Master-Debater131

Israeli Strikes Hit Syria’s Navy, Military Arsenals https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-strikes-hit-syrias-navy-military-arsenals-bd00a840 "TEL AVIV—Israel has targeted hundreds of Syria’s naval and other military assets in the past two days as part of its campaign to destroy weapons left behind by the country’s military following the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad. Israeli missile ships destroyed naval vessels belonging to Assad’s forces that held dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with heavy payloads capable of striking up to 120 miles, Israel’s military said. The strikes happened in the port area of Latakia and El Beida bay, and were intended to prevent the weapons from falling into the hands of rebels who could eventually use them against Israel, it said. The military said it had struck about 500 Syrian military targets in the past two days and destroyed most of the Assad regime’s stockpiles of missiles and other strategic weapons. “I authorized the Air Force to bomb strategic military capabilities left behind by the Syrian army, so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday. Netanyahu said Israel wants to establish a relationship with Syria’s new rulers, but also issued a warning against taking actions that Israel would regard as a threat." Smart move by Israel. We dont yet know whos going to be running the show in Syria, and at least one of the groups is already telling women that they are basically no longer considered human. So theres at least one actor with territory whos could be bad news. By flat out decimating the Syrian military it prevents it from either being used by a new hostile Syrian government, or being sold or "acquired" by other malevolent actors in the region. The images of the strikes are pretty spectacular. Without any sort of way to fight back, the Israeli Air Force had free reign to do whatever it wanted, and they did just that. The Syrian Navy simply no longer exists (Russia apparently GTFO right before the strikes) and reports say there is not a single functional AA battery left for the Syrian army to use. There probably has been this kind of decimation from air strikes since the US took out Iraq.

This was a pretty rapid fall. The Civil War had basically been a stalemate for a long time now. I wouldnt be shocked if the key cause of this was Ukraine and the October 7th Massacre. Both of those wound up pulling resources from Syria with Russian and Iranian resources needing to be redirected to their own wars, either direct or proxy. As those resources dwindle, they just didnt have enough to maintain their own wars as well as prop up Assad. Its remarkable watching the entire Iranian sphere of influence completely collapse in the span of a little over a year. Now the real question is who takes power. This region has a tendency to replace one horrible despot with another.

Ahhh, I see you decided to wake-and-bake today. Good choice on a Friday.

Fun new question thats floating around, whos next? CBS is saying that Biden is thinking of issuing preemptive pardons to people like Liz Cheney, Anthony Fauci, and Mayorkas. Will he even pardon himself? Lots of people expect Trump to be the first POTUS to pardon themself, but what if Biden beats him to the punch? What a fun new idea this is that in no way Trump, and virtually every single future President, would abuse. Im loving this fun new phase of YOLO Biden. Hes setting the stage so any future admin can do whatever they want and simply issue pardons to anyone who may have done illegal stuff during their work in the administration. Who cares what they did? They can just be pardoned and no one can do anything about it!

I repicked, but like, did we really need to? Is anyone going to take the Panthers of Raiders? I feel like those are kinda gimmies and you could have just given us all +2 lol

Because they largely dont. And unless you have a real reason to even know who a CEO is odds are you wouldnt know it if one sat down next to you. In the 1910-20s there were hits on CEOS and the Robber Barons, but we've largely moved away from that as a society in the US. If this is a swing back toward that then you can bet CEOs are going to start to have more body guards.

It was a total joke out here for years that they should buy the place and fix it up. Then Covid killed it, and they actually did. I remember going there as a kid. It was horrible food, and smelled like chlorine, but it was a great time. And the sopapillas were amazing. The way they are treating their staff seems pretty good. I wish more people did that. Just pay your people a better wage and increase the food by a couple of bucks. Wayyyyyy better than stupid freaking tipping culture.

My entire family signed up when they first opened. Used our own emails and everything. Still nothing. They are opening it up beyond a random lottery now, but Ive heard its still hard to get in. Its just one of those things you have to go to. Its a real experience. Havent seen the updates, but the old version really was something else. South Park did it justice.

This was clearly a hit job. Like straight out of a movie kind of hit. The assassin knew exactly who he was, where he would be, and when to strike. Im sure he had a family, so thats sad. Realllyyyy gotta question what led to this though. I also suspect that this is going to lead to more CEOs having body guards. Kinda wondering why that wasnt the case here honestly. Insurance company CEO seems like one of those jobs that has a slightly higher than normal chance of someone trying to take you out.

Hahaha! I wish! That place is still stupidly hard to get into.

2 pick 6s in the game, and we get to 8 wins. 1 more for a winning season, and 1 (or 2 depending on how other games go) to get a playoff spot. Things are good right now

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5018308-charlamagne-tha-god-democrats-hunter-biden-pardon/ Charlamagne tha God knocks Democrats after Hunter Biden pardon “I just want Democrats to stop acting like they are on this moral high ground politically, when they have shown us they’re not,” he said Monday on the Black Information Network. “Whether it’s skipping the primary process when Biden stepped down to things like Biden pardoning his son. Stop acting like you all are the pure party and Republicans aren’t.” " This is by far my favorite political thing to happen in a while. Im just laughing so damn hard at what this has done. First off, I am once again correct in my predictions. Been saying, basically since he was found guilty, that Biden was going to pardon him. It was so obvious that anyone with any shred of honesty knew it was coming. But nope, it was impossible! Biden and Democrats are the party of law and order, they respect the courts and judicial system, and they would never ever use their power for personal gain. LOL. Mannn, thats as funny now as it was years ago. Democrats are just as sleazy, corrupt, and just downright bad as Trump and the MAGA Republicans are. Its glorious watching that burst out into the open like this. For all the talk about Trump abusing the norms, Biden sure is doing a great job of setting precedent for Trump to use. Hell, Biden even said that the Justice Department was effectively politicized in his pardon letter. Its just glorious. Then theres the media, theyve done nothing but gaslight and lie about this issue for ages now. And now Biden just flat out trolls them by doing this. And not at the end of his term, not on a Friday night, but on a Sunday night when it would dominate the news cycle for a week. Its an absolutely impeccable troll job, and I gotta respect that. The lame-duck phase of Biden is going to produce some absolute gems.

Its beautiful. 9 full minutes of the media lying straight to everyones faces saying Biden would not pardon Hunter. Its was held up as a clear mirror against Trump and a sign of the moral superiority and commitment to the rule of law of Biden and Democrats. And then, POOF, its all gone. Just amazing.

This is the bigger point thats being missed right now. Everyone is focusing on the crimes, but not the pardon. By pardoning Hunter starting in January of 2014, that covers the entire time he was on the board for Burisma. All that talk about that being nothing more than a witch hunt sure seems like crap now. No need to pardon him for something that wasnt a crime, unless it was a crime and the knew it so now they are covering their tracks. The Biden family has been corrupt for a long time, and this pardon is them openly admitting as such.

Its rather fun watching Dems twist themselves over this one. Some are at least openly admitting that this is pure partisan hackery, but others are trying to blame bad orange man.

Lol, love the splice name. Biden does something, so of course its Trumps fault. Trump really broke you all didnt he?

We have our answer The WH has denied that this was ever going to happen, and KJP has been lying for months about this, but this was the obvious answer to the Hunter Biden question. He was always going to get a pardon the second it became politically viable to do so. Sets a fun precedent now to.

While thats a fair question, the simple answer is that Harris was just an awful candidate who couldnt even do basic interviews. Its why she never did a single press conference during her entire campaign, why she didnt do any sort of interview until way to late in the game to change anything, and its the primary reason she wouldnt go on a podcast like Joe Rogan. She cant be left alone in an interview for more than a few minutes without turning into word salad, an hour would have been a disaster.

Kamala Harris Campaign Aides Suggest Campaign Was Just Doomed https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-campaign-polls_n_67462013e4b0fffc5a469baf "Plouffe said the campaign’s internal polling never had Harris ahead of Trump. “We didn’t get the breaks we needed on Election Day,” he said. “I think it surprised people, because there was these public polls that came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw.”" Turns out that this race may never have actually been as close as the public pollsters had everyone believing. Even the Harris internal polls never gave her a chance to win. Now that the race is over the real story is starting to come out, and its going be wild reading.

Follow up: Chinese Ship Suspected of Deliberately Dragging Anchor for 100 Miles to Cut Baltic Cables https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/chinese-ship-suspected-of-deliberately-dragging-anchor-for-100-miles-to-cut-baltic-cables-395f65d1?mod=hp_lead_pos4 "A Chinese commercial vessel that has been surrounded by European warships in international waters for a week is central to an investigation of suspected sabotage that threatens to test the limits of maritime law—and heighten tensions between Beijing and European capitals. Investigators suspect that the Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier—225 meters long, 32 meters wide and loaded with Russian fertilizer—deliberately severed two critical data cables last week as its anchor was dragged along the Baltic seabed for over 100 miles. Their probe now centers on whether the captain of the Chinese-owned ship, which departed the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15, was induced by Russian intelligence to carry out the sabotage. It would be the latest in a series of attacks on Europe’s critical infrastructure that law-enforcement and intelligence officials say have been orchestrated by Russia. “It’s extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way,” said a senior European investigator involved in the case." So yea, WTF China? That ship should be impounded and the crew should be tried in court. Send a clear message to China that this isnt going to be allowed.