The only way to avoid war is by being able to make it too costly for Russia to conduct it. That is the only thing that will keep them at the table.

Being ready and able to fight is the only way to ensure you won't have to.

This "negotiate from a position of weakness" argument you are raising is the stupidest thing I've read in the past 24 hours.

Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Blue Shell

just mix some Cyrillic letters into your word. I bet that "Luigi" gets flagged but "Luіgі" doesn't.

Rule 1:

1. English only Title and associated content has to be in English.

Checkmate, terrorist!

You don't get to talk to Putin's ambassador until you have a plan to deal with his general.

False dichotomy. The options aren't "peace" or "WORLD WAR THREE".

There's a third option, where Russia decides on "War" against the EU, and the EU says "Annex me harder, Daddy".

That third option is the worst of the three. It's also the option you are advocating.

To the occupant, "Land Contracts" are probably the most rent-like alternatives to actual rent.

I would draw a big target on institutional investors, by jacking property taxes through the roof, while issuing "homestead" exemptions to owner occupants. As soon as we do that, every landlord (who doesn't live on the property) is going to get hit with a massive tax bill...

OR

... they are going to find some way to make their "tenant" qualify as the "owner".

Here's where "Land Contracts" come in. These are a form of seller financing. They are recorded by the county, much like a deed. The "buyer" is considered the owner.

With a land contract, you pay a fixed monthly payment, much like a mortgage. That payment normally doesn't change for the life of the contract: You aren't going to face a steep rent hike every year.

For the first three years, you are free to walk away from the property, just like leaving a rental. Ownership simply reverts to the seller.

After three years, your previous payments are considered the "down payment" on the property. The contract converts to a traditional mortgage. You continue to make the same payments, but now, you have equity in the home.

So, you can get the short-term flexibility of renting, but if you realize you've settled down, you're already well on your way to ownership.

Landlords get a way to claim that the property is occupied by the "owner", and avoid the massive tax hike.

Adopting this, the only properties that will remain "for rent" will be the spare units in duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes, where the landlord occupies one of the units.

I don't think you understand the 25th amendment. It only works with the cooperation of the Vice President, the Cabinet, and Congress.

None of these three have any interest in exercising their authority under the 25th Amendment.

The only route available to achieve what you are asking for is described in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

When a tyrant wraps himself in the flag and the Constitution, burn all three.

Fuck the 25th Amendment:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,

it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it,

and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Corporal Couchfucker from the Public Affairs office doesn't have the personality cult backing his every move.

Peace is a cooperative effort. Warfare can be conducted unilaterally. Unless you can stop him on his terms, what you want is completely irrelevant to the negotiations.

The meaning behind that Latin aphorism predates civilization. It is the reason so many herbivorous animals evolved horns or antlers.

There's no billboards on the high seas.

The best time to leave Pinterest was 2010.

The second best time is now.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

need to have the highbeams on just to be able to see anything when there's oncoming traffic.

Let me get this straight: you are turning on your brights when there is oncoming traffic?

The US does not use "Imperial". They use "United States Customary Units". The two systems forked when the US left the British empire, and evolved independently.

Could we buy a president?

Oh, there is a reason, and it's the fucking NHTSA. Those absolute fuckrockets mandate proportionally stricter emissions standards on smaller cars than larger cars. They base it on the area of the rectangle formed by where the tires touch the pavement.

If your car can't quite pass emission standards, just make it a little wider, a little longer, and you get a looser standard.

Repeat the process for a few model years, and now 2025 subcompacts are larger than 1995 sedans.

Fuck the NHTSA with a rusty bayonet.

Could she have given donors the middle finger

"Losing" is a middle finger to the donors.

To a donor, the only thing worse than losing is winning without the donor's support. A donor would rather lose than be proven irrelevant.

Which wouldn't be so bad if they actually had shit that people wanted to buy. But all the guillotine shops are out of stock, with expected ship dates after December 4th.

!keeptrack@lemmy.world