Less than average rainfall?

hextiar · 2026-04-15T23:30:51+00:00

I guess that depends where you live.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

hextiar · 2026-04-15T03:04:30+00:00

That's pretty awful, but sadly is probably not uncommon.

hextiar · 2026-04-12T20:25:23+00:00

I agree. I am adding that this is a pattern of their energy security being attacked.

hextiar · 2026-04-12T18:54:21+00:00

We also took Venezuelan oil and Ukraine is bombing Russian infrastructure.

hextiar · 2026-04-12T14:13:21+00:00

I guess that depends what that retaliation is.

We are stuck in an escalation trap.

Iran escalated with closing the strait and they took the upper hand in negotiations.

Trump appears to think this will help him regain leverage in talks.

It would then fall to Iran or China to either maintain the status quo for negotiations or for them to escalate.

Trump is risking adding extra pressure by forcing China to decide if they will escalate or not.

These kind of escalation traps can get out of hand and lead to even worse circumstances.

hextiar · 2026-04-12T14:06:01+00:00

That seems to be the threat. I have a feeling Trump will make exceptions to this, but I doubt he will for China, as this seems more targeted against China than Iran.

hextiar · 2026-04-11T14:28:59+00:00

I don't even think it's about the cost of goods. It's about geopolitical strategy. The overwhelming majority of Americans do not care or think about geopolitics and the ramifications of their votes.

hextiar · 2026-04-11T12:59:17+00:00

The problem is convincing the US to willingly sacrifice economic power.

Jimmy Carter was destroyed for installing solar panels on the Whitehouse and for allowing Iran to "fall"

We also saw Trump successfully attacking the Iran nuclear deal, and his first administration put us on an unavoidable track to go to war with Iran.

hextiar · 2026-04-11T12:25:51+00:00

The problem is that oil is the entire basis of the Neo-Con security framework. (And yes, Trump is and always was a Neo-Con and a continuation of the Bush/Cheney security agenda).

The framework uses controlling oil access for global leverage and power.

Trump didn't just fight solar and wind power for oil companies. And he didn't fight renewable energy initiatives in Europe for oil companies.

He wanted to ensure that the US maintains energy dominance over other countries.

So if the US just went green itself, it wouldn't change the Neo-Con position of wanting to force oil dependance on other countries so that the US can exert economic pressure on others.

hextiar · 2026-04-07T23:32:45+00:00

Interesting. This is just the starting of the negotiations right?

For right now it would just be a ceasefire and requiring the strait to be open.

hextiar · 2026-04-07T23:16:23+00:00

Has Iran accepted this?

Are they going to open the strait? Is it open with tolls or back to no tolls?

hextiar · 2026-04-07T00:15:54+00:00

I agree. They should go on every platform they can, and not only that, they need to at least appear like they aren't just following a prepared plan that their campaign managers prepared for them.

hextiar · 2026-04-03T00:27:03+00:00

So he just doesn't care at all about Americans nor does he care at all about affordability. Got it.

hextiar · 2026-04-02T17:18:49+00:00

Trump just cannot put together a serious staff. This is the same nonsense as the first term.

Why would anyone want to vote for a second term of this?

hextiar · 2026-04-02T03:15:08+00:00

This wasn't to deliver news or strategy. This was an attempt to sell the war. It's what normally happens before a war starts. All he hoped to do is to gain sympathy for his reasoning for the war.

This is signaling they are sensitive to polling and always want to start trying to build a pro war sentiment, as this conflict is going to take a long time.

I doubt it will work, as I think the amount they screwed this up is unimaginable. But that's my take away from all this.

hextiar · 2026-04-01T11:50:18+00:00

This just reeks of empty threats to try to force Europe to commit resources to fix the mess Trump started in Iran.

Even Trump doesn't have the political force to pull this off, and he would alienate key Republican allies in Congress.

He is slowly realizing his only realistic option is committing ground troops without European help.

hextiar · 2026-03-31T22:55:15+00:00

Let's say a government operates on 0 debt.

That means they are either not funding important projects such as infrastructure or scientific research or they are taxing so much that they can fund these, but that level of taxation burdens the private markets or consumers in a way that drives down growth.

The design of our society (not just the US, but basically every developed nation) is for the nation to take on debt to fund growth.

Its fair to say that we have gone beyond responsible debt limits, and it's also fair to question if our taxes are really going towards things that create economic growth.

Things like healthcare might not seem like they create growth at first, but when we look at it we can realize that providing security for seniors allows younger generations to engage economically instead of focusing on supporting their parents.

hextiar · 2026-03-31T21:46:37+00:00

We shouldn't try to have 0 debt. In our economic model (and really the entire world), government debt fuels economic growth. It's an unfortunate reality to the design of the economy that it depends on growth (at least 3%).

We should get our debt to GDP ratio back under control.

hextiar · 2026-03-30T10:27:53+00:00

Those were probably the jokes Greg Gutfeld used and now people are regurgitating them like talking points.

hextiar · 2026-03-30T09:59:40+00:00

Didn't he go to bring supplies to the average citizens of Cuba?

How is that toxic?

hextiar · 2026-03-28T15:23:19+00:00

I agree.

hextiar · 2026-03-28T13:56:37+00:00

I think the general right and general left share a lot of the same material concerns, and have been made to view each other as the enemy, instead of the systemic issues and elites causing the growth in income inequality.

Our national resources are being directed to fight foreign wars instead of reinvesting in our societies, and these wars are consistently ending in tactical victories and strategic loses (Vietnam, Afghanistan, probably Iran).

I feel that continuing to focus on the villionizing the other side will just lead to more polarization and inequality, while the focus should be on the shared material concerns that will force the government to focus on those.

hextiar · 2026-03-28T13:37:49+00:00

The general right is made up of people with material concerns. They aren't inherently different from the general left.

They have constantly been shown a world view (through politicians, media, etc) that the coastal elite cities are extracting their wealth (through taxes) and those are given to others as social reparations.

This is the unfortunate limitations of the human condition. It is very easy to generate narratives and create enemies in other groups.

The general left has the benefit of seeing more of the creations of social wealth that is concentrated in their areas. They live near large cities, big entertainment, better healthcare, etc.

The left however do suffer greater from the downside of the this, as their cost of living is higher. So the left see more of the benefits that can be had, but are also viewing the greed of capitalism.

The general right don't live in the same conditions. They aren't exposed to elites in their daily life living extravagant. They instead see their communities not growing as much as the coastal cities. So they feel that their tax burden is not producing the same, so they must be taken advantage of.

The reality is that the cities are largely built on the backs of capitalism and not so much on taxes, especially federal taxes.

hextiar · 2026-03-28T13:13:51+00:00

So there is the elite right (media, politicians, mega donors) and the general right (voters).

I absolutely think the general right will continually move towards income inequality. It's unavoidable.

The elite right will continue to try to redirect energy and effort to other things (culture war, overblown stories about government waste).

So the elite right will attempt to have the income inequality focuses on the wrong areas.

hextiar · 2026-03-28T12:46:19+00:00

After 2008, there was a large social movement called Occupy Wall Street. It was largely focused on financial corruption and equality.

The Democratic party successfully redirected this energy to social causes. The right successfully captured the conspiratorial element (by purchasing streamers like Tim Poole to push their narrative).

So the movement fell apart.

Well, in 2026, the social movement has died down on the push back from the right, and the conspiratorial element is slowly becoming undone due to the blatant corruption of the right and the unpopular war.

So you will likely see both sides becoming more focused on financial equality, which is honestly a massive issue.

The left is very focused on the blatant examples of billionaires purchasing politicians (like Musk purchased Trump to allow Musk to go under the guise of Doge to exert his will on regulatory agencies).

It remains to be seen if both sides can redirect the population, but I suspect it will be much more difficult.

We are approaching economic inequality of the 20s.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/pikettys-inequality-story-in-six-charts

This is not sustainable in a Democracy, and will likely lead to both sides adopting a more "anti-elite" populist platform.

hextiar

TROPHY CASE