#8

There is only one side that has codified the requirement to extirpate the other side.

And it is not Israel. As bad as they may be, they are not the ones who are openly stating that genocide is their endgame.

Like, not the little silly cosplay genocide that antisemites whine about, but real, National Socialist type ----. Like joining the other Arab nations in successfully eliminating their Jewish populations.

"But Hamas doesn't represent a country."

Hamas is the democratically elected authority in the West Bank.

"They represent an impoverished people living in a territory under Israeli control."

They represent a population that could have and should have had their own state, just like the Israelis. Instead, they couldn't accept living in the presence of Jews. Much like the German National Socialists, and much like every other Arab state in the region.

"Same thing the Saudis and Egyptians are, figuring out how to work with their neighboring nations."

They've had 80 years. All they have managed to come up with is "from the river to the sea."

"You're VSO is lying to you. Being "yelled at" doesn't make the basic criterion for PTSD, unless your VSO also states that the yells included plausible death threats."

I don't know if he was lying or not...but I can't come up with a good reason why he would have lied.

Can you?

And just for the edification of everyone here, when you retire or separate from the military, you are advised by the VA to consult with a VSO. They will request that you provide your medical record, and they will review it to see if there are any recurring or significant issues. If there are, they will file those on your behalf with the VA. In many cases, the service member doesn't do anything. This has to be done within a year of separation. You can still file outside of a year, but you will not receive any back pay, and the assessment phase is far stricter and requires far more evidence.

"I also know a person who was in the Army for only 2 years. He went to Iraq, came home and some how got 100% disability. Seemed as normal as everyone else, but for some reason, got alot of disability."

My VSO told me a story about a kid who got discharged while still in boot camp and gets disability payments for PTSD for having been yelled at while in boot camp.

"Why does the Social Security tax not go above a certain level of income?"

Because the payments do not go beyond a certain level of income.

"The wealthy, who garnered their wealth from the backs of Americans, do not appear to buy into any manner of "taxed the same percentage of income."

Walk me through that logic. How is it that I am less rich because someone else is more? If Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos die tomorrow, does that mean I will get a bigger paycheck?

"I could almost agree with you, if everyone was taxed the same percentage of income. And I'm talking about in addition to what we are paying now. But we know that wont happen."

First, what constitutes "universal healthcare" depends on who you ask, but there is no European nation that does not fund healthcare through Value Added Taxes, or VATs.

US progressives tend to differ from their European counterparts in that they generally believe that the rich should be paying for everything. I once posed the question here whether or not progressives would still support efforts like UHC, or free college, or any other entitlements, if they were funded through a VAT. A surprising number said they would not. Which really leads me to believe that many view these programs as punitive measures whose real value comes in punishing high income earners.

#14

I don't know a single person, regardless of rank or occupation, who is not receiving some form of disability payments. I am 80% disabled, mostly due to spending 2500 hours in an ejection seat. So is my 25-year-old co-worker who did four years cleaning the trash out of chartered aircraft. We have a family friend who recently retired as an E-5. He was a dental assistant in the Air Force. He is 90% disabled. His disability payments will more than double what he would have earned on retirement alone. There are probably numbers out there, but I think there are at least as many 100% disabled veterans as there are any other. And it's a good deal. 100% disability, your kids go to college for free.

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?