I don’t think anyone in Taiwan expects any of their “allies” to come to their aid in the event of war - certainly not the U.S.
The Chinese, however, know how important semiconductor production in Taiwan (TSMC, etc.) is for their own economy. Someone like that orange moron is also currently demonstrating just how unwise it is to try to enforce one’s interests through brute force. I don’t think the Chinese are unaware of this and will likely stick to their usual posturing.
If it were possible, the most greedy would still pounce on it: This was already the case in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Spanish, in particular, imported so much silver from “the New World” that prices in Europe plummeted, leading to massive inflation due to higher prices for goods. Throughout history, there are many, many more examples
But hey, with gold in vast quantities, many goods would become significantly cheaper, because unlike cryptocurrencies, the material has many, very important uses.
Sand dan Glokta from the First Law series of gritty fantasy novels by Joe Abercrombie.
He is a crippled, razor-tongued former war hero turned inquisitor: physically ruined by torture but mentally sharp, cynical, and ruthlessly pragmatic.
The thing is, he didn’t rape aliens - he raped children. He just wants you to go along with the story about imaginary aliens so he can get off scot-free - which he does.
Why pay any attention to the ramblings of a pedophile and violent criminal?
If you don’t do that, all that remains are his actions - and that is what we should be talking about.
Have you ever seen the presentations by Boston Dynamics and the like? The biggest contracts for just about every robotics company probably come from the military. It probably won’t be long before war looks like it does in Terminator 2 - let’s just hope Skynet takes a while to show up, given all the AI stuff governments are already using for their military campaigns…
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Yep, unfortunately: A shocking number of people that I meet seem to think that jumping on every trend - no matter how ridiculous - is what sets them apart. But of course, that only applies to those who don’t have a clue about anything. It seems especially important to them to appear “modern,” and unfortunately, they don’t even realize how ridiculous that is. You probably know the type: the kind of people who post the most superficial nonsense on LinkedIn day in and day out.
I unfortunately have to deal with people like that a lot; it’s especially widespread among executives and so-called decision-makers. They see some tech trend and get so excited about it that they think they’re the most innovative geniuses of all, just because they can type a prompt into an LLM.
It’s a real shame that so many are so unreflective. At any rate, that’s often my impression when interacting with my clients.
Unfortunately, the German federal government also wants to implement this nationwide - those wretched traitors to the people.
I very much doubt that the spines are even legible (even if they were, there would be nothing to hide).
It’s just that people in the field I work in mostly think books are outdated, which is of course complete nonsense, but somehow that’s how they define themselves.
I have bookshelves behind my desk. When I’m on video calls from my home office, I’ve gotten into the habit of using Blur or some other background filter, because people always give me that weird look when they see books in the background. And I’m not even that old…
The name suggests as much, but given recent events, you might want to play it safe and go see a doctor to get tested for the hentai virus - you never know; could be a symptom…
It’s almost unbelievable. All it took was nearly 170,000 signatures from concerned citizens.
It’s just a shame that the German federal government doesn’t care at all about its citizens and continues to use this fascist platform. But hey, what can you really expect from them…
I’ve always found tattoos a bit strange. Not that they bother me in any way - quite the contrary - I just could never really understand why someone would get a name, a quote, a picture, or whatever permanently inked on their skin.
And when I’m bombed out, I’m either tired or drunk.
In this case, too, all those responsible will get off scot-free. This case demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that the U.S. legal system is so corrupt that it not only fails to serve its purpose but, on the contrary, is systematically exploited to enable the most serious crimes in the first place.
The Epstein case is just one particularly repugnant example of this, as the regime’s blatant enrichment through corruption and its countless crimes also make abundantly clear.
Nothing will change in this regard until U.S. citizens rise up and demand justice.
Unfortunately, I’m not so sure about that, because in Germany virtually every established party across the entire political spectrum still stands behind Israel.
There’s even a term for it: “Staatsräson,” which refers to Germany’s historical responsibility toward the victims of the Holocaust. Absurdly enough, it is precisely this historical responsibility that is being invoked to support Israel’s genocide, rather than to prevent it by any means necessary.
In my view, the public by no means supports the blatant abuse of this so-called “Staatsräson” by established politicians, who obviously don’t do so out of any (misguided) sense of morality.
But we’ll see - they might cave in quickly if other EU countries exert pressure, as they rightly should.
Nevertheless: Especially in Germany, the Israel lobby is unfortunately very strong - so strong, in fact, that despite the atrocities and inhuman crimes of this state, there are still many, particularly influential people who are not ashamed to continue standing up for these monsters.
I hope for the best, but I’m not quite that optimistic.
The U.S. system as it has always been.