>That's an odd thing to say. The only times I've ever been randomly threatened in public were on the road, by another driver.
There's a reason we let drunks ride public transit but not drive.
The bar for conduct behind the wheel is higher than on the subway because the risks and stakes are much higher hence why people get pissed off much easier.
Not getting accosted on the subway is a simple task of not crossing paths with the few people doing the accosting. Not getting accosted on the road requires actively performing in a manner that keeps thing flowing smoothly.
> Or that US propaganda is as effective and all-encompassing within US borders as Chinese propaganda is within Chinese borders.
Totally right! Now let me log off to catch the nightly 6 hour programming block of CIA/FBI/military dramas. It helps me forget about all those scary Chinese drones flying around. Oh and did you see the trailer for the latest Alex Garland movie about our brave soldiers in Iraq? True heroes!
At this point it seems pretty likely tbh. Putin signed a new mutual pact with Kim earlier this year. There are videos of North Korean men receiving Russian military uniforms and signing forms in Sergeyevka. The US, Ukraine, NATO, and South Korea are all reporting incidences of North Koreans fighting and dying in the Kursk region. Putin has given wishy washy statements like "how we utilise the mutual pact is our business".
Even prior to that, Iran was desperately trying to cultivate relations with the West in the 90s/00s before Bush suddenly declared them Axis 2.0 and created a massive security crisis on their doorstep.
[1]
> What emerged out of this economic crisis was a reform movement led by Mohammad Khatami, who won a presidential election in 1997 on promises to cultivate civil society, fix the economy, and replace a "clash of civilizations" with a "dialogue of civilizations." The cultural transformation unfolded over the next several years was remarkable. The share of university graduates who were women topped 60 percent, a new generation of intellectuals began to favorably cite Western philosophers, and religion more or less stopped policing the daily lives of most Iranians. By 2000, the Economist was reporting that according to Iran's own clergy, fewer than 2 percent of Iranians attended mosque on Fridays. On the economic side, the neo-liberalization of Iran intensified; small-scale factories were exempted from labor laws, and state-owned industries were privatized (loosening the state's grip on the economy was thought to be the best way of decreasing state interference in Iranians' private lives). Iran's relationship with foreign nations, even the US, also improved considerably. President Clinton eased up on the economic sanctions that Reagan had put in place in 1987, and Khatami appeared on CNN to talk about his admiration for the American nation and people. Al Qaeda's attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, was met with a massive outpouring of sympathy for America in Tehran, with enormous crowds holding candlelit vigils and some sixty thousand people observing a moment of silence at a soccer match on September 23.
If Iran was legitimately interested in having relations with the West then they would allow religious freedom, release political prisoners, introduce free elections, recognize Israel's right to exist, stop sponsoring terrorist organizations, and apologize for holding our diplomats hostage. Since they didn't do any of those basic, simple things then I don't believe for a second that they were "desperately" trying. People who are actually desperate do whatever it takes instead of the bare minimum.
President Bush certainly bungled the situation as well.
https://x.com/AyalaHasson/status/1901001799412129830