News: China! China! China!

Discussion in 'Politics & Current Events' started by marek, Oct 10, 2019.

  1. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    the Chinese say it’s a weather balloon
    you believe them?
     
  2. stanger

    stanger BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 29, 2008
    Columbus
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How? By demanding they take their balloon back?

    We have been tracking it since it approached Alaskan air space. There is zero chance it is any kind of threat.
     
  3. spejic

    spejic Cautionary example

    Mar 1, 1999
    San Rafael, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Unless we shoot it down and it lands on someone. The thing is massive.
     
  4. ChrisSSBB

    ChrisSSBB Member+

    Jun 22, 2005
    DE
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Turns out it isn't easy to shoot down balloons at 100,000 ft even if US wanted to.
     
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  5. ChrisSSBB

    ChrisSSBB Member+

    Jun 22, 2005
    DE
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Looks like at 60,000 ft but concern over debris field if shot down.

    "Military assets had been mobilized to potentially shoot the balloon down, but Ryder said so far the decision has been made to let it float in part because “any potential debris field would be significant” and a threat to people on the ground.

    He repeated that at 60,000 feet, the balloon is far above civilian air traffic, and said it does not pose a military or physical threat. Thursday the Pentagon said it had moved to shield sites from the “collection of sensitive information.”

    If the decision is made to bring the balloon down, Tom Karako, a missile defense expert at the Center or Strategic and International Studies, said he suspects the US has a range of options to take it out “if we really want to.”

    “We’ve got missiles that can reach there. There’s probably other things that are non-kinetic,” he said. “[At] the very least, we could be jamming the heck out of it.”"


    https://breakingdefense.com/2023/02...gon-pushes-back-on-prc-weather-balloon-claim/
     
  6. roadkit

    roadkit Greetings from the Fringe of Obscurity

    Jul 2, 2003
    Fornax Cluster
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This whole balloon business is brilliant trolling on the part of China.

    They probably predicted the whole outcome before they even launched it. They probably assume if we do nothing about something so provocative, we might not do anything about them invading Taiwan.

    But then how do you explain to someone why it was necessary to shoot down a harmless balloon when the result was their house being destroyed and family killed by the debris?

    That's the sort of risk analysis going on in the White House right now.
     
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  7. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    no, is that what you would do?
    ask them to take it back?

    just letting it continue to waltz through US air space does not seem to be a good idea

    find a way to bring it down
    examine it and send any weather related data it gathered to China, since they claim it’s a weather ballon
    Keep the rest
     
  8. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    what was the chance it was gonna fall on a house if we brought it down while it was still in Montana ?

    since we let it continue on its way, over more populated areas it becomes more problematic

    Maybe a body of water might do for a splash down?
     
  9. roadkit

    roadkit Greetings from the Fringe of Obscurity

    Jul 2, 2003
    Fornax Cluster
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Or we could just let it float away and not take that chance.
     
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  10. xtomx

    xtomx Member+

    Chicago Fire
    Sep 6, 2001
    Northern Wisconsin, but not far from civilization
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    The report yesterday was that they were waiting to see if it goes over an unpopulated area and then they might take action.

    Let's see if it flies over Tallahassee. Maybe they could take it down and take out Ron DeSantis at the same time.

    Then they find out it was a weather balloon collecting climate change data and the effect electric cars have had in the climate.

    Oh and the "spying" they are doing (the balloon does double duty,those clever Chinese) is about trying to steal the formula for American Pizza. Fortunately, they never made it to...(insert your favorite pizza), but only managed to capture the "recipe" for Papa John's and that Hawaiian garbage. They tried to steal a large pan pizza/casserole from Pizzeria Uno's in Chicago, but it was too heavy and they had to release it, or the balloon would be weighed down and grounded.

    Finally, it will be discovered that the Chinese were working with Congress critters from Alaska, Montana, the Dakotas (yes, there are still two Dakotas) and it was a Republican operation.

    Meanwhile, Fox will report that the Republicans were actually working heroically with the Chinese in a plan to stop the evil Democratic plot to install drag performers in every school story time, insist on teaching Critical Race Theory in kindergarten, and force kids to eat the "sexy M&M's."

    Think of how many threads on BigSoccer P&CE would be covered!
     
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  11. Cascarino's Pizzeria

    Apr 29, 2001
    New Jersey, USA
    Latest is were waiting for it to drift over the Atlantic to take it down.

    Which begs the question - is the Air or Space Force trained for spy balloon takedowns?
     
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  12. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    trump would

    He believes Putin over his own intelligence agenicies.
     
  13. Smurfquake

    Smurfquake Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 8, 2000
    San Carlos, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did we really shoot down the balloon? We're the goddamn monkey hangers now.
     
  14. American Brummie

    Jun 19, 2009
    There Be Dragons Here
    Club:
    Birmingham City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Of course we were going to shoot the ********ing balloon down. Calm down everyone. The Chinese ********ed up and gave away some surveillance technology. We've retaliated enough. Remember twenty years ago when we killed one of their fighter pilots? Did we cause WW3 then?

    Jesus everyone go touch some grass.
     
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  15. marek

    marek Member+

    Lechia Gdańsk
    Jun 27, 2000
    Club:
    OSP Lechia Gdansk
    Nat'l Team:
    Poland
    are all the roads in your mind one-way?
     
  16. roadkit

    roadkit Greetings from the Fringe of Obscurity

    Jul 2, 2003
    Fornax Cluster
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Or it could've been exactly what they claimed it was: a WX balloon that went off course -- albeit a very large one. We might've just blown the solution to global warming out of the sky...
     
  17. American Brummie

    Jun 19, 2009
    There Be Dragons Here
    Club:
    Birmingham City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Something tells me that the Chinese aren't likely to be getting good data from that balloon regardless of what it was actually doing.
     
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  18. Umar

    Umar Member+

    Sep 13, 2005
    One step ahead
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Palestine
    The US government needs the weather data more desperately than the Chinese do. Probably the main reason they shot it down.

    [​IMG]
     
  19. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    We interrupt this report on why not taking down the Chinese spy balloon is bad for Biden with this breaking news on the balloon being shot down. Next on Fox, why shooting down an innocent weather balloon is bad for Biden.
     
  20. roadkit

    roadkit Greetings from the Fringe of Obscurity

    Jul 2, 2003
    Fornax Cluster
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So what you're saying is the technology on the Chinese WX balloon was just a collection of old pinball machine parts?
     
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  21. argentine soccer fan

    Staff Member

    Jan 18, 2001
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Of course I believe them. Have they ever lied to us before?

    And, it seems like another one of their “weather balloons” has strayed over Mexico and Costa Rica somewhere.
     
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  22. argentine soccer fan

    Staff Member

    Jan 18, 2001
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    B26A117F-CC21-4283-9D2D-9B96F40E1108.jpeg
    Difficult. Not impossible.
     
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  23. roadkit

    roadkit Greetings from the Fringe of Obscurity

    Jul 2, 2003
    Fornax Cluster
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Think about it. What sort of intelligence-gathering technology do you think they have that works better on an unguided balloon than on a satellite or human source?

    I realize MTG, Vance, and the rest of the MAGA gun strokers are having a virtual conniption fit over this, but what really are you afraid of?
     
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  24. Sounders78

    Sounders78 Member+

    Apr 20, 2009
    Olympia
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    You really need to put your conservative conspiracy theory hat on.

    Covid was just a manufactured trial. The weather balloon is dropping a virus that only attacks English speakers.
     
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  25. The Jitty Slitter

    The Jitty Slitter Moderator
    Staff Member

    Bayern München
    Germany
    Jul 23, 2004
    Fascist Hellscape
    Club:
    FC Sankt Pauli
    Nat'l Team:
    Belgium
    congressional gop will launch an inquiry into the balloon

    meanwhile tucker and musk are on calls with Putin to get the real truth on this
     

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