I’ve got a crazy idea that probably won’t work, but who knows:

Let’s start making tons of memes of Bibi making Trump his little bitch. Make fake quotes that make the rounds of Bibi calling Trump a useful idiot, or easier to control than Biden. Try to get Trump to see doing whatever Israel wants as being weak, and make him get into a huge row with Netanyahu.

Israel isn’t Russia, and I don’t think Bibi has Trump by the short hairs like Putin does.

But if you wanted to do something about it: these weapons come from this country and they have to get there in trucks traveling on roads to ports that load them on ships.

We are discussing voting, though. That’s a bit tangential, because you can vote or not vote and still commit acts of… resistance…

And it’s not like there’s not a value to making genocide come with electoral consequences…

If you otherwise would have voted Dem against the Republicans, who are as bad or worse when it comes to the specific issue you’re punishing the Dems for, you are hurting one group committing genocide by helping one who commits and wants to commit even more genocide.

All under the mistaken belief that by refusing to vote for the group you would otherwise vote for, you will get them to move Left. But if the Dems lose to the VERY right wing party, if the voting shows that Americans favor more right-leaning policies, they would move to gain the votes of the people who actually voted.

The reality is, refusing to vote is still a choice. As long as you are an adult who can legally vote in the US election, you are partly responsible for the results of the election. You don’t get to wash your hands of it. Choosing to abstain because you don’t want to partipate out of moral self-righteousness is saying your soapbox is more important than the lives affected by your choices, from the Palestinians to the Ukrainians, immigrants to LGBTQ. Nobody is more important than your ability to say “I didn’t vote for a party that commit genocide.”

So what are the other choices?

I disagree. If we sent 100 personnel with an air defense group to Ukraine, shit would get pretty real pretty fast. Sending people is a whole different commitment to sending weapons.

I had an old instructor who liked to say “when it comes to breakfast, what’s the difference between the chicken and the pig? The chicken made a contribution, the pig made a commitment.”

Sending our own troops stops being a contribution and starts being a commitment.

Does anybody know what this said?! I’m having the same problem!

Edit: nevermind, I figured it out.

Also, telling a depressed person their answer is to exercise is like telling a homeless person that they just need to get a job. The not having a home prevents the getting a job. If they had the ability to find a job, they wouldn’t be homeless (except obviously the people who don’t make enough from their job to support themselves, but that’s a whole different issue that shouldn’t exist).

So even if someone does have the time, getting the depression under control may be necessary before the exercise seems like a reasonable possibility.

My parents were wonderful, so I have no real complaints, but my father had a weird quirk. Tools, equipment, whatever that he had interest and purchased himself were “his.” I mean, obviously, but he would use the possessive when referring to those things.

“You have to prime my lawnmower first before you try to start it.” “Go and get my ladder.” Never the ladder, always my ladder. I never questioned it (because I didn’t care), but when I was a teenager I started noticing it and it was odd. Like he was establishing that the lawn mower or the ladder or whatever didn’t belong to the household, they were his. And nothing seemed to get him worked up more than a neighbor borrowing something and taking more than a day or so to return it.

Back before I lived on an island with two stop lights, I regularly used Google Maps for places I already knew how to get to, purely because I wanted the most efficient route.

Seriously. I was like "okay, Brazil is in the right general area, but obviously the wrong shape. Argentina is definitely not there. Chile is along the coast, so I’ll allow it. I honestly couldn’t say what all the northern countries are, and… wait, what the hell is the north connecting to, that looks like the middle east.

Jesus Christ, that’s Africa."

Seriously, try being the candidate talking shit about an astronaut and decorated servicemember. “I like people who stay on Earth.” Well I don’t!

Especially hot sauce. I missed that the cap wasn’t closed on some… I think Sriracha, and ended up pepper spraying myself. The waitress was very concerned.

BTW, actually getting pepper sprayed is MUCH worse. Getting bear sprayed is worse and also disgusting, because on top of the pain and misery, it also has a really gross musk stank. It took A LOT of washes with vinegar to get the smell out of the clothes I was wearing.

Do not recommend getting spicy stuff of any kind in the eyes.

“It has a smooth finish, virtually indestructible, and it writes upside-down.” [None of these will be true] “Also, with our Ink Anytime subscription service, you’ll never run out of ink! It’s free…” [for the first six months] “for our lowest tier…” [three lines of text per day] “with an option to upgrade to a higher tier anytime.” [Puts pen in pocket] “We’re offering pre-orders with a $5 non-refundable deposit, with delivery expected sometime in the next six months depending on how soon you get on the waitlist.” [Two years until you give up and just let us keep your deposit] “So sign up now!”

The amount of people with no kids that have strong opinions about how children should be raised is like the people with no uteruses that have strong feelings about abortion and pregnancy, or white college kids who have strong opinions about what words and phrases should be offensive to minorities. There’s nothing wrong with having an opinion, but the arrogance to think they have something to contribute to that conversation is exhausting.

Like… tables?

Yes to all except jiggy. I feel like that was just Will Smith trying to make Fetch happen.

Therapist: And what do we say to people who want to get to know us?

Me: Not today.

When in April, with its sweet showers, The drought of March had pierced to the root, And bathed every root in such liquor Of which virtue engendered is the flower.

Basically, it’s setting the scene for the coming story (it’s the introduction to The Canterbury Tales), and talking about in April spring starts to see rain dispelling the drought of March and filling the roots with sweet water.

It goes on to talk about the winds and the birds, where the sun is in the sky (directly overhead), and then to pilgrims starting their pilgrimages, as a sort of “And this is where we begin our story” thing.

That’s a fair comparison, and would give me the appropriate “Oh shit!” that this headline just didn’t offer.

Even a single, well-known point of reference makes it better. We all know world income inequality is absolutely nuts. But to pick out a particular one needs at least some kind of reference point (unless it’s an Indian article for Indian people, like an article from the U.S. for the U.S.).

Tasers? For bears?

I’ve got Glock Spray for bears, and I worry that a 10 millimeter wouldn’t stop one. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with just a taser.

Also live in Alaska. And I’m pretty sure if I ever get pulled over and the officer asks “do you have any weapons in the car” I will probably say “No… wait, yes.” Because I keep forgetting my gun is in the car (in the trunk in a locked gun case).

The difference is that this is verifiable, and the idea about what better is, is ending the war on drugs because it was blatantly wrong to begin with. It didn’t even have “good intentions,” and it does nothing but harm now.

MAGA is where it’s at because they hate for the sake of hate. There’s no “better” for them, unless it hurts others. They’ll “believe” whatever is convenient, because they just want to be angry, whether or not there is any truth to what they’re mad about.

There are mountains of difference, and to “both sides” every time the left points out a legitimately bad thing is sheer obfuscating nonsense.