[Tsundoku]

I can't stop thinking about the kids.

And how I can't do a damn thing about it.
Given my job, I can't even criticise our Govt and ask for pressure (pathetic, to be sure) to be brought against the KSA.
I have bugger all money to spare, and it's not as if they're letting NGO agencies in to distribute aid.

Why is it that the bad guys always win? Because they have all the money? Urgh, that's another moral rabbit hole.

[Gorefest]

Add Brazil to the growing list of asshole countries. Far-right has taken over there as well.

[Andorion]

 Mezla PigDog, on 28 October 2018 - 07:12 PM, said:

 Cause, on 28 October 2018 - 10:54 AM, said:

Place is a human right shit hole but we ignore it for oil and also. Because it's home to mecca. They were played a powerful hand.

It's not just the oil. For the UK at least. They are a significant contributor to our economy via arms deals and keeping BAE Systems in business. Those starving children in Yemen can feel a little better that their plight contributed so much to the UK public purse.

I met a Saudi sheikh once and his wife Christina Estrada. One of the weirdest days of my life - they were looking to invest in the business I worked for. He was an absolute arsehole. I may as well have been invisible in a boardroom containing 6 people and he spoke to his wife like shit. It was intriguing to meet someone with such an air of entitlement about them.

The money they contribute to the UK economy is at its root oil money.

The best long term strategy to counter Saudi influence? Invest heavily, and I mean super heavily in renewable energy and materials and super-conductor research. Make fossil fuels obsolete.

[Tsundoku]

Don't you just love Trump's amazing ability to either create new crises or exacerbate existing ones?

https://www.news.com...bcdcfb8b30c9f07

Everything this guy touches and I mean everything turns to shit.

I think I've discovered his pattern though - he sucks up to nuclear-armed nations and tries to bully the rest.
I honestly believe he wants a nice limited conventional war so he can look like a tough guy. Good luck on limiting this shit though.

Urgh, and he's gooing to take us all down with him. Our Prime Minister is such a weak-willed brown-noser.

We really, really need to reduce our dependence on
a. fossil fuels
b. foreign sources of a

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 25 August 2019 - 02:50 AM

[Aptorian]

What's up with the attacks on Saudi Arabia this weekend?

https://www.cnn.com/...intl/index.html

I've been listening and reading about this yesterday and today but I'm not sure what to make of it.

Like, what does Iran gain from this serious an escalation? This is skirting on WW3 scenarios.

Moreover what's up with the footage? Really small precision impacts or explosions that poke relatively small holes in the oil tanks? What kind of weapon does that?

The conspiracy theorist in me says that Saudi Arabia did this themselves.

[Maark Abbott]

 Aptorian, on 16 September 2019 - 05:43 AM, said:

Moreover what's up with the footage? Really small precision impacts or explosions that poke relatively small holes in the oil tanks? What kind of weapon does that?

20mm anti-materiel rifles. Denel NTW-20 is the first thing that I thought of. You'd use it to destroy a tank engine, or something like that.

[EmperorMagus]

 Aptorian, on 16 September 2019 - 05:43 AM, said:

What's up with the attacks on Saudi Arabia this weekend?

https://www.cnn.com/...intl/index.html

I've been listening and reading about this yesterday and today but I'm not sure what to make of it.

Like, what does Iran gain from this serious an escalation? This is skirting on WW3 scenarios.

Moreover what's up with the footage? Really small precision impacts or explosions that poke relatively small holes in the oil tanks? What kind of weapon does that?

The conspiracy theorist in me says that Saudi Arabia did this themselves.

The Iranians probably think that Trump is too chicken to do anything about this (based on his previous sabre-rattling and last minute backing off). And SA is already doing all it can short of outright war to cause damage in Iran, including funding terrorists (or oppressed minorities, depending on your POV). The Iranian government believes that a war is being waged against them by the US, Israel, and SA. They feel their existence is under threat and they want to make this war too expensive for the other side. Their main leverage is oil, so that's what they go after (both with the tankers and now this).

I find it fascinating that four years of brown people being slaughtered by their ally SA in Yemen doesn't concern the Americans, but god forbid the world oil supply be threatened. That's definitely the cue to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

[Maark Abbott]

 EmperorMagus, on 16 September 2019 - 07:34 AM, said:

 Aptorian, on 16 September 2019 - 05:43 AM, said:

What's up with the attacks on Saudi Arabia this weekend?

https://www.cnn.com/...intl/index.html

I've been listening and reading about this yesterday and today but I'm not sure what to make of it.

Like, what does Iran gain from this serious an escalation? This is skirting on WW3 scenarios.

Moreover what's up with the footage? Really small precision impacts or explosions that poke relatively small holes in the oil tanks? What kind of weapon does that?

The conspiracy theorist in me says that Saudi Arabia did this themselves.

The Iranians probably think that Trump is too chicken to do anything about this (based on his previous sabre-rattling and last minute backing off). And SA is already doing all it can short of outright war to cause damage in Iran, including funding terrorists (or oppressed minorities, depending on your POV). The Iranian government believes that a war is being waged against them by the US, Israel, and SA. They feel their existence is under threat and they want to make this war too expensive for the other side. Their main leverage is oil, so that's what they go after (both with the tankers and now this).

I find it fascinating that four years of brown people being slaughtered by their ally SA in Yemen doesn't concern the Americans, but god forbid the world oil supply be threatened. That's definitely the cue to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

Oh hey it's the plot of the game Desert Strike

[Tsundoku]

Whoa, is this true?

https://www.news.com...e9648ba213191de

Mass surrender: Thousands of Saudi soldiers ‘captured or killed’ by Houthi rebels, reports claim

If true, well ... that's torn it.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 29 September 2019 - 02:50 AM

[Aptorian]

It would be nice with a good war to distract from an impeachment process. Would be a shame if a false flag attack on US soil sprinkled little Iranian flags all over the crime scene.

[Tsundoku]

Nice to see the KSA court really dug into who ordered the killing of Khashoggi and where his body is. Oh, wait ...

https://www.news.com...9f369136613444b

Cover up, much?

[Tsundoku]

Fucking wonderful. We have people over there as well, so they'll be watching the Shi'ite militias they sometimes work around even more closely than usual.

https://www.news.com...296ccccce28218c

I can see this going to shit in so many ways, and precious few where it gets better.

[Tsundoku]

Ah shit, that's torn it.

Top Iranian military leader reportedly killed in Baghdad airstrike

https://www.news.com...a3079baef19fbf1

[Slow Ben]

Well shit.


Wag the dog....

[Abyss]

The 'best' part are the people raising Trump's old rants swearing Obama was minutes away from bombing Iran to distract Americans from how badly he was running things.

But in all respects, this is just Code Nightmare FUBAR.

[Primateus]

Though I'd rather no one dying, I don't necessarily disagree that this fella needed to be taken out.

But the thing is, there's no declaration of war. So, it smells suspiciously a lot like an assassination. And if it is, then that's a big fucking problem, because you can't just go and kill military officers from a country you're not at war with and then openly brag about it afterwards.

[amphibian]

 Primateus, on 03 January 2020 - 04:44 PM, said:

Though I'd rather no one dying, I don't necessarily disagree that this fella needed to be taken out.

But the thing is, there's no declaration of war. So, it smells suspiciously a lot like an assassination. And if it is, then that's a big fucking problem, because you can't just go and kill military officers from a country you're not at war with and then openly brag about it afterwards.

The tricky part is that the war hawks think the USA is already in a "secret war" with Iran and has been since the Iraq invasion.

Well, the USA wouldn't be even close to that if we weren't doing Saudi bidding and continuing to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. Or propping up Israeli settlers.

[Malankazooie]

There were numerous opportunities under Bush, W., and Obama to take him out. But they were presidents who actually had (and listened to) advisors and listened to military leaders about the various responses that could come from it and decided that the blowback wasn't worth the potential lives lost or the escalation that could come from it.

[Tsundoku]

Yeah, this is going about as well as I expected. Iran is a bit miffed. Maybe old mate truly was behind all the evil of the modern world, but you don't openly rocket him near an airport and then brag about it.

https://www.news.com...80ee332e5890076

"Mr Trump was vacationing on his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but sent out a tweet of an American flag."

Does that stupid orange fuck ever go to work? Yes I know he can telecommute but FFS he's always at Mar-a-Lago.
Here's a radical idea: maybe the holder of the highest office in the land should, y'know, sometimes actually ... go to the office?

[Cause]

I read somewhere that trump has spent 33% of his time at one of his properties and 20% of his days golfing.

And of course one of his attacks on Obama was he spent too much time golfing.