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psydude posted:Yeah WTF is up with people in the West white-knighting Putin? Strong horse Also basically all the best parts of Communism without all that troublesome egalitarian dialectic Somewhat less sarcastically, a stunning disgust with the percieved incompetency of their own leadership class. Basically same as the reasons people white-knighted Hitler or any other tinpot tyrant they can't slap the 'noble savage' label on Snowdens Secret fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Mar 30, 2014 |
# ? Mar 30, 2014 14:41 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2024 06:58 |
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Snowdens Secret posted:Oh yeah also this I really doubt Putin has any plans to invade Finland. The more likely scenario is that Putin wants to see Finland return back to its cold war status where the country was seemingly independent and neutral but Moscow still had disproportionate influence over Finland's internal politics. I don't really see that happening either unless Finland decides to leave the EU. Still, it would've been nice if we hadn't cancelled the ATACMS contract . At least the JASSM deal is still going through as planned.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 15:18 |
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orange juche posted:Edit: Much as all of the countries that border the South China Sea actually have no right to any of the body of water that is there nor the resources under it, it all belongs to China after all, according to 300+ year old maps, and furthermore Well you see, there is this line with
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 16:07 |
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psydude posted:Yeah WTF is up with people in the West white-knighting Putin? Battered wife syndrome? A jealous wish that we too could return to forgotten glories through a bit of land grabbing? Envy at Russia having a leader capable of getting poo poo done? (provided you conveniently disregard that inconvenient mass corruption and repression).
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 16:17 |
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psydude posted:Yeah WTF is up with people in the West white-knighting Putin? People suffer pretty staggering levels of cognitive dissonance in regards to political leaders. See: Obama
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 17:29 |
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go3 posted:People suffer pretty staggering levels of cognitive dissonance in regards to political leaders. See: Obama I'm honestly not trying to bait or derp. But can you provide examples? As I see it there are 2 theories; Obama has been screwed this whole time by congress and republican propaganda machine. Or Obama is a weak president and keeps going back on promises that he made during the election process.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:09 |
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psydude posted:Yeah WTF is up with people in the West white-knighting Putin? He's anti-US, so obviously he's the good guy.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:16 |
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mambo italiano posted:I'm honestly not trying to bait or derp. But can you provide examples? As I see it there are 2 theories; Obama has been screwed this whole time by congress and republican propaganda machine. Or Obama is a weak president and keeps going back on promises that he made during the election process. Depends on what you're discussing: foreign or domestic policy. On the domestic front, he's been severely hampered by a recalcitrant Republican house whose only interest from day one was destroying him and his agenda. On the foreign policy front, he's really got nobody to blame but himself.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:17 |
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psydude posted:Depends on what you're discussing: foreign or domestic policy. On the domestic front, he's been severely hampered by a recalcitrant Republican house whose only interest from day one was destroying him and his agenda. On the foreign policy front, he's really got nobody to blame but himself. Fair enough.it seemed He really lost faith with the rest of the world with the NSA spying scandal.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:26 |
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Obama is in a default position of weakness due to the instantaneous opposition any policy of his will receive from congress. The country can't manage itself at the moment, let alone intervene in international matters.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:28 |
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mambo italiano posted:Fair enough.it seemed He really lost faith with the rest of the world with the NSA spying scandal. A lot of the "rage" is manufactured by foreign governments to distract from their own scandals. Anyone involved in the computer security industry has known about the NSA's involvement in the monitoring of domestic and foreign networks since 2006. And it's common knowledge that even allied governments spy on one another, so it's safe to assume that the intelligence agencies of developed nations have been aware of some of these capabilities for quite some time.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:34 |
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psydude posted:On the domestic front, he's been severely hampered by a recalcitrant Republican house whose only interest from day one was destroying him and his agenda. There was no Republican house in 2009, or even 40 Republican senators. For his first two years in office, his opposition was other Democrats and he really only has himself to blame.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 18:48 |
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psydude posted:And it's common knowledge that even allied governments spy on one another, so it's safe to assume that the intelligence agencies of developed nations have been aware of some of these capabilities for quite some time. One could argue that (diplomatically) saying just that, instead of the "I had no idea, how could this happen, my own government is full of rogues!!!" message that was put out, would've given a much stronger sense of competence. You know if Putin got caught with his hands in the intel cookie jar, he'd be at best smirking as he uttered his obviously false apologies for not being sneakier. One could also argue that if someone hadn't sent the NSA batshit spying on domestic American citizens at a time when politicization of generally neutral agencies is sky high, none of this foreign spying stuff would've ever seen the light of day.
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# ? Mar 30, 2014 19:02 |
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Mortabis posted:There was no Republican house in 2009, or even 40 Republican senators. For his first two years in office, his opposition was other Democrats and he really only has himself to blame. Actually he did manage to get a lot of his key legislation passed during the first two years, the ACA, the ARRA, and other stimulus bills being chief among them. Snowdens Secret posted:One could also argue that if someone hadn't sent the NSA batshit spying on domestic American citizens at a time when politicization of generally neutral agencies is sky high, none of this foreign spying stuff would've ever seen the light of day. Are you trying to blame his foreign policy on George W. Bush, then? The USAPATRIOT ACT and FISA Amendments Act were both signed by Bush, and the advanced NSA spying programs (including Stuxnet and Flame) were developed under him. If you're trying to make the case that he shouldn't have allowed it to keep going, then realize that no president in history has given up the power earned by his predecessors. This doesn't absolve him, or any other president, of the blame, but nobody should have been surprised when Mr. Hope didn't give a poo poo that our spy agency was vacuuming up the entire world's internet traffic under two frameworks that made it perfectly legal.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 02:48 |
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psydude posted:Are you trying to blame his foreign policy on George W. Bush, then? The USAPATRIOT ACT and FISA Amendments Act were both signed by Bush, and the advanced NSA spying programs (including Stuxnet and Flame) were developed under him. If you're trying to make the case that he shouldn't have allowed it to keep going, then realize that no president in history has given up the power earned by his predecessors. This doesn't absolve him, or any other president, of the blame, but nobody should have been surprised when Mr. Hope didn't give a poo poo that our spy agency was vacuuming up the entire world's internet traffic under two frameworks that made it perfectly legal. Your statement about presidents (or any executive) clinging to power is absolutely true, but it comes back to bite you harder if you campaigned that hard against such things and then expand them instead. He comes off as incredibly ineffective with foreign policy (especially relative to his domestic agenda). His mouth writes a lot of checks that his rear end can't (or won't) cash. He never seems to be able to switch gears from a rhetorical standpoint from his Hope & Change Beginning Of History Progressive Messiah that served him well in two elections but doesn't click on the international stage. He also just never seems to get that even one line statements in a single interview really matter when it's coming from the president. You can't ad lib about a "red line" and then act amazed when it is perceived as firm policy and then weakness when you fail to enforce it. Maybe it goes back to the pretty obvious deficit in his public speaking when he goes off-script (or teleprompter). That's not a fatal flaw per se unless you engage in a lot of interviews and press conferences on hard topics outside of the (generally amicable) White House press corps. I'm no GWB fan, believe me. But his dick-swinging cowboy routine was at least credible in the sense that you actually believed it when he said he'd use military force if you didn't get in line. Obama also wasn't helped by all the hype culminating in the Nobel Peace Prize for not being Bush. There was no way he was going to live up to it.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 03:52 |
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apparently the koreas are taking potshots at each other again http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26815041
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 05:46 |
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FIDEL CASHFLOW posted:apparently the koreas are taking potshots at each other again quote:The latest incident comes days after North Korea test-fired two medium-range Nodong missiles over the sea, its first such launch since 2009.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 06:01 |
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They are both shooting artillery into the sea. The fish are the true victims of this war.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 06:26 |
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ded posted:They are both shooting artillery into the sea. The fish are the true victims of this war. Should float greenpeace out there into the disputed waters between South Korea and best Korea, IMO.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 06:31 |
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FIDEL CASHFLOW posted:apparently the koreas are taking potshots at each other again That poo poo didn't even get a rise out of these mogoloid ADA dudes, call me when we've at least achieved a chubby.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 09:31 |
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Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:
Oh, best Korea. Never change.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 12:42 |
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orange juche posted:Should float greenpeace out there into the disputed waters between South Korea and best Korea, IMO. I'm pretty sure you can convince a boat full of them to head out and protest. And while only a boat full, at least its a start.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 16:36 |
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psydude posted:Actually he did manage to get a lot of his key legislation passed during the first two years, the ACA, the ARRA, and other stimulus bills being chief among them. That stuff wasn't exactly smooth even within his own party. Obama's 'Hope and Change' gimmick notwithstanding, his domestic agenda wasn't helped by people grossly overestimating what power a former one-term junior Senator was going to have with Congress. The same people also misunderstood that the 2008 election wasn't a mandate for the Democrats to govern, only that the Republicans had to go.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 16:44 |
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go3 posted:That stuff wasn't exactly smooth even within his own party. Obama's 'Hope and Change' gimmick notwithstanding, his domestic agenda wasn't helped by people grossly overestimating what power a former one-term junior Senator was going to have with Congress. The same people also misunderstood that the 2008 election wasn't a mandate for the Democrats to govern, only that the Republicans had to go. Beating the Republicans in 2008 after Bush is as impressive as getting a girl to talk to you in a strip club while wearing a sports coat made of $100 bills.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 18:02 |
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go3 posted:That stuff wasn't exactly smooth even within his own party. Obama's 'Hope and Change' gimmick notwithstanding, his domestic agenda wasn't helped by people grossly overestimating what power a former one-term junior Senator was going to have with Congress. The same people also misunderstood that the 2008 election wasn't a mandate for the Democrats to govern, only that the Republicans had to go. Honestly, I think most people who bought into the Hope and Change™ shtick didn't realize that the president is extremely limited with what he can and can't do. EDIT: In other news, CNN reporting that Putin's pulling back some troops from the Ukraine border. BigDave fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Mar 31, 2014 |
# ? Mar 31, 2014 19:02 |
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Aaaaand now he's a good guy.
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# ? Mar 31, 2014 19:36 |
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Well screw this...apparently Obamas going to give Pollard to the Israelis....for vague promises...which they're never going to never follow. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/world/middleeast/jonathan-pollard.html?google_editors_picks=true&_r=0
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 12:45 |
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gfanikf posted:Well screw this...apparently Obamas going to give Pollard to the Israelis....for vague promises...which they're never going to never follow. To bad we can take him back when the Israelies don't follow through.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 14:52 |
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The Ape of Naples posted:To bad we can take him back when the Israelies don't follow through. Yeah, and for such low hanging goddamn fruit. rear end in a top hat originally tried selling secrets to three other countries before the Israelis and the Israelis apparently passed his stuff along to the Soviets too. As a American Jew, his cause celebre status drives me up a goddamn wall, especially when other Jewish Americans push it.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 14:57 |
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Pollard is up for parole next year anyway and would be likely to be granted it (his health is bad.) I see no reason to trade him now.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:16 |
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Snowdens Secret posted:Pollard is up for parole next year anyway and would be likely to be granted it (his health is bad.) I see no reason to trade him now. Agreed. I don't understand why or who thought this was a good idea. I talked to a friend who used to be in State and she was pretty floored (she hadn't read the reports yet) that it was even being considered. Pollard in the past has been enough to get officials to threaten resignation when there were talks of releasing him at various points.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:34 |
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Hopefully there isn't some queer/weabo lobby in 10 years time to advocate for the Mannings and Snowdens off the world.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:45 |
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Casimir Radon posted:Hopefully there isn't some queer/weabo lobby in 10 years time to advocate for the Mannings and Snowdens off the world. That already exists and is called tumblr/twitter
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:46 |
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Booblord Zagats posted:That already exists and is called
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:47 |
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Casimir Radon posted:Hopefully there isn't some queer/weabo lobby in 10 years time to advocate for the Mannings and Snowdens off the world. Too late.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:47 |
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South Korea found a drone near their sea border with the Northquote:A local resident found the drone on Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on Monday, when the two Koreas traded hundreds of rounds of artillery fire in the area, defense ministry spokesman Kwon Ki-hyeon said.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 15:51 |
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Monster kill: http://n.pr/1fK4D6D E: thanks oj, phone postin sucks FIDEL CASHFLOW fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Apr 1, 2014 |
# ? Apr 1, 2014 18:20 |
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FIDEL CASHFLOW posted:Monster kill: quote:Lt. Col. Richard Slack, the marksman's commanding officer, tells the Telegraph that the bullet apparently set off explosives in a vest that the targeted man was wearing. Or, perhaps the man fell on the trigger. this owns orange juche fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Apr 1, 2014 |
# ? Apr 1, 2014 18:31 |
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orange juche posted:this owns
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 18:42 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2024 06:58 |
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orange juche posted:this owns Also I came across a pretty detailed article in GQ about the Bastion attack...interesting reading.
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# ? Apr 1, 2014 18:49 |