We aren't at war the same way Diet Coke isn't Coca-Cola. Just as Diet Coke substitutes aspartame for sugar, we've substituted "lots of cool verts of shit blowing up," for "a plan leading to a politically advantageous victory condition."

I see thing like this and think, "Shenanigans underway."

Dense pack of thoughts here, and they are wise and insightful. Frankly, I wish I had the clarity of vision Andrew brings to this commentary, but I lack both the military background and the knack he has for piercing through rhetoric to hear what's really being said.

It's gonna be Greens versus UKIP in the British elections, huh?

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Two things that are simultaneously true: 1. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a horrible repressive regime that kills civilians at home and would kill my family & me if given the chance. 2. Trump’s war of choice against Iran is a horrible, evil response that is likely to make the situation worse.

Bluesky does "Everyone's an asshole here" pretty badly. Trump Admin are assholes. Iranian government is an asshole. Netanyahu government in Israel is an asshole. Most of our regional allies in/around the Gulf are assholes too. Putin is an asshole. So is Xi. Complex thought is necessary.

As with so many other things going on with this Administration, it bears pointing out: THIS COULD HAVE BEEN DONE LAWFULLY! Tearing down the East Wing. Downsizing the civil service. Reprioritizing immigration enforcement. Going to war with a legit evil regime. They have majorities in both Houses.

Also we can know time travel isn’t real because no one’s showed up at Sam’s office from the future to say, “Please stop.” theonion.com/anyone-else-...

I would love to go see the Silversun Pickups on Thursday night at the McDonald Theater in Eugene. Unfortunately, it is on a Thursday night in Eugene. Too far away for me to go and reasonably expect to get anything done on Friday. Hopefully they come back either on a weekend or closer to Portland.

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I feel like I've done well to have seen 3 of the best picture nominees before the awards show (Sinners, One Battle, F1).

I feel like I've done well to have seen 3 of the best picture nominees before the awards show (Sinners, One Battle, F1).

I feel like I've done well to have seen 3 of the best picture nominees before the awards show (Sinners, One Battle, F1).

Brewpub in Astoria. The bartender calls me "Captain," and I love it. Good clam chowder (tiny bits of shell and grit, so I know the clams are fresh) and local hot sauce to go with it. Watching the anchored cargo vessels drift with tge flow of the river and the seals chillin' because the tide is in.

Behold the choice of evils resulting from gambling everywhere all the time and paying for everything

No love for Khameni. I hope Iran gets a functional liberal democracy. But Iran ISN'T going to get a functional liberal democracy. Either the existing regime will name a new Supreme Leader and carry on, or a right wing military autocracy, perhaps with a Shah or perhaps not, will take over.

Can someone explain the lead up to all this? Like, I don't want you to agree with it or justify it. Just a plain simple statement of why we're claiming this was something we had to do. Stipulate in advance that it's bullshit.

Amazon just dropped off a package. Announced by beeps on my front door AND THE DOOR UNLOCKED ITSELF WTF

Way to make a bid for that Nobel Peace Prize.

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I actually hope they knew.

I've been to all 254 TX counties, and Big Bend is the very best of Texas. The stunning, expansive desert landscape still feels untouched. It deserves to stay that way. It breaks my heart thinking about it being needlessly ruined for a f***ing wall. Here's some photos I've taken there. 🧵4/4

I am not fluent enough in the VERY high stakes issue to opine on this. I am left with the impression that @katmabu.bsky.social is.

Mealworms! Crickets! Peas! Billionaires! Gamut! Your own toejam! Snakes!

What, if any, effect to anticipate from RFKJr, Oz, and other scientific hucksters taking the helm of HHS simultaneous to Trump 2.0 working yo pack the courts, on how perverted Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharma is going to become?

Texas redbuds are beautiful. Texas redfish is delicious.

The ramen place just up the street from my office is cutely decorated for Harajuku girls, but the ramen itself was uninspiring and bland despite lots of black garlic. Disappointing, especially after having such great access to Hapa PDX at home. THIS is where and how I enjoy my ramen, full of flavor.

Same, Pikachu. Same.

True thing I said ~10 days ago. "Dumb, you can't help. There just isn't the intellectual capacity there to begin with. Cows staring at trains passing in the night, like. But stupid? Stupid is CHOOSING to live that way. Stupid is when you choose to be ignorant."

NOT A FLEX ANSWER

Post a pic you took, no context, to bring some zen to the feed.

Maybe there's no such thing as ethical capitalism, but this is as close to "least-unethical capitalism" as I've seen. Because, well, that's their business model.

LEARN FROM MICAH HE IS WISE

Autocorrect is really activist today.

I feel a rant coming on here. Going to try to keep it short because in this forum I'm preaching to the choir. Over-ritualized affirmations become mimeaningless, thoughtless acts of repetition done to please others, especially for kids. Be sure Trump DNGAF about "...liberty and justice for all."

Proud of our team bringing home the gold. So say we all!

Important to note that last month the Trump admin tried a similar thing for childcare funding and got smacked down almost immediately once sued.

2.5 weeks away from the office thanks to holiday and subsequent illness. That's a LOT of e-mails, voice mails, and texts to work through. Up next: physical mail. Who knows what surprises and delights await there. More immediately, though: snacks.

I wouldn't have guessed @flavorflav.bsky.social would turn out to be such a national treasure but yet here we are. Hype man for the women on the US Olympic team and we are all supremely grateful for him because of that.

Imagine the yammering about abuse of public assets and dereliction of duty that we'd be hearing from FOX & Co. if Christopher Wray had done what Kash Patel has. How shrill it would have been. How constant. How vicious. Doesn't Kash deserve exactly that?

Alexa I live in Portland and it's winter. I don't really need reminders that it might rain tomorrow.

Read several of the replies. Can we maybe NOT with moral one-upsmanship on someone who did the right thing?

this outfit seems Oregon coded

JD Vance running the war on fraud would be like Osma bin Laden running the war on terrorism.

If you're interested in learning more, please read the whole piece here (GIFT LINK). It represents the results of months of research, distilled down to a (hopefully) readable form. Let me know what you think! www.vox.com/politics/479...

Query how narrowing 22 possibilities down to 1 merits a zero (0) skill rating.

I look at my hands, especially after the past two weeks when I got a lot of sun, and I see my mother's mother's hands. I look at my nose, and I see her father's. What it sounds like when I sneeze or blow it hard is all him too. My male pattern baldness varies my dad's dad's only in its late onset.

Connections Puzzle #988 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 I did not think the gold was the most straightforward connection, just for the record.

Not sure how Mike Thompson, a Democrat, not in the Cabinet, can be the designated survivor. I thought it was someone like the Secretary of Education or Veteran's Affairs or something like that.