There’s a difference between drafting citizen soldiers for an existential war for survival vs drafting them for imperial wars of conquest and genocide.
That doesn’t mean you have to agree with, or can’t criticize, the former, just that you should understand the stark moral contrast between them.
Windows Phone’s problem was Steve Balmer, and it was insurmountable. They delayed entering the market for too long and without a large enough user base, there was no way forward to get any real traction in attracting large enough numbers of application developers.
Not enough app developers means dismissal app marketplace means inferior overall user experience relative to Android and iOS, no matter how good the overall hardware or OS was on Windows Phones.
I never said I supported funding Israel’s military, I don’t. I just added that mini explainer because it’s a different method of military aid than we provide Ukraine, and the proposal is bundled together.
I’d try to explain the geostrategic and humanitarian benefits to helping one of the world’s largest bread baskets defend against imperial conquest by an mafia run gas station, or do a deeper dive into Putin’s desire to reconquer the old USSR satellite states, or the associated risks if he was successful, but I don’t think you really care to have you opinion shaped by analysis and the realities of great power poltics, so I’ma leave you be.
We aren’t getting it eitherway, so in the meantime, at least some of our weapons are being used to defend against an imperial power, instead of to advance one.
While I’m openly in favor of supporting Ukraine, it’s important to note that the vast majority of this type of military aid is provided in kind.
So really, it’s a proposal to give US Defense contractors $100b+ to replenish and restock the DOD with new kit and munitions for the old kit and munitions that we’re providing to Ukraine. Which then get into the use accounting tricks e.g. depreciation values, etc.
The annual military aid to Israel is a little different, it’s more like a loss leader coupon: give Israel money that they have to spend with US Defense contractors, which then also incentivizes them spending their own budget on complementary systems that can be integrated with those systems, munitions, support contracts, etc.
Although in this case, I believe it’s primarily munitions and other kit that the DOD already has in warehouses.
This is oversimplified, but I just see these headline figures always being confused for pallets of cash.
Yet another political prisoner. This is just like the Stalinist purges. Khmer 2.0, prepare for the Tennessee Valley Killing Fields.
Can someone please hold my wine while I go prepare a cheese platter, shed a single tear, and start playing my tiny violin?