Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[AlabamAlum]

Wiz,

I'm not in love
So don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through
And just because
I call you up
Don't get me wrong, don't think you've got it made
I'm not in love, no no, it's because..

[iam416]

No. God. No.

[AlabamAlum]

Heh. I’ve seen 10cc live!

[THE_WIZARD_]

That makes a lot of sense.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ukraine: I think it is pretty clear, given facts on the ground and ignoring the trumpeting of various victories on both sides, things are not going well for Putin's ambitions. The constant drumbeat of brutal death and destruction at the hands of the Russian armed forces engulfs global public perceptions of what's going on in this very small part of the world. Putin is not looking good and is becoming increasingly shunned by nations outside of Africa, his lone friends, and China and I'm not really certain where Xi stands on this. Despite a refocus of the entirety of Russian army in and around the city of Severdonetsk and Lysychansk (twin cities in the Luhansk Oblast), the capture of which by the Russians would give them full control of the Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian forces are making it costly. IVO that, we have this assessment:

• Putin fears the “spark of democracy” spreading to Russia, according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who said the Russian president was trying to divide Europe and return to a world dominated by spheres of influence. “The Russian President must accept that there is a community of law-based democracies in his neighbourhood that is growing ever closer together. He clearly fears the spark of democracy spreading to his country,” Scholz told the Muenchner Merkur newspaper

This theme is central, IMO, to understanding what's at stake in this conflict. Many see what's going on in this part of the world as a NIMBY event. I don't believe we're talking about "nation building" a stalwart strategy of the US for decades until the failures of it in Iraq and Afghanistan. I reject that strategy. This is an attempt by Putin to create a multi-polar world of political and strategic competition diminishing US hegemony - similar to that preceding WWI, leveraged by Hitler and Tojo in WWII and reappearing in the modern world presently. At each juncture in history, before now, liberal democracies prevailed over fascist autocrats. Such a juncture presents itself today. We can deal with it or not .... and the later choice is at our peril. JMMO, YMMV..

[THE_WIZARD_]

I fear a "spark" of idiocy from JB...

[foxhopper]

At least he hasn't tipped over at spin class...As far as we know.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Could be a pretty newsy day but I heard this driving into work. Could be significant for people in that part of Michigan.

Kellogg's is breaking up, probably to entice some bigger company to buy up one of the smaller companies. Snacks & cereal will now be separate companies -- their plant-based stuff (mainly the Morningstar brand) will be a third, much smaller company than the other two.

They claim no layoffs in Battle Creek but y'know...also no commitment either way that the Kellogg's name will survive.

Kellogg shares jump on plans to separate into three companies (cnbc.com)

[Obi-Jon]

I couldn't tell if it was Gandalf or Buchanan so I didn't stop.


wtf.jpg

[THE_WIZARD_]

heh

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Mike]

I simply lack the capacity to understand this.

[Obi-Jon]

They're called cowards, I mean Texans. All hat and no cattle.


Let these asshats secede. They'll become Mexico's northern most state in no time flat.

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-secede-us-2023-gop-pushes-referendum-1717254