World Politics

Political discussion here. Any reasonable opinion is welcome, but due to the sensitive nature of the topic area, please be nice and respectful to others. No flaming or trolling, please. And please keep political commentary out of the other board areas and confine it to this area. Thanks!
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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

Post by In2ition »

Indy wrote:
Mon Sep 13, 2021 7:26 am
Nodack wrote:
Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:56 pm
FBI releases first secret 9/11 file: Saudi embassy official let two hijackers stay at his apartment and helped them in LA before the attack, was 'facilitator' for Al-Qaeda and distributed extremist Muslim literature
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... rs-LA.html
So the only person tied to a government was a Saudi, and we decided to kill a million people in Afganistan and Iraq because oil (and especially the Bush family/admin's ties to oil).
Yeah, Bush & Cheney are war criminals that should stand trial. I would say that it was for even more than oil. The US should have never invaded Iraq or Afghanistan. It was all BS.
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

Post by Indy »

I can't think of the last time we went to war (or our pseudo-wars) where it was justified, outside of WWII.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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America learned it’s lesson twice now that nation building is a really bad idea. The “Military Industrial Complex” has learned the lesson that war is good for business and that politicians can be bought or persuaded to favor war. At least that’s what it seems like from this perspective.

Rumsfeld sent a letter to President Clinton from his think tank telling him that if he declared war on Iraq that he would have their blessing. Clinton didn’t bite. Bush jr. had a personal beef with Iraq going back to his father and was itching to finish what his father started. 9/11 was their blank check. Talk about the imminent danger from Iraq’s mobile WMD and a little fabrication of evidence and get Colin Powell to deliver the message and they were good to go.

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Mori Chu
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Re: World Politics

Post by Mori Chu »

Should we talk about this story about Gen. / Chief of Staff Milley speaking to China? It sounds like during the transition, he met with their ambassador to reassure them we weren't planning any sort of attack. He feared that Trump was saying some inflammatory things that could lead to escalation. Was this good or bad? Did he overstep his bounds? Should he be punished?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... ley-china/

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virtual9mm
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Re: World Politics

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Mori Chu wrote:
Thu Sep 16, 2021 9:28 am
Should we talk about this story about Gen. / Chief of Staff Milley speaking to China? It sounds like during the transition, he met with their ambassador to reassure them we weren't planning any sort of attack. He feared that Trump was saying some inflammatory things that could lead to escalation. Was this good or bad? Did he overstep his bounds? Should he be punished?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... ley-china/
Let's just say that there's a lot more to this story than the media is publishing. Indeed, there have been stories at the New York Times and other venues that were killed at the Pentagon's request.

Regarding whether Milley should be commended or punished...would you really want someone like Trump to unleash the military upon Americans? Would it be such a bad thing for a US military officer to disobey illegal orders?

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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I would give him a medal.

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

Post by Indy »

Nodack wrote:
Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:17 pm
I would give him a medal.
Yeah. And we have a history of this behavior when we have an unstable sociopathic narcissist as president.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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I wanted to put this in new tech but, it’s a definitely a world politics story too.



The Scientist and the A.I.-Assisted, Remote-Control Killer Robot
https://dnyuz.com/2021/09/18/the-scient ... ler-robot/
Since 2004, when the Israeli government ordered its foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the agency had been carrying out a campaign of sabotage and cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear fuel enrichment facilities. It was also methodically picking off the experts thought to be leading Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Since 2007, its agents had assassinated five Iranian nuclear scientists and wounded another. Most of the scientists worked directly for Mr. Fakhrizadeh (pronounced fah-KREE-zah-deh) on what Israeli intelligence officials said was a covert program to build a nuclear warhead, including overcoming the substantial technical challenges of making one small enough to fit atop one of Iran’s long-range missiles.

Israeli agents had also killed the Iranian general in charge of missile development and 16 members of his team.

But the man Israel said led the bomb program was elusive.

Iranian agents working for the Mossad had parked a blue Nissan Zamyad pickup truck on the side of the road connecting Absard to the main highway. The spot was on a slight elevation with a view of approaching vehicles. Hidden beneath tarpaulins and decoy construction material in the truck bed was a 7.62-mm sniper machine gun.

Around 1 p.m., the hit team received a signal that Mr. Fakhrizadeh, his wife and a team of armed guards in escort cars were about to leave for Absard, where many of Iran’s elite have second homes and vacation villas.

The assassin, a skilled sniper, took up his position, calibrated the gun sights, cocked the weapon and lightly touched the trigger.

He was nowhere near Absard, however. He was peering into a computer screen at an undisclosed location thousands of miles away. The entire hit squad had already left Iran.

The machine gun fired a burst of bullets, hitting the front of the car below the windshield. It is not clear if these shots hit Mr. Fakhrizadeh but the car swerved and came to a stop.

The shooter adjusted the sights and fired another burst, hitting the windshield at least three times and Mr. Fakhrizadeh at least once in the shoulder. He stepped out of the car and crouched behind the open front door.

According to Iran’s Fars News, three more bullets tore into his spine. He collapsed on the road.


The blue Zamyad (Nissan truck) exploded.

The explosion was intended to rip the robot to shreds so the Iranians could not piece together what had happened. Instead, most of the equipment was hurled into the air and then fell to the ground, damaged beyond repair but largely intact.

The entire operation took less than a minute. Fifteen bullets were fired.

Iranian investigators noted that not one of them hit Ms. Ghasemi, seated inches away, accuracy that they attributed to the use of facial recognition software.


It was the debut test of a high-tech, computerized sharpshooter kitted out with artificial intelligence and multiple-camera eyes, operated via satellite and capable of firing 600 rounds a minute.

The souped-up, remote-controlled machine gun now joins the combat drone in the arsenal of high-tech weapons for remote targeted killing. But unlike a drone, the robotic machine gun draws no attention in the sky, where a drone could be shot down, and can be situated anywhere, qualities likely to reshape the worlds of security and espionage.
Image

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

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Who do you think orders more state-sponsored assassinations? Israel, Russia, or the US?

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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That I would not know the answer to. I don’t think they post that information intentionally.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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Fuel Shortages Pressure Johnson as U.K. Crisis Escalates
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business- ... -escalates
With a shortage of truck drivers raising the prospect of widening disruption to food and fuel deliveries in coming weeks, the government moved late on Sunday to temporarily suspend competition rules and allow companies to coordinate fuel supplies to the most affected regions.

That came after Johnson announced measures including a u-turn on relaxing immigration rules for foreign truckers and poultry workers and called in army examiners to help ramp up driving tests for heavy goods vehicles. The prime minister is considering plans to use soldiers to drive tankers around the country, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified officials.



In Britain, Rising Prices and Shortages Evoke 1970s-Style Jitters
https
://dnyuz.com/2021/09/24/in-britain-rising-prices-and-shortages-evoke-1970s-style-jitters/
LONDON — Long lines at gas stations, rising fuel prices, empty shelves in supermarkets and worries about runaway inflation.

Britons have emerged from 18 months of pandemic-imposed hibernation to find their country has many of the same afflictions it had during the 1970s.


I see a lot of similarities between the UK and the US right now as a result of Covid and maybe Brexit it seems. Supply shortages, inflation, etc. The UK seems to have it worse than the US right now.

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3rdside
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Re: World Politics

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UK has it worse because of Brexit, on top of supply chain issues which is affecting everyone, and they're talking about a 'winter of discontent' part 2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent.

Not sure if you've heard of AUKUS, but it's a pretty big win for the UK (and Australia) so even though it won't do anything about energy and food shortages, it is a huge win for 'global Britain' i.e. the Brexiters, so it will temper the inevitable anti-Brexiter sentiment a little.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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Backlog Of Cargo Ships At Port Of LA Reaches Boiling Point
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2021/09 ... ing-point/
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – As an estimated 500,000 containers are sitting on cargo ships off the Southern California coast, many are wondering how to handle the backlog.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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The workers who keep global supply chains moving are warning of a 'system collapse'
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/29/business ... index.html
In an open letter Wednesday to heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and other industry groups warned of a "global transport system collapse" if governments do not restore freedom of movement to transport workers and give them priority to receive vaccines recognized by the World Health Organization.

"Global supply chains are beginning to buckle as two years' worth of strain on transport workers take their toll," the groups wrote. The letter has also been signed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). Together they represent 65 million transport workers globally.

"All transport sectors are also seeing a shortage of workers, and expect more to leave as a result of the poor treatment millions have faced during the pandemic, putting the supply chain under greater threat," it added.

"There are people who have been stuck at sea for over a year,"

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In2ition
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Re: World Politics

Post by In2ition »

I'm reading more and more about an economic collapse unlike any we have ever known before coming very very soon(months or weeks). This is coming from all kinds of sources spread through all different kinds of backgrounds and industries. Maybe it's a good time to stock up. I know Costcos across the country were admitting to being out of toilet paper last week.
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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I don’t know about a total worldwide economic collapse but, for sure right now we are experiencing supply chain problems everywhere across the board. I went to Starbucks yesterday in the middle of the afternoon and they were just closing for the day way early and didn’t say why. Half their menu has been out of stock every time I went there. My car has been sitting in the dealership graveyard for going on a month waiting for a battery and they have no idea when one will show up. GM is only making like one or two cars right now and shut down production at all other plants because there are virtually no computer chips to be had. We wanted to replace the patio roof on our house a few months back and our builder said wood prices are so out of control that we should wait until they come back to earth. We have spoken to him recently and he said wood prices have come down some so there’s that.

Covid has definitely screwed up the world and changed everything. Some people got used to working from home and many like a friend of mine changed jobs just to be able to continue to work from home. There is a worker shortage in a lot of sectors disrupting supply chains and yet I see healthy looking people on street corners begging for money. Everyone is hiring right now. If you can’t find a job then you aren’t really looking for a job. Right now I am the busiest I think I have ever been. 19 gigs last month and 24 booked already this month.

Housing prices are way out of control in AZ right now. My house has gone up in value by about $100,000 in just the past year. It’s crazy. It reminds me of the housing bubble before the big recession before Bush left office. You had to win a lottery just to be able to buy a new house. We bought a used house then because we couldn’t get a new one because of demand. It’s at that point right now. It feels like the housing bubble should burst any moment but, prices and demand keep going up. I thought Covid would destroy the stock market but, that has not been the case at all. The stock market has been on fire.

None of us have time machines that can look into the future. Who knows where this will all end up? Are we on the edge of catastrophe or is everything going to work itself out and we get back to normal as Covid becomes a distant memory? Politically we are on the verge of a Civil war that would destroy our nation faster than any virus could. I am much more worried about America destroying itself than any foreign country or virus.

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Superbone
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Re: World Politics

Post by Superbone »

And you can't get a PS5! :) (And it was released a year ago!) My son has been trying for a long time. Yeah, sure, you can pay double the price from a scalper, but no, don't do it.
"Be Legendary."

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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I have been trying to get one as well. You can find some online for ridiculous prices but, I refuse.

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Nodack
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Re: World Politics

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A perfect storm’: supply chain crisis could blow world economy off course
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... port-covid
All the problems are in one way or another tangled up in the surge of post-pandemic consumer demand, but taken together they threaten what one leading economist calls a “stagflationary wind” that could blow the global economy off course.

This week’s surprise fall in factory output in China was a clear warning that the world economy could slump while prices were still rising quickly, a doomsday double whammy that almost sank the UK in the 1970s.

Energy shortages are providing the starkest illustration of the problem, with increasing numbers of petrol stations in the UK running out of fuel, and cities in northern China having to ration power and force factories in the world’s number one manufacturing nation to shutter just when pre-Christmas demand is reaching a peak in the west.

Along with ongoing Covid-related restrictions in some large manufacturing countries such as Vietnam, and a well-documented shortage of components such as computer chips, factories are simply not producing enough.

British car production dropped by 27% year on year in August as a lack of semiconductors and led to a big drop in the number of vehicles exported to Australia, the US and China. On Thursday, Volkswagen, Ford and Opel maker Stellantis announced fresh temporary closures in Germany because of the chip problem. Opel is closing a plant until 2022 – the longest such stoppage so far.

In Japan, an index of stocks of finished goods has dropped to levels not even seen in the wake of 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

But even if they could get their hands on more sources of energy and materials, and factories could make more goods, it would still cost more to ship things. Drewry’s shipping index, which measures the cost of containers, is up 291% compared with a year ago. On some busy routes, such as from China to Europe’s biggest port Rotterdam, the cost of shipping a container has risen sixfold in the past year.

The problems don’t end when the goods arrive at a port, with labour shortages presenting a final problem in the increasingly tortuous journey of products to their final destination. A lack of truck drivers in many parts of Europe, partly because of disputes over conditions and partly because of ongoing Covid restrictions, is causing delays.

“Higher demand and restricted supply equals inflation: there’s no way out of it. You put all these things together and its a perfect storm.”

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Indy
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Re: World Politics

Post by Indy »

Superbone wrote:
Sat Oct 02, 2021 12:24 pm
And you can't get a PS5! :) (And it was released a year ago!) My son has been trying for a long time. Yeah, sure, you can pay double the price from a scalper, but no, don't do it.
There is a twitter account that tells you when and where they are in stock. If you have notifications on, it can be pretty helpful. I still haven't bought one yet, but will try again next year (after the Christmas rush). And don't they typically release a better (e.g. less buggy) version a year or so after initial launch? I know they did with PS2 and 3 and I think 4.

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