Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

At least you didn’t mention “National Treasure”.

Have you ever seen National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets? Highly recommend it. I notice incredible details on every re-watch.

[AlabamAlum]

You’re drunk, DSL. Call an Uber.

[Mike]

Was expecting at least a like for the Godfather 3 gif.

That’s impossible because Godather III never happened.

[Dr. Strangelove]

That’s impossible because Godather III never happened.

It was the start of Sofia Coppola's directing career

[lineygoblue]

You mean I've been mourning for Mary Corleone all this time for nothing?

[THE_WIZARD_]

Wiseguy.

[froot loops]

Decent ratings so far for the NBA playoffs.

You know what the ___THE_WIZARD__ says? "Go woke, go broke"

[THE_WIZARD_]

I'd like to break you.

[Whitley]

I know most restaurants with do that with parties of 8 or more...but otherwise...I'd tell them to GTFO...

True story. When I was the cook at the Golf course grill and bar, There was an old lady group of 8 that had a reaervation after their 18 holes. They ordered $324 dollars of food and drinks. The bartender attended to their every need. And was very good. They stayed for like 2 hours and the tip they gave him? $20.

[Mike]

Just one more reason women shouldn’t be allowed at golf courses. They probably thought the tip was a splurge, too.

[THE_WIZARD_]

EFZ

[Jeff Buchanan]

Ukraine: In an interview published by the Economist with Henry Kissinger, who will turn 100 on May 27th, he stated Putin had made a catastrophic error by invading Ukraine. In the context of a much larger discussion that focused on a path to preventing a super power military confrontation between the US and China, Kissinger argued that the war in Ukraine and threats to Taiwan's independence are sideshows that are testing how well diplomacy can function to prevent WWIII. Kissinger believes China wants to be a major player in mediating a settlement between Ukraine and Russia. The key is negotiating an outcome that does not destroy Putin. Such an outcome would be destabilizing and may lead to upheaval and civil war in Russia.

Putin must agree to give up most, but not all of the Ukrainian territory Russia is currently occupying. The Sevastopol Naval Base within Crimea should remain a Russian enclave. The current western efforts to arm Ukraine with hi-tech modern weapons is creating the best armed country in Europe that could be problematic in the future. Kissinger also believes Ukraine should become a member of NATO if only to restrain it. He also believes Putin's concerns of western hegemony through Ukraine were legitimate and the west, particularly the US, bears some responsibility for Putin undertaking military measures in Ukraine.

So far, Russian forces have been unable to take Bakhmut. Defending it has become a key feature in obtaining, in the case of Russia, or preventing, in the case of Ukraine, a symbolic victory. With regard to talk of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, Ukrainian military spokesmen are down-playing the west's expectation that some large scale operation is about to take place. It isn't and what is more likely are a series of Ukrainian counter attacks that will force Russian occupiers to retreat as Ukrainian forces reclaim small amounts of territory incrementally. The psychological impact on Putin of sequential losses, regardless of the small size of reclaimed territory, is more important than mounting a large scale counter-offensive risking it's failure to achieve the west's unrealistic, large scale victories similar to those achieved last summer in Kharkiv and Kherson.

Russia has ramped up its air campaign launching batches of cruise missiles into Ukrainian cities, principally Kiev. Ukraine claims they intercept nearly all of these missiles preventing serious damage. Russia claims the missiles all reached their targets. Analysts believe the Ukrainian narrative is more likely to be accurate. A few days ago, Russia claimed it has successfully destroyed a Patriot air defense system. That has turned out to also be a false claim. What probably happened is that the debris from an intercepted cruise missile, the intercept happening at close range, hit a component of the battery, causing limited damage that had no impact on the operational capability of the battery.

[Mike]

https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/desant...run-next-week/

[THE_WIZARD_]

They've got him now!

[AlabamAlum]

NYC Mayor says nearly 50% of all NYC hotel rooms are being used by illegals and that it’s hurting the economy, costing the city billions. He demands Federal help for NYC’s decision to become a sanctuary city which includes directing all city workers and police to refuse, in any way, to help Federal immigration deport, arrest, or remove illegals.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/eric-adams-migrants-hotels

I mean, it’s like a Babylon Bee article, but it’s real life.