After the Chinese slaughter thousands of protestors, Trump will "joke" he wishes he could do that here. Book it.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:09 am
by The Sybian
brian wrote: ↑Mon Aug 12, 2019 6:06 pm
After the Chinese slaughter thousands of protestors, Trump will "joke" he wishes he could do that here. Book it.
It seems so quaint looking back, how upset I was when Bush Jr. made a joke that his job would be so much easier if he was head of a dictatorship. I mean, of course he was joking but with Trump, there is a genuine affinity for and envy of strongman dictators.
Either yesterday or today, Russian troops were confirmed to be onshore in Sevastopol, confirmed by press release from the Russian Foreign Ministry (and Google Translate for me.) Not many, and only in limited parts of Crimea, so far.
And a word of criticism of Mr. Obama's vapid, dangerous foreign policy. There is nothing Obama and West can do to stop Putin from seizing part or all of the Ukraine. Nothing. When you spout empty rhetoric about 'red lines', consequences and costs, you degrade the power of your rhetoric to deter bad action by foreign nations when you can, and will back it up.
For example, there is some point at which Chinese aggression against Japan, Taiwan or the Philipines will be opposed. When you warn the Chinese, 'you better not, or else', they are gonna remember, 'yeah, the USA talked all that mess wrt Syria and Crimea/Ukraine, and didn't mean it, so we'll go ahead'. Then your WW3 starts.
Threaten only when you can, and will, back it up. Bluffing not only fails, but leads to failure when you aren't bluffing.
Obama is not the first leader to fuck up like this. Only the latest.
I veer more to the left side of the political spectrum, even though I figure that I am a Centrist.
But I gotta say that this is not the first left winger who has come in to right the wrongs of decades of right-wing corruption, and who has been feted by intellectuals in the west, who turned out to be a dictator like all the rest.
I remember Jon Stewart practically slobbering over Morales when he visited "The Daily Show."
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:57 pm
by Joe K
Sure looks like a Trump-administration assisted coup:
Morales’ regime did a lot to improve the welfare of poor and working class people in Bolivia, and had a lot of success reducing poverty. But he was also planning to nationalize the country’s lithium resources. We all know how the US tends to respond when Latin American countries take actions adverse to US corporate interests.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:37 am
by Pruitt
Joe K wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:57 pm
Sure looks like a Trump-administration assisted coup:
Morales’ regime did a lot to improve the welfare of poor and working class people in Bolivia, and had a lot of success reducing poverty. But he was also planning to nationalize the country’s lithium resources. We all know how the US tends to respond when Latin American countries take actions adverse to US corporate interests.
I didn;t even consider that possibility (foolishly, considering US history in South America). But I was thinking more of things like...
Pretty misleading headline because according to that article, the 34-story building housed a number of government offices and Morales’ residence was about 10,000 square feet. That’s a large private residence, for sure, but given the size and opulence of Buckingham Palace (or the White House) it’s a strange critique for a British paper to be making.
The right-wing Christian supremacists who seized power in Bolivia are now violently attacking journalists, farmers and indigenous people. (If you click on the Tweet below there’s a whole thread describing such incidents.) So I’d say things are right about on schedule.
The right-wing Christian supremacists who seized power in Bolivia are now violently attacking journalists, farmers and indigenous people. (If you click on the Tweet below there’s a whole thread describing such incidents.) So I’d say things are right about on schedule.
Perhaps one of the most discouraging and despicable things about our world are tax havens.
Such a shame. Malta is one of the most beautiful and probably the strangest place I've ever been. Absolutely loved it there. The people are incredibly friendly as long as you aren't English.
At the risk of being accused of racism, I will make the following statement:
It doesn't take much to piss off groups of people in South Asia.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:42 am
by Joe K
Update on Bolivia:
Yup, Morales’ ouster was definitively a Trump-administration backed coup.
Great job by the Democratic Party, which as we’ve learned this week cares deeply about the political rights of people in Latin America, in supporting the Trump coup en masse.
The murder of the prime minister’s wife two days before his inauguration sent shockwaves through the kingdom of 2.2 million people.
Thabane’ current wife Maesaiah Thabane, 43, whom he married two months after Lipolelo’s death, is considered a co-conspirator and has already been charged.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:37 pm
by Nonlinear FC
Lesotho's getting a lot of run in The Swamp the last week or so.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:01 pm
by brian
What in the actual fuck?
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:04 pm
by brian
Might be able to get a house in Houston pretty soon for the price of a Hyundai.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:16 pm
by brian
Trading at a NEGATIVE price right now, which I have no fuckin' idea how that works exactly and I consider myself a pretty smart guy.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:28 pm
by brian
OK, I guess it makes sense a little if there's no storage, but if I'm understanding this if you somehow had the capacity to store a few million barrels of oil you could actually basically just get it for free, which...wow.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:30 pm
by Ryan
Fuck, my garage is full of stuff from Target but it's only been 4 days since we ordered it.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 1:55 pm
by GoodKarma
I wish I knew how to trade futures...
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:07 pm
by mister d
GOOD KARMA'S HOUSE - SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE
MRS. KARMA
Honey, there's a large truck out front and they said you'd be expecting this delivery?
GOODKARMA [looks directly into camera]
Uhhhhhhh-oh!
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:10 pm
by HaulCitgo
Pool
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:11 pm
by Pruitt
But, I don't get it.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:04 pm
by Steve of phpBB
So this was not a good time for me to decide to focus my practice on oil and gas work?
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:13 pm
by brian
Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 4:04 pm
So this was not a good time for me to decide to focus my practice on oil and gas work?
I was just going to get my real estate license and move to Williston, ND.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 6:06 pm
by GoodKarma
mister d wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:07 pmGOOD KARMA'S HOUSE - SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE
MRS. KARMA
Honey, there's a large truck out front and they said you'd be expecting this delivery?
GOODKARMA [looks directly into camera]
Uhhhhhhh-oh!
I laughed.
Not related but somewhat still I do have a case of TP & paper towels coming tomorrow...
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:05 pm
by A_B
So much energy dominance. Sick of energy dominance. Such dominance. Wow.
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:48 pm
by Steve of phpBB
A_B wrote: ↑Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:05 pm
So much energy dominance. Sick of energy dominance. Such dominance. Wow.
Hm. Serious question, doesn’t oil being free mean we *do* have energy dominance? We clearly won’t be importing oil for a while, right?
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 10:51 am
by rass
Bad things appear to be happening in Beirut right now...
Re: Ball of Confusion
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 10:58 am
by brian
rass wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 10:51 am
Bad things appear to be happening in Beirut right now...
Good news it appears to have been a fireworks warehouse, not terrorism. Bad news is: