happy 5/10 to all the 5’7″ guys out there putting 5’10” in their dating profiles

— Casey Johnston (@caseyjohnston) May 10, 2022

I never did this, but I understand why guys do it. I often would put a bit shorter than my actual height as it sorts out the useless chaff. Better fewer of those who are really into you than someone who is “meh” on you, or worse.

If guys cared about anything as much as many (not all) women cared about height, the dating world would be very weird. And even worse. The only thing I think comes close is that a lot of men do seem just as obsessed with breasts as many women are single-minded about height. I can’t understand either one.

the spielberg war of the worlds seen 17 years on still feels like spielberg on autopilot, which means it’s a bunch of really fantastic, memorable shots–because the man is incapable of doing that–they’re just glued together by whatever

— Bo Bolander (@BBolander) May 10, 2022

Yeah, the movie doesn’t hold together. But those action set pieces — gawdamn, they are tight. I watched this one again a few weeks ago and wished any contemporary movie had something like that. It helps that 70% of the effects there are practical — those bricks* really are falling, those cars really are bouncing as the road heaves, that water really is gushing into the sky.

*Could be fake, lightweight bricks, but it’s not CGI is my point.

This reminds me of my extremely jealous girlfriend I had when I got out of the army. Back in the era when hugging in the workplace was still normal, a short (5’1″ or so) woman hugged me completely platonically for a major project I’d helped her with, leaving a little bit of lipstick on my collar. I didn’t notice it.

When I got home, my girlfriend sure did and tearfully accused me of cheating on her, then progressed to screaming, then asked how many of the girls at work I planned to sleep with before proceeding to kick me out. After I said, “As many as it takes until you get tired of screaming at me,” I went and stayed at a hotel. I should’ve broken up with her so much earlier, but she was also financially dependent on me and I was attempting to be nice, in part.

Hint: don’t be nice. It just makes your life miserable. Looking back, I never should’ve allowed her to behave the way she did to me. But you learn.

What rhetoric Putin used in his speech is immaterial. If he didn’t declare war, or a general mobilisation, that’s what important. Without concrete steps to build a new force, Russia can’t fight a long war, and the clock starts ticking on the failure of their army in Ukraine

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) May 9, 2022

Aye. No general mobilization means Russia will just slowly lose. Unlike what the Twitter chattering class poser Ian Welsh types think, screeching random rhetoric on Twitter doesn’t get shit done in the real world where equipment must be moved, fuel must be supplied, soldiers must be trained and replaced/allowed to rest, food must be trucked in. etc.

They have no fucking idea what any of that takes. None. Russia does not have a lot of options here unless Putin turns into Voldemort and magics some stuff into existence. Yes, Russia can still fairly effectively destroy a lot of Ukraine (even absent nukes). But that won’t give them victory, and they still might be completely tossed out of the country, losing tens of billions of dollars and 100,000+ troops.