Yeah i agree - states are institutions dedicated to violence. Whether or not they did some arcane legal rituals before murdering iranians and americans is hardly the point.

But i do think it matters to show that the state is lying when it claims to use violence legitimately. It doesn’t even adher to its own made up rules.

And it matters that their violence is so unpopular that they can’t even let a body as unrepresentative as the US congress get a say.

The Greens senator David Shoebridge called the prime minister’s claim that no Australian personnel were involved in offensive action “extraordinary” and said it was inevitable that Australian personnel would be involved in US action.

“This makes Australia obviously, clearly, unambiguously, part of an illegal war, part of a war that is breaking down the norms of international law and making the world a less safe place,” he said.

“It is as sure as day follows night that Australians throughout the US military are actively involved, part of the United States and Israel’s illegal war in Iran.” … According to the Royal Australian Navy, one in 10 crew members onboard US Navy attack submarines is Australian.

1 in 10 is a lot!

In taiwan they bake them, mash them, sculpt the mash into a potato shape, bread that, fry it, cut that open, then serve it with some combo of broccoli, corn, pineapple, shrimp, oyster mushroom and always swimming in an inch of nacho cheese.

Good vodka is just vodka that tastes less like vodka.

That’s almost identical to how my family makes latkes, just we add a little grated onion as well. Going back we’re from nearby poland/lithuana so not that surprising i suppose.

We’ve found the secret is to hand-squeeze the moisture out of the gratings before adding the flour and egg, it just tastes way better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DodByZ-qgXs

This video from Ancient Americas on the history of the potato might be in my top 10 youtube videos.

Isn’t rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer cheaper though?

Either you’ve never tasted vodka or you’ve never tasted anything else made from potatoes.

Exactly. These comments are not directed at the sane, it’s so their supporters don’t have to admit that trump loses most of the time.

Hired goons?

How much of our air defensive stockpile do you think our russia backed regime can expend protecting the wealth of the royal house of saud?

A kurdish controlled iran doesn’t seem possible, a breakaway kurdistan in former nw iran is more likely.

That would tempt turkiye into military action, giving the russian regime in the us an excuse to get belligerent with an eu member. An independant kurdistan would likely get the sympathy of many other eu members, so even if turkiye plays it cool, it creates tension within the eu and something russia can promise turkiye that the eu probably can’t.

Inflation is also just intentionally caused by tech oligarchs like amazon and rental market monopolists raising prices on everything because they can. So it’s bound to go up because bezos doesn’t have enough money.

“Gambles his presidency?” My god the nyt is such trash.

We’re in an era of rising authoritarianism, with an illegitimate regime that refuses to obey the law, is openly committed to voter suppresion, openly engages in corruption including with foreign nationals, runs concentration camps and is lead by a known child rapist.

And yet the nyt talks like the political rules of 2006 still apply.

Bombable locations often have air raid sirens to alert personnel to seek shelter.

A “tactical operation center that was fortified” ought to have such a thing, whereas a “makeshift operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait” is much less likely to.

The lack of warning speaks to the lies and poor planning of hegseth and other regime goons.

I don’t think it’s the friendship he wants people to stop talking about though, i suspect it’s all the children he raped.

“Only I stole this fairly” has been the motto of oligarchs for millenia.

The state is just an institution of violence-control.

Inflicting violence and restricting others’ access to violence is literally all it does. Everything from zoning laws to welfare serves that sole purpose.

Rum, Sodomy and the Lash by the Pogues. Seemless blending of punk and traditional irish music that’s still as raw and refined today as ever.

Pretty much anything by the Velvet Underground. They’re the quintessential “barely anyone came to their shows but everyone who did started a band” band.

Early Pixies - Surfer Rosa or Come on Pilgrim. Basically no grunge otherwise.

Probably everything by Sun Ra, but his earliest wrangling of electronic keys into jazz in like the 40s or whatever seems pretty consequential. Plus probably no P-funk as we know it without Sun Ra, which has heaps of knock on effects.

No good outcome is possible from two brutal murdeous authoritarian regimes attacking a third.