It's the other way around. The NRA makes huge donations all over the place to protect an unacceptable status quo. It won't work forever but it's worked so far.
I dont think so. They were talking about this 10 years ago and yet its still not really a thing. You have to be pretty skilled to run the software, most people dont want to bother
What did people say about Computers in 1979? We're much closer than you think to consumer durable 3D printers. It's only the authorities issues with them that have prevented a 3D printing revolution and right now the authorities are held in deep contempt in most of the world and certainly in the West.
Of course they make huge donations all over the place; you don't think they get that money from selling bumper stickers to Joe Public, do you?
Proof of something predicted to happen in the future? You're a genius! It's amazing with all the trolling you do how you get worse at it each time.
Police arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, at the scene. Yamagami, an unemployed former sailor in Japan's maritime armed forces, confessed to the assassination in which he used a handmade firearm, according to police. Police said Yamagami told them that he went to Okayama, another western city, where Abe was giving another campaign speech the day before the shooting, according to Kyodo News, which cited "investigative sources." Yamagami denied any political motivations for the assassination, according to police. Yamagami mentioned his mother's bankruptcy after she donated to an unnamed religious organization with which Abe had alleged ties, according to Japanese media reports. https://www.npr.org/2022/07/09/1110674313/japan-shinzo-abe-assassination-what-we-know
I can see why you'd think that as all the pieces that have come out since his death have completely whitewashed his legacy. I almost thought I was getting my Japanese PMs confused. I suppose no one wants to shit on the dead. In reality though, he was a pretty controversial figure both domestically and internationally, and in my opinion, kind of a shitbag. He's a denier of the atrocities and war crimes committed by the Japanese during WWII (which isn't as highly publicized in the West but is arguably on par with what the Nazis did) and even led efforts to revise textbooks to remove references to them. He also visited a controversial war shrine paying homage to Japanese war criminals. It's hard to imagine a German prime minister denying the Holocaust and paying respect to Nazi soldiers as "sacrificing their lives" but that's effectively what Abe did.
Most national Japanese politicians go to the Yasukuni Shrine. It's the shrine for all who fought for the Emperor. Unfortunately some of those were people we regard as war criminals, a concept foreign to Japanese culture prior to post-WW II. Abe was an unapologetic Japanese nationalist who felt that Japan had paid the price for WWII and the atrocities they committed before and during the war. He saw China as a huge threat and wanted to re-arm in response to that threat. Both of these are reasonable positions to some degree. However he also wanted to wipe the slate clean and revise history to make Japan look less guilty of all the crimes they collectively committed from the late 20's through the end of WWII.
I take your point on the shrine. At the end of the day though, he’s a war crime apologist/denialist whose image hasn’t really been tarnished in Western media because 1) the victims of the Japanese were Asians on the other side of the world so less relatable to the West, and 2) China is rightfully seen as a larger threat to the West right now and so if it comes to siding w/Japan or China, it’s gonna be Japan. Still, can you imagine a German chancellor taking the same positions on Nazis as Abe had on Japanese war criminals? He/she would be the most reviled person in the world and widely condemned.
Can you imagine a US senator taking the same position on the traitors who tried to succeed from the union? He/She would be heralded as someone who appreciates history.
