Agiel

The belief that law enforcement in "high-risk jurisdictions" need an approach resembling counter-insurgency operations overseas seems to massively overlook what actual counter-insurgency work entails: Public diplomacy Training indigenous forces Infrastructure construction

Yup. Don't see anything wrong with the use of the term "bloodlines" in relationship with Henry Ford. No-sir-ee-bob.

If this keeps up Trump will be saying he's been taking Life Savers to stave off COVID-19.

In honour of V-E Day:

Something from the famed Italian comic artist Milo Manara that hits home:

A friend of mine suggested that the by acting in the spirit of integrity, honour, and self-sacrifice Captain Crozier was very clearly acting contrary to the values and standards expected by the Commander-in-chief. Effectively mutiny. Evergreen quote from George S. Patton, whom Trump claims to idolise, though I find it doubtful that he could name any of the formations he led during the Second World War (or even which theater he was involved in):

I'd say stage freeze in the nude before Robert Pattinson while out in the rain.

I too dream of the day when humanity's combined scientific efforts may be turned to exploring and colonising the stars... and that our combined military might would be turned against the Romulans.

If anything I believe that Nixon normalising relations with China is a giant net positive since it helped hasten the end of the Cold War. With warming relations between the US and the PRC the Soviet Union now found itself in a strategically untenable position (Both China and the USSR had a simmering border conflict at the time, to say nothing of Soviet meddling in what China considered its own sphere of influence). Should a shooting war erupt in Europe the Soviets would face the very real possibility that China would stab them in the back as it exhausted itself in other theaters.

"Is Chaos Theory As Good As I Remember?" You bet your sweet ass it is.

Seeing these guys live really is something to behold.

Metro: Exodus DLC, Sam's Story. Moments like this are what keeps me coming back:

I would rather that the conversation moves past whether or not a public healthcare system is "socialism" (something similar to Warren's plan was championed by icons of American politics like Ted Kennedy and George McGovern, so I hardly think it would lead to the US becoming a Stalinist hellhole) so that there is an actual debate on serious questions that must be answered before such a scheme can move forwards. 1. Would the American people be willing to endure the undeniably inevitable additional tax burden on ordinary citizens? I remain unconvinced that under Warren's taxation plan even if enforcement was reasonably airtight the revenue it generated alone could cover the cost of a Medicare-for-All, almost assuredly passing on some of the cost to middle to upper-middle class workers. Just as a great deal many recent college grads are getting their student debts to manageable levels suddenly things like an annual vacation, home ownership, and sending their own children to college loan-free will be placed out of reach once again. 2. Would Americans tolerate what some may consider overly-intrusive state-intervention in the physical well-being of its citizens in order to reduce the burden on a public health-care system? In much the rest of the developed world there are hefty taxes levied on fatty and sugary snacks and beverages. It's rather hard to be an alcoholic in Norway and Sweden due to taxes on hard liquor. In the UK there is a ban on ads for candies and snacks deliberately targeting children. And in Japan there is the dreaded "metabo law," wherein employers and municipalities will incur financial penalties if those under their charge do not meet guidelines in weight and waist circumference. When this question was put to the citizens of New York under Mike Bloomberg the answer seemed to have been a resounding "no." Given how obesity rates in the US compare to the rest of the developed world, I would think even those in Norway, Japan, and France would believe it totally irresponsible to institute "Medicare-for-all" in the US as its citizens are now. 3. What is to be done in order to overcome the social and racial divisions that permeate American politics? Judging by the content of the rhetoric of the current candidates on the campaign trail and the company they keep this is an area I find Sanders severely wanting. My outlook is that a great deal of Trump voters would actually like healthcare provided by the state, BUT, they don't want it if it means their taxes insure that inner-city blacks and single-mothers "who made bad life decisions" get it too. As Jim Goad put it "My hatred is a thousand times more powerful than all of your good intentions."

To counter Huawei, U.S. could take 'controlling stake' in Ericsson, Nokia: attorney general Ooh! It's at the tip of my tongue! What is it called when a privately-held company becomes a state-owned enterprise again?

What often goes underappreciated is the extent civilian developments affect military R&D. Take for instance the plastics industry of the West; key binders used for making childrens toys had applications in holding together solid fuel rockets for missiles, which in part explains the significant lag the Soviets had in SLBMs (the contemporary Soviet equivalent to the American Trident was the SS-N-20 Sturgeon that was by all accounts unnecessarily huge and consequently much more expensive to build and maintain, leading to its swift retirement after the Cold War ended). Another more obvious example is the civilian aviation industry. A strong civil aviation industry calls for safe and relatively inexpensive air travel, which creates demand for aircraft engines that are more reliable, more fuel-efficient, and less maintenance intensive, expertise that was invaluable for developing similarly robust and reliable engines for fighter jets (for Russian ground crews the MTBO for western jet engines are simply eye-watering).

I had a cousin who went to a Christian private school through to the 8th grade and he showed me one of the civics text-book they used, and having skimmed through it perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by the xenophobia expressed by Trump supporters.

An addendum:

At risk of this being moved to the Politics topic: This bit of trivia seems to me like kind of a thing everyone learned as schoolchildren from the "Fun Facts" that were on the paper for Fruit by the Foot snacks.

Highly recommend the Philip Roth novel from which this is adapted from (and to which I also owe one of my signatures as well). Though I suspect much of the impact Roth's brilliant prose might be lost in its translation to the screen.