PHXflyer

@plamen_neykov @DrJStrategy That 47.3% applies only to generated electricity. Now go calculate the EU's reliance on oil for transportation, heating, industrial production, etc.

@DrJStrategy Just a small factoid - 47.3% of the EU's electricity in 2025 did came from renewables. From fossil fuels: 29.0% I'm just wondering how long would it take to get it to say 1% or 0%?

Food for thought. Trump, Hormuz and the End of the Free Ride For half a century, Western strategists have known that the Strait of Hormuz is the acute point where energy, sea power and political will intersect. That knowledge is not in dispute. What is new in this war with Iran is that the United States, under Donald Trump, has chosen not to rush to “solve” the problem. In Hegelian terms, he is refusing an easy synthesis in order to force the underlying contradiction to the surface. The old thesis was simple: the US guarantees open sea lanes in the Gulf, and everyone else structures their economies and politics around that free insurance. Europe and the UK embraced ambitious green policies, ran down hard‑power capabilities and lectured Washington on multilateral virtue, secure in the assumption that American carriers would always appear off Hormuz. The political class behaved as if the American security guarantee were a law of nature, not a contingent choice. Their conduct today is closer to Chamberlain than Churchill: temporising, issuing statements, hoping the storm will pass without a fundamental reordering of their responsibilities. Trump’s antithesis is to withhold the automatic guarantee at the moment of maximum stress. Militarily, the US can break Iran’s residual ability to contest the Strait; that is not the binding constraint. The point is to delay that act. By allowing a closure or semi‑closure to bite, Trump ensures that the immediate pain is concentrated in exactly the jurisdictions that have most conspicuously free‑ridden on US power: the EU and the UK. Their industries, consumers and energy‑transition assumptions are exposed. In that context, his reported blunt message to European and British leaders, you need the oil out of the Strait more than we do; why don’t you go and take it? Is not a throwaway line. It is the verbalisation of the antithesis. It openly reverses the traditional presumption that America will carry the burden while its allies emote from the sidelines. In this dialectic, the prize is not simply the reopening of a chokepoint. The prize is a reordered system in which the United States effectively arbitrages and controls the global flow of oil. A world in which US‑aligned production in the Americas plus a discretionary capability to secure,or not secure, Hormuz places Washington at the centre of the hydrocarbon chessboard. For that strategic end, a rapid restoration of the old status quo would be counterproductive. A quick, surgical “fix” of Hormuz would short‑circuit the dialectic. If Trump rapidly crushed Iran’s remaining coastal capabilities, swept the mines and escorted tankers back through the Strait, Europe and the UK would heave a sigh of relief and return to business as usual: underfunded militaries, maximalist green posturing and performative disdain for US power, all underwritten by that same power. The contradiction between their dependence and their posture would remain latent. By declining to supply the synthesis on demand, and by explicitly telling London and Brussels to “go and take it” themselves, Trump forces a reckoning. European and British leaders must confront the fact that their energy systems, their industrial bases and their geopolitical sermons all rest on an American hard‑power foundation they neither finance nor politically respect. The longer the contradiction is allowed to unfold, the stronger the eventual synthesis can be: a new order in which access to secure flows, Hormuz, Venezuela and beyond, is explicitly conditional on real contributions, not assumed as a right. In that sense, the delay in “taking” the Strait, and the challenge issued to US allies to do it themselves, is not indecision. It is the negative moment Hegel insisted was necessary for history to move. Only by withholding the old guarantee, and by saying so out loud to those who depended on it, can Trump hope to end the free ride.

@SteveInman Steve, you need to make these replies to soy-bitches a daily part of your posts. They are almost as entertaining as the videos you create!

@bennyjohnson Why are the "men" sitting on either side of him sitting like women do?

Democrat Texas Senate Nominee James Talarico: “I have met so many Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics who are more Christ-like than some of the Christians I served with in the Texas legislature.” All he does is insult Christians.

@CNviolations What happens on a windy day?

A fountain that displays the date and time using water.

@jsolomonReports Justthenews is a great site but I can’t follow it anymore because the ads in the site are incredibly obnoxious and make it very difficult to read the articles.

Teen prank results in death of high school teacher justthenews.com/government/loc…

@RubenGallego How's the illicit affair you're having going?

We’re in a war in the Middle East nobody asked for. Almost every major industry lost jobs in February. Gas prices are skyrocketing. And the DOJ just released files alleging that the president sexually assaulted a 13 year old girl. This is the state of the Trump presidency.

@unseen1_unseen Hold my beer while I cry a river of tears. I hope the organization implodes.

Their grift is ending. So sad.

@steveinman LMAO! Thank you, Steve, that made my night! Oh, yeah!!

Congratulations to Jim Carey. His transformation into an old Swedish woman is now complete.

@NYCMayor Fuck you, traitor.

Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.  Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace. I am focused on making sure that every New Yorker is safe. I have been in contact with our Police Commissioner and emergency management officials. We are taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.

@catturd2 Is that his mother?

@DefiantLs I ride a motorcycle. This was 110% the motorcycle rider's fault. Reasons: #1, he's speeding excessively; #2, he's attempting to pass on the right; #3, he's attempting to pass on the right at excessive speed.

Who's to blame here?

@RepRaulRuizMD You're a liar. I'm a legal immigrant and have no fear of ICE and support their mission with gusto. Go peddle your propaganda somewhere else you lying sack of s**t.

No Trump, YOU should be ashamed of yourself for unleashing the brutality and violence on noncriminal immigrants and U.S. Citizens. You are endangering the safety of Americans across the country! #SOTU

@Rep_McBride When’s the last time you had your prostate checked?

Tomorrow night, Donald Trump will attempt to tell the American people that the state of our union is strong. But his words won’t match what working families are feeling: costs are higher, rights are under attack, and too many people are struggling to make ends meet. I have decided to attend because I do not want Donald Trump to speak to a room full of sycophants. If we do not go, Republicans will fill our seats and America will see a chamber full of applause for his failed presidency. I won't give up my seat, and I am proud to be joined by a Delawarean who is standing up every day for our values and our Constitution: Delaware’s Attorney General, Kathy Jennings. From fighting Trump’s illegal tariffs that have raised everyday costs to defending health care and food assistance, Attorney General Jennings has been on the front lines—protecting Delaware consumers, securing federal funding owed to our state, and holding powerful interests accountable. From Congress to the courts, we are standing up for Delaware families and pushing back against Trump’s chaos.

@trollqueen19 @CNviolations Historically, it was the southern part of the subcontinent that was predominantly vegetarian because of religion. And if you were to look at those Indians, before modern Western influence, they were very thin and emaciated looking due primarily to a lack of protein in diet.

@rsolene @CNviolations If I’m not mistaken, India has the highest number and percentage of vegetarians

Lifetime vegetarian tries steak for the first time…

@mazemoore Government only has power if its power is not threatened. In a free society, that power will always be threatened. One way to take away that threat is to import millions who will support the government and who will outnumber those who pose a threat.

So Trump's tariffs are "illegal" but a President can effectively open up our border, let in millions of people illegally, and then demand that the American taxpayer pay for their healthcare, education, welfare, etc. It's almost as if our own government hates us.

@davidwebbshow @RudyGiuliani Why anyone would fly into or out of EWR is beyond me. It is a complete and thorough sh**hole of an airport. Stopped flying UA years ago because many of my bookings were routed through there (and ORD, another competing sh**hole).

@RudyGiuliani Thankfully it’s cleared up. I was diverted and now about to depart for Newark.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Newark Liberty International Airport was abruptly shut down Wednesday evening following a reported "aircraft emergency," grounding all flights. Initial report says it was caused by an engine failure on the JetBlue flight, which was headed for West Palm Beach, Florida. The plane was taking off from Newark Airport, but turned around and landed back on the tarmac just 40 minutes into the journey, according to FlightAware. 📷: @ScooterCasterNY

@tomcolicchio Your restaurants must be feeling the squeeze now that it's harder to employ illegal aliens who work for wages no legal resident would ever consider for doing the shitty jobs inside a restaurant. BTW, didn't you get sued a few times for withholding wages from your employees?

didn’t realize that the 1st amendment is “illegal stuff. “

@wadelentz I remember the fridge my parents bought in 1971. It was finally sent to the big-freeze in the sky in 2001. Exactly 30 years old. Interesting thing was it was still working but was struggling to keep the temp at 40F.

Our refrigerator just died... again. This is our second refrigerator in ten years. It was a Whirlpool, a "plain Jane" model with no bells, no whistles, and no fancy screens. We bought it for its simplicity, thinking it would be the one thing in our house that just worked. It lasted five years and one month, exactly thirty days past the warranty. The repairman’s verdict? A dead compressor. But the real diagnosis... it was Built to Break. Under the guise of "green" regulations and "energy efficiency," we’ve traded tanks that lasted thirty years for plastic-heavy shells that barely last five. We are forced to pay a premium for "high-efficiency" tech that saves ten cents a month on electricity, only to be told to throw the whole $1,500 + unit into a landfill when a single internal component fails. It’s a racket. The government mandates the specs, the manufacturers cut the quality, and the consumer is left holding a bag of spoiled milk. We don’t own appliances anymore; we just lease them from the scrap yard.

The unexplained firings have led to fear, uncertainty and an unwillingness to speak up among senior military leaders. If they understand their mission, the chain of command, and aren't woke then there's no need for fear, uncertainty, nor reason to not speak up.

Fox News has learned that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col Dave Butler from his current job serving as chief of Army Public Affairs and chief advisor to Secretary Driscoll, who is currently in Geneva serving on the negotiating team to end the Ukraine war. Butler, served as the head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs when Gen Mark Milley was Chairman, and was slated to receive his first star. His name appeared for two years in a row on an Army list of 34 officers selected for promotion. That list has been held up by Secretary Hegseth for nearly 4 months because he reportedly has concerns about 4-5 officers selected by the Army board but by law cannot remove them from the list. Col Butler volunteered to take his name off the promotion list, if it would help unlock the other promotions, according to a well placed Army official. Driscoll, an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance, attended Yale Law School with the Vice President and had resisted Hegseth’s pressure to fire Col Butler for months because of his ongoing contributions to the transformation of the US Army. “We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation. Dave has been an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts. He will be missed and I sincerely wish him tremendous success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service,” Driscoll said in a statement. Col Butler travelled with Driscoll to Ukraine last November to help jumpstart negotiations. The demand by Hegseth came last Thursday, Fox News has learned. Secretary Hegseth entered the Pentagon and immediately began firing top officers or forcing them into early retirement without giving a reason or for cause: Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who was serving as Chief of Naval Operations, General CQ Brown who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General James Mingus, who was serving as Vice Chief of the Army, General DA Sims, director of the Joint Staff, Air Force Chief General David Allvin, General James Slife, Vice Chief of the Air Force, and General Timothy Haugh, director of the NSA, among others. The unexplained firings have led to fear, uncertainty and an unwillingness to speak up among senior military leaders. One of the Army’s best communicators, Col Butler served alongside the nation’s tiered Special Operations units on countless missions overseas attached to the Army’s Delta Force from 2010- 2014. He served as the public affairs officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from 2015-2018 and as the public affairs officer for Gen Scott Miller when he was JSOC commander from 2016 – 2018 and then at Gen Miller’s request served in Afghanistan when Gen Miller deployed to Afghanistan from 2018- 19. Col Butler served as the chief spokesman and director of communications for all US and NATO forces during that time that Gen Miller served as the top 4 star general in Afghanistan. A former 4 star commander who once commanded US Special Operations said Butler was “the consummate professional, the most competent Public Affairs officer I have ever worked with and a gifted practitioner of strategic communications.” During the Army’s 250th birthday celebrations last year, President Trump recognized Col Butler by name for helping the Army Chief to organize the parade in Washington DC. The Pentagon declined to comment and referred us back to Army public affairs.