Thought I was in /c/yiff for a sec, lol

Fair enough.

We sadly live in a post-truth, vibe-based political culture. Anything bad that happens is because of the Other Guys™, everything good that happens is because of Our Guys™.

Donald Trump can say whatever he wants and his followers will believe it, because the truth and facts and statistics and other such measurable and objective bars for success aren’t as important as how Trump makes them feel like they are getting everything they wanted. Even if they know they aren’t.

I’m not typically a betting man, but I would be willing to go all in on that not being the reason they seized the ship.

This administration tends to do what comes natural to them first (do illegal shit) and then search for an excuse later for why it was necessary when confronted about it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually came to the same conclusion that you did, but only after Trump or one of his stooges brags about doing it for other reasons.

lmao, bro, I can’t force them to fight. I’m just a guy on the other end of the computer. I think you don’t understand what the word “support” means.

I support Ukraine’s right to independence and freedom.

I support the cessation of hostilities in the region.

I do not support surrender to Russia. Why would I? Choosing to fight and choosing not to fight are two diametrically opposed concepts. Therefore, I do not support a resolution in which Ukraine gives up land to Russia, period.

It’s pretty clear that when this war most likely ends via negotiation and a land concession,

Don’t hold your breath on this one, Chief.

all the gung ho support we see in threads like this one is going to evaporate.

Wow, what a stunning prediction. Next are you going to predict that the sun will come back up again after it goes down?

Regardless of how the war ends, the support generally ends with it. That’s how thing things tend to work. it’s pretty hard to care about a think when the thing is no longer happening. If Ukraine achieved victory through martial victory alone and ended the war purely on their terms, my support would also evaporate because the war would be over.

Your negotiation with the used car salesman doesn’t end when you get half off sticker price and the salesman gets sticker price. That’s just a contradiction.

What kind of idiotic analogy is this? I can’t even wrap my head around it.

Regardless… called it what you want: surrender, capitulation, conceding territory, etc… it’s just semantics.

No, it’s really not just “semantics”. Words have specific meaning.

I completely believe that the majority of Ukrainians want a negotiated end to the war. War sucks and everybody who has had to live trough one will tell you so. But if the “negotiation” is Russia saying “Give us all the territory we have occupied/seized so far, plus some additional territory that we have not yet occupied, and we will withdraw our troops.” that’s not a negotiation. That’s conditional surrender. I really doubt that the people are clamoring to surrender their land and homes to Russian occupiers.

Suppose the Ukrainian people wish to surrender. Would you still stand with them?

I suspect that no matter what I think the Ukrainian people should do, if they decide that they are ready to give up the fight, then that’s none of my business. I’m not in the trenches with a rifle, after all.

But if they Ukrainian people want to continue to fight, and negotiate for a favorable peace agreement, I’m all for supporting them so that they can win and make all the bloodshed so far worth it.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Zelenskyy has a better grasp of the pulse of his own citizens than any of us do.

A negotiation typically ends when both parties get what they want. Maybe they don’t get everything they want, but they are happy enough with the results to accept the terms.

Capitulation is not negotiating, it’s literally giving up many concessions for nothing in return.

Keep in mind that Ukraine was tricked once already with the Crimean war peace deal that saw them give up territory. Russia invaded again and the U.S. turned a blind eye to their aggression for a second time despite repeated promises of security.

You would have to be an idiot to take any deal that gives up territory at this point. That’s not a negotiation, it’s just surrender. It’s kicking the can down the road to give Russia time to recoup their losses and invade again in a few more years.

The United States has proven to be an unreliable ally in the best of times, so why would they accept a peace deal brokered by a pedophile conman?

Most likely nothing since Trump famously never pays anybody.

I’ll celebrate the day by burning the American flag and posting online about how much I hate Trump, because I still have the freedom to do both of those things no matter what this sack of shit wants.

I think because most religious tenets are more restrictive rather than permissive, it’s easy to say “everyone should have the freedom to practice their own religion.”, but the part that gets left out is “including no religion at all.” and that is an important distinction.

Whenever I meet these types of psycho Christian nationalists who think it’s A-OK to impose their own regressive views on others by rewriting the law to be a reflection of their holy text, I just fire back with an even more regressive, barbaric interpretation of a religious commandment.

“I worship Ba’al Hamon, and my religion says I must sacrifice an infant child to gain his favor. I will lobby my congressmen to change the law to add an exception to infanticide when performing a ritualistic blood offering. Oh, what’s that? You don’t like that? Gee, and you were so gung-ho about forcing people to abide by your religious demands a second ago. I thought we were cool with forcing our beliefs on other people?”

If your religion can’t coexist with nonbelievers without forcibly bending them to your rules, it’s a shit religion.

I’ve been calling it Handegg for over a decade now. My Handegg-loving friends hate it.

Just when I thought it wouldn’t be possible to view FIFA any more negatively than I already do, I see this headline. Only way it gets worse from here is if they find a way for Nestle to participate in this circlejerk.

I don’t think, for as long as I live, I will ever stop being mad at whoever let Biden on stage in that condition.

To the folks who are keeping up on the story, did the McDonalds snitch ever get that bounty? Because if nothing else, it will feel like justice if that person gets nothing for selling out Mangione to the fucking pigs.

Prison would be too good for these jackboot thugs.

Cut out social media from your life completely. No, I swear to god, this is life changing advice not some boomer platitudes about how kids these days are always in their phones.

You don’t realize how much life you are missing by being completely stuck to your phone. I promise the world will continue to turn if you ignore your phone for a few hours at a time.

Quit Facebook, quit Instagram, quit X, quit TikTok. If you feel like you are bored and want to open the apps, try something else. Read a book, start a creative writing project, listen to music while meditating, play video games, do some woodworking, go for a walk or a hike with your dog, learn a new language, go out to the bar or club and socialize, go to the gym and work out, draw stuff from your imagination.

I promise promise promise you will feel better. Not right away, but very soon after you start doing these things instead of the vapid doomscrolling, shitposting, clout-chasing, self-aggrandizing social media spiral you will realize that you don’t need your phone. You are able to live your best life when you aren’t thinking about what’s being posted online or taking constant selfies or photographing every meal you eat.

Your future self will thank me.

I’m appreciating the silence while it lasts.

If nature has its way, soon we will all become crabs in beautiful carcinization. 🦀

The nemesis system patents and Namco’s loading screen mini game patent are two examples of why game mechanics and features should never be granted an exclusive patent.

Of course Namco’s patents expired in 2015 at a time when seamless load screens had become the industry standard.

Who knows what the gaming landscape will look like when people are finally able to get their hands on the nemesis system again?

Which part of this is favorable for the Soviet Union?