The Atlantic: Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz
Uncategorized
75
Posts
51
Posters
2
Views
-
@HighlandLawyer @cstross
I get the feeling that apocalyptic Christian extremism is basically Christianity-as-a-cargo-cult. They have a story of Rapture and Reward that they do not (are not allowed to) understand the deeper meaning of, being literalists. That story tells them that their savior and his kingdom will return after some series of events. Ergo, if they make these events occur, Jesus will come back and give them their due. It can't be a prediction, it has to be an instruction manual. -
@cstross
Part of the Christofacist Revelations cosplay is "The eagle will fall"; it's a death cult, after the wars, plagues, & famine, the ultimate collapse of the USA is part of the plan.@HighlandLawyer @cstross and don't forget the bit about all the Jews being gathered in Jerusalem to convert to Christianity or be killed.
-
Really? None of that is true except the part about values. We aren't talking people with no education or even no knowledge of history. Most of them aren't even especially stupid.
They just aren't as smart as they think they are and they let their prejudices drive their conclusions. Which itself is a special kind of idiocy, I'll concede. But it isn't what you are saying.
@jackwilliambell I think you're right— they're not actual uneducated. But there is a notable disdain for education and particularly knowledge. Like, they think it's not particular relevant. That they're powerful geniuses who can outwit any situation with a little bit of cunning and creativity.
As a result, they're profoundly willfully ignorant.
@ariaflame @cstross -
@HighlandLawyer @cstross
I get the feeling that apocalyptic Christian extremism is basically Christianity-as-a-cargo-cult. They have a story of Rapture and Reward that they do not (are not allowed to) understand the deeper meaning of, being literalists. That story tells them that their savior and his kingdom will return after some series of events. Ergo, if they make these events occur, Jesus will come back and give them their due. It can't be a prediction, it has to be an instruction manual.@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross
I usually describe them as mad cultists trying to complete a spell to summon their god who will then eat the unbelievers first.
-
The level of self delusion and machismo stupidity is darkly fascinating.
https://kyivindependent.com/trump-ukraine-drone-defenses/
"No, we don't need (Ukraine's) help in drone defense," Trump said in the interview. "We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually."
@jorny @cstross the Gulf states know better and are beating a path to Ukraine's door. The Ukrainians opening a drone factory in the UK is an interesting development, perhaps they will fund their war effort by exports of their battle-tested and infinitely more cost-effective weaponry than that produced by the bloated Western Military-Industrial Complexes. Similarly, the US is buying South Korean air defense missiles, just as effective as the Patriot at 1/3 the price.
-
@HighlandLawyer @cstross and don't forget the bit about all the Jews being gathered in Jerusalem to convert to Christianity or be killed.
@fazalmajid @HighlandLawyer They can count me out of that one—ain't converting, ain't going to Israel either.
-
The Atlantic: Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz
In wartime, the enemy always gets a vote.
(These people are deeply unserious. I mean, they *must* be old enough to remember the 1980-88 tanker war and the vital role the Straits of Hormuz played back then, right?)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/hormuz-strait-iran-oil/686365/
-
The Atlantic: Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz
In wartime, the enemy always gets a vote.
(These people are deeply unserious. I mean, they *must* be old enough to remember the 1980-88 tanker war and the vital role the Straits of Hormuz played back then, right?)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/hormuz-strait-iran-oil/686365/
@cstross the article could be half the length of the headline - "because he's a dumbass" - but that doesn't seem like the Atlantic's style.
-
@HighlandLawyer @cstross
I get the feeling that apocalyptic Christian extremism is basically Christianity-as-a-cargo-cult. They have a story of Rapture and Reward that they do not (are not allowed to) understand the deeper meaning of, being literalists. That story tells them that their savior and his kingdom will return after some series of events. Ergo, if they make these events occur, Jesus will come back and give them their due. It can't be a prediction, it has to be an instruction manual.@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross you say chrstianity-as-a-cargo-cult as if it wasn't always a cargo cult
-
The Atlantic: Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz
In wartime, the enemy always gets a vote.
(These people are deeply unserious. I mean, they *must* be old enough to remember the 1980-88 tanker war and the vital role the Straits of Hormuz played back then, right?)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/hormuz-strait-iran-oil/686365/
@cstross “Ukrainians are now working with American forces and those of some of the Gulf States, training them on how to use cheap, effective Ukrainian equipment to take down inexpensive Iranian drones”
I hope they are charging high for the service! For the irony, if nothing else!
-
@HighlandLawyer @cstross
I get the feeling that apocalyptic Christian extremism is basically Christianity-as-a-cargo-cult. They have a story of Rapture and Reward that they do not (are not allowed to) understand the deeper meaning of, being literalists. That story tells them that their savior and his kingdom will return after some series of events. Ergo, if they make these events occur, Jesus will come back and give them their due. It can't be a prediction, it has to be an instruction manual.@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross
they cannot be kicked in the ass hard enough for this bullshit, imo.
-
@HighlandLawyer @cstross
I get the feeling that apocalyptic Christian extremism is basically Christianity-as-a-cargo-cult. They have a story of Rapture and Reward that they do not (are not allowed to) understand the deeper meaning of, being literalists. That story tells them that their savior and his kingdom will return after some series of events. Ergo, if they make these events occur, Jesus will come back and give them their due. It can't be a prediction, it has to be an instruction manual.@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross Civil Rights and the loss of public moral supremacy broke their existing coping mechanisms and sent them overtly nihilistic; anything so depraved as to insist they not be white supremacist in public had to be destroyed.
And of course this narrative splashed everywhere; that the sinful world deserves destruction is a core part of Christian thought. (Not historical doctrine, but thought.) The novelty lies mostly in the ubiquity of craving an apocalypse.
-
@HighlandLawyer @cstross
I get the feeling that apocalyptic Christian extremism is basically Christianity-as-a-cargo-cult. They have a story of Rapture and Reward that they do not (are not allowed to) understand the deeper meaning of, being literalists. That story tells them that their savior and his kingdom will return after some series of events. Ergo, if they make these events occur, Jesus will come back and give them their due. It can't be a prediction, it has to be an instruction manual.@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross
The weird thing is, the number of people who will go to heaven does not include all christians, and the rapture supposedly include the jews being punished for their crimes.So which group of christians do they think will go to heaven? Those who conspired with jews to commit those crimes, or those who didn't?
-
@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross you say chrstianity-as-a-cargo-cult as if it wasn't always a cargo cult
@alexmorse @HighlandLawyer @cstross not allowing themselves to even discuss the meaning of their foundational texts seems like an evolution though. It's not like the whole thing is even pretending to be immutable word-from-God level stuff, collated and fragmentary as it obliviously is. And then getting the description vs. prescription thing wrong feels like a very basic mistake. Very un-master race galaxy brain. About as bad as getting Marxism wrong, bolchevik-style, really.
-
@alexmorse @HighlandLawyer @cstross not allowing themselves to even discuss the meaning of their foundational texts seems like an evolution though. It's not like the whole thing is even pretending to be immutable word-from-God level stuff, collated and fragmentary as it obliviously is. And then getting the description vs. prescription thing wrong feels like a very basic mistake. Very un-master race galaxy brain. About as bad as getting Marxism wrong, bolchevik-style, really.
@alexmorse @HighlandLawyer @cstross (Yes, of course I'm trying to find the most insulting comparison that still works. I hope that was clear when I put them in the same bin as the most gullible of pacific islanders from a century ago.)
-
@alexmorse @HighlandLawyer @cstross (Yes, of course I'm trying to find the most insulting comparison that still works. I hope that was clear when I put them in the same bin as the most gullible of pacific islanders from a century ago.)
@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross I appreciate trying to be maximally insulting in this case
-
@stingraz @HighlandLawyer @cstross
The weird thing is, the number of people who will go to heaven does not include all christians, and the rapture supposedly include the jews being punished for their crimes.So which group of christians do they think will go to heaven? Those who conspired with jews to commit those crimes, or those who didn't?
@leeloo AIUI the Jehovah's Witnesses used to believe only 660,000 folks would go to heaven, and as there were 3 million of them this led to no little paranoia and side-eye action. As there are >16 million Jews, I'd say heaven's full, no Christians need apply to the Rapture.
-
The Atlantic: Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz
In wartime, the enemy always gets a vote.
(These people are deeply unserious. I mean, they *must* be old enough to remember the 1980-88 tanker war and the vital role the Straits of Hormuz played back then, right?)
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/hormuz-strait-iran-oil/686365/
@cstross starting to wonder if the LLM that told them this was all ‘a great idea’ wasn’t told to check back on earlier wars in the region.
-
@jackwilliambell I think you're right— they're not actual uneducated. But there is a notable disdain for education and particularly knowledge. Like, they think it's not particular relevant. That they're powerful geniuses who can outwit any situation with a little bit of cunning and creativity.
As a result, they're profoundly willfully ignorant.
@ariaflame @cstross@Tattie @jackwilliambell @ariaflame @cstross they’ve been exposed to an education of sorts. It doesn’t seem to have taken though. And they’re all fools of the sort who mistake intention with what will happen. (A mindset I find so foreign that I can’t remember the name for it.)
-
@Tattie @jackwilliambell @ariaflame @cstross they’ve been exposed to an education of sorts. It doesn’t seem to have taken though. And they’re all fools of the sort who mistake intention with what will happen. (A mindset I find so foreign that I can’t remember the name for it.)
@Colman let me know if the word comes to you, that sounds useful
@jackwilliambell @ariaflame @cstross
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
-
"You're so abnormal but like youre awesome at it" — someone to me
-
Highlight Marker gal returns
-
Mrs. Granger's storeroom. She has 500-600 quarts of canned food. "You never know what may happen." Yamhill farms. (FSA - Farm Security Administration). Yamhill County, Williamette Valley, Oregon
#Granger #500-600quarts #Yamhill #YamhillCounty #WilliametteValley #Oregon #undefined #photography #DorotheaLange
-
Palestina: nella striscia di gaza si aggrava la situazione umanitaria. raid e nuovi insediamenti in cisgiordania
@anarchia
Ancora morte e distruzione in Palestina, dove nel silenzio mediatico internazionale continua il genocidio del popolo palestinese per mano israeliana. In 24 ore si registrano almeno 6 morti nella Striscia di
-
Ford, Take Note: Classic Pickup Becomes the EV We Want
Ford does sell an electric pickup, but not very many of them. We can’t say for sure, but it’s possible that if the F150 Lightning had the classic cool of [ScottenMotors] 1977 F150 SuperCab conversion they’d have better numbers.
The battery box sits where a V8 used to choke on well-meaning emissions controls.
On Reddit, [Scotten] shares the takeaways from his conversion effort, which involved a custom Tesla-cell battery pack and a new rear axle assembly to house the Tesla SDU (Small Drive Unit). A Large Drive Unit (LDU) would probably fit, but the SDU already puts out 264 HP, which compares rather favourably to the 156 HP this truck’s malaise-era V8 put out stock. The old F-bodies were great trucks in a lot of respects, but even an die-hard ICE enthusiast is probably not going to be sad to see that motor go.Choosing to put the integrated drive unit in the rear axle complicates the build compared to other conversions that re-use the
Before the bed goes on, you can see the new rear axle with the Tesla SPU. There might be room for another, smaller battery under there.
stock transmission and differential, but saves you all the losses associated with that frankly unnecessary powertrain hardware. The takeaway there is to figure out all the mechanical work on the chassis, because the EV stuff is actually the easy part. [Scotten] had the wheels turning a full year before he got the brakes figured out, because even if they’re just the rears and even if there’s regen– you want all the breaks to work on your test drive.With the 100kW power pack, he’s getting about 220 miles of range. From the pictures, it looks like he’s filled up most of the hood space with that battery, but we can’t help but wonder if there’s room under the bed where the gas tank(s) lived to squeeze in more cells for those of us who need to go further.
Sadly the design isn’t open source, but [ScottenMotors] is apparently doing conversions on commission and open to selling kits; you can check that out on their website. In that, he’s following in the series-hybrid footsteps of Edison Motors.
While we respect the hustle to design an all-new rear end in this hack, you don’t even have to pull the internal combustion engine if you want to play on easy mode. You don’t need to be a nanoscience professor like [ScottenMotors] to pull off an electric truck, for the record– [Mr.G]’s high school class did a great job on a kei truck.
Thanks to [JohnU] for the tip!
-
@penryu for me, I have a particular turn on 101, just past Gaviota Beach, which is where Southern California ends and central California starts. The Bay Area/Central California border is at Gilroy. The Bay Area/Northern California border is just north of Ukiah. And from there it just keeps going until Oregon.
-
@evan I'm with you. But despite the "Northern" and "Southern" monikers, this rivalry seems to have very little to do with geography.
-
@penryu oh, I'm sure they are authentic. But from the other direction, they seem laughable. For a Southern Californian, it would be nuts for SoCal to start in San Jose. That's practically in San Francisco! And for a Northern Californian, by the time you get to Ventura, you're *almost* in Los Angeles. It's right there.
