Avoid making negative or unhelpful posts, and instead focus on providing constructive feedback and ideas that can help to move the discussion forward.
- Manlobbi
Investment Strategies / Mechanical Investing
No. of Recommendations: 17
So Al Jazzeera is reporting that a deal is near, but one which gives Iran almost everything and the US almost nothing. Supposedly the Strait will be open, but only to ships which pay a toll. The US will cease its blockade, which isn’t doing much anyway, apparently. We will release billions in frozen assets, promise not the do it again, and Israel will promise not to attack Lebanon at any time in the future.
All of this sounds incredibly unlikely, even for someone as bad at negotiating as Trump, so I will wait and see before passing judgment.
In other news, I watched a documentary about December 7, 1941 last night on Netflix; I frequently find things on World War II that look at things from another angle, or sometimes the same angle just with new footage, so I watch. And as I watched, and heard FDR’s speech for the 200th time, the words “premeditated and dastardly attack” came to my mind and formed a question:
“How much notice did we give Iran that we were about to start bombing for Operation Epic Fury? Because part of the American revulsion about Dec 7 was that we were still negotiating with Japan to try to get them to reign in their hopes of Empire and conquest, and it was clear they had planned the attack many days, even weeks and months prior.
So I have to ask: Did we alert Iran that we were about to bomb strategic targets, or declare war, or do any of those things for which we have so virulently and so long criticized others for doing to us? Or are surprise attacks only bad when the other guy does it?
No. of Recommendations: 4
So I have to ask: Did we alert Iran that we were about to bomb strategic targets, or declare war, or do any of those things for which we have so virulently and so long criticized others for doing to us? Or are surprise attacks only bad when the other guy does it? Of course not. The US didn't give any warning when it bombed the Iranian nuke facilities, while negotiating peace last summer either. But that's OK. The US is "exceptional", so no rules of civilized behavior apply.
Here's an answer to a question I have been pondering, over the last couple days: if Trump the God, made an agreement with Iran, so he could cut and run "with honor and victory", so he could knock over some other third world country, would Israel respect the agreement?
Netanyahu told Trump Israel will remain free to act against threats, Israeli source says
"In last night's conversation with President Trump, the Prime Minister emphasized that Israel will maintain freedom of action against threats in all arenas, including Lebanon, and President Trump reiterated and supported this principle," the Israeli political source told Reuters on Sunday, asking not to be named.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/netanyahu-tol...Yup. As expected. So, if Israel continues it's ethnic cleansing operations in Lebanon, Gaza, and the west bank, would Iran close the Strait?
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 7
One man's noble freedom fighter is another man's hated guerrilla.
The balkans, mid to late '90s. A young LT was over there (I was his best man...twice, and he mine) and we were corresponding. He told us the noble Kosovo liberation fighters were engaging in drugs and prostitution and whatever to fund their operations.
Red Dawn. Who doesn't love the Wolverines? Not the Russians and the Cubans, in the movie. But we sure didn't love the Fedayeen (in Iraq) or the HIG (in Afghanistan) or any number of other groups of guerrillas, when we were the organized force and we were in their turf.
The word guerrilla in and of itself has an interesting origin. Most casual historians think of Waterloo as Napoleon's big defeat. The Navarre region of northern Spain was really the biggest defeat - strategic and more costly, as Napoleon was tossed after a multi-year slog where he led the "superior" force against the numerically smaller, less trained, less equipped partisans. Thus, guerrilla (little war, in Spanish). Napoleon called this "the fatal knot" (a book of the same name depicts this at length).
Now let's come to today. We've waged war against a country 4x the size of Iraq, which was a hell of a hard guerrilla fight for nearly 20 years but of course we ignore the fuck out of that today. 4x the size, many more people, a more entrenched government, more religiously homogenous (no Kurd region, less Sunni/Shia schism in the populace), and much better armed and resourced. The guerrilla potential is dizzying to me.
No. of Recommendations: 1
The word guerrilla in and of itself has an interesting origin.
The tactics predate Napoleon. Try Francis Marion, during the American Revolution. His troop was the inspiration for the "Swamp Fox" series Disney produced, decades ago, and Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".
What would be ideal in Iran, from the Israeli viewpoint, would be factional civil war, to keep everyone so occupied killing fellow Iranians, they don't have time to interfere with Israel. That scheme worked pretty well in Libya. Enough money and agitators in country could whip something up. The Israelis were openly bragging, last January, that Mossad agents were in country whipping up the protests.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
The guerrilla potential is dizzying to me.
That gorilla earned Spankee'S TACO in 3-4 months vs 20 yrs for The Shrub War. So, 1/60th of the relative time frame.
His next war will be a day or two. Then the orderlies will keep him IN his padded room.
No. of Recommendations: 4
Try Francis Marion, during the American Revolution.
Marion, MAJ Robert Rogers in 1757 (his 28 rules are still studied by the Rangers and we used them in some fashion in woods patrolling), and if you want to go way back, Sun Tzu had some interesting thoughts on irregular warfare about 2500 years ago.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Marion, MAJ Robert Rogers in 1757 (his 28 rules are still studied by the Rangers and we used them in some fashion in woods patrolling), and if you want to go way back, Sun Tzu had some interesting thoughts on irregular warfare about 2500 years ago.
Last October, my wife and I took a roadtrip through the southern Atlantic states- GA, SC, NC, and VA.
In SC, Marion’s name seemingly overshadows even Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard‘s name. Marion this, and Marion that…
We even stayed at a downtown Charleston hotel that bears Marion’s name.
And that’s saying something, as it was Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard who commanded the artillery battery that opened fire on Ft. Sumpter in Charleston Harbor.
No. of Recommendations: 1
In SC, Marion’s name seemingly overshadows even Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard‘s name. Marion this, and Marion that…
The exercise bike I used to have has an odometer with a non-volatile memory. As the miles piled up, I started mapping where I would be, if I was actually pedaling down the road, then capture a pic off of Google street view, and post my "location" on my FB channel. I made my way to the west coast, down to a little town on a riverbank in Panama, where the northern part of the Pan American highway ends. Back up and around the Gulf, down one side of Florida and up the other. One day's pedaling brought me to the middle of the "Francis Marion National Forest". I eventually made my way into upstate New York, on the shore of a lake, when the belt in the bike broke, and the manufacturer no longer sold replacement belts. Thus ended the journey.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
Thus ended the journey.
You should do a trip for real.
For one thing, the scenery changes.
But really and truly, yours was a journey of real conditioning- even if you never left your living room.
Next time add the changing landscape (not the kind you can see on a Pelaton), and the ever-changing cast of characters you’ll meet along the route.
…… even if it’s only a four day ride to Grand Rapids.
