As I write this, NBC is reporting the US has just launched a volley of Tomahawk missiles against Syria, aimed at a single airfield. Things are developing quickly. Here’s an open thread to discuss.
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We Hunted The MammothBucking the Backlash
[Dave, I will have a different IP address for this comment. I’m not at home right now.]
I called both my Senators and my Rep about Syria. I called about the nuclear option, Trumpcare, LIHEAP, the NIH, an Independent Commission into Trump/Russia, and Manufacturing programs at the same time.
@Dallillama:
I’m getting to a point where I’m understanding the psychology of Ulysses, an omnicidal maniac from Fallout: New Vegas. Where there’s a part of my brain half-hoping this does turn into a nuclear conflict that wipes the United States from the map. I’m getting to a point where I have no faith in the concept of political reform as it applies to the USA, and I honestly can’t goddamn tell if I’m projecting my occasional self-injurious bouts onto the country or if I’m on to something here.
Nationalism is bad, war is bad, fascist bullshit is bad…but losing hope that they can be defeated without hundreds of millions of deaths and irreversible damage to the world? That’s just grinding me down right now. That’s what’s bothering me about this, in addition to the real-world bullshit the imperialist nightmare my birth country is choosing to be.
This isn’t me realizing that nationalism is bad. I’ve realized nationalism is terrible since I really got to experiment with and explore the concept in the Fallout series. This is just…losing faith. I’ve always sort of believed that with education and some dashing heroics, your average person would not only do the right thing but pressure others to do the right thing. I’m really beginning to be forced to consider that I might be wrong now.
This is me going from “Fuck countries” to “Fuck humanity”. Ugh. I wish my insurance covered depression meds.
And yeah, that’s a great quote <3 And super true. Wars of extermination only happen if nationalism or patriotism of some sort is involved. Two groups that meet each other and can't get along aren't likely to conduct some kind of organized "war" if there isn't a strong sense that the other group must be destroyed.
UPDATE
– Now 4 people confirmed dead and at least another 15 injured. One person has died in the hospital since the attack, and others could follow. 9 people are said to have suffered serious injuries.
– A 39 year old Uzbeki citizen has been arrested. He is a construction worker and a father of 4.
– The suspect has posted ISIS propaganda videos on his Facebook page, and liked images of people injured or killed in the Boston Marathon bombing.
– He claims to be the perpetrator of the attack.
– The two persons who were previously questioned are not suspected of any crime.
IP, I’m so sorry for what’s happened to your fellow citizens.
I wish I could have a drink.
@IgnoreSandra
Ah; I lacked sufficient context for my comment. Sorry.
@Boo
Oh wow, is that still around? Did they ever clear out the nazis? Cos when I left, the place was chock full of fucking nazis. Which is why I left, in fact.
I think the time has come to admit that the Syrian revolt has failed and it needs to stop. All they are accomplishing is destroying their country and killing helpless people.
The entire Arab Spring has been a dismal failure. All it accomplished was enabling people to move into power vacuums who were far, far worse than the dictators that were displaced.
Anyone remember the question, “Why did the U.S. support corrupt dictators during the Cold War? This is one reason why.
Well, great, Dutch! So what should the Syrian people do now that you’ve declared their struggle a failure?
North Africa came out of the Arab Spring fairly well, which is reasonable considering that that’s where it started. Morocco and Tunisia worked out pretty well during the Arab Spring, and there’s still hope for Egypt. Even Libya isn’t great right now but is better than it was under Gaddafi.
@Steven
Or nah…
@ dreemr: Hugs
@Steven Dutsch : Rewriting history to fit your prejudice is a fun but useless endeavoir. The US never supported any dictator for the sake of their subjects, they only cared about senseless power games.
Also, calling the arab revolt anything is useless. Thoses events happened, and won’t be rolled back no matter what, plus, their influences is yet to be seen. Look at what looked like the french revolution five or ten year after 1789, it wasn’t pretty ; I am pretty sure the Terror was at least comparable to the current atrocities in Syria.
(and before someone let on the comparison : it don’t mean the middle east or africa is backward in any way compared to Europa or that they reproduce our history. The comparison just mean that a revolution tend to start by making the country more miserable quite often)
Shorter Steven Dutch : stoopid brown people can’t revolution properly.
I thought this was an open thread and by definition a troll-free zone ? Personally I’m nowhere near the kind of mood necessary to find “baaad Syrian rebels” trolls funny right now.
@Sinkable John:
Yeah. I’m not in a state where can engage with this bullshitter and come out okay. Too many specters and other shit.
@Dalillama:
It’s fine. I should have provided that context in my first post. All this goddamn fucking bullshit.
I’ve had a look around recently and apparently there’s a whole lot of saber rattling happening from Russia/Syria/Iran regarding further attacks, which sounds scary but is obviously intended to.
So, people more knowledgeable/experienced than me with geopolitics…what are the actual chances this escalates into a direct US/Russia conflict?
David, you really ought to do a post about Conservatism Wiki, just because of how hilarious it is. It’s run by a former Conservapedia sysop, and it’s pretty ridiculous, it’s what you’d get if Bob Jones University and /r/MGTOW had a baby.
They refer to the vagina as a “liberal organ of Satan” that exists to entrap men.
http://conservatism.referata.com/wiki/Vagina
And breasts are compared to thorns and carnivorous lions, with Taylor Swift’s breasts being the handiwork of Satan himself.
http://conservatism.referata.com/wiki/Breast
The wiki’s creators get VERY upset when people suggest they might be closeted, even though they spend so much time talking about how evil breasts and vaginas are. They absolutely adore Elvis Presley for some reason, but obsessively despise Taylor Swift. It’s remarkably weird and a little disturbing.
Hu’s On First:
They give the mighty penis much the same treatment, so.
http://conservatism.referata.com/wiki/Penis
@Hu’s
For the wrong reasons surely, but they very much should be upset. It’s a shit thing to suggest for any number of reasons
… SOMEONE has a thing for Taylor Swift. I note that the writer repeatedly refers to her breasts as “perky.”
Goddess fuck, Conservapedia really is the gift that keeps on giving no matter how much you want it to go away.
…Conservapedia is back? Awesome. Someone get David Gerard on this, stat.
Oh! for f*cks sake!!! this blog spent God knows how many pages speculating about Russia meddling in US elections and Trump being Putin’s puppet and blah blah blah. Then he attacks a Syrian base and everyone is “OMG WW3!!!”
Can’t you be consistent with yourselves at least once???
Oh, i forgot, you are liberals.