Saw it. Very dark. Very very good.

Prepare to root for the Joker – who in many ways isn’t responsible for what he became.

Billy_T wrote:

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/10/rojava-syria-erdogan-turkey-united-states-military

Excerpt:

Following the rise of ISIS and its dramatic control of vast swaths of Syria and Iraq, the Syrian Kurds emerged as one of the key groups in the coalition constructed by the United States to combat the advance of the self-proclaimed caliphate. This alliance was always a marriage of convenience. In ideological terms, it led to the peculiar situation whereby US military support was facilitating the formation of a leftist experiment based upon Öcalan’s interpretations of the work of New York anarchist Murry Bookchin, Democratic Confederalism. More seriously from Washington’s perspective, this pact undermined relations with Turkey, a US ally, as Erdoğan grew ever more hostile to the Syrian Kurds. In short, the US’s partnership with the Syrian Kurds created unsustainable tensions in US foreign policy.

It seemed inevitable that, at some point, the United States would have to make a choice between Ankara and Rojava. While the war with ISIS continued, that decision could be delayed. But with the effective defeat of ISIS, the reason d’étre of the American presence in Syria came to an end. Now, with Trump’s announcement that the United States could withdraw from Syria — a decision previewed in December 2018 — that contradiction in US policy might be resolved in favor of Erdogan.

Tweeting in response to criticism, the president wrote, “WE WILL FIGHT WHERE IT IS TO OUR BENEFIT, AND ONLY FIGHT TO WIN.” Trump’s compromise with Ankara would open the way for Turkey to march into Rojava, clear out the population, and transform the demographics of Northern Syria.

Generally speaking, when I hear about a plan to remove American troops from the battlefield, I favor it. Bring ’em home!! But the more I learn about this particular sudden shift in US policy, the worse it sounds. Boiled down, Turkey has long wanted free rein to slaughter the Kurds. They see their drive for independence as a direct threat. Until last night, the presence of American troops in Syria was preventing a direct attack, and unless Trump changes his mind again, it looks like tens of thousands (or more) Kurds are in existential danger from Erdogan. As the above article shows, so is the leftist experiment in Rojava.

The Kurds are holding tens of thousands ISIS members in captivity. If they suddenly find themselves in a battle with Turkish troops, they will likely be forced to set them free.

I wonder if the leftist ideology of the Kurds played a part in their abandonment? I know Trump incorrectly thinks ISIS has been defeated, but the infusion of thousands of formerly captive fighters could invigorate their fighting spirit.

zn wrote:

wv wrote:

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
The last time the #Rams and #49ers met at the Coliseum with both teams having winning records was in 1976. Jim Plunkett was the QB of the 49ers and James Harris was the #Rams QB. Sunday is going to be fun

.
==========================

Thats hard to believe. Wow.

I guess one of them usually sucks.

w
v

Though VB’s point is, it’s the last time in the Coliseum. Both teams had winning records in 2001, but that was with the Rams in St. Louis.

They also met with winning records in the 80s but the Rams home games were played in what is now The Big A in Anaheim.

zn wrote:

from:
Even when the Rams DO target Todd Gurley, his catch rate and YAC are indicative of the ongoing TG narrative. Is it time for third round pick Darrell Henderson to inject some life into the Rams’ screen game?

Not sure the failure of the screen game has anything to do with Todd Gurley. I think it’s become easy to read. I mean, I see it coming from a couch in Vermont. No doubt a LB 10 ft away can see it.

Cowherd says Goff looked “like Brady in a playoff game”.

Wow.

I love that comparison.

As Pats fans like Zooey will tell ya, that’s about the highest praise a QB can get.

pic.twitter.com/Iy0ii4oc1l

— The OG Devil's Agvocate™️ 🇺🇸 (aka Michelle) (@MGigger) October 3, 2019

Interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Zooey wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

I’ve got a 12 hour shift tomorrow beginning at 4am so I won’t be able to stay up and watch the Rams tonight.

That means the rest of you are going to have to pick up your game.

Somehow you’re going to have to come up with enough mojo to make up for my absence, and will the Rams to victory.

Gawd knows it won’t be easy. But we’re Rams fans. If we cared about ‘easy’ we’d be Pats fans.

Your lies are as transparent as any teenager’s.

All of that was “double-speak” for, “I will be rooting for the Seahawks.”

4am shift {/eyeroll}.

A classic example of transference right out the text book.

What a fascinating clinical case study you would make.

“Transference describes a situation where the feelings, desires, and expectations of one person are redirected and applied to another person. Most commonly, transference refers to a therapeutic setting, where a person in therapy may apply certain feelings or emotions toward the therapist.”

wv wrote:

What you are describing sounds like the racist-nationalist part of his core. Maybe also the rightwing-evangelical-block but I’m not sure how many of them actually liked Trump.

w
v

A venn diagram of racist nationalists vs right wing evangelicals would overlap. I think the circles would practically eclipse one another.

Racism is the one thing every Trump block has in common – from the most extreme white supremacists to the desperate working class folks who have bought the lie that blacks are living large on public assistance, and that programs like Affirmative Action are keeping “decent hard-working Americans” jobless.

Trump is their savior who’s going to restore the proper order.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by nittany ram.

Well, this is what the Rams offense is going to look like until:

1. The o-line solidifies.
2. Goff calms down. I never believed he was a system QB but he’s seen the same defense for 5 straight games and still looks confused.

They’re in another league, entirely, in fact. I mean, when has the EPA gone after a state (California) for having higher anti-pollution standards than the Feds? When has the Interior department given away two million recently protected acres to fossil fuel giants? Obama just protected them a few years ago, and now that’s all been reversed.

This is where Trump sets himself apart. On stuff like foreign policy, he’s not that much different than his predecessors. On economic policies, he follows the same neoliberal playbook that’s been used by every dem and rep since Reagan. It’s like McVay’s offense…same personnel grouping every play but with different formations so it ‘feels’ like something new.

But nobody, not even the most conservative Republicans would have gone after The Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

They would have liked to, but they wouldn’t have had the hubris to do it. They wouldn’t have dared to declaw the EPA to this extent, or silence EPA and CDC scientists.

He won’t be the last president to try and take away a woman’s right to agency over her own body or deport brown skinned people who are simply looking for a better life, but I pray to Cthulhu he’s the last president to invite destruction of the last few pristine areas on earth by opening it up to his fossil fuel overlords.

Note that the logo has no yellow in it.

Only blue and white.

(On the status of OL Austin Blythe and TE Tyler Higbee and how their status influences their practice plan for the upcoming week)
“They’re both (OL Austin Blythe and TE Tyler Higbee) making good progress. They’ll still be day-to-day, but the anticipation, the hope is that they’ll be able to play this week.”

Let’s hope Blythe is back or we’ll have to contend with the nightmarish prospect of a motivated Suh lining up over Demby.

wv wrote:

Oh btw. The Browns modern ‘progressed-forward’ Uniforms made me Gag.

I assume the NFL’s giant-corporate-brains did some focus-group-studies and polled a bunch of American Teenagers and came up with those atrocities.

Cant wait to see how bad the new Progressed-Forward Rams Uniforms will look. I bet they glow in the dark. I bet they look like a Salvatore Dali painting of the interior of a McDonald’s restaurant.

PS — the New Rams Progressed-Forward stadium will have plastic grass. I think that is Unconscionable. I could go on and on and on about it. But I will spare yall.

w
v

Actually, those crappy unis the Browns wore were their “color rush” unis. The Rams color rush unis are the all yellow ones they’ve been wearing once or twice a year for the past few years.

My understanding is that the players chose the color schemes. So your communist corporate-bashing mantra doesn’t apply here, Chairman Mao.