rjshae

I finished off the last series I wanted to watch on HBO/Max,* so I switched over to Apple TV (which has a Roku channel now!). HBO/Max has some really good series (e.g. I enjoyed The Last of Us, Warrior, Banshee, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, and... Gossip Girl 😉), but it's a bit more pricey than Apple (which is an odd thing to say, I suppose). I've been enjoying the Foundation series, which has some amazing sets and a cool story. Man, they must have spend a ton of money on this series. Plus I'm going to enjoy some of the MLS games, particularly the Seattle Sounders. Now for Man C. vs. Arsenal match...

Sadly, harsh despotisms often seem better able to withstand economic pressure than democracies, and the Iranian theocracy just crushed the political resistance. Politically, I think it's also question of how much the economic impact will sway the vote in this year's midterm election. This is an unpopular war with the American electorate, so there will likely be a stronger voter turnout as a result. Redacted could spend the last two years of his term dealing with the fallout.

Iran does have a rail line to China, so it's not like they are completely shut off. But yes it will hurt the Iranian people. It remains to be seen how long this blockade will last, especially given that this is hurting the world's economy.

Researchers Induce Smells With Ultrasound, No Chemical Cartridges Required

So, about that world economy... Europe has ‘maybe 6 weeks of jet fuel left,’ energy agency head warns Just in time for the World cup too.

Naval blockades usually take a long time to work (years) and they put the blockading forces at risk of drone/missile attacks. I suspect what matters though is whether Iran is still able to blockade the straits for other nations. In that case the prices will remain high for the duration. It is benefitting the US somewhat though because we now have a larger potential market for LNG. Hopefully bombing Iranian civilian targets is now off the table.

Well, Redacted gets points for thinking outside the box, outside the building containing the box, and outside the city containing the building. But I'm expecting the plan won't last long before he brain farts another idea.

I'd say the US gov't wants the EU to pay a higher portion of the defense bill, which doesn't happen with a weak EU economy.

That has more to do with right-wing political alignment than with European cohesion. Redacted has been fairly consistent in that regard. I'm not sure that most Americans even know or care.

Frankly, the dude has greater ambitions than just being the worst President in U.S. history. He wants to make sure that future generations remember how colossally bad he was. His place on Mount Rutmore will be assured.

I have this hunch that AI (with human guidance *COUGH*slop cleanup*COUGH*) is not far from being able to convert animated video into live action, so maybe it'll happen anyway.

A song for our times

I need this framed.

Testing suggests Google’s AI Overviews tell millions of lies per hour It took billions of dollars in investments and the latest chip set, but they finally built a machine that can tell more lies than Trump.

Does Trump Suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder? "According to DSM criteria, Donald Trump suffers from narcissistic personality disorder." NPD has high co-morbidity with other mental disorders, so he may well have other issues. At any rate, his lack of empathy (or some other condition) may explain his willingness to threaten and commit war crimes. The question is, what can be done about it? Slobodan Milošević was tried by the International Criminal Court, but I doubt they would be able to bring Redacted to trial while in office. I don't think they can try him in absentia, since he's not hiding. They would need to indict him and issue an arrest warrant, then nab him while out of the country, once he leads office. I guess then he won't be playing golf at St. Andrews.

No they aren't identical, but the same can be said of any two wars. Iran has a larger population, more territory, a (veteran) standing national army with trained officers, and it is likely to receive aid from Russia and China. Long term, US casualties are likely to be higher in an invasion and partial occupation of Iran. It will also have more pronounced economic impacts. Finally, the Afghan War had the support of the US population; this one does not. The big question is how long would an invasion force have to remain?

The invasion of Afghanistan went well at first.

It's been a roller coaster economy; this followed a dismal February. Most of the jobs gains were in health care and social assistance, while construction was aided by good weather. Also, we haven't seen the impact of the Gulf war yet, which may be a long term drag on the economy. The continually rising prices will likely strengthen unions and lead to more strikes over wage increases.

Well that explains it. Apparently Hegseth pushed out Gen. Randy George because the latter refused to remove two black and two female officers from the list of candidate one-star generals. The remaining officers are all white males. Yes, we still live in the 18th century.

I've been half expecting that Redacted's flailing decision making would hasten America's decline, and it's starting to look like that is happening. The US-Israel war on Iran is accelerating de-dollarization and America’s decline It's the ultimate irony as MAGA gradually sinks the nation. Is the USA becoming the Greece to China's burgeoning (Roman) empire?

They just fired the Chief of Staff, presumably for not waving the right magic wand. Bondi seemed pretty loyalist in her behavior, so once again Redacted expects loyalty but doesn't give it.

Reportedly, tickets for the final are now going for 11,000 USD each. Yeesh. Glad it'll all be televised.

It occurred to me that maybe it's an April Fool's joke? But then every day is April 1st under Redacted, so how can you tell? 🥳

Trump says U.S. strongly considering NATO exit, Telegraph newspaper says Putin must be immensely pleased; the President he helped get elected is destroying the greatest potential threat to Russia.

Yep. That should have been apparent long ago. But I think the technology is only just reaching the point where it is economically valid to implement renewable energy use on a widespread basis. Redacted's attempt to hold the US back on this is foolish. The energy transformation is going to happen, and the US risks falling behind badly.