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Re:Venezuela's capital hit by explosions, smoke seen by xpe on Monday January 05, 2026 @09:52AM (#46499418)
> The armchair analysis from some folks on this topic is really lacking. You guys are just wrong, and the hubris you bring with your “analysis” is really off putting.

From https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.

> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes.

I have put in good faith efforts to convert with MisterMower, for example, in [1]. Shortly after that, they insulted me. [2] This is also against the HN Guidelines, and that kind of behavior is not welcome here. Here are additional examples of hostility and insults they've made:

> Old farts like yourself [3]

> In case you don't understand how analogies work [4]

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46488285

[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46495327

[3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46491155

[4]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45001357

Re:Venezuela's capital hit by explosions, smoke seen by MisterMower on Tuesday January 06, 2026 @02:59AM (#46509785)
Apologies for the snark. In all seriousness, you need to refine your writing. No one enjoys reading rambling streams of consciousness, nor do they have time to parse it to try and figure out what you're saying.

I would also point out that you have engaged in bad faith argumentation of your own, but I'm not so petty as to go through your comment history to point out each instance and appeal to the moderators that you shouldn't be welcome here.

I apologize if my comments came across as offensive. That was not my intent, and I think a charitable interpretation of them reveals no malice. I hope you can find more people in your life that will speak directly and honestly to you so it won't be so jarring in the future.

This is exactly why a lot of people support Trump and his actions. He's at least direct and honest. It's about oil. Yeah, we had the power to do it so we did. It's in our interests. Everybody else can go pound sand. You may not like the reasons, and I'm not sure I do either, but at least he isn't a coward who lies and claims he's doing something altruistic instead, like you are with your model building and deference to unnamed experts.

I know that frightens people like yourself who go through life exerting influence on the people around you not by direct communication and action, but by appealing to fake authorities like the moderators in this situation, or international law in the case of what we're discussing.

Americans increasingly reject the kinds of arguments you're making and the fake systems of power that keep impotent, second rate thinkers in power and grant them an outsized level of respect in public commentary.

I encourage you to engage in some introspection. Your priors are clearly wrong: international law obviously didn't matter in this case and probably won't matter in the future. Why is that? What changed? Was international law ever relevant? If it was, why was it?

Re:Venezuela's capital hit by explosions, smoke seen by tomhow on Thursday January 08, 2026 @08:27AM (#46540710)
Please don't comment like this here. HN is a text-only discussion forum where people come together to discuss topics that gratify intellectual curiosity. This place can only work if people respect and follow the guidelines, and it's fine for users to politely point out to each other how they can be doing better – precisely so they don't have to get the moderators involved.

This comment comes across as mean-spirited. It's not cool to open with an apology then proceed to put out up to 7 paragraphs of eloquently-worded personal attack.

HN is only a place where people want to participate because this kind of thing is not accepted here. Please show you respect the guidelines and care about the health of the community if you want to participate here.