Europe under extreme duress

[RHINOWSO]

Having just completed my annual mandatory counterintelligence training a few weeks ago, I am saying that we put them in the ideal situation to be a target for foreign intelligence. Economic distress, disgruntled, hated by their country, including people like you,something valuable to sell.

I understand the dynamics, but it sounds like people who should have never had a clearance in the first place.

 

[taxi1]

I understand the dynamics, but it sounds like people who should have never had a clearance in the first place.

That makes zero sense.

 

[Flash]

Russia is an adversary in decline, one that now has minimal impact on the US and can be handled by a European Union that has 4 times the population and 20 times the GDP - but a European Union that would rather spend limited money on their own citizens and rely on the US to pay for everything. We have $40 Trillion in debt, interest on that debt now exceeds our defense budget and a retirement crisis is looming - we must prioritize....The rabid focus on Russia and the unconcern with China is a major misplace of priorities. Russia and China have their own history of conflict that should be triangulated, not welded together.

I dunno, maybe we should raise our taxes to actually pay for what we spend our money on instead of cutting them over and over with the benefit going almost entirely those who least need it?

And where do you get there is 'unconcern with China'? That is certainly not the case with the military, as it is by far and away the largest priority right now.

This is much less due to Putin and much more due to Russia’s perception of their national security concerns. I don’t see anything different that Putin is doing that Catherine the Great or Ivan the Terrible wouldn’t recognize- this is simply a continuation of a millennia of Russian- Ukrainian conflict.

No, it is well documented that this war is largely due to Putin's fixation on Ukraine and is likely part of a grander plan to restore the Russian [Soviet] empire to its former glory, at least according to Putin. To put it simply, without Putin the Russia-Ukraine war would have likely not happened.

Unfortunately for some of his public appearances and statements, Musk on the spectrum and does weird stuff / talks in weird ways...And Musk has done far more for humanity as a whole than the entire leftist movement.

Being on the spectrum doesn't excuse one from being a racist or throwing out the Nazi salute at the President's inauguration. As for him doing 'far more for humanity' than the 'leftist movement', it would depend on what you would call the 'leftist movement'. Many of rights today enjoyed by all originated from and were a result of action by the 'left'.

I'm sure you see the cultural enrichment France is enjoying from their immigrants today. I'm sure that kind of thing is fine with you.

Are they immigrants though? How could you tell?

 

[RHINOWSO]

I wonder why the Leftists in America haven't been rioting this summer / fall. I guess that sweet NGO money dried up that the old Billionaire George Soros and his spawn were funneling through... or maybe the D's finally realized that "defund the police" and supporting violent rioters is just a losing strategy...?

But I guess the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the new hotness all the young leftists are swearing allegiance to. Because Socialism / Communism has been so wildly successful... I know I know, it'll be 'different' this time....

And back on the topic of Europe, aren't most of those "Successful Democracies" always touted as having these wonderful "Socialist" benefits...?

So why are these people rioting when those countries are so successful...?!?!?

I know, Donald Drumpfh is evil and caused all of their problems...!

 

[RHINOWSO]

I dunno, maybe we should raise our taxes to actually pay for what we spend our money on instead of cutting them over and over with the benefit going almost entirely those who least need it?

True leftist, "raise taxes".

Ah, no.

 

[Randy Daytona]

I wonder why the Leftists in America haven't been rioting this summer / fall. I guess that sweet NGO money dried up that the old Billionaire George Soros and his spawn were funneling through... or maybe the D's finally realized that "defund the police" and supporting violent rioters is just a losing strategy...?

But I guess the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the new hotness all the young leftists are swearing allegiance to. Because Socialism / Communism has been so wildly successful... I know I know, it'll be 'different' this time....

And back on the topic of Europe, aren't most of those "Successful Democracies" always touted as having these wonderful "Socialist" benefits...?

So why are these people rioting when those countries are so successful...?!?!?

I know, Donald Drumpfh is evil and caused all of their problems...!

Watching the extensive riots in France, their next election in April 2027 could end up with far left Jean-Luc Melenchon and hard right Marine Le Pen to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (France has a 2 round election process)

 

[ChuckMK23]

I dislike, dislike with extreme prejudice the shade being thrown on Canada by elected and appointed officials. I work in a organization full of proud Canadian allies who are amazing and keep us safe and protected every day.

to whit - it was with heartfelt approval that this appeared in my inbox today - in my official US Government inbox.

 

[taxi1]

Watching the extensive riots in France, their next election in April 2027 could end up with far left Jean-Luc Melenchon and hard right Marine Le Pen to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron. (France has a 2 round election process)

Much easier to just gerrymander your way to this point.

 

[Flash]

I wonder why the Leftists in America haven't been rioting this summer / fall. I guess that sweet NGO money dried up that the old Billionaire George Soros and his spawn were funneling through... or maybe the D's finally realized that "defund the police" and supporting violent rioters is just a losing strategy...?

Really? People need to be paid to protest? Not because they actually believe in something? Who the heck paid those fine folks on January 6, 2021 then? Or were they different, true Beliebers?

True leftist, "raise taxes".

Ah, no.

Got another solution for our debt? DOGE did their worst last year and our debt was higher than ever. What cuts come next? Defense, Medicaid or Medicare? Either we cut or we finally start paying it.

 

[RHINOWSO]

Much easier to just gerrymander your way to this point.

The left loves to gerrymander, the right just stopped playing nice.

 

[RHINOWSO]

Really? People need to be paid to protest? Not because they actually believe in something? Who the heck paid those fine folks on January 6, 2021 then? Or were they different, true Beliebers?

Are you one who clutches to their pearls and thinks that Jan 6th was a true insurrection that could have toppled democracy, that it's as bad as 9-11 or the Holocaust?

Yeah, it was a riot with some nice nudges by the Feds and their informants.

Compared to the "somewhat fiery but mostly peaceful" riots across the "summer of love", it wasn't much - we all know the intent was to let it happen to impeach Trump / jail Trump to keep him out of office forever. Didn't work, so they kept at it with law fare.

Got another solution for our debt? DOGE did their worst last year and our debt was higher than ever. What cuts come next? Defense, Medicaid or Medicare? Either we cut or we finally start paying it.

At this point, probably not. Let the beast fail under it's own weight before giving the USG more money to piss into the wind on NGOs.

 

[taxi1]

The left loves to gerrymander, the right just stopped playing nice.

Lol

 

[taxi1]

Here’s another reason to think of Elon Musk, your ultimate unelected bureaucrat, as an absolute piece of shit. Gift article from the WSJ.

https://www.wsj.com/world/ukraine-starlink-elon-musk-trump-dbc49193?st=qxPeT4

Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine

WASHINGTON—Elon Musk ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine, a decision that sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said.

…Some U.S. officials say that Musk acted unilaterally and that Trump didn’t specifically order any retribution against Ukraine. But a person familiar with the situation said Musk talked to multiple senior administration officials, including with Trump, before imposing the new speed cap, which Ukrainian officials said had allowed Russian missiles to evade their defenses.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Lol

When you run the numbers in the large states (for example, 10 congressional seats or more), which states do you think have the highest delta between percentage of popular votes for a party and the number of gerrymandered seats they capture? It was an interesting exercise.

Wonder if this nation will ever move from single member districts to proportional representation.

 

[taxi1]

When you run the numbers in the large states (for example, 10 congressional seats or more), which states do you think have the highest delta between percentage of popular votes for a party and the number of gerrymandered seats they capture? It was an interesting exercise.

My lol was for the poster saying the only reason we did it is because they did it. Yeah, right.

Even the argument that gerrymandering hasn’t resulted in an overall disproportionate distribution to the Democrats or Republicans…it still results in extremists on both sides getting elected instead of Centrists.

Wonder if this nation will ever move from single member districts to proportional representation.

I think we would be OK if the districts were reasonably geographically centralized. When you look at Gerrymandered Maps, it takes a lot of work to create those distorted districts.