Obsidian Wings

Baseball Open Thread

by wj

(Because, as hsh noted, it's been way too long since we had an open thread started. Mea culpa!)

Came across this in my local (California!) paper this morning: Are Cubs visiting White House early to avoid Donald Trump? Of course, the fact that Obama is from Chicago could have something to do with it as well....

Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran

by Ugh

A fun front page above the fold WaPo story on Mad Dog Mattis' time as commander of Cent Comm under Obama and, well, things are going to get exciting in a Trump administration it seems!  E.g.:

[Mattis'] proposal, crafted with the support of the ambassador and the senior American commander in Iraq, was to hit back inside Iran, said current and former senior U.S. officials, who took part in the debate. One option was a dead-of-night U.S. strike against an Iranian power plant or oil refinery....

Because honestly, what U.S. policy in the Middle East needs is more bombs dropped on yet another Muslim nation.  Plus Iran's deserved it ever since Coward Saint Ronnie turned tail and ran out of Lebanon in '83.  Wuss.

Beyond that, what would be the legal authority for bombing Iran?  It's not even touched upon in the story.  It's just assumed that Obama (and soon Trump) could order up a bombing of Iran and then greet the 2016 NCAA X Champions later in the day without batting an eye.  

Is it the 9/11 AUMF, under the theory that Iran supplying weapons to the Iraqi insurgents is supporting the terrorists/terrorist organizations that attacked the United States in 2001?  Is it Iraq war AUMF because of the same weapons supply (and how would that theory apply when nations use weapons procured from the US to launch attacks against other nations)?  I'm really at a loss here.  Any ideas?  And if there isn't any, does Trump, or anyone else, even care?  To wit:

'When they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water,' Trump said to thunderous applause at a campaign rally.

I guess I can answer the Trump question myself.  

Turbans Beards Hijabs and Cornrows

by wj

It occurs to me to wonder, how has this not yet generated a Trump tweet? It's an Army regulation that "Effective immediately, brigade-level commanders will be able to grant accommodations to servicemen and women who wear beards, turbans, or hijabs for religious reasons."

It seems tailor made for him: It's a tail end of the administration administrative order which changes past practice. It is an accommodation for a bunch of different minorities -- and in the US Army at that. So it will certainly offend a big chunk of his core constituents.

And yet there is, so far, silence. Maybe he just hasn't heard about it. Yet.

Nine years

by liberal japonicus

Hilzoy's facebook feed reminds me that it is 9 years since Andy Olmsted was killed by a sniper in Iraq.

Someone once complained that leaving all the information about Andy up on the left was like making a shrine rather than fostering discussion. Living in a country full of shrines, I tend to see the problem as we not having enough shrines so people slip out of memory too soon.

So far so good

-- as the man said as he fell past the 25th floor.

by Doctor Science

Welcome to 2017. Make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their fully upright and locked position, we may experience some turbulence.

As usual, we at Casa Science hosted a New Year's Eve party. At about 11:50, Mr Dr Science called people to the table and started deciding which French champagne we'd open for the midnight toast.

At about 11:53, a guest unexpectedly started vomiting all over the table.

We missed the stroke of midnight, because everyone was either helping her to the bathroom, getting her clean clothes, cleaning up, ascertaining that the food & drink had been mostly spared, cleaning more, or hiding in corners feeling all too sympathetic (if you catch my meaning).

It was highly distressing, of course, but no-one could deny it was an ending in the true spirit of 2016.

These panels from K.C. Green's "Gunshow" comic have been used so often to react to 2016 that I can no longer hear the words "This is fine" unironically. A very apt illustration of linguist Geoff Nunburg's pick for Word of the Year: normalize.

The rest of the party was very nice, really, and ended about 2AM. At 9:30 in the morning, we were suddenly awakened: "Not you too, Sneakers!" cried Mr Dr, as the cat vomited on our bed. And the floor.

Fortunately, we have planned for this contingency, by having a collection of attractive India print bedspreads that can be swapped in when the cat has an Incident -- or just shed too much hair and bits of litter for human comfort. And in recent months we haven't needed to change them as often, because he's learned to throw up in the bathroom as much as possible -- an achievement of which I didn't think *any* cat was capable, much less one who's over 15 years old and who, while not the dumbest cat I've ever lived with (poor Whitey! but she was very loving), is certainly not the smartest (Susu, the Einstein of cats, who lived to the very distinguished age of 22). Actually, he's learned a number of things in the past year, since we moved into the new house. He likes it because the living areas are all on one floor, so he gets more regular human contact without having to follow me around from floor to floor. The things he's learned are all about manipulating humans, of course: he does more endearing reaching with his paw because that's a reliable attention-getter. He also knows when his daily treats (and the hyperthyroid pills that precede them) are due, and will come yell at me in my study if he I'm late.

Sneakers on one of his bedspreads, receiving the worship that is his due. The way he's captured my hand with his paw is a relatively new skill.

I've been having a lot of trouble thinking or reading about politics for the last few weeks, my anxiety spiked so high after Trump tweeted this:

The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016

I'm hoping to get back on the posting track for the new year, but will probably focus on things like books, art, history: cultivating my garden both literally and figuratively. Also learning how to arrange flowers, and filing (or throwing out) my papers. Making sure I have a calm center to deal with the coming year, whatever it brings.

One of the things I want to learn is how to keep roses alive in a vase longer than a few days. Or rather, to keep *most* roses alive, not just a special few. Experiments are ongoing!

What countries are the United States' top/most important allies?

by Ugh

I was on vacation and didn't get a chance to post this closer to the actual vote, but some of the comments made during the hysterical and overwrought freak-out (is that redundant?) over the US abstaining from the UN resolution on Israeli settlements got me thinking:  what would a list of the US's "top" or "most important" allies look like?  I wondered this because I recall several comments from political and other leaders that seemed to indicate that Israel was the US's closest friend or most important ally, without including any kind of qualification like "in the Middle East."

Quite frankly I thought that was ridiculous, and I wouldn't even include Israel in the top 5, maybe even in the top 10.  They might not even be the most important in the Middle East depending on your POV.  So, here is my list of countries I would say are "more important" allies to the US than Israel, and that it's not even close:

Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, South Korea.

Other countries I would place as "more important" than Israel in terms of having good diplomatic relations, but not necessarily in the "ally" category:  China, India, before-the-recent-unpleasantness Russia (and maybe even still), Brazil.  

Then maybe Israel fits in, along with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and a lot of the larger remaining NATO countries.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but what say you?