, their phone will have severe limits on what they can access on the internet, SMS features, and who they can send or receive calls from. Israel is a free market economy and a democratic state -- so the only people who can own Kosher Phones are those who choose to do so. As a citizen of Israel, I am so proud to be part of a country that not only leads the world in high-tech advancement, but also has a place in offering people the ability to choose what technologies benefit them and what technologies harm them. Ever since the first personal computer was offered to the public over a half a century ago, the attitude towards technology was simple: If it's newer, faster, and can do more stuff -- it's better. For the first time, we are asking the questions necessary for our world's survival: Is this specific piece of technology good for us and should we make it available to the public if it does more harm than good? Mark Zuckerberg, seeing how an echo chamber on social media has made extremists of us all, has reprogrammed his platform (not gonna mention its name because I want #LinkedIn to spread this post :) so at least 20% of the posts a user sees in the feed go against their personal opinions. The good people of Israel have offered an alternative to "see anything you want" internet, for the protection of its citizens. Even China shuts off its platform to Chinese children at 10 PM so they can get a full nights sleep. Bezrat Hashem, this trend of responsible technology will continue to benefit all of us. Shabbat Shalom.

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(part 2/2 + tl;dr) That was just one example, where even grass-roots funding is squeezed dry by the simple and elegant force of propaganda. On the other hand, billions upon billions of dollars continue to be funneled to the Israeli government in the form of direct military aid and investments companies that provide Israel with direct aid. As a university student myself, I’m thrilled to see how my fellow students were able to see past the propaganda machine, and demand to put a stop to our unwanted aid to the Israeli war machine. As an Arab, I wouldn’t have imagined for a 100 years that there would be widespread support for our people in the USA, and that gives me great hope. As an Arab (soon-to-be) American and as a student, I want something very simple: stop using my money to fund atrocious war machines around the world, least of all the IDF. I encourage everyone, and especially every American, to inform themselves of the history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict since we are not mere observers but (mostly?) passive participants in the suffering of untold millions of people. (tl;dr) Here are my final pleas  Please help the Palestinian civilians in any way you can: by donations, by exerting political pressure, or simply by spreading the word. Please be nice to your Arab colleagues (and your Jewish colleagues too), as our voice is completely unrepresented in the public discourse, and we’re generally too proud to whine and complain. The past year has been tough. Please don’t scoff at pro-Palestinan protests at universities and elsewhere. International opinion matters (and is arguably the only reason Gaza hasn’t already been razed to the ground). Protests are the only form of support Palestinians have here in the US. The overwhelming force with which they’re being silenced should tell you something. This article by #MehdiHasan sums up most of what I talked about in a much more eloquent way than I could ever write myself: https://lnkd.in/eWDiWJg6

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Regarding the 'genocide' claims: On October 7th, within the range of approximately 4 hours, Hamas terrorists killed 1200 people. For 12 hours of the same rate this means 5000 people killed. Even though Israeli bases are separate from civilian villages, there were 2 civilians killed for every soldier. The killing was done with light firearms. The operation in Gaza is now into its 6th month. At the same rate of 5000 a day, this means 900,000 deaths. Yet, the actual numbers, as reported by Hamas, are 1/30th of that. Also the ratio of civilians to Hamas combatants are 1:1. Half of that of Oct 7th. And this is while Hamas is not wearing uniforms to distinguish them, and are fighting from within residential areas, on purpose. And while Israel has tanks and heavy bombs that can easily kill many more people. How can someone who is not brain dead say there's a genocide? War is horrible, and Hamas is doing its best to make it worse for its own population, and yet the numbers are not near any sort of genocide. But people that did not care about hundreds of thousands that were killed by the Syrian totalitarian regime, or protest against Russia attacking Ukrain, or bat an eyelid about the hunger in Sudan, suddenly feel very strongly about Israel's reaction to the Oct 7th massacre. Most of these people are arabs or antisemites, who will hate Israel about anything and everything. Some are just brain dead.

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LET ME MEDABER FROM MY HEART ------ That post is mostly for my fellow Olims. I, like many of you, have some problems with learning Hebrew on a level, that will allow me to shame Bibi for at least 10 minutes (minimum level to communicate with locals). I know two best options how to learn new language: 1. Drink nights out in bars, after learning a phrase "Can you imagine, what they've done to this country??" (but I don't drink alcohol) 2. Finding a local lover (my wife is seriously against it) The problem is, in my industry (tech and healthcare) everybody speaks good English, so no chance for professional communication in Hebrew. Well, I pick up some terms and phrases, but that's not good enough. Maybe you know some good ways to learn Hebrew faster, others then listed above (and other then that crazy owl)? 😁

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According to Sada Social, there is an urgent need for an immediate investigation into Meta's leak of WhatsApp users' data to the Israeli military. The group diligently observes the collective dissent voiced by numerous Meta employees, encompassing Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads, regarding the Meta company's complicity in the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, its endorsement of the Israeli occupation, and its fueling of the "Lavender" artificial intelligence system used by the Israeli military to kill Palestinian individuals within the Gaza enclave. The "Lavender" system is an artificial intelligence platform employed by the Israeli military to conduct airstrikes on individuals in the Gaza Strip, notably characterized by its diminished reliance on human intervention. Operating with a lenient methodology in determining and executing targets, it predicts who will be killed within Gaza confines, subsequently orchestrating airstrikes when these individuals are at home with their families. Reports monitored by the Sada Social Center indicate that one of the inputs to the "Lavender" system relies on data collected from WhatsApp groups containing the names of Palestinians or activists wanted by 'Israel.' The Israeli Lavender system, supported by artificial intelligence, identifies Palestinians by tracking their communications via WhatsApp or the groups they join. This development follows a series of admonitions issued by Sada Social concerning Meta's violation of privacy on WhatsApp, which the company describes as an "end-to-end encrypted" application, denoting a security protocol wherein messages are shielded through encryption mechanisms that the company itself can't see or monitor.

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If anyone can help

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I had a thought and it’s a controversial one, but hear me out before you attack. I think the most common question in Israel and around the world when it comes to the war against Hamas is, “Where was the IDF on 10/7? What took them so long?” I know it occupies my mind constantly. When there is such a glaring question, the conspiracy theorists come out to play and this case is no different. I’ve heard endless conspiracies, some more reliable than others, but the question remains. I don’t know the answer. But I do know something else that I have not seen anyone speak about. Let me give you an analogy. Often times, when something bad happens, so many people attack me and other religious people with the question, “So where was your God?” My answer to them is, “Good question. I don’t know. But I’ll say this. If you’re questioning God when something bad happens, then you should also recognize God and thank Him when something good happens. So if you don’t wake up every morning thanking God that you can breathe, see, hear, smell, and touch, that you have your limbs and your family, then don’t ask where God was when bad things happen. Have some integrity. Be honest. Be consistent.” The same thing here. If you’re going to ask the very important question of where the IDF was on 10/7, then don’t forget to praise and thank the IDF for the tens of thousands of terrorist attacks that it prevented over the years. Who knows how many of those prevented attacks could have escalated into an October 7th? This photo, for example. The IDF caught six terrorists yesterday at the Ramallah Junction. They had weapons and plans to kill as many Jews as possible. They were stopped. How many people did you see thanking the IDF? I saw zero. Who knows what could have happened had the IDF not stopped them?? So yes, we need to figure out what happened on 10/7 and make sure it never happens again, but if you’re going to question the IDF when they fail, then recognize them when they succeed!! We really don’t know how many October 7th style terrorist attacks were prevented over the past few decades, but something tells me that the number is high. We need to thank the IDF every day, every hour, every minute! Just a thought.

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NSO Group, which makes Pegasus spyware, keeps trying to extract information from Citizen Lab researchers — and a judge keeps swatting it down. researchers at Citizen Lab have monitored Israeli spyware firm NSO Group and its banner product, Pegasus. In 2019, Citizen Lab reported finding dozens of cases in which Pegasus was used to target the phones of journalists and human rights defenders via a WhatsApp security vulnerability. Now NSO, which is blacklisted by the U.S. government for selling spyware to repressive regimes, is trying to use a lawsuit over the WhatsApp exploit to learn “how Citizen Lab conducted its analysis.” The lawsuit, filed in U.S. federal court in 2019 by WhatsApp and Meta (then Facebook), alleges that NSO sent Pegasus and other malware to approximately 1,400 devices across the globe. For more than four years, NSO has failed repeatedly to get the case thrown out. With the lawsuit now moving forward, NSO is trying a different tactic: demanding repeatedly that Citizen Lab, which is based in Canada, hand over every single document about its Pegasus investigation. A judge denied NSO’s latest attempt to get access to Citizen Lab’s materials last week.

THIS IS LAST HOPE FOR GAZA In the name of humanity to whosoever this post reaches should sent this post to P.M. and President of his country and also to news papers and TV's. After thorough analysis I realised that there are two basic and fundamental structural defects in the constitution of UN which are 1. Veto Power System for the permanent members of the security council of UN. Since there is a body of all stakeholders in the form of General Assembly wherein all member- countries of the UN are represented there is absolutely no need of Security Council to accept or reject the resolutions passed by General Assembly. As such Security Council should be dissolved forthwith. 2. All member countries of UN are not signatory to the Rome statute consequently some countries are not under the International Criminal Court (ICC) whereas all the member countries have to be under the jurisdiction of ICC so that peace prevails in the world. . Due to these defects America has made a mockery of the UN as it is reduced to a puppet in the hands of the America. Consequently America with some allies have invaded several Muslim countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and looted these countries then leaving these countries after the loot is complete. Presently America with the help of Israel (both countries are not under the jurisdiction of ICC) is demolishing, cold blooded mass murders, devastation, destruction , displacement, ethenic cleansing, murder especially of children and women and genocide and the whole world including the UN have to be mute spectators of all this and nobody has the powers to question them because of these defects in the constitution of UN. More than seven decades have passed by but the above-mentioned defects in the constitution of UN were not rectified. Non-rectification of these defects has created a very grave situation as instead of peace maintaining organisation UN became a weapon of blackmailing and means of invading and looting the rich countries by some countries which were having the veto power also besides these countries were not signatory to the Rome statute consequently these countries were not under the jurisdiction of ICC. As the result these countries became law per se and virtually became terrorist countries of the world because they were not answerable to any forum for whatever they do. They invaded and looted several countries so much so they created terrorist groups also. Now the climax of lawlessness has reached in Palestine where total devastation, destruction, cold blooded mass murders, genocide, ethenic cleansing, kidnapping and rape of innocent and unarmed civilians is being done and the whole world including UN have to be mute spectators because of the basic and fundamental defects in the constitution of UN have not been rectified. This is the highest time these defects are rectified by the General Assembly. Let General Assembly wake up after decades of slumber and rectify the defects as proposed above..

*Proportionality and Civilian Causualites are Exclusively Used Against Israel to Stop it from Defending Itself* Due to our living in the most peaceful time in history (yes you read that correctly), people have forgotten the horrors of war. Below are some reminders of the the brutality, savagery, destructiveness and devastation of War. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, which was July 1, 1916, the British forces suffered 57,470 casualties, of which 19,240 were fatalities. In the Battles of Borodino and Leipzig during the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, there were 70000 and 54000 casualties respectively after one day of fighting. During the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War there were over 150 thousand casualties and 630 thousand refugees. Whole cities were destroyed during the Second World War, like Tokyo for example which was fire bombed, resulting in 100 thousand dead and a million homeless. In the attached image (from CNBC), the casualty figures for the US's War on Terror: nearly a million fatalities. And I am not even mentioning the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar, Syria, Libya, Mozambique, etc. You get the idea. In the current Israel Hamas War, there have been allegedly 30000 killed in Gaza, 14000 of them terrorists and 16000 civilians. In 233 days of fighting that equates to 129 a day, 60 being terrorists and 67 being civilians. (The average deaths per day in Gaza during ceasefires is 16). This almost equates to a 1:1 ratio of combatants to civilian casualties which is unprecedented in the history of warfare, let alone dense urban warfare. (The average for urban warfare is 1:9). Proving once again that Israel is only fulfilling it's right to self-defense while following international law, preventing civilian casualties as much as possible and reacting proportionally. The hypocrisy of the world, particularly the ICC, ICJ and the South African government is nauseating. And now we see the world's hypocritical outrage at Israel accidentally killing civilians (again the numbers of deaths stated by the media is based on those provided by Hamas. Did no one learn from the failed Islamic Jihad missile launch landing in the hospital parking lot which Hamas falsely claimed killed 500 civilians?!) in its successful assassination of 2 high level Hamas terrorists. Let's not even get started on the aid that Israel has delivered to the Gaza Strip: 254,210 tons, 167,080 tons of which is food. This equates to 3163 calories per a Gaza per day which is a thousand calories above the 2100 standard humanitarian daily intake. Also, to those who still use the casualty figures to say Israel is committing genodice. Never in history has it been possible to stop a genocide of a targeted group, by the targeted group: 1) Handing over the hostages they mercilessly took 2) Laying down their weapons 3) Surrendering and Facing Justice #israel #urbanwarfare #israelhamaswar #data #history

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Google Fires 28 Employees Following Protests Over Israeli Cloud Contract Google has terminated 28 employees after some staff participated in protests against the company's cloud contract with the Israeli government. The protests, which included sit-ins at Google offices in California and New York, resulted in arrests and terminations. The $1.2 billion contract, awarded to Google and Amazon in 2021, supplies the Israeli government with cloud services. While Google maintains the contract is not for military or intelligence purposes, employees argue it supports the development of military tools. The protesting faction asserts that employees have the right to peaceful protest regarding terms and conditions of their labor. This incident raises questions about the limits of employee activism and the responsibilities of tech companies in sensitive geopolitical issues. Google has a history of employee-led protests, including the successful push to shelve a contract with the US military, Project Maven, in 2018. As the tech industry continues to shape global politics and society, it's essential to consider the ethical implications of our work and the power of employee voices. What are your thoughts on this development?

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