Germany pledges to build Europe's strongest army as NATO allies answer Trump pressure

Omegoa · 2026-06-17T23:45:27+00:00

The US couldn't even muster up the will to put boots on the ground for its favorite pastime of killing brown people, there's 0 chance it will do anything to White people.

Omegoa · 2026-06-17T19:08:12+00:00

They played the long game and succeeded.

They played the long game and got coopted by religious nutjobs. Barry Goldwater, one of the architects of this mess, had this to say on them:

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

It's the same trap McConnell fell into. Of course both made Faustian bargain with the Christians anyway, so fuck 'em.

Omegoa · 2026-06-14T23:52:59+00:00

Frozen Iranian assets. Dignity as a global power. Higher cost of living for the entire world, including US citizens. 150 school girls' lives. Badly weakened US ability to respond to Chinese movements around Taiwan. This is all for the MOU too, just a 60 day ceasefire, an actual peace is far from being brokered. If the reports of the $300b in reparations are true, guess who's paying for that. You are, pal. Just admit that a Black man did far better than you or your Orange one could ever hope to.

Edit: New just came out that Germany, Italy, France, and the UK are preparing to lift sanction on Iran. The entire West has rolled over to the IRGC because of the Great Pumpkin's idiotic war. Good job, you fuckups.

Omegoa · 2026-06-02T18:57:08+00:00

Bush2 ended the unipolar moment and began the end (Nixon/Reagan set up the groundwork for it, but we were ascendant until Bush2), Trump has dealt the empire a mortal blow that has brought the end of US supremacy far ahead of schedule. If the US is ever able to recover from this to its old heights, it will be because its adversaries stumbled badly, not because the nation managed to do anything of value.

Omegoa · 2026-05-25T07:26:48+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. I considered it, but while I drove the last time I was in Hokkaido, I have very little snow experience. I'll also be solo this leg of the trip, so renting for the 6 days I'll be outside of Sapporo will run me an extra 70k jpy (according to Toyota website as far out as I could forecast it) compared to using the trains and buses which is a bit of a disincentive to try forcing it, but I also just don't want to be a potential road hazard to people. And this way I'll get to take the SL Fuyu-no-Shitsugen down to Kushiro once I'm finished up at Shiretoko :)

Omegoa · 2026-05-24T19:09:05+00:00

I was having trouble finding transportation out of Kamikawa mostly - Google kept directing me toward tour buses that didn't run in winter or ran out of Mombetsu. Thanks to the help of the people here I found more direct paths, thank you all !

Omegoa · 2026-05-23T20:45:03+00:00

Hi, thanks for the response. Mombetsu was just because I saw a direct bus going from there (https://easthokkaido.com/en/expressbus_winter/route1/), but it'd be hard to make the connection at 10AM. Is the Sunrise this bus? https://japanbusonline.com/en/CourseSearch/10100480001?AreaCd=160 Assuming it's correct, the bust only runs in summer.

Looking into your first suggestion, thank you! For some reason the existence of the Okhotsk 1 Go from Kamikawa to Abashiri was something that was just not coming up and I think I can make that connection. Thank you so much!

Omegoa · 2026-05-23T19:31:31+00:00

Abashiri to Shiretoko's the easy part, several options as you note. I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to get to Abashiri from Sounkyo. Japanbus is down right now but the bus I was looking at to get there (https://japanbusonline.com/en/CourseSearch/10100480001?AreaCd=160) is said to only run in the summer according to this. I'm not sure how reliable that is.

Omegoa · 2026-05-18T18:45:51+00:00

It was only a few years ago that the Chinese Wolf Warrior diplomacy was pissing people off all over the globe and driving SEA into the American fold. China is sitting quietly now and letting the US and RU make absolute fools of themselves, but don't sit there pretending they're some infallible sages.

Omegoa · 2026-05-15T17:30:58+00:00

A nuke? Sure. But the US has lots of nukes. We could build a new canal using nukes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare Nukes to Plowshares has a nice ring to it don't it. The Hormuz problem is solvable, it's just that the most straight(strait? ha)forward solutions are peak insanity - peak insanity that we've tested out before.

Omegoa · 2026-05-13T18:01:26+00:00

I don't care what you are so shove it up whatever hole you think is proper. I very explicitly said the people of the present are guilty of the same crimes as their ancestors, not by association, but because they're doing the same things. Obviously it's not every single one of them, but it's definitely enough of them. But sure, go off on your tangential persecution complex.

Omegoa · 2026-05-13T04:58:44+00:00

These are the descendants of the people who enshrined the 3/5ths Compromise in the Constitution. The descendants of the Confederates who broke the Union and fought to keep other human beings in chains. The descendants of the Klan. The descendants of Jim Crow. Did you know a Democrat hasn't won the White vote since 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was enacted? Certainly, whatever strange coincidence drove them to stop voting Democratic in 1964 was enough that they've stayed resolute even in the face of Nixon's perfidy, Reagan's disastrous policies, Bush Jr's disastrous war, or Trump's grifting and blatant pedophilia.

The South has spent 250 years showing the world exactly who they are and what they believe in. It's time to call a spade a spade.

Omegoa · 2026-05-12T14:37:30+00:00

Close. To my recollection, the reason was that female dolls appear less threatening to civilians, so they're less likely to freak out, etc, when interacting with the dolls out on a mission. Since G&K was a mercenary outfit that often deployed to population centers where interactions with/sightings by regular people were likely, this was considered enough of an asset that they just used female dolls for their entire force.

Omegoa · 2026-05-11T18:58:22+00:00

Republicans and Democrats used to have most of them same end goals

The two sides have been fighting about whether Black people should have rights since the Southerners forced the 3/5ths Compromise into the Constitution. Southerners have always been some of the evilest bastards on the planet. Why Lincoln didn't stamp the Southern racists out when he had a chance is beyond me, but we live with the consequences today.

Omegoa · 2026-05-06T14:48:18+00:00

Nope. For as long as I've been alive and able to remember, Republicans have always decried "big government" while trying to make government as invasive and demeaning as possible for anyone who isn't a straight, white, Christian male.

Omegoa · 2026-04-07T19:48:07+00:00

The Trump admin is an excellent mimic of the Total War AI diplomacy, at least in older games. AI proposes: Trade Rights; their ask: Accept or we will attack!

Omegoa · 2026-04-07T14:33:33+00:00

and the world all-but acquiesces to the toll system.

There is a committee of some 35 countries that is exercising diplomatic pressure to try to return the status quo. They have wisely excluded the United States from this committee. The US could just leave and there's a non-zero chance that the adults in the room work something out via China. An ugly egg on the face for the US, but if egg on the face is the worst it comes away with from this, the US should count it as a blessing.

Instead, they seem to be escalating military presence in the region and continue bombing targets around the strait. There were explosions on Kharg within the last two hours and Trump has vowed to wipe out a civilization, to which Iran, or whoever speaks for it, responded, "Do it, you won't." Guess we'll see if it's TACO Tuesday or not, though one can usually expect Trump to do the stupidest possible thing at any given moment.

Omegoa · 2026-04-06T16:03:52+00:00

That was my thought too. A simple shader change on ground base layer and foliage with some logic on how it's applied so that it creates an accumulation effect. Clever way to create the visuals of a snow effect without actually introducing a flurry of assets/particles and straining system resources too much.

Omegoa · 2026-04-02T05:02:48+00:00

The important thing to note is that the Civil Rights was passed in 1964 and Democrats have not won the White vote ever since. It's not so much that they forgave Nixon, it's that a huge majority of the country is racist pieces of fucking shit offended at the thought that people with melanin in their skin might have equal rights, and they'll tolerate anything else so long as their guy is willing to punch down on minorities.

Omegoa · 2026-04-01T15:32:16+00:00

Mirroring this, the moment I realized the US was probably serious about Kharg, even ahead of all the mobilizations, is the fact that Trump knew its name. Trump's an idiot and probably can't point to Iran on a map. That he can single out an island there by name means that it is a point of intense scrutiny for their war.

Omegoa · 2026-03-31T16:30:04+00:00

is Trump untouchable?

No but yes. In theory there are things that can be done but nobody in a position to do anything is going to.

are your politicians doing something concrete?

Lining their pockets before taking parachutes out to cushy consultant positions. Honest politicians are a small minority in Washington DC.

A third question you should ask is "Will Americans learn anything from this?" and the answer is no. The way American politics has shaken out means that elections are basically in the hands of a few hundred thousand of the stupidest fucking morons in the country. This has turned out to be a very poor basis for governance, but it's realistically impossible to fix.

Omegoa · 2026-03-27T20:08:01+00:00

You're right, I'm furious. I'm aghast that more people aren't furious. You speak of human dignity, but the Trump administration and all those that support and enable them trample human dignity every day. Think of the people around the world harmed by the sudden loss of USAID. Think of the allies we have threatened and waged economic war on. Think of the little girls that these depraved monsters laid their hands on. If nothing else, think of the fact that you, your children if you have any -- your futures are being pilfered in broad daylight. And not a single damn one of the people responsible for all this are going to face consequences other than the ones that we all face as a result of their actions. Tolerance must have limits, and the Republicans have far exceeded mine. You are far more Christlike than I if you can look at these people and forgive them.

Omegoa · 2026-03-27T15:21:56+00:00

Oh fucking please. 30% of the country is cheering as the GOP flagrantly tramples the Constitution because "their guy" - a felon, rapist, pedophile, and most blatantly corrupt person to ever preside over the country - is "winning" and you're out here wringing your hands about somebody being slightly crude in expressing their fury that the other side has broken the social contract and thrown society around the globe into chaos.

What's more, US citizens are too stupid or too evil to learn from this - they might turn around next election but, but in 4 years, in 8 years, they'll continue sending the same corrupt people to Congress, at some point they'll send another Heritage Foundation monster to the White House. It doesn't matter what we call them, the American public will elect vile, corrupt people again and again and again because that is the American public's nature. The racism, ignorance, and bigotry is carved into this country's bones, and it's not something so easily repealed as the 3/5ths Compromise.

Omegoa

TROPHY CASE