@gripnoir
Grip, a talking raven, lived at the Dickens' home and inspired a secondary character in "Barnaby Rudge" as an exuberant force for discernment. Me? Happy amateur pianist, healthcare advocate, and retired accountant.
🚨🚨Major story of today: Nearly seven months ago, #Ukraine tried to sell the US their battle-proven technology for downing Iranian-made attack drones but #Trump admin dismissed the Ukrainians, only to reverse course last week because of heavy drone strikes from #Iran.🧵
www.axios.com/2026/03/10/u...
One thing the U.S. seems to excel at is radicalizing folks; likewise social media.
Ah. I interpret the phrase as highly biased reporting. Ditto Gulf of America and whatnot.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb mentoined this in "The Black Swan". We are way too leveraged on the grid.
We did a lot in the late '70s to reverse environmental damage - and then Reagan was elected.
Maybe Trump is going for the Grand Slam: remembered in history as the destroyer of the greatest empire to date?
"Not since Adolf Hitler blew his brains out in a bunker beneath the garden of the German Reich Chancellery on April 30, 1945, have the lives of so many people around the world been so buffeted by the psychosis of a single man." davidrothkopf.substack.com/p/living-in-...
We don't know that the "ovens" haven't already been used. Transparency lacking as to the well being of those in #DHS custody; families usually cannot get info. The #CECOT exercise isn't reassuring; Mr. Abrego-Garcia's experience even less so.
Sigh. Transferring people and not timely updating the ICE detainee locator or telling family or lawyers where they are has long been a tactic of enforced disappearance used by DHS to hinder the filing of habeas petitions to defend rights. This is just one recent example: apple.news/AhOtuCu2FTby...
The Situation, March 6, 2026
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
“A simplistic pursuit of national interest can fail catastrophically,” writes Michael O’Hanlon. “What may have worked for the first half of the country’s history—ethics aside—did not work thereafter, and it is unlikely to begin working now.”
GOAL As in the case of American airstrikes against Iran, the goal of this policy option would be to destroy key Iranian nuclear facilities in the hope that do- ing so would significantly delay Iran's acquisition of an indigenous nuclear weapons capability. However, in this case, an added element could be that the United States would encourage-and perhaps even assist the Israelis in conducting the strikes themselves, in the expectation that both international criticism and Iranian retali- ation would be deflected away from the United States and onto Israel. The logic behind this ap- proach is that allowing Israel to mount the air- strikes, rather than the United States, provides a way out of the dilemma described in the previ- ous chapter, whereby American airstrikes against Iran could become self-defeating because they would undermine every other American initia- tive in the Middle East, an outcome exactly the opposite of what a new Iran policy is meant to If the United mount airstri could happen than a simila to have done such a strike already based Israel might b of weeks or ev and intelligen over, since Is (or even int for the opera less motivate before attacki fast to imple American lea However, as airstrikes the this policy. A
THE SABAN CENTER for MIDDLE EAST POLICY at THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION ANALYSIS PAPER Number 20, June 2009 WHICH PATH TO PERSIA? OPTIONS FOR A NEW AMERICAN STRATEGY TOWARD IRAN KENNETH M. POLLACK DANIEL L. BYMAN MARTIN INDYK SUZANNE MALONEY MICHAEL E. O'HANLON BRUCE RIEDEL TE
If you see ppl STILL claiming that we are doing this *for* Israel, show them US policy paper 2009, "Path to Persia", it's spelled out tHE US will use proxy terror colony Israel, to deflect blame & draw US into war.
LIKE NAZI UKRAINE EVERY ETHNO-NATIONALIST "ALLY" IS AN EXPENDABLE TOOL FOR EMPIRE.
@maggiehelwig.bsky.social Started reading "Encampment" last night. Your 1st sermon on loving one's brothers, not only those that love you back, but the haters and vicious as well, has been on my mind all day - how I'm not feeling loving thoughts to those who behave in a way I detest... #gratitude
Selective Christianity? Or were they praying in a foreign tongue? (Ooooh.) Or - "Just shut up because we said so and if you don't we'll use lethal force to make you stop." Actually, Nicole and Alex didn't even get that warning, lame as it is.
“I do think that Christian nationalism—which is an oxymoron, really—has developed as an alternative to Christianity...It’s actually pagan, it’s non-Christian.” ~ The Rev. Michael Coren, an author and pastoral associate at St. Luke Burlington, Ont.
A screenshot of a guide detailing items you should bring to a protest, including: cell phone (possible a burner) cash protest stole cell phone power bank sharpie (to write important info on your body) snacks water (for hydration and first aid) plastic bags for wet/sticky objects extra t-shirt backpack to carry everything first aid kit
The Episcopal Church has put together a very impressive toolkit for protesting, including tips for clergy in particular. Truly inspiring. This is how Christians ought to be engaging the moment.
www.episcopalchurch.org/protesting-f...
Colorado borders Kansas. Here is a Colorado non-profit that helps trans people relocate, Trans Continental Pipeline.
Please share.
tcpipeline.org
"The White House downplayed reports that Russia was sharing intelligence with Iran about U.S. targets in the region."
apnews.com/article/trum...
Senator Duckworth holds Rev. Jesse Jackson’s hand during the Juneteenth March for Us parade in Chicago in 2021.
We shall not see the likes of the great Reverend Jesse Jackson again. He leaves us with a legacy our state will never forget.
Rest in my power, my friend.
Highland Park is installing ICE warning sirens. An excellent idea and goddamn I’m sick of the necessity.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Great interview on David Frum's show with Tom Nichols, Atlantic writer AND former Professor of Strategy at the US Naval War College -- some pitfalls of the Iranian conflict many might not consider!
open.spotify.com/episode/3Wr9...
Success made the producers sloppy, maybe?
Great that a man of your stature rather belatedly came to this conclusion.
This administration is opening the gates of hell.
From maintenance backlogs to drone swarms, the Navy’s latest strategy confronts hard truths about readiness and risk. Writing the plan was the easy part.
Beyond idiotic to initiate armed conflict with scarce munitions. More like reckless. And guess who will pay?
Most Senate Republicans are wimpering ninnies.
In Ukraine, the war is fought on more than one front. This week’s arguments show how much is at stake beyond the battlefield.
Doesn't take a genius to figure out this Iranian defensive strategy. #StraitOfHormuz
