Last Nationals of the season. Someone told me once that “working Nats is like a high school reunion,” and there’s a whole lot of truth to that. The format is a great way to make friends, lots of teamwork, lots of stories. If you stop by, I will NOT be working stage 8. Or maybe I will, who can tell? But as of now I’ve been reassigned to stage 4.
Very little going on in the stars this week. Virgo gets the most news, with Venus entering today and the moon on Wednesday. That leads to an alignment indicating a good date night with your significant other. The next day Mars moves into Scorpio. It’s a general strength buff but with a particular emphasis on counterpunching.
So um, you might want to skip reading this week. I believe this is the worst week of readings we’ve ever had.
Libra: The Tower reversed – Misery, distress, indigence, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception, ruin, unforeseen catastrophe, oppression, imprisonment, tyranny.
Scorpio: Knight of Wands reversed – Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
Sagittarius: 10 of Swords – Betrayal, pain, affliction, tears, sadness, desolation.
Capricorn: 9 of Cups reversed – Truth, loyalty, liberty, mistakes, imperfections.
Aquarius: The Devil reversed – Evil, fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
Pisces: 9 of Swords – Death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair.
Aries: 6 of Swords reversed – Declaration, confession, publicity.
Taurus: The Hanged Man reversed – Selfishness, the crowd, body politic.
Gemini: Ace of Coins reversed – All the bad things having to do with money: not having enough, having enough that you’re attracting the kind of attention you’d rather not have, people you don’t like having more money than you, etc.
Cancer: 5 of Swords – Degradation, destruction, revocation, infamy, dishonor, loss
Leo: Knight of Swords reversed – Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.
Virgo: 6 of Coins – resents, gifts, gratification, attention, vigilance.
This week is Jane’s Libertarian song from the XXX Records album, for those that prefer (near) zero production involved:
Sagittarius: 10 of Swords – Betrayal, pain, affliction, tears, sadness, desolation.
I’m getting laid?
Yes.
As expected.
“Virgo gets the most news, with Venus entering today and the moon on Wednesday. That leads to an alignment indicating a good date night with your significant other. ”
Good thing Im a Virgo!
Lily just loves to roll in the dirt. No way that doggo could roll her that easily!
Leo: Knight of Swords reversed – Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.
I’m gonna lean into it.
Great song! I’m really enjoying revisiting JA
Some nice early Jane’s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLjKLFzJo_U
#metoo.
Sounds like a long winded way of saying “epic drinking bout”.
I noticed that. That girl likes to roll around on her back.
New pup apparently comes with Stainmaster fur. Forelegs look like Lily’s after digging into dirt, walks around a couple minutes, and it’s almost completely gone. Slept for 6 hours last night too! Now to continue the potty training.
👍
Wonderful!
Pics?
https://ibb.co/Btkv08V
None of the digging, yet.
beautiful
Awwww
Ded.
Congrats, brother. What a beauty!
For OMWC:
https://a.co/d/bTd7c94
The perfect decoration for your Halloween. A bloody ice cream truck.
I am unable to even.
I have literally lost the ability to even!
Love the Bernese (?) being picked up.
Nice dog videos.
Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.
Sufficiently shitty.
NA, I’m sorry I’m not going to make it to Marengo (probably past tense by the time you read this). Spent the whole week preparing for my guests yesterday, and today is catch up. Hopefully USPSA comes back to Cardinal Center next year.
Scorpio: Knight of Wands reversed – Rupture, division, interruption, discord.
See, it’s not my fault … uh, yeah.
Pisces: 9 of Swords – Death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair.
Other than that, how was the play?
I’m a gonna pass on that one
I have been away from TV news the last couple of days, so I just have the online version of the Hamas attack to look at. I first saw it on Twitter, which was dominated by cell phone videos, much of which was from Palestinian militants bragging of their victories like parading naked, dead bodies of young German tourists through cheering crowds who join in abusing the dead.
So I was surprised at the clips I saw from CNN and NBC where the attacks were merely described as “rocket attacks”. Later they seemed to add “taken hostage” to the story… but nothing about the atrocities, the killings and kidnappings at the peace festival or the public celebration of mutilation of civilian corpses.
So…. how did the MSM coverage unfold? Have they eveinvolvement? the Biden administration on their stance that we don’t know if Iran is involved, despite Hamas statements of gratitude for Iran’s invoblement?
This is the value of social media. We can see with our own eyes what has happened without an intermediary.
I usually love Twitter but I had to stop scrolling. Too much barbarity.
Barbarity is exactly the right word. I understand how you feel. I have had to take breaks. I’m forcing myself to watch some of it because I want to understand exactly what Israel is confronting.
1. Jimmy Fucking Carter let the secular govt. in Iran collapse and be replaced with Mullahs.
2. Barak Fucking Obama aided and abetted the Mullahs in Iran, gave them tons of money and helped facilitate the Muslim Brotherhood gain power in Egypt.
Iran uses money Obama gave them to fund the killing of American soldiers in the ME.
3. Trump kicked the legs out from under the Mullahs and put Iran on a leash.
4. Creepy Joe rebuilds jihadist Hamas and Hezbollah by funneling money through Iran.
5. Hamas attacks Israel in surprise attack committing unspeakable atrocities against helpless Israelis using weapons that were abandoned in Afghanistan, bought from Ukraine and bought with US taxpayer money from Iran.
Lots of blame on failures of intelligence on the Israelis part. UN and other nations, including the Biden admin, calling for Israel to restrain itself or not take measures at all against Hamas. Deal between Israel and the Saudis looks like it will get scuttled. I suspect there will be lots of changes in the face of t he ME all around.
I blame the radical left in the US for this horror. They are of course tickled shitless over the murder of Jews. The so-called squad has called for a cease fire on Israel’s part.
Personally I would level the Gaza Strip. I would kill every chicken, stray dog, cockroach etc. I would leave nothing alive and salt the earth. I would erase Hamas from the earth and anyone that stood in my way. So far no one has called me asking for advice on the matter so we will just have to see what happens. We are definitely in nightmare territory right now.
Every penny and every piece of hardware sent to Ukraine should have gone to Israel.
I agree, especially wrt expunging Gaza from existence, and eliminating Hamas root, branch, twig, and seedling. For the next 250 years if necessary. Never again! No Palestine, no Hamas, no compromise. Push them into the sea.
I’m getting soft in my old age, but I struggle with ethnic cleansing.
How many innocent Palis are you comfortable with slaughtering because they have a criminal infestation?
(((My))) answer is 0. I don’t believe in ethnic cleansing. It’s immoral. I do believe in massive retaliation for what has occurred. I’m certain there are innocents who will be killed or wounded. I don’t like it but it is inevitable.
I think this also raises the question about the culpability, if any, for the Gazan populace. Their last election was in 2006. Hamas won with 77% of the vote, IIRC. There hasn’t been an election since. Hamas’ charted specifically calls for the annihilation of Israel and killing Jews. If you are an adult Gazan who has not chosen to emigrate, what is your responsibility? I haven’t completely worked this out myself but I think I don’t believe you have no responsibility.
That sums it up well.
Now, lets not get started on China. The world is full of evil that needs destroying. I also agree with JI. We never should have embraced the tar baby of international nation building and adventurism. How to extract ourselves now? I dont have a good answer to that.
Right. So you are personally responsible for the shithole that Cali has become? Or me with Minne?
They have no money, no guns, no nothing. We have all of those and yet we have a government that is destroying us. We have opened our borders and will shortly experience what Israel and other countries are enjoying.
Y’all are freaking me out a little.
I have feared for quite some time that things would come to blows. This country is so divided and the sides completely incompatible.
That will necessarily cause a lot of collateral damage, not just here but around the world. It is a horrible and messy business.
Still, I am not willing to compromise with evil.
Yanno, if that comes to me, I’d just as soon get shot in the head. Go out first and fast.
Crenshaw is with you.
I don’t think you read all of what I wrote. It’s a moral quandary. I don’t have a great answer. But I also can’t ignore the overwhelming support for the government that did this.
As for they no money, no guns, no nothing, how do you account for over 5000 rockets being fired followed by an invasion by land, sea, and air?
The normies had the rockets? And as far as support, how is it different than any other shithole? How is it different than 81 million votes?
I read every word you wrote and I understand where you are coming from. I still say that slaughtering innocents will require an accounting.
I see both sides. When we’re talking about state actors (as opposed to rogue terrorists), I don’t think there is such a thing as military versus non-combatant (or innocents). That’s a modern creation to isolate governments from the consequences of their actions and to foster forever wars. If a war isn’t worth engaging in total war, then it’s not worth engaging in.
In this case, I’d say Israel should announce something like the citizens of Gaza have 24 hours to hand over their leadership (alive or dead) or leave all populated areas. And then commence with removing populated areas. It’s the same choice we should have offered the people of Afghanistan after 9/11… hand over their Taliban leaders by a deadline or every city would be leveled until they did so or there were no populated areas left (threat ended). It’s the same principle as nuking Japan into submission rather than spending the blood of American soldiers. Instead we spent countless lives and treasure via nation-building in Afghanistan as part of the forever war.
Some of the people in Gaza may not be responsible for the attack, but they then need to sort their house and get it in order. Or get the hell out of town while the Israeli’s do it for them.
For what it’s worth, this the same choice Israel gave Arab villages within it’s borders during the Arab-Israeli war after its founding back in the late 1940s. Arab villages within Israel’s borders were given a choice. Those who collaborated with the invading Arab states were dismantled and destroyed. It’s suicide otherwise, as Israel is relearning now.
Semi-Spartan…that is a more articulate than the anger inspired rant I gave. I agree with you.
I am sure there is at least one without sin, no doubt, but it is hard not to lay some blame on a people who parade and celebrate in the streets when Jews are being murdered. They raise their children to be murderous savages, the chickens have to come home to roost at some point.
This attack was launched by Hamas. Hamas rules Gaza. M
It appears it is the normies who had the rockets.
Absolutely, Suthen. There are many to blame and certainly there is a culture of death and evil. This needs to now be ended one way or another. If the Palestinian citizens were forced to pick a side, we may be surprised at their actions. But if the Palestinian people choose to support evil… then Israel’s job isn’t to reform Gaza but rather to end threats to their own citizens. We’re in complete agreement.
They have a culture of pure hate and evil. It is very obvious and more stark than any fantasy fiction.
Enough is enough. Put an end to it whatever that takes.
I agree with you. Hamas was founded as having no interest in a two state solution. That was 1987. I had hair on my head then, you shitheads.
We need to really learn to understand when a leader of a group spells out what they believe…especially something they all say they will die for.
It’s Godwin, I know.
Mein Kampf. Hello?
Not agreeing that another Holocaust is the answer in Gaza, but there needs to be some acknowledgement that a motherfucker can ask for it.
Excuse my language. Not.
“Fighting words”
There are no easy answers. There are no comfortable answers. But some things are clearer than others, and one of those clear things is that the approach of the last 46 years has not worked and will never work.
If one side needs to become extinct, I know which side I’d choose — and I am no great fan of Israel or the Israeli state.
How many Palis are innocent?
Jesus Christ, dude.
It seems a legitimate question to me.
You asked “how many innocent Palis …”. I think my question is reasonable and proper in that context.
Are you guys serious? Do you know anything about how shit got to this point?
Probably 90 percent of the Palis are completely innocent. The fuckhead criminals rule everything. Just like almost everywhere.
You wanna “glass” Chicago to clean up the mess? Tell me what happened in El Salvador. Would it have been better to level them?
It’s interesting that there was nothing here about Armenia. Why?
It’s war, dude.
You can half-ass it and say, well we don’t want to get anyone hurt. That is no determent.
You destroy the attackers and everyone who supports them and you never have to deal with that problem again.
I am not a war-monger. Live and let live, I say. But look at it on the personal level. If someone broke into my house and kidnapped my wife and loved ones there is no doubt that I would fling destruction on them and their supporters, to the best of my ability, up to and including total annihilation.
There were “innocents” in Hiroshima (including some US POWs). When at war there are no punches pulled. You hurt me, you are going to die. Anything less will only encourage the attackers at some future date.
Ever since WWII there has been a policy of “we’re fighting them but we don’t want to hurt anyone.” That has resulted in 70 years of extended conflicts and failed confrontations.
If you walk into a fistfight with the attitude of “I don’t want to hurt anyone” then you are going to lose.
The more input here about this situation the more I hear the Founders echoing down through the generations warning us about the poison of foreign adventures.
The secular govt in Iran was toppled because it was rotten. We need to get over the idea that we can prop up client states with little to no legitimacy.
And yes, the US needs to stay out of all of all this.
Monroe Doctrine.
I’ve heard all my life how isolationism is a bad thing. Well…why?
The last forty years are not going to convince me.
Even the slightest lean toward non-intervention is pounced on as ISOLATIONIST!!! Well I’ll fucking bitchslap anyone that says that to my face and then inform them, I chose to INTERVENE. Maybe they’ll learn something from that?
This is the price we’ve paid for winning WWII. We should stop paying.
I can’t imagine what it was like for those people that survived WWII and formed the intelligence apparatus. I’m sure that they thought they were doing the right thing, and I’m sure that there is an argument that they did that.
BUT…there was a point where they were at the pinnacle of their careers where they surely saw that what they were doing was not only wrong but detrimental to interest of the USA.
I crack myself up sometimes.
The weak link in any organization is the humans in it.
Pic is indeed relevant, in that it’s a bird.
Not a game bird mind you, but 3 shots and a reload is pretty much how it goes with most bird-shooting.
Worst part is your dog looking up at you like “you know, I did my job”.
Let’s see if I can get this written concisely regarding the Gaza attacks: right here’s where I think everyone sees that the US military has “gone over” the tipping point. And the tipping point I mean is that one where all of the senior leadership positions are now fully staffed by Troo Bleevers of the Obama corps. They really really do believe that white Christian Americans are their real enemy. And they cannot see that they should be in the business of getting punitive and brutal regarding this sort of attack on civilians, even with the taking of Americans as hostages.
To them, Hamas is the good guy. And they know that their guy funded this attack, and are at best mildly embarrassed by the haste in which the money was spent.
They have enough sense to look like they’re saying some of the right things. And the underlings who haven’t been run out of the military feel quite differently, but they don’t count and are being eliminated anyway. This is where the world finds out the US military is truly gone.
Taking, arguendo, what you say as correct, then they may have just cost Biden reelection, “fortifying” be damned.
I haven’t seen the American military comment. What have you seen?
Punitive and brutal warfare has been replaced for a while with Marquis of Queensberry just war game playing. It’s an outgrowth of European wars where the nobility can have their disputes with limited danger to themselves, both during war and after.
Good Jane’s is good Jane’s.
Aquarius: The Devil reversed – Evil, fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
Between Israel and the wife’s work bullshit, that pretty much sums up the week.
I’m trying to read a book, first one I’ve read in ages. It’s got an interesting premise. The author’s voice is to my taste. The storytelling is great. I think about it when I’m not reading. But I can’t read more than a chapter before I go gallivanting off to YouTube or Reddit or Twitter or Glibs. I have the attention span of a gnat and I miss the days where I could lose myself in a book in 3 pages and not come out till it was over. This not the book’s problem. It’s my problem.
Don’t read online.
I know that is against the spirit of our times, but I had the same problem and found that by leaving the world of my ‘puter and going upstairs to the bedroom or my office and not having my laptop at hand really helped ease the desire to wander off, mentally.
If I’m reading on my phone, I’m fine. It’s the iPad that gets me. What I need to do is get back to my Paperwhite.
From the dead thread — opening blurb about the article:
“Progressives can still succeed if they call out nonsense, focus on class, and start to talk like human beings again, argues Freddie deBoer in an excerpt from his new book.”
Followed by … nonsense, and talking like some weirdly programmed robot instead of a normal human being:
“I’m a Marxist. Though I’m a fairly unorthodox one at this point, I would still love to see a Marxist revolution. You know, an international movement of workers rising up and taking control of political and economic systems, and distributing resources and labor based on need, while organized under the principle of shared ownership of the productive apparatus of society.”
We’re putting a carrier strike group within range of land-based missiles in the Eastern Mediterranean.
What could possibly go wrong?
Or right, depending on your perspective. Lindsey must be squealing with delight today.
https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1711079973505667513
Who in that area has anti-ship missiles? Also, what should the US do about US hostages that have been taken?
Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy as well as the terrorist group that has killed more US troops than any other.
***
On 14 July 2006 during the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired two Chinese-built C-802 missiles with upgraded Iranian radar seekers. The first hit a Cambodian-flagged Egyptian freighter 60 km offshore. The other hit the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 5-class corvette INS Hanit, which was patrolling 8.5 nm offshore of Beirut. The missile hit the corvette’s unstealthy crane near the rear helicopter pad; the explosion holed the pad, set fire to fuel storage, and killed four crewmembers. The fire was extinguished after four hours and Hanit returned to Ashdod under its own power for three weeks of repairs. The corvette’s automatic anti-missile systems were deactivated before the attack; Israel was unaware that Hezbollah had C-802s, and there were concerns over friendly fire with the Israeli Air Force.[10]
***
Doubtful. We don’t need to be in range of shore based ASCMs in order to project air power.
an international movement of workers rising up and taking control of political and economic systems, and distributing resources and labor based on need, while organized under the principle of shared ownership of the productive apparatus of society.
After you have killed and eaten the goose who laid the golden eggs, what will you do?
Damn the Constitution. Full speed ahead!
The Biden administration is working to fulfill Israel’s request to urgently transfer weapons to Tel Aviv, according to a U.S. official and second person familiar with the talks, a day after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented wave of attacks on southern Israel in a conflict that threatens to erupt into a wider war.
Israeli officials have asked the U.S. to transfer specific weapons systems, said the people, who were granted anonymity to speak ahead of any announcement, and Washington is working to make that happen. They did not say what those weapons were, citing operational security.
The weapons transfers could be part of a new package of assistance for Israel, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN Sunday morning.
“We are looking at specific additional requests that the Israelis have made. I think you’re likely to hear more about that later today,” Blinken told CNN.
Any requests for additional aid for Israel will immediately run headlong into the dysfunction enveloping the House, which would need to approve extra funding. As former Speaker Kevin McCarthy noted on Saturday, “There is nothing the House can do until they elect a speaker, and I don’t know if that happens quickly.”
Planes, missiles, submarines, whatever it takes.
I eagerly await the Israel loyalty oath for our next Speaker.
I would be put into a reluctant “okay” if we lease enough B-52s for the IDF to start up the old Arclight strikes.
Re: Dead American and Dead German ravers who thought the Gaza border was a place to hold a drug fueled party. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. That is nowhere enough of an attack on Americans to justify any response.
I’m curious. If North Korea starting shelling South Korea and the South Koreans asked for arms, what should we do?
Because that’s an equivalent situation? If the North Koreans started shelling South Korea, they’d be shelling our troops that are sitting right there.
If the Israelis can’t handle Hamas on their own, then we should be asking what they’ve done with the tens of billions we’ve sent them over the years.
Enough already. We haven’t even secured our own damned border. We’re 33T in debt. We’ve been at war for decades, millions dead globally and multiple shattered countries as a result. We’re living with a completely broken justice system and under a total surveillance and censorship state that just tried to lock us in our homes and forcibly vaccinate us, all the while waging political warfare against half the country and seeking to jail the opposition.
Israel and Palestine are the Brits’ creations, let them go solve it for once. Our problems are here. No more distractions.
You are correct.
The USA needs to contract and fix our own problems.
I suspect that our absence from the world stage just might fix a lot of the issues that plague us today.
And allow us to preserve the dollar for the time being.
If go to full-blown war, it’s QE until it collapses and us along with it, which I suspect is the actual goal.
It’s party time in Moscow and Peking. Watching the US at the border, the economy and getting woker by the day.
Hear fucking hear. Nice rant.
I have to say I don’t get it…. this sort of war and a full assault by Arab states are the two operations Israel’s non-covert ops should be trained and equipped for. What the hell else did they think would happen in the worst case? And that being the case — what weapons are we supposed to provide here — and why? Shouldn’t the IDF be equipped after 70+ years? Especially given the shovels of money we’ve sent over the decades?
I’m pro-Israel honestly (stuff like the actions of the mob with the bodies of the civilian victims push my buttons, I have to confess) — but come on! If their war plan is “Sit back and ask Washington for Stuff”… their military complex should be fired just as much as ours. “What the hell are we paying you idiots for?” would be my reaction if I lived there.
I think you are going to see a lot of public anger at the military and intelligence agencies after the fighting is over. It’s going to be nonpartisan. Every Israeli has been affected by this. Every one of them feels vulnerable. They will demand answers and, I suspect, some powerful people are going to be held to account.
I’ll believe that when one single person takes any bit of responsibility whatsoever for the clusterfuck of failures that led to 9/11.
Different country with different history and different culture. I get your point but I don’t think the comparison is accurate. 9/11 was horrible, shocking, and frightening for us. But it wasn’t an existential threat to the US. This is an existential threat for Israel. I believe it will be treated that way.
Fair enough. I hope it happens.
Me too.
I got some painting done.
Good riddance. Damn Eldar.
I’m Sagittarius, the Mrs. is a Leo. Sounds like we should be happy to just get through this week.
Capricorn and Aries in this house, and we’ve definitely seen worse forecasts.
Back out to day two of this race series. Yesterday’s performance was much akin to these cards/stars. Hopefully we do better today.
Enjoy the day friends and hope Xi and/or Kim don’t try for the trifecta today.
Eggy weggs, scrambled with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Verrah tasty.
Very late brunch?
I eagerly await the Israel loyalty oath for our next Speaker.
We definitely need that in addition to the rest of the idiotic bullshit in that Punch and Judy show.
Question for the handi-capable among you.
What the heck is this? (I hope the link works.)
This window is shown in mostly closed position (it cranks out from a hinge along the top.) The intent seems to be for the thumb in the inside of the screen to move the clamp on the other side of the screen up and down. The clamp fits over the tab shown on the left and which slides up and down the right side of the window and has no function that I can guess at.
Easy. That’s a doohickey.
No, it is a thingymabob.
It’s not some sort of lock?
Looks like a screen lock. Not sure why though.
The screen locks in with multiple little levers, one of which you can see in the bottom right corner. The lever on the right, which is currently in the open position, locks the window itself after it is fully cranked closed.
But I have no idea why there is a knob that moves and down on the window and why I need to be able to control that from inside when the window is fully closed. (All of the openable windows in this place have this “feature”.) I even looked on the Pella website but not very hard.
Rhy, I think they are so you can remove the screen in case of a fire. It might not work the way it is supposed too, i.e. the window might be to small, to far above ground, not open enough, etc. but they are part of fire code.
But the mechanism that I circled has nothing to do with removing the screen.
Well, I give up. It doesn’t do anything so I won’t worry about it. Just noticed that the windowpane below this one, which does not open nor have a screen, does have the same tab that slides up and down along the right side.
This song should explain everything.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDllPdE7478
Heh I haven’t seen that in a long time.
Looks like the slider thing that opens and closes in the glass blinds, but I’ve never seen one on a screen frame before.
Evil, fatality, weakness, pettiness, blindness.
Should be a good week.
We’re getting First in here…
So take off all your clothes….
So First in here…
Regarding the ex-soldier who tried to defect to China:
***
While there, he emailed the Chinese embassy with his initial offer and ran Google searches for, among other things, “soldier defect,” “countries that dont extradite,” “russian visa costs,” “chinese embassy Istanbul,” and “can you be extradited for treason,” the affidavit says.
***
What a maroon. I invite you to ponder how that info was discovered so quickly and whether NSA monitors the private online activity of anyone with current or recent access to classified info.
***
Schmidt, an active-duty soldier from 2015 to 2020 who studied Mandarin
***
Based on the article, this guy was a 35M, which is Army-speak for human intelligence collector. I met a few at DLI. They don’t have to meet the same language knowledge standards as a 35P soldier, which is what I was.
***
who complained of learning “some really terrible things about the American government”
***
I know how you feel bro, and then some. Too many lies about too many things for far too long. At NSA, an airman confided in me about something horrible she learned. She was relieved to be able to tell someone. I wasn’t surprised by the info, but the public would be shocked and outraged.
Somewhere along the line I picked up the impression that Israeli citizens were like the Swiss used to be: a semi-automatic firearm in every home. I guess I was wrong and Israel has similar gun restrictions as most places outside of the US. It seems unbelievable to me that a nation surrounded on all sides by enemies determined to wipe them off the earth doesn’t have a well-armed citizenry. It may not have stopped the attacks but it sure would have slowed down the hostage-taking.
I thought the same as far as gun ownership there.
I suspect that influence on our part is responsible for not having enough firepower on hand to make a difference.
As a Southern goyim, I do not understand why anyone over there would listen to anything from this asylum.
The first rule is to protect yourselves.
I’ve been thinking for a while…has there ever been a civilization that has actively slit its own throat before? And crowed about it?
…has there ever been a civilization that has actively slit its own throat before? And crowed about it?
Which one hasn’t?
It’s a side effect of long-term prosperity.
Oh come on? I’m trying to be a drunk genius and y’all are giving me logic?
What in the hell is the internet for other than to spout inanities and ill-thought out conclusions?
CAN I GET A HARRUMPH????
*Ahem
HAAAAAAARRRRRRUMPH!
I love you man.
Even if you are from Texas.
Don’t mean it. I have friends and family in Texas.
Most Jews in Israel are very connected to Europe, and tend to follow those laws. In the settlements, it is much more common to own firearms.
Also, there has been the feeling that the IDF would take care of things, which, as we saw the other day, is not a good thing to rely on.
Israel requires a difficult-to-acquire license to own any firearm. There’s a live shooting test, psychological exam, background investigation, etc, etc. Up until 2018, only a very few people could even apply for this license (ex-military officers, police and prison guards, people who live or work in the West Bank and Gaza, like that.) In 2018, the application criteria were relaxed so that anyone who served in a combat arms slot during their mandatory military service could apply. Secure storage is required, and one can only have fifty rounds of ammunition at a time.
On the plus side, the license to own is also a license to carry. Also, no smoothbrained magazine restrictions.
Still overall, the gun laws in Israel are more restrictive than any in the United States that I’m aware of.
That is pretty much what Northern Ireland has. NI is also one of the few places that you can still own handguns, along with few of the outlying islands, such as Jersey or the Channel Islands.
Pure insanity.
I had typed up a big essay about how I almost understood this, given the passions involved.
I stood up and slapped the living BEJJEBUS out of myself.
Are you surrounded by people that want you dead? Well then, let’s have some common sense gun restrictions.
I am so sorry for going full retard there.
And the hapless Oompa Loompas once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
*Denver
There’s always Thursday…
Vikings actually stayed in the game better than I expected.
Hoo Lord.
Got into the whisky. Said a lot that was incoherent.
Said a bit that was coherent.
50/50 is OK by me.
Good Night!
This is how dumb and out of touch I am: I need a new filter for my shop vac. I went to the internet looking for a chart showing the dimensions (inside diameter, outside diameter, height) of filter cartridges. Maybe the listings will have that info.
Haha, silly me.
There are just a handful of principles which give long-term strategic advantage when followed:
1) use the enemy’s strength against him
2) accept small losses to avoid greater ones
3) avoid fighting directly
It seems US political and military leaders have either forgotten these principles, never learned them, or refuse to apply them. Increasing domestic oil production fits with #1. Cutting off aid to Ukraine to force negotiations goes with #2. Staying out of Iraq and Afghanistan would have fit with #3.
Martin Van Creveld said that when a strong country fights a weak one, if they win, they look like monsters and if they lose, they look like morons.
Still slightly inebriated so forgive me.
If you are the only Hyperpower left on the planet, why play by those rules? We have unlimited money to throw at the problems.
Buy a faction here…betray a faction there. It’s Mordor politics.
Why open borders on your own border? Why care what your own populace thinks?
It’s either aliens or abject stupidity. I’m going with the latter.
Becoming a billionaire make you very smart at some things. Not everything.
The US isn’t a hyperpower and hasn’t been one since at least 1953, which was the first time it was not on the winning side of a war.
US support is useful but not essential to foreign governments.
Yamamoto said of battleships that the fiercest serpent made be overcome by a swarm of ants. The same is true of world powers.
We didn’t learn much in VN, keep repeating in Afghanistan. We just haven’t learned to behave.
I get a little tired of hearing about how America hasn’t won a war since this or that date. One, it’s not true. Two, it’s historically illiterate for the sake of making a favored political argument.
I do not define Korea as a failure. We started where things began, and over time developed the South into one of the most prosperous and free nations in Asia. It wasn’t a war we started. It was a defensive war and we avoided escalating it.
The Gulf War was an unmitigated success achieving exactly what we set out to do.
The Iraq War? Libertarians are gravely opposed to the reasons it was started. Iraq is not the bastion of democracy we hoped to build in the heart of the Middle East, if you take the neocons at their word. But we did install a government of Iraq that is somewhat democratic that functions and has managed to retain control despite Iranian influence and the rise of a group like ISIS which no one predicted.
I don’t know where Iraq will be in decades, but if isn’t hostile to the US I’d consider that a success. I don’t know what success in Iraq would look like simply because the objectives were always muddled to begin with.
People don’t define success in these operations. Our leaders do not establish clear public objectives and the public often doesn’t know what it hopes to achieve beyond fuck yea, America. Our Iraq stands today and that is a success.
Vietnam fell because Nixon was politically incapable of propping up a weak regime any longer. He was politically unable to do so because of a political scandal that seems quaint today. This was not a military failure, but a failure of politicians. Yes, that trite is true.
Afghanistan is an unmitigated failure.
When you fight muddled wars, you get muddled results.
Let’s emphasize – libertarians do not need to bastardize and dramatize the history while downplaying US power to make a point here.
If the US isn’t a hyperpower, I don’t know what that term even means.
@Tundra
I do understand what you are saying about the innocents having to pay the price for the guilty in Gaza. I do not pretend to understand all the nuances of all the grievances there.
And I do understand that we as outsiders will never understand the visceral emotions that the people there have about the situation that they have now been born into.
I’m A Southerner. My advice is to get over it.
I guess my point is that I resent being expected to understand the unknowable because my supposed betters have chosen a side for me in a conflict that I will never understand.
Innocents pay every minute of the day. Doesn’t make it right. Doesn’t make it wrong.
The wrong for me is that I am expected by the GOOD PEOPLE here that are stealing our money to feel bad about this or that.
Our leaders are acting like we are the world police, then let’s do it. You don’t want the peace WE want…do it or die. Either way, our involvement ends.
I could see a deal like this having a chance of success:
1) Israel releases Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages.
2) Hamas agrees to permanent ceasefire in exchange for the Gaza blockade being lifted.
3) US stops funding Israel in exchange for Iran ending its support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
It doesn’t need to be a package deal as any one of those agreements would bring an improvement.
It’s better to action by means that are unilateral and indirect. Increasing domestic oil production is the best example of that. Unfortunately, the political influence of the “green” energy movement and the military-industrial complex stand in the way.
Being the world’s policeman requires a great deal of historical and cultural knowledge if it is to be done well. I see little willingness of that among my fellow Americans. It’s much easier, more rational, and more ethical to simply mind our own business.
That is suicide. If Hamas agreed, they would obviously be lying.
If they violate the ceasefire, impose a new blockade. Even groups with a strong incentive to lie will avoid it if the price is right.
The world has been imposing blockades for decades. What is the rational for another?
THIS time it will be different.
THIS time we mean it. Meaning, we will actually enforce it and cause the deaths that it will entail.
THIS time it we will enforce it.
Pull my other leg.
Forget all of them. Look inward and fix things. A sickly corpse cannot repair the world.
Cuba is ready to fall any day now. Just need to blockade a little longer.
Cuba is not being blockaded.
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The embargo does not block food and medicine goods to Cuba from the United States. In 2020, $176.8 million worth of goods were exported to Cuba from the U.S. and $14.9 million imported to the U.S. from Cuba
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Israel allows limited humanitarian supplies from aid organizations into the Gaza Strip, but not dual-use items, which can also be used for military purposes. According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories of the Israel Defense Forces, in May 2010, this included over 1.5 million litres of diesel fuel and gasoline, fruits and vegetables, wheat, sugar, meat, chicken and fish products, dairy products, animal feed, hygiene products, clothing and shoes.[83]
According to Gisha, items that have at various times been denied importation into Gaza in 2010 include ordinary consumer goods such as jam, candles, books, musical instruments, shampoo, A4 paper, and livestock such as chicken, donkeys, and cows.[84][85] The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also lists wheelchairs, dry food items, crayons, stationery, and soccer balls as shipments that Israeli authorities have prevented from entering Gaza.[86][87][88] International aid group Mercy Corps said it was blocked from sending 90 tons of macaroni and other foodstuffs. After international pressure, Israeli authorities said that they were giving the shipment a green light.[89] Israel was also reported to have prevented aid groups from sending in other items, such as paper, art supplies, tomato paste and lentils.[90]
***
Being effectively cut off from the global economy is a blockade, isn’t it?
Just because it was a bad idea to impose a blockade in the first place doesn’t mean it’s not a useful bargaining chip. I’m sure even North Korea would make some concessions in exchange for sanctions relief. Those concessions would have little effect on the ruling class, just like the original sanctions did.
I agree with you dude…thirty years ago. Bargaining chips are lost under the table now.
Take care of us first. Not saying welfare. Just pointing the money hose inward for a change.
Dont care if it is a small percentage of the budget.
Turn it inward.
Cut it off…turn it inward and i do not give a tin-plated shit. Just do it.
Oh my God. Those countries are massing against us…no joke!
Well.
What damn difference do I see? I have enough nukes to deter them, don’t I?
Sorry. Got emotional.
That’s basically my opinion as well. I asked some progs to describe their ideal society and saying that mine was basically plus-sized Switzerland* with nukes. Strangely, that was not good enough for them.
*capitalist, neutral, & non-interventionist
The Gaza Strip gets electricity, water, a significant amount of food, and employment from Israel. I trust that the Israelis have shut down all four. Enforce the blockade at sea.
Back in the 1990’s “Crazy Eddie” Luttwak wrote an interesting article about war embers. The basic thesis was that large and Western nations impose limits on warfare that they themselves would never accept. See Russia and their invasion of Ukraine or the 2d US invasion of Iraq. The primary reason for imposing these limits are because seeing the results of warfare upset the coomon folk and not for any valid reason to stop fighting. The result is active embers of conflict under a lid and when the lid becomes ajar the unresolved conflict flares up again. His proposal, hence the “Crazy Eddie” moniker, was theses conflicts should be permitted to continue until one side wins and the conflict is resolved.
We are seeing today in the Levant the results he suggested were inevitable.
Hank Hill said something similar about tire fires. If you try to put it out, you just make it worse. Grab a beer and watch it burn.
Also, thanks dbleagle, for introducing me to Luttwak.
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Before the first Persian Gulf War Luttwak incorrectly predicted that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would evacuate Kuwait “after a week or two of bombing [the bombing continued for six weeks without inducing him to do so] and warned that the use of ground forces without heavy preliminary bombing ‘could make Desert Storm a bloody, grinding combat with thousands of (US) casualties.'” Writing a month into the bombing, Luttwak still opposed a ground campaign. He forecast that it would lead inevitably to a military occupation of Iraq from which the United States would be unable to disengage without disastrous foreign policy consequences.[14]
***
He was correct in the long run.
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In 2015, Luttwak predicted that the Middle East will be embroiled in internecine war for the next thousand years, thanks to the “brilliant stroke” of strategic genius, far exceeding even Bismarck’s abilities, exemplified by George W. Bush when he ignited a religious war between Sunnis and Shiites.[17]
Luttwak predicted in a 2016 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration would pursue a foreign policy “unlikely to deviate from standard conservative norms”, withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, avoiding involvement in Syria and Libya, eschewing trade wars, and modestly reducing spending — in short, “changes at the margin”.[18] In office, Trump ordered dropping the “mother of all bombs” but did not withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, kindled trade wars with the EU by imposing punitive tariffs, and, rather than reducing military spending, Trump increased the military budget with deficit spending.[19]
***
Swing and a miss. Hard to believe he called Dubya a strategic genius.
In stuff that nobody is paying attention to anymore…
lolWTF
One might be forgiven for thinking that Hizzoner’s goal all along was to encourage more illegals to flood into the city. You know, the opposite of what he claimed.
Maybe the problem can be used to politically modify the unfortunate burrough of Staten Island. They do seem to be putting a disproportional number there.
I understand your point.
But the entire nation needs to understand that the numbers that Staten Island are dealing with are a fraction of what the border states deal with in a day.
And if that fact is a political non-starter then I would say that the nation has bigger problems that an invasion at the border.
And you would be right.
The MSM, which shapes the nation’s policies, could not give two shits about what happens in Texas. That IS a problem.
I should say that they don’t give two shits about what happens in Texas or anywhere else that isn’t NYC or LA or a handful of other coastal metros.
I would say that is a sad thing, but I have to admit that they would feel the same way if the positions were reversed.
I still say we as a nation have bigger problems.
Although there is something to be said for going for low hanging fruit.
Texas and Florida shipping tens of thousands of them
herethere was a fucking stroke of genius. The MSM can’t ignore the problem anymore.This kind of shit is a big part of why I left NYC.
The hate is going to bubble over into violence.
I was a long-time resident of southern Brooklyn which is the center of both Arab and Jewish culture in NYC. There were Pali demos every couple weeks all summer every year right in front of my home. I don’t want any part of that shit anymore.
I wonder what Bernie Sanders thinks about his fellow travelers doing that.
He’s pliable. What’s the politically expedient angle to take for him?
Whatever pays the mortgage on his new dacha…I mean home.
And before anyone says. I know dacha means home.
Fook me. You know what I meant.
This is a government that can’t teach kids to read, write or ‘rithmetic. How in Yahweh’s/Mohammad’s name can we expect the same people to resolve a brouhaha
1/2 way around the world with people that we can’t even communicate with?
You might say they suffer from a fatal conceit.
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The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism is a book written by the economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek and edited by the philosopher William Warren Bartley. The book was first published in 1988 by the University of Chicago Press.[1]
The title of the book derives from a passage in Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), though the exact phrase does not occur in Smith’s book.[2]
In this book, Hayek aims to refute socialism by demonstrating that socialist theories are not only logically incorrect but that their premises are also incorrect. According to Hayek, civilizations grew because societal traditions placed importance on private property, leading to expansion, trade, and eventually the modern capitalist system, which he calls the extended order.[3] Hayek says this demonstrates a key flaw within socialist thought, which holds only purposefully designed changes can be the most efficient.
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Big kudos to Gaza for becoming the first place on Earth to achieve net zero climate goals.
They’re also a showcase of the appropriate technology movement.
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Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally autonomous.[1][2] It was originally articulated as intermediate technology by the economist Ernst Friedrich “Fritz” Schumacher in his work Small Is Beautiful. Both Schumacher and many modern-day proponents of appropriate technology also emphasize the technology as people-centered.[3][4]
***
Good grief.
Nonsense only rich people could come up with.
It’s not completely wrong, but it does ignore economies of scale. Also, it’s hard to make a functioning airport or electrical grid with labor-intensive technology.
Oh sure, it’s a perfectly doable thing – hell, it’s a throwback to pre-industrial revolution times. You know, when nobody could afford anything nice.
It’s like “organic”. Well, yeah – knock yourself out. But ask yourself what’s up with the 30 or 40 percent premium.
I’m midway through The Dark Forest (second book of the Three Body Problem series) and I’m inclined to think the pro-Trisolarians are analogous to modern lefties… just suicidal self-destructive twats obsessed with their horrible fixation (in the novel, obsession with transcending humanity to make way for alien colonizers). Maybe I’m being too literal. Maybe I’m just hyper-fixated on hating lefties. Maybe I need to tone it down a notch.
otoh that’s what the pro-Trisolarians would want me to think.
No. Hatred of leftists needs to kicked up a notch. Bam!
Somebody got a new spice weasel!
Eh, rebuke and resist them if necessary. Love the sinner, hate the sin.
First test paints….found this actually pretty engaging on the whole – although I started cramping up in my arms around the beginning of the 4th one. I’m definitely going to have to take it slow and take regular breaks. These are extremely basic – 3 colors, 2 coats each on different parts of the model.
First one: https://ibb.co/HV3SQ5K (picked up those colors early…I love the blue pearl shade, but both of these aren’t quite as easy to work with as the other acrylics – even with distilled water might be tricky. That said…I think I need a little squirt bottle to easily add a little more water to my new wet pallette – had trouble keeping it quite as damp as would have been better. Since these models were primed in white only (by my buddy – I traded him some other models) so the grey didn’t show up as well as I was expecting.
2nd one: https://ibb.co/NC6qXcM – probably the best looking grey of the 4 I tried tonight. I’ll probably go with this burnt red for the left arms too.
3rd one: https://ibb.co/dJty56v Pretty straight forward – not too bad.
4th one: https://ibb.co/VLbSK1d – I think this one actually wound up being a contrast or “speed paint” blue – although I don’t think it was labeled as such. I like the look, but not the color so much.
Pics didn’t turn out too well – thought I had enough light, but I probably need to figure out a better way to backlight it.
I’ve got a number of contrast/speed paints I want to work with too – but I need to do some more research/testing on the best process for primary coats, detailing, etc. It’s definitely rewarding feeling – but now my shoulders are a little sore ;p
My measly little attention span got me through a book. I’ll take the win.
Yeah! What was the book, by the way?
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53205876
The first of a series. Not interested in continuing, tho.
https://x.com/nayibbukele/status/1711220281820278875?s=20
Oh, hey. Look at that.
Applies here too.
Howdy old friends and Good Mornin’ to the ‘Mornin’ Crew!” I don’t comment much anymore which makes me a sad panda but I haven’t much good to say. Poor old Festus has lost nearly all of his physical ability over his lower half in the last few months. I fall down. I’ll still be lurking and I send all of my positive vibes to everyone of you! Keep it up, please!
Festus! 👍
We too are sadder pandas without your presence.
Festus. My brother.
59 or so here too.
Along with Keanu Reeves. He is two days younger than me.
I honestly look 20 years older than him.
Don’t care. I look at him and think that things can be better.
My Dad has been in a home for the last three years. And he has been truly bedridden the last year.
My Mom is 81 and living in our home. That is one fall away.
I’m telling you this, to remind you that we are all a fall away. And we are just a step away from someone helping us to our feet.
It may be God, or it may be his angel. I don’t know.
I am glad to hear from you. Keep commenting. We are hereto talk to you.
Good morning all!
Today we have some proto-Prog from Procol Harum.
Power Failure.
A Salty Dog.
Share and enjoy!
Morning
Ooh, this is good. A journo writing about Hamas war messed up the first hyperlink in the article.
It leads to a Google doc with the following in the first lines:
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Israel is a well documented apartheid state, with its own officials admitting to it. They must have 2.5mm dicks to impose apartheid on people who barely have running water, while armed with nukes.
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Good, Nahal Toosi. Let the hate flow through you.
My blog has been getting hits from Yandex, a search engine owned by a Russian IT company. How interesting.
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Russia’s most powerful supercomputer is Chervonenkis, it is owned by Yandex and is equipped with 1,592 nodes featuring Nvidia A100 GPUs. It ranks 27th in the world for computational power, with a performance of 21.53 PetaFLOPS. Three of the seven Russian supercomputers belong to Yandex (Lyapunov, Chervonenkis, and Galushkin), two to Sberbank (Christofari and Chrisofari Neo), and one each to MSU (Lomonosov) and MTS (GROM).
***
I just stepped outside to a chorus of crows.
Autumn has arrived.
Morning Glibs. 🌞☕
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=araU0fZj6oQ
🎶🎶
Is it?
Good morning, Sean, U, Derpy, and Beau!
My benchmark for the arrival of autumn: switching from iced to hot latte.
Morning, GT.
I was about to check to see if the primer on the Wraithlord has dried and then start basecoating.
I found both a new way to clog an airbrush and a new way to clear a clog. When cleaning up last night, I forgot to run airbrush cleaner through the meschanism, so there was primer in the channel leading to the nozzle which completely blocked the air. There isn’t much that will break up primer short of acetone, so I had to put some through the machine. But I’m not dumb enough to aresolize acetone in a room where I’m breathing. So I just worked the needle back and forth without compressed air to agitate the acetone against the clog, and got it broken up.
👍
Way to avert a trip from the HazMat team! ::insert gas mask emoji::
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/pennsylvania/uaw-rejects-agreement-with-mack-trucks-will-strike-beginning-monday/article_7c5d7674-6644-11ee-b3ba-b75bc462175b.html
🙄
I don’t usually check in this early, but I thought I’d wish you all a good morning. Have a great week! That’s an order!
Good morning, Mike! You do the same! Voluntarily! 😉
I will mope around miserably if I damn well want to.
Good thing I don’t want to.
You’re not the boss of me.