I genuinely wish every online retail company was exactly like mcmaster carr in almost every way. The web site is god-teir. When I was a manufacturing engineer, I bought from them more often than grainger just because their web site was better.

They are also spending big on domestic arms production. France will be a big winner out of this since they’ve long valued independent military arms production and the rest of Europe will want to buy French stuff (yes along with American stuff) while they get their arms production up and running. South Korea is also a big arms supplier internationally.

The reduction in US support for NATO is largely part of a pivot to focusing on Taiwan and China. The US military industry would love it if the US focused on both and kept cozy relations with europe. I’m sure they’re happy with the whole world increasing defense spending amid rising tensions, but they aren’t happy about the US scaring away customers. I hate how involved the US military is globally but acting like Trump is some mastermind of American imperialism is reductive and giving him too much credit. The thought that Europe shouldn’t be worried about Russia (the ones currently invading a European country) is bonkers.

This new agreement, with NATO signatories needing to commit 5% of their GDP, feels like a grift for the benefit of U.S. defense contractors. The U.S. cannot be trusted to actually honor their agreements anymore, so why pay more into their alliance? Is Europe really that scared of further Russian aggression?

They’re massively investing in European defense industry, not just buying more from the US. They are scared of Russian aggression and they are scared the US will not honor NATO agreements which is why they’re committing so hard to defense spending. Also, I believe it’s 3.5% for military and 1.5% for infrastructure.

Israel also supplied Drones to Russia after the Crimea invasion, didn’t join sanctions and as reported by an Ukrainian official demanded Ukraine to surrender behind closed doors.

This is clear whataboutism. Iran and Israel can both be bad. Ukraine wants max pressure on the Russian war machine. So they cheer the weakening of a Russian military supplier. They also probably figure that if America is itching to fight again, it might as well help them out. They also probably sense the news cycle further shifting away from Ukraine and are trying to bring themselves into the conversation.

refraining from encouraging IP’s directly benefitting her could distract her or even send a message to her potential allies.

I also think that isn’t worth it. You’re still letting some rich moron’s actions have too much sway over your mental health. What you’re describing is the most tiny of marginal gains. Her IPs are already dying in relevance. Your energy would be better spent telling people about how cool some other thing is rather than how bad HP is. If someone loves HP and it makes them happy, I see no benefit to raining on their parade.

I disagree with this take. Buying HP stuff won’t change anything. Not “it will change very little”. It will actually do nothing. If the whole world decided to stop buying anything that gave her money, it wouldn’t change her lifestyle at all. She already made enough money that she never has to consider it for her lifestyle. People might as well enjoy what they like and not have one more thing weighing on their mental health. Let people have their escapism.

Didn’t Hermione lead a campaign to liberate house elves but was laughed at by everyone until she dropped it?

Then Harry frees one elf and is considered a hero while the person trying to solve the systemic problems is a whiny removed. She’s showing how she thinks about the world with that one.

1. Even if they are, China’s military buildup seems squarely aimed at an invasion of Taiwan. China would just need to ramp up it’s missile defenses to counter that deterrent.

2. Nation leaders often miscalculate the risk/reward of going to war. Look at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for an obvious example. Even if Taiwanese missiles would heavily impact China, that doesn’t mean they’ll understand that. They may also figure that China will be able to deal with it and still come out on top (and they might be right).

3. Almost every war game and analyst predicts the invasion starting with a huge barrage of missiles from China. The first strikes would be designed to cripple Taiwan’s ability to defend itself/retaliate. Many of the missiles aimed at China would be destroyed before being launched.

4. In war games, it’s assumed that the US will be at war with China along with a coalition of Pacific nations assisting. Even with all this support, Taiwan is defended, but only barely. The current administration is focused inward to the point of being much less likely to assist Taiwan or, at least assist much less than war games assume. China may feel pressured to strike during the current administration so Taiwan doesn’t have has much help.