This is how we maintained our airplanes [image: 1646757825779-9c467ede-db8c-4f06-ada3-e9357b5d4ed9-image.png]

It should indeed be illegal to try to harm Americans for their political views or who they do business with. The idea of lawyers trying to shame other lawyers is just surreal.

All the scientists will tell you that that’s no way to propagate the species, but now that science has been debunked in a post COVID world, I’d say it’s worth a shot.

We need to make sure it is not.

@taiwan_girl said in Where has Covid been the most deadly over time?: So the colors are which party controls the state? Hopefully we can do this for everything going forward. It's such a useful way to categorize a disaster like this.

@jon-nyc said in Wendover Productions: The Failed Logistics of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Excellent video. This outfit always does a good job explaining stuff, like why airliners don't fly faster, etc.

Don't buy anything off FB marketplace. 90% of the ads are scammers.

That's assuming a fair election. We don't have fair elections any more. I won't be surprised if the days after the elections this fall if the news media isn't discussing how the democrats, in spite of how things looked, managed to swueak out a win and keep control of both houses. Our government is corrupt, and inept. It no longer serves the people.

@Aqua-Letifer said in Interesting map: Look at that, @LuFins-Dad ! The Madrid of North America! The two most successful Football franchises of the 20th century!

@Aqua-s-Sister The one and only:  https://res.cloudinary.com/webstore/image/upload/t_product_detail_slider/v1/zoodelImages/upload/productImages/02_06_16_09_39_38__13.jpg

@Renauda Thanks. Interesting!

@Horace [image: tenor.gif?ver=1112&c=VjFfZmFjZWJvb2tfd2ViY29tbWVudHM&itemid=14971001&fbclid=IwAR3Kqcwhqnl1SHFtBdHvhBsGLi16x6Hvq4juJtyjCWeggmbm1dzTMIdlO3g]

Never been. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[image: 1646692091023-mercs.png]

@Jolly I agree with you. I’m thinking there might be a rump Ukraine emerging from this made up of Western Ukraine -areas that were part of Poland and Romania until 1939 and Hapsburg territories before WWI. It would border the Russian held Ukraine to the east and Belarus to the north thus in effect creating a cordon sanitaire separating Russia from the west. The wild card in the scenario though is in the north along the borders of the NATO Baltic States and Finland.

@Renauda said: I wish I could share in your optimism about the lack of support in Russia. I do not believe for a second that the vast majority of the Russian public has not bought into Putin’s propaganda narrative blaming all of this on “Ukrainian Nazis”and NATO. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ FWIW, these excerpts from PBS: Putin’s public approval soared as Russia prepared to attack Ukraine. History shows it’s unlikely to last. Historical data shows that diversionary wars — fighting abroad to draw attention away from problems at home — have rarely worked for Putin. Daring and expensive military adventures will, over time, decrease the Kremlin’s popularity, history also tells us. As a scholar of Russia and public opinion, I know that war ultimately requires an enormous amount of public goodwill and support for a political leader — far more than a brief spike in popularity can ensure. Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border over the last few months coincides with a steady rise in Putin’s popularity. Approximately 69% of Russians now approve of Putin, compared to the 61% who approved of him in August 2021, according to Russian polling agency the Levada Center. And 29% of Russians disapprove of Putin, down from 37% in August 2021. The polling group is the leading independent sociological research organization in Russia and is widely respected by many scholars, including myself. Support for Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his cabinet also increased moderately in the same time period. The Russian public largely believes that the Kremlin is defending Russia by standing up to the West. <snip> About 38% of Russians did not consider war with Ukraine a real possibility as of December 2021, according to Levada Center polling. Another 15% completely ruled out the possibility of armed conflict. Approximately 83% of Russians report positive views on Ukrainians. And 51% of Russians say that Russia and Ukraine should be independent, yet friendly, countries. The popular narrative is that Russia is a besieged fortress, constantly fending off Western attacks. Half of Russians blame the current crisis on the U.S. and NATO, while 16% think Ukraine is the aggressor. Just 4% believe Russia is responsible. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/putins-public-approval-soared-as-russia-prepared-to-attack-ukraine-history-shows-its-unlikely-to-last

What about a No-Fly Zone in Ukraine? Or maybe a modern day version of the AVG, featuring an international group of pilots? I could imagine pilots being contracted to provide air support and other Soldier of Fortune types showing up to "beat those commies" into submission. The US and allies could covertly support them. Of course, Putin would see that as license for indiscretions to sabotage NATO capabilities. Again, I think Putin feels he has a great advantage over his adversaries once this moves further into asymmetric warfare as he's already been hit pretty hard and may feel he has less to lose moving forward.

@Jolly said in MAPA: @Jolly said in MAPA: Make America Poor Again. [image: 51K8Lvbb0tL.__AC_SY300_SX300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg] And my initial point is that Biden will be given the blame for record inflation. Most Americans in the working sector do not remember the miasma of the Carter presidency. They are in for a rude shock and Mr. Biden is going to get torched. My daughter is married to a union steward. God Bless him, he's quit defending Biden at all. Having to buy a car, put gas in it and buy groceries will do that to you. Speaking of things one seldom hears, I don't hear much rah-rah over Biden at all. Through Afghanistan and some other COVID nonsense, Biden himself paved the way for liberals to ignore him without their losing face with the Right People.