On 4/21/2026 at 2:40 AM, Trurl said:

How do you know there is no credible threat? The media? Then it is psychological warfare.

Trump’s reputation makes you think he is just bombing Iran to make America great again.

I think it is strategic. Why let Iran build weapons till they are a significant threat? And what if you could reach a peaceful Iran? American Iranians were backing Trump.

I know how the war looks and I don’t have access to military intelligence, but I don’t think Trump would start a war that would hurt the economy and kill thousands for no reason.

Your half right, but only if you live in a strange mash up of the Marvell universe and South Park, in which Trump would be capitan specious, his kryptonite is paint and corners... 🤔

1 hour ago, MigL said:

I can't wait for November ...

The only thing that will change is the volume and definition of an executive order.

9 hours ago, MigL said:

He's now paying back, to American companies ( but not to the consumers/taxpayers whose cost of living those compabies increased ) the illegal profits made by his tariffs.
I thought the tariffs were paid by other countries, and were not a tax on the American idiots who voted for him.

I can't wait for November ...

Saw quite a good aphorism on another forum:

MAGA are people with Stockholm Syndrome who don’t know where Stockholm is.

12 hours ago, MigL said:

I can't wait for November ...

I have some dread for that. Even in the best case scenario, it won't wash everything away. There will be a higher chance of some corrections, but the fissures are so larger, I don't see any mending happening.

OTOH, things could go sideways. And what does that tell you then?

2 hours ago, exchemist said:

MAGA are people with Stockholm Syndrome who don’t know where Stockholm is.

Or what syndromes are. Though to be fair, I think it is something else. Those that are MAGA and are willing to suffer, seem to be able to endure that, as long as someone else they don't like suffers more. At this point, I have very hard time trying to see them as victims.

On 4/21/2026 at 9:15 PM, TheVat said:

Don't forget the General who had a Steinway Grand purchased for his house. Our national security depends on generals whose brains don't turn to MaltoMeal from exposure to mediocre keyboards or Ikea furniture. One dimly remembers the use it or lose it buying spree that DoD goes on every September was supposed to be the kind of waste that Turnip and the Musk Ox were going to trim. All budget money leftovers at FY end were going to be shoveled back into the Treasury - that, combined with tariffs and gifts from Qatar and other caring friends, plus the promised policy of stringent isolationism and no free rides for those creepy parasitic starving children in Africa would buy down the national debt in a few years!

IMO a man that feels launching a brand new car into orbit to be a worthwhile use of resources is never going to find any significant waste, fraud or abuse

13 hours ago, MigL said:

He's now paying back, to American companies ( but not to the consumers/taxpayers whose cost of living those compabies increased ) the illegal profits made by his tariffs.
I thought the tariffs were paid by other countries, and were not a tax on the American idiots who voted for him.

I can't wait for November ...

Sometimes I wonder if the tariffs weren't done in the manner they were in order to pad corporate profits. While I don't think Mr Trump is the smartest guy in the world, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that there was a good chance they would be found to be illegal and, if so, money (belatedly) returned and impossible to sort out fairly.

The US Navy Secretary John Phelan has been fired by Peter Hegseth. His departure will be “effective immediately” according to a social media post by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell on Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9ml02g5k7o

Phelan is the latest high-ranking military leader to leave the administration in recent months. His departure comes amid the US-Israel war with Iran and the continued US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz; and his departure also comes just weeks after US Defence secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down from his post along with General David Hodne and Major General William Green.

Since entering the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, including the chief of naval operations and the Air Force's vice chief of staff.

No reason was given for Phelan’s abrupt dismissal, but he appears to have fallen foul of Pete Hegseth’s deputy defence secretary Stephen Feinberg over future shipbuilding plans, following President Trump’s announcement last December that the US would commission a new series of heavily armed Navy "battleships" named after himself .

2 hours ago, toucana said:

The US Navy Secretary John Phelan has been fired by Peter Hegseth. His departure will be “effective immediately” according to a social media post by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell on Wednesday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9ml02g5k7o

Phelan is the latest high-ranking military leader to leave the administration in recent months. His departure comes amid the US-Israel war with Iran and the continued US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz; and his departure also comes just weeks after US Defence secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Randy George to step down from his post along with General David Hodne and Major General William Green.

Since entering the Pentagon, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, including the chief of naval operations and the Air Force's vice chief of staff.

No reason was given for Phelan’s abrupt dismissal, but he appears to have fallen foul of Pete Hegseth’s deputy defence secretary Stephen Feinberg over future shipbuilding plans, following President Trump’s announcement last December that the US would commission a new series of heavily armed Navy "battleships" named after himself .

According to Wiki, Hegseth thinks (probably rightly and along with the rest of the Pentagon) that these Trump Class battleships are an idiotic distraction, whereas Phelan, who is thought to be particularly close to Trump, is a great proponent of them. (I wonder if it may even have been Phelan who suggested the idea of them to Trump, as a way to curry favour.)

It makes me wonder if Hegseth has fired Phelan before Phelan can whisper in Trump's ear and get Hegseth fired! So a Kremlin-style struggle so that Stalin executes not you but the other guy. But if Phelan is that close to Trump, firing him is taking a risk.......

12 hours ago, npts2020 said:

Sometimes I wonder if the tariffs weren't done in the manner they were in order to pad corporate profits. While I don't think Mr Trump is the smartest guy in the world, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that there was a good chance they would be found to be illegal and, if so, money (belatedly) returned and impossible to sort out fairly.

I think the main goal was to give him leverage for companies to bribe him so he’s grant an exemption. Money refunded to companies might make them happy, but that scenario goes against Trump’s ego and his belief that he can do whatever he wants. I have doubts that he’d considered that the justices he bought would rule against him.

Question - how is the Pajama Canal an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz? I look at a map and it's hard to make sense of this report:

https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trade-strait-of-hormuz-iran-war-middle-east-shipment-d6a2aa2a21f29bfdf313182e753e1c41

I see that typo. Too good to correct.

27 minutes ago, TheVat said:

Question - how is the Pajama Canal an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz? I look at a map and it's hard to make sense of this report:

https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trade-strait-of-hormuz-iran-war-middle-east-shipment-d6a2aa2a21f29bfdf313182e753e1c41

I see that typo. Too good to correct.

Certainly an alternative.

Is it in India?

10 minutes ago, TheVat said:

Question - how is the Pajama Canal an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz? I look at a map and it's hard to make sense of this report:

https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trade-strait-of-hormuz-iran-war-middle-east-shipment-d6a2aa2a21f29bfdf313182e753e1c41

I see that typo. Too good to correct.

I don't think that it is an meant as alternative, rather a response to global rerouting of lanes. This is all speculation, but the escalation likely also impacts the Suez Canal. From what I understand much of the Asia-Europe-US routes go through either Pajamas or the Snooze canal.

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

Question - how is the Pajama Canal an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz? I look at a map and it's hard to make sense of this report:

https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trade-strait-of-hormuz-iran-war-middle-east-shipment-d6a2aa2a21f29bfdf313182e753e1c41

I see that typo. Too good to correct.

It doesn't make sense to me either. Cargoes from where and going where?

I quickly googled for a map and came up with this. Essentially the lanes relying on the Suez Canal path are impacted. Previously, when the Panama canal was blocked, the lanes through Suez intensified and during heightened conflicts in the Middle East in the past (and present) the reverse happened. But it is less about the transport through the Strait of Hormuz, but more the shipping through the region (I think).

4 hours ago, CharonY said:

But it is less about the transport through the Strait of Hormuz, but more the shipping through the region (I think).

That would make more sense. The Gulf is a cul de sac, so it was hard to see more traffic through Panama fixing that. But yes it could help with uncertainty about getting through Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea unscathed.

Before the Pajama Canal or the Snooze Canal, naturally there was the Weary Canal, connecting Albany and Buffalo NY.