Unbelievably Small

Trump gets tremendous credit for doing what Obama and Kerry merely talked about, namely, doing not much. But symbolism counts and Trump has certainly given world leaders pause for reflection. From The American Interest:

Back in the real world, however, the strike was being read for what it is: a demonstration that this Administration is less reluctant to use force than the one that preceded it. And though Russia was the big power most directly challenged by the strike, Putin was perhaps not even the primary intended recipient of the message. The strikes occurred just as President Trump was having dinner with Xi Jinping of China, and, according to AFP, Trump delivered the news to Xi personally. The subtext was unmistakeable: Get serious about North Korea; our recent threats were not idle. Don Corleone himself couldn’t have set a better table.

China won't tolerate a Korea unified under Southern leadership aligned with the West. But they do have an heir to the throne handy if Trump starts to seem even more problematic than Kim Jonh Un.

Comments

[Jack is Back!(On his iPhone)]

CH,

The Masters contract with CBS is Year to year and stipulates not only the amount of commercial interruptions plus the type and reputation of sponsors. Very controlling and successful. Most watched tournament worldwide as a result. Dealing with cagey and successful bizness guys:)

Like Trump.

[Jane]

Why is Atlanta out of gas. Boy that could impact the snowbirds.

[Threadkiller]

To be clear, Another Bob, I was describing a dream sequence.

[James D.]

I was unfortunate enough to see a few minutes of MTP this morning when I visited my Mom at the rehab, b/c she makes sure to watch it every week, Heaven only knows why.

I saw Rich Lowry, the excerable David Brooks, some clown from the NYT and some other woman whose name I missed.

The lot of them, and (needless to say) F Chuck, can all DIAF.

I also brought Mom her WashPost magazine as she always requests, and the cover story was all about combatting the scourge of "fake news" by teaching kids to be media literate. Seems to me that a great way to combat fake news would be to fire the entire editorial and reporting staff of the WaPo and replace them with honest people who had actual educations in history and who knew basic math and science.

[Afghan Kushner]

Here we have a naval front putting our guys in harms way, not to mention millions of Sorks. We just bombed a sovereign nation with no authority other than our Bonaparte, and NO ONE IS asking about the Consheetooshun.

Who's on First?

[DrJ]

Comment by Afghan Kushner blocked.

And life is good.

[Afghan Kushner]

Lol..yeah..that'll do 'er Janes.

Put Kings of Communication (engineers) in charge of communication.

Consistent Trumpism...nepotism and incompetence squared..lol

[Afghan Kushner]

Good on you Dr feelgood.

Are you promoting your kill a fly?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I guess flooding the zone with "I was a Trump supporter but this bombing Syria thing is the end" didn't work. Fake former supporters, as Bill Mitchell said.

People have finally caught on except for kneejerks like Ann Coulter.

There are still a few attempts on Treehouse and Reddit, but people are now mocking them. which is good.

[JM Hanes]

Further digging on that Russia-Iran-Hezbollah statement:

If you were wondering where Laurence O'Donnell got that crazy ass idea about the U.S. being responsible for the chemical attack, maybe MSNBC is on the Russian-Iran-Hezbollah's mailing list:

“We condemn any attack targeting civilians and also condemn what happened in Khan Sheikhoun, even if we are convinced it was a premeditated act by certain countries and organisations to serve as a pretext to attack Syria,” Sunday’s statement added.

The whole thing gets curiouser and curiouser. An outfit called Russia Insider, which I know absolutely nothing about, suggests:

A joint command center used by Russia, Iran and allied forces has issued a statement saying that red lines have been crossed in Syria and that there will be retaliation if they are crossed again. While multiple sources report this, we think it's unlikely the Russians formally signed off on this statement. 

I haven't seen anything much stronger than this coming from the Kremlin itself:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran's Hassan Rouhani said in a phone call aggressive U.S. actions against Syria were not permissible and violated international law, the Kremlin said Sunday.
The two leaders also called for an objective investigation into an incident involving chemical weapons in Syria's Idlib and said they were ready to deepen cooperation to fight terrorism, the Kremlin said in a statement on its website.

It's even blander in the Times of Israel, where Putin describes it as a violation of international "norms." It seems like the big push back on this is really coming from Iran. It was Rouhani who initiated that phone call, and it's Rouhani who goes on to cast the exchange in more forceful terms:

We denounce the US missile strike on Syria and regard it as a flagrant violation of an independent country’s sovereignty (and) a measure that needs to be addressed and condemned in the UN Security Council,” Rouhani said, according to Iranian media.

Even Ayatollah Ali Kamenei joins in -- in fact, he actually seems to be doing the fiercest sabre rattling outside the (Arabic!) statement itself.

All very interesting, especially in light of the recent revelation that Putin is not necessarily wedded to Assad…

[Cecil Turner]

Well, candidate Trump was pretty sold on the "don't intervene" thing from Iraq to Syria. I can see how the recent reversal might bother some of his supporters.

However, I for one am a whole lot happier with President Trump than I was with candidate Trump . . . and most of it is exactly this issue.

[Clarice Feldman]

jmh, interesting observations on the Chinese visit.

[Threadkiller]

His "reversal" is consistent with a pro-life position.

Something was going to have to give.

[Clarice Feldman]

And jnh, interesting takes on the responses to Syrian bombing.

[Captain Hate]

JiB,

Maybe the NCAA would be more at home on MessNBC or CNN. Title IX ads. Coach Kay and Ol' Roy whining about HB2. Just STFU and cheat.

[Bubarooni]

I wanna get in on the conversation on Math.

Hate it.

I had a professor in programming who once commented that I was an odd bird because I was one of the best programmers he had ever taught and I was the only good student he had ever had who didn't like math.

I told him math had to many rules. Programming, at least back then, didn't. As long as you could figure out a way to do it, no matter how convoluted and inelegant, you could get the job done.

In a similar vein, in order to be 'a well rounded individual', I was forced to take accounting in order to get my degree.

To many rules.

When I finished the class I took the book outside and stood it up on the ground. I then doused it in gasoline, lit it and dance a jig around it as it was consumed.

It was... liberating...

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Bubarooni,

That's interesting. I wan't good at math in high school, but did surprisingly well in college. However, one of the reasons I liked geology was unless you were working in certain areas, you could do it without math.

On the other hand, I love logic problems.

Isn't the brain fascinating?

[DrJ]

I told him math had to many rules.

I take it that you weren't a big fan of using contour integration to invert Laplace transforms, were you? :)

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Cecil,

I read him better than you did, you have to admit.

I will bet you cash money by fall we will see a change in Iran.

[lurkersusie]

So the just lied about it

Washington Examiner‏ @dcexaminer

Ex-Obama official: "We always knew" Assad kept some chemical weapons
https://t.co/HcuffCiqI4

[Captain Hate]

The more work experience you have in large organizations, the easier accounting is to grasp.

[lurkersusie]

This is ridiculous!

For example, trial and appeals courts alike found it “shocking” that a Brooklyn high school teacher was canned for bringing heroin to court in a backpack.

The courts also were “shocked’’ at the firing of two female romance-language teachers over a topless tryst in a classroom.

Last month, the city was forced to appeal a court ruling that sent a Queens elementary school teacher back into the classroom even after she flunked three of her four previous performance ratings.

Veteran PS 2 teacher Lisa Broad had been fired in 2014 after “three different senior administrators found that Broad poorly planned and executed lessons, failed to implement key teaching strategies, confused students, and wasted lesson time,” city lawyer Ryan Mangum argued in the appeal.

Not only that, “the record is also replete with instances of Broad’s professional misconduct, which included her fabrication of grades, flouting of deadlines, and violations of school policy by bringing a knife to school, having physical contact with a student, and leaving school premises during the school day without telling anyone,” Mangum wrote.

http://nypost.com/2017/03/01/why-heroin-and-classroom-sex-arent-enough-to-get-teachers-fired-anymore/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

lurkersusie,

And not only lied about it, but don't even apologize for lying about it!

The deaths of those children and babies is on their heads! Absolutely shameful!

I bet Obama never returns.

[DrJ]

CH, negotiating indirect cost rates with the Feral Government works pretty well too. Ask me how I know!

[Another Bob]

Bubarooni | April 09, 2017 at 04:53 PM

Same here. My degrees are in CS, with a minor in math. Obviously I got through it, but I did NOT enjoy it.

And the number of times I've had to use that math to solve a real world problem in 35+ years of developing, architecting and managing development of product software?

Maybe a dozen.

[Captain Hate]

DrJ, the third rate electric utility kept at least three sets of books: one for the state commission, one for the FERC and one for the shareholders. I might be leaving some out. The annual report was one big set of footnotes.

[Captain Hate]

Fowler and Spieth are tanking badly today.

[Bubarooni]

DrJ,

It's a bad day for Buba.

The Trusty Snapper SR140, starts but won't move.

Grass is growing in S. Indiana at a furious pace and all my neighbors are on top of the situation and casting disparaging glances my property's way.

I wind up having to suck it up and push mow 1.4 acres.

LaPlace... Ackkkkk!!!!! Fournier...

I shudder and now theorems, postulates and transforms haunt my every thought.

[DrJ]

CH,

I don't even know how many different bases we use for our books. We need to report on both cash and accrual bases, with different overhead rates and structures for different awards. And then NSF does overheads differently than NIH.

The way I look at it, the data are the same, but how you interpret those data can vary a LOT.

[Threadkiller]

Drive disc take a dump, Bubarooni?

[DrJ]

Sorry Buba! I won't mention dreaded Frobenius then. :)

[henry]

Accounting , Climate Models... Both are mostly fiction by the time you show them to anyone else. On the other hand, a little Taylor Series expansion never hurt anyone.

[Bubarooni]

A_Bob,

I can remember one algebra problem.

There is this movie theater. There are 3 different ticket prices. There is a total take of $494.

You have to figure out how many of each tickets were sold.

I remember figuring it out, on a test no less, and thinking 'that's friggin kinda cool!'.

I've never, ever used that particular skill in the ensuing 25 years.

That's a pretty short self life.

[Captain Hate]

I no sooner write that about Fowler and he runs off three birdies.

[Threadkiller]

https://youtu.be/BnkcmDAi_W4

[DrJ]

I've just finished the first read of nine proposals that seek to "transform graduate STEM education." My conclusion? I'm not smart enough to be an educator. There is no way I could ever write such drivel.

[Buckeye]

I will bet you cash money by fall we will see a change in Iran.

Particularly if we sink their fleet between now and then:)

[Bubarooni]

Threadkiller, that's what I thought!

It was pretty worn and flat.

I have a couple that I had got off Amazon ($16 a piece). I replaced but it still wouldn't move.

My Sig Other thinks I should get rid of it but, my Dad gave it to me so I just can't part with it.

I'll have to drop $300-$400 now and have the Snapper dealer come and get it.

Considering how my feet feel right now, that's a bargain. It's early in the mowing season and well worth it.

[JM Hanes]

I finally found what purports to be a full translation of the joint statement at South Front (another site I know nothing about, but which apparently specializes in maps!) which cautions:

It’s important to note that the statement was released via “non-official” media channels linked to the Iranian-Syrian-Russian alliance’s forces operating in Syria.

After reading the whole thing, it sounds even more like it was concocted by a second string propaganda team -- kinda like the Iranian apologists who show up in internet comment strings. I won't paste the whole thing, just a couple of favs for flavor:

2. This attack is a notorious continuation of injustice and discrimination against Syria, in a time when it has been fighting multinational terrorism on behalf of the entire world for 6 years, sacrificing the blood of many of its people to achieve victory over those barbaric terrorists.

You can see why most reports don't bother with extensive quotes (or professional translation, either)!

4. Those who support, train and fund terrorist groups such as Daesh [ISIS], al-Nusra and their affiliates, those who violate the legitimate rights of the people of the country, and those who used the veto dozens of times against the Palestinian people has no right to present their selves as a human rights defender and pretend caring for the dignity of the peoples of the region especially in Syria, Iraq and Palestine.

Point #6 further on seems more ambiguous than the first characterization of it that I read (from which I inferred a reference to the Kurds), so I think I'll move on, even though I do still wonder about the target audience.

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

Looks like Rose's to win or lose. Our guy Pieter's had a cridible showing. Looks our 4:40 flight has shown up. T/O now 6:30. Boarding around six.

Down to Florida for lots of sun and rest before the op.

[Threadkiller]

They are a great design. Not too much can really go wrong.

Good luck with it. I left that YouTube for you.

Apparently the actress is no longer with us.

[Captain Hate]

Sergio meltdown in progress.

[Buckeye]

I loved geometry proofs. Was one area of mathematics for which I had a gift.

You guys keep it up and I will soon be in the basement dragging old text books out of boxes.

So I can see how much I have forgotten:)

[Bubarooni]

TK! I don't know what movie that is from but, I gotta go find me a blonde!

[Threadkiller]

A goofy coming-of-age flick called Can't Buy Me Love, Buba.

[Bubarooni]

"I loved geometry proofs."

Despite my general disdain for math, I did like Geometry.

I lived in Hilliard, OH for a couple of years.

I'm a Hoosier. It was a rough couple of years...

Two worst football seasons of my life.

[DrJ]

I loved geometry proofs.

It's odd. MrsJ loved the same, but I was only OK at it. Now differential equations is another matter! Those were trivial, at least until one reached perturbation solutions. I've just not done enough of them.

It is like the divide between organic and physical chemistry. Usually one is good at one or the other, and not both. I did well in organic, but P Chem was trivial.

Anyone remember the bumper stickers that said "Honk if you passed P Chem"?

[Bubarooni]

Dangit... Sig Other says Blondes are verbotten...

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Buckeye,

I did great at geometry proofs! Maybe that's why I like logic problems.

I also did pretty well at first semester physics. especially because my almost-ready-to-retire professor had a large collection of cereal box toys he used to illustrate things.

I really struggled in 2nd semester (light, magnetism, etc.) which was INVISIBLE things.

I think I need physical examples, hence my affinity for geometry and geology.

Chemistry (ugh) and other things which deal with invisible or representative stuff, not so much.

[DrJ]

MM,

Chemistry (ugh) and other things which deal with invisible or representative stuff, not so much.

A long-time roommate for both my undergrad and grad days claimed that he did not believe in molecules. He was an is a great mechanical engineer.

[Bubarooni]

Trig, Accounting and Dentistry are all members of the Black Arts.

[henry]

Mmmmm. P Chem! It beat hanging out all day to see if you got a precipitate.

[Captain Hate]

Aaaaand Sergio's back in the mix.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Well, I may believe in molecules, but I sure as heck don't believe in moles!!

MAN, I hated that stuff!

I think I got a pity B because the prof was also working on a post graduate geology degree and she knew me.

[DrJ]

You know, it may be worth making a batch of the "Honk if you've passed P Chem" bumper stickers. I've never put one on a car of mine, ever, but this one might be worth it.

MrsJ has only one: "Driver carries no cash. My daughter is a figure skater." Even though said person is granddaughter, and is now 23 and no longer skating.

[Captain Hate]

Sergio en fuego.

[lyle]

Eagles tend to help your golfing score...

[lyle]

Which one is going to flinch.

[jimmyk]

"You guys keep it up and I will soon be in the basement dragging old text books out of boxes."

I had a nice refresher in geometry when my daughter took it last year. I use calculus all the time for my work, but probably hadn't touched a geometry proof in 35+ years. Brought back (good) memories as I always found math pretty easy and fun until around my senior year in college when the advanced topics were pretty challenging.

[lyle]

Sergio flinches.

[Buckeye]

I didn't have that experience jimmyk.

Jr. was a far better mathematician than I was, so last thing he was going to do was ask me any questions:)

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

And we're off to Orlando. Currently 82F. Since are getting in so late, we elected to stay on site at the Hyatt then drive tomorrow to The Hammock.
Have wifi but can't get the Masters. Assuming Rose still ha the lead.

[lyle]

Rose and Garcia tied with one hole to go, Jack.

[Buckeye]

Tied going to 18

[Captain Hate]

This is great golf.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.thomaswictor.com/mcmaster-brilliant-choice/

[Buckeye]

Sergio can win.

[Buckeye]

But he doesn't!

[lyle]

Playoff.

[Threadkiller]

I don't get this putter grip.

[Buckeye]

Sudden death.

[lyle]

Sergio wins the hawt sig other contest. But not by much.

[Threadkiller]

A win is a win.

[lyle]

True, TK.

[Threadkiller]

Taking off the sunglasses seems to have done some damage to Rose.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

They both choked on 18. Maybe the winner gets a green vest.

[lyle]

At long last, Sergio. Congrats. 🍾

[jimmyk]

They should have studied their geometry better. Or maybe trigonometry.

[lyle]

The Yanks faded fast in this tourney.

[lyle]

Except for Kuchar, that is.

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

Toughest drive in major's golf. Sergio handled it, Rose didn't .

Simple as that. Cograts Sergio. Finally after 72 attempts? Is that right?

[JimNorCal]

"I will bet you cash money by fall we will see a change in Iran.

Particularly if we sink their fleet between now and then"

To be fair, you might not need to sink the fleet. Just take out the ports and pipelines. If oil can't be loaded or transported Iran has no friends. Also, no money.

[JimNorCal]

DrJ: "Anyone remember the bumper stickers that said "Honk if you passed P Chem"?"

Never saw that one but recall conversations at parties:
"I got a 64% on my Chem midterm"
LibArts student (concerned): You poor thing!
STEM major (bitter): You lucky [redacted]!

[Soylent Red]

JiB:

I was just commenting on how narrow the first part of that fairway is, and how there seems to be an extremely small margin for error playing to the right.

Augusta will be a rockin' town tonight.

[DrJ]

"I got a 64% on my Chem midterm"

That's pretty good. I got a 28% on my first ChE test at Berkeley. It was barely above median.

[henry]

Jim, I remember a conversation from my undergrad days after getting a midterm test back with grades (the text was my favorite "Molecules and Radiation")

in Sterling Chem Lab hallway after class..
Friend: what did you get on the midterm?
Me: I haven't looked yet.
Friend: This is the worst grade I have ever gotten!
Me: No matter how bad you did, somebody did worse. Its a statistical law.
Friend: I got a 12. (out of 200)
Me: wow! let me see here..... I got an 8...
Friend:
Me: beer's me.

[henry]

....beers *on me

[Buckeye]

Good thing I never had to take Organic:)

[Buckeye]

To be fair, you might not need to sink the fleet. Just take out the ports and pipelines. If oil can't be loaded or transported Iran has no friends. Also, no money.

Roger that JimNorCal, but after those pricks harassing us and that humiliation of our guys, we need to thump the bastards.

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

Soylent,

You put 100 scratch golfers on the same exact tee on 18 and I'd bet only one, if that could find the fairway. Not only is the first 100 yards tree lined bit after that it is severely uphill.

Imagine if Sunday had the winds of Thursday and Friday:)

McMasters is a good fit for Trump. I knew KT was vulnerable with him. She will be a real listening asset in Singapore. Close to the ChiComms and straddling the largest combined Muslim population in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

[Bubarooni]

"To be fair, you might not need to sink the fleet. Just take out the ports and pipelines. If oil can't be loaded or transported Iran has no friends. Also, no money."

The Iraqis punished them severely with attacks on Kharg Island in the Iran-Iraq War.

I'm certain we could do the same thing 50 fold.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Never thought I'd get a chance to correct TK on car stuff so I'll jump at the chance; : )
The AAR Cuda only came in 340ci version and only in hard top as it was a homologation car for the Trans Am series. AAR referred to Dan Gurney's All American Racers who developed it. It's Dodge analog was the beautiful Challenger T/A.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jack,

I agree. Also, if KT had been incompetent or a leaker, she would just have been let go. Speaks well of her that he wants her in Singapore.

[JimNorCal]

Buckeye: "after those pricks harassing us and that humiliation of our guys, we need to thump the bastards"

Works for me. Plus, they're currently topped off for cash due to the pallet loads recently delivered.

[Threadkiller]

Oops..

I blew that one, Ig.

:-/

[narciso]

I was referring to this partial correction of the record

https://www.amazon.com/Name-Family-Novel-Sarah-Dunant-ebook/dp/B01HWKUOME/ref=la_B000AP9LPU_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491782918&sr=1-2

[Another Bob]

JIB, Singapore is also a pretty comfortable posting that traditionally goes to cronies and donors. I suspect there's an element of Trump wanting to make her ouster an easy one, as she was caught in the middle.

That said, she clearly not a dummy and could be helpful if her role is flexible.

[Jack is Back! (On his iPad)]

In re: Math, especially geometry and trig with the salsa of calc, one of first jobs was as piping engineer on a power plant. Post AF service and a real introduction to decision making almost every damn minute because this hanger interfered here and this valve needed a flexible support. Back then it was all slip stick.

But we had Smoley's and still my original book. At that time the world's greatest structural design timesaver. Trig will never be the Sam:)

[narciso]

They remove all doubt:

https://mobile.twitter.com/undefined/status/851172683945586688

Haberman of the rizzotto tray later chimes in on the thread