CIRCLE WITH A DOT

@ethanschoonover What if it's *too effective*?

@ethanschoonover presumably in their mouths?

You're saying lunar flies are bi?

#lunarflyby

I was raised in an Armenian-American family. While Armenians are distinct from Iranians in many big ways, their proximity and the history of the region mean that there are a few cultural similarities. One of the similarities that might be lost on Westerners is how politeness, tact, and honor work in negotiations. It's compatible with Westerners, but works a bit differently (just watch how many YouTuber Westerners misunderstanding how the open-air markets work in Tehran or Yerevan, they think they're getting 'free stuff').

What we have done to Iran already has been... obscene. The behavior of an opponent who starts an attack 'ahead of the deadline', kills your messengers, and threatens to use their power in ways that blatantly violate the rules make it impossible to negotiate. An 'increasing show of strength/impossible situation' strategy might work in South America, Europe, or even Saudi Arabia, but it is fundamentally incompatible with how Persians negotiate.

I'm not sure if the USA is doing this out of ignorance or malice, but I'm guessing that Hegseth and Trump have chosen to ignore experienced staff on this matter in pursuit of their own objectives.

@dev Instead of a long and complicated fsck, you verify filesystem integrity by having someone eyeball your journal and then they swipe a sharpie on your drive.

@aaron.rupar I really don't think most westerners understand what they're dealing with when they confront an ancient civilization on its home turf.

So many westerners idealize ancient empires, but they're really cosplaying something that's out of their league.

@CelloMomOnCars agreed. And the reason I'm pointing out this thing about the low-temp COP is that depending on how your electricity is made and how cold it is, heat pumps can end up burning more of it than having a gas boiler.

@IanHill the insult added to this injury is the almost complete lack of traffic enforcement out there. I'm seeing a pattern across the board on almost everything where technology is expected to handle things while people with authority have "bigger fish to fry", but those fish ain't getting fried, either.