111–120 of 179 posts
The Presidential Pardon being the underlying legal basis of everything. With that power, everything is legal.
Yup. Basically that and the president being the executor of laws and having a standing army that he is chief of … effectively makes him a king. Especially since Congress is bought and paid for and won’t impeach him.
US newqs outlets seem to be afraid to call him a dictator. Maybe a king is more palateable.
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> The only EU member with nuclear weapons is France, which has it's own domestic nuclear ecosystem. The UK has US-derived (?) nuclear weapons, and so it would perhaps make sense for them to hire the Americans that maintained them: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_of_the_United_... Given the 'waffling' of Trump on NATO support, Poland may want to develop their own. Also South Korea and Japan may want to…
> The UK Not in the EU. And the same NatSec requirements hold. > Poland may want to develop their own. A nuclear shield is useless without second or third strike capabilities - which requires a nuclear triad - as both Russia and China have developed those capabilities due to their rivalry with the US. Poland hypothetically building 10 nuclear devices does nothing if Russia can launch multiple strike after getting str…
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> I guess the EU should hire them The EU doesn't have control of defense policy - that is the mandate of individual European states. The only EU member with nuclear weapons is France, which has it's own domestic nuclear ecosystem. More critically, public sector hiring is not the same as private sector. Working for a foreign government's NatSec apparatus would be a red flag for any sort of hiring - especially in the d…
Maybe that will change. Germany certianly has capability to manufacture nuclear armements. The UK may rejoin if the situation gets dire enough.
Yep, but as I mentioned below, that's not enough anymore.
Just about every major nuclear power (US, Russia, China, India, Israel) has a nuclear triad and second strike capabilities.
Just having nuclear weapons doesn't unlock that capability overnight.
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> The UK Not in the EU. And the same NatSec requirements hold. > Poland may want to develop their own. A nuclear shield is useless without second or third strike capabilities - which requires a nuclear triad - as both Russia and China have developed those capabilities due to their rivalry with the US. Poland hypothetically building 10 nuclear devices does nothing if Russia can launch multiple strike after getting str…
Russia is not the USSR. In practice, Russia is Moscow and St Petersburg. Pose a credible threat to those cities and be set. Because Poland and Russia are so close geographically, plausible second strike capability can be achieved many ways without having ICBMs and nuclear strike subs.
Even if Moscow or St Petersburg are completely wiped off the map, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Omsk, etc will remain while much of Poland is irradiated.
> Russia is not the USSR
It's not the USSR, but it's still a large country, and much of the defense industry has remained in Siberia since WW2.
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The good thing about these massive ships is that they take a loong time to sink. If my guesses are correct, it’ll work just long enough for another administration to take over to deal with the fallout.
Is it a good thing though? It means it takes the same loong time until problems are noticed and reacted upon.
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Just be careful when using analogies. The massive ship named USSR sank in a matter of months.
I honestly prefer that outcome. At least that’d be a reset instead of this infinite downward cycle.
If the USA gets a repeat of the USSR collapse, you're looking at an independent Texas and California (and perhaps Hawaii?) within a few years, 50% GDP loss, proper hyperinflation, infighting over the nuclear arsenal being under federal authority or the authority of whichever state it happened to be physically in at the time, and a 6-7 year reduction in life expectancy.
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> The only EU member with nuclear weapons is France, which has it's own domestic nuclear ecosystem. The UK has US-derived (?) nuclear weapons, and so it would perhaps make sense for them to hire the Americans that maintained them: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_of_the_United_... Given the 'waffling' of Trump on NATO support, Poland may want to develop their own. Also South Korea and Japan may want to…
> The UK Not in the EU. And the same NatSec requirements hold. > Poland may want to develop their own. A nuclear shield is useless without second or third strike capabilities - which requires a nuclear triad - as both Russia and China have developed those capabilities due to their rivalry with the US. Poland hypothetically building 10 nuclear devices does nothing if Russia can launch multiple strike after getting str…
For instance, between China and its own nuke North Korea is guaranteed not to be invaded by the US.
Likewise, Israel is guaranteed that Arab countries or Iran won't try to invade it.
In fact, that's why France developed its own nukes, in addition to making sure they'll keep a seat at the "adults table".
Poland might be/have been another good example. They would only need to guarantee that St Petersburg, Moscow, and Minsk would be vaporised in case of invasion to be safe on their Eastern border.
Bruce Schneiers thoughts : https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/doge-as-a-nat... https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/ai-and-civil-...
>> Assuming that anyone in the government still cares. Schneier hits the mark here. Government only works at all if people care. And if you tell someone that their job, and the organisation they work for - are of no value - then those people won't care any more. I don't know what the outcome would be of large swathes of the government either being fired or not caring any more but we're going to find out and I don't t…
If Aynn Rands Great great grandniece has to fear for her life over this - so be it. To propagate this self-destructive retardation has to be a curse on all who give in to it. Just because the mine runneth dry and you want to fire up the carrying wood for warmth, does not make it a valid opinion.
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Not only are EU and US on a similar corruption index, the EU does not have a culture of widespread, legal corruption called "lobbying".