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You can't deny Ukrainian military suffers from deep corruption.

Much less than 5-10 years ago, and orders of magnitude less than the Russian military.

The pressures of fighting an existential war plus the demands of the public in a democracy have closed off most typical avenues for corruption, forcing a focus on battlefield results and effective supply to the front-line.

Nobody in the Ukrainian military is advocating for military spending for corrupt reasons, but for the country to remain independent in the face of a Russian military invasion.


> Much less than 5-10 years ago, and orders of magnitude less than the Russian military.

Stop with whataboutism, please. My taxes don’t go to the Russian military, so I couldn’t care less.


I didn’t intend it as a whataboutism, but as an indicator of progress. Not all that long ago the Ukrainian and Russian militaries were virtually indistinguishable, with the same doctrine, training, mindsets, and above all levels of corruption. There’s been a ton of work over the past 15-20 years to reform and modernise the Ukrainian military, especially since the war started.

Corruption is intensely damaging, especially in wartime, and shouldn’t be tolerated. That we’re not seeing many cases of corruption despite the intense scrutiny on the Ukrainian armed forces shows that things are both much improved and heading in the right direction.

That said, I’ve now spent enough time countering what was a low-effort throwaway comment from you in the first place, and which felt less like a valid complaint and more like an outdated belief. If you have any substantive evidence of large-scale corruption, worse than comparative forces, and being tolerated and ignored, I’ll re-engage.


What compelled you to write this? It's just a random point having no relationship to what you're replying to. Why have you typed this and pressed "reply"?

I like a 10mm buzz cut, but it's nice to not have bold spots.

The only caveat is that Turkey isn't even an EU candidate anymore. So not sure why you bring Europe up.

Europe isn't the EU.

> Also some EU pension funds are already in the process of divesting from US markets...

And where will they go to?


I mean, the US public markets is about 49% of the worlds market so it is not like there aren't other options. Divesting doesn't mean moving everything out and pension funds also invest in non-public markets.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/124-trillion-global-stock-m...


maybe they will sell our pensions to BRICS :')

> slow to wake, the touchpad stops working once in a while & needs to be reset

I was eyeing SP for several generations and could never commit to it just because of issue like that. I want a fast device that's 100% reliable. SP felt sluggish whenever I picked it up in a store.


I don't know... I've been writing code for good twenty years (15 professionally).

First, I think it's the best time to write software since so much boring stuff can be automated. I can put my thoughts into what I'm trying to achieve instead of how. To put it otherwise, I think about big picture much more than about mundane details like dealing with particularities of a programming language.

Second, most people were using SO to solve just about any issue they had. The number of developers producing truly original code was minimal even 10 years ago.


> Chinese overproduction a critical topic of discussion for EU-China relations

Ah of course, I do want the state regulating what I can and cannot buy when it comes to junk. Only approved goods should be allowed.


European QoL is predicated on protecting European industry. Why should European workers lose their jobs because you want to buy something cheaper?

If you don't build nor buy European, you become a vassal of either the US or China.


europe can copy a lot of what made china a superpower (not the weak labor rights obviously). subsidize everything and build up state owned factories. that will end unemployment and make eu products cheaper. no need to be all protectionist

> Why should European workers lose their jobs because you want to buy something cheaper?

Competition, innovation, etc. Progress, you know.


Feels like the EU is always going to find something to fine you over. Think of it as a tax. The purpose is compensating for the lack of notable domestic tech giants.

And stopping Temu from passing on junk, as in this case.

Amazon passes on the same junk, albeit at 2-5x the price.

That's the thing with these fines. 19/20 times they make a lot of sense. But even so, there will be people saying "but why not this other org" to which the answer is "Yes! Hand out more fines", not "it's unfair, so just let everyone break the law".

You net zero if you pay $1 and make $1.


We've got the whole paradigm shift of using AI before GTA6. There's a fat chance there's not going to be anyone around to play when they're finally done.


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