BREAKING: House approves war powers resolution to restrict Trump on Iran https://t.co/s09Xj37hte
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) January 9, 2020
“Only 15 of the 97 senators attending were able to ask questions before it ended abruptly.” https://t.co/2Rn4Dy8z2N
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 9, 2020
The GOP prefers to be kept in the dark, and fed copious doses of BS. Call them the Mushroom Caucus!
I left literal parts of my body in Iraq, where I was fighting terrorists.
Donald Trump spent months attacking an ACTUAL Gold Star Family.@RepDougCollins should be ashamed of himself for perpetuating this offensive lie. https://t.co/cboW42lPSu
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) January 9, 2020
Poor Ukraine. So far from God, so close to Putin (and Putin’s puppets)…
NEW: “We have intelligence from multiple sources including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface to air missile. This may well have been unintentional”
—Canadian PM Trudeau in press conference just now— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) January 9, 2020
American officials say intelligence community has a “high level of confidence” that an Iranian missile accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane over Tehran this week. @antontroian @Nataliekitro https://t.co/6d9pMuAmD8
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) January 9, 2020
I’m sure that will be of great comfort to the families of the victims. https://t.co/EeYbg5tscm
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 9, 2020
When people warn of the risks of escalation, civilians being killed in accidents are part of that risk. Period. It is *explicitly* included in national security risk analysis.
??This type of nonsense represents such a lazy, dishonest, and fundamentally cowardly position. pic.twitter.com/UDUbRhY0Vg
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) January 9, 2020
An interesting wrinkle. The UN's Int'l Civil Aviation Org (ICAO) is the intermediary between Iran and the @NTSB and it's through the ICAO treaty that the US has the right to investigate
The kicker?
Last fall the Trump admin stopped payments to the ICAO pic.twitter.com/csESTSd0jo
— Mark Leon Goldberg (@MarkLGoldberg) January 9, 2020
A Ukrainian official involved in internal discussions about the #PS752 crash told me that Zelensky made the public plea because the US had not yet shown him the evidence it claims to have about the crash that was being cited in media reports. https://t.co/U7XMCTVD9e
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 9, 2020
Also normal that this is the second time in 6 years a Ukrainian plane, specifically, went down near an active war zone with no one raising hands to admit they shot it
— Big Malarkey Lobbyist (@MenshevikM) January 9, 2020
Maybe killing Suleimani is an Ozymandias style opp to make Iraqis of all sects come together to tell Iran and the US to fuck off https://t.co/0Lpkcl5bMv
— Big Malarkey Lobbyist (@MenshevikM) January 9, 2020
debbie
I wonder what Trump’s asking for in return for sharing information about PS752? //
opiejeanne
Why would they stop paying the ICAO? I mean, I know they’re idiots but what is the idea behind this?
Kamala.Harris.2020
If only the House had some more concrete way to influence what the executive branch does with the Armed Forces.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I saw a headline the other day about Soleimani’s popularity in the region not being limited to Shi’ites, but I closed the tab without reading it. I was wondering how much appeal he would have across sectarian lines, especially as someone killed by westerners/Americans.
the ‘crossfire’ stuff: are they accusing Hennessy of trying to promote a CNN show? Is Crossfire still on the air?
Mnemosyne
@Kamala.Harris.2020:
If only you would explain why you continue to ignore evidence of massive voter suppression in 2016. But I guess we can’t all get what we want.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: When I was little, my dad used to pay me a nickel every night for sleeping under the top sheet.
I wonder how much it would cost me if I was willing to pay a nickel every time someone here didn’t engage with a troll? :-)
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
They’re trying to claim that there is no connection between the US assassinating a top Iranian general and the Iranian military going on high alert that resulted in what appears to be a deadly mistake.
It’s a patently stupid thing for them to say, which is why they just keep blurting “crossfire!” over and over again.
jl
@opiejeanne: The Trumpsters are mindless, there is no real thought behind what they do. Trump, besides being mindless, is completely ignorant about the world, so even if he were not mindless, it wouldn’t make any difference.
I’ll try to remember to call Trump and Trumpsters mindless from now on to avoid insulting idiots.
Aleta
@WaterGirl: How much did you make ?
Mnemosyne
@Kamala.Harris.2020:
Ah, so it is you, ARGB. I was starting to suspect so.
How you been? NRA shilling still paying the bills for you?
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Soleimani played an important role in Iranian allied forces defeating most of ISI, along with our erstwhile Kurdish allies. I think a large majority of Sunnis hated ISIL. So, that might explain his recent popularity across sectarian lines.
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
I just wanted to confirm a suspicion, and now I think I have. ?
raven
Kept in the Dark and Fed Only Horseshit
The unofficial patch of the Son Tay Raiders.
Gin & Tonic, Duke of Tanqueray
Big Malarkey is mistaken, the previous plane was Malaysian, not Ukrainian.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I’ve said it before, this movie sucks ass.
joel hanes
@WaterGirl:
pay a nickel every time someone here didn’t engage with a troll?
I’d be flying first class and vacationing in Gstaad and Ibiza, because I’ve been commenting on this blog for more than a dozen years, and have a nearly spotless record of non-engagement.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: You are correct. Do you know the other previous nym?
I never promised there would be no tests! :-)
Patricia Kayden
WaterGirl
@joel hanes: I suppose my grateful thanks means nothing when compared to a first-class trip to an exotic vacation spot, but you have my thanks anyway.
FlyingToaster
@WaterGirl: Sometimes you have to verify it’s a troll, and not a teenager.
I used to just post the recipe for Habañero Hot Sauce. The trolls would ignore me, and the teenagers would talk back.
I like teenagers.
WaterGirl
@Aleta: I have no idea. I was little enough that it was just a thrill to get all those nickels and then put them into my piggy bank.
WaterGirl
@FlyingToaster: That’s a great idea.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Kamala.Harris.2020: Like this?
House passes measure seeking to limit Trump’s military actions against Iran
NBC News via Google
ETA – I have ascertained that you think there is some more concrete action that the House could take instead. Care to enlighten the rest of us, instead of smugly insinuating BS?
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Was your “crossfire” reference a joke? Surely it’s because of Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI investigation.
Anne Laurie
You’re right! But, IIRC, it (MH-17?) was shot down over Ukraine, by absolutely-not-Russian forces, during Russia’s not-invasion of *the* Ukraine. Is my memory correct on that?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: no, I genuinely thought the reference to Jeff Zucker meant they were trying to make some accusation about promoting a show, that apparently isn’t on anymore. But Wolf Blitzer is I gather still there so CNN often feels a bit like the TVLand of news to me.
Gin & Tonic, Duke of Tanqueray
@Anne Laurie: Exactly correct.
CarolPW
@WaterGirl: ?? If he had not paid you, what would you have done, slept under the bottom sheet (although in this administration sleeping under the bed would be smart)? Not sheet-shaming here, because as far as I am concerned you are a goddess for what you have done on the site and you can sleep wherever or however you want.
Adam L Silverman
@opiejeanne: The thinking is that it is ripping the US off. What do we need it for, we already have the NTSB. So why pay for an international version. Same argument he has for everything.
trollhattan
@Anne Laurie:
Was brought down by a Russian-built BUK surface-to-air missile purportedly launched by Ukrainian rebels but despite that fig leaf probably operated by Russians.
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oh, I see. They are suggesting the plane got caught in the crossfire.
Sorry, I saw Susan Hennesey (sp?) with “crossfire” and my mind jumped back to the Lawfare podcast where she was cracking jokes about the title of the FBI investigation.
Redshift
@opiejeanne: Ironically, it’s over “expanding public access to documents and giving greater protections to whistleblowers.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-aviation-us-idUSKBN1WH2C1
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
Honestly, I can’t remember the other nyms he’s used. ARBG is the one I remember because it’s short and pithy. I know there were at least three nyms between that one and this one. ?
mrmoshpotato
Apparently Doug Collins had an uncredited role in Jurassic Park. You all remember Jeff Goldblum’s comment about him.
Adam L Silverman
@Kamala.Harris.2020: The Democratic majority in the House don’t have anything that is politically viable because the Democrats only control that one chamber. If they zero out the Defense Department budget or just the Overseas Contingency Operations budget, the Senate Republican majority won’t go along with it and then every Republican at every level of government from special municipal districts to the President will run on demagoguing the Democrats for betraying our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and/or Marines. The only weapon the Democrats have here is inadequate for the fight they are in.
mrmoshpotato
@Mnemosyne: Q: Why did the apple pie turn red?
A: Because it saw the salad dressing.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: No, the codeword designator for the investigation into the President’s 2016 campaign and its relationship with Russia was Crossfire Hurricane. And they think she’s trying to push crossfire back into a trending status so that it will bring the Crossfire Hurricane hashtag back to the top on social media. They believe this is some sort of coordinated influence operation, spearheaded by CNN’s Jeff Zucker, and promoted by people that are CNN contributors who are opposed to the President like Hennessy.
Jinchi
It’s Trump. It doesn’t have to make sense.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Which is why Pelosi is wisely concentrating on legislation that would limit Trump’s war powers rather than making some kind of sweeping anti-military move. Turns out she’s not actually dumb! ?
WaterGirl
@CarolPW: I hated covers! I still do. Too many layers, too heavy, I feel trapped.
Even now I sleep without a top sheet, with only a lightweight down comforter or lightweight silk comforter.
We lost my dad 25 years ago yesterday, so it has been a very, very long time since i was paid my nickel.
edit: To be more specific, I would not have slept under my top sheet or my wool blanket. Just there in my “shorty” pajamas, as we called them back then.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: You like my quotes!
Or are you making fun of them?
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: I wasn’t going to say anything, but I was impressed that you sussed that out.
The other one might partially rhyme with something you probably use at night before you go to bed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Watching the O’Donnell program, kind of amusing to see DiFi and that well-intentioned (bless his heart) nonentity Chris Coons backtrack on telling Nancy Pelosi how to do her job.
I do wonder at this point if she’s gaming out the timing of this with the SOTU, especially since Schiff said he’s not gonna take another run at a subpoena for Bolton
CarolPW
@WaterGirl: In the winter I keep my bedroom really cold, and love sleeping under a really big pile of blankets. In the summer, even with the air conditioner on (which is set pretty high) it’s just me on top of the sheets. Thankfully no one but the dog is here to decide whether I’m doing it right or not.
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
He knows that he’s my little troll buddy, and he hates it. Too bad. ?
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: It is even dumber than that. The targeting software for the high end anti-missile defense systems that we, our allies, and our enemies all use is notoriously finicky. The targeting software for the Patriot system is made by Raytheon. The entire system, hardware and software together, is so temperamental that it has to be oriented in the right direction and babysat or it will miss incoming, which is what appeared to happen in Saudi Arabia last year. Between late 2003 and about 2008 or so, the targeting software was so messed up that we shot down over a dozen of our own fighters over Iraq because the Patriot system couldn’t deconflict them from inbound ballistic missiles. I would suspect that Iran’s system, which I think was purchased from Russia, has the same limitations and problems.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic, Duke of Tanqueray: ends in an “ian” – you can’t explain that!
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I have all of that information in hard copy. I’ll go ahead and put our returning friend back in the box I shoved him in last time.
WaterGirl
@CarolPW: You sound like my sister. She will sleep in a nightgown (eek!) and socks (eek!) and a sweater (eek!) then put on blanket after blanket after blanket.
I hate feeling tangled up under the covers. I have decided it’s because I was a breach baby and I was all tangled up in the umbilical cord. That’s also my theory for why I don’t want anything tight around my wrists or my neck. As weirdnesses go, I guess those aren’t so bad! :-)
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: Excellent!
Bill Arnold
@Mnemosyne:
Republican hive-mind[1] members have always had problems understanding causality. This goes back decades.
Donald J. Trump has civilian blood on his hands, including Canadian and UK blood.
[1] May a better, creepier biological analogy would have Trump as an obligate social parasite of the Republican Party:
Rank integration in dominance hierarchies of host colonies by the paper wasp social parasite Polistes sulcifer (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)
Polistes sulcifer
Adam L Silverman
@Kamala.Harris.2020: And back into your box you go. Don’t come back this time.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I’d have done it faster, but for some reason the tool to ban someone has been moved and I had to go find it through process of elimination.
zhena gogolia
Matt Gaetz may be a stopped clock . . .
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
What was ARBG?
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: Oh, I just checked the dashboard. I didn’t realize that was what you meant when I replied. Did John have a change of heart?
Aleta
@WaterGirl: Thanks for the sweet story. My sympathy for your loss, too early.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: It won’t even be allowed to go into committee in the Senate. McConnell is in control and it’ll never see a Senate Armed Services Committee markup, let alone a floor vote. The bill is dead. It died as soon as they passed it.
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I’m not exactly sure that the new tool does what the old tools allowed me to do.
WaterGirl
@Adam L Silverman: What about the “Trash & Ban” button below each comment?
lamh36
He found a VHS from 1994 of a baby’s first steps. Then, he set out to find the baby via @TODAYshow
Adam L Silverman
@WaterGirl: I am not touching that one even if it is belt high over the plate.
Let’s take this offline.
WaterGirl
@Aleta: Thank you.
When he died, people of course sent all sorts of big flower arrangements, as people do. My godmother sent only a boutonnières for his lapel, with a note that said “To a true gentleman”
Such a lovely thing for her to do.
Ken
@Adam L Silverman: So are we paying Raytheon to iron out those little bugs?
(Which come to think of it might be the problem. “Hmmm, as long as the thing doesn’t work right, they keep sending us money…”)
Bill Arnold
@zhena gogolia:
Comments on that tweet are fun. Gaetz is a traitor! (If not using that word.)
Aleta
@WaterGirl:
it is lovely. Even these two small stories endear him to a reader…
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Please please please let Trump have crossed the line that makes some of these Republican pieces of crap stand up and do their jobs.
Does god/dog love us this much?
WaterGirl
@Aleta: I hear him in me sometimes when I write about how we treat one another on BJ.
“Why can’t you girls get along?” my dad would say to my two sisters and I, surely about a million times. :-)
I have been thinking of you and hoping you are doing okay.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
No.
Adam L Silverman
@Ken: As far as I know we did. And they, by and large, are. The systems are better than nothing, but they have the same problem that all missile defense systems we’ve conceptualized and tried to build have: physics. We’re basically trying to shoot a bullet out of the air with another bullet. It is why almost every successful use of Israel’s Iron Dome involves hitting the inbound missiles and rockets from the side, instead of head on. The head on attempts almost always fail.
Kent
@Ken: Install a few Patriot batteries around the Raytheon corporate jet each time it takes off and see how quickly they get those glitches ironed out.
Adam L Silverman
@Kent: Secretary of Defense Esper used to run Raytheon.
Felanius Kootea
@WaterGirl: Is it Brickley Paiste? That’s another troll who loved to shit on black people just like this one. I think they are the same person. Do I get a prize?
Aleta
@WaterGirl: Thanks! Hope you’re feeling better too. I appreciate your style of respect and kindness in the comments. And ignoring trolls instead of banning.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Felanius Kootea: That sounds right.
lamh36
tomtofa
Toilet? Toothbrush?
Ah – just saw#73 – I was close . . .
Mnemosyne
@zhena gogolia:
A troll. @Felanius Kootea correctly remembered one of his previous nyms, Brickley Paiste.
He’s gotten banned before and keeps sneaking back on under new nyms, pretending to be someone else.
Mnemosyne
@Aleta:
You’ve gotta be a truly obnoxious and bigoted troll for Cole to agree you should be banned. ARBG has managed to pass that threshold multiple times using multiple nyms. Sometimes you’ve gotta ban the chaos agents.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: I’ll need to see some papers, please.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Okay then! It was nice to have hope, for just a minute anyway.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
“after the strike” (quote from a WSJ link so no link because of their firewall, and their owner)
WaterGirl
@Felanius Kootea:
You can get some good looking desserts, plus CatCake (!) if you use the pie filter. Not sure that can be considered a prize exactly, but yes, you have earned one.
WaterGirl
@lamh36: That’s some fucking bullshit.
They should all go, and then should all suddenly find that they need to tie their shoelaces.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah, yeah. You know where to find me, copper. ?
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Surely THAT’S an impeachable offense, isn’t it? Assassination for political and person gain?????
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ben CollinsVerified account @oneunderscore__ 20m20 minutes ago
The polling’s bad.
CarolPW
@WaterGirl: Ha! And you sound like my sister. Although I have never slept in a sweater, in the winter I do sleep in a turtleneck, long underwear bottoms and socks. On the other hand, when my sister visits in winter (in eastern Washington State where it can get fucking cold) in the guest bedroom she closes the heater vent, cracks the window open, and sleeps in a t-shirt and pj bottoms under the sheet. Her little doggie sleeps under the comforter though, because he is not dumb.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: certainly should be, but (without having read the article for reasons given) I’m sure all the quotes are anonymous and good luck changing that. The information’s out there, does anyone doubt it? Again, how do you make people care?
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: It’s a good eye roller. ?
Kattails
@zhena gogolia: Could you soften that “no” just a little bit? Like “I’m so sorry sweetie, as much as you totally deserve it I’m afraid it’s just impossible, but here’s my hankie and let me pat your back”.
Oh, I see she took it pretty well, perhaps just a few well-covered-up sniffles. ;-)
Frankensteinbeck
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
To be semi-serious, from what I’ve read of Jared Kushner’s management style, he’s either schmoozing to sell something or he makes a buzzword bingo statement and walks out to leave the lackeys to implement his genius plan. He wouldn’t want to attend any official Iran meeting in the US government, although I won’t be surprised if he’s whispering something incomprehensibly stupid into Trump’s ear thinking what a genius he is for ignoring the bureaucrats and going direct to the boss.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
LOL I have some bad news about the past 40+ years…
Adam L Silverman
@Frankensteinbeck: Also, it was past his bedtime.
WaterGirl
@Kattails: I know! That was kind of brutal. :-)
I almost made a crack about hoping she never has to give me bad news about my house, my dog, a job, or anything like that.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: That’s a pretty good description. I knew that some of them were corny, but that one I actually thought was kinda sweet.
Duane
@lamh36: That still leaves mooning, the finger and many more. Young people are creative. Challenge accepted.
Another Scott
In other news, about the historic changes in Virginia’s legislature, we go to Wonkette:
Good, good. They need to learn that elections do indeed have consequences.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@CarolPW: No, that’s my niece! They keep their house at 60 during the day in the winter, and then turn down the thermostat at night.
Let’s just say it wouldn’t have been my top choice for where to be when I came down with strep.
I don’t like to be cold, just unencumbered, when I am sleeping.
My Side of Town
The fog of war, is an overused cliche. But what if it wasn’t defective Iranian SAMs? A US stinger shoulder fired Sam could have taken that aircraft down. It has the range and it is a heat seeker in any configuration. There were lots of them in theatre. But why? Who benefits if it was a militant local group, a sleeper cell, or special forces thing? The Russians and Europeans also have versions of manpads. My gut feel it was a false flag, but I don’t have any idea why. I believe the Iran government had no idea and nothing to gain. Who did?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@My Side of Town: “It doesn’t make any sense and there’s evidence against it but my gut tells me it was a false flag”?
I’m guessing you’re in Illinois? you gotta ease into them edibles, dude.
CarolPW
@WaterGirl: Oh god I would die at your nieces, particularly if I was getting sick! For me, completely unencumbered in summer is good as is bundled in winter.
WaterGirl
@CarolPW: Let’s just say it was not ideal. :-)
My Side of Town
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m guessing it’s the vodka. But I’m just starting on that and been thinking about this all day. Saw the NYT video and it looked like the plane was hit and reportedly was able to turn back. Maybe this is the wrong thread. But no, I live in Florida. I didn’t say what you said, but maybe you are in Illinois.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: They do indeed. And when they finish overreaching on firearms regulations, Virginians will enjoy the hard line, Trumpite, Republican governor who will veto everything produced by the new Democratic majorities in the Virginia legislature after he is elected this fall. Two years later, after veto after veto turns them into a do nothing legislative majority, they will be replaced by an even harder line Republican majority in each chamber. And then the fun will begin in earnest.
Adam L Silverman
@My Side of Town: It was most likely a misidentification from Iran’s missile defense system. As soon as the Iranians launched their attack on US positions in Iraq official notifications should have been issued to both aviation and maritime vessels indicating there would be no takeoffs and no landings for aviation and no going into or out of port for shipping until further notice. Why that order wasn’t given. Or, if it was given, why it was not followed and this flight was approved for takeoff, are important questions that need answers.
Jinchi
I read that quote as implying that Senators threatened to impeach him if he didn’t kill Soleimani. Which honestly, would be worse. Apparently Pompeo lobbied hard for it. I’m sure Lindsay Graham did as well.
randy khan
@WaterGirl:
Not nearly as much as it should.
WaterGirl
@Jinchi: That’s what I meant by political and personal gain, though I guess that wasn’t clear.
He didn’t do it b/c of imminent threat, or any other valid reason. He did it so they wouldn’t vote against him in his impeachment trial.
They definitely need to add that to the list.
My Side of Town
@Adam L Silverman: Okay, but Iran cleared the flight. It was hours after their “counter attack”. I’m just wondering who benefits from this act of terrorism.
Adam L Silverman
@My Side of Town: It most likely wasn’t an act of terrorism. It was most likely an unfortunate accident.
And if you’ve just put direct fire on enemy targets, you ground everything and close your ports until you’re sure you aren’t going to take return fire. Iran should have closed their airspace and shut their maritime ports until they were sure the US wasn’t going to retaliate to ensure nothing was moving that might be mistakenly identified as enemy incoming and wrongly targeted.
Jay
@My Side of Town:
the current reported timeline is:
Shouty McShoutyPants threatens Iran,
murders an Iranian General, shortly after he arrives in Iraq, “carrying” deconfliction proposals from Iran to the Iraqi PM.
sometime time before or after this event, Iranian Air defences would be on high alert.
Iranian missile strikes were outgoing at 1:15 am, local time.
the Ukrainian airliner crashed at 6:15 am, local time. ( it was delayed for take off for an hour, for mechanical reasons on the flightline).
the Iranian Government publically announced the missile strikes at 6:21 local time.
the airport is no where near the ground to ground missile launch points.
the only Irainian Air Defences that would have been alerted to the outgoing missile strikes, would have been the ones in radar range of the flight paths.
possibly, after the strikes, all Iranian Air Defences were put on Super Exceptional High Alert, because of the possibility of an “immediate” US Air Strike or Missile Strike in response, with out being told why.
The USS. Vincennies also shot down a Civillian Airliner, by mistake because primarially, because a period of high alerts combined with a Rambo Skipper, and poor chain of command and flow of information.
The only WTF???????????? I have ( so far ) is the “confirmed” video, of either a missile strike, or an engine shrapnelling. Somebody, was in the right place, the right time, shooting cell phone video at exactly the right place in a “meh” night sky, to capture that so brief flash.
weird, conspiracy or just a fluke?
WaterGirl
@randy khan: Yeah, I most definitely did not get the “it’s fun to play with the trolls” gene. I don’t understand it at all. I would rather drill holes in metal.
randy khan
@Adam L Silverman:
So I live in Virginia.
First, I guarantee that no Republican will be elected governor this fall because the election actually is in 2021.
Which is an important point because that means the Dems will control redistricting after the 2020 census, since they have and will continue to the trifecta through the 2021 elections. The next legislative elections in 2021 will be run with (at a minimum) fair districts or perhaps (hopefully) Dem-favoring districts, so a hypothetical Republican governor almost certainly would face a Dem-heavy General Assembly.
Also, the Republican bench stinks, and they keep nominating people for statewide office who horrify most Virginians, which is an important factor in their recent losses.
And a poll from December says the following about gun control:
The poll shows that 84% of Virginians support universal checks for firearm purchases and 57% support an assault weapons ban. Also, 76% of people polled support extreme risk protection orders, which would allow a family member to petition a judge for a warrant to seize legally owned guns if someone is determined to be an immediate threat to themselves or others.
So my guess is that voting for universal checks, which I think is the biggest thing on the agenda, won’t be a huge problem.
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
there was a link posted to a site in comments, I think yesterday, that was a bunch of Aviation Safety Geek’s Blog.
their blog was created because their “pet peeve” is that the “official” International Notice system for Pilots and Aircrew is bs. , unreadable garbage. It does not make the threats and dangers clear, ( if you are not obsessively following local events along the routes), and it’s up to the Airport, Company, Air Traffic Controllers to decide what to do or not do.
Iran should have closed her airspace, but there is a cost to that and most countries don’t do that for Airline Safety.
Adam L Silverman
@randy khan: I apologize for getting the election date wrong.
And I have no problem with universal checks. I support them.
And I don’t think one should hoard power and not use it.
But there will be a backlash. There always is.
Jay Noble
@WaterGirl: I need at least a sheet but I nearly had a full blown anxiety attack just picking up one of those new weighted blankets. I dropped the damn thing and was half way across walmart before I started breathing again! :-)
Mnemosyne
@Jay:
One thing I’ll say is that sometimes weird flukes happen. Cameras actually did catch the crucial heat-protection tiles falling off the space shuttle while it was taking off that led to it burning up on re-entry. There really was a random guy on Twitter who happened to be up late studying the night bin Laden was killed and saw the helicopters. Weird coincidental shit happens. ?♀️
WaterGirl
@Jay Noble: I got the chills just reading what you wrote about weighted blankets. Most definitely not for me. :: shudder ::
My Side of Town
@Jay: The only WTF???????????? I have ( so far ) is the “confirmed” video, of either a missile strike, or an engine shrapnelling. Somebody, was in the right place, the right time, shooting cell phone video at exactly the right place in a “meh” night sky, to capture that so brief flash.
That is what I thought. It looked like whoever fired the missile was recording it. I have read all day the Iranian SAM defense is based on radar, but the missile appeared small and the pop was brief, but devastating as you would expect. So I looked up Stinger to see if the range was in bounds and a possibility. It was. Lot’s of those in theatre. So why isn’t anyone considering this?
Jay
@Mnemosyne:
yeah, weird shit happens, but the Shuttle had thousands of cameras on the launch. Helicopters, even the “Stealth” ones are loud at off angles, large and slow moving.
In the “confirmed” vid, you can barely make out the flash of what ever happened, against a light polluted night sky, ( so it wasn’t Bill in Glendale), and it wasn’t a plane watcher. For now, it’s just weird, because right now, we know nothing of the 5 w’s for the vid. Could have be a guy videoing his friend shooting hoops in the street, who just caught a chunk panning away.
Jean
@randy khan: I also live in VA, and I completely agree with you.
My Side of Town
@My Side of Town: So a motivation of the Iranians would be to make it look like US retaliation to their obvious attack meant not to cause any casualties. Except there aren’t any US assets in Iran supposedly capable of that, unless it’s a sleeper cell, or maybe a Saudi sleeper cell that wants to make Iran look like it’s a fumblefuck government. At the expense of Canucks. I don’t know, but whatever the current US government explanation, I would assume they are lying.
Jay
@My Side of Town:
because right now, it is in “no ones” best interest to “speculate” or deflect.
a terrorist/covert cell firing any one of the dozens of MANPADs in region, would be “bad news” for Iran. They try to keep their problems with various terrorist/proxy groups operating in Iran, on the low down.
for “anyone” supporting the proxy, well,………
The Canadian, Iranian, Ukranian and the American aviation safety experts will all be investigating. Eventually, we will have a much better understanding of what happened, like with MH17, but sometimes, it takes years. Even the Russian GRU couldn’t hide all the evidence.
My Side of Town
@Jay: I’m betting it wasn’t an accident and I appreciate everyone’s commentary. Thank you all and good night.
joel hanes
@WaterGirl:
To be more specific
[sings, to the tune of “John Brown’s Body”]
She wears her pink pajamas in the summer when it’s hot
She wears her flannel nightie in the winter when it’s not
And sometimes in the springtime, yes
And sometimes in the fall
She jumps between the sheets …
PJ
@Jay: The Zapruder film was kind of a fluke. In 1963, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary that someone would want to make a home movie of the President visiting their town, but Zapruder got “lucky” in capturing the moment when JFK was shot. Film was expensive then (and now) and most people are terrible at actually filming what is important. But shooting video now on phones is ubiquitous (if you’ve been to a concert in the last ten years, it’s a plague) and it’s not difficult to imagine that somebody was shooting something else that morning and happened to catch the downing of the Ukrainian jetliner. I mean, there’s tons of stuff on YouTube of someone shooting something banal and then something unexpected making the video interesting (most of it seems to come from Russia). (I say this not having seen the video and knowing nothing else about it.)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Jay:
From what I understand, the person who shot the video heard the noise of the first missile detonating, prompting them to turn and see the damaged plane in the sky. They started recording it as the second missile hit, which makes sense as from what I understand the missiles are fired in pairs.
Gleaned from PPRuNe comments…
randy khan
@Adam L Silverman:
There definitely will be people who are very unhappy with universal background checks, but none of them are voting for the Dems anyway. And fixing the gerrymandering will be a big deal, as the Dems have been winning the statewide vote quite regularly, and often by pretty good margins, but not getting rewarded proportionately in the General Assembly.
WaterGirl
@joel hanes: Very fun to wake up to this morning!
Sasha
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