Politics

[Beauceron]

Where are you located that you can't figure out how to fly out through Europe, Ethiopia or Atlanta?

From Europe… yes, of course I’m looking at every possible option.
The problem is that there are only a few days left until departure — the flights were canceled overnight, from yesterday to today.
Otherwise, it will have to be next time, when things calm down.
There’s nothing we can do — life goes on.

 

[LivingTheDream]

From Europe… yes, of course I’m looking at every possible option.
The problem is that there are only a few days left until departure — the flights were canceled overnight, from yesterday to today.
Otherwise, it will have to be next time, when things calm down.
There’s nothing we can do — life goes on.

Brother, my trip to Zambia got cancelled the 2 days before on British Airways due to pilot strike, literally just refunded and booked a different route.

This isnt that hard of a logistical issue.

 

[Brent in Az]

It’s more than obvious that my hunting trip to South Africa this March won’t be happening.
I was supposed to leave on March 6, but quite obviously, because of Donald and other impotent fools like him, I’ll just have to stay home.
Once again, thanks, Donald and company.

They better postpone the eradication of an evil empire so that you can go hunting..

 

[wesheltonj]

From Europe… yes, of course I’m looking at every possible option.
The problem is that there are only a few days left until departure — the flights were canceled overnight, from yesterday to today.
Otherwise, it will have to be next time, when things calm down.
There’s nothing we can do — life goes on.

From Europe? I am not sure why any European carrier would cancel a flight to JNB when they don’t fly anywhere near the war zone. What’s the rest of the story?

 

[Flipper Dude]

Just looked at Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt just for kicks. Plenty of flights to JNB. IDK what the issue is. And that was for Wednesday departure. Day after tomorrow

 

[mdwest]

Looks like David Ellison has acquired CNN (Warner Brothers/Discovery) via Paramount..

Will be interesting to see if (and how) CNN moves from the left to the right once the transition is complete..

Perhaps left wing dominance of the main stream media is coming to an end.. First Elon takes X/Twitter.. now Ellison takes CNN.. Bari Weiss (not really right wing.. but certainly not left wing either) guts CBS News..

Things are definitely changing..

Curious to see how the right tries to break liberal dominance of the higher education system next..

CNN chief prescribes calm after staff anxiety over Paramount's expected purchase of parent company

Shortly after it became known that Paramount was the apparent victor in the competition to buy CNN's parent company, network president Mark Thompson was compelled to send his staff a note to calm down, in effect.

apnews.com

 

[Red Leg]

Pretty good little video on the B-21 program which replaces the B-2. It also pulls just the corner of the cover off a major effort while I was still with the company and which explains why we retired the SR-71 and are finally retiring the U2.

 

[mark-hunter]

In my case, i work there. So middle east airports are essential to return home (and then go to safari)
If they block airports like they did during pandemics, i am stuck there.
My african trip cannot be planned now.

If they hit the rig things will get more complicated.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I've stayed away from this thread for a while for no other reason than politics just make me sick lately.

This Iran situation is getting a bit spicy. Them launching missiles into UAE and Saudi Arabia is not going to bode well for them. I can't say I'm surprised that in their moment of downfall they are just tapping the launch button wherever they feel like.

 

[MS 9x56]

It’s more than obvious that my hunting trip to South Africa this March won’t be happening.
I was supposed to leave on March 6, but quite obviously, because of Donald and other impotent fools like him, I’ll just have to stay home.
Once again, thanks, Donald and company.

I guess you didn’t want to go too bad. Rerouting is not that difficult, let your fingers do the walking. You must be a democrate.

 

[spike.t]

North to south and vice versa should be OK...just the east to West..west to east etc the problem in certain cases

Thousands of flights cancelled as world faces worst travel chaos since Covid crisis

Hundreds of thousands of passengers remain stranded, with key air hubs in Middle East closed amid fallout from US-Israeli strikes on Iran

www.theguardian.com

 

[spike.t]

Has Trump misunderstood Iran’s IRGC and the Basij forces?

US president called for IRGC members to lay down their arms or face 'certain death'. Here's how he misunderstands IRGC.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[skydiver386]

This is Jackwagon #1.

This is Jackwagon #2.

Until Jackwagon #2 (the Basij militia) is eliminated on the ground by people with rifles, eliminating an entire lineup of Jackwagon #1's is going to have little effect in changing the situation in favor of the Iranian people.

So far, I've seen nothing that leads me to believe this is anything more than a very expensive dog and pony show that is NOT going to change the regime in Iran in any meaningful way.

Should Israel mount a ground invasion? I think we all know how that would go over in the Arab World.

Should the U.S. and it's allies put boots on the ground? There is not much evidence that the average American would tolerate that.

Should the surrounding Arab States mount up and do the job? Without the U.S. leading the charge, the chances of that happening are near zero.

The only way forward is for armed Iranians to do the job, but they have nothing to fight with.

There are some rumblings about using the Kurdish areas to form armed groups of Iranians, but that's not likely to make the Kurds themselves happy.

Overthrowing a Government by armed rebellion is a nasty, bloody business, but that really is inevitable at this stage.

For now, I'll just sip my morning coffee and see what Strategic and Tactical plan the leadership whips out.

 

[Brent in Az]

Jackwagons are always replaced by another Jackwagon.

Speaking of Jackwagons, is Kuwait going to reimburse the U.S for the $300 million in F-15's that they just shot down? Ummm......nope.
Expensive blunder.
Fortunately those guys ejected.

 

[Tanks]

Guess Kuwait did not get the Friend or Foe signals right.

3 US warplanes shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, pilots bail out in friendly fire incident, CENTCOM says

Three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses during active combat operations linked to Operation Epic Fury.

www.foxnews.com

 

[skydiver386]

Has Trump misunderstood Iran’s IRGC and the Basij forces?

US president called for IRGC members to lay down their arms or face 'certain death'. Here's how he misunderstands IRGC.

www.aljazeera.com

Exactly the point of my post.

 

[Pondoro]

European gas up 50% (!)

 

[mdwest]

Has Trump misunderstood Iran’s IRGC and the Basij forces?

US president called for IRGC members to lay down their arms or face 'certain death'. Here's how he misunderstands IRGC.

www.aljazeera.com

I typically watch Al Jazeera pretty closely.. they often offer more accurate accounts with less bias than our own new sources.. especially when it comes to the middle east..

but... they definitely have a bias of their own.. which is heavily Qatar focused (for obvious reasons) and has historically been more Iran positive than many other sources (I believe tied to Qatars better relationship with Iran than KSA and other Gulf States.. and Qatars relationship with Hamas, etc)...

They lead asking the question of whether or not Trump has misunderstood the IGRC..

If they believe that.. I think Al Jazeera has likely misunderstood Trump...

In telling the IGRC to lay down their arms and they will be treated fairly, etc.. he wasnt appealing to defectors or trying to get the IGRC to give up control... neither he nor his advisors believe for a moment that would happen...

He is appealing to the world community... demonstrating that the dismantling of the Iranian military and government doesnt have to happen.. he has given them options.. and they have refused to take the option provided..

nothing more.. and nothing less..

Its a political move on Trumps part.. thinking its anything else is sorta dumb in my opinion..

the IRGC and the Iranian govt at large has for decades made promise after promise after promise that has been broken, broken again, and broken again..

If they actually claimed "we're laying down our arms... please stop bombing us... we'll allow free elections! the mullahs are gone".. who would actually believe them at this point? We would 100% know that their statement was nothing more than a delaying action so that they can regroup, refit, and then re-engage when they are ready..

 

[Brent in Az]

Gas up .10¢ in my area

 

[mdwest]

European gas up 50% (!)

in the US oil is up $6 a barrel and on average gas is up $0.11 a gallon (about 4%) since the weekend...

the question I have for Europe is whether or not gas prices will fall 50% once Qatar LNG opens back up and the Straights of Hormuz become navigable again..

Is this fear increases? Or actual supply-demand increases?