joshnorris14

Trump is running out the clock on himself ahead of midterms and that honestly might be the most politically expedient move.

WSJ: Trump considering Iran Deal not tied to nuclear development

TLDR; Trump is likely to indefinitely extend the ceasefire and end the blockade if Iran opens the Straight for traffic, however Iran wants far more than ending the blockade as part of that deal.

“Iran’s recent hardline demands for reopening the strait make it increasingly difficult for the president to manufacture a face-saving off-ramp from the conflict,” said Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Gregory Brew, an Iran expert at the Eurasia Group consulting firm, said, “The Iranians fully believe Trump wants out and is focused on opening the strait, which is why they are playing hardball.”

Hanging over diplomatic talks since April has been the White House’s ultimatum that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon. Trump sought to include nuclear talks as part of broader negotiations with Iran, but those have proven too difficult, leading the White House in recent weeks to focus more on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s ability to essentially choke off the waterway through sporadic missile and drone attacks has proven to be powerful leverage for the country, stalling commercial traffic and roiling global oil markets. Trump has declared repeatedly in recent weeks that the Strait of Hormuz was already fully open, but each of those promises has proven premature.

If the U.S. can keep the nuclear program in check and traffic resumes in the strait, then Trump is more likely to extend the current ceasefire indefinitely, the officials said. Trump also is expected to lift the U.S. military blockade on Iranian ports if Tehran fully reopens the strait, they added.

One major complication for the Trump administration is money. Iran is seeking billions of dollars in war reparations in addition to an agreement to unfreeze the country’s assets around the world. Trump has said the White House wouldn’t allow any taxpayer money to go to Iran, although a deal appears unlikely without the U.S. unfreezing some assets, possibly with conditions attached.

There also is a dispute about whether the U.S. should issue waivers to let Iran sell oil on the open market. The U.S. had agreed to the waivers last June as part of an interim peace agreement with Iran. That ceasefire fell apart after Iran attacked ships in the strait, and the U.S. reinstated sanctions on the Iranian oil trade.

Good for you. Deflation is not inherently bad

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It's crazy that you have to tip beforehand for food delivery.

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It's really not crazy when you recognize it for what it is. You are submitting a price for acceptance of a job. The price you input dictates how quickly the job will be accepted and completed. Putting in no-to-low tips increases the likelihood that a driver that is offered the delivery will reject it.

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So did marvel pivot from brie larson to florence pugh for the female face of the MCU?

Yelena seems to pop up in a bunch of stuff meanwhile Captain marvel isn't even slated to appear in doomsday

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Florence Pugh is far more likeable.

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I bring this up because I just scheduled a doctors appointment, and even while scheduling, they bring up that cash payments are not accepted.

I know why they are doing it (a cashless society destroyed anonymity and lets them know pretty much everything about you and is just another way of tracking you)

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You think your local doctor is doing it because he wants to destroy your anonymity and allow you to be tracked?

It could be that it's far easier for him to have financial tracking without any manual inputs for cash payments and reduces the administrative function or cost burden of cash deposits.

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Good thing in the interest of openness, we have individuals in the War Department that leak this stuff.

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There is an issue with this, but the bigger issue is the depletion of US military assets

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I wouldn't call what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan a rousing success.

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From the standpoint of toppling a regime, Iraq was certainly successful (Afghanistan was not, but also not really relevant to Iran).

But if we are not capable of it, nobody else is. Saudi Arabia can't even defeat Houthi Militia groups in their direct vicinity. Israel does not have the requisite population to perform a ground campaign. Who else would we depend on? Egypt? Turkey?

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I believe a good outcome in Iran would require regime change and I'm not sure we can force that without a ground war, by someone.

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"By someone"

There is only one military that is even remotely capable of potentially pulling that off. The United State of America's

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You said there aren't many races of Jews that practice Judaism.

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LINK

This survey identified that 3% of practicing Jews in America are not of Jewish origins. I stand by what I said. Just because you were a convert does not mean conversion is common.

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It is not incredibly difficult to convert. I have been through it myself.

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You never answered my question about learning of the 12 Tribes of Israel in Yeshiva. And I find it odd that you learned that sin is a Christian concept there

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My holocaust argument was meant to highlight this, but you instead assumed Ashkenazi instead of other converts who were also killed in the Holocaust who DIDN'T have the ethnic ties.You devalue converts yet you accept them when their numbers (6.5 million) aid the narrative.

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I have no idea the number of people killed in the Holocaust. As I understand it there was a large push by the Nazis to systemically seperate, remove, and the exterminate ethnic Jews from society (Jews were identified by looks, a genetic trait). If you have numbers on ethnic vs non-ethnic Jews killed during WWII, I'd like to see them.