iNow

What are the key differences you see between these two?

No

Oi

I’ve previously referred to this as the swarm of bees strategy. You release a bunch of bees into the space and people behind you start walking out carrying with them all of your valuables while you’re distracted. You also can’t really focus anymore on just one single bee, even if it’s the most important one (let’s call it the queen). Continuing the analogy of redirecting attention away from the point that actually matters… the swarm protects the queen.

Trump sues everybody. Litigiousness is kinda his thing.

The harm claim is a financial one. He alleges spending $24M in legal fees to defend himself, so of course is suing her for triple that amount and asking for $72M. It’s never about the actual legality or money though. It’s more of the strategy Steve Bannon described as “flooding the zone with shit” to distract the media, the public, and to keep the rabid base agitated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/24/virginia-thomas-mark-meadows-texts/

More detail from the Skimm: There’s Ginni Thomas. Yesterday, reports revealed the conservative activist — and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — worked to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Text messages show Thomas called President Biden’s win a “heist” and pressed then-President Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to “release the Kraken” and “help this great president stand firm.” It’s all part of the evidence Meadows gave to the January 6th panel before he stopped cooperating. And comes weeks after a court filing from the panel argued Trump and members of his campaign engaged in a “criminal conspiracy” to overturn the election. Recuse me?: Thomas has so far resisted calls to recuse himself from Trump-related cases — despite his family’s close personal relationship with the admin.

They’re making me sick. They’re making us all sick.

Meanwhile, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was texting with Trumps White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows at this time… she was pressing and directly advising them to overturn the 2020 election and reverse the results. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/us/politics/ginni-thomas-trump-mark-meadows.html

I support us proceeding in this manner

Is this one civilized enough?

My immediate thought is that we’re not seeing them because they’re covert (i.e. they very well may be happening outside of our awareness). Another thought is that humans are in short supply and very badly needed along the front lines. Basically, although they have teams of plumbers and electricians at the ready, right now the house itself is on fire so all hands are on deck trying to extinguish the flames first. They’re otherwise occupied.

Merged? Would've been better Moved... to the Trash Can

A better question IMO is what will be left of Russia

Russia also has escalation superiority over Ukraine in that circumstance. Ukraine shelling Russian cities would be seen as an escalation, and in response Russia could retaliate far more forcefully / devastatingly.

Didn’t realize I was on an IT forum dedicated to discussions about iOS updates

Another unpopular opinion: Trump would be better than many of the others. He and his cronies are mostly evil, but they're thankfully also mostly incompetent. Keystone cops comes to mind. Anyone with a bit more political skill, but with those same autocratic tendencies following the Trump model is likely to be far worse in terms of outcomes. Completely agree. Trump worries me far less than the millions upon millions upon millions of people who think he's the best representation of them, even after having 5 years to learn what the man truly represents (i.e. they aren't just being fooled and hoodwinked into thinking he's a great businessman).

It was a tv show. Not relevant in a technical discussion of reactors

Depends on which shot you get and when you get it. Much like the virus evolves, so too do our defenses against it. Active development efforts are happening as you read this

It also seems that Russian troop morale is VERY low right now since more than 7,000 of them have already been killed in less than 3 weeks (according to conservative US estimates).

No. Vax (2 shots plus booster) plus confirmed infection from the past equals strongest possible protection. What you have now is an immune system that saw the caterpillar when it was young and can fight against that caterpillar, but that same immune system can’t recognize the butterfly in its current state with its current colors. The caterpillar is no longer relevant and the butterfly is what’s flying around today. Just like getting the flu in 2020 doesn’t much protect you from getting flu in 2022, covid has evolved a LOT since you had your infection 2 years ago so should be mostly ignored in terms of predicting risk.

No, but in the weeks ahead, yes. As for my own update, Biden plans to announce another $1 billion+ in new military aid to Ukraine today, including anti-armor and anti-air systems (according to the WSJ)

He’s become pretty good at turning neighbors and family and friends against each other over small issues. It’s unsurprising he’d feel confident about being able to do it with his soldiers. Part of the issue here, however, is also that he’s been lying to them about why they’re being there and they likely resent seeing the truth upon arrival.