statsman

Language misuse. I can’t tell you how many times there has been a story of a horrible massacre or slaughter, and comments on this very site will say, “…and they DECIMATED the village…” No. “Decimate” has a specific meaning- 10% of the populace were killed (word came from a Roman practice). If more than 10% were killed, “decimate” doesn’t work. Jewish populations in Poland were not decimated; it was much worse. Then, there is the use of SAGA to basically mean “epic story”. No, a “saga” is an epic story that has an oral tradition. It’s a narrative, meaning, a narrator is a key component.

There is a greater-than-zero chance that the B12 office hasn’t really considered this.

I will choose to take this as a compliment.

Israel was careful to say they declared war on “Hamas”, rather than “Gaza”. That’s a nice sentiment, but I think it’s a distinction without a difference, in actuality. Hamas is so intertwined in Gazan society; it’s like saying you were declaring war on the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army, rather than Japan. Winning it is still going to pretty much destroy Japan. Israel is fighting a war and doesn’t seem compelled to honor the old status quo. I think Iran is a big part of the impetus for October 7, and they shouldn’t get away with it (but they might). Israel may very well have decided “To hell with two states. We’re getting rid of Hamas, and if it ruins Gaza, spills into the West Bank, well, … we’ll deal with what’s left when Hamas is gone”. In other words, Hamas may have changed the dispute from “one state vs. two state solution” to “throw down and there’ll be no permanent refugee camps set up when it’s over”. Again, and I know you hate me repeating myself, but I will whenever Israel is blamed for the loss of thousands of civilian lives (per Hamas’ count)- I blame the loss of civilian life on Hamas, for starting this. I don’t feel compelled to write my congressman about US support, but I understand if you do.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reluctance to make decisions over who should run Gaza after Hamas is breeding mounting concern in the military https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-puts-political-survival-ahead-of-tough-decisions-on-gaza-783cb8e6?st=pwjltr0awqjjfz8&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

Is that supposed to be me? The things I post on Ukraine here, on Daily Texan, I also post on ON3. The same things. Over there, I am considered a Ukrainian stooge.

Fine. So, we can agree? We can drop all the (more in sorrow than anger) “genocide” rhetoric, and call this what it is- a war between Israel and Hamas (and Fatah better be taking fucking notes)? And in that war, I’m rooting for a total loss by Hamas, the sooner the better.

Yes, even though 1,200 Israelis were massacred on Oct. 7, I can’t doubt that more Palestinian civilians have been killed by IDF. (I can doubt the numbers provided by Hamas, without doubting that more Palestinians are killed). That is a human tragedy, not a statistic. I blame Hamas. They shelter, intentionally, among civilians. They launch missiles from Gazan public health centers. They use the civilian populace as shields. If they could wrap their militants with Palestinian babies, instead of body armor, they would. Using such tactics, they present their opponents with choices: 1. Attack, and be internationally vilified (by anti-Zionist, of course; never anti-Semites) as baby-killers 2. Adopt tactics that rely heavily on boots on the ground, so as to minimize collateral damage to innocents. This puts the troops at greater risk (and Hamas and Fatah have shown that they treat captured IDF like the Comanche treated Rangers) 3. Just back off and go back to status quo. Trade a few thousand prisoners for the few dozen hostages returned alive, and accept the BS story of what happened to the dead ones (they were, in actuality, tortured and killed) Israel, this time, picked option 1. I blame Hamas. Golda Meir said, “We can forgive them for killing our children. We can never forgive them for making us kill theirs”. They’re asking for a cease fire for humanitarian reasons. Know what would be better? If Hamas were gone. Then, everyone- Gazans and Israelis- would be better off. If Israel had gone in, not ceased fire, and taken Hamas out, everyone could be working towards a future right now. The best way to make life better for Gazans is to wipe out Hamas (and frankly, although not a death penalty proponent, I won’t shed any tears nor bow my head for any Hamas militants that participated in Oct 7, when they are put down, whether now or decades in the future). I know a lot of folks think it’s clever to accuse Israelis of genocide. They’re Jews, see, and the Nazis slaughtered six million of them (and it would have been more if they could have), so accusing them of genocide has a whiff of irony to some people (anti-Zionists, not anti-Semites, of course). It reeks of bullshit to me. There is one side in this war that has stated the intent to exterminate the other side, and a side that has the ability to exterminate the other side, and they’re not the same side.

https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/tensions-between-zelensky-top-general-spark-worry-in-the-west-and-on-the-frontline-09ec7ad0?st=t9bteyqvzqn2dq6&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

Holy Shit! I just opened this thread to see this. Texas played OU on October 7. Blinken was busy that day.

My daughter is in the 8th grade. When she was four, we bought 300 tier 1 credits from Texas Tuition Promise (basically, three years of tuition at UT, or four years most other in state public universities). We knew the deal- it’s a great program if she ends up going to an in state public university and a crappy deal if she goes anywhere else. We also opened a 529 a little later. Of course, we never saved what we should, but it has grown to about $34k. We’re not rich, but we probably make too much for real financial aid. It looks like my daughter is set on studying something where private schools in the NE dominate. Of course, we don’t have enough money for that. Here is my question- should I withdraw the TTP funds and just put them in the 529? Can I? Any suggestions? Any knowledge to share? Thanks.

It’s clear that they are trying to put their most attractive games (and BU-TCU) on dates without significant competition. See Oct. 12. The B12 knows what they are, and are trying to get the most out of it. I suspect this is why they are last with the schedule. There is one time slot they have a shot at (Fox mid afternoon Saturday) and they want to get it. Future revenue will be based on ratings and they don’t want to do something stupid like counter program the RRS with a TT-OSU game.

Maybe. But not as bad a look as running into a preschool or a nursery and capping/burning/decapitating the toddlers.

I see why they kept previously scheduled games with newcomers as non-con games. It’s a benefit for the media partners- more good games.

On October 12, Texas plays OU. Look at who has byes that weekend- Baylor, UH, OSU, TT and TCU That’s one way to avoid an awkward observation 😂

I don’t believe Yormark feels more loyalty to the incumbent schools than to the newcomers. I bet he plans on being buds with Deion.

Yeah, it’s more than 12 in UNRWA. Those are just the employees that actively participated in the massacre. Israel says there are 190 radicalized employees and 1,200 members of Hamas (technically a political party, although, also a terrorist group). Roughly half of UNRWA have close family in Hamas. The UN needs to start all over on this, in my opinion. Hamas is not serving Gazans, therefore, UNRWA is not serving Gazans.

Attendance is based on tix sold, not used. The need to get seats for desirable games drives sales of tix for less desirable games. I mentioned this before- driving back from the Texas - KSU game, I went by BU’s home game against UH. It was going into OT. From the freeway, I could see the upper deck was sparsely populated. TV tries to not highlight poor attendances; it makes viewers wonder why they should care about the game if the home fans don’t. Still, there are plenty of times where we get views of a third to half empty B12 stadiums.

Honestly, I’d rather get into it with a Baylor fan. Credit to Al_4_ISU for sticking up for the Cyclones, and the conference they’re in, but I really don’t feel the umbrage for them. Now, the Branch-Gainesians? We can have a ruction.

Footage of an attack on Russian military vehicles shows how Kyiv's forces are largely thwarting attempts to grab more territory https://www.wsj.com/world/this-ambush-shows-how-ukraine-is-holding-the-line-b5d094a6?st=yqvdnon5u2niq8i&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

The better Big 12 games will involve Utah, CU and the Arizona schools.

Jean-Pierre was kind of spraying as he talked. I get it.

The actress playing Gabrielle? Her father is Marcelo Mastroianni and her mother is Catherine Denueve.

The Trotsky quote- “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you”.

The B12’s best chance at making it is if its members embrace the concept of the “good west Texas marriage”- a recognition that they have no better options. When TT fans think of how much fun it was to storm the field after beating Texas, ISU fans think of the nation watching them beat Texas at night in Ames, OSU fans remember throwing goal posts in the pond after beating OU, they need to realize those times were fun, but they’re gone. The worst thing they can do would be to think their programs deserve to exist at that level of relevance. They don’t. They need to start figuring out how to price games so 35,000 will buy tickets to watch Southern Missouri visit Lubbock. They need to get the campus community excited about that Thursday night showdown in Stillwater with TCU.