Miscellaneous News

[Randomuser]

The sense of entitlement is pretty darkly funny. The default state is China is the global coolie making cheap plastic toys and we'll buy our walkie talkies and pagers from Japan and Taiwan, thank you very much. Too sophisticated for China to make, you know. When it literally blows up in our faces, China is the Yellow Savior™ obligated to rescue us from our own stupidity.

I said this in a previous post. China doesn't like getting involved that much with the global south because they lack a sense of self accountability. They dont work on fixing their own problems and expect others to bail them out. So imagine one of them picks a fight he cannot win because he is a delusional guy and you need to bail him out. You're the underdog this is a fact. Therefore you need to work harder to overcome such injustice in this world.

I don't like Israel and I think the people are a nasty bunch. But I get why china works with them. Because they offer tech and actual benefits to China while Arabs offer words. Something worthless coz they can't even unite amongst each other or get serious on effectively fighting Israel.

This is harsh but many guys in the global south are the way they are because they failed to develop fast enough in the modern world. Results is what talks. Do you know why NATO is considered prestigeous? It's coz it's full of rich European countries. It doesn't matter that they are imperalists from the last century. Right now they have money. If they were replaced with middle eastern and African countries that can't get themselves in order and usa has to bail them out every time, NATO wouldn't last. Ukraine is an example of a bail out and they aren't even in NATO. A few more and Nato won't be able to take it anymore.

 

[GulfLander]

"Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Friday signed a new treaty on security guarantees between Russia and Belarus within the framework of the Union State.

During a press conference following the meeting, Putin noted that Russia's new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile system could be deployed in Belarus in the second half of next year.

The Russian president arrived in Minsk on Friday to attend a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State."

 

[GulfLander]

"Iran sent into space on Friday (December 6) its heaviest-ever payload using the Simorgh carrier rocket including an advanced module for transferring satellites to higher-altitude orbits, state television reported.

The Samān-1 transfer module, along with a CubeSat and a research payload "were successfully placed in an elliptical orbit with a high point of 410 km (255 miles) and a low point of 300 km," said the broadcast.

The Simorgh, a two-stage liquid-fueled satellite launch vehicle, is built by Iran’s defense ministry and Armed Forces Logistics, said Iranian media."

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[GulfLander]

What happened to this Syrian Def Minister?

 

[iewgnem]

Was Syria the "goal" all along? Or just so happened...

Well, I noticed Iranian media are calling HTS "militants", while some western media and recent US state department statement called them "terrorists", so....

If they want to rule they need oil, oil is in the hands of US backed SDF, so unless Turkey makes peace with the Kurds, someone's gota give.

 

[GulfLander]

"The US Secret Service's acting director got into a shouting match with Texas Representative Pat Fallon during a hearing on Thursday (December 5).

Acting Director Ronald Rowe testified to a House task force consisting of seven Republicans and six Democrats that has been investigating two failed assassination attempts on Trump during this year's presidential campaign. Things grew heated at times.

Rowe earned praise from many Republican lawmakers for cooperating with the investigation, but he erupted at Fallon after the congressman questioned Rowe's appearance at a ceremony this year commemorating the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.[...]"

 

[GulfLander]

"Lin Jian: Again, as we have made very clear before, there’s no “forced labor” in Xinjiang. The Chinese government stands firmly against forced labor and has taken tough measures against it. Xinjiang tomatoes, like Xinjiang cotton, are known and enjoyed throughout the world for their high quality. The farming process of tomatoes and cotton in Xinjiang have largely been mechanized already—over 90% of the tomatoes and over 85% of cotton in Xinjiang are now harvested by machines. How could there be “forced labor?”
Journalism lives in its truthfulness. To say no to disinformation and bias is a primary ethic of journalism. This is also a basic quality for any news outlet that wants to do fair and objective reporting. In the BBC story, a lot of the so-called “evidence” came from what the interviewees “heard” or “felt.” The reporting is based on preconceived assumptions and jumped to the “forced labor” conclusion without verifying the assumptions and by taking words out of context. The reporters went to the trouble of spending months studying nearly 20 tomato purées, but would not spend even one minute learning about the reality in Xinjiang. This is typical double standard with deep bias.
In recent years, “forced labor” has become a convenient false narrative for some to create media hypes and attack Xinjiang. Their self-directed, well-scripted productions contain so-called “testimonies” and “reports” from dubious sources. Last week, the story was on Xinjiang cotton. This week, it’s on Xinjiang tomatoes. So what will it be next week? Xinjiang solar energy? Xinjiang carrots? Or Xinjiang mutton and beef? Whatever the disinformation, it will not change the high quality of Xinjiang products, nor will it make Xinjiang a less prosperous and stable place. We hope readers will see through this “forced labor” narrative. And we welcome people to go to Xinjiang, try the tomatoes and experience Xinjiang as it is."

 

[iewgnem]

Abandoning Damascus might be the only way to go. It is indefensible because there's no land connection from Damascus to the Mediterranean, where both the ports and the Alawite homeland is, other than through Homs.

Assad could probably do a last stand with his Republican Guard and Air Force in Tartus and Latakia, which is behind mountains with only a few roads in and out. He has a much better chance of surviving there than trying to hold positions in the desert. And even if he dies, his clan (with their military positions) should be doing a last stand.

The Republican Guard is 90% Alawite, and they're not going to be able to all flee with Assad, so it's that or... well, we've all seen or heard of the videos.

Its pretty obvious Assad nor SAA wanted to fight, power was transferred peacefully and little to no fighting occurred anywhere, so the chances that Assad staying in Syria for a last stand is basically zero, in all likelihood he left days ago as has been reported.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Its pretty obvious Assad nor SAA wanted to fight, power was transferred peacefully and little to no fighting occurred anywhere, so the chances that Assad staying in Syria for a last stand is basically zero, in all likelihood he left days ago as has been reported.

so he is abandoning his clan to their fates? very taboo for both Middle Eastern cultures and a family dynasty.

 

[iewgnem]

so he is abandoning his clan to their fates? very taboo for both Middle Eastern cultures and a family dynasty.

He basically transferred power without any death and destruction, what more do you think he can do?
Nobody wanted to fight after 10 years of civil war, including his "clan"
Do you think Ukraine with it's entire male population wiped out is better?