scoobdog

Silver Ingots.

I disagree. If Russia pulls out right now, then joining NATO isn't a given. The longer Putin drags this out, the more likely Russia does, in fact, lose Ukraine forever.

Puglians and Sicilians are probably pretty close when it comes to that kind of sophistication. The acidity of the tomatoes was what I was getting at as far as quality control, and, fresher tomatoes tend to not need nearly as much modification. That's probably why certain places put sugar in - lack of fresh produce.

No, I intended it. They're both pretty good cooks, but they're goofy as shit. One of them keeps repeating Italian words like she'd learning how to speak it or something.

So, this was the correct answer.

They sure do. There's a stuffed Rooty somewhere around here I bought at a truckstop in Buttonwillow.

I've never heard of sugar in tomato sauce before, and none of the cooking shows with the Italians on PBS do anything like that. I'm not sure how strange it actually is given that tomatoes naturally have sugar and I don't doubt it's part of the manufacturing process on some store bought sauce, but the only real reason I can think for doing it is to compensate for low quality or possibly spoiled produce. (Edit: should point out that my grandma on my mom's side's family is Puglian, so, at the very least, it's not common to that region of Italy.) Grits aren't a thing here, so I can't say if it's regional or not. Sour cream is a common additive to chili because it (supposedly) cuts the spice heat. It grosses me out, personally, I would totally put a slice of OceanSpray cranberry jelly on my burger. Can't be worse than anything else,

Can anyone translate @Ginguy's post from racism to English?

It's not a zero-sum game. The damage is real and permanent, but it's not unrecoverable. Russia's best bet has always been to pull out, let time heal wounds and try to "conquer" Ukraine through its own political processes. That get even more remote the more people they murder and the more they destroy the country. Edit: I should qualify that. Obviously, I don't see Russia making Ukraine part of its territory, but it's important to note that there are still a significant number of ethnic Russians there. That's evidenced by the separatist groups there. It's also why, leading up to 2014, the general subtext wasn't an ethnic schism - it was neglect by Putin and Russia. The start of this conflict was the result of Putin pushing some particularly inept politicians into power, forcing a voter revolt that, in turn, introduced a more Western friendly administration. To "conquer" in this context is to return Russia to the influential economic and political partner it has historically been following the break up of the Soviet Union, and that's the only realistic path that existed prior to the invasion.

Even the war in Afghanistan (the USSR's war I mean) didn't go on indefinitely. And, you're right, NATO is making it abundantly clear that the war has to end with the withdrawal of Russia from the Ukraine. They don't really have a choice - despite Russians attempting to retcon this into a response to Western aggression, the special military operation was disproportionate to the supposed NATO incursions even by their own standards. Russians invading so close to NATO territories and explicitly defining it as a proxy for actions by NATO means the western alliance now has a vested defensive interest in expelling the Russians. That's why the West is willing to further enrage Russians by sending tanks - the Kremlin has defined the conflict a certain way continuously throughout the operation that allows for NATO and its member to respond the way they have. Through it all, the moratorium on incursions into Russia itself is undoubtedly still in place, signifying the one real "red line" that represents a change in position from defender to attacker for the West.

They will. I mean Russia isn’t going to collapse as a country, but their campaign will. And, there isn’t going to be WWIII when it will basically be China against the rest of the world.

Sure…. Until Russia collapses.

I think the question is... what constitutes remove? I know it's a further complication, but what I'm getting about this entire episode all the way back starting with Trump is that these documents aren't provided in a secure location. So, there really isn't a place to remove them from - important elected officials (at the least) are given those documents whenever and wherever depending on when an important decision or action is taken. Presumably, that means the someone with a top secret document could even give the President a high security document while he's teeing off on the 12th hole. The fact that these are given on an honor system basis suggests they're not critical to national security like that. I say that with the assumption that any of the documents distributed that has something like, say, a list of covert operatives or pictures of sensitive installations in it doesn't leave with he President or Vice President. The secure location, in the case being the specific space that the document is distributed then collected without leaving a defined perimeter.

So that's why the site crashed.

It means you're winning, dude.

My point isn't to say your warning isn't valid. It's just that it's not worth bringing up at this point because the Democratic senate bosses will still give her the opportunity to show leadership if (and that's a big if) she shows she's willing to be far more involved than she has been up to this point.

She is that weak only because she hasn't really shown she can act on her own. Frankly, going independent is fine in the short term if she wants to avoid a bruising primary later on, but it's only a first step and it comes with a difficult task attached. She has four years to show that she's more than an obstructionist - that she can come up with important legislation on her own, work with Kelley to get Arizona priorities on to the Senate floor, and do more than just act like an entitled date when it comes time to get important legislation from either side through. The problem is she's trying to fashion herself as McCain Maverick without any of the leadership qualities that made McCain the legend he is. If her goal is to warn the Democrats to back off, all she's doing is feeding he worst narratives for both sides.

Her problem is that she doesn't have much of anything to really pad her resume other than the fact she voted for most Democratic proposals and didn't for a few others.

Hell yeah. Positively glowing ... Like a whale oil lamp.

Dude looks like he sweats bacon fat

He might have at one point, but the pervasive nature of his lies suggest he's doing it primarily to cope. What he's coping with isn't something that can be speculated on, but it's worth noting that it's usually a certain type of issue that leads to people lying about their origins like he has.

So... Congratulations to @VicodinEsfor winning the championship.

It's not mental illness in that respect. Pathological liars do eventually alter their personalities to accommodate the lies. In the process of lying about your accomplishments, you lie about who and what you are to justify them.

You ain’t even trying.

It’s entirely possible he isn’t actually lying because he believes he is all the things he isn’t.