Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

Wiz's total disrespect for the memory of Pele sickens me. RIP Pele. Shame on you, THE_WIZARD_

Who is this Pele guy...sounds like a Chilean pattė...

[AlabamAlum]

RIP Pele.

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[lineygoblue]

Pele Seal?

[AlabamAlum]

Pele is Spanish for peel. Peel rhymes with Seal. ipso fatso, and waaalaaa.

[lineygoblue]

Ok, I get it.

[Jeff Buchanan]

More missiles and drones launched by the Russians into Ukraine this morning. About 30% of these missiles get through. They are air, ground and ship launched. The primary missiles are the Kalibr and Isklander. There are multiple other missiles in these two families. How many and can Russia sustain the level of missile bombardment seen in the last two weeks? The answer is a lot and for a while but there is an identifiable end point and Putin has to be asking himself, what then? https://visitukraine.today/blog/1212...nse-of-ukraine

Lavorov stated yesterday that, "we will never run out." A bit of hyperbole but Russia can probably keep this shit up into early 2023. It is wishful thinking that the US sending a Patriot battery is going to "save" Ukraine by preventing these massive missile attacks. It is a point defense weapon system. It does not provide wide airspace coverage. It is believed a military partnership is emerging between Zelenski and Netanyahu that will weaken Iran's capacity to send weapons to Russia. It may also turn into a source of weapons and technology being provided by Israel to Ukraine.

[lineygoblue]

Mr. Trump may indeed one day be arrested, tried and sent to prison, but if he is, it won't be due to tax evasion. The Democrats (i.e. The Party) released Trump's income tax returns yesterday, and the only problem with the returns, is apparently the fault of the IRS, and not Mr. Trump, or his accountants. In other words, the tax returns are all in order, and nothing criminal took place.

From the report:

The analysis within the reports conclude that any lack of proper taxation on Trump's earnings appears to have been ultimately a failing of the IRS and not the result of pressure or obfuscation from the White House.

Keep spitting into the wind, Dems.

And FWIW, I'd be all for Trump being prosecuted if he did something wrong. And, I won't be voting for the man anymore either. My gripe is with Dems who simply will not let go of the hate they have for the man, and for people who voted for him when they failed to provide a reasonable alternative.

[iam416]

The tax returns are definitely tilting at windmills. I'm not even sure why it matters at this particular point in time. But, whatever.

There are other things are substantive. This charade -- and it's an absolute charade -- is not. And it'll be thrown back in the Ds faces (amongst other charades) when the Rs start their own charades.

On the plus side, our government is still gads better than being ruled by an actual autocrat like Xi or Putin. So, there's that...

[THE_WIZARD_]

"We've got him now!"

[Dr. Strangelove]

Supposedly a suspect nabbed in the Idaho murders case. Cops having a presser later this afternoon

[THE_WIZARD_]

It was Trump!

[crashcourse]

Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger? What we know (nypost.com) amazing how the newyork post actually does real journalism

[Cody_Russell]

Supposedly a suspect nabbed in the Idaho murders case. Cops having a presser later this afternoon

The suspect arrested actually gives me Dennis Reynolds from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” vibes. Like a spot on comparison.

[THE_WIZARD_]

If we just had more knife control laws this wouldn't have happened.

[Jeff Buchanan]

On the plus side, our government is still gads better than being ruled by an actual autocrat like Xi or Putin. So, there's that...

While it is true that the likelihood of a Putinesque government finding its way to Washington DC is remote, there's a global risk of autocratic governance creep. Putin and Xi had a zoom call (of sorts) yesterday. It's political theater on the part of two autocrats that share a common goal: rewriting the global order that eliminates western hegemony (read liberal democracy) as established by and maintained with US power. Both are all about weakening the US - and efforts to do that by the Russians have been going on for decades.

Putin's invasion of Ukraine has brought about unintended consequences for him: The US, NATO and countries bordering Russia have responded to it by drastically increasing military spending with some asking to join NATO. The rapid increase in the political and military aggressiveness of China in Asia and particularly wrt Taiwan has prompted a reordering of economic and trade priorities world wide. None of this is good for China and tends to nullify Xi's diplomatic efforts to bring nations under its influence. The US has taken the lead among NATO members in calling out Putin's violation of accepted military and political norms. An axis of China, NK, Russia and Iran cooperating economically and militarily is a threat more significant than western liberal democracies have faced in 70 years. There is a significant risk of escalation involving Russian forces in Ukraine. There are a lot of potential flash points that would trigger a NATO military response - a calamitous outcome for Russia and one Putin has clearly worked to avoid. As well, a miscalculation by either side involving Taiwan is a flash point that could ignite a global conflict.

For the time being, US restraint when it comes to Russian military operations in Ukraine is appropriate. Stay the course and arm Ukraine to facilitate that but be prepared - and NATO is - to conventionally confront Russia on the ground and in the air should it appear that Russia is on the precipice of victory in a war of attrition with Ukraine. How far Putin is willing to go to achieve victory isn't clear. He certainly doesn't care about his own citizens or those of Ukraine. Accordingly, I think it is necessary to make it perfectly clear to Putin that NATO isn't going to allow that to happen.

The claims by the Kremlin that NATO expansion posed a military threat to Russia and that Ukraine is a puppet state of the US acting as a proxy force to "tear Russia apart" don't pass the sniff test. One has to be willing to dig to understand the history of eastern Europe, the dissolution of the USSR and how twisted Putin's take on that history is - the one he lays out as justification for occupying Ukraine. I've stated before that Putin is a master at crafting propaganda that supports his world view. There are plenty of people in the west that buy his shit and say, "he has a point." He doesn't but he makes you feel that he does. He's good. Putin and his repressive government is leading Russia to a disastrous economic, political and military outcome. He and Russia, right now, are the face governments of oppression brought about by autocratic governance. Be careful of what you want to ignore.