Bonks incoming

The Reaper (after Millet), Van Gogh, 1889.

@PolymarketIntel The way the cat rolls over with its head underwater is harrowing to watch. Seems like it was already in the middle of the drowning process.

Cat rescued after being trapped in high floodwaters in Hat Yai, Thailand.

@Prune602 I suspect the demand for shoes is limited now by the shortage of legs.

@calabrias_cat @BaldingsWorld Why would China do a grand bargain for Taiwan, when can bide their time and less than 10 years they can simply grab it?

@BaldingsWorld Or just end the Taiwan nonsense and cut a grand bargain

There is one basic solution that can take many forms and one of the reasons we are completely impotent is that everyone dislikes the answer. You cannot free trade your way out of the rare earths problem (or most any issue with China) so it requires state intervention (and this is the key part) to deal with the PRICE problem. Let me explain. China controls so much of the rare earth market from pulling it out of the ground to final product globally not just in China they effectively control the market and are a price setter. No free market stand alone company can survive in a free market. That's just reality. China has engaged in a variety of tactics such as buying firms not just in the US globally to restricting equipment and price wars to drive firms out of business. To address the reality, however distasteful, is that you must have state intervention and most fundamentally to address the price issue. Personally, I will accept a variety of approaches to deal with the price issue because I recognize that while there are a variety of approaches and I might prefer X, the biggest hurdle is getting any action of any kind so I accept a range of options that deal with the pricing problem. Let me emphasize of course state intervention is sub-optimal. I recognize and acknowledge that. The reality however, is that you are not going to solve this issue by by free trading with China. I also recognize and acknowledge that my preferred price mechanism might not be used but action is better than holding out for my preferred mechanism. You should apply this general framework to most China issues

@Jeff21461 Good to have some ear protection

Just leaving this picture of a Ukrainian 2S7 firing an M106 203mm HE shell here for posterity :)

🇬🇷🇨🇿 According to EfSyn the Greek government is looking to sell a load of decommissioned military equipment and ammunition to the Czech Republic. Up for sale are: - 60 M110A2 203mm for 31,2 million € - 50.000 M106 HE 203mm shells for 41,5 million € - 40.000 M650 HERA 203mm shells for 60 million € - 30.000 M404 ICM 203mm shells for 33 million € - 30.000 M509A1 DPICM 203mm shells for 33,6 million € - An unknown number of 2,7 and 5-inch rockets This would be the second such sale of decommissioned equipment to Czechia, as last year Greece sold 32 M101 105mm towed howitzers and 71 M114 155mm towed howitzers to Czechia. efsyn.gr/politiki/exote…

@HoansSolo @ForeignPolicy Should a European theory of victory involve eliminating Wagner (and successor) mercenaries and their benefactors in Africa?

My latest for @ForeignPolicy: I argue that there exists no coherent theory of success defining what Europe actually wants to achieve in Ukraine, other than avoiding direct military engagement with Russia and ending the conflict through some kind of negotiated settlement. This is risk management rather than grand strategy—the Europeans only define what they want to avoid rather than what they seek to accomplish. This approach offers no path toward a sustainable outcome and no metrics for measuring success beyond termination of the current conflict. … Today’s European leaders are in a Singapore trap, crafting a training mission designed to signal resolve rather than achieve an actual military objective. They are systematically avoiding not only the resource questions—including strategic trade-offs such as revising NATO regional defense plans—but also the question of what Europe would be willing to risk that would make deterrence more likely to succeed.

@PostLeftWatch Taibbi conflating free speech laws with public opinion. You can say what you want, burn a US or pride flag if you want, but your hurt feelings aren't the govt's business.

Matt Taibbi accepting the false premise presented by the neo-nazi comic Stonetoss

@scarylawyerguy Ryan Walters deserves praise for not watching child porn.

In my near 30 years as a lawyer, I've sat through my fair share of boring meetings and never, not once, did I think, "you know what, now would be a great time to fire up some porn"

@parkerdesautel Yeah he would be a good pick. That book has sly comedy and he can do that, too.

@BlocksIncoming That, indeed, is the most unfortunate part. His Ahab would’ve been legendary. I suppose Nicolas Cage would be the logical second pick?

If Werner Herzog ever made Moby Dick, it would be the greatest film ever, bar none

@grok are you competent to explain poetry?

@scarylawyerguy NYC police union hates him for his prior "defund" support & would not coopereate; might intentionally slow work down. Probably best not to fight them even before taking office.

Subtle drift towards the center-left done by someone good at politics who knows he can't be tagged as a socialist + needs more than viral videos to govern a city w/a $116B budget & 8 million people. Not sure how the hard core lefties will take this, but that's politics, kids!

@grok please explain this post

The Reaper (after Millet), Van Gogh, 1889.

@witter_dude Lavrov lies for his country, and everyone knows it. But at least Lavrov projects competence and speaks English fluently.

Is Trump the new Lavrov?

@Rail_splitter1 My favorite are the many "we need to trust the leader's decisions"

The defeated and compliant American media are outdoing themselves in coming up with neutral-sounding euphemisms for Trump’s destruction of America: “He pledged to remake the economy.” “He has a high appetite for risk.” “Bold decisions.”

@DavRayAZ29 But it's no more defensible or sustainable than an Aleutian compound.

@DavRayAZ29 I just think it illustrates how shallow and stupid these genius tech boys are. They could already build an Alaskan island fortress for a relative pittance but instead want to conquer Greenland and play Immortan Joe with their "network state" instead.

@Globalbiosec That is a really cool picture with the cross shaped sign and the car obscured behind the wall in the background,

My dog and I more than 40 years ago. I was about 17, saw him at Paddy's markets jumping up and down in a crate and bought him for $20. A kelpie cross. Dog of dogs.

@PaperMissiles Lower aggregate demand means cheap egg.

@SolidEvidence @CronkyLady You usually stick to abstruse topics. CDC/NIH/FDA cuts are political and subject to astroturfing and the followers of astroturfing. They want you to shut up and give their fellow travellers the impression that they are right and numerous.

@CronkyLady Did you read the replies though? More vitriol than I'm used to.

I've gotten a surprising amount of hate over this post. I wonder how many of the people wanting to burn down the CDC were this enthusiastic about 'defunding the police'? I get as frustrated with the CDC as anyone at times, but they are an essential agency (just like the police).