You make Cuba sound like an ill-behaved child whose parents stopped paying their bills.

"They are, for oil."

Really?

No one else will sell them oil?

For the record, this is nothing new. Cubans have been risking their lives to float to the US on innertubes, even before the grid collapse. LONG before the grid collapse.

Notice that Haitians don't try to flee to Cuba, even though it is so much closer.

Why do you think that might be?

"The grid didn't just collapse, we've put them under siege and they have no fuel or spare parts."

Umm..what?

Russia can't supply them with spare parts? Or China? Or any of the other 194 countries in the world?

You're almost making the argument that Cuba is wholly dependent on the US.

Is that the case?

"Historically we always strive to give our troops a special meal before they're put directly in harms way."

It was actually relatively common. Maybe once every other month or so, plus major holidays.

"And if you question the billions in luxuries going straight to the top, Trump supporters will accuse you of wanting soldiers to starve."

This went to the troops. There is no realistic circumstance where the DoD could spend millions for steak and lobster for a few hundred people in the DoD. Not unless they were eating it every day for every meal.

Yeah. With the exception of the grand piano, nothing else in this list is weird. $5.3M for Apple devices actually seems low, as now every aviator in the Air Force is issued one. I'm sure that other career fields get them as well. The military has always provided steak and lobster for service members on occasion. It's gross-the military couldn't cook a steak if victory depended on it-but they still try.

"Isn't that like 23 years old. Why Not pass a new one?"

Why not get rid of it?

Make the president go to congress if he/she wants to start a war.

"I'm glad he's gone, but what happens now? I've seen that Qatar and Israel were attacked"

Iran lacks the capability to carry out coordinated strategic attacks against any country. They are revenge attacks.

As for what happens now, I think that's up to the people of Iran. I would personally like to see Reza Pahlavi hop on a plan and go to Tehran. Once there, he could explain that his father did horrible things, unforgivable things, but nothing compared to what the Islamic Republic did to its people. Iran deserves better, I think, and now they have an opportunity. If they want it.

"Remember Camp David and the wto-state solution? Arafat said "No, Israel must be destroyed - it's in our constitution". And that was it for a two-state solution."

Israel isn't going anywhere. No one could realistically destroy them. 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinians.

When I say Palestinians are ------ up, it's because they have been conditioned to have a sense of entitlement. They need to understand that the world doesn't owe them anything. Israel owes them the opportunity to create their own successful state. IMO. Whther they choose to do it or not is another story.

"What is the legal justification for attacking Iran?"

AUMF?

Just a guess.

Hell, my sympathies have shifted. I still think the Palestinians are completely screwed up, but Israel holds most of the cards and doesn't seem to be interested in coming up with a solution. If they want to stick people behind a wall, it should be the Haredi, who are a drain on the country to start with.

"Keeping the Palestinians in camps for generations has rendered them peaceful and docile, as we saw on Oct 7."

Palestinians are generally entitled whiners who think that they are owed something. Annoying, but unless you're Israeli, not really a problem.

ISIS are the modern-day national socialists, seeking to create their own Reich. And unfortunately, the international community has not convinced them they can't. But, I bet North Dakota could.

"In the 1970s, my HS Russian teacher brought in two native Ukrainians to speak to the class. When we referred to them as Russians, we were quickly upbraided: They were NOT Russians, they were Soviets."

Yup.

I'm still not the best Russian speaker, and I can't tell the difference between Ukrainian and Russian.

But I've never once met a Ukrainian who was willing to be identified as a Russian. And that's going back to when I was in my 20s. I'm 51 now.

"What about religions that teach that their people are superior to everyone else? What are they calling for?"

Like Islam?

I don't recall any Jewish students chanting "from the river to the sea."

"#89 They're calling for no such thing."

What do you think the term "from the river to the sea" means?

"The USA is a democratic republic."

No, the US is a constitutional republic.

#87

Now do the one with people wearing the keffiyeh. Basically, the southwest Asian version of the rebel flag.

"You've confused anti genocide with anti semitism."

Yeah.

Crowds chanting "from the river to the sea" are literally calling for genocide.

You know that, right?

"Oh, so these are true republics:"

Are they not?

I really don't know. Was the USSR not a true republic? In my mind, it might have been the truest republic next to the US.

"#77 The pool of antisemitism in the USA is on the right, not the left."

Yeah. Tell that to the Jewish college kids.

#80

Cool. So let's just agree that Hitler was about as much a socialist as Bernie Sanders or Mandani. Neither of whom are actual socialists, as their objectives as based on a successful capitalist outcome.

"And then bragged about it."

Dude, his top military leader wanted to punish a former fighter pilot and astronaut for reminding service members about the legal laws and customs of war.

Ten years ago, the DoD might have paid Mark Kelly to make that same announcement.

"In their platform, the Nazi Party expressed extreme antisemitism."

Well, Bernie is Jewish. SO maybe not. But you can't deny that antisemitism wouldn't resonate with a lot of leftists in the US today. It already is.

"Just claim you're an illegal immigrant! You'll get $2000. You can't have that much stuff."

Europe has lost patience with illegal immigration. Germany has re-established border checkpoints with Schengen countries. And it doesn't seem to be in the least bit controversial.

Most USans could get residency in DEU, so long as you have health insurance, a certain amount of money in the bank, and annual income of 30k EUR. Iirc.