atomheartbevo

Hey guyz, the war is forever! (that guy gets it - this was isn't going to end in a tidy little victory for Russia). And the result has to be complete Russian control over Ukraine. Maybe they need to liberate Kursk first. And some of those guys pour a pitcher of cold water over the guy's ideas about dividing and controlling Ukraine. I'm surprised they aren't taking a long walk out of high-rise window.

I enjoyed seeing him die inside when she called him bald. It was a punch to the gut. And if she had touched him, that might have been the first touch of a woman that he's felt in years.

Yep, bitched about rich people and authoritarians and I guess gazing into that abyss too long turned him into the monster. Lesson learned - don't be a Roger, be a Dave, Nick, or Rick.

So Leon is pushing a lot more shit into a lot more peoples' feeds (and they are bitching that blocking him does nothing). I see it on the account I only use to read Ukrainian stuff - I keep getting notifications for bullshit that Leon wants promoted, even though I don't go near any of those peoples' feeds, or even follow stuff in their area of interest.

Just look at what's happening in Russia with experienced Russian troops being lost early on - the amount of institutional knowledge that's been lost in the Russian Army is staggering, and we know the people coming into the Russian Army, whether conscripted or mobilized, have very little training these days (just look at how trashy their trenches are), and I can only imagine what things like vehicle maintenance are like. Those Hamas and Hezbollah leaders being killed - those are the guys who know where the money comes from, where it needs to go, what is being stored where, who can be trusted, etc. Their replacements are going to come in, not knowing who they can trust and who might be an informant, and they aren't going to be comfortable moving around the various areas, tunnels/underground complexes, etc. They'll stand out.

So our pack is doing much better than expected in the younger dens. It's going to be a good year, but it seems like a lot of Packs are struggling with their Webelos II/Arrow of Light numbers - that seems to be the group hit hardest by the COVID year. Anyways, I get an email from the Scout Shop showing off some new hoodies. The Eagle Scout hoodie has a nice olive color, but I was not an Eagle Scout, so I pass. https://www.scoutshop.org/scouting-america-eagle-scout-hoodie-olive-adult-s-2xl.html Look at the non-Eagle Scout Hoodie and I'm like "I might get that for me or my son or both of us" in olive. Go to the link. https://www.scoutshop.org/scouting-america-hoodie-maroon-adult-s-2xl.html Maroon-only?

I don't think we should be as involved as we are - I agree with Brian Fantana - we can still be their allies and have their backs if somebody tries to sucker-punch them, but we need to rethink our relationship because it comes across as us giving Israel a blank check to do whatever they want (not economically, but morally/ethically). To take the USA as an example, we have a lot of allies, but when we decided to go into Iraq in 2003, we had plenty who were like "you know what, we will help in Afghanistan, but fuck that, if you want to do Iraq, that's all on you buddy." And I doubt I agree with @Loch Ness Monster all that often, but here we are dumping weapons and aid on Israel, meanwhile they do in fact have universal healthcare and free/cheap college for everybody. They don't really need our help as much as we think they do, and I won't go into why we give them so much help because that's CR, but that's something we need to rethink in the future, because as I said, it comes across as us giving them our full support (and legitimacy as a result) for whatever they want to do.

It may not bring about peace, but it'll sure put a damper on anything massively happening, particularly if they not only wipe out Hamas, but cripple Hezbollah and/or hit at Iran. If you can isolate Hezbollah/Southern Lebanon, that would go a long way towards a "peace" of sorts and Israel has clearly been plotting over the last 10-11 months to take out the leadership at all levels.

Holy shit, that's why Shoal Creek was flowing so heavily below 45th Street.

I think it's a fear of Russia collapsing and the nukes heading out of Russia proper. That's what probably worries a lot of officials. We got really lucky when the Soviet Union collapsed - there were enough powerful politicians and the Politburo/Communist Party of the Soviet Union/Supreme Soviet (or their remnants) to keep a lid on things and get things from Point A (the Soviet Union) to Point B (Russia and the former Soviet republics). You had Gorbachev bridging that gap into 1991. Putin has removed anybody who could challenge him for leadership, which means that when he's out of power, there's nobody waiting in the wings to take over. There's no line of succession, there's no formal body that has the kind of power that the Politburo/Supreme Soviet had in 1990-1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved (and arguably that's why Putin is doing what he's doing - there is no Politburo/Supreme Soviet to keep him in check). When Putin's regime collapses, it's going to happen gradually and then suddenly, to borrow from Hemingway. I don't know if there is somebody we haven't heard of that can jump into the spotlight and keep the country together (arguably Putin had the one guy who could do it, killed in prison), but I believe that a whole bunch of lower-level types are going to go into a feeding frenzy and grab anything and everything they can on a more localized level and either sell it off, or use it as leverage for power in whatever happens with Russia after Putin is dead. Would Putin have all of the nukes in one location, guarded by his best people? That's a shitload of nukes (unless many were just on paper), and Putin is paranoid and seems like the type not to want everything in one basket. Even if it would be easier to watch over/secure, it also creates a situation where one general might be able to pull something off.

At the same time, Trump is wiling to drop sanctions, which can't please Netanyahu

I'll fight @Brisketexan or anybody else for Nicole Wallace

Saw a YouTube ad this morning where Colin said he was the Democrat running against Ted Cruz, and the poll he popped up on the screen showed Cruz with (R) and Allred with (D). He wouldn't do that unless he or whoever is managing his campaign decided it was the right time to start moving that way.

Raw bushmeat if you're RFK Jr.

I am probably wrong, but I assume that if he ramps up another million-dollar business, they can go after it.

That's because Dotard and Leon Musk both think of the concept of "free speech" and the 1st Amendment as whatever stupid shit they believe in that moment.

I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy for him - this shit is probably going to follow him around.

I feel like Paxton is going to show up at the State Fair with a bunch of DPS goons. Thankfully, Abbott is trying to tie up as many of them at the border as he can.

I am constantly seeing shit from CNN that belongs on The NY Times Pitchbot account. I look at the articles, and the headlines (and articles to an extent) were clearly written to make her look bad over this or that, and when you drill down, it's a non-issue, but they would have you believe it's critical to the nation's future. I don't expect them to be cheerleaders, but they don't need to be doing Fox News' dirty work either.

Yep, I had to re-start a twitter account that's tied to a website a friend is taking over - he wanted to put out a bunch of stuff about his other non-twitter social media accounts and basically get some traffic. And holy shit, within days he started getting a ton of followers that had no posts or followers themselves, but that all followed thousands of accounts. It was fucking nuts and creepy to see. If I get bored enough, I may start a new account and see what I can do with it in a week or two in terms of bringing bots in and pushing something up the algorithm chain.

Can there be a middle ground when Israel has been preparing to destroy Hamas once and for all (and possibly Hezbollah) and Hamas opened the door and made themselves a literal existential threat to Israelis? I don't have the article and video handy, and possibly it was posted earlier, but basically people are finally realizing that Israel has been mapping the shit out of the Gaza Strip, Southern Lebanon, etc., and have been observing everything 24/7 since last October (along with using informants on the ground). They are methodically destroying the Hamas leadership as they can reach them, and are working their way up and down the Hamas chain from foot soldiers to the officers, and they basically know where everything is at (tunnels, weapons, ammo, various stockpiles, etc.). One of the articles I read mentioned they had been observed running drones all over the areas with the Palestinians, as well as Southern Lebanon, since last October, and they were most likely capable of mapping things down to inches, both in daylight as well as running infrared at night, and were tracking people and vehicles moving things around, etc. Israel is not going to stop until Hamas is an empty shell, and Hezbollah is probably not far behind. At that point, they might just turn their sights formally toward Iran. If there is going to be any kind of "peace" it's going to be after Hamas and probably Hezbollah are finished, but maybe before Iran is hit hard.