You’re probably better with moderately warm water if it’s a hydration issue. To go back to the pool reference, I remember we cut the liner out of a pool on one of the hottest days that year. It was so bad even my boss agreed we shouldn’t spend more than 10 minutes at a time in the pool. Just touching the hardware…

Analysis is a behavior, I really don’t care if you try and insult me. I can prove my ability through action.

Stay safe people. Because of some medical nonsense I’m hiding in a basement until the temperatures get a little cooler. Especially if you’re younger it’s easy to dismiss but heat can really mess with you. Before I got sick I worked on pools, and I worked some days that were definitely not safe for outdoor workers (my…

Honestly, probably not that much. AIPAC does a lot of harm, but that’s not really their game. 

But not bases, which is important. I think it’s highly debatable that our current posture vis-a-vis Israel can be justified by military necessity. Also, if I remember correctly, a lot of that stockpile is insurance to help defend Israel. 

Because they know next to nothing about actual Israeli policies or the reality on the ground. 

Pure naked political cowardice. The anti-BDS stuff is both probably unconstitutional and also stupid. If you truly oppose BDS, the best thing to do is ignore it. All this attention has pushed it.

I’m skeptical Erdogan actually believes the US was behind the coup. He’s intensely paranoid, but he’s surrounded himself with at least some competent people who are probably telling him in private that’s not the case. I know government-aligned media have pushed that theory, but that strikes me more as political…

The Thorns aren’t really a typical NWSL team though. They’re way above the rest in attendance for one. I meant the point more broadly. 

Presumably this is supposed to be an oblique reference to Israel, but if Israel has ever struck Turkey I’m not aware of it. The chance of outright conflict between the two is minimal. Turkey’s positions aren’t friendly to the Netanyahu government and are generally friendly to political Islamists but that’s not a…

The US is legally prohibited from sending US arms to non-state groups, that’s why when we were arming various Kurdish factions we bought off the international market, generally older Russian-pattern weapons that have long flooded the market. You’re not getting aircraft through that route. There’s not really much of a…

I’ve dismissed half a dozen today. Not surprised. One of them seems to be a repeat stalker of mine that’s had at least four burners I’m aware of. Ironically I never bother to remember them, but eventually the racist cretin always accuses me of supporting Hamas. 

Neither the YPG nor any KRG faction have any real air threat. I’m not sure the YPG has anything, even helicopters, and same with the KRG. Against ISIS they relied on US airpower. They certainly don’t have anything that older AA systems couldn’t handle, if they have anything at all.

Probably not if the sanctions that are required by law to be placed on Turkey happen. It’ll dry up their ability to buy spare parts. It sounds like they’re already stocking up on F-16 spares but its hard to say how effective that’ll be (and the Turkish military is fairly likely to bluff in any public claims they make…

I think Erdogan was, and still is, hoping Trump’s weird affinity for strongmen will bail him out. That seems to be the bet on the sanctions, even though that’s an incredibly stupid bet.

I’m hoping to get to a Spirit game sooner or later, it’s actually a bit closer than a D.C. United game (though if they played at Audi Field I might go there too). I don’t really get to see many games live, men’s or women’s, but I’m definitely more invested in following the Spirit after the World Cup.

That essay and the concept of “ur-fascism” more broadly was making the rounds not too long ago. It’s incredibly relevant, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem like there’s any real penetration into the American psyche. It’s not the people who read the New York Review of Books who need convincing, generally speaking.

Really impossible to argue otherwise, unless you willfully distort the meaning of the term “fascist”. Authoritarian nationalism focused on bringing benefits to the “true people” and bringing back their golden age while targeting and scapegoating the “bad people” who are the cause of all ills. Trump’s rallies…

It’s a pretty common refrain on the Israeli right. I don’t think people understand just how radicalized and openly bigoted Israeli politics are, since they only vaguely hear things around elections. Ironically the Israeli press doesn’t ignore the problem the way international English press does, even including…

“Anti-Semitism is whatever bad faith far-right nationalists claim it is” is a particularly troubling development. Even the ones who are Jewish tend to have extremist views about Jews who don’t agree with them.