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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Looks like Trump is going after Yemen now, though Congress is trying to stop him this time: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/03/congress-raise-alarm-us-confrontation-yemen-houthis.html
edited 14th Apr '17 12:17:24 AM by Bat178
I suppose if you're going to start a war, it's better to start one where the other side doesn't have nukes too. North Korea's ally China has nukes, and Syria's ally Russia has nukes. Iran doesn't have nukes at the moment.
Trump is really trying to out neo-con Dubya and Cheney, isn't he?
edited 14th Apr '17 12:56:40 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedSo, I ran as a Republican. Then as a Republican, I pushed issues like lowering taxes on our lowest income earners (Hawaii taxes the working poor very heavily), a REIT tax that would require wealthy investors who are currently not paying taxes to contribute to our state funds like everyone else, a restructuring of the income tax base so that top income earners paid a little more and the middle and lower income earners paid less, etc.
I think those kinds of policies could have always fit well in the Democratic Party even though I pushed them as a Republican. It would probably help to explain that, in my world, Democrats seemed like they were speaking only for special interests and Republicans, the underdogs, had the opportunity to make meaningful changes for middle income and lower income earners. It's almost embarrassing to say now, but I really believed that the Republican Party in Hawaii could be the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt - their Republican parties always took on powerful interests and fought for the rights of the underprivileged.
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And the only big US ally near them that they could harm is Saudi Arabia, which is much, much bigger and more powerful than them and nobody really likes anyways being pretty much the Token Evil Teammate of US allies, while Syria has Israel next to it and North Korea has South Korea and Japan (Two of the most important US allies) nearby.
edited 14th Apr '17 12:51:03 AM by Bat178
You can't tell me the option isn't available.
If you mean "just" icing the reigning head of the Kim dynasty and obese god-emperor of the Norks, Kim Jong Un, killing him would at best result in Meet the New Boss, same as the old boss, and at worst, also start a war and lead us back to the other problem - the only thing worse than North Korea being there is North Korea suddenly ceasing to be there.
Basically, everyone lets the Kims have their little fiefdom because nobody wants to deal with what would happen if they took it away, and for all their bluster, the Kims are reasonably rational insofar as they wish to continue to rule their little fiefdom and know that actually starting shit would lead to the rest of the world taking their toys away.
That said, it's debatable how "rational" the current Kim in charge really is. He's done some really fucked up shit that even his late asshole grandpa and dad would find objectionable in a Pragmatic Villainy way.
edited 14th Apr '17 12:55:24 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedI continue to operate on the assumption that the current Kim would rather not get his walls caved in with a trebuchet
.
Humor aside, I'm pretty sure Kim Jong Un knows that he can't actually win a war with South Korea (plus its allies), especially if China says "fuck this shit, you're on your own, now" and would rather the rest of the world doesn't actually take his cake away, which he seems reasonably certain won't happen unless he actually starts a war. Really, the biggest worry I have is that Mango Mussolini might, through his repeated statements of disinterest in supporting our allies, embolden Kim with the idea that the US would sit out a renewed NK-SK war (though I question the ability of NK to win against even just SK alone - shell Seoul, sure, but not conquer their neighbor to the south).
edited 14th Apr '17 1:11:45 AM by Balmung
Some good news. The campaign to elect local democratic officials is working.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_58efd21de4b0bb9638e270c1/amp?ncid=APPLENEWS00001
And more good news, hundreds of Amazon employees asked the company to pull advertising from Brietbart
edited 14th Apr '17 3:56:33 AM by megaeliz
It is remarkable how after Trump's election - a win for the outspoken versions of racism, sexism and bigotry - the outspoken versions of racism, sexism and bigotry appear to be in more trouble than before. Possibly the election has convinced them to push the envelope? And other people have become more savvy about the outspoken versions of racism, sexism and bigotry?
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanFirst Trump protest in space
http://asan.space/aphrodite-1-first-protest-in-space/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=damWIvQn1Eo
(And yes, ASAN is NASA reversed, and the quote is from an an Astronaut from the last Apollo Mission)
Full quote:
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.” - Edgar Mitchell, on perception of the world as viewed from space
edited 14th Apr '17 6:22:03 AM by megaeliz
@That sign
. One small step for man. One giant flip off from mankind.
@ The local races: Great to see that energy is still there and that local races are a focus. Plus this:
She’s held two boot camps in her district so far ― The Huffington Post attended one of them in March ― and she’s already seeing tremendous payoff. Twelve Build The Bench alumni ran for local seats in this election cycle, and eight of them won. A ninth alum, Rita Ali, is currently down by one vote in her race for Peoria City Council.
“I am incredibly proud that the majority of our graduates who were on the ballot in April municipal elections won their races,” said Bustos. “If we want to be successful in the heartland, we need to connect Democratic candidates for office at all levels with the best practices, skills and expertise needed to run winning campaigns.”
To brighten the mood a little, apparently the fine folks at the Navy are already drawing up plans for the USS Donald Trump.
Majestic, isn't it?
edited 14th Apr '17 6:28:27 AM by Rationalinsanity
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

@hardcore: The adult is more dangerous to his intended target. The toddler is more dangerous to everyone else.
^^^ I mean, we pretty much knew that was going to be the case from the start. It was always obvious that Trump never gave a shit about the actual job that came with the title and power, and that he was going to shuffle as much of that as possible onto whoever he could.
edited 13th Apr '17 11:31:50 PM by Wryte