04-05-2022 04:59 AM
#301
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04-05-2022 05:04 AM
#302
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So, this Craig guy got found in contempt of court for giving out info on twitter that could have led people to identify victims of sexual assault. Showed up at the police station drinking a bottle of champagne. Seems like not an attention-seeker at all. | |
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04-05-2022 06:07 AM
#303
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04-05-2022 06:12 AM
#304
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"Independent journalists do not fear their editor firing them and other consequences of truthful journalism." | |
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04-05-2022 06:40 AM
#305
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04-05-2022 06:52 AM
#306
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Last edited by Poopadoop; 04-05-2022 at 06:55 AM.
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04-05-2022 09:19 AM
#307
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Dear Lord Poopy His Most Gloriously Excellent, | |
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04-05-2022 09:58 AM
#308
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I'm quite happy for poop to call me an idiot. It only serves to weaken his position as he attempts to gain any moral or intellectual high ground. Such insults will be one way traffic and will not remotely bother me. Ignore it mojo. | |
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04-05-2022 10:05 AM
#309
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poop, you're looking at the judgement instead of the circumstance, and drawing conclusions from that. This means you're in a position of ignorance. | |
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04-05-2022 11:20 AM
#310
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Well in the first instance, I was calling you an idiot for your apparent complete lack of social intelligence by making jokes about Zelensky's reaction to mass murders of his own people by the Russians. I'm not surprised it doesn't bother you though. | |
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04-05-2022 11:34 AM
#311
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04-05-2022 11:42 AM
#312
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btw, actually reading his blog is relevant, because the accusation was the he used "jigsaw identification" to identify the accusers. Funny how those who read his blog have no idea who the accusers are. | |
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04-05-2022 11:43 AM
#313
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Give it up. | |
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04-05-2022 11:46 AM
#314
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Oh and Assange was being held in prison for a charge that Sweden dropped. So yeah, you're the one showing ignorance on this matter. | |
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04-05-2022 11:47 AM
#315
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04-05-2022 11:48 AM
#316
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I mean, you're saying it's ok to make jokes about Zelensky being an actor if it's a sarcastic reply, but it's not ok to makes jokes about him being an actor if it's a sarcastic reply to your sarcastic reply. | |
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04-05-2022 11:52 AM
#317
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But he was charged and found guilty of it. The court of appeals upheld his conviction. So either a) they know something you don't; or b) they're all toadies of the establishment. With all due respect to your investigative chops, I'm going with a) above. | |
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04-05-2022 11:53 AM
#318
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04-05-2022 11:54 AM
#319
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04-05-2022 12:18 PM
#320
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04-05-2022 02:56 PM
#321
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Maybe you should. | |
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04-05-2022 03:01 PM
#322
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The law ensuring anonymity is there to protect innocent victims of abuse from having their name dragged through the mud in public. If a woman makes a vexatious complaint, she foregoes that protection and will be named. There's nothing wrong with that system. | |
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04-05-2022 03:46 PM
#323
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I'll come back to this post when I've refreshed myself properly on the details, I'm not going through this now, but based on my memory this is not anywhere near the full story. I'd be interested to know where you're getting this from, the author of these comments presumably was in court. | |
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04-05-2022 03:48 PM
#324
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btw, there's a lot of missing context. There's evidence that there was an active plan within the SNP to ruin Salmond's reputation with sleaze claims, and that Nicola Sturgeon herself is very much neck deep in this messy situation. I'll expand on that tomorrow. | |
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04-05-2022 04:02 PM
#325
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The impression I get is that he routinely crossed the line with women. Whether that was to the point of a "serious" sexual assault or more grabby-assy kind of stuff, it's better to get him out sooner rather than later if that's how he's behaving. Unless he's a Tory who went to Eton of course, in which case sexual misconduct is obligatory. | |
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04-07-2022 12:12 PM
#326
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Whoa. | |
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04-07-2022 12:17 PM
#327
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USA are very well placed to ban Russian energy, since USA has plenty of oil and gas of their own. I think it's something like 5% of USA's energy needs imported from Russia, a figure that American energy companies can easily cover. Europe isn't quite so fortunate, there aren't that many gas reserves. | |
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04-07-2022 12:22 PM
#328
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04-13-2022 02:45 PM
#329
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Sweden and Finland reputed to be fairly certain to be heading into NATO, according to guy on the radio. | |
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04-13-2022 03:21 PM
#330
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They officially announced they will be requesting membership this summer, IIRC. | |
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04-13-2022 04:35 PM
#331
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I think this is really bad, but I hope I'm wrong. Hopefully this won't result in Russia taking preventative measures before it's allowed to happen. | |
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04-13-2022 05:26 PM
#332
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04-15-2022 08:13 AM
#333
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04-15-2022 08:17 AM
#334
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Finland and Sweden will certainly look for security guarantees for the application process which probably takes months. Aid and supplies are a given, troops/direct military involvement likely off the table. | |
04-15-2022 10:22 AM
#335
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You mean the way Russia told Ukraine not to join NATO or Russia would invade, then Ukraine didn't join NATO and Russia invaded? | |
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04-15-2022 12:07 PM
#336
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Well joining, or even just applying to join can be seen as a hostile act by Russia, there's sure to be a lot of pressure put on us during the process. Some think this is unnecessary and "we've been doing just fine being neutral". Luckily those people are fewer and fewer. | |
04-15-2022 12:11 PM
#337
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The only way I see this ending is if Putin AND his second in command go down. Usually the second in command is even more fanatical than the guy he's following. See Maduro in Venezuela | |
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04-16-2022 09:33 PM
#338
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wtf is Putin gonna do? I don't know a ton about Sweden's defensive abilities, but Finland has Switzerland levels of defensive bonus points. The only lever Putin has against the Nordic states is the same one he pulled on Ukraine. Ukraine was not anywhere near as prepared as Finland, and look how that's going. He's gonna do that again, twice, while the Ukrainian conflict is still simmering, if not raging? | |
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04-16-2022 11:59 PM
#339
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So Ukraine can't join NATO else Putin will invade. | |
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04-17-2022 01:27 AM
#340
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04-17-2022 03:58 AM
#341
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Sweden has a decent airforce and navy, enough to make things tough for Russia. They seriously lack troops though after ending mandatory conscription some years ago. Finland still has conscription, 100k active troops and something like 1M in reserve, though can't probably arm half that. We have a good amount of artillery too, 2nd largest in EU by some metrics. | |
04-17-2022 04:26 AM
#342
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It always makes me shiver to think of how many European countries still have mandatory service. If I had had to spend one or two of the best years of my life in the army during peacetime I would have not been a happy bunny. | |
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04-17-2022 12:28 PM
#343
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I completely understand your aversion to mandatory service, while I also can see that those years end up being the best years for many. That said, I think I'm pro mandatory service. | |
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04-17-2022 02:40 PM
#344
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I, on the other hand, think mandatory service is simply excellent. It is during these years that you need discipline, and the army is there for that. Plus, mandatory service means you have to be paid, so you can get on with studies later with less (OR NONE AT ALL) student loans as you will be making your own good money early. Plus, as you are in the army, they should teach you money literacy as well because you are literally a captive audience. | |
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04-17-2022 03:23 PM
#345
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I think it kind of makes sense if your country is potentially under threat from a bigger, unfriendly neighbor, like Finland for example. | |
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04-17-2022 03:41 PM
#346
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Some 18 yr olds might benefit from that, but not all of them need it, at least not on that level. | |
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04-18-2022 12:19 AM
#347
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You've taken all the worst parts of what is and criticized them as parts of what I've proposed, only I never did propose them. | |
Last edited by boost; 04-18-2022 at 12:24 AM.
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04-18-2022 12:59 AM
#348
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Yeah that's not gonna happen. Not sure what the allowance is nowadays (I served 20 years ago), but I think it's still a daily allowance equal to a pack of cigarettes. | |
04-18-2022 04:08 AM
#349
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You made some arguments for why you think mandatory service is a good thing. I gave some counterarguments. I don't see where I'm putting words in your mouth anywhere. | |
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04-18-2022 04:48 AM
#350
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04-18-2022 07:17 AM
#351
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04-18-2022 07:33 AM
#352
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If someone has a clear career path at a young age and can benefit from training and experience, then no, don't force them into national service. By school leaving age, it's obvious if someone has the talent and fitness to be a professional sports player. Sport should be an acceptable exception to national service. Opposition to military is another, you can't force people to back down against their core moral principles. That's just a shit thing for a civilised state to do. It's not civilised. So a humanitarian option, such as search and rescue training, advanced first aid, things like that, or even a community option like litter picking and park maintenance for the stupid and stubborn, so long as you're not forcing people into the army against their will and principle, or holding talented youngsters back from realistic careers, then ok. Just be civilised and modern about it. | |
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04-18-2022 02:37 PM
#353
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You know that only a small percentage of the military is fighters, right? | |
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04-18-2022 02:44 PM
#354
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AFAIK, you enter the US military as either an officer or an enlisted soldier. | |
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04-18-2022 03:54 PM
#355
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My argument is that BECAUSE they are idiots you teach them to become responsible adults in a non predatory way, while also having some national defense in case any neighboring country wants to get cute. It's not due to the fact that they are idiots then we should treat them as idiots and never teach them to become responsible adults, and therefore leaving them to be idiots ad infinitum. | |
Last edited by Jack Sawyer; 04-18-2022 at 04:01 PM.
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04-18-2022 04:11 PM
#356
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A few thoughts ... | |
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04-18-2022 04:38 PM
#357
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I mean... I know quite a few Chinese people, working in a large, expensive university like I do. | |
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04-18-2022 05:07 PM
#358
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Not sure about "almost entirely." I think there's a significant proportion of people actually doing the shooting and getting shot at. | |
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04-18-2022 05:33 PM
#359
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04-18-2022 06:16 PM
#360
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Yeah, we should stop babying our teens. Whole generations are FUBAR'd because of that shit. | |
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04-19-2022 08:59 AM
#361
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Oh? | |
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04-19-2022 12:17 PM
#362
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04-19-2022 12:21 PM
#363
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I'm making a leap here, but I feel like this position stems from "we've reached the end of history" thinking. | |
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04-19-2022 12:42 PM
#364
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04-19-2022 04:15 PM
#365
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I don't think it is relevant if the idea is to train everyone to be a "armed forces personnel", be they a rifleman, pilot, medic, clerk, drive a supply truck, guard a latrine, mechanic, cook, etc.. My point is it's a huge drain on state resources to have large numbers of people learn a bunch of skills they haven't chosen themselves and likely won't ever use again once they leave the military (again, with the caveat that I'm speaking of mandatory service in a country with secure defenses here, of which I'd probably include most if not all of the Western Hemisphere, and large asian countries like India, Japan, China, who nobody in their right mind would try to invade. | |
Last edited by Poopadoop; 04-19-2022 at 04:17 PM.
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04-19-2022 04:25 PM
#366
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04-19-2022 04:25 PM
#367
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04-19-2022 04:29 PM
#368
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So you want state-mandated compulsory self-defense training? | |
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04-19-2022 04:31 PM
#369
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In less important news than what everyone ITT thinks about mandatory service, Russia has just launched an attack on a 300 mile front in Eastern Ukraine. I really hope this stalls badly. | |
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04-19-2022 05:12 PM
#370
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Zelenskey claimed that if Ukraine had equal armaments to Russia, they'd have already won this war. That the Ukrainian forces have proven superior in training and effectiveness. | |
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04-25-2022 02:16 PM
#371
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If the numbers are remotely to be believed, Russia is losing troops and equipment at rates unseen in modern warfare. Russia is losing troops at rates not seen since WWII. | |
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04-25-2022 02:18 PM
#372
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Then there's this absolute gem. | |
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04-25-2022 02:36 PM
#373
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04-25-2022 09:16 PM
#374
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A Russian poster on a discord I'm on actually spent hours tracking down what that was. | |
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04-28-2022 01:06 AM
#375
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I'm not sure on personnel loses, but I think "guesswork" undersells the estimates on equipment losses. Equipment losses are being tallied by OSINT nerds whose methodology is there for anyone to double check. Personnel loses are probably going to be hard to gauge so long as the war is being fought, but if equipment loses are reasonably described as "stunning", then it seems reasonable to lean towards the disinfo that claims stunning personnel losses. | |
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