The Swamp

And now we get to #PrayforOrlando again!

Or does 5 victims even count as a mass shooting anymore?

Think we should start call mass shootings "terrorist attacks".

Ooh, a disgruntled former employee. That's old school.

Shall we discuss the Saudi coup?

Rex wrote:Shall we discuss the Saudi coup?

I'd love to, but damn, things are pretty confusing.

(So, the thread title is spot on I guess.)

Steve of phpBB wrote:

Rex wrote:Shall we discuss the Saudi coup?

I'd love to, but damn, things are pretty confusing.

(So, the thread title is spot on I guess.)

Right. I genuinely haven't found a good overview of it from anyone who seems to know their shit. Although it is curious it seems to have been hactched over a latenight bullshit session between Kushner and the crown prince.

Seen a lot of conflicting reports and with anything having to do with the House of Saud it's pretty opaque but could turn out to be a fairly good development, at least for the West. Of course, as learned over a century of American meddling in foreign affairs one that will likely blowback in the United States' face one day.

tennbengal wrote:Right. I genuinely haven't found a good overview of it from anyone who seems to know their shit. Although it is curious it seems to have been hactched over a latenight bullshit session between Kushner and the crown prince.

It's heartwarming to see an Arab and a Jew putting aside their differences.

Steve of phpBB wrote:

tennbengal wrote:Right. I genuinely haven't found a good overview of it from anyone who seems to know their shit. Although it is curious it seems to have been hactched over a latenight bullshit session between Kushner and the crown prince.

It's heartwarming to see an Arab and a Jew putting aside their differences.

Touching.



Although the are both scions of incredibly vile families, so they have that much in common.

Don't know if we have an economic disparity thread, so I'm gonna put this here.

http://twitter.com/smwhughes/status/927886809278898176

Europeans marching for ethnic purity ... what's the worst that could happen?

Love those Polish folks. Super people.

I would have bet 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars against that ever happening.

Rex wrote:I would have bet 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars against that ever happening.

I was more optimistic and would have gone as high as $2,500,000,000,000,000

(That's $10 bucks)

I have a couple very good friends here in the Bay Area who are from Lebanon, with family still living there (they are Christian, not that it matters). I was at their home yesterday and boy are they are heartsick and wringing their hands about current events in their home country.

As this article discusses, Lebanon is a pawn, a plaything, and a battleground for three powerful neighbors, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Iran/Hezbollah. Of course it is a triangle of antagonists, and none of those three countries care much about the people of Lebanon. It's just the game board on which they play. Tough.

235 dead, 109 injured in mosque attack in Egypt.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/worl ... egypt.html

Trump calls for wall and travel ban.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 5409697792

Bosnian Croat war criminal 'takes poison' in court

Very dramatic.

rass wrote:Bosnian Croat war criminal 'takes poison' in court

Very dramatic.

Hope it lingers.

Pruitt wrote:

rass wrote:Bosnian Croat war criminal 'takes poison' in court

Very dramatic.

Hope it lingers.

it did:

https://twitter.com/AP/status/935867793311961088

If he'd lived, his buddies would have ripped him endlessly over how weird he drank it.

From what I'm seeing, that guy has destroyed all records for how fast you become a meme.

Johnny Carwash wrote:From what I'm seeing, that guy has destroyed all records for how fast you become a meme.

Like literally before he even officially died.

I hope it's arsenic so we can call him Ar Budd Dwyer

Its funny because I bet he thought it was some big dramatic worldwide event and he's going to get to hell and they'll all be laughing at him.

Revising History In Eastern Europe

At least the Germans faced up to the horrors of what they did in the middle of the last century. Countries like Poland, Lithuania and the Ukraine... I'll hold my tongue here.

On Thursday, Poland's Senate pushed through a measure that would make it illegal to accuse Poles of complicity in the Holocaust or any other crimes associated with the Nazi era. Offenders could find themselves imprisoned for three years once the law, which is awaiting the signature of the Polish president, comes into effect.

Late last year, attention fell on the plight of best-selling Lithuanian author Ruta Vanagaite, who was vilified at home and whose books were pulped after she said a Lithuanian nationalist hero had collaborated with the Nazis.

“I’ve destroyed everything,” Vanagaite told the New Yorker's Masha Gessen. “I’ve destroyed my career as a writer, because no publisher will sign me now and no bookstore will agree to distribute my books.”

Pruitt wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2018 6:07 am Revising History In Eastern Europe

At least the Germans faced up to the horrors of what they did in the middle of the last century. Countries like Poland, Lithuania and the Ukraine... I'll hold my tongue here.

On Thursday, Poland's Senate pushed through a measure that would make it illegal to accuse Poles of complicity in the Holocaust or any other crimes associated with the Nazi era. Offenders could find themselves imprisoned for three years once the law, which is awaiting the signature of the Polish president, comes into effect.

Late last year, attention fell on the plight of best-selling Lithuanian author Ruta Vanagaite, who was vilified at home and whose books were pulped after she said a Lithuanian nationalist hero had collaborated with the Nazis.

“I’ve destroyed everything,” Vanagaite told the New Yorker's Masha Gessen. “I’ve destroyed my career as a writer, because no publisher will sign me now and no bookstore will agree to distribute my books.”

Lets not forget Austria which for many years painted themselves as a victim nation like the Czecks, when the willingly submitted to the Anscluss and were active particpants in all aspects of Germany's war

Venezuela

Brutal.

"Multiple dead" after pedestrian bridge on FIU campus collapses.

The bridge was just installed last weekend.

brian wrote: ↑Thu Mar 15, 2018 1:56 pm "Multiple dead" after pedestrian bridge on FIU campus collapses.

The bridge was just installed last weekend.

That’s terrible. Of course, I keep getting routed away from the news channel’s site because of an aggressive advertisement they’ve allowed onto their page.

Fucking Twitter. I saw a tweet about the nice new bridge but none of the context.

WTF Spain?

Rapper jailed for insulting the King.

Israel Bombs Syria

A Syrian military source and the Russian Defense Ministry said Israeli F-15 fighter jets carried out Monday’s strike from Lebanese airspace.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, most of the 14 killed were either Iranian forces or Iran-backed proxies supporting the Syrian government.

Good job, Korea.

Let's see if it sticks.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:59 am Good job, Korea.

Let's see if it sticks.

It is so easy (for me especially) to be cynical about anything that happens in the realm of global affairs.

But this is legitimately heartening, whatever the North's motivations may be. Just think where things stood a few short months ago.

People my age can remember when Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas were the cool rebels. Fighting a vicious dictator for the freedom of Nicaragua... the friends of the peasants and the downtrodden and inspiration for the title of a classic Clash album. So cool on campuses in the 80s - my generations Che Guevara if you will.

You ever want to feel more cynical, read up on this guy once he got power. It is a textbook example of power corrupting absolutely. And now...

Shooting At Student Protesters