Same where I am, we do not comply for any requests for footage or guest information (hospitality industry) unless we have a warrant. Even with one, we will explicitly only hand over what is specifically requested.
We also keep records of foreign guest passport details. In case you ever wondered what happens to that information when you stay at a hotel, it is stored on a secure server and I am literally the only person at the property with access to that data, and would never hand it over without a very explicit warrant.
Doesn't stop the cops from asking, but we always refuse. You won't stay in business long as a hotel that doesn't at least try to protect guest privacy.
They have military consultants on staff, including Oliver North (a guy who was literally convicted of multiple felony war crime charges, that was only overturned on immunity)
100% the CoD series is made at least partially as propaganda. The primary reason is probably still to make money, because capitalism, but the military propaganda is probably a close sceond.
"Who could have known that Ukraine was so corrupt!? If only they were as brave and hardworking as us western Europeans, Russia would have surrendered already"
I don't want to totally downplay the incredible work the researchers are doing, but it's a long way off from any kind of actual treatments coming from this.
A lot of research is successful on mice that doesn't actually end up resulting in human treatments for any number of reasons. Even if it could be leveraged into a treatment for humans, we are looking at years and years of further trials and research. Not even mentioning the immense degree of complexity that scientists would be working with.
Still, the work done by China in all sectors, including biology and genetics, never ceases to impress. Even if an autism cure is not viable, the research could be extremely important for other things.
If it were up to me, I would functionally laugh at the US . The audacity of the US to ban China from the ISS and then turn around to beg for a favour when China outdoes them (yet again).
This is, admittedly, one of many reasons I am not a head of state.
I could definitely see China being the bigger man here honestly, but they should also be able to leverage it into getting something in return. If they can get something worthwhile, I could see them allowing it. At the very least, they should lift the formal billateral prohibition.
Oh agreed again for sure, there's plenty of people still around as bad as him. I don't think we are in any disagreement at all.
I will say that since he was still meetings diplomatic figures he probably had some pull, so it remains a good thing he kicked out now because he was likely still actively doing harm.
There's also a tiny chance some people might go "Huh, if this guy was that bad maybe some of these other politicians were too...". I don't hold all that much hope, but call me an optimist.
I agree, though I do not think there is any harm in celebrating the death of an objectively horrible person. As long as you don't think that everything is peachy-keen and all that is left is rainbows and unicorns.
I always have kept a few days off on hand for just this sort of emergency.
Calling off tomorrow and having a long weekend celebration. Cracking open a bottle of the good stuff.
To be totally realistic am under no delusions that this fixes much of anything, but allow me these few days just to enjoy some good news.
Also considering he was still making trips to meet with heads of state, he was exerting some kind of influence that we should be thankful is now gone.
Buying a house is something that's been on my list for a while and something I have been seriously looking at it recently. The mortgage wouldn't be an issue (in fact, less than my current rent) but the down payment is rough. It doesn't help that even as a permanent resident, banks are reluctant to issue loans to anyone with a foreign name.
Somewhat related to that would be adopting a dog once I can have one again. I love my snakes but living in a place that allows dogs again would be great.
This does come off a bit too hard to be legitimate I think, especially the "responsible investing" bit. I don't think an actual warmonger would phrase it like that.
On the other hand, I have absolutely seen people who think clusterbombs are a totally fine weapon to use. I am related to one. His argument was that they'd end the war faster and save more lives. Which...I don't think I need to say that I disagree with that.
I was curious about Hegemony. I know you can play as the worker class in it, though I am not sure if something like a class revolution is a mechanic or not.
I have found that a lot (most?) of the board game space is very traditionally liberal though, so I wouldn't be surprised if the game reflected those kinds of economic ideas too.
The Resistance is a my preference for the secret role/social deduction style party game. One thing I really like is that it has no player elimination mechanics, you don't have to worry about getting knocked out in round 1 and then just watching your friends play the remaining rounds.
Not necessarily spycraft, but Sheriff of Nottingham is a really fun bluffing game where you are trying to smuggle goods past the titular Sheriff.
Just in case there is any confusion about the other terms (the entire lexicon of board games took me a while to get the hang of).
Weight (light/heavy) - general complexity of game rules and mechanics. When somebody describes a game as heavy, it's more complicated/difficult to learn. A light game is a lot faster to learn.
Co-op / semi co-op / competitive - Pretty straightforward, except semi co-op. Something like Nemesis, where players are working together but might have their own goals they are trying to fulfill that might be in opposition to the rest of their team.
Ameritrash / Eurogame - "Ameritrash" games are like Lagg said, more luck based games with direct competition (see Risk). Euro games tend to have indirect competition between players, you might not interact much at/all, until you tally your final scores to see who wins. Despite the name sounding somewhat negative, a lot of people (myself included) do like Ameritrash.
I really enjoy Spirit Island (you can play it solo fairly well if you don't mind playing two-handed). It's one of the few board games that I feel the theme is something that actually aligns with my beliefs fairly well.
It's...probably not something I would recommend to a newer board gamer though, because it is very heavy in execution.
I know you communists loooove to write off human rights abuse if it fits your narrative,
Oh boy, I hesitate to ask which supposed human rights abuse you are going with. Gulags? Uyghurs?
I agree it would be very nice if we had “good guys v bad guys” but that’s…just not the way the world works.
You're making a strawman, nobody here is claiming it to be that black and white, they just said Hamas are not the bad guys. They did not say they are pure good guys that can do no wrong.
Hamas may be fighting an equally right-wing authoritarian monster
What does authoritarian mean here? Or are we just throwing out buzzwords? Trying to draw some kind of false equivalence between Hamas and Israel is disingenous at best, and actively promoting Israeli propaganda. How would you prefer the Palestinian people resist? Because I swear to god if you say a peaceful protest/march, I will scream.
The fact of the matter is that the issues Marxism has with their fundamentalist beliefs aren't even close to their primary concerns right now. It's the same thing when people go "Oh yeah, well you know Hamas doesn't support gay rights. GOT EM!". Ignoring the fact that they are in a battle for their very existence. Once Palestine has won the basic right to exist we can revisit these issues.
Not to mention that these are people who were, by and large, born and raised in a literal concentration camp. Many of them know no life outside that concentration camp. Honestly none of us have any right to cast judgement on their methods because it is impossible to understand that.
Same where I am, we do not comply for any requests for footage or guest information (hospitality industry) unless we have a warrant. Even with one, we will explicitly only hand over what is specifically requested.
We also keep records of foreign guest passport details. In case you ever wondered what happens to that information when you stay at a hotel, it is stored on a secure server and I am literally the only person at the property with access to that data, and would never hand it over without a very explicit warrant.
Doesn't stop the cops from asking, but we always refuse. You won't stay in business long as a hotel that doesn't at least try to protect guest privacy.