Hanaguma

Winter?!? The temperature is 20 degrees celsius or higher every day for the next 10 days. Not the definition of 'winter', at least where I come from...

At least he picked a decent looking woman as his VP!

True. Once you have the turtle's head you have run out of options (and time). Emergency measures needed.

True that. A neat double-double to add to his legendary status. As I recall, also cadged money from his father under the guise of going for rehab (some $30,000), only to blow it all on eastern European escorts in a weekend of debauchery.

You forgot "genocide" to complete the three necessary shibboleths for this discussion. Otherwise, there is no apartheid in Gaza, no ethnic cleansing, and no occupation (ended in 2005). After WW2, the Allies did a massive de-Nazification program on Germany, to cure them of 13 years of Hitler's propaganda and lies. And the German people certainly could have felt hostile to the Allies for devastating their country as well. But they were able to shake it off and rejoin the community of nations. It will take the same effort on Gaza to help them recover from Hamas.

The obvious answer is that, in order for Palestine to be free, the Jews have to go. Either murdered (most likely option) or forcibly exiled. Which makes the "river to the sea" nonsense so reprehensible. Two state solution might be viable in 10 or 20 years, once Hamas is gone and Gazans can be de-programmed from the antisemitic filth they have been force fed for the past decade.

Gotta say that the libertarian part of me has a sneaky admiration for Hunter. He has hit the "Libertarian Trifecta" of drugs, hookers, and tax evasion! Not to mention the nearly $700,000 on hookers alone... the man is a satyr.

Oh, you will. No need to be so melodramatic. Look at it this way: if it is Biden or Trump, at least neither of them can be re-elected in 4 years. I am not a fan of my country's PM by any means, but that is just politics. The country is still my home and native land.

Jesus Christ. I knew it was bad, but.... God, how can anyone support Hamas, even tangentially, after reading this article? But they will. Remarkable the silence of world womens organizations on this. The use of rape as a weapon of terror. Plus the glee of the Hamas cowards as they did their atrocities, and the glee of ordinary Gazans when the cowards returned home with their 'prizes'. There is no political solution. Only prompt and utter destruction of Hamas.

I picked the ones that people care about the most. No agenda here, I would prefer if Trump did not run for president at all.

Yeah, if only those stupid voters would wake up and understand how grateful they should be /s The most basic and simple question voters think about is this: "Are you better off now than when the President took office" And the answer is clear. Gas was $2.50 under Trump, $3.50 under Biden. Inflation sub 2% under Trump, 8% under Biden. Mortgage sub 3% under Trump, over 7% under Biden. Now you can argue those numbers all day, but they are visceral and dominate voters' minds.

I'm gonna have to go ahead and agree with you here. The debate between Newsom and DeSantis last week, for better or worse, was at least moderatly substantive. And the participants were at least energetic and sentient. The higher-ups of BOTH parties should make an agreement that the two grumpy old men will not get their nominations. Then run an actual primary campaign on both sides. The country would only benefit.

As I said before, Putin runs a country with a tiny economy and is bankrupting it. Europe could easily put him in check if they wanted to. But they don't. The Europeans have gotten lazy, and gotten used to having their big brother across the Atlantic do all the heavy lifting. Both in Europe and around the world. They have underspent on defence, and then balked when called out about it. Well, now they can pay the price. Time to take the bull by the t1ts and stir themselves into some semblance of strength. For North America, China is by far the greater threat, and Asia the more important area of interest. Russia has almost zero ability to project power very far beyond their land borders- certainly not like China can.

Curious- what atrocities are being committed by the IDF? I havent heard too many tales of the gang rape of young Gazan girls by the IDF, nor the torture of children and elderly.

Like I said, European nations can easily take care of each other. If Finland wants protection, they could form an alliance with Germany or France or the UK. All those countries have economies that dwarf Russia. NATO served its purpose and needs to be put out to pasture. A Europe based organization is by far a better fit for the region.

In other words, no they were not conquered. Plus they are all virtual border regions of Russia, so hardly projection of power. I don't see the big threat at all. Nothing that Europe cannot or should not handle if they had the gumption.

WHoah! Did Russia conquer all those countries?

An ogre with a broken leg and asthma is not the threat that he was when young and strong. And Russia is a shadow of the Soviet Union. Their ability to project power is virtually nil. Like I said, if all of Europe can't muster up the energy to fight off a country with 10% of the EU's GDP, then maybe they deserve to be conquered. But they certainly don't need to be defended by anyone other than themselves.

Then Europe can defend itself. The EU has more than enough economic power to provide a robust continental defence without relying on Uncle Sam. As you said, the threat that NATO was formed to protect against, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, are gone. And so is NATO's raison d'etre. The real enemy to fear now is China, not Russia and its Canada-level GDP.

But Europe could make the decision to stop buying Russian gas. If they had the stones, that is. Other countries could provide it, they could switch to more nuclear power- a very green option. Not sure what other end game is realistic. Ukraine doesn't have the combat power to push the Russians back. One thing the Russians have traditionally been very good at militarily is defence. They are stubborn, and engineer their territory very well. The Ukranian army would bleed itself white throwing itself at the Russians if they try to regain all their lost land. So that leaves us with a settlement. Either that, or the Europeans can start using their OWN militaries to attack the Russian troops currently in Ukraine. And I don't think they are willing to do that.

Because France, like so many countries, has watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest a few too many times. It is very hard to get someone committed to a mental hospital unless they already commit a serious offense.

NATO seems to be straying farther and farther from the "North Atlantic" part of the name these days...Ukraine being a member makes as much sense as Turkey. Which is zero. A Russian guarantee could be tied to access to Europe as a client for resources etc. And the EU would be free to station troops in Ukraine for "training missions" at their leisure. But it seems like Europe is reluctant to actually spend much of their own money without getting a bit assist from Uncle Sugar.

The "Religion of Peace" strikes again.

Neither was Gaza.

End game? Russia gets Donbass and officially gets to keep Crimea. Ukraine agrees to not join NATO, but can join the EU. Russia guarantees Ukranian sovereignty.