The General Board. Two Point Oh.

[Typo Fu Master]

Happy Father's Day! You wouldn't be here without him.

 

[Baztrachian]

The President [our current one] would be in your story on the ashes notation.

So would have been Biden, Obama, Bush, Clinton, and etc.

 

[dmallord]

Agreed. It's a complex world we live in and maybe that's the best solution. Maybe it isn't. I favor non-violent ways to solve problems. I'm also thinking of all the innocent people that would be affected by that action.

That’s the tough part we’re seeing play out in real time, isn’t it? Whether it’s Ukraine, Gaza, or even street-level unrest in places like Haiti or Sudan, the question keeps surfacing: how much force is enough to stop violence, and when does it become part of the problem? World powers talk about “measured responses,” but even those often escalate into prolonged conflict. Maybe there is a point of equilibrium—where just enough resistance checks aggression without spiraling—but we rarely seem to hold it for long. And the innocent always end up caught in the middle, no matter which side claims the moral high ground.

 

[Baztrachian]

That’s the tough part we’re seeing play out in real time, isn’t it? Whether it’s Ukraine, Gaza, or even street-level unrest in places like Haiti or Sudan, the question keeps surfacing: how much force is enough to stop violence, and when does it become part of the problem? World powers talk about “measured responses,” but even those often escalate into prolonged conflict. Maybe there is a point of equilibrium—where just enough resistance checks aggression without spiraling—but we rarely seem to hold it for long. And the innocent always end up caught in the middle, no matter which side claims the moral high ground.

The problem is there is always someone who is willing to cross the proverbial line.

Maybe it's the authorities. Maybe it's the rioters.

With the people in Gaza what we are seeing is the fruition of successive generations of people raised to believe that Islam is superior, the Jews must be exterminated, and Christians and everyone else must be made subservient. This works fine so long as other people don't object.

Then the violence starts.

Russia's war to conquer Ukraine is about Russia's desire to conquer Ukraine. Myself, I am of the firm belief that Russia either has few or no nuclear weapons because if they did have the 'thousands' of warheads they claim to have then they would have used them already. It is their nature.

To hold such people at bay we must adhere to ancient wisdom: Si vis pacem, para bellum

 

[dmallord]

The problem is there is always someone who is willing to cross the proverbial line.

Maybe it's the authorities. Maybe it's the rioters.

With the people in Gaza what we are seeing is the fruition of successive generations of people raised to believe that Islam is superior, the Jews must be exterminated, and Christians and everyone else must be made subservient. This works fine so long as other people don't object.

Then the violence starts.

Russia's war to conquer Ukraine is about Russia's desire to conquer Ukraine. Myself, I am of the firm belief that Russia either has few or no nuclear weapons because if they did have the 'thousands' of warheads they claim to have then they would have used them already. It is their nature.

To hold such people at bay we must adhere to ancient wisdom: Si vis pacem, para bellum

Ah! Mr. Wick! If only there was such a tool for peace or Live and Let Die, even.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

Who's better?

RobDownSouth or Lance_Caestro?

Consider this your daily vanity thread. Now we must speculate on how manly they are.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

Serious question. Do politics turn you on? Do you have a fetish? Are you stroking/rubbing right now as you peruse The General Board. Two Point Oh? Maybe it's not about politics. Maybe you get off on one-upmanship. Dopamine hits amiright? Like and Subscribe.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

I'm feeling kinda anti-stars-ist. Should I add stars? Do stars make a thread more important? How many stars are required? Do those stars require a particular color? Can they be married? I fully support a star's right to their own opinion.

It's a veritable rabbit hole.

Seriously. I may not contribute much to this board but I'm interesting. Like and Subscribe.

Wait.

I changed my mind. I am, after all, an individual. There is no other more important individual. People can disagree with me on this. I motherfuckin' WELCOME their opinions. I vary well might disagree.

Discuss. Like and motherfukin' subscribe.You're here for the interaction. You want to be noticed. Politics is a backdrop. I so wish Lit was like the good ol' days when our opinions weren't as limited as they are these days.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

If someone cares, they'll bump a dead thread. Maybe it's still relevant. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's a cry to be noticed. Like and Subscribe.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

If I were to give an example, how much more interesting are these posts, compared to a post that has no other purpose than than to bump a thread? Not gonna lie, I have some bias. We're here to interact and be entertained. Boring posts are an opinion that is not well articulated.

I could say, "Good morning/afternoon/evening. And then add nothing. Is it interesting? If I made a theme of it, repetitively bumping old threads without adding anything, would I be interesting?

Discuss. Like and subscribe.

 

[Typo Fu Master]

Stereotyping is a reflex, not just here on Lit, but everywhere. We love those who echo our beliefs and dismiss the rest. It’s easier than wrestling with contradiction. Few manage to hold opposing truths in tension. Fewer still change because of it.

I say this more for myself than for anyone else: a decent person should feel unsettled when they stop trying to grow.

What drives someone to harm another? A fractured mind, maybe. Desperation. What help they need is open to debate, especially when they fall into a group we already mistrust.

You’ve found that edge—between rage and restraint. You hold onto it. That says something about you.

This year marks fifty years since the end of the Vietnam War. That war shaped how I see people—especially the question of who deserves death. I was wounded there. For a few hours, I believed I was going to die. That kind of helplessness leaves a mark.

I don’t hate the man who fired the bullet. He’s a blur now. But the one who took my fingers? He’s still with me. I watched him die, and part of me still believes he deserved worse.

Because of him, I’ve struggled not to stereotype. I still catch myself when I see Vietnamese faces—even knowing they had nothing to do with what happened to me. The anger flares anyway. Stereotyping is easy. Undoing it takes effort. Grace, maybe.

I’ve been told I have five months, maybe two years if I’m lucky. My body is beginning to fail, and the road ahead won’t be kind. That kind of news reshapes things. It doesn’t erase the anger or the scars, but it makes me ask whether I really want to carry them any further. Some weight, I’m learning, can be set down—if not for them, then for my own peace.

Maybe that’s the resolution: not justice, not forgiveness, but a gentler grip on the past. Enough to leave room for the rest of the journey.

This man went through some serious shit. You may not agree with his views, but please respect him.

 

[Lance_Castro]

This man went through some serious shit. You may not agree with his views, but please respect him.

Well, he says he went through some serious shit.

In my experience, military people who saw action don’t talk about it ….and the ones who didn’t …do.

Lots of quacks here!

 

[Typo Fu Master]

Well, he says he went through some serious shit.

In my experience, military people who saw action don’t talk about it ….and the ones who didn’t …do.

Lots of quacks here!

True. I'm willing to give him (and you) the benefit of the doubt. There are a lot of strong opinions here and shit just got real.

 

[dmallord]

True. I'm willing to give him (and you) the benefit of the doubt. There are a lot of strong opinions here and shit just got real.

The other party in your conversation often strikes me as immature—cranky and childish at times. Still, I suspect he may be quite different from how he presents himself here. There are moments in his writing that suggest honesty, maybe even vulnerability. I could be wrong about that. Neither of us can truly grasp the full shape of the other’s journey.

Some of mine is threaded through my stories in Lit—a late but meaningful way to release what I carried for too long. It’s been cathartic. Better late than never.

I understand his view that vets are often closed off, reluctant to share. That’s not uncommon. I was silent for a long time myself. But bottling it up only bred anger and distance—in me and in others I’ve known. Nothing good comes from that.

At my age and in my condition, I’ve started to let some of it out. Writing here helps. I try to do it with respect. He’s free to believe what he wants, but his assumptions about how veterans should act don’t reflect how many of us actually feel or heal.

In the end, most of us are just trying to make peace with the parts of our lives that didn’t come with a manual. If writing helps do that, I figure it’s worth the risk.

Thanks for contributing your two cents' worth of temperance to the thread. I appreciate your willingness to take a man at his word.

 

[Lance_Castro]

The other party in your conversation often strikes me as immature—cranky and childish at times. Still, I suspect he may be quite different from how he presents himself here. There are moments in his writing that suggest honesty, maybe even vulnerability. I could be wrong about that. Neither of us can truly grasp the full shape of the other’s journey.

Some of mine is threaded through my stories in Lit—a late but meaningful way to release what I carried for too long. It’s been cathartic. Better late than never.

I understand his view that vets are often closed off, reluctant to share. That’s not uncommon. I was silent for a long time myself. But bottling it up only bred anger and distance—in me and in others I’ve known. Nothing good comes from that.

At my age and in my condition, I’ve started to let some of it out. Writing here helps. I try to do it with respect. He’s free to believe what he wants, but his assumptions about how veterans should act don’t reflect how many of us actually feel or heal.

In the end, most of us are just trying to make peace with the parts of our lives that didn’t come with a manual. If writing helps do that, I figure it’s worth the risk.

Thanks for contributing your two cents' worth of temperance to the thread. I appreciate your willingness to take a man at his word.

Sadfishing on the PB, a Special Report.
Lol

 

[ll74]

Witty in both threads