It's a collection of indeed ironic events. I haven't read closely enough to see how many I agree with, but some good points for sure.
But what is really not funny is the scale of human suffering that is happening and will follow. Civilians killed in Iran, Lebanon - and what the hell, even in Israel, maybe they aren't in the 90% who support this war. Completely pointless material damage. All the people in Tehran who will get cancer from breathing in crude oil fumes - and according to Trump himself, 85% of Iranians oppose the regime. The damage to GCC economies, who didn't want this to happen. The damage to global economy from the spiking oil prices, unpredictability - and the very real poverty this will push people into. The weakening of arsenals against other adversaries, including Ukraine's defence against Russia. The boost to Russia's budget from spiking oil prices and indefinite-looking suspension of sanctions.
And all this assuming this doesn't turn into WWIII.
> The damage to global economy from the spiking oil prices, unpredictability - and the very real poverty this will push people into.
To expand on that - the southern hemisphere harvest is over, now it's edging into seeding time to get the next round of crops started.
More than one farm is struggling to secure the volume of fuel required to seed.
With significant refineries offline for ~ 5 years, impacted fertilizer (agriculture) and sulphar (mineral processing) production deeply impacted ... this "little excursion" is set to cast a long shadow across the entire globe for quite some time.
> And all this assuming this doesn't turn into WWIII.
If Trump is truely insane and his plan "to bomb the living shit out of Iran's energy infrastructure" includes the Bushehr NPP, mainly operated by Russian nuclear scientists and engineers, the world will likely face even bigger problems than they are facing now.
There's a reason even the most bloodthirsty war hawks left Iran alone for decades. I'm really starting to worry that the US and Israel are driving the world towards the biggest economical crisis in history.
Expensive petrol is one thing. What happens when a considerable portion of the world can't feed itself because of a lack of fertiliser?
What an interesting read. But, all these efforts to knock some sense into establishments or public would hardly have any influence on the matters on ground, beyond being a very good content for reading.
The obvious next step should probably be impeachment and removal from office. This seems to be the sort of situation was intended for. Elderly president goes completely off the rails one Friday and attempt to take out the global economy and trigger world war 3 for reasons that nobody can articulate. It is difficult to find a perspective where this war was reasonable, necessary, well advised, legal, moral or agreed to by any of the bodies that are supposed to decide whether the US military activates.
The only vague silver lining is that the situation is such a disastrous blunder that maybe future presidents will think a bit harder before sending the military in to the middle east. Assuming that Iran doesn't survive, get nukes and set up an impenetrable missile deterrence that renders the question moot. If the Republicans don't disassociate from Trump ASAP it looks like it is going to be much worse for them than Bush was and the way he established a good decade of right-wing cultural irrelevance. The safest path that will hold together with hindsight is walking away but I doubt they're nimble enough to manage that.
> This seems to be the sort of situation was intended for.
AFAIK, it was intended for presidents that use their position to pump-and-dump some cryptocoin or keep manipulating the stock market after their friends brought-in.
Destroying the country and starting WW3 for no reason is what treason laws are for.
If the US history tells us anything, there are never any serious consequences to any terrible things the people in power do. And thanks to the John Robert's SCOTUS, presidents now enjoy total immunity. Who in their right mind is going to impeach Trump when he has total immunity?
> agreed to by any of the bodies that are supposed to decide whether the US military activates
This isn't true. Congress entered into de facto agreement the second that it struck down war powers measures against the Trump administration's power to wage war against Iran.
Sometimes I think Cristianism was born as a parody of Judaism that was taken too far.
On these current events, the issue is a lot of people it's making money on losses. There are psychos that in the past would be killed in the spot for being too greedy even against their peers.
As a Christian, I feel compelled to point out that much of what passes for "Christianity" today does not align very well with the recorded teachings and actions of Jesus. Historical Jesus was quite vocal that what mattered most was caring for the poor and the outcast, and he spent much of his time with the sick and powerless. He avoided traditional power structures, even though the people of the time expected their "messiah" to act like a powerful king - instead of dying the most shameful death as he did.
> As a Christian, I feel compelled to point out that much of what passes for "Christianity" today does not align very well with the recorded teachings and actions of Jesus.
> As a Marxist, I feel compelled to point out that much of what passes for “Communism” today does not align very well with the recorded teachings of Marx.
Interesting times ahead. Hopefully less interesting than current times.
I try to look on the bright side. There’s a sudden interest in energy and supply chain sovereignty. Which is never a bad thing.
It's a collection of indeed ironic events. I haven't read closely enough to see how many I agree with, but some good points for sure.
But what is really not funny is the scale of human suffering that is happening and will follow. Civilians killed in Iran, Lebanon - and what the hell, even in Israel, maybe they aren't in the 90% who support this war. Completely pointless material damage. All the people in Tehran who will get cancer from breathing in crude oil fumes - and according to Trump himself, 85% of Iranians oppose the regime. The damage to GCC economies, who didn't want this to happen. The damage to global economy from the spiking oil prices, unpredictability - and the very real poverty this will push people into. The weakening of arsenals against other adversaries, including Ukraine's defence against Russia. The boost to Russia's budget from spiking oil prices and indefinite-looking suspension of sanctions.
And all this assuming this doesn't turn into WWIII.
So on balance, not funny I think.
> The damage to global economy from the spiking oil prices, unpredictability - and the very real poverty this will push people into.
To expand on that - the southern hemisphere harvest is over, now it's edging into seeding time to get the next round of crops started.
More than one farm is struggling to secure the volume of fuel required to seed.
With significant refineries offline for ~ 5 years, impacted fertilizer (agriculture) and sulphar (mineral processing) production deeply impacted ... this "little excursion" is set to cast a long shadow across the entire globe for quite some time.
> And all this assuming this doesn't turn into WWIII.
If Trump is truely insane and his plan "to bomb the living shit out of Iran's energy infrastructure" includes the Bushehr NPP, mainly operated by Russian nuclear scientists and engineers, the world will likely face even bigger problems than they are facing now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushehr_Nuclear_Power_Plant
There's a reason even the most bloodthirsty war hawks left Iran alone for decades. I'm really starting to worry that the US and Israel are driving the world towards the biggest economical crisis in history.
Expensive petrol is one thing. What happens when a considerable portion of the world can't feed itself because of a lack of fertiliser?
What an interesting read. But, all these efforts to knock some sense into establishments or public would hardly have any influence on the matters on ground, beyond being a very good content for reading.
> The insurer’s phone must be making fascinating noises.
Doesn't all insurance policies exclude acts of war, and after 9/11 also acts of terrorism?
1) Yours and mine, probably. A refinery insurance? Who knows?
2) They're not going to pay => not answering the phone => fascinating noises.
3) Sarcasm in the article?
The obvious next step should probably be impeachment and removal from office. This seems to be the sort of situation was intended for. Elderly president goes completely off the rails one Friday and attempt to take out the global economy and trigger world war 3 for reasons that nobody can articulate. It is difficult to find a perspective where this war was reasonable, necessary, well advised, legal, moral or agreed to by any of the bodies that are supposed to decide whether the US military activates.
The only vague silver lining is that the situation is such a disastrous blunder that maybe future presidents will think a bit harder before sending the military in to the middle east. Assuming that Iran doesn't survive, get nukes and set up an impenetrable missile deterrence that renders the question moot. If the Republicans don't disassociate from Trump ASAP it looks like it is going to be much worse for them than Bush was and the way he established a good decade of right-wing cultural irrelevance. The safest path that will hold together with hindsight is walking away but I doubt they're nimble enough to manage that.
> for reasons that nobody can articulate
This is only true if you ignore the role of America's greatest ally, in which case, the motivations become very obvious.
> This seems to be the sort of situation was intended for.
AFAIK, it was intended for presidents that use their position to pump-and-dump some cryptocoin or keep manipulating the stock market after their friends brought-in.
Destroying the country and starting WW3 for no reason is what treason laws are for.
Didn't the Supreme Court Jesters decide that starting WW3 for no reason, is still official Presidential stuff and thus falls under absolute immunity?
I had no idea there were people this optimistic still left in the world.
If the US history tells us anything, there are never any serious consequences to any terrible things the people in power do. And thanks to the John Robert's SCOTUS, presidents now enjoy total immunity. Who in their right mind is going to impeach Trump when he has total immunity?
> agreed to by any of the bodies that are supposed to decide whether the US military activates
This isn't true. Congress entered into de facto agreement the second that it struck down war powers measures against the Trump administration's power to wage war against Iran.
This feels like the end of a civ game.
[dead]
Sometimes I think Cristianism was born as a parody of Judaism that was taken too far.
On these current events, the issue is a lot of people it's making money on losses. There are psychos that in the past would be killed in the spot for being too greedy even against their peers.
As a Christian, I feel compelled to point out that much of what passes for "Christianity" today does not align very well with the recorded teachings and actions of Jesus. Historical Jesus was quite vocal that what mattered most was caring for the poor and the outcast, and he spent much of his time with the sick and powerless. He avoided traditional power structures, even though the people of the time expected their "messiah" to act like a powerful king - instead of dying the most shameful death as he did.
Reminds me of this GOP Jesus video - https://youtu.be/SZ2L-R8NgrA
Don’t forget Al Franken’s Supply Side Jesus! https://youtu.be/X8xU-gKK17A?si=bjUAQafNZmz0R7Zs
> As a Christian, I feel compelled to point out that much of what passes for "Christianity" today does not align very well with the recorded teachings and actions of Jesus.
> As a Marxist, I feel compelled to point out that much of what passes for “Communism” today does not align very well with the recorded teachings of Marx.
Oh dear, where are all the true Scotsmen?
+1. Visit the Vatican sometime for major "Jesus did not have this in mind" moment.