Gotcha, that’s fair.

I love Erdrich’s novels too, even now she’s criminally underrated and underappreciated, but I can’t say I understand why an author’s background should factor significantly into one’s appreciation of that author’s work. I mean, if you’re actively misrepresenting your background to sell books, sure, you deserve all the…

I’m sorry too, for what it’s worth. A sibling of mine suffered for years with a different mental illness, BPD, and while I know the situations are hardly close parallels, my sibling also used to threaten suicide and scream and seem hopeless. But after several years of dedicated therapy, she did improve and has been on…

It’s not a big advance at all if you factor in Milo’s built-in readership.  And Threshold is still around for a reason, conservative readers shell out a ton of money for these types of books.

Uh, no, they absolutely don’t have a moral turpitude clause.

Isn’t shooting guard the slowest position to develop? Winslow’s obviously a strong defender and he’d shown a lot more potential this season, poor shooting percentage or no, including with his passing ability. Every team in the league would love to have him on their roster.

Giannis shoulda been called for the 6 second backdown.

My thanks for introducing me to arguably the worst song I’ve ever heard.

You said Heyward “wasn’t really an upgrade” and that’s what I’m disputing. Contract details don’t have any bearing on whether one player’s better than the other. I, too, would rather have Crowder at $7 million than Heyward at $24 million. I think everyone would. But purely in terms of fit, I disagree with your…

He’s objectively an upgrade over Jae Crowder, what are you on about? Their contracts don’t enter into it. Jae Crowder is still probably a little underrated, but his defense has fallen off some this year, and he’s not nearly the shot creator that Boston desperately needs in the playoffs when teams lock down IT.

Leuer shoots 38% on 3s, and he’s on the verge of starting. Tobias Harris is in a slump but he shot 37.5% on 3s last year. KCP’s at 41.4% from 3. Morris shoots a tolerable 35%. It might not be ideal, but those are solid numbers from the 2/3/4 spots, and Meeks is a good shooter too. Jackson’s just an average shooter…

and just to further bolster my point, the news today is unsurprisingly full of articles about how this will unite Turkey and Russia against terrorism. putin’s remarks just corroborate it. so there’s no need to keep fearmongering about war.

If you can’t even limn the hazy outlines of how a war might unfold then I won’t spend too much time panicking about it. I’m aware of the correlation between nationalism & wars; but you’re referring to an epoch a hundred years removed from this one. Human nature might not have changed, but the geopolitical realities…

I’m not disputing that; I just don’t think it’s likely that those impulses lead to a war. It’s plenty likely that they lead to making various minority groups’ lives miserable.

Those are valid points, and I appreciate the thoughtful response, but I still disagree that a Russian invasion of Turkey is even remotely likely. Obfuscation and misinformation won’t work in Turkey, as it did in eastern Ukraine; and Turkey can’t be bullied like Georgia. (And to mention the obvious, Russia doesn’t…

Those are valid points, and I appreciate the thoughtful response, but I still disagree that a Russian invasion of Turkey is even remotely likely. Obfuscation and misinformation won’t work in Turkey, as it did in eastern Ukraine; and  Turkey can’t be bullied like Georgia. (And to mention the obvious, Russia doesn’t…

I understand it perfectly well. I don’t understand why you’re so convinced Russia would go to war with Turkey. In recent months their relations had warmed significantly since Turkey downed the Russian plane; now Russia’s suddenly going to risk economic catastrophe by invading Turkey?

Right, right. But who are they warring against? Are they summoning up the spirit of the Crusaders and invading the Middle East? Or are they surging over Russia’s western border so they can fight one another over Islamic terrorism? Because I have an awfully hard time understanding why they’d go to war. Not why they’d…

Then elaborate on how this war of yours unfolds.  

So you really think we’ll see a war between NATO and what, Iran-Russia-and maybe somehow but almost certainly not China? It’s not going to happen. There’s no rising sentiment in the West toward war, just horrifying crackdowns on immigration and certain minority groups. Those are the people I’d worry about, not the…