Just John

Just a Coastie in Tidewater, Virginia.

[Ellen Carmichael @ellencarmichael]

The most interesting part of the red card saga isn't the ruling. It's how differently Americans and Europeans process the idea that they might have been wronged.

Europeans are fundamentally different from Americans in one particular way: they expect life to be aggravating and at times unfair. It's just a fact of moving through the world. I joke that in Europe, the customer is always wrong. You didn't read the fine print. The only pharmacy in town is closed every other Tuesday for three hours, and even if the times weren't posted, that's still your problem. Too bad if you want the bill, because the waiter's on his union-mandated half-hour smoke break, and you're just going to have to wait.

To quote the great Mark Knopfler: sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. There's something freeing in that. Things are less in your control, so there's less angst in managing your expectations.

In America, things couldn't be more different. We simply can't accept a wrong left unrighted.

The flight attendant sneezed handing you a drink on your one-hour flight? 15,000 frequent flyer miles. Didn't like your appetizer? A replacement is on the way, and the whole course comes off the bill. There's a reason our interstates are lined with trial lawyer billboards.

Europeans have turned complaining into a continental pastime with no expectation that the universe owes them a remedy for their grief. You gripe about the train being late, your friends nod solemnly and everyone goes back to their apéro. In America, we launch a full-blown investigation of the train system, sue the government (and its contractors) that allowed for the tardiness and hold a Congressional hearing on the state of national infrastructure.

So to an objective observer, the red card shouldn't have happened, and VAR was a travesty. To Americans, our star player shouldn't be unfairly banned from a match we couldn't afford to lose for a card he so obviously didn't deserve.

Who cares that FIFA used a little-used reversal to fix it. Who cares that other people are mad about it. We. Were. Wronged. It was unjust. It must be corrected. We would accept nothing less.

Europeans waxing poetic about the sanctity of the game are, of course, talking about a governing body whose last tournament host was decided via confirmed cash bribes — one that imposed dress codes on women, shrugged off widespread allegations of modern slavery and reconfigured the entire tournament calendar to suit the host country. Which is exactly the point. If you've made peace with all of that, at least enough to watch the tournament four years later, a probationary suspension isn't actually a scandal.

Maybe that's the real divide. Over millennia, Europeans have made peace with being the bug. Americans have never once considered it, and apparently, we're not about to start now.

[Just John @medicjm]

@JenKiggans this looks horrible.

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

Just a reminder: the proposed Global War on Terrorism Memorial is an avant garde Leftist art school wet dream that is actually an abomination that dishonors our GWOT veterans, dead and alive.

If they actually build this monstrosity, expect me to to show up Tom Cruise "Born on the Fourth of July" style, sporting a beard, my "Iraq/Afghanistan Vet" hat and my old DCU top, loudly protesting. I've never been to a protest before, never did the "old veteran" bit, but this horrific monument to everything the Left did to us while we were fighting will drag my broken "not service connected" butt to DC so I can be heard.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

[NRA @NRA]

A message from the same man who fantasized about putting "two bullets" in someone's head.

[cdrsalamander @cdrsalamander]

Endorsed.

Cut steel.

[Dudes Posting Their W’s @DudespostingWs]

The level of skill required for the U.S. Coast Guard to safely navigate out of Depoe Bay, Oregon is genuinely insane

[Fr. Joseph Krupp @Joeinblack]

You are so very, terribly precious to God.
Never forget that about you.
Never forget that about the people you interact with.

#talkedtotheboss

[Homeland Security @DHSgov]

We are DHS.

[Just John @medicjm]

Show your support with our exclusive DU Navy Snap Mock Neck Pullover! https://t.co/0DpwbG2wpC https://t.co/xkwKn6TWX1

[Abigail Spanberger @SpanbergerForVA]

This is good news for Virginia and the country. Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.

[andrew chen @andrewchen]

Weirdly, 4chan’s top books list might be one of the best ones I’ve seen?

[ABMC @usabmc]

In accordance with his wishes, four-star Gen. George S. Patton Jr. was buried with his men at Luxembourg American Cemetery.

His grave site is carefully maintained by ABMC staff who carries the same maintenance routine every Friday morning.

They pay attention to details and ensure the horticultural elements and pavement surrounding his headstone are always in perfect conditions in honor of his service.

[OSINTdefender @sentdefender]

U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle announced today, less than a month after the cancelation of the Constellation-class frigate program, being built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, that the Navy has selected the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutter to be the basis for a new class of frigates, which will be constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

[Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ @mercoglianos]

Can I once again recommend the frigate we are already building.

[Just John @medicjm]

@duolingo I was gifted a super account. How can I upgrade to a family plan? My username is JohnMassin5.

[Just John @medicjm]

@HistoricalDA @Michael_Yon Virginia 1619.
https://t.co/54GNIxcQKq

[U.S. Naval Institute @NavalInstitute]

After the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I, a distinct level of hostility existed between an envious U.S. Army and a celebrated U.S. Marine Corps as the 20th ... https://t.co/jGGQvMhSIM

[cdrsalamander @cdrsalamander]

Just look at this POG.

No Ranger tab. No Jump Wings. No Pathfinder Badge. No CIB.

Can’t be an effective combat leader, clearly.

[DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican]

I’m calling on these donors to request refunds for the Jay Jones race:

🔹 Elizabeth Simons, Board Chair, Heising-Simons Foundation —$750,000 (California)
🔹 Vinton Cerf, Google VP @vgcerf — $52,500
🔹 @DemocraticAGs — $1,100,000
🔹 Government That Works PAC — $200,000
🔹 Green Advocacy Project — $150,000
🔹 @SEIU COPE — $100,000
🔹 Tom McInerney, President, Genworth Financial — $50,000
🔹 Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund — $200,000
🔹 UFCW Local 400 ABC PAC — $100,000
🔹 Freedom Virginia — $100,000

[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement @ICEgov]

PORTLAND — Refuse to walk? We’ll give you a ride.

[Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist @DeAngelisCorey]

Sick. Drop out now, @jonesjay.