James Arryn Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said: To be fair, there are a handful of terms and slogans we use that feel eerily like what the Nazis used. And then it gets tricky with things like MAGA because Make (country X) Great Again has been used a lot, including by Hitler. You do not want to know about the history of the Pledge of Allegiance. Really hard to get Nazier than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog-days Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 28 minutes ago, Paladin of Ice said: New Zealand? I'll look into resident visas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 When we did research on it New Zealand was one of the best options. Excellent civil government, some urban areas but largely rural, mostly self-sufficient, unlikely to be horribly hit by climate change, and a fairly reasonable immigration policy. Weirdly, if it wasn't for the fact that my adult son has cancer and needs to be on my insurance policy we would have likely already moved. I had a job offer and everything, but we couldn't afford to pay for his insurance and he wouldn't have been covered under the family visa system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 41 minutes ago, Paladin of Ice said: New Zealand? Hmmm. Is New Zealand self sustainable? It doesn’t work if the island can’t feed itself if global supply chains should break down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 minute ago, A True Kaniggit said: Hmmm. Is New Zealand self sustainable? It doesn’t work if the island can’t feed itself if global supply chains should break down. It's as self-sustainable as any economy is in this world. It has a lot of food production locally and could potentially do more if needed. Probably fuel and manufacturing are the biggest losses if you're talking about perfectly self-sustaining, but things like electricity are pretty well set. Also, guys, I know that it seems like Trump just assassinated a major military leader out of the blue but it was totally deserved because he posted mean memes against Trump https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1213185120032739328?s=20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 52 minutes ago, James Arryn said: You do not want to know about the history of the Pledge of Allegiance. Really hard to get Nazier than that. I’ve disliked the Pledge for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 4 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: I’ve disliked the Pledge for decades. Is it still a thing in schools? I remember doing it first thing in the morning every school day for years. I think they even made that one Ukrainian exchange student do it. Still have all the words memorized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 37 minutes ago, Kalbear said: Also, guys, I know that it seems like Trump just assassinated a major military leader out of the blue but it was totally deserved because he posted mean memes against Trump https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1213185120032739328?s=20 Oh shoot, posting mean things about Trump on the internet may get you killed? Think some of us are in danger? ...... No, of course not. This is a book forum. It’s not like the guy actually reads literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I see members of the administration are justifying the attack based on the fact the guy was plotting a coup against the Iraq government. Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff better keep an eye out for drones coming after them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altherion Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 The BBC has an article with an interesting question: why now? Quote What is most surprising is not that Soleimani was in President Trump's sights but quite why the US should strike him now. A series of low-level rocket attacks against US bases in Iraq were blamed on Tehran. One US civilian contractor was killed. But earlier Iranian operations - against tankers in the Gulf; the shooting down of a US unmanned aerial vehicle; even the major attack against a Saudi oil facility - all went without a direct US response. As for the rocket attacks against the US bases in Iraq, the Pentagon has already hit back against the pro-Iranian militia believed to be behind them. That prompted a potential assault on the US embassy compound in Baghdad. One could argue that the attack on an embassy is an act of war and the US looked past the rather transparent proxy games and responded in kind, but it seems rather odd given that nobody was hurt in the embassy attack. It would be interesting to know who that civilian contractor was; Google does a good job of completing the search phrase, but there is no answer in the results -- every article says either "civilian contractor" or "defense contractor", but I rather doubt this was some random plumber or equipment repairman... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 3 hours ago, Fez said: When the hell did the phrase "blood and treasure" become an accepted part of diplomatic vernacular again? It’s an expression of support for the Saudis, after having too many of your fav cocktail at the Bar in the Trump hotel. They just stumbled over the word ‘sand’ and used ‘treasure’ instead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melifeather Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 How is assassinating Iran's equivalent of a Secretary of Defense making America safer? If there was some attack planned, Soleimani's death won't change state plans. Soleimani was a government official - not a leader of a rogue terrorist organization, unless you consider the entire country of Iran as a terrorist organization? Iran is opposed to ISIL and is currently fighting the group in Syria and Iraq, so to label Soleimani as a terrorist in order to justify his death, is ridiculous. Iran is very close - months perhaps - to having enough weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear bomb, and they have the world's oldest drone development program. They have been using military drones against Iraq since the 1980's! They already have drones that can carry and fire missiles, and the capability to use them for biological warfare. The country has promised to strike back at us in retaliation. Attacking our troops is only a matter of days away, but we should also seriously take their threat to include at attack here at home. Someone up thread jokingly warned Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should watch out for drones, but I think it's Trump that needs to keep his eyes on the sky. And what if they decide the best way to get to Trump is to drop some lethal virus or bacteria on Mar-a-lago or Trump National? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of the North Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 19 hours ago, The Great Unwashed said: Dollars to doughnuts that this is a "Wag the Dog" response to distract from the damning leak of Pentagon emails directly tying Trump to the hold of Ukraine funds. Link for reference. Very difficult for me not to agree with you here. I think the timing is very suspect and I agree with the things I've already read asking "why now?" when there was little to no response to previous Iranian attacks, etc.? And in the "As usual, there's a tweet for that" dept., there's this: Quote (CNN) In media appearances prior to the 2012 election, Donald Trump repeatedly predicted that then-President Barack Obama would start a war with Iran in order to win re-election. Not surprising and...chilling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 hour ago, A True Kaniggit said: Is it still a thing in schools? I remember doing it first thing in the morning every school day for years. I think they even made that one Ukrainian exchange student do it. Still have all the words memorized. I think it depends on the school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 3 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: I think it depends on the school. Of course. Didn’t know if there’d been any changes in the last 10 years pertaining to forcing children to recite it. (Especially of the “Under God” part) I’ll do a little research of my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Week Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 The only "logic" that I can truly muster for this attack is the calculation that the violent response is limited or predicated the US forces remaining in the region. An Iraqi resolution to expel US troops is already in process. The move of a cowardly bully to get one last punch to draw blood before retreating. It's definitely tinfoil hat and risky - but frankly that's what our current foreign policy is based on. Win for attacking Iran and win for pulling troops out (ultimately - the recent influx of a couple thousand are counter to this. They may just be bodies to tear down behind us as we leave a la Syria). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 minute ago, Week said: Win for attacking Iran and win for pulling troops out (ultimately - the recent influx of a couple thousand are counter to this. They may just be bodies to tear down behind us as we leave a la Syria). And apparently "win" for the insults to Obama. The "Red Line" insults have been going off the charts lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 3 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said: Of course. Didn’t know if there’d been any changes in the last 10 years pertaining to forcing children to recite it. (Especially of the “Under God” part) I’ll do a little research of my own. It’s a violation of the 1st Amendment to require recitation, but, social approbation is a powerful motivator even if it is not legally required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 minute ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: It’s a violation of the 1st Amendment to require recitation, but, social approbation is a powerful motivator even if it is not legally required. Especially when starting in the first and second grades. It's not like 5 and 6 years olds understand what this means. It's almost like trying to indoctrinate the young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 3 minutes ago, A True Kaniggit said: Especially when starting in the first and second grades. It's not like 5 and 6 years olds understand what this means. It's almost like trying to indoctrinate the young. There is no “almost” about it. That’s what is being done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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