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China rams Philippine ship while 60 Minutes on board; South China Sea tensions could draw U.S. in
  • That statement is so incredibly wrong in this particular context that it's actually impressive.

    Well, maybe not impressive, but it does show off your ability to speak authoritatively on a topic that you know absolutely nothing about, except of course for your firm conviction that capitalism is clearly the only thing motivating it all.

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    China rams Philippine ship while 60 Minutes on board; South China Sea tensions could draw U.S. in
  • It's about expanding their ability to project naval power in general, but more specifically, trying to to build effective defensive counters against potential future naval blockades and maritime containment e.g. Island Chain Strategy

    That's oversimplified, and there are other aspects to it, including domestic political cultural ones, but naval power and national security is the most significant.

    I am not taking any position on justification, legal standing, or strategic prudence for this strategy.

    There are any number of white papers, from both Chinese and American security organizations/think-tanks, that will cover the subject in much greater depth if you're interested.

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    1.3 million Android-based TV boxes backdoored; researchers still don’t know how
  • Right, and I was trying to subtly tell you that you were wrong and that your inaccurate description borders on disinformation, as many of the rebranded white box Android TVs cost more than popular Play Certified Android TV devices, and include better hardware specs.

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    1.3 million Android-based TV boxes backdoored; researchers still don’t know how
  • I didn't say they're the cheapest, just that the boxes I'm personally aware of with this problem are white box rebranded ATVs.

    But I haven't looked through the entire list, so it's entirely possible that some other more well-known and "respectable" device brands are also compromised. If you have an Android TV box, you should probably search the list to find out.

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    1.3 million Android-based TV boxes backdoored; researchers still don’t know how
  • This is about the boxes you plug into the TV, like a Roku, or Fire TV, except it's the cheap Chinese white box rebranded Android TV boxes you buy on places likeAmazon, Ali, and eBay.

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    In Belarus, the native language is vanishing as Russian takes prominence
  • There's ratified UN conventions on what is legally considered genocide...

    I would suggest that instead of sourcing your understanding of genocide from Lemmy comments, you go read it, or at least it's Wikipedia entry.

    Also yes, cultural erasure can be an act of genocide, but I doubt the Belarus situation would quality at the moment. Given their governments participation in the assimilation, it probably requires some additional actions, or metrics. But, it's not like I'm a human rights lawyer, so maybe I'm wrong.

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    India considers joining Russia, China to build nuclear plant on Moon.
  • Considering India and China are nuclear armed geostrategic rivals, with ongoing territorial disputes, and not too distant history of hot wars, I think this type of cooperation can be a good thing.

    But that's also why I'm skeptical about how much dual use technology they'd be willing to share with each other. And when you're talking about space travel, or moon bases, practically everything is dual use technology.

    If anyone is unclear why Russia would be involved, it's their rocket and nuclear technology. Or rather, the Soviet legacy of R&D that is still useful.

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    1.3 million Android-based TV boxes backdoored; researchers still don’t know how
  • Xaomi is a good brand, until proven otherwise.

    I was just giving a broad disclaimer, but mostly I was trying to highlight that they aren't some random shady white box OEM that gets re-sold under 72 different brand names.

    They are a well established brand that produces quality products, that happens to be based in China, and therefore subject to Chinese laws and regulations.

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    1.3 million Android-based TV boxes backdoored; researchers still don’t know how
  • I'm guessing very few, if any, Play Store certified devices are on that list. Unless Google has really laxed requirements.

    Either way, Xaomi devices might get a CCP backdoor, but probably not an ordinary botnet like this.

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    Was it my imagination that most people believed in a 9/11 conspiracy?
  • Not some evidence, clear and convincing evidence.

    The problem is that the Saudi "government" is essentially comprised of competing factions of slave owning inbred cousins.

    So saying the Saudi government was involved isn't as clear cut as it sounds for the purpose of adjudicating any "punishment".

    Now, if KSA wasn't the lynchpin of America's Middle Eastern security apparatus, and viewed as integral to the entire American imperial project, then the US Security State's response would have likely been much different.

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    Gang of wild otters mauls jogger
  • Probably because people like you make them feel unwelcome.

    Did you ever stop and think that if you made them feel comfortable, that they might visit more often?

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    Gang of wild otters mauls jogger
  • Here's a still frame of the otters in question. I'm betting they could quickly surprise and surround anyone they caught alone. And would have no problem giving chase on land.

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    Gang of wild otters mauls jogger
  • Wow, talk about some blatant dog whistling here...

    Inner-city otters? Why not just call them musteld hoodlums? Or shrimp theiving thugs?

    How much you wanna bet that if this was an artic fox, or polar bear attack, the words inner city would never have appeared in this article...

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    Andrew Tate ‘raped and strangled us’ - women tell BBC
  • He was a cutout. Someone who was used because he was controllable and disposable. If he was clever, he wouldn't be dead, he would have had safeguards in place to protect his life using the influence gained from his organization/racket.

    But it wasn't really his racket, he was just a face of it. A body used to fill a recurring role that intelligence agencies find very useful.

    And clearly, They learned their lesson from the Franklin scandal I linked above. That was a true clusterfuck that took a lot of effort to clean up and mitigate the fallout from, which is why they put so much effort into making sure it's smeared as a hoax, overblown, and fake news.

    They even indicted at least two victims of that particular ring, and at least one was sentenced in prison for "perjury" refusing to recant her testimony.

    Another book on the topic from a primary source, a lawyer involved from the beginning with the Franklin scandal.

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    Andrew Tate ‘raped and strangled us’ - women tell BBC
  • Go scratch the surface of his resume.

    He was a cutout used by more powerful people, and placed into roles he wasn't remotely qualified for.

    Basically, his hedge fund was a front. Rich people would park their money there, and in return, get access to the underage girls he provided.

    Which gave him more access, and more influence, to other elites e.g. politicians and aristocrats, which was used by his handlers in the intelligence communities to unclear ends.

    There's a reason why that tapes the FBI discovered at his properties have gone "missing", at least from public view.

    As for why I said he's a moron, start here:

    His plan to cryogenically freeze his head and penis, to be reanimated in the future and repopulate the Earth.

    Oh, and just for the lulz.

    "Donald Barr’s son, US Attorney General William Barr is currently investigating the death of Jeffrey Epstein.

    In 1973, Donald Barr, hired a young 20 year old college dropout named Jeffrey E. Epstein to teach math at the Dalton School. Epstein taught at the school between 1974 and 1976.

    Donald Barr also wrote this sci-fi novel, Space Relations, about sex slavery in space."

    Other accounts dispute that Donald Barr actually met Epstein, but not that he was the headmaster at the school that hired Epstein, nor that he wrote that book.

    I'm not sure if this is another piece of damning evidence of him being placed in positions because of his proclivities, or just a darkly hilarious wtf fact.

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