Looking at a map, it looks like there is a fairly small oil terminal. Which could still fit as that looks like a smaller oil tanker.

It has been one of the eternal problems for comics though: For some reason, even during their golden age, they just couldnt get away from doing anything but superheroes. And then it got worse (IMO) when they decided they were going to do only superheroes that have fantastical powers fighting godlike entities and move away from superheroes with no powers fighting street level violence (my personal favorite hero of all time still falling in this category: The Rocketeer).

I also think another thing that holds comics back compared to manga (and is an issue regardless of gender) is that most manga has a definitive start and end point. Comics have dozens of first issues, reboots, alternative timelines, and other things that make it next to impossible to actually get in and start reading, while Manga has (as an example) One Piece #1 and then follows that chronological order.

It's almost like those studies that showed that were all biased or based off of bad data like Facebook polls, and women who like comics and video games are still tomboy nerds who are different from normal women. And yet, all these companies threw away millions of dollars to attempt to pull it off and appeal to them.

I suppose the one good thing is I think we are legitimately turning the corner back to sanity on the topic. Between Trump winning the popular vote (showing his ideas are in fact mainstream now), and the mounting failures of brands that went all in on Woke (even if they never went totally broke, they did see massive declines), we are seeing many brands going back toward pro-USA and typical "normie" advertising. Like how now that the left failed at trying to cancel American Eagle with the Sweeney ad, apparently now they are up in arms over a patriotic Dodge Ram ad. And Dodge also doesnt care. There is a part of me that thinks the 250th American anniversary will be a true turning point, and we may even hit 1980's levels of "AMERICA! RAAHH!" after it.

Well, thank you for giving me an author I had never heard of but looking at his bibliography sounds up my alley.

As for mine, I have a name convention, it is just different from the US Army. Specifically, for things like tanks, walkers, and gunships, it is "Symbols of Doom and Death." (examples: Pale Horse, Yokai, Rangda, Osiris, Nemesis, Valknut, etc).

They get even more fun in showing off the creativity when you realize that the semi-official rule is when you name your tank, it has to start with the letter of your Company. So the ones like "Aim Assist" and "ASVAB Waiver" are part of A Company, "Bang For..." and "Big Ripit" are B Company, etc.

Although I do still have my own naming convention whenver games let me name my war machines, it just isnt "typical" for the US Army (which is important since most of my stuff is either US Army or US coded Mercenaries).

Trump Voter Challenge

1. Well, considering no one who works at my job is an illegal, why would I need to?

2. I'm him, should I mock myself? (I do, its called self-deprecation)

3. Tell me you both never actually listened to the full quote or understand metaphors.

4. Buddy, I have heard women called far worse than "horse face".

5. INB4 you get fired, but because you werent actually doing any work because of your one man crusade.

And yet, they were still able to run an experiment on a Reddit board and the Redditors didnt even realize they were talking with bots.

Honestly, I think one of the things that has helped Japan get in is that you have so many options for what you can get.

If you want something where they are barely wearing anything with tits that have their own gravitational pull? That exist. If you want something more conservative? Also exist. And you have literally everything in between.

On top of things like Anime actually exploring almost every genre style instead of just being exclusively superheroes set in a modern-ish world.

The actual series isnt, but what would have been 4th Season is getting turned into a movie.

It was Japanese policy to learn US history and adopt US customs.

And it still is to a large degree. Its why there are so many "America-boos" in Japan and why they have some of the highest approval ratings of the US of any country on the planet.

That actually applies to most of Asia honestly, who treats us more like actual friends and allies than almost anyone in Western Europe does (Eastern Europe is different, due to the memory of the Cold War).

and the Marines conduct in Iwo Jima (burn every single hole and cave).

Honestly, I think Okinawa actually had far more of an influence than Iwo Jima did. It tends to get overlooked for some reason, but I would argue for Okinawa because it was the first major time the US had to deal with Japanese civilians in a significant way (the only possible other one before that being Saipan, and that was on a much smaller scale).

Not only do you have the same issue of the US have to burn the Japanese out of every hole and cave, you now add in the civilian population being utterly terrified and acting irrationally because of all the propaganda that they had been fed, like the Marines being cannibal psychopaths or the Air Force being more akin to a natural disaster than a military branch. And as such, the civilians either did hopeless attacks with improvised weapons because at least they will die swinging before a Marine eats their corpse, or they would just kill themselves so they didnt have to live with it. And no amount of sometimes literal begging from the US military stopped it.

So not only would you have the Japanese wanting to make that happen on a civilizational scale on the home islands, you had the US military traumatized by the fact that they would have to do it again on an even bigger scale than Okinawa. At least for me, it is absolutely no coincidence that a ton of the US high command that was in the know about the existence of the nukes went from "They are a nice backup option" to "They will be our first tool" after Okinawa.

I could have sworn bomb #3 was what would become more infamous as the Demon Core (since they would start experimenting with it instead of using it as a weapon). But I guess I misremembered that.

But either way, I think we both agree on the major point. Not only do I think the nuclear bombs were justified, I have found that it is a great way to ferret out those who have wildly ahistorical views or (more often) a political agenda they want to push, almost always an anti-American one. And it applies to both sides of the political aisle equally.

Considering there were elements of the Japanese military that attempted to coup the Emperor to stop his surrender even after the second bomb, and their scientist were arguing the US could not possibly have more so the danger was past (spoiler, we had a 3rd, with 4-6 ready in another few months), no, many of them werent even willing to surrender after two. It took the Emperor putting his foot down to even get what we got.

The part that also gets left off from all of the talk about Japan being "ready to surrender" is that they said they should still be allowed to control Korea, keep the conquered land in China, and some of the more extreme ones even wanted to only peace out with the US and Russia and keep fighting China. No one in the history of the world has even gotten a "peace" treaty like that.

"Teens could be here. I hate Teens."

"We let the 16 year olds vote. Also, they all hate us now and are voting for anyone but us."- Labour, probably.

Vance is a big boy, if he didnt like it he could speak out instead of endorsing the moves that have been made. And considering pretty much every reputable poll on the matter showed no change (or even improvements) in his approval after the Iran strike, he is doing no such thing.

I also find it quite telling that people are still running with "He is ruled by Israel" when he has been pushing back against the Israelis on a number of issues. He just agrees they should be allowed to exist and if they have to kill a motherfucker to do it then thats fine (just be less brutal about it, will ya?).

Yeah yeah, "Der Juden" or whatever.

Now if you'll excuse me, those of us who actual want an American world will be out here getting things done and getting exactly what we voted for by not having a spineless cuck as president.

I want us to surface a sub in Murmansk just to flex on them, like when we surfaced one in the Yellow Sea to flex on China.

It really has been enlightening to find out so many who claim to be in MAGA are actual, unironic weenies. You shout loud enough at them and they cower in fear, instead of standing strong knowing the threats are empty words. I am starting to wonder if they are the kinds of people who would have said to give the bully your lunch money because "You wouldnt want to fight, would you?"

Meanwhile, even in his first term Trump was wasting Russian mercs by the hundreds and pimpslapping them anywhere he could (including being the guy who started giving Ukraine lethal weapons in the first place in like 2018), but this will totally cause a war. Just like it caused a war when he pimpslapped Iran.

Not surprising China would start resorting to these sort of methods (if it is indeed what it looks like). They have been losing a ton of influence in the Pacific with most of the island nations starting to swing back toward the US in recent years. So with their long reach taken away, they may have to start getting more into the cloak and dagger method.

No, it is just a shard, as it has been confirmed there are not intact C'tan left in the galaxy. But at the same time, a shard of a C'tan is still absurdly powerful even in their nerfed state. To give an example from one of the more modern books, in the Pariah Nexus (where the big Imperium vs. Necron war is currently going on), an Inquisitor and their team managed to fight through a bunch of Necron's and release what turned out to be a shard of a C'tan. The shard they released then teleported them back to their ship, and basically told them "Hey, you guys are alright. I will give you one for free to make us even." And then with a wave of its hand, it killed almost every Necron on the planet (where the Imperium had been losing just before that), and then the Shard fucked off into deep space never to be seen again. Although they are very much impossible to pin down their motives, so that one escaping probably is a bad thing.

At their peak, they were literally able to manipulate reality, so it is probably for the best they got nerfed.

At least to me, it isnt a completely outlandish concept. After all, order taken to 1984 degrees can absolutely be chaotic as people can not possibly live up to the standard set.

Yes, but the Mechanicus doesnt know that or know that Big E was the one who defeated it and sealed it back away. They just know that The Emperor seems to know everything about how their technology works even without having studied it (he had, but they didnt know that), so they assumed he was a prophet of the Machine God, which is why they followed him.

And there is some implication this was all part of his plan.

You may not be wrong. We have already seen a new Eldar God of Death and Rebirth awaken in the form of Ynnead (even if they fumbled that plotline), and there was already an physical manifestation of The Greater Good that showed up in a more recent Tau book.

Also, point of order, it would be the Machine God. Big E is the Omnissiah (think of it as the difference between God and Jesus).

Don't know why this is blowing up, it's in keeping with the characters and the theme of self-defeating rules and tradition tying their own hands, and preventing things changing, even if it needs to.

Agreed. I actually thought it was an interesting enough twist. The only big issues I have with it is 1) As good as Grey Knights are, 1,000 of them are going to have a bitch and a half of a time defeating 10,000 Custodes and 1,000 Sisters of Silence unless Big E is roiding them out personally, and 2) It throws a monkey wrench into some older lore points. Like just off the top of my head, I know after the Fall of Cadia and the opening of the Great Rift, there were some Grey Knights who talked about invoking the Terminus Decree, and the Chapter Master said something to the effect of "Even a situation this grim does not demand the Decree." That makes less sense when the Decree is "Make sure The Emperor stays on his chair at any cost."