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956 Worldwide

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Everything posted by 956 Worldwide

  1. We should put into perspective that Russia’s defense budget for their entire military (not the war) is around 140 billion dollars. The U.S. and Europe easily match that just in the value of what we send to Ukraine let alone the rest of our defense spending. We could absorb a lot more and there was a time Ukraine could have made much larger gains. The concern is manpower in the long run.
  2. I think that you’re conflating some of the very shitty and real protests that have happened elsewhere with what happened in Austin. It IS unacceptable to block people from going to class, to scream abuse at individuals, to call for illegal violence against a group of people or individuals. But NONE OF THAT happened in Austin and we can’t use pre-crime as an excuse. It’s fine to have LE on standby and in deconflict mode. It’s fine to tell kids “you can’t camp here, pack up your tent and move along.” And if someone does get violent or start trying to block students from attending class, I’m fine with arresting that person. But that has to actually happen, it can’t be wish-casting based on what people did in LA or NYC.
  3. An ominous portent. If this had happened in the Anglo-Saxon era all the villagers would flee inside the city walls and await the inevitable Viking rape and slaughter.
  4. You “just asked the question” of why Hamas was not designated as an FTO for the first 8 (10) years of its existence and suggested that maybe Israel was pulling the strings. The actual answer is simple— the law creating a U.S. FTO designation did not pass until 1996 and Hamas was one of the first groups so designated. Anyway this is wasted effort, I can’t dumb down this enough, obviously. Back to your hot takes about how Gaza should be ethnically cleansed for the good of Palestinians, somehow.
  5. Well, that and completely wrong about whatever dumbass theory you have.
  6. Hamas was put on the FTO list in 1997 (not 1995) because that list and the authority to designate foreign terror organizations was authorized by an act passed in 1996 (The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996). Prior to that there was no official FTO designation. Hamas was in the first tranche of designations, on October 8, along with Hizbollah and shining path all-stars. https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/ Although I suppose that could be because Israel/the Jews just waited to have that act passed, as you insinuate. Thanks for offering your deep and well-researched takes on the Middle East. Clearly you spent those 40 years usefully.
  7. I lived in Karachi and while I realize that comparing India and Pakistan can start fights, the fact is the subcontinent has a lot of similar characteristics. In a broad brush, Pakistan and Karachi is likely cleaner than large Indian cities (astonishing after you see the level of pollution and trash in Karachi) while the security environment is worse in Pakistan. I know India is bad for women travelers, I don’t think that Pakistan is better so much as women travelers basically don’t try it alone; there are no yoga retreats or gurus or backpacking infrastructure. Rape and assault of local women was a constant drumbeat in the news. My gut has never recovered, and while I was there low-grade discomfort was the norm and true good poisoning happened about once a month. Sweats, shits, vomits, sleeping hugging the toilet. The smell of the city was unreal when the wind came off of the lagoon where sewage and runoff drained (most of the time); the sky was a flint gray and filled with small raptors (kites) scavenging carrion and garbage. I went to a city beach and it was covered in garbage and it seemed to be garbage with a layer of sand mixed in all the way down. People offered camel rides and horse rides and the animals shit on the beach. No one was swimming, exactly, but lots of wading in oil-slicked surf with garbage and the occasional visible turd floating by. The homes in elite areas and dedicated military housing were clean and tidy with well-maintained streets and gardens. There is an awe and love of the military, which maintains British customs and unit naming conventions and order. It is everything the rest of Pakistan is not and almost all Pakistanis save the Islamists love it deeply. After military bases, madrassas and rigorous Islamic schools are also the cleanest and most orderly oases. The local unauthorized shrines and mosques are oases of tolerance but also complete chaos and grime. One can see the appeal of militant nationalism or Islam. Eid-Al-Adha, when Muslims sacrifice, is a time of joy and celebration and fun but to an outsider is a horror movie. The animals are simply slaughtered in the street with a dull knife and entrails left behind foe dust men in some neighborhoods and dogs or kites in most. I saw the city of 20 million from a rooftop in the late afternoon and understood what the sack of Jerusalem must have looked like after the first crusade when you read about knights wading through blood. Provincial cities were if anything dirtier. Only the desperately poor villages of straw and mud huts were tidy. Almost every town and neighborhood flew flags on every rooftop declaring loyalty to one or another political party or Islamic school. You did not see different flags next to each other. I understand some of the high mountain villages and towns in the north, in Gilgit-Baltistan are truly lovely and pristine. One of the most beautiful, sophisticated, smart, and tolerant women I have met anywhere hailed from there; they share much with Tajiks and other Central Asians. Quite safe and welcoming if you can get there, which is the whole rub. But I cannot recommend Karachi or Sindh for much all. And I didnt love what I saw of Punjab. Lahore is quite historical and has good food.
  8. We are about to announce 6 billion under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative- Patriots, air to air munitions, other high-end stuff. This is going to be built and not come from stocks, so this is long-term sustainment and a huge message to Russians. It won’t go away once the orders are placed. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/25/us-weapons-contract-ukraine-00154450
  9. This convo and prior posts on the topic got moved into this thread by @immamac
  10. Why did all the Mizrahi go there?
  11. It really is dumb as hell to type something out like “the minor Pearl Harbor attack.” That type of attack on a fleet would likely result in a nuclear strike from the United States or China if the equivalent happened today.
  12. The largest sub-group of Jews in Israel are the Mizrahi Jews— ie, Jews from the Middle East. And then of course there’s all sorts of intermarriage. Keep going, all the experts are doing great here!
  13. I’m guessing that you’re bringing a lot firepower to this— ME professional with languages, credentials, time on the ground, professional or advance academic background as a regional expert, CT expert, historian, etc?
  14. Ok. Abbot says that the everyone protesting for Palestinian emancipation is supporting Hamas. You say that people seeking Palestinian emancipation have no choice but to support Hamas. Lean into that, I guess? Good luck.
  15. There were and remain a world of options open to Palestinians and people who support Palestinians other than “join Hamas or support Hamas.” Trying to sneak that sort of binary in here is, ironically, the same binary that Abbott and Co. are pushing.
  16. Plus rep for going exactly where my mind went.
  17. I basically agree with @Chuckie Finster’s post word for word. Plenty of room for self-reflection to go around, I’d say.
  18. It makes zero sense which is why I am calling out the prattle you have to wade through in Chainsaw’s post: “A particular emancipatory force of which we disapprove,” LOL. That’s Hamas. Just type Hamas.
  19. Hamas is a terrorist and criminal religious extremist group. It is not an “emancipatory force.” Don’t try to sneak that bullshit in here. Also your post is complete pseudo-intellectual twaddle that tries to make a stupid point sound smart: ”Since you’re angry at cops for beating up and arresting peaceful protestors, shouldn’t you also be more open to sympathizing with Hamas.” No, we shouldn’t. That’s dumb AF. Just type what you mean, leftist communication is the WORST.
  20. I feel like there are a lot of threads being tied together that don’t necessarily belong getting tied together. This stuff exploded across the nation. There have absolutely been some vile anti-Semitic activities that went beyond the pale on college campuses. And it seems like that got conflated to what was planned at UT, which was just speech, and that probably exploited by bad-faith actors who deliberately wanted to confuse the matter and posture as hard asses.
  21. I think we’re on a very public shame and deter campaign and that as long as that’s going on, it means that there hasn’t been a need to use other measures. Hard to speculate on what would happen if the Russians went through with it. The UN vote and press leaks are all tactics to deter/pressure Russia not to launch. I think this vote is about the February tempest, I don’t think anything has gone up yet.
  22. I would take seriously the grave warnings but wouldn’t get too excited about any alleged U.S. kinetic action in space— which would undermine the warnings we are sending out.
  23. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/24/statement-from-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-russias-veto-of-the-un-security-council-resolution-on-the-outer-space-treaty/
  24. Mine was “facsimile” pronounced “fax-sih-mile.”
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