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selec posted:He’s getting gassed up by Mencius Moldbug and is obviously hot on the idea of creating a Balkanized internet for dudes who can’t bear to see pronouns or pink hair. Which is all the weirder considering the first time I was aware he had truly turned to the dark side was him destroying gawker for outing him as gay. Bankrolling the people that would put him in a camp to own the libs.
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Feb 15, 2022 18:55
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Mellow Seas posted:It's not "haggling over precise wording". It's pointing out the actual, unambiguous definition of words. I hope America doesn't start a war in your house
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Feb 15, 2022 19:05
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Ghost Leviathan posted:This is what a dying empire looks like. It can't be swift and brutal enough
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Feb 15, 2022 19:08
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Ghost Leviathan posted:This is what a dying empire looks like. Not as apocalyptic as that one time
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Feb 15, 2022 19:16
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Lol how do you look at Russia parking 60% of their active military on Ukraine's border after 8 years of war and go "Hmm yes, this is America's fault!" as if Russia has no agency of its own and everything is the doing of those perfidious Americans. Brains completely frictionless, spinning around in their skulls at increasing speed as they work to figure out how 400+ years of strained and hostile historical Russian-Ukrainian relationships are actually the fault of the American military industrial complex
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Feb 15, 2022 19:23
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RBA Starblade posted:Not as apocalyptic as that one time Ask anyone living in Northern California if the last few years have been apocalyptic enough yet.
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Feb 15, 2022 19:26
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HonorableTB posted:Lol how do you look at Russia parking 60% of their active military on Ukraine's border after 8 years of war and go "Hmm yes, this is America's fault!" as if Russia has no agency of its own and everything is the doing of those perfidious Americans. Brains completely frictionless, spinning around in their skulls at increasing speed as they work to figure out how 400+ years of strained and hostile historical Russian-Ukrainian relationships are actually the fault of the American military industrial complex There are wars going on in Colombia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Nigeria, The Congo, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Suda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Mozambique just to name a few countries. Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close proximity to each other. The country has abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, natural gas, manganese, salt, oil, graphite, sulfur, kaolin, titanium, nickel, magnesium, timber, and mercury. Why are we getting involved specifically in Ukraine?
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Feb 15, 2022 19:27
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HonorableTB posted:Lol how do you look at Russia parking 60% of their active military on Ukraine's border after 8 years of war and go "Hmm yes, this is America's fault!" as if Russia has no agency of its own and everything is the doing of those perfidious Americans. Brains completely frictionless, spinning around in their skulls at increasing speed as they work to figure out how 400+ years of strained and hostile historical Russian-Ukrainian relationships are actually the fault of the American military industrial complex Russia definitely has agency, and was the primary bad actor in this episode. The reason why people are also assigning blame to the U.S. is that our government and media hyped this up as the prelude to war, even while the Ukrainian government insisted this was not the case and asked us to please stop doing that. The Ukrainian economy is taking a hit because of this, and the panic-mongering has not helped.
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Feb 15, 2022 19:36
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Blindeye posted:Which is all the weirder considering the first time I was aware he had truly turned to the dark side was him destroying gawker for outing him as gay. Modern fascism doesn't care if you're gay if you're rich enough. He'll be the one putting people in camps, that's why he's bankrolling the American right.
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Feb 15, 2022 19:39
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Majorian posted:The reason why people are also assigning blame to the U.S. is that our government and media hyped this up as the prelude to war, even while the Ukrainian government insisted this was not the case and asked us to please stop doing that. The Ukrainian economy is taking a hit because of this, and the panic-mongering has not helped. Yes, this is dead on, and it's exactly what the US State Department and its allies in the media deserve criticism for. But there are people here pretending that much, much larger sins are being committed - sins of military aggression on par with Russia's. And in this particular case, it's just nonsense. e: And when I say "particular case," that's a recognition of the context that could lead somebody to a different conclusion. But to me, the facts (and the realities of M.A.D.) are telling a different story. Mellow Seas fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Feb 15, 2022 |
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Feb 15, 2022 19:41
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Facebook's "News Feed" feature was fairly lucrative for them because they partnered with a bunch of high-traffic right wing pages (like Dan Bongino, Ben Shapiro, etc.) They can under scrutiny and criticism for promoting these pages, which included many verifiably false claims about vaccines, the 2020 election, and critical race theory, on their "News Feed." They figured out a solution that would allow them to keep the money and avoid misinforming people who are looking for news on the "News Feed." https://twitter.com/facebookapp/status/1493633545444675589
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Feb 15, 2022 19:42
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Mellow Seas posted:The New Yorker wrote an interesting profile of Franken in 2019. quote:Some people saw the photograph as a mere gag. Emily Yoffe, writing in The Atlantic, called the image “an inoffensive burlesque of a burlesque.” Yoffe, who has argued that men accused of sexual misdeeds deserve more due process, noted that Franken and Tweeden were “on a U.S.O. tour, which is a raunchy vaudeville throwback.” quote:It’s understandable that Tweeden objected to Franken’s having reënacted the gag for a photograph while she was asleep. But when she wrote, “How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?,” she omitted the fact that she had performed the “breast exam” bit multiple times. 
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Feb 15, 2022 19:49
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Lib and let die posted:There are wars going on in Colombia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Nigeria, The Congo, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Suda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Mozambique just to name a few countries. Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close proximity to each other. The country has abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, natural gas, manganese, salt, oil, graphite, sulfur, kaolin, titanium, nickel, magnesium, timber, and mercury. Why are we getting involved specifically in Ukraine? I mean, for one aren't all of those civil wars? And most of those countries also have raw resources we'd like to have. A lot of EV material comes from Africa. I am unsure what you arguing anymore. I think you are trying to fit AMERICA BAD into an argument where we haven't really done much other than say to Russia please don't invade a sovereign nation. OK, yes,
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Feb 15, 2022 19:51
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UP AND ADAM posted:It can't be swift and brutal enough Why would you wish for brutality?
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Feb 15, 2022 19:55
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:I don't even know what Peter Thiel is doing with his life anymore. Much like Mike Lindell, mostly copious, literally mind-blowing amounts of drugs. Lib and let die posted:There are wars going on in Colombia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Nigeria, The Congo, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Suda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Mozambique just to name a few countries. Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close proximity to each other. The country has abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, natural gas, manganese, salt, oil, graphite, sulfur, kaolin, titanium, nickel, magnesium, timber, and mercury. Why are we getting involved specifically in Ukraine? How many of those countries border NATO countries? How are u posted:Why would you wish for brutality? I mean probably because of...all the brutality committed by American Empire, I guess DarkCrawler fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Feb 15, 2022 |
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Feb 15, 2022 19:58
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How are u posted:Why would you wish for brutality? Please don't stir this pot. Probably Magic posted:The problem with this thinking is that Vietnam and Syria were also situations that started off as simply American supply missions, and at some point we become more and more involved until, oops, we're in a war. This is how American wars start far more often than something like Shock and Awe. Kind of? There was a whole issue with the French Occupation and us basically being unwilling to keep our promises to Ho Chi Minh for his backing during World War 2 against the Japanese. There's a deeper problem that led to Vietnam than just "We were supplying them and BAM we're involved." Plus the lovely idea of Domino theory. Its not the same as what is occurring in Ukraine. CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Feb 15, 2022 |
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Feb 15, 2022 19:58
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"Bad guy with a gun" attempts armed robbery of man at ATM. Fortunately, the victim was a "good guy with a gun" and he defended himself with his gun. They exchanged gunfire and neither the robber nor the victim hit each other, but the victim managed to hit a 9-year old girl in a car nearby. Another "good guy with a gun" success story. https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1493658851920560129
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Feb 15, 2022 20:08
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Just unbelievable blatant age discrimination going on at IBM for over a decade:quote:“We discussed the fact that our millennial population trails competitors,” says one email from a top executive at the time. “The data below is very sensitive — not to be shared — but wanted to make sure you have it. You will see that while Accenture is 72% millennial we are at 42% with a wide range and many units falling well below that average. Speaks to the need to hire early professionals.”
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Feb 15, 2022 20:13
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Lib and let die posted:There are wars going on in Colombia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Nigeria, The Congo, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Suda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Mozambique just to name a few countries. Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close proximity to each other. The country has abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, natural gas, manganese, salt, oil, graphite, sulfur, kaolin, titanium, nickel, magnesium, timber, and mercury. Why are we getting involved specifically in Ukraine? Moose beat me to part of my argument (what, Libya, the Congo, and Ethiopia don't have natural resources?) but: - nobody in the West pays attention to sub-Saharan Africa, even the dnd thread is tragically underappreciated - civil wars are boring - long-lasting wars are boring, see: coverage of major US invasions with actual boots on the ground simmering down when they entered forever-war stage. Heck, coverage of the initial definitely-not-a-Russian-invasion of Crimea and Donbas went down when Crimea was solidly taken and Donbas became something resembling a long-lasting civil war. Current-Ukraine, meanwhile, is a large-ish, developed-ish,  European nation currently being actively threatened by a gigantic military buildup by a major regional power. That would get clicks without any sort of nefarious American intent.
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Feb 15, 2022 20:21
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Lib and let die posted:There are wars going on in Colombia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Nigeria, The Congo, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Suda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Mozambique just to name a few countries. Ukraine has extremely rich and complementary mineral resources in high concentrations and close proximity to each other. The country has abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, natural gas, manganese, salt, oil, graphite, sulfur, kaolin, titanium, nickel, magnesium, timber, and mercury. Why are we getting involved specifically in Ukraine? None of the wars in countries you've named are a threat to Europe and the western security apparatus, what is even the point of gish-galloping irrelevant countries and their resources at me as if it matters at all? We don't care about Ukrainian natural resources. We do care about Russia being able to bully their neighbors with impunity up to and including annexing chunks of their territory, many of whom are in our strategic defensive military alliance. Is this a joke post? HonorableTB fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Feb 15, 2022 |
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Feb 15, 2022 20:25
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Huh weird that the only one of those countries with resources we care about is the one where Russia might gain control of those resources. 
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Feb 15, 2022 20:29
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fart_man_69 posted:Modern fascism doesn't care if you're gay if you're rich enough. He'll be the one putting people in camps, that's why he's bankrolling the American right. No, just like 30s fascism, being gay is perfectly fine until your usefulness has run out. Just look at who they killed off in the night of the long knives. Thiel just thinks he's too rich and powerful to repeat history perfectly.
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Feb 15, 2022 20:32
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Lib and let die posted:Huh weird that the only one of those countries with resources we care about is the one where Russia might gain control of those resources. The point of those resources is to sell them on the global market. Unless the United States government was going to seize all Ukrainian minerals personally and deposit all the proceeds directly into the treasury, then it doesn't really matter who puts the resources on the market. Minerals are fungible and not unique.
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Feb 15, 2022 20:32
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:The point of those resources is to sell them on the global market. Unless the United States government was going to seize all Ukrainian minerals personally and deposit all the proceeds directly into the treasury, then it doesn't really matter who puts the resources on the market. Minerals are fungible and not unique. You cannot possibly believe US planners think this way What have we been doing in the Middle East for the last century if it "doesn't matter" who sells the oil on the global market because it's all fungible anyway
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Feb 15, 2022 20:38
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:The point of those resources is to sell them on the global market. Unless the United States government was going to seize all Ukrainian minerals personally and deposit all the proceeds directly into the treasury, then it doesn't really matter who puts the resources on the market. Minerals are fungible and not unique. There is a frankly insane amount of private US money tied up in ensuring that Ukraine, and not Russia, control who and when those deposits are sold to. Without putting myself at actual, grave professional risk, I literally can not tell you how much and who is invested in it, but I've seen at least a dozen 501c3 orgs with big money being funneled into them aiming for "economic development" (read: neocolonialism) in Ukraine, and those tax havens all fall to poo poo if Russia controls Ukraine.
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Feb 15, 2022 20:38
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Lib and let die posted:There is a frankly insane amount of private US money tied up in ensuring that Ukraine, and not Russia, control who and when those deposits are sold to. Without putting myself at actual, grave professional risk, I literally can not tell you how much and who is invested in it, but I've seen at least a dozen 501c3 orgs with big money being funneled into them aiming for "economic development" (read: neocolonialism) in Ukraine, and those tax havens all fall to poo poo if Russia controls Ukraine. My guess is there lots of American 501c3s in numerous countries. This doesn't mean anything. Also are tax havens in Ukraine or the 501c3s?
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Feb 15, 2022 20:44
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VitalSigns posted:You cannot possibly believe US planners think this way Not doing a good job since China and France got all of the contracts for oil and gas extraction with the Ministry of Oil in Iraq. Lib and let die posted:There is a frankly insane amount of private US money tied up in ensuring that Ukraine, and not Russia, control who and when those deposits are sold to. Without putting myself at actual, grave professional risk, I literally can not tell you how much and who is invested in it, but I've seen at least a dozen 501c3 orgs with big money being funneled into them aiming for "economic development" (read: neocolonialism) in Ukraine, and those tax havens all fall to poo poo if Russia controls Ukraine. A 501(c)3 is not necessary for a tax haven and foreign charities aren't tax-deductible. The E.U. and NATO aren't going to base their entire Ukraine policy around people donating to U.S. charities operating in Ukraine to evade U.S. income taxes. Russia controlling Ukraine doesn't change the IRS designation of a 501(c)3 organization.
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Feb 15, 2022 20:49
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Mooseontheloose posted:My guess is there lots of American 501c3s in numerous countries. This doesn't mean anything. Also are tax havens in Ukraine or the 501c3s? Your first line isn't the "gotcha" you think it is - since I started working in nonprofits I've grown more, not less dubious of the intentiojs of NGOs that operate outside domestic borders. (As a minor aside, it's an irony not lost on me that my favorite clients to work with now are small churches doing the Good Work of feeding and clothing the vulnerable in their communities) And to be clear, I'm talking about US-based nonprofits, with US-based donors with known vested interests in production lines that rely on said mineral resources.
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Feb 15, 2022 20:53
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Schumer changing his tune on another stimulus bill. Who knows what it will contain or if it will go anywhere. https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/1493674690711330824
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Feb 15, 2022 20:58
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:Schumer changing his tune on another stimulus bill. Who knows what it will contain or if it will go anywhere.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:01
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FlamingLiberal posted:I doubt that the WH gets onboard with that, let alone Manchin Yeah, I agree. I think the WH would definitely jump on something that could provide some stimulus and a legislative win, but I doubt Manchin will be on board with anything significant. Just significant because he had been pretty clear that they weren't going to do another one last year because the economy was recovering and they wanted to pass BBB. "Obviously, we're going to have to do something" is a pretty big change from before.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:05
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Lib and let die posted:Your first line isn't the "gotcha" you think it is - since I started working in nonprofits I've grown more, not less dubious of the intentiojs of NGOs that operate outside domestic borders. (As a minor aside, it's an irony not lost on me that my favorite clients to work with now are small churches doing the Good Work of feeding and clothing the vulnerable in their communities) Here is my problem with your line of thinking. First, you are saying the US is doing ALL THESE THINGS IN UKRAINE where all the US government has done (via NATO) is provide Javelin missiles to stop a potential Russian incursion. You keep insisting that the US is actually pushing THINGS when we are clearly seeing Russian aggression. You keep wanting to press this point saying its actually the US who is in the wrong here. Second, there are way better tax havens via 501c3s both domestically and internationally. Saying well there is 501c3s to build networks in these countries again doesn't mean anything. I am not saying these 501c3s are noble but my guess is there are similar 501c3s in other countries across Europe to be a recruitment arm for all sorts of businesses or companies. Third, you're talking about natural resources of Ukraine that the US seems to be clamoring for all the mineral rights and I am assuming gas rights. Ok, other countries have resources like this that wouldn't require a hot war or are closer to the American sphere of influence if you want a more realist perspective. Quite frankly it feels like you are trying to find a narrative that fits for something you don't want to admit and that is other countries have imperial ambitions too.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:07
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Mooseontheloose posted:Here is my problem with your line of thinking. Ah! There it is! Of course other countries - especially industrialized ones - have imperial ambitions - hell, Russia has tried more than once in my lifetime to annex surrounding countries. Could you point to the post where I specifically state that Russia has no imperialist intentions? At worst, I alluded to the fact that Russia wants those mineral resources without explicitly using the word "imperialist", so where you've gotten the idea that I'm championing Russia as a peaceful nation that just wants to run some harmless military exercises on the border of Ukraine is a complete and utter mystery to me. But you know what? That's not an excuse for us to get involved. The idea that we have to get involved (either directly or by proxy) in Ukraine because Russia has imperial ambitions is ludicrous. You are right that there are better tax havens - but the types I've seen have a sort of double-advantage in that they help rich assholes hide away "some" money while also having a gamble that Ukraine will join NATO and offer favorable trade conditions to other member states of NATO, an ROI on an even greater scope than just avoiding some taxes - brand new supply lines for battery components, in close proximity to east-Asian manufacturing facilities. I generally consider escalating a conflict to be pushing for a conflict, yes, and I don't think that's an unreasonable conclusion to draw: if I tell someone their dodgy old soviet-era grenade launcher is worthless against a T-90 and I replace it with a modern anti-tank launcher, I've helped to validate and escalate the conflict - just like the member states of NATO have done in Ukraine.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:20
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Lib and let die posted:Ah! There it is! Of course other countries - especially industrialized ones - have imperial ambitions - hell, Russia has tried more than once in my lifetime to annex surrounding countries. Could you point to the post where I specifically state that Russia has no imperialist intentions? At worst, I alluded to the fact that Russia wants those mineral resources without explicitly using the word "imperialist", so where you've gotten the idea that I'm championing Russia as a peaceful nation that just wants to run some harmless military exercises on the border of Ukraine is a complete and utter mystery to me. Joining NATO doesn't confer any trade benefits. You can sign a trade deal without being a member of NATO (most of the U.S.'s most favorable trade deals are with non-NATO members). This would be an incredibly inefficient and expensive way for a small group of Americans who donate to Ukrainian charities and own East-Asian manufacturing companies to save money. I don't think you are wrong about the U.S. and NATO potentially escalating the conflict (although, would Russia invading Ukraine count as an escalation?), but that seems like an extremely narrow reason for the E.U. and NATO members to go along with all of this for the benefit of the very small amount of U.S. taxpayers and investors who are involved in Ukrainian charities and exports. Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Feb 15, 2022 |
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Feb 15, 2022 21:24
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Edit: Somehow double posted despite the 10 second post timer.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:24
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Russia is the one escalating the conflict. They started the conflict. They invaded and annexed a chunk of land. They're about to do it AGAIN. Giving Ukrainians the means to try and stop that continual escalation is not, in fact, escalation itself unless you're totally content with allowing an independent country get devoured by a neighbor because they had the gall to want a government that wasn't in Moscow's pocket.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:25
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:Joining NATO doesn't confer any trade benefits. You can sign a trade deal without being a member of NATO (most of the U.S.'s most favorable trade deals are with non-NATO members). This would be an incredibly inefficient and expensive way for a small group of Americans who donate to Ukrainian charities and own East-Asian manufacturing companies to save money. It's not about saving money - it's about making money.
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Feb 15, 2022 21:26
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FBI says that Americans lost $1.1 billion to online catfishing and romance scams in 2021. That is a 71% increase from 2019 and Interpol, Europol, and the FBI say that the increasing ease with which regular people can get cryptocurrencies has made online scams and ransomware more profitable and popular than ever in the E.U and North America. quote:FBI: Americans Lost $1 Billion to Romance Scams in 2021 https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/15953-fbi-americans-lost-1-billion-to-romance-scams-in-2021 https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13214-europol-covid-19-causes-spike-in-cybercrime
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Feb 15, 2022 22:02
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NYC finally fired all public employees who didn't comply with the vaccine mandate after giving them 3 months of leave. An insane 64% of the fired staff were teachers or public school employees. The Housing Authority was the next largest group. https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1493691858656149509 Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Feb 15, 2022 |
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Feb 15, 2022 22:06
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:FBI says that Americans lost $1.1 billion to online catfishing and romance scams in 2021. Crypto... Bad? That can't be right, please check your math and have this brochure.
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