Iraq happened because of the Bush Doctrine: the policy that we would go after not only terrorists but also those who harbored or helped them. The Bush admin believed that Saddam Hussein had WMDs and was willing to give them to Al-Qaeda to use against us. The problem is, that intel came from a member of Al-Qaeda that they had tortured in Guantanamo Bay. That man later said he just made it up to get them to stop torturing him.

So yeah, the Iraq War was a complete waste and totally misguided from the beginning. But the Bush admin thought they were doing what they could to stop terrorists from nuking the United States, and they convinced a lot of smart people including most of the UN.

The Iraq war was started by false information obtained through war crimes. It was a direct result of the paranoia caused by 9/11.

Oh, sorry. I never had to deal with that because we would use multiple cars. Maybe you could do a stretch ending in the Pittsburgh area, then catch an Uber/Lyft back? I’m not familiar with the public transit in the area, but I doubt it goes near the river in rural areas.

I would offer to help you out, but I actually don’t live in the area! My family’s got an old cabin we go to in the summer. Our neighbors are the same way, so we don’t really know any locals.

Maybe poking around some Facebook groups could help you find some group kayaking events? Or signing up with an outfitter? I wish you best of luck!

The Allegheny is my favorite river in the world. So gentle and steady. (I’m not into whitewater). The stretch from Kennerdell to Foxburg is like home to me.

It’s quite literally where I learned to canoe, and learned to appreciate nature and life itself. Kayaking there is what keeps me going for the rest of the year.

Would that work in any battle, even instant action with regular troops?

Quick question from someone who hasn’t played since the PS2:

Can you buy this on steam and play it on the PS4 or PS5? Or is it just PC?

Follow up, I’m guessing for a better experience on PC you could connect a PS5 controller?

I was going to comment this. It’s pretty bleak to think of someone going into child psychiatry just to rip off their clients.

I’m moving to Seattle soon because I don’t like the weather in Colorado. It’s too much like a desert in the summer, and I know that winter is coming and I don’t think my car is suited for it. Plus, the wildfire smoke + altitude makes breathing constantly uncomfortable.

My theory is that Seattle is located far enough west that the wildfire smoke will be mostly swept away by the ocean breezes. Plus, those same breezes will moderate its temperature in the winter.

It’s also within about two hour’s driving from 3 national parks: Olympic, North Cascades, and Mt. Rainier; and two hour’s driving from two other major cities: Vancouver (BC) and Portland.

I’m hoping to rent and apartment downtown because I’m all about that walkable life and have never really experienced that before. I’m really scared for my bank account.

However, if you want to buy a home, perhaps some of the nearby cities like Everett and Tacoma will be worth your while? They probably have Trader Joe’s nearby 😁

For anyone wondering, that is the restoration hanger at the Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum, located near Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia. This room is viewable from a second-floor walkway for museum visitors!

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I've never seen movie props in there, but apparently they got this x-wing on May 4th, 2021! The Udvar Hazy center has an IMAX theater which is where I saw the Force Awakens by the way :) Oh, yeah, the museum also has plenty of cool real-life aircraft like the SR-71 Blackbird and spacecraft like the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Regrettably I could not find out with a reverse image search. At first I thought it was somewhere I’d been in Bruges, Belgium, but I could not verify that.

There were also great cultural stories about collective action from the late 19th and early 20th century, like the Homestead Strike and the Anthracite Coal Strike. Arguably the most famous labor event in modern history was the assassination of Joseph Yablonski by rival labor leaders in 1969, a truly mafia-esque debacle.

Also could be the name. I have synesthesia and “Fred” makes a more pleasing sensation in my head than “George.”

My dad waited 7 weeks for the interviewer to tell him he didn’t get the job. And he was interviewing for a higher position AT HIS OWN COMPANY OF 18 YEARS.

This post really brought the train nerds out of the woodwork (that’s a good thing)

What! “It’s about the cones” is the best line!!

Idk but I will rewatch that and get back to you!

Yeah I’m amazed that we can recognize those details! But I guess that comes from rewatching that many times.

What line, if you don’t mind me asking?

No problem! It was way too long. Just wanted to get all the details out there in case anyone wanted to contest it.

Yes, ethnicity is a more complete reason but religion is a part of ethnicity. I didn’t intend to falsely summarize it, just interpret what the map was telling us.

Some small takeaways from a non-Muslim American:

• There is a similar % Muslims in the USA and China. However, there are up to 20 million Muslims in China and up to 4 million the USA (Wikipedia).

• Indonesia, the 4th most populated country in the world, is mostly Muslim, but countries in between there and the Middle East (like Myanmar and Thailand) are not majority Muslim. Really emphasizes maritime trade as the reason for the spread of Islam there.

• You can clearly see why Kosovo wanted to become its own state. Same with South Sudan. The two youngest countries both became independent (at least in part) because of religious differences. I wonder if others will follow suit?