makes community about video game arguments.

then makes community about not arguing with me.

He specifically withheld an order of cluster munitions over concerns the Israelis were using them improperly, well after the invasion was underway.

Not too different from Biden withholding the bomb shipments over Rafah.

How about Venice?

I read it as scenery. Probably because the thread is about travel.

There’s a principle in alcoholics support groups called “fake it til you make it”.

Fake is a sort of meaningless word. You are the sum of your own choices, throughout your life. There is no such thing as some sort of “true” you that is inherent and unchangeable, all of your attitudes, emotions, likes/dislikes are like clothes you wear. They can be changed with a pattern of choices that fall under your overarching will.

It’s not easy, though, not by a long shot. So, one technique is to fake it til you make it. Pretend at first, fake whatever trait you are trying to establish. You’ll find over time your willpower turns that into the new “true you”. You can change various aspects of yourself, it’s all under your power.

It’s a hell of a steep hill to climb alone though, so you might want some help along the way. Addiction support groups serve this purpose for people trying to get past their addictions. You might need some pharmaceutical assistance though, if you have a chronic problem, so a doctor might be a wise move.

If they didn’t want them, they could just ask them to leave. If the leader disagreed, the people could vote for a different leader.

The Green Berets are the army’s spec ops that focus on training foreign fighters, specially chosen for things like foreign language proficiency. They’re not Rangers or general light infantry. Ideally they’re not really supposed to get into direct combat, as they’re rather time consuming and difficult to replace.

I would bet a whole bunch of money that we actually do have Green Berets present in Ukraine as well, though the only people that would know that for sure would be the US govt, the Ukrainians and probably Russian intelligence.

If the 101st Airborne gets deployed to Taiwan, then I’d be worried.

Going for a walk can sometimes scratch that itch. Instead of checking the news of a national or global scale, which you can’t ultimately do a lot about anyway, you’re checking “the news” of your immediate environment with your own eyeballs. It usually doesn’t change a lot, but what else is new?

Not a big fan.

Frankly though I think Snowden gets way too much credit. Anyone with any sense that looked at the Patriot Act knew what was going to happen, and people were raising alarm from the beginning. He just confirmed what already should have been very obvious.

https://youtube.com/@realryanchapman

This guy is pretty good.

Oh, is this the new Scientology doctrine now?

a^2 + b^2 = c^2???

Lies.

Fine, but not when there’s already an established common usage. If I go around saying America army instead of American army, that would not be proper.

President Joe Biden is set to announce new China tariffs as soon as next week targeting strategic sectors including electric vehicles, solar panels and steel.

So, are Teslas manufactured in Elon’s Shanghai plant also subject to the tariffs? If so, ouch.

Also, wtf is with the English usage? “China medical supplies”? “China” is a noun, not an adjective. I mean, I think an actual Chinese person with a couple years of HS English study would have gotten that correct…

It’s a little more complicated than that.

That is specific to incendiary munitions, where the WP is used for its flame effects. WP also happens to be what makes tracer rounds glow as they fly through the air. Because the risk of fire is very low, this is an example of a usage that is not banned, even in civilian areas.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Certain_Conventional_Weapons

https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?chapter=26&clang=_en&mtdsg_no=XXVI-2&src=TREATY

Protocol 3 is what you’re looking for.

White phosphorus is frequently used in smoke munitions, where it is not prohibited by international law. Additionally, a thermobaric weapon is another name for a fuel-air bomb, where an explosive is dispersed in the air and then the whole cloud is ignited, creating a large explosion. Thermobaric weapons are not banned, and have nothing to do with WP.

I’m making no claims about the IDF using or not using WP on civilians, which is illegal, but simply pointing out the misleading use of buzzwords in this summary.

If all government actions from any point in time are what matter, and not the democratic opinions of the populace or the actions of the current government, then I’d say the worst was Mongolia under Genghis Khan.

Yeah I’m not clicking on that. Assuming it’s about the ICE facility allegations from 2020 though. And yeah, Trump is a monster. Make no mistake, the US could go fully fascist if we let it, there are certainly xenophobic elements within the country. It’s not a majority opinion though.

most?

Don’t get out much, eh? Xenophobia is present all throughout the world in different amounts, it has its roots in any insulated human nature. The US is far from the worst on Earth though, despite whatever cherry-picked propaganda one may read. We just do have some, particularly in more interior regions.

Hm. I wonder if they’re planning on trying to more fully close the Persian Gulf.