Althouse: Sunrise — 6:20, 6:41, 6:43.

17 सितंबर 2025

Sunrise — 6:20, 6:41, 6:43.

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152 टिप्‍पणियां:

john mosby ने कहा…: Vengeance Vance, in an interview with Jesse Watters, just said "It's not a both sides issue - my friend is dead because of left-wing political radicalization."

This thing is not going away. It will have more repercussions than Floyd (foad). CC, JSM; 17/9/25, 7:26 pm
john mosby ने कहा…: Oh man, Vance is demolishing the logic of the Left. He will be great on the debate podium. Watch this Watters episode, even if you can only get free clips on YouTube. CC, JSM; 17/9/25, 7:32 pm
tommyesq ने कहा…: Did I correctly see that the rock whose name shall not be spoken has been removed from UWisc.?; 17/9/25, 7:41 pm
Humperdink ने कहा…: Jimmy Kimmel just got suspended indefinitely.; 17/9/25, 7:42 pm
FullMoon ने कहा…: Thousands of people in other countries peacefully mourning Charlie Kirk.; 17/9/25, 7:50 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: So apparently Russia "extended the range" of some drones that were assembled from foam and duct tape basically which were unarmed and intended to draw air defense missiles, so that they would reach Poland.

Russia denies this, but we all know that they are shameless liars, which is why Poland refused their request to discuss the mattter, so let's look at the situation.

Russia would gain ... what exactly, by attacking a NATO country directly with these drones, risking an Article 5 response? Well, there is the argument that the Russians are just stupid and evil, always a good one.

Ukraine would gain... well, they could draw NATO into the war, they have now suggested that NATO needs to patrol Ukrainian skies on the possibility that more and more deadly drones are coming in the future, so there needs to be a no fly zone enforced. by NATO and the US over Ukraine.

Any time that the motivation of the enemy is described as "evilness and stupidity" and the major benefits of the consequences of an event redound to the party accusing the other side of doing it, and the accusing party refuses to discuss it with the accused, well, those are surefire earmarks of a false flag.

Of course it failed, but it is kind of reminiscent of J6, where Trump had nothing to gain from any violence, and the only explanation for it offered was that Trump is stupid and evil, and the benefits of J6 all went to.. wait for it.. the accusing party, the Democrats. It's almost like if J6 hadn't have happened, they would have had to invent.... hmmm.; 17/9/25, 7:50 pm
rhhardin ने कहा…: Give Ukraine permission to use NATO weapons deep into Russia to wipe out drone production, linking it thusly to drones in Poland; 17/9/25, 7:56 pm
OldManRick ने कहा…: The people that are complaining about the cancellation of those celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk fail to realize that this is a tit-for-tat struggle with the left. If the right let these behaviors slide, the behaviors would continue with the left celebrating and the right being punished.

I vaguely feel sorry for those getting canceled but someone has to be an example of unacceptable social behavior if we are to return to a more civilized society. They thought they could get away with that behavior just like a criminal thought he could get away with his crime. Neither gave any thought to maintaining the social contract.

If you believe in the adage "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", their actions have indicated how we should "do unto them". They showed no mercy or compassion so they deserve none.; 17/9/25, 8:01 pm
Big Mike ने कहा…: Humperdink beat me to it. Jimmy Kimmel just discovered that he's not too big to be canceled. Sad.; 17/9/25, 8:14 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: From the closest point in non Russian Ukraine territory it is 350 miles to Moscow. Himars range is 190 miles. Lower accuracy ICBM’s can go anywhere. Nucs were needed because accuracy was not good. A missile had to smear everyone because you might miss a bit. But there was the Soviet idea that we will hold your population hostage subject to death.; 17/9/25, 8:16 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: A battery powered drone is not going to fly to Moscow, but it might carry a frag bomb over a trench.

The same thoughts were going on in ww1 about tanks being so world changing.; 17/9/25, 8:20 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: I keep seeing hype on AI, but I keep saying "where's the beef?" So some of the hype I saw was about AI improving itself by modifying its own code. This is what chat said:

Bottom line
Recursive self-improvement (RSI) = the hypothetical feedback loop where an AI improves itself, which makes it better at improving itself, and so on.
Reality today = no such loop. We have “AI-assisted improvement” where humans are firmly in the loop.
Breakthrough needed = a way for AI to represent, test, and modify its own architecture and training process as easily as it manipulates words. That’s still science fiction.

The human brain requires about 20 watts of power, a neural net that could rival it in just in the number of neurons, forget all of the optimizations that have happened during evolution, would require "national grid" equivalent power. This is because animal brains, including ours, somehow know which neurons need to be fired, and only fire those, where neural nets in computers have to test every single neuron, well, according to ChatGPT, and we don't know how animal brains do it.

Breakthrough needed.

So far, other than a time wasting way to while away the hours, what AI seems to be destined for is little more than a natural language interface to domain specific software developed by humans, such as AutoCAD, or scientific software, or the like, painstakingly written by humans.

Maybe one of you AI mavens here can explain to me where I am wrong, but I think that this is like the moment when RCA stock was through the roof because of the invention of radio.; 17/9/25, 8:20 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: Russia's issue was not drones, they have claimed many times that during the meeting with Blinken just prior to the intervention in the Ukrainian civil war, Blinken told him that we were going to put nukes in Ukraine, and Russia had nothing to say about it. Three to five minutes from Moscow, nuclear weapons. This is goading Russia to invade.

Joe Biden told Putin that we would overlook a "minor incursion," this time an invitation to invade.

So if Sachs says that Macron told him personally that NATO provoked the invasion intentionally, it only fits the facts.; 17/9/25, 8:26 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: We also have the pattern than Brzezinski not only admitted to, but bragged about provoking the Soviets to invade Afghanistan by funding the Islamists in 1979. He wrote an email to Jimmy Carter bragging that they had "just given then Soviets "their Viet Nam."; 17/9/25, 8:29 pm
Achilles ने कहा…: Humperdink said...

Jimmy Kimmel just got suspended indefinitely.

This was inevitable.

And as the left realizes that their clown nose on clown nose off bullshit is unacceptable. The only purpose for Kimmel to lie like this was to keep conservatives afraid and keep the violence coming.

Even now the slightly more sane people in the democrat party are turning on the violent shitheads.

Until Tulsi Gabbard or RFK Jr. or someone like Trump is the leader of the democrat party they are finished on the national level.; 17/9/25, 8:30 pm
Beasts of England ने कहा…: Trump this evening declared Antifa a terrorist organization.; 17/9/25, 8:35 pm
Original Mike ने कहा…: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during his monologue.

It's like he reads the same shit as Inga does. Wow.; 17/9/25, 8:37 pm
Original Mike ने कहा…: "Trump this evening declared Antifa a terrorist organization."

They had room on the list after they removed school parents and Catholic church goers.; 17/9/25, 8:39 pm
Mason G ने कहा…: "Even now the slightly more sane people in the democrat party are turning on the violent shitheads."

Disgusted ex-Democrats registering Republican after Charlie Kirk murder: ‘Evil is walking amongst us’

The Republican Party is seeing a “Charlie Kirk effect,” with moderate Democrats and Independents switching party affiliation at breakneck speed.

Freshly emancipated former Dems told The Post they were horrified by the assassination of the 31-year-old podcaster last week — who they thought of as kind and reasonable — and further disgusted by the ghoulish celebration of his killing by many lefties.

https://nypost.com/2025/09/16/us-news/democrats-switch-to-republican-after-charlie-kirk-assassination/; 17/9/25, 8:42 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Now Finland is in NATO, from which nukes are 75 miles to Petersburg. BS for that Russian excuse.; 17/9/25, 8:52 pm
Achilles ने कहा…: The best part is that using the terms NAZI, fascist, racist, authoritarian or threats to democracy against anyone is now socially unacceptable.

And the more the leftist shitheads demand the right to do it the more toxic they will become to decent people.

I expect in the run up to the midterms you are going to see the cornered rat syndrome. Expect more violence from these shit weasels.; 17/9/25, 8:56 pm
Kakistocracy ने कहा…: Disney’s ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel’s show over Charlie Kirk comments ~ FT

I'm glad Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield aren't alive during the current regime, as their humor would likely have landed them in federal prison.; 17/9/25, 8:57 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: “Maybe one of you AI mavens here can explain to me where I am wrong, but I think that this is like the moment when RCA stock was through the roof because of the invention of radio.“

If you invested in rca in 1920 and held your investment return over all the re orgs would have been about 6.5 percent. Better than most companies that went through the Great Depression considering that many went bust.

RCA increased 1300 percent in value prior to 1929 Because it created broadcast radio due to physicists and engineers. It was a great company and we should be proud of it.; 17/9/25, 8:57 pm
Mason G ने कहा…: "I'm glad Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield aren't alive during the current regime, as their humor would likely have landed them in federal prison."

That's a pretty lame take, even for you.; 17/9/25, 9:00 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: Mason G - from your link:

"Florida GOP chair Evan Power said the Republican registration rate tripled in the days after Kirk’s assassination, from about 200 a day to over 600. “It’s a big deal,” he said. "

Well the Dems can counter by trying to ignite their mentally ill + rage-filled base with more rage and promises to "fight the fascists and Nazis!"; 17/9/25, 9:00 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: KAK - so dishonest. You make the perfect modern democrat.

(hint - Kimmel lied... bigly); 17/9/25, 9:02 pm
Kakistocracy ने कहा…: Anyway, now we know what the FCC thinks is in the public interest:

Fox host advocating for executing homeless people? Yes

ABC comic suggesting Trump/MAGA are using a death cynically? No; 17/9/25, 9:02 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: buwaya:
I've told Jaq at least half a dozen times to look at a map, but he's never done so. The fact is that Ukraine is only slightly closer to Moscow than Latvia is, and Latvia was already a member of NATO when Blinken supposedly made his threat.

As for the fact that the Russians keep saying he said that, so what? They insisted that they were absolutely not going to invade Ukraine right up to the day they did. When the Russian government says something is true, the best bet is that it is actually false. Their word means less than nothing.

Also, I pointed out in the last Sunrise thread that even the Russian admit there was never a "civil war" in Donbass. Here's the gist of what I posted there, a subtitled 2019 interview of one of the Russians who participated in the supposed rebellion in Donbass (link). Among the interesting things he says in less than two minutes is:

"We had expected that 20 % of the local male population would join the militia to fight against the Ukrainian army. In the end, it was only half a percent. And who were they? Homeless people, drunks, unemployed people."; 17/9/25, 9:02 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Kimmel is revenge for Brendan Eich.; 17/9/25, 9:02 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: People can see the democrats shit show laid bare. The lies and doubling down on lies - make it easy for anyone with a drop of moral compass - to do the right thing and walk away.
The only people left will be the loyal cultists.; 17/9/25, 9:04 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Fron Finland one could carry a modern (small) nuke to Petersburg within the combat range of a Farman biplane (1914). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farman_MF.7; 17/9/25, 9:06 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: Kak-a-D
You might want to read this comment by John Mosby in the previous thread @ 6:42 PM
I'll paste it here for your education:

""Pulling broadcast licenses is difficult and takes time but ABC already paid Trump $16 million for no enforceable reason so they jumped gun, failing to defend First Amendment Rights."

As Ronald Reagan (pbuh) said, "There you go again." The for-profit press try to confuse a universal right with their special rights and privileges.

A broadcast license, from a limited supply, that the people give you as a special privilege, reposing trust and confidence in you, is not 'freedom of the press.'

In fact, it's hampering the expressive freedom of everyone who competed and lost for that license. It's giving you, ABC, a massive soapbox that the government's handcuffs and guns deny to all other speakers. A giant taxpayer-subsidized megaphone to drown out their speech.

ABC, you didn't build that. It's not a matter of your freedom. Perhaps there are some equal-protection arguments in the granting and revocation of broadcast licenses. But so are there in the granting and revocation of trash-collection licenses. ABC's licensing just happens to involve expression.

Kind of like right to keep and bear arms vs holding a commission as an Army officer. The Venn diagram overlaps only slightly. Do you violate my Amd II rights by firing me from the Army? No.

If ABC wants to have complete freedom, it can cut the cord and be an internet-only broadcaster. How many eyeballs do they really get from over-the-air frequencies, or even cable?

If it wants the Queen's coin (in the form of licenses), it can dance to the Queen's tune. " -- CC, JSM

9/17/25, 6:42 PM; 17/9/25, 9:08 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Though, of course, Brendan Eich is a useful person, and Kimmel isn't.; 17/9/25, 9:08 pm
Kakistocracy ने कहा…: To clarify, this is a clear example of an actual First Amendment violation. When the FCC chair threatens a company with license revocation unless it addresses an individual who displeased the administration, that is unequivocally unconstitutional.

This regime is speeding through the authoritarian playbook like a freight train.; 17/9/25, 9:13 pm
Kakistocracy ने कहा…: A few days ago, Brian Kilmeade stated that homeless people should be executed. Jesse Watters accused the left of attempting to start a civil war. Fox News has repeatedly spread verifiable lies about Dominion Voting Systems and the 2020 election.Canceling Jimmy Kimmel isn’t about an offensive monologue line; it’s about using state power to silence political opposition.; 17/9/25, 9:17 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: Oh no Kak. Kilmeade apologized - but that's not good enough is it?
Perhaps you can assassinate him.; 17/9/25, 9:20 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: One of the things that companies contribute to the world is basic research. Democrats think that companies are soulless ghouls that deprive the common man the means of existence. But corporate research for new products and drugs have made modern poor people lead lives of higher quality and of greater luxury than that of the kings of only 100 years ago.; 17/9/25, 9:21 pm
walter ने कहा…: George Zinn makes Brian Williams jealous.; 17/9/25, 9:25 pm
Vance ने कहा…: I wonder what Kak had to say when the New York Post was literally removed from being online for daring to publish the Hunter Biden laptop story..... Right, that was totally fine!; 17/9/25, 9:26 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: KAK BTW - again your are dishonest

Kilmeade said "mentally ill homeless " and that was in a moment of anger regarding the Ukrainian woman who was brutally murdered for no reason other than he is a mentally ill criminal - A mentally ill criminal, allowed to roam the streets thanks to insane soft on crime Soros-Democratic laws.

00000:
kak - Dragging this over from previous thread/ same topic from / Aggie. (hope ya'll don't mind, but this stuff is good.)

Aggie said...
"........" The side you align with, is in no position to object. Under Biden not even 2 years ago, they used the levers of government to cancel people, to remove their banking associations, to pull their social media accounts, to remove their crowd funding access, to eliminate their income streams, and they did it all by flexing government influence illegally, behind the scenes, beyond the reach of any appeal - and often, beyond even simple awareness that would have allowed understanding. And then when these conservative victims objected, they targeted their lawyers and threatened disbarment, thus depriving the victims of legal representation in defense. Sit down and shut up. "
-Aggie @
9/17/25, 6:51 PM; 17/9/25, 9:29 pm
Kakistocracy ने कहा…: Can NATO move from the gold plate military industrial complex F35 style solution to a high volume low cost Ukrainian approach?

We have two enemies here -- Russians and complexity. We live in hope that good sense will prevail. That the Ukraine figured this out is reassuring.

A lot of European drone startups will go to the wall, given the fact that Ukrainian drone companies are so much more advanced. Great for the future of the Ukrainian economy.

I do not often agree with Trump but he rewired Europe towards becoming a powerhouse. Putin cannot beat a unified Europe anchored in NATO.; 17/9/25, 9:29 pm
Mr. Majestyk ने कहा…: Reposting this comment of mine from late in the previous thread:

I find it highly suspicious that, upon seeing Charlie Kirk hit and begin bleeding profusely from the neck, Mr. Zinn had the presence of mind to think, "Hey, I'm going to claim to be the killer to distract the police so that the real killer can escape." It seems really far-fetched to me that someone with no foreknowledge of the attack would think that quickly. I also wonder if the authorities have investigated the individual who asked the question about transgender mass shootings that Kirk was addressing when he got shot. The fact that Kirk was shot answering that particular question seems a little too coincidental to me.; 17/9/25, 9:31 pm
Achilles ने कहा…: Kakistocracy said...

A few days ago, Brian Kilmeade stated that homeless people should be executed. Jesse Watters accused the left of attempting to start a civil war. Fox News has repeatedly spread verifiable lies about Dominion Voting Systems and the 2020 election.Canceling Jimmy Kimmel isn’t about an offensive monologue line; it’s about using state power to silence political opposition.

The First Amendment is just a bunch of words on a piece of paper. It is a shared affirmation between people of good faith that we will al stand up for each other.

We notice that there are no actual quotes in any of this. You are just a dishonest shithead. Kimmel and Kak are part of a group of people that nobody likes anymore. Nobody is obliged to like you.

I will protect anyone's right to speak as long as they protect my right to speak. It is a mutual contract.

You do not protect my right to speak. You have supported people that took it away from me in the past. You killed Charlie Kirk.

You have the same claim to the first amendment that the Taliban has. You do not abide by the contract. You do not receive the benefits of the contract.

Go fuck yourself.; 17/9/25, 9:32 pm
Achilles ने कहा…: Kakistocracy said...

I do not often agree with Trump but he rewired Europe towards becoming a powerhouse. Putin cannot beat a unified Europe anchored in NATO.

LOL! Europe a rewired powerhouse. HAHAHAHAHA; 17/9/25, 9:34 pm
LibertarianLeisure ने कहा…: I have been thinking lately of the oh-so-strong divide amongst people. Not generally, but with those within my sphere. COVID brought some divides. We were uninvited to a family get-together at my spouse's annual get away at a lake because we chose to not be vaccinated. A dear friend of years and years hung up the phone on me and said I was a Trumper. ( Since reunited, I brought up our history together. ) Another acquaintance blocked and cut me off despite her belief in Christianity. I have had to bite my mouth, not say what I thought, for years, not say no, I do not believe what you are saying many, many times, with the principal at the school where I work, with the dear friend of a sister-in-law, with the lunchroom crowd. Enough. I'm done doing so. It used to be you and aind I differ in our viewpoints, a discussion over dinner, at the end of the night, then we hugged, say good sentiments and meet again together in a couple months. Because we all are mostly, hopefully, good people, want the best for each other. I don't feel that this is tue anymore. I still wish them well, honor their opinions and viewpoints but they certainly do not feel the same way with mine, or me any longer. I'm done hiding it to not fit in. I'm done. Does anyone else here have a similar experience and epiphany? I Would love to hear your take as I read Althouse and the comments daily. Thank you, kindly.; 17/9/25, 9:40 pm
Jim at ने कहा…: How long before a certain commenter shows up here - citing Jimmy Kimmel being pull off the air - chastising us because, boy-oh-boy if we don't watch out, the left will cancel conservatives once they get back into power?; 17/9/25, 9:44 pm
Jim at ने कहा…: I mean, we're going to really, really rue this day, won't we?; 17/9/25, 9:44 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: The F35 can penetrate modern air defense systems and deliver serious ordnance to targets, with absolute accuracy. The Israelis demonstrated that just this year. With 46 F35s they rendered Iran absolutely helpless.
NATO, even without the US, has 150+ F35s. With the F35s doing the SEAD work the 1000+ other NATO fighter bombers can render Russia similarly helpless, and then smash all relevant strategic or tactical targets in western Russia in a week.
With all of Russias overwhelming superiority in combat aircraft they could never do that over Ukraine, because they lack F35s (and the range of other SEAD tech).
They are limited to inaccurate drones and occasional ballistic or cruise missiles, chipping away slowly at Ukraine, not attacking in overwhelming strength to any significant strategic or tactical effect.; 17/9/25, 9:47 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: James Woods
@RealJamesWoods
Remember when Twitter’s Jack Dorsey banned the President of the United States from the world’s biggest forum during an election?

Screw Jimmy Kimmel.; 17/9/25, 9:47 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Europe, leaving out nukes, has vastly greater combat power than Russia. This is concentrated in their Air Forces, and the comprehensive infrastructure of air bases and logistics and intelligence/recon/targeting systems as well as the all-important SEAD capabilities.
The Naval superiority of NATO is likewise tremendous, but since Russias fleet is unlikely to leave its bases this is less relevant.; 17/9/25, 9:54 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: Rolling Stone - LOL.

--------------------------------
Libertarian.
You are not alone. Speak out. Be honest. If they don't like it - don't have anymore fucks to give. I know I don't.
Charlie Kirks assassination by a leftist killer/ inspired by the entire democratic party's non-stop rage and lies - changed me forever.; 17/9/25, 9:54 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: James Woods is on fire tonight.; 17/9/25, 9:57 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Then there is geography. Europe can effectively blockade western Russia (with 75-80% its economy). Russia lacks the strength to break out.; 17/9/25, 9:59 pm
LibertarianLeisure ने कहा…: Thanks, 🍑 Peachy. I will!; 17/9/25, 10:01 pm
Peachy ने कहा…: Indeed; 17/9/25, 10:03 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: buwaya:
Not only CAN Europe blockade Russia, they're starting to do it. After years of Belarus sending Third World immigrants to the Polish border to cut the fence and sneak in, Poland has closed the border. China is complaining, because 95% of all train traffic between China and Europe used to go through that border. There are not a lot of alternative routes for trains.; 17/9/25, 10:04 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: I think this kid, Charlie, could be the next Charlie Kirk.

I Watched his tribute to Charlie Kirk, the whole thing. Out of all the ones I've seen so far, this one is the best by far. The following I copy paste some from transcript)

"Think about the courage it takes for one man to come to a place when thousands have petitioned for him not to, sit down at the center, watch hostile faces glaring towards his direction, yet calmly answer their questions, or was as often the case, their diatribe, and then wake up the next day and do it all over again.
All for what? His convictions. If that's not courage, what is? And think about how he did this for years, long before there existed people who supported his message crowding the tent to cheer him on. At the very beginning, it was just him.
Folks, the thing about courage is that it can be more infectious than a laughter or yawn.
You know what I thought when I looked at his clips?
I thought, man, could I do this? I don't know if I could.
After all, that is what onlookers probably thought as they watched the Tank Man face the army at Tiananman Square.
Yet, what he did was he made me want to be that courageous. He planted the seeds in my mind that it's possible."; 17/9/25, 10:08 pm
Lazarus ने कहा…: "Email"? In 1979 or 1980? Perhaps somebody somewhere on ARPAnet was sending emails then, but most likely Brzezinski wasn't emailing Carter.

Huntington had a point. The Russians feel differently about the Orthodox-Slavic cultural sphere than about lands with Western religions or languages. Some Central Europeans feel the same way. For the Czech novelist Milan Kundera the crime was tearing Czechoslovakia (and Poland and Hungary) away from the West where they belonged. Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine were less of a concern.; 17/9/25, 10:08 pm
Jim at ने कहा…: I'm done hiding it to not fit in.

It took two events for me to reach that point.

Covid was one.
And those who weren't thrown out of my life during those two years got the heave-ho when they lamented Trump's assassin wasn't a better shot.

I still have many friends on the left. They know my politics and we've been able to have civil discussions in the past. We simply don't talk about Trump.

The rest? I don't miss them because if I hadn't thrown them out of my life before, they surely would be the same people celebrating Kirk's murder now.

Life's too short.; 17/9/25, 10:13 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: Buwya is right in engineering. How many Sam sites can Russia build, 4000? Go after them with harms and lsarms and when the field is clear, bring in the old antique b 52s to do the dirty work unchallenged. No nucs needed, like in Iran.; 17/9/25, 10:16 pm
paminwi ने कहा…: Enjoyed a Jonathan Turley presentation at a WILL dinner in Milwaukee. He called himself a dinosaur because there are so many current, younger law professors who think our 1st amendment right to free speech must be changed.
And he proceeded to explain what they want to do.
So very disturbing to say the least. We MUST continue to fight for free speech as our founders envisioned it!; 17/9/25, 10:17 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: Tonight there was a vigil to Charlie in the town I live in. I drove by but I couldn't stay because I had a commitment I couldn't break. I get the impression they are popping up all over, quietly and without much fanfare.; 17/9/25, 10:17 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: I am being all encompassing we don’t want to destroy Russia or China. We may want the capability.; 17/9/25, 10:19 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Military buildup in Asia - the Batanes islands are essential for covering Taiwans southern flank, the Luzon strait.
https://www.newsweek.com/satellite-photo-shows-philippine-front-line-base-south-china-sea-2130548; 17/9/25, 10:25 pm
Josephbleau ने कहा…: Some people brag about hypersomic missles. If current gen hypersonics are undefeatable then Why are we not Russian slaves now, courtesy?; 17/9/25, 10:34 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: Charlie (video linked above) traces the intolerance that ultimately led up to the CK assassination. The more power the woke mob acquired by intimidating the people in charge of Colleges and Universities, the more intolerant they became. It's the background that must've influenced Robinson.

One take away that shouldn't be controversial, is that speech suppression can turn deadly.; 17/9/25, 10:35 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: For all the hype, Russian hypersonic missiles, the few they have managed to use, haven't achieved much. The point of hypersonics is that they are a form of cruise missile which are harder to intercept, because of their speed and ability to maneuver.
But they have actually been intercepted by Patriot.
Like all air war issues there are a host of factors. Numbers available, accuracy, targeting, flight profile, warhead, air defense radar, spoofing, jamming, target management (to coin a term) able to predict course and trajectory and adjust for maneuvers and distinguish decoys, etc. on and on.; 17/9/25, 10:52 pm
rhhardin ने कहा…: If I'm reading it right, the FCC cancelled Kimmel, doing programming under threat of loss of license. Substituting a Kirk memorial program. And people are cheering.

Welcome to the new right wing, crazier than the left wing.

The FCC can't enforce rules selectively.

Who said the cure for bad speech is more speech? It sounds Kirk-like in one of his better moods, when he's not personally insulting black individuals. See Robert Wright and Glenn Loury podcast.; 17/9/25, 10:52 pm
Eva Marie ने कहा…: @libertarian: I do not talk politics at work. If someone asks me, even if I agree with a sentiment, I say I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss politics at work (or religion). I feel very strongly about this. Work is very serious. It literally is our bread and butter. It’s how we pay our rent and buy clothes for our kids. We can’t decide not to work with a coworker or not come in the next day. So, as much as I can, I discourage any conversations that have an emotional aspect to them at work. When it comes to social interactions, my goal for the past 8 years has been to get 1 additional vote for Trump (now for Republicans). When we do talk politics my aim is not argument but persuasion. 8 years ago I think I got Trump 2 additional votes. Covid made 2020 a bust for me. But in 2024 I think I got Trump 1 additional vote. I don’t ask people how they voted so I can never be sure but I think that’s an accurate assessment. The people in my circle who told me they were Trump voters, as much as I could, I made sure they voted. So, that’s my advice - aim at getting 1 additional Republican vote. If we all do that, Republicans have a chance in 2026.; 17/9/25, 10:56 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: rhhardin:
Everything I've seen on Twitter says that it wasn't the FCC that canceled Kimmel, it was the local affiliates who told the network they were not going to put his show on the air in their markets. And doing a Kirk memorial seems to have been their idea, too: they needed something to fill the time slot, and that's an obvious thing that could be put together quickly and would attract a large audience.; 17/9/25, 11:12 pm
NorthOfTheOneOhOne ने कहा…: rhhardin:

Dr Weevil is correct. FCC chairman made a comment about Kimmel's suspension and the usual suspects decided to conflate the two so they could scream about Trump being a fascist and trying to destroy free speech.; 17/9/25, 11:17 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: Speaking of war. Isn't it curious how the only tool available to the people protesting Israel's war against Palestinians --which they are using to some effect-- is free speech. The free speech exercised by Charlie Kirk, that now, after his assassination, may be contributing to an increase in the suffering and death of the people the protesters say they are championing. (That's the impression I'm getting, I could be wrong)

Free speech for me, but not for thee, never works out as intended.; 17/9/25, 11:22 pm
Eva Marie ने कहा…: @Lem Vibe Bandit: yes you are, in fact, wrong.; 17/9/25, 11:33 pm
Eva Marie ने कहा…: @rhhardin: if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were letting your emotions get away from you. Less thinking with your heart and more thinking with your head please; 17/9/25, 11:37 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: "...yes you are, in fact, wrong."

Please, as Meade said in an earlier post, educate me.; 17/9/25, 11:47 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: The lens I view the war in Gaza is the same as the one I used for the war in Afghanistan and Irak. There was, even if it wasn't sometimes apparent, clearly archivable mission/goal and the military promise to do their best to avoid "colateral damage". Gaza seems like one big endless search for "colateral damage".; 17/9/25, 11:57 pm
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: As for the mission, I've never heard any authoritative Israeli figure define one. Maybe I've missed it. Again, I'm no expert. For sure.; 18/9/25, 12:00 am
Achilles ने कहा…: rhhardin said...

If I'm reading it right, the FCC cancelled Kimmel, doing programming under threat of loss of license. Substituting a Kirk memorial program. And people are cheering.

You aren't reading it right.

Disney's ABC said it would take Jimmy Kimmel's popular late-night show off its schedule "indefinitely" after one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the U.S., Nexstar Media, said it intended to pre-empt airings of the program following remarks the host made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Nexstar said Wednesday that its "owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight's show." The company said it "strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets."

In his monologue Monday night, Kimmel said that the "MAGA gang" was trying to score political points off Kirk's murder.

rhhardin said...

Welcome to the new right wing, crazier than the left wing.

The FCC can't enforce rules selectively.

Who said the cure for bad speech is more speech? It sounds Kirk-like in one of his better moods, when he's not personally insulting black individuals. See Robert Wright and Glenn Loury podcast.

That sure looks like a soap opera take to me. And the accusation of racism was worded in a particularly dishonest and cowardly way.; 18/9/25, 12:03 am
Josephbleau ने कहा…: On Kimmel, I m not a personal fan, i did not like the juggles on the man show, but he has free speech, whether a company has to pay for it is another question.

If the statement that the fcc threatens to cancel someone’s license because kimmel speaks is true then that is bad but I know that has happened many times before on both political sides.

If I was president I would not post things like Trump does about people, but I am not Trump. Trump has overcome a lot and my social morality may not be his, but I like the results.

I want less crime and less murder in my town, that is my thing.; 18/9/25, 12:04 am
Achilles ने कहा…: Josephbleau said...

Buwya is right in engineering. How many Sam sites can Russia build, 4000? Go after them with harms and lsarms and when the field is clear, bring in the old antique b 52s to do the dirty work unchallenged. No nucs needed, like in Iran.

Wait you aren't serious are you?

Are you really talking about NATO bombing Russia? Really?; 18/9/25, 12:06 am
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: I'm not following it as close as I was the US wars I mentioned above. For obvious reasons. It doesn't involve American sons and daughters. And, the war is really endless, it's not a peacenik talking point.; 18/9/25, 12:06 am
Achilles ने कहा…: Josephbleau said...

I am being all encompassing we don’t want to destroy Russia or China. We may want the capability.

OK.

But pretending Europe could do this is a joke.; 18/9/25, 12:10 am
Eva Marie ने कहा…: “The free speech exercised by Charlie Kirk, that now, after his assassination, may be contributing to an increase in the suffering and death of the people the protesters say they are championing.”
What does that even mean?; 18/9/25, 12:14 am
Josephbleau ने कहा…: If Kimmel is canceled, I guess I will wait until I hear his former employer’s explanation.; 18/9/25, 12:15 am
Josephbleau ने कहा…: “But pretending Europe could do this is a joke.”

Achilles, I am not adversarial to you at all but is the above a statement of technical capability or political will, I only am concerned with technical capability and am less concerned with the politics, which is too emotional and better left to others.; 18/9/25, 12:29 am
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: What does that even mean?

Again, my impression is that both wars have gotten worse since the assassination. Israel, leveraging it for advantage. And Russia v Kiev, intensifying their their attacks on each other, sensing our refocus on our own problems.; 18/9/25, 12:38 am
Eva Marie ने कहा…: Lem, I completely misunderstood you. My apologies.; 18/9/25, 12:55 am
Lem Vibe Bandit ने कहा…: "Lem, I completely misunderstood you. My apologies."

I understand. The complexities of war, especially in these two cases, are made more difficult to understand given the lack, almost non-existent trust between the people who are supposed to honestly report it and the people trying to pay attention. And Thank you for... your attention in this matter. ;-); 18/9/25, 1:11 am
buwaya ने कहा…: If it came to conventional war between NATO (or "Europe" however defined), Europe has massive numbers, infrastructure and tech advantages over Russia. Not that anyone is hoping for war. If for whatever reason Russia decided to make war on "Europe" or whatever European country they got mad at - probably Finland, Poland, Sweden, Romania, or the Baltics - it will not turn out well for Russia.; 18/9/25, 1:14 am
Eva Marie ने कहा…: This is what led to my misunderstanding: Israel versus Gaza - Israel is increasing efforts in Gaza which is exactly what the militant lefties didn’t want to happen. But in Russia versus Ukraine, it looks like Ukraine is on the offensive which is exactly what the militant lefties want. But even if you think Russia is getting the upper hand, I don’t think the lefties care. They seem to want that conflict to continue no matter who is winning/losing.; 18/9/25, 1:15 am
buwaya ने कहा…: The Euros that staff their militaries arent "militant lefties". Neither are the governments and people of the frontline countries, say, Finland, Poland, the Baltics, or Romania.
There are more people involved than the depraved populations of the US. And those people matter more, in this instance.; 18/9/25, 1:21 am
buwaya ने कहा…: I've probably mentioned it, but at one time I was a "merchant of death", an engineering consultant to, mainly, US defense aerospace firms. This was in Reagan-Bush I's day, pre "peace dividend". After that I had to find another career, but all turned out well. At the time deranged lefties hated me and my clients with an exterminating rage. Its been quite a change to find some of the political right hating me as much. Well, I say phooey. I will stand here with the ghost of Reagan, in a fixed spot, as the world rotates into some phase of silliness or other.; 18/9/25, 1:29 am
gadfly ने कहा…: Trump, as usual, is lying about Antifa.

Antifa, short for anti-fascists, is not a structured group, but rather, a more nebulous social movement. And while it is illegal to provide “material support” to groups designated by the government as foreign terrorist organizations, there is no analogous law for domestic groups. The group doesn’t have an official leader or headquarters, but if a smattering of organized groups meet socially or otherwise to conduct anti-fascist and anti-Nazi activities, they lean neither right nor left and stand for democracy.

Who do you know who supports fascism or Nazism - other than Donald Trump?; 18/9/25, 1:33 am
buwaya ने कहा…: "a more nebulous social movement." - so was ISIS, outside of Syria. Same as Al Qaeda, outside of Afghanistan/Pakistan. Most of their global outrages were not organized by a core, but by "entrepreneurs" independently adopting the branding.; 18/9/25, 1:37 am
buwaya ने कहा…: https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/domestic-oil-production-gets-green-light-in-california-5916164

The Democratic party just surrendered on oil production/refining in CA. This is huge. Newsom is rather good at surrendering. A couple of years ago he gave in on shutting down Diablo Canyon, the last Nuke plant in CA.; 18/9/25, 1:50 am
Big Mike ने कहा…: Who do you know who supports fascism or Nazism - other than Donald Trump?

Well, Trump is a big “no,”’as in not a fascist, but you? Yeah. I see the fascism. You try to disguise it and parade about as a commie sympathize, but the fascism is never far below the surface.; 18/9/25, 1:56 am
wendybar ने कहा…: Kakistocracy said...
Disney’s ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel’s show over Charlie Kirk comments ~ FT

I'm glad Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield aren't alive during the current regime, as their humor would likely have landed them in federal prison.

9/17/25, 8:57 PM

Jimmy Kimmel is ANYTHING but humorous. He is a humorless activist for the Progressive party who spews hate and lies. Now it is time to do the same to the shrews on The View.; 18/9/25, 2:48 am
wendybar ने कहा…: Charlie Kirk

@charliekirk11
·
Follow
Jimmy Kimmel isn't funny
10:49 PM · Oct 5, 2017; 18/9/25, 3:27 am
wendybar ने कहा…: Roseanne Barr
@therealroseanne
·
5h
Yeah imagine an administration putting pressure on a television channel to fire a comedian they didn’t like.
Quote
David Frum
@davidfrum
·
9h
Replying to @davidfrum
Trying to imagine the reaction if the Biden administration had demanded that Fox fire Greg Gutfeld because he wasn't sufficiently sad about the assault on Paul Pelosi; 18/9/25, 3:29 am
Jim at ने कहा…: Trump, as usual, is lying about Antifa.

Would you rather people like me deal with Antifa? Because the last thing your friends would be worried about is some sort of designation.

Seriously, you people are just itching for trouble.; 18/9/25, 4:19 am
G. Poulin ने कहा…: Jimmy Kimmel should have been cancelled a long time ago. Just for not being funny. The length of his career was entirely due to subsidized unfunniness. Good riddance.; 18/9/25, 4:43 am
Enigma ने कहा…: @Jaq on the future impact of AI

I've been messing around with Google's AI mode to find its strengths and weaknesses. While a lot of content seems to be repackaged from Wikipedia or the top 5 academic papers you might find through a university library search, it does have genuine value.

AI can very quickly pull together basic sources and outline the most common media narratives for any topic. This is a good starting point for a critical response. After that, I look for obvious errors and call them out. Most of the time it'll search again and truly self correct, but when it can't it'll drop out a list of external references (e.g., its own search sources).

Sometimes Google AI is purely ideological, as it'll robustly defend Greta Thunberg when mentioned in conjunction with Hamas. It always goes to her climate/global warming commentary but does not integrate her Palestine activity. With an initial question it'll routinely parrot Biden-like DEI and COVID-19 talking points, but then admit to weak evidence, conflicts of interest, and contradictions when I point out specific people and events.

In sum, Google AI comes across as a "reasonable" lefty or center view but it's never ever right-of-center. It is actually less biased and more knowledgeable than many of the people I spoke to in universities. I do see a performance plateau, as these tools can never decide between options when humans are not in agreement. Ethics. Morality. Good. Bad. Trade offs. Any sort of value judgment results in listing Option A vs. B vs. C. As computers routinely get faster and cheaper and as many competitors are doing similar things, it's on course to follow the same trajectory as other technologies: Hype, crash, recovery, and sustained use. Wikipedia's authors deserve more than half the credit and profit...; 18/9/25, 4:47 am
wendybar ने कहा…: "So does Sussman believe that Bob Dylan is his father?

“I’m my mother’s son,” he said. “That’s where the story ends.”"

https://nypost.com/2025/09/17/entertainment/is-this-bob-dylans-illegitimate-son/; 18/9/25, 4:56 am
john mosby ने कहा…: Jim at: "I still have many friends on the left. They know my politics and we've been able to have civil discussions in the past. We simply don't talk about Trump."

DId you ever maneuver them into agreeing with a Trump policy that way? He is pretty left in a lot of areas: industrial program, protecting US workers' jobs, reluctance to enter wars, etc.

Kind of like when Catholic priests cite "Brother Martin of Wittemberg" instead of Martin Luther. CC, JSM; 18/9/25, 5:00 am
rhhardin ने कहा…: "See Robert Wright and Glenn Loury podcast.

That sure looks like a soap opera take to me. And the accusation of racism was worded in a particularly dishonest and cowardly way. "

They said right away it wasn't racism and Kirk was misquoted. What he did say though was uncivil, and unnecessarily. You'd expect this "nice guy" to be at least as nice as I am.

We apparently share the same view of disagreement - it's just an opportunity to rephrase what has been badly understood, not an obstacle. But you can be civil, I mean acting as if you're clearing up a disagreement.

I take ad hominem as cognitive dissonance, but it's the same opportunity to rephrase or elaborate.; 18/9/25, 5:23 am
Leland ने कहा…: Botfly as usual lies about antifa. You need only tell you search engines to look prior to 2018: https://truthout.org/articles/building-a-campus-antifascist-network/
https://www.chronicle.com/article/faculty-members-organize-to-fight-fascist-interlopers-on-campuses/
https://itsgoingdown.org/forming-an-antifa-group-a-manual/
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/the-rise-of-the-violent-left/534192/
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/09/students-free-speech-campus-protest/539673/; 18/9/25, 5:35 am
Humperdink ने कहा…: “Kakistocracy said...
Disney’s ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel’s show over Charlie Kirk comments ~ FT

I'm glad Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield aren't alive during the current regime, as their humor would likely have landed them in federal prison.“

You don’t see the difference Kak? You may just want to give it up. Go debate on Blueskee.; 18/9/25, 6:25 am
Jaq ने कहा…: "Now Finland is in NATO, from which nukes are 75 miles to Petersburg. BS for that Russian excuse."

So what you are saying is that the war that NATO provoked has paid big dividends for NATO. Finland has no army to speak of, and can be wiped off the map easily, if it comes to a real dustup, same as Latvia. Ukraine is close to Moscow, and had, at the time, the biggest army in Europe, which posed an actual threat to Moscow, unlike the tiny Latvian army.

Blinken has never denied saying that to Lavrov, BTW.; 18/9/25, 6:55 am
Jaq ने कहा…: Basically the war in Ukraine, on paper, before we started it, was intended to lead to the overthrow of Putin, and with luck, the dissolution of the Russian Federation, and to enforce bloc discipline. So Finland's tiny elite, with no consultation of the people, cut its population off from its close ties the Russian population to serve its masters in Washington. Of course Slovakia is still a problem, perhaps they remember that Stephan Bandera, hero of the Maidan movement, sent his men tho their country, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, to brutally put down a revolt against Hitlers rule.; 18/9/25, 6:59 am
Jaq ने कहा…: Before the war, Finland was not a serious target for Russia in the event of this war that those of you who nurse your blood feud with Russia seem to crave, now it is. Worked out great for its people!; 18/9/25, 7:04 am
Jaq ने कहा…: इस टिप्पणी को लेखक द्वारा हटा दिया गया है.; 18/9/25, 7:14 am
Jamie ने कहा…: Anybody following the Operation Arctic Frost situation? I think I heard a little about it on Racket News yesterday - I was only half listening - and just read the latest Coffee and COVID - and this was right after reading Turley's latest-but-one blog post in which he documents the reactions of academics to the assassination of Kirk.

In essence, my reading this morning went from said academics' tossing around language like Kak's "It's undeniable: we're watching the imposition of fascism in real time" stuff to the "revelation" of something we all knew or suspected was happening under the Biden administration: the targeting by the FBI of a shocking number (almost 100) of significant conservative organizations. Apparently one request for information was for the names of every person on Twitter who liked, retweeted, or otherwise elevated Trump's posts:

The bare subpoena numbers mask the historic scope. Just one of the subpoenas, for example, demanded Twitter turn over “all lists of Twitter users who have favorited, retweeted, mentioned, or replied to tweets posted by” President Trump’s account. I’m pretty sure everyone reading this post was on Biden’s list.

The above from https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/freeze-out-wednesday-september-17 .

Tell me again about the imposition of fascism, and how our present age resembles both Germany in the 1930s and the US in the McCarthy era. Words to conjure with, indeed! How, Kak, do you manage constantly to evade the big wet fish-slap of irony?; 18/9/25, 7:52 am
Original Mike ने कहा…: rhhardin said…"You'd expect this "nice guy" to be at least as nice as I am."

Um…; 18/9/25, 8:36 am
Big Mike ने कहा…: Google AI comes across as a "reasonable" lefty or center view but it's never ever right-of-center.

@Enigma, there’s another way in which Google AI is like a lefty — it is perfectly willing to make things up (i.e., lie).; 18/9/25, 8:36 am
buwaya ने कहा…: " Finland has no army to speak of, and can be wiped off the map easily, if it comes to a real dustup, same as Latvia."
?
Mobilized, with territorials, Finland has @200,000 men.
Russia can't raise that many post -Ukraine. Add the Swedes and Norwegians, and the mass of yhe NATO air forces which will make it impossible for Russia to mass troops. Or for any mechanized army to survive.
Ukraine had the "largest army in Europe" only if you include the reservists and untrained militia, and that is only because European countries no longer have compulsory military service. The active troops in Feb 2022 were only 169,000. Ukraine had to scramble to mobilize after it was already invaded.; 18/9/25, 8:55 am
buwaya ने कहा…: Btw, the Finns (and Swedes) begged to join NATO because they believed they were threatened by Russia. Given where they are I think their perceptions were accurate. You are going to second guess them? I am curious why you think you know better.; 18/9/25, 8:59 am
buwaya ने कहा…: Btw, I am going to California on Saturday. I am not going to Sacramento, so I will not be able to inquire into the unaccountable turn to rationality.; 18/9/25, 9:10 am
Jaq ने कहा…: I like your argument to the frog when the temp got turned up another 5 degrees:

"Hey! What are you complaining about? You didn't complain the last two times we turned up the dial? What's making you hop out now?"

As far as Russian casualties, you have been drinking too deeply at the fount of Ukrainian propaganda. Basically, and time will tell, but it looks an awful lot like Ukraine is projecting their own casualties onto Russia. The leak from Kiev military headquarters indicates that their casualties are far far larger than they have been admitting, but you keep shooing more of them to their deaths over who gets to rule over a bunch of Russian speakers who lived in Russia for centuries except between 1992 and 2014. Russian speakers that the Ukrainians hate with a passion over the purported 'Holodomor.'; 18/9/25, 9:38 am
Jaq ने कहा…: "It's undeniable: we're watching the imposition of fascism in real time"

That's true, in a sense, look at the way the Democrats operate, thugs and mobs sent to create violence at Republican rallies, then the news organizations dutifully report the violence part, and the Republican part.

Charlottesville was a psy op made violent by Democrat funded brownshirts. You don't believe in psy-ops? Well, according to the Bible, the crucification of Jesus was a psy-op, planned by God; the most effective one of all time. Do we live on some kind of magic dirt where it can't happen?

It's funny that Pelosi and Obama gutted the law against propagandizing Americans, Smith - Mundt, a law that was passed in the late 40s after seeing the harm that propaganda could do to a nation.; 18/9/25, 9:45 am
Jaq ने कहा…: The more you talk, buwaya, the more it is apparent that Russia's calculation of the threat posed by NATO is correct.; 18/9/25, 9:46 am
buwaya ने कहा…: There are vast numbers of Russians that would rather not be in Russia. A few million fled in 2022, just for starters. Thats one reason why there are so few Russians able to serve in their army. Its really quite a difference vs the available manpower in WWI and WWII.; 18/9/25, 9:48 am
buwaya ने कहा…: Europe (however defined) is vastly richer than Russia. Its militaries, even after decades of minimal spending, are still much more powerful than Russias can be. Simply a fact that I'm pointing out, as it came up in this conversation.
Russias best strategy is to renounce aggression, make peace, make no threats, and stick to economic development.; 18/9/25, 9:55 am
narciso ने कहा…: silly Frau Von Leyen, has got her self in a bear trap, Confronting Finland and Sweden makes Putin feel up there with Peter the Great,; 18/9/25, 10:26 am
Jaq ने कहा…: How many times has Western Europe invaded Russia? Napoleon and Hitler come to mind immediately, and then Russia had that one counterattack against Hitler, which was not really an invasion, since the Nazis had almost reached Moscow before they were driven back.

There is a logic to this. Russia has a relatively small population and huge resources <<- Target for invasion.

Europe has a very large population, and has to gain resources through colonialism and neocolonialism, <<-- Invaders.

How many wars has NATO fought since the fall of the USSR? How many of them were to defend Europe, and how many of them were to expand European power? What is the argument that NATO is a defensive alliance that any disinterested person, not a person who viscerally hates Russia, but a disinterested person would actually buy?

They are on the other side of the world, why do we keep moving our armies closer to them, as you have so helpfully pointed out?

If only Russia would bend the knee to the west, we would leave them alone... Ha ha ha ha ha! No, that would just be an invitation for more "color revolutions" and Russia would be divided up, and turned into the next Africa.

Why did we intervene in the Chinese civil war? Why did we prevent Mao from finishing off our puppet? Why did we fire shots from our gunships to prevent China from recovering an island that has been part of China since the Middle Ages except for the time it was occupied by Imperial Japan, which used the island to invade China and led to the deaths of millions of Chinese in WWII?; 18/9/25, 10:58 am
Jaq ने कहा…: All of these things that I am describing as "bad things" you guys think are "good things" but you just can't be honest about it, so you have to pretend that we are not the aggressors, that our targets who have stuff we want are the aggressors.

It's an old game. It's like "they don't kill our leaders because our leaders are fascist," to take one from the headlines, but "they call our leaders fascist so that they can kill them."; 18/9/25, 11:01 am
buwaya ने कहा…: Europe had cut its militaries to the bone after 1991 and right to 2022 - you may have heard Trump complaining about this. Moreover every major nation had take a pacifistic attitude. Russian claims of "fear" of European aggression are self serving justifications for its own aggression.
Russia never had to give away anything, or submit to anyone, and nobody was asking it to.
What was wrong with the status quo of 2021? Nothing. They had bought the German SPD and had bought the Euro Greens, which all were doing its bidding, clearing the way for its Natgas marketing push. The Germans were even persecuting the Poles.
Its completely stupid to buy the Russian story, it makes no sense.; 18/9/25, 11:21 am
buwaya ने कहा…: Now you're saying the Euros were plotting to do ... what? Pay Russia for more gas? That was already happening. There is zero basis for claiming the Euros were stealing Russian natural resources.; 18/9/25, 11:24 am
Rusty ने कहा…: " Finland has no army to speak of, and can be wiped off the map easily, if it comes to a real dustup, same as Latvia.""

Yeah. How did that work out for Russia last time?; 18/9/25, 11:31 am
Rusty ने कहा…: "Who do you know who supports fascism or Nazism - other than Donald Trump?"

Why. You do Gadfly. Isn't that obvious.; 18/9/25, 11:34 am
buwaya ने कहा…: Taiwan belonged to a lot of people other than the Chinese government. The Portuguese and Dutch, rebel Chinese pirates, Fukien/Hakka rebels, etc. And the Japanese for 50 years. And the local people, in 1945, would have preferred the Japanese had stayed, believe it or not.

I have a good buddy there, my MBA classmate with whom I shared an SF apartment for a year, him and his Japanese girlfriend. The family lives in Kaohsiung, and I've visited them there.

It was a refuge for non-communist Chinese, millions of people who fled there because they were going to be massacred otherwise.

You are a disingenuous fuck btw. Pretending not to know the obvious.; 18/9/25, 11:35 am
Rusty ने कहा…: Jaq

I think you have your NATO timeline jumbled up.
Those countries asked to join NATO due to Russia's adventurism Ukraine and threats elsewhere.
Remember while acitively threatening Ukraine, little green men and Shooting down an air liner Russia moved 20 divisions to their eastern European boarder. THEN they decided to join NATO.
Now maybe Putin is afraid of NATO, but back then he was dreaming of getting the former Soviet Union back together.
Incompetence and corruption are keeping that dream from him.; 18/9/25, 11:41 am
buwaya ने कहा…: " the purported 'Holodomor"
Purported?
Now its Soviet apologetics?
Its too bad I'm not Robert Conquest
"They're still talking absolute balls"; 18/9/25, 12:01 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: It's worth nothing that Jaq's repeated insistence on China's right to conquer Taiwan is utterly unAmerican. The fact that it was a part of China for most of the last few millennia doesn't matter at all. Ireland was ruled by Britain for hundreds of years, but so what? What counts is the consent of the governed. Anyone who thinks a brutal tyranny has any right to invade and conquer a free and independent neighboring country like Taiwan (or Ukraine) just because they previously owned the place is, to repeat, utterly unAmerican. If that were true, Charles III would have a right to conquer the US, if he could.; 18/9/25, 12:05 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: Is it true that Ukrainian "casualties are far far larger than they have been admitting"? No, it is not. The Ukrainian government has never given a total number of their own casualties, or even an estimate. They don't seem to think the numbers are anyone's business, and do not publish them.

As for the supposed leak, it's far more likely to be Russian propaganda, and the leaker nonexistent, like so many leakers in the US press.; 18/9/25, 12:12 pm
narciso ने कहा…: its a disaster that need not have happened, if not for whoever held the autopen,; 18/9/25, 12:23 pm
LibertarianLeisure ने कहा…: Eva Marie,
Thank you for your advice. What a great perspective to help gain one voter. Also, I do not engage in political discussions at work either,; 18/9/25, 12:30 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: "What counts is the consent of the governed."

Ethnic Russian militias had been holding off Kiev for a decade before Putin stepped in to help them. Crimea simply accepted the Russian takeover, and no such rebellion ever occurred as occurred in Donbas after the US backed coup in 2014.

If your argument about who's right in Taiwan comes down to "no true American believes your position," well, I don't think that a person who puts the interests of a regime representing a subset of the population of Ukraine, which wishes to control the whole of it out to every inch of the borders assigned to it by Hitler, Stalin, and Khrushchev, which it never yet has done, over the interests of the US is much in a position to speak about it who is being "un-American." Neither Taiwan or Ukraine are any of the US's business, yet we have made them our business, and now the world is in a mess.; 18/9/25, 12:33 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: Did Khrushchev get a "by your leave" from a single Crimean before he wrote the diktat that separated it from Russia? What's this about "consent of the governed"?; 18/9/25, 12:35 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: In fact, the Crimeans voted for independence and created the Republic of Crimea, which Ukraine annexed in 1995. Consent of the governed is a pretty funny trope for your side to be using.; 18/9/25, 12:37 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: Russians have been intervening in the Donets since 2014. It was Russian tanks and artillery that forced the Ukrainian army to retreat in 2014, and SAMs to keep Ukrainian aircraft from intervening.; 18/9/25, 12:46 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: इस टिप्पणी को लेखक द्वारा हटा दिया गया है.; 18/9/25, 12:48 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: The 'rebellion' in the Donbas was a Russian invasion from the start. Russian troops were there before Yanukovych fled the country, and one of those Russians said this - I've already quoted it on two other threads, why doesn't Jaq know this? Here it is again:

"We had expected that 20 % of the local male population would join the militia to fight against the Ukrainian army. In the end, it was only half a percent. And who were they? Homeless people, drunks, unemployed people."

The fact is that the only coups d'état in Ukraine in 2014 were the Russian seizure of Crimea at gunpoint, and the Russian seizure of parts of the Donbass, also at gunpoint. Both were led by Muscovite FSB colonel Igor Girkin, who also shot down the Korean airliner. I've mentioned him at least a dozen times. Has Jaq ever gone to the Wikipedia article on him, read it, and read some of the linked sources there? No, he has not. He doesn't want to know the truth about Ukraine.

Finally, the Zelenskyy "regime" (bigoted word) does indeed represent a "subset of the population of Ukraine": 73% is a subset, a very large subset. In fact, he represents the subset of the population of Donbas who voted to join Ukraine in 1991: 83%. Jaq thinks the one-sixth of the populatino of Donbas who would have preferred to join Russia has a right to rule over the other five-sixths, even when none of them excerpt the homeless, drunks, and unemployed are willing to fight for that right.

And he still hasn't explained why China's lust for conquest counts for more than the rights of the people of Taiwan to self-government. Not believing in self-determination is, to repeat, unAmerican. And that's actually a bit of a euphemism. Believing that stronger countries have a right to compel weaker countries to submit is downright Fascistic.; 18/9/25, 12:50 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: I was searching for a famous Robert Conquest quote, but it was really by his buddy Kingsley Amis.
On having finished a new edition of "The Great Terror", after the fall of the USSR and the opening of the Soviet archives, Amis said that he could have changed the title to "I Told You So, You Fucking Fools”.; 18/9/25, 12:55 pm
Narr ने कहा…: Looks like we're all fascists on this bus.; 18/9/25, 12:59 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: On my reading pile, a book (in English) I found in a Bilbao used bookshop, Kingsley Amis, "The Russian Girl".; 18/9/25, 1:02 pm
buwaya ने कहा…: On the basis that all modern governments are derived from the late-19th early 20th century "third way" fad, from which fascism came, yes we are all fascists now. Paul Johnson, "Modern Times".; 18/9/25, 1:05 pm
Rusty ने कहा…: I like this triptych. No intervening smoke stacks.; 18/9/25, 1:38 pm
DINKY DAU 45 ने कहा…: Baeza definitely looks like horse to beat in Pennsylvania Derby but at 2-1 morning line I will try and beat him with either Gosgar or Goal Oriented and then box those 3 in a triplei in the 10 horse field. It will be 2 -$40 exactas one way GOSGAR/GOAL ORIENTED OVER?/ BAEZA and a $20 box triple with those 3 for $120.00. If Baeza goes off at 3-1 or better it will be $60 to win and include other wagers. Race on September 20th PARX RACING. These are steps to the BREEDERS CUP coming up at DEL MAR. Winner of this race most likely heading to California.; 18/9/25, 3:08 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: Despite 14,000 casualties, the Russian militias in Donbas were still able to recruit, so that says something about consent.; 18/9/25, 4:40 pm
Jaq ने कहा…: I was told that the Ukrainians annexed The Republic of Crimea without firing a shot, so it was not by force and legitimate, “Samesies” said Putin.

None of this is our business. It’s not our business to threaten Russia on the other side of the world, and if you want to talk about how nvading sovereign countries and overthrowing their leader,the US and NATO have rap sheet a mile long.; 18/9/25, 4:46 pm
Jon Ericson ने कहा…: Care to 'Squeeze the Wheeze'?; 18/9/25, 5:18 pm
Dr Weevil ने कहा…: Yes, the Russians were still able to recruit one-half-of-one-percent of the male population, all of them "Homeless people, drunks, unemployed people". The Nazis recruited more Dutchmen and Frenchmen than that, and everyone agrees they were foreign invaders and there was no civil war.

The fact is that Crimea voted to join Ukraine in 1991 when the USSR broke up. That some of them later wanted to change their mind is irrelevant. Ukraine voted in Yanukovych (allegedly: there was massive cheating) and changed their mind after he stole billions and slaughtered dozens of people in the streets. Yet Jaq refuses to admit that his ouster had any legitimacy, though it was in fact done by the book in Parliament after he realized everyone hated him and fled the country. Why the double standard? Why is Crimea allowed to change their mind, but not Ukraine? Because Jaq's views are invariably tailored to match Putinite propaganda.; 18/9/25, 5:19 pm

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