Think the $37.5B Chump says the war cost counts all the destruction of hardware & buildings on the FSoA bases?  How much do you think it would cost to rebuild?  Now that it's obvious we can't defend them, it's just flushing money down the toilet.

On the other hand, without the bases how does the FSoA protect it's Oil interests?  Basically, it becomes still more dependent on Israel as the only Regional country from which to launch the Death from Above and can fairly reliably keep FSoA grunts supplied with food, soap and ammo, at lest as long as the Eurotrash are still on the same side.

Once the FSoA does pull back, how long before the countries surrounding Israel gang up to try and even the score in the Extermination game?  They have a lot of catching up to do.  Or else maybe the Sunnis & the Shiites decide to settle once and for all who has the right interpretation of the Koran?  Either way, the amount of Oil flowing out of the region will probably be pretty thin.

So far with Hormuz, only about 20% of global oil trade has been impacted.  What happens when that percentage creeps up to 30 or 40%?

The slow motion train wreck still rolling along.



RE

Quote from: TDoS on Jun 01, 2026, 04:45 PM

Quote from: Haniel on May 27, 2026, 06:36 PMEvening dudes. Been a while.

What did I miss? 

THE END!!!!

Didn't you notice?

Seemed more like a reload form last good copy. 

Sorry, I reset my timeline so many times, I have no clue what the 2016-2022 timeline finished off with. 

In the end it does not matter, cool folks are still out there, narrating the collapse in terms that will resonate.

Quote from: Haniel on Aug 28, 2026, 07:46 PMIn the end it does not matter, cool folks are still out there, narrating the collapse in terms that will resonate.

At least in short form current events commentary, anyhow.

Far as TDoS is concerned, the ongoing global mayhem doesn't fit his criteria for collapse.  We need to make it down to Cuba or Puerto Rico level before  he'll recognize it.  Not even sure that would be enough for him.

Drop by more often.  It's slow around here.

RE

Testing Trackback functionality from the new mobile (phone) view.  It works.  If an article has a trackback it will link to the post in the Diner that created the article card.  The above and below articles when viewed on a phone link to this post.  From which the articles can be viewed.  If an article does not have a Trackback the article is loaded without the extra step of viewing the Diner post first.


More on the criminal war.

Latest Escalations in West Asia: Iran Strikes US and UAE Bases Following Larak Island Raid
In an address detailing the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Reason to Resist host Demetri Lceris reported on a sharp escalation in hostilities between the United States, its regional allies, and Iran. The latest flare-up follows a US strike on Iranian launchers on Larak Island, prompting retaliatory ballistic missile and drone attacks by Iran against US military installations in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

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The Larak Island Strike and Regional Retaliation

According to a US official, United States forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island after observing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces preparing to load rockets with sea mines intended for the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian President Masoud Peshkin denounced the attack via the FARS news agency, stating that while Iran is not seeking war, it will not remain passive in the face of aggression and will deliver a decisive response to aggressors.

In retaliation, the Iranian military launched a major missile and drone barrage:

• Attacks in Jordan: Iranian forces targeted two US military bases in Jordan—Muwaffaq Salti Air Base (referred to as Malik Hussein) and another facility at Al-Azarak—aiming at technical infrastructure, repair facilities, and barracks. Military analyst Babak Tak reported that US forces in Jordan expended between 96 and 128 MIM-104F Patriot PAC-3 interceptors against 32 incoming Iranian ballistic missiles.
• Attacks in the UAE: Iran published video evidence showing the launch of numerous drones toward the Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. While the UAE Ministry of Defense initially denied attacks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs later condemned a hostile drone attack, stating that a single drone was intercepted over territorial waters.

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Maritime Disruptions and Economic Fallout

The conflict has severely disrupted commercial shipping and global energy markets:

• Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea Incidents: Data from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) documented multiple recent incidents, including a tanker struck near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, on August 24, another near Ash Shisha, Oman, on the same day, and subsequent projectile strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on August 26 and August 29.
• Super Tanker Hit: Iranian media outlet Tasnim reported that a super tanker caught fire after colliding with two sea mines while attempting to transit the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Commodity Prices: Following the incidents, Brent crude oil prices rose nearly 4% to $91.34 per barrel, remaining approximately 50% higher than levels at the beginning of 2026. Other commodities, including sulfur, have experienced dramatic price spikes, threatening prolonged damage to the global economy.

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Strain on the United States Military

Internal Pentagon documents and recent reporting from The Guardian and The Washington Post reveal mounting financial and operational pressure on the US armed forces:

• Financial Strain: According to Guardian reports citing leaked documents and official interviews, the war has forced the US Navy to raid payroll accounts and shift funds to cover combat operations and depleted munition stockpiles, stretching its $300 billion annual budget thin.
• Leadership Warnings: An August 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense orders book highlighted that the heads of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, alongside regional combatant commanders, explicitly warned Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that prolonging large-scale operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks compromising defense capabilities globally and at the US homeland.
• Deployment Churn: The conflict continues to demand continuous carrier strike group rotations, with the USS Theodore Roosevelt departing San Diego for a seven-month deployment to the US Central Command region to relieve the USS George Washington.

Twenty missiles means people died.  That's what you get for bombing a wedding in Iran.  What goes around comes around.  Trump gets his nightly bomb porn and Americans die.  For Trump it's a double rush.

Quote from: K-Dog on Sep 02, 2026, 07:36 PMTwenty missiles means people died.  That's what you get for bombing a wedding in Iran.  What goes around comes around.  Trump gets his nightly bomb porn and Americans die.  For Trump it's a double rush.

I presume that this statement displays your disgust with bombings and American power projection regardless of which head of which party happens to be doing the bombing?
 
As something that has taken place under all sorts of administrations, maybe this kind of "bomb here, bomb there, bomb where we want" isn't a political thing, but is just.....American? One of those quirks of how we think..... 'MURIKA! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT! BOMBS AWAY BECAUSE WE CAN!!!

One party just makes it easier to see, and blame, and has a higher propensity for it than another. Which party was the Vietnam gang? Oh yeah! The other guys! And which party ended that debacle? Oh yeah, the other guys! Maybe party doesn't even matter?

Seems to me that both are just two faces of the same coin at the end of the day. And the really amazing thing is Americans are so slack jawed silly and busy cheering for their favorite team that they don't even know that the team they cheer for is backed by the same oligarchs who happily switch sides based on who promises to do them the most favors when in office.

Anyone want to lay odds that if a new party comes around (Democratic Socialism perhaps being the local favorite), takes over, that the game would remain the same? Becuse the American political system is no longer about the teams themselves, as they are just  distraction funded by the corporate interests?

Of course, folks will say whatever new team comes along ISN'T this way, them being new and different and all. But as long as we are talking about 'MURICA!, odds are, same old same old.

QuoteI presume that this statement displays your disgust with bombings and American power projection regardless of which head of which party happens to be doing the bombing?

True that.  And people not giving a shit that we have a serial killer running the country only turns up my disgust knob.

It has always been the position of the Diner that the entire Political System of the FSoA is thoroughly corrupt and that the political parties, the politicians and elections are Window Dressing designed to give the Illusion the general population controls how the country is governed, when in fact the Real Power is held by a small minority of people who run the banking system, large corporations and hedge funds and who historically have used the FSoA Military as the Enforcement Arm of the Global Racket known as "Capitalism".







Our current POTUS main contribution to the long and sordid history of Capitalism in the FSoA has been to take Corruption to hitherto unimaginable levels and to openly flout the law so brazenly that even the Robber Barrons of the 19th Century have been put to shame.  The Repugnant Party has been complicit in this, enabling wholesale theft while completely ignoring even the Window Dressing of Democratic Ideals and moral leadership.

The systemic corruption runs so deep in both parties there is NO HOPE that we can ever find our way to what once were held as the ideals of what the country was founded on, though never actually were put into practice.  Only Revolution and the complete destruction of our current political and economic systems and rebuilding from scratch could right the ship, but until the current system crashes from within, this won't happen.  Control over the instruments of repression and propaganda are too tightly held by the power elite for that to happen.  Until it does, we are Doomed to further stupid wars which will enrich a few while accelerating the suffering of the many.

RE

Quote from: K-Dog on Sep 03, 2026, 06:23 AM

QuoteI presume that this statement displays your disgust with bombings and American power projection regardless of which head of which party happens to be doing the bombing?

True that.  And people not giving a shit that we have a serial killer running the country only turns up my disgust knob.

Well, we've had serial killers doing it before, maybe it is just oneof those oldschool American traditions? Which Presidents knocked off the most Natives do you think? Andrew Jackson maybe? Founder and member of the modern Democratic Party that one.

Quote from: REIt has always been the position of the Diner that the entire Political System of the FSoA is thoroughly corrupt and that the political parties, the politicians and elections are Window Dressing designed to give the Illusion the general population controls how the country is governed...

When you say it like that it just gives me the SHIVERS on its definitive perspective on the matter. Visions of Oceania abound.

Quote from: TDoS on Sep 03, 2026, 08:12 AM

Quote from: REIt has always been the position of the Diner that the entire Political System of the FSoA is thoroughly corrupt and that the political parties, the politicians and elections are Window Dressing designed to give the Illusion the general population controls how the country is governed...

When you say it like that it just gives me the SHIVERS on its definitive perspective on the matter. Visions of Oceania abound.

Which region?

Regions of Oceania

Australasia: Includes Australia and New Zealand.

Melanesia: Includes Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands.

Micronesia: Includes Guam, Kiribati, and Palau.

Polynesia: Includes Samoa, Tonga, and Hawaii.

RE

Quote from: TDoS on Sep 03, 2026, 08:03 AMWell, we've had serial killers doing it before, maybe it is just oneof those oldschool American traditions? Which Presidents knocked off the most Natives do you think? Andrew Jackson maybe? Founder and member of the modern Democratic Party that one.

There is a definite rhyme between Jackson and Trump.  My brain tries to compare them frequently to find a link.  I want to trurn it off.  But while both are evil's product of messed up early years, Jackson was not an incompetent fool as Trump certainly is.  And with Trump, derangement has more of a biological basis.

QuoteAt this moment, for example, in 1984 (if it was 1984), Oceania was at war with Eurasia and in alliance with Eastasia. In no public or private utterance was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines. Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge which he happened to possess because his memory was not satisfactorily under control.

He means this Oceania

Quote from: TDoS on Sep 03, 2026, 08:03 AM

Quote from: K-Dog on Sep 03, 2026, 06:23 AM

QuoteI presume that this statement displays your disgust with bombings and American power projection regardless of which head of which party happens to be doing the bombing?

True that.  And people not giving a shit that we have a serial killer running the country only turns up my disgust knob.

Well, we've had serial killers doing it before, maybe it is just oneof those oldschool American traditions? Which Presidents knocked off the most Natives do you think? Andrew Jackson maybe? Founder and member of the modern Democratic Party that one.

As I pointed out, which political party they come from is generally irrelevant, since they don't run the real show anyhow.  The Democrats have better ideals though, particularly the Democratic Socialists.  They just don't live up to the ideals.  The Repugnants are morally bankrupt, and live up to that.

RE