American Politics 4.0 - Orangeyou Glad He’s Back?

[direwolf]

So far this administration has:

Completely demolished their own government, causing total chaos in multiple departments across the U.S.

Cozied up to Putin and basically just handed them Ukraine on a silver platter, while severely pissing off all of Europe and the rest of the world in the process.

Threatened their closest allies with tariffs, economic destruction, annexation, etc...

And this isn't even a quarter of the stupid, reprehensible s*** they've done since they re-took the White House.

And all of this in the span of less than a month. Thanks, Americans. You're all getting exactly what you voted for and your once respected country will likely never recover. Good for you. But do you really have to drag the entire free world down with you? Can you just f*** off already, leave the rest of us alone, and destroy your own country in peace?


My god, this timeline sucks.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Ped

Trump believes in doing what's best for him personally. That's it. That's his belief system.

You are not wrong at all, but he wants to be king of a mighty America. Ergo why he wants to hive us off, leave Europe for themselves, and outside Australia and Guam let China have at er in Asia.

This whole mess has made me go back and re-read art of war. I frankly think its a must read at this point in history where the most powerful man and the second are acting like Emperors.

[missdpuck]

Good suggestion. I want to reread It Can’t Happen Here. It’s around here somewhere.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by direwolf

So far this administration has:

Completely demolished their own government, causing total chaos in multiple departments across the U.S.

Cozied up to Putin and basically just handed them Ukraine on a silver platter, while severely pissing off all of Europe and the rest of the world in the process.

Threatened their closest allies with tariffs, economic destruction, annexation, etc...

And this isn't even a quarter of the stupid, reprehensible s*** they've done since they re-took the White House.

And all of this in the span of less than a month. Thanks, Americans. You're all getting exactly what you voted for and your once respected country will likely never recover. Good for you. But do you really have to drag the entire free world down with you? Can you just f*** off already, leave the rest of us alone, and destroy your own country in peace?


My god, this timeline sucks.

It only took the Nazis 54 days to completely destroy their democracy.

[Ped]

JFK Library and Museum closed until further notice due to Trump's cuts:


https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/...x-newtab-en-us

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Don't be naïve. Trump has been working hard (and now Elon Musk) at eroding checks and balances in the US. We very well may not be able to rely on people and agencies in government not acting on direction because it's "crazy". As for China and Russia backing us if the US started to move in? Laugh out absolute ****ing loud. Yeah, that's a hard "not happening".

There is zero chance the US uses force against Canada. Zero. If you think otherwise that is what is laughable. And I guarantee at least China backs us if that did come to fruition. You don't think China grabs the opportunity to crush their only competition as the global superpower? They jump all over that.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

There is zero chance the US uses force against Canada. Zero.

We're gonna get invaded tomorrow...

[blender]

Originally Posted by Yamer

We're gonna get invaded tomorrow...

Yep, kiss of death...

[#-3]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

There is zero chance the US uses force against Canada. Zero. If you think otherwise that is what is laughable. And I guarantee at least China backs us if that did come to fruition. You don't think China grabs the opportunity to crush their only competition as the global superpower? They jump all over that.

Given the state of the world, I'd say this is a wild level of confidence, I'd say the odds of a North American land war is well above 0. Maybe not at a note worthy level, but you definitely have a guy in charge who at some point in time will tell someone who has the power to do so to invade Canada, it really just comes down to if they listen or not.

I also truly believe if they actually invaded a neighbor it would be more likely to spur division in their own country than to trigger action by China. If the USA conquers Canada, very little changes for China or the US or the World, really only Canadians would experience a huge change, but the very idea of it might be enough to setoff rebellion or dissention by some military units or democratic state national guards... to spur the long feared civil war. I also think if Canada puts up anything resembling an organized defense, it's basically an unwinnable war for either side. occupying 10MsqKM is a feat beyond imagination even for an Army like the Americans, to occupy a land the size of Canada it requires political legitimacy. China would be much happier to watch American win a pyrrhic occupation over an unoccupiable swath of land.

[Paulie Walnuts]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1892035765497983462

[nik-]

Mr. wrong about everything chimes in. Hold on to your butts.

[flylock shox]

Originally Posted by #-3

Given the state of the world, I'd say this is a wild level of confidence, I'd say the odds of a North American land war is well above 0. Maybe not at a note worthy level, but you definitely have a guy in charge who at some point in time will tell someone who has the power to do so to invade Canada, it really just comes down to if they listen or not.

I also truly believe if they actually invaded a neighbor it would be more likely to spur division in their own country than to trigger action by China. If the USA conquers Canada, very little changes for China or the US or the World, really only Canadians would experience a huge change, but the very idea of it might be enough to setoff rebellion or dissention by some military units or democratic state national guards... to spur the long feared civil war. I also think if Canada puts up anything resembling an organized defense, it's basically an unwinnable war for either side. occupying 10MsqKM is a feat beyond imagination even for an Army like the Americans, to occupy a land the size of Canada it requires political legitimacy. China would be much happier to watch American win a pyrrhic occupation over an unoccupiable swath of land.

CBC's Frontburner podcast had an episode today in which he explained exactly why Canada stands no chance in a war - even in a post occupation insurgency. The main reason being that - surrounded as we are by oceans and the USA - even a willing ally couldn't resupply us. It's not like Ukraine in which powerful allies have a direct land route into Ukraine and can move massive amounts of resources to resupply the fighting front and the civilian population if needed.

If there is an insurgency capable of resisting it would be a combination of Canadians and Americans fighting against their own government from within. At least that way there's a continent's worth of supplies to draw from.

But the plan to me seems to be getting clearer: splitting the world into a Russian empire, an American empire, a European empire centered around a fascist Germany re-emerging or simply a weakened and subjugated Europe, and a Chinese empire until the US and Russia can figure out how to be rid of it. I don't think the prospect of military force against Canada is far fetched at all now.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

https://twitter.com/user/status/1892035765497983462

Jesus Christ, I really need to stop reading these threads and avoid the news for a few days just for my own mental health. Just when you think things couldn’t possibly get worse than what we’re seeing, a story like this pops up and just reminds you again how f***ing horrible this administration is. This story broke me just now. Absolutely heartbreaking.

[dammage79]

Just to emphasize how batsh** insane this all is, they fired 300 nuclear scientists completely oblivious to the fact that they were the ones keeping you know, all their nukes safe.....and are nowad scrambling to find these ppl because they literally created perhaps the biggest national security issue .....on their own....

This is what happens when you let the stupid people run things. THIS IS WHY THE USSR FAILED!! Holy Sh** my brain can't take this level of stupidity. Honestly, #### all you dumb Americans who think this moron is going to save your way of life.

Next time you want to vote, go smash your head into a concrete wall until you're fully labotomized. Damned Smooth brains.

[Mr.Coffee]

I think the play if the US invaded Canada would be this:

1. Let it happen
2. Subvert them every step of the way going forward, including assassinations of high ranking people and other similar types of maneuvers.

Just do what Russia did. You don’t have to fight a war, you can destroy them from within once absorbed.

Trying to fight them head on will just result in millions of needless Canadian deaths. But a long term subversion campaign destabilizing their country all over the place in multiple ways could be catastrophic for them.

[dammage79]

Oh and after all the funding cuts to the VA I highly doubt we'd ever see a full military invasion of Canada or Mexico or any ally. In fact at this rate I think you'd see a full military coup on this administration waaaay before their hair brained schemes were back up with force.

Oh and isnt RFK jr trying to ban the drugs that keep their crazy PTSD vets tranquil? Yeah I'm sure those crazys aren't going to go after random ppl, no not at all. They're literally going to create their own assassinations. They're going to get their just desserts sooner than later.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Anyone here know COBOL?

I worked in the mainframe programming ecosystem at the beginning of my career, PL/1 as the programming language and IMS and DB2 as the databases. IMS was a hierarchical database primarily of the 1970s era.

I didn't work with COBOL, but it's a bit of a misnomer to call something a "COBOL database." COBOL is a programming language and most COBOL applications in existence would have used IMS, CICS, or DB2 for data storage. I have read that the Social Security system in question is so old that it uses a proprietary database called "MADAM", so the non-standard "1875 epoch" explanation is entirely plausible.


The following article has some information about the SSA's systems.
https://ccianet.org/wp-content/uploa...205%202009.pdf

There is some entertaining reading buried in this article, and it seems surprising to me now that Musk's team of supposed IT geniuses have completely missed the boat on what the real problem is.

We cannot afford to store our vital national records in the electronic equivalent of ancient hieroglyphics whose meaning can only be gleaned by an ever diminishing handful of experts. As described in the documents currently available to the public, SSA’s strategy for migrating from MADAM to DB2 without changing its obsolete data formats is the equivalent of transferring a set of ancient hieroglyphics from a crumbling stone wall to a modern plate of stainless steel – such a strategy modernizes the substrate, but does nothing to modernize the archaic form of the text itself. With each passing year, the cost and technical challenges of creating a truly modern database for SSA’s citizen information become greater, as does the risk of a catastrophic failure of access.

[photon]

"You should have never started it." - Trump talking about Ukraine and Ukraine saying they weren't invited to any talks.

[direwolf]

Yea, I don’t believe an actual military invasion would happen. It appears that their goal is to try and destroy us economically to the point where we have no choice but to accept becoming part of the States, which may or may not happen depending on how we respond to this as a country. Diversifying our economy and weaning ourselves off the U.S. should be priority #1 right now.

Sadly, the tariffs are coming whether we like it or not, and we’re gonna have to work together with our trading partners around the world to find a way to survive it. These next few years are gonna be a rough ride, and it’s gonna suck. But I have to believe that we can get through it. The future of our country is at stake.

I still can’t believe that we’re even talking about something that would have been viewed as completely insane not even 4 months ago. Our closest ally and neighbour for almost a century is now the biggest threat to the future of our country. It’s pure lunacy.

[evman150]

Here's something I have thought of from time-to-time when it comes to databases founded upon outdated programming languages/architecture/etc. Why can't they just create a new database now, input all new profiles into that database, and keep the other one running until it is empty? Is two systems running in parallel until one is empty really that cumbersome?

I say this as someone who has no idea about this sort of thing; I am merely applying some critical thinking. I am perfectly content in being totally wrong!