Current Events August 2017: A Song of Tweets and Fire

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Current Events August 2017: A Song of Tweets and Fire

Dead Reckoning: Sep 13, 2011

Blind Rasputin posted:

PS4 download speeds aside. NK talking some pretty big game about nuking the US if we act militarily in any way. Also they will not back down on their testing whatsoever. Whats the spread on this thing actually happening? I just bought a new place in the PNW and would like to see summer temperatures stay where they are.

The rational calculus looks like this: Right now, KJU is President for Life of an entire country. His day to day includes watching giant pictures of his family get paraded through the main square. If he starts swinging his dick around militarily, Uncle Sam is going to step in and cancel "Mistresses and Bourbon" night forever, and KJU goes from the style to which he has become accustomed to living in spider holes to hide from the teams of trained killers hunting him, assuming he doesn't just F�hrerbunker himself.

That's the rational calculus, but KJU and DJT are driving this train, so who the gently caress knows.

Dead Reckoning fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Aug 8, 2017

# ? Aug 8, 2017 07:05

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 04:24

Blind Rasputin: Nov 25, 2002; Farewell, good Hunter. May you find your worth in the waking world.

https://twitter.com/JoosikEnergetik/status/894805002618675200

But my hot fiery redemption

# ? Aug 8, 2017 07:28

DaNerd: Sep 15, 2009; u br?

The Economist did briefing exploring how the next Korean war could kick off through domestic dick waving and miscalculation.

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21725763-everyone-would-lose-how-nuclear-war-korea-could-start-and-how-it-might-end

# ? Aug 8, 2017 07:32

Kazinsal: Dec 13, 2011

I just want like, 12 hours notice before the nukes start flying so I can get on a ferry and go home to my family to die with them.

Plus, if I don't die in the blastwave there, I can find my buddies who are still there and ~~live it up mad max style~~ die slow horrible deaths of radiation poisoning together. If I survive the blastwave here, the only way to get over there will be a ferry that is no longer in service due to nuclear war.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 08:00

orange juche: Mar 14, 2012

DaNerd posted:

The Economist did briefing exploring how the next Korean war could kick off through domestic dick waving and miscalculation.

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21725763-everyone-would-lose-how-nuclear-war-korea-could-start-and-how-it-might-end

They captured the essence of the Trump Tweet perfectly.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 08:06

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

orange juche posted:

They captured the essence of the Trump Tweet perfectly.

good lord yes

give that man a pulitzer

# ? Aug 8, 2017 10:35

aphid_licker: Jan 7, 2009

DaNerd posted:

The Economist did briefing exploring how the next Korean war could kick off through domestic dick waving and miscalculation.

Well that would be a first :haw:

# ? Aug 8, 2017 11:07

hobbesmaster: Jan 28, 2008

DaNerd posted:

The Economist did briefing exploring how the next Korean war could kick off through domestic dick waving and miscalculation.

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21725763-everyone-would-lose-how-nuclear-war-korea-could-start-and-how-it-might-end

Completely inaccurate.

Trump would be tweeting about the devastation of the nuclear before the first B-2 was wheels up.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 13:34

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

DaNerd posted:

The Economist did briefing exploring how the next Korean war could kick off through domestic dick waving and miscalculation.

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21725763-everyone-would-lose-how-nuclear-war-korea-could-start-and-how-it-might-end

I don't think either DJT or KJU have a dick large enough to effectively wave. Dick pointing, maybe?

# ? Aug 8, 2017 13:36

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

Cugel the Clever posted:

I don't think either DJT or KJU have a dick large enough to effectively wave. Dick pointing, maybe?

That's precisely why it's a dangerous situation- we've got two paranoid narcissists who thrive on a cult of personality depicting them as strong, powerful leaders. De-escalation isn't a concept they understand, especially if leads to a perceived loss of face.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 14:49

CRUSTY MINGE: Mar 30, 2011; Peggy Hill
Foot Connoisseur

If they shake their hips real fast is that still dick waving?

# ? Aug 8, 2017 14:50

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

We all have small dicks after nuclear fallout

# ? Aug 8, 2017 14:53

Casimir Radon: Aug 2, 2008

TBeats posted:

We all have small dicks after nuclear fallout

I bought a lead codpiece for just such an occasion. So, uh, speak for yourself Cole.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 14:57

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

Unless you're dressed like iron man then the only thing left will be your dick

And that's a mean joke to play on the next life form that blossoms and starts digging up fossils.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 15:05

Johnny Five-Jaces: Jan 21, 2009

orange juche posted:

They captured the essence of the Trump Tweet perfectly.

post the tweet, i'm paywalled

# ? Aug 8, 2017 15:40

hobbesmaster: Jan 28, 2008

Johnny Five-Jaces posted:

post the tweet, i'm paywalled

DJT in 2019:

quote:

Fat Kim just got what he�s been asking for. SAD!

quote:

Nuke attack on Seoul by evil Kim was BAD! Had no choice but to nuke him back. But thanks to my actions, America is safe again

# ? Aug 8, 2017 15:43

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

Bloomberg with the spiciest of takes

https://twitter.com/business/status/894922691098148865

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:05

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/894935433003577346

Nikki Haley went on TV earlier and complained about the leak while not confirming or denying it. Donnie outright retweeted it.

TBeats posted:

Bloomberg with the spiciest of takes

joke's on them I'm already dead inside

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:06

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

TBeats posted:

Bloomberg with the spiciest of takes

https://twitter.com/business/status/894922691098148865

Had one of my union brothers complain about the union supporting a 15$ minimum wage. When supporting the union on this he responded with how a higher minimum wage would depress companies shares and value etc. I was so shocked to hear that from a union member that the perfect scenario of shooting people as soon as they retired to save on pension costs didn't occur to me till later.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:23

Woof Blitzer: Dec 29, 2012; [-]

My union is full of people who voted for a governor that enacted right to work. Lmao

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:25

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

I hate union members now, just not for the usual reasons. loving do some research and vote for the people supporting your livilihood you loving retards.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:27

Woof Blitzer: Dec 29, 2012; [-]

"Stop voting to kill yourselves!"

"...no"

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:34

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

Actually I think it's more like

"Please vote to help others, you will also benefit as well!"

"No."

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:48

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

"I am the hardest working most genius human in the world and got this position and paycheck through hard work and I totally deserve this"

No you loving douche you showed up at the right place and time and lucked into it.

If I asked most union members today to sacrifice part of their pay like members did before to get us here there wouldn't be an end to the whining.

The important stuff to listen for is always I or We, Sacrifice or Deserve or Mine, individual or group effort.

lightpole fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Aug 8, 2017

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:54

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

lightpole posted:

"I am the hardest working most genius human in the world and got this position and paycheck through hard work and I totally deserve this"

No you loving douche you showed up at the right place and time and lucked into it.

If I asked most union members today to sacrifice part of their pay like members did before to get us here there wouldn't be an end to the whining.

That's because a hint of socialism is worse than death

# ? Aug 8, 2017 16:59

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

Let's wax poetic about the origin of this union and the socialist sacrifices the founders and members made throughout the years and then complain anytime I am asked for the smallest thing isn't much of a rallying cry.

My cynicism will be the death of me.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:02

Ceiling fan: Dec 26, 2003; I really like ceilings.; Dead Man’s Band

It sure doesn't take long for a union to go FYGM once the senior members start making good money.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:03

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

I have been extremely vocal and calling people out about it and there are other younger members moving or acting against that trend. It is almost 100% too little too late, there's just such a strong current against socialism of any flavor for any reason. The current view prevailing in academia is capitalism great, socialism bad, no matter the facts. Critical thinking has died.

It takes strong leadership, willing and comfortable to be hated/disliked, to accept a huge sacrifice in the present for the good of the future.

That kind of leadership is rarely on display today.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:08

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

Union members tend to be focused on preserving what they have gained at all costs. In a lot of instances, they can't see why helping poorer people actually helps them, or why their efforts are better spent focusing attention elsewhere: on eating the rich.

The best observation lately is that the Google Bro who recently got fired for biotrutherism probably couldn't have been fired if he was part of a union.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:09

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

lightpole posted:

I have been extremely vocal and calling people out about it and there are other younger members moving or acting against that trend. It is almost 100% too little too late, there's just such a strong current against socialism of any flavor for any reason. The current view prevailing in academia is capitalism great, socialism bad, no matter the facts. Critical thinking has died.

It takes strong leadership, willing and comfortable to be hated/disliked, to accept a huge sacrifice in the present for the good of the future.

That kind of leadership is rarely on display today.

Which is weird because as a civilian scientist in academia in the hard sciences we are pretty pro socialism (all our funding depends on federal agencies).

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:11

Hot Karl Marx: Mar 16, 2009; Politburo regulations about social distancing require to downgrade your Karlmarxing to cold, and sorry about the dnc primaries, please enjoy!

lightpole posted:

Had one of my union brothers complain about the union supporting a 15$ minimum wage. When supporting the union on this he responded with how a higher minimum wage would depress companies shares and value etc. I was so shocked to hear that from a union member that the perfect scenario of shooting people as soon as they retired to save on pension costs didn't occur to me till later.

Same thing is happening in my yard, Ontario is going $15/h for minimum wage and they're all complaining that everything is going to cost $10 more and don't listen when I show that didn't happen in Seattle when they raised theirs

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:12

Crab Dad: Dec 28, 2002; behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB

We are all, in fact, a bunch of crabs.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:12

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

That Works posted:

Which is weird because as a civilian scientist in academia in the hard sciences we are pretty pro socialism (all our funding depends on federal agencies).

This drives me nuts and economists are full of poo poo.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:14

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

I just want to watch it burn and drink some more.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:14

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

lightpole posted:

This drives me nuts and economists are full of poo poo.

I'd say full of themselves but yeah, redundant.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:15

BigDave: Jul 14, 2009; Taste the High Country

Lil' Kim now has a missile sized nuke warhead.

North Korea now making missile-ready nuclear weapons posted:

North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment.

The new analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country�s atomic arsenal. The U.S. calculated last month that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Some independent experts believe the number of bombs is much smaller.

The findings are likely to deepen concerns about an evolving North Korean military threat that appears to be advancing far more rapidly than many experts had predicted. U.S. officials last month concluded that Pyongyang is also outpacing expectations in its effort to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking cities on the American mainland.

While more than a decade has passed since North Korea�s first nuclear detonation, many analysts believed it would be years before the country�s weapons scientists could design a compact warhead that could be delivered by missile to distant targets. But the new assessment, a summary document dated July 28, concludes that this critical milestone has already been reached.

�The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles,� the assessment states, in an excerpt read to The Washington Post. The assessment�s broad conclusions were verified by two U.S. officials familiar with the document. It is not yet known whether the reclusive regime has successfully tested the smaller design, although North Korean officially last year claimed to have done so.

The DIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

An assessment this week by the Japanese Ministry of Defense also concludes there is evidence to suggest that North Korea has achieved miniaturization.

Kim Jong Un is becoming increasingly confident in the reliability of his nuclear arsenal, analysts have concluded, explaining perhaps the dictator�s willingness to engage in defiant behavior, including missile tests that have drawn criticism even from North Korea�s closest ally, China. On Saturday, both China and Russia joined other members of the U.N. Security Council in approving punishing new economic sanctions, including a ban on exports that supply up to a third of North Korea�s annual $3 billion earnings.

The nuclear progress further raises the stakes for President Trump, who has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with nuclear weapons. In an interview broadcast Saturday on MSNBC�s Hugh Hewitt Show, national security adviser H.R. McMaster said the prospect of a North Korea armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs would be �intolerable, from the president�s perspective.�

�We have to provide all options . . . and that includes a military option,� he said. But McMaster said the administration would do everything short of war to �pressure Kim Jong Un and those around him, such that they conclude it is in their interest to denuclearize.� The options said to be under discussion ranged from new multilateral negotiations to reintroducing U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula, officials familiar with internal discussions said.

Determining the precise makeup of North Korea�s nuclear arsenal has long been a difficult challenge for intelligence professionals because of the regime�s culture of extreme secrecy and insularity. The country�s weapons scientists have conducted five nuclear tests since 2006, the latest being a 20- to 30-kiloton detonation on Sept. 9, 2016, that produced a blast estimated to be up to twice that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

But producing a compact nuclear warhead that can fit inside a missile is a technically demanding feat, one that many analysts believed was still beyond North Korea�s grasp. Last year, state-run media in Pyongyang displayed a spherical device that government spokesmen described as a miniaturized nuclear warhead, but whether it was a real bomb remained unclear. North Korean officials described the September detonation as a successful test of a small warhead designed to fit on a missile, though many experts were skeptical of the claim.

Kim has repeatedly proclaimed his intention to field a fleet of nuclear-tipped ICBMs as a guarantor of his regime�s survival. His regime took a major step toward that goal last month with the first successful tests of a missile with intercontinental range. Video analysis of the latest test revealed that the missile caught fire and apparently disintegrated as it plunged back toward Earth�s surface, suggesting North Korea�s engineers are not yet capable of building a reentry vehicle that can carry the warhead safely through the upper atmosphere. But U.S. analysts and many independent experts believe that this hurdle will be overcome by late next year.

�What initially looked like a slow-motion Cuban missile crisis is now looking more like the Manhattan Project, just barreling along,� said Robert Litwak, a nonproliferation expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and author of �Preventing North Korea�s Nuclear Breakout,� published by the center this year. �There�s a sense of urgency behind the program that is new to the Kim Jong Un era.�

While few discount North Korea�s progress, some prominent U.S. experts warned against the danger of overestimating the threat. Siegfried Hecker, director emeritus of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the last known U.S. official to personally inspect North Korea�s nuclear facilities, has calculated the size of North Korea�s arsenal at no more than 20 to 25 bombs. Hecker warned of potential risks that can come from making Kim into a bigger menace than he actually is.

�Overselling is particularly dangerous,� said Hecker, who visited North Korea seven times between 2004 and 2010 and met with key leaders of the country�s weapons programs. �Some like to depict Kim as being crazy � a madman � and that makes the public believe that the guy is undeterrable. He�s not crazy and he�s not suicidal. And he�s not even unpredictable.�

�The real threat,� Hecker said, �is we�re going to stumble into a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.�

In the past, U.S. intelligence agencies have occasionally overestimated the North Korean threat. In the early 2000s, the George W. Bush administration assessed that Pyongyang was close to developing an ICBM that could strike the U.S. mainland � a prediction that missed the mark by more than a decade. More recently, however, analysts and policymakers have been taken repeatedly by surprise as North Korea achieved key milestones months or years ahead of schedule, noted Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies� East Asia Nonproliferation Program. There was similar skepticism about China�s capabilities in the early 1960s, said Lewis, who has studied that country�s pathway to a successful nuclear test in 1964.

�There is no reason to think that the North Koreans aren�t making the same progress after so many successful nuclear explosions,� Lewis said. �The big question is why do we hold the North Koreans to a different standard than we held [Joseph] Stalin�s Soviet Union or Mao Zedong�s China? North Korea is testing underground, so we�re always going to lack a lot of details. But it seems to me a lot of people are insisting on impossible levels of proof because they simply don�t want to accept what should be pretty obvious.�

Fifield reported from Krabi, Thailand. Yuki Oda in Tokyo contributed to this report.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:15

psydude: Apr 1, 2008

A $15 minimum wage in the US probably won't increase prices, but it will definitely speed up adoption of automation of low-paying nonskilled labor.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:16

Nostalgia4Butts: Jun 1, 2006; WHERE MY HOSE DRINKERS AT

rip seattle

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:17

Blind Rasputin: Nov 25, 2002; Farewell, good Hunter. May you find your worth in the waking world.

Well that's cool and good. Have the achieved re-entry vehicle success yet? My understanding is that's the hard part.

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:17

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 04:24

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

psydude posted:

A $15 minimum wage in the US probably won't increase prices, but it will definitely speed up adoption of automation of low-paying nonskilled labor.

Economist July 8 or 15 had something on this using Seattle stuff and it wasn't terrible I think but I'm drinking in a Bremerhaven USS so I don't remember

# ? Aug 8, 2017 17:20

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