LongJim

Have never understood that. They have 1 vote like every other school.

I have to say--I love that uniform. That is a fantastic alternate look.

"Around 6,000 “self-identified” Americans have left Afghanistan, Blinken said, with “under 200” Americans “who remain in Afghanistan and want to leave. We’re trying to determine exactly how many.” ************************************************* I like how the quote is "less than 200". Instead of "almost 200". We left almost 200 Americans behind enemy lines in a hostile country. Left. Them. Behind. ************************************************* https://www.nationalreview.com/news/blinken-confirms-u-s-left-hundreds-of-americans-behind-in-afghanistan/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MJ_20210831&utm_term=Jolt-Smart

Not really. It's likely a biblical reference to 2 Timothy 4:7.

Can it get worse? Yes, it can. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/explosion-erupts-outside-kabul-airport-pentagon-says/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=24861201

I work with a Marine. He did two tours in Afghanistan. He said the same thing.

Hugely influential drummer. Might have been the most sneaky-cool member of the band. I read Keith's autobiography a few years ago, and IIRC, he maintained that he would not continue in the Stones if Charlie wasn't the drummer. Time will tell.

Good post, and I agree with much of it. I agree that a large proxy war is unsustainable. However, I think--unfortunately--that the US really needed to serve as a hegemon in that area with some sort of remaining force similar to what we have in South Korea and other continents. It goes against my instincts to type that, but if it's needed anywhere, I think it's in Afghanistan. We never should have attempted to build a nation there though. Pointless and impossible. It does strike me as more than odd--and suspicious--that the verbiage from all of the lackeys is essentially the same. I think Biden is a doddering fool, but I truly wish him luck in sorting this out. There are a lot of innocents in a lot of danger. I'm getting into politics now, so I'll shut my own comments down in this thread beyond excerpts from articles I feel might be of interest.

Sure sounds like CYA legalese. ******************************** https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/a-question-for-team-biden-which-americans-currently-in-afghanistan-want-to-stay-there/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=hero&utm_content=related&utm_term=second "I’ve noticed something curious amid the unfolding debacle that is the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. The obvious and correct priority for the U.S. right now, with the decision to withdraw having been made, is to get every American out of the country as soon as possible, given the threat faced from the unstable situation and the resurgent Taliban. So why does Team Biden keep hedging on this? There has been acknowledged confusion about how long U.S. forces will remain, and how many Americans are still in the country. But what to make of the weirdness of the line of multiple administration officials, including President Joe Biden himself, that they are working to get only those Americans who “want” to leave Afghanistan out of the country? Department of State spokesman Ned Price, August 19: “We’re going to bring home all the Americans who wish to come home, but I just can’t put a firm number on it for you right now.” Joe Biden, August 20: “But let me be clear. Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, August 20: “The president I think was clear that we’ll do whatever we have to do to rescue as many Americans as want to leave Afghanistan, and the secretary’s not going to rule anything in or out in terms of what the possibilities might be there.” An unnamed administration official, speaking to Fox News, today: “As the president and his team have made clear, the circumstances in Afghanistan are heartbreaking and we are bringing the Americans who want to come home, home.” Maybe there is something I am missing here. But I can only imagine that, if you are an American currently in Afghanistan, you want to leave, unless we have some truly audacious souls out there who are making their way over to Ahmad Massoud as we speak. So why on earth is it necessary to qualify this language in any way? Why not just say “all Americans?” Surely it’s not to provide some kind of wiggle room, to lay the foundation for an assumption that any American who proves unable to make it to Kabul within the full-withdrawal deadline Biden has now decided to stick to, lest he anger the Taliban, actually wanted to stay. No, that couldn’t be it. Right?"--Jack Butler

I think you should reread your post carefully. Secondly, I'm not sure you realize just how big of a screw up this is. You are certainly minimizing it, in my opinion. Again, Biden wasn't hired to be Trump. Or are you arguing otherwise? Austin and Milley should offer their resignations immediately, if they are soldiers with honor.

Wow. "Hey, Trump would have had the same result if he was president." Hadn't heard that excuse before. New one. Biden wasn't hired to be Trump. Heads need to roll.

You're being obtuse. This is a debacle. You fire people.

Question is--who in the Pentagon is going to be held accountable? My prediction is--nobody will be.

Cliffs of this thread: OP: "Terrible, tragic scene at Afghanistan Airport." Replies: "Could have been prevented. Unnecessary. Tragic. Kudos to MSM." Also replies: "Conservatives--worse memory than Joe. Past presidents sucked. Trump is a son of a bitch." 🤘

Credit to WSJ and WaPo editorial boards the last few days. And a bit of credit to the NYT for their editorial Sunday.

Tragic, shameful, and unnecessary.

The city of Denton's wording on their mandate is pretty clever, if I'm reading it correctly. It essentially makes masks mandatory for city employees, and employees of commercial entities, and says the business has to "develop and implement a health and safety policy", which apparently tells the business to make customers wear masks. However, the mandate goes on to say in Section IV: "Face Coverings Strongly Urged – General Public. It is strongly urged that all people 2 years or older wear a face mask when in public indoor space. No civil or criminal penalty will be imposed on individuals for failure to wear a face mask." So, it appears to be mainly a "strong suggestion", and something that won't be enforced? I visited a couple of businesses in Denton yesterday, and while they had their policies posted, and many folks were wearing their accoutrements, not everyone was, and the businesses didn't enforce the policy.

Context no longer applies. Ever.

https://reason.com/2021/08/06/apple-will-start-checking-your-messages-for-dick-picks/ ****************** "But to be clear, this is an encryption back door of sorts. Apple will be using tech to scan the contents of your images when you are either uploading them for storage or messaging minors. And while this is all in the service of fighting child exploitation and abuse, there is absolutely no reason why anybody should believe that it will end here."

https://tvline.com/2021/08/08/markie-post-dead-night-court-dies-obituary/

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/legendary-florida-state-coach-bobby-bowden-dead-at-91

Yeah, I think--similar to UNT--that their AD hire has been pretty good for them. They won the Learfield cup this year and a couple of national championships in other sports, but football drives the bus, and they have to get the money-maker back on track.