barsoap

By the end, the Sahel states were in full revolt against French occupation.

There a) was no occupation and b) not even the Putschists were in "full revolt".

You seem to think dropping 200 lb bombs on a city to wipe whole neighborhoods off the map constitutes “throwing down”

You seem to be talking about the Russian main forces (which aren't in the Sahel), not France. Heck, Americans, but again, not France. France drops training ammunition instead of actual bombs on Hilluxes and when Americans make fun of them ("they ran out of ammo") the French shrug and say "Concrete slabs are perfectly sufficient for pickup trucks". It's baked into their core doctrine, they supply their troops with what is necessary, but not more, because they want them to be audacious.

Are you referring to the Bounti airstrike? Like in you strg+f "controversial" and found something? Then just assumed the 200lb and "whole neighbourhoods"? This is Bounti.

Tho’ it is hard – the earthly load,
The Cart is easy in its move,
The reckless couch-time, on road,
Will not get of his bench above.

In early morn we take our places;
We glad to break our empty head,
And leaving leisure for the races,
We cry, “Go on, you idler, damned!”

At noon, our bravery’s diminished;
We have been tossed and more afraid
Of slopes, steep, and ravines, peevish,
And cry, “Be easier, you, brat!”

The cart rolls in the former fashion,
By evening, we have used to it,
Wait for night lodgings, doze, patient, –
And Time tends horses to full speed.

-- Pushkin, "The cart of life", translated by Yevgeny Bonver

tl;dr it doesn't really matter the cart keeps on racing until it crashes. And then they Slav it back up and it keeps on racing. Nobody knows who or what the fuck actually holds the reigns. Also that "go on, you ildler, damned" does not give the profanity used in the original credit. Like, not even close. English isn't capable of it.

Pray tell, how many times without explicit invitation/request by local government?

Because last I checked when the Sahel states wanted them gone they packed up and left. And then things went to shit quite quickly: In some areas Wagner has an even worse reputation among the civilian population than Jihadis (now that is an achievement), and figures because Wagner is not there to fix anything but to make money by "protecting" natural resources they don't care much about fighting the Jihadis, either. France never shied away from throwing down with them, where they were reluctant is stomping Tuaregs, instead opting for endless negotiations and mediating. Which is perfectly sensible because the Tuareg are sane, they want stuff like autonomy within their regions, not massacre people.

Very much so, though they import lots of parts. Generally speaking the Ukrainian defence industry is operating under capacity because cashflow.

Ukraine builds rockets and the biggest airplanes in the world and has a vibrant IT sector, they can manage drones. Much of the Soviet high-tech design and manufacturing was Ukrainian, that's one of the reasons why Russia wants its colony back.

Ah, well, insight is the first step to betterment.

*vanishes in a puff of arrogance*

Can you explain how what I said is racist? I was talking about cultural practices, societal organisation. The cultural differences I allude to are all rather well-established anthropology. Left-wing anthropology on top of that, Emmanuel Todd started that whole thing.

On the flipside, can you explain how "the germanic skull is uniquely shaped in a way that maximizes both ignorance and arrogance." isn't? Can you show me those phrenological characteristics in this example? The man does speak better Low Saxon than me, that's for sure, so obviously he's more German, even more Saxon, than me.

EDIT: As to your edit:

Ridiculing these tirades usually result in a smug dismissal of the conversation while claiming victory or it angers the german causing it to respond with wishes or promises of harm.

If that's not straight-up projection I'd say pot calling the kettle black, don't you think? Not even an tiny bit of smug dismissal in there?

If you actually went through my history you'd have seen that I called what Israel is doing a genocide on every second occasion, and have been saying "The Kahanites will use the opportunity" on like day two after October 7th.

Are you saying that in western liberal democracy a good citizen speaks only English and German?

The "only" is your addition, and your addition alone. At least try to argue in good faith, will you. Do you have no other trick but straw-manning.

As to "incoherent walls of text": Go read Emmanuel Todd if you need further elucidation, in particular "The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structure & Social Systems". It's not the most recent, there's been further empirical research after that but the broad strokes still stand and the book is an easy read.

Unlike you, I won’t say that Germans by nature have an urge to commit genocide.

[citation needed]. If anything I would say that humans have, regrettably, that tendency. Humans are rabidly violent creatures.

Also I was always, and only, talking culture, in this thread. Not nature as in genetics or something. Why do you keep making shit up.

Maybe you can teach me how to become a proper citizen, someone as decent as you are sensei?

Nah you'll fit right in: Your incapacity to engage with a topic in good faith rivals that of AfD voters.

You do seem to be aware of the crass differences in societal organisation. Maybe, on reflection, you could see that I wasn't actually dissing your clan, I was pointing out that you care about it. Arabs coming here tend to be caught in between their familial obligations and what local society expects of them as individuals, and struggle to regard the people around them as not strangers (because not clan members) but familiar (because you're living in the same region).

Go ahead, make the jump, say "My clan is now ". That is hard. It's more than just moving to a different place, it's changing very core, and often unconscious, concepts about how identity and the in/outgroup distinction is constructed. Suddenly, you're expected to be familiar with people you don't even know, that you've seen at no wedding, no nothing. Migrating between different region-based societies is kinda akin to marrying into another clan: Sure you'll have to adapt but you already know the basic rules. Switching between the two systems a whole different game altogether.

When I went to an anti-genocide protest I learned that I’m not allowed to speak Arabic

You don't have a right to assembly in the first place, as a foreigner, though it's generally tolerated. If you want to influence German politics, why speak a language that practically noone here understands? Your English seems to be just fine, and from what I recollect police were also fine with English. They need to be able to tell whether you're shouting "Peace be on earth" or "Gas the Jews", simple as that.

Which you'd readily understand if you had a region-based mindset: The necessity to stick with the people around you, instead of the cousin half-way around the earth. What will the cousin think if you're standing in Berlin, not speaking Arabic, bowing to the sensitivities of the local heathens? Heavens! What will other clans think if members of our clan do that kind of thing, our standing will be tarnished! We must uphold our image of virtue or our sons and daughters will never marry into a rich and powerful clan! Why even protest if it's not in Arabic our cousins won't understand and they are the ones who need to see that we're doing the virtuous thing!

Yeah I've seen those pictures you sent, posing in front of a Mercedes, to show how well you're doing abroad: Just like a Sheikh, your family can be proud. Was it at least a rental or did you use a parked one?

I've never been on an organised wine tour but my family made a habit of swinging by a vinyard on the way back up north. The wine tasting comes with the beds (also, Zwiebelkuchen) and you get excellent prices on boxes because you're cutting out the middle man. Kids get to taste different grape juices.

I suppose those kinds of offerings exist in all wine regions, an organised trip would then be visiting multiple of those places.

the rest of us

feels [...] like

See even ChatGPT can emulate self-awareness better than Sam Altman.

It's a couple more actually. That list also mentions brands that are in other games and source books but e.g. Porsche is definitely in 2077.