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Pol Lounge General News Thread of "This doesn't deserve it's own thread" (Page 59)
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OreoCookie
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May 17, 2021, 07:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I was against the TPP because of the copyright extensions, so I can’t say I was displeased when it got spiked. I really hate copyright.
I also disliked how they negotiated the European equivalent. Parliamentarians were effectively not allowed to do their jobs. I remember reading that there was a special reading room in the American embassy. Only handwritten notes were allowed and they were not allowed to talk to experts. That sounds pretty shady. There are quite a few things in there that I oppose. But on a larger scale the existence of such large-scale trade treaties is a net plus IMHO. Being part of them gives you a seat at the table, and the US gave up its seat when it came to TPP. (My other pet peeve of these treaties are patents, which have become patently useless.)
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I’m somewhat familiar with China’s naval ambitions. I don’t see Rahm being able to help with this from inside Japan. If anything, it’s the opposite. He’s in a much better position to get Japan to back-off.
Up until now the Biden Administration has obliged and “recognized” these islands as part of Japan’s territory. I reckon the Biden Administration does not really care about these islands (most of them are literal rocks in the ocean), but that this is a good pretext to push back on China’s naval ambitions. To be honest, it seems quite natural that the Chinese want to do the same that the US has done for decades now: protect its shipping lanes and make its presence known.

PS How come you know much about China’s navy?
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I’m curious about your opinion. Should Japan militarize?
Japan already is highly militarized, its politicians have ignored the constitution for too long. So Article 9 is a shadow of its former self. I’d rather see serious efforts to do the hard work and start working on its history with its neighbors. Do the same painful process that took place in Europe. Germany and France started a research project after WW2 so that children get taught the same history based on the same data. Germany started a similar project with Poland, although I don’t know where that is. Thanks to that Germany’s neighbors are now more comfortable with a Germany that has a stronger military.

But I don’t see that happening. Japan has a very extreme right-wing government that has no interest in doing so, quite the contrary. The previous prime minister Abe was raised by his grandfather who was a literal war criminal, for example. The deputy prime ministers said in 2013 that they want to model constitutional reform after Germany’s … in the 1930s. I wish I was joking.
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Edit: if I was Japanese, or lived in Japan, I would want to. If I was Chinese, I’d ****ing hate the idea. As a non-local, I’ve been inclined towards the status quo.
This is extremely unpopular with the Japanese people. There is also big concern of Japan getting its own nuclear arms. I have heard rumors time and again that there are plans in drawers somewhere. Even if not, Japan has all the pieces in place: they have a civilian space program (JAXA) with their own rockets. They have plenty of nuclear material and knowledge to handle it. They have super computers. But public opposition to that is even more vigorous.
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subego
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May 18, 2021, 04:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
PS How come you know much about China’s navy?
I wouldn’t say I’m particularly knowledgeable, it’s just when China does something like make a move on the Spratlys, we notice it here, even though it’s on the other side of the world. In contrast to something like buying property or businesses, which we barely notice even when it happens here.

I’m a little confused by the militarization question. Is the right wing in Japan not pro-militarization?

Edit: or Abe’s faction of the right wing.

Edit2: yeah... patents are just as jacked (if not more) than copyright. Copyright affects me a lot personally, so I focus more on it.
( Last edited by subego; May 18, 2021 at 07:42 AM. )
     
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May 18, 2021, 07:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I’m a little confused by the militarization question. Is the right wing in Japan not pro-militarization?
Yes, very much so. But it is much, much further to the right than the population on these topics. Just think of the US: does the GOP in Congress represent the positions of its voters at large? I don’t think so. Many Biden’s policies are much more in line with what the majority of Americans want than the official positions of GOP Congress persons. Even in Democratic strongholds like New York City, a sizable share of the population votes for Republicans (e. g. 27.5 % in the last mayoral elections). The reasons for the LDP’s success are manifold, one major one being that the opposition parties split, merge, multiply, it is very hard to keep track of them. A lot of people I know vote for the LDP because there is no better alternative in their minds.
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Edit2: yeah... patents are just as jacked (if not more) than copyright. Copyright affects me a lot personally, so I focus more on it.
Patents affect us all as well, just more indirectly. Look at what patents on drugs do during the pandemic. Or software. Ugh. Let’s try to not derail the thread
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May 18, 2021, 09:14 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I’ve heard the Japanese are very uncomfortable with foreigners learning their language in general. Same with the Dutch for whatever reason.
I don’t know about the Dutch, I haven’t heard that they are uncomfortable with others learning Dutch from friends who live there. For me it is very funny and weird German anyway

But you are right about Japan. Many Japanese cannot conceive of the possibility of a non-Japanese speaking Japanese. I have heard this and experienced this so many times. One of the kindergarten teachers (I think she is the vice headmistress) is so effing condescending. I have had to tell her explicitly several times that I am not suffering from brain damage, and that she should talk to me like a normal person. This is self-reinforcing, if you are talked to as if you were stupid or a child, you have a much harder time to learn proper Japanese. That even happens to my (Japanese) wife when I am with her. Some people speak more loudly and in simple Japanese to her. If I’m not in a good mood, this can drive me up the wall rather quickly.
Originally Posted by subego View Post
The Gaijin Smash guy had a hilarious story about how the counter-girl at a Japanese McDonald’s refused to verbally take his order even though he’s fluent. She kept meekly gesturing to the menu booklet at the register he was supposed to point at to order.
Yeah, that phenomenon is rather weird and has happened to me a few times. Supremely annoying.
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May 19, 2021, 03:49 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
non-Japanese speaking Japanese.
This could benefit from an extra word.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
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May 19, 2021, 05:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
I don’t know about the Dutch, I haven’t heard that they are uncomfortable with others learning Dutch from friends who live there. For me it is very funny and weird German anyway
I heard this back in high school from a friend who spent a lot of time in Holland, so it’s a good 35 years out of date, and my memory of how he stated it is a little fuzzy.

It’s definitely possible he was talking only about English speakers, and the attitude was less “uncomfortable” and more “look... your Dutch will never be as good as my English, so don’t bother”.
     
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May 19, 2021, 07:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Yes, very much so. But it is much, much further to the right than the population on these topics. Just think of the US: does the GOP in Congress represent the positions of its voters at large? I don’t think so. Many Biden’s policies are much more in line with what the majority of Americans want than the official positions of GOP Congress persons. Even in Democratic strongholds like New York City, a sizable share of the population votes for Republicans (e. g. 27.5 % in the last mayoral elections). The reasons for the LDP’s success are manifold, one major one being that the opposition parties split, merge, multiply, it is very hard to keep track of them. A lot of people I know vote for the LDP because there is no better alternative in their minds.
I think I’m getting what you’re saying, but I’m not really understanding the US analogy.

When the government here got way further to the right than the population, we booted it.
     
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May 19, 2021, 07:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
When the government here got way further to the right than the population, we booted it.
I am skeptical about this, I can think of several important policies where the GOP’s elected officials are to the far right of its own voters. One is health care policy and another one is taxes. To randomly pick the latter, a majority of Republican voters supports raising taxes for the wealthy, although I dare you find a Republican Congress person that supports this idea. Perhaps you can nitpick this particular poll, the particular percentages depend also on phrasing and context, but I’d still maintain that no matter the poll, Republicans in Congress are not representative of their voters’s opinions.

I also have some straightforward conjectures as to why this is the case: (1) Primaries favor more extreme candidates. (2) Urban Republicans are underrepresented in Congress. Both bias elected Republican officials towards the more conservative end.
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May 19, 2021, 07:29 PM
 
I meant Biden vs. Trump specifically.

Trump got further to the right than the general population, so he was booted and replaced with someone more in tune with the country as a whole.



Edit: is the issue there’s no, singular “Biden-like figure” for the country to rally around? I mean that in terms of policy, but more importantly in terms of their “ground game”.
( Last edited by subego; May 19, 2021 at 08:29 PM. )
     
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May 19, 2021, 10:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I meant Biden vs. Trump specifically.
Honestly, I don't think Trump lost because he is too far to the right. I think he lost because of how badly he and his administration dealt with the Covid pandemic.
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Trump got further to the right than the general population, so he was booted and replaced with someone more in tune with the country as a whole.
I don't think Trump fits into these simplistic categories. Yes, part of his policy position are to the far right (his tendencies to at least admire authoritarian leaders), but some are decidedly not. For example, Trump broke with the GOP's stance on global trade. (Just imagine how crazy the conservative media bubble would boil over if in an alternate universe President Sanders would have put the kabosh on global trade.) If we go by his statements during his first campaign*, he was in favor of things like keeping the pre-existing conditions rules that the ACA put in place (“We will replace Obama Care with something better.”).

I would argue that in some select areas, it was Trump that brought the GOP more in line with what its core supporters believe. Immigration is an obvious one, global trade is another. The key here is that support for Trump specifically declined in breadth and became much, much more focused whereas the Democrats have formed a broad coalition.

* The tricky thing here is that with some topics he tried to stick to his promises (“The Wall”, judges), but with others (most notably health care) actual policies pushed in Congress were wildly different.
Originally Posted by subego View Post
Edit: is the issue there’s no, singular “Biden-like figure” for the country to rally around? I mean that in terms of policy, but more importantly in terms of their “ground game”.
No, I don't think so. I think this is the result of a long march down a dangerous road that started (at least) with Newt Gingrich. You had more and more anti-science stances, more showboating instead of policy proposals. Just ask Republicans in Congress what they want to replace the ACA with, how they want to reform the American health care system. Trump is the culmination of that effort. Facts don't matter to him. He has no intellectual depth. And the convictions he holds the most deeply are troubling (e. g. his admiration for dictators and autocrats).

I don't want to be crass, but I think the GOP is rotten to the core and there is no saving them, they are too far gone. If the US is lucky, they are going to wither and die. The Democrats will split in two into centrists and conservatives on one end and center-left on the other. I wish it weren't so, but I am not convinced the US is going to be lucky
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MacNNFamous
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May 20, 2021, 12:20 PM
 
Trump's trade policies were one thing I agreed with him on.

It's SO HARD for American companies to compete against slave labor and countries that ignore OSHA/environmental regulations. The EPA monitors chemical runoff near plants here in the states, meanwhile China is literally just dumping their waste right into the rivers.

It's not fair. Foreign companies get to skirt all these regulations, which makes their shit really cheap. On top of that, due to shipping and the pressures for increased profit, there is a huge push to reduce the weight/material of products taht are being shipped around the world, which has a side effect of making shit cheap/not last/chintzy, which means the goods will be replaced more often which is even worse for the environment.

If I were king for a day I'd raise import tariffs by 1% every single year until foreign products are completely out of reach. America has enough resources/workforce/talent to make ANYTHING. Milwaukee/Chicago used to be known as America's machineshop, and that entire infrastructure was gutted as manufacturing was shipped overseas to appease shareholders/reward CEOS at the expense of the middle class.

Other than that, he ****ing sucks.
     
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May 20, 2021, 03:19 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
Trump's trade policies were one thing I agreed with him on.

It's SO HARD for American companies to compete against slave labor and countries that ignore OSHA/environmental regulations. The EPA monitors chemical runoff near plants here in the states, meanwhile China is literally just dumping their waste right into the rivers.
Are they still, though?

Because the thing about China is: if something needs changing, they just go and ****ing change it.

Fossil fuels are killing hundreds of thousands each year through smog? We'll just ban combustion engines. No election promises, no dumb ass campaigns, no public disinformation or manufactured "debate". Here's the numbers, this needs to happen, boom.

Oh and not like in Germany, where there's a mild reduction of this or that because "ooooh the auto industry" by 2030 and maybe a drop by 2050, nope: in three years, your product portfolio is 40% renewables, or you're no longer on our market. In ten years, it's 100%.

Oh, is this a problem? See ya.
     
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May 20, 2021, 03:33 PM
 
I'm not talking about China doing china business. I'm talking about tariffs on shitty imported goods to the united states. It bankrupts businesses here and makes it harder to compete when you're going against businesses that don't have to follow the same standards you have to follow.
     
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May 20, 2021, 06:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
Trump's trade policies were one thing I agreed with him on.

It's SO HARD for American companies to compete against slave labor and countries that ignore OSHA/environmental regulations. […] It's not fair. Foreign companies get to skirt all these regulations, which makes their shit really cheap.
That’s the same thing many Europeans say about goods made in America! Funny how things are when the shoe is on the other foot

With due respect, but it ain’t that simple. Compared to Europe it is the US that has fewer regulations (see e. g. the chlorinated chicken debate with regards to the trade agreement with the UK). I fully agree that we need to make our political goals part of these agreements. For example, I’m in favor of imposing tariffs to imported steel if this offsets the higher cost of domestic green steel production. Another avenue I would enforce is to oblige Western companies that let their wares be produced in, say, China to stick to certain local regulations. But that needs to be enforced, which is difficult.

All of that should be part of a better trade agreement IMHO, one that facilitates trade and not blanket “free trade” and protects against one-sided deals (e. g. foreign investments in China). One that facilitates the change to a green global economy.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
If I were king for a day I'd raise import tariffs by 1% every single year until foreign products are completely out of reach.
You’d kill the American economy with such simplistic policies and significantly lower the living standard. Every country depends on imports from other countries, be it raw materials or certain specialized goods or talent. You’d basically have to give up on most modern technology and progress would slow significantly.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
America has enough resources/workforce/talent to make ANYTHING. Milwaukee/Chicago used to be known as America's machineshop, and that entire infrastructure was gutted as manufacturing was shipped overseas to appease shareholders/reward CEOS at the expense of the middle class.
No, it doesn’t and it can’t. No country by itself, no trade block by itself can do that, only the entire world is big enough to do that. That’s not how modern, high-tech economies work. Tech companies couldn’t survive without immigration (“= import of foreign talent”), for example, and they are currently the engine of success.

Not even in the ancient times was that true, and the only reason why economies were more (but not entirely) local was that transportation was slower. If you have perishable goods, then you are limited by the time and effort it takes to get something from A to B. While I was at an archeological station in the Atacama desert, archeologists showed me drug paraphernalia that were more than 6,000 years old (don’t remember the exact age), made of wood that only grows on the other side of the Andes.
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
I'm not talking about China doing china business. I'm talking about tariffs on shitty imported goods to the united states. It bankrupts businesses here and makes it harder to compete when you're going against businesses that don't have to follow the same standards you have to follow.
This is the nature of capitalism, and the reason why other countries have a social safety net. Stamping Made in Germany on its products wasn’t something that Great Britain forced upon Germany, because they thought it was a good idea to create a logo that stands for quality and craftsmanship. It was meant to signify low quality. Imported goods aren’t necessarily shitty. Carbon bike frames aren’t shitty even though almost all of them are made in China and Taiwan. iPhones and iPads aren’t shitty. Yes, China can make shitty goods, but China and Taiwan have the leading experience in large-scale manufacturing of products of any quality level. Doing that isn’t easy. No other country could keep up when it comes to electronics. We could try to grow that expertise, yes. But that’d take half a generation, I think, increase prices with dubious benefit. Rather than compete directly, we should go into new businesses. That’s why investing in green technologies, software and bio tech is so crucial for the West. If we are not leaders before other countries are, we have no competitive advantage.
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subego
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May 22, 2021, 09:47 AM
 


Squad.


Edit: just use inert gas, or a ton of fent. JFC, this isn’t hard.
( Last edited by subego; May 22, 2021 at 10:04 AM. )
     
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May 22, 2021, 12:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
electronics
There is a lot more to goods produced besides TVs and iPads, bro.
     
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May 22, 2021, 07:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
There is a lot more to goods produced besides TVs and iPads, bro.
Yes, sure, but fewer and fewer do not rely on chips. Lightbulbs have tons of electronics in them, cars have tons (some carmakers had to reduce production, because they canceled chip orders and now face a chip shortage). Even things like carbon bike frames, which contain no electronics whatsoever, are not easily manufactured. You need a lot of experience making them, which requires the type of volume you only get when you address a global market. An economy you close one way (few to no imports) will also be closed for exports.

Wanting to return to such an economy is like following the desires of the weavers during the Weaver’s Uprising against mechanized looms, against industrialization.
( Last edited by OreoCookie; May 22, 2021 at 08:58 PM. )
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May 22, 2021, 07:37 PM
 
Incandescent 4 lyfe
     
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Jun 3, 2021, 11:03 AM
 
If you haven't gotten around to reading Trump's new blog yet, you're too late.
     
subego
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Jun 3, 2021, 11:48 AM
 
That no one gives a shit about what he says anymore has to piss him off so much.
     
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Jun 3, 2021, 11:57 AM
 
Trump has a long history of not paying contractors. In the present, he's not paying Rudy Giuliani's legal bills. You know, for unethical/frivolous cases trying to help Trump steal the election.

So Trump's blog lasted less then a month? Right around the time the hosting company billed for the first month. I'm guessing this is the reason.
     
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Jun 24, 2021, 01:01 PM
 
     
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Jun 24, 2021, 04:39 PM
 
The US Supreme Court ruled (8-1) in favor of a (former) high school cheerleader, who said things the school didn't like. While off school grounds, on her own time, with her own cell phone. She didn't mention the school, or any staff member.

The school suspended her from the jr. cheer squad for a year. Federal district court ordered her reinstated, on 1st Amendment grounds. The school appealed. Federal circuit court also ruled for the student. The school appealed again. Now the SCOTUS has ruled in her favor.

Public schools cannot control all a student says while outside of school. It's about time in my opinion. The school spent public money to make this ruling the law of the land. They may not see it this way, but in hindsight, this was public money well spent. Let's all give a cheer for the Mahanoy Area High School (PA).

SCOTUS ruling (pdf)
     
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Jun 24, 2021, 05:10 PM
 
Pretend I went through the effort of coming up with a Jeffery Toobin Zoom jerk joke, and it was really funny.

With that out of the way, I’m kinda curious about the details of this case. I’m assuming the school directly cited her off-campus activity as the reason she was dismissed, and that’s what ruined the school’s case. The question is whether they would have gotten away with it had they just cited a “bad attitude”.

I’m also curious how the extracurricular nature of cheerleading affects the law. “**** this school” is obviously protected, while “**** the squad I’m on” seems more hazy.
     
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Jun 25, 2021, 06:14 AM
 
When I first read the article I missed the part where the student was complaining about not getting on the varsity squad, and was kicked off the junior varsity squad for it.

Yeah… **** that school.
     
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Jun 25, 2021, 09:50 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Public schools cannot control all a student says while outside of school. It's about time in my opinion. The school spent public money to make this ruling the law of the land. They may not see it this way, but in hindsight, this was public money well spent.
File under: good to have this clarified and codified for all future cases, but GOD DAMN why the **** did this need to be clarified in the first place?
     
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Jun 30, 2021, 01:23 PM
 
Since the old "Cosby" thread is too old to bump I will post this here. Cosby is to be released after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction. One of the key reasons is what I mentioned in this thread . When the prosecutor makes a deal with Cosby to provide testimony in a civil case in exchange for agreeing to never charge him in a criminal case based on that testimony ... a new prosecutor can't renege on that deal in order to further their political career.

Bill Cosby is set to be a free man after conviction is overturned

OAW
( Last edited by OAW; Jun 30, 2021 at 02:59 PM. )
     
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Jun 30, 2021, 02:10 PM
 
Cap'n Tightpants linking Daily Caller was great.

And it was a lot of fun seeing if the right wing nutjobs were going to side with the man in a he said/she said assault case or if they were going to condemn the black person under criminal investigation. Will racism or misogyny win out as the dominant prejudice?? I think the combination of black person and Hollywood was enough for them to swing well in favor of guilty.

Actually, the more I read Chongo's posts, the clearer it is that it's a Republican/Democrat divide for him even more than white/black. Kavanaugh - "Did Ford say that she was raped? No. She alleges someone tried to rape her."

The Catholic church - "Then why focus only on the Church? Why not put the same effort into rooting out the pedarists out of Hollywood...Unlike Hollywood, the Church has taken steps to correct the problem."

Clinton [via InfoWars] - "The Clintons’ achilles heel is Bill’s sexual abuse and his alleged pedophilia linked to Epstein, and to curtail this weakness they are trying to pin Bill’s reported crimes on Trump, according to insiders."
     
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Jun 30, 2021, 03:03 PM
 
^^^

No one ever accused that crowd of being intellectually consistent.

OAW
     
subego
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Jun 30, 2021, 05:09 PM
 
Just heard Rumsfeld died.

I had plenty of issues with him, but couldn’t deny he was a mad genius.
     
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Jun 30, 2021, 07:30 PM
 
Emphasis on “mad”.
     
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Aug 24, 2021, 09:22 PM
 
The coalition has lost 3502 troops over 20 years in Afghanistan with 2355 of them being US soldiers. The US has lost less soldiers in a war, over 20 years, than they lost in one day on 9/11 (2,977 civilians).

The British lost 20,000 men on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Can someone explain to me why Afghanistan is too difficult for the US military, and why they're now throwing the Afghan people to the wolves? It seems to me that they haven't tried very hard to defeat the Taliban - just dragged out a conflict for 20 years to sell a lot of weapons.

Now they're puling out on August 31 in a unilateral deal with the Taliban that, if I read between the lines correctly, involved the Director of the CIA fellating a Taliban chief. Biden is practically begging the Taliban not to attack US troops. The allies who followed you into war are being told to STFU and get out by that date or they're on their own.

How is anyone, ally or occupied citizenry, supposed to trust the US again? What message does this send to Russia, Iran, North Korea and China (which is already telling the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan that the US will not help them).

And why is Joe Biden being such a prick? I almost miss Trump, although I suppose I only have to wait a few years before that comedy gold starts up again.

Anyway, WTF America?
     
MacNNFamous
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Aug 24, 2021, 09:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by Face Ache View Post
Can someone explain to me why Afghanistan ......... just dragged out a conflict for 20 years to sell a lot of weapons.
You just did, bro. It was never about the safety or security of our citizens, it was about a made up war half way around the world to make weapons companies rich, and all the other leeches that come with it.
     
reader50
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Aug 24, 2021, 10:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by Face Ache View Post
Can someone explain to me why Afghanistan is too difficult for the US military, and why they're now throwing the Afghan people to the wolves? It seems to me that they haven't tried very hard to defeat the Taliban - just dragged out a conflict for 20 years to sell a lot of weapons.
I dislike how we handled the pullout, and intensely dislike the Taliban winning the country. That being said ...

We fought our longest war there, spending perhaps $2 trillion on it. All borrowed. That's more than the total of all UK defense budgets over the same 20 years. And what did we get for it?

A government that couldn't hold out even 3 months. Their military outnumbered the Taliban 4 to 1. But whenever we cleared an area, they were unable to hold it afterwards. My impression is we cleared every part of Afghanistan at least once. Some hotbeds quite a few times.

Apparently their soldiers wouldn't stand and fight for their country. If they won't fight for their own country, why should we? We bought them 20 years of freedom. Plenty of time for citizens to arm up, train, etc.

If hostiles drove into a US city, there would be a gun battle at every other house. The Taliban would rapidly attrition down to nothing. In Kabul, the Taliban conquered everyone by just driving to each city. No one was willing to fight.
     
Face Ache
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Aug 24, 2021, 11:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
Apparently their soldiers wouldn't stand and fight for their country. If they won't fight for their own country, why should we?
I might address your other points later (I'm on my way out) but Afghanistan is only a "country" because the British drew it on a map. In reality it's a collection of tribes that share a geographical region. Most of them couldn't give a toss about dying for some flag.

But we knew that going in, didn't we?

Still doesn't explain how the US was defeated by the Taliban - it's just finger pointing. Towards the end the Afghan troops weren't being paid - the corrupt government the US had been shovelling money at was stashing it in Swiss bank accounts. Their air force (such as it was) kept their aircraft out of the hands of the Taliban after the army deserted, and that was portrayed by US/UK media as "running away". To me it seemed like the sensible option - aircraft have to land.

The US doesn't have the stomach for war unless it's by remote long-range weapons or the proxy of a foreign army. Shit, your US troops have been hiding in the airport while UK and German troops ventured into Kabul to retrieve US citizens.

It's not a good look and most unbecoming of a "superpower".
     
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Aug 25, 2021, 11:54 AM
 
The US wasn't "defeated" by the Taliban. On a military basis it was essentially a stalemate. The thing we have to remember is that the US military is fundamentally organized around the principle of confronting and defeating the military forces of an opposing nation-state. What it has never done well is defeating a determined insurgency within a nation-state it is occupying. The largest ethnic group in Afghanistan are the Pashtun. Nearly all Taliban are Pashtun but not all Pashtun are Taliban. They don't wear military uniforms just traditional tribal dress. So who is Taliban and who is not? Even in areas ostensibly under US military or Afghan military control? The "civilian" by day can be a "militant" by night. Just like the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war. Not to mention we simply didn't have the military footprint to control a country as large as Afghanistan. The American public wouldn't stand for hundreds of thousands of US boots on the ground. And politically no US President was going to risk re-election by escalating to such levels. What we are seeing now was an entirely foreseeable outcome.

Afghanistan is called "The Graveyard of Empires" for a reason.

OAW
     
OreoCookie
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Aug 26, 2021, 07:41 PM
 
@OAW
I think you are technically right, but to a lot, it feels like a defeat. I listened to the Dispatch and you can hear that very clearly voiced by David French who says that America is/should be able to “win” in Afghanistan. Later on in the discussion you hear very clearly what he thinks that should look like. The Afghan military was (in his words) a “force multiplier” for the American military that soaked up the bulk of the casualties, but ultimately was only designed to act as an extension of the US military, not a military by itself without US support. This is just one small facet that shows why it was so obvious that — depending on how you look at it — Afghanistan could not be won or was lost long time ago.

You see this pattern all over the world: the US's current pattern of doing things was established after WW2, where Germany and Japan were reborn as modern democracies with blooming economies that were dependent on the US military. Partial independence, but not real independence.

Could the US have stayed longer in Afghanistan and perpetuated the status quo? Sure. But to what end? That'd be the question I'd ask David French.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Aug 27, 2021, 04:58 AM
 
Well, now that Biden has threatened retaliation for the ISIS bomb attack at Kabul airport, it's looking like a complete do-over anyway, so…

See you in twenty years, after another trillion dollars has been pumped into US arms manufacturers and maintenance contracts for weapons that only work for as long as they are maintained by US companies.

It's an awesome system, really.
     
MacNNFamous
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Aug 27, 2021, 11:38 AM
 
I hate the entire middle east. Stoning women to death who got raped, dropping gay people off buildings, just constant major dickhead vibes from everybody over there. Energy independence and living well would be the best revenge, let them continue to kill each other for another few thousand years.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Aug 27, 2021, 09:17 PM
 
And algebra! Not to forget algebra!
     
OreoCookie
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Aug 28, 2021, 03:41 AM
 
Originally Posted by MacNNFamous View Post
I hate the entire middle east. Stoning women to death who got raped, dropping gay people off buildings, just constant major dickhead vibes from everybody over there. Energy independence and living well would be the best revenge, let them continue to kill each other for another few thousand years.
That’s a pretty negative outlook on humanity, and sounds as if you haven’t met a lot of people from the Middle East first hand. Most I have met suffer from the respective regimes, it’s just that most don’t want to take the (sometimes significant) risk of going against the grain in big ways. Even those who live and have citizenships from other countries, they still might have relatives there.

Also, just think for a second what America’s image is in these countries — a country that makes promises it doesn’t care to keep. Is that representative of all Americans?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Thorzdad
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Sep 1, 2021, 04:09 PM
 
Looks like abortion is now de-facto illegal in Texas as of today. What a fucking evil law. Setting citizens on each other for a $10,000 bounty.
     
andi*pandi
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Sep 1, 2021, 05:48 PM
 
Never mind all the people just going in for pap smears and birth control who are going to be harassed, or anyone who suffers a miscarriage who will be persecuted.

You want the Handmaid's Tale? Cuz this is how you get the Handmaid's Tale.

Also, people are having fun overwhelming the "report your neighbor" form. Debates on whether funny content vs real-sounding leads that will waste a lot of time vary; most people opting for funny or FUCK YOU.

https://twitter.com/aetherlev/status...02897929736193

Report Ted Cruz here:
https://prolifewhistleblower.com/anonymous-form/
     
Thorzdad
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Sep 1, 2021, 06:03 PM
 
I think I read somewhere that the law can be applied to abortions performed before the law took effect. Like, if you think someone got an abortion back in April, you can sue them.
     
subego
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Sep 1, 2021, 06:14 PM
 
This should get hit with a preliminary injunction almost immediately. It can’t stand while Planned Parenthood v. Casey is still the precedent.

I’m still hoping the Supreme Court isn’t interested in flipping that.
     
Thorzdad
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Sep 2, 2021, 07:07 AM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
This should get hit with a preliminary injunction almost immediately. It can’t stand while Planned Parenthood v. Casey is still the precedent.
SCOTUS was petitioned to intervene and declined to do so.
     
Laminar
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Sep 2, 2021, 08:38 AM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
SCOTUS was petitioned to intervene and declined to do so.
Trump presidency justified, evangelicals everywhere rejoice.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Sep 2, 2021, 08:43 AM
 
Oh for fuck's sake.
     
 
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