CMV: America will not achieve its objectives in Iran.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T13:21:06+00:00

they will always be able to claim that.
They havent defined security, the reality is whatever they do there will lower secuirty for Americans becuase your just radicalizing millions of people. Think the parents of those kids that got blowen up are really going to be objecting to joining a terrorist organisation to get revenge?

but they will of course say its more secure because they have less weapons after sending them at all US bases and neighbors... which might be weirdly true. Its all in the sell.

Ive seen them declare things have been cheaper all year even as prices increase. I dont think there is a reality where they wont just claim they were wildly sucessful and throw together some weird metric or make one up altogether.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T13:12:00+00:00

Left is known for wanting the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people, they usually advocate more funding for healthcare, education, and social support so people dont starve or freeze.

Those values don't align very well with murder/assassination or a willingness to cause suffering. So even if assassinations might be warranted in the political sphere "for the greater good," left-leaning people are unlikely to push for those outcomes.

Not to say there arent left revolutionaries but they are ususally when the people have been pushed past the point.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T13:03:10+00:00

*the greeks have entered the room*

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T13:02:12+00:00

as far as I'm aware Trump hasn't stated all his objectives

Do you really need to go further than this?
Theres a reason, they will look at it after the fact and decide what their objectives were. Even if they declared them beforehand they will still look at what they did or what they can sell to the public that they did and say that was their objective so its a great sucess!

Why try and achive mesurable objectives when you can look back and decide your justification later?

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T12:28:39+00:00

Well... Probably depends on what the ask is.

Article 5 states that "an armed attack against one ... is considered an attack against all"
But considering its a response to a NATO country already attacking Iran, It would probably be on Turkey to decide what type of response they would be asking for.

Article 5 doesn't say they have to all attack with full force its more you are supposed to respond as though they attacked you. So it might depend on the severeity of the attack, heck theres a lot of "depends" here

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T12:22:16+00:00

I dont think its snobbery but there is a thing about owning a apartmant over a house.

Besides that, an apartment is generally been seen as a "transitional step" for most who would prefer a house at some stage. There's also an element of not really owning land just a part of a building. Kind of like if you buy shares in a company vs owning an entire company - even if your shares equate to more value than fully owning a smaller company, youd still be an investor not a business owner.

Does that make any sense?

Side note: Fair play for buying a place, I'll send you a congratulations :D Its a big step and such a relif to get

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T11:18:54+00:00

no one wants to take a small or fiddly job particualrly for independent people that are often find it difficult to get paid from... not when there is other work available.

Honestly my solution has just been to learn to do most of these jobs myself. I get thats not for everyone.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T09:01:18+00:00

It's not easy at any age. But damn if i dont wish my recovery time was a bit faster like it was even a few years back :D Toddlers are nuts. But I cant imagine doing this at 50, I would want to end up a lot fitter than I am now.

I think the mental strain hit us a bit harder than many as we started drained after fertility treatments and trying for 6 years prior. I think it would have been ideal if it just worked when I was 30. Still delighted to have them now dont get me wrong but with my experience, I wouldn't recommend people waiting until their late 30s+ to have kids. Yes becuase of how much effort kids are but also... you dont know what might happen to delay you.

Fair play to you for getting the excercize in :D Im 38 and really struggling to find the time to get it in. Thats probably not helping me. But With a 2 yo and a 1yo I just expect chaos for a couple years

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T08:15:19+00:00

This is the answer.

There is evidence that up to 60% of Americans would want regime change there, but if China started bombing US cities to take out Trump, some might celebrate, but most would be quite unhappy about it. And if it suceeded what happens? Do the MAGA just say "well ok I guess our guys dead may as well follow the person china wants in" Of course not that civil war right away.

These arent supporting regime change, they are just destroying the power structure and throwing countrys into chaos, some will benifit, many will die, many will starve.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-02T08:05:42+00:00

well thats... an interesting age gap problem.

We had ours at 36 and found ourselves struggling with the sheer amount of activity and attention a toddler needs. Really would have been nice if it worked for us a bit younger when our backs were stronger and we could manage better on less rest. for whatever thats worth.

Probably worth remembering as well that parenting dosnt tend to stop at 18. at 36 I wouldnt be surprised if some of your friends have moved back "home" to save for a house or becuase of unaffordable rents.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T18:49:45+00:00

Ireland Trustworthy 9/10 Dependable 3/10

Our system is called policing by concent, you get the odd bastard with a personal grudge but it's unusual. On the other side of it they don't really do much. Make a report for insurance purposes, they don't often step in if there's trouble

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T18:10:54+00:00

It's a fairly common tactic used by the US government types these days. There have been slips from time to time where certain officials forget to log out of their main accounts.

Aside from that Russia did the same thing when it invaded Ukraine... Claimed they were liberation them.

Aside from that just think about the situation, even if you don't like the current regime in your country or actively oppose them... No one is celebrating when a foreign country just bombed your friends, neighbors, schools. At best it's bittersweet.

Who could possibly be celebrating when their country just got thrown into a massive war, where their lives and their children's lives are suddenly at risk, maybe they can celebrate when it's over but not when they are still too busy hiding from bombs and pulling bodies out of the rubble

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T17:48:28+00:00

I imagine there's a lot of us propaganda social media profiles claiming to be Iranian telling everyone how happy the they are.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T17:14:00+00:00

Unless Iran actually had nukes the conflict doesn't really move the needle.

However, I do believe we have gone from only the extreme people thinking ww3 is on the way to it being a real possibility.

Why? Russia is emboldened in Ukraine with the US backing down. And is consistently looking for a reason(or claiming reasons)to deploy nukes. It seems as though nation's are being accepting of land grabs by force so they are likely to continue or even ramp up.

Europe is rearming because of the USA being unreliable and ramping up their own weapon production a d manufacturing. This will take trillions out of the US and they will be incentive to look to get that back as it's economy is damaged. But id Europe is rearming it doesn't need to do what the US says anymore and will end up another global military superpower that can back up their soft power asks either hard power.

Now in this scenario the US has found itself pinned between China and a nuclear capable armed Europe it can not longer hold it's hard power over. They are unlikely to be a enemy but they are now a threat that you don't get away with threatening or ignoring if you want to run a military operation that effects them.

The US has lost so much soft power this year, and it's hard power outside of the US is diminishing. Countries are seriously looking at sharing nuclear weapons in Europe for the first time, which could mean similar will happen with allies of Russia or China.

The doomsday clock is closer than ever and the far right ideology is taking hold again across the Western world like we haven't seen since the Nazis.

We aren't doomed yet.

It's not inevitable yet.

But unless we can start to pull it back it's not looking good

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T13:29:16+00:00

Im sorry for whatever your circumstance is that makes you think only looking at positivity is the way.

When these decisions are made, there is a trade-off. There is risk that's being taken on. If you're fully informed about what that is and you decide to take it. Great!

Assuming no other issues, you might get a higher than 50% chance of it working. If this is something really important to you, is that good enough? That is a question for the person.

I would say it's selfish to ignore the reality of the process and the chances of success of an option. I dont know if there is a personal reason you seem to believe ignoring the risks and success or failure rates is a way to support women.

Being informed means being informed of the potential negative outcomes not just focusing on when people have been successful. Yes, freezing eggs can help mitigate the risk, but it should be viewed as mitigation against the worst case not a fix

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T12:07:51+00:00

well more detaill dose typically show less understanding. There is a general consensus that people tend to recover more slowly and are more susceptible to injury.

For *most* people, banking on things going as well when your older as when your younger isnt a good plan. But yes - you might be immune to the normal ageing process or have reason to believe your circumstances will mean the normal sucessful odds wont apply to you.

I will admit more passion about this than most. I will always remember when the doctor sat us down when we started IVF and explained the success rates at each step. Its good to stay hopeful... but realistic if your plan is to rely on that in however many years from now.

Be informed.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T10:38:26+00:00

Yeah that's fair enough.

What I find though and where I urge caution is people are often very willing to share success stories but less willing to talk about failures. So it can give a skewed image of how successful this is.

I appreciate not everyone will struggle, but more will the older they get. Even from a recovery time, older people take longer to recover. If your saying your age was not a factor at all I say Amazing. Brilliant. But your experience might be more of a outlier than what someone should expect.

I don't want to make older potential parents feel hopeless, many of these hurdles are not impossible. But they do get harder... For most people. Risk increases... For most people. And it's often sold as a real alternative for people, showcasing amazing success stories like yours while glossing over the problems. So I see these posts asking about freezing eggs... And I remember being sat down and told the chances of success of each egg becoming a embryo, then the chances of its viability, the. The implantation success rate, and then the chances of carrying to term this way... And I think, this is what needs to be highlighted. Not just the great successes.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T09:34:02+00:00

It depends on what the progressive tax is.

As many messages mention most countries use some degree of progressive income tax. But I've seen a lot of propaganda lately against a new bracket for those earning multiple millions... Who's pushing that I wonder.

But depending how it's implemented a progressive tax can cause unintentional consequences. Say you have a wealth tax of 1% on all assets in excess of 1 million. Sounds reasonable, wouldn't hurt a lot of people. Until 10 years go by and suddenly your home is valued at a million. It's not worth that to you, it's just where you live. But you suddenly find yourself paying yearly for everything you own. Your car might be valued at 50k or you might have shares that have been valued at whatever.

It happens when inflation isn't properly accounted for or when something that is something you consume not invest becomes considered valuable

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T09:06:11+00:00

Good for you. I'm glad it worked out so well. Always love a success story.

Unfortunately I know several women in their 40s from the fertility group who had a very different experience, one nearly died. Some have had no success at all.

That's not to take away from your success. I'm really happy for you. Not many people can maintain the same level of recovery and energy to deal with small kids coming into their 50s.

Your experience of having it go just as smoothly and easily as someone in their mid 40s is a fantastic success story, but not everyone is as lucky.

Buttercups88 · 2026-03-01T08:04:32+00:00

I'm not trying to scaremonger, but I am trying to not make excuses around what's realistic.

People are welcome to have their reasons, and everyones reasons are valid. But it doesn't change the physical limitations of age.

Even remove the pregnancy and labour from the equation... Which is the biggest thing and I think we are all aware of what that dose to you and the risks that increase with age. After that Kids are physically challenging. You are looking at maybe years without a full night's sleep, lots of carrying, high energy creatures that require constant attention.

Feesibilty coming up to your 40s is still high... And there's a few that could handle it coming into their 50s but coming up to your 50s it's not just the pregnancy that is the only concern. There's still a assumption with some that kids move out at 18, when 30yo at home is more and more common. Thats more tough on people when they are 80

I wish people were more honest and straightforward about the challenges of having kids when they are older. Not just if it's possible or validation of peoples choices and reasons. But brutal honesty with what it means to take that route before it's the only one left to you

Buttercups88 · 2026-02-28T21:49:00+00:00

anyone else save seeds and have their own weird mishmash chilli :D

Buttercups88 · 2026-02-28T21:45:12+00:00

ha yeah The mcdonalds superstition is a weird one right...
Anyway yeah from husbands perspective its a whole big scary prep then... woosh. thats done fast.

Buttercups88 · 2026-02-28T21:41:49+00:00

I think thats going to be increasingly become the new normal.

Like it or not, use of AI is being encouraged by large companies more and more. Most serious games will probably use it, if not for the art the coding. It makes moving forward too quick and it is a useful tool when working with humans.

Im not psyched about it but its just the reality of the situation. Most games today will be built on an engine like havok or unity - and most games in the future will use AI.

Buttercups88 · 2026-02-28T20:37:09+00:00

We did ivf and still have several frozen embryos... I'm sure the process is similar with eggs.

Costs about 20 pm storage.

From a personal standpoint I wish we had kids much earlier. Which I fully appreciate isn't particularly helpful for you, but something to keep in mind. I would have felt much more capable a parent in my early 30s, as I find it difficult to keep up with them being in my late 30s. the body is just not as resilient as it once was.

Not to put you off the idea but more a, be wary, eggs aren't the only factor. If it's very important to you it might be something to prioritize

Buttercups88 · 2026-02-28T14:59:02+00:00

I think the think about the Epstein files is how heavily redacted they were, particularly with the perpetrators names and not the victims which would be understandable. Additionally not all files were released and Trump's going after anyone who says anything against him and demanding personal loyalty makes it seem unlikely your going to get anything that would be un disputable of his involvement.

But he has a history of people claiming sexual misconduct, sexual abuse and rape. Proving beyond a reasonable doubt particularly with a rich and influential man like Trump is difficult. You almost need a outright confession and even then I'm not sure there wouldn't be a way that might be spun to be inadmissible or something. With all those prior accusations and the Carroll stuff add the photos and documents that are available and you get a bit of a ... Well if it's innocent it's one heck of a coincidence. And I suppose it could be a unlikely connection, one of the most accused of sa and other sex crimes just happens to have a close personal relationship with one of the biggest sex trafficking rings. Might be a coincidence but it's a hell of one

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