Politics

[Wheels]

Love Dave Ramsey. For what it's worth, I am a "free spirit" not a "nerd".

Ramsey has certainly been a blessing for millions of people. Unfortunately the market is open due to the educational system failing at so many levels including personal finance.

 

[Kalthoff]

Is not NATO a defensive alliance? If the US were attacked and invoked article 5 just like after 9/11 I sure hope all allies would heed the call. But in this case the US is the aggressor and therefore it does not seem to be any case for it to be considered a NATO issue.

You are quite right for two reasons:

1. The US is the aggressor in this war
2. NATO has a clearly defined geographical boundary, defined in Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Iran, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea etc. lies outside the geographical boundary of NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty

BTW. The geographical boundary was the reason the UK could not invoke article 5 when Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands in 1982.

 

[mdwest]

It looks like a second MEU is floating toward Iran now..

Still not nearly enough Marines to consider whats going on to be anything remotely resembling an invasion force..

But thats two self contained, highly capable raiding forces... each could conduct multiple VBSS (visit, board, search, seize) simultaneously.. each can conduct multiple ship escorts simultaneously.. each could easily take a strategic target like Karg island down with little problem, etc (they arent designed to "hold" a target like that.. but they could pretty easily eliminate any Iranian military presence quickly and hold until big army showed up with a long term holding force.. which would only take 24 hours)...

And each brings enough additional air assets in the form of F35's, attack helos, etc to raise a LOT of additional hell on Iranian military targets by themselves..

All of this combined with the UK deciding today that the US can use UK bases to conduct operations against attacks in the straits is a pretty clear signal that things are about to ramp up even further.. Those B1's and B2's have an entirely new mission set opening up for them now..

While the thought of a terror state intentionally attacking civilian populations at places like amusement parks, churches, etc isnt anything new.. I find it interesting that the Iranians are actually saying the quiet part out loud now.. they released a statement today saying they will purposefully start targeting vacation spots, recreational spots, etc worldwide..

If that doesnt tell the world that its time to rid the world of the blight of Iran, I dont know what else will..

Ive heard plenty of bitching about the US and Israel accidently hitting a school and innocents being killed..

Wheres the outrage over Iran saying it absolutely intends on attacking civilians on purpose?

 

[spike.t]

 

[Red Leg]

I finally found this "interview" between the irrepressibly arrogant and not very bright Matt Gaetz and the vainglorious buffoon Douglas Macgregor with whom I served and despise more than almost anyone else of that era. It has actually aged better now than when first aired a few days into the conflict. This pathetic remnant of an army officer has regularly sold his soul and sold out his country to Russian television networks and Al Jazeera over the last decade. Naturally, this has made him a perfect regular guest on Tucker Carlson - both while at Fox and on his podcast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035075898991325402

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I finally found this "interview" between the irrepressibly arrogant and not very bright Matt Gaetz and the vainglorious buffoon Douglas Macgregor with whom I served and despise more than almost anyone else of that era. It has actually aged better now than when first aired a few days into the conflict. This pathetic remnant of an army officer has regularly sold his soul and sold out his country to Russian television networks and Al Jazeera over the last decade. Naturally, this has made him a perfect regular guest on Tucker Carlson - both while at Fox and on his podcast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035075898991325402

Baghdad Bob has found his long lost white brother.

 

[Altitude sickness]

My wife found a picture of a tee shirt from 46 years ago. My first deployment April 1980
That expedition didn’t pan out as well as the current one.

 

[Scott CWO]

I finally found this "interview" between the irrepressibly arrogant and not very bright Matt Gaetz and the vainglorious buffoon Douglas Macgregor with whom I served and despise more than almost anyone else of that era. It has actually aged better now than when first aired a few days into the conflict. This pathetic remnant of an army officer has regularly sold his soul and sold out his country to Russian television networks and Al Jazeera over the last decade. Naturally, this has made him a perfect regular guest on Tucker Carlson - both while at Fox and on his podcast.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2035075898991325402

McGregor has actually lost his mind. Something wrong with him.

 

[steve white]

Chuck Norris has died at 86.
One of the original old school Hollywood martial arts bad asses .
View attachment 753890

Someone once asked Steven Seagal who he would be afraid to fight amongst the movie martial arts stars--how about Jean-Claude Van Dam? "Oh, please...any time." he stated.
Would you take on Chuck Norris? "Oh, Hell no!"

Norris was the two time consecutive WORLD full contact Karate champion. If he really gave you his best kick, your ancestors would feel it. RIP

 

[mdwest]

My wife found a picture of a tee shirt from 46 years ago. My first deployment April 1980
That expedition didn’t pan out as well as the current one.
View attachment 753940

Reminds me of a t-shirt I bought my wife when I went to Iraq in early 2004... that said "Who's Your Baghdaddy?" lol....

 

[Brent in Az]

Someone once asked Steven Seagal who he would be afraid to fight amongst the movie martial arts stars--how about Jean-Claude Van Dam? "Oh, please...any time." he stated.
Would you take on Chuck Norris? "Oh, Hell no!"

Norris was the two time consecutive WORLD full contact Karate champion. If he really gave you his best kick, your ancestors would feel it. RIP

That fight between Norris and Bill "Super foot" Wallace was a good one.

 

[tinktink12]

 

[tinktink12]

 

[Hunt anything]

That fight between Norris and Bill "Super foot" Wallace was a good one.

Do I remember correctly that Norris lost a brother in the late stages of the Vietnam war?

 

[Brent in Az]

Do I remember correctly that Norris lost a brother in the late stages of the Vietnam war?

Yes. He lost one of 2 brothers in Vietnam.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

We purchased our house in 2013 and paid it off in 2016. It is currently valued 2.5 times its purchase price. Two years ago it would have been 3X. It is most definitely an asset however you care to work the math. Yes, I know all sorts of "smart" people have great ideas about better places to put that sort of money. But there is also very real old school "value" in not dealing with a mortgage regardless of the assets appreciation and treating the property as any other investment.

It took us more than three years, but we also paid off our house. We do not have a house Payment or rent. We bought two new cars in 2025 and paid cash. We have assets in investments and lifetime income streams. You can afford to do a lot of things if you don't have to pay out to a bank or landlord.

 

[sgt_zim]

You are quite right for two reasons:

1. The US is the aggressor in this war

Absolutely, utterly incorrect. Iran has been at war with the US since 1979. We, for whatever reason or influence, have decided to do something about it now.

Iran invaded US soil, AKA as the American embassy. That is an act of war.

 

[275r7x57]

It took us more than three years, but we also paid off our house. We do not have a house Payment or rent. We bought two new cars in 2025 and paid cash. We have assets in investments and lifetime income streams. You can afford to do a lot of things if you don't have to pay out to a bank or landlord.

For most, debt is a noose around their neck that only tightens with time. Most cannot control their spending and live within or below their means, the lack of discipline and easy money/ debt like credit cards (as the name implies) only accelerates this. Debt is very detrimental and crippling for most.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

For most, debt is a noose around their neck that only tightens with time. Most cannot control their spending and live within or below their means, the lack of discipline and easy money/ debt like credit cards (as the name implies) only accelerates this. Debt is very detrimental and crippling for most.

Credit can be a great thing. How would anyone get into a home without it? Even credit cards have their place. But the urge to spend more than you should can be a bottomless pit. I've seen it a lot, but fortunately it didn't effect my close friends or family. Like alcohol, drugs and gambling, abuse of credit shows a weakness of character. I know, there are people that say, "It's A disease!" But I don't buy it. I had to work with too many of these people in the prison system to see that as anything other than a weak excuse.

 

[275r7x57]

A fews years ago, I had a gentleman at church ask me for advice on his debt. He informed me that he had a mortgage, two car loans, a boat payment, 30k in CC debt and more. I started by addressing the CC debt, cut up the cards and to stop spending money on CCs. He got quite upset and said why would he do that when he was just paying the minimum payment on the CCs and it was easy to use. I informed him that people like him, that only pay the minimum payment, rack up debt and carry over the balance from month to month, pay me 2% each month to use my CCs for just paying off my bill. Furthermore I informed him not to ask for my advice again, that pretty much ended our conversation.