He's been written out of the script for the upcoming season.

No, Ukraine has absolutely no say in the matter, they are irrelevant. (That is simply geopolitical realism.) It is up to NATO (really, the US) who joins, and it is in neither the US nor Europe's interest to have a corrupt basket case, whose entry serves no purpose other than to antagonize a nuclear power that it shares a border with, in the alliance. No one has a "right" to join such an alliance (and the alliance in question should be disbanded anyway). I'll ask you again: if China helped install an anti-American government in Mexico and encouraged it to seek a military alliance with them (along with subsidizing cartel violence across the border, much like the US supported real neo-Nazi groups in the Ukraine), how do you think the US would react? How should they react? What should Kennedy have done during the Cuban Missile Crisis? And Putin is no Hitler or Stalin, this idea that he wants to reestablish the USSR or Russian Empire is just hyperbole and cartoon history.

Another conspiracy theory becoming fact: Shehzad Younis on Twitter: "US is working with Ukraine to prevent biological research facilities from falling into the hands of Russians — Nuland https://t.co/onrqFclF9W" / Twitter A few days ago the claim that the US was building bio-weapons facilities in the Ukraine was dismissed as absurd. Now they admit it's true, but we have to keep them from falling into the Russians' hands!

You don't really address my main point, which is that the context behind this mess is essential to determining "right vs wrong". Ukraine is critical to the Russians' security interests, it affects ours in no way whatsoever. We also have no way of realistically helping Ukraine now, apart from pressuring (blackmailing?) our European satellites. It is the height of cynicism, then, for the US to have encouraged Ukraine to seek an alliance with us. It was obvious that the whole thing was going to end badly. Again: Russia did not just wake up and decide to bully a smaller neighbor, the roots of this problem go back to America's insane drive to empire. None of this defends or excuses Russia in any way, I should add. To some of your other points: I wouldn't rely on the MSM's shocking agit-prop to gauge how well the war is going for Russia. (Americans should probably be a bit more circumspect about crowing about these things after Afghanistan.) E.g. we know stories like Snake Island and the Ghost of Kiev are horseshit. Simple common sense suggests Ukraine is losing quite badly. E.g. countries winning a war typically don't encourage untrained civilians to go on suicide missions against tanks on the first day. And of course Kiev's desperate insistence on a no-fly zone, which would drag many other countries into the war, obviously is not being made from a position of strength. At any rate, I don't think there's any doubt the Russians could turn Kiev into Stalingrad if they wanted. Not because they're nice guys, but because it doesn't serve their interests here, which are fairly limited and do not involve completely subjugating Ukraine. They simply want a neutral buffer state on their western border, and it's pretty clear they will achieve this. Remember: it took the US 3 weeks to capture Baghdad, and they had the help of the British and were going against a country with far fewer resources. The wealth gap between Ukraine and Russia is not nearly as large, and Ukraine has been the beneficiary of a load of high quality lethal aid the last several years. It's a big mistake to think that we can crush Russia's economy without affecting our own. I'll say it again: moral posturing is a luxury, when people find the cost of their basic necessities going way up, they're going to start asking a bunch of uncomfortable questions (uncomfortable for the US political and ruling class, who seem determined to escalate this thing). But ultimately, sanctions can't work against Russia because China is still trading with them. The US political class seems shocked by this, which shows how stupid they are. But they're also panicking over it, as well they should be. The empire's dominoes are falling one by one. Are we going to enter into open conflict with China now? It's lunacy. At some point this all seems like a drunk who decides to challenge everyone in the joint to a fight. It's not going to end well for him, he should know when to go home.

It's pretty clear that the US is starting to cut its losses in the Ukraine, as evidenced by this mainstream piece that pretty much repeats what I said above: Russia and Putin's Ukraine war may have been preventable (msnbc.com) And when even the Poles tell you to chill out, you know it's gotten beyond absurd. (The US keeps saying Poland will transfer fighter jets to the Ukraine, which would obviously drag Poland into the war, but to their credit the Polish government is calling bullshit on it. I guess the Polish leadership finally learned the lesson of 1939, when they accepted an empty and cynical British guarantee against Germany.) The response of the MSM to the invasion has been shocking, I've never seen anything like this, it's orders of magnitudes worse than the cheerleading they usually do, e.g. with the Iraq war. But the cartoon story cannot be supported anymore.

BTW, you should be pro-Putin, he did something the vaccines couldn't: he cured covid.

Put simply, no, it's not our problem. The US is not the world's policeman, I thought you agreed with me on this? In truth, it is stupid US policy (not to mention the utterly corrupt Ukrainian government) that bears a lot of responsibility here. The situation is ultimately no different from the Cuban Missile Crisis, or if Mexico tried to enter into a military alliance with China. (Do you have any idea what would happen to Mexico City in such a case?) The Russians said clearly: no more NATO on our doorstep, and instead of sensibly backing down (what US security interest requires having Ukraine in NATO, anyway?) and dealing with our own numerous problems, the US government encouraged the Ukrainians to keep pushing the matter. And now they continue to provide false hope to the Ukrainians, when it is obvious none is forthcoming. The US values Ukraine more as a propaganda device than a real ally. And BTW: where is your concern for the horrendous humanitarian crisis inflicted on Yemen by the Saudis with our full support? The amount of crocodile tears and hypocrisy here is just appalling. I do not support the Russians here, I simply say it's none of our business. I will say this much: you can expect to see many more "Russian trolls" when gasoline hits 10 $/gal. What will you do then?

I'm with this guy 100%: WATCH: UFC Star Says He Won't Fight 'These Wars For These Politicians' | ZeroHedge There is no real American interest at stake in the Ukraine, and our war-mongering politicians are just disgusting.

He's advising the Polish government to make sure all the Ukrainian refugees heading for their border maintain a safe distance between them. And wear masks of course (NP95, although who knows, they may need gas masks before this thing is over).

Another conspiracy theory becoming fact, but even this one is pretty shocking (I guess they figure they have the war now to distract people):

Trudeau = Mooselini

Coverdale/Page, all the way. Good, bluesy hard rock, I still listen to it and love it (unlike, say the Firm, which I don't think aged well).

No comment necessary: What Is The CDC Hiding? Agency Admits Withholding Widespread Vaccine Efficacy Data | ZeroHedge

This is doubtless correct, they are mindlessly running with their WW2 playbook and hope to foment a major war in Europe which they can safely join in after the main players have exhausted themselves. However, wars never go completely according to plan and there are many risks here, not just to American military assets abroad (which shouldn't be there in the first place) but also at home.

CDC data signaling vaccine catastrophe (wnd.com) No wonder they're going ape-shit trying to start a war with Russia.

Public sector transparency: Data about the vaccines is disappearing - by Alex Berenson (substack.com)

Alright, I listened more closely to the organ solo on the audience tape, and there's definitely strong similarities to the Orlando soundboard, so I'm probably wrong here. Apologies to the "bootleggers".

No, I'm saying that what I hear from the partial audience recording of TY from Hollywood, I'm not convinced that it's identical to the version on the Orlando soundboard (I was under the mistaken impression that an audience version of the solo existed). But, maybe I need to listen to it more closely.

I'm willing to believe there were some Trekkies there that night, a bit skeptical that many Tennessee Williams fans showed up.

But this is what I'm saying, there is no side-by-side comparison, at least past the intro. Is this what you're talking about? I have not heard an audience version of the solo, does it exist?

I'm still skeptical that TY from Orlando is really this show. Neither of the two versions of this show on YouTube shed any light on the subject, since the audience version is cut before the solo. I think the bootlegger tacked the TY soundboard onto the Hollywood tape and is trolling us.

What I like about 2-7 (after having ignored it for so many years) is the energy level. Technical issues aside, that's where I find a lot of '75 shows struggle.

Basically just a so-so game until the very end. Glad to see the blatant missed face mask on Ramsey wasn't a factor. The best commercial was the one with Salma Hayek's rack.