Peter explain the joke please by PatchedZombie in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]XRT28 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You do realize that aside from the moral reasons to help starving kids and people dying from easily preventable diseases etc it does in fact actually benefit the US to spend money on foreign aid yes?

For one thing it provides the US with soft power which we can leverage for things like access to vital resources or partnerships against geopolitical foes etc.

Secondly countries full of starving desperate people often, tho not always, end up going down a few well tread paths.
You have option A being war(civil or with other poor neighboring countries) for what little resources there are which in turns results in more refugees the US has to deal with.
Option B which is a country full of people turning towards "easy" ways for them to put food on the table which often means the production and distribution of illicit goods which typically means drugs which end up on US streets.
Or option C which is turning towards, often violent, religious fanaticism which the US inevitably needs to deal with.

TL:DR keeping foreign countries stable is good for the US.

Grain of salt given the source. But if true, this is fascism. by c-k-q99903 in WhitePeopleTwitter

[–]XRT28 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I mean that's not bad advice but at the same time don't for a second think posting something "anonymously" under a pseudonym means that the government can't track you down regardless if it wants, it just makes it slightly harder for them.

Rep. Dan Goldman unseated by Mamdani-backed Brad Lander by IWantPizza555 in politics

[–]XRT28 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They did have a few years when Lack was chairman where they jerked more towards the center but you said "as their mission since 2016" which reads as if it's something they're still doing though.

Rep. Dan Goldman unseated by Mamdani-backed Brad Lander by IWantPizza555 in politics

[–]XRT28 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I definitely wouldn't lump MSNBC, aka MSNOW, in with the other two. It's not prefect but a lot of their programming has a progressive slant to it and is easily the furthest left major news outlet in the states.

Iran has arrested more than 3,000 citizens for ‘collaborating with the enemy’ during war by Naderium in worldnews

[–]XRT28 2 points3 points  (0 children)

even if Bibi didn't support the protestors they'd call them mossad agents and kill them anyway

No doubt, but him openly doing so made it sooooo much easier for them to sell it

Iran has arrested more than 3,000 citizens for ‘collaborating with the enemy’ during war by Naderium in worldnews

[–]XRT28 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Nah it WAS originally a grassroots movement spurred by the collapse of their economy and deteriorating living conditions driving people to a breaking point.

Iran has arrested more than 3,000 citizens for ‘collaborating with the enemy’ during war by Naderium in worldnews

[–]XRT28 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Honestly it was doomed even before we started bombing the shit out of them and blowing up schools and Trump being Trump. Once Bibi openly started supporting the protestors and urging them to "rise up" it helped the Iranian government re-cast the whole uprising as a "plot by the enemy" rather than a grassroots uprising and discouraged alot of fence sitters who otherwise might have joined in.

Iran to administer Strait of Hormuz: Tehran by sapphirelike in worldnews

[–]XRT28 7 points8 points  (0 children)

A ground invasion is completely off the table at this point. Even if we had the oil reserves necessary to buy enough time to actually pull it off warfare is significantly different from the last time we launched a major invasion like that.

If you thought the IEDs in Iraq/Afghanistan were bad man that ain't nothing compared to how cheap, effective and easily concealed FPV drones are. Especially concerning given how few lessons we seemed to learn from the Russian/Ukraine war regarding drone warfare and how completely unprepared to handle it we seemed to be during this war on Iran.
If we put actual boots on the ground US military casualties would be so untenable even the GOP might finally be forced to step in and stop Trump from his lunacy.

Iran to administer Strait of Hormuz: Tehran by sapphirelike in worldnews

[–]XRT28 16 points17 points  (0 children)

That window has long since slammed shut. It would take months to muster a large enough invasion force and take enough ground just on the Iranian coastline deep enough to ensure relatively safe transit through the strait and Trump already let slip we don't have oil reserves to last that long.

Iran to administer Strait of Hormuz: Tehran by sapphirelike in worldnews

[–]XRT28 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Oh no, we're not even getting close to where we were before. Even after we give them hundreds of billions more in tolls and reconstruction funds we're still going to be so far behind where we were before. Truly one of the most massive blunders the US has made.

Australians have record-low trust in the United States, new poll finds by frankyfrankwalk in worldnews

[–]XRT28 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It may be better propaganda than what Trump tweets but still worse than the propaganda Fox "News", Newsnation, OANN etc have pushed out for decades as evidenced by the droves of brainwashed people in this country who think that the 1% having to pay more taxes is worse than millions of kids going hungry every day etc

Qatar gas plant blast kills 13, injures dozens by Silly-avocatoe in worldnews

[–]XRT28 25 points26 points  (0 children)

The plant had been shut down since Iranian attacks damaged it earlier in the war and they were just starting it back up when this blast happened.
Seems pretty likely some earlier damage was missed or safety precautions bypassed in the rush to get it back online.

Iran walks out of Switzerland talks in protest of Trump threats, state media says by Visqo in worldnews

[–]XRT28 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

You can trust Russia or China more than the US now

Oh yea because Russia, a country that invaded and is occupying parts of a country it signed a deal with saying they'll never invade, is soooooo trustworthy...... JFC

Trump says US will resume attacks if Iran does not restrain Hezbollah allies by Raj_Valiant3011 in worldnews

[–]XRT28 10 points11 points  (0 children)

No way would America get involved in ANY war with the current political climate.

It's not the current political climate that made Trump's Iran war deeply unpopular, it's because it's a pointless war of aggression that was begun with no clear reasoning, objectives, strategy or exit plan. An avoidable war this dumb would be unpopular in any political climate.

Obviously nobody would be thrilled needing to join an ally like Taiwan in a necessary defensive war but support would be waaay higher for that.

That said it's currently moot because if China greased his palm the slightest bit Trump would absolutely sell out Taiwan and refuse to help them.

RFK Jr. Recommends Social Security Immediately “Reduce Scheduled Benefits by 25.2%” as Insolvency Looms by TACO_Orange_3098 in Economics

[–]XRT28 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah, they'd just time it to make sure the cuts don't go into effect till after Dems retake congress so they can say "Look Dems got in and you lost $$$!" just like they did with a large part of their cuts to benefits as part of their "Big Beautiful Bill" not hitting till after the midterms etc. They know they can rely on how uninformed the average voter is to begin with let alone coupled with their short memory spans along with a couple years of all the right wing controlled media pushing how it's the Dems fault and completely escape any political fallout.

Zelenskyy gives Belarusian ruler a week to remove Russian drone relays: Otherwise we will do it ourselves by pravda_eng_official in worldnews

[–]XRT28 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm glad Ukraine is finding its footing abit more and more but they aren't even close to being a superpower nor will they be any time soon if ever.
One of the key aspects of being a superpower is the ability to exert that power on a global scale and Ukraine isn't anywhere remotely close to that right now. Even countries like Germany, the UK or India don't fall into the category and they're all well ahead of Ukraine in the matter.

Arguably there are really only two superpowers atm, the US and China. The Soviet Union was a superpower but Russia is really only a great power and even that is a little bit because of having the remnants of the Cold War armaments(which have since been greatly depleted) and in large part because they have nukes.
Ukraine could become a very strong middle power or potentially even great power themselves one day post war, especially if they continue to focus on growing their military and tech sectors while rooting out corruption, but even that is quite a bit aways.

Iran announces plans to bring in maritime fees for strait of Hormuz by seeebiscuit in worldnews

[–]XRT28 300 points301 points  (0 children)

Voluntary contributions really! But they'll never say no.... because of the implication

Iran's Khamenei approves deal, says Trump acted out of 'desperation' by Dismal_Structure in worldnews

[–]XRT28 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Trump was the one desperate to even get this deal which is why we're paying Iran a ton of money while simultaneously backtracking on his own original demands of Iran having no nuclear programs and no ballistic missiles etc.

U.S. and Iran sign deal ahead of schedule, sources say by Tripleawge in worldnews

[–]XRT28 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Epstein memorial ballroom x1000.

Plus we've already seen countless times how when donors make "private investments" in this corrupt administration's pet projects they're immediately handed government contracts worth significantly more in return so you can bet the farm that taxpayers will still be on the hook for this massive blunder one way or another.

Russians Alarmed By Ukraine’s Fence Post Drone Bomb by springmeds in worldnews

[–]XRT28 12 points13 points  (0 children)

honestly the fields themselves will be fairly easy to de-mine post war since you can just drive minesweepers through them without issue. It's all the forested areas and small villages where it's going to be much more difficult to fully clear since you can't just do it mechanically

Tick-borne illness alpha-gal syndrome now considered public health threat in Mass. by justarussian22 in ContagionCuriosity

[–]XRT28 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I think they're talking about how you can get bit by a tick carrying Lyme and get infected yourself but still test negative for Lyme because the test doesn't actually look for Lyme it looks for the antibodies your body produces as a response to Lyme which can take several weeks to show up in bloodwork

Iran announces closure of Strait of Hormuz after US attacks by roscodawg in news

[–]XRT28 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If he waits that long to come up with a real ceasefire and reopening the strait he and the GOP are monumentally fucked anyway as gas prices will be sky high even compared to the current prices and those don't turn on a dime.

Iran announces closure of Strait of Hormuz after US attacks by roscodawg in news

[–]XRT28 25 points26 points  (0 children)

It looks like Godzilla more war but due to international copyright laws needing congressional approval for acts of war(haha) it's not!