It's referred to as a NATO lake because Russia no longer has the freedom of movement it did before the accession of Finland and Sweden. If there were a conflict today, the Russian Baltic Fleet could either stay in port or sink.

And isn't the MAGA crowd anti-Semitic? I think I heard that somewhere.

It seems to me they would want to enable the Palestinians in their effort to find a final solution to their Jewish question.

"I think that MAGA elected Donald, in part, to complete the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza."

Really?

Do you think Israel is going to start building ovens and shoving Palestinians into them?

You do know that this is EXACTLY what the Palestinians would do to the Israelis if they ever got the upper hand, right?

Well...maybe not exactly. The Arabs have never used ovens when extirpating their Jewish populations. Not that I know of anyway.

"If any other country did what Israel is doing they would be Bombed."

If any other country did what Hamas did they would be bombed. Just like the allies did during WWII.

Under this definition, the WWII allies committed genocide in Germany during WWII.

Should Trump apologize to Germany for the US having been part of this?

In all fairness, X did remove hundreds of anti-semeiotic accounts after neo-neo-nazis attacked Israelis civilians on 10/6.

"people have a way of convincing themselves of anything. things are great! vs things are rotten! when experiencing the same thing"

Revolutions aren't started by the starving huddling masses. They are started by people who think they are entitled to more than they are able to attain through their own efforts.

"I fear that according to MB, one always has the choice/freedom to seek alternatives to corporate-provided health insurance."

One always does...

"In many places it may be one of the few choices offered. OR if you get insurance from your employer, that may be the only choice."

Or just pay cash.

Does your doctor not take credit cards?

I have Cigna Global. That's my primary plan. I also get healthcare from Tricare as a military retiree, but I've never used it. I never even bothered how to use it. Cigna Global is just better.

"It's nice to imagine that incidents like this will cause american CEOs to re-examine how their greed affects millions of people but, tbh, the most likely outcome is american CEOs start traveling with platoons of ex-mossad agents with itchy trigger fingers who never stop at red lights."

How is their "greed" affecting millions of people?

Do you know of anyone who was forced on to a United Health Group plan?

"UHC sucks and I'm glad I no longer have to use them."

When did you "have" to use them?

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended to achieve a tactical effect within the battlespace. In which battlespace would the US benefit from the employment of a tactical nuclear weapon? Is the US bogged down on some middle eastern front where one of these weapons would break a stalemate? Not that I'm aware of. Which means that the only real effect of employment of said weapon would be cognitive. Which leads to the logical conclusion that the cognitive effect would be the desired effect. Which really means that the simple threat of the use of this weapon achieves the actual applied effect.

Hamas is on the ropes. Their strategy had been to play the long game in the hopes that the international community would eventually pressure Israel to cede Hamas power and influence. That play failed. Hezbollah and Iran have been emasculated. Protesters on Ivy league campuses will not enable them to achieve their strategic objectives. The only rational hand Hamas has left to play is the one where they fold.

I think Trump's threats are real, not so much in the threat of nuke weapon employment, but that that the Islamic resistance will no longer be able to retreat to Dubai or Doha and live without the threat of being smoked by a drone or assassin. That may be the paradigm change that breaks the back of the Islamic resistance.

And that's a good thing. 80 years ago, Germany and Japan were both rules buy vile extremists. Those regimes were defeated through the execution of extreme violence, yet today, those countries represent two of the most powerful economies on the planet. Hopefully someday, Palestine will be the model of modernity. But it won't happen until the extremists learn that their objectives will only get them killed. That there is no hope for them or their agenda. That their only route to prosperity and peace is through compromise.

"Trump will swoop in to rescue Assad."

As well he should.

When Russia, the US, Iran, and all their proxies have a common enemy, it speaks volumes about that enemy.

There is no circumstance where Syria becomes a western nation. You can have Assad or someone like him, or you can have an Islamic state. Those are the two options. It's pretty clear to me which option we should favor. Not much different than in Israel.

#12

Interesting. Lety's look at SECAF.

1. Frank Kendall (current), retired Army Lt Col.
2. John Roth. No Service
3. Barbara Barrett. No Service
4. Matthew Donovan. Retired as a senior AF officer.
5. Heather Wilson. No service
6. Lisa Dubrow. Retired as an Air Force Colonel.
7. Deborah Lee James. No Service
8. Eric Fanning. No service.
9. Michael Donnely. 3 years of service in the Army, 1972-1975. No mention in his record of whether he was officer or enlisted, but probobaly enlisted based on the short term of the contract.
10. Michael Wynne. 7 years of service as an officer.
11. Pete Garen. No service
12. Michael Dominguez. 5 years of service as an officer
13. Michael Montelongo. 20 years of service as an officer.
14. Peter -----. No service
15. James Roche. Retired as a Navy Captain
16. F. Whitten Peters. 3 years as a Navy Officer.
17. Sheila Widnall. No Service.

#5

There is no such thing as price gouging, certainly not for products with price elasticity.

Kroger can charge as much as they want. It's up to the consumer to determine if the product they are considering buying is worth more or less than the money they will pay for it.

Um, this is normal. It's relatively rare to have a service secretary with military experience.

I left the US...never going back. Except for the week after next. For work.

Was it always full of drug addicts and degenerates, or was it always there and I had become immune to noticing it?

I thought Harris and the Dems ran an exceptional campaign. If you would have proposed her as a candidate in 2022, I would have thought you were high. In 2024 she was the candidate I favored after demonstrating that she could function as a competent, well-rounded leader.

"Republicans have tilted the economy to transfer the wealth of the Country towards the already wealthy, to the detriment of those who have to work to put food on the table."

That seems to be the exact same thing that Repubs are saying about Dems.

I subscribe to an expat newsletter here in Germany. Most of those who supported Trump appeared to have done so out of the expectation that the economy under Trump was going to be more favorable. And in some ways, they're probably right.

Someone was waiting on Wal-Mart to confirm that?

What a joke.

Name me an Arab state that still has a relevant Jewish community.

The Arabs were actually far better at killing ----- than the Nazis were. Most of them were successful in ridding their countries of the Jewish vermin.

And the ICC did nothing.

#7

When I was still in the military, a girl who worked for me went to work in DC. Her and her husband paid something like $1.4M for their house in the city.

"His salary is $74,000 per year so why can't he rent a room somewhere in Washington?"

His salary is $74,000 per year is why he can't rent a room in Washington. At that income level, maybe he could afford a place somewhere in West Virginia.

"What would have happened to all the Ukrainians who did not want to become Russians?"

They would have been relocated to Siberia. Or in more extreme circumstances, executed.

Most likely, Russia would have also relocated millions of urban western Russians to Ukraine to dilute Ukrainian influence and help the government control the population.

"And stop letting Israel determine ME policy. They are Murderous Bigots..."

Sooo unlike the Jihadists in the Islamic Resistance, amiright?