Recent posts

#1

Off the Record / Re: Football (Soccer) Thread

Last post by Valmy - Today at 09:05:44 PM

Liga MX is miles ahead of the MLS. Stop smoking crack GF.

Its not like MLS has never won the Champions League before though.

#2

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Valmy - Today at 09:02:22 PM

On the other hand, some of them may be only realizing now how unpopular some of these cuts are, and are trying to find plausible deniability.

This.

#3

Off the Record / Re: What does a TRUMP presiden...

Last post by Oexmelin - Today at 07:30:27 PM

It's difficult to say, really. I fully expect some of these morons to truly be ignorant of those bills, considering they often appear confused about some basics of civics and procedure. It hasn't been limited to the most recent crop of FoxNews stars. For quite some years now the US has elected people whose sole purpose in being elected seem to be elected again. I remember being bombarded with ads about telling my representatives about what *truly* was in the bills they were presented with.

On the other hand, some of them may be only realizing now how unpopular some of these cuts are, and are trying to find plausible deniability.

#4

Off the Record / Re: Football (Soccer) Thread

Last post by Zoupa - Today at 07:00:53 PM

Liga MX is miles ahead of the MLS. Stop smoking crack GF.

#5

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Zoupa - Today at 06:59:39 PM

So I still enjoy following X/Twitter - not because it's a great news source, but it's a good source of some of the narratives out there.

As soon as the Ukrainian strikes on the Russian bombers there was this huge wave of posts about how Ukraine had literally "poked the bear" and now the gloves were coming off.  Forgive me, but I have trouble imagining that Putin has been holding back, three years into his Special Military Operation.

That being said - while I fully support this Ukrainian operation, it does open the door to what unconventional warfare in the decades to come is going to look like.  Much as how 9/11 changed the world of modern airfare, is this going to change modern shipping?

I think nothing will change regarding shipping, as it'd be insanely pricy.

[Netherlands announces new maritime security support package for Ukraine worth $456 million]

#6

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Jacob - Today at 05:22:08 PM

The Netherlands announce a 400 million Euro maritime military aid package for Ukraine:

https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/06/04/netherlands-announces-new-maritime-security-support-package-for-ukraine-worth-456-million/

Netherlands announces new maritime security support package for Ukraine worth $456 million

The package will consist of over 100 naval vessels, including ships, patrol boats, transport boats, interceptors, special operations vessels, and 50 maritime drones, according to Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans

...

The Dutch defense minister linked the assistance to escalating Russian maritime threats. "This is very important because we see that Russian threats, both in the Black Sea and around Kherson, are growing," Brekelmans stated. "It is very important for Ukraine to protect itself from this."

The Netherlands positioned the maritime aid within broader strategic objectives of supporting Ukraine's shipping freedom and preserving commercial sea routes, Brekelmans explained.

#7

Off the Record / Re: What does a BIDEN Presiden...

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 04:46:32 PM

Given the "now we can reveal" stuff months after it could make any difference, but helpfully in time for new books, I think a period of silence on the part of Biden staffers and cabinet members wouldn't go amiss.

I know I bang on about it, but it's profoundly corrosive for the Democrats and the press. There needs to be a real accounting over it.

#8

Off the Record / Re: Dutch elections

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 04:42:46 PM

Blame will be placed on the other side, of course.

BBB and NSC will likely be mostly wiped out in the next election, it will be interesting to see where those voters go to. Wilders may well be become the biggest party again, but who will want to work with him?

Although hadn't that already happened with BBB and NSC - from my understanding they were, in a way, true protest parties and maybe peaked even before the last election and have since seen their support collapse even further?

(Being cynical, you can see an advantage in disowning a government made up of parties now polling under 5% lest they drag you down with them - so can see why you'd want to engineer a breach on your preferred terrain...)

#9

Off the Record / Re: The EU thread

Last post by Sheilbh - Today at 04:39:28 PM

Paragraph in the Economist that I think explains why this keeps happening and will keep happening in the Economist:

That has has shocked observers in Brussels, says Tomasz Bielecki, a correspondent there for Polityka, a Polish weekly. They have also been concerned by the evolution of Mr Tusk, who until 2019 served as president of the European Council. Earlier this year he refused to comply with the EU's migration pact and attacked the EU Green Deal, its strategy to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. "There is a hope that when the campaign is over, Tusk will return to being more of a Brussels man again," says Mr Bielecki. But with his side having barely weathered, and perhaps lost, a presidential election, Mr Tusk will find he has far less freedom of action than he had hoped.

As Mike Bird put it - just a few more incredibly narrow electoral victories and we'll get mid-2000s politics back with added Net Zero. It's over, it's dead - the challenge for the various parties of centrist/establishment traditions is to imagine what the future will look like in response to the changes in the world. And if they fail others will replace them (though, obviously in Poland, PiS are absolutely an "establishment" party but this is how they fit into the international discourse about this).

I'd add that I think the all too standard discourse of basically saying one thing in a campaign but then expecting to govern different is not healthy for a democratic society.

#10

Off the Record / Re: Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-2...

Last post by Josquius - Today at 02:29:16 PM

Some of the drones were smuggled in the tops of portable luxury cabins right under the solar panels.
I like to imagine this was doubly enraging. Death by woke.