Munrock

joined 2 years ago
[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 2 months ago (4 children)

It just so happens that under Russian rule, Russian rulers will be making profit instead of Ukrainian rulers.

I think we're missing a couple of nuances here, no? Although it's a stretch to call them nuance. The way Ukrainian rulers have been making money has been through privatization. And because there's so much privatization we need to look at who owns Ukraine's economy. It's only escalated since Russia invaded, with national assets being sold off to foreign private sectors so cheaply that one has to wonder why they did it when the gains are a drop in the bucket compared to the direct aid they've been getting from Western public sectors.

If Ukraine emerges from this conflict with its own sovereignty, it'll be sovereignty over a flag, a presidential palace and a state framework that protects foreign companies' investments from hungry Ukrainians.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Russia doesn't need to do that. Burgerlanders already experience it through the magical way they render themselves blind to their government's behaviour unless it's projected onto China or Russia. Like how Trump is a Russian asset and China is turning Cuba into a staging ground for an invasion.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 3 months ago

Especially when the user experience is constantly guiding users who don't know better to do exactly that

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 4 months ago

The Democrats knew this was going to happen. There's no way they couldn't. And I don't mean Democrat supporters, many of whom were vehement that Biden was fine like so many anecdotes in this thread recount. I mean the Democrat leadership, who manage his campaign and more than likely manage his presidency. Unlike the public, they have access to him. They have his medical records, the reports of his doctors and caregivers, everything. There's no way they didn't know this would happen if he debated.

They might start seeding support for a different candidate into their supporter's discourse after this, but they will have been planning for this outcome long ago. And when a left-leaning (left from a US Overton window) news platform hosts a debate that shows him up that badly and then publishes commentary like this, you have to wonder if that caused friction with the DNC or if they assented to it.

As the party starts singling out a replacement, the question I hope people start asking is why they didn't replace Biden earlier? Did they need to wait until the urgency of imminent elections made their new candidate more palatable? And if they don't replace Biden, why are they letting Trump win?

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 4 months ago

He gives lots of reasons, but if one of them isn't "oil-producing countries are starting to escape US hegemony and your gas-guzzling motor industry is on borrowed time" then I don't think he's really appealing to the US government's interests.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Or it's a glimpse at Rom's Dengist arc

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 4 months ago (4 children)

The kicker is that Rom eventually becomes Grand Nagus and starts transforming Ferengi society.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 4 months ago (9 children)

The new HBO The Last Of Us series for example has this scene,

I love that scene. It's so authentic: hearing a white American describe his successful living arrangement as literal communism but saying it's not communism, and a black American correcting him. 100 years of Red Scare and minority struggle captured in a few lines of dialogue.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 4 months ago

That's not just research, molten salt heliostats are in active use already.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 4 months ago

How'd that work out for Australia and Gough Whitlam trying to close Pine Gap?

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It doesn't matter what the people outside China think. The people inside China - on both sides of the Taiwan strait - think Taiwan is part of China. They all call themselves Chinese except the tiny minority that speak with American accents. There are indigenous ethnic minorities on Taiwan whose ancestors were not part of China, but they didn't call themselves 'Taiwan' because that's a Chinese word.

[–] Munrock@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 5 months ago

isn’t there a single candidate that thinks more about the humans than for the money.

Yes, plenty.

Any of them that will be allowed anywhere near power?

No, none.

 

This was a lecture given to foreign teachers, in English, by Miriam Lau - former member of the Legislative Council (Hong Kong's legislative branch of government) and former member of the National People's Congress.

The context of this lecture is that teachers in Hong Kong must now pass an exam showing sufficient understanding of the National Security Laws and its implementation, in order to apply for new jobs.

Note that Miriam Lau is not a Marxist-Leninist or Communist. She's a Pro-Beijing Conservative Liberal, and a solicitor (although there were a lot of snarky liberals in the audience that had no idea who she was and just assumed she was a Commie). However, there's a lot of useful information here for debunking the accusations libs make that the NSL destroys Hong Kong's freedoms.

One thing I learned from this lecture is that the Court of Final Appeal (HK's highest court) has the power of final adjudication in HK. You can't take your case to a higher court after the CFA makes a ruling. It's like if California didn't answer to the Supreme Court, had its own "Supreme Court of California" instead, and didn't have any nationality requirements for its judges apart from the Chief Justice, with most of the judges being foreigners. Compare that to any autonomous territory in any other country.

Part 1 - The Constitution, The Basic Law, and One Country Two Systems

Part 2 - National Security Law

 

Unfortunately it didn't spawn Marx or Engels :( I think I triggered it too late. Or just unlucky.

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