Among the world's economically developed democracies, it absolutely only happens in one nation. This is not up for debate; it's an objective fact.

How we choose to address this fact is up to us, but being in denial about it is not a sane option.

Yeah, me too. I pat myself on the back for this one nearly every day. Probably the best financial decision I ever made.

Accidentally buying a modest house in what at the time was a "distressed" neighborhood because it was all we could afford. 15 years later the neighborhood has been gentrified and is highly desirable. The property has tripled in value and the land is now worth more than the house itself.

Anyhow, it was dumb luck on my part and again, mostly had to do with the place being affordable and relatively close to my wife's parents.

Have you considered that there might be a great deal of regional variation such that while it seems "ridiculous" in your particular region and social context, in other parts of the country people are operating on an entirely different set of "received" facts about reality?

I pose this question because if the last decade has taught us anything, it's that we cannot take for granted that we are all operating on the basis of the same "facts" with regard to history and reality.

Yes.

This seems mostly right, but I want to add a few points.

The first is that the Ukrainians won't stop fighting if the west stops supporting them. They may suffer some severe defeats and the nature of the war may shift to being more of a guerrilla insurgency, but they won't stop fighting.

The second is that even if the US withdraws support, it's not likely that European nations will necessarily follow, and between Germany and the UK and France, the Europeans can easily continue to support Ukraine at or above current levels.

My final point is that Ukraine actually is making slow progress in pushing back the Russians, it's just not going anywhere near as fast as anyone would like.

I also really dislike the term "stalemate" because it implies a static state of affairs as in a chess game where there are only so many pieces and moves, when in fact war is much different in the sense that additional pieces and moves can and probably will be added to the equation.

You are seriously confused. OP specifically said that you're fucked if there is no visual cue.

There's a lot of bullshit in this thread. People can wear shorts in cold weather either a) if it's not that cold, or b) if it's not for a long period of time. I've been in -50 and -60 degrees fahrenheit weather in Alaska and Montana and Wyoming and when it gets that cold any exposed skin is a huge liability and will become frostbitten and/or severely painful in a very short amount of time. Left untreated it will turn necrotic which is not good. You also, pretty much no matter what you're wearing, can't stop moving at those temps unless you are in some kind of shelter.

When I worked on The Slope in Alaska back in the 90s we used to do 20 minutes outside and then 20 minutes inside for full 16-hour shifts.

That said, it can be kind of invigorating and of course you do get used to it and learn to not let it bother you.

Edit: Also, if anyone cares, I'm not proud of having worked for Big Oil on The Slope back in the day. At the time I was young, it was a big adventure and it paid big money that allowed me to do a lot of other things that I otherwise would never have been able to do. Also, it was all union work through IUPAT DC5 which I am still an active member/activist of today.

Polls a year out from the election. They have zero predictive value with regard to the ultimate outcome. Any pollster will tell you this. In fact, they have been telling us precisely this, but maybe not all of us are paying attention.

These results are still deeply disturbing.

Me and my stripey boy, Chief Inspector Bean, we were together for nearly 20 years and I will miss him until the day I die.

My wife and I have taken to naming our pillows. There's Flat Agnes, Lumpy Rutherford and The Rock, off the top of my head. I would have to consult my wife for the others.

It should be "So long YouTube and thanks for all the fish." Goddammit!

If you're going to borrow from Douglas Adams, at least get it right.