Modest Mouse

@GhostInTheMac18 @ChrisO_wiki It's sad that someone will have to explain the concept of a 'tripwire' force to Republicans who pretend to be knowledgeable about geopolitics.

A little perspective: •Denmark amassed 100 troops to Greenland to supplement the 150 already there •Belgium sent 1 Officer •Estonia said they might send as many as 5 to 10 personnel •Finland sent 2 liaison officers •France sent 15 soldiers •Germany sent 15 soldiers •Iceland sent 2 coast guard personnel •Netherlands sent 2 personnel •Norway sent 2 personnel •Slovenia sent 3 officers •Sweden sent an unspecified number from a couple ranger units •UK sent 1 recon soldier In other words, one lowly US Army or Marine Corps battalion would utterly overwhelm this “full-scale war” Denmark is threatening. And the US has several hundred army battalions and the USMC has another 30 to 40.

1/ Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland in January, with military support from France, Germany, and Nordic nations. Elite troops and F-35 jets with live ammunition were sent, and runways were to be blown up to prevent an invasion. ⬇️

@capital_punx @Anarseldain Because if you admitted you're in control of this shit show you might have to take some God damned accountability for your poor choices. But since that's way too hard you'll just bury your head in in the sand.

@Anarseldain Yeah…..dont we have the house, senate, supreme court, presidency….? Why does it feel like Democrats are in control?

DOGE was a thing for like 6 months, and already the people involved are being dragged into tribunals – even while the GOP holds all branches of government. Dems will start killing people by firing squad in 2029 if our failure of a GOP doesn’t get serious.

@Anarseldain Someone doesn't know what a deposition is huh?

@PartyPrat I made a comment elsewhere that Iran is going to start using FPVs to clear the way for other munitions and their response was basically, "Nuh uh. FPVs are are short ranged and can't reach US bases in Iraq from Iran." That's the level of stupidity we're going to war with.

Seems Iranian-aligned PMF have free reign to fly FPV drones into US bases. Each of these videos seem to show the operators trying to look for moving targets or US personnel to drop the suicide drone on top of.

@Mkellytx2 @MCCCANM When I was in it always made me very glad that someone would do that. Make sure nothing embarrassing was left for them to find. I dunno, it was comforting to know that someone would do that.

Tough duty to pull. The CGO version is summary courts officer. That's the one where you go through the deceased airman's possessions, catalog everything, and arrange shipment back to next of kin. In some cases, you let the next of kin into the residence to identify items they want immediately. One of my fellow lieutenants and I both had that duty within a month of each other. Not quite as hard as what you had to do, but letting parents into their son's apartment for the very first time was tough, they hadn't been able to visit him before his death. It felt cold and wrong to say those things would be available in the morning.

War means casualties. Every single one has family that will grieve. I thought it might be useful to describe how families are notified, at least in my experience. I had no idea, until I got a phone call at 03:00 one morning ordering me to report in Service Dress. I can only speak to my experience, about 13 years ago…it may have changed. I don’t want to give away so much that you could identify the family, so I’ll be vague. I was stationed at McGuire, flying the KC-10. I’d just recently been promoted to Major…and that’s part of the reason I didn’t know how it works. At least in the Air Force, only Field Grade Officers are eligible for this duty. Your Commander puts you on a list if they think you’ll be suitable. I never heard of any of this & didn’t know I was on a list…I kind of assumed there was someone who had this duty. Not so. I got the call at 03:00. It was the Command Post; they told me I’d been ordered to report to the Family Readiness Center by 04:30, in my service dress. Getting a call to report in service dress usually means you’re in trouble, but reporting to the Family Center is a curveball…the Commander isn’t going to bring you there to chew you out. I should have figured it out, but I didn’t. As I said, I thought someone else just did it. I did as instructed. When I arrived, there were a couple civilians, but they wouldn’t tell me what was going on. We were waiting for someone else. Turns out, it’s the Chaplain & his aide. At this point, I finally put things together. I think there is some rationale for not telling you what they are bringing you in for, but I’m afraid I’ve never figured that out. We get a quick briefing from the civilians. The Chaplain has done this before, if you need to defer to him. Don’t make any promises. Don’t speculate on cause of death. Don’t say anything you don’t know is 100% true. He died overseas, but we’re the base closest to his parents. Not my unit, never met him. We didn’t know the official cause of death, but we get a short brief on the facts. It sounds like a suicide. Anyway, they push us out the door pretty quick. It’s a long drive to Philadelphia, and the point of calling you in so early is to arrive at the next of kin’s house no later than 06:00. They don’t want to do this via a phone call, and don’t want to tip off the family by trying to schedule it. Get there on a weekday before they leave for work. I imagine that doesn’t always go to plan, but I don’t know what the contingency would have been. The Chaplain’s aide drove us in a government car. The Chaplain was kind enough to give me a quick primer on some of the different ways this can go. It was cold, dark & snowing lightly, and we sat in the car quietly for a few minutes when we arrived. Be sure you have the right address. All the lights were still off when the Chaplain & I eventually emerged. I’m supposed to go first, Chaplain behind me off to the side. It took a while, but lights came on & Mom opened the door. They already know when they see the uniform, but I imagine there is some sliver of hope. They don’t give you a speech or script, so I made my own up. Truthfully, at least part of it was based on stuff I’d seen in movies. Confirm her identity first, confirm she’s has a son with the same name in the Air Force. Then, “On behalf of the United States Air Force, I regret to inform you…” She handled it well, but it was surreal. Dad was woken up & we all talked for maybe 45 minutes in their living room. I couldn’t find a way to extricate us…I had hoped it would be short. Mom wanted to know if she could get us coffee. They started talking logistics; I could assure them we would return their son. The Chaplain took care of most of the rest of the talking, thankfully. I remember all of it, but especially my first step up the stairs to their door, in the snow. There is a movie on HBO called “Taking Chance”. It’s based on real events & I think it does a good job representing. Kevin Bacon does well.

@Roytroublemaker @andrii_sybiha NATO didn't bomb Serbia enough. Weak little country that needs to get smaller.

@andrii_sybiha Don't drag Hungarians in to your problems . They are a serious country . Unlike Ukraine

We know that the Hungarian side is preparing to complain again about problems with Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline. We can only advise them to approach their “friends” in Moscow with these photos. This is the Druzhba pipeline infrastructure burning after the latest targeted Russian strike on January 27th, which stopped the oil transit. By the way, Hungary made no protest to Russia about it. They could not even pronounce the word “Russia”. Double standards at their best. The truth is that Moscow stopped being a reliable supplier the moment it launched its aggression against Ukraine. And this aggression is the cause of all problems. Regrettably, years of this reality have not been enough for the Orban government to realize this and diversify supplies. We propose them to open their eyes.

@DanTheDudeGuy @NYPDnews @NYCMayor I agree. The NYPD should abolish themselves.

But @NYCMayor said it was all just fun and friendly snowball fighting? Interesting…dunno why yall continue to support the city that no longer has the best interests of YOU or YOUR FAMILY in mind. Seriously consider resigning and leaving to a state or city that SHOW you they care, not back-handed words that don’t reflect what’s actually happening.

Wanted for ASSAULT ON A POLICE OFFICER: On 2/23/26 at approximately 4:20 PM, two uniformed police officers were inside Washington Square Park when two individuals intentionally struck the officers multiple times with snow and ice causing injury to their head, neck, and face. Anyone with information is asked to contact @NYPDTips or 800-577-TIPS.

@PartyPrat It's the world's most expensive theatre production.

this will be the uh, 2nd, 3rd or 4th time ive been told id find out why americans dont have free healthcare this past year or two for hardly any measurable effect besides theatre

@spuduwu Poor little guy.

I got summoned for jury duty the week I was wanting to go to TFF…

@EmryMutt Relationship is a broad category. Exclusively dating is one kind of relationship. If 'Dating' or 'FWB' were on the less committed side of the relationship scale. And Engaged/Partners on the more committed end of the scale. Exclusively dating would fall between.

What's the difference between two people exclusively dating and two people being in a relationship?

Cannon has a way of subtly signaling he wants to go to bed. #dog

@hayburner49 @KobeissiLetter Also, this really underscores to Canada that deepening trade with China is the correct choice. China has promised to keep its signed deals, and by and large has. The US is always threatening tariffs in violation of a signed deal. Canada is just being smart.

@KobeissiLetter Too entirely different things: 1) exports (fine) 2) imports that are redirected to the US (not fine)

President Trump 8 Days Ago: "If Canada can get a trade deal with China, they should do that." President Trump Today: "If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% tariff."

@zack_quant @KobeissiLetter China has been repeataedly saying, "Make a deal with us. Unliked the United States, we keep our word." Emphatically proving this by the US immediately breaking yet another deal with Canada is really underscoring that Canada is correct to sign deals with China.

What changed isn’t the principle, it’s the leverage point. Eight days ago, the statement was framed as sovereign choice — Canada is free to pursue its own trade relationships. Today’s statement reframes the issue as consequences inside the U.S. market. Those two positions aren’t logically inconsistent. One is about permission; the other is about access. The underlying tension is rules-of-origin and strategic alignment. The U.S. is increasingly sensitive to China-linked supply chains embedded within allied economies, especially where goods can enter the U.S. tariff-free under USMCA. From Washington’s perspective, a Canada–China deal raises the risk of backdoor exposure in autos, batteries, critical minerals, and data-intensive sectors. The 100% tariff language is almost certainly maximalist signaling, not a settled policy. A blanket tariff would clash with USMCA and trigger immediate disputes, so the more likely outcome is pressure for guardrails: tighter origin rules, sector carve-outs, investment screening, or disclosure requirements tied to China-linked inputs. In short, the shift is rhetorical escalation, not a policy U-turn. The message is: Canada can choose its partners — but U.S. market access is conditional on how those choices affect American strategic and economic interests.

@k_ovfefe2 @joekennedy Just like the true meaning of Christmas. That's right. Trump. Who needs Christ anymore when you've got Trump?

@joekennedy You mean the Trump-Lincoln memorial?

The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.

@markryan1956 @oelma__ If someone has extensively drug resistant Tuberculosis it isn't the government's place to force them to quarantine. There are free market solutions, probably. Just because someone has a highly infectious disease doesn't mean they shouldn't be free to travel like anyone else.

@oelma__ Request to move. It looks like it suffers from serious illness and should never have left home.

What would you do if this was sitting next to you on a plane...

@JustTheTweets17 @oelma__ How's he gonna notice? Then again it ain't like you're the sort to think a plan through.

@oelma__ Cough

@cadsoftdirect When I checked a month ago it was 300. Now it's 399, discounted to 300. LOL

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@SecretPT109 @EricLDaugh The officer oath is different, which you'd known if you had served.

@EricLDaugh This Demorat asshole is trying to start a civil war, how much longer do we have to take this bull shit please someone send this guy to the SPA for a very long vacation!

🚨 BREAKING: Seditious Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly has cooked himself even FURTHER, running to Jimmy Kimmel and telling Pete Hegseth and President Trump he’ll KEEP pushing for rebellion “I’m NOT backing down!” 🤯 Court-martial this traitor. Enough.

@ThatchEffendi Nothing says Conservative like praising a union member going home to the home he bought with a Federally subsidized loan during the peak of the leftist created New-Deal socialist economy when the top marginal tax rate was 90%.

The core underlying belief at the heart of all modern right-wing political thought today is that advertisements from the 50s-90s were totally real and that if we are realy, really cruel and try really really really hard we can live in advertisements from the 50s-90s

@DrewPavlou Nothing says Conservative like praising a union member going home to the home he bought with a Federally subsidized loan during the peak of the leftist created New-Deal socialist economy when the top marginal tax rate was 90%.

The core underlying belief at the heart of all left wing political thought today is that this image is evil