Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

Heh ..... clever. I get the point.

Outcomes at the operational level are terribly speculative at this point. What is not speculative is the growing threat of China as a strategic competitor. To date, the US along with the EU has ignored China's predatory economics and militarization of the South China Sea. Accommodating postures vis-a-vis China and Iran have tended to lessen US global and ME influence where US interests are concerned.

So, I clearly don't like Donald Trump. That does not mean I dislike his approach toward China and Iran.

[Jeff Buchanan]

This link provides some decent data reflecting the impact of the tariffs at among a myriad of measurable data. Not trying to cherry pick here. I think there is good and bad news.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/with-trump-threatening-to-tighten-the-trade-screws-heres-a-look-at-what-tariffs-have-done-so-far-2019-05-06

[Kapture1]

[crashcourse]

got back from a cruise so didn't watch GOT until last night

SPOILERMad queen surely gets knocked off by snow in the end--question is he has to take out the dragon too--Dany has to get it while ridng the last dragon in some manner

[Kapture1]

SPOILERI think Arya kills Dany, she being the green eyes she closes forever

i was suprised at everyone being surprised at the Mad Queen turn of events, there were hints of it going all the way back to Season 2, like her vision as she entered the House of the Undying, she is walking through the throne room in the Red Keep and it is utterly destroyed, stone melted, room covered in either snow or ash, either could be a fore shadow of John Snow sitting on the throne or of her burning the city.

when we learn John is a targaryen, the phrase "when a targaryen is born the Gods flip a coin" you can look back at the characters of John and Dany and clearly see John is one side of the coin. and clearly Dany is not the same side of the coin.

[Dr. Strangelove]

For those who are watching GOT, how many have read the books too?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Quinnipiac, who is regarded as one of the better pollsters out there, released a poll today showing PA voters choosing Biden 53-42 over Trump. Maybe more amazing is that among voters 65 or older, Biden beat Trump 58% to 38%.

Pretty much the only Dem candidate Trump was predicted to beat in PA was Talent's boy Beto.

https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/capitol-ideas/mc-nws-pa-quinnipiac-poll-president-2020-biden-sanders-trump-20190515-xlapu6dxxnd4ri7anyovtl4htu-story.html

[Kapture1]

For those who are watching GOT, how many have read the books too?

seen the series 4 times, reading books now. Almost done with the 1st

[Kapture1]

Quinnipiac, who is regarded as one of the better pollsters out there, released a poll today showing PA voters choosing Biden 53-42 over Trump. Maybe more amazing is that among voters 65 or older, Biden beat Trump 58% to 38%.

Pretty much the only Dem candidate Trump was predicted to beat in PA was Talent's boy Beto.

https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylva...htu-story.html

fuck, I'm not worried. Have you heard Biden speak? serious, since announcing, he sounds like.. well like a 76 year old. Old and tired. Trump is almost the same age, but he can run circles around Joe. I'm not worried about Biden

[Dr. Strangelove]

seen the series 4 times, reading books now. Almost done with the 1st

Ok. Books 1 & 2 are faithfully portrayed on the show. From Book 3 on be prepared for some differences, mostly for the better.

Book 3 is awesome.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump feels Bolton is dragging him towards a war he doesn't want

I'll give Trump a standing ovation if he fires Bolton via tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-frustrated-by-advisers-is-not-convinced-the-time-is-right-to-attack-iran/2019/05/15/bbf5835e-1fbf-4035-a744-12799213e824_story.html?utm_term=.2fa87d5ed2c2

[Jeff Buchanan]

Trump feels Bolton is dragging him towards a war he doesn't want

I'll give Trump a standing ovation if he fires Bolton via tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.2fa87d5ed2c2

Look, this is all great theater.

I've offered a .pdf summary of the 2018 National Defense Posture that puts the current circumstances between Iran and the US into context. Economic pressure and preparedness for any Iranian military action - symmetric or asymmetric - is entirely within the scope of actions in that document. I seriously doubt that Bolton and Pompeo are rogue actors or that there are these kinds of disagreements between Trump, Bolton and Pompeo that are suggested in the WAPO article. Note that all of the speculation of such disagreements are entirely from second and third hand sources.

I followed the release of media reports yesterday that the usual suspects were raising concerns that what is going on with Iran right now closely parallels the build up to the Invasion of Iraq by Bush II in that the manipulation of intelligence in this circumstance is remarkable similar. Well, I have no doubt that Bush II involved the US in a military adventure in Iraq by lying his ass off or having his people lye their asses off. So, I understand the concern. I think it is misplaced in this case.

I'd speculate that the British General's public statements about the lack of intelligence to support US claims of increased threats to US forces in the ME from Iran or Iranian proxies came straight from the EU governing bodies who have a vested interest in maintaining the current Iran nuke deal and continuing to assuage the Mullahs. Typical ...... let alone completely wrong headed.

That the Europeans are "raising alarm bells" over Trump's ME policies are, what, a shocking surprise? Fuck them. If you want to continue to coddle the Palestinians, their endless complaining and 4 decades of failed ME policy that has tried to settle the unsettleable, fine. If you believe the Iranian government is acting in good faith with regard to denuclearization and ME peace and stability, join the crowd of ill-informed unicorns blowing rainbows out their asses.

The press has since the beginning of the Trump presidency tried to paint a picture of disarray within the WH. Yet, both foreign and economic policy initiatives have, IMO, been remarkably consistent....... and, it would seem either outright successful or TBD. One may not agree with the entirety of the Trump administration's foreign policy but scrapping an unverifiable treaty to put Iran on a path to denuclearization and challenging Iran to renegotiate a treaty that is verifiable is right u[p there on my list of appropriate US ME policy.

....... and that's not to mention Iran's destabilizing activities it undertakes with it's proxy militias in Iraq and unrelenting support of Hamas whose goal is the destruction of Israel. People who are working to undermine US ME policy by this constant mischaracterization of how it is being implemented and the actions of the principals implementing it are giving succor to the Iranian regime whose fundamental vision of the world order is diametrically opposed to that of the US.

[Jeff Buchanan]

minusculeminuscule.

[iam416]

WTF? Buchanan goes back to back with sensible posts. Seriously, WTF?

[Jeff Buchanan]

In other emerging news of importance .........

Boeing is fucked.

The 737 Max may fly again but it's becoming pretty obvious that they ignored pointed complaints about the 737 Max's flight characteristics and those aircraft equipped with MACS coming from informed sources, like pilots themselves.

I'll admit that I thought aircrews involved in the LionAir and Ethiopian Airlines may have been poorly trained or uninformed about MACS. I no longer think that is the case. I think Boeing, having adequate opportunity to address aircrew complaints about this system, ignored them and should be held accountable for that.

I've listened to some of the testimony of Boeing officials called to congress to explain management's approach to the design of the 737 Max aircraft and computer changes to control systems implemented, mostly without letting companies purchasing these aircraft know about them, to overcome changes in the aircraft's center of gravity and attendant flight characteristics. It sounds mealy-mouthed and certainly doesn't convince me that they gave a rat's ass about what pilots, outside of Boeing, were telling them about it.

If companies operating this aircraft had known about them they undoubtedly would have passed them on to aircrew in company training programs and flight manuals. Certainly, there is going to be monetary damage done to Boeing in the form of liability from law suits but the bigger issue is the loss of confidence in Boeing itself. Good for other aircraft manufacturers like Airbus. Terrible for Boeing and the US commercial aircraft industry.