Fixed it for ya
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The degree to which Republicans are now openly acknowledging direct Russian influence in the actions and comments of many in their party is staggering. There was reporting that leaders acknowledged in private this was happening back in 2016, but without seeing it first hand you could not tell how tongue in cheek those things were (I suspect not given the tone and context of much of the reporting on what was said and why), but they are now just going on CNN and openly saying it.
Another example
https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1782048667223965764
Obamaâs entire attitude towards the GOP in his first term was to stay above the fray, beat them again in 2012 and expect that then the âfever would breakâ and some sort of politics as normal could return. Are we finally getting to that point now?
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Nothing new there. Israel politics has become really confused in the US over the past 10-15 years. AIPAC while long being thought of as non-partisan has really become a bedfellow of the GOP and found common enemies to triangulate against. There has been some evidence in the last couple of cycles that their power has waned though as a couple of the Dems theyâd previously spent big money on trying to defeat (and failed) they look to be disinterested from going after them again.
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An excellent piece here from Politico recounting how Speaker Mike Johnson evolved from initially opposing aid to Ukraine to pushing through the gargantuan package that Biden has just signed. I still donât think the guy is getting the credit he deserves for sidestepping the MAGA mob in his party and for cleverly convincing Trump not to sink the bill for a second time.
A fascinating read ; https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/23/mike-johnson-ukraine-shift-00153825
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I donât like Mike Johnson and much of what he stands for, but I do think there is some principle, or backbone, to the man.
The aid to Ukraine obviously comes with billions to Israel, and a side order of taking down Tik-Tok, such is the price of doing politics as you sometimes have to lump things together to get it over the line.
But in this instance, credit where it is due. I think Johnson did ok.
(Imagine a scenario where we need Arsenal to drop points for us to win the league. I could just about bring myself to say fair play Man Utd, nice win against Arsenal⌠before washing my mouth out with soap!)
Canât comment on India as not got any idea about their policies and attitudes towards immigrants, but Japan has always had a undertone of xenophobia, particularly toawrds white immigrants although it can be very suttle, so many would fail to see it as a tourist, but those that have lived there tend to experience it after a period of time - the stories of several friends that have all lived in Japan leads me to think it is something the brews slowly so you probably wouldnât notice it until a good 3-4 years in.
He is not wrong, but what he ignores in his own country is that immigrants are great for the country only when firstly, itâs legal with the country effectively facilitating for it and secondly, you attract immigrants according to the needs of your country.
Why would anyone want to emigrate to India ? I mean minority hindu population from Pakistan aside.
Iâve had my friends staying in Japan and they were fine. Maybe they didnât notice the xenophobia. But then they were Indians.
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Donât know about Japan 
. But, itâs a heavily industrialized country with an aging population, so, it can have certain lure. India 
has high unemployment itself, whereâs the space for migrant workers/population? Indians are so desperate that they are now filling-in for the Palestinian workers in the Israeli construction sector.
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That said , there are quite a lot of Koreans working in the automotive sector as well companies like Samsung in India
Theyâve got a pretty good life going on here.
But overall , Iâd agree with ifti. Indiaâs got a pretty tough thing w.r.t employment. I donât think there are any particular shortage of skills that require people to emigrate.
Finding people to work isnât a problem for India. The shortage of jobs are.
Just not sure what Biden implied here.
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While Japan has a low immigrants to population ratio, their immigration rate has been increasing steadily. But what is different is Japan knows what they want to achieve with their immigrants, workers in different fields unlike the US who cannot even agree on what constitutes legal migration and enforce it vs real refugees and just adopt a free for all.
No they donât.
The idea the US has a free for all immigration policy is ridiculous. Just repetition of FOX talking points that arenât based in anything even close to reality.
People arriving at the southern border are assylum seekers, it is both legal and indeed necessary for them to be physically at the border when they seek assylum. Most will not be successful.
I havenât been to Japan but I did just complete a tour of duty on a mostly Japanese island and I would say that Japanese people donât like Americans very much - but I can hardly blame them for that given the history of their country.
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I donât think USâs immigration policy is nearly as flawed as Canada for example.
But yeah , the free for all immigration policies by the earlier govts wasnt ideal.
Sure