Yeah, he should have said mad max looking trucks. Because that's where we actually are with this nightmare.

Oh god how stupid. China has built an entire transhipment network. China was never going to pay those tariffs anyway. Instead, US companies that desperately tried to follow the rules are still stuck shipping from China. So what happens next? US companies will now have to beg China access to these networks. You thought Tik Tok was a national security issue? When all your goods and services imports are controlled by China...

Worse the canceling of the deminis clause was only against China and HK. But both those companies have transhipment logistics networks across the globe. We are about to see millions of packages a month from dozens if not a hundred different countries. They're asking for China to unleash what it's spent the past 5 years building up.

The Trump government doesn't understand. US previous actions created this. Perhaps if they did this immediately, China couldn't respond. But China has been courting the global south for decades to set up a resilient logistics network for literally this reason. If you ever wondered what BRI is about, well your about to find out.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha. USA tried. It failed so hilariously bad that they're now actively protesting against new rail. There's this crazy thing, rail needs to be near places people actually want to go. But those places have NIMBY voters, so populated areas won't get rail. Instead they go to empty parking garages near malls. And then shocker, no one rides. It's so bad in Denver that they're using them as a case study to prevent expansion in Utah.

https://www.denverpost.com/2024/12/08/uinta-basin-railway-case-supreme-court-arguments-colorado-river/

I am about to share way way too much. So I figure I must be fairly attractive for a male, though I don't consider myself all that attractive. I have been hit on by both women and gay men. Most men on this planet have not, from either.

Here's the thing that women don't get. Even for someone like me it's few and far between. Like once a decade rare. And the few times it has happened, it did feel pretty good.

Imagine pining for that. I'm in a happy marriage, but I could imagine how lonely it would be to never have it happen ever.

So the saddest thing about her response that a straight man is jealous of the attention a 23 year old woman gets truly shows her ignorance. Because, many men would want that. Even if it's just to get a compliment once.

It's a sad world we live in.

And the US becoming a petrostate is hurting this massively. It's why even the Saudis are now looking to do transactions in local currencies. I'm not sure where all this is headed, but USA weird and sudden shift to independent energy is damaging relationships more than Russia ever could.

OK but again to be clear, you're opposed to the bill?

Just to be clear then, you're opposed to this bill passing?

Well the question isn't about taking China seriously, but admitting that China was right in the first place. US's argument is that China can spread disinformation on Tik Tok, which is exactly what China was saying about Facebook etc... So, China, which doesn't have freedom of speech banned those sites for promoting foreign interests. US is now trying to do exactly the same to Tik Tok.

IF you accept USA's argument here, then you implicitly accept China's argument since they're the same argument. So, again, it doesn't matter what China says, what matters is what you just said:

It’s kind of hard to take their criticism seriously when western sites and apps like the BBC or Instagram are blocked in China.

So there by admitting, China was right, countries SHOULD block foreign influence.

*Edit: Man the timing of this article

https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/politics/exclusive-trump-launched-cia-covert-influence-operation-against-china/ar-BB1jSnFz

Like I said, China seems to be right here.

Not that I am OK with how China is dealing with these things, but this is not exactly an LGBTQ+ issue. As per the article, the reasons for the arrests are kidnapping, not any law against being gay. In fact, China has essentially civil unions for gay people who want to be in a recognized relationship.

Ironically, in this case, it's not a government problem but a societal one. The older generation is very conservative. They set the tone for a lot of censorship. So while your free to be gay or whatever, you can't talk about it or make media about it. This is to not offend the older generation.

The older generation can inflict immense damage on their children as the article points out. If you disobey your elders like your parents, the police will tend to favor the elders as we see in this article.

As a cultural issue, this has kind of been the case since Confucius times. China is kind of famous for over controlling and overbearing parents. And in this case, the government backs them even if the official policy is to let them be. For example in 2017 China ruled that gay conversion camps illegal. Yet the problem still persists in 2019.

Of course as per usual, when the government doesn't know what to do, it tries to censor everything and hopes it goes away on its own.

Like I said, not OK with it, but we should all be aware what it is and be aware of biased reporting from the news.

Because things aren't black and white and reality is all sorts of shades of gray. Most Taiwanese don't care one way or the other, they just want to live in peace. You constantly see this in the polls and the votes. If the Taiwanese people's priority was independence, then the vote wouldn't be so split. This is the reason the DPP hasn't declared independence, it's simply not what most Taiwanese people want.

Surprisingly, most Taiwanese are interested in their own well being. This is why the KMT won so many seats last election. This is why Tsai is stepping down. When they threaten Taiwanese people's well being, shockingly the Taiwanese vote against them. Again, they neither want independence nor submission to China.

Thus, we see the votes EXACTLY AS WE WOULD EXPECT CONSIDERING THE SITUATION. They keep splitting the parties so neither side can make a declaration one way or the other.

As an outside observer, I ask one simple question. Why is it so hard for you to realize that what I said is the truth and not what western media parrots. Why do you believe the black and white issues that your propaganda keeps claiming even in the face of irrefutable evidence.

I hate to tell you this, we won't learn a god damn thing. Humanity forgets it's atrocities as quickly as a generation passes. We do not learn the lessons of our fathers anymore. All we see are repeats after the old have passed on.

I would say high. It appears Progozian is saying this is all Shoigu's fault and Putin needs to replace him with Progozian. I imagine they'll use this as an excuse to retreat from Ukraine and sacrifice Shoigu as the reason for the invasion.

Honestly, if this gives the Ukrainian's their land back and peace I'm all for it. I care less about the evil of the world getting their cumuppance rather than the innocent getting to live happily.