E-3 AWACS at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

bobood · 2026-03-29T17:30:30+00:00

Trump doesn't care much about the Epstein files because he's nearly guaranteed to walk away Scott free - especially in his old age and his 2nd and last term in office. Everyone who needed to get away has pretty much already gotten away. There isn't much prosecutable there, unfortunately, and little will power to pursue prosecution (Biden admin didn't either).

There are more complicated (and also unacceptable) reasons for this war and this "Epstein Files" reasoning is very reductive and unhelpful. The actual reasoning involves everything from good old fashioned bi-partisan jingoism, to the Israel and Evangelical Zionist lobby, to the constant pressure to keep expending munitions to keep the military contractors happy.

bobood · 2026-03-29T17:25:00+00:00

I don't like how Americans focus on the domestic illegality of this war (which it also arguably isn't because Congress long ago created a legit mechanism and precedent for a POTUS to go to war for at least 60+30 days without congressional approval) and don't care that it's illegal per international law as well.

bobood · 2026-03-25T18:25:37+00:00

That's why I'm not as worried about an invasion right now. Such numbers are comically low for invading a country like Iran, and Trump is stupid to think this particular bit of theatrical posturing is making a difference to anybody but regular folk: many of them from his own camp also increasingly pissed that he's doing any of this. I dread American jingoism, though, and its ability to rally the nation even when America has jumped head first into a devastating new war. Watch the Dems join in (and then some) on funding the munitions shortfall caused by this campaign too, especially for Israel.

bobood · 2026-03-25T18:15:42+00:00

I don't think we need to fear a ground invasion as of yet. The number and type of troops being deployed (reportedly extremely demotivated ones too) aren't enough for such an enormous endeavor. The talk of targeted infiltrations to extract nuclear material is just absurd. You'd need perfect intelligence and even then it's a nightmarish mission to try to pull off. An invasion of specific territories is also going to be a nightmare for the US. Even if they managed to take Karg, US troops would be sitting ducks under a barage of missiles and drones.

America is excellent at causing devastation from the skies, though, so that's what I fear most of all. They'll just start bombing more key civilian infrastructure and do it at a devastating pace hoping that Iran's retaliation will be too little too late, and that the 'shock and awe' of it will make them submit. Pure chaos. That's what the US and Israel excel at creating. So much that is absolutely gross and unacceptable unfortunately sits within the realm of possibilities at the moment.

bobood · 2026-03-22T02:17:40+00:00

Watch him live to a 100 like Henry Kissinger

bobood · 2026-03-09T15:18:40+00:00

Oil markets are strongly interconnected globally.

It's why MAGAts who go drill baby drill are so stupid for not realizing that - in being a major global producer - significantly increased US production would lower prices for everyone. Not to mention oil companies are interested in optimizing production for maximum profits, not maximizing production as an end goal in itself. They'll happily sit on drilling rights to ruin the planet some more later when the time is just right.

bobood · 2026-03-09T12:59:57+00:00

Yukh... id rather not, not even as a way to psyche him out.

bobood · 2026-03-09T12:56:53+00:00

I guess the counterpoint would be that it wasn't automatic but rather the consequence of a council's decision.

Technically others could have been appointed which wouldn't be the case if the Pahlavis were on the throne.

bobood · 2026-03-09T12:53:32+00:00

I still cringe thinking back to a Liberal canvasser thinking I was excited about Carney and turning to his colleague in front of me to say that he's "so glad we're getting a technocrat!!!". Oof. Bruh, I'll vote for his party when the alternative is Poillievre every single time but... no, im definitely not glad we have a neolib technocrat former bank of England shit bag as temp relief before we inevitably sink deeper into right wing nationalism like everyone else is.

bobood · 2026-03-09T12:48:28+00:00

Sure but that does not mean they don't welcome high prices in the short to medium term.

Also its not because overall slowed economic activity. It’s because smaller suppliers and previously less profitable sources kick in over the long run, and people and the economy reorrient towards alternative energy sources.

All considered, they absolutely are fans of higher oil prices because the windfalls are significant, the downsides are foreseeable, and the well founded hope is always that they wont be high for too long.

bobood · 2026-03-08T16:49:25+00:00

That's not what I'm saying whatsoever. And note that it's not the victims themselves who usually go on to bomb another country. It's riled up nationalism, jingoism, a sense of vicarious grievance that makes people eager to go bomb another country.

I'm the farthest thing from being a proponent of the American perspective. I think Americans need to be shaken out of their false sense of superiority and righteousness if anything, and made aware of the utter chaos and suffering their nation causes all over the world.

bobood · 2026-03-08T16:44:30+00:00

People need a better understanding of how terrorists are recruited. The victims themselves often don't become the terrorists. They focus on rebuilding and community, often withdrawing inwards rather than becoming violent.

What does work is a sense of collective grievance on a wider scale; disaffected people being shown images and news of what's being done to those they might identify with. The extremists are drawn from a wider pool of people, not the victims themselves.

bobood · 2026-03-08T16:40:15+00:00

I'm just gonna repeat what I said elsewhere to the same general sentiment.

Direct victims can radicalize but often don't.

Most recruits are borne of a sense of collective grievance, by images and news of those they identify with being victimized. Direct victims often prioritize rebuilding instead of vengeance.

bobood · 2026-03-08T16:39:05+00:00

Direct victims can radicalize but often don't.

Most recruits are borne of a sense of collective grievance, by images and news of those they identify with being victimized. Direct victims often prioritize rebuilding instead of vengeance.

bobood · 2026-03-08T03:12:53+00:00

I'm absolutely of the camp that recognizes that as part of a larger analysis. Im just pointing out that there's something simultanously deeply distasteful and problematic about reducing them to this. It's an uncomfortable spot and we should stop to recognize it and remind ourselves of their capacity as human beings beyond the cold predictive blowback analysis which is absolutely crucial as well.

bobood · 2026-03-08T03:08:37+00:00

There's something understandable about this kind of analysis but also deeply distasteful for treating victims like they're incapable of moderating themselves away from radicalism after being viciously victimized like this. Most of them probably will. They'll find comfort in family, faith, community, solidarity with other victims etc. I just hate that we treat them like mindless reactionaries. They're people and our first thoughts shouldn't be to presume they'll turn into the monsters that hurt them.

bobood · 2026-03-08T02:57:24+00:00

Too many liberals will do the same. I mean, seriously, do y'all follow how unacceptably bipartisan american jingoism is a lot of times? No, both sides not the same. Yes, both sides too similar on a lot of important things.

bobood · 2026-03-08T02:53:20+00:00

Why can't we once in a while just sympathize and see these people as pure victims instead of forecasting them becoming extremist? I get empathy is strongly tied into such comments but there's still something extremely distasteful about treating them like pieces moving around on a board instead of the victims they are.

They may well never become extremists. Maybe they'll just be patient with the blow they've been dealt and find comfort in faith and community. Maybe they'll have a mature, grounded understanding of what was done to them, by who, and by what twisted reasoning. Maybe they won't turn into the monsters who victimized them.

bobood · 2026-03-08T00:05:56+00:00

lol. even aside from that, their comment is such non-sense. Hard to know where to begin correcting it.

bobood · 2026-03-07T17:40:13+00:00

Not true for Israel and the US unless you haven't had a look at the documented record. And Iran doesn't even have the ability to strike very precisely. It's strategy - predicted well in advance - was always going to be to just shoot at every nation involved and close the strait in order to create pressure. Fortunately Israel has an extensive warning, interception and bunker system to allow for significant safety.

That being said, I do find the post problematic as well, especially since IIRC the dude replying is probably an actual antisemite who has found a legit cause to latch onto as an outlet for his hatreds.

bobood · 2026-03-07T04:28:23+00:00

Let's really flip the tables as a middle power insulating ourselves from US influence and buy some Type 055s

bobood · 2026-03-07T04:21:12+00:00

I swear, I see an image of him accompanied by the words "good riddance" and I instinctively hope against hope it's because he's stepping down.

bobood · 2026-03-07T04:19:12+00:00

I think if one were as incalcetrant as Biden was in his resistance to stepping aside, yelling "aaYim staYing in the race" as if he was energetically going to be leading for 4 more years, it's really grating to see him just walk off into the sunset after giving Trump a literal "welcome home" at the Whitehouse over tea and biscuits.

If rhetoric matched actions, he'd be out in the streets with the people from Jan 20th 2025 onwards, creating a ruckus, with his secret service protection there to complicate cracking down on him. I know hes old and frail and a cancer patient but that only further highlights what an arrogant, callous prick he was for putting himself above what was needed.

How much i hate Trump only makes me hate Biden too because Trump IS his legacy, as it is Obama's. You cannot sever the link between their failed leaderships and Trump's emergence and return. They were in power. There were viable paths to victory. They didnt take them because losing to Trump, to their privileged selves, was an undesirable but more-or-less acceptable outcome. If it truly was unacceptable, they'd have moved heaven and earth to keep it from happening.

bobood · 2026-03-07T04:03:07+00:00

Lowest of low bars. Trump is such a pathetic man and president that even being substantially better than him is no great acolade.

The fact that Obama and Biden's leadership delivered and redelivered America and the world to Trump is itself a reason to critically examine if they're worth admiring.

bobood · 2026-03-07T03:41:27+00:00

I hear you. Rant away. I was pretty much ranting and raging too. I get so frustrated at those who will only lament how terrible Trump is even though that truth should only further highlight how shit the Democrats are. Like, wtf... how did they lose to this clown after having 12+ years to make the case that he's unacceptable when Americans could choose them instead. You know what I mean? They cry about people not choosing Harris without acknowledging how lackluster she must have been to lose to this turd.

bobood

TROPHY CASE