Which direction you goin’?

Because the last time Congress declared war was 1941, and we have fought a shit ton of wars since then.

Back in the mid 80s I did a co-op with an organization in Atlanta that was similar to Habitat for Humanity but smaller and far less competent. That summer we hired this enormous 6’4" farm boy from rural Georgia as a carpenter. He was naturally a typical redneck which I assumed was going to be a problem since our crew was run by two lesbians. As it turned out, Scott’s sense of loyalty to the people he was with overcame his conservatism and he was cool with it.

Scott’s idea of fun was to get into bar fights. Every Monday he would come to work with a black eye or two and maybe a busted lip; given his size I always assumed the other guy was dead. His best friend on the crew was a guy who played guitar in a hair metal band, and Scott started borrowing this guy’s red leather pants and matching vest and going to college bars in downtown Atlanta. Guys there would assume he was gay and start shit with him and Scott would obligingly beat the shit out of them. I don’t really condone violence, but Scott’s actions here didn’t make me lose a lot of sleep.

I remember reading for four years that Merrick Garland was just making sure his T’s were crossed and his I’s dotted before putting Trump away. Whoopsie.

I really think you’re mixing up the famines.

I’m not mixing up the famines. During both famines the USSR was using agricultural products (their only significant export) to acquire industrial capital. The reason I’m talking about the first famine is that we’re talking about Lenin here, who was long dead by the second famine.

The famine in question (early '20s, not the later famine that resulted from de-kulakization) was made much worse because Lenin kept exporting food during it. The Bolsheviks did this because it was their only source of the foreign credit they needed to buy the machine tools and whatnot they needed to ramp up their industrial sector. I wouldn’t call that “war communism”, just straight “communism” as per Marx they felt industrialization was everything.

Interestingly, the only reason the death toll from this earlier famine wasn’t even larger was that Herbert Hoover (of all people) organized an international relief effort that at one point was feeding about 10% of the USSR. When the agricultural situation improved, the Bolsheviks neglected to tell Hoover.

It’s ironic that you say “sarcophagus” because the only reason Lenin was mummified was that King Tut’s tomb had been discovered just before his death. Pravda had covered the discovery extensively and the Bolsheviks decided to capitalize on Tut’s popularity by preserving Lenin’s corpse – in hilariously amateurish fashion, since mummification was not something regularly done in Russia.

do they offer coffee in the fellowship room

What kept me going to Sunday School as a kid was the donuts. Also my parents making me go.

How about aristocat anarchy?

People should spend a little time watching The PBS News Hour if they imagine it’s still an alternative to this sort of thing. Yes, it’s aimed at retired liberals, but it has become astonishing seeing how it toes the corporate line and how it sane-washes the stuff Trump and his cronies are saying and doing.

Yeah, I’ve only ever heard “Hindu”. “Hinduist” would be like “Christianist” or “Buddhistist”.

Are we going to start polling on things like what the current temperature is outside, too?

My stats prof in college actually used to do this, and the average guess was always within half a degree of the true temperature. Still not worth doing given that thermometers exist, but interesting nevertheless.

I’ve never met a Christian who even knew what all Ten Commandments were. It’s just a dog whistle.

It’s an interesting take, at least, given the quasi-religious nature of support for sports teams. Maybe they’re just not happy about the dip in church attendance that resulted from the NFL playing games in London (which broadcast at 10 AM EST).

It’s weird that I’ve never heard “Hinduist” before even though “Hinduism” is obviously very common.

Chicks With Dixies would have been a good band name back in the day.

The flock of seagulls following behind wherever you take her?

Hey, your life soundtrack is whatever you want it to be.

I’ve read it described as “bridges, tunnels, roads and airstrips”. It makes sense to diversify.

I thought you had exploding roads.

You better Czech yourself before you Reyjavik yourself.