France's military is being ousted from more African countries. Here's why
France's military is being ousted from more African countries. Here's why
It’s been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades.MONIKA PRONCZUK (AP News)
Yes, you should be concerned!
I'm pretty sure that's a premium service you pay a monthly fee to access. Definitely does not come standard with a BMW. You'll want to shut it off immediately to not incur extra charges to your BMW account.
I hate BMW drivers like many do. For some reason, black cars are always the worst. I told my partner I don't like black, BMW drivers.
I was so confused by her shock, until I realized she thought I was talking about black people.
That's funny, out here my bias is against white pickup trucks, with point modifiers.
- Lift kit? Add a point.
- Giant truck bed toolbox? Point.
- Truck nuts? Like 5 points.
- Fascist or anti-social bumper stickers like punisher logos or skeletal middle fingers? More points.
- EDIT: How could I forget six-wheeled "dualie" setups but the vehicle obviously only ever hauled groceries and the crushing weight of massive insecurity? Points!
It's so pathetically predictable...
Fascist or anti-social bumper stickers like punisher logos
Ain't the punisher from a comic book? What did those damn Americans do this time?!
So, the Punisher is a comic book character that was formerly a villain but became somewhat of an anti-hero in the 80's, when vigilante heroes were very popular due to right-wing sentiment that lawful "red tape" meant bad guys ran amok because they had...y'know...human rights.
Unlike a huge majority of Marvel characters, Frank Castle not only disregards that pesky "due process" and all that jazz, he straight-up goes and kills the bad guys , like gangs, mafia, and so-on.
Military guys started adopting the skull logo for intimidation purposes, and the cops who think they're military thanks to crap like the "war on drugs" and whatever, adopted a "thin blue line" version of the logo, which basically screams:
"I have fantasies of violence and would probably take the opportunity to 'clean up the town' by just murdering people I thought were bad without those pesky 'laws' and 'rights' in the way."
Or
"I support cops who would do that."
It's worth noting the authors of the comic book character included an issue where cops wanted a selfie and clearly idolize him, and Frank Castle "The Punisher", tells them off because they're supposed to uphold the law , and they should be looking up to Captain America instead.
So, you'll see these bumper stickers proudly displayed (with many different variants), and they scream the same thing: "I'm a self-centered, self-righteous jerkface who hates everyone who isn't me, I wish someone would just kill everybody I'm pretty sure is bad, no questions asked."
It's since gone even further through the MAGA-filter like everything else once-even-vaguely-conservative.
--Source: Am Damn American, but don't use so broad a brush. We're screaming right along with you. :)
I recently got a BMW i4 (their electric mid-size sedan). These new cars beep if you start to stray to the next lane without first engaging the turn signal.
My company's Sprinter van goes as far as yanking you back to your lane unless you engage the turn signal first.
Damned tech ruining a good vintage meme.
What you described is definitely worse, but one of my pet-peeves is when drivers put their turn signal on AFTER slowing way down for their turn. It makes it seem like they're just braking for no reason and might do something crazy like swerve across lanes.
The turn signal is meant to inform other drivers of your intentions before you make a move, not after.
Yes, exactly!
Taking it to another level, my pet-peeve recently is drivers signaling the opposite direction they’re turning. I see it all the time (at least in the past few years) and I can’t figure out where the logic comes from.
I only see people indicating backwards on roundabouts (indicating to exit when not exiting; indicating to stay on the roundabout when they're exiting). I presume they got bad instructions.
I can imagine that roundabouts might seem confusing. I have no idea how someone can get indicators wrong on other types of intersections
Tesla indicators suck. Even with a stick they suck, the touch button ones are worse.
I would suggest BMW drivers don't indicate because they're arseholes, Tesla drivers don't indicate because it's too hard
Damn, that's super annoying. My Ford truck has a similar feature, but at least it's possible to turn it off permanently. I usually leave it on the "vibrate steering" / warning only mode, so if you're distracted it'll warn you but not actually take over.
When I first got it and was towing a trailer through some narrow curvy roads it was downright dangerous because I needed to cross the center line to stay on the road, and the truck was trying to steer me off the edge.
Calling the garage
"Yeah, so I've got a strange green light on iny car... Wait, now it's off again...
Now it's back on....
And off...
And on...."
Garage
No problem, please get your car to our garage we will fix it in 30seconds.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It will just cost you 1200£
Edit: holy shit this works as an embedded video?!?
That's the blinker fluid level warning light. Drive to your nearest mechanic and ask them to refill it for you.
It's a good idea to film and post it online so others will learn about this important feature.
I was on the way home Sunday with my kid. Going down a road that's 30mph. My house is on the left. I run my blinker on to turn into my driveway. A BMW speeds up and tries to pass on my left. Nearly T-Boned me. All I saw was the medallion and a lit-up UBER sign on the dash.
They managed to stop, flip me off, and sped away before I could even get my window down. What the fuck is thier issue?
Holding back China's chipmaking progress is a fool’s errand, says U.S. Commerce Secretary | Tom's Hardware
Holding back China's chipmaking progress is a fool’s errand, says U.S. Commerce Secretary
Investments in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation matter more than bans and sanctions.Jowi Morales (Tom's Hardware)
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How bloom filters made SQLite 10x faster
How bloom filters made SQLite 10x faster - blag
This is the fascinating story of how researchers used Bloom filters cleverly to make SQLite 10x faster for analytical queries. These are my five-minute notes on the paper SQLite: Past, Present, and Futureavi.im
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this misses an important point i think.
in germany people live for a very long time in the same rented apartment. 20-30 years is common, as i understand it. homeownership is not seen as a "goal". i think adding an axis for tenancy length would be useful.
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A highrise just means any tall building, with enough floors to make an elevator required.
Housing highrise buildings can either have apartments for rent, or condos sold outright (usually with some kind of a homeowners association that takes care of utilities, trash, etc that you have to pay recurring fees to).
In my country (the US), highrise condos exist but are much rarer than every other form of housing. In Spain I saw a lot of highrise condo buildings, some of the condos even had two floors. Imagine a mansion inside of a highrise building, pretty neat.
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I love this video because it really concisely breaks down what needs to be done, in a common-sense way. Countries thinking they can solve their problems while skipping the most important step the PRC and other socialist countries took - eliminating the parasitic landlord class and nationalizing industry and finance, are deluded.
Paul Cockshott - Obstacles to the China path in Latin America.
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don't like this
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Yeah China should definitely not be on this list.
Looking forward to the bot account's mental gymnastics to tell me why I'm wrong
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A real DOGE: Fire every McKinsey consultant in the federal government
Cutting Government Is Easy... If You Go After McKinsey
Elon Musk engineered a panic over government spending, thwarting major PBM reform and bans on junk fees. But cutting government spending is easy, if you take on power. And therein lies the rub.Matt Stoller (BIG by Matt Stoller)
Carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires compares to fossil fuel carbon emissions of large countries
Carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires - Nature
Satellite carbon monoxide observations show that carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian forest fires are comparable to the annual fossil fuel emissions of large nations.Nature
Report ties Romanian liberals to TikTok campaign that fueled pro-Russia candidate
Report ties Romanian liberals to TikTok campaign that fueled pro-Russia candidate
A campaign from a governing center-right party may have been hijacked to benefit far-right candidate Călin Georgescu, snoop.ro report shows.Victor Goury-Laffont (POLITICO)
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In the US, only CEOs and corporations are protected by the state
In the US, only CEOs and corporations are protected by the state : Peoples Dispatch
The outsized response of the state to, on one hand, vilify the man suspected of killing a health insurance CEO, and on the other, repress a workers’ strike against Amazon, has shed light on solidarity among the ruling classNatalia Marques (Peoples Dispatch)
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Inside the White House workings to keep a ‘diminished’ Biden informed
Inside the White House workings to keep a ‘diminished’ Biden informed while dealing with age-related problems
Lawmakers, donors, and aides told The Wall Street Journal that the gatekeeping grew more intense and the walls around the president became higher over timeGustaf Kilander (The Independent)
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The best camera stabilizer
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.youtube.com
That is pretty much the most chill chicken ever.
My hen? You put her on your shoulder and walk fast, she's squawking in your ear to slow down, you maniac.
Deception and Betrayal: Inside the Final Days of the #Assad Regime
[gift article - link can be shared. Expires in 30 days.]
Published Dec. 21, 2024 Updated Dec. 22, 2024, 12:35 p.m. ET
Inside the Final Days of the Assad Regime in Syria
President Bashar al-Assad, who wielded fear and force over Syria for more than two decades, fled the country under the cover of night — and a fake political address.Ben Hubbard (The New York Times)
Aegisub 3.4.0 Released
It’s been a while!
This release, the first stable in a decade, was designed to have minimal feature changes from 3.2.2. The goal was to just cut a release that builds on modern systems, which was itself more than enough work. Further releases will include actual features and more normal changelogs. The version is 3.4.0 to avoid conflicts with forks that tagged things under 3.3.x.
Moving forward, development will continue out of TypesettingTools/Aegisub.
Aegisub 3.4.0 Released
It’s been a while! This release, the first stable in a decade, was designed to have minimal feature changes from 3.2.2. The goal was to just cut a release that builds on modern systems, which was itself more than enough work.Aegisub
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Advanced Subtitle Editor
Aegisub is a free, cross-platform open source tool for creating and modifying subtitles. Aegisub makes it quick and easy to time subtitles to audio, and features many powerful tools for styling them, including a built-in real-time video preview.
eldavi
in reply to schizoidman • • •aka an old fashioned colony complete with an oppressive military presence.
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wieson
in reply to eldavi • • •sooper_dooper_roofer [none/use name]
in reply to schizoidman • • •it's because Africans have become racist
frauddogg [null/void, undecided]
in reply to schizoidman • • •like this
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ArDu
in reply to schizoidman • • •There is a huge issue with Wagner being accused of killing and raping people and China is literally buying everything.
Rejecting strongly the current french military will probably create a weird situation for them...
Shezzagrad
in reply to ArDu • • •Chinese relations with the global South is infinitely better than American/Britiish/french relations. I absolutely welcome china but not so much about Russia
ArDu
in reply to Shezzagrad • • •I don't particularly have an issue with the positions themselves, but I'm kind of sad that those african countries are just leaving an issue and welcoming another. It is true that the infrastructure are being developed but then the countries are not developing because they don't benefit long term. You could argue that they will benefit from better transports in general which is true but it only holds up until China is doing fine economically (which it isn't exactly today).
I don't care if it's a western country or not I'm just trying to find what would benefit those countries, and it doesn't seem that buying everything there will (or putting soldiers with other colors and ideas)
theonlytruescotsman
in reply to ArDu • • •ArDu
in reply to theonlytruescotsman • • •Their growth decreased quite a lot but they're still not entirely a developed economy. The real estate bubble kind of exploded leaving quite a lot of people on the side.
They have a demographic problem due to their past policies, social issues with work, the fact that you can't find a job after 30, and their wages being reduced by a pretty large percent (my sources are saying around 30-40%, can't find an official number because they do not exist).
It's the first time since a really long time that China came back to a single digit growth and this is not something you revert in a few months. It's not the end of China or anything but they're definitely not at their highest and won't be for some time. Meaning that political long-term investments may not be the priority and that they may give up those whenever they want, not when the country that benefited those will not need them anymore.
Again, not saying western countries are doing much better. But some are doing relatively worse than what they should be doing than others.
Sodium_nitride
in reply to ArDu • • •Their real gdp growth is still above 5% per year and their industry already far surpasses anything the "developed" economies have.
Yeah you are just making shit up. This is complete nonsense.
theonlytruescotsman
in reply to ArDu • • •The private luxury real estate market crashed, the only people hurt by this are foreign investors and people dumb enough to copy us strategies to build wealth instead of doing something of value with their lives. No one was made homeless.
Your second paragraph only affects the private sector, and thats generally true of all private economies right now; China just doesn't allow their private economy to effect the needs of the people.
Your third is mostly nonsense as no long term strategies have changed in the last few years except far more talks on whether real estate should be privatized in any way or if the private side of that industry has outlived it's usefulness; and of course an acceleration of space goals due to the potential for the EU and musk to take all useful leo orbits.
Sodium_nitride
in reply to ArDu • • •Lol. Lmao even. Chinese trade with Africa is at an all time high and growing rapidly.
nonailsleft
in reply to Shezzagrad • • •theonlytruescotsman
in reply to nonailsleft • • •nonailsleft
in reply to theonlytruescotsman • • •theonlytruescotsman
in reply to nonailsleft • • •Shezzagrad
in reply to theonlytruescotsman • • •nonailsleft
in reply to theonlytruescotsman • • •menas
in reply to schizoidman • • •