OK, let's come at it this way: is my trying to make Tate irrelevant worth the opportunity cost. Anyone that thinks that idiot is worth a 2nd thought is going to take a lot of convincing.

(Non) election interference.

https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-allies-secret-talks-volodymyr-zelenskyy-opposition-ukraine-elections-yulia-tymoshenko-petro-poroshenko/

We have plenty on the record of DJT stiffing contractors. The more amazing part is he got 4 Supreme Court justices to say that kind of behavior is OK.

A long time ago I read a novel, which title I can't recall, where through some plausible circumstance Germany seizes U.S. military installations, including the nukes stored there. Probably not something we want to see happen in real life.

Does this look like a guy who's mind is open to change? Why even bother?

Edited to add: I'm referring to Tate.

People thrive on certainty, which the current administration is not providing to our ostensible allies. If Europe doesn't see the U.S. as a bulwark against Russia, I have to believe they'll make the coherent choice to become their own bloc, acting in their own interest.

I'm going to have to dig into those MD posts.

Here's Ken Harrelson describing the apps on my phone: https://youtu.be/Gsf4vhK7v7E?feature=shared

Plus, you get to see 2 seconds of the great Mark Buerhle.

You know what? You inspired me to delete those apps off my devices.

I haven't given up anything for Lent for years, as I've tried to make it more about positive, but this seems like a great step. Plus, I'm reading Jeff Vandermeer's Absolution and I need to concentrate.

Jay, if you're looking for some other music for these Lenten posts, I recommend Wynton Marsalis' magnificent Abyssinian Mass. Here's a sample: https://youtu.be/8TGW22RK78k?feature=shared.

For now. I just heard a report on NPR that EU countries are going to have to rearm (duh). It's kind of hard to believe DJT and his advisors can't see that a vassal Europe is much more preferable.

I just heard a clip from last night's address that reference this: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/missile-defense/golden-dome-missile-defense.html

I was immediately reminded of this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warday, in which the U.S. is getting ready to deploy a similar missile defense system. The Soviet Union, hopelessly behind technologically, launches a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States.

That's probably true. All of the online advice (take that for what it's worth) to Zelensky has been along the lines of "Just pretend to suck up to him, flatter him, and generally pretend to like him and you have him in the palm of your hand." Unfortunately, Zelensky, pissed off after a 3 year invasion and stalemate, only saw the knife Trump wanted to stick in his back and lashed out.

Greater minds than I could see Russia's military capability being ground down in Ukraine, just as it was in Afghanistan, and we were hastening the process for a relatively small sum. Honestly, if the United States wanted Ukraine to win, we would have let them use the arms we gave them for offensive purposes from the get go.

"...online sleuths tracked Brösche to the Otay Mesa Detention Center, which is a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility run by the private contractor Core Civic."

"Based on that average, a month of detention costs taxpayers $4,900."

Mystery solved.

If DJT wants people to believe that Russia, Russia, Russia is truly a hoax, he's making that really hard to do.

https://www.ft.com/content/c58fccea-00c4-4fad-bc0a-0185b7415579

I haven't watched a SOTU address in years and I upheld that tradition last night. I like the idea of the president sending a letter to Congress as in olden times.

DJT reading is just a flat monotone. Like someone who sees the words but is just repeating them. Ad libbing is his gig.

I wonder if he was wearing a suit while he typed that.

Brilliant! A true OT throwback.

Pax Americana is still a thing?

If you dipped you toes into the online right at all during BHO's tenure, there was plenty of cult talk.

Believe me, there is nothing morale enhancing about taking inventory.

Generally, in a financial audit anything around 1-2% of asset discrepancy is considered immaterial. For $46.3 billion that's $463 million on the low end. The fact that only half a million was not accounted for is laudable, but how much was spent finding the rest? That's what an accountant would call waste.

As it turned out, it didn't, or at least not for long. And, also as it turned out, he unintentionally was.

What happens when they want to link up Kaliningrad?

I knew it! You can take the man out of the Chicago Machine, but you can't take the Chicago Machine out of the man.