On a Nazi forum I browse to look at the monkeys, one particularly virulent MAGA head claims that the Straits of Hormuz are in fact totally fine, it's just price gouging by insurance companies.
I imagine similar arguments will be made here.
"Fiasco" by thomas ricks.
The bush administration never planned to be in Iraq for long. That helped them to make several bad decisions. Seems relevant.
"Catch 22" by Joseph Heller
I can't help but compare it to Slaughterhouse Five, a book I had to read in high school and utterly, completely despised. I definitely liked Catch 22 far better as I think its more grounded absurdity is just much better.
I began but never finished a fan fiction which was partly meant to be a vicious criticism of yudkowsky and that sort of rationalism before anyone ever knew who he was. I've always viewed it as one of the smaller "what ifs" in my life.
Went to barnes and noble to get redwall for my nephew and there was only one copy of the first book. This is probably the most depressing "I'm getting old" moment of my life
kind of amazing to watch conservatives of all stripes try to jump to "If you don't support the war, you HATE AMERICA" shit. Cargo culting 2003 all over again, acting like we need to be bipartisan and stick to TRUMP in the name of unity.
Who cares about America when we're discussing who to support in a war between Israel and Iran? Is this a joke?
Who represents the greater threat to American democracy and global liberalism, the mullahs or Trump?
I am vaguely wondering whether Trump considers nuking Iran with his calls for unconditional surrender.
Cargo culting "We nuked Japan so we didn't have to launch an invasion which would have resulted in loads of deaths," so why not Iran?
"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
I don't know what to think about it.
Didn't Nicky have basically the same problem too?
I will admit that I've been pro-Israel my entire life and this war is basically destroying that viewpoint completely.
"Invisible Armies" by Max Boot.
Wanted to do a look at certain guerilla wars, and Boot makes up for in breadth what he lacks in depth. His glowup of Petraeus is a bit cringe as it was published right before his disgrace.
"The Road to Serfdom" Hayek.
I know conservatives don't read, but how the heck do they claim HIM as a conservative icon? The man talks about the benefits of a world federation in the last chapter and says several times that he's not criticizing the welfare state persay.
....wait, Liu I can see, but why Gu?
"Jacques Bainville and the Renissance of Royalist History in Twentieth-Century France."
ngl picked this one up because of Kaiserreich. Different perspective on twentieth-century France and royalism in a declining, changing world (personally increasingly skeptical of executive power)
Chris Paul getting traded is the angriest I've ever been as a Rockets fan and I actually wish Houston could treat him as one of our own and retire his jersey.
"Japan's Imperial Army: Its Rise and Fall, 1853-1945"
Very thorough look at a subject that's all too often filled with Bushido crap (negatively and positively). Also shows just how dysfunctional the Army was as an institution the entire time, not just at the beginning and end.
Bibbidiba?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZP5...
I would note that he's talking in the context of cracking down on those businesses *as a way to actually shut down illegal immigration*, while most of us just want to do it to destroy the GOP's shocktroopers.
"The Revolutionary Origins of Modern Japan"
Very interesting history of Meiji, largely told through the perspective of three individuals. Fascinating conclusion about "service revolution" - revolutions led not by bourgeois, but by low aristocratic service members like bureaucrats.
"Grant and Lee: A Study in Personality and Generalship." by JFC Fuller.
Had more time to read thanks to the snow. Fuller is balanced and somehow manages to praise Grant and criticize while still circulating Lost Cause propaganda. Shows how much of Lost Cause thinking was not objective.
Never ask a man his salary.
Never ask a woman her age.
Never ask a white supremacist what race his wife is.
Yeah, looking at right-wing spaces where I hang out pretty much signifies that Trump is going to cave. Because there isn't even the slightest bit of worry about any of the latest statements. Qanon "all part of the plan" coping.
2026 books read for the year.
Shattered Sword. Really heavy, really in-depth, and really revealing. Need to look at the subsequent campaigns in the Pacific War and how Japanese naval strength was whittled down.
Believe that Imperial Japan, not Hitler is the true comparison for the MAGA regime.
IF I COULD
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Honest question: if that's the theory, why don't they just kill more people on some other ridiculous pretext? It's not like morals are stopping them from that.
