Maybe its an mrn air balloon
The US have shot down another balloon this evening. Somebody is taking the piss out of them now.
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The Guardian are a bit light on detail there.
Only listed the details announced by the military. But theres enough to fill in the blanks
Another one down now.
The fella driving the Superbowl blimp will be fairly nervous.
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I think at this point it is interesting to examine China’s role in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A year ago I thought that China would provide lip service to Russia and little more but that they were canny enough to largely stay out of things. I think I was think I was wrong on that. I now think China is slowly but inexorably being sucked in by Russia. that China’s fate is now (sort of) tied to Russia’s.
That’s a terrifying prospect. And yet it is difficult for China to provide meaningful armed support to Russia because of the distances involved and because there is so much to lose internationally for China.
I suspect Xi Jinping is a failing leader and China is a failing country. It is no longer the most populous country in the world, but more importantly, it has an ageing population and a negative migration rate. Its demographics are terrible. It’s not hard to see how the long held conventional wisdom that the 21st century was going to be one of Chinese dominance could be proven spectacularly wrong, and instead it could turn into a century of Chinese folly and disaster.
I think Xi Jinping is a fool. He has allowed Putin to groom him, and his fate is increasingly becoming linked to a failing Putin. Putin was the smarter one in this deal, though he himself was a fool.
The ostensible “plausible” reason Russian stooges put forward for Putin’s war in Ukraine was that Russia was “surrounded” by NATO (bullshit of course).
The nightmare prospect for Xi Jinping or any Chinese leader, is that Putin ends up being Ceaucescued and a western friendly regime comes to power in Russia. That may not be likely, but it is possible. Then, China would lose its main ally and have a western friendly power looming over it to the north, bordering it. And Xi would have presided over this. And if that happened, invading Taiwan would be either a pipe dream, or a Hitler like gamble and folly.
If China gets more involved in Russia’s war, the prospect of increasing or total economic isolation of China by the west starts to move into view. And if it invades Taiwan, that total economic isolation of China by the west will happen. I floated this possibility elsewhere on the INTERNET a year ago and people told me I was mad. “The west depends far too much on China, it’ll never happen.”
Well, Russia thought the west depended far too much on it, and guess what, it didn’t. China is far easier for the west to isolate. Because they don’t make or produce stuff we need and anything they do make, we can get from elsewhere or make ourselves.
China’s dependence on the west is total. If the west does to China what it has done to Russia economically, China is FUCKED.
Regime change in China could make regime change in Russia seem like a teddy bear’s picnic.
Would a Chinese Economic disaster not spell huge problems for Europes also?
America seems to see itself as bullet proof in all this turmoil & economically speaking, thriving.
Don’t the Chinese use the same word for crisis and opportunity?
Why can’t Europe?
Europe can plan for a Chinese economic ostracisation. Well it should be planning for it, at any rate. The Chinese can’t really plan for it.
I read an article recently that apparently China is buying up huge swaths of land in Vietnam for manufacturing purposes, cheaper labour and possibly sidestepping future sanctions
Sofa Sid getting his excuses in early. As horrible as the ccp are, even they value life enough to understand the implications of what might happen should a border dispute become a global conflagration.
China might well broker peace, even if it isn’t in our interests
I’d love to think you are right about China, but the west likes cheap plastic crap. A trade war with China and my word you’d see inflation then. Also, China has America by the bank accounts , or so Ive read?
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And the microchips
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Chinese own 15% of US Debt. They bank role a lot of countries to be fair. Not a good thing
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It’ll be blank accounts if they vex the Chinese
By God they’re taking over the world without firing a shot
Yes, crisitunity
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If china invaded Taiwan would there be immediate international sanctions? I heard the baby food factory in Askeaton are already worried about the change in population in china. If sanctions came in I presume Irish farmers would be stopped from exporting goods to china.