Maggie's Farm

I've found eagles to be the worst scavengers of the raptor family. When I was in Juneau AK, there were scores of them, with most of them to be found hanging out around the dumpster clusters down by the water. Anyplace else in the coastal US, it would be seagulls.

Regarding DeSantis, I think a fair portion of the USA now understands the insidious role that propaganda now plays in our daily life. We have seen one party assert an overwhelming dominance in the control of the Legacy Media, we have seen most of the workers in that industry display their political preference openly and reinforced this with the bias in their coverage. And we have seen, via the Twitter files, the sinister results - a shaping of narrative designed to replace news coverage, designed to substitute it with preferred policy directions, and fully willing to silence dissenting private citizens by secretly downrating the exposure of their views, or worse by censoring them openly.

So we now understand how the mechanisms have worked. Can we see how they are put into play? Day after day, we get a relentless stream of 'Muh Russians' evil empire, the Wicked Putin, the Brave Ukrainians. It's a narrative; It's not news. If there's any doubt, then ask yourself: Who is promoting peace? Why Not? Whatever the Booga-Booga that is being promoted as the new existential fear of Russia, it is not realistic to think that Putin's aggression is the responsibility of the US. This is a European problem. What are they doing to promote victory, and what is their peace plan? If you can't answer this immediately, then why can't you?

Yes, that's The Narrative I was referring to. That's funny, I thought there was a European Union and a North American Treaty Organization, complete with highly-paid, tall-forehead, status-endowed, expert leadership. And yet they are curiously not present in the news feeds with their progress and goals.

History has shown a lot of things, including quite a few embarrassments for the USA when it meddles in place without any good reason, including in the Ukraine, including within the past 10 years.

Attempting to 'exhaust Russia' appears to be having the consequence of exhausting our own battle-readiness, as has been evidenced by our quickly-depleting armaments. History shows that Russia is quite good at getting results from heavy manufacturing in the military interest, when pressed into service.

I am unconvinced that Russia is a significant or meaningful threat to the USA, and also even more unconvinced that the European response shows as much focus and interest as the USA's right now. This also is a case of history repeating itself. Let them handle their regional problems like grownups, instead of dependents.

Nuland is second-generation immigrant from Belarus.

That argument about Russia threatening NATO drives me nuts.

https://media.defense.gov/2016/Jun/30/2001564177/799/799/0/160303-D-BD182-037.JPG

Now: Which time did Russia 'encroach' NATO? Was it 1990, 1999, 2004, or 2009??

I am no fan of Russia. But Russia's GDP is about $1,700 billion, compared to the USA's $23,000 billion. Are they a threat to the USA? No. Ukraine's GDP is around $200 billion. So the USA is on it's way to supplying the entire GDP of Ukraine in armaments alone. How much are the other NATO partners kicking in? Poland seems to be the only one taking it seriously, and their moves are to bolster their own defense - not engage in foreign action.

OK, thanks for the link, gee that looks pretty great - as a % of GDP, anyway - until you scroll way down and start looking at the actual billions. Then, I am not impressed - the billions tell the story of just how committed the EU is, since their GDP is about on par with ours. It's their neighborhood, their circus, their problem - they need to provide the diplomatic leadership, backed up by the military preparedness.

I disagree. Europe could conceivably be under threat from Russian aggression because of their proximity. They certainly have a more indelible economic reliance on Russian gas, now being partially supplied by LNG from the USA among other nations.

But the USA is not under threat from Russia and hasn't been since Glasnost (and wasn't really, before Glasnost, as we found out). Further, the USA is doing much to damage relations that could conceivably be of assistance against the real threat, which is China. It's foreign policy for stupid people.

Putting forward the old booga-booga about Russia's supposed aspirations to World Domination is just stupid. It's stupid on the basis of Russia's present GDP, which could never hope to underwrite such aspirations, and it's stupid on the basis of their progress over the past year. And if the premise is to be supportable in argument at all, then one would have to be able to point to Europe, the supposed ultimate target, to show that they are taking it seriously. They are not, in my opinion - they're being dragged behind the USA as the friend being dragged into the fight. They have taken neither initiative nor leadership, and have made few feeble moves towards peace. It is their circus, their monkeys.

I don't much care for Ron DeSantis as a Presidential Candidate, but he has this issue right, I think. It's a territorial squabble that has long been brewing, has nuanced support from within the disputed territory, and should be resolved peacefully via diplomacy. The UN, the EU, and NATO should be earning their keep. It's not the USA's responsibility to either mediate or supply armaments.

everything I don't like is Hitler!


What I ackshually said was:
"Then, I am not impressed - the billions tell the story of just how committed the EU is, since their GDP is about on par with ours. It's their neighborhood, their circus, their problem - they need to provide the diplomatic leadership, backed up by the military preparedness." ....and nothing you have responded with is disputing that. It is not contrary to assert that the European countries are not stepping up to the degree they ought to, if this is such an existential threat. They are following the USA's lead under furious prodding by the Biden Administration. They are not out in front and they are not showing leadership. It is THEIR PROBLEM.

So: The USA is 'under threat' from Russia? Tell me more. Is the Russian threat in the room with you right now?

You have to be wise about your choices, with Medicare. I don't know your situation, but I learned quite a bit with my sister as we were caring for our Mom. You want to stay away from Medicare Advantage insurance policies. They remind me of HMO's which are similarly geared to favor the medical industry at the expense of the patient. In the same way that HMOs discourage discretionary medical care, Medicare Advantage plans exercise the same kinds of rationing, many of them with caps in place.

If you can afford it, you should consider a Supplemental Plan G - Then you can see the doctor whenever you bloody well think you need to - not according to some bean counter's tables.