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Brisketexan

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Posts posted by Brisketexan

  1. The whole thing is just nuts.  Iran is the last country that wants a shooting war with the US.  Israel would be more subtle.
    This feels like the Saudis - it's about as clumsy as kidnapping a journalist, cutting him up in an embassy, and sending the remains out in diplomatic pouches.

    Like that would ever happen.
  2. 1 minute ago, Bateshorn said:

    I'm inclined to rule out the Isrealis.  While they'd love to have us bomb Iran, they would be much more subtle about it than this.  I mean, this is embarrassingly bad.  OTOH, all it takes is goading Trump into action, so maybe it's being dumbed down for him.

    I agree.  The Israelis would be a LOT more slick.  

  3. 17 minutes ago, Mojo Hand said:

    For what shall it profit a church, if it should gain the whole government, but lose its own soul?

    Well, being that the denomination was founded in a rift over slavery (the Southern Baptist being the pro-slavery result).....the question of whether the denomination ever had a soul is open.

    • Like 1
  4. 6 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

    The incompetence is breath taking.  Like, it's not that hard, guys.

    Yeah, this is all kinda baffling.  It's a chess match, with multiple players:

    The Saudis/arab states

    Israel

    The US

    Iran

    It's almost certain that SOMEONE aligned with one of those players made this particular move.  But to what end?  Look at the risk/reward.  It's hard to make a case for it being Iran: if they wanted to put ships at the bottom of the gulf, they could do so in ways that DON'T involve using easily-traced pre-made mines.  And Iran knows that if it is traced to them, they are at HIGH risk for getting slapped down by vastly superior miliitaries.  I'm not saying it's impossible that it's Iran -- I'm saying that for it to be Iran, they would have to be the dumbest state actor in the past 50+ years, and I don't see it.

    Who benefits by the ultimate outcome of this process (bombing tankers, leading to inevitable military reprisals)?  Iran is the LAST party on that list.  And the other three are all high on the list.

    Add in the fact that this administration has earned -- I mean EARNED - the title of least-trustworthy administration in history, and this is a mess.  If someone like the Dutch come out and say "yeah, we figured out it was Iran," I would be much more inclined to believe it.

    • Like 2
  5. 1 hour ago, phdhorn said:

    Hah, no kidding.  Over in Europe they can get away with that shit but numerous times here, they try that and a number of Americans pretty much say out loud, "You can get away with that shit over there, but not in 'Murica, asshole.  Get in line or leave."

    And they always meekly comply.  They know what they're doing (or trying to).

    My kids still crack up when they recount our last visit to the British Museum.  There was a gaggle of French teenage girls all standing directly in front of the entrance door, yammering and texting, and completely blocking access to the museum.  We stood there for a moment, and then when I realized they weren't moving, I barked (in my fake French) "movez vous!"  They all looked up, startled....and got the fuck out of the way.   And it was something we actually observed on that trip to London -- every damned time there was a group of people gumming up the sidewalk, or blocking access to a room in a museum or whatnot, they were French.  And yeah, they know they're being assholes -- they just count on you not calling them on it.

  6. 28 minutes ago, gecko said:

    Wait....you took a kid with whooping cough to Mexico?

    Anti-vaxxers are the only idiots...

    Didn't know that's what it was till we were back -- thought it was just a lingering cough.  And were later informed that it wasn't contagious by that point anyway.

  7. 16 hours ago, F250 said:

    The better angels are reason, intellect, law, government, science, education and commerce that have driven the evolution of civilization.

    This is how we engage our better angels so that we can continue to extend civilization to the rest of humanity.

    They are.  All of those things.  They should have the greatest value in society.  They don't.  The only thing with real value is power.  Even wealth is just a means to the end of power.

    And sure, we raise kids to be enlightened, kind, and dedicated.  Lots of people have done that.  There are mass graves throughout Europe, Cambodia, China, Latin America, filled with such people.  They were put there by people who value power above all else.

    33 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

    This is melodramatic, angsty teen bullshit.

    Far more insidiously, it is a view that we use to defend and even promote our cruel social and economic policies. It's the conservative's excuse for religious totalitarianism, economic stratification, and mass incarceration.

    Social and economic conditions are what turn humans nasty. There is a reason we are disturbed by a child who is cruel to animals; he is an aberration. A human's first instinct is towards collaboration. Greed and cruelty require thought and planning and our thinking is shaped by what surrounds us.

    Naah, it's just history, which repeats itself.  Yes, step ONE is collaboration.  We become a tribe.  Step Two is where we kill the fuck out of everyone who ain't "us."  Not only is inflicting pain and death on "the other" not a problem, it's a POSITIVE. It's your "patriotic duty" in defense of "your people and your way of life, and your father/motherland."  Which is usually a manipulation by (whom?) the people in power.  Who have created the conflict by creating economic and resource conditions that foster such conflict....but also help them consolidate power.

    Evil men create conflict and consolidate power.  And the masses cheer them and do their dirty work.  It's like the point that's been made that there are very few good cops -- there are the bad ones who shoot people for no reason, and all of the other cops who cover for them.  

    I'm not "using that fact insidiously."  I'm calling it like I see it -- and continuing to (futilely, we all know) work against it.  Rage against the dying of the light and all that.  But the light inevitably dies, all the same.

    History will show that the post-WWII liberal world order, and the couple of centuries-long history of what we'd generally call "democratic governance" was a shocking aberration.  Russia is the human baseline -- nihilist, nationalism, and they love a strong man.  They are what the rest of us are -- they're just honest enough to admit it.

  8. Proxies, maybe.  
    If Tehran is somehow behind this, I hope they covered their tracks well, otherwise millions of innocent Iranians are about to die.
    Hell, that might happen anyway.  It's not as if we need proof when there's a Republican in the White House.
    This can't end well.

    Nope, it can’t. We’re about to commit some war crimes, and likely get a fair number of Americans killed in the process.

    Winning.
    • Like 3
    • Fuck You 2
  9. 40 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    “The amount earned?” My Latin is rusty. Explain.

    Quote

    Quantum meruit is an equitable theory of recovery based on an implied agreement to pay for benefits received and knowingly accepted. 

    A party can recover in quantum meruit when non-payment for the services rendered would result in an unjust enrichment to the party benefited by the work. To recover in quantum meruit, the plaintiff must establish that: (1) valuable services and/or materials were furnished, (2) to the party sought to be charged, (3) which were accepted by the party sought to be charged, and (4) under such circumstances as reasonably notified the recipient that the plaintiff, in performing, expected to be paid by the recipient.

    I copied from a Texas case, deleted all the citation junk.  Bottom line, if I provided you something of value, you accepted them, and you know I expected to be paid, then you gotta pay me.

    It's a good claim against the Trump campaign (and ANY campaign that doesn't pay, by the way -- for example, Beto staged a rally in El Paso that incurred such expenses. Of course, he paid his bill.  Trump hasn't).  They should pursue it.

    • Like 1
  10.  
    It inspired you to go... somewhere other than Hut's.
    And I guess that's probably all that needs to be said at this point. /thread

    What inspired me to go somewhere other than Huts was the line out the door of Huts.
  11. Just now, Bateshorn said:

    Goddamn it sure does seem like somebody is trying to goad Trump into pulling the trigger on Iran.  

    Yeah, but these things are so over-the-top and ham-handed, they must think he's REALLY stupid.....

    giphy.gif

     

    • Like 1
  12. 1 minute ago, henrygandorf said:

    this is due to us basing every current war on shit we learned from the previous war.  hasn't shown to be a great idea.

    Oh, there's about 20 layers of bad thinking that 1) got us there then, and 2) we're still holding onto, because maybe THIS time, that sort of thinking will be right.

    Step one should be "stop viewing the USA as we view ourselves, and start viewing it as objective third parties see us"....and honestly, once you do that, then the rest of it pretty much falls into place.  Our repeated self-congratulatory excuse of "but we're bringing them FREEDOM!" is doing nobody any favors.  And, you know, the fact that it's rarely true is a nice little side problem.

  13. Just now, Cheeseweasel said:

    Now THAT is how you conspiracy theory right there!

    ....but it's not a bad one.  If you start with the query of cui bono ("who benefits?").....there's really no conclusion other than to realize that every American military action starting with the first Gulf War has been the work of Lee Greenwood.

  14. 3 hours ago, irishtexan said:

    9ea7d41bfa02d33e51709a7148bc3990.jpg

    Hut’s nostalgia thread had me hankerin’ for a large DH, some cheese tots and a cold lone star from Dirty’s

    You missed GOLL and me by a day.  We sat at the bar at Dirty's yesterday.  Just went classic cheeseburger, though -- he got fries, I got rings.  But yeah, the Hut's issue inspired us as well.

    • Like 1
  15. Baptists serve bland food at their potlucks.

    So do Presbyterians and Methodists, generally speaking.

    Catholics always have booze.  The food can be pretty good, if it's a heavily hispanic congregation.

    But for the best grub.....man, spend a Sunday at an A.M.E. church.  

    Theologically speaking, I mostly judge the denominations by the quality of their potlucks and the attractiveness of my pew-mates.  It may not be the most theologically sound approach, but it works for me.

  16. 34 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

    Pompeo blames Iran, cites intelligence, doesn't elaborate.

     

    Wait....I thought the American Intelligence Apparatus was "the Deep State," and cannot be trusted.

    Which is it, Trumpkins?

    4 minutes ago, Monster said:

    What a big surprise.  That country that Israel hates has committed an unprovoked attack on the United States of America! 

    Let's all sign up for military service and spend/borrow billions of dollars from the banks to fight a war in Iran now...because this happened.  

    Please , please, I hope the legitimate posters on this site can see this for what it is.

    Oh....wait...it's this.  It's just naked lies to wag the dog.

    It's not even a credible lie.  Why in the fucking blue hell would Iran attack western tankers, KNOWING that it would be a provoke devastating military action against it?  At this point, the most likely country NOT to have attacked those tankers is Iran (I mean, maybe Luxembourg is slightly more likely to be absolved, but only slightly).

    • Like 3
  17. 18 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    Vietnam is so much more than that, some of which we didn’t realize at the time, or at least it didn’t seem to match what the politicians were saying.  If Vietnam falls to the communists, the rest of SE Asia falls, and from there, who knows.    It would most likely be a lot more than 50,000 dead American troops, because we would have gotten involved at some point in that process.

    Plus, if we don’t fight the Soviets by proxy there, we fight them somewhere else - we had quite a bit of pressure building up.  What happens if we and the Soviets pour those same resources into the Arab-Israeli conflicts?  What if the Cuba stuff gets hot?

    anyways, enough of this.  Trump would have found a way out of any draft, no matter how necessary or just  it was or wasn’t, that much is clear.  

     

    17 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    ...isn't basically everything in your post exactly what they used to justify Vietnam at the time?

    Met my wife when we both took a class on the Vietnam War.  I argued what Atomheart was arguing -- "AT THE TIME, it was a rational and justifiable decision.  Once you understand what our predicate beliefs were, then from there, it was the right decision."  She argued "but our predicate beliefs were WRONG."  Kind of an interesting pair of perspectives, both of which are significantly correct.  Of course, I got an A in the class, she got a B+, but it would be a real dick move of me to bring that up every time the class comes up, which I do, because I'm a dick.

    • Like 3
    • Haha 2
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