1984Echoes

Poland successfully fought against corruption in their economy/ politics... Ukraine is struggling with that. Although this war has actually allowed Zelensky to broom corrupt politicians out the door and to go after corrupt oligarchy to a much higher (successful) degree than they've ever been able to achieve previously... I think a war footing opens up the anti-corruption door wide-open... by necessity.

Mahomes is playing on one leg? Maybe wait to make this point when they are both 100%

There's lots of ways to get bigger and tougher on a team... It can't just rest all on Chiarot's shoulders... I know what you're saying, I've seen a few of his hits. He's... solid. But, again, there are other ways/ players, not just one guy.

The common thread amongst my Confederation is that they were all brutalized by the former Soviet Union and have no interest in going back to that. The EU may be the appropriate umbrella organization. But those states are going to align themselves militarily. Which you know to be true. And it's not as if smaller groups of NATO nations or nations that cooperate with NATO but aren't in the group never get together for maneuvers and exercises and such, they do... IE: BALTOPS.

I didn't read this... But I would love to see a revisal of the Polish-Lithuanian "empire". I've been thinking about this the past few months. There's Poland, Lithuania & the other Baltics, Ukraine, could probably add at least Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia. Call it the Western Slavic Confederation (I'm guessing it's pretty similar to the Visegrad Group above, without reading... and, although the Baltics aren't Slavic, they were a part of the old Polish-Lithuanian Empire so I am honorarily including them here...). It would be missing Byelorussia, and Kaliningrad. But go ahead and kick the Russians out of those two areas, and might as well do Transdniestra as well. I'm certain the Russians would love that idea. The Czech Republic could either lean towards Germany (language/ cultural affinity in western Czechia) or the Western Slavic Union (eastern Czechia is Slavic, like it's former union state Slovakia...). I'm guessing they would choose Slavic based on current political affinities (heavily anti-Russian). It would also be missing southern Slavic nations but it's a little more tricky down there (Serbia, Hungary, etc...). But I agree, a mini-NATO in the east of Europe. I think I proposed a confederation with Poland and Ukraine several months back as a pathway for instantaneous inclusion of Ukraine into NATO. But revising Poland-Lithuania, or creating a Visegrad group is an excellent idea. Now just... "March on Minsk" (future victory song of the Western Slavic Confederation!)

I'm fine with that... But I think it's going to require a move, and... Noone will want Hagg. I think the Chiarot signing was a mistake. I'd like to move him but I don't see that as a realistic possibility. I don't want to move Maatta... but I think he's the guy that teams will want and SY will be able to make a trade... if he wants to... I'd prefer to dump Chiarot... but didn't we sign him to 3 years...? Ugggh.

It sounds like Edvinsson is really starting to take off at Grand Rapids...

The only point I was making was that managers in general and Hinch in 2022 in particular, tend to favor veterans over kids because they are hunting wins more than anything else. It's a normal thing for the position. I actually think Hinch will do great under the new management/ philosophy of making certain kids get playing time/ development. My only reservation was that I said I wanted to see it on the field this year, and hope he isn't feeling pressure (self-inflicted or otherwise) to chase wins instead of development. I believe that's a reasonable (and very minor) concern. Just my 2 cents...

Are you telling me that because I supported Avila I'm NOT ALLOWED to question Hinch... like, ever? That seems like some kind of draconian punishment that I am receiving here...

The most perplexing thing about this is Casey is still coach. WTF is wrong with management? Are they blind? I agree with everything else in your post (but not quoted).

I was being facetious...

How could anyone tell the difference?

I know, right?! The Pistons are without Cade Cunningham, Marvin Bagley and Cory Joseph. I guess just wait until next year...

No... They're kicking ass. Although the Rockets are trying hard to get back into the game...

What a Brainless F*@k Family.

And the Ukrainians are counting tanks coming from the West. Each and every 321 (at this point) of them: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-receive-321-tanks-western-095800258.html

An educated guess: It's on the hush-hush... but the US, right now (and possibly the past several weeks), is sending ATACMS over to Ukraine.

They should be losing 4 or 5 to 0... They've looked bad all night long...

That should be hash-tagged: #BNT or #BNTS

US Training of Ukrainian troops (in this instance their NCO development program) from 2014 through 2021 (before they pulled out... was that Jan-22?) resulted in Russia's defeat, starting in February, 2022: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukraines-battlefield-success-surprised-russia-174110124.html

Yeah... Hopefully the majority of that will now be in the past. It's torture trying to read a Lions game thread... Given my nature that is...

The Psyche mission...: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/rare-asteroid-may-worth-70-140000062.html

It's not Kasper's chances at issue. It's the timeframe. Horvat is a rental. Lower return value than what people think...

Without a contract... He's a rental. And his value just dropped significantly.

This is where I'm at. Maybe add Buium and Mazar (at U of Denver) into the mix because I believe they are showing themselves as belonging in a potential future Red Wings core... Also, Hronek (I know quite a few in here are pretty dead set against him based on history) has shown enough improvement that I'm reluctant to let him go. As far as I'm concerned, he's a part of the core, at least for now, until he proves otherwise to me. And as a 2nd pairing RH'ed D, who else do we have? We have NOONE as a RH'd D otherwise, aside from Seider. So that's 1st pairing, what about 2nd and 3rd? I'm reluctant to let go of anyone that might fix a hole on the team, but just creates another gaping hole.