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I don't have a strong interest in this issue but it would appear your responses aren't incorporating the full scope of recent facts: > Nothing has fundamentall

I don't have a strong interest in this issue but it would appear your responses aren't incorporating the full scope of recent facts: > Nothing has fundamentally changed with respect to American power Yes, actually - Iran is charging tolls and was not doing that before. This is in the face of an American naval blockade right in their neighborhood. That is an affront to power, at least for the moment. The China point is really immaterial to the instant issue of the Strait, but even there China is very obviously growing more aggressive (cf the recent trip of the Taiwanese president where he had to sneak out of his nation). > The United States casually walked in and bombed the hell out of Iran's military and killed its leaders. Yes, but now the Strait transit is being dictated by the new rulers. We can keep killing them but the issue is that we are no longer in control of a situation that we used to be in control of. That's why the paper tiger comparison is apt—for all our bombs, this isn't in our hands. > there's basically nothing I can do about it except to bomb defenseless oil tankers. Iran has bombed over a dozen US installations, probably the greatest damage to US military installations in recent memory, if ever. This includes destroying equipment that's worth > $700 M. The oil tankers are kind of a distraction when they can clearly damage all of our allies' infrastructure despite being decapitated by the first strikes. > In order to be the guarantor of the seas you have to take actions like the on in Iran. The whole point of this is we cannot guarantee passage in the Strait. I don't think that will over go back to how it was. > By the way, why is the US the one that has to do this? We don't and because of this current issue, nobody will be able to do it until our next world war establishes a new, single hegemon. It was convenient while it lasted because it allowed stability for our post-war economy.

ericmay 5mo ago
> Yes, actually - Iran is charging tolls and was not doing that before. This is in the face of an American naval blockade right in their neighborhood. That is an affront to power, at least for the moment. I send a bill to every car that passes by my street. It's weird, none of them ever pay it. Iran can charge whatever it wants, but as long as America holds the blockade it doesn't matter. There's a misunderstanding that Iran "controls" the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn't. Control doesn't mean you simply stop others from exercising action, because if that's the case the US is also stopping any ships that Iran allows and is therefore in control. > The China point is really immaterial to the instant issue of the Strait, but even there China is very obviously growing more aggressive (cf the recent trip of the Taiwanese president where he had to sneak out of his nation). Well you can't really separate China out from the initial comment I responded to. How is American power the weakest it has ever been but then it's also not changed at all with respect to China? These kinds of statements just don't make sense. It's the kind of thing that feels good to say but is wrong. > Yes, but now the Strait transit is being dictated by the new rulers. But it's not because the US controls it too. > Iran has bombed over a dozen US installations, probably the greatest damage to US military installations in recent memory, if ever. Yea, now imagine Iran quadruples its drone and missile stockpile and then closes the Strait and then proceeds with accelerating development of nuclear weapons. I'm not sure why folks seem to lack the capacity to project future actions
- ceejayoz 5mo ago
  > I send a bill to every car that passes by my street. It's weird, none of them ever pay it. Also weird: Barely any cars on the street now! https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/strait-of-hormuz-ports-traffic-trump-us-iran-war-rcna331507 https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/strait-of-hormuz-ports... Wonder if that's related.
  - ericmay 5mo ago
    There's plenty of cars on the street. I'd recommend checking your state department of highways as they usually have live streams of traffic at certain intersections, highways, and other areas.
    - ceejayoz 5mo ago
      [flagged]
      - ericmay 5mo ago
        Are you an LLM? > This clearly lacks the context of the conversation thread, to a comedically goofy looking extent. Are you referring to your own statement where you stated there are "barely any cars on the street". Where do you live where that's true? I live in Ohio - believe me there's plenty of cars on the street.
        ceejayoz 5mo ago
        > Are you referring to your own statement… I'm referring to the fucking Strait of Hormuz, where the tolls and attacks have resulted in almost no "cars" on the "road".
        ericmay 5mo ago
        Here's a link (I don't know what state you live in but presumably you have the same): https://ohgo.com https://ohgo.com From here you can select various web cams and see that the claim that there are "almost no cars on the road" is objectively false. If you're still confused, wait about 4 hours until 5:30 PM Eastern Time and you can see the traffic for yourself if you select a major city.

ericmay 5mo ago

> Yes, actually - Iran is charging tolls and was not doing that before. This is in the face of an American naval blockade right in their neighborhood. That is an affront to power, at least for the moment. I send a bill to every car that passes by my street. It's weird, none of them ever pay it. Iran can charge whatever it wants, but as long as America holds the blockade it doesn't matter. There's a misunderstanding that Iran "controls" the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn't. Control doesn't mean you simply stop others from exercising action, because if that's the case the US is also stopping any ships that Iran allows and is therefore in control. > The China point is really immaterial to the instant issue of the Strait, but even there China is very obviously growing more aggressive (cf the recent trip of the Taiwanese president where he had to sneak out of his nation). Well you can't really separate China out from the initial comment I responded to. How is American power the weakest it has ever been but then it's also not changed at all with respect to China? These kinds of statements just don't make sense. It's the kind of thing that feels good to say but is wrong. > Yes, but now the Strait transit is being dictated by the new rulers. But it's not because the US controls it too. > Iran has bombed over a dozen US installations, probably the greatest damage to US military installations in recent memory, if ever. Yea, now imagine Iran quadruples its drone and missile stockpile and then closes the Strait and then proceeds with accelerating development of nuclear weapons. I'm not sure why folks seem to lack the capacity to project future actions

ceejayoz 5mo ago
> I send a bill to every car that passes by my street. It's weird, none of them ever pay it. Also weird: Barely any cars on the street now! https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/strait-of-hormuz-ports-traffic-trump-us-iran-war-rcna331507 https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/strait-of-hormuz-ports... Wonder if that's related.
- ericmay 5mo ago
  There's plenty of cars on the street. I'd recommend checking your state department of highways as they usually have live streams of traffic at certain intersections, highways, and other areas.
  - ceejayoz 5mo ago
    [flagged]
    - ericmay 5mo ago
      Are you an LLM? > This clearly lacks the context of the conversation thread, to a comedically goofy looking extent. Are you referring to your own statement where you stated there are "barely any cars on the street". Where do you live where that's true? I live in Ohio - believe me there's plenty of cars on the street.
      - ceejayoz 5mo ago
        > Are you referring to your own statement… I'm referring to the fucking Strait of Hormuz, where the tolls and attacks have resulted in almost no "cars" on the "road".
        ericmay 5mo ago
        Here's a link (I don't know what state you live in but presumably you have the same): https://ohgo.com https://ohgo.com From here you can select various web cams and see that the claim that there are "almost no cars on the road" is objectively false. If you're still confused, wait about 4 hours until 5:30 PM Eastern Time and you can see the traffic for yourself if you select a major city.