To be fair to the MD alpha-gal allergies are incredibly rare. Most “meat allergies” would actually present as autoimmune disorders since we contain quite a bit of meat. It just so happens that protein is found in all mammals except apes and monkeys.

As a Louisiana native, I firmly believe people only eat gator to say they ate gator. It’s very greasy (has something to do with reptile fat vs. bird and mammal fat) and has to be seasoned heavily to taste decent. I grew up eating some weird animals but natives don’t really eat alligator. Crawfish boils are huge (and…

The assassin stated that he walked up behind Trotsky, closed his eyes, and swung. Never take your eyes off the target.

Mercader used an ice axe, not an ice pick, to assassinate Trotsky. A quick google search provided me with a picture of the actual axe used.

Until you engage an enemy that actually has a capable air force.

I believe it was an ice axe, which always struck me as odd since there are so many glacial peaks in Mexico.

Having read it, it works pretty good as a companion/comparison piece for TKAM. Without having read TKAM I would not have understood the characters enough to have much of an emotional connection. The plot does not flow well, but mainly because it is randomly interspersed with long memories that have a much lighter tone…

Don’t let all the media hype scare you away. I finished it this afternoon and I found it to be extremely interesting. It’s not as smooth flowing as TKAM, and the plot is certainly less developed, but it’s still Harper Lee. As for the controversy, it has the potential to stimulate positive conversation about race…

The missile defense system proposed would have been stationed in Poland. A Russian nuclear attack against NATO would almost exclusively be nukes fired at the US mainland. Germany has no nukes and would only require a strong conventional attack. The French have about 300 warheads and would be pretty unlikely to use…

In the end it wasn’t that cost effective though. It was very expensive to send up the entire orbiter when it was often only needed for transport of crew and limited supplies to the ISS.

We should have the capability to do so through private companies within 2-3 years. Sure, it’s technically a SpaceX capsule not a NASA capsule, but it still has our flag painted on it.

I think the circumstances and norms in 2015 are significantly different than those of the 1840s. I assume you would agree.

I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you wanted to count events from the 19th century to justify the invasion and annexation of Crimea. Try taking a college level history class and learn a little context.

Natives in the New World didn’t work out as slaves because they had no resistance to Old World diseases. By the time Columbus set sail the Portuguese and Arabs had long ago established slave trade with sub-Saharan Africa, so that was the next logical choice for European explorers. I’m not trying to justify anything,…

Early in Putin’s reign the whole raw commodities for quick cash scheme was genius and helped bring Russia out of a terrible slump. At that point he could have directed that cash into rebuilding the old industrial sector of the economy, and probably turned Russia into a very strong regional economic power. Instead he…

You are creating a big false equivalency. The US has not acted aggressively towards its neighbors, specifically with the intent of expanding its own borders.

Yes, its called the Montreux Convention. I discussed it in several other responses.

The only “tours” it ever takes are to the Mediterranean, typically anchoring in Syrian ports. This is primarily to allow carrier pilots valuable training time during winter when training is much more difficult near home.

It was in international airspace. It’s more like if it were driving down your street. You may not really like it, but you have no authority to stop it.

Russia’s carrier spends most of the time in port. I don’t think it’s been in the Black Sea since the 1990s.