What does this mean?

A reputable reporter writes that Brig. Gen. Neil Tolley has told him that the US has special forces in North Korea doing recon.

For context, Tolley is the commander of SOCOM US Forces Korea.

US Forces Korea then denies everything.

A followup from a Lt. Col (I believe he is a Pentagon spokes) then confirms that Tolley did indeed say those words, but actually those words are not true.

What does this mean?

I have a question

How did he get so high up?

The Economist and Cartoons

Part 1: Putin is riding a bear

Part 2: Nobody in the Economist comments section knows how BMD works 

"It is a missile defense system, is NATO trying to convince the Russians that the defence system will work just against Iranian missiles? That they will just let the Russians ones through?" 

"The very fact that missiles dont need to point in any direction, they are facing the sky is being overlooked in the simplistic analysis of this picture."

To hit a ballistic missile you need a looker and a shooter; this is because the optimal point to launch an interceptor (head on) is not the optimal point to track a target (side on). So in real life, BMD is not like a shield in Supreme Commander, they have to be deployed according to specific threat axes. I am not an expert but I do suspect the arc of a missile coming in from Iran would be different from that of a missile coming from Russia. In this sense, yes, you are pointing the defense system at a specific target.

Caveat: most of the tracking platforms are mobile, so they could be redeployed to face a different axis fairly easily, though not immediately in response to an incoming threat.

Routes to victory

Game 4, the same

It is now turn 1 (crobert)

...

[Lockon Stratos] so I know like two win conditions
[Lockon Stratos] and one is really fragile
[Lockon Stratos] I thought I could storm out


It is now turn 1 (Lockon Stratos) 
[Lockon Stratos] then I realized the deck doesn't have a tendrils

(Realistically the two routes to victory in my deck being Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus or assembling Voltaic Key and Time Vault; technically it's possible to win with Jace's ultimate, but it doesn't really happen. Since it isn't a Tezz deck, there is also no Tezzeret so the latter combo is not self assembling and therefore painful to put together. Other win conditions in some Gush decks are a Storm into Tendrils or Empty the Warrens kill or creature beatdown with Dark Confidants and Snapcasters but neither are present in this build.)

 
Lockon Stratos draws a card
Lockon Stratos plays Scalding Tarn from Hand
Lockon Stratos taps Scalding Tarn
Lockon Stratos sacrifices Scalding Tarn
Lockon Stratos puts Tropical Island into play from Library
Lockon Stratos shuffles library
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 19 (-1)
Lockon Stratos taps Tropical Island
Lockon Stratos plays Fastbond from Hand
[crobert] whoah
[crobert] wait
[crobert] ok
Lockon Stratos plays Underground Sea from Hand
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 18 (-1)
Lockon Stratos plays Underground Sea from Hand
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 17 (-1)
[Lockon Stratos] go

... 

It is now turn 4 (crobert)
crobert untaps his/her permanents
crobert draws a card
crobert plays Black Lotus from Hand
crobert taps Underground Sea
crobert plays Voltaic Key from Hand
crobert taps Black Lotus
crobert sacrifices Black Lotus
[Lockon Stratos] hang on
Lockon Stratos taps Underground Sea
Lockon Stratos plays Mental Misstep from Hand
[Lockon Stratos] key
crobert puts Voltaic Key to Graveyard from Play
crobert plays Tinker from Hand
crobert sacrifices Grim Monolith
[crobert] yes?
[Lockon Stratos] yeah no hand
[crobert] oh wait you have no hand lol
[Lockon Stratos] and you too

 (We both have empty hands now)

crobert is looking its Library...
crobert puts Blightsteel Colossus into play from Library
crobert shuffles library
[Lockon Stratos] sure

It is now turn 4 (Lockon Stratos)
Lockon Stratos untaps his/her permanents
Lockon Stratos draws a card
...
Lockon Stratos plays Yawgmoth's Will from Hand

(I put it there previously with a Preordain, so I knew I would draw it this turn)

[crobert] FFFFFFFFFFF
Lockon Stratos puts Yawgmoth's Will to RFG from Play
...
Lockon Stratos puts Jace, the Mind Sculptor into play from Graveyard
[crobert] fuck you lol
[Lockon Stratos] -1
crobert puts Blightsteel Colossus to Hand from Play
Jace, the Mind Sculptor now has 2 (+2) counters.
...
Lockon Stratos puts Preordain into play from Graveyard
Lockon Stratos puts Preordain to RFG from Play
Lockon Stratos is looking top 2 cards of its Library...
Lockon Stratos puts a card on bottom of Library from Library
Lockon Stratos puts a card on bottom of Library from Library
Lockon Stratos draws a card
[Lockon Stratos] go

...

It is now turn 6 (Lockon Stratos)
...
Lockon Stratos plays Time Walk from Hand
Turn 6.5 (Lockon Stratos)
Lockon Stratos untaps his/her permanents
Lockon Stratos draws a card
[Lockon Stratos] Jace 0
Lockon Stratos draws 3 cards
Lockon Stratos puts a card on top of Library from Hand
Lockon Stratos puts a card on top of Library from Hand
Lockon Stratos plays Mox Ruby from Hand
Lockon Stratos plays Mana Crypt from Hand
Lockon Stratos plays Island from Hand
[crobert] lol
Lockon Stratos plays Volcanic Island from Hand
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 14 (-1)
Lockon Stratos taps Tropical Island
Lockon Stratos taps Underground Sea
Lockon Stratos taps Underground Sea
Lockon Stratos taps Tropical Island
Lockon Stratos taps Island
Lockon Stratos taps Volcanic Island
Lockon Stratos taps Mana Crypt
Lockon Stratos taps Mox Ruby

(So I tap everything and float 9)

[crobert] god lol
Lockon Stratos plays Gush from Hand
Lockon Stratos puts Island to Hand from Play
Lockon Stratos puts Volcanic Island to Hand from Play
Lockon Stratos draws 2 cards
Lockon Stratos plays Island from Hand
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 13 (-1)
Lockon Stratos plays Volcanic Island from Hand
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 12 (-1)

(Gush, bounce two islands and replay them with Fastbond)

Lockon Stratos taps Island
Lockon Stratos taps Volcanic Island
Lockon Stratos plays Misty Rainforest from Hand
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 11 (-1)
Lockon Stratos taps Misty Rainforest
Lockon Stratos sacrifices Misty Rainforest
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 10 (-1)
Lockon Stratos puts Volcanic Island into play from Library
Lockon Stratos shuffles library
Lockon Stratos taps Volcanic Island

(Float to 12)

Lockon Stratos plays Blightsteel Colossus from Hand
[Lockon Stratos] hardcast
[crobert] wow


It is now turn 7 (crobert)
crobert untaps his/her permanents
[Lockon Stratos] lmao
crobert draws a card
crobert taps Underground Sea
crobert taps Underground Sea
crobert plays Echoing Truth from Hand
[Lockon Stratos] shit
[crobert] bounce
Lockon Stratos puts Blightsteel Colossus to Hand from Play
[crobert] go

It is now turn 7 (Lockon Stratos)
[crobert] yo i need more mana
[crobert] and cards
Lockon Stratos untaps his/her permanents
[Lockon Stratos] heads
Lockon Stratos flips a coin: HEADS
[Lockon Stratos] yes
[crobert] fuck
Lockon Stratos taps Volcanic Island
Lockon Stratos plays Sol Ring from Hand
[Lockon Stratos] I'm going to have to try this again next turn
[Lockon Stratos] WAIT
[Lockon Stratos] jace 0
Lockon Stratos draws 3 cards
[crobert] lol
Lockon Stratos puts a card on top of Library from Hand
Lockon Stratos puts a card on top of Library from Hand
Lockon Stratos plays Misty Rainforest from Hand
Lockon Stratos taps Misty Rainforest
Lockon Stratos sacrifices Misty Rainforest
Lockon Stratos puts Island into play from Library
Lockon Stratos shuffles library
Lockon Stratos taps Mox Ruby
Lockon Stratos taps Mana Crypt
Lockon Stratos taps Sol Ring
Lockon Stratos taps Island
Lockon Stratos taps Volcanic Island
Lockon Stratos taps Island
Lockon Stratos taps Tropical Island
Lockon Stratos taps Underground Sea
Lockon Stratos taps Underground Sea
Lockon Stratos taps Tropical Island
Lockon Stratos plays Blightsteel Colossus from Hand

It is now turn 8 (crobert)
crobert untaps his/her permanents
[crobert] HEART OF THE CARDS
crobert draws a card
[crobert] gg

Something like Vintage

Game 3: Turbo-Tezz vs Empty Gush

It is now turn 1 (crobert)
[crobert] yo i thought vintage was fast not like
[crobert] 20 turns of countering the fuck out of each other

crobert shuffles library

crobert draws 7 cards

Lockon Stratos draws 7 cards
[crobert] im keeping
Lockon Stratos takes a mulligan
[Lockon Stratos] keep this
[Lockon Stratos] go
crobert plays Mox Opal from Hand
crobert plays Black Lotus from Hand
crobert plays Mox Pearl from Hand
crobert taps Mox Opal
crobert taps Black Lotus
[Lockon Stratos] that's fast
crobert sacrifices Black Lotus
crobert plays Jace, the Mind Sculptor from Hand
Lockon Stratos plays Force of Will from Hand (pitching Gush)
[crobert] FUCK
crobert puts Jace, the Mind Sculptor to Graveyard
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 19 (-1)
crobert taps Mox Pearl
crobert plays Sol Ring from Hand
crobert taps Sol Ring
crobert plays Grim Monolith from Hand
crobert plays Scalding Tarn from Hand
[crobert] there goes my hand lol
[Lockon Stratos] lmao

It is now turn 1 (Lockon Stratos)
Lockon Stratos draws a card
[Lockon Stratos] YES
Lockon Stratos plays Island from Hand
Lockon Stratos taps Island
Lockon Stratos plays Ancestral Recall from Hand
Lockon Stratos draws 3 cards

It is now turn 2 (crobert)
crobert untaps his/her permanents
crobert draws a card
crobert plays Island from Hand

It is now turn 2 (Lockon Stratos)
[Lockon Stratos] this is like a parody of vintage games
[crobert] im definitely doing it wrong
Lockon Stratos untaps his/her permanents
Lockon Stratos draws a card
Lockon Stratos plays Misty Rainforest from Hand
Lockon Stratos taps Misty Rainforest
Lockon Stratos sacrifices Misty Rainforest
Lockon Stratos's life total is now 18 (-1)
Lockon Stratos is looking its Library...
Lockon Stratos puts Underground Sea into play from Library
Lockon Stratos shuffles library
Lockon Stratos taps Underground Sea
Lockon Stratos plays Sol Ring from Hand
Lockon Stratos taps Island
Lockon Stratos taps Sol Ring
Lockon Stratos plays Tinker from Hand
Lockon Stratos sacrifices Sol Ring
Lockon Stratos is looking its Library...
Lockon Stratos puts Blightsteel Colossus into play from Library

It is now turn 3 (crobert)
[crobert] HEART OF THE CARDS
crobert draws a card
[crobert] FUCK gg
[Lockon Stratos] this was pretty fast
[crobert] that was fast

Lost in translation

You can share my experience as I put my friend's tweets through Google Translate.

Well that sounds like something a pedophile would say, but I'm sure there's some context here.

Okay..

Oh I see, it's something Pokemon related.

Wait whut

Escalation

Wait, how are they going to top this for the next movies?

Purchasing Power

This is something the Israelis could learn from America: how to buy large swaths of land to enlarge your country.

So we all know the Americans bought Alaska from the Russians.

The Louisiana purchase is also fairly well known. Here's the thing though, Louisiana was much bigger back then. In fact, it looked like this:

Yes that is a third of the continental United States.

This is funny too:

One problem, however, was too important to argue down convincingly: Napoleon did not have the right to sell Louisiana to the United States. The sale violated the 1800 Third Treaty of San Ildefonso in several ways. Furthermore, France had promised Spain it would never sell or alienate Louisiana to a third party. Napoleon, Jefferson, Madison, and the members of Congress all knew this during the debates about the purchase in 1803. They ignored the fact it was illegal. Spain protested strongly, and Madison made some attempt to justify the purchase to the Spanish government, but was unable to do so convincingly. So, he tried continuously until results had been proven remorsefully inadequate.

They later bought Florida from Spain.

They should make a dispenser like this except with Jello

I made a timeline

It's of selected events that I decided was important to the rise of the Western world today. It's surprising how recent the roots of many Great nations today can be traced back to. 

(The inline display AA makes it kind of hard to read, right click view image instead)

Britain didn't even become the leading power until the 19th century (well into the industrial revolution) and its hegemony ended almost within one lifetime.

The Americans like to brag about defeating an empire but at the time of the American Revolutionary war Britain was nowhere near the height of its power yet and it had its hands full trying to prevent a French (the major power at the time) invasion of its mainlands and its Caribbean territories.

On scouts

There is a silly trope in common in video games with small scout units having larger sensor ranges than large dreadnaughts.

The thing with sensors is that (all else being equal) the larger the aperture, the more powerful it will be. This is a simple physical law, the larger something is, the more signal it collects, the better you see.

This has two consequences, one is that it will be physically larger so you need a big hull to support it. The secondary consequence is that a larger sensor needs more power generation and so you need a larger hull for bigger generators.

Now obviously if you have ship A with sensors and weapon systems and ship B with just sensors, then ship B will be smaller, but it realistically won't be an order of magnitude smaller. Hypothetically though, what if you can build the sensors an order of magnitude smaller? Well you'd still build it into the large platform with the weapons systems because it'd be more survivable and why would you ever want shooters without seekers? So either way your small vessels shouldn't see better than your big vessels.

There is one circumstance where it would make sense to separate sensors and weapons.

And ironically it is when the sensor systems are larger than the weapon systems.

Which is actually the case in real life.

For instance, fighters will almost always operate with AWAC support, but we separate the AWAC platform from the fast-movers. Why? Because those radomes are huge and it would be stupid to try and push that thing past the sound barrier.

We can look at warships for another example, a 3000 ton LCS is large enough to support strike-length VLS tubes, but you need an 8000 ton destroyer to carry the 12' SPY-1 radar. And even that's not big enough for the cancelled 22' AMDR, which required a 20000 ton nuclear powered cruiser to support. This has led to some interest in a surface warfare role for a Cobra Judy type vessel, because for the cost of putting all the sensors in a vulnerable dedicated platform, you get the benefit of needing only one 20000 ton spotter to cue all of those 3000 and 8000 ton shooters.

That doesn't mean small, short-sighted scout platforms aren't valuable though. They are cheap, which means you can build many of them and deploy to many locations at once and you can afford to lose them if they confront a superior force.

Compare and Contrast

Real laughter was produced

So, Yeezy has a new track out.

Kanye West, master of oration, has outdone himself again.

In that pussy so deep I coulda drowned twice

Rose gold Jesus piece with the brown ice

Eating good, vegetari’ with the brown rice

Girls kissing girls, cause it’s hot right

But unless they use a strap-on then they not dykes

$120M Scream

What a ripoff; that guy wouldn't even be able to say he's got the only one in the world.

なないろ☆ナミダ

Clearly Japan is years ahead of ourselves in proper noun technology.

We've barely probed the potential of incorrect capitalizations.

They've already learned to incorporate ♪ and ☆.

Think of the possibilities.

iP☆d

I don't understand

HOOOWWWWWW