mildly_obsolete
No bio...
User ID: 1305
mildly_obsolete
8mo ago
From actual Israeli supporters to transparent pro-Israel astroturfing, the insistence on the 'terrorist' angle is striking. Does this really resonate with American normies?
I would think 'terrorism' a discredited label, counterproductive in most cases, especially in the context of distant desert squabbles. Is it not the 'common sense', dominant narrative in the US that the 2000's were a mistake born out of lies and a hysteria? Of course the actual costs to the Americans were miniscule, practically irrelevant, so I don't expect emotional investment, just disinterest and cautious 'this will not work on me twice' attitude.
mildly_obsolete
8mo ago
He says it's actually the Russians funding the German Green party, not even hedging or speculating.
Greens were pushing for no fossil fuels, of which Russia is the default European supplier. Greens were pushing for continued war in Ukraine. These are policies that benefit the US.
Surely he knows this. I can't think of it as anything other than a blatantly dishonest narrative in the usual vein of 'Europeans are incompetent, not pulling their own weight, Russians doing with them as they please, they need a savior, that's us (again!)'. Genuinely infuriating. Sobering, too.
mildly_obsolete
5mo ago
Trump’s order also includes a mechanism to escalate the rates if the countries retaliate against the U.S
I hope they do retaliate. This nakedly extortive behavior is supremely off-putting, especially when coupled with Trumps victimhood narrative. "Woe is me, empire expansive, everyone abuses us" is turning me into a Chyna simp.
I'm heavily biased, but I believe this direction is not unique. Back when the Russian invasion on Ukraine was fresh, the 'China or US dominance?' question got me baffled looks across the board from a diverse group of friends/acquaintances (context: Poland). Very different attitudes today, with how Ukraine was treated, with Trump blatantly attempting to cannibalize ally industries, with Chynese hedgies bearing great gifts.
mildly_obsolete
3mo ago
Fifth, they could simply write checks to Treasury that help us finance global public goods.
Global public goods! No, by all means, shrug this great burden aside, teach humanity a lesson, show us what the world without American self-sacrifice looks like.
I can't figure out to what extent Americans realize how off-putting their rhetoric is for people on the outside. Too drunk on power to care, or actually believe themselves to be victimized, justified in belligerence? Either way, very effective at making people root for US humiliation. If not reflected at the top of US hierarchy, I'd think it an astroturfing campaign ran by US adversaries.
mildly_obsolete
7mo ago
They are shielded for liability. Arguably the fox is guarding the hen house.
I think there is a distinction to be made here between proven, old vaccines for serious diseases, and everything else. I'm much more comfortable with no liability for the former. I don't know to what extent this distinction is feasible in reality, tho.
Canadians don’t have a right to complain because of the residential schools controversy
I hate the idea that the residential schools narrative (and narratives of similar nature) could be so effective. How do you even begin to deprogram such a person?
Maybe just callously adopting your local equivalent of 'Armenian genocide? made up nonsense, and they deserved it all anyway' is the meta. Admittedly I'm biased in that direction.
mildly_obsolete
1yr ago
The Palestinian terror attacks were a type of brutality I don't think anybody in the modern western world has ever seen before.
Baffling statement as far as I am concerned. Nothing I've seen so far made we wince the way some videos from Ukraine do. Then there are cartel videos, and minor events like, for example, that tourist woman getting beheaded in Morocco (?). This is of course just the tip of the brutality iceberg that's easy to access.
I've seen some videos of Israelis getting shot, some dead women, some captive scared women. Stuff that, to me, does not feel out of place in Israel, considering the unresolved conflict. Is there any actually gruesome stuff out there?
mildly_obsolete
10mo ago
A fine of 9000$ is quite something. A sufficiently determined tyrant will force ISPs to report connections to known VPN services. Can an ISP identify VPN endpoints by the nature of the traffic (not easily, I think)? What safer alternatives are there to the simple 'select VPN service, pay, connect'?
mildly_obsolete
3mo ago
Anticipating the outline of the 5D chess explanation: this was the plan all along, training allies to meekly accept US dictates, baiting the disrespectful Chinese into cringe, standoffish behaviour. Now allies, cowed, thankful, will only negotiate 1:1, happy to put tariffs on China to avoid the terrible, terrible flood of goods. Such determination was shown that nobody will dare reduce own vulnerability to another round of similar 'negotiations'.
mildly_obsolete
7mo ago
DO NOT GET INVOLVED!
US obviously is involved, has been for more than a decade. The proxies are remote enough for this to be an opportunity to throw a bone to the part of his base that wants less adventurism/imperialism. Trump is still a philosemite and for hostilities with Iran.
mildly_obsolete
1yr ago
But getting mad about having been circumcised reeks of mommy issues
I find this willingness to apply 'deranged' label to resentment over getting mutilated unsettling. Can't help but see it as a defense mechanism first.
mildly_obsolete
3mo ago
Russians are very proud of that episode
Really, very proud? Because, against all odds, it ended with Romanov dynasty rather than a Polish king, or did you mean to write 'Poles' there?
mildly_obsolete
1yr ago
parades their naked bodies through the streets
Is there a video or picture of this? This claim is repeated everywhere I look, but if you mean the short video of the corpse of that German-Israeli woman, she's not naked.
mildly_obsolete
24d ago
Are you being serious here?
mildly_obsolete
6mo ago
Why attempt such a brazen, obvious lie, with approximately nothing to gain? Just baffing. Make me think I'm being psyoped somehow.
mildly_obsolete
6mo ago
I'm somewhat surprised they wouldn't wait for Trump to actually show he can do something, instead of reacting on his babble.
In any case, I very much hope this heavy handed approach backfires in the case of Europe. As things stand, helping to maintain US hegemony looks like certain pain, dubious gain. It's perverse how little the US is willing to offer, given their advantages and prosperity. Ideally the Chinese would come up with a straightforwardly superior counteroffer that gives Europe time to restructure while on the side-lines of the broader conflict.
mildly_obsolete
8mo ago
Israel has offered peace multiple times
Settlement expansion, supported by the Israeli state, is essentially enough for me to conclude Israelis were never serious about peace with Palestinians.
Goal always the same - dispossession and/or expulsion. Slowly with settlements, domestic opposition mostly unserious - happy with the end result, only preferring the optics of serious concern and stalwart disapproval. Faster with aerial bombing campaigns.
mildly_obsolete
11mo ago
Out of curiosity, would you say classic code completion is 'helpful' when writing code?
mildly_obsolete
1yr ago
By contrast, the power of Borris Johnson to coerce, compel, bewitch, or otherwise overturn the true desires of the Ukrainian political establishment was...?
You frame this as if it were absurd to think US had any way of influencing Ukrainians. I do find the focus on Johnson silly. The idea that at that pivotal moment US helped Ukrainians decide to commit themselves to the meatgrinder, not so much. Obviously Johnson himself would be little more than a mouthpiece.
My impression is that you never give an inch.
the whole thing with game being 3d yet having weird-ass 2d combat is not good either
Did you try it? Foxhole infantry combat is great, and if you're lucky to join an interesting battle, it is downright fantastic. Vehicle gameplay is cool too, though tank line meta is meh and there is a lot of waiting around involved. I thoroughly recommend it for everything except facility building.
mildly_obsolete
28d ago
If this sort of thing happened to the American military, I have no idea how the government could continue to stand.
Reminds me of claims American Public would never stand for American soldiers being filmed as drones drop grenades on them. I don't believe that for a second, I think you people have about as much capacity as anyone else to forget previous standards. Organically, and when being whipped.
mildly_obsolete
1mo ago
Curious if you were reading this take on 'system war' SF with a title I am too embarrassed to type out? It's coming to a close now, I found it to be a pleasant weekly read, at times disappointing, but overall a decent quality novel.
Shock announcement indeed. I expected the US to continue to support and whitewash Israeli criminal behaviour, not literally perform janitorial duties.
Abysmal optics, all smiles and courtesies next to Bibi, announcing violent cleansing, US funded redevelopment, gift to Israel barely obfuscated by "they ALL want to leave", "uninvolved countries will pay", "everyone will live there afterwards". They way he was describing why the plan is needed today, an uninformed person would be excused if they thought a natural disaster struck Gaza, repeatedly.
mildly_obsolete
11mo ago
I am surprised how obnoxious I'm finding this topic. Maybe selective, or maybe I no longer have patience, with war and AI looming, for endless, careful dissection of such a mundane event obviously pulled into attention for political aims. More assassinations, please.
US is prosperous, prosperity is desirable, hardly a reason to pat yourself on the back. If you blur the distinction between the country and the empire, of course the enmity will be diluted.
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