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This seems very very pedantic but sure I’ll use your terms in the spirit of friendly debate. I have googled it and traffic through the strait has been reduced by 95% plus. In any other context a 95% degradation of something would be considered kaput. Your car’s gas tank is 95% empty.. that’s empty. Your home air conditioning is pumping out 5% of the cold air it normally does.. your AC is broke. Your son only mows 5% of the yard.. hey buddy you didn’t mow the yard like I told you to. To the rest of your comment I noticed you used the word “nebulous” a lot. And I actually think it’s a perfect description of what’s going on. Maybe the reason we can’t agree on basic facts isn’t a problem of either of us but it’s because the war goals have been so nebulous no one is even sure what the desired end state is supposed to be. We have Trump proclaiming the war is over a few days back and then Bibi goes on the news and says the work isn’t done and we still have to get the nuclear material, more missile sites etc… And since our support for Israel is clearly limitless I’ll defer to the guy who I think is actually calling the shots (Bibi) and will assume this thing is far from over

Same thing I said to Pooter. Argue the content and don't degrade the person.

It took just under a month for mine. My buddy who needed a waiver had to wait around 6 weeks, ironically though his start dates are before mine.

Google how many ships have gone through the Strait during the war and ceasefire. Reduced traffic, absolutely, but 100% not closed. Your statement is factually wrong; amend it to “reduced” and you’d be correct. This is not quibbling, it’s you pretending words don’t matter. Be accurate in your communication and you won’t be called out for making incorrect statements. The IRGC and the civ leadership are two different groups with different outlooks and goals. That’s a big, complicated problem…but when you say “regime still in tact” - well yeah, we didn’t ever plan to or think, the regime would go away as an entity. And that’s why your comment is invalid. Wrong. Your assessment is based off a nebulous comment (which Trump makes a lot of), mine is based off hard facts. Again, wrong. You are basing this assessment off a nebulous statement, not the facts. Yeah the people should rise up, but that doesn’t mean liberating them was or is a primary objective. It factually was, and is, not. Nukes - I’m not touching that subject on the internet. Believe what you want…and yeah, I know what has been publicly said. Use that critical thinking part of your brain. If you don’t have the experience to figure it out, well then OK. Bottom line, you highlighted in your reply that your opinions are based off conclusions drawn from nebulous statements and articles written by people who do the same. My replies are based off fact - the ones you clearly have not seen, and seemingly can’t even comprehend might exist. Go ahead and advocate for your position against the war, that’s fine, but you should do it without claiming things as “fact” that are not so; be honest and label them for what they are - your own conclusions/opinions.

Ugly truth, and neither side seems terribly interested in solving it.

Funny how progressives always go to states like MA to show how great Dems are, but conveniently leave out NM lol. Kind of like how they love to look at states like LA, but never mention UT or ID. Boston is a pretty nice layover btw, one of my favorites. The best indicator of likelihood of high vs low crime: Demographics

California Mayor will Plead Guilty to Working as Agent of China

Agreed, TN blows, don’t move there. It’s the worse state in the union by far and everyone needs to quit moving there since it’s so terrible. I would never even consider moving there, especially if I had blue hair, was a trannie, a liberal, or otherwise wanted to ruin this great nation by fixing all the “right wingers”. Let that place stew in its own misery. PS: MS can have Memphis and thereby reduce crime by about 85%.

Sounds like some of the douches left as well.

What do you think of MA? 11 members of Congress (including everyone’s favorite, Elizabeth Warren), plus the Governor, ALL Democrats. And yet…. #1 in college degree attainment #2 in life expectancy #2 in median income #47 in teen pregnancy rate #48 in maternal & infant mortality rate #49 in obesity rate #49 in property crime rate #50 in incarceration rate Meanwhile in TN… 10/11 Republican Congress members, and… #3 in violent crime rate (double the rate of MA) #4 in drug addiction and overdose cases #6 in teen pregnancy rate #10 in obesity rate …. you get the picture. I agree that in several metrics, TN does manage to hover just above the rock bottom heap of WV, AL, MS, etc, which is why I listed it last on that list of dogshit Republican-led states. But back on topic, there’s this common narrative that any state led by democrats is a $hithole failure. But when it gets pointed out that many red states are actual shithole failures, …..silence. There are legit problems in CA. Some of them are shocking. I’ve had layovers near zombie land in LA and SFO. Those portions of the cities are bad. And the state has several major downsides, namely taxes and cost of living. But this narrative that the entire state is failed is ridiculous. $4 Trillion dollar economy, a global tech and innovation leader, an essential agricultural and trade center. Home to 1 in 8 Americans. A net contributor to the federal budget, ….while TN is of course a net recipient of federal funding. But at the end of the day, I’m sure you guys won’t let facts get in the way of the “liberal-led states are hellscapes and conservative states are heaven-on-earth” narrative.

Agreed.

Fair enough. Would also like to respectfully request that goes in both directions and when people who disagree with this war post things they don’t get called TDS deranged libtards without people addressing any of the points. I know I get heated sometimes but it’s genuinely hard to have a serious conversation when we’re quibbling about whether the strait is open or not

A lot of those people are becoming my neighbors here in Texas. 95% are nice but the 5% complaining about the weather or "how we did things in California" are getting on my nerves.

This place is expensive and a lot of people can't afford to live here anymore. That's a bummer. To be honest, I wish a few more people would leave, including our governor. He's a douche.

Yes, there are places that have a high suck factor and most people with a choice don't want to live there. But people with a choice are choosing to live elsewhere and a lot of them are leaving what used to be a very nice state.

The straits of Hormuz are not open by any meaningful definition of the word and I think as far as the regime is concerned, you can't quite argue that the regime is still in power, as everyone at the top has been killed. But you also can't argue that it's a different regime, since The replacements subscribe to the same philosophy and tactics. It also appears that the irgc is in charge right now, not the mullahs, so I'd say the regime question is still very much open-ended for the time being. But then by the same logic, anyone characterizing the TBM capacity, nuclear capacity, or drone production capacity as "intact" is being equally pedantic. The straits are closed, and for the time being Iran has been neutered as a regional/global power. Personally I'd like to see the United States maintain the blockade on Iran and tell the rest of the world they can do whatever the hell they want with the straits. Open them, close them, minesweep them, abandon them. Whatever. The United States economy is the least affected by Hormuz, so if the rest of the world needs a reminder as to the value of free navigation of international waters provided by the United States for the last 80 years, so be it.

There are shit holes all over the United States, not just in California. Some of the worst places I ever visited were in the American South. Montgomery has parts of town that rival Compton. Edit: There is plenty to hate about California but there's also a lot to like. I stay here because it's not that bad. The governor sucks, a lot of the people suck as well but that's also been my experience in most of the places I lived outside of California while on active duty.

You can throw all the stats you want but the biggest indicator of the desirability of remaining in California is those voting with their feet and U-Haul vans. Price for a 20 foot truck from Dallas to LA, $1602. You want to flee what California is and what you fear it will become, that same truck from LA to Dallas will cost you $4656. Dollars and feet don't lie.

I thought Mr Super Size Me died.

Says TN is a “godforsaken” state lol. I agree that Memphis sucks…ran entirely by Dems for years. The rest of the state, pretty awesome in most areas.

I allowed this post because I don't want the forum to become an echo chamber. However, please discontinue the ad hominems. Just because folks disagree about things doesn't mean their debrief of a mission sucks.

Yeah, it sucks to have your car stolen but at least the Mexican food is good. I have family here, I own a home and enjoy going to the beach. For me, Orange County is a good place to live. My car was stolen in the SF Bay Area. My other car was broken into over 20 years ago when I was a young man surfing in south OC. There are millions of people here and there are several bad apples. Edit: But my overall experience living here has been great.

I don't want to throw Biff under a Frontier Airbus but, holy moly, I've never had a car stolen or broken into and describing those issues as "comes with the territory" is a sad summation of civilization in a once great state.

I'm a Californian, God help me. That being said, it's all about location. If you go to downtown LA, you will encounter human shit on the ground. Orange County has a lot less shitty places. It's actually nice to live here (in OC). As for the crime, I have had one car stolen and another one broken into over a lifetime. It comes with the territory. To be honest, it's really not that bad living here, if you know where to stay away from.

Anecdotal: But I hate my downtown SFO & LA layovers. I won't bid them anymore. About 6 weeks ago in SFO, there were a good two dozen fentanyl zombies right outside the hotel. Noped out of my normal exploratory walk real quick. My last LA downtown was human shit right outside the entrance to the hotel and a large police presence in the hotel to keep non-patrons out. Redondo Beach or Marina del Rey for me now on only.