Last post wins!!!!!

[perfect_pitch]

There is no universal language, and there never has been.

EXCUSE ME??? MUSIC is the universal language.



How could you not know this???

[j_tour]

Well, the universal language of European diplomacy used to be French after Latin ceased to hold its monopoly on all Western scholarly and political texts.

[perfect_pitch]

Well, the universal language of European diplomacy used to be French after Latin ceased to hold its monopoly on all Western scholarly and political texts.

You never know - soon Chinese might be the universal language... not because there's 1.5 billion of them, but because I wouldn't be surprised in some near future - they decide to take over the world.

Think about it - they're cooped up in that tiny land mass - why not take over the rest of the world and spread their density about.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

You never know - soon Chinese might be the universal language... not because there's 1.5 billion of them, but because I wouldn't be surprised in some near future - they decide to take over the world.

Think about it - they're cooped up in that tiny land mass - why not take over the rest of the world and spread their density about.

The only problem with that is; where would they expand? Russia and North Korea both have Nuclear Weapons, Afghanistan is only connected by a tiny panhandle, Pakistan and India are already packed with some of the largest populations in the world, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tajikistan are small and wouldn't add much space. Meanwhile Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan are all somewhat allied with the US. Kazakhstan is a member of CSTO. That leaves war-torn Myanmar, which is fairly small anyways.
Geopolitics is tough for China and Russia.
Edit: forgot Laos, a small country heavily allied to China.

[j_tour]

soon Chinese might be the universal language

Might be.

Despite what that little kid was saying, economic power should not be discounted.  And this isn't a game of Risk where mere geographical considerations are of prime relevance.

[gasplamey]

Might be.

Despite what that little kid was saying, economic power should not be discounted.  And this isn't a game of Risk where merel geographical considerations are of prime relevance.

For once, he's right. I guarantee that I know more about modern geopolitics than him, and he's entirely correct. Not to mention the fact that China's economy is much worse than that of the US's, and that China is almost entirely reliant on imports to sustain it's population. Many other powers, like the US, import very little and don't have to worry about a resource catastrophy during a war. Not to mention that nearly all of China's imports come through the Strait of Malacca, which is enclosed by Signapore and Indonesia. The former has a small bias towards the West. In the event of a war, the US would likely abuse this weak point, which would completely destroy China's chances of winning any war spanning more than 3 months.
The US has global access and dominization; China doesn't.

[perfect_pitch]

All you need is for China to say - screw it, you're paying through the nose for all your TV's, computer parts and cars - most of which is made in China, and then you'll see how hard the world crumbles.

[j_tour]

All you need is for China to say - screw it, you're paying through the nose for all your TV's, computer parts and cars - most of which is made in China, and then you'll see how hard the world crumbles.

Well, Taiwan might have a small say in the matter.  And the US and other major economic actors dependent upon its exports may well have a much greater interest in preserving the production and design cabilities and savoir-faire of Taiwan.

Also, eat me.

[perfect_pitch]

Well, Taiwan might have a small say in the matter. 

A very, very small, almost insignificant and practically inaudible and whisper quiet say.

Also, eat me.

I've never tried cannibalism... I'm more than happy to stick to chicken, beef and fish.

[ravelfan07]

For once, he's right. I guarantee that I know more about modern geopolitics than him, and he's entirely correct. Not to mention the fact that China's economy is much worse than that of the US's, and that China is almost entirely reliant on imports to sustain it's population. Many other powers, like the US, import very little and don't have to worry about a resource catastrophy during a war. Not to mention that nearly all of China's imports come through the Strait of Malacca, which is enclosed by Signapore and Indonesia. The former has a small bias towards the West. In the event of a war, the US would likely abuse this weak point, which would completely destroy China's chances of winning any war spanning more than 3 months.
The US has global access and dominization; China doesn't.

I would say the belt and road initiate made China more powerful
But it really hasn’t imo
Also, China is a world power

[j_tour]

I would say the belt and road initiate made China more powerful
But it really hasn’t imo
Also, China is a world power

A very, very small, almost insignificant and practically inaudible and whisper quiet say.

That is what she said.  To you.  She was also Britney Spears and you had a sad for a long time.

[perfect_pitch]

That is what she said.  To you.  She was also Britney Spears and you had a sad for a long time.

No offense, but I wouldn't sleep with Britney even if I was paid. I'd probably catch something...

🤢

[liszt-and-the-galops]

All you need is for China to say - screw it, you're paying through the nose for all your TV's, computer parts and cars - most of which is made in China, and then you'll see how hard the world crumbles.

That... would be a very stupid move.
It would cause other big export countries to increase their prices moderately and completely knock Chinese industry out of the equation. Needless to say, their economy would crash almost instantly.

Well, Taiwan might have a small say in the matter.

A very, very small, almost insignificant and practically inaudible and whisper quiet say.

p_p, you are very bad geopolitics.
Saying Taiwan, a state that has monopolized the semiconductor industry (and, by extension, the electronics industry), as well as being a top 25 military power worldwide (arguably top 10 in Asia), would have a "very, very small say" in any scenario involving China is very, very stupid. Also, China imports most of it's semiconductors from --surprise!-- Taiwan.

I would say the belt and road initiate made China more powerful

1. It's not completed.
2. It definitely won't reduce China's reliance on the Strait of Malacca by much. It'll still be a huge weak point that is easy for the US to disable, considering their allies in the region.

Also, China is a world power

A much more accurate term is "great power."
Great powers do have power on a global or semi-global scale. Superpowers, on the other hand, have significant influence on other great powers; to the point that every great power has to consider a superpower's possible response each time they make a foreign policy decision. For example, China can't reasonably invade Taiwan because of the likely reaction of the US and its allies. Russia didn't consider NATO's likely reaction before the invasion of Ukraine, and has been completely humiliated as a result.
The US didn't have to consider possible repercussions to their support for Israel and Ukraine; or really anything they've been doing foreign policy-wise since the turn of the millennium.
In terms of influence, I'll use military presence as an indicator. (I know this is not a perfect measure, but it's about as close as I can reasonably get.) Russia only has significant military presence in CSTO member states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Tajikistan), Syria, Ukraine, Mali, Niger, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Ukraine. That's only about 4% of the world's population. China only has military bases in Djibouti and neighboring Tajikistan. Even with China's huge population, that's not quite 18% of the world's population. Even with a conservative estimate for the US and its allies, it still has more than 20% of the world population in its camp.
There is a clear line here that I'd hope is visible.

In terms of global access, I couldn't find a map of the combined NATO EEZs, but the EEZs of France
Britain
and the US , when added to the French puppets in Africa, (note: Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso are likely going to leave the CFA Franc system soon.)
Should get the point across.
The US can intervene basically anywhere in the world. Russia and China are mostly restricted to Asia.

Basically, China is not a superpower. Not even close.

[perfect_pitch]

Saying Taiwan, a state that has monopolized the semiconductor industry (and, by extension, the electronics industry), as well as being a top 25 military power worldwide (arguably top 10 in Asia), would have a "very, very small say" in any scenario involving China is very, very stupid. Also, China imports most of it's semiconductors from --surprise!-- Taiwan.1.

Your point being what? Taiwan makes the chips needed for these devices and China buys them - but who makes the finished product - essentially all our TV's, appliances, smart phones?

Sure they import the silicon and implant them into the devices, but who is it who is ultimately building the finished product - who has the man power (and child labour) to make these devices???

CHINA!!!

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Your point being what? Taiwan makes the chips needed for these devices and China buys them - but who makes the finished product - essentially all our TV's, appliances, smart phones?

Sure they import the silicon and implant them into the devices, but who is it who is ultimately building the finished product - who has the man power (and child labour) to make these devices???

CHINA!!!

Without the semiconductors, China can't build ANYTHING.

My point was that China was not a superpower, if you didn't look at the end.

[perfect_pitch]

My point was that China was not a superpower, if you didn't look at the end.

I saw that bit... I also know that there's a very good chance that in terms of potential soldiers if we were to go to war - they have 5 times the population of America, 22 times the population of Britain, and about 60 times the population of Australia, so in terms of man power and potential soldiers - they'd outnumber the sh*t out of us.

I don't think they're as weak as you think they are.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

I saw that bit... I also know that there's a very good chance that in terms of potential soldiers if we were to go to war - they have 5 times the population of America, 22 times the population of Britain, and about 60 times the population of Australia, so in terms of man power and potential soldiers - they'd outnumber the sh*t out of us.

I don't think they're as weak as you think they are.

In terms of naval power, the US has double the tonnage.
The US has 3-4 times the aircraft of China.
Military spending isn't even close; the US has nearly 5 times the military budget, and the US currency also continues to be one of the strongest in the world.
Speaking of, the US has a larger economy as well.
Nuclear warheads obviously goes to the US.
Self-sufficiency is another massive boost to the US. Without Taiwanese semiconductors, China is on a tight time limit to win a world war. As was shown the first two times, time limits lose wars. Not to mention the previously mentioned Strait of Malacca that, if disabled, would make China completely unable to sustain a war effort. The closest thing the US has to the Strait of Malacca is the Panama Canal. Not only is China's nearest possible ally is more than 1,000 km away from the canal (Venezuela), but destroying the Panama Canal would likely drag several other American nations into the war. And even then, it wouldn't disable the US nearly as much as China would be by the Strait of Malacca; at most, it would be a minor annoyance for imports that the US already isn't completely reliant on.
Allies is another major boost to the US; they have the recently expanded NATO (which is required to come to the defense of any member state's territory north of the tropic of cancer), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and likely a few others like Vietnam and Cambodia. The only ally China has is North Korea, (and Laos, but they won't be doing much), and even that is debatable.
I reiterate: you are very bad at geopolitics.

[j_tour]

I don't think they're as weak as you think they are.

Well, they know kung fu.  That's pretty strong stuff.

[perfect_pitch]

In terms of naval power, the US has double the tonnage.
The US has 3-4 times the aircraft of China.
Military spending isn't even close; the US has nearly 5 times the military budget, and the US currency also continues to be one of the strongest in the world.
Speaking of, the US has a larger economy as well.
Nuclear warheads obviously goes to the US.
Self-sufficiency is another massive boost to the US. Without Taiwanese semiconductors, China is on a tight time limit to win a world war. As was shown the first two times, time limits lose wars. Not to mention the previously mentioned Strait of Malacca that, if disabled, would make China completely unable to sustain a war effort. The closest thing the US has to the Strait of Malacca is the Panama Canal. Not only is China's nearest possible ally is more than 1,000 km away from the canal (Venezuela), but destroying the Panama Canal would likely drag several other American nations into the war. And even then, it wouldn't disable the US nearly as much as China would be by the Strait of Malacca; at most, it would be a minor annoyance for imports that the US already isn't completely reliant on.
Allies is another major boost to the US; they have the recently expanded NATO (which is required to come to the defense of any member state's territory north of the tropic of cancer), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and likely a few others like Vietnam and Cambodia. The only ally China has is North Korea, (and Laos, but they won't be doing much), and even that is debatable.
I reiterate: you are very bad at geopolitics.

And you are great at using ChatGPT. Congrats to you...

Well, they know kung fu.  That's pretty strong stuff.

The perfect combination of that picture and that comment gave me a *** laugh.   🤣

[liszt-and-the-galops]

And you are great at using ChatGPT.

1. I don't even have it installed and frankly don't care enough to get it.
2. I checked 4 online AI checkers; all of them came to the conclusion that it was not AI-generated.
3. If your automatic response to "losing" an argument is to say that the other person is using AI, then that reveals a lot more about you than it does about me.

[perfect_pitch]

1. I don't even have it installed and frankly don't care enough to get it.

They're online sites as well, so you don't NEED to have it installed on your computer.

3. If your automatic response to "losing" an argument is to say that the other person is using AI, then that reveals a lot more about you than it does about me.

Given how many people resort to it (heck, even university students use it to try and pad out their essays), it is reasonable to believe that a lot of people use AI for responses.

Also, I didn't think anyone would have the time to type out a mini-thesis response like that. If you didn't use AI (and I can't confirm that you didn't use it), clearly it's a very keen subject of yours that you follow with great respect.

...but talking about Geopolitics bores the bollocks out of me - especially when we're in a forum of this type and could be having fun.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

They're online sites as well, so you don't NEED to have it installed on your computer.

I'm not aware of any examples.

Given how many people resort to it (heck, even university students use it to try and pad out their essays), it is a very reasonable to believe that a lot of people use AI for responses.

Fair.

Also, I didn't think anyone would have the time to type out a mini-thesis response like that. If you didn't use AI (and I can't confirm that you didn't use it), clearly it's a very keen subject of yours that you follow with great respect.

I chose to take that as a compliment (and seriously, I didn't use AI).

...but talking about Geopolitics bores the bollocks out of me - especially when we're in a forum of this type and could be having fun.

Disagree.

[lostinidlewonder]

You damn fools, all China needs to do is get everyone in the country to jump at the same time and it's all over. Massive earthquake and tsunami ensues.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

You damn fools, all China needs to do is get everyone in the country to jump at the same time and it's all over. Massive earthquake and tsunami ensues.

People have been doing math on this and proving it wrong for a long time.
Just doesn't work like that.

[lostinidlewonder]

Don't be foolish, it's just propoganda to make you feel safe, it's much deadlier than nuclear war.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Don't be foolish, it's just propoganda to make you feel safe, it's much deadlier than nuclear war.

Check out M.A.D. You might like it.

[lostinidlewonder]

I live in the far southern hemisphere all you up there will die first quite quickly, we instead will have prolonged agony and partake in apocalyptic anarchy.... goody.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

I live in the far southern hemisphere all you up their will die first quite quickly, we instead will have prolonged agony and partake in apocalyptic anarchy.... goody.

The question is...
Which is worse?

[perfect_pitch]

What about the digital side of technological warfare??? We all know China has incredible server farms, and a lot of the latest hacking, and personal data theft seems to be originating from China or Russia.

Anyone ever thought China a major enemy because they have the capability of potentially hacking everyone else???

There is major deals where Chinas government and major corporations are buying up a METRIC ***-TON of AI capable graphics cards, and you wonder what the need for them is...

[liszt-and-the-galops]

What about the digital side of technological warfare??? We all know China has incredible server farms, and a lot of the latest hacking, and personal data theft seems to be originating from China or Russia.

Anyone ever thought China a major enemy because they have the capability of potentially hacking everyone else???

There is major deals where Chinas government and major corporations are buying up a METRIC ***-TON of AI capable graphics cards, and you wonder what the need for them is...

Cyberwarfare is still developing; even if we assume that China has a huge advantage over the US in it, it still wouldn't be enough to win a war. As I showed above, there is simply a massive gap between NATO and it's allies vs. China and it's allies.
Also, *China's.

[lostinidlewonder]

The question is...
Which is worse?

Losing to this post is worse.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Losing to this post is worse.

Thank goodness I'm winning, then!

[perfect_pitch]

Thank goodness I'm winning, then!

Your wins are far between and very infrequent...

Again... 11 years of winning this thread vs 6 months.

[j_tour]

Because that's where the flesh golems live and it encourages them to enter this world.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Your wins are far between and very infrequent...

Far from it.

[perfect_pitch]

Isn't that the magical portal to Narnia? No, wait - it's the Matrix...

[liszt-and-the-galops]

It might be the low pixel count, but I think there's an asterix on the sign.
That means we SHOULD enter the mirror under specific circumstances.

[perfect_pitch]

It might be the low pixel count, but I think there's an asterix on the sign.
That means we SHOULD enter the mirror under specific circumstances.

Then go on then - be a leader and show us mere mortals how it's done.   

And film yourself doing it, so we can put it up on EpicFails.org   

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Then go on then - be a leader and show us mere mortals how it's done.   

And film yourself doing it, so we can put it up on EpicFails.org   

Done it.
I accidentally hit the photo button instead of the video button, so here's a before and after.
Before:
After:
Anyways, now there's a talking rabbit that looks like an englishman who won't stop yelling about how late he is. What should I do?

[perfect_pitch]

Done it.
I accidentally hit the photo button instead of the video button, so here's a before and after.
Before:
After:
Anyways, now there's a talking rabbit that looks like an englishman who won't stop yelling about how late he is. What should I do?

Tell him his tie sucks, and that he needs to get a better pocket watch and time management skills???

Very surprised I went 2 days without anyone replying... are you all starting to tire?

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Tell him his tie sucks, and that he needs to get a better pocket watch and time management skills???

He already hopped off. Thanks for the advice though. I'll do that next time I find a talking British rabbit who's late.

Very surprised I went 2 days without anyone replying... are you all starting to tire?

At least according to the timestamps that are visible to me (which is GMT-1), you had the last post for about 28 hours. 2 days is 48.
You weren't even close to 2 days lol.

[j_tour]

Now you people are starting to upset me with your chatter.

Cancel that, statim!

[perfect_pitch]

He already hopped off. Thanks for the advice though. I'll do that next time I find a talking British rabbit who's late.At least according to the timestamps that are visible to me (which is GMT-1), you had the last post for about 28 hours. 2 days is 48.
You weren't even close to 2 days lol.

He replied on the 10th April, I replied on the 8th.

10 - 8 = 2.   

[liszt-and-the-galops]

lol.
You can't even read...
You replied on the 8th. I replied "Yesterday," which was the 9th.
9-8=1.
1<2.

[lostinidlewonder]

You are all wrong because before was was was, was was is.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

You are all wrong because before was was was, was was is.

I forgot about was. Such a wonderful person.
Unfortunately, all the faith he had had had had no effect on his chances to win this thread.
Anyways, I just heard that Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Can someone fact check this for me? I'm too lazy to do it myself.

[perfect_pitch]

You can't even read...
You replied on the 8th. I replied "Yesterday," which was the 9th.
9-8=1.
1<2.

For me, it was the 10th... so you're wrong.

10-8 =

[liszt-and-the-galops]

For me, it was the 10th... so you're wrong.

How can I be both right and wrong?

[perfect_pitch]

How can I be both right and wrong?

Easy, because you only thought you were right.   

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Easy, because you only thought you were right.   

Wrong. You only thought I was wrong.