Tocky on 30/6/2020 at 23:51
Shocked. SHOCKED I SAY that there could be gambling going on in this establishment! Here are your winnings, Sir. Oh thank you.
Nicker on 1/7/2020 at 04:31
AdminShock2 - When a rogue AI (Artificial Imbecile) threatens to destroy the world, it's up to you to stop it, using only social media and antiquated bulletin boards.
Nicker on 1/7/2020 at 05:39
Soooooo... Trump knew that Russia was offering bounties to the Taliban, for killing American soldiers and he did nothing about it. Well not nothing but nothing appropriate. He has been hob-knobbing with Vlad, phone chats on the hotline, and trying to wrangle him a seat at the next G7+1. Our Prime Minister had to speak up for the Continent and say, No, Mr. Putin, you are not invited.
No real categorical response from Trump and dead silence from the GOP.
Nothing here either. Sooooooooo..... are you all crypto-republicans? Did the moral black-hole that is Donald Trump lure you to its swampy event horizon?
demagogue on 1/7/2020 at 06:49
Me and TTKG12something-something brought it up.
At this point, I probably wouldn't even raise an eyebrow if Trump himself proposed the idea of putting bounties on our soldiers if it could make him a deal. Not seriously, but I do believe it started right after their long phone talks together, and if so, I have to imagine they're connected in some way.
zombe on 1/7/2020 at 10:32
Is it just me or ... the twitter images from Starker never show (not even a broken image icon, just nothing shows - can only view them by extracting the link manually from the post).
nemyax on 1/7/2020 at 10:56
Quote Posted by Nicker
Trump knew that Russia was offering bounties to the Taliban, for killing American soldiers and he did nothing about it. Well not nothing but nothing appropriate.
What would you suggest he do? His sanctions have been pretty uncomfortable for the Kremlin so far.
Starker on 1/7/2020 at 11:34
Quote Posted by zombe
Is it just me or ... the twitter images from Starker never show (not even a broken image icon, just nothing shows - can only view them by extracting the link manually from the post).
No idea what's going on. I tried opening the page with different browsers and it's showing up in several types of Chrome and Firefox. I'll try to use more images from imgur from now on (usually, I do a reverse search on images and try to select one that wouldn't blow the page up too much and a lot of those seem to be on Twitter, unfortunately).
Quote Posted by nemyax
What would you suggest he do? His sanctions have been pretty uncomfortable for the Kremlin so far.
You mean (
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions/trump-administration-holds-off-on-new-russia-sanctions-despite-law-idUSKBN1FI2V7) the sanctions he has dragged his feet on implementing and even failed to implement at all? Or (
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/us-lifts-sanctions-oleg-deripaska-russia) the ones that he has lifted? In any case, there is a range of options, ranging from mild to extreme...
Diplomatic: put out a statement at the very least, seek out allies to support you, send out diplomats
Legal: indict the officers behind the operation
Economic: sanction people and businesses related to this operation, maybe target Putin's massive wealth directly
Extrajudicial: engage in the kind of asymmetric warfare that Russia is doing and assassinate the people paying the bounties
demagogue on 1/7/2020 at 12:19
Have the people & policy-making apparatus of the US recognize that Russia under Putin is actively belligerent to the US. To say we're already in asymmetrical war with each other, with one side not even realizing it, might be a good way to put it. And unlike China, it's not like we even need access to Russia's markets or anything else they could possible offer.
(I think other Western countries had already gotten the memo a while ago, like the UK when Russia attacked its agents, if they weren't already there.)
I've read some articles that Putin's star is allegedly fading quickly. Maybe that's been said before and came to nothing. Anyway, in this case I think the whole dynamic is very top-down and driven just by Putin, so if he stepped down, that by itself could change the situation quickly, depending on how much of Putinism lives on after he's gone.
Speaking of which, I think I mentioned before why it's so important Trump gets prosecuted so Trumpism doesn't survive in GOP thinking after his term. I could care less about him the person, but I think it's important institutionally.
nemyax on 1/7/2020 at 12:50
Quote Posted by demagogue
I've read some articles that Putin's star is allegedly fading quickly. Maybe that's been said before and came to nothing.
It won't ever come to anything, no matter how faded the star. You have to understand what Russia really is. It's a bunch of archaic scumbags with old nukes at the top and a spineless brainwashed population with collective delusions of grandeur at the bottom. That's all there is to it.
Quote Posted by demagogue
if he stepped down, that by itself could change the situation quickly
He won't step down. There are only two possible scenarios: he either dies or gets ousted by his own clique (and probably dies, but that won't matter anymore). The most likely circumstances for scenario 2 is if oil prices stabilise at about $10 for a few months. You'll be surprised how abruptly this unique fucking snowflake can get a replacement.
But even so, nothing will really change, at least not quickly. It's largely been that way for the past 500 years or more.
