May CE Thread: [16:20:12] Zuck69: send nudes, it's for your protection - The Something Awful Forums

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > May CE Thread: [16:20:12] Zuck69: send nudes, it's for your protection

BigDave: Jul 14, 2009; Taste the High Country

Bored As gently caress posted:

Post it

Well, OK. For the record, it does in fact suck. And it helps if you read it in Stephen Colberts voice.

quote:

1. America. Land of the free, home of the brave. Birthplace of both the polio vaccine and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The American economy is the largest in the world, the American military is the de facto peacekeeping force, America is headquarters for virtually every high tech and social media company. The idea of American Exceptionalism is not a new one, but in the last two years, due to the policies of the Trump White House, America has had its reputation tarnished. But, why is this important? How can the worldview of America influence our policy goals?
2. In geopolitics, there exists the concepts of soft power and hard power. Hard power is physical force, a Marine Expeditionary Unit or a naval blockade. America has hard power in spades, we have the worlds 1st and 2nd largest air forces. But, as Al Capone once said, �you can get further with a smile and a gun, then with just a gun�. Soft power is diplomacy, it�s trading on America�s brand. America has had a pretty strong historical brand. Not only did we defeat Nazi Germany, but we liberated the camps, fed refuges and put the Third Reich on trial. The Cold War was all about promoting America and her ideals, as a contrast to the iron boot of communism. JFK developed the Peace Corps as a kind of humanitarian special forces. Even after the Berlin Wall fell, America was still seen as having freedom, judicial process, and a strong sense of national identity.
3. America developed this brand, this soft power, through several historical accidents, as well as policies that no one else would try. First and foremost, for most of it�s history, America has had a relatively open immigration policy. The first federal immigration laws were not introduced until the 1870s, and even then they were mostly racially segregated against Asian immigration. European immigration, especially the Great Wave from 1880-1920, brought people from many religious and ethnic backgrounds together in one place. The phrase �the great melting pot� actually does not refer to cooking, but to the practice of metal smelting. For example, melting copper and tin will produce bronze, a metal much stronger then either of them. By converting a society from heterogeneous to homogeneous, as immigrants assimilated into America, our society benefited from their experiences and customs.
4. Because of this, America developed very different ideas of what class and status meant. Here, money, more than family history or residence, defined a persons place in society. Men like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller could become something new in history, the self-made millionaire. They could do this in America because the American free enterprise system allowed them to build and develop their businesses into empires, free from significant government interference.
5. The American military was also a significant factor in establishing this soft power. Because America was willing to send troops and weapons into foreign land to protect business interests and its citizens, nations could count on America using hard power wherever it was needed. As a result, America only had to imply that it would use force, rather than actually use force.
6. The result of these factors � large amounts of private capital, a diverse population, and military power � was a nation that by and large developed its own power, and its own independent place on the world stage. Even before the World Wars, America was seen as a neutral power, free from European politics and rivalries. This is where the current mentality of American exceptionalism can trace its roots to, the founding of America as a global power.
7. Now, by no means, should this be considered a blanket endorsement of everything America has to offer. Far from it, America has a long history of double standards. Even as we saw to it that Nazi war criminals received a fair trial at Nuremburg, our own citizens of color could not receive the same treatment at home. The treatment of the mentally ill, women�s rights, civil rights, environmentalism, even income inequality. These are all ideals that America has historically failed to uphold on her own soil.
8. This is ironic, because on the international scale, America is often the first to lead the charge in human rights. When we deploy troops to a foreign land, quite often it is to provide aid to refuges. Haiti, for example, has played host to US Marines and soldiers three times in the last 50 years. America has embassies in all 197 recognized nations in the world, and at any given time, are required to negotiate for the lives of Americans and American allies.
9. Over the last 20 years, Americas soft power has slowly, then quickly, eroded to the point where a diplomatic power vacuum has formed. Our allies no longer trust us to keep our promises, we cannot win new friends, new treaties and trade agreements go unsigned. We can trace this backslide to several sources, but the biggest, most significant change occurred on January 20th of last year, when Donald Trump took the oath of office.
10. It�s a hack joke at this point, that Trump doesn�t know what he�s doing, he�s a moron, etc. But I submit to you that he isn�t a moron, but he�s conducting business in the way he�s accustomed to. Breaking a building or services contract to renegotiate it may be par for the course in New York City, but that only works if you know you can get another contractor or supplier. If you break a international agreement, you can�t renegotiate with another country. If even our allies can�t trust us, how can we get any business done?
11. A good example of this is the Iran nuclear deal. Iran and the US have had a rocky relationship over the last 40 years, what with coup d��tats and hostages being taken. No one wants to see Iran obtain nuclear weapon deployment capability, and the Iran deal guaranteed a 15 year moratorium on nuclear weapon development by Iran, in exchange for removing Iran from international trade sanctions. It wasn�t a perfect deal, but it was probably the best deal we could have gotten.
12. Then Trump and associates decided that it was a �lovely deal� and threw it out the window. Maybe Trump thought he could get a better deal if we renegotiated it, but why should Iran, or anyone in the ME/HOA trust us? If they want to negotiate a trade or military agreement, how do they know we won�t simply tear it up? This is where the decline in America soft power is the most damaging. We�re only as powerful as our word, and if our word means poo poo, then we are only worth poo poo.
13. So, where does this leave us? Not in the best place. America in the next century is dependent on international trade and relations. We need Chinese labor, Saudi oil, Russian gold and a hundred thousand different other things, from all over the world, in order to function and survive. Above all, we need information about what�s going on. We need the Chinese to tell us if the Indians are making a play for Kashmir, we need India to give us the tip if China tries for Tibet again.
14. We need the ability to trust our allies, and have our allies trust us. Information is the great diplomatic currency, and right now we are getting low on reserves. We can make improvements, to be sure, but regaining trust takes time, and we may not have enough political capital to patch the holes we have torn. As of this writing the Iran nuclear deal has not been renewed, and if Iran develops a nuclear weapon, it could start a no-poo poo war in the Middle East. And I don�t mean a �roadside IED and rocket attack� war, I mean �tank battalions and air strikes� war.
15. But, I have hope for the future. America is still a very exceptional place, we still have a very strong soft power network in most countries. On the individual level, American diplomats still carry a significant amount of weight. Even if we lose the talent we once had to bring powers to the table, we can still work with lower tier diplomats and smaller countries with less power. America is still doing great works, and we will for quite some time. I can only hope that it�s enough to regain some of the soft power we have lost. But, I think we will.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ? May 5, 2018 13:37

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# ? Jun 9, 2024 18:28

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!

^^^^^^^^^

https://twitter.com/ShibeTown/status/992729370686099456?s=19

edit:

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/860431958660325376

happy 5th of may

Hot Karl Marx fucked around with this message at 14:36 on May 5, 2018

# ? May 5, 2018 13:53

M_Gargantua: Oct 16, 2006; STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES; Exciting Lemon

Yesterday we celebrated the escapism of fiction and stories, today will celebrate the escapism of a gatorade sports cooler full of lovely margarita

# ? May 5, 2018 14:44

Bored As Fuck: Jan 1, 2006; Fun Shoe

Sangria with a gently caress ton of wine-soaked fruit

# ? May 5, 2018 15:33

Nuclear War: Nov 7, 2012; You're a pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty girl

Man, a Norwegian coast guard vessel lost a conscripted soldier/crew member overboard somewhere in the Barents sea during the night. What a lovely way to go for a 19-20 year old.
There's a fairly massive search on, but from what I hear its not looking very good.

# ? May 5, 2018 16:25

Duzzy Funlop: Jan 13, 2010; Hi there, would you like to try some spicy products?

You lose someone in the loving Barents sea at night, you can pretty much give the search crews a heads-up that they're looking for a dead body

# ? May 5, 2018 16:39

Kawasaki Nun: Jul 16, 2001; by Reene

Sober on the 5th in solidarity with international banking institutions

# ? May 5, 2018 17:20

Milo and POTUS: Sep 3, 2017; I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?

Duzzy Funlop posted:

You lose someone in the loving Barents sea at night, you can pretty much give the search crews a heads-up that they're looking for a dead body

Hell, probably even in the daytime. I can't imagine it's that much above freezing still.

# ? May 5, 2018 17:27

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

Hot Karl Marx posted:

^^^^^^^^^

https://twitter.com/ShibeTown/status/992729370686099456?s=19

edit:

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/860431958660325376

happy 5th of may

What the gently caress is this poo poo.

# ? May 5, 2018 17:36

Solaris 2.0: May 14, 2008

Hot Karl Marx posted:

^^^^^^^^^

edit:

https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/860431958660325376

happy 5th of may

Why is conservative humor (I�m assuming he�s trying to be funny) always so loving awful and hateful?

Reminds of the �1/2 hour news hour� where the punchlines were literally �man ever notice how so many lesbians dress like MEN? Eh? Eh?�

# ? May 5, 2018 19:12

not caring here: Feb 22, 2012; blazemastah 2 dry 4 u

Because you go with what you know.

# ? May 5, 2018 19:26

Eej: Jun 17, 2007; HEAVYARMS

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/amp/Tesla-s-Autopilot-suspected-in-fatal-accident-12889035.php

quote:

During a conference call last week to discuss the Palo Alto company’s latest quarterly earnings, Musk bristled at recent news coverage questioning Autopilot’s safety, saying such reports mislead drivers and could even put lives at risk. Tesla, he said, would start publishing quarterly reports on Autopilot safety, although he did not discuss what data would be included.

“It’s really incredibly irresponsible of any journalist with integrity to write an article that would lead people to believe that Tesla autonomy is less safe, because then people might actually turn it off and then die,” he said.

:thunk:

Is he misquoted? Do I have brain worms? Does he have brain worms? Is he actually saying that "autopilot is safer" therefore "if you turn it off, people die"

# ? May 5, 2018 19:26

The Eyes Have It: Feb 10, 2008; Third Eye Sees All
...snookums

Maybe he means that when correctly used, autonomous/auto/whatever is safer than relying solely on a human driver. So turning it off (as a result of blaming it as unsafe when instances of harm involving it were due to misuse) would be a net reduction of overall safety :shrug:

:shrug:

# ? May 5, 2018 19:41

Riot Carol Danvers: Jul 30, 2004; It's super dumb, but I can't stop myself. This is just kind of how I do things.

Eej posted:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/amp/Tesla-s-Autopilot-suspected-in-fatal-accident-12889035.php

Is he misquoted? Do I have brain worms? Does he have brain worms? Is he actually saying that "autopilot is safer" therefore "if you turn it off, people die"

Appears to be what he's saying, yes.

I think the brain worms that made him smart for all those years are finally dying and he's going to be left with a brain like Dolan Tramp.

# ? May 5, 2018 19:42

Wingnut Ninja: Jan 11, 2003; Mostly Harmless

Eej posted:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/amp/Tesla-s-Autopilot-suspected-in-fatal-accident-12889035.php

Is he misquoted? Do I have brain worms? Does he have brain worms? Is he actually saying that "autopilot is safer" therefore "if you turn it off, people die"

I think the charitable interpretation would be that autopilot provides additional safety when driving properly; thus if people are spooked into disabling it, they could get into crashes that autopilot would have otherwise prevented. I don't know how all the autopilot functions are implemented, but I'm thinking of things like lane departure warnings and automatic braking rather than sustained automatic driving.

I'm not surprised that Teslas have trouble driving around LA; some sections of highway around there are an absolute mess of poorly marked lanes, patchy sections of concrete, and seams in the roadway that randomly track away from the actual lanes. Throw in construction and specific lighting conditions and I can totally understand a computer vision system freaking out.

# ? May 5, 2018 19:48

Eej: Jun 17, 2007; HEAVYARMS

Why am I not surprised that Elon Musk isn't a big fan of informed consent

# ? May 5, 2018 19:56

Soulex: Apr 1, 2009; Cacati in mano e pigliati a schiaffi!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZC-j48JWg&list=PLDyKn8uKYtRb0Lkbv0ODcnwSWuWKGPw2g&index=0

# ? May 5, 2018 20:03

EBB: Feb 15, 2005

Eej posted:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/amp/Tesla-s-Autopilot-suspected-in-fatal-accident-12889035.php

Is he misquoted? Do I have brain worms? Does he have brain worms? Is he actually saying that "autopilot is safer" therefore "if you turn it off, people die"

Elon gave a slightly bizarre performance at last week's earnings conference call. He has rolled back on some of it but some of the things he said were off putting to investors.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:06

not caring here: Feb 22, 2012; blazemastah 2 dry 4 u

Old Elon has a tendency to... probably say poo poo before he thinks it out. One of the things that comes to mind is the idea of comfortable travel between cities at 18,000 miles an hour, like it ain't no thing.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:08

Proud Christian Mom: Dec 20, 2006; READING COMPREHENSION IS HARD

Elon buys into his own bullshit entirely too much

# ? May 5, 2018 20:17

boop the snoot: Jun 3, 2016

I would likely buy into my own bullshit if I put a car into space.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:18

LtCol J. Krusinski: May 7, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

I hold Elon Musk in high regard, he�s going to go down in history as an important player in this era, and the future.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:26

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!

The rich will not save us, they want to enslave us

# ? May 5, 2018 20:28

MRC48B: Apr 2, 2012

If I'm going to be a slave, it better be on a loving rocket ship with nuclear plasma beams and poo poo.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:31

psydude: Apr 1, 2008

Hot Karl Marx posted:

The rich will not save us, they want to enslave us

Nah, they're just going to replace everyone with robots. They both cost and complain less.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:34

mods changed my name: Oct 30, 2017

Hot Karl Marx posted:

The rich will not save us, they want to enslave us

Some rich people are minorities so you're being loving super racist with this post hth

# ? May 5, 2018 20:34

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

He's an engineer / physicist and he talks like one. Typically big corporations don't have engineers doing PR.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:36

Chichevache: Feb 17, 2010; One of the funniest posters in GIP.

Just not intentionally.

LtCol J. Krusinski posted:

I hold Elon Musk in high regard, he’s going to go down in history as an important player in this era, and the future.

You could say the same thing about Gilles de Rais.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:37

Immanentized: Mar 17, 2009

That Works posted:

He's an engineer / physicist and he talks like one. Typically big corporations don't have engineers doing PR.

He's neither. He's a mildly ok programmer and good fundraiser who had moderately successful systems in the later 90s, and a whole mess of familial connections/institutional hookups. He started a PhD in applied physics but dropped out before he started his course work.
His degrees are in undergrad physics and economics.

Immanentized fucked around with this message at 20:42 on May 5, 2018

# ? May 5, 2018 20:39

not caring here: Feb 22, 2012; blazemastah 2 dry 4 u

I think his brother is probably doing a better job to be honest. Shipping container based hydroponics based in city centers to provide cheap, fresh produce to areas that can't normally get/afford it.

# ? May 5, 2018 20:46

Eej: Jun 17, 2007; HEAVYARMS

LtCol J. Krusinski posted:

I hold Elon Musk in high regard, he’s going to go down in history as an important player in this era, and the future.

I almost threw my phone at the TV when the new Star Trek dropped his name as one of the key pioneers of space travel

# ? May 5, 2018 20:51

Arc Light: Sep 26, 2013

New lander en route to Mars, ETA November.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/nasa-blasts-mars-bound-spacecraft-study-quakes-180505113156074.html

LtCol J. Krusinski posted:

I hold Elon Musk in high regard, he�s going to go down in history as an important player in this era, and the future.

Didn't you hold General Flynn in high regard, too?

# ? May 5, 2018 20:57

Mr. Nice!: Oct 13, 2005; bone shaking.
soul baking.

Elon Musk is the son of apartheid emerald magnates and owes all of his starting fortune and success directly to that. His own hubris and ego has led to the death/injuries of factory workers due to blatant osha violations and his stupid cars continue to kill people while his company continues to lose billions of dollars.

100% of musks push for anything is to make his life avoiding anyone other than fellow 1%ers with ease.

# ? May 5, 2018 21:00

LtCol J. Krusinski: May 7, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Arc Light posted:

Didn't you hold General Flynn in high regard, too?

Your goddamn right I did. He was my directorates boss for years at JSOC. He�s dead to me now. Just a Trump chud waiting on sentencing.

There�s a world of difference between Mike Flynn the JSOC J-2 and Mike Flynn, trump supporter. A huge world of difference.

# ? May 5, 2018 21:02

Milo and POTUS: Sep 3, 2017; I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?

LtCol J. Krusinski posted:

I hold Elon Musk in high regard, he�s going to go down in history as an important player in this era, and the future.

I'll take that action.

# ? May 5, 2018 21:10

Mr. Nice!: Oct 13, 2005; bone shaking.
soul baking.

Musk:tech bubble::Trump:real estate

He�s a blowhard that used his family�s blood money to build his companies that do nothing but burn investor money. Teslas aren�t even close to the best EVs on the road, cost 2-3x as much, and have a tendency to kill their drivers.

# ? May 5, 2018 21:13

99pct of germs: Apr 13, 2013

Just in case you forgot what timeline we're living in

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44017172

quote:

He mimicked gunmen summoning and shooting victims one by one, saying "Boom! Come over here!" and using his hand to imitate a gun being fired.

:yooge:

# ? May 5, 2018 21:19

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

For a second time today.

What the gently caress...

# ? May 5, 2018 21:33

Wingnut Ninja: Jan 11, 2003; Mostly Harmless

Arc Light posted:

New lander en route to Mars, ETA November.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/nasa-blasts-mars-bound-spacecraft-study-quakes-180505113156074.html

Also, Dragon came home from the ISS today.

Wait, poo poo, this isn't the space thread. Whatever. It's a current event.

Mr. Nice! posted:

Teslas aren't even close to the best EVs on the road, cost 2-3x as much

Now you've got me curious, what would you say are some of the best EVs? I haven't really paid much attention to that field, though I've heard of quality control problems (among others) with Teslas.

# ? May 5, 2018 21:48

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# ? Jun 9, 2024 18:28

Mr. Nice!: Oct 13, 2005; bone shaking.
soul baking.

The bolt blows the equivalent tesla out of the water. Basically all of the big auto manufacturers have EVs and hybrid options that are better than anything Tesla has to offer minus a 21� lcd in the middle of your dash that controls everything.

Tesla has never made money and will likely be defunct in a couple of years after the current tech bubble pops. Due to the locked down nature of the cars, any on the road right now will be bricks in 2-3 years.

Elon musk is sue happy as gently caress and deliberately targets any journalist that says a negative thing about his cars. Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC got sued after a review of an old Tesla on Top Gear. It was a bit of a gag in the grand tour tesla episode this year that every part of the review had to go through the legal department before Clarkson could say it on air, but in this case the joke is also reality.

# ? May 5, 2018 21:57

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > May CE Thread: [16:20:12] Zuck69: send nudes, it's for your protection

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