Letting people in the military vote by mail obviously helps Republicans.
I'm wondering if, by sending them into combat with not even an explanation, let alone a statement of what constitutes victory, Trump may have managed to at least seriously reduce that Republican skew. Maybe to as far as politically balanced, but a lot less enthused.
GOP: perhaps on its way to becoming just another example of "everything Trump touches dies."
I shouldn't try to write coherently when sleep deprived.
I meant that Article 9 remained in place because many (most?) Japanese felt secure leaving it alone. The assumption on which that feeling of security rested is dead and gone.
My sense is that Japan's constitutional restrictions on military activity are very much based on a confident belief that, if Japan were attacked, the US would (as promised) come to its defense. But today we have a US administration which could care less about what the US might have promised, what treaty obligations we might have made.
Japan would have to be crazy, suicidal even, not to rethink their policies on their military. What kind of Constitutional change might be best, I can't say. But refusing to change isn't really a viable option.
It occurs to me to wonder. How many of the ultra-macho xenophobes in this administration have a clue that "macho" is of Spanish origin?
Can we get a Hegseth/Miller cage match? Preferably with weapons like brass knuckles, which are non-lethal enough to have both get seriously damaged before one strokes out.
Not all of our immigrants are people. A lot of words came here and settled, too.
It comes down to What are you trying to do? If your intention is to translate the message, then go with "three words." If your intention is to translate the words, "stick with "four words" like the translation we have here.
Or, as I learned it, are you doing a literal translation or a free translation? Back when I was in grad school, and looking to test out of German for the language requirement, I did a literal translation first**, and used that to do a free translation. Because what was wanted was to demonstrate understanding of the article being translated.
** It was a pretty trivial test. Time to look up (open dictionary!) every word that wasn't a cognate for the literal translation. And still plenty of time to do the free translation. Good thing, though, that they didn't require a translation going the other way!
What caught my eye was the obvious inconsistency of referring to a three-word phrase as four words.
I read that and just assumed that the phrase in Spanish had four words. That kind of difference between languages being not at unusual.
See, in German (because you studied that), "von dem" ("from the") being rendered as "vom" -- two English words becoming one in German. Differences between English and Japanese can be even larger, as I'm sure lj can attest.
I can’t be alone here in finding their absurd cosplay military posturing (Department of War, our “warriors” etc) the perfect illustration of arrested adolescent males desperately grasping for proof of their machismo quotient.
It takes me back to my college days. The instant reaction back then would have been "frat boys." (Which might, even then, have been unfair to many fraternity members, but the stereotype had a really solid basis.) The behaviors differ only in the scope now available them. These are just the guys who never grew up.
there is a tendency in the West to assume that soft=weak.
Something that anyone with even a passing acquaintance with Aikido would know is nonsense.
You can see that in the current administration, where the whole idea of soft power is considered an oxymoron, so much so that they have gone to eliminate any agency that might engage in it.
That's of a piece with their seeing everything as transactional. If you treat every interaction as unrelated to every other, then you have no allies. Merely temporary and expedient cases of aligned goals. If you have no allies, then soft power is meaningless, whether it is an oxymoron or not.
“You can’t just stop funding the Pentagon!”, I hear you cry? Fine. Just don’t pretend you’re serious about opposing the Trump Regime.
Fine. Just figure out a way to do it without hanging the troops out to dry. They don't deserve collective punishment here, and a lot of them are paycheck to paycheck.
“You can’t just stop funding the Pentagon!”, I hear you cry? Fine. Just don’t pretend you’re serious about opposing the Trump Regime.
Just make sure you find a way that doesn't hang the troops out to dry. They didn't make this mess (however many might have voted for Trump), and they don't deserve to collectively suffer here.
Admittedly it seems to be standard corruption for this administration. And so, easy to overlook (not in the "accept".sense). But I try to resist letting that become so normalized that it doesn't merit mention.
Well given that Trump has axed her (no matter the temporary face-saving position), there's obviously no problem for FBI folks to investigate, and the AG to bring charges. In short, she's lost the royal favor, so she's fair game.
Besides which, think how effective the brouhaha would be in keeping Epstein off the front page. Don't have to say more than that to get Trump on board.
From a thousand miles away, and general ignorance: it seems like the key to the Democrats winning in Texas is the Latino vote. And, from what little I've read, Talarico seems to have better prospects on that front.
And it has to help that the Democrats are already rallying around. As for Cornyn and Paxton, I'm not much on the "bantam roosters" analogy. I yhink I'd rather go with "rabid weasels.". Just a personal preference, but I think it suits the participants better.
No reason to disrupt the tranquility the good people of Nuremberg. A simple transfer to the Hague and the ICC will do.
Granted, the US has declined to join the ICC. But as I recall, all it takes is getting the defendant to a country which is a member to get them arrested and sent for trial. ("Extraordinary rendition" anyone? Best use for it ever!)
GftNC, perhaps the problem is precisely that most men are like the Good Men you describe. We don't really see an obvious reason to label ourselves. The anomalies, the various flavors of bad guys, they need labels. If only so the rest of the world knows which kind of bad behaviors to watch out for from a particular individual.
But why do we need a label? Aren't we the default, the general expectation? (Yeah, I rather think we are.) Still, if somebody thinks we do need a label, "Gentlemen" works for me.**
** I realize that some may object to this, on the grounds that this has class overtones. Bosh!
Partly I say that because, in my misspent youth, I came across a story, with characters definitely not upper class: Gentlemen, Be Seated! It leapt to mind just now.
Trump vies for Bush’s crown for worst foreign policy decision in history
Trump, last month, bested his own record (from last year) for the longest ever State of the Union address. (Which of his qualifies as most vacuous is a separate discussion.) Similarly, he will have three more years to exceed this worst foreign policy decision. Bad idea to bet against his doing so.
From the previous thread - They are striking “targets” in the north of Tehran. These are busy residential neighbourhoods with schools, nurseries and restaurants. The residential palace and museums are located there. Wtf is wrong with these people?
This is straight out of the current Russian playbook being used in Ukraine. Is there any reason at all to think it will work any better here?
The main difference I can see is that Iran starts out with sophisticated, long range, drones -- designed and already being manufactured.** I'll be amazed if Israel doesn't become aacquainted with Shahed's for the next few weeks. Or months, as may be. This isn't like attacking Palestinians, who have no real industrial base.
As for the US, I expect Trump to just declare victory and scuttle home. Before he loses a US Naval vessel or something. Incompetent as this administration is, it will be no surprise if that doesn't work out well. It's not like attacking Venezuela after all.
** At least this may cut off Russian imports, and so reduce the attacks on Ukraine, at least a bit.
They are striking “targets” in the north of Tehran. These are busy residential neighbourhoods with schools, nurseries and restaurants. The residential palace and museums are located there. Wtf is wrong with these people?
If there were anything to the supposed military rationale for the attack, there would have been attacks on military targets. You know, like missile batteries, military bases, etc. But of course there were not, because it's never been about that. Instead, it's right out of the Russian playbook in Ukraine. Probably be about as successful, too.
There's a lesson here, for Iran or anybody else in the world. Throw a big party for Trump, with flashy (tacky preferred) props and such. Like the Saudis did. If I was in government in Taipei, I'd be looking hard for a way to do something like that to boost Trump's ego.
Anyone have thoughts on this Anthropic thing? It’s a topsy-turvy world when the tech bros have more restraint than the federal government.
"Tech bros" are not a monolith. The high profile obnoxious (or worse) ones get a lot of press. But mostly the good ones get ignored.
As for Anthropic specifically, I'm not up on the details, either of Anthropic's history or this specific spat. But if Hegseth is upset, that strongly suggests that Anthropic is on the side of the angels, at least on this one.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran”
Assumes facts definitely not in evidence.
On “The ides of Texas”
I'm wondering if, by sending them into combat with not even an explanation, let alone a statement of what constitutes victory, Trump may have managed to at least seriously reduce that Republican skew. Maybe to as far as politically balanced, but a lot less enthused.
GOP: perhaps on its way to becoming just another example of "everything Trump touches dies."
On “The penny drops”
I shouldn't try to write coherently when sleep deprived.
I meant that Article 9 remained in place because many (most?) Japanese felt secure leaving it alone. The assumption on which that feeling of security rested is dead and gone.
"
My sense is that Japan's constitutional restrictions on military activity are very much based on a confident belief that, if Japan were attacked, the US would (as promised) come to its defense. But today we have a US administration which could care less about what the US might have promised, what treaty obligations we might have made.
Japan would have to be crazy, suicidal even, not to rethink their policies on their military. What kind of Constitutional change might be best, I can't say. But refusing to change isn't really a viable option.
On “A little language practice”
Since this is a thread about language.....
It occurs to me to wonder. How many of the ultra-macho xenophobes in this administration have a clue that "macho" is of Spanish origin?
Can we get a Hegseth/Miller cage match? Preferably with weapons like brass knuckles, which are non-lethal enough to have both get seriously damaged before one strokes out.
Not all of our immigrants are people. A lot of words came here and settled, too.
"
It comes down to What are you trying to do? If your intention is to translate the message, then go with "three words." If your intention is to translate the words, "stick with "four words" like the translation we have here.
Or, as I learned it, are you doing a literal translation or a free translation? Back when I was in grad school, and looking to test out of German for the language requirement, I did a literal translation first**, and used that to do a free translation. Because what was wanted was to demonstrate understanding of the article being translated.
** It was a pretty trivial test. Time to look up (open dictionary!) every word that wasn't a cognate for the literal translation. And still plenty of time to do the free translation. Good thing, though, that they didn't require a translation going the other way!
"
I read that and just assumed that the phrase in Spanish had four words. That kind of difference between languages being not at unusual.
See, in German (because you studied that), "von dem" ("from the") being rendered as "vom" -- two English words becoming one in German. Differences between English and Japanese can be even larger, as I'm sure lj can attest.
On “Yuja Wang, networking, transactionality and that guy”
It takes me back to my college days. The instant reaction back then would have been "frat boys." (Which might, even then, have been unfair to many fraternity members, but the stereotype had a really solid basis.) The behaviors differ only in the scope now available them. These are just the guys who never grew up.
"
Something that anyone with even a passing acquaintance with Aikido would know is nonsense.
That's of a piece with their seeing everything as transactional. If you treat every interaction as unrelated to every other, then you have no allies. Merely temporary and expedient cases of aligned goals. If you have no allies, then soft power is meaningless, whether it is an oxymoron or not.
On “The Last Noem Standing”
“You can’t just stop funding the Pentagon!”, I hear you cry? Fine. Just don’t pretend you’re serious about opposing the Trump Regime.
Fine. Just figure out a way to do it without hanging the troops out to dry. They don't deserve collective punishment here, and a lot of them are paycheck to paycheck.
"
“You can’t just stop funding the Pentagon!”, I hear you cry? Fine. Just don’t pretend you’re serious about opposing the Trump Regime.
Just make sure you find a way that doesn't hang the troops out to dry. They didn't make this mess (however many might have voted for Trump), and they don't deserve to collectively suffer here.
"
Admittedly it seems to be standard corruption for this administration. And so, easy to overlook (not in the "accept".sense). But I try to resist letting that become so normalized that it doesn't merit mention.
"
a nine-figure contract to an 8-day-old company
That's a nine-figure no bid contract. Just to be clear.
On “A little language practice”
I will be pleasantly surprised if the administration is merely "disappointed.". What I expect is more like "outraged at the betrayal.".
On “The Last Noem Standing”
Well given that Trump has axed her (no matter the temporary face-saving position), there's obviously no problem for FBI folks to investigate, and the AG to bring charges. In short, she's lost the royal favor, so she's fair game.
Besides which, think how effective the brouhaha would be in keeping Epstein off the front page. Don't have to say more than that to get Trump on board.
On “The ides of Texas”
I saw a bare mention of that, but no details. Any idea why?
"
From a thousand miles away, and general ignorance: it seems like the key to the Democrats winning in Texas is the Latino vote. And, from what little I've read, Talarico seems to have better prospects on that front.
And it has to help that the Democrats are already rallying around. As for Cornyn and Paxton, I'm not much on the "bantam roosters" analogy. I yhink I'd rather go with "rabid weasels.". Just a personal preference, but I think it suits the participants better.
On “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran”
I'm guessing that any President sending miscreants to the ICC would decline to invoke the ‘Invade the Hague’ Act.
"
No reason to disrupt the tranquility the good people of Nuremberg. A simple transfer to the Hague and the ICC will do.
Granted, the US has declined to join the ICC. But as I recall, all it takes is getting the defendant to a country which is a member to get them arrested and sent for trial. ("Extraordinary rendition" anyone? Best use for it ever!)
On “Perpwalk Imperial”
GftNC, perhaps the problem is precisely that most men are like the Good Men you describe. We don't really see an obvious reason to label ourselves. The anomalies, the various flavors of bad guys, they need labels. If only so the rest of the world knows which kind of bad behaviors to watch out for from a particular individual.
But why do we need a label? Aren't we the default, the general expectation? (Yeah, I rather think we are.) Still, if somebody thinks we do need a label, "Gentlemen" works for me.**
** I realize that some may object to this, on the grounds that this has class overtones. Bosh!
Partly I say that because, in my misspent youth, I came across a story, with characters definitely not upper class: Gentlemen, Be Seated! It leapt to mind just now.
On “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran”
Trump, last month, bested his own record (from last year) for the longest ever State of the Union address. (Which of his qualifies as most vacuous is a separate discussion.) Similarly, he will have three more years to exceed this worst foreign policy decision. Bad idea to bet against his doing so.
"
I've already fired off a letter to my Congressman, asking when the Declaration of War got passed. Sarcastically, obviously.
Not that there's any chance that Congress will push back on this. But just to lend what little support I can.
"
This is straight out of the current Russian playbook being used in Ukraine. Is there any reason at all to think it will work any better here?
The main difference I can see is that Iran starts out with sophisticated, long range, drones -- designed and already being manufactured.** I'll be amazed if Israel doesn't become aacquainted with Shahed's for the next few weeks. Or months, as may be. This isn't like attacking Palestinians, who have no real industrial base.
As for the US, I expect Trump to just declare victory and scuttle home. Before he loses a US Naval vessel or something. Incompetent as this administration is, it will be no surprise if that doesn't work out well. It's not like attacking Venezuela after all.
** At least this may cut off Russian imports, and so reduce the attacks on Ukraine, at least a bit.
On “As it all falls down around our ears: An open thread”
If there were anything to the supposed military rationale for the attack, there would have been attacks on military targets. You know, like missile batteries, military bases, etc. But of course there were not, because it's never been about that. Instead, it's right out of the Russian playbook in Ukraine. Probably be about as successful, too.
There's a lesson here, for Iran or anybody else in the world. Throw a big party for Trump, with flashy (tacky preferred) props and such. Like the Saudis did. If I was in government in Taipei, I'd be looking hard for a way to do something like that to boost Trump's ego.
"
"Tech bros" are not a monolith. The high profile obnoxious (or worse) ones get a lot of press. But mostly the good ones get ignored.
As for Anthropic specifically, I'm not up on the details, either of Anthropic's history or this specific spat. But if Hegseth is upset, that strongly suggests that Anthropic is on the side of the angels, at least on this one.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.