Yep, as usual, sloppy thinking …if indeed there is any thinking..

Once again, Cohen and his mentor, John Mearsheimer, conveniently ignore facts. One, Gorbachev himself confirmed there was never any promise by the US or NATO not expand eastwards. Two, that beginning in the 1990s with the Partnership For Peace initiative, Russia had every opportunity to coordinate and even integrate its armed forces with NATO. Third, in 2004 Putin himself requested the NATO Sect’y General, Lord Robertson, to invite Russia to become a member of NATO. Robertson informed Putin that NATO membership is not by invitation, but rather by application and that there was no impediment for Russia to undertake the application process. Putin however did not feel that as a permanent member of the UNSC and nuclear super power that Russia should be forced to submit an application like any other non founding member of the Alliance. Four, Putin knows full well that NATO is a purely defensive alliance and poses zero threat to Russia’s security. Cohen lives in a world of ideological make believe and probably believes that Russia remains the proletarian paradise of Soviet times. FuCa, on the other hand, lives with his head up his arse.

That was their net loss. Maybe you missed parentheses or a minus sign.

https://x.com/dudespostingws/status/1919936220869886390?s=46

This is funny. https://x.com/phl43/status/1919829957036941551?s=46

When Garrett Petters, a 29-year-old architect in Dallas, and his girlfriend travelled to Paris last year, one of their favourite parts was eating out. They enjoyed French duck, andouillette, plenty of bread, cheese and coffee and even escargot. But it wasn’t just Paris’s cuisine they admired. It was also the different tipping culture. “We were talking about how nice it is in Europe that they pay their waiters and waitresses and we don’t have to tip because of it, and isn’t that cool,” Petters said. It felt very different from back in the US, where tipping culture felt “out of control”. and Self-checkouts, drive-throughs, hotdog stands, drug stores, a bottled water stall at a jazz festival, an airport vending machine, a used bookstore, a cinema box office, a children’s arcade – these are a handful of the surprising places people reported being asked for tips, with several suggesting companies were taking advantage of new social expectations on gratuities. “Before, tipping was considered generosity,” Petters said. “Now, it’s about guilt.” But a backlash could be brewing, with gratuities falling from a pandemic peak. Average full-service restaurant tips in the fourth quarter of 2024 fell to 19.3%, which is a six-year US low and down from a high of 19.9% in the first quarter of 2021, according to data from Toast. Petters said he was adding less on to the bill now, in the hopes employers would be forced to increase pay for staff. But when he mentioned this to acquaintances working service jobs, he added, some people became angry. “I just said, ‘Why aren’t you mad at your boss for not paying you a liveable wage?’ “I think business owners are really taking advantage of the situation.”

@Horace said in Falsifiability: And I don't believe in coincidences. Well played.

@Mik said in A troon was working the counter at a gas station today…: You need to share that with its employer. Oh yeah.

Most pilots are trained to look out the window.

It would be like the Mario Cuomo bridge or RfK bridge. No local would ever call it that.

Jody, you are SO COOL riding that beautiful horse!!!

There's been an uptick on China is great material passing through my pages - more in the past few months. They don't have to work too hard to demonstrate their achievements.

@taiwan_girl said in Net Worth and pensions: @NobodySock Here are a couple that I "fool around with" https://cfiresim.com/#google_vignette https://www.firecalc.com/index.php They both seemed pretty good to me and were fun to play with. I haven't looked at them recently so dont know what (if any) updates or changes have been made. They both run many simulations based on past stock market returns. I think they call it a "Monte Carlo" Thats where the variable “discount rate” comes into play. Considering market gains, losses, and good old dependable inflation. I plugged in 4 percent and then there is the crap shoot of picking the number of years one has left to live. With monthly pensions and SS, that magical number makes all the difference in placing value to the as yet untold true pot of gold

[image: 1746501639421-img_4862.jpeg]

I'm FB friends with a guy I've known since first grade. My mother used to give him a lift home from primary school. He lives on the Isle of Rhodes, I live in Rhode Island. One of us made a better choice, I suspect. Weirdly, I ran into him at my dad's funeral, in 2014 - he was there for the preceding funeral. We still do a bit of banter from time to time.

@jon-nyc said in Buffett retiring: Ok now I’ve seen it all. A fucking crypto boi accusing Buffett of not adding any real value to the real economy. A cryptofuck. https://x.com/cameron/status/1918870264068166008?s=46 What a maroon.

https://x.com/robinhanson/status/1919452774019858776?s=46