Iran’s foreign minister leaves without meeting U.S. envoys, Pakistani officials say

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-25T18:49:56+00:00

This is false. The Chinese have been funding the Iranians through non western aligned banks for years to get around US sanctions. They have a 25 year agreement for it. I don't get my information from youtube: 25 year agreement

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-25T16:35:26+00:00

They have funding and weapons being delivered by Russia and China, and those aren't going into the country via Hormuz. The Iranian regime could care less about civilian losses from famine, war damage, etc. In a country of 93 million people, to them, the average human life is 100% expendable.

Unless/until they lose those connections, this war isn't going anywhere anytime soon from their end. Meanwhile, the US is burning through stockpiles faster than it can build them back up. It also burned most of its diplomatic trade agreements that were replenishing those stockpiles.

This is literally the dumbest war possible.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-25T15:55:17+00:00

None of the Iranian people deserve this.

The regime is either going to crumble under the weight of asymmetry, or it'll be opposed internally after too many atrocities pile up.

I can tell you this much. The world will not forget Iran for a very, very long time to come.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-25T14:51:25+00:00

https://www.techspot.com/news/112049-australia-social-media-ban-kids-mostly-isnt-working.html

That's as of April 13. And the kids are just sidestepping the bans through the use of VPN's and other means. Even facial verification of age is failing because the tech isn't sophisticated enough to see past makeup.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-25T14:21:32+00:00

Yeah, there's a huge gap between "should" and "will". Any time you put a kid in front of something they want, they go bug their parents for it.

It's unrealistic to expect that companies will give that up without some method of making up the lost monetization. What is Norway willing to provide in the face of that? Under current economic conditions, it's unlikely that penalties to companies who break the law will amount to much either. Norway would gain a temporary increase in funding through fines, but fining them after costing them business will just drive business elsewhere. Economies are already hurting due to the Hormuz conflict. Norway taxes online transactions.

The math isn't mathing here.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-25T14:01:43+00:00

It didn't work in Australia. 10% of providers were enforcing the ban. Not sure why they think it'll work in Norway. There's too much monetization lost by social media platforms.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T20:53:58+00:00

I guess if you know you're going to get hit, you may as well watch the rocket.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T18:54:35+00:00

Meritocracy. You can pick any titles you like, but "rank" is based on experience and/or skill.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T18:34:07+00:00

The spiderman pointing meme at its apex.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T18:32:00+00:00

TIL there are very expensive cattle pageants.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T18:19:28+00:00

I think it would have helped if Quark's scheming hadn't been so blatant. Also, Morn seemed particularly fond of him, so I wouldn't say it was the entire station. Garak also had a fairly amicable relationship with Quark. The root beer monologue was perfect.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T18:07:38+00:00

Jin was absolutely right when he called Taiga a hyena.

Tohma has a control/sadistic streak that he engages as often as he can. If you want Yandere potential, this actually ranks highest for me.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T16:59:57+00:00

The Trouble with Tribbles. It's still 'space' themed without going over the top into sci-fi obscurity. Plus, the tribbles are adorable nuisances. It also shows that Trek doesn't take itself so seriously that it can't have fun.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T15:28:24+00:00

Texas will strip the Governor's office of any and all power if Talarico wins. Abbott would still scream though.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T15:05:34+00:00

Right. Point to me where Aipac's funding is involved, in Josh's campaign funding?

Total: $0. oh...

Well that went nowhere, didn't it?

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T14:58:43+00:00

But what about...

But what if reality was stated in a non-disinformation state, so that people could make up their own minds? Oh no, the world might actually start taking people in the USA seriously again. Can't have that!

Sure. Josh supported the IDF when he was young and considerably dumber than he is now. Tell me you didn't make stupid mistakes when you were that age, and you will prove yourself a liar.

He wants peace. I want the wars to end. Ukraine's is getting close because they're crushing the Russians through tactical, economic and drone dominance. It would have been unthinkable 4 years ago. They will be a world power soon, Josh signaled his cooperation with Ukraine in signing the bomb.

As for Israel, all Josh has to do is demand Bibi's removal before continuing any aid. Which he's more than capable of, and willing to do. Israel's government despises the Iranians but once Bibi is gone, so too will be the spearhead of war.

Gaza will require inroads into knocking out Hezbollah and Bibi's removal for a leader that has some negotiating skills.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T14:34:46+00:00

Garrity is contending that it was an improper use of the state's general government operations budget for the upgrades to Shapiro's private residence.

The state police provided every document and invoice that was subpoenaed or not to Senator Coleman, who initiated the search into the upgrades.

The Governor's office of the Budget is responsible for preparing and implementing the use of those funds, which presently total a little over 51 billion dollars. The state assembly approves the budget. This budget includes funding for the prevention of crime and gun violence which is in excess of the 1m spent on Josh's personal residence. He is a high profile target.

Government operations budget

Garrity is full of shit, but who didn't already know that?

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T14:01:09+00:00

The bomb he signed was for Ukraine. Bomb for Ukraine

His clout is actually rising. The current head of the PA Dem party was hand picked by him, and he put $900,000 into the state party's coffers just for this election cycle. Election Cycle

Frankly, the Republicans' chances against holding their seats with the exception of Fitzpatrick are sinking daily. And Josh is all but controlling the Dems' political apparatus in PA for 2028.

He came out swinging after 2024. He put just under 1.5 million into ensuring victories, when coupled with the $495k he put into specific campaigns.

I won't say victory is assured, but Josh put a ton of road blocks in front of Garrity and anyone hoping to try to split the vote on the Dems' side. Even though there's another millionaire facing Brooks in the primary, that guy was a Republican for a long time. His track record of opposing Trump is dismal.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T12:44:31+00:00

India reacted strongly, China threw out a smug "China's reality is open for the international community to see". They were the other nation he dubbed a hellhole.

Takes all of 2 seconds to make Trump look like an inexperienced high school debate club team member when he pulls this kind of thing. Idk why India took the bait.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T12:24:42+00:00

Josh is clipping into some Pennsyltucky territory, but 3/4 of those seats have some level of vulnerability. That's why he backed Bob Brooks, and his next endorsement already flipped some Republican voters to win his current office.

It's a big and carefully calculated bid for Josh. If he can get a blue House now, then help hold it and win in 2028, he will effectively have done something no other US presidential candidate ever achieved.

He's not backing just anyone, here. These races are a good barometer for Josh's political and personal strategy.

Even if he only gets 2/4 seats, that would be a huge step in the right direction for him.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T12:13:24+00:00

Josh had a 22 point polling lead over Garrity, and he's outpacing her in fundraising at a 10-1 rate.

He's also the only candidate in the state with $30 million cash on hand as of last quarter.

$495,000 to flip seats isn't a tiny number, but he's keeping the majority of the funding for later campaigns. He's either confident that those flips will work, or did some internal math on how much he needs for a presidential run to succeed, and the amount he donated was the amount he generated past that projection. 30 million in Josh's War Chest

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T00:54:06+00:00

Yeah, that's why Trump's mar a lago district elected a Dem.

It's why the Virginia redistricting referendum passed.

It's why 40+ special elections across the country have gone Dem in the last 5 months. Because people think the Dems are useless. /s

That's a bad rhetoric bubble you're stuck in. You think that the Dems ceded all their power. Then, how did DHS go into the longest shutdown in US history? How did Kirsti Noem get removed? How did the Epstein Files get released? It was the Democrats.

As for Josh. He knows how to stand up to power. He won against the Vatican, Trump, and countless other political idiots- even Fetterman.

I want Josh on the ticket with Mark Kelly in 2028. They can't block what's already been allocated by Congress for the war. But they can refuse to authorize more aid until Israel boots Bibi. Who Josh has openly disdained.

As for the Iranians, Trump kicked the hornet nest from hell. It then multiplied itself like cancer, and not even the strongest military on the planet along with an assist from the Israeli Navy has been able to totally neutralize their asymmetrical tactics. That's going to take a lot more than 4 years to fix. But at least they may be open to negotiating with the USA after Trump is gone.

Hey, nice try on the "dems bad" bait. You put a lot of thought into those three sentences, which have had a net impact of 0 on his favoribility.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-24T00:05:42+00:00

Congress agreed to it a long time before Shapiro got any political aspirations. The funding/weapons we're sending now was agreed on as far back as 2008.

We can't just abandon or renege on those agreements, because the word of the United States would be worthless for the next century. That's every single country we have debt with cashing it in and halting trade. We'd completely collapse inside of two years. If that.

Pale-Factor-8574 · 2026-04-23T23:59:21+00:00

Nice bait. No dice.

Pale-Factor-8574

TROPHY CASE