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Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting! NOTE: When providing a source, please provide a very brief summary on what it's about and what purpose it adds to the discussion. The supporting statement should clearly explain why the subject is relevant and needs to be discussed. Please follow this rule especially for tweets.
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On March 18 2026 04:25 Uldridge wrote:
Workers are happily and blindly obliging to automation projects only to see themselves being put at the door in 5 years because cost cutting.
Companies are capital extraction machines.
This has been happening since 1980. Long gone are the days you work for the same company for 40 years and retire. The response to this was to become a "Yuppie" and job hop from 1 promoted position to another.
You must carefully construct a long term career path. It has been that way for decades.
To cite an extreme example to make this point. Anyone, in 1996, who thought they could base their career off of expert front end HTML, CSS, and JavaScript knowledge is out of his mind... And has been out of a job for 20 years.
You'll notice the shift away from the assumption of permanent, forever employment strewn throughout the TV shows, news shows, and music vids of the early 80s. Scarecrow in the rain, allentown, and Dusty Rhodes wrestling speeches all come to mind. 1981 WKRP in Cincinnati had a computer making decisions about what songs the on air DJs would play replacing a human program director.
"You've got 30 minutes to pack your things and leave you've been replaced by a computer", Dusty Rhodes in his 1984 'hard times' speech.
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On March 18 2026 04:25 Uldridge wrote:
Who even cares anymore. I'm really hoping someone just telling Trump how full of shit he is, him subsequently dying of a heart attack and then the AI bubble to burst because why wouldn't it. At least I'd regain some whimsy again. But at the pace everything's going - they're tightening the thumbscrews everywhere because money seems to be in short supply so they need to nibble at social securities - I'll be 70 at 40. We need a Dune style purge of everything computer. I'd happily support that honestly.
Workers are happily and blindly obliging to automation projects only to see themselves being put at the door in 5 years because cost cutting.
Companies are capital extraction machines. The human intermezzo is only here because there wasn't anything better in the meantime. The real question is: will politicians understand, or will they act too late, let's find out together.
What US politicians understand is that they need to let their mad scientists experiment without limitations because they see no way out of future challenges otherwise. Europe politicians try to be zen about it but get run over in the process or just exploit their connections with billionaires for personal profit.
AI is definitely useful in the medical field or general research. But it's also used for subjugation or other harmful activites.
The computers will die out by themselves eventually...Unless we get the self-replicator doomsday scenario.
Googles idea probably the most interesting... Copy brains and store them somewhere safe. Who says it didn't already happen ? Sometimes I wonder if we're just reliving a memory of the past on a computer.
For now they are content with just clowning around with their tools or making porn with it. At least that's their use for the public.
Progress kinda brings a lot of drawbacks.
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It is USA versus Venezuela in the WBC Finals. Lol. I was cheering for Canada and the DR. I wonder what Trump will say if Venezuela wins.
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Canada11571 Posts
On March 18 2026 01:03 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Joe Kent quit. He explained why on twitter. https://x.com/i/status/2033897242986209689Show nested quote +
I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.
Well good news for Trump. He never wanted him in the first place.
"I always thought he was a nice guy but he was weak on security, very weak on security. Uhh. I didn't know him well but he seemed like a nice guy."
So glad Trump nominates nice guys whom he does not know well, but always knew was weak, very weak on security for his director of National Counterterrorism Center. Nice guy but weak on security seems like solid credentials for counter-terrorism.
Trump Wins again!
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On March 18 2026 04:06 Gorsameth wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 03:49 CuddlyCuteKitten wrote:On March 18 2026 02:19 Gorsameth wrote:On March 18 2026 02:09 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On March 18 2026 02:01 Jankisa wrote:
I find it darkly funny that people have seen the reactions to Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings, where in both cases it was armed agents executing American Citizens for basically not complying with orders and thinking that if some Socialists or Anti-fascists start shooting back at cops/military there is going to be a lot of sympathy and support from them from the public at large.
i found many republicans, conservatives, and independents thought ICE messed up badly when killing Pretti. I think an investigation is in order for Pretti's death; I'd say he was probably murdered. But, that's a guess without a proper investigation. A proper investigation and criminal charges need to follow if the investigation indicates the officers/agents made a mistake. Public opinion shifted after Pretti was killed. When you initiate 1000s of arrests a handful, at minimum, will go wrong. This is assuming every officer/agent is 100% on the up and up. If there is corruption within the police force you'll get more than a handful. Law enforcement agents/officers across the world will continue to make mistakes every year. Mistakes happen. Only the US has law enforcement executing civilians in cold blood. This is not 'just how things are'. I mean... Look up the Philippines under Duterte. US law enforcement is maybe uniquely bad by western standards (given the amount of guns and attitude to gun violence it's also a pretty unique position to be a cop in). But it's not particularly awful compared to the rest of the world. Just like with Oblade. The US, perhaps slightly better then the Philippines under Duterte. If you're having to compare the US to 3e world countries to come out favorably that might show a problem. But hey, the US is basically a banana Republic at this point so it might just be an abt comparison.
It's not slightly better. The Philippines under Duterte was much worse. According to official statistics approximately 6k people were killed on a couple of years. That's almost certainly an undercount with estimates ranging from double that to 30k. Duterte is not in The Hague for nothing.
You're inviting comparisons to less developed countries with your initial statement and then act surprised oblade and Cuddly do exactly that.
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On March 18 2026 04:06 Gorsameth wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 03:49 CuddlyCuteKitten wrote:On March 18 2026 02:19 Gorsameth wrote:On March 18 2026 02:09 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On March 18 2026 02:01 Jankisa wrote:
I find it darkly funny that people have seen the reactions to Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings, where in both cases it was armed agents executing American Citizens for basically not complying with orders and thinking that if some Socialists or Anti-fascists start shooting back at cops/military there is going to be a lot of sympathy and support from them from the public at large.
i found many republicans, conservatives, and independents thought ICE messed up badly when killing Pretti. I think an investigation is in order for Pretti's death; I'd say he was probably murdered. But, that's a guess without a proper investigation. A proper investigation and criminal charges need to follow if the investigation indicates the officers/agents made a mistake. Public opinion shifted after Pretti was killed. When you initiate 1000s of arrests a handful, at minimum, will go wrong. This is assuming every officer/agent is 100% on the up and up. If there is corruption within the police force you'll get more than a handful. Law enforcement agents/officers across the world will continue to make mistakes every year. Mistakes happen. Only the US has law enforcement executing civilians in cold blood. This is not 'just how things are'. I mean... Look up the Philippines under Duterte. US law enforcement is maybe uniquely bad by western standards (given the amount of guns and attitude to gun violence it's also a pretty unique position to be a cop in). But it's not particularly awful compared to the rest of the world. Just like with Oblade. The US, perhaps slightly better then the Philippines under Duterte. If you're having to compare the US to 3e world countries to come out favorably that might show a problem. But hey, the US is basically a banana Republic at this point so it might just be an abt comparison.
"Slightly better" lmao.
In Dutertes war on drugs 12.000-30.000 people in extrajudicial killings in 8 years.
Police in the US kills 1000-1300 people a year (all kinds of deaths). Very high? Yes. But many of those would be justified.
You have 2 cases were ICE has killed US citizens where 1 of them can easily be classified as a murder.
And you are saying that's slightly better than some other countries.
Sorry, that's just hyperbole.
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I’ve read people here on TL saying that Duterte was doing the right thing. It was kind of chilling.
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On March 18 2026 05:58 RvB wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 04:06 Gorsameth wrote:On March 18 2026 03:49 CuddlyCuteKitten wrote:On March 18 2026 02:19 Gorsameth wrote:On March 18 2026 02:09 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On March 18 2026 02:01 Jankisa wrote:
I find it darkly funny that people have seen the reactions to Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings, where in both cases it was armed agents executing American Citizens for basically not complying with orders and thinking that if some Socialists or Anti-fascists start shooting back at cops/military there is going to be a lot of sympathy and support from them from the public at large.
i found many republicans, conservatives, and independents thought ICE messed up badly when killing Pretti. I think an investigation is in order for Pretti's death; I'd say he was probably murdered. But, that's a guess without a proper investigation. A proper investigation and criminal charges need to follow if the investigation indicates the officers/agents made a mistake. Public opinion shifted after Pretti was killed. When you initiate 1000s of arrests a handful, at minimum, will go wrong. This is assuming every officer/agent is 100% on the up and up. If there is corruption within the police force you'll get more than a handful. Law enforcement agents/officers across the world will continue to make mistakes every year. Mistakes happen. Only the US has law enforcement executing civilians in cold blood. This is not 'just how things are'. I mean... Look up the Philippines under Duterte. US law enforcement is maybe uniquely bad by western standards (given the amount of guns and attitude to gun violence it's also a pretty unique position to be a cop in). But it's not particularly awful compared to the rest of the world. Just like with Oblade. The US, perhaps slightly better then the Philippines under Duterte. If you're having to compare the US to 3e world countries to come out favorably that might show a problem. But hey, the US is basically a banana Republic at this point so it might just be an abt comparison. It's not slightly better. The Philippines under Duterte was much worse. According to official statistics approximately 6k people were killed on a couple of years. That's almost certainly an undercount with estimates ranging from double that to 30k. Duterte is not in The Hague for nothing. You're inviting comparisons to less developed countries with your initial statement and then act surprised oblade and Cuddly do exactly that. Yes I am inviting comparisons to less developed countries, because that is what America has to measure itself against to look better.
And that is not a good thing, once upon a time America atleast pretended to strive to be a shining beacon for all others to aspire to.
"Atleast we're better then the Philippines under Duterte" is not the level a country should be content with.
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On March 18 2026 06:07 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I’ve read people here on TL saying that Duterte was doing the right thing. It was kind of chilling.
The easy lie of authoritarianism is centuries old and transnational, and people on both the left and right have fallen for it. "Why don't we just suspend civil liberties and then brutalize all the criminals?" is why we teach history in schools, but unfortunately a lot of people don't pay attention, and a few people that do pay attention stupidly imagine they'll be one the few that get rich off of a societal calamity.
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On March 18 2026 06:22 LightSpectra wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 06:07 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I’ve read people here on TL saying that Duterte was doing the right thing. It was kind of chilling. The easy lie of authoritarianism is centuries old and transnational, and people on both the left and right have fallen for it. "Why don't we just suspend civil liberties and then brutalize all the criminals?" is why we teach history in schools, but unfortunately a lot of people don't pay attention, and a few people that do pay attention stupidly imagine they'll be one the few that get rich off of a societal calamity.
Meh, Canada did it in 1970. They enacted the War Measures Act with no war going on at 3am. The ploy worked. The arrests began at 4am via surprise raids. ~500 people were arrested.
"Yes, there are a lot of bleeding hearts in this town who do not like the looks of men with helmets and guns. Well, all I can say is 'go on and bleed' ".
Sometimes suspending civil liberties is the right thing to do. Canadians' approval of this tactic was 87%. The guy doing it remained PM for another 14 years winning 3 more elections in 72,74, and 80.
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I won't indulge your humiliation fetish.
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On March 18 2026 07:29 LightSpectra wrote:
I won't indulge your humiliation fetish.
thanks for conceding.
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On March 18 2026 07:07 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 06:22 LightSpectra wrote:On March 18 2026 06:07 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I’ve read people here on TL saying that Duterte was doing the right thing. It was kind of chilling. The easy lie of authoritarianism is centuries old and transnational, and people on both the left and right have fallen for it. "Why don't we just suspend civil liberties and then brutalize all the criminals?" is why we teach history in schools, but unfortunately a lot of people don't pay attention, and a few people that do pay attention stupidly imagine they'll be one the few that get rich off of a societal calamity. Meh, Canada did it in 1970. They enacted the War Measures Act with no war going on at 3am. The ploy worked. The arrests began at 4am via surprise raids. ~500 people were arrested. I’m "Yes, there are a lot of bleeding hearts in this town who do not like the looks of men with helmets and guns. Well, all I can say is 'go on and bleed' ". Sometimes suspending civil liberties is the right thing to do. Canadians' approval of this tactic was 87%. The guy doing it remained PM for another 14 years winning 3 more elections in 72,74, and 80.
The fuck you talking about. Duterte had 30 000 people dragged out of their house by the police and shot in the face in front of their neighbours for crimes that were merely alleged without any trial or due process, and you talk about “bleeding hearts” ( on a tengent, funny, how people talking about “bleeding hearts” are always, themselves, heartless twats) about 500 people arrested in Canada in 1970.
Are you dense or are you not following the discussion?
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United States44149 Posts
On March 18 2026 02:09 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 02:01 Jankisa wrote:
I find it darkly funny that people have seen the reactions to Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings, where in both cases it was armed agents executing American Citizens for basically not complying with orders and thinking that if some Socialists or Anti-fascists start shooting back at cops/military there is going to be a lot of sympathy and support from them from the public at large.
i found many republicans, conservatives, and independents thought ICE messed up badly when killing Pretti. I think an investigation is in order for Pretti's death; I'd say he was probably murdered. But, that's a guess without a proper investigation. A proper investigation and criminal charges need to follow if the investigation indicates the officers/agents made a mistake. Public opinion shifted after Pretti was killed. When you initiate 1000s of arrests a handful, at minimum, will go wrong. This is assuming every officer/agent is 100% on the up and up. If there is corruption within the police force you'll get more than a handful. Law enforcement agents/officers across the world will continue to make mistakes every year.
McDonald’s employees can somehow serve billions of burgers without any executions. Some interactions should have approximately a 0% chance of resulting in execution.
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On March 18 2026 08:08 Biff The Understudy wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 07:07 JimmyJRaynor wrote:On March 18 2026 06:22 LightSpectra wrote:On March 18 2026 06:07 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I’ve read people here on TL saying that Duterte was doing the right thing. It was kind of chilling. The easy lie of authoritarianism is centuries old and transnational, and people on both the left and right have fallen for it. "Why don't we just suspend civil liberties and then brutalize all the criminals?" is why we teach history in schools, but unfortunately a lot of people don't pay attention, and a few people that do pay attention stupidly imagine they'll be one the few that get rich off of a societal calamity. Meh, Canada did it in 1970. They enacted the War Measures Act with no war going on at 3am. The ploy worked. The arrests began at 4am via surprise raids. ~500 people were arrested. I’m "Yes, there are a lot of bleeding hearts in this town who do not like the looks of men with helmets and guns. Well, all I can say is 'go on and bleed' ". Sometimes suspending civil liberties is the right thing to do. Canadians' approval of this tactic was 87%. The guy doing it remained PM for another 14 years winning 3 more elections in 72,74, and 80. The fuck you talking about. Duterte had 30 000 people dragged out of their house by the police and shot in the face in front of their neighbours for crimes that were merely alleged without any trial or due process, and you talk about “bleeding hearts” ( on a tengent, funny, how people talking about “bleeding hearts” are always, themselves, heartless twats) about 500 people arrested in Canada in 1970. Are you dense or are you not following the discussion?
I wouldn't rule out both.
"Sometimes suspending civil liberties is the right thing to do. Canada once arrested 500 people extrajudicially, this is the same as executing thousands over the course of a few years. I would be okay if I was extrajudicially publically executed without trial for that time I stole 50,000 dollars worth of walmart D&D merch because sometimes suspending civil liberties is the right thing to do. I'm smart and my positions are always cohesive."
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French General Michel Yakovleff explains why no one has, and no one should Trump on Iran. He was a 3 star general and held senior positions in NATO. His 5 points
1. Trump doesn't understand how NATO works. You don't get to launch your own unilateral bombing campaign and then invite your allies to run a separate operation underneath you. That is not how alliances function. If Trump wants NAO involved, NATO takes command. One operation, one flag, one chain of command. He does not think Trump even understands how NATO works.
2. Nobody knows what the actual strategic goals are. Beyond forcing the reopening of the strait of Hormuz, what is the end game? Regime Change? Containment? A negotiated settlement? Trump hasn't said. He apparently can't say because he doesn't know.
3. You can not coordinate a multinational military campaign through tweets that change every 2 minutes. If allied nations are going to put their soldiers at risk, they need explicit written objectives from the USA. "It is going to be necessary for Trump himself to know what he wants".
4. There is a fundamental issue of trust. Trump has abandoned allies before and everyone knows he would do it again without hesitation the moment it became politically useful to him in the short term. The Kurds know it, the Afghans know it. Europe knows it. Canada knows it.
5. There is a principal he learned at the U.S. Army War college. "You don't reinforce failure. You move on and find something else."
I don't know why anyone would do anything so unpopular at home, when it is not like Trump is going to remember it tomorrow. He is finally starting to reap just a tiny bit of what he sows. And America is going to reap it for some time. I hope all the people who voted for him because "Kamala would be worse" or "because she wouldn't be any different" start to get it.
Joe Kent, joins the list of people jumping ship. I expect him to reemerge in politics once Trump is gone. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote in the letter. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” He's betting on Trump failing.
Trump of course said he knew Joe was weak and dumb, but appointed him because he's a nice guy. WTF? Some how he manages to make himself look dumber while trying to look smart.
Anyone who supports this man either is running on super low horsepower. Or is in such a stupid bubble they have no idea what is going on.
@fleet and only 62 were charged, and none killed. All had real trials. I'm sure we could all go on and on about it.
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On March 17 2026 22:10 KwarK wrote:Show nested quote +On March 17 2026 19:14 baal wrote:On March 17 2026 15:13 EnDeR_ wrote:On March 17 2026 11:21 baal wrote:On March 15 2026 17:59 EnDeR_ wrote:In a lot of parts of the world people can be killed by what they say, also in many parts including the 1st world people can go to prison for the wrong opinions etc.
Manning and Assange went through hell and countless others would without anonymity. Source for bolded? I don't know who that is. Count Dankula, arrested and went to court for a nazi joke with his dog, google him. I did Google him. He didn’t go to prison. What are you talking about?
My bad he was only arrested, tried, found guilty and convicted, he had to pay a fine lol, is that ok with you?
Ok let me rephrase that, we need anonymity so that you don't get arrested, tried, convicted and fined for wrong opinions or jokes
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United States44149 Posts
On March 18 2026 11:28 baal wrote:Show nested quote +On March 17 2026 22:10 KwarK wrote:On March 17 2026 19:14 baal wrote:On March 17 2026 15:13 EnDeR_ wrote:On March 17 2026 11:21 baal wrote:On March 15 2026 17:59 EnDeR_ wrote:In a lot of parts of the world people can be killed by what they say, also in many parts including the 1st world people can go to prison for the wrong opinions etc.
Manning and Assange went through hell and countless others would without anonymity. Source for bolded? I don't know who that is. Count Dankula, arrested and went to court for a nazi joke with his dog, google him. I did Google him. He didn’t go to prison. What are you talking about? My bad he was only arrested, tried, found guilty and convicted, he had to pay a fine lol, is that ok with you? Ok let me rephrase that, we need anonymity so that you don't get arrested, tried, convicted and fined for wrong opinions or jokes
Given you’ve apparently been posting angrily about a case that you know nothing about I can certainly see why protections for online idiots are a topic very dear to your heart.
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Canada11571 Posts
4. There is a fundamental issue of trust. Trump has abandoned allies before and everyone knows he would do it again without hesitation the moment it became politically useful to him in the short term. The Kurds know it, the Afghans know it. Europe knows it. Canada knows it.
My new favourite historian Sarah Payne talks about this breaking down the difference between tactical thinking, operational thinking, and strategic thinking.
She sees Trump and his administration as only able to think operationally as they catch good headlines but sees no evidence of strategic thinking. Due to the strength of the US military, an operation like in Venzuela will be very effective. What's the long term impact in the region? Off to Iran we go.
Pearl Harbour was fantastically successful at the operational level. Strategically, it brought the full might of the US into WWII.
I suspect Trump will be one of the greatest causes of nuclear proliferation in the modern era.
But he does have a nose for what it temporarily popular with his base. As much as some of the MAGA talking heads are suffering whiplash from their Kamala = forever wars in the Middle East, Trump = peace candidate, the Iran war is still largely popular with Trump's base.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/02/politics/cnn-poll-59-of-americans-disapprove-of-iran-strikes-and-most-think-a-long-term-conflict-is-likely
View of US decision to take military action in Iran:
Republican:
77% Approve
23% Disapprove
Does Trump have a clear plan for handling the Iran situation?
Republican:
83% Yes
17% No
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On March 18 2026 11:30 KwarK wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2026 11:28 baal wrote:On March 17 2026 22:10 KwarK wrote:On March 17 2026 19:14 baal wrote:On March 17 2026 15:13 EnDeR_ wrote:On March 17 2026 11:21 baal wrote:On March 15 2026 17:59 EnDeR_ wrote:In a lot of parts of the world people can be killed by what they say, also in many parts including the 1st world people can go to prison for the wrong opinions etc.
Manning and Assange went through hell and countless others would without anonymity. Source for bolded? I don't know who that is. Count Dankula, arrested and went to court for a nazi joke with his dog, google him. I did Google him. He didn’t go to prison. What are you talking about? My bad he was only arrested, tried, found guilty and convicted, he had to pay a fine lol, is that ok with you? Ok let me rephrase that, we need anonymity so that you don't get arrested, tried, convicted and fined for wrong opinions or jokes Given you’ve apparently been posting angrily about a case that you know nothing about I can certainly see why protections for online idiots are a topic very dear to your heart.
Sure sure, so are you ok with him being fined?
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EPT![[image loading]](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/HL3RGAFAHSPQWVJ6SWPYG4JVLQ.jpg?auth=8aa5accb8a00d1260145a961375414833594c62dca82f0228f1ea438b4fb17ae&smart=true&width=1600&height=900)
