Yup, the free market and health care are not compatible because the free market works on principles of supply and demand. But when you have a limited resource that people will literally pay anything for (their health) - well you can see where the problem is.

I try to get out but you drag me back in

Western powers started out relatively strong but at this point I could almost see Putin betting on a weak response. I’m hoping some of these warnings get heeded and the US/EU realizes they won’t even have to think about it if they simply provide Ukraine with overwhelming support.

Maybe you just got a case without symptoms

It is insane, but again, we have to be realistic about how things work. The system is literally slanted to emphasize two parties. If we had something like ranked choice voting then at least we could start to support third options. But the way it works now, unfortunately, a vote for a third party is as good as a vote for the candidate you hate the most.

Because that’s not how it works.

It’s too late for Dems to field an alternative that doesn’t just play spoiler and get Trump elected. And barring some massive turn of events, the spell Trump has on the GOP isn’t going to break. Americans need to game it out long term and think strategically about who will be more likely to lead to the kind of change you’d like to see. Even if you think Biden won’t do any of the things you want to see happen, at least there will be room to talk about it under him. A second Trump presidency will again smother outside opinions under a cloud of chaos and cruelty and incompetence. If you like the abiity to protest - remember how it was dealt with under Trump. Which means for anyone with a shred of humanity - plug your nose if you have to and vote Biden.

Yes but word is that they had plenty of intelligence about a major operation. So it wasn’t a lack of intelligence as much as arrogance in the leadership, at best. At worst, well you’d have to get into some dark conspiracy theory.

It’s such a shitty moral quandary. We know all the arguments for combining them and they all make sense from a strategic standpoint but you’re absolutely right that they are in no way similar.

I really think Biden should do more of this kind of thing - making the public case for support in Ukraine. His admin just doesn’t do enough communicating from the bully pulpet and this is just the kind of message that would really benefit from it. That was the best thing Obama did as POTUS: explaining things to the public in an adult way, trusting we’d get it.

The Biden admin should be creating opportunities to distinguish him as the rational adult in the room. Let the GOP do their mudslinging. POTUS should be repeating ‘extremely cheap way to fight a long time enemy’ ‘defeating Russia without American soldiers’ blood’. Seriously, administrations during the cold war would salivate at this opportunity to put Russia on its heels.

Not to mention ‘averting a larger war’ when the GOP is trying to paint him as a warmonger, and ‘averting a nuclear crisis’ when he needs to show he’s got strength even in his 80s.

But the Dems seem to always be too concerned about catering to public opinion instead of using their vast resources to shape it.

I always thought it was incredibly absurd that a language would be based on such analogies until memes took over our discourse

I mean people set fires and bombs in pursuit of the right to vote and we could argue that climate change is far more existential.

Trump would suggest they use nukes to speed it along, I’m fairly sure

Is there a benefit to setting something like this up instead of just using some of the better free streaming sites?

Correction: the writers planned out 40 seasons but it was cancelled on a particularly shitty cliffhanger after season two.

This is it isn’t it? I’d complain and cancel but they don’t care about how I feel.

Arguable but the last time I was at the RenFest in Larkspur, there were Jedi and Star Fleet officers there.

You say that very confidently and are pretty well upvoted but I found several in a quick search:

https://jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk/ https://tewkesburymedievalfestival.org/ https://fantasyforest.co.uk/ http://www.renaissancefaire.co.uk/

Great, so we should start reuptake now because it’s already too late. I know it’s a controversial subject and I know why but we better get used to the idea of it now because it has to happen.

I feel like I’ve never even heard someone say it like that either. Maybe it’s just my bubble but I never hear people refer to themselves by their continent except maybe occasionally Europeans.

I have never heard anyone refer to themselves as American the way people refer to themselves as European. It’s really not a thing so there is literally zero confusion when you call a citizen of the USA an American.

Genuinely curious, why do you think that?