brucoe

Which basically points out how NOT serious politicians in our country are taking the real world ramifications of the war in Ukraine. If Ukraine survives this disaster somehow, I believe the one thing they are going to take from this whole conflict is how useless the United States is as an ally unless they're battling some place like Greenland.

Leave it to Trump to throw in an idea that is basically a direct violation of the Geneva Convention (wearing the colors or uniform of another country) and then call himself smart.

And won't you be surprised when Russia invades Kyiv with wooden airplanes?

Okay, point taken. However, the dialogue still sounds quite familiar, even if the resolution hopefully is not going to go the same direction.

Doesn't this sound almost like the dialogue of the tv series Chernobyl, where they kept saying: "It can't happen"? And then it happened.

I miss the days when all we had to worry about was figuring out time travel so we could steal two humpback whales before a monstrous alien probe destroyed all of Earth.

Or even better, Stanley Kubrick's version of "Poptarts".

Unless you really, really don't like them.

Something I find interesting but not discussed that much is the volunteer force that is starting to respond to the conflict. I'm on a couple of lists that consist of people I have served with in the Army, and more and more of these lists seem to have individuals that are volunteering to fight on the side of the Ukrainians. What's interesting about these lists is that these are some pretty highly skilled combat veterans who are joining. A couple of them are already reporting from within Ukraine. What concerns me is the realization that this could be pretty dangerous if the Russians start to make the argument that we're sending specialized soldiers over to Ukraine, even if they are volunteers and not representing the US military and government.

The funny thing is I know a lot about foreign policy and such things, but I've gotten so frustrated with the state of the world (and my country) these days that I don't comment 1/10th of the amount I used to just because I realize that my contributions do nothing and quite often commenting on anything is akin to trying to get meaningful dialogue out of a Twitter feed.

What's the reason for seizing a yacht? I mean, I think it's great. Fuck the rich Russian billionaires, but what's the rationale behind the seizing?

He's a little man with a Napoleonic complex, which means he needs a way out of this fiasco while saving face. The problem is that as more time goes on, and as the situation escalates and gets worse, the options for saving face get worse and worse each day, until the he's in a "burn every bridge until he's dead" scenario as the only option.

It all depends on how the command structure treats the item. I had a captured .45 from a Cuban officer in Granada that I carried with me throughout the rest of my career. I actually donated it to the West Point museum after I left the service, but my understanding is that it was mine, if I wanted it. Most of the other stuff that soldiers tended to have were things that command just didn't know about (so a weapon or flag that wasn't reported), which is how a lot of soldiers continued to keep stuff they weren't really supposed to have.

I heard it on the radio live and thought I heard Iranian but then thought I must have heard wrong. Turns out, he did say that, which leaves me wondering if it was part of the stutter, a symptom of senility, or he has been in service so long that he naturally refers to people as Iranians. But in context, it didn't really matter.

I'm just shocked that Paxton is still so popular when everyone knows how corrupt he is. Well, maybe I shouldn't be shocked. Texas has turned into Bizarro state.

I honestly don't see anything changing in Texas for a primary.

Certainly not me. I doubt I'll make it to the end with my health.

Unfortunately, you're seeing a symptom of something that's always been around. After the invasion of Granada, when our Ranger detachment was completing combat maneuvers from the invasion, I came across a group of US combat engineers that were wrapping det cord around a cow with intentions of blowing it up. Not a single one of their officers were anywhere in sight. This is kind of what you get used to with the regular military, as people do some really stupid crap when armed with lots of weaponry and explosives and very little direction.

They each have a breathalyzer built into them to make sure that it's being handled by a Russian. If there's no stench of vodka, then the weapon won't fire.

I personally believe a real part of the problem is that we live in a more global environment these days, YET these sorts of things happen around us, and we have no ability to hep make things better. It constantly reminds us that we're all just helpless and stuck at living in the whim of lots of bad actors.

I'm starting to think we might be similar in gaming tastes, so I just bought Grim Dawn, and we'll see if it scratches that itch of a game for me. I tried Elden Ring but as I'm mostly a PC user (without a game pad), it just didn't work for me.

Yeah, I was trying to use one, but my logitech F710 kept cutting out while I was trying to play. Finally, it just wasn't worth it any longer.

Yeah. Didn't realize how much of a problem that was going to be until this game.

I really tried playing this game on PC, but my god, the controls are not designed for this. I finally just gave up.

Greatest quote ever.