Israel and Iran Looking close to hot!
#561
Posted 03 April 2026 - 07:29 PM
Israel used 12 interceptors, probably David's Sling, against one Fattah-1 missile and still managed to miss. The Fattah's late-stage speed boost, which dramatically increases closing velocity but changes the closing trajectory unexpectedly, is not something that interceptors can easily deal with.
Another plane, an A-10 Warthog, crashed on friendly territory after sustaining heavy fire from Iranian territory.
A Blackhawk helicopter was hit by AA fire whilst recovering the F-15 pilot but was able to return to friendly territory.
The largest gas processing plant in the UAE took a pounding overnight. The plant has shut down and one worker was killed.
Iran has blown up a fishing vessel after it entered the Strait of Hormuz without permission.
Another plane, an A-10 Warthog, crashed on friendly territory after sustaining heavy fire from Iranian territory.
A Blackhawk helicopter was hit by AA fire whilst recovering the F-15 pilot but was able to return to friendly territory.
The largest gas processing plant in the UAE took a pounding overnight. The plant has shut down and one worker was killed.
Iran has blown up a fishing vessel after it entered the Strait of Hormuz without permission.
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#562
#563
Posted 05 April 2026 - 07:05 AM
Dunno if this has been posted elsethread here, but it's ... interesting. To say the least. I can't speak to it's musical quality as I am not generally a fan of hip hop or diss tracks.
https://www.youtube....rts/QYX2fcZdw0A
https://www.youtube....rts/QYX2fcZdw0A
"Fortune favors the bold, though statistics favor the cautious." - Indomitable Courteous (Icy) Fist, The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes
"Well well well ... if it ain't The Invisible C**t." - Billy Butcher, The Boys
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"Well well well ... if it ain't The Invisible C**t." - Billy Butcher, The Boys
"I have strong views about not tempting providence and, as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn’t work if you push it." - Colonel Orhan, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - KJ Parker
#564
Posted 05 April 2026 - 12:55 PM
Trump's Easter morning message:
Did not have Trump converting to Islam for Easter on my bingo card...
Seems like he's probably going to go through with it (the attacks on Iran's civilian energy infrastructure, that is... not converting to Islam):
Israel actually destroyed some of Iran's civilian energy infrastructure yesterday, though they're claiming it was dual use:
Iran has retaliated by striking energy facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as a petrochemical facility in the UAE.
OTOH Iran allowed a French-owned container vessel through the Strait, after Macron ruled out French participation in military action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. They also allowed a Japanese-owned container ship through. Iran might be concerned about a potential multinational (beyond the US and Israel) coalition attempting to reopen the Strait and so preemptively trying to prevent, stall, or weaken it. But obviously allowing oil and other resources (aluminum, fertilizer, etc.) through goes against their goal of damaging the US economy via international markets.
Quote
Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP
Truth Details | Truth Social
Truth Details | Truth Social
Did not have Trump converting to Islam for Easter on my bingo card...
Seems like he's probably going to go through with it (the attacks on Iran's civilian energy infrastructure, that is... not converting to Islam):
Quote
the Wall Street Journal reported[...] that Trump's aides have been telling him Iran's civilian infrastructure is a legitimate wartime target, despite the understanding among experts that such attacks are illegal. The journalists say Hegseth has embraced the aides' argument that attacking infrastructure would make it more difficult for Iran to transfer the materials they need to develop nuclear weapons. A White House official added that destroying electric plants could foment civil unrest, which would in turn make it more difficult to produce a nuclear weapon.
Ryan Goodman of Just Security commented: "That would be an F on a bar exam." He observed, "This isn't legal analysis. It's idiocy."
Reuters reported today that Israel is prepared to attack Iranian energy facilities but is waiting for the U.S. to agree.
Professor Heather Cox Richardson - Facebook
Ryan Goodman of Just Security commented: "That would be an F on a bar exam." He observed, "This isn't legal analysis. It's idiocy."
Reuters reported today that Israel is prepared to attack Iranian energy facilities but is waiting for the U.S. to agree.
Professor Heather Cox Richardson - Facebook
Israel actually destroyed some of Iran's civilian energy infrastructure yesterday, though they're claiming it was dual use:
Quote
the attacks had targeted vital infrastructure that not only supplies electricity to Mahshahr's petrochemical plants but also, in summer, "plays a key role in providing electricity to 500,000" people in Khuzestan Province.
Hamid Hosseini, an oil and energy expert and a member of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview that downstream industries, like food production, car manufacturing and textiles, that rely on the industrial center's products would face a crisis when the war was over.
"These are civilian industries that had nothing to do with military use and should not have been attacked," Mr. Hosseini said. "This is people's livelihoods. Social security funds have big shares in these companies, and so do many ordinary people."
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
Hamid Hosseini, an oil and energy expert and a member of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview that downstream industries, like food production, car manufacturing and textiles, that rely on the industrial center's products would face a crisis when the war was over.
"These are civilian industries that had nothing to do with military use and should not have been attacked," Mr. Hosseini said. "This is people's livelihoods. Social security funds have big shares in these companies, and so do many ordinary people."
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
Iran has retaliated by striking energy facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as a petrochemical facility in the UAE.
OTOH Iran allowed a French-owned container vessel through the Strait, after Macron ruled out French participation in military action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. They also allowed a Japanese-owned container ship through. Iran might be concerned about a potential multinational (beyond the US and Israel) coalition attempting to reopen the Strait and so preemptively trying to prevent, stall, or weaken it. But obviously allowing oil and other resources (aluminum, fertilizer, etc.) through goes against their goal of damaging the US economy via international markets.
This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 April 2026 - 12:56 PM
#565
Posted 06 April 2026 - 12:36 AM
Quote
Any serious plan to neutralize Iran's nuclear ambitions or topple the regime quickly arrived at the same conclusion — that success required ground forces and would result in American casualties.
Then came machine learning and artificial intelligence, and with them, the seductive idea that America might finally be able to fight a major adversary indefinitely without sending its citizens into the line of fire.
The promise is not mere fantasy. A.I., fused with increasingly precise weapons and blanket surveillance, has transformed what the U.S. military can do from a distance. [...] A.I. tools can turn targeting processes that "used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds."
Yet for all the increased speed and accuracy of A.I.-assisted targeting, the [...] scale and dispersion of Iranian drones are more than [current] A.I. alone can overcome. Short-range missiles, especially on mobile launchers, can survive even in a world of constant blanket surveillance. [...]
Right now, U.S. drones are blanketing Iran, collecting video and images and intercepting signals, transmitting all of them to warships in the Persian Gulf. [...] In remote areas of Iran, where missiles and drones are hidden in underground bunkers, A.I. can study changes to the soil, thermal signatures, the appearance of new construction, and vehicular patterns in search of possible launch sites. When Iranian fighters exit bunkers to fire missiles or drones, surveillance drones can identify them as a threat, sending a signal to nearby ships or planes to fire before the munition is launched.
[...] Iran's Shahed drones can even be launched from the back of a pickup truck. There are simply too many trucks in Iran, spread across too large an area, for automated surveillance and precision strikes to find and destroy every target before it takes flight.
Opinion | Iran Is Ending the Dream of Remote-Controlled War - The New York Times
Then came machine learning and artificial intelligence, and with them, the seductive idea that America might finally be able to fight a major adversary indefinitely without sending its citizens into the line of fire.
The promise is not mere fantasy. A.I., fused with increasingly precise weapons and blanket surveillance, has transformed what the U.S. military can do from a distance. [...] A.I. tools can turn targeting processes that "used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds."
Yet for all the increased speed and accuracy of A.I.-assisted targeting, the [...] scale and dispersion of Iranian drones are more than [current] A.I. alone can overcome. Short-range missiles, especially on mobile launchers, can survive even in a world of constant blanket surveillance. [...]
Right now, U.S. drones are blanketing Iran, collecting video and images and intercepting signals, transmitting all of them to warships in the Persian Gulf. [...] In remote areas of Iran, where missiles and drones are hidden in underground bunkers, A.I. can study changes to the soil, thermal signatures, the appearance of new construction, and vehicular patterns in search of possible launch sites. When Iranian fighters exit bunkers to fire missiles or drones, surveillance drones can identify them as a threat, sending a signal to nearby ships or planes to fire before the munition is launched.
[...] Iran's Shahed drones can even be launched from the back of a pickup truck. There are simply too many trucks in Iran, spread across too large an area, for automated surveillance and precision strikes to find and destroy every target before it takes flight.
Opinion | Iran Is Ending the Dream of Remote-Controlled War - The New York Times
Not sure I completely buy their argument---with enough drones and interceptors, they could for example observe every truck in Iran---but having that many surveillance drones in the air might just be too expensive, even for the US military.
And we certainly don't need to blame AI for Trump's hubris and recklessness.
Meanwhile... Trump posted ominously on Truth Social:
Quote
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 06 April 2026 - 12:37 AM
#566
Posted 06 April 2026 - 08:39 PM
Quote
[Trump said] the United States could charge for passage through the strait, without explaining how that could be accomplished.
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
Quote
Trump continues to make Venezuela the model for his vision of how to deal with Iran, particularly his seizure of some of the country's oil. [...] "To the victor belong the spoils," he said.
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
And here's how they might ultimately try to accomplish both of those goals:
Quote
A senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee said American "boots on the ground" would be a necessary step in the war against Iran. "I just don't see any other way," Representative Pat Fallon, Republican of Texas, who chairs the Military Personnel subcommittee, said in an interview with Fox News. He added: "We can't leave until the job is done."
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share
... but instead of going for a full invasion and occupation, Trump will just try to occupy a buffer zone around the strait and some of the oil fields. He doesn't care about the people of Iran at all (except insofar as they might get in the way of profiteering by himself or his malevolent benefactors).
#567
Posted 07 April 2026 - 12:26 PM
Azath Vitr (D, on 06 April 2026 - 12:36 AM, said:
Meanwhile... Trump posted ominously on Truth Social:
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
Quote
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
At what point are your American oversight people going to stop this man...it's getting worse daily and the threats get more and more ominous...
I'm SO TIRED.
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon
"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon
#568
Posted 07 April 2026 - 01:11 PM
Trump on Truth Social:
Okay, now that does sound like he's threatening to nuke Iran.
He was going to nuke North Korea during his first term, but his advisors talked him out of it:
Nukes wouldn't destroy Iran's underground bunkers and underground missile cities. They're underneath mountains. The missile cities also have automated rail systems for transporting missiles to launch. And while they could irradiate the area around the entrances, the radiation levels would only retain short-term lethality for a few days. In the meantime, martyrs in heavily armored, fast-moving vehicles could try to go in and out. Inside the bunkers they most likely have decontamination chambers already set up for transport of resources.
Nukes near the Strait would render it practically unusable (except possibly for specially shielded (and perhaps fully automated) vessels), so nukes wouldn't be helpful for clearing a buffer zone around the Strait.
Trump's also probably not going to nuke the oil fields, because that would drive up the price of oil---and he's said repeatedly that he'd like to seize the oil.
Nuclear weapons could be used to commit genocide against the civilian population and destroy the civilian economy, but as The Economist reported yesterday the military economy is largely separate from the civilian economy:
As Iran's civilian economy crumbles, its military economy grows stronger - The Economist
Quote
A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. [...] We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.
Truth Details | Truth Social
Truth Details | Truth Social
Okay, now that does sound like he's threatening to nuke Iran.
He was going to nuke North Korea during his first term, but his advisors talked him out of it:
Quote
in 2017, when Trump was warning North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on social media that North Korea would be "met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before," behind closed doors he was talking about launching a preemptive strike against North Korea and of using a nuclear weapon against the country and blaming someone else for the strike.
[...] Trump's White House chief of staff at the time[...] brought military leaders to try to explain to Trump why that would be a bad idea and finally got him to move away from the plan by telling him he could prove he was the "greatest salesman in the world" by finding a diplomatic solution
Historian Heather Cox Richardson - Facebook
[...] Trump's White House chief of staff at the time[...] brought military leaders to try to explain to Trump why that would be a bad idea and finally got him to move away from the plan by telling him he could prove he was the "greatest salesman in the world" by finding a diplomatic solution
Historian Heather Cox Richardson - Facebook
Nukes wouldn't destroy Iran's underground bunkers and underground missile cities. They're underneath mountains. The missile cities also have automated rail systems for transporting missiles to launch. And while they could irradiate the area around the entrances, the radiation levels would only retain short-term lethality for a few days. In the meantime, martyrs in heavily armored, fast-moving vehicles could try to go in and out. Inside the bunkers they most likely have decontamination chambers already set up for transport of resources.
Nukes near the Strait would render it practically unusable (except possibly for specially shielded (and perhaps fully automated) vessels), so nukes wouldn't be helpful for clearing a buffer zone around the Strait.
Trump's also probably not going to nuke the oil fields, because that would drive up the price of oil---and he's said repeatedly that he'd like to seize the oil.
Nuclear weapons could be used to commit genocide against the civilian population and destroy the civilian economy, but as The Economist reported yesterday the military economy is largely separate from the civilian economy:
As Iran's civilian economy crumbles, its military economy grows stronger - The Economist
This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 07 April 2026 - 01:13 PM
#569
Posted 07 April 2026 - 01:35 PM
QuickTidal, on 07 April 2026 - 12:26 PM, said:
Azath Vitr (D, on 06 April 2026 - 12:36 AM, said:
Meanwhile... Trump posted ominously on Truth Social:
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
Quote
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
At what point are your American oversight people going to stop this man...it's getting worse daily and the threats get more and more ominous...
I'm SO TIRED.
Oversight?
QT, we've discussed this. No one has done shit to stop him so dar, the brakes came off the second he was not pulled up for his first rule break
2012
"Imperial Gothos, Imperial"
"Imperial Gothos, Imperial"
#570
Posted 07 April 2026 - 02:54 PM
Macros, on 07 April 2026 - 01:35 PM, said:
QuickTidal, on 07 April 2026 - 12:26 PM, said:
Azath Vitr (D, on 06 April 2026 - 12:36 AM, said:
Meanwhile... Trump posted ominously on Truth Social:
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
Quote
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
At what point are your American oversight people going to stop this man...it's getting worse daily and the threats get more and more ominous...
I'm SO TIRED.
Oversight?
QT, we've discussed this. No one has done shit to stop him so dar, the brakes came off the second he was not pulled up for his first rule break
I know, but the hind survival brain in me keeps screaming that SOMEONE should do something...and I can't fathom no one is. It beggars belief that this many Americans are either fine with this behaviour or they don't have the stones to set their cities aflame in protest.
"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora
"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon
"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon
#571
Posted 07 April 2026 - 03:24 PM
QuickTidal, on 07 April 2026 - 02:54 PM, said:
Macros, on 07 April 2026 - 01:35 PM, said:
QuickTidal, on 07 April 2026 - 12:26 PM, said:
Azath Vitr (D, on 06 April 2026 - 12:36 AM, said:
Meanwhile... Trump posted ominously on Truth Social:
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
Quote
Some people think this implies he may nuke Iran, but I don't see any reason to think that---aside from Trump being Trump... and spiraling into overt psychopathy and dementia.
At what point are your American oversight people going to stop this man...it's getting worse daily and the threats get more and more ominous...
I'm SO TIRED.
Oversight?
QT, we've discussed this. No one has done shit to stop him so dar, the brakes came off the second he was not pulled up for his first rule break
I know, but the hind survival brain in me keeps screaming that SOMEONE should do something...and I can't fathom no one is. It beggars belief that this many Americans are either fine with this behaviour or they don't have the stones to set their cities aflame in protest.
They either support him, or else don't have the guts (Democrats) or resources (everyone else) to do anything about him. And by 'him' i mean the government writ large, there's an entire structure behind trump that rises or falls on him staying in power and a whole other structure who simply rides the wave to profit, and both will do everything and anything to keep themselves there and could not care less who gets trampled or bombed along the way. Trump is just the loudest most organgey part of the problem.
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#572
Posted 07 April 2026 - 03:37 PM
as a general rule the people who jizz in their pants at the high notes on land of the FREEEEEE!!!!!
Are to blame.
All of them.
Now hear me out they're either AMERICA FUCK YEAH! GONNA BOMB YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY TO THE MOTHERFUCKING STONE AGE!!!
Or they are patriots who believe in the constitution, the "American Dream" and that it is sacrosanct, and they have stood by and done nothing, for years.
Both these groups have enabled the scum who are running this shit, because those guys don't give a flying fuck about America, or anyone.
I genuinely welcome a coherent rebuttal.
Are to blame.
All of them.
Now hear me out they're either AMERICA FUCK YEAH! GONNA BOMB YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY TO THE MOTHERFUCKING STONE AGE!!!
Or they are patriots who believe in the constitution, the "American Dream" and that it is sacrosanct, and they have stood by and done nothing, for years.
Both these groups have enabled the scum who are running this shit, because those guys don't give a flying fuck about America, or anyone.
I genuinely welcome a coherent rebuttal.
2012
"Imperial Gothos, Imperial"
"Imperial Gothos, Imperial"
#573
Posted 07 April 2026 - 04:05 PM
Macros, on 07 April 2026 - 03:37 PM, said:
as a general rule the people who jizz in their pants at the high notes on land of the FREEEEEE!!!!!
Are to blame.
All of them.
Now hear me out they're either AMERICA FUCK YEAH! GONNA BOMB YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY TO THE MOTHERFUCKING STONE AGE!!!
Or they are patriots who believe in the constitution, the "American Dream" and that it is sacrosanct, and they have stood by and done nothing, for years.
Both these groups have enabled the scum who are running this shit, because those guys don't give a flying fuck about America, or anyone.
I genuinely welcome a coherent rebuttal.
Are to blame.
All of them.
Now hear me out they're either AMERICA FUCK YEAH! GONNA BOMB YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY TO THE MOTHERFUCKING STONE AGE!!!
Or they are patriots who believe in the constitution, the "American Dream" and that it is sacrosanct, and they have stood by and done nothing, for years.
Both these groups have enabled the scum who are running this shit, because those guys don't give a flying fuck about America, or anyone.
I genuinely welcome a coherent rebuttal.
I add a large chunk of blame for the eligible voters who didn't vote, whether for laziness, frustration, or oh so very irate about Kamala.... doesn't matter, the consequences of their inaction are now front and center(er) .
THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT THERE IS A
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#574
Posted 07 April 2026 - 06:01 PM
Abyss, on 07 April 2026 - 03:24 PM, said:
They either support him, or else don't have the guts (Democrats) or resources (everyone else) to do anything about him. And by 'him' i mean the government writ large, there's an entire structure behind trump that rises or falls on him staying in power and a whole other structure who simply rides the wave to profit, and both will do everything and anything to keep themselves there and could not care less who gets trampled or bombed along the way. Trump is just the loudest most organgey part of the problem.
I need to clarify a few things: the entity that could actually stop the President here is Congress, which is controlled by the Republicans in both houses. The Democrats do not have the sole power to even get articles of impeachment created in the House sent over to the Senate to be acted upon.
As a minority party, there are certain levers and acts that can be done to obstruct or at least yell against/resist. Most of those are actually being done even as clumsy messaging gets in the way of the populace understanding what acts are being taken to slow or stop this.
The current Speaker of the House is an absolute shithead who doesn't want Congress to function or to slow/stop the President. He does in general have some control over what gets to happen legislatively and his party generally doesn't want to stop or slow this either. The Republicans are running the various bodies of government and this is what they want OR are permitting through inactivity.
So it's not really that the Democrats are gutless - it's more that the actual power structures don't permit slowing/stopping much beyond what they are currently doing and that some in Democratic leadership are slow rolling/fumbling messages even as other lower ranked members are full heartedly opposing.
I survived the Permian and all I got was this t-shirt.
#575
Posted 07 April 2026 - 06:03 PM
We did have 9ish million people recently protest and there are continued smaller protests in many places. There's a small group of protestors outside my state government workplace right now.
General mass media coverage of that enormous No Kings protest and beyond has been abysmal and very much tilted towards Trump/Republicans. These were the largest protests in our country's history and show serious organization chops.
General mass media coverage of that enormous No Kings protest and beyond has been abysmal and very much tilted towards Trump/Republicans. These were the largest protests in our country's history and show serious organization chops.
I survived the Permian and all I got was this t-shirt.
#576
Posted 07 April 2026 - 06:05 PM
8 million people took the streets at the last no kings protest. That’s 2.4% of the population and obviously they represent an even larger group. The problem isn’t people not screaming that Trump is a disaster it’s that the average citizen or even 8 million average citizens together no longer can move the needle.
The mechanism that transforms the will of the people into action is experiencing massive axle loss.
The next significant moment is the midterm November election. Otherwise
People are screaming into the wind.
Edit: lol Amphibian, they say great minds think alike but they also say fools never differ. Let’s agree to the former.
The mechanism that transforms the will of the people into action is experiencing massive axle loss.
The next significant moment is the midterm November election. Otherwise
People are screaming into the wind.
Edit: lol Amphibian, they say great minds think alike but they also say fools never differ. Let’s agree to the former.
This post has been edited by Cause: 07 April 2026 - 06:06 PM
#577
Posted 07 April 2026 - 06:40 PM
Sometimes I'll be a fool and sometimes it'll be your turn. We can read some great books, eat some good meals, and build a better world as we pass that role back and forth.
I survived the Permian and all I got was this t-shirt.
#578
Posted 07 April 2026 - 07:45 PM
Do you understand how the rest of the world looks on, as we are being totally fucked by everything the orange Goblin does, see those marches and the next day he does worse.
And hes a rapist
And the epstien files
And
And
And
And we are starting to despise you as a nation.
And there is no sympathy or support here. Tear those fuckers down, and get the fuck out of Iran.
/blargh
And hes a rapist
And the epstien files
And
And
And
And we are starting to despise you as a nation.
And there is no sympathy or support here. Tear those fuckers down, and get the fuck out of Iran.
/blargh
2012
"Imperial Gothos, Imperial"
"Imperial Gothos, Imperial"
#579
Posted 07 April 2026 - 07:57 PM
Cause, on 07 April 2026 - 06:05 PM, said:
8 million people took the streets at the last no kings protest. That’s 2.4% of the population and obviously they represent an even larger group. The problem isn’t people not screaming that Trump is a disaster it’s that the average citizen or even 8 million average citizens together no longer can move the needle.
The mechanism that transforms the will of the people into action is experiencing massive axle loss.
The next significant moment is the midterm November election. Otherwise
People are screaming into the wind.
The mechanism that transforms the will of the people into action is experiencing massive axle loss.
The next significant moment is the midterm November election. Otherwise
People are screaming into the wind.
The effectiveness of protest has always been backed by the the implicit possibility of extra-legal, and potentially violent, opposition. It's the basic reason that politics historically responds to large numbers of people in the street, even when they represent a small percentage of the total population and even outside the election cycle. Large groups of adults are scary.
Western governments have gradually chipped away at the power of organized labour, restricted the space and tools for protest, and increased the force gap between civilians and law enforcement.
They have worked to insulate the modern state from direct opposition from its population. We have seen governments in the UK, US, and even France simply sit tight and ride out protests that might have toppled them fifty years ago. Governments have got into the habit of either ignoring or repressing them.
I suspect that it would take a real confrontation - like a sustained strike movement that halts a country and forces genuine concessions - to remind governments why they used to pay so much attention to protests in the first place.
(As an aside this is one of my biggest concerns with the quiet deployment of ever more advanced surveillance and policing tools, which seems to happen regardless of which specific party is in power. These tools centralize power and mean that powerful states need to keep fewer and fewer actual people on side in a pinch).
Cougar said:
Grief, FFS will you do something with your sig, it's bloody awful
worry said:
Grief is right (until we abolish capitalism).
#580
Posted 07 April 2026 - 08:03 PM
Its also that this isnt an existential threat to American people. Especially with a large proportion living from paycheck to paycheck, it has the (intended) effect of keeping them more compliant and less likely to take action.
Para todos todo, para nosotros nada.
MottI'd always pegged you as more of an Ublala
MottI'd always pegged you as more of an Ublala

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