scoobdog

Does the same thing, but in a torn up flight suit saying “Every time we go up there, it’s like flying with a ghost.”

I'm leaning more towards he didn't, because neither did I and I need the company.

It isn't really that complex, Ghosty. I've never thought of you as a warmonger (literally a war salesman), just a dude that gets too far over his skis more times than not. In this case, the discussion of whether or not China will invade Taiwan hasn't changed - it's still a campaign with too much risk and not enough reward for China. They're fully capable of doing it and the US isn't in a position to stop it from a tactical standpoint, but if it were to happen the consequences for China would be the same, if not worse, than Russia's. Trust me, I get it. In Trump World, the impossible becomes the possible when it comes to our greatest fears because Trump knows how to use them against us. There's not guarantee that someone like Xi Jingping won't do the same thing, either. However, Xi isn't an incompetent boob like Trump. He knows why the guardrails are there and he knows how or when to act in a way that doesn't result in a complete breakdown of his government. The Chinese have every reason to saber rattle about Taiwan, and inaction on their part isn't an indication that they've given up. Just the threat that China could act is enough to freeze military assets in Southeast Asia and keep regional partners and the US at bay while they strengthen their hold on the South China Sea. If they were to commit the soldiers, sailors, and military hardware to capture Taiwan, they become tactically vulnerable in other parts of the area. Moreover, they damage their economic charm campaign at a time when they're already struggling to make inroads in the world market. (Not that you asked, but one of the things Taiwan has to offer China, it's robust industry, would likely be exported to the United States where it already has a foothold well before China could establish control, taking away one of the few valuable assets that might make an invasion worthwhile.) Mind you, Trump's foolishness is a golden opportunity for the Chinese to exploit, and that's all the more reason not to get entangled in a conflict with so little reward.

That guy has been making a huge deal about that, and I have a feeling it has more to do with indicating Trump is at the high water mark with polls. The same guy was also saying that Trump's "ride or die" is the economy which, he noted, was polling below where Trump has been historically.

I'm just happy that stupid cow is having her big political break stripped from her.

I did, and I think maybe you misunderstand what he's talking about. This isn't a planning war "game" or a hypothetical run through, it's quite literally a board game with no actual geopolitical ramifications. It's a generic exercise in strategy an logical reasoning, and it does, in fact, represent an evolution in military planning. The same principles as chess apply - each piece has an attack, defense and surveillance function. But, with advances in the understanding of human psychology and behavior as well as scientific breakthroughs in every discipline, the rules have changed for previously set playing pieces. Each piece is expected to do more and react to its environment in a way a chess piece never could. It's interesting in that this disparity in thought has never been more apparent in the reductive and poorly reasoned actions of Trump's DoD. We don't really think about how integrated emotional and intellectual features are to modern warfare until those features are stripped away.

I've never fully appreciated Trump's trash panda eyes. Like, that was a choice.

Looks more sad than angry.

Russians and water don't mix.

What are we claiming down there? Hopefully not an STD.... Ghosty already has enough trouble with the ladies.

As a side note, I'm more empathetic to the plight of the Israeli people than ever. We don't often see behind the veneer of Netanyahu's government, and that video lets us peer into the lives of people who end up being victimized both by terrorists and their own government. I'm not proud to be an American, but I am still American. Whether or not we voted for Trump (let alone agree with his abject cruelty), we still own him and the horrors he created. At least for the Israeli people, they have to own the consequences of a singularly monstrous leader they didn't directly elect. Trump was (mostly) directly elected by Americans, and we have idiots like MD who exploit that by blaming Democrats for not doing enough to get Harris elected in the face of an obviously cruel and selfish person like Trump. In that sense, Trump is a manifestation of something we either can't or don't want to acknowledge - that a democratic republic gives individual citizens responsibility over representatives they didn't elect and don't represent their values. Even for me, it's far easier to cajole my representation like I'm watching USC in the Coliseum than it is to formulate and act on a plan to get my values turned into policy because doing the latter involves an immense amount of time and effort for no tangible rewards. Someone like @discolé monade, who regularly goes to local local government functions and is creating a local non-profit understands that having no faith in your representation does not mean doing nothing - people like her are the foundation around which our system of governace is built. For the people of Israel, it can't be easy to exist in a place where your government perpetuates abuses on your non-consensual behalf and the people who suffer from that abuse hold you accountable for that abuse. For them, getting out there and being vocal - protesting like the Palestinians are; verbally and, if necessary, physically confronting Netanyahu and his cronies; reaching out to the international community beyond the complicit Trump administration for assistance - is a start. Unlike with my fellow Americans that support the atrocities committed by Trump, I have faith in Israeli citizens. I believe they can and will stand up to Netanyahu and put him in his place. We're starting to see signs of discontent come out from behind the "unified" front and, hopefully, it becomes more evident soon. The people of Israel deserve to live in peace with their neighbors, not at the whim of a petty tyrant beholden to a criminal minority Settlers.

Also, there’s this. At the end, the psychoanalyst details how the hostages feel like their government and military abandoned them. From the beginning, Netanyahu prioritized mass murder over the rescue of his citizens, and they know it.

It would have happened sooner if they weren’t running for their lives. Before you say anything: no, the Israeli government doesn’t deserve credit for making this happen.

Gets a cut of the action as the racket's muscle, and is worth all the pennies we rake in.

Got on the wrong side of her once, accidentally got the local pastor stuck by lighting while out golfing and had to make up a cover story.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to traumatize those two the old fashioned way... with memes.

The look and my aunt's and cousin's faces will be so worth it... for the few moments before I black out. They're already trying to spin the Slack scandal in the weirdest possible way possible.

Bring the flashing back! I want to scare the douchbags in my office.

Who cares who's to blame? I'm asking seriously because none of this makes Israel look good. If the war ended tomorrow, and Israel did the right thing by stepping away from Palestine and allowed them to rebuild, do you think they'll suddenly get credit for doing the right thing? Of course not. Right or wrong, this war cemented acrimony in the middle east for generations to come and likely damaged the Isreali state permanently. It doesn't help that Israel no longer has a reliable partner in the incompetent Trump administration. There is nothing to be thankful for here. What confounds me about you is your seeming lack of empathy. I don't think you're a psychopath (incapable of human empathy or a dark empath), but you are clearly vengeful against somebody or something and its interfering in your ability to understand what other people who are not you are thinking or feeling. You've been saying the same thing over and over about Israel yet the hostages still haven't all made it home, alive or otherwise, and Hamas hasn't disappeared; at some point you can't even claim pragmatism in this conflict as a justification for the depravity of all those murdered non-combatants. The same applies to your hypocrisy toward LGBTQIA+ people: nothing is going to get better under Trump and you'll have nothing to show for it when everyone you care for suffers. Nonetheless, here we are talking at you as you keep pushing ahead like you don't hear us or don't care what we are telling you. There are only so many timed you can loop the rubber band around your ball of angst before it snaps. At some point, there's going be nothing left and you'll have to acknowledge that your personal animus is driving your ridiculous opinions.

So... does that make you 99% P-stoned?

Happy Birthday, dude who definitely did not deserve this.

The Hamas to innocent ratio is getting worse. Eventually there won’t be anyone left for Hamas’ leaders to govern.

Damn. Missed opportunity,

You could have just asked me. Lol

Happy birthday Doomer like a week later and with no cool gift.