Wouldn’t you be able to say the same thing about Facebook and Twitter?

I don't know. I haven't used Xitter since before Elon took it over and I'm only on FB once every couple of months.

It is especially visible with YouTube which had downvoting from the start and decided to remove it despite user protests.

Wait, you don't have a thumbs down button on YouTube?

I don't even do that! I've just never spent any time watching political stuff on YT so presumably the algorithm knows I'm not interested in it and doesn't show it to me.

Can’t you simply not connect your display to the Internet

Probably, but maybe not. I can think of three ways a Smart TV could potentially get internet access without the owners knowledge.

1. Amazon Sidewalk
2. The TV Manufacturer cuts a deal to access the closed WiFi network that many cable operators have on their cable modems or routers.
3. Via the manufacturers app installed on a smart phone. They often use the app to make setup easier and / or to cast content. There's no reason the TV can't log data until the app connects and then use the app to transmit that data to the manufacturer.

So while the owner could choose not to give their Smart TV a wifi connection that doesn't mean the TV can't get one another way.

The cognitive dissonance my country subjects me to is fucking cruel and unusual.

Israel, via AIPAC, can and has ended political careers. Ukraine doesn't have anywhere close to that kind of influence.

You have the year wrong on the last one, it was 1991 and that action by Bush was significant. It was the turning point for Israeli lobbying in the United States. After 1991 AIPAC got serious about splashing money around to influence US politics.

If you want to know how far that went read this transcript of a phone call that happened on Oct. 22, 1992 between President David Steiner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) recorded without his knowledge by New York businessman Haim (Harry) Katz.

It's absolutely shocking.

They are only asking to target places that are being used to actively attack them though.

Are they? Because I see Ukraine using drones against infrastructure and sending them against the City of Moscow itself. That isn't wrong of them however it does lead to legitimate questions about where exactly they would strike with other weapons.

WHO is the one guy who downvotes you???

That's the bot that ChatGPT operates here on Lemmy.

It's expensive AF to operate which is why Israel has been working hard on "Iron Beam", which uses lasers instead of missiles, to supplement it and reduce the cost of operation. Iron Beam is supposed to become active in 2025.

Ukraine doesn't have Iron Dome because of cost and scale. Israel is 22,145 square kilometers while Ukraine is 603,628 square kilometers. It probably cost 10 Billion to build an Israel sized Iron Dome so a Ukraine sized one would cost upwards of $300 Billion and operating the thing would like be a billion dollars a month for active combat.

As an aside the United States also has ground based directed energy weapons. There's even a 50KW mobile version built on the Stryker platform called DE M-SHORAD. 100KW+ versions are supposed to be rolling out next year.

I haven't used Xitter since before Elon took it over.