Yes Schadenfreude is a good thing in this case.

The CCP is no longer what it was decades ago, it has morphed itself into a weird amalgamation between communism and capitalism… and seeing how it can change itself without great upheaval shows it has a lasting strength that should not be underestimated.

It’s current strategy is that of patience and time, slowly it will erode away resistant forces or laws in a territory it wants to incorporate.
For the ccp time is not a pressing factor in this period, nor are human lives and living years of their ruling populace.
They currently have what they need and what they covet is extra, there is nothing that they urgently require.

Likely the same strategy is playing out in Taiwan, already there is a big political party that wishes to tighten bonds with “the mainland”, in 5-10 years time there will be a loud voice, created through years long whispers and propaganda, to join China directly as a state-aparte … soon after, the merger will be completed and laws and freedoms will be eroded away until Taiwan is as much China as Hong Kong is now.

And, for now, it looks like the West will bow out, they will have build their own semiconductor facilities, both Europe and the US are already working on this.
Which causes Taiwan to have less value to keep under its wing at any cost.

Looking at Hong Kong, I don’t think the CCP would ever allow it to go its own way again, it is as it is with Tibet…

I also see it as an honest matter of balance … what they’re budgettary short on from not receiving anymore from the government they must fill from own means that will be deducted from outgoing federal contributions.

For example Fema is to be dismantled and states need to make their own local disaster funds, meaning less budget to go to the federal government…

Ofcourse this will be a sour pill for the maga government and they’ll use the SC to thwart it and enforce full payments to the federal government if they can get away with it.

I believe it’s only done to blame others, if there’ll be a democratic government in the next decade they’ll point and jeer “Look at how many pandemic, medical and environmental deaths there are now, while under maga we had none!”

They’ll also claim that under maga’s light rules and regulations the economy did better, cheaper cars because they can “pollute” more, cheaper food because of less restrictions on added chemicals etc.

It’s always been to shift responsibility for negative effects forward.

Next it will be a maximum allotment for tornadoes? If the count reaches 12 no more tornadoes are registered?

If they already claim for citizenship revokal now, one can imagine how bad it can get when there are actual elections coming …

“Wearables” but they forget to mention it’s about government mandated trackers in a closed ecosystem.
They will track which bad (health or otherwise) groups of people one has come in contact with and make deductions based on that.

Ofcourse it’s also extra business for the ice teams. And the deluxe wearable also tracks payments.

The European Covid tracking app back then already was very scary in its early setup … and this mandated wearable idea will be far worse.

So, let me see if I get this straight:

Books are inherently an artificial construct. If I read the books I train the A(rtificially trained)Intelligence in my skull.
Therefore the concept of me getting them through “piracy” is null and void…

Isn’t it weird that it almost feels like Iran has a better functioning democratic system than the US does?

The keyword is rebellion…

But it is not really about current protests … it is to have all lights on green when there actually IS a rebellion cooking so the response can be swift and far beyond proportions.

Interesting how you see this, I am not Jewish, nor have any ties with Israel, I even have serious doubt towards Israel as it is today compared what it was meant to be in spirit.

The greed has always been there, and will be there, look at Trump and his bungalow park … as has been the manipulation of the original tribes of the Palestinian lands, who went from small numbers to millions thanks to non indigenous people coming in, over just a few decades… None of whom came to settle there to live a happy life but had a different purpose.

But there needs to be a point where both sides’ leaders have said enough, we cannot let ourselves progress by throwing us endlessly in an ever consuming fire.
And if the leadership was not willing the population should have.
From the Palestinian side this realization never came, sacrifice has become the goal. Nor could they come to terms with the fact that Israel will never go away no more.

From Israel’s side there was still some minor terror and humans in general have an ugly spirit to attack “the other”. But inside Gaza the Palestinians could mostly fend for themselves, and were given a lot of funds from international sources, but whatever was done with it it was not used to enrich the Palestinians.
It was better for them to have build a shiny beacon that would outshine Israel …

He thinks by killing the Ayatollah it will all be over … quite naive imo.

It is so strange, according to him the US is not in this fight … but Iran has to surrender?

And then what? This is as clueless as was the “democratization” of Iraq.
If Iran surrenders, (to the US? to Israel?) what happens?

Will just the religious leadership be arrested? Tried and banished to an island near Antarctica?
Will the populace just shrug and embrace a democracy?
Will Iranians get to see peace within a year? Or will we see a second Afghanistan rise up that falls in the same pit of oppression within 10 years?
Should Iran give up all its nuclear and military material, go oil only and be a vassal state of Israel or the US?

Will there be no one anymore who gives Israel the evil eye? Or is given the evil eye by them?

Somehow I doubt if Iran would surrender or was conquered that Israel would demilitarize itself…

Nor do I think the religious caste will EVER give up their power flowing through Iran, though Qatar is vying to become a replacement nozzle.

To add to this, the Palestinian leadership, in all its “elected” forms has been incredibly toxic over all these decades.
Not just toxic towards it’s own people with murders of the common man and theft of food and funds to keep their expensive hobbies and have everybody suffer as long as the top lived in comfort, but also outward internationally.
Stabbings, bombings, murders in countries that have nothing to do with the matters at hand, all done in the name of and organized through Palestinian governmental parties under one big banner “death to Israel and israelis”. It’s almost as if a recognized Palestinian state was never the goal, and there have been multiple chances, but always the credo of “Israel must burn”.

Ofcourse this was repeatedly shown to be the influence of Iran. An Iran that is just as toxic to it’s own people and seems to carry only the message of annihilation of Israel towards the world.

In the end it is now a bit odd that the West is pressurized to recognize Palestine as a state, while in reality through all those years Palestine itself never wanted the recognition, it only wanted the eradication of Israel.

About the other side, while Israel for years was fairly “ok” to keep Gaza as a separate entity and who knows it might have let it become its own state in time, has had its soul pushed into the abhorrent actions it is performing now.
All this by its own dark half claiming to be the government suitable to respond to Palestinian terrorism. This IS a stain on the Israeli soul, and there comes a time they will recognize it as such.

I learned a long time ago that in the USA the packaging is always far greater than the content.
And it seems to apply to everything, be it political, to personal conversations (example: greeting someone with hey how are you, but actually getting an answer to that question is not interesting, just reply with “great, you?”). Or from people praising their city … but totally glossing over the very large populace of homeless living under bridges.
“We have the best medical care system in the world” … but that it’s only for the top 5% and the rest actually get to see/pay the insane bills is quickly ignored.
And in movies/television it is also very much present. So, yeah, I don’t expect much from the folks shouting about their amendments or hugging their guns under the pretense of fighting off a dictatorship…

Title of his next book:
“Bestident: From broke to $600 million in 6 months”

I only heard the name in relation to this case… Read stuff about the person but have no interest to check it out.

He’s also big on YouTube… and quite funny/original.

Isn’t it because the -frothing at the mouth- “influencer” bo loudon ‘declared’ Khaby Lame overstayed his visa already and must be arrested so bo notified the nazi’s, err regime, like a proper collaborator should?

I have not seen this information anywhere, it should be brought to attention more.

Everywhere it is “rioters ordered the waymos, they arrived empty and then were set on fire”.