rjshae

That was probably the first Star Wars movie I've seen that actually felt like a solid sci-fi drama, rather than space opera fantasy. But I agree that the character development aspect wasn't very good.

Yes, a lot of really horrific acts get justified during war time, including this one. I think if Russia does use nuclear weapons to avoid defeat, that will significantly increase the likelihood that a future NATO-Russian conflict will rapidly go nuclear as well. I'm picturing a Putin attempted land grab of the Baltic States where there is little likelihood of stopping the Russian advance, seeing the use of nukes to stop the lead columns.

I consider myself fortunate in missing that debacle, as the draft ended a year before I reached the age of eligibility. Honestly, I'm not sure my mind would have handled it well, all things considered.

Deliberate intent on the part of the high command or political leadership to, for example, commit violations of the Geneva convention on civilians as a tool for victory.

Well the drawback for everybody else is nobody can block your response, regardless of how disagreeable your position may be. One expects a certain level of discretion from a moderator.

Has there ever been a war where no war crimes were not committed? I suspect they are few and far between. In the end it's more a matter of intent (and extent).

Congratulations to Canada for a fine qualification run. They look pretty solid. The USMNT is one game away now; they just need to avoid getting destroyed by Costa Rica on Wednesday.

I see exactly the opposite; it has encouraged material support for Ukraine and has had a significant impact on the ground. Being wishy-washy instead would substantially weaken the West's position against Putin and further encourage his aggression.

The US' so-called "puerile" message encourages Western unity and strengthens the negotiating position vs. Putin. Remember it was Putin that burned that bridge with the territorial grab of the Crimea, an unwarranted invasion, and attacks on Ukranian civilians. There's nothing good about his behavior, and if he burns for it I'll shed no tears.

Bummer. So... back to the way it's always been then.

Looks like a manatee to me. Not sure what brained that makes me.

Yes, the Russian power image is being badly damaged by this conflict. They are starting to look like a paper tiger, and Putin is likely to act increasingly rash.

An intentionally ambiguous message from Russia so they don't get tossed out the airlock?

Next up will be a time travel show in which the troupe goes back to fix social injustice throughout history. That'll keep the writers busy for years.

Finding the most boring person in the world This masterwork deserves an Ig Noble award.

Chris Pine describes 'Dungeons & Dragons' movie as 'Game of Thrones' meets 'The Princess Bride'. Err...

Here in Washington state we have a reservoir called Diablo Lake that is the most striking aqua-green hue: Supposedly it's glacial runoff that produces the hue.

I think it may be possible to simultaneously possess free will and yet not. Consider a universe in which time is two dimensional, but we only see one of the dimensions. The Big Bang is at the center of this two dimensional time plane, and our forward time is actually the slope of maximum gradient of the entropy. I.e. we're inexorably falling down a time cone of increasing entropy. Time is expanding outward in a ring of possibilities along this cone, but we only perceive our point on the ring and the time dimension away from the center. We can't see laterally along the ring, perhaps because there is no net difference in entropy to allow energy exchange. Now we may use our will to choose a particular path and in so doing change our lateral location on the expanding ring slightly. We feel like we have made a choice, but it is only choosing a path in a limited range of outcomes. Your form is also represented on this ring by making the other choice, but neither of you can now perceive the other. Your free will in this scenario is represented by the range of paths you can take on this expanding ring. You chose the path you follow, yet the universe remains predetermined by the (vast) set of possible outcomes. I hope that makes some sense.