Miscellaneous news items that don't warrant their own thread

[kalm]

I agree with this from a political standpoint. It’s the establishment’s narrative…what we’ve all been trained to believe. I’m guilty as well.

Sometimes it’s better to listen to the poets, the artists, or in this case, the chefs to see it through the eyes of stripped down truth telling.

“Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević.”

Anthony Bourdain

(Similar can be said regarding Kissinger, the CIA, and Milton Friedman’s interference in Chile. This all makes me want to watch the Killing Fields)

Kissinger was ruthless in trying to protect American interests and he didn't mind sacrificing non-Americans to do it.

Back to Ganny's point/question about what if the Marxist-forces in those countries we were indirectly opposing would have been even worse. Why did the US bomb Cambodia? What happened after the bombing stopped? Were more people killed by the bombing or by the regime that followed?

A lot of what Kissinger advocated for was despicable but I don't think you can look at it in a vacuum.

We bombed Cambodia as it was being used by the VC for bases. But we didn’t just bomb those bases. We ruthlessly massacred countless villages and rained hell on everyone.

Those “Marxist” forces became worse after the bombings. Some historians believe the bombings destabilized Cambodia to a point which enabled the takeover. Remember… Pot did not come to power until 1975. The previous government may have had socialist tendencies (most countries did) but they appeared to be at least diplomatically neutral and willing to maintain relations with the US.

If your only point is to not look at these things in a vacuum, I completely agree. But that includes not sugar coating Kissinger’s legacy with “it was complicated”. I truly appreciate your acknowledgment of this in describing Kissingers MO as “ruthless” and “despicable”.

[houndawg]

I agree with this from a political standpoint. It’s the establishment’s narrative…what we’ve all been trained to believe. I’m guilty as well.

Sometimes it’s better to listen to the poets, the artists, or in this case, the chefs to see it through the eyes of stripped down truth telling.

“Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević.”

Anthony Bourdain

(Similar can be said regarding Kissinger, the CIA, and Milton Friedman’s interference in Chile. This all makes me want to watch the Killing Fields)

Kissinger was ruthless in trying to protect American interests and he didn't mind sacrificing non-Americans to do it.

Back to Ganny's point/question about what if the Marxist-forces in those countries we were indirectly opposing would have been even worse. Why did the US bomb Cambodia? What happened after the bombing stopped? Were more people killed by the bombing or by the regime that followed?

A lot of what Kissinger advocated for was despicable but I don't think you can look at it in a vacuum.

The elephant in the room that nobody seems to notice is that we sure as fuck weren't going to sit still for no commies getting ahold of our oil in the South China Sea, but we needed a government that would play ball and a nice harbor, like Cam Rahn Bay.

[UNI88]

Kissinger was ruthless in trying to protect American interests and he didn't mind sacrificing non-Americans to do it.

Back to Ganny's point/question about what if the Marxist-forces in those countries we were indirectly opposing would have been even worse. Why did the US bomb Cambodia? What happened after the bombing stopped? Were more people killed by the bombing or by the regime that followed?

A lot of what Kissinger advocated for was despicable but I don't think you can look at it in a vacuum.

We bombed Cambodia as it was being used by the VC for bases. But we didn’t just bomb those bases. We ruthlessly massacred countless villages and rained hell on everyone.

Those “Marxist” forces became worse after the bombings. Some historians believe the bombings destabilized Cambodia to a point which enabled the takeover. Remember… Pot did not come to power until 1975. The previous government may have had socialist tendencies (most countries did) but they appeared to be at least diplomatically neutral and willing to maintain relations with the US.

If your only point is to not look at these things in a vacuum, I completely agree. But that includes not sugar coating Kissinger’s legacy with “it was complicated”. I truly appreciate your acknowledgment of this in describing Kissingers MO as “ruthless” and “despicable”.

Saying it's complicated is not sugarcoating his legacy. It's recognizing that he was ruthless and that many of his policies could be considered despicable but also that he accomplished great things and that those same policies might have saved more lives than they cost.

I don't think the left hates Kissinger because of the lives he sacrificed, they hate him because he opposed the advance of socialism. And I love the irony of illiberal leftists, who venerate Mao, Che, etc., calling him a war criminal.

[Skjellyfetti]

Mao was ruthless and many of his policies could be considered despicable but also he accomplished great things and those same policies might have saved more lives than they cost.

[UNI88]

Mao was ruthless and many of his policies could be considered despicable but also he accomplished great things and those same policies might have saved more lives than they cost.

Mao’s policies might have saved 40+ million lives …

Mao’s only equals as a war criminal are Hitler and Stalin.


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[kalm]

Mao was ruthless and many of his policies could be considered despicable but also he accomplished great things and those same policies might have saved more lives than they cost.

Mao’s policies might have saved 40+ million lives …

Mao’s only equals as a war criminal are Hitler and Stalin.


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You might be missing something here.

[SeattleGriz]

Require the warrant and truly penalize lies on applications.

Good amount of these signees also were part of the 51 geniuses that said Hunter's laptop was Russian disinformation.

[SeattleGriz]

[UNI88]

It's a problem but it's not why Biden kicked trump's ass in 2020 ...

Among those who cast mail-in ballots in 2020, nearly equal percentages of Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters admitted to fraudulent activities. For example, 19% of Republicans, 16% of Democrats and 17% of unaffiliated voters who cast 2020 mail-in ballots say they signed a ballot or ballot envelope on behalf of a friend or family member. On the question of voting in a state where they were no longer a permanent resident. more Republican mail-in voters (24%) than Democrats (17%) or unaffiliated voters (11%) admitted doing so.

And the Heartland Institute? That's an organization that could use a good denazification.

[UNI88]

gym jordan is a hypocrite ...

Adam Kinzinger Unleashes Searing Takedown Of Jim Jordan’s ‘Mind-Numbing’ Hypocrisy

“He said, ‘When Congress asks you to come testify, you are supposed to come testify.’ As someone who served on the committee who issued a subpoena to Jim Jordan, which he defied, what are people supposed to take from this?” Bolduan asked Kinzinger, who served on the Jan. 6 committee.

“Well, they’re supposed to take that Jim Jordan is an absolute hypocrite,” Kinzinger replied.

He later continued: “He’s for the sanctity of the subpoena by the U.S. Congress until he’s the one that gets subpoenaed by U.S. Congress. He also votes against enforcing subpoenas against people like Steve Bannon and against people like Mark Meadows. I mean, this is — the hypocrisy is mind-numbing.”

And joe biden is a hypocrite ...

FLASHBACK: Biden said people who defy Jan. 6 Committee subpoenas should be held 'criminally' accountable

unless he hopes comer and jordan the hypocrite go after hunter and holds him accountable criminally.

[houndawg]

gym jordan is a hypocrite ...

Adam Kinzinger Unleashes Searing Takedown Of Jim Jordan’s ‘Mind-Numbing’ Hypocrisy

“He said, ‘When Congress asks you to come testify, you are supposed to come testify.’ As someone who served on the committee who issued a subpoena to Jim Jordan, which he defied, what are people supposed to take from this?” Bolduan asked Kinzinger, who served on the Jan. 6 committee.

“Well, they’re supposed to take that Jim Jordan is an absolute hypocrite,” Kinzinger replied.

He later continued: “He’s for the sanctity of the subpoena by the U.S. Congress until he’s the one that gets subpoenaed by U.S. Congress. He also votes against enforcing subpoenas against people like Steve Bannon and against people like Mark Meadows. I mean, this is — the hypocrisy is mind-numbing.”

And joe biden is a hypocrite ...

FLASHBACK: Biden said people who defy Jan. 6 Committee subpoenas should be held 'criminally' accountable

unless he hopes comer and jordan the hypocrite go after hunter and holds him accountable criminally.

never trust a guy that looks like Gollum

[SeattleGriz]

Not holding my breath on Gay stepping down.

[SeattleGriz]

She's a fucking hack. Fire her already. Ivynatti's got his underwear in a bind. First enabling Epstein, now defending a plagiarist.

[SeattleGriz]

True. Can't believe how many on this board support this shit. Banana Republic

[Caribbean Hen]

True. Can't believe how many on this board support this shit. Banana Republic

Banana Republic is exactly right

[Caribbean Hen]

NYC is a progressive shithole and residents can’t get out fast enough

https://nypost.com/2023/12/20/opinion/p ... g-crapple/

Visual evidence is all around the mechanisms that kept this city humming, or sputtering at times, have completely broken down.

“No one is minding the shop, enforcing rules and laws, big and small. No one is making tough decisions to truly clean things up and make things better for residents and tourists”

[UNI88]

Not holding my breath on Gay stepping down.

Maybe she should just claim it’s fake news and that she’s the innocent victim of a witch hunt by a weaponized House of Representatives.

I don’t think Ivy has given money to Harvard in a long time.


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[SeattleGriz]

Another lie from Milley and Biden.

[UNI88]

Another lie from Milley and Biden.

I’m having trouble understanding when lying matters and when it doesn’t. Can you provide a guide that people can follow?

[BDKJMU]

Well, the plagarist president of Harvard has finally resigned. She shouldn’t have ever gotten the job in the 1st place. Her academic and publishing background apparently is very thin compared to past Harvard and other Ivy league presidents..

[SeattleGriz]

Well, the plagarist president of Harvard has finally resigned. She shouldn’t have ever gotten the job in the 1st place. Her academic and publishing background apparently is very thin compared to past Harvard and other Ivy league presidents..

They only fired her due to...wait for it...racism. I am shocked.

[BDKJMU]

After losing 2.1 billion on its EVs in 2022, for 2023:

Ford set to lose $4.5 billion on electric vehicles this year, despite increased revenue
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/ ... ed-revenue

Auto execs are coming clean: EVs aren't working

…..But this week on GM's third-quarter earnings call, Barra and GM struck a more sober tone. The company announced with its quarterly results that it's abandoning its targets to build 100,000 EVs in the second half of this year and another 400,000 by the first six months of 2024. GM doesn't know when it will hit those targets….

….Even Tesla's Elon Musk warned on a recent earnings call that economic concerns would lead to waning vehicle demand, even for the long-time EV market leader.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz — which is having to discount its EVs by several thousand dollars just to get them in customers' hands — isn't mincing words about the state of the EV market.

"This is a pretty brutal space," CFO Harald Wilhelm said on an analyst call. "I can hardly imagine the current status quo is fully sustainable for everybody."

But Mercedes isn't the only one; almost all current EV product is going for under sticker price these days, and on top of that, some EVs are seeing manufacturer's incentives of nearly 10%.

That's as inventory builds up at dealerships, much to the chagrin of dealers. While car buyers are in luck if they're looking for a deal on a plug-in vehicle, executives are finding even significant markdowns and discounts aren't enough. These cars are taking dealers longer to sell compared with their gas counterparts as the next wave of buyers focus on cost, infrastructure challenges, and lifestyle barriers to adopting.

Just a few months after dealers started coming forward to warn of slowing EV demand, manufacturers appear to be catching up to that reality. Ford was the first to fold, after dealers started turning away Mach-E allocations. In July, the company extended its self-imposed deadline to hit annual electric vehicle production of 600,000 by a year, and abandoned a 2026 target to build 2 million EVs.

In scrapping plans with GM to co-develop sub-$30,000 EVs, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the shifting EV environment was difficult to gauge.

"After studying this for a year, we decided that this would be difficult as a business, so at the moment we are ending development of an affordable EV," Mibe said in an interview with Bloomberg this week.

For some, this pullback is no surprise.

"People are finally seeing reality," Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda said at the Japan Mobility Show, the Wall Street Journal reported. Toyoda has long been skeptical of his peers' pure-electric blueprints.

America's plan to replace gas guzzlers with electric cars was doomed from the start
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/am ... r-AA1moUZR

[BDKJMU]

Probably should be put in the Gorillas thread. This guy clearly should have been shackled, why he wasn’t is inexplicable.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... lthus.html

[GannonFan]

I saw something in an article over the weekend about Chinese women, especially young ones, resistant to calls from the government to start having more and more kids. A stat I didn't realize, and not sure how correct it is but it's startling if true, was that China has 1.4 billion people today. With current trends, China's population by 2100 will be reduced to 0.5 billion. That's a 64% drop in population over the next 75 years. That's just incredible.

[SeattleGriz]

I am shocked there won't be any apologies.