It’s making an image of someone that portrays them in an unrealistic and offensive context.

Given it’s a Chinese company, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Given her situation, that might still not count as Evil, though.

Especially them.

The solution is easy: Say it’s Trudeau’s justice and ignore the ruling. /s

Yeah, but only one of degree.

Iran isn’t directly mentioned. Vague terms like “the North” appear, and historically many American evangelicals have identified the USSR with it, because that was the geopolitical bogeyman of the day. I’ve had older evangelicals insist to me that Russia borders Israel as a result.

Iran’s more plausible than Russia, but if we pretend for a moment it’s not all some desert guy’s mushroom trip it could just as easily be Turkey.

Exactly. I bet they escalate because they’re more instinctively drawn to a dramatic story than to pragmatic victory or desirable outcomes.

Western militaries, at least, have made it doctrine to always keep a human in the loop, so that’s good.

I’m still not really sure how it’s a coherent ideology. Techno-optimism is, but as far as I know most big tech people don’t actually adhere to it, or even think it makes sense any more than we do.

I mean, I’m not just talking about the guns. Imagine you’re at the bank, and then an individual in full tactical gear materializes behind you. He has a substantial amount of ammo and disappears every time he reloads. Molotovs, grenades, hell, you could even fit a flamethrower. You could fit a massive bomb into that space if you wanted. And you could potentially completely escape the effects of the blast inside you pocket dimension.

Okay, but it still doesn’t take more than one good hit to take said guy down - even in a vanishing tank they would eventually figure out where to direct the airstrike. And the bank would have given him the exact same cash drawer with just an imaginary gun he claims is in his pocket.

Yes, you absolutely would still get on the radar after a while as a big smuggler. Or whacked by a rival in your chosen organised crime group or insurgency. A Western government couldn’t really charge you with smuggling unless they can prove you have magical powers, though, and they would have to try and catch you doing something else illegal instead. The one exception I can think of is if you figured out something you can be the end consumer of, as well, but I don’t know what that would be.

Edit: Although, bombing might be an idea. You could fit a couple week’s supplies and and a car bomb amount of explosives in there, no problem. I doubt it would be more lucrative or safer than smuggling, though.