scoobdog

Broooo….

I’m never trusting a balcony ever again.

Were you in the room at the time the miscreant(s) broke in?

China isn't going to make Russia a "client state" - they have absolutely no need for Russia besides whatever resources they can get from them on the cheap. The partnership really only serves the greater purpose of uniting against the United States. In the long run, China will be fine; they've done just enough nothing in this conflict to recover most of their previous contacts once the quagmire becomes perpetual background noise. It might have killed their more adventurous goals in the near term, but it also shifted much of the global ire toward Putin and Russia. Furthermore, Xi knows that there is plenty of opportunity in the vacuum of left by Putin's eventual collapse not just in the West but also in the Near East where there are far more viable partners to build an effective coalition. All of this get Xi to this summer not just unscathed but in a relatively stronger position without even needing to do something as drastic as start any special operations.

¡C'est magnifique!

Well, I mean that's what the "show" is all about, an escape for both your audience and you. He might be in a refugee camp; those places are pretty awful.

Katt didn't even have to comment on the edit, but she did because she's so considerate.

I think you should make room in your freezer for your boss.

You always miss things.

That's awesome. How is he doing?

I really think it's more likely that Putin's stated opposition to NATO was more about him regaining influence over former Soviet satellite states and less about him actively trying to suppress NATO. It was always a means to an end, as evidenced by the fact he went into a country that hadn't really even attempted to join prior. On its surface it make no real sense for either Russia or China to oppose NATO unless it serves to break up a coalition with the United States (almost explicitly so in the case of China). For China, the invasion itself was a monumental disaster because it puts them in a position where they have to defend Russia against Europe at a time when they seek to have greater influence in Europe. None of this helps them isolate Europe from North America, which is always going to be their primary goal because Europe (particularly the more conservative former Eastern Bloc members) is a valuable piece in this game of global chess - an affluent customer that doesn't particularly want to be pushed around economically by the US. More importantly, keeping Europe and NATO as a whole placated has the added benefit of hamstringing the US when it comes to China attempting to exert influence in its own sphere. China gets nothing from being an enemy of NATO, and the longer Russia botches this invasion, the more likely that China is unable to extract itself from Putin's stench. That can have disastrous effects for any aspirations China might have in expanding its control into the South China Sea or taking over Taiwan. TL;DR - Opposition to NATO was always a means to an end for Russia and by product of other aspirations for China.

Yes, please!

*Checks List....* I had no idea I had a Parkinson's joke on my list, but there it is...

I sure didn't...

Lol. You just can't help yourself, can you?

No need to worry. There plenty to dissect for the pundits.

Lol. Durant can't even win against his own body.

True...

Speaking of which…. I can just imagine Nabs’ reaction at reading Dane go after Sawdy.

I don’t know how you do it… live in Tennessee I mean.

This thread needs the delicate touch of @E_NAD.

Now we know why you're so terrible at political advice... you think everyone else is as stupid as your base. None of it because you qualify your own bullshit immediately afterward. Everyone knows China manipulated the yuan for decades, but they weren't doing it prop up its value. In fact, they were doing it to suppress its value which is a significantly different thing: by pegging it at x amount to the US dollar, they were effectively undervaluing its worth so businesses could do international transactions at the higher valued dollar and pay for the materials and labor in the lower value yuan. It has its pitfalls to be sure and it generally only works as long as you can keep the CPI artificially low as well... something that gets increasingly hard as foreign businesses return the favor and start trying to tap the Chinese people for their products and services. By comparison, attempting to boost your currency's value is always a losing proposition - you can't force people to buy your coins if there is no underlying market for the products, resources or services you can provide. Which leads to the biggest hole in your argument: It doesn't matter who has a need for the resources Russia requires if there is no infrastructure. India can most certainly buy their cheap oil and the West is going to be more than happy to let them, but the infrastructure to ramp up the supply in places like India or China isn't going to allow Russia to offset the loss of the European markets in anything less than a decade... and you're not getting a pipeline across the Atlantic to feed Brazil or Mexico. China can easily adapt to changing conditions because their most important commodity is their manufacturing sector: it severely limits how embargo can be placed at least as long as it takes to build up one's own manufacturing capabilities and its infinitely more difficult curtailing the specific products that can be embargoed because of the sheer diversity of items manufactured. Russia has its petroleum and natural gas: if any country refuses to allow a Russian tanker or a tanker with purposely vague manifest to dock or they simply decide to shut off a pipeline, then the product doesn't get moved and no transaction is made. The sanctions are most definitely crippling when it matters most, in the short term. All of those operations were short, which partially explains why Putin tends to rely on such violent tactics. It appears that the Russian armed forces have had operational issues for decades, and the Russian brass relied on short active operations with heavy artillery to cover for those deficiencies. Undoubtedly, Putin knew this and was gambling that he could get in there immediately after the Olympics and before the West had a chance to sniff out what he was doing and pull together. No one questions the fact that he can dig in for an indefinite amount of time, but he isn't going to be able to continue active military operations for very long because that bombardment strategy only works if there is something less to salvage after the bombing is done. He's effectively leveled any infrastructure that might be useful in connecting the Crimea to the East, and now he's damaged his own ability to even hold on to Crimea because of that. He lost any real chance of making the Ukraine an extension of Russia when his initial operations failed, so all he can really do is turn it into a wasteland.

Well, it's more than that even though you're absolutely correct about women (especially those of color) being villianized for it disproportionately. JPS is often seen as an imposter (also in large part because of her skin color), and it isn't helped that her relative lack of personality makes her seem cold. On top of that, her whole connection with Tupac Shakur rubs a lot of people the wrong way, giving them the perception that she's a social climbing hack. It's not all her fault, but she also doesn't do much to make herself likable. People like her are easy to target and it's understandable that Will might have felt some shame that he hadn't done more to protect her from Rock's crass joke. It's just unfortunate that his inappropriate response only made things worse by giving a shitty comedian cover for a clearly insulting joke.

It’s tragic that Sinead only recently came up because she lost her son way too young. The most insulting thing to me is that Rock’s brother is the only one addressing the fact he didn’t know she had Alopecia and he’s not even offering an apology. Like I said earlier, JPS is treated like a villain and that somehow gives people a pass at insulting her. I don’t have to condone what Will did to see how this fits into a larger pattern of making JPS a monster by those on the outside. Even the joke Regina in the opening portrays her in a way that makes her out to be a self entitled slut who deserves to be a punching bag. Also, the comics feeling sorry for themselves leaves a bad taste. No one gives a shit if Amy Schumer is traumatized.

Bro…, it’s too late.