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bolverk

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by bolverk

  1. She lost because turnout was down among left-leaning and progressive groups.
  2. The Bombing of Iran May Teach an Unwelcome Lesson on Nuclear Weapons Will America’s pre-emptive strike discourage other countries from pursuing a weapon — or just the opposite? It has been nearly two decades since any country elbowed its way into the club of nuclear-armed nations. President Trump, with his bombing of three Iranian nuclear installations last weekend, has vowed to keep the door shut. Whether Mr. Trump’s pre-emptive strike will succeed in doing that is hard to predict, so soon after the attack and the fragile cease-fire that has followed. But already it is stirring fears that Iran, and other countries, will draw a very different conclusion than the one the White House intended: that having a bomb is the only protection in a threatening world. The last country to get one, North Korea, has never faced such an attack. After years of defying demands to dismantle its nuclear program, it is now viewed as largely impregnable. Mr. Trump exchanged friendly letters with its dictator, Kim Jong-un, and met him twice in a fruitless effort to negotiate a deal. In Iran’s case, Mr. Trump deployed B-2 bombers just weeks after making a fresh diplomatic overture to its leaders. “The risks of Iran acquiring a small nuclear arsenal are now higher than they were before the events of last week,” said Robert J. Einhorn, an arms control expert who negotiated with Iran during the Obama administration. “We can assume there are a number of hard-liners who are arguing that they should cross that nuclear threshold.” Iran would face formidable hurdles to producing a bomb even if it made a concerted dash for one, Mr. Einhorn said, not least the knowledge that if the United States and Israel detect such a move, they will strike again. It is far from clear that Iran’s leaders, isolated, weakened and in disarray, want to provoke them. Yet the logic of proliferation looms large in a world where the nuclear-armed great powers — the United States, Russia and China — are viewed as increasingly unreliable and even predatory toward their neighbors. From the Persian Gulf and Central Europe to East Asia, analysts said, nonnuclear countries are watching Iran’s plight and calculating lessons they should learn from it. “Certainly, North Korea doesn’t rue the day it acquired nuclear weapons,” said Christopher R. Hill, who led lengthy, ultimately unsuccessful, talks with Pyongyang in 2007 and 2008 to try to persuade it to dismantle its nuclear program. The lure of the bomb, Mr. Hill said, has become stronger for America’s allies in the Middle East and Asia. Since World War II, they have sheltered under an American security umbrella. But they now confront a president, in Mr. Trump, who views alliances as incompatible with his vision of “America First.” “I’d be very careful with the assumption that there is a U.S. nuclear umbrella,” said Mr. Hill, who served as ambassador to South Korea, Iraq, Poland, and Serbia under Democratic and Republican presidents. “Countries like Japan and South Korea are wondering whether they can rely on the U.S.”
  3. And, yet, they were compliant when a deal was in place. But now that Bibi has revealed his hand that regime change was his intent with Operation Rising Lion, the Iranian regime now knows their days are numbered if they don't get the bomb.
  4. So, a question: Has Trump/the GQP just dropped the whole wall boondoggle altogether now? Because I haven't heard anyone from that side of the aisle clamor to renew construction funding, and then, of course, our state government has dropped funding for one. Are they finally done pretending that a 30-foot wall, which a 31-foot ladder can defeat, is the end-all, be-all of stemming migrant flows? And that's why, instead, they've now gone all-in on a different final solution?
  5. Not only that, but stupid as shit because infectious diseases don't recognize national borders, no matter how high a wall gets built.
  6. This is my concern, dude. Once we made the decision Israel forced us to back out of negotiations by unilaterally and preemptively bombing Iran before talks were complete, which set us on a course to end the program by kinetic means. If we didn't get the job done for whatever reason, we're more likely to continue using force to complete the mission, which means more bombing. That said, if we don't have the intestinal fortitude to drop more bombs, then it was only a half-measure and all for naught. Moreover, you've kind of convinced the Iranian regime -- if it wasn't already apparent -- that developing a nuke truly is the only path forward to saving your own skin.
  7. Promise of Victory Over H.I.V. Fades as U.S. Withdraws Support A new drug that gives almost complete protection against the virus was to be administered across Africa this year. Now, much of the funding for that effort is gone. This was supposed to be a breakthrough year in the 44-year-long struggle against H.I.V. Decades of research and investment produced new approaches to vaccines that were going into their first significant clinical trials. The hunt for a cure was homing in on key mechanisms to block the virus, which can lurk dormant and near-untraceable in the body for years. Most critically, a breakthrough preventive drug, lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injection that offers total protection from H.I.V., was to be rapidly rolled out across eastern and southern Africa. The main target: young women. About 300,000 of them were newly infected with the virus last year — half of all new infections worldwide. Every one of these plans has been derailed by the Trump administration’s slashing of foreign assistance. There is more potential than ever before to end the H.I.V. epidemic, scientists and public health experts say. But now, H.I.V. programs across Africa are scrambling to procure drugs that the United States once supplied, replace lost nurses and lab technicians, and restart shuttered programs to prevent new infections. “We imagined we would be in a different world right now,” said Dr. Leila Mansoor, a senior research scientist at the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in Durban, South Africa. She had planned to spend 2025 analyzing data from one H.I.V. prevention trial, preparing for another and tracking how lenacapavir was transforming the epidemic — alongside colleagues testing new vaccines and cure strategies. “And instead we’re moving backwards at warp speed,” she said. Already, there are fears that H.I.V. infection rates are rising in the hardest-hit countries, but there is no clear way to measure the damage because data collection was mostly reliant on the terminated U.S. funding. Stocks of prevention drugs once supplied by the U.S. are running out across Africa.
  8. It was the only thing I could think of that fit. Didn't expect it to work, but I ain't gonna complain. Wordle 1,467 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #745 🟦🟨🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🙂 Daily Quordle 1248 4️⃣7️⃣ 5️⃣6️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
  9. I'm not sure whether you read the NYTimes article link that was posted above bor what is being reported in other outlets, including cable news, so I'm posting a relevant passage from it where there'sa little more detail: Current and former military officials had cautioned before the strike that any effort to destroy the Fordo facility, which is buried more than 250 feet under a mountain, would probably require waves of airstrikes, with days or even weeks of pounding the same spots. American warplanes did hit the same spots at least twice on Saturday. B-2s dropped 12 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs — often referred to as “bunker busters” — on Fordo, and six aboveground entry craters are now visible, according to Brian Carter, the Middle East portfolio manager at the American Enterprise Institute. But many military bomb experts believed that more than one day of strikes would be needed to complete the job. I definitely recall reading last week that experts believed it would take several waves of bombings to get the job done. Hopefully, those assessments were wrong, but this maybe wasn't sufficient. Plus, if a lot of the stuff was moved, then well I don't know.
  10. Who to believe? A known drunkard who speaks in bold, absolutist language like this? “Based on everything we have seen — and I’ve seen it ALL — our bombing campaign OBLITERATED Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons,” [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth] said. “Our MASSIVE bombs hit EXACTLY THE RIGHT SPOT at each target and worked PERFECTLY.” Or these guys who are more cautious and careful with their language? Despite claims of the sites’ obliteration by Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been more careful in describing the attack’s effects. “This operation was designed to severely degrade Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure,” General Caine said that at the Sunday news conference. The final battle damage assessment for the military operation against Iran, General Caine said on Sunday, standing next to Mr. Hegseth, was still to come. He said the initial assessment showed that all three sites “sustained severe damage and destruction.” General Caine added that it was “way too early” to assess how much of Iran’s nuclear program remained. Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the former commander of Central Command, said in an interview, that he had “a lot of confidence in the weapons systems used.” But he added: “I’m not surprised that elements survived. That’s why you do battle damage assessments, because everything can go as planned but there are still other factors.”
  11. I regret to inform you guys, but Big Ballz has been neutered and is no longer working for the federal government. https://www.wired.com/story/big-balls-coristine-doge-resigned-us-government/
  12. I watched the first couple of episodes this weekend. I wasn't sold on it at the end of the second episode because it felt a little too much like a soap opera, and I've got a bunch of other shows on my list. Ping me if you still like it after the fourth one, and I'll pick it back up.
  13. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/early-us-intel-assessment-suggests-strikes-iran-did-not-destroy-nuclear-sites-2025-06-24/ WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - An early U.S. intelligence assessment indicated that the U.S. military strikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities last week did not destroy the core components of Tehran's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing three people briefed on it. "This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong," CNN quoted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt as saying.
  14. Genocide is genocide, no matter the ethnicity of its victims. By posting that reply, he proves he's the type of guy who -- had he been raised in early 20th-century Germany -- would've totally been on board with gassing Jews. Total sociopath, bereft of morals, and deserving of damnation. Also, dumber than a bag of hammers.
  15. Wordle 1,466 3/6 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #744 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🙂 Daily Quordle 1247 4️⃣5️⃣ 7️⃣6️⃣ m-w.com/games/quordle/ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
  16. You've got a simpleton's understanding of the cultural and archeological history of the Levant. Tell me how I can explain it to you without using a lot words, a complaint you've frequently used in the past about lengthy posts providing educational content. In the meantime, I'll eagerly anticipate your response until checking back in after a rewatch of 'Spaceballs.'
  17. Abraham would be proud, I'm sure.
  18. Ain't that the shit. We've got a bunch of Christian extremists supporting a bunch of Jewish extremists because the Christian extremists want to accelerate the end of the world while the Jewish extremists believe that their sky daddy gave them some special dirt along with permission to kill everyone who's already living on that dirt. Meanwhile, we got a bunch of Muslim extremists pissed off at the Jewish extremists because some magic man floated up to a sky paradise from that piece of dirt, plus, they were already there. This, and an unquenchable thirst for oil, is what's driving our foreign policy for a big ol' chunk of this little blue dot we all have to share. Lovely.
  19. Is there any factual basis for this statement, particularly the judicial part? Because it's my understanding most of the legal framework of the Western legal tradition was built on a foundation laid out by the Roman Empire. Moreover, the Ten Commandments were largely derived from Assyrian oral traditions and the Code of Hammurabi. What makes the Ten Commandments a little innovative is that it simplified a bunch of shit into for rules. What I think would be okay with everyone is just posting the Golden Rule because, you know, it boils downs to a single, easy-to-learn concept: "Don't be a dick." That's kind of universal truth among just about every religious or secular group. Plus, it comes fully endorsed by the Geezus. You know what's really ironic, though, is that forcing the Ten Commandments to be posted in every classroom is totally a dick move.
  20. You, sir, can go shove a buncha coal up your choo-choo trains caboose.
  21. Prime example:
  22. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/22/world/israel-iran-us-trump#iran-fordo-nuclear-damaged-not-destroyed The Israel-Iran war that broke out over the past week has already upended life for Iran’s 90 million people, killing more than 400 and injuring more than 3,000, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Countless others have fled to safety in the countryside or neighboring states. Now, after a direct American attack on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities, many Iranians said in phone interviews that they faced an uncertain and frightening future. “We’re all in shock — none of us expected that, within six or seven days, we’d reach this point,” said Peyman, a 44-year-old business executive who asked that his last name not be used because of concern over reprisals from the authorities. After Israel launched its military assault last week a missile hit nearby on his commute to work, and he decided to escape Tehran. Now his immediate family, parents, in-laws and brother’s family are all sheltering in one house in northern Iran. His primary concern is for his 9-year-old daughter. “I grew up in war, so the sound of bombardment doesn’t scare me, but I left because of my daughter,” he said. “I fear soon we’re going to have a shortage of water and food.” Iranians awoke to the news of the American attack on Sunday feeling a combination of sorrow and anger. “I really hope there’s a cease-fire, because this is not OK,” said Dr. Parsa Mehdipour, 29, a general practitioner in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, who flew home to Tehran for a visit in late May and has been trapped there since the war began and flights into and out of Iran were suspended. Dr. Mehdipour said he had no idea how he would get back to Dubai. His options include traveling by road and then taking a ship across the Persian Gulf or crossing into a neighboring country where he can catch a flight. “These tensions will cause a lot of problems for civilians,” he said. “This is honestly a breach of international law,” he said, adding that attacking nuclear facilities “could have catastrophic consequences for the people.” One 44-year-old mother of two, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her family from reprisals, described how she and her children left everything behind after Israel began its military campaign and an Iranian authorities issued an evacuation order for her neighborhood in Tehran. They packed a few small bags, locked the door and left, traveling on a pothole-filled road to the border and crossing into Armenia, where they have been staying in hotels. By day, her sons live a normal life. But as night falls their crying and nightmares begin, and they awake at the slightest sound, she said. When she mentioned that they were on a vacation, her 7-year-old son corrected her, saying that he knew that they had escaped from a war. The woman said that leaving Iran was the worst feeling, but that she had lived through the Iran-Iraq war and did not want her children to experience the same trauma. She does not care about the nuclear sites, she said, but feels sad for regular Iranians who are stuck between two fronts: their own government, and the countries attacking them. Since the Israeli attacks, which appeared to have involved intelligence breaches deep inside Iran’s government, Iranian news media have reported that officials have cracked down on people they accuse of being “collaborators” with Israel. Iranian authorities arrested 53 people who they said were linked to Israel and charged them with disturbing public opinion, possessing and operating drones, filming sensitive locations and sending that footage to “hostile media outlets,” Fars, an Iranian news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported on Sunday. Iranian authorities also arrested a European citizen accused of espionage in the western province of Kermanshah, the Tasnim news agency, which is closely affiliated with the government, reported on Sunday. The report did not say what country the person was from. The New York Times was not able to independently verify the Iranian news media reports. Peyman, the executive, said that he was no fan of President Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel — “not at all” — but that he nonetheless found himself blaming his own government for the war and its heavy toll. “The feeling I have is a feeling of 40 years of hatred toward this foolish government,” he said, lamenting the money that had been spent to develop Fordo, a uranium enrichment site that the United States targeted. “All these years of slogans and chest beating, saying we have a strong defense system and that no enemy could ever attack our soil.” “That’s not even counting how much the value of our currency has dropped, how much of our human capital has fled the country, how much chaos has been created,” he added. “The psychological, financial and cultural toll on the country is immense.”
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