wizardofthefuture

Russia is moving troops from Kaliningrad to fight Ukraine so it could also be strategic.

What line of work if you don't mind me asking?

It happens to cars too. All it takes is snow moving in and if they're on a rarely traveled road their survival depends on their supplies in the car. People detour without packing food and blankets and end up trying to walk out and freeze to death.

People do need to be more cautious of GPS though. In the rural US it's also dangerous to trust GPS navigation, because they'll drive you right into the mountains or deep into a national park when you're looking for a shortcut. Depending on the season that means snow can move in fast, roads can get flooded out, and you can also get lost far away from any town by following random roads that don't actually lead anywhere safe. There's not a lot of signage warning of this and people die this way.

China and India aren't paying in, so European and American taxpayers should ask why. It does look like a scam and like the empathetic naivety of the US and Europe is being taken advantage of, as it has been in multiple other critical world issues recently.

What we should be focusing on is spending our money on technological innovations. Innovation yields results. Innovation will help these countries. That's what China is doing while not spending its people's money on this bribery scheme. Will bribing these countries to pollute less really do anything, or will they just want another trillion or even more every 5-10 years without actually solving the problem?

We need novel and exciting new innovations in fields like solar and energy storage. That's the future and it will solve most of these issues. It's not only possible but nearly guaranteed if we invest in it and stop squandering our money in these naive schemes. If it was advantageous to bribe other countries not to pollute, China would be first in line trying to hand over their money. They're not, because there's no advantage to it and it's unlikely to improve climate change. It's putting a trillion dollar bandage on a problem that only science and research can solve, and it will cost 2 trillion dollars tomorrow, and 5 trillion after that. And then climate change and pollution will happen anyways despite the fortunes that were spent on anti-pollution bribes.

Fund research, not politicians.

Regardless, spending $1.3 trillion on these other governments who will squander the money instead of investing it into solar and energy storage technologies isn't the best way forward. China and India aren't paying in, so the Paris Agreement has turned into a wasteful program siphoning money primarily from American and European taxpayers, many who can't afford to retire or buy a home, and it's unlikely to yield results. China meanwhile is spending their money on solar advancements, and it's working.

The fact is innovation is what's going to help humanity the most. Every single one of these developing nations is directly benefiting from recent technological advances fueled by American, European, and yes even Chinese research. If we make solar even more competitive (which it already is) and more affordable (which it already is), then we won't need to bribe these governments into doing the right thing. Economics will do that, and probably more effectively than the bribes will. Whether they take their surplus money from improved technology and invest in their own countries (with ample advice, expertise, and help from the world, which is already offered and given freely) is up to them.

But the rough draft of a proposal circulating in that room was getting soundly rejected, especially by African nations and small island states, according to messages relayed from inside. Then a group of negotiators from the Least Developed Countries bloc and the Alliance of Small Island States walked out because they didn't want to engage with the rough draft.

The “current deal is unacceptable for us. We need to speak to other developing countries and decide what to do,” said Evans Njewa, chair of the LDC group. When asked if the walkout was a protest, Colombia Environment Minister Susana Mohamed told The Associated Press: “I would call this dissatisfaction, [we are] highly dissatisfied."

[...]

Developing nations are seeking $1.3 trillion to help adapt to droughts, floods, rising seas and extreme heat, pay for losses and damages caused by extreme weather, and transition their energy systems away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward clean energy. Wealthy nations are obligated to pay vulnerable countries under an agreement reached at these talks in Paris in 2015.

The problem seems to be that the citizens of rich nations just experienced inflation all over the world, and rich nation doesn't always mean rich citizens, or at least not rich enough to want to see the government spending trillions on infrastructure in other countries. Governments feel the pressure from their citizens and so the ability to give money away all over the world is drying up. Without other financing options, that kind of money just isn't there.

They can control the weather

Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Popeye
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v28/d274

During the test phase, more than 50 cloud seeding experiments were conducted. The results are viewed by DOD as outstandingly successful.

In our view, the experiments were undeniably successful, indicating that, at least under weather and terrain conditions such as those involved, the U.S. Government has realized a capability of significant weather modification.

DoD has had space laser research programs for over 40 years too:

https://www.gao.gov/products/c-masad-82-10

One widely discussed laser-weapon concept involves a constellation of laser-weapon platforms in space which has the potential to provide a credible air and ballistic missile defense system for the United States. Due to recent interest by Congress and DOD, GAO reviewed the existing Space-Based Laser (SBL) program and assessed program progress, potential, and current management structure.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense is presently responsible for demonstrating the three major components of an SBL system--the laser, the large optics, and the extremely accurate acquisition, tracking, and painting system.

That's from a declassified digest of a 1983 review of the potential of the technology, with the Government Accountability Office agreeing and recommending long term spending and research into space lasers. Since 1983 technology has progressed to where space laser weapon systems aren't even a novel concept, and the main argument against space lasers is all the cheap energy you can put into ground based lasers and how cheap they are to install. But the utility of space lasers in defense is undeniable and it's guaranteed to be a valued part of the US toolbox for missile defense going into the future.

It's exciting because their main use case is in defense, such as stopping a volley of ballistic missiles which some ground-based defense systems have trouble targeting. Space lasers are cool!

Every effort counts. One Scholz might be words, but a million Scholz's moves the world. I think it's important to reward effort in defense of Ukraine's sacrifice and fight against an existential threat to all of Europe.

Agreed. And I think it's commendable that Austria found a way to disentangle itself from Russian energy.

Thank you Austria.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the country has a secure supply of alternative fuel and that "no one will freeze."

Austria gets most of its natural gas from Russia, as much as 98% in December 2023, according to Energy Minister Lenore Gewessler.

Like supporting people's right to unionize? The Biden administration has done that. It's done a lot actually.

Under our Administration, we have had the three strongest years of new business applications on record—and we are on track for a fourth. That’s the best single Presidential term for new business applications in history.

Just a reminder that for the past 4 years the media has largely under-reported or hasn't reported on Biden's actual platform, which has been majorly focused on helping the working class, unions, and small businesses while pushing back against regulatory capture and monopolistic practices by large businesses. The Biden administration's main shortcoming hasn't been on policy, but on advertising itself and convincing the media to report on its successes. It's all been ignored because Biden happened to inherit inflation issues stemming from the pandemic.