The Internet Almanac

Miscellaneous Blather
#41

http://www.classwargames.net/?p=1636

“… I have studied the logic of war. Moreover, I succeeded, a long time ago, in presenting the basics of its movements on a rather simple board game: the forces in contention and the contradictory necessities imposed on the operations of each of the two parties. I have played this game and, in the often difficult conduct of my life, I have utilised lessons from it – I have also set myself rules of the game for this life, and I have followed them. The surprises of this Kriegsspiel seem inexhaustible; and I fear that this may be the only one of my works that anyone will dare to acknowledge as having some value. On the question of whether I have made good use of such lessons, I will leave to others to decide.”

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#42

The Kriegsspiel site has had that “game relaunch coming soon” message for years, now. I think I still have the download from when it was up before somewhere…

#43

https://jalopnik.com/the-secret-language-of-ships-1825381945

#44

https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/05/281959.htm -Background Briefing on President Trump’s Decision To Withdraw From the JCPOA

This is incredible. It’s like it’s been transplanted from The Thick of It.

#45
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#48

Security, security, security, GOD, security, security…

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#49

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-finds-ancient-organic-material-mysterious-methane-on-mars

#50

http://zeihan.com/i-think-they-get-it-now-part-i/

Courtesy of the G7 show this past Saturday, I think they get it now. I think America’s closest allies realize the shift in the White House is, indeed, real. I think they understand Trump is not bluffing. I think they’ve internalized that Trump’s rhetoric is the American position. I think they finally believe Bretton Woods will not magically regenerate when Trump is gone.

And that means it is high time for the allies to figure out where they fit into the scared new world that is tumbling open right in front of them.

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#51
#52

This is such a fine example of why I despise politics these days and rarely comment on the issues. I’m bringing this up not to pick sides or say one guy is doing it right while another is doing it wrong, but just to point out the completely shameless hypocrisy deeply-rooted in all politics. We could debate immigration policy and humanitarian aid all we want, but what gets my goat is how one politician can be pounced on for an issue while another, who acted the exact same way, can be ignored. This is a case in point: the Obama administration treated immigrants at the border in the exact same way. Fine. Again, that is a debate that can be had. But where was Cuomo then? Did Peter Fonda tweet that Obama’s daughters should be ripped from their parents and thrown in cells with pedophiles (as he did about Baron Trump)?

Issues can be debated and there is fertile ground for some really interesting debates on policy issues, but when people like Cuomo start taking sides and ignoring what “their guy” does while pillorying the “other guy,” all credibility is lost to me and it is not about politics but about personality.

There is no actual law in the US that mandates separating children from their families when they are detained at the border, but the practice predated both the Trump administration and the Obama administration. Both administrations did/do it, but only the current administration has signed an executive order to stop it.

So I really don’t understand why Cuomo’s outrage comes now, as opposed to any time in the last 10+ years.

Again, I know politics can get people riled up and I’m really not talking about the policies in place, just the incredible disparity between attacks on “their guy” versus silence on “our guy.” It goes both ways from both parties and gets very tiresome, but this is such a prime example of the issue that I had to bite.

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#53

First past the post elections and attendant two party system it forces has given us a very warped sense of politics in the US. Other places there is no such thing as “both sides,” because a multiplicity of parties exist, whereas in the US other parties are universally jokes. In the US, both parties are bad because they arise from the same bad system. They are not equally bad, not even close, but they are both generally bad. Even the best of them have serious problems and don’t go far enough where they are good. This is probably all I will ever have to say on the subject here.

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#54

@js619 opened a real can of worms now! I was tempted to just make some popcorn, but as a non-american I may as well wade right in…

I don’t believe anyone was denying that the law existed for the last 10 years, but my understanding was that it was only enforced in extreme circumstances, and typically families were not being criminally charged. Whereas with the “zero-tolerance” policy, everyone is being criminally charged for crossing the border, even those that are presenting themselves as asylum-seekers.

#55

All I see in the media right now are discussions of how the detained are being treated. Lax vs. zero tolerance may or may not be a difference between the current administration and those of the past, but I don’t know for sure. My whole point is that Cuomo would have been much more intellectually honest if he had said something like “this was bad under Bush, this was bad under Obama, this was bad under Trump. Trump’s executive order is a step in the right direction but we have more to do.”

Edit: It is very ironic that when is mid-typed “those” it autocorrected to “Jose.”

#56

Wow, apologies all; I certainly didn’t mean to throw gas on a proverbial fire. I wasn’t posting the article because Cuomo wrote it, per se, but because I agreed with the sentiment.

As @Hardco said, this has been going on for several administrations, but I was never aware of families being separated the way they are now. If it was happening before, then shame on me for being unaware of it; but being aware of this immoral, unethical, and frankly un-American practice now made me feel as if I had to post something.

Caveat emptor, I’m a registered Democrat. But I think both parties are populated by a large majority of halfwits and morons.

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#57
families being separated...frankly un-American practice

Given the existence of Indian Residential Schools, I’d say it’s as American as apple pie.

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#58

I don’t think it is your fault; I don’t think many people at all were aware of the family separation policies until now.

#59

Not un-American in practice, but un-American in theory. This country has committed a multitude of mistakes and atrocities. Regardless, I still believe in the principles on which I think the country was founded - freedom and liberty for all. That’s what I meant by that; unfortunately I think a lot is lost via internet…

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#60

I would argue that it was not, in fact, founded on the principle of freedom and liberty for all, but I concede that it is certainly a critical component of modern American myth-making.

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