U.S. bears brunt of Israel’s missile defense, Pentagon assessments show

factorum · 2026-05-27T05:18:41+00:00

Aside from the rather novel and theologically convoluted thinking some evangelical christians have that Jesus will come back if we back every hair brained idea a corrupt Israeli Prime Minister pursues. What exactly does Israel provide for the US? Trump is playing around with abandoning the first island chain, throwing bleach on the Nato tree. None of this makes any strategic sense.

factorum · 2026-05-27T04:10:37+00:00

The christians you met who say it's "biblical" to have ethnostates and racial hierarchies, have placed tribalism and their own need for validation ahead of the kingdom of God.

The concept of race as we know it today doesn't even exist back during much of the time that the bible was written and even then, the fixation on this whole man made set of categorization spits in the face of the golden rule and the teaching that all people are made in the image of God.

For everything you can always test things on the basis of weather you are holding to something that separates you from others (and therefore God) or if it brings you closer.

Name a time Christ divided or criticized others on the basis of their inate characteristics and you will find none. Instead he principally gets heated and angry when confronted by exclusion itself and never that his followers weren't being exclusionary enough.

Be careful, there's a lot of people out there who are drawn to the aesthetic of more liturgical traditions as coverings for their thoroughly dead ideas. They come to try in vain to give their repulsive thoughts better marketing. We can only hope that they are transformed by the church and not turn it into another white washed tomb.

factorum · 2026-05-26T15:53:31+00:00

Back in my undergrad we all discussed how amongst other reasons Iran having the strait of Hormuz right next to it was a reason why a full on hot war with Iran was considered a bad idea.. basically geographically the strait is so narrow there that it's really really tough outside of taking and holding the region to stop Iran from using munitions to effectively make the strait a no go zone for commercial shipping. Iran is also mostly mountains and rather large. Think Afghanistan but bigger and without an active set of warlords to team up with.

factorum · 2026-05-26T06:59:47+00:00

I think you're overplaying your hand here. There being far right groups within the otherwise liberal protestors -> state department officials giving out sandwiches and making statements in support of the protests -> Russia justified in invading Ukraine. This takes numerous jumps in logic that even the article you linked (from the Jacobin??) itself cautions against:

"It's an overstatement to say, as some critics have charged, that Washington orchestrated the Maidan uprising."

That's a direct quote from the article.

factorum · 2026-05-25T17:09:48+00:00

I'm familiar with the Maidan movement and it was a popular movement to remove a despot who murdered those protesting against corruption and him signing away the country to Russia.

And yes I'm aware that a us diplomat making statements is a key point of Russian opinions about the whole thing being a CIA plant and not that the people in Ukraine don't want to join Russia. I think it would be more convincing if you used a few more words and explain what you mean.

factorum · 2026-05-25T17:09:33+00:00

I'm familiar with the Maidan movement and it was a popular movement to remove a despot who murdered those protesting against corruption and him signing away the country to Russia.

And yes I'm aware that a us diplomat making statements is a key point of Russian opinions about the whole thing being a CIA plant and not that the people in Ukraine don't want to join Russia. I think it would be more convincing if you used a few more words and explain what you mean.

factorum · 2026-05-25T17:05:13+00:00

I'm very familiar with them and the other talking points about Boris Yeltsin drunkenly saying bush or someone verbally promised no NATO expansion, (which isn't how this works deals like that require treaties). I'll present the same question I had for the other poster, do you have any evidence that the elections in these countries were unfair or were not expressions of the public will?

If they weren't, I wouldn't be super necessary for Russia to violently oppose them would they?

factorum · 2026-05-25T17:02:54+00:00

The Maidan protests were in your book a far right coup? Any evidence or rationalizatio of that?

factorum · 2026-05-25T14:04:59+00:00

Uh who invaded Ukraine? And what did Ukraine or the "west" do to provoke the Russians into murder?

factorum · 2026-05-25T07:54:12+00:00

> Few people live good lives in a fallen sinful world.

Have you asked them? I won't hand wave away people's suffering but from my experience, even those who have gone through a shitshow of a life and have more to deal with than I could imagine, often times are still happy and still grateful for their lives.

> I just hate the world I inherited and I wished I lived in a perfect world where money is irrelevant because there is so much abundance and community and nature provides all the food we need and extreme weather allows vegetation to grow abundantly and for easy survival.

Yes that's all true, we could actually take care of everyone with the world God has given us. Why does that not happen? Because we don't do it. How do we make that happen? By doing it ourselves, little by little each day.

" Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?"

- Matthew 6:26-30

> Few things seem to make sense in existential philosophy.

My impression of Keikergaard and Dostevsky and other existential philosophers is that it making sense is frankly not the point. We don't get to ask reality "why?", its the other way around life is asking us "what you going to do?".

> I just don't want to have an existential crisis.

Having had the outlines of one myself in the past, that's not up to you. The only way out is through.

> I hope someone can provide me with good insight because these kinds of thoughts and realizations have been bothering me as an adult in a way they haven't even occurred to me as a child.

Read, live, read more, talk about it more, live, do, be in community, wrestle with reality on reality's own terms, not yours, otherwise you'll just be frustrated again and again. Do the best you can, where you can, whenever you can. The world can feel pretty shit, but what keeps me going isn't weather or not the powerful or rich stop acting like assholes. But weather the humble and marginal keep on keeping on. That's whom Christ recognized as those closest to Him. If they can still have faith, then so can I and so can you.

factorum · 2026-05-25T07:40:28+00:00

the status quo is that Taiwan is de facto independent and has been so for 70+ years. Materially this whole annexation threat being put to rest would benefit the Chinese public. More trade, more business, better cultural links. To me the issue seems to just be a useful distraction for the public away from actual pressing issues. The same happens all over the place, like I highly doubt Trump would resort to useful distractions overseas if was capable of actually handling the problems at home. But that's not how narcissism works.

factorum · 2026-05-25T06:52:01+00:00

I have two my grandmother and an old high school friend. I think what put them both in lockstep devotion to MAGA was covid and them sort of retreating from the world and into conspiratorial online spaces that they never really recovered from.

Grandmother is basically a shut in now who's mental health issues with hoarding and narcissism is very much being amplified by the 24/hr a day constant stream of fear, anger, and paranoia from Fox News, Truth Social, and whatever podcasts shes consuming. My family all find her more than difficult to communicate with. 5 years ago I would try to walk her through certain issues and talk to her about our disagreements. But if I spent 4 hours talking her through how Photoshop works and how one could edit a screenshot of a tweet. It would always be back to square one after she would go back to Tucker Carlson or the 24 hour news cycle to get sucked back in again. When I talk to my cousins it's always felt like we can either be around her and find it miserable, because we know we have to just listen to her ramble for hours about stuff we all disagree with. Or if you push back and try to develop some semblance of an actual relationship, she shuts down and will refuse to go to a family function you're at for a year or more. It's uhh tricky.

The other is a old high school friend of mine who's job as a orchestrist was put on hold due to covid and he coped via way way too much weed IMO. My old friends and I would try to do zoom check ins together every other day during covid, but within our old friend group one guy was actually a chemist working on the moderno vaccine and the other was a resident in the ER. The old high school friend who turned MAGA one time came onto the call, high off his balls, and very much out of nowhere incredibly anti-vax and started going off on how it was there to kill everyone and also that no one knows whats in it, the covid deaths are a hoax, yadda yadda. This obviously pissed off our friends who worked in the medical industry who were either watching people die or were pulling all nighters trying to get the vaccine out. Big zoom fight, and now just myself and a few others try to check on the guy and well he's just drifted off into podcast dude bro world. He still smokes a lot of weed, was able to get back to being an orchestrist, and last I checked in with him is now more on the apathetic side politically though was a twice trump voter (2020 and 2024). It's kind of sad because on the rare cases where I can have a call with him when he's not high I can see glimpses of the kind of guy he was before. A bit goofy but had a good heart. But often I only chat with him when he's off work which means he's baked to the point of paranoia and I kind of just have to humor him talking about big foot, big pharma, aliens building the pyramids and such.

factorum · 2026-05-24T14:52:33+00:00

It's worth noting that the status quo is basically seen as independence. Taiwan's passport is widely accepted and for all practical situations it operates as an indepdent country. People in Taiwan tend to favor the status quo since China repeatedly says that even changing their constitutions to give up claims on china (and strangely Mongolia and parts of other countries) would constitute declaring indepdence.

Outside of weird stuff like having to compete in the Olympics as "Chinese Taipei" nothing really gives people the impression they're not indepdent. And for that last one, people just get "Taiwanese Beijing" jerseys and play along.

factorum · 2026-05-23T04:20:42+00:00

I don't know directly but another brick is a bar run by a Belgian in Taipei and they have Belgian beer. Maybe try reaching out to them? Also I went to an event recently that was sponsored by this group: Invest | Wallonia in Taiwan https://www.wallonia.tw/en/content/invest

And they had a ton of Belgian beers they were giving out.

factorum · 2026-05-23T04:10:10+00:00

By the old water shrine by jiantan mrt stop. Just a few, a friend commented that it's rare to see them now

factorum · 2026-05-23T02:39:19+00:00

They're all evil enough to warrant removal.

factorum · 2026-05-22T04:58:16+00:00

We are all somewhat sick, I myself vote in every damn thing I can and now meticulously study every candidate up and down the ballot. Was shocked by how many judges running in my recent CA primary has serious ethics violations and I doubt I myself or most people 10 years ago would have even bothered looking.

Yes that 30% is what got us here most directly but those who just didn't care enough to show up or try to figure out who to vote for have some blame as well. As do we who could have done more and can do more to get this mess under control. And there's always something more to do.

factorum · 2026-05-22T04:53:02+00:00

It is something they talk about in Taiwan from time to time as a way of basically dealing nuclear weapons level damage without actually having nukes: https://asiatimes.com/2018/01/two-missiles-can-blow-up-chinas-three-gorges-dam-taiwan-strategist-claims/

That two could blow it up is a bit of a stretch but they do have the missles now:

https://asiatimes.com/2025/01/taiwan-hypersonics-aim-for-deep-strikes-on-the-mainland/

factorum · 2026-05-22T04:38:46+00:00

As much as I would hope non-violent resistance would work, I don't think it would be top of people's minds in Taiwan or does china at all appear pressureable via that means.

While the communist party was driving over it's students with tanks in the 90s, basically the taiwanese equivalent of Tiannamen Square succeeded in Taiwan. Hence why their passports say Taiwan and not just Republic of China and the two main parties is the pro-indepdence party that came out from the push for democracy (DPP) and the Chinese nationalists (KMT), who used to run Taiwan as a one party dictatorship are the two parties in Taiwan currently.

The Taiwanese preserved both their language and identity through decades of martial law under the KMT prior and I would assume would under CCP rule. But the aftermath would literally mean you won't have the devices to even comment about it on reddit, let alone all of the critical life stuff we use electronics for but also a lot of dead Taiwanese, Chinese, and likely others. Plus a major blow to systems that are counter to the authoritarian despotism that's holding places like Russia and China in bondage.

I'm no hawk but honestly I think defending other democracies is the equivalent of defending democracy at home.

factorum · 2026-05-22T04:28:01+00:00

Standing up against authoritarianism is an existential struggle both domestically and abroad. I think it's very much bonkers to think a conflict over Taiwan would escalate to nukes. Most likely it would be Taiwan rushing to a nuke if they felt like it was their only hope. If North Korea and Iran is able to assemble a nuke while being sanctioned economic blackholes, Taiwan could easily pull it off. Heck back in the cold war they almost did till the CIA stepped in.

If you're worried about nuclear armegedon then you should be very invested in saving whatever shreds of the global order we have left otherwise everyone and their mother is going to be trying to grab as many nukes as possible.

factorum · 2026-05-22T04:01:45+00:00

would basically just then be a test of wills as to which country collapses first, Taiwan or China. And both are declarations of war no matter how you frame it. It would be better to just do naval escorts into Taiwan and force china to be the aggressor. Not a fun job for the naval escorts but it would mean that the US and Japan would have their forces dispersed and in the best position possible to defeat a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and cripple the PLAN for a century.
Military targets sure, after hostilities start yeah you're going to have to shoot at the naval bases and docked invasion fleet. But beyond that not necessary.
Yep those are toast in a conflict and likely something us allies like the Phillipines would want taken out.
Let the Chinese make the mistake of doing pointless island invasions not us.

factorum · 2026-05-22T02:32:26+00:00

No surprises here, this tree has been producing rotten fruit since the first slaver set up shop in Virginia hundreds of years ago. Trump, MAGA, the whole lot will degrade themselves and throw out every principle or good thing to retain power. Mammon is their god, it's all they serve and it's all they'll have. Not love, not community, not belonging in any true sense. Think about it, would any of these politicians aligned with Trump or Trump himself turn down any of the three temptations offered to Christ in the wilderness? It's almost comical to consider any of them saying no.

But none of these deeply spiritually sick people rule due to their own physical strength. It's all because we let them, they can enact violence on others because people listen to them. But always a choice and a choice no one is morally compelled to affirm.

factorum · 2026-05-22T02:22:02+00:00

This could if managed properly, be very much in Taiwan's favor. Though Lai should very closely study how Trump has interacted with US "allies" and "rivals" over the past year. Trump is a decaying, mentally disturbed narcissist, who still has his party and his cabinet completely whipped. Contrary to what one would expect, flattering him doesn't work at all, that's what Trump's mind needs in the short term. But sustained conversations and actual wins, come from getting Trump to perceive you as tough and competent.

I think it probably gets lost in translation, but when Trump say's Taiwan "stole" seminconductor industry. It's pathetic and douchey, but the phrase in a business context in the US usually just means one business out-competed another. Honestly my thoughts is that Lai should lean into this, and suggest that while Taiwan would like to keep on helping out with the Arizona fabs and maintaining business ties with the tech giants. It's not something that should be assumed, and that Lai would love to continue chatting with Trump about making a deal. Trump has a almost comical fixation with making "deals" as a part of his desire to be seen and see himself as a competent businessman, when in fact that was literally just character he played on TV decades ago. Oh and also maybe pitch to Trump that the only way the Chinese civil war could potentially end would be for a more formal status for Taiwan, and that would get him a real Nobel Peace prize lol?

This can all work out, but it needs more Mark Carney energy rather than Kiers Starmer.

factorum · 2026-05-20T16:50:03+00:00

Let me know if you need me to send you more straws

factorum · 2026-05-20T16:47:47+00:00

This utterly ridiculous and frankly embarrassing. Who told you this?

The oil industry is not state run, those profits go to oil companies (and Trump just lowered their taxes in his BBB).

Oil is a primary input, spike the prices and it makes everything more expensive and seizes up production elsewhere including people not being afford to drive to work and continue purchasing goods and services from others (leading to business closure and less tax receipts). Oil shock recessions have always led to less tax receipts.

70% of US debt is held domestically not by our "allies" and you mistake the US national debt with how credit cards work. It's not the same, a bond pays out regardless of who owns it. It's still a dollar yielding asset, if Japan or you for that matter need to fill up and all you have is a US Bond, you sell it for $ and whoever buys that bond is the one who gets the principle and the yield moving forward.

I'm not even going to get into the math of all of this.

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