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956 Worldwide

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Posts posted by 956 Worldwide

  1. If you’re looking for the best Russia proxy in the Congress, it’s not MTG. It’s Senator Vance:

    Here’s how this ties together: 

    - Delay Ukraine and let Russia keep its assets (obvious).

    - Delay Taiwan: The PRC is currently keeping Russia’s defense industrial base on life support. Vance wants to keep the PRC comfortable and confident that they can continue to do so and face no real consequences or need to redirect away from supporting Russia.

    - Border: Keep culture war fanned and attempt to distract Americans from real threats. 
     

    Vance and his book rose to prominence because of a network of Viktor Orban-tied conservative influencers including Tucker Carlson but also less-known figures like Rod Dreher, formerly of the American Conservative. Dreher now lives in Hungary and works openly for a regime institute.  He connected Tucker and Orban and he also plugged in Vance, who also repeats Orban platitudes. 
     

    If you’re looking at my bet for “malign and not just dumb,” it’s Vance. These consistent takes that align with everything that helps Putin and Orban are just too convenient. 

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  2. While we are talking about heavy-handed universities, a while back Columbia protesters alleged they had gotten attacked by a chemical weapon and got the Intercept to write breathless articles.

    https://theintercept.com/2024/01/22/columbia-university-palestine-protest-skunk/

    Quote

    University responded to reports of students being injured by a chemical attack against an on-campus rally for Gaza by chiding students for holding protests without official authorization. Meanwhile, students told The Intercept that even as the school’s public safety department has said it is investigating the incident, school administrators themselves have yet to contact the victims — some of whom have had to seek medical care for their injuries. 

    During a rally on Friday, according to attendees, two individuals sprayed a hazardous chemical that released an odious smell. Dozens of students have reported an array of symptoms, such as burning eyes, nausea, headaches, abdominal and chest pain, and vomiting.

     

    Columbia suspended the chemical attacker whose it turned out, sprayed Amazon prank fart spray (“Liquid Ass” and “Wet Farts”).

     

    • Haha 5
  3. 7 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    I remember that your only reaction to the Bucha massacre was to criticize everyone here for being horrified by it.

    “Atrocity porn.” 

  4. 54 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    Ana has pretty openly been rooting for Russia for this entire conflict. 

    He’s not pro-Russia, it’s more nuanced, he just believes that all the things Russia wants just so happen to be good for the United States and the world and also that it’s a smear that Russia interfered in U.S. elections and is involved in active measures. All these beliefs are sincerely held and logical and he just can’t help it that they align perfectly with whatever the Kremlin says. 
     

    He’s truly sad that America is making Russia kill all these Ukrainians and just hopes for the peace that is on its way as soon as Russia can kill lots of them all at once instead of fewer of them, slowly. 

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  5. 1 minute ago, Ghost of LL said:

    So do you have to hold a vote on the MTV first?  Because right now, Johnson doesn't have enough votes to remain speaker without Democratic support.

    I’ve read that first would be a motion to table, and the Dems could vote to table and that would be it. I think @Js1 knows the inside baseball better. I know MJ would prefer not to have to put his speakership into the hands of the Ds and of course the rightful temptation for them would be to let the GOP eat itself again. 
     

    But again— how are they feeling about dead Ukrainians because that’s what they chose? It sucks to have to choose principle over political wins but at some point isn’t that what the Ds say they stand for? This isn’t a missed paycheck for feds. It’s Russian missiles crashing into Ukrainian cities. 

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  6. Don’t wanna go down the CR road, but I think it’s fair on the DT thread to highlight how this sounds to Ukrainians:

    ”We are having a political debate in the West over whether we can send you our outdated stuff in storage.  Have you considered destroying more of what you’re trying to save in the interim?” 
     

    A country is people and territory.  Ukraine has to save as much of both as it can. 

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  7. 1 minute ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

    we know that happened, but it's unnecessary for practical purposes - more of a political move.  Jordan provided protection also, for the same political reason. 

    National security is politics. 

  8. 38 minutes ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

    Iran is an irrelevant blip for "us", no need to act as if Israel's defense is tied up with America's national security. 

    CENTCOM’s response to Iran’s attack is concrete evidence otherwise but it’s neat to live in an alt-timeline where it didn’t happen I guess. 

  9. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/15/iran-israel-russia-drones-missiles/#
     

    Quote

    The weapons deals, some details of which have not been reported previously, are part of a broader collaboration that includes co-production of military drones inside Russia, the sharing of anti-jamming technology, and real-time battlefield assessments of weapons deployed against NATO-equipped forces in Ukraine, the intelligence officials and weapons experts said. The cooperation is reaping substantial benefits for both countries, while elevating Iran’s status from junior ally to strategic partner, they said.

    “It’s no longer the patron-client dynamic, where Russia holds all the leverage,” said Hanna Notte, director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. “The Iranians are accruing benefits from this change. The nature of their relationship has gone beyond just getting things. There’s knowledge transfer, there’s intangible gains.”

    Intelligence officials described Russia as “advancing” agreements negotiated in secret to supply Iran with Su-35s, one of Russia’s most capable fighter-bombers and a potentially dramatic upgrade for an Iranian air force that consists mainly of rebuilt U.S. and Soviet aircraft dating from before 1979. Russia also pledged to provide technical help with Iranian spy satellites as well as assistance in building rockets to put more satellites into space, the officials said.

    There is no public evidence that Su-35s have been delivered; the holdup may be a delay by Iran in paying for the planes, according to a U.S. and a Middle Eastern intelligence official with detailed knowledge of the deal.

    I’d very much like to see Israeli F-35s absolutely dominating Iranian Su-35s. 

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  10. Also, the Aurora was a the base of a really good car doomed by its Olds brand and GM parts bin interior. The Aztek was before its time and previewed where we were going with crossovers. The Fiero finally got good when the Pontiac guys were able to get more power for it despite Corvette guys’ protests. The Honda Ridgeline is a very good and comfortable truck that does everything most people need in a truck. The Cybertruck is shit.

    These are my car opinions and they are correct. 

    • Like 1
  11. It’s not relevant to try and go down this road because the tax systems are so different. The relevant thing is that nearly all of Europe is doing their share, likely more proportionally in many cases.

    Which is fine, it’s good. But just take that talking point away. We are behind them. 

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  12. 1 hour ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

    and this won't get much attention but here it is 

    https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-settlers-kill-two-palestinians-occupied-west-bank-mayor-says-2024-04-15/

    Israeli settlers kill two Palestinians in occupied West Bank, mayor says

    By Reuters
    April 15, 20242:03 PM CDTUpdated 2 hours ago
     
     
     
    CAIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - Israeli settlers killed two Palestinians on Monday in the occupied West Bank province of Nablus, Salah Bani Jaber, the mayor of Aqraba, told Reuters.
    "About 50 settlers, a large number of them armed, attacked the residents of Khirbet al-Tawil village east of Aqraba in the province of Nablus. They opened fire on the youth and this led to the death of two of the youth and the injury of others,” the mayor said.

    This violence was is response to the murder of a 14 year old Jewish shepherd. As with most things, the finger-pointing will go back to pre-1948.

    https://nypost.com/2024/04/13/world-news/discovery-of-israeli-teens-body-sparks-wave-violent-settler-attacks-in-west-bank/amp/ 

    • Rage+1 1
  13. Not a fan of the loan idea but if this pretense unsticks things, OK. I’m a big fan of all the things in this bill.

    Who knew Iran just needed to attack Israel to get money for Ukraine? 
     

     

    • Like 1
    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
  14. There is lots of blame to go around. What you see in terms of world on fire, but especially Ukraine, is the result of a foreign policy that has at its core the goal of managing crises and not winning or ending crises on favorable terms. We just can’t imagine winning one of these things and especially we won’t allow ourselves to ask “how can we help Ukraine win and not just survive.” 
     

    If you set the goal to manage crises, you end up with crises to manage.  The time to help Ukraine win was 1.5 years ago. The window has closed and now the best we can do is help them survive. 

    Never let lawyers run your national security. 

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