Senator Murphy summed it up succinctly:
Donald Trump, a weak and dangerously reckless president, has put the United States on a path to a war in the Middle East that the country does not want, the law does not allow, and our security does not demand.
— Chris Murphy (@chrismurphyct.bsky.social) June 22, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Did anyone else see Kegsbreath’s grotesque and obsequious “briefing” this morning? I just cannot with this shit. Gonna watch just birds for a few days.
Open thread.
satby
Me either. Other than protest, constantly and loudly, this die was cast when people voted for a senile, vicious traitor and there’s not much else we can do about it.
Is it bad that I hope for a military coup by some sane generals?
The Audacity of Krope
The United States is the world’s greatest perpetrator of international terrorism.
Bupalos
It actually nice to see some sheep-from-goats kind of sorting going on among the Donkeys. The next generation isn’t going to do the kind of mealy-mouthed triangulation you see out of the old guard. In which later group I’ll also put Jeffries, which is probably largely about the way he rose to power.
What Trump did more than anything to create the coalition and realignment he formed is break with a form of politics that had died without anyone noticing. That’s the kind of very particular genius he is, he can smell rot better than most, despite the fumes from his own diaper.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
YY_Sima Qian
While the EU & the E3 (the UK, France & Germany) have been feckless & useless, Carl Bildt has been consistently calling it as it is, in both Ukraine & Gaza/WB/Syria/Iran:
Of course, being former PM & FM of Sweden probably explains it.
rikyrah
My eldest sister passed away and we had her funeral yesterday. She had been sick for awhile, but I still wasn’t ready when the last heart attack came.😪😪
The Audacity of Krope
More like this hand was dealt and decades of US so-called leadership kept doubling down until this was the inevitable result.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: I remember you talking about her. I am so sorry. May she RIP.
Bupalos
@The Audacity of Krope: That strikes me as a pretty silly Greenwaldian kind of thing to say. It’s a giant complicated empire that is now politically unstable, tossing off some unpredictable and unstrategic whackadoodle. In its hegemonic phase (which is coming to an end) even its worst moments (eg Vietnam) were kind of the flip-side of its best moments (eg The Marshall Plan.) Like most successful empires (but moreso,) it succeeded primarily because it had things to offer that ultimately were better than the alternatives.
Russia is the world’s preeminent current practitioner of terrorism. This current action doesn’t really answer to “terrorism” at all, but rather “destruction of the post WWII international order.”
MagdaInBlack
@rikyrah: No matter how ready we are, we are never ready. I’m so sorry. My sympathy to you and your family ❤️
Liminal Owl
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. May her memory be a blessing.
cope
@rikyrah: Happy good morning to you as well.
Our daughter and her kids are coming for a short visit this week so we are (slowly) getting the house presentable, pantry stocked and adventures planned. We have not seen them since they departed FL in 2022 for Vermont. The month after they left, my wife and I picked up and left FL as well, although western Colorado was our destination.
I need to concentrate on this rather than the overwhelming, soul-crushing reality that is the US of A in 2025. Pool party, farmer’s market, a river trip…here we come
ERA: Such sad news about your sister. I made my initial post before your news about her.
schrodingers_cat
I don’t trust T2.0 or the tankies or the Ayatollahs of Iran. I need to know more before forming an opinion.
Not so dovish, is he MoDo? Have the tankies who called Biden, Genocide Joe, learned their lesson? Reading their takes online, I don’t think so.
They Call Me Noni
@rikyrah: Very sorry for your loss. Your family is in my thoughts.
satby
@rikyrah: Oh, condolences to you and all your family, rikyrah. It’s hard to lose a sibling.
The Audacity of Krope
Were they, though? Our hegemonic phase, as you out it, was just terrorism that mostly succeeded in its political goals.
Only if you count just the paid-for non-government actors. Our government is a full blown terrorist organization. The Russian government is more of a Mafia.
twbrandt
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. That’s so hard.
They Call Me Noni
@cope: Enjoy the family that you haven’t seen in years. And definitely don’t look at any news as it will all still be bad when you get back to it.
Bupalos
@rikyrah: I’m been surprised to learn as I age into a cohort that tends to have less surprising deaths around me that there is essentially zero comfort in ideas that sound so comforting or shock-reducing in theory. “He had a good life.” “It was coming for a long time.” “She had time to say goodbye.”
Loss ends up being loss. It’s always shocking when it sinks in. I’m very sorry for yours.
Jackie
I made it through about a sentence and a half. Talk about an ass kissing N. Korean love tribute to Dear Leader…🤮
So obviously Hegseth is back in favor, while Tulsi apparently has been disappeared.
Harrison Wesley
Appears the Diaper Don wants the full set. He’s already busted in the US for civil and criminal offenses; time to add a war crime.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: So sorry. Wishing you and your family strength and courage at this difficult time.
Bupalos
@The Audacity of Krope: OK. I don’t agree but I’ve certainly heard people have this kind of take. I just think it’s a kind of disembodied aspirational theory that pretends history is something other than what it is. If I was inclined to say something that tried to sum up the entirety of the United States experience and effect in the world it definitely wouldn’t be through Green(waldian) glasses.
The Audacity of Krope
@Bupalos: I don’t read Greenwald, I find him (among others😏) tedious. But here we are, shunning good faith political efforts to achieve our political aims by violent force. We also outsource these initiatives, much like Russia.
This is a terrorist nation.
LAC
@rikyrah: my condolences. I am sorry for your loss. We are never really ready, even if was expected. I hope you take care yourself during this period.
Geo Wilcox
@Harrison Wesley: Looks like Trump’s Nobel prize is even further out of reach.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@rikyrah: Peace and strength to all who cared about her
Bill Arnold
@The Audacity of Krope:
2024 was a close election. There was no inevitability involved.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Gee, the “Never” Trump neocons show their spots:
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-neocons-iran-war/
And related but definitely different:
https://x.com/onionweigher/status/1936630237208469898
Before you totally snort, read it. Very entertaining.
The Audacity of Krope
Right. We would have just kept paying Israel to do our dirty work; barely mentioned, barely noticed, and beyond challenge.
Rachel Bakes
@rikyrah: I don’t think we’re ever ready. My condolences for your loss.
eclare
@rikyrah:
I’m so sorry about your sister.
Rachel Bakes
I’m about to start cooking and baking to cut down on the need to turn on the stove for the next few horrible heat wave days. It also helps me burn frustration which is plentiful.
YY_Sima Qian
@Bill Arnold: For all of his inexplicably misguided strategy of “hugging Bibi close”, I do think Biden (& Harris) would have drawn the line at a surprise attack against Iran while negotiations are still ongoing. Biden’s experience (& that of his team, Brett McGurk notwithstanding) would also have made him to be less vulnerable to being hoodwinked by Bibi & CENTCOM.
WereBear
@rikyrah: Deepest condolences.
As an eldest sister, I know they try to take care of everyone.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: Oh rikyrah, I am so sorry.
Sister Golden Bear
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. My condolences for your loss.
Nukular Biskits
@rikyrah:
Condolences.
eclare
@Rachel Bakes:
This whole week in Memphis the daily forecasted high is “surface of the sun,” so I have a week of cold meals planned. A Mediterranean tuna salad that I have made before and love, and a new to me noodle salad with a peanut dressing. Those will be dinner and lunch all week.
suzanne
@rikyrah: I’m so, so sorry for your loss. I hope that you’re able to do what you need to do for yourself and your family right now. Hugs.
laura
@rikyrah: Please accept my deepest sympathy on the lost of your Sister. I hope that you are finding Grace, solace and comfort amongst those who loved and were loved by her.🙏
YY_Sima Qian
@rikyrah: My deepest condolences.
Sure Lurkalot
@rikyrah: So sorry to hear your sister has passed. Condolences to you, your family and all who held your sister dear.
eclare
The protest poster photo toward the end of this post is absolute perfection and 1000x true.
Nukular Biskits
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
LOL! Excellent.
Well, it would have been had I not snorted coffee out my nose.
WereBear
@YY_Sima Qian: Oh, please, my cat Bud Abbott has more concept of the situation, and would be far more merciful dealing with it, than the sack of protoplasm currently giving illegal orders.
Chief Oshkosh
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry to hear of it. Please accept our condolences.
lowtechcyclist
@rikyrah:
I’m so sorry to hear of your loss.
suzanne
One of the weirdest strains of “thought” that arose last year was that many (don’t know how many?) right-leaning people deluded themselves into thinking that FFOTUS wouldn’t engage in any foreign wars, especially in the Middle East. This was ludicrous, absolutely stupid wishful thinking. I find myself hoping that they sign their asses up for the next war.
eclare
@Nukular Biskits:
I just saw your Lantana photo, gorgeous! What does your Porch sign say?
Jackie
@rikyrah: rikyrah, I’m so sorry for your loss. I send my condolences.
Bill Arnold
@YY_Sima Qian:
Also, Biden/Harris listened to the US intelligence community, and were briefed regularly by it, and that would have continued forward.
Mr. Trump clearly trusts foreign leaders with their own agendas more than he trusts US intelligence analysts. Mr. Trump’s channeling of Bibi is a national embarrassment (to be clear, his presidency is too), and in this case initiated a war that may result in the destruction of Israel, or at least its loss of its regional hegemony as the sole regional nuclear power.
Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium is almost certainly dispersed to one or more hidden secure sites, and not much separation effort (i.e. a small centrifuged line) is needed to remove most of the rest of the U-238 from that stockpile. Gun-type bombs do not require testing, and boosting them to e.g. 30 kilotons (with tritium) is well-understood.
Then the Saudis acquire a few weapons (money!), and perhaps a 3-way regional nuclear arms race starts.
Nukular Biskits
@eclare: I had to go look … couldn’t remember:
cmorenc
I am at a family reunion this weekend, and as we were eating out at an informal sports bar restaurant last night and on the bank of TVs on the wall normally showing ball games, a short “breaking news” interruption for Trump announcing the bombing. A female cousin across the table who is MAGA leaped up exclaiming “YESSS!” In ecstatic approval, at the same time i grumbled “that idiot” in reaction to Trump’s announcement. Fortunately the vibe is family, we are all going to get along, but it’s going to be challenging if discussions go political.
jowriter
@rikyrah: I am so sorry. Sisters are special–I have two–and it’s a big loss. My deep sympathy to you and the rest of your family.
Another Scott
@rikyrah: I’m very sorry for your loss. :-( It’s small consolation, but it’s good you were able to celebrate her life together with your family and friends.
Condolences to you and to everyone who knew and loved her.
Best wishes,
Scott.
CaseyL
@rikyrah:
No matter how “expected,” it’s still a kick in the gut.
So sorry, and I hope the memories become a source of joy more than grief.
YY_Sima Qian
Iran giving a preview of its tools for escalation:
lowtechcyclist
I don’t watch TV, and I don’t get a dead-trees paper anymore, so I don’t get any sort of wide-spectrum exposure to what the commentariat is saying these days. So I wonder periodically: do they discuss the obsequiousness of his Cabinet and other underlings towards him? Seems like a sufficiently major departure from how things have been in my 70+ year lifetime that you’d think it should be noticed by the talking heads.
Standard mention that they’d be going apeshit about it if high officials in government were behaving this way towards a Democratic President.
Kathleen
@rikyrah: My deepest condolences to you and your family.
Ohio Mom
@rikyrah: My deepest condolences.
I’m sure she knew she was dearly loved, and I hope you find comfort in that knowledge.
Be kind to yourself as you learn to navigate this new world without your sister.
Badpenny
@The Audacity of Krope: pretty sure the people of Ukraine disagree with your assessment of Russia.
Westyny
@rikyrah: Deepest condolences. We’re never ready, are we? May her memory be a blessing.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Why do the word “Antichrist” and the phrase “the rapture” suddenly come to mind?
Should it happen as a result of this clusterfuck, I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong thinking it was simply a fancy story from a Roman era apocalyptic death cult that grew out of Persian-era apocalyptic death cults which themselves grew out of Iron Age goatherd traditions that may contain some echoes of older Bronze Age tribal religions.
YY_Sima Qian
Point worth keeping in mind:
Adam L. Silverman suggested a few days ago that it will be the über-hawkish fundamentalists (the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, a.k.a. the Paydari Party) that will step into the breach in Iran.
CaseyL
If there was any saving grace to the 50-year international protection racket known as the Cold War, it was at least consistent. We knew who the players were, what they would do, and they mostly did as expected.
I’d say the current times are the End of an Era – but tbh the world order we grew up in has been crumbling since W’s Grand Iraqi Adventure. It’s now gone completely. The fact that we have a bunch of corrupt ignorant kleptocrats and End Timers at the helm just means things are going to happen very quickly.
The rest of the world had damned well better do what it can to contain the US. Generations of deference to America is a hard habit to overcome, but their own countries’ well being depends on their seeing the US as an enemy PDQ.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
@rikyrah:
My condolences.
Meyerman
@rikyrah: Sorry for your loss. No matter how prepared we think are for losing someone we love, we never are. May her memory be a blessing.
danielx
@rikyrah:
May her memory be a blessing.
Sure Lurkalot
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Can’t suppress the “Bloody Bill” forever when there are illegal wars based on lies to wage.
The Onion not at all sanguine about our slide into autocracy (from https://www.thehandbasket.co/):
The Audacity of Krope
@Badpenny: Ukraine is a terrible situation. Russia is not acting with the resources or at the scale we are. Trump is using that situation to coerce Ukraine…again. We’re now expanding violent terrorism by the government within our own borders.
Also, I’m in the US. So, no, the US government is the more proximate, resources, irrational, and dangerous threat.
YY_Sima Qian
Good luck closing those “beautiful” trade deals now:
Glory b
Miss Bianca
@rikyrah: Oh, rikyrah, I am so sorry to hear that. That is devastating news. Losing a sister just cuts so, so deep to the bone. My condolences.
YY_Sima Qian
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: For their credit (which I acknowledge most grudgingly), not all of the neocon “Never Trumpers”are prevaricating:
Glory b
@rikyrah: We aren’t ever ready for the death of a close family member, it’s the end of an era of our lives.
You have my condolences and hugs.
chemiclord
Semi Off-Topic: I am getting rapidly irritated by the “Stop the Steal, but from the Left” conspiracy theory that is gaining traction on social media. It’s just as stupid and implausible as the OG version Trump and his goons tried to peddle in 2020.
Anything to deflect from the American people’s complicity in the mess we find ourselves in, I guess.
The Audacity of Krope
Do elaborate, please.
Torrey
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope your good memories provide some comfort for you and her friends and family. If she’s anything like you, she was a wonderful person and I’m sure she will be deeply missed. Take care of yourself.
RevRick
@rikyrah: May the God of all comfort comfort you and your family in this time of sorrow.
lowtechcyclist
@Bill Arnold:
We’ll try to stay serene and calm…
Glory b
@schrodingers_cat: No, they never will.
YY_Sima Qian
Khamenei’s thought process through the decades would be an interesting case study:
Iran also prevaricated on embracing entente w/ the PRC. The theocrats were too proud (& probably too suspicious of the communists infidels), the Western educated technocrats too enamored w/ the hope of rapprochement w/ the US & the West, & the IRGC too focused on enriching themselves & consolidate their privileged positions. So, now the theocratic regime finds itself friendless (interns of substantive support) at this moment of extreme weakness & peril.
In the aftermath, though, we might see Iran fully embrace the PRC (economically, politically & militarily), especially if there is no regime change.
The Audacity of Krope
I can attest that they picked up at least one convert, though I don’t agree with putting sole blame on Biden as opposed to a decades-long bipartisan consensus.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. 🙏
frosty
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry to hear that; you have my condolences. Ms F lost both her siblings over ten years ago. It’s very hard, worse than losing your parents.
chemiclord
@The Audacity of Krope: The core of the conspiracy theory seems to be that a “secret” update to voting machines in critical states, funded and/or enacted by Elon Musk, flipped just enough votes in every swing state to rig the election and allowed Trump to steal the election from Harris.
Of course, even having a reasonably accurate estimate of how many votes needed to be flipped in what states that would still be within the realm of the plausible before the votes were ever actually tallied would require a massive amount of luck, or that no one has actually presented any evidence of this “secret update” to begin with… because funnily enough, you can’t just push an update to voting machines via the internet like some sort of software patch.
I mean, there was a pretty big lawsuit in 2020 that raised that exact same damn theory that turned out to be complete bullshit then, and its still complete bullshit now.
There is (I suppose) a hypothetical scenario where you can possibly/maybe/not very likely adjust the number of votes from a voting machine after the fact, but the number Trump loyalists that would be needed to pull off that sort of stunt and stay completely silent about it, and do it without being caught at any point is so preposterous that anyone with any semblance of critical thinking should be able to dismiss it outright.
But alas…
Professor Bigfoot
@rikyrah: My condolences to you and yours- may her memory be a blessing. 🙏🏾
trollhattan
@rikyrah:
My deepest condolences to you and your family.
YY_Sima Qian
A desperately hopeful plead for some sanity:
The problem is, there is zero reason to trust Trump to keep to any negotiated terms unless Iran (or a combination of the “international community”) can impose significant cost on the US for any breach, & there is zero reason to trust that Bibi will not spike either the negotiation process or the negotiated deal unless Iran (or a combination of the “International community”) can impose significant cost on Israel for any sabotage.
Baud
@chemiclord:
I’ve seen it on Reddit for months. Someone on Bluesky said the LaRouche people were pushing it.
Quantum man
@YY_Sima Qian: So how is this any different from what Japan did before Pearl Harbor?
WereBear
In The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman paints of picture of the many decision points of WWI, which mainly consisted of a bunch of milling around and spasms of effort. Because everyone was paralyzed with indecision because all the governments had decay, everywhere.
So full of intrigue they could not think.
The Audacity of Krope
Eh, I’ll worry about it if it ever moves past a small set of internet choads. I’m more concerned about how a class of top Democrats and their donors stole the Presidential nomination away from the rightly selected nominee.
ETA: I’m far more incensed about that. As well as the fully legal regime of voter suppression Republicans have instituted across much of this nation.
CaseyL
\@chemiclord:
Yeah, this is exactly why I don’t buy the “the 2024 election was stolen!” conspiracy theory: the idea of how one could pull that off was thoroughly litigated, and thoroughly debunked, years ago.
The whole thing is sadly instructive, that conspiracy madness transcends ostensible ideology: anyone can catch it.
“Americans are stupid, mean, and have the object permanence of a dead goldfish” is a theory with a lot more evidence going for it.
Tom Levenson
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. May her memory be a blessing.
Ella in New Mexico
@The Audacity of Krope:
Riiight. Lemme guess, the Democratic Party the epitome of fascism they claim to fight”, too, right? I mean, both parties are evil and bad.
Simplistic thinking right there, lacking an appreciation of the complexities of our country and it’s history.
The Audacity of Krope
It’s very much bipartisan.
Quiltingfool
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. May she walk with joy in the Summerlands.
Ben Cisco
@rikyrah: My condolences to you and the family.
RevRick
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
I am extremely reluctant to identify any one person as the antiChrist, because there’s always a new one waiting in the wings. Certainly, Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot have greater claims on that “title”.
As for the whole ridiculous notion of the “rapture “ is rooted in a colossal misunderstanding of the parousia mentioned in Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonia. (1Thessalonians 4:13-18), where he declares that we and the resurrected dead shall meet the Lord in the air. A parousia was understood by Paul’s readers, who were thoroughly assimilated in the Roman world, as an official delegation going to meet the Emperor before he entered the city to escort him into said city in preparation of all sorts of elaborate civic activities and celebrations. The purpose of the parousia (meeting) was to provide the Emperor with escorts into the city fitting his power and authority. It was not an escape hatch, but a welcome mat.
YY_Sima Qian
@Quantum man: IMO it isn’t, I’ve drawn that parallel myself in comments over the past few days.
Sure Lurkalot
No lie told:
Glory b
@RevRick: Besides, we all know the REAL AntiChrist is Hakeem Jeffries.
Glory b
@Sure Lurkalot: Not just the FBI, but every federal law enforcement agency, ATF, USPS, etc, etc.
p.a.
@rikyrah: So sorry for your and your family’s loss.
Baud
Too funny
Currants
Birds for me too, BettyC. From indoors until after Wednesday though (heat—I’ll wilt, can’t have that).
cmorenc
@YY_Sima Qian:
That’s a general problem for anyone negotiating with Trump – his long record of bad-faith screwing over anyone who thinks they have reached a “deal” with Trump. Trump’s ghostwritten book “Art of the Deal” should more accurately be titled “Art of the Steal”
YY_Sima Qian
Somewhat OT, but the PRC becoming a net energy export will be a huge economic & geopolitical shock to the world (Sechin runs Rosneft, link to Reuters article below):
The PRC’s massive investments into renewables, hydro & nuclear, as well as green hydrogen/ethanol/ammonia, make the prospect plausible in the long term.
thalarctosMaritimus
@rikyrah: Dear rikyrah, I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I wish you solace and love.
Matt
But enough about Biden’s terrible foreign-policy performance.
We got here because we refused to confront a government controlled by dangerous religious lunatics dead-set on total dominance or total destruction: the Netanyahu administration. We couldn’t even bring ourselves to stop sending them weapons, while we watched them murder civilians every day.
My predictions going forward:
Baud
@Matt:
My prediction is that even if none of those things happens, it’ll be conventional wisdom online that it did.
YY_Sima Qian
As the existing world order collapses, countries are seeking alternative structures to secure their interests:
The Audacity of Krope
@Matt: Tragic, but this seems likely to me.
arrieve
@rikyrah: I am so sorry. Losing a sister is like losing part of who you are, the shared history that only the two of you know.
The Audacity of Krope
Republicans and Democrats are both parties of thugs. Just one is openly thuggish while the other hides it behind flowery language.
Jackie
@The Audacity of Krope: I’m seeing them escalate, too. Mostly voting machines tampering theories. I guess losing promotes conspiracies on both sides. <eye roll>
Baud
@The Audacity of Krope:
You’ve made your point of view clear.
The Audacity of Krope
@Jackie: They should focus on the election Democrats stole from their own voters.
Baud
@Jackie:
I think this one is being pushed on us from outside. No Dem officials are promoting it as far as I know.
The Audacity of Krope
So have you. I will continue to express it. As will you.
Baud
@The Audacity of Krope:
Actually, I don’t repeat platitudes in every other comment.
cmorenc
@The Audacity of Krope:
Biden stepped aside in 24 after it finally became painfully apparent, even finally to him, that he was on inevitable course to lose in 24. After his disastrous debate performance in June, there was no chance for his campaign to recover. I am vastly more interested in the question of how the D voting base got eroded to the benefit of GOP grifters and toxic ass-clowns, a problem we have to solve for the D nomination to be worthwhile for ANY future D Presidential nominee.
eclare
@Nukular Biskits:
That is awesome. I have a front porch myself with a swing that I have laid down on.
The Audacity of Krope
I’m trying to shake some people out of complacency. It’s a position that Democrats, long assured of their own moral and intellectual superiority, have been stuck in.
The Audacity of Krope
Because Democrats won’t take a moral stand on anything without 65 percent support of voters in privately-conducted polls?
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
Sorry.
It’s never easy.
There were 5 members of my family, parents, 2 siblings and me. Now there is one. Such is the nature of living beings.
Baud
@The Audacity of Krope:
Like you said, you can say what you want here. I’m not the blog police. But I’m also not going to engage in conversation with talking points. Maybe others will.
YY_Sima Qian
@Baud: At the same time, The Trump Commerce Department is planning to further escalate the tech war against the PRC:
w/ inevitable blow back:
So good luck getting the PRC to bail out Trump from his recklessness.
In the meantime, the PRC is not giving export licenses for rare earth elements & rare earth magnets to US weapons manufacturers, & the PRC’s monopolistic dominance here likely makes all of the consumer facing companies in the US/EU (such as auto manufacturers) getting licenses very leery of reselling the rare earth magnets they purchase to US weapons manufacturers. We’ll see how that affects US production of weapons systems & munitions.
opiejeanne
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry to hear this. I wish you comfort and peace.
trollhattan
@YY_Sima Qian:
What form of energy would they export, and to whom?
Soprano2
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry.😪
The Audacity of Krope
Define talking points. Are they simply arguments you don’t agree with?
We’re on a slide toward global calamity and more of you are worried about the Democrats’ image than people being hurt.
Old Man Shadow
I just planted a tomato plant.
If I can get it to live and thrive, I’ll expand. I’d like to get a dwarf fruit tree too. Maybe orange.
If I can ever own my own house, I’d love to replace the lawns with fruit trees and bushes and just enjoy it all year round. Let neighbors and the neighborhood kids pick some. Just enjoy green stuff that feeds people.
Baud
@The Audacity of Krope:
Talking points = constant repetition, for one, usually using corporate style speak. Saying “bipartisan consensus” a million time isn’t engaging.
But you can say what you want and I can choose whether to respond or not.
The Audacity of Krope
Definitely not a million. Also, that is simply phrasing that I settled in as most accurately describing the truth, no corporation involved.
ETA: I have also used alternate phrasing for the idea that I doubt you like any better.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: Have you heard much about geologic hydrogen in China? People are prospecting for it in a lot of places now. I think the deposit in the Lorraine region of France is one of the larger finds, but some test wells in Kansas are showing good results. Some of the finds show significant amounts of helium as well.
Anyway
@rikyrah: so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family. RIP.
Rachel Bakes
@eclare: once my son ends his adhd/asd meltdown hope to get started on chicken for salads and a potato salad. I think the zucchini muffins have been postponed to tomorrow.
YY_Sima Qian
@trollhattan: Electricity to neighbors (already happening), green ethanol & ammonia to the global market to as substitute for oil & gas used for transportation & chemical feedstock.
Even more so if you include PRC exports of (& enabling local assembly of) the capital goods to produce renewables, hydro & nuclear energy, so that other fossil fuel resource poor countries can do the same.
Bex
@rikyrah: My her memory be a blessing.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: None that I have heard of. Hydrogen is difficult & expensive to store & transport, that is why ammonia is the preferred medium, which can then be converted to hydrogen to serve as chemical feedstock.
AWOL
Was out protesting, late a.m./early p.m., in Northern Manhattan with some sundry Indivisible members. Maybe seven of us at most. Mostly a positive response from most drivers and pedestrians, especially bus drivers.
StringOnAStick
@Geminid: Helium is an important strategic gaseous element, for so many processes and difficult to replace, and we waste it in party balloons, so hearing that some new deposits have been found is good news. It’s one of those “no one thinks about it until it’s gone” resources.
Baud
@AWOL:
Protesting the bombing or something else?
hedgehog the occasional commenter
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. May her memory be a blessing.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@YY_Sima Qian: shades of Trump not getting the EU and Canada could wreck the US economy through the bond market. Dumbshit sees everything as WWE wrestling.
God help us all if Trump decides to bring the freedumb to a real power like China. I am not sure what Xi could do manage such pig headed stupidity.
chemiclord
@The Audacity of Krope: And do tell which one was that? It can be hard to keep track of the various conspiracies.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So, a repeat of Bibi helping Hamas into power in Gaza. These asshole live such lies of delusion they don’t understand when someone is really speaking the truth about what they think. When does this idiocy end?
The Audacity of Krope
@chemiclord: Sorry, did I have a fever dream last year where the candidate selected by 90 percent of D voters was beaten up and chucked aside by his own party?
Conspiracy, yes, but not a theory. The whole thing was very, very shamefully public.
chemiclord
@The Audacity of Krope: Because Democrats are too varied of a coalition, often with mutually exclusive wants and needs, to be able to take a particularly moral stand on anything, because the morals themselves are too varied.
Consensus is going to be difficult for Democrats in a way that it isn’t for Republicans. I really wish we could understand and accept that at some point.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: Geologic hydrogen can be turned into ammonia as easily as green hydrogen. The attraction is that it could be less expensive to produce.
Hyterra, the company drilling in Kansas, lined up a local fertilizer plant as a buyer if the hydrogen is recoverable. I guess the fertilizer people are converting natural gas for now. There are already 100 million tons of hydrogen per year used in industry, most of which is derived from natural gas.
YY_Sima Qian
LOL:
Quote from one of the more hardline China-Hawks out there:
siddhartha
@rikyrah
I have been reading your comments for a long time, even on another site where we used to post long ago. I am very sorry for your loss.
cckids
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry for your loss. May her memory be for a blessing to you and all your family.
AWOL
@Baud: NO WAR signs. In English and Spanish due to the demographics of Northern Manhattan. It was hard to organize a large protest in a few hours. Just glad a few of us managed to show for mutual support and safety.
Soprano2
@eclare: We have the same in Springfield, highs in the upper 80’s or low 90’s. That’s in spite of a chance of rain that’s forecast most days next week.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: Yes, less expensive to produce, but geological hydrogen eventually runs out, too. I have not seen calculations whether the geological hydrogen deposits would actually make a dent to the use of natural gas as chemical feedstock.
Soprano2
@suzanne: If you heard many interviews with them you saw that they absolutely believed FFOTUS only meant what he said about the things they wanted him to do. They thought all the rest was just to upset people like us.
chemiclord
@The Audacity of Krope: Well, the pedantic answer to that is that the party actually isn’t beholden to the primary process. There’s actually no law that requires it, and a lot of minor parties don’t. The Dems could nominate whoever the fuck they can agree on, primaries be damned. It’d be a bad idea, but nothing is technically stopping them.
In the more realistic explanation… the buck stops with Biden. Just like it stopped with Franken, and just like it hasn’t stopped with Fetterman. The Dems can pressure and be all pissy and make all the threats they want. Biden, in the end, decided to drop out. You can presume for any reason you want… but it was his choice. No one could “make” him do it if he didn’t accept it.
The Audacity of Krope
As someone who has spent decades supporting losing anti-genocide candidates in D elections before voting for the pro-genocide candidate in the general; you know, for practicality reasons; I can assure you Democrats are fully capable of forming a consensus on some issues. Ethnic cleansing in Palestine is obviously one of those issues, no matter how much they make it appear like a mere turning of a blind eye. They’re even able to share in that agreement with the Republicans.
And must we rely on the law to tell right from wrong?
Or on technicalities to absolve people of responsibility for their behavior?
O. Felix Culpa
@Soprano2:
“They thought” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Unfortunately they–and we–got the whole evil lunatic package, and not the compartmentalized wishful thinking that they perhaps imagined they were signing up for.
YY_Sima Qian
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: The probability of TACO is quite a bit higher when Trump is dealing w/ an authoritarian he is envious of, such as Xi or Putin, & the probability of TACO is also much higher when the bond traders revolt.
The Audacity of Krope
The greatest unelected authoritarian rulers of all…
eclare
@Soprano2:
I would love your forecast. The forecast here is hotter.
Steve LaBonne
@rikyrah: I’m truly sorry for your loss.
Betty
@rikyrah: Please accept my sympathies. You are never ready no matter how long they were ill even though you know in your brain they have probably suffered enough. Your heart can’t go there. At least not yet.
VFX Lurker
@rikyrah: Thinking of you. Sending love and comfort your way.
YY_Sima Qian
A political gaffe in the classical sense:
One of these days, AIPAC will be forced to register as an agent of a foreign government under FARA rules, & that will play into centuries old CTs about Jews.
No One of Consequence
@rikyrah: My condolences to you and your family. May her memory be a blessing and your grief minimal. A similar day awaits me, and I do not look forward to it. I am sorry.
-NOoC
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: I am so sorry, rikyrah. My condolences.
chemiclord
@The Audacity of Krope: You can pretend there’s a consensus on Israel and Gaza. You’d be willfully blind, but you can certainly pretend.
And you’re also barking up the wrong tree with me. I have a pretty long history of decrying the knifing that opportunistic Dems did to try and shove Biden out of the way, for much of the reasons why it backfired here. That doesn’t change the fact that Biden willfully made the decision to step aside. No one could “make” him for the same reason no one has been able to “make” Fetterman step down.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud:
“What are you rebelling against, Johnny?”
“Whaddaya got?“
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/jeradwalker.bsky.social/post/3ls5sscfa722g
trollhattan
@YY_Sima Qian:
It won’t be in my lifetime and probably not my kid’s.
Regardless, it’s good for the planet as a whole for them to stanch their coal usage, same for India.
O. Felix Culpa
There seems to be an eruption of Privileged Purity Prickitosis, to which white males are particularly vulnerable, with overweening self-righteousness as a leading symptom. Consequences are abandoned allies and underbussed marginalized groups, potentially leading to loss of livelihood, imprisonment and/or death, but not of the original prickitudinous sufferer who is, well, privileged and therefore mostly insulated from the negative outcomes of their purity policy preferences. But never fear, they’ll be able to sleep at night owing to their superior moral superiority. As with MAGA, no known cure in most cases.
zhena gogolia
@O. Felix Culpa: Right.
Geminid
Ankara-based Clash Report posted plenty of news this morning,* and here are three items:
And:
Also:
* Actually, Ankara is about seven hours ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone, so these were posted mid-day there. Last night Clash Report put up their last post of the day an hour before the US attacked. When I checked them out someone had commented, “Wake up bro, the US just attacked Iran!” Made me glad I don’t run an aggregation dite.
The Audacity of Krope
The consensus is on funding a third-party nation to engage in that genocide for us. They only differ in how they sell it to their voters. Republicans by saying for blood and acceleration, Democrats by mostly ignoring it and bringing up a solution they know won’t be implemented whenever people start making some noise while the genocide continues unperturbed.
Well, I suppose both parties sell their voters by defaming opponents as anti-Semites.
All in all, the objective and outcome remain the same while the parties differ only in tone.
The Audacity of Krope
@O. Felix Culpa: Reminds me, I should apologize to my sister for all those years spent dissuading her from voting third-party.
Princess
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry. I dread losing my sister.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: This could be a sympton of the more widespread malady of XCDD: X-Chromome Deficiency Disorder.
Scientist have determined that half the population suffers from XCDD, and the other half suffers from them.
Jay
For those interested, the latest Counter Tactic against ICE is protestors glitter bombing them in various ways. It makes them identifiable for up to three days or more.
O. Felix Culpa
@Geminid: LOL. :
@Jay: Love it!
Madeleine
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry, rikyrah.
Spanky
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry, rikyrah. Losing a sibling is especially tough.
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/wajali.bsky.social/post/3ls6gt5bynk2v
The Audacity of Krope
@Jay: But is he “tough,” whatever that means. I can’t define it but apparently it’s all you need.
Gvg
@cmorenc: somebody is going to decide to murder him right after he signs a deal they want someday, on the reasonable expectation that the US will go back to obeying their own treaties once Trump is gone. Vance and the other GOP leaders are rather spineless and don’t have Trumps record on their own. The courts have supported our laws and the democrats stuck by Trumps bad agreements even when it hurt us.
it would have to be not traceable which is easier said than done, but Trump doesn’t listen to advice on security. I suspect he would be an easier target than any other President we have had in decades.
Ruckus
@O. Felix Culpa:
THIS.
And a rather nice way to say it. As least as nice as any human can and which I wish I could do.
Glory b
@The Audacity of Krope: Interesting that once black people gained real power in the Democratic party, it became a party of thugs and now there must be a rush to the door to vote third party.
We see you.
satby
@The Audacity of Krope: Not sure you can “knock people out of their complacency” by being an asshole in every comment, but you absolutely do you, bud.
Glory b
@O. Felix Culpa: This too.
The Pale Scot
Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, this means the US will not be able to commit to Taiwan, sending carriers, F-22s and B-2s to Israel ensures that. The USN with it’s undermanned ships and crappy barely flyable F-35s makes engaging China a losing proposal. The chance of China attacking Taiwan goes up with China realizing that they can go for it before having guaranteed military superiority a few years down the road. That Sun guy wrote something about this, and there’s that little red book someone told me about.
For fuck sake we are blowing thru our supply of SAMs, probably have less than a month left. Time to pull those F4s out of the boneyard.
Sorry Ukrainia. Churchill “the Americans do the right things after they have tried everything else” That doesn’t work in the nuclear era.
The Audacity of Krope
@satby: Who’s being an asshole? I’m not getting personal, eh hem 👀. I’m not ignoring what others are saying to grind on with predetermined arguments.
What I am doing is wrestling with my own responsibility for years of acquiescing to human rights violations abroad in the apparently vain hopes of better human rights at home. Now both are being shredded.
Then I report on my conclusions.
dnfree
@The Audacity of Krope: I saw the debate. The conspiracy after that was quite public.
wenchacha
@rikyrah: I am sorry for your loss. My own elder sister is precious to me. Siblings can be such a gift.
Eyeroller
@rikyrah: I’m so sorry, and as many others have said, you are never ready. It doesn’t matter that your loved one was sick and it might not be a surprise. You’re still never ready.
Jay
@The Pale Scot:
Apparently the USAF blew through 3/4’s of the US’s stockpile of GBU-57A/B MOP’s leaving 5 in inventory.
Whiskey Pete blew over $280 billion on his useless, ineffective 1 month campaign against the Houthi’s before he called it quits.
wenchacha
@Jay: Great for tagging, horrible for the environment. I know I am a scold for even thinking it.
Is there biodegradable glitter? Mica is all I can think. Something made with Sharpie ink?
Regardless, ID those masked, nameless thugs.
Shalimar
The constant ass-kissing and glorification of the leader is just stunning compared to literally every other president we have ever had. I have never seen this level of obsequiousness for any other western leader in my lifetime. It’s like his ego will collapse if they aren’t constantly telling everyone how great he is.
It wasn’t even remotely this bad in his first term, and I wouldn’t have been shocked then to see Pence pull Trump’s dick out and suck it during a cabinet meeting.
Jay
@wenchacha:
One tactic they are using is that when they surround an ICE vehicle. one person pours fine glitter into the air intakes for the AC. Yes, there is biodegradable glitter, first developed for Drag Queens and Strippers. It’s plant based.
satby
As I report mine. And I won’t pretend a civility to someone trying very hard to antagonize everyone, mostly for his own amusement.
The Audacity of Krope
@satby: I’m not trying to antagonize anyone. Maybe if people feel antagonized by a differing opinion, would should lay out a list of blog-approved opinions and forbidden ones.
Princess
@satby: Bingo.
Ella in New Mexico
@chemiclord:Because, heaven forbid Trump EVER accuses his enemies of doing while he is doing the same or worse things
Sorry, but it is actually a plausable theory and shouldn’t be dismissed just because we would look like the Trumpies in 2020+. Because it’s pointing to relationships and tech capabilities that Elon and his insider buddies knew how to pull off. That plus so many references by Trump and Elon that sound like admissions are so creepy. Just seeing down ballot votes in a few swing states showing massive gains for Dems in Red leaning districts while shorting Kamala is reason enough to at least investigate.
We’ll never overturn the election, but at least we’ll know what happened instead of blaming ourselves for something we didn’t do–lose on our own. And keep it from happening again.
the pollyanna from hell
@The Audacity of Krope: Try an explicit statement of “fuck me” instead of reaching for thunder. I was always more comfortable with that formulation when I worked rough-house jobs.
Lyrebird
@rikyrah:
ALL the condolences to you and your entire family. I hope you find yourself surrounded by love and support as you go through this.
Lyrebird
@O. Felix Culpa: Probably too late for you to see my simple thanks, but
THANKS!!!
for your on-point diagnosis!
leeleeFL
@rikyrah: So sorry! It’s hard to say goodbye to Siblings!
planetjanet
@rikyrah:
I am so very sorry for your loss. Sending hugs to you.
Denali5
@rikyrah:
So sorry to hear of your loss, My your memories bring comfort.
Soprano2
@Baud: If even one Democrat does it, the pundits will say all the Democrats did it.
Tehanu
@rikyrah:
Sorry for your loss. Hope happy memories will help you cope.
Kayla Rudbek
@rikyrah: so sorry to hear that. May she rest in power.
chemiclord
@Ella in New Mexico: No, it’s not a plausible theory, in any way, shape, or form. I’m not rejecting it because it sounds like Trump’s accusations. I’m rejecting it for the same goddamn reasons I reject Trump’s accusations.
The conspiracy they are trying to advance isn’t how elections work. That’s the entire goddamn point! As the saying goes, “Everything is a conspiracy when you don’t know how anything works.”
Trump won. Legitimately (at least, legitimately in the way that elections for President of the United States work). It’s time to fucking move on and accept that a large enough plurality of the USA made a really awful choice.
Kayla Rudbek
@eclare:
@Rachel Bakes: I have hunted down my cross stitch and embroidery projects in progress as these mostly use cotton thread instead of wool yarn. I was too hot working on a Lego-style flower kit in my living room today so it’s time to switch crafts for the summer (and consider some blackout/thermal insulation curtains for the windows there – unfortunately the windows are also the sliding glass door to access the deck)
brantl
@Bupalos: you consistently mistake, low cutting for genius. You consistently mistake the constant shifting of his diatribe as something of genius when it’s simply verbal diarrhea.
brantl
@Bupalos: what the fuck is the criminally handicapped location “answers to terrorism” supposed to mean? Speak clean English, if you know how
brantl
@Bill Arnold: he’s not talking about elections I don’t think. He’s talking about all the banana republic. We propped up and all the places when we oppose people in the world because they were going to do things to the economy we didn’t like, like helping to off the president of Iran.
John Cole
@rikyrah: I am so sorry.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: My condolences to you and your family. Very sorry to hear this.