Sylvia: lol, I definitely think there is a "crowd size" problem, but Trump is a bully and it would seem more in line with that to attack someone less than his own size.. that is why I think this is more calculated (ha!) posturing.
Posts by bohm
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67Japan On High Alert
by snowbird inmy g'daughter and her hubby are stationed in okinawa.. i talked with her a few hours earlier today, and she stated they're preparing for the worst.. young people are remarkably resilient, aren't they?.
sylvia.
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67
Japan On High Alert
by snowbird inmy g'daughter and her hubby are stationed in okinawa.. i talked with her a few hours earlier today, and she stated they're preparing for the worst.. young people are remarkably resilient, aren't they?.
sylvia.
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bohm
Can someone explain why this is happening? NK has been blowing up nukes and shooting missiles for years, so what has changed that require military intervention?
This smells an awful lot like another Trump-orchestrated distraction. A very dangerous one, but I bet it will blow over soon.
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25
A baffling physics question
by FatFreek 2005 infor several weeks i've been treating myself to a hot chocolate milk (well, soymilk) before bedtime.
some 16 oz soymilk which i heat on high in our microwave oven.
this is just enough time where the liquid begins to bubble along the top edge.. i then take it out of the microwave and place it on my kitchen gram scale, stir it good enough to redistribute the heat, then reset the scale to zero grams.. next, i squeeze in the hershey's sytup, "special dark mildly sweet chocolate" (fat free) into the warmed soymilk till the scale reads some 30 grams.
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bohm
It is possible a small amount of milk gets lost on the spoon + boiling but I am not sure that can account for the full effect. I think what you are experiencing is that the scale is slightly broken such that it change measurement after being pressed/depressed.
Try this:
After you have applied Syrup to the milk and stirred (scale reads 30 grams), remove cup and place an empty cup on the scale (the calibration cup). Fill the empty cup with cold water till it reads 30 grams again. Interexchange the two cups a couple of times and ensure the scale reads 30 grams every time.
Place the calibration cup on the counter and repeat the experiment while ensuring the calibration cup reads 30 grams every time. If at the end of the experiment your microwaved cup reads 26 grams, and the calibration is 30, something is up!
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
LUHE:
What do you think Putins objective in Syria is? Do you think Putin is interested in stopping the refugee crisis?
I am asking because for the past several months you have been closely aligned with the official Kremlin line on Syria, i.e. that Assad is the only alternative to ISIS in Syria, that the Russian intervention is about combatting ISIS, that US lead efforts were failing and not accomplishing anything before the Russian intervention, etc. etc.
Regarding my theory I posted yesterday that the gas attack was sanctioned by Moskow as a provocation against the US:
the following scenario appears very plausible:
Russia sell top-of-the line Air-defence systems to Syrian army (meanwhile ISIS has no air-defence), Russian airforce ensures coalition efforts to defeat ISIS/Assad fails, Russia watch passively as Syria use gas against civilian population however by previous moves, as well as by stationing troops requiring US to warn RU who will warn Syria, it has ensured US have few real options to respond, none which will meaningfully affect Assad...
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
LUHE:
Okay so you believe that we can't know who carried out the attacks, but it is still right to attack Assad for carrying out the attacks?
Lol.
Either we know Assad did it or he didn't. If he did it there is a reason for considering a military strategy, if he didn't no such reason. It's like saying: I don't know if he is guilty or murder, but it is good he is in jail for life. It does not make sense.
Then Trump did what Obama failed to do - enforce his predecessor's red lines.
Can you explain what that red line is?
"We will warn you and damage an airfield...somewhat!"
59 cruise missiles won't change anything. It never did.
Fighting against Assad and ISIS and hoping moderate rebels will make some kind of democratic state strikes me as unrealistic.
So the "strategy" is attacks which are designed not to remove (or weaken) Assad, or even prevent him from carrying out further chemical weapons attacks.
so re Assad vs Islamists, Assad is the lesser of the two evils there.
Russia approves of this framing of the situation in Syria.
Got it: Bomb Assad, with the goal of not accomplishing anything, for something you don't know if he did, with the goal of not accomplishing anything of lasting importance because we want Assad to be there. Presumably, bombing him a bit will make him a more reasonable partner later.
Now you lay out your position
I think Syria is lost, partly due to Obamas failure to confront Russia, which was born out of a political climate in the US where Russias involvement in the conflict was mis-understood and mis-represented -- what should be done now is to cut the losses, identify lessons and prevent a similar thing from happening elsewhere, most importantly to understand that Russia fought a proxy war with the US in Syria and won.
The most important lesson to be learned is to identify what Russia is likely trying to accomplish. Russia has been selling modern S400 anti-air systems to the Assad regime. Why do you think Assad wish to buy modern anti-air systems when the Islamic state does not have any airplanes and the regime's economy is likely stretched to the breaking point?
The ONLY party hostile to the Assad regime interested in flying aircraft over Syria is the US, and so Russia is selling these systems with the purpose of shooting down US airplanes. I think it is very clear that Russia is hoping to pull the US further into a proxy war over Syria where US aircrafts are potentially shot down.. with Russian military stationed across Syria such a proxy war would likely be unwinnable at this point given Russias airforce turned the tide against the rebels the past year (remember this was the moves you were applauding).
It takes little imagination to go from that view to an answer as to why Assad would risk a gas attack: Why not? What is the US going to do? Limited military intervention if this type, with a warning, will only strengthen the Assad/Putin bond and give Russia a better negotiation position. Remember Putin is ready to throw Assad under the bus any moment if it means lifting sanctions.
You asked me what should be done. I can't answer that exactly since I am not a military strategist and I do not know what is feasible at this point. I can say that the first thing that should be done is to develop a plan which any military intervention should be a component of; dropping 59 cruice missiles is not part of any plan I know.
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
SBF: At least with the book study, we don't have to begin with the discussion with an argument over whether it might not have been dropped at all.
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
LUHE: Okay let me see if I understand you right: Your position is that
- We don't know who made the gas attack, or even if it was some kind of accident
- Yet Trump is very right to attack Assad for the gas attacks
- Assad is a very bad person and war criminal...
- ...who we should work with...
- ...so the goal of the attacks is not to remove or severely weaken Assad...
- ...but rather to warn him in advance and blow up a few broken airplanes and other equipment he did not remove
- this will not remove Assad, or prevent him from carrying out more attacks (which we don't know if he did), but it is still A Very Good Thing
Did I understand you correctly?
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
Simon: First, we need to know whether gas was definitely used, who used it and who supplied it
There is a lot of misinformation and propaganda making the rounds. Russian propaganda claims it is the rebels/nothing happened, Iran that it is the jews... I believe the evidence is quite strong Assad did it. Even if you simply think about who has the means and that is what Pentagon believes as well, presumably operating from much better sources than we have.
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
While I admire Trump for actually doing the right thing in this instance and standing up to Assad & Putin, I'm not so sure it will be good in the long term. I'll wait and see.
For months I have explained Russia was supporting Assad in fighting the western-backed insurgents. This support has extended to bombing their positions by the Russian air force. You have come back with the tired old line that "it is either Assad or ISIS" and therefore this is okay.
Now Assad is using weapons of mass destruction and ... now it is good to bomb Assad?
Was is your position? do we keep Assad or support the forces who are trying to remove him (in this case, the rebels backed by the international coalition)
Is your position we should bomb Assad a bit, but not so much it really threatens his regime?
If you maintain the best course of action is to support Assad, as you have said previously, what good does it do to make a few potholes in an airport?
In the meantime, well done to Trump for showing some guts and straightforwardly standing up to Assad & Putin by striking a Syrian base. I'm sure you agree.
Trump is not showing "guts". He did a 180 (see the tweets I posted) because it was convenient, not because anything changed about the situation.
Obama dropped 12000 bombs on Syria the past years and tried to meaningfully remove or weaken Assad all while Trump was crying this was meaningless, now all of a sudden he made a single airport half-operational and it is treated like D-day. In reality, 60 pieces of ordinance don't change anything.
It makes a refreshing change from Obama's weak, cowardly actions in Syria
Oh so now you DO support removal of Assad and backing of the insurgents?
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80
President Trump launches missile strike against Syria
by jwleaks inpesident trump authorized the missile strike because “it is in the vital, national security interest of the united states to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons.” .
59 tomahawk missiles were launched from two us navy ships.. russia has condemned the action.. https://youtu.be/4svp3yfneyq.
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bohm
Wow. Wait until this guy hear about Trumps attacks on Syria...
https://wonkette.com/615159/trump-outraged-obama-took-his-advice-and-didnt-bomb-hell-out-of-syria
