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Whether we saw it coming or not, it doesn't seem like anyone's actually willing to do anything meaningful about it anyway. There are what, 12 people under sanctions now? Whatever will Putin do. He's not even one of them. As far as I can tell "sanctions" amounts to the same thing as sticking a "Free Tibet" bumper sticker on your car.
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Mar 24, 2014 22:59
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Fojar38 posted:If I recall it's actually causing concrete problems for much of the Russian population as well, since if they're with a Russian bank on the sanction list then their credit cards stop working. I haven't seen anything about that but if it's true then obviously I'll revise my opinion. I'm just not convinced that sanctions against a handful of bigwigs matter much to anyone. e: Okay, well then.
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Mar 25, 2014 00:29
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Zeroisanumber posted:If Putin decides to invade Western Ukraine in spite of the fact that the US/EU response will be to collapse Russia's economy and steal all of his friends' money, I have to wonder how secure his place at the top really is. I'm highly skeptical of the deterrent value of sanctions given how well they've worked elsewhere.
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Mar 26, 2014 20:39
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Trabisnikof posted:I agree completely that this is a wake up call across Europe, I just think Ukraine probably has a few more legitimate excuses than EU nations that can afford a military. Which is a larger part of the problem as the EU tries to act jointly as a superpower but individually nations don't want the costs associated with the title. Can EU nations actually afford more military spending? Many of them are even more broke than we are for a lot of the same reasons. They already have insanely high taxes (40%+ of GDP, compared to our ~25%) and are still running deficits because of generous entitlements. I'd love to see, for instance, France raise its retirement age and put the balance into defense but last time it tried something like that people set cars on fire.
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Mar 27, 2014 18:49
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quote:Although the Pentagon has cited assurances from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that its troops along the border were sent for exercises and that they would not cross into Ukraine, U.S. officials have acknowledged concerns about continued Russian reinforcements to the area. Admiral, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
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Mar 28, 2014 18:40
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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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Zeroisanumber posted:Looks like Abbas started acting too much like the leader of a real nation with real interests and scotched the talks before Pollard got to taste any of that sweet, sweet Israeli air: Abbas ran from the talks at the earliest opportunity because he doesn't actually want a peace deal, and neither do the Palestinians. He's not willing to agree to something as basic as recognizing the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. When you insist on regular releases of prisoners and in some cases even your final bargaining position as a precursor to even coming to the table you're not negotiating in good faith.
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Apr 2, 2014 13:37
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That wasn't Kerry, that was Obama. Kerry never said anything about a red line (or at least didn't originate it), Obama did. Kerry isn't a very good secretary of state but you can't really blame everything on him, considering what he has to work with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avQKLRGRhPU
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Apr 7, 2014 20:16
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Lord Tywin posted:Would Putin really be stupid enough to go after eastern Ukraine? I doubt that his Oligarch buddies would like the consequences of that. Why would it be stupid? Who's going to stop him? There's a bit of a pattern with Russian troops sitting around holding their dicks by the border of a former Soviet state and professional troublemakers stirring poo poo up on the other side. Putin's done all sorts of things that seriously hurt Russia's oligarchs. He's not afraid of them. The ones that said anything have wound up in bad places.
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Apr 14, 2014 03:15
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Europe could probably achieve energy independence from Russia by hooking up a dynamo to Clancy's coffin right now.
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Apr 17, 2014 15:41
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Life imitates art...Mr. Nice! posted:Russia just passed a bill that banned direct election of mayors across the federation. Basically now Moscow appoints all of the mayors. I have a feeling that's just acknowledging the reality that's been around for a while?
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Apr 17, 2014 17:58
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Godholio posted:Probably took great notes, but you know...Wikipedia. I wish wikipedia were always right, then I could edit it and change reality.
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May 2, 2014 02:57
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I thought it was going to happen right before Biden visited but it didn't pan out then.
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May 3, 2014 00:57
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Are F-16s not acceptably good as air to air fighters?
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May 6, 2014 02:39
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Gonna guess it wasn't that guy with the youtube video.
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May 7, 2014 02:49
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Who is paying for his dick to get cut off?
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May 14, 2014 20:50
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Courthouse posted:The ones needing a believable cover for the Game of Thrones poo poo they did to him during interrogation? I wish.
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May 14, 2014 23:12
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Snowdens Secret posted:What kind of scrub takes a ROTC deal that doesn't include a dorm room and meal plan When I was in ROTC I turned down the scholarship because I didn't want to serve an extra 2 years and I'd already gotten one from my school anyway. I wound up leaving after I realized what an awful financial decision the Guard is if you don't have one. At least for Army ROTC, reserve/national guard contracts are 6 years drilling/2 years IRR if you're not on a scholarship and 8 years drilling if you do have one. Active duty is 3 active/5 IRR without a scholarship and 4/4 with one. Mortabis fucked around with this message at 21:01 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 20:59
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College prices are going up because demand is going up. More people are going to college; that's why you can't get a job based on your liberal arts degree anymore. It doesn't set you apart. e: actually don't really want to get into  territory
Mortabis fucked around with this message at 00:11 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 00:04
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Snowdens Secret posted:People think because schools are 'non-profit' and often public that this isn't true. They don't get what the terms mean, and they're wrong. Based on the summary I think this book gets into what I was hesitant to post about before, because it's kind of hot-button, but basically federally guaranteed student loans are a huge driver behind why so many people go to college now. There is no scrutiny over whether or not you will be able to pay your college loans back, because the feds guarantee it will be paid. That drives down interest rates and expands the availability of credit to people who otherwise wouldn't be able to get it, and that means people take out loans to pay for school that they can never pay back. And because so many people are going to school, prices are driven up, so those loans become astronomically huge. A high school student with a middling GPA and SAT scores is extended the same credit to go to a mediocre private liberal arts school to study gender studies that a top-tier student does to get a mechanical engineering degree at a good state university. The student who takes mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech is a lot more likely to pay those loans back than the gender studies student at Vassar or whatever. Mortabis fucked around with this message at 00:46 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 00:44
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And, on top of that, it's the US Government holding the bag when everyone defaults, not the banks (bailouts notwithstanding)
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May 21, 2014 06:09
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DoktorLoken posted:The difference there is the VA is an entirely government owned and run healthcare provider while Medicare/ACA stuff deal with the insurance side of the deal. I'm all for universal government run health insurance while keeping the providers, hospitals, clinics, whatever as private entities. This may be outside the scope of this thread, but I don't really agree with that; I can afford my own health insurance, and I don't see why other people should have pay for it for me. Maybe for people who can't afford it, sure. Although it's probably a better idea not to have the insurance be government-run, but rather to just give people vouchers to get their own in that case.
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May 21, 2014 17:38
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Well good thing I'm a) not a libertarian and b) was able to hack it in ROTC, then.
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May 21, 2014 17:49
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EVA BRAUN BLOWJOBS posted:That guy was grade-A retard. Telling everyone you bump into that going to prison would be better than staying with your unit is just begging them to throw something worse at you. It's telling the judges straight up "the sentence you have in mind for me is not harsh enough to punish me for my crime." He might as well have shot himself for all the opportunities he had at amnesty.
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Jun 4, 2014 01:44
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Mustang posted:Its also too bad we didn't start shooting Israeli jets out of the sky after they bombed the USS Liberty. gently caress Israel. They killed 34 Americans, how the gently caress did we tolerate that without retribution. That happened 50 years ago, it was accidental, and we've killed about that many or more Brits by bombing them by mistake so meh. If you think Israel is actually the reason people hate us in the middle east then lol. They're a convenient boogeyman that Arab countries can blame for their internal troubles. None of the Arab countries actually give two shits about the Palestinians.
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Jun 21, 2014 00:38
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Mustang posted:When was the last time Israel did anything that benefited US national interests? The first recent thing that comes to mind is destroying Syria's nuclear program in 2007, but there are plenty of other examples. quote:They're a country of 6 million and their ethnic lobby is by far the most powerful, if you criticize anything Israel does you get labeled as antisemitic. This is bad for both Israeli and American national interests. No, their "ethnic lobby" is a minor detail as to why Congress more or less unanimously supports Israel. That comes much more from the fact that by and large the American people support Israel. Which is sensible because it's the only country in the region with even a vague semblance of human rights.
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Jul 13, 2014 23:01
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Whip Slagcheek posted:An administration that's actively hostile to Israel. None of those senators are part of the administration.
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Jul 18, 2014 22:26
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