A BBC investigation reveals that Microsoft is permanently banning Palestinians in the U.S. and other countries who use Skype to call relatives in Gaza.
Reportedly, Microsoft has been banning and wiping the accounts of users who have leveraged Skype to contact relatives in Gaza. In some cases, email accounts over a decade old have been locked, destroying access to banking accounts, OneDrive storage, and beyond.
United States resident Salah Elsadi lost his account of over 15 years in the dragnet. “I’ve had this Hotmail for 15 years. They banned me for no reason, saying I have violated their terms — what terms? Tell me. I’ve filled out about 50 forms and called them many many times.” Eiad Hametto from Saudi Arabia echoed the report, “We are civilians with no political background who just wanted to check on our families. They’ve suspended my email account that I’ve had for nearly 20 years. It was connected to all my work. They killed my life online.”
Many of the users affected by the bans expressed that Microsoft may be falsely labelling them as Hamas
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2007/07/gary-hart-lynne-cheney-and-war-with-china/7644/
Early in 2001, the commission presented a report to the incoming G.W. Bush administration warning that terrorism would be the nation’s greatest national security problem, and saying that unless the United States took proper protective measures a terrorist attack was likely within its borders. Neither the president nor the vice president nor any other senior official from the new administration took time to meet with the commission members or hear about their findings.
The commission had 14 members, split 7-7, Republican and Democrat, as is de rigeur for bodies of this type. Today Hart told me that in the first few meetings, commission members would go around the room and volunteer their ideas about the nation’s greatest vulnerabilities, most urgent needs, and so on.
At the first meeting, one Republican woman on the commission said that the overwhelming threat was from China. Sooner or later the U.S. would end up in a military showdown with the Chinese Communists. There was no avoiding it, and we would only make ourselves weaker by waiting. No one else spoke up in support.
The same thing happened at the second meeting – discussion from other commissioners about terrorism, nuclear proliferation, anarchy of failed states, etc, and then this one woman warning about the looming Chinese menace. And the third meeting too. Perhaps more.
Finally, in frustration, this woman left the commission.
“Her name was Lynne Cheney,” Hart said. “I am convinced that if it had not been for 9/11, we would be in a military showdown with China today.” Not because of what China was doing, threatening, or intending, he made clear, but because of the assumptions the Administration brought with it when taking office. (My impression is that Chinese leaders know this too, which is why there are relatively few complaints from China about the Iraq war. They know that it got the U.S. off China’s back!)
So what you’re saying is: Lynne Cheney has been wrong for 23 years so far.
Plenty of folks on here have bought into the China Boogeyman narrative. Her family’s propaganda has been devastatingly effective. We likely will be at war with China in another generation, given our current trajectory.
China isn’t blameless. Factory and camp narratives aside, their naval actions are bellicose.
The atrocities that western nations have had to commit to keep a foothold in places like Osaka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India really disqualify any of these folks from claiming another country is “bellicose”. We’re still out in Oceania committing genocides of native peoples, to this day.
That’s before you get into some belly-aching about a Chinese warship sailing through the Straight of Taiwan, as though its not American property.
Hahaha. First of all this is old, there’s not any bases in Afghanistan anymore. Second, this is the same propaganda Russia runs with about NATO. They do belligerent stuff and then complain when their neighbors ask the country with a bigger stick for protection. Also, did someone include HK in this graphic? I know there’s lots of US bases in the Pacific, but I think someone is gilding the lily.
But also no, it’s not just about sailing a ship through Taiwanese waters. We do the same thing to China all the time, just to remind them that under international law that’s okay.
It’s conducting war games that completely surround Taiwan.
It’s claiming a ridiculous area for it’s EEZ, far larger than international law allows and completely disregarding any potential EEZ for other countries in the area.
It’s sinking fishing vessels in international water
It’s hacking the government systems of it’s neighbors
The list goes on…
This is not a one sided provocation. We do war games with South Korea and Japan every year where we pretend to invade China and North Korea.
The waters that China (both the PRC and ROC btw) claims were promised to them under an international treaty that predates the League of Nations China never agreed to cede those waters, other countries started sailing in them during the Chinese Civil War when neither side could enforce their claim, and the modern UN’s position is that China lost their claim through lack of enforcement.
You mean the one fishing vessel that sank in an accident? The Chinese crew was grossly negligent, sure, but you make it sound the PLAN is sailing around shooting at fisherman.
We all do that. I agree it’s bad but there would need to be a mutual stand down agreement.
We do not pretend to invade China. There is no plan to invade a country of a billion people with a Normandy style landing across the entire ocean. That’s a ridiculous claim. And as for planning to fight NK, you think maybe their constant nuclear threats against the US West Coast have anything to do with that?
South Korea has been an ally for 70 years, we aren’t just going to leave them. Trying to make defending allies and aggressively going after the vessels of other countries in an insane claim of an economic zone equivalent is just ridiculous.
According to China, the claims predate modern civilization entirely. That doesn’t make them true or consistent with international law.
It wouldn’t matter if it was just one vessel, but no it’s not. And the Chinese Coast Guard didn’t play it off as an accident. They said the Vietnamese fisherman had refused to leave the area China was claiming. For more fuckery let’s look at them stealing military supplies from the Philippine Navy.
Like I said above, the list goes on. And if all we ever do is conduct a war game to remind NK they aren’t shit we could never be as aggressive as China.
wow what an attitude. everything will get old, so you’re fine with your sides atrocities cuz they’re “old” but it’s just not acceptable with others. Hahaha, suddenly a saint of peace, eh?
It more seems like you’ll be fine by no matter what your side does, and will have deflections lined up with propaganda but are gonna have a meltdown when it’s the other side doing what you fuckers do without consequences.
Attitude like yours is why there’ll never be peace.
No it’s also wrong. The US has never had a base in Hong Kong. And most of the bases in the area pre-date China’s rise to being a regional power, much less their modern stance.
This is just straight up main character syndrome in national form.
Also we aren’t out there sinking or seizing Chinese vessels and threatening invasions. Our entire stance is, “leave our allies alone”.
But leave it to someone from .ml to ride in and try to twist the truth in China’s favor.
There actually are several NATO installations still in and around Kabul to secure the international airport and the US Embassy.
The US also conducts war games across the South China Sea, including between China and Japan and through the Chinese territorial waters in and around the Korean peninsula. These have become tit-for-tat exercises, and would stop if the US was no longer in the region.
Glances at the US base map Yes. Ridiculous.
Show your work. When did China conduct a military operation to sink a fishing vessel?
I’m sure they’ll quit right after the NSA does.
Buddy. There are no more NATO forces in Afghanistan. The Embassy was evacuated. Bagram was evacuated. Years ago now.
And why is China punishing Taiwan for American war games? They have plenty of ocean to use. And are you now claiming Jeju Island for China?
Our bases are not an Exclusionary Economic Zone. The Nine Dashed Line is indefensible.
Oh, now I need to prove stuff after you show up with a gilded lily of a meme masquerading as a map?
And I don’t dispute that the CIA hacks governments. I also don’t pretend it’s going to make them our friend or blame those countries for seeking protection from the CIA.
Why would China engage in military conflict with the USA when they can just sit back and watch the USA collapse on its own?
Because a good solid shove can always make a collapse happen earlier.