“At the Kaziranga National Park, this elephant mother and calf seemed completely oblivious to our jeep and went about their stroll through the pond. The mom seemed to be giving her calf lessons on eating the hyacinth - select a lush green bunch, rip them out from the root, pound the stems against their trunk to remove the mud, and then swallow whole. The calf looked like she was thoroughly enjoying the lesson and duly followed her mother’s every move. I stood transfixed as the lesson played out in front of us - stopping only to take a photo now and then - the pair occasionally glanced in our direction and must have been wondering what we were ooohing and aaahing about - this particularly photo is my favorite since it has the calf standing stuck to her mother with a trunk full of stems - I was lucky enough to take the shot just at the moment they seemed to give us an enormous smile.”
I received an email from Cal about two Alumni courses available to alums. They look pretty cool. I'm thinking about signing up for one of them.
Extreme Politics: Radicals, Revolutionaries, and Terrorists
If it is a truism of politics that the center is always stable, then why do certain individuals and movements constantly gravitate toward the extreme left and right? Using contemporary case studies and focusing on politics while also drawing on insights from fields such as psychology, biology, and sociology, this course will investigate the sources and causes of political extremism and radicalism, as well as potential solutions.
Food, Culture and the Environment
Food plays a pivotal role in both connecting us as a species and distinguishing between cultures and groups, but why do we eat what we eat? This course will broadly address the historical, ecological, socioeconomic, biological, political, and cultural environments impacting the human diet and, in turn, how the human diet plays a role in factors such as climate change. It is a nutrition course with an anthropological slant that examines diet and cuisine and aims to inspire you to become more aware, informed, and intentional about your role and participation in the food system.
The new sanctions include tech export restrictions to Russia (nothing tech related can be sold directly or indirectly to Russia). The export control was also adopted by EU, Japan, Australia, UK, Canada, NZ.
5 Russian banks are now blacklisted from the US
13 companies are blocked from the US capital markets, including Gazropm
Freezing assets on 7 Russian families
Further sanctions on 24 Belarusian families
What it didn't include:
blocking Russia from SWIFT banking system
tariffs
troops beyond 7k more to Germany/Poland
This is a pillowy bop from the West. I mean, this will hurt Russia - but it's not enough change a thing.
Watch the second half of Seven Samurai - and as much as I like The Magnificent Seven, it is a pale imitation. So much story telling visually, so dense.
Ozark S4 part 1 (13/19 WB Netflix). Finished it last night. The finale of the half-season paid off, but the episode before them were muddle with inconsistencies, plot holes, and illogical steps that people wouldn't do. This half-season is absolutely a step behind the previous 3, but it's still entertaining. Would still totally bang.
Yeah my initial impression while watching the latest season was that they were rushing the plot, and progressing too much of the story simply through dialogue (and via phone calls between characters, at that), which had me thinking of the writing critique "show me, dont tell me". But I enjoyed it overall nonetheless.
Japan just announced 0 day quarantine for entry if you are vaccinated, and they finally added J&J to the "vaccinated" list. Now I can finally go back. The risk is that if there was someone who test positive who arrived on the same plane, you could be required to quarantine for 14 days
They reduced it to 3 days just a few days ago, and starting March 1st it will be zero days.
Starting March 1, eligible travelers to Japan from the United States will be eligible to bypass the quarantine period if fully vaccinated and boosted with a vaccine recognized by the Government of Japan. Unvaccinated travelers and/or travelers who have not yet received their booster vaccination may be eligible for a three-day quarantine period, if tested on third day in Japan.
This isn’t new and as Cugel said, China has been doing this a lot lately. As we saw with Russia, it takes a while to move troops and supplies to prepare for an invasion. Even more so when it is an invasion by sea.
About 100 miles of ocean separates China from Taiwan, that is about the same distance that separated Allied troops in England from Normandy. The US/Taiwan and every intelligence agency in the world would see China preparing for an invasion of Taiwan as they would need to move ships.
this happened faster than I thought it would. Though I guess Xi thinks this is the best time to probe with the world looking at another part of the world.
As said above, Xi and China have been doing this a lot lately.
Xi, like Putin has consolidated power and is now in the legacy building phase of his leadership. He will make a move for Taiwan during his time in power.
This week, the USPS released its final record of decision and record of environmental consideration for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle purchase. And it's bad news for anyone who cares about climate change or air pollution, as the Postal Service has dug in and refuses to alter its plans. That means that 90 percent of the 50,000-165,000 NGDVs that are being ordered will use gasoline and will only average 8.6 mpg (28.86 L/100 km) when used with air conditioning.
I don't know that it's quite so obvious that most mail routes are well suited to EVs, but even if the number is <100% it's certainly >10%. I assume in part this is complicated by their "non standard" requirement for right hand drive cars, so maybe call up Ford or Chrysler (who make commercial hybrid vehicles with RHD, sucks for GM, but oh well) and see what they can manage. Other countries manage with commonly available vehicles.
My heart aches for Ukraine. I don't think the Western World actually cares that much about Ukraine to get its hands dirty because there is more to lose politically than gain. They didn't send any meaningful military help when they had the time, let alone military observers. They'll do some moderate sanctions, but nothing to really change anything. I think Ukraine will fall quickly, Russia will install a puppet regime to gain a massive buffer state. There are going to be millions of refugees. Meanwhile, this shows me that our military isn't for physically enforcing political spheres of influence, it's about contracts.
The big question is what happens if Putin wants to keep expanding to other former Soviet republics (or puppet states), ones that are part of NATO? If it's Poland or one of the Baltics? Not sure anyone can feel confident he's stopping with Ukraine.
Of course I don't want World War 3, but it's not hard to see how it happens.
I think he is getting old and wants to leave a legacy by annexing Ukraine but unlikely would do more as it would entail a widespread war he cannot afford
Actually I take that back as I think about it. Why not take the whole thing? In the last 500 years, how much of that time has Ukraine been under Russian control?
I agree with Cugel, I doubt Putin goes into Poland or the Baltic nations. Putin might have thought it possible before but now with the US, Europe and NATO all united I think he knows that it isn’t possible now.
The worst case scenario is that Putin doubles down like a losing drunk in Vegas because he knows the jig will be up - and wants to polish his place in Russian history, oligarchs be damned.
Unfortunately, I'm similarly pessimistic about this situation. The lack of a meaningful response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russian meddling in the 2016 election suggests the US doesn't seem particularly interested in stopping Russian aggression.
After this conflict comes to an end, Putin will continue to declare territories in Ukraine and possibly Moldova as "independent states" shortly before invading them. Meanwhile the US will continue to shrug its shoulders.
Doing something definitive *WILL* have a great cost in one way or another, one that will give a great number of people cause for at least pause, if not outright opposition. So to will be doing relatively little, but the cost will land in a different place, and at a different time.
Meanwhile, a lot of ordinary Joes on both sides of this have already been killed and or lost a lot, and a LOT more are going to.
Foreign-held Russian assets are absolutely massive and I doubt the elite in those countries will do anything about it given the inaction of the past 10 years
At dinner with my friend and his parents after the Cal game last Sat night, his dad brought up a good point. China's president Xi is looking at the Western response to the Ukraine invasion and could use it to decide what to do with Taiwan.
Of course he is but that’s a much different and complex scenario than Ukraine and Russia. First the US has a Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, we do not have that with Ukraine. Second, launching a sea invasion is much more difficult than a land invasion. Lastly, the US populace has much more unity against China than Russia right now.
I also think the wild card in this scenario is North Korea taking that as an opportunity to try to take South Korea. If NK goes for SK and they get beat back then China will have to defend its flank against US/SK forces, plus occupying Taiwan.
Ho hum reaction when you really look at the details. The U.S. is not providing enough advanced weaponry and training to make much of a difference. I wonder how long Trump and Fox will be able to maintain the pro-Russian meme, having grown up as a kid with the cold war still around it's hard to fathom the Republican flip-flop at least amongst the Q-anon sect. Moscow Mitch and Trump are tools of Putin who have been paid off. And your avatar has become strangely appropriate Berkelium97.
Well the problem is trump spent 4 years of not assisting Ukraine because he wanted to be Putin’s buddy. Biden couldn’t get enough aid to them in 1 year. It seems the GQP is actually rooting for Putin and Russia so it can “own the libs”. Perhaps if the US had the type of anti Soviet pro US unity of the Cold War something more and substantial could have been done.
This whole situation has left me disgusted at how both the American right has abandoned its old Cold War principles and also how segments of the left have started carrying water for Russia (apparently imperialism is all well and good as long as it's not America doing it).
This should be pretty straightforward. Russia is being a warmongering bully. Whatever the US or NATO did to exacerbate the situation absolutely pales in comparison to open warfare.
It's a claim made by some of these people, that the US even discussing NATO membership with Ukraine was "poking the bear" or something. There are also claims flying around that the 2014 Ukrainian revolution (when they tossed out their Russian puppet President) was actually a "coup" backed by NATO or the US government.
I don't agree with all of that (and as far as I can tell the claims about a US-driven "coup" are complete bullshit), but I can acknowledge that it's possible the West did things to provoke Putin. Even if that's true it's not anywhere close to what Russia has done.
That said, I think (and I said this at the time) the big mistake Obama made was being caught completely flat footed by the invasion of Crimea, and not figuring out a solution that would resolve that in a way that would make both parties whole.
The biggest mistake the West and the US made was not implementing some sort of Marshall Plan to help rebuild Russia and the 14 newly created/re-estibalished sovereign states after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The US/NATO and EU were too preoccupied with expansion rather than rehabilitation of the former Soviet Union states.
The political spectrum is often represented as a straight line, from left to right but the truth is in todays society, it is more of a flat circle where the alt left and extreme left now overlap in multiple issues.
They are both anti vaccine, skeptical of real science, conspiracy theory accepting, pro homeschool, and pro Russia.
And I give it 24 hours after Ukraine falls that the GOP switches from "this isn't an invasion"/"Russia has the right to defend it's borders" to "Biden was too weak to stand up to Putin".
What does too weak to standup to Putin even mean? Other than sending in actual US/NATO troops, nothing was going to stop Putin from his Make Russia the Soviet Union Again agenda.
Also, never mind that a lot of the same people were out there claiming that Biden was just making up his claims about impending Russia-Ukraine war to juice his own poll numbers. We went from "it's a hoax" to "Biden should have prevented this" real fast.
Big game for Ducks tonight if they wanna get back on the right side of the bubble and get the P12 a 4th bid, barring an OSU-type run by someone in Vegas...
Watched the end of Kentucky - LSU game, Kentucky up by 15 with 2+ minutes left, and they almost lost it. Of course not having a healthy point guard is an issue.
Ochai Agbaji passed Wilt Chamberlain for Kansas career scoring list. I doubt he'll beat Chamberlain's other scoring records, especially the ones off the court.
[WSwim]: Pac-12 Championship. Cal in 6th place after day one because they didn't qualifying anybody for the diving portion, digging themselves an immediate 105 point hole. Stanford 216, USC 211... Cal in sixth with 110
In Chapter 3, "Why We Get Sick," Lad explains that a panchakarma is needed when our body's three fundamental life energies, or doshas, are "aggravated" by a poor diet, unhealthy lifestyles, and/or negative emotions. This causes our "gastric fire," aka agni, to become "unbalanced." Once our agni is disturbed, then "undigested, unabsorbed food particles accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract and other subtle sites in the body and turn into a toxic, sticky, foul-smelling substance called ama," Lad writes. And that is apparently not good; the ama then spreads throughout the body, clogging everything up. To get rid of the ama, you're probably going to need a panchakarma.
Panchakarma, meaning "five actions," is a five-procedure program that works to clear out the ama. But first, you have to prep your body. The first preparatory step is "internal oleation," in which you drink about two ounces of clarified butter every day for three to five days (or longer). If you're worried about your cholesterol, you can use flaxseed oil instead. This internal oleation, Lad claims, loosens up and dislodges the disseminated ama. Next, there's the "external oleation," which involves three to seven days of oil massages and steam baths to further loosen the toxic ama.
Once that prep work is done, your doshas are "ripened," and you can move on to the five actions. They include: "therapeutic vomiting"; laxative therapy; enemas of oil and teas; nasal flushing with herbal powders, oils, or clarified butter; and blood purification, traditionally done with bloodletting or herbs said to purify blood. Bloodletting is dangerous and is only approved for a small number of very specific conditions in the US.
Cal got boatraced in the 2H by a Colorado team that just got blown out at home by ASU.
Firefox…..
DBD Continuing Education
I received an email from Cal about two Alumni courses available to alums. They look pretty cool. I'm thinking about signing up for one of them.
Extreme Politics: Radicals, Revolutionaries, and Terrorists
If it is a truism of politics that the center is always stable, then why do certain individuals and movements constantly gravitate toward the extreme left and right? Using contemporary case studies and focusing on politics while also drawing on insights from fields such as psychology, biology, and sociology, this course will investigate the sources and causes of political extremism and radicalism, as well as potential solutions.
Food, Culture and the Environment
Food plays a pivotal role in both connecting us as a species and distinguishing between cultures and groups, but why do we eat what we eat? This course will broadly address the historical, ecological, socioeconomic, biological, political, and cultural environments impacting the human diet and, in turn, how the human diet plays a role in factors such as climate change. It is a nutrition course with an anthropological slant that examines diet and cuisine and aims to inspire you to become more aware, informed, and intentional about your role and participation in the food system.
Experience has shown that the notion that the center is always stable is incorrect.
Here are the links.
https://openlearn.berkeley.edu/browse/alumni/courses/extreme-politics-radicals-revolutionaries-and-terrorists
https://openlearn.berkeley.edu/browse/alumni/courses/food-culture-the-environment
Ha, I know the instructor for the food and culture course. We both did part of our internships together
Prof. Zook! I took a class with him my first semester at Cal and really enjoyed his teaching style: very engaging and interesting.
Ukraine updates
Somehow DeSantis and the right wing seem to think Canada is an authoritarian regime but Putin and Russia are fine.
NYT:
The new sanctions include tech export restrictions to Russia (nothing tech related can be sold directly or indirectly to Russia). The export control was also adopted by EU, Japan, Australia, UK, Canada, NZ.
5 Russian banks are now blacklisted from the US
13 companies are blocked from the US capital markets, including Gazropm
Freezing assets on 7 Russian families
Further sanctions on 24 Belarusian families
What it didn't include:
blocking Russia from SWIFT banking system
tariffs
troops beyond 7k more to Germany/Poland
This is a pillowy bop from the West. I mean, this will hurt Russia - but it's not enough change a thing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/24/russia-sanctions-ukraine-biden/
Putin threatens nuclear weapons as an option against anyone who tries to oppose them in Ukraine.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/24/world/russia-attacks-ukraine#putin-nuclear-war-ukraine
There are probably guys in the pentagon right now discussing sone plan to assassinate Putin and make it look like Ukrainians did it
If you want nuclear war, yes. Other than that I doubt it.
Oh I mean, quickly shut up by their superiors, but proposing this as an option, for sure.
That I seriously doubt.
Ireland to accept Ukrainian refugees, not that many got out by plane
https://twitter.com/SeanDefoe/status/1496804682286706689
It will be interesting to see how the GQP reacts to the US accepting Ukrainian refugees.
On one hand, they are white. On the other hand, they may not speak English.
The GQP will probably accept them and then count them as illegal immigrants to attack Biden with.
nah, they're white so it's all good.
Russia has taken Kyiv's airport.
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1496852226232373250
Hmm, I don’t see that in this tweet.
Russian tank column destroyed, 50 Russian casualties
https://twitter.com/SamBendett/status/1496864363562422273?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Volume on.
https://twitter.com/ThomasVLinge/status/1496860423810912259
I don't need volume on. This is stomach turning.
completely on brand for the Russian military
Mom's Lesson
DBD AV
Watch the second half of Seven Samurai - and as much as I like The Magnificent Seven, it is a pale imitation. So much story telling visually, so dense.
Ozark S4 part 1 (13/19 WB Netflix). Finished it last night. The finale of the half-season paid off, but the episode before them were muddle with inconsistencies, plot holes, and illogical steps that people wouldn't do. This half-season is absolutely a step behind the previous 3, but it's still entertaining. Would still totally bang.
Jason Bateman, Julia Garner and Laura Linney putting on master classes in acting.
Yeah my initial impression while watching the latest season was that they were rushing the plot, and progressing too much of the story simply through dialogue (and via phone calls between characters, at that), which had me thinking of the writing critique "show me, dont tell me". But I enjoyed it overall nonetheless.
S4, part 2 drops April 29.
DBD Kitchen
Today in COVID
Japan just announced 0 day quarantine for entry if you are vaccinated, and they finally added J&J to the "vaccinated" list. Now I can finally go back. The risk is that if there was someone who test positive who arrived on the same plane, you could be required to quarantine for 14 days
You have a link? We’re planning a June trip and thought it was down to three days.
They reduced it to 3 days just a few days ago, and starting March 1st it will be zero days.
Starting March 1, eligible travelers to Japan from the United States will be eligible to bypass the quarantine period if fully vaccinated and boosted with a vaccine recognized by the Government of Japan. Unvaccinated travelers and/or travelers who have not yet received their booster vaccination may be eligible for a three-day quarantine period, if tested on third day in Japan.
https://jp.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/
Crumbling Democracies
Woman shocked that Russia might not have told the truth
https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1496705294419779584
Someone just messaged me that Chinese warplanes have been deployed to the Taiwan defense zone. Dont see any reports yet
This isn’t new and as Cugel said, China has been doing this a lot lately. As we saw with Russia, it takes a while to move troops and supplies to prepare for an invasion. Even more so when it is an invasion by sea.
About 100 miles of ocean separates China from Taiwan, that is about the same distance that separated Allied troops in England from Normandy. The US/Taiwan and every intelligence agency in the world would see China preparing for an invasion of Taiwan as they would need to move ships.
They have been doing that a lot recently.
this happened faster than I thought it would. Though I guess Xi thinks this is the best time to probe with the world looking at another part of the world.
As said above, Xi and China have been doing this a lot lately.
Xi, like Putin has consolidated power and is now in the legacy building phase of his leadership. He will make a move for Taiwan during his time in power.
To be a fly on the wall at their talks during Olympics…
https://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-warns-off-chinese-fighter-151123014.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
"Hey Google, how can I clone Simo Häyhä?"
https://twitter.com/ShonaMurray_/status/1496829726790406149
Romney publicly blames TFG administration for Ukraine invasion
https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/1496683277385617412
Looks like he's blaming the last four administrations to me
Yeah he seems to blaming Obama and T primarily, though highlighting T a bit more, and calling for more from Biden
Or really he is saying all would be well if only we’d elected him in 2012
The head of Texas' power grid (ERCOT) testified that Gov. Abbott (R-TX) ordered him to gouge customers.
https://gizmodo.com/gov-abbott-to-blame-for-billions-in-high-electric-pric-1848584598
unless he kept a copy of the email or text or whatever, it will be he said she said.
Mail delivery is ideal for fleets of EVs: mostly short, low-speed routes with lots of stops, and yet...
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2022/02/usps-says-too-bad-its-still-not-buying-more-electric-mail-trucks/
This week, the USPS released its final record of decision and record of environmental consideration for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle purchase. And it's bad news for anyone who cares about climate change or air pollution, as the Postal Service has dug in and refuses to alter its plans. That means that 90 percent of the 50,000-165,000 NGDVs that are being ordered will use gasoline and will only average 8.6 mpg (28.86 L/100 km) when used with air conditioning.
I don't know that it's quite so obvious that most mail routes are well suited to EVs, but even if the number is <100% it's certainly >10%. I assume in part this is complicated by their "non standard" requirement for right hand drive cars, so maybe call up Ford or Chrysler (who make commercial hybrid vehicles with RHD, sucks for GM, but oh well) and see what they can manage. Other countries manage with commonly available vehicles.
well look at this: https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail/royal-mail-partners-with-ford-to-trial-more-sustainable-city-friendly-deliveries/
What the? Traitor.
https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1496794534600003586
Amazing that anyone ever thought she was a leftist.
Or even a Democrat. She is a GQP member.
Who is her constituency??? Democrats who follow Q? What a nutball
Her bank account
Putin sends in the troops to Ukraine
TFG goes onto Fox's Laura Ingram show and immediately fucks it up by thinking America was invading Ukraine
https://twitter.com/JonahDispatch/status/1496695902727196675
My heart aches for Ukraine. I don't think the Western World actually cares that much about Ukraine to get its hands dirty because there is more to lose politically than gain. They didn't send any meaningful military help when they had the time, let alone military observers. They'll do some moderate sanctions, but nothing to really change anything. I think Ukraine will fall quickly, Russia will install a puppet regime to gain a massive buffer state. There are going to be millions of refugees. Meanwhile, this shows me that our military isn't for physically enforcing political spheres of influence, it's about contracts.
The big question is what happens if Putin wants to keep expanding to other former Soviet republics (or puppet states), ones that are part of NATO? If it's Poland or one of the Baltics? Not sure anyone can feel confident he's stopping with Ukraine.
Of course I don't want World War 3, but it's not hard to see how it happens.
I think he is getting old and wants to leave a legacy by annexing Ukraine but unlikely would do more as it would entail a widespread war he cannot afford
Perhaps, though it's likely that a prolonged occupation of Ukraine would also be something he cannot afford.
He’ll retreat, annex sone parts, declare victory
Actually I take that back as I think about it. Why not take the whole thing? In the last 500 years, how much of that time has Ukraine been under Russian control?
I agree with Cugel, I doubt Putin goes into Poland or the Baltic nations. Putin might have thought it possible before but now with the US, Europe and NATO all united I think he knows that it isn’t possible now.
Again, I hope that's true.
The worst case scenario is that Putin doubles down like a losing drunk in Vegas because he knows the jig will be up - and wants to polish his place in Russian history, oligarchs be damned.
That is indeed the worry, that he isn't thinking clearly anymore and it's all just about personal ego now.
I seriously doubt that.
I'm not sure what you mean with this statement.
Unfortunately, I'm similarly pessimistic about this situation. The lack of a meaningful response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russian meddling in the 2016 election suggests the US doesn't seem particularly interested in stopping Russian aggression.
After this conflict comes to an end, Putin will continue to declare territories in Ukraine and possibly Moldova as "independent states" shortly before invading them. Meanwhile the US will continue to shrug its shoulders.
Doing something definitive *WILL* have a great cost in one way or another, one that will give a great number of people cause for at least pause, if not outright opposition. So to will be doing relatively little, but the cost will land in a different place, and at a different time.
Meanwhile, a lot of ordinary Joes on both sides of this have already been killed and or lost a lot, and a LOT more are going to.
Foreign-held Russian assets are absolutely massive and I doubt the elite in those countries will do anything about it given the inaction of the past 10 years
At dinner with my friend and his parents after the Cal game last Sat night, his dad brought up a good point. China's president Xi is looking at the Western response to the Ukraine invasion and could use it to decide what to do with Taiwan.
Of course he is but that’s a much different and complex scenario than Ukraine and Russia. First the US has a Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, we do not have that with Ukraine. Second, launching a sea invasion is much more difficult than a land invasion. Lastly, the US populace has much more unity against China than Russia right now.
Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
An only slightly more famous blunder than going against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
o/
o/ o/ o/ o/
nazi parade
I also think the wild card in this scenario is North Korea taking that as an opportunity to try to take South Korea. If NK goes for SK and they get beat back then China will have to defend its flank against US/SK forces, plus occupying Taiwan.
Would NK even attempt to go into SK? I would kinda be shocked if they did.
Well maybe they'll posture like they will but I'd be shocked if they actually entered SK.
Ho hum reaction when you really look at the details. The U.S. is not providing enough advanced weaponry and training to make much of a difference. I wonder how long Trump and Fox will be able to maintain the pro-Russian meme, having grown up as a kid with the cold war still around it's hard to fathom the Republican flip-flop at least amongst the Q-anon sect. Moscow Mitch and Trump are tools of Putin who have been paid off. And your avatar has become strangely appropriate Berkelium97.
Well the problem is trump spent 4 years of not assisting Ukraine because he wanted to be Putin’s buddy. Biden couldn’t get enough aid to them in 1 year. It seems the GQP is actually rooting for Putin and Russia so it can “own the libs”. Perhaps if the US had the type of anti Soviet pro US unity of the Cold War something more and substantial could have been done.
This whole situation has left me disgusted at how both the American right has abandoned its old Cold War principles and also how segments of the left have started carrying water for Russia (apparently imperialism is all well and good as long as it's not America doing it).
This should be pretty straightforward. Russia is being a warmongering bully. Whatever the US or NATO did to exacerbate the situation absolutely pales in comparison to open warfare.
Whatever the US or NATO did to exacerbate the situation
Say what?
It's a claim made by some of these people, that the US even discussing NATO membership with Ukraine was "poking the bear" or something. There are also claims flying around that the 2014 Ukrainian revolution (when they tossed out their Russian puppet President) was actually a "coup" backed by NATO or the US government.
I don't agree with all of that (and as far as I can tell the claims about a US-driven "coup" are complete bullshit), but I can acknowledge that it's possible the West did things to provoke Putin. Even if that's true it's not anywhere close to what Russia has done.
It is completely untrue, utterly bullshit.
That said, I think (and I said this at the time) the big mistake Obama made was being caught completely flat footed by the invasion of Crimea, and not figuring out a solution that would resolve that in a way that would make both parties whole.
The biggest mistake the West and the US made was not implementing some sort of Marshall Plan to help rebuild Russia and the 14 newly created/re-estibalished sovereign states after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The US/NATO and EU were too preoccupied with expansion rather than rehabilitation of the former Soviet Union states.
The political spectrum is often represented as a straight line, from left to right but the truth is in todays society, it is more of a flat circle where the alt left and extreme left now overlap in multiple issues.
They are both anti vaccine, skeptical of real science, conspiracy theory accepting, pro homeschool, and pro Russia.
Horseshoe theory in action.
Yep, this indeed.
And I give it 24 hours after Ukraine falls that the GOP switches from "this isn't an invasion"/"Russia has the right to defend it's borders" to "Biden was too weak to stand up to Putin".
What does too weak to standup to Putin even mean? Other than sending in actual US/NATO troops, nothing was going to stop Putin from his Make Russia the Soviet Union Again agenda.
Also, never mind that a lot of the same people were out there claiming that Biden was just making up his claims about impending Russia-Ukraine war to juice his own poll numbers. We went from "it's a hoax" to "Biden should have prevented this" real fast.
^^This^^
Other College
Big game for Ducks tonight if they wanna get back on the right side of the bubble and get the P12 a 4th bid, barring an OSU-type run by someone in Vegas...
Watched the end of Kentucky - LSU game, Kentucky up by 15 with 2+ minutes left, and they almost lost it. Of course not having a healthy point guard is an issue.
Ochai Agbaji passed Wilt Chamberlain for Kansas career scoring list. I doubt he'll beat Chamberlain's other scoring records, especially the ones off the court.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=401368423
ASU's Jackson He, the first China-born person to score a NCAA touchdown, is in the transfer portal
https://twitter.com/SunDevilSource/status/1496863904839864325
Cal
KQED Forum interview with Solomon Hughes today on his star turn as Kareem on the new HBO Lakers series: https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101888019/new-hbo-series-winning-time-features-former-cal-basketball-star-solomon-hughes
Go Bears!!!
[The Athletic/Fox Sport's Feldman] Cal OLB Coach Heyward to become UNLV's DC.
https://twitter.com/brucefeldmancfb/status/1496819752429314050?s=21
I wish Tre Watson had OLB coaching experience, because I want GA back at Cal.
Even then, we have one more DB coach already.
[WSwim]: Pac-12 Championship. Cal in 6th place after day one because they didn't qualifying anybody for the diving portion, digging themselves an immediate 105 point hole. Stanford 216, USC 211... Cal in sixth with 110
https://calbears.com/news/2022/2/23/womens-swimming-diving-bears-open-with-two-podium-finishes-at-pac-12-meet.aspx
[SB] Bears get their second win in a row, both by mercy ruling. This last one was a 12-1 5-inning blasting of St. Mary's.
https://calbears.com/news/2022/2/23/softball-bears-open-home-slate-in-style.aspx
Pro
Djokovid loses to #123 Jiri Vesely in Dubai Championship, will lose #1 ranking
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/33362045/novak-djokovic-replaced-no-1-atp-rankings-daniil-medvedev-dubai-championships-loss
sounds like he needs to inject some urgency into his game
MLB owners all but guarantee season will be truncated.
Idiots.
UEFA reschedules Champions League final away from St. Petersburg.
https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1496820804126126080
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/everything-you-didnt-need-to-know-about-aaron-rodgers-oily-enema-cleanse/
In Chapter 3, "Why We Get Sick," Lad explains that a panchakarma is needed when our body's three fundamental life energies, or doshas, are "aggravated" by a poor diet, unhealthy lifestyles, and/or negative emotions. This causes our "gastric fire," aka agni, to become "unbalanced." Once our agni is disturbed, then "undigested, unabsorbed food particles accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract and other subtle sites in the body and turn into a toxic, sticky, foul-smelling substance called ama," Lad writes. And that is apparently not good; the ama then spreads throughout the body, clogging everything up. To get rid of the ama, you're probably going to need a panchakarma.
Panchakarma, meaning "five actions," is a five-procedure program that works to clear out the ama. But first, you have to prep your body. The first preparatory step is "internal oleation," in which you drink about two ounces of clarified butter every day for three to five days (or longer). If you're worried about your cholesterol, you can use flaxseed oil instead. This internal oleation, Lad claims, loosens up and dislodges the disseminated ama. Next, there's the "external oleation," which involves three to seven days of oil massages and steam baths to further loosen the toxic ama.
Once that prep work is done, your doshas are "ripened," and you can move on to the five actions. They include: "therapeutic vomiting"; laxative therapy; enemas of oil and teas; nasal flushing with herbal powders, oils, or clarified butter; and blood purification, traditionally done with bloodletting or herbs said to purify blood. Bloodletting is dangerous and is only approved for a small number of very specific conditions in the US.
so now he's only *figuratively* full of shit
good thing he's in such good shape otherwise his body might not tolerate that
Oh gosh.
Good luck with that, hippie.