@Sobtanian Every warning sign has a history, etc.

@georgetakei First the Dutch knew that Rutte is a spineless self-serving opportunist, then Europeans knew it, and now you USAmericans know.

@AndrewRadev The kids are all right

@fj At least we can quantify the masculinity deficit of some people.

@bettina Is this in the tradition of this sketch? https://youtu.be/s-mOy8VUEBk?si=3FzwIcfFHhjhT7ll

@cstross @Gurre The worst nightmare I can conceive of that situation is a lot of commanders of the IRGC having envelopes with instructions to operate under the principle of inflicting the maximum possible damage to the enemy in the absence of orders from the top and continue the fight to the bitter end with whatever resources are at hand.

@cstross @Gurre Exactly the point of the Pedant. The US and Israel are in for a world of pain if they believe decapitation strikes would do anything else than "adamantise" the resolve of the regime to resist, respond and drag them into the mud.

@darwinwoodka MbS got his own Vietnam in Yemen, though now everybody is doing as if nothing had happened, just as they are doing like 'the Line' was any viable project and not a scam. The Saud family is a nest of scorpions and I hope some day another heir presumptive does to him what he did to others. @Gurre @cstross

@albertcardona It's really nice and I would like that set, but I find that at least one or two of those minifigs should have an anxiety expression because they are short on published articles for their next post-doc.

@Gurre @cstross Oh, BTW, there is this about personalist vs. institutional regimes in ACOUP (linked, very appropriately, in the same last entry about the Iran war). https://acoup.blog/2026/03/06/fireside-friday-march-6-2026/

@Gurre @cstross The issue with the far right arseholes with territorial aspirations is that they eventually give in to the belicist bullshit, but also have their fash purity culture generating ever reducing definitions of who's a "true Scotsman". Both things combined are fatal to the continued existence of their political entities, but it won't be me who complains.

@Gurre @cstross The israeli plan is pretty clearly to try for collapse of… every other country in the region, doing it under the umbrella of the USA, and that's more or less like gambling on somebody else's money. You may empty their pockets, but eventually it'll be your legs somebody'll break.

@eniko I personally would like to play golf with the scrotum of the danish minister that first insisted on it, and then billiards with those of the rest of these motherfuckers, who, of course, are taking a cut from the NSA <and> Meta.

@peter More than rules those are guidelines.