Launch

Apogee

Good to see a different source then the majors talking about what US Military power actually looks like.

A sort of justice served… In a funny and positive way.

The responses to Ocasio-Cortez from split-ticket voters included:

• “It’s real simple… Trump and you care for the working class”
• “Trump is going to get us the money and lets men have a voice. You’re brilliant and have amazing passion!”
• “I feel like Trump and you are both real.”
• “I know people that did this and it was bc of Gaza.”
• “You are focused on the real issues people care about. Similar to Trump populism in some ways.”
• “Because of Gaza”
• “I voted Trump and dems because he reached out to Muslims”

I get why people are upset with the DNC, but it’s supposed to be a representative Democracy. I am exasperated, betrayed, depressed, and more about this election, but the reality is that near 40% of the voting eligible population didn’t vote. That’s 93 million people who didn’t vote. You can say it’s disenfranchised voters. You can blame leadership. But it’s our house. It’s our responsibility to elect our representatives.

Anyone know how much of the oil transported is actually used for plastic, percentage wise?

The BEP can still accept them, but I’m curious if BofA is actually doing this and if it’ll stand up. More FAQ’s can be read here

What is considered mutilated currency?

Mutilated currency is currency which has been damaged – to the extent that: (1) one-half or less of the original note remains; or (2) its condition is such that its value is questionable.  Currency notes can become mutilated in any number of ways.  The most common causes are fire, water, chemicals, and explosives; animal, insect, or rodent damage; and petrification or deterioration by burying.

What is not considered mutilated currency?

Unfit currency for redemption is currency which is unfit for further circulation because of its physical condition such as dirty, defaced, limp, torn, or worn.  Unfit currency should not be forwarded to Bureau of Engraving and Printing for redemption, but may be exchanged at commercial financial institutions.

I’d be curious if that’s a confirmed kill or just knocked out of action. Looks like a solid hit, but I’m not sure if it nailed anything crucial. Makes me wonder about the switchblade 600 , as that did not look like the Javelin like explosion which I would expect from an anti-armor warhead, but maybe I was just expecting a secondary. I looked at some previous Javelin hit, and they were mixed in the armors explosions.

Alternative link for those outside the US.

Also worth noting this is the video referred to in the article.

Maybe not perfect, but awesome as you are. Thanks for sending us great energy.

Not yet… Just waiting

This is great organizational recommendations.

“There is every reason to believe China’s BeiDou global navigation satellite system has the ability to imitate American GPS signals and those of Europe’s Galileo,” said Professor Todd Humphreys of the University of Texas Radionavigation Lab…

Just as a note, the US average power generation also from the EIA is about 477 GW of power so this 20.7 is about 4% of that.

And yes the Units are ridiculous. kilowatts to megawatts to gigawatts in plus million billions and trillion. Blah. Stop switching.

Good fill-in on that. i think I’d add some context to each which is worth discussing.

• Political instability and weak governance are present.

  • No, there are some arguably elements, but when you compare to the issues you see in the countries who’ve had them “No” is good a simple distilled answer.

• There are deep ethnic, religious, or sectarian tensions.

  • Yes, with the caveat that we are seeing low level tensions as compared to the direct violent and organic engage issues you might see in Syria, Haiti, Yugoslavia, etc. There is racism with violence and tension, but not at the widespread near genocidal level which are the signs which is considered. I admit this is arguably, but worth discussing as it’s a framing issue about gun violence, police use of force, structural violence, etc.

• The economy is declining with high inequality.

  • Economy: not declining - Inequality: high, this in particular is going to be a hard sign to trip, given how widespread the middle class is in the US vs other examples. It’s just a much much larger base that needs to get squeezed so much more before you’ll likely see French like protests about the wage disparity, corruption, or other inequality challenges. It’s very relevant, but just unlikely to get a significant population to say it’s not fair enough to act on it… When they can still go out to eat, watch movies, have disposable income, and more.

• Persistent social unrest and widespread protests occur.

  • Might happen if Trump loses or steals the presidency, this I’m just going to avoid given the continuing discussion.

• External powers are interfering or supporting different factions.

  • Yes, big time, substantiated from a foreign power stand point. I’d point out that this should also describe multinational companies as much as foreign powers.

• There is significant resource scarcity and competition.

  • Not yet, but global warming might make this happen, agree. Starting to see some changes due to some globalization, pandemic, and your point of climate change.

• Militarization and proliferation of arms increase.

  • Well, it’s the USA, agreed… But we are not seeing this based on strictly ethic lines in a way.

• Systematic human rights violations and repression take place.

  • Might happen under Trump

• Society experiences strong ideological polarization.

  • Yes, I’d caveat this with the reality that although it’s perceived as half the country that is polling well for Trump, it’s closer to a third or less. Not that the ideology divide isn’t pertinent, but just that there are about 80 million people who don’t vote in the US, so voter participation in presidential election is about 60%. So perception is that we have huge divide, but it’s driven by less and more extreme voices then the masses.

• Demographic pressures such as rapid population growth or urbanization exist.

  • No, I would actually argue this might be yes. The housing crunch is driven by a rural to urban migration, which has exacerbated the housing shortage. This in addition to the US being an outlier that has kept it’s population growth rate higher than other developed countries has continued to increase the US population, which is only recently beginning to slow. This is not at the same level as other collapsed countries, but is what gives people the perception that the US is struggling.

• The rule of law and justice systems are breaking down.

  • No, agreed although the judge choices and decisions of late leave much to be desired.

• Historical grievances and unresolved conflicts resurface.

  • No, agreed with the caveat that racial tension are at play and perceptions focus this to include immigrants.

So I talked to a PhD who’s work covered civil wars across the world, and asked about this. Turns out there are several signs you need to see which makes a civil war more likely. Most of which we haven’t even gotten close to, because many of them are economic related and right now the US is still the single largest economy in the world where peoples standard of living is still very comfortable.

I asked ChatGPT to describe this and these are the highlights, in order of historical priority?

• Political instability and weak governance are present.
• There are deep ethnic, religious, or sectarian tensions.
• The economy is declining with high inequality.
• Persistent social unrest and widespread protests occur.
• External powers are interfering or supporting different factions.
• There is significant resource scarcity and competition.
• Militarization and proliferation of arms increase.
• Systematic human rights violations and repression take place.
• Society experiences strong ideological polarization.
• Demographic pressures such as rapid population growth or urbanization exist.
• The rule of law and justice systems are breaking down.
• Historical grievances and unresolved conflicts resurface.

Note that the US does have some of these, but not to the evident level that you saw in Rwanda, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Syria, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, Libya, Myanmar, Haiti, and others. In short, if you look at the indicators, although the US is indeed troubled, it’s not troubled enough for people to hot the streets with more than riotous intent.

Way to bust that with reality! Kept the fact checks coming!

Really great explanation! Thanks!

For anyone who wants to support their efforts, they have an active paypal..

The order