There might actually be a direct relationship there as well. Taiwan being the chokepoint for western chip production puts them in a perfect position to insert backdoors into all western tech. There’s a reason the US was freaking out over Huawei tech spreading in the west. The problem with it isn’t that there’s some Chinese malware in it, but rather that western agencies can’t use it for spying.

China is not a net fuel producer, they import a large portion of their energy themselves. They have been donating solar panels however, and hopefully they ramp that up. However, Russia being one of the biggest fuel exporters is stepping up.

I guess they failed the qualification round of outrunning the TCC. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/world/europe/ukraine-military-recruitment.html

Zulip pretty easy to self host. I ran a server for a group of friends a little while back, and it worked great. The UI takes a bit of getting used to, but it is great once you do because everything is a thread by default. And that makes it really easy to catch up on things.

It’s all a matter of jurisdiction. Open source platforms like Stoat can be run outside the reach of western regimes.

Not that I’ve seen.

not much, just slightly different UX

I honestly kinda prefer older civ games because they were simpler and more focused. For me, Civ3 might really be the peak of the series.

I’ve seen a few similar projects before, but can’t recall what they were off top of my head.

indeed

it looks nearly identical to a cube I had at one of my jobs as well, I think even the phone is the same

It’s the openly becoming part, before there was an attempt to pretend the US was some sort of a democracy. Now, the mask is completely off.

basically yeah, at least if it’s in a group, I always try to see how far I can push people left when just chatting one on one

The simple answer is it’s because western liberal regimes are not democracies. A system where you have one set of laws for regular people, and another for the affluent is a plutocracy.

The funniest thing for me is that humans end up doing the exact same thing. This is why it’s so notoriously difficult to create organizational policies that actually produce desired results. What happens in practice is that people find ways to comply with the letter of the policy that require the least energy expenditure on their part.

It’s pretty clear that Epstein network operated all throughout Europe. Mandelson revelations being a prime example of this.

Also, it’s fascinating how agency and self determination is only reserved for movements that are pro western. Notice how easily liberals dismiss the right of LPR/DPR for self determination.

British media, in particular, has been making some hilariously hamfisted attempts to draw a connection

• https://news.sky.com/story/i-still-would-like-to-meet-putin-epsteins-unrequited-love-for-russian-leader-13502862
• https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/jeffrey-epstein-investigated-for-being-a-russian-spy-tpcplhvxp
• https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/press-review/20260202-daily-mail-epstein-s-sex-empire-was-honeytrap-directed-by-the-kgb