#Happy Friday! We made it to the end of the week without a nuclear war 🎉 to celebrate have some memes

[cedric-k-rossignol]

Undertaker Reveal Take Two 4/?

Bonus:

[kyun-toast]

[MONSTA X] Changkyun - Happy Without Me

word count: 3.8k warnings: alcohol, suggestions of smoking, swearing, suggestions of sex summary: I don't think about you sometimes 'Cause I think about you all the time a/n: I’ve been listening to the All About Luv album a lot recently and Happy Without Me hit a little different the other day. I hope you don’t notice how I slacked off near the end 💜

“Yerim what are you wearing for tonight? I wanna look cute but not like ‘I’ve put effort in’ kinda cute, you know? Like I’m always this cute.”

Yerim laughed as she replied, “You’d look hot wearing a bin bag so shut up and let me know what drinks you want. It’s ‘bring your own booze’ so I was gonna run to the store for extra before we go.”

“Umm, vodka? Tequila? Maybe rum? I’m getting smashed tonight and you’re all going to carry me home, just letting you know.” Soobin winked and blew kisses at the both of you with a coy smile on her face, as some form of ‘thank you in advance’ for the troubles that you would be going through later that night. As much pain she put the both of you through, it was hard not to love her.

“Yeah, you say that as if that’s not what happens every week, you psycho.”

You smiled from the comfort of your sofa as you witnessed the two of your best friends bicker. You were never really one for parties, but you decided to let yourself go after an unfortunate night maybe five? six months ago. You thought that you could vent your frustrations into your notes app and be done with it, but your friends took pity and introduced you to another option. One where you could numb your mind with alcohol and crashing bass, and you figured that it was somewhat more enjoyable than cry-writing shitty poetry on a Friday night. Notes app therapy was now a thing of the past.

Changkyun had become such an integral part of your life that you couldn’t help yourself from unconsciously replaying memories that you had attempted to bury. A simple look at the most irrelevant objects would have him running through your mind before you could even stop yourself. Oh, we bought this mug together. You were surprised he hadn’t taken it with him when he left. It was his favourite mug to drink whiskey out of. Speaking of whiskey, you needed a drink. It had only taken days for him to make himself at home at the forefront of your thoughts but how long was it going to take to rid of him?

As much as you tried to keep those thoughts at bay, no amount of alcohol could ever stop them from crashing back over you whenever you saw that little smiley face appear at the top of your Instagram feed.

imnameim. When had he posted a story? You hadn’t seen the pink circle earlier. Would it be too early to look at it now? You couldn’t risk tapping on it only to see that it had been posted 12 seconds ago, just like you had done the other day. And the day before. And the day before that. Should you just make a burner account? No, that’s too far, we’re not going there today, bitch... Maybe tomorrow.

You hated how much power that tattoo face held over you, looking straight into your eyes - almost mockingly. Oh, did I look like a smiley face to you six months ago? Well, I’m a sad face now and that’s all you’re ever going to see.

“Y/N! Hey! You’re going to stare a hole into your phone.” Soobin clapped in your face, trying to get your attention. You looked up, softening your expression to meet Yerim’s eyes.

“Soobin was asking what you’re going to wear tonight.” Yerim said.

“I don’t know, probably that top I got yesterday?” you shrugged, unbothered by your friends’ question. You weren’t going to parties to impress anyone; you were going to drink the last of your braincells away.

“Y/N, ‘that top’ you got yesterday is a free t-shirt you got from the Domino’s pop-up stall on campus. I’m not letting you do this again.” Yerim dead panned.

“OK and...?” You met both of their concerned faces only to have them grab each of your arms.

“Come on. Up. That’s it.” You made unintelligible noises as they dragged you up off the sofa and into your closet. The thoughts about Changkyun’s story were left on the sofa as your mind was now filling with an excited buzz. “You act like you hate this, but I know you love getting trashed with us, Y/N.” Yerim laughed and you knew it too.

-

Changkyun lay in Jae-in’s bed, with her nestled in his chest as he looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Being careful not to wake her, he slowly squeezed his arm out from under her head to lay on his stomach to scroll through Instagram.

He had posted a story over an hour ago, half hoping that you’d see it – a cover of Dean’s Instagram. How ironic.

He shook his head at how pathetic his efforts seemed, whispering to himself, “What the hell are you doing?” He refreshed his feed for the last time to see that you had posted a video of the three of you dancing to a song in your walk-in closet. Probably drunk. Upon re-watching the video on loop for the third time, he concluded that you were most definitely drunk.

Seeing you having fun like this had him torn between being happy for you, moving on with your life and probably on to other men too. Being attractive plus the endless number of parties you went to now was just the perfect recipe. You were bound to have found someone.

And this is where the hatred washed over him. He despised it. Hated seeing you have fun without him, moving on as if he had never existed. Was it that easy for you to just forget? It seemed unfair that he was still struggling to keep you off his mind while you were out having the time of your life, letting your followers know of that fact too.

Deep down, he knew that he wasn’t happy for you at all. He was just trying to kid himself into thinking that he was. Be mature and everything. That was what both of you had agreed to be when your relationship came to an end. After days of what could probably be called a verbal equivalent of a nuclear war, the two of you had given up.

Crying, shouting, complete silence, you had done it all and there was no end in sight. On day three of radio silence, you felt as if you could do without speaking to Changkyun at all. When you brought it up, he admitted he felt the same. Exhaustion making both of you devoid of any emotion, you agreed to disagree and act like the fight had never happened. You were tired and wanted nothing more to do with it. Or each other. Thinking of yourselves as somewhat grown, you decided to be civil since you were in the same circle of friends, not wanting to burden them with any of your problems.

With so many things left unsaid and ties still loose, there was no way that you could just cut clean. But you never so much as bumped into each other since.

You hadn’t blocked each other though, as you both felt that it was some sign of weakness. Yeah, I’m tough enough to keep them on my socials. They don’t bother me. Not at all. But in the small hours of the morning, you were on each other’s profiles, hoping for a glimpse of what they were up to. Wondering if he had finished that song he was working on. If you were eating well. If he was really seeing Jae-in seriously. If you were well and truly happy.

“Hey, how are you doing?”

Y/N’s doing just fine for themselves, everyone can see that.

“Did you finish that essay?”

No, that’s too random.

“I think about you all the time.”

Shut up Changkyun.

Though you had both agreed to be ‘friends’, there was no easy way in going about messaging one another when you had fought so explosively. Changkyun also felt that he had missed the right timeframe for him to salvage whatever there was left of the relationship. Whether it be platonic or romantic. No matter how much he wanted to message you, his pride falsely masked as maturity stopped him from ever doing more than wish for you to call him and say that everything was going to be ok. That you can start over.

“Do you wanna go to Minhyuk’s house party?” Jae-in’s voice was heavy with sleep, squinting her eyes at the bright screen of her phone. Changkyun was startled from his thoughts, not realising that she had been woken up by a text.

“House party…?” Changkyun was dubious.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to, it’s just that we don’t ever do anything besides fuck, and I thought we could do with a change of scenery.”

“I mean yeah it’s just that we’ve never hung out with other people before. Like together.”

He had met Jae-in at a bar a few months ago. Holed up in his studio after the breakup, Changkyun got to channelling his anger into working on his music until his course mate Minhyuk persuaded him out for drinks. Minhyuk had flirted with the girls from the table over to get them to join in on the pity party. Jae-in had seated herself next to Changkyun and a few drinks later, they had quickly bonded over their childhood obsession with Death Note to which she followed up with an invitation to watch it at her place. Who was Kyun to reject? With all this pent-up energy to spare, music wasn’t quite cutting it.  

“I doubt anyone will care that we arrived together.” Jae-in shrugged. “Let’s go.”

-

“Yeah, I invited Jae-in and I think Changkyun might come with her too.” Minhyuk stated nonchalantly over the phone. You choked on your wine and thanked God that the music in your room was loud enough to cover the unnatural sound you had just made. “Y/N, is that ok? I should have asked you befo-”

“No, I don’t care.” You replied a little too quickly, “It’s been months and we broke up on good terms anyway, remember?”

“MINNIE! I MISS YOU!” Soobin drunkenly shouted across the room as Yerim held her back from throwing herself at the phone.

“I MISS YOUR FACE TOO, BINNIE! I’LL SEE YOU LATER!” Minhyuk chuckled as he didn’t hesitate to match her volume through the phone.

“Ugh, you two make me sick”, Yerim rolled her eyes, “You literally saw each other this morning. Just get together already.”

As Soobin and Minhyuk continued to chat, engulfed in their own little world, you reached to grab another drink. If Minhyuk’s predictions were right, you were going to need something stronger than wine to get you through the night.

-

Stepping into Minhyuk’s apartment, Changkyun could feel the bass rumble underneath his feet already.

“Hey! You made it! I thought you guys weren’t going to come, it’s so late! But we have drinks and snacks in the kitchen. Oh, and Jae-in, the bathrooms just through the hallway on the right…” Minhyuk’s voice trailed off into the loud music. Changkyun followed behind Jae-in as his friend gave the newcomer a guided tour of his place.

Though he was familiar with the apartment, it felt a little weird for him to walk through it with someone else by his side. A pack of cards strewn over the floor jogged his memory back to a particularly warm night in June. With the sun just beginning to rise, you both stood below Minhyuk’s balcony at 4am. You shouted,

“HEY MINHYUK, WE’RE GOING TO PLAY UNO AT YOUR PLACE, D’YOU WANNA JOIN?”

“THOUGHT WE’D ASK IN CASE YOU’D FEEL LEFT OUT.” Changkyun added. You both snickered as Minhyuk opened his window to shout back at you, regretting that he had ever given you two the spare keys to his apartment.

“ARE YOU REALLY INVITING ME TO PLAY CARDS MY OWN HOUSE RIGHT NOW?!” Birds fluttered away startled, as a neighbouring window flashed on a light in annoyance. Your shouting combined could never top the sheer volume of Minhyuk’s voice. Changkyun grabbed your hand as you ran into the building laughing before the neighbour could join in on the screaming match.

With classes finished for the year, you had what felt like an infinite amount of time on your hands. Kyun smiled to himself as he was reminded of those summer nights that he had spent with you. Stargazing, pillow talking, daydreaming on repeat.

“Yeah, so you can get to the outdoor space through the living room but I’m giving you special access to my little balcony through my room because you’re uh, Changkyun’s friend.” Minhyuk grinned as he ended his tour.

Upon entering the actual party in the lounge, Changkyun stopped in his tracks at the sight of you on the other side of the room. For a moment, the smoke in the room seemed to clear as his eyes trained on you throw your head back in laughter at Yerim’s animated storytelling. Hearing your voice so crystal clear made his heart swell with something that he couldn’t quite put into words. Half a year had passed since he had last seen you, sat broken on the floor of your apartment, explaining that it would be best to part ways. You had looked so drained of emotion then; it was such a stark contrast to what he was seeing now. He stood frozen, heart beating hard against his chest like a hammer.

“Kyun! Why are you so late?” Wonho, another friend of Kyun’s appeared out of nowhere with a bottle of tequila in his hand. “You gotta catch up on the drinks now, come on, open your mouth.” Wonho went to grab his face with one hand as he proceeded to try and pour some alcohol into his mouth jokingly. Changkyun chuckled as he play-fought with Wonho only to stop midway when he noticed Jae-in smiling at the sight.

“Oh, this is my friend Jae-in.” Kyun straightened up and brushed off his clothes.

Wonho went to shake her hand as Minhyuk snuck up behind him.

"Yeah, friend.” He giggled as he raised his brows suggestively and left as quickly as he appeared shouting, “Binnie! Where are you? We gotta go make those s’mores you wanted!”

Changkyun rolled his eyes and smiled as he guided Jae-in to the nearest table of drinks and set to introducing her to the rest of his friends, hoping that you wouldn’t notice him.

-

At this point, the three of you were beyond gone. Soobin had already passed out with a s’more in her hand as Minhyuk hauled her over his shoulder to put her to sleep in the guest room.

“And she.. she was telling me to sythensi.. she was telling me thynsenise, no, synsi.. she wanted me to synthesise, there we go, snythi…” Yerim tripped over words, dead set on getting her pronunciation right while Hyungwon sat and nodded with his signature painful smile on his face. She was determined, hand on his shoulder with a grip that let him know he wasn’t going anywhere until she had finished her story.

As for you? You were sat next to Yerim, a vacant smile on your face as you struggled to keep your eyes open. Day drinking followed up with a house party in the evening really wasn’t the best idea for the lightweights that you are but there you were, listening to your friend repeat the same sentence over and over again. An urgent voice in your head piped up, letting you know that you should probably go for a breath of fresh air.

“Yerim, hey, Yerim, I’m.. going for some air… stay with Hyungwon okay? Hyungwon, call me if anything happens?” You stood up, struggling to find your balance and teetered across the room to get to Minhyuk’s balcony.

The thing about you is that you are one of those blessed people that can sober up as quickly as they get smashed. You felt refreshed, taking in a deep breath as if to cleanse your alcohol ridden bloodstreams with the cool evening air. Your head still spun a little but as long as you kept your eyes anchored on the moon, you’d be fine in no time.

As much as your body needed a break from the party, it wasn’t the greatest timing for your mental state. Once you had assumed that Changkyun wasn’t coming to the party, you let go of the anxiety holding you back from enjoying yourself. You had been overstimulated from the alcohol, music, and people, not giving yourself a chance to think about anything else. But once those factors were gone, it was just you, alone with your drunken thoughts on a balcony looking up at the moon. And just like that, those suppressed memories regarding a certain boy couldn’t help but unpack themselves from your unconscious. Oh man, this was going to be such a good cry.

-

Changkyun was beginning to feel a little too tipsy for his liking. Though he was having a great time, it felt as if he wasn’t entirely present at the scene, like he was watching and laughing along through a TV screen. He slipped away from the kitchen island to get a breather.

“Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t realise anyone was here.” He apologised, going to close the door of Minhyuk’s balcony to a figure hunched over the railing. You looked up from your hands at him and tried to focus on the blurry face.

His movements faltered when your eyes met, door still open. Just one look at you was enough for that knock back into reality Changkyun had needed. God were you a sight for sore eyes. He drank up the way your cheeks and nose were flushed pink, how your eyes were glossy in the moonlight, eyelashes thick with tears, and the way the softly coloured city lights behind you framed your face. With the night air stained with your perfume and the sounds of muted traffic perfecting the scene, he had never felt so in the present until now. He wanted this moment to last a lifetime.

“Changkyun?” You replied, as you wiped your eyes clear of the tears blurring your vision. You could tell that voice apart anywhere, you only questioned in the slight chance that you were just hallucinating, going insane.

“Are you ok? I can leave if you want, I-” He began hurriedly, knowing that you hated having anyone see you cry.

“I’m fine.” You sniffed.

“Bad day?” He asked softly, bringing himself to stand next to you, looking over at the cityscape.

“Yeah, something like that.” You replied, letting out a small laugh as you wiped the last of the tears from your face. 

Tension hung so thick in the air you could feel it weigh down on your shoulders. Changkyun hated that you, the person he had once shared the deepest parts of his mind with, was someone he was now so uncomfortable with.

You both stood there awhile, looking out at the blinking lights of the cityscape. As quiet as it was, you could almost hear the sound of your brains whirring, going back and forth over whether or not you should say something to break the silence. Changkyun had spent months thinking of questions he wanted to ask you for when this moment came, but the alcohol and nerves fogged up his mind. All he could think of doing was holding you in his arms, hoping for you to be able to feel his apologies, sincerity and promises through the beating of his chest.

A heavy pressing in your lungs only intensified, as you thought about how the present situation had become the outcome of those few perfect years. You regulated your breathing, trying to break down the lump from coming up in your throat, on the verge of tears again. Thinking back, you realised that you probably could have been a little more understanding, could have softened your sharp words, could have opened your heart up some more to allow for Changkyun to do so in return. These thoughts and emotions bubbled up inside your chest to spill out of your mouth before you even knew what you wanted to say.

“Changkyun, I-”

“I found a really nice place for nights like this. Y/N.” he cut across with an anxious tremble in his voice. He could feel the apology ready to tumble from your lips, he had to stop you from apologising for things that you really didn’t need to. He hated that your heart was so big and so loving that you were willing to start trying to mend this relationship first. But he hated himself more for not having the courage to try to be even half as loving as you are.

He continued, still looking out over the balcony, worried that he’d start to tear up if he met your eyes again, “you can see the stars so clearly, it’s insane.”

You turned to him, tears welling in your eyes again. Despite having cut each other from your lives for what felt like a lifetime, it broke you how he could still read you like his favourite book.

“Can we go? Y/N? I’ve waited so long to show you.”

Hot tears fell down your cheeks again as Changkyun noticed and turned to you, pulling you into his chest as you cried out the mess of emotions you had amassed. 

The person you had wanted to talk about your breakup with Changkyun the most, was so ironically Changkyun. He’d know how to calm you down, how to sort out your problems with ice cream in bed like any other issue you were facing. But what were you supposed to do when you had cut the one who understood you the most so bluntly from your life? Who were you supposed to turn to when you wanted to talk about that?

Your cries pierced into his heart deeper with every second that passed, feeling the hurt in your voice in the deepest parts of his soul. He replied by holding you tighter, and you could feel all those things he left unsaid that day you left in the warmth of his chest.

“We don’t have to rush,” He whispered into your hair, “I have all the time in the world for you. Let it out.”

He brought a hand up from your shoulders hesitantly, feeling almost undeserving of comforting you after the pain he had caused you. But to you, his hand stroking your hair was where you found your solace.

So, there you stood, in each other’s arms having poured out your hearts to one another without having said a single word. But you both knew that you felt every single one.

[blancheludis]

Iron Man Bingo 3000 Masterpost

I actually managed a blackout @iron-man-bingo

Thank you all for reading!

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Characters: Tony Stark, James Rhodes, Howard Stark Warnings: Sucide Attempt Words: 8.534

Summary: MIT is Tony’s safe haven, at least until Howard visits and threatens all the good things Tony has built there, mostly his friendship with Rhodey. Giving into the panic building inside him is only the first step down a slippery road he is not sure how to recover from.

---

2. Stony Soulmate Tattos - leave the gun on the table

Characters: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Bucky Barnes, Pepper Potts, James Rhodes Words: 31.049, Chapters: 5/?

Summary: Tony meets his soulmate under the worst possible circumstances. It is not just a kidnapping gone wrong. It turns out Steve and his gang picked him on purpose and they want some personal revenge. If only he had managed to say the words written on his soulmate’s arm before they threw him back out into the streets.

---

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---

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---

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Summary: On the first anniversary of Phil’s death, Clint is left to grieve him alone. When Tony stumbles over him, he has a choice to make. Being a team means being there for each other, even though emotional support is not actually his thing. In the end, it is no choice at all.

“I’m fine,” Clint says, and Tony does not believe him for a second. “You do know what fine means, yes?” Tony asks, “Feelings inside not expressed.”

---

6. Hanahaki Disease - Forget Me Not

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Summary: A whole bouquet worth of flowers ends up on their bed the night of the wedding, the colours almost sombre. “Well,” Steve says and stops unbuttoning his shirt, “I guess we married for nothing.”

- Tony is dying from unrequited love for Captain America, who is first a dead hero and then a very alive one just as disinterested in Tony as Howard had always promised.

---

7. High School AU - Plausible Deniability

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---

8. MIT Era: First Meeting - see the man (but not the light)

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Summary: Jim Rhodes had plans to enjoy his college years to the fullest. These plans dissolve into thin air when he gets settled with the white rich kid. Anthony Stark is a mess, and Jim will do his best not to be dragged down with him.

(That resolve lasts about a week until he first saves Tony from himself. From then on, there’s no escaping fate.)

---

9. Peter & Tony Post Endgame - In Memoriam

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Summary: After the war with Thanos is over, Peter goes to talk to Tony Stark’s headstone, trying to make sense of the guilt he feels. He doesn’t exactly think he’ll find answers there, but he has to try. Luckily, he’s not alone.

---

10. Power Swap - Thunder In Your Heart

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---

11. Tony vs. Air duct climbing Clint - Operation Pest Control

Characters: Tony Stark, Clint Barton, JARVIS, Bruce Banner Words: 4.102

Summary: Getting his eyebrows singed off once is not enough for Clint and he keeps trying to get into the workshop. Tony has fun thwarting his attempts. Naturally, they turn it into a war.

---

12. Avengers Game Night - Ignorance Is Bliss

Characters: Thor/Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Clint Barton Words: 1.849

Summary: Stumbling over three naked Avengers in the towers' living room is not enough to surprise Tony anymore. What he cannot quite explain is how they roped Bruce into it. He's supposed to be the one with common sense. Thor's presence might explain his lapse in judgement.

---

13. Ironfam Take Out - Nutritional Value

Characters: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, James Rhodey/Carol Danvers, Happy Hogan/May Parker, Morgan Stark, Peter Parker, Harley Keener Words: 3.223

Summary: Once a week, the whole extended Stark family meets up for dinner. That means unbridled chaos and too much food. Tony did not think he'd ever be this happy.

---

14. “I wish I never met you.” - Truths Better Left Unspoken

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Summary: “I wish I’d never met you.” Tony loves his mother, he really does. In this moment, however, he also hates her with all the might his five-year-old heart can manage. He has no doubt that she is speaking the truth, but from the way Howard’s fingers dig so much harder into his shoulders now, Tony knows it will not be her who will regret her words the most.

---

15. “I don’t need you.” - Extracurricular Love

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Summary: “You’re staring at Tony’s ass again.” Steve can’t help himself. Just like everything else about Tony, it is great. Too bad no one knows they are in a relationship. He has a feeling that no one believes his protest either way.

---

16. Morgan Stark - Love Makes The World Spin Around

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Summary: Morgan Stark is seventeen and smart. She could have followed in her father’s footsteps and skipped some grades to go to college early. Other than her father, however, her home has never felt like something she needs to flee from. She has always been loved. Sometimes that makes telling the truth all the harder.

“I don’t want to go to MIT.”

---

17. There’s only one bed - No Rest For The Wicked

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Tags: Friendship, Angst, Only One Bed, H/C Words: 3.525

Summary: On a secret mission for Fury, Tony and Steve get stranded in a small town during a snowstorm. There is a motel with a free room - only that it has just one bed. While Tony already has fantasies about cuddling with Captain America, Steve takes offense to the idea of sharing a bed with Tony.

---

18. “So you betrayed me with Uncle Rhodey” - Mission Accomplished

Characters: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark, James Rhodes Tags: Iron Family, Fluff, Humour, Protective Tony Stark, Precious Morgan Stark Words: 2.244

Summary: “I said I didn’t want to be disturbed,” Tony snaps at FRIDAY, wondering why he bothers to put the workshop on lockdown at all when that is going to be ignored anyway.

“Distress calls from Miss Morgan take priority over that,” FRIDAY replies coolly.

Tony is moving before she has even finished talking.

---

19. Superfamily Spider-Man ID Reveal - Occupational Hazard

Characters: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Peter Parker, JARVIS Words: 3.782 Tags: Stony, Precious Peter, Protective Tony, Protective Steve, Family

Summary: It is merely by coincidence that Steve and Tony find out that their son is Spider-Man. Once the initial yelling is over, they might even admit they are proud of him.

---

20. Dad!Tony + Sick Kid - Call Me Maybe

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Summary: When Peter falls sick, single dad Tony is hopelessly overwhelmed. He is told he needs chicken soup. Surely the super hot stranger living next door will have some. And Steve, being an all-around good guy has no idea how to make chicken soup either but delivers nonetheless. Meanwhile, Peter, even while he can hardly leave his bed, manages to play matchmaker, because clearly his dad does not know how to get any on his own.

---

21. Self Sacrifice - Sisyphean Task

Characters: Tony Stark, James “Rhodey” Rhodes Words: 3.773 Tags: Protective Rhodey, Tony Needs A Hug, MIT Era, Angst, Friendship

Summary: “Sometimes I don’t want to be sober ever again,” Tony says quietly. “It’s easier like that.” What a world they live in, Rhodey thinks, that he has to teach Tony Stark about love.

---

22. Stony Accidental Marriage - In Sickness and in Health

Characters: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Words: 2.144 Tags: Accidental Marriage, Drunken Wedding, Humor, Fluff, Love at First Sight

Summary: Steve is drunk and falls in love head over heels with Tony. Marriage is the logical next step. Now, if only the wedding night would never end so they won’t have to wake up.

---

23. Withdrawal - Just One (Is Never Enough)

Characters: Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane Words: 2.540 Tags: Alcohol Abuse, Addiction, Withdrawal, Stane is a Villain, Sick Tony, Angst, Hurt No Comfort

Summary: Tony knows the criteria for diagnosing an addiction since Pepper has helpfully supplied him with a flyer once or five times. He is not an addict. He could stop. It is not withdrawal making him feel miserable. That is just his life. At least Obie understands that and helps - even if that means putting a bottle of whiskey in his hand at eleven in the morning. Tony is fine.

---

Thank you for sticking with me through this!

[lixxiecorn]

A Flair For The Dramatics

So, you know how when you're sick and have things to do but don't want to do them cause you're feeling crappy? Yeah that's me right now... So instead of sitting on my couch and doing nothing (like I did earlier) I took how I'm feeling and inputted it into everyone's favorite spiderson. Also, I'm realizing that this drabble that's supposed to be short but I guess isn't too short is longer than my English essay and I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Read this on AO3 here!

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“Ugh.” Peter moaned, questioning his existence. What had he done to the universe, other than help to save it, that made him deserve this?

Tony sat down on the couch next to him, handing the teen a glass of water. Peter stared at it for a moment in slight disgust, before taking a small sip. Pain erupted in his throat, a grimace appearing on his face in response.

Peter placed the offending water onto the table and flopped back onto the couch, groaning. He hadn’t felt this bad since the spider bite.

Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a little bit, but this still sucked.

The day before Peter’s throat had been bothering him a little bit at school but that was pretty typical. It was winter and winter in New York is anything but predictable. The temperature had gone from 50 degrees for a good part of the week all the way down to 11 degrees and that wasn’t even counting the windchill. Sudden changes in temperature like that always messed with him, but even more so since the spider bite due to his inability to thermoregulate effectively.

It only got bad when he went out patrolling. All the talking and moving around without any downtime only made it worse. Then this morning he work up and it was if fire erupted every time he swallowed. Well, maybe not fire but like a spark? May always says Peter has a flair for the dramatics when he’s sick.

And it wasn’t just the sore throat either. It was the persistence headache and weird lightheadedness that came alone with it. Because Peter’s body couldn’t just do a little sick, no it had to have a nuclear war with itself, Peter being the one caught in the middle.

MJ had been the one to tell him that he probably was suffering from post-nasal drip as she glanced up boredly during lunch before going back to her book in typically MJ fashion. Ned had suggested just going home after school and sleeping, but it was Wednesday, and Wednesday was lab day with Mr. Stark and there was no way Peter was going to miss that.

But as all things did, by the time the end of school came Peter was regretting more of his life decisions, as he got into Happy’s car. If Happy noticed the teen coughing and sneezing he didn’t say anything, but once Tony noticed something was wrong, he did.

And that’s how they got here, lounging on the couch in the Avenger’s common room as Tony watched Peter with an amused look on his face.

Peter scowled at his mentor. This wasn’t funny, he was suffering.

“You’re giving me that mortally offended look that cats give you when you stop petting them.” Tony commented, scowling.

Peter glared and started to make a sassy remark, but his throat decided it had had enough and he started coughing. His eyes streamed water as he coughed, the irritation in his throat not ceasing.

“C’mon kid, let’s get you drugged up before that happens again.” Tony says. Peter’s head darts up to see Tony holding a medicine cup filled with purple liquid out to him.

“That probably won’t work on me.” Peter mentioned, eying the cup warily.

To Peter’s surprise Tony tipped his head back and started laughing.

“Ok one, what has this medicine done to offend you?” Tony grout out once the laughing subsided. “And two, Bruce formulated this for metabolisms like yours so yes it will.”

Seeing no other option, Peter took the cup and eyed it before downing it like a shot. As soon as it hit his tongue Peter grimaced and handed the cup back to Tony.

“Why do you hate me?” Peter whined, the taste still stuck in his mouth.

“No whining in my tower. Unless it’s the alcoholic version, then it’s allowed.” Tony commented, getting up and setting the cup on the kitchen counter before settling back next to Peter on the couch.

“Do I get to pick what we watch?” Peter asked.

“Only if it’s not vine compilations.” Tony clarified, smiling.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Fine, Star Wars then.”

“Which one?” Tony inquired, looking at Peter curiously.

“I mean, you can’t watch one if you don’t watch them all…” Peter informed him, grinning.

Tony laughed again (twice in one visit! Peter was on a roll!) and motioned for Friday to start the movie. Peter let his head fall on his mentor’s shoulder. Being sick might suck and he might feel like he was dying, but at the same time, Peter wasn’t going to let any of that ruin this moment.

[scifigeneration]

Friday essay: is this the Endgame - and did we win or did we lose?

by Danielle Clode

In Avengers: Endgame, Clint Barton (aka Hawkeye) experiences insurmountable loss. Perhaps his grief represents our fear of making sacrifices to save the planet. Marvel Studios/IMDB

I had a momentary brain-fade when I went to the movies this week.

“Three tickets to … what’s it called again?” I asked.

“Endgame”, the ticket seller replied firmly, “What other movie is there?”

At over three hours long, it certainly is a movie for the fans, packed full of emotionally satisfying vignettes and snappy interactions for the cast of thousands that has become the Avengers trademark. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a faster three-hour movie.

Avengers: Endgame, the concluding half of Avengers: Infinity War, has quickly become one of the biggest grossing movies of all time. By pure numbers these are important and influential movies. So what are they are telling us?

Let me say at the outset that this is not a critique of the movie itself. I’m not going to document plot holes, flaws in logic or whether or not the science is correct. I’m happy to suspend a bit of disbelief for the sake of a good story. But I am interested in the function that stories like these play and what they reveal about our broader hopes and fears.

Jeremy Renner and Ava Russo in Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios/IMDB

Although not pitched as one, Endgame is an environmental movie – and an apt one for our times. Its predecessor, Infinity War, saw the world under threat from powerful villain Thanos, whose home world had been destroyed by overpopulation and resource exploitation. His grief sets him on a quest (involving, naturally, a gauntlet studded with variously magical and powerful stones) to halve the population of the universe.

Despite being cast as the antagonist, it is Thanos’s character who undertakes the “hero’s journey” in this movie. By the end of Infinity War, Thanos manages to achieve his goal across the universe, without violence – painlessly and humanely, with a click of the fingers – wiping out exactly 50% of the population at random, all at once.

It’s a little unclear in Infinity War what Thanos intends to reduce: half the human population or half of all sentient life. His track record had focussed on people, killing “people planet by planet, massacre by massacre”. In Endgame the goal is broadened. Not just all humans or even all sentient life forms, not just the resource exploiters and over-users, but half of all life forms. It’s a telling ecological misstep.

Clearly, it’s the people that matter and humans in particular. Despite having the breadth of the universe as a stage, even the alien Avengers are strikingly Earth-centric, with the exception of Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, who is the only one, aside from Thanos, who cares that the same thing is happening across thousands of planets.

Various critics have discussed whether Thanos’s population reduction strategy would work – at least in terms of halving the human population of Earth. And they generally conclude that it wouldn’t.

But this is an over-simplification of the movie’s message. The specific population reduction strategy Thanos employs can also be read as a broader environmental goal – to “restore” ecological balance. Climate change, pollution, species extinctions, overpopulation, resource use and distribution are all connected parts of the broader issue of environmental sustainability. The question is not, is population reduction a viable strategy? (Probably not.) Nor even, would a reduced human population be good for the planet? (Perhaps, if it were sustainable.)

The question Endgame poses for us is, are we willing to make personal sacrifices to save our own futures? To which the answer is a categorical no.

Environmental activists from Greenpeace protest against climate change in Berlin in May 2019. Felipe Trueba/EPA/AAP

Our greatest fears

Eco-catastrophe fiction is often castigated for not being scientifically accurate, and for failing to promote action on any of the various threats that face our planet – overpopulation, pollution, extinction, nuclear fallout, climate change. But when my colleague and I looked at climate change fiction across the centuries, we found that such stories are not about providing answers to our problems, but articulating our greatest fears. These stories – in book or movie form – are reflections of how society imagines the world of the future.

Eco-catastrophe stories have been a part of our culture from the earliest mythological stories of floods, fires, eruptions and storms. These stories of punishment and redemption form the foundation for much of our literature, not least that of superheroes with god-like or even godly powers.

The emergence of both the novel (and modern science) in the 17th and 18th centuries saw a growing awareness of environmental change reflected in fiction. Early Romantic literature may have seen climate change as a metaphor for social progress and human advancement into a Utopia, but that rapidly shifted into the dystopian fears that dominate environmental fictional literature today.

From the mid-19th century onwards, fiction, and particularly science fiction, closely tracked developments in science. Our deeper understanding of past ice-ages and the influence of solar variation, geological instability and the oscillations of the earth on climate, emerged in stories like Gabriel De Tarde’s Underground Man, S Fowler Wright’s Deluge and William Wallace Cook’s Tales of Twenty Hundred.

Goodreads

Extra-terrestrial influences (comets rather than aliens) provided the catalyst for eco-catastrophe fiction in the 19th and 20th centuries. This phase was a phenomenon undoubtedly inspired by the first-hand experience of the “little Ice Age” which caused widespread famine, crop failures, and food riots across the Northern Hemisphere. Astronomer Camille Flammarion’s Omega: The Last Days of the World (1893-4) was perhaps one of the most influential of the comet-inspired fictions and marked the continuing dominance of dystopian over utopian visions for the future.

This pattern continued into the 20th and 21st centuries and, as the climate change debate expanded from a restricted scientific focus to a broader social and political dimension, the literature expanded from science fiction to a broader range of literary forms. Eco-catastrophe has emerged in every genre from thrillers to literary fiction and particularly young adult fiction. And of course, in the visual forms of storytelling – superhero, science fiction and apocalypse movies.

A sense of inevitability and hopelessness pervades much of the modern literature on climate change, irrespective of sub-genre. Rarely is climate change depicted as being solved by human agency. For many, the damage of climate change can only be overcome with the assistance of either supernatural or extra-terrestrial powers. We can see the same patterns in movies where the future of humanity is so often saved by superior intelligence rather than our own, either aliens, angels, or, as in Interstellar, our unrecognisably advanced selves.

Anne Hathaway and Wes Bentley in Interstellar, a film where only our unrecognisably advanced selves can save humanity. Warner Bros/Paramount Pictures/IMDB

Distrust of scientists

The history of eco-castastrophic stories reveals that, far from being agents of resolution and improvement, scientists are mostly depicted as untrustworthy or even responsible for the crisis. Environmentalists are even less trustworthy than the scientists; they are frequently depicted as extremist and violent loonies.

This distrust is reflected throughout the Avengers franchise. The original 2012 Avengers film saw Tony Stark’s (aka Iron Man) sustainable power source, the Arc Reactor, co-opted to create a wormhole entry point for alien invasion. The shadowy law enforcement agency, SHIELD, subverts research into the environmental potential of the Tesseract, an alien object with infinite energy, for weapons development. The same theme recurs – green technology is dangerous and scientists cannot be trusted.

Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) in The Avengers (2012). Marvel Studios/IMDB

And nor can “environmentalists” like Thanos. On his home planet, his environmental crusade earns him the title “The Mad Titan”. By the end of Infinity War, however, he has completed his quest, accepted the sacrifice his choices entail, and his hero’s journey is at an end. Both he and the world have been transformed into a new order. Thanos sits in the countryside and watches the sunset.

Except that it’s not a happy ending. Endgame opens with a powerful scene that illustrates the central problem. Clint Barton (or to use his “made-up name”, Hawkeye) is picnicking with his family in the country – having given up his action persona – and is teaching his daughter to shoot arrows. As he turns away for a moment, his daughter, wife and two sons all suddenly disappear – victims of the 50% erasure. Hawkeye’s loss is both excessive and insurmountable. He loses everything.

Versions of this continuing loss permeate the movie. Hawkeye retreats into his vengeful violent superhero persona. Thor drinks himself, comically, into oblivion. Captain America runs group counselling sessions helping people to move on.

The differing manifestations of grief are represented in different characters – denial, anger, depression, bargaining, even acceptance. But these are not stages that characters work through. Ultimately all the characters are grief-stricken and unable to move forwards, except for Tony Stark, who has moved on but decides that, in a hastily explained piece of time-travel sleight of hand, he can fix the most of the problems without losing the future he has created for himself.

Nonetheless, the future in which our environmental problems are resolved is infused with melancholy. While Thanos’s rural retreat is a pastoral idyll, the rest of the world is empty, seemingly devoid of life. When Captain America mentions the environmental restoration, he is flippantly dismissed by Black Widow:

You know, if you’re about to tell me to look on the bright side - I’m about to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich.

In traditional superhero stories, the hero(ine) must sacrifice the thing they love most for the betterment of the world. But in Infinity War and Endgame, the heroes sacrifice the betterment of the world to save (or at least reconcile with) the things they love best. Individual interests win out over social or environmental restoration. Rather than securing the future we need, they save the world of the past. With superheroes like this, my sympathies lie with the villains (and not just because of Tom Hiddleston).

Tom Hiddleston in Avengers: Infinity War. With superheroes like the Marvel team, who needs villains? Marvel Studios/IMDB

So, is Endgame a paean to conservative values, a retreat to an idealised version of the past, a failure to meet the genuine challenges that face the Earth and its ever expanding human population?

Nathaniel Rich, author of Odds Against Tomorrow (2013) once argued: “I don’t think that the novelist necessarily has the responsibility to write about global warming … but I do feel novelists should write about what these things do to the human heart.” This is true of movies too.

What Endgame reveals is that in our hearts we are afraid that the price of environmental salvation is too high, that the losses will be too great, that we will not be able to cope with the scale of the personal sacrifice required.

An insight into the cultural zeitgeist

There is no point in complaining that there are no great climate change movies, or books, with real solutions, or which inspire real action. This is not their purpose. Movies and books don’t help us to overcome our fears, they simply express them. But surely they also reinforce them. Cliched fears about the risks of environmental change, scientists and technology may not be intentionally promoted but they risk promulgating pervasive subconscious biases that both perpetuate and delay vital cultural change.

The real risks of environmental inaction, of course, massively outweigh the risks of any environmental action. But that message does not yet seem to be permeating the popular psyche.

It may well be true, too, that the worst environmental costs will not be borne by the relatively well-off viewers of Avengers movies, but disproportionately by poorer and more vulnerable communities (something that only heightens the irony of fictional East African nation Wakanda’s role in the Avengers franchise).

A 2017 climate march in Washington DC. Nicole S Glass/ Shutterstock

Effective environmental action does not demand the destruction of half the human population. But it does require the vastly more efficient use and distribution of resources. The sacrifice is not that of the individual, but the vested interests in old-world resources and technology who would prefer not to incur the costs of change. Responding to environmental change does not threaten our comforts, but failing to act will.

Endgame isn’t the endgame: it’s an insight into the cultural zeitgeist. Neither threats nor solutions come from purple aliens, gods or superheroes. They come from us – politicians, scientists, environmentalists, industry and the general public.

Markets, technology and industries can and will adapt rapidly to changing circumstances, in milliseconds, months or even decades. Economies recover, but species do not. The environment takes millennia to adapt and what is lost never comes back. We need to face our fears and find solutions to these problems, rather than just perpetuating the fantasy of regressing into the past.

As Peter Parker says: “You can’t be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, if there’s no neighbourhood.”

About The Author:

Danielle Clode is a Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing at Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[anythingstephenking]

Time Traveling Swing Dancers/Teachers/Assassins

Welp, I did it y’all. I made it full circle to the book that started it all, 11/22/63. I read this brick of a book back in 2016, which lead me to The Stand, which led me to a journey towards 73 novels. Bless your heart, 11/22/63.

I just love this book. My first read through back in the day took me only a couple days; my second trip back in time took me almost a week, still a feat for the 800+ pages of book. Let’s go.

Another tale, like Under The Dome, that ruminated in King’s mind since the 70’s but came to fruition in the 21st century. Although the idea kicked around in King’s head for decades, he was daunted by the research that would be required to tell the story properly, so I think he waited until he was swimming in that sweet sweet money to hire a research team. Per usual, I am speculating.

But King did have a research assistant on this book, that much is true. He also consulted with the likes of Doris Kearns Goodwin, a treasure of American history, who gave King some real fun ideas about what might have happened if JFK had lived. The research was obviously thorough, and like it or not, you sure learn a lot about real-life Lee Harvey Oswald in this work of fiction. You’ll also squiggle in your seat through reminders of racism and hate that lived out loud in the 60s, different but also the same as we see today. History doesn’t change everything.

King has said that the extensive research and reading he did to prepare to write this story confirmed in his mind that Oswald acted alone. While it’s fun to imagine conspiracy theories of magic bullets and a second shooter, if King believes, I’m inclined to believe. If QAnon has taught us anything, it’s that Americans love a conspiracy theory. If Jack Ruby hadn’t shot Oswald in that parking garage, we may have learned what actually happened on November 22, 1963. If Oswald had gone to trial and had been placed under oath. If his last words weren’t about how he was a patsy. If, if if. Maybe Jake should have stopped worrying about stopping Oswald and stopped Ruby instead.

So, yeah, Jake Epping. Our hero of this tale. He’s a writer that teaches and lives in Maine. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time I started a book summary with that sentence, I’d have like $10 bucks and I probably go buy myself a fancy coffee of something.

Jake’s a teacher and loves hamburgers! Who doesn’t. He get’s them cheap at his favorite diner, from the proprietor named Al Templeton, who harbors a pretty rad secret that he’s gunna toss onto Jake. Now, why Jake? I mean, I don’t really know. Al doesn’t have any family and Jake is young and unattached? I suppose at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, because Jake, like Frodo Baggins before him, is off on an adventure.

Because Al’s diner is actually a portal back in time. We all suspend some disbelief - it’s some version of a thinny (maybe?) that plops you from present day back to 1958. The rules are this: however long you spend in the past, you can return to the future just 2 minutes after you left. Al says there’s no impact on quick trips - Al’s been going back and forth for years buy ground beef for his cheap burgers - but when you do something that might change the future, the past will push back. We learn that Al is very, very wrong, but more on that later.

Al’s set out to save John Fitzgerald Kennedy from his head exploding, but the past gave him lung cancer and he didn’t make it to ’63. He’s back in the present and ready to tag Jake into the ring to get back to the fight for him. Jake hesitates but not NEARLY enough. Seriously, if some stranger told you had to go back in time, follow around a total assmunch for 5 years and live WITHOUT CELL PHONES OR NETFLIX?? I don’t care how delicious the root beer in 1958 is. Fuck that.

Jake goes. A couple times actually. He’s first interested in saving Harry, the high school janitor’s family from being murdered, which is a real noble cause. The past gives him diarrhea, and he wears a diaper to take out the bad man. He fails the first time (diarrhea), heads back home to “reset”, and back to 1958, succeeding the second time around. Sayonara douche.

We cross paths with Beverly and Beep Beep Ritchie in Derry, where Jake spends a fair amount of time in 1960. The town is dark, creepy and troubled, and Jake hates being there. Little interconnected web of the King-o-Verse is always there, and I love every second of it. 

Jake heads to Dallas to wait on Oswald, realizes he hates it (lol, fuck Dallas-Fort Worth), and moves out to the country instead. He gets a nice little job and meets a librarian, and our heroine, Sadie. Sadie’s got some real baggage in the form of a psychotic ex-husband (men are mostly the worst in this book) but her and Jakie fall in love anyways. She’s a well written, strong female lead and I haven’t loved a female King character this much since Lisey.

General consensus is that the mid-section of this book is that it drags a little bit, but I couldn’t disagree more. Sure, does Jake putting on a big theater production have literally anything to do with Lee Harvey Oswald? Nope. But I loved all Jake’s time in Jodie, Texas. He falls in love with Sadie, they are lovely and happy, and albeit doomed because of time travel, it’s a wonderful distraction from all the heaviness.

That said, PLEASE Stephen King, DON’T WRITE SEX SCENES LIKE THIS. ::Monkey with hands over eyes emoji:: The sex stuff is awful. There’s a lot of broad references to Jake and Sadie’s love life, like “She looked. Then she touched.” Gross.

Exhibit B:

She said, "Don't make me wait, I've had enough of that," and so I kissed the sweaty hollow of her temple and moved my hips forward ... She gasped, retreated a little, then raised her hips to meet me. "Sadie? All right?"

"Ohmygodyes," she said and I laughed. She opened her eyes and looked up at me with curiosity and hopefulness. "Is it over, or is there more?"

"A little more," I said. "I don't know how much. I haven't been with a woman in a long time."

It turned out there was quite a bit more … At the end she began to gasp. "Oh dear, oh my dear, oh my dear dear God, oh sugar!"

Guys, this passage was from Sadie’s FIRST TIME. She comes? And Jake notices there is blood on the sheets afterwards. But she orgasmed. Yeah ok, sure.

Other than poorly written Harlequin romance passages, the rest of the story clips along with lots of fun (and not so fun) bits, leading the the culmination of Jake (spoilers) killing Oswald. Sadie dies in the process and it is heart wrenching. But at least the world got saved?

WRONG. Another gripe is this; Jake goes back to 2007 and it’s a fucking post apocalyptic wasteland. Nuclear war has ruined the globe - Jake somehow crosses paths with Harry the janitor, who gives him a 5 minute synopsis of how everything went to hell. It is TOO SHORT. Why do we spend so little time here? I want more dystopian future.

We also get a brief bit about how each trip back isn’t a real “reset” - each one triggers a new “string” or parallel universe. Al’s diner isn’t the only passage, and anyone that has read the Dark Tower books gets it. Al was dumb and Jake was dumb, and at the end of the day Jake resets the past and saves this new string from nuclear fallout but you know those poor souls that were on that timeline are still fucked?

Anywho, the end is lovely and King changed what he originally planned (which was lame) at his son’s suggestion. Good job Joe Hill. Maybe I’ll read some of his books someday.

So that’s 11/22/63. This is the latest in King’s bibliography that I have already read, so I’m headed into the last 20 or so novels without any spoilers at all. I still haven’t even let myself watch The Outsider on HBO yet.

Speaking of adaptations, Lisey’s Story on Apple+ starts airing on Friday. Will be watching and hope that it is better than The Stand.

9/10

First Line: I had never been what you would call a crying man.

Last Line: Then the music takes us, the music rolls away the years, and we dance.

Adaptations:

A Hulu miniseries! They did 2 seasons of Castle Rock, so they’re a-ok in my book. Anything not produced by ABC is a-ok with me. I watched it when it aired and it was pretty decent IIRC. I’ve started rewatching, but only made it through the first episode so far. It’s a hard rewatch knowing what a creep James Franco is. And his fake goatee in the first 30 minutes is the actual worst.

The show takes its own liberties with the plot which is fine; Jake gets a partner in crime named Bill; without Bill we’d have a lot of internal Franco monologue I’d guess. The show is well cast and well acted, and has an 8.2 on IMDB, so it’s doing a lot better than most King projects.

James Franco channeling his inner Annie Wilkes.

[labourpress]

Emily Thornberry speech to Labour Party Conference

Emily Thornberry MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

  ***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

    Chair, Conference - It’s a pleasure to be back here in Brighton and Hove.

  A city which we can say - once again - has no Tory MPs. And it’s a pleasure to be taking part in a debate where our delegates have such a strong voice,

  And we should all thank Kate Osamor and Nia Griffith who have allowed me to speak on their behalf today so our delegates could have more time. And let me say as well - it’s an honour to be on this stage with our leader, my friend, this country’s next Prime Minister - Jeremy Corbyn.

  You know, some people might remember a certain viral video from election night of a bit of high-fiving gone wrong. But that’s not how I’ll remember that evening. I’ll just remember seeing a friend of mine who had defied all the pundits, all the doubters

and all the expectations. Someone who had proved during the election, who has proved throughout his leadership, who has proved all his life, that nothing is stronger, nothing on earth than a person of principle.

  And it is that strength and those principles, those unshakeable values that are going to take Jeremy into Downing Street and put Labour back into power. After all, it was on this very stage two years ago that Jeremy declared his mission:

  “To put Labour values -- the people’s values -- back - into - politics.”

  And he has achieved that. But thanks to Jeremy’s inspirational leadership, thanks to the brilliant efforts of everyone in this room, we can now set our sights even higher.

It is time to put Labour values, the people’s values back into Government.

Because if June’s election taught us one thing, it’s that if we stand behind Jeremy’s principled leadership, if we stand united as a Party, and if we stand on a radical manifesto, there is absolutely no seat that we can’t win.  And no Tory that we can’t bin.

  So next time, we've got to take the fight into their backyard. Let's go round the coast to Hastings. And end the ambitions of Amber Rudd. Let's go to Chingford. And send Iain Duncan Smith to the Job Centre. Then let's go to Uxbridge. And make sure Boris Johnson never, ever gets into No.10.

  But Conference, please let’s just take a second to sympathise with poor old Boris. Oh come on, just a second. He’s not been happy lately. Apparently he's sick of being blamed for the way Brexit is going and all the broken promises of the Leave campaign.

  I'm sorry, Conference? I'm sorry? Who does he think made all those promises? Who does he think was in charge  of the Leave Campaign?

  I know Boris doesn’t like paternity tests, but we might need one for Brexit. We need to get him in a studio with Jeremy Kyle.

  “Yes, I'm sorry, Mr Johnson…

“We've got the results back…

“It looks like this one is yours…

“It must have been that wild night out you had with Michael Gove.

“I've calculated your maintenance payments…

“That’ll be 350 million a week.”

  But Conference, what a contrast. Here on this stage, you’ve got Labour’s Brexit team - myself, Keir and Barry working every day in harness with Jeremy, John and Diane. All pulling in the same direction.  All focused on the same three priorities. The three priorities we’ve had since Day One after the Referendum - Jobs, Jobs and Jobs.

  While next week in Manchester, we’re going to see six Tory rats, fighting in a sack, not worried about protecting the jobs of the British people. Just every one of them looking out for their own.

  Last Friday, Theresa May said we need to be “creative and imaginative” to get a good outcome from Brexit. Well I’ve got a creative idea for her step aside, end your shambles of a Government, and let the grown-ups on this stage take charge.

  And talking of grown-ups I’m proud to be here representing our great Shadow Foreign Office team: Liz McInnes; Fabian Hamilton; Khalid Mahmood; Helen Goodman and Ray Collins. And I’m proud as well to be speaking on behalf of my friends, Kate Osamor and Nia Griffith. Kate, our Shadow Secretary of State For International Development, facing a world in now constant humanitarian crisis,

not least as a result of climate change.

  As Kate would say, in that world, we’ve got a decision to make. Either tackle head on the root causes of these crises or spend more and more every year dealing with the consequences.  And, under a Labour government. That is a decision we will not duck.

  And Nia, our Shadow Defence Secretary, who has shown that Britain under Labour

will be a strong leader within NATO, committed to spend 2 per cent of our national income on defence. And committed to ensure that those who put their lives on the line for this country the real-terms pay rises and the decent living conditions that their service and their sacrifice deserves.

  In dark, dangerous times for our world Britain must be equally strong and equally committed to defence, development and diplomacy. That is what we offer on this stage. And that is what Labour in government will guarantee. 

  But Conference, make no mistake. These are indeed dark and dangerous times for the world. And too many times, the problems we face come down to people abusing their power and ignoring the rules and values that should govern our world.

  From Venezuela to The Philippines we see the rule of law ignored and originally democratic governments turning into increasingly autocratic regimes. From Myanmar to Yemen we see human rights ignored and flagrant attacks against ordinary civilians qll too often using British-made weapons.

  From Kashmir to Israel and Palestine we see efforts at diplomacy ignored and actions taken on both sides which will make peace harder to achieve.

  From Syria to Sudan, we see the Geneva Conventions ignored and despots committing war crimes with total freedom and impunity. 

  All across Europe we see the basic rules of humanity and the basic lessons of history ignored as cowardly terrorists stalk our city streets and vicious extremist parties rise in the polls.

  And of course, in North Korea  we see the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ignored with all the terrifying consequences the world is now facing today.

  Taken altogether what we are seeing today is the biggest challenge to the world order since the 1930s and the collapse of the League of Nations.  And if you believe as I do in what Jeremy has called…“A world based on rules and laws” then this is the time, more than ever, when we need our leaders to stand up for that world order. To stand up for human rights and international treaties. And to insist on working through the United Nations for peace.

  But instead, Conference we now have a President of the United States who believes that none of these rules and laws apply to him.

  - Imposing a travel ban on Muslims;

  - Equivocating over illegal settlements;

  - Reneging on the Paris climate treaty;

  - Imperilling the nuclear deal with Iran;

  - And threatening to “totally destroy” North Korea. A country of 20 million men and women. And 5 million children.

This is not what we need from the leader of the free world.

  To be honest, Conference it’s more like what we would expect from a rogue dictator. And what makes it even worse is to see this Tory government and this Tory Prime Minister pathetically going along with it all walking hand-in-hand with Trump at the White House, supine, sycophantic and spineless.

  And why? All in the vain hope that Trump will ride to the rescue after Brexit with some fantasy free trade deal. Because, for this Tory government that’s what their foreign policy has come down to no values or ethics, no rules or principles just a simple case of what works best for the bottom line. How else do they explain why - last week - Theresa May was in New York, finally announcing the suspension of cooperation with the military in Myanmar because of their actions in Rakhine.

  While on the very same day, Michael Fallon was in Jeddah, signing a deal to increase our cooperation with the military in Saudi Arabia wantonly ignoring their actions in Yemen. It is rank hypocrisy. But it also illustrates a basic fact that the world we want to see – a world governed by ethics and values, a world based on rules and laws will never truly exist as long as governments and world leaders get to decide for themselves when it suits them to play by the rules and when the rules can be safely ignored.

  The world we want will never exist when governments like Theresa May’s think it’s perfectly OK to loudly condemn those they regard as enemies but then fall utterly silent when it is their friends in Bahrain rounding up, torturing and executing civilian protestors or their friends in Saudi Arabia dropping cluster bombs on innocent children in Yemen.

  In fact, if they were just silent that would be an improvement. Instead, we have to listen to Michael Fallon saying that the thousands of children killed and injured by air strikes in Yemen are just a consequence of Saudi Arabia “defending itself”…

…“Defending itself”.

  But Conference, it does not have to be this way. Labour can and will do things differently when we are back in power.

And there is one concrete step we can commit to today.

For too long successive governments in this country have taken decisions on granting arms export licences behind closed doors and shrouded in secrecy.

  Just two months ago we had the ludicrous situation where the campaigners trying to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen had their Judicial Review rejected on the basis of government evidence presented in closed court a secret court so they were not even allowed to hear the evidence let alone challenge it.

  The fact is that arms export decisions made by Tory Ministers are entirely subjective assessments taken without proper Parliamentary scrutiny without listening to independent, expert advice, but listening far too much to lobbyists for the arms trade and repressive foreign regimes.  A process that leads to nonsensical double-standards, where the Government can decide too late that selling arms to Myanmar is wrong but immediately increase its sales to Saudi. It is an arms control regime that was already outdated. but which the Tories have systematically abused, undermined and left fatally discredited.

  And as the four shadow ministers responsible, Barry, Nia, Kate and I have agreed that it must change. So just as the new Labour Governments elected in 1997 and 2001 Immediately reformed the way decisions were made on monetary policy and competition policy, the next Labour Government will immediately reform the way decisions are made on the export of arms.

  A wholesale reform of the legal and regulatory framework fully implementing the International Arms Trade Treaty with clear rules, tests and criteria for decision-making, based on independent, expert advice and the objective assessment of evidence. A new system, that will prevent the misuse or abuse of licences and adhere to the principles of transparency, true Parliamentary accountability and freedom from undue influence.

  Because Conference, it is not enough for us just to be better than the Tories, we must set an entirely new standard for Britain and a shining example to the world.

And if that sounds like setting our ambitions high, well you’re damn right it is and we should not apologise for that.

  You know, I heard Chuka say yesterday:

“Overpromising and under-delivering…

“…Is one of the reasons…

“…there was such fury with the Blair government.”

  And when it comes to foreign policy, I totally agree with that statement. But the way we avoid that mistake next time round isn’t to water down the promises we make, it’s to keep the promises we make and make sure we deliver them.

We will be a Government that will never put the interest of the rich and powerful above human Rights, The Rule of Law, and the lives of innocent children in Yemen…

A Government that will never put our principles up for auction.

And if we are going to be the kind of government we could be, we do not just need what Robin Cook called for, twenty years ago, when he set out his Mission Statement for the Foreign Office.

  We do not just need an “ethical dimension” to our foreign policy, we need to go much further than that.

  We need what Martin Luther King called for 50 years ago, when he set out his case against the Vietnam War.

  - We need “a revolution of values”.

  - “A genuine revolution of values”.

  - “A radical revolution of values”.

  Because if our mission back when Jeremy was elected, was to put Labour values back into politics and our mission today is to put those values back into Government, then our mission for the years to come must be equally ambitious and equally radical. It must be to put Labour values at the heart of the world order, to be a beacon in every corner of the globe for the values we believe in here at home.

  We have the leader in Jeremy to do it. We have the team on this stage to do it. We have the members in this hall, and all across the country, who will hold us to it.

  So let us make that our mission. And this time -- this time -- let us make it our record.

[mastcomm]

An Old Army Myth That Went Unchallenged for Too Long

You’re reading this week’s At War newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday. Email us at atwar@nytimes.com.

For some United States Army leaders, the imagery was intoxicating: Iraqi soldiers cowering in fear as dozens of American rockets and artillery shells broke open above them. Thousands of explosive grenades streamed down onto their positions, destroying lives and equipment and forcing surrenders en masse. “Please save us from this ‘steel rain,’” the Iraqi soldiers supposedly implored their American adversaries.

Though the narrative has differed a bit depending on the storyteller, the meat of the story was basically the same: During Operation Desert Storm, the Army’s new second-generation cluster weapons — called dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICMs — broke the Iraqis’ will to fight, and it was Iraqi prisoners of war who named them “steel rain,” because the grenades were made of that metal and they fell in thickets over large areas of the desert.

I came across this tall tale over and over again in recent years while studying how dud American cluster munitions often killed American and allied troops during Desert Storm. Some of those allied soldiers were killed by unexploded DPICM grenades, but emerging from Desert Storm was a hero narrative around these little submunitions — and one without any official documentation to back it up.

Digging into the archives showed how such a story entered the Army’s consciousness unchallenged. We published that story this week in At War.

This was not the first time the military overhyped new artillery weapons. The Army’s first generation of artillery cluster shells was born out of the service’s bitter experience facing human wave attacks in the Korean War. A top-secret postwar program at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey raced to create a new generation of weapons it called COFRAM, for Controlled Fragmentation Munition. The idea was to design artillery shells that broke open in midair, dispensing little grenades that exploded in more uniformly sized pieces than earlier munitions did. The key, they found, was to score the inside walls of the grenade body in a crosshatch type of design. (The M67 fragmentation hand grenade still in use today is a direct descendant of the COFRAM program.) By blanketing large areas with smaller munitions, they hoped human wave attacks could be defeated.

These COFRAM munitions stayed largely under wraps until early 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson panicked over the possibility of North Vietnamese forces overrunning the Marine base at Khe Sanh. The president discussed the possibility of using small nuclear weapons with Pentagon leadership to defend the base, but his commander in Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, suggested that nukes would not be necessary. In January, the Pentagon agreed with Westmoreland’s request to declassify COFRAM for use in Vietnam.

The Marine Corps’ official history of the war shows that less than a month later, a brigadier general flew to Khe Sanh with the first pallets of 105-millimeter cluster artillery rounds, and a warrant officer delivered handwritten instructions on their use. On Feb. 7, 1968, Marine howitzers fired the first artillery cluster rounds in support of the Special Forces camp nearby at Lang Vei. The Marine artillery commander who was ordered to use the new top-secret ammunition only fired a few rounds and “doubted very much their effectiveness.” He went back to firing normal high-explosive rounds but kept reporting to his superiors that he was using the new cluster munitions.

These weapons continued to cause problems whenever and wherever they were used, leaving behind numerous duds that the Viet Cong often harvested and incorporated into mines and booby traps that they used against American troops.

The failures of the cheaply made and mass-produced artillery submunitions in Vietnam evidently were forgotten, or were presumed to have been fixed in the Army’s second-generation weapons they debuted in Desert Storm. Although the enemy in 1991 did not turn these duds against American ground forces as they had in Vietnam, at least 16 American troops ended up dead and wounded anyway from picking them up by hand, often thinking they were harmless souvenirs.

But the Army still holds fast to the myth of their effectiveness. Today, a painting titled “Steel Rain” depicting National Guard soldiers firing rockets containing DPICM grenades during Desert Storm hangs in the Pentagon. Reporters like me who enter the building from the Metro entrance pass it on our way to the press operations office, along with paintings depicting other stories.

The Latest Stories From At War

That is the approximate number of plaintiffs in a 2016 lawsuit filed in federal court by wounded veterans and the families of dead service members against the Iranian government, which they argue aided a series of attacks that killed or maimed American troops. The incidents are said to have been bolstered by the support of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, an elite paramilitary unit led by Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani until his death two weeks ago. The lawsuit claims that Suleimani provided Iraqi militias with the weaponry necessary to carry out the attacks against American service members during the height of the Iraq war. In August, a judge ruled that evidence gathered by investigators and intelligence officials clearly showed that “material support” for the seven attacks she examined had “flowed through” Suleimani’s Quds Force. It’s unlikely that Iran could be made to pay up directly. Read the full Times report on the lawsuit here.

— Jake Nevins, Times Magazine editorial fellow

Editor’s Picks

Here are five articles from The Times you might have missed.

“ISIS has begun to reorganize and plan invasions and attacks.” The decision to restart military operations in Iraq came less than two weeks after Iraq’s Parliament voted to expel all American forces from Iraq. [Read the story.]

“Peace for our people means the end of violence.” Reducing violence levels in Afghanistan is seen as crucial to paving way for finalizing a peace agreement the United States and Taliban have been negotiating over the past year. [Read the story.]

“Neither I nor my staff told you or anyone else at the department that the allegations were unsubstantiated.” A cabinet secretary, a House committee chairman and an inspector general are at odds after a congressional staff member said she was sexually assaulted at a V.A. hospital in Washington. [Read the story.]

“There are no happy endings here.” “Race of Aces,” John Bruning’s action-fueled World War II narrative, follows the elite fighter pilots who competed to shoot down the most enemy planes. [Read the review.]

“The harm of the base now is not worth it being there.” Bagram’s economy is tightly bound to the American military, but what once made it a boom town today leaves it more a target. [Read the story.]

We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to atwar@nytimes.com. Or invite someone to subscribe through this link.

Read more from At War here or follow us on Twitter.

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[bountyofbeads]

Live updates: Trump says Iranian strike caused no American or Iraqi deaths, new sanctions on Iran will be imposed

By Erin Cunningham, Paul Schemm and Siobhán O'Grady | Published January 08 at 10:36 AM EST | Washington Post | Posted January 08, 2020 |

In an address to the nation from the White House Wednesday morning, President Trump said no Americans were killed or wounded when Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq early Wednesday local time, marking the most significant Iranian attack in a growing conflict with the United States.

The al-Asad air base in western Iraq, which houses some U.S. troops, was hit by at least six missiles, according to a U.S. defense official familiar with the situation. In a tweet late Tuesday, Trump proclaimed “All is well!”

No U.S. casualties were immediately reported, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that dozens of U.S. troops were killed in revenge for a U.S. airstrike last week that killed a top Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

President Trump will address the nation from the White House at 11 a.m., following Iranian forces’ launch of more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq early Wednesday local time, marking the most significant Iranian attack in a growing conflict with the United States.

The al-Asad air base in western Iraq, which houses some U.S. troops, was hit by at least six missiles, according to a U.S. defense official familiar with the situation. In a tweet late Tuesday, Trump proclaimed “All is well!”

No U.S. casualties were immediately reported, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that dozens of U.S. troops were killed in revenge for a U.S. airstrike last week that killed a top Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:

● Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq and claimed that at least 80 U.S. troops were killed. The U.S. military said it was still assessing casualties.

● Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called the attack a “slap in the face” of the United States but said more needed to be done to end the U.S. presence in the region and avenge Soleimani’s death.

● President Trump will address the nation at 11 a.m.

● Airlines around the world are rerouting flights away from Iranian and Iraqi airspace.

● Iraq’s prime minister said he was informed of the attack ahead of time.

10:25 A.M.: Rep. Cheney says Republicans are ‘absolutely unified’ behind Trump

WASHINGTON — Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-ranking member of House GOP leadership, said Wednesday that her party is “absolutely unified” behind Trump regarding his decision to carry out the strike targeting Soleimani.

“We look forward to the United States being unified behind the president. . . . We will continue, certainly, as Republicans here in the House to be unified as a body as well,” Cheney said at a news conference with other House Republican leaders at the Capitol.

She contrasted Trump’s actions with those of the Obama administration, arguing that Trump “has made clear that the United States will not tolerate” the “malign activity” of Iran’s leaders.

On Tuesday night Eastern time, as news of the Iranian strike spread, Cheney tweeted that Tehran had “made a grave miscalculation by launching these attacks,” a sharp contrast with the statements made by congressional Democrats, who urged Trump to dial down his rhetoric and deescalate the situation.

At Wednesday’s news conference, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hailed the fact that there were no reports of American casualties in the Iranian strikes early Wednesday local time. He also defended Trump’s handling of the Soleimani strike, arguing that “it’s very clear that the president had to take action.”

He declined to say, however, whether he believes that Trump should take an “off ramp” and pursue diplomacy instead of further military action.

“I will allow the president to speak to the nation. I will allow him to gather all the information. I think the president has handled this correctly all the way through,” McCarthy said.

In a rebuke of Democrats who have criticized Trump’s actions, McCarthy also said that “all of Congress should speak with one voice in moments like this to send a very clear message around the world that we defend Americans here and abroad.”

By: Felicia Sonmez

______

11:30 A.M.: Trump says no Americans were hurt in Iranian missile attack, calls on world powers to leave nuclear deal

President Trump said no Americans were killed or wounded when Iran launched at least a dozen ballistic missiles against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq early Wednesday.

“The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime,” he said. “We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.”

He also called on European nations, Russia and China to abandon a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. “They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal,” he said.

“The United States is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it,” he said.

Trump said the Iranian strikes caused only “minimal damage” at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. military personnel.

“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” Trump said. “No American or Iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken, the dispersal of forces and an early warning system that worked very well.”

He added that the United States would impose additional sanctions on Iran, without offering further details.

By: Siobhán O’Grady

______

11:10 A.M.: French government advises citizens in Haifa to take extra precautions amid fears of Iranian attacks

JERUSALEM —The French government advised its citizens living in Haifa to take extra precautions Wednesday after Iranians singled out the coastal city multiple times as a prime target for retaliation in the escalating conflict with the United States.

A post over the weekend on an unofficial Telegram channel claiming knowledge of Iranian plans said the regime could target both Haifa and Dubai. On Sunday, a former head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard threatened to turn Haifa “to dust,” along with Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital and home to its national military headquarters.

“Following the recent escalation of tensions in the region, the city of Haifa has been the subject of explicit threats,” the French Foreign Ministry said in an online update of its international security advisory.

American, British and other Western embassies have advised citizens living or traveling in Israel to exercise caution in recent days, without citing particular cities.

Israel has been on alert since the spike in military action between the United States and Iran but has called for no special precautions from citizens based on the threats. The country was already braced for potential attacks from Iran and groups it supports around the region — including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza — following recent Israeli strikes on Iranian assets in Iraq and Syria.

Officials here have had a muted response since Friday’s attacks and have reportedly downplayed the likelihood of an imminent attack. Many residents, used to the threat of rockets from many directions, did the same.

“We don’t take it seriously,” said Efraim Aharon, 69, a lifelong resident of Haifa, a port city and refinery center just below the border with Lebanon. “The petroleum industry is a good target, but that’s something we’ve lived with for a long, long time.”

______

10:30 A.M.: ‘Cowboy diplomacy will not work in Iran,’ House Democratic Caucus chair says

WASHINGTON — At a news conference Wednesday morning, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) sharply criticized Trump’s handling of relations with Iran and called on the president to pursue a “responsible” solution to the crisis.

“Cowboy diplomacy did not work in Vietnam,” Jeffries said. “Cowboy diplomacy did not work in Iraq. Cowboy diplomacy will not work in Iran. We are hopeful that the administration will deescalate this situation and that the president will move forward in a responsible fashion, working with our partners and allies, particularly as it relates to the European Union, to move the world into a better space.”

Rep. Katherine M. Clark (Mass.), the vice chair of the Democratic caucus, said Trump’s “reckless and dangerous” strike targeting Soleimani has “set off an avalanche of chaos.” She noted that the House will vote this week on a war powers resolution.

“We must commit to deescalating this crisis in front of us. ... We stand ready to keep Americans safe and secure and to prevent this from escalating into a war with Iran,” Clark said.

Later in the news conference, she circled back and said “there is no set timeline” for when the House will take up the measure.

By: Felicia Sonmez

______

10:25 A.M.: Rep. Cheney says Republicans are ‘absolutely unified’ behind Trump

WASHINGTON — Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-ranking member of House GOP leadership, said Wednesday that her party is “absolutely unified” behind Trump regarding his decision to carry out the strike targeting Soleimani.

“We look forward to the United States being unified behind the president. . . . We will continue, certainly, as Republicans here in the House to be unified as a body as well,” Cheney said at a news conference with other House Republican leaders at the Capitol.

She contrasted Trump’s actions with those of the Obama administration, arguing that Trump “has made clear that the United States will not tolerate” the “malign activity” of Iran’s leaders.

On Tuesday night Eastern time, as news of the Iranian strike spread, Cheney tweeted that Tehran had “made a grave miscalculation by launching these attacks,” a sharp contrast with the statements made by congressional Democrats, who urged Trump to dial down his rhetoric and deescalate the situation.

At Wednesday’s news conference, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hailed the fact that there were no reports of American casualties in the Iranian strikes early Wednesday local time. He also defended Trump’s handling of the Soleimani strike, arguing that “it’s very clear that the president had to take action.”

He declined to say, however, whether he believes that Trump should take an “off ramp” and pursue diplomacy instead of further military action.

“I will allow the president to speak to the nation. I will allow him to gather all the information. I think the president has handled this correctly all the way through,” McCarthy said.

In a rebuke of Democrats who have criticized Trump’s actions, McCarthy also said that “all of Congress should speak with one voice in moments like this to send a very clear message around the world that we defend Americans here and abroad.”

By: Felicia Sonmez

______

10:15 A.M.: Leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group calls Iranian retaliation ‘great successful beginning’

BEIRUT — The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group condemned the U.S. drone attack that killed Soleimani in Baghdad and said Iran’s retaliatory strikes aimed at U.S. forces based in Iraq were a fitting Islamic punishment.

“The Iranian strike is a great successful beginning on the path to removing American domination from the area,” Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised statement.

The leader of the Yemeni Shiite group called for cooperation and coordination to achieve “a certain victory” against the United States and its ally Israel.

“America has no right to execute any military operation in Iraq and to kill its sons and neighbors,” he said.

In 2015, a coalition of Sunni Muslim countries, led by Saudi Arabia, joined Yemen’s conflict, fighting the Iranian-allied Houthis. The Saudi-led coalition is trying to restore the Riyadh-aligned government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which the Shiite Houthis drove out of the capital, Sanaa.

The coalition is also trying to curb Iran’s influence in the area, exemplified by its alliance with the Houthis.

In his statement Wednesday, the leader of the group praised Iran and said the region has now entered “a new chapter of resistance.”

“We hope both the Saudi and Emirati regimes learn the lesson, for the coming developments are big and their effect on the two regimes will be very negative,” he said.

By: Sarah Dadouch

______

9:40 AM: Turkey’s Erdogan warns against turning Iran into ‘a new ring of fire’

ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding to the global chorus of anxiety over hostilities between Iran and the United States, said Wednesday that “no one has the right to throw the whole region, especially Iraq, into a new ring of fire for the sake of their own interests.”

“The tension between our ally U.S.A. and our neighbor Iran has reached a point that we do not desire at all,” Erdogan said, while promoting Turkey’s diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis. “By mobilizing all the opportunities we have, we will not allow our region to drown in blood and tears.”

Erdogan made the comments at a ceremony in Istanbul marking the launch of a natural gas line between Russia and Turkey. President Vladimir Putin was also in attendance, a day after the Russian leader made a rare visit to Syria.

The two leaders focused most of their comments on the pipeline and their burgeoning relationship, which has survived, Erdogan said, despite their “dissenting opinions” on various issues. Some of those disagreements have been significant: The latest is over Libya, where Russia and Turkey are backing opposite sides in a civil war that has turned into a proxy conflict involving a lengthy list of foreign states.

Despite Turkey’s own growing entanglement in Libya, Erdogan said Wednesday that his government does not want to see the Persian Gulf region “turning into a stage for proxy wars.” Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has been dispatched to Baghdad to try to help calm tensions, Erdogan said.

“We are trying to reduce blood pressure by using all channels of diplomacy during this critical process, as the drums of war play,” he added.

By: Kareem Fahim and Zeynep Karatas

______

9:20 AM: Trump to address the nation at 11 a.m.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, who has been huddling with his national security team, will address the nation at 11 a.m. on the situation on Iran, according to updated guidance issued by the White House.

He is scheduled to appear from the Grand Foyer of the White House.

His remarks are expected to be the first since a tweet Tuesday night in which Trump wrote: “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!”

By: John Wagner

______

8:43 AM: Oil prices, stock futures ricochet after Iran lobs missiles at bases used by U.S. troops

WASHINGTON — Oil prices and U.S. stock futures whipsawed overnight after Iran fired on Iraqi bases used by U.S. troops, but markets quickly rebounded after there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Dow futures tumbled as much as 400 points but had flipped into positive territory by 8 a.m. Wednesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also flashed green. Meanwhile, Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate pulled back after spiking more than 3 percent in the hours after the missile attacks.

Analysts saw the strike as more of a face-saving move for Tehran, allowing it to say it had followed though on its promised retaliation for the U.S. killing of its most powerful military commander.

“Once the smoke cleared, literally, from the Iranian missile attacks, it was clear that our worst fears were not realized. No U.S. fatalities and no damage to any oil infrastructure,” said John Kilduff, an analyst with Again Capital.

And so long as oil kept flowing out of the region, analysts expected no immediate impact on consumer gasoline prices. Last week, immediately afterSoleimani was killed in an airstrike ordered by Trump, crude oil prices jumped about 3 percent and investors braced for retaliation.

By: Rachel Siegel and Thomas Heath

______

8:41 AM: Iraqi president calls U.S.-Iranian showdown ‘dangerous’

BAGHDAD — Iraqi President Barham Salih has described the intensifying U.S.-Iranian showdown on his country’s soil as a “dangerous” development.

In a statement, Salih condemned Iran’s overnight rocket attacks “against Iraqi military locations on Iraqi soil” and said he rejects attempts to turn Iraq into a proxy battlefield.

Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani in an airstrike has sent ripples of fear through the country, resurrecting the specter of fresh conflict in Iraq and intensifying public anger over the United States’ role in national developments.

While Salih did not follow the lead of his prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, in calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, he insisted that the decision should be Iraq’s alone.

“The fate of these forces is Iraq’s internal business,” he said.

Despite accidentally notifying the Iraqi government that it was “repositioning” troops, the Pentagon says that its forces have no immediate plans to leave the country. On Sunday, Iraq’s parliament urged Abdul Mahdi to expel foreign troops, ending the United States’ 17-year military presence in the country.

By: Louisa Loveluck

______

7:22 AM: British leader calls for end to retaliatory strikes in U.S.-Iran feud

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that he opposes any further military actions in the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran in the Middle East.

He made the statement in response to a question by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn about whether Johnson opposes “further retaliation or escalations in violence.” Confirming that he does, Johnson said, “The United Kingdom has been working solidly since the crisis began to bring together our European allies in their response.”

Johnson also said that the “United States has a right to protect its bases and its personnel” and that Soleimani was responsible for sustaining the “brutal Assad regime in Syria” and supplying weapons and explosives to terrorists. “That man [Soleimani] had the blood of British troops on his hands,” Johnson said.

On Monday, Johnson said that Britain would not support Trump’s threat to target Iranian cultural sites and issued a statement along with Germany and France that asked “all parties to exercise utmost restraint and responsibility.”

By: Jennifer Hassan

______

7:04 AM: Kuwait news agency says hackers posted fake tweets about withdrawal of U.S. troops

ISTANBUL — The state-run Kuwait News Agency said Wednesday that hackers published fake messages on its Twitter account that indicated that the U.S. military would rapidly withdraw its troops from a base in Kuwait.

The two messages were quickly deleted. “Our social media account (Twitter) has been hacked,” the agency said.

The messages were posted around 5:42 a.m. Eastern time. “Kuwait defense minister announced today that he has received an official letter from Commander-in-chief of Camp Arifjan declaring imminent withdrawal of all US military forces in 3 days,” the first said, referring to a U.S. base in Kuwait, on the Persian Gulf.

“Kuwait Defense Minister stated that receiving such letter from Camp Arifjan was unexpected and we are communicating with U.S. Department of Defense for more details and information,” said the second.

The apparent hacking came amid soaring tensions between the United States and Iran after President Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq early Wednesday that it said were in retaliation for the killing.

Iran has also threatened retaliation against other bases used by American troops in the region if U.S. strikes against Tehran are launched from those bases.

By: Kareem Fahim

______

5:40 AM: Iraq’s leader informed ahead of time of Iranian strikes

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister said Wednesday that Iran notified his office of the impending military action against U.S. targets in Iraq early Wednesday, just as the U.S. military reported that attacks were beginning.

“Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, 8/1/2020, we received an official oral message from the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Iranian response to the assassination of Qasem Soleimani had begun,” said a statement from Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s office.

“And at the same time, the American side called us and rockets were falling on the American forces’ quarters at Ein al-Asad base in Anbar and Harir in Irbil and in other locations,” the statement said.

No casualties have been reported, the statement said. The prime minister called on all parties to exercise restraint and respect Iraqi sovereignty. Abdul Mahdi has condemned the killing of Soleimani as an “assassination,” saying that the departure of U.S. and other foreign troops from Iraq is now the only way to de-escalate tensions.

By: Louisa Loveluck

______

5:14 AM: Iraqi militia leader says it is now Iraqis’ turn to attack U.S. targets

BAGHDAD — A leading militia commander in Iraq said Wednesday that it was time for the country to follow Iran’s example and avenge the U.S. airstrike that killed Soleimani last week.

“Now it is time for the initial response to the assassination of the martyred commander Muhandis,” Qais al-Khazali, who leads the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, wrote on Twitter, referring to an Iraqi militia commander killed in the attack ordered by Trump.

“Because Iraqis are brave and zealous, their response will not be any less than that or Iran’s. That is a promise,” he said.

Pictures of slain militia commander Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, have sprung up across Baghdad this week, tacked to monuments near the Green Zone and hanging right in front of the U.S. Embassy.

By: Louisa Loveluck

______

5:14 AM: Airlines halting flights over Iran, Iraq airspace

BEIRUT — The flagship airlines of France, Germany and the Netherlands have restricted flights in Iran’s airspace due to rapidly escalating tension in the area, following an attack by Iran on military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops.

Air France suspended flights over both Iranian and Iraqi airspace, Reuters reported the company saying Wednesday.

Agence France-Presse reported that KLM flights have been rerouted. “Until further notice, KLM has no flights over Iranian or Iraqi airspace,” a spokesman said.

A spokesman for Lufthansa said the German airline is canceling its daily flight between Frankfurt and Tehran, as well as its next planned flight on Saturday to Irbil in Iraq, Reuters reported.

Irbil was one of the areas hit overnight in Iraq, when Iran launched more than a dozen missiles against two military bases in the country.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday issued a notice prohibiting U.S. carriers “from operating in the airspace over Iraq, Iran, and the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.”

Other commercial airlines also rerouted flights, including Australian carrier Qantas, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, the Associated Press reported.

By: Sarah Dadouch

______

4:56 AM: Iraqis living near U.S. Embassy abandon their homes, fearing strike

BAGHDAD — Some Iraqi residents of the neighborhoods near Baghdad’s U.S. Embassy have left their homes overnight and in recent days, fearing that the area might become a target for future rocket or missile attacks.

“People have left the area; others have started sleeping in their basements,” said Dima Ahmed, who lives in the Harthiya neighborhood near the embassy. “They’re worried they’ll be hit by mistake.”

Security remains tight across Baghdad’s Green Zone, where supporters of an Iranian-backed militia besieged the U.S. Embassy last week. A portrait of Muhandis, the influential militia leader killed in the U.S. drone strike that targeted Soleimani’s convoy on Friday, now hangs opposite the sprawling compound.

By: Louisa Loveluck

_______

4:47 AM: Kurdish leader fears autonomous region to be drawn in U.S.-Iranian conflict

BAGHDAD — The prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region said he spoke to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo early Wednesday, urging de-escalation and saying that the region must not be dragged into the fray.

In a statement hours later, Masrour Barzani’s government stressed that Iraq’s Kurdish region would “not be a field of conflict.”

The U.S. and Iraqi militaries say that several rockets landed in the region’s capital, Irbil. No casualties have yet been reported.

By: Louisa Loveluck

______

3:55 AM: Supreme leader says Iran ‘slapped’ U.S. with missile strikes

ISTANBUL — Iran “slapped” the United States “on the face” with a barrage of ballistic missile strikes targeting U.S. troops in Iraq early Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said.

The strikes were in retaliation for the death of Soleimani, the Iranian commander killed in a U.S. strike in Baghdad last week. In an address in the holy city of Qom, Khamenei said that “military action is not enough” to avenge Soleimani’s death.

The “corrupt presence of the United States in the region should come to an end,” Khamenei said. He then praised Soleimani, who was buried in his hometown Wednesday morning, as a “brave and prudent” military and political strategist.

“He would go into the heart of danger to keep others safe,” the Tasnim News Agency quoted Khamenei as saying.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also alluded to the strikes in Iraq overnight, saying that the United States may have “cut off the arm” of Soleimani but that America’s “legs” would be cut off in the region, too.

By: Erin Cunningham

_______

3:44 AM: U.S. ambassador to Israel says few U.S. casualties

JERUSALEM — U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that early assessments of Iran’s missile strikes against U.S. forces suggested that U.S. casualties may be limited.

“Initial assessments are positive, and we pray these reports are true,” Friedman said before he addressed a forum on U.S. policy on Israeli settlements in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

By: Steve Hendrix

_______

3:40 AM: Emirati officials call for calm, say oil flow will not be affected

DUBAI — Emirati officials called Wednesday for de-escalation after Iranian missiles crashed down on U.S. bases in Iraq, while maintaining that the flow of oil from the region so far was unaffected.

In a tweet, Emirati State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said it was “essential that the region pulls back from the current & troubling tensions. De escalation is both wise & necessary.”

UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei, meanwhile, said war has not yet broken out and the situation should not be exaggerated.

“We will not see a war,” he said at a conference in Abu Dhabi, according to Reuters. “This is definitely an escalation between the United States, which is an ally, and Iran, which is a neighbor.”

He added that the OPEC cartel of oil producers would make up for any shortages caused by the tensions between the United States and Iran in the region.

“We are not forecasting any shortage of supply unless there is a catastrophic escalation, which we don’t see,” he said.

By: Paul Schemm

_______

2:00 AM: Britain condemns Iranian attack on bases in Iraq

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned Wednesday the Iranian missile attack on coalition bases in Iraq expressing concern over “reports of casualties and use of ballistic missiles.”

In a statement, Raab urged Iran not to engage in further attacks, adding that a war in the Middle East would only help the Islamic State group and other terrorist groups.”

By: Paul Schemm

______

1:50 AM: Iraq says no Iraqi casualties in Iranian missiles strike on bases

The tweets said 17 missiles hit in the area of the al-Asad air base, two of which did not explode, and that five missiles hit Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

The U.S. military has said it is still assessing casualties, but Iran claimed that dozens of U.S. troops were killed in the missile attack.

Iran said the attack was in retaliation for the drone strike that killed top Iranian commander Soleimani.

By: Paul Schemm

______

1:22 AM: Iran claims dozens of U.S. deaths in missile strike

DUBAI — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed Wednesday that dozens of U.S. troops were killed in a missile attack on al-Asad air base in Iraq. The U.S. military has said it is still assessing casualties.

In a statement to state television, the Revolutionary Guard said 15 missiles hit 20 critical points, killing 80 soldiers, wounding 200 and destroying large quantities of military equipment, including helicopters, according to the Mehr News Agency.

The Iranian press has been filled with glowing reports of the damage caused by the missile strike against two bases in Iraq in the early hours of the morning. Trump, however, tweeted that “All is well” and promised to address the nation later Wednesday.

The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, said the missile strikes would not be the end of Iran’s retaliation and that any response by the United States would only provoke more attacks.

Iran is retaliating for the Jan. 3 killing of Soleimani by a U.S. drone strike.

Iran’s military has said that more than 100 U.S. targets in the region have been identified. In earlier statements, leaders said the response would be restricted to military and political targets.

U.S. authorities have told commercial shipping to be cautious in waters near Iran, and the FAA has banned U.S. carriers from Iraqi, Iranian and Persian Gulf airspace because of the “potential for miscalculation or misidentification” of civilian aircraft.

By: Paul Schemm

______

11:00 PM: Escalating tensions jolt financial markets

HONG KONG — Stock markets in Asia slumped, while oil and gold prices surged after the Iranian missile attack on military bases in Iraq intensified fears of a wider conflict.

Japan’s Nikkei was down around 2 percent midday Wednesday, and stocks in Hong Kong and Australia also declined.

The global benchmark Brent crude oil futures soared more than 3 percent to their highest level since September, before paring some of the gains. U.S. stock futures also slid.

Gold — seen as a haven in times of uncertainty — surged above $1,600 an ounce for the first time in almost seven years, while the yen strengthened against the dollar.

By: David Crawshaw

______

10:21 PM: Contractor whose death Trump cites was a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Iraq

An American defense contractor whose death late last month was cited by Trump amid escalating violence with Iran was identified Tuesday as an interpreter who was born in Iraq and lived in Sacramento.

Nawres Hamid, 33, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2017, according to his widow. He was the father of two boys, ages 2 and 8, she said.

In recent years, as an Arabic interpreter for U.S. forces in Iraq, Hamid was known to decorate his living space with pictures of the children, according to a co-worker.

Hamid was killed on Dec. 27 when U.S. authorities say an Iranian-backed militia fired rockets at a military base near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

The attack, which injured several coalition troops, prompted Trump to order missile strikes against Iraqi militias. That in turn led to a New Year’s Eve assault on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and a retaliatory strike by the United States that killed Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander.

Hamid’s death has been a rallying cry for Trump. In a tweet on Dec. 31, Trump wrote: “Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”

By: Aaron Davis

______

10:00 PM: Trump says he will make statement Wednesday in response to Iranian strike

WASHINGTON — In a tweet, Trump said he would address the nation Wednesday morning and sought to reassure Americans, declaring, “All is well!”

“Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now,” Trump said. “So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!”

Despite Trump’s tweet, there were no public events listed for the president on the schedule sent out by the White House eight minutes earlier.

Democrats have responded to news of the strike by urging Trump not to resort to military action, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tweeting that America and the world “cannot afford war.”

By: Felicia Sonmez

______

9:50 PM: Iranian foreign minister says his country took ‘proportionate measures’

WASHINGTON — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a message on Twitter following the strikes, said that Iran had taken “proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of U.N. Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.”

By: Missy Ryan

[ecotone99]

[SF] 'Chris Allen' part 2 by Connor J Lukasik

So I woke up in a hospital in the year 2070, after being shot and killed in the year 2019. When I woke up, I had no idea about the passed time. My younger brother paid big money to have me brought back, and he also brought back my deceased Mother, Father, and Sister. They died decades after me, and were overjoyed when they saw me again. We went to the house my brother had bought, and that's where my parents filled me in on what happened. My name is Chris Allen, I am 15 years old but technically 66. My story continues here. I stayed at the new house for a week, trying to catch up on history. All of my friends are dead or old now. School is gonna start soon. So in 2033, the US annexed Greenland, and Germany started a world war(again). The third world war lasted 15 years, with Germany, Australia, Venezuela, and Brazil fighting in the name of Modernistic Intrinism, a form of government that centered around extermination of any and all religions. The war ended with the annihilation of Germany. Nuclear weapons, however, were not resorted to in this war, somehow. In 2048, at the end of the war, the UK annexed the land that was once Germany, Russia annexed Australia, and Venezuela and Brazil became Karga, a capitalist nation. Throughout these decades, technology became better and better, and the average human lifespan increased so much that no one had or has gotten the chance to die of old age yet. Again, because of technology. In 2067, the US annexed Canada, and Mexico began considering joining the US. Relations between the US and Russia became better, as the two countries had become allies in the Third World War. Nothing too major has happened since 2067, three years ago. Now it's the first day of school and well... I gotta say I'm nervous. I mean come on... I'll be the only one there from Gen z, and I'm technically 66 years old. Awkward as hell. But maybe I won't be the only one there who is from an older time, I wasn't the only one who was killed in the shooting...aaand I'm here. The school was made mostly of glass, chrome-looking metal, and various wood types. It was a work of art. There's trees everywhere, and flowers and lots of green grass. Butterflies and bees flew around, the bees never bothered anyone and no one seemed anxious around them. I had all my school supplies, I was registered for school, so I walked into the school. No one payed any attention to me, my friends weren't hanging out in the plaza when I got there, everyone was different, I recognized no one. The bell rang, so I got to class. Everyone is tall, even most of the freshmen are at least 6'6". I am 5'10", so I'm pretty short compared to all these kids. I thought that maybe the average person in this time would have skinny arms and legs, but no. It's very common to use medicine to make people strong without working out, apparently. I got to my first period history class, and took a seat. The teacher was this guy who looked to be in his 60's. He introduced himself, and HOLY SHIT that's Jordan, my old best friend. But he's in his 60's now. He looks at me and smiles, recognizing me. The other kids were wondering why this old fuck seemed to know me. Jordan explained to them that him and I used to be friends, back in 2019 but I had died. They seemed at least slightly intrigued by this, but it wasn't like it was anything too alien. When Paul told us to put on the headsets, I was confused but everyone else just swiped there finger across their desk, then headsets materialized on their heads. I did the same, and the headset came over me. I was now in the year 1900, but the rest of the class and Paul were there. I realized that this was VR, and that this is how history is taught nowadays. We were in a busy town, with people rushing to the train station, people rushing to the store, and people reading the news papers. No one payed any mind to us, like we weren't even there, when in reality, it was them who weren't there. Paul began his lecture on the early 1900's and late 1890's. After history class, I went to living economics class, which seemed to be seen as more important in modern schools. I should mention that algebra, geometry, pre-cal, different sciences were electives, because not everyone needs or wants to study those things. In Living Economics, I learned quite a bit about modern society. People seem to be a lot more extrovertive and social, and getting a job is easy. As a matter of fact, doing your job is easy. People usually work around 2 hours on Monday through Thursday, and they didn't work at all on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Some people still make more than others, but pay fully based on how much work you put in, how productive you are, and creativity can get you bonuses in certain jobs. I went to lunch after Living Economics, because school started at 10 am, and it was already noon. I sat with some people that were obviously gamers and memelords, and they seemed very eager to meet me. Word had gotten around that I was from 2019, and some people thought that was cool. I talked to all of these kids, they're names are James, Kevin, Jason, and Sven. The name Sven became more common in the US after Pewdiepie became president of the US and declared war on t series. T series was destroyed, and frankly no one was disappointed. Their YouTube channel got deleted, and pewds tooks over YouTube once again. He is still alive in 2070. Anyway, the group filled me in on how the internet works nowadays. Most of the old websites still exist and thrive, and there are also new ones. Minecraft is still the greatest game of all time. Something I had noticed is cell phones are different. Everyone has a wristband on, and they press it lightly with one finger, then a glass phone materializes in their hand. The screens can only be seen from the front, for privacy. Jason threw his phone on the ground to show me that they just don't break. After lunch I went to PE. To be frank, it was kind of embarrassing but everyone understood. I was the shortest and the weakest in the class. All of my friends were in there though. We had fun, but I had a harder time with the workouts then everyone else. But as I said, they all understood. When PE ended at around 1:00, school was out. The schools in the future recognize that education is important, but it should not be the central focus if our lives. And also, we just google everything, duh. Me and the gang went to the river after I told my parents via a video call. They were so happy that I was making friends so quickly, then I told them how extrovertive everyone is, and I also told them about Jordan. They were like 'damn, ok' then I said goodbye and hung up. Many other kids from the school were there. The river had clear water, and was filled with healthy fish and plants. Around the river was trees and grass and rocks, we hung out on a river back which was made of pebbles and was very clean. A drone flew by and picked up our trash that we had bagged up already. We had no homework, so we spent the rest of the day at the river. At the end of the day, we all said goodbye and headed home. Everyone seemed to like walking places rather than biking or driving. I walked home and ate dinner with my family when we heard the doorbell ring. A screen appeared above the table, and my little brother Mark was at the door. We let him in, and he was, well, overjoyed at seeing us. He lived in northern Canada(still in the US), we live on the East coast. He had to finish up a project for work, then he was able to make his way down here. He was in his late late 50's now, but looked younger, probably due to technology and/or medicine. We all hugged and continued eating dinner, with Mark joining us. He owned a business in north Canada, which is why he had enough money to resurrect 4 people. We gave him one of our many extra rooms, and we all headed to bed not long after dinner. I lay in bed, thinking about the day. I made four friends in not just one day, but on the first one. I speculate that the extrovertiveness and lack of depression is probably because of medicines and/or vaccines. I look up to the ceiling as it turns into a 1 way mirror and I see the stars. The sky is so clear tonight, as it probably always is now. I close my eyes, and I fade into sleep.

(Thank you so much for reading part 2! Feel free to criticize and critique in the comments, and let me know your thoughts on the story! I might make a part three, but don't expect it too much. I feel like this is a good ending. Thank you!)

submitted by /u/ConnorJLukasik [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2ZWprK5

[josephborrello]

Magnitude and Direction, Issue #40 | 23 Aug 2019

Hardware, Prototyping, and Fabrication

Via The Prepared: The VertiWalk is essentially a human-powered elevator (it's not as hard to operate as it sounds) that can improve mobility for people struggling to get up and down stairs. Blaser Hub has scientifically tested which nerf darts are best, so you know what to stock up on before the next office war. 🧲 This 252-segment ferrofluid display is part digital clock, part lava lamp.

Software and Programming

🤬 Try to play this horrible-UI game without losing your mind. 🔊 There's been speculation of secret codes and messages hidden in songs for generations. Now, though, it's finally come to pass. Not only does this article provide an informative and interactive breakdown on what a JPEG really is and how it works, it also provided this somewhat disturbing factoid: "...in the same way you confuse your brain when you rub your eyes too hard andstart to see blotches of dimness and color! These blotches you see—known as phosphenes—don’t come from any light stimulus, nor are they hallucinations made up in your mind. They arise because your brain assumes that any electrical signal arriving through the nerves in your eye is conveying light information. The brain needs to make this assumption because there’s no way to know whether a given signal is sound, sight, or something else. All the nerves in your body carry exactly the same type of electrical pulse. When you apply pressure by rubbing your eyes, you’re sending non-visual signals that trigger the receptors in your eye, which your brain interprets—incorrectly, in this case—as vision. You can literally see the pressure!" This new knowledge makes me wonder all kinds of things about brain-computer interfaces I wasn't thinking about before!

Science, Engineering, and Biomedicine

As climate change causes the loss of glaciers around the world, more than environmental issues are being precipitated. In the case of Italy, it means they have to keep redrawing their borders. 🥑 Rest easy, folks, we've sequenced the avocado genome. It may seem like just a white orb, but the eye is one of the most complex organs in the body and notoriously hard to replicate in vitro, which makes this tear-shedding artificial eye all the more impressive.

Mapping, History, and Data Science

I came across an interesting article by Jeff Sisson on the BetaNYCSlack Group the other day investigating how a section of Queens most people would probably indentify as Maspeth ended up getting labeled "Haberman" on Google Maps. The conclusion he arrived at, while not 100% confirmed, does seem likely and serves as a reminder that our data is only as good as we are, the topic of this week's Moment of Inertia. "There will probably never be a year in which no one dies in an aviation accident, but there will definitely never be a year in which 10 percent of the global population dies in a single plane crash. Yet that could happen with a supervolcano, an asteroid strike or a nuclear war." The New York Times on why our perceptions of probability make us woefully under-prepared for existential threats (ourselves included). Much to my chagrin, you can't technically ride the entire NYC subway system in alphanumeric order (i.e., 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-A-B-C-D-E-...-Z) with a single metro card swipe (the lack of transfer between the G and J trains is what does you in, in case you were wondering). You can however, travel 154.6 miles in the system without ever doubling back on yourself with a single swipe, as this WNYC article explains. (Also, in case you were curious 154.6 miles is roughly the distance from New York to Baltimore.)

Events and Opportunities

Remember two weeks ago when I said this section was the longest it had ever been? Well, the community may have one-upped itself yet again this week.

TONIGHT, 8/23 Join the New York Academy of Sciences for a brainy comedy night where local scientists will attempt to confirm the hypothesis that science does indeed have a sense of humor.

Tuesday, 8/27 The New York 3D Group hosts their first meetup at The World Bar, where participants can learn about 3D scanning technologies and even how to get a scan of themselves.

Wednesday, 8/28 The NY/NJ chapter of the Society for Conservation GIS are gathering for an informal chat over snacks and drinks. Come network with the organizing committee and other members of the chapter. If your map-minded data enthusiast like myself, they're always looking for volunteers, presenters, and suggestions for activities.

Wednesday, 8/28 The Hardware Startup meetup may not be having formal events over the summer, but that's not going to stop the community from getting together for their second happy hour of the season.

Tuesday & Wednesday, 9/3-4 If you've got some time to take a trip up to Cambridge, join the Harvard Biotech Club for their 20th anniversary Bridging the Gap symposium, annual Career Fair, or both. Students from all academic institutions are welcome and dozens of companies will be on hand for networking and recruiting.

Wednesday, 9/4 The Transit Techies meetup is back with all of your favorite transit-and-data-related projects. If you like trains, data science, and/or the view from Hudson Yards, I highly recommend you check out what is one of my favorite meetups.

Wednesday, 9/4 NYDesigns is hosting is next Women in Tech Happy Hour at Bierocracy in Long Island City. As always, individuals who identify as female and men are also welcome to attend.

Thursday, 9/5 Join Columbia Nano Labs for their annual Industry Day conference. Learn how you can use and leverage the Nano Labs facilities, hear from a panel of entrepreneurs who have done just that, and listen to faculty and technical experts discuss the way these sophisticated tools contribute to cutting-edge research.

Thursday, 9/5 The HAX hardware startup accelerator is journeying east from their usual haunts of San Francisco and Shenzen for a visit to New York to connect with the local hardware community with a special after-work hardware meetup and a night of socializing, drinks, and bites.

Friday 9/6 I'd like to say Nanotech NYC scheduled their next nanonite happy hour in honor of my birthday, but I don't think Jacob or the other organizers know when my birthday is! (Although they do now.) At any rate, NYC's nanotech community (practitioners and enthusiasts alike) will be getting together at Clinton Hall in east Midtown.

Some other upcoming events to keep on your radar...

Monday, 9/9 Small science gets a big showcase at Nano Day at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center. Learn about some of the most exciting nanotechnology research and innovations coming from the NYC area and meet other technologists working in the field.

Wednesday, 9/11 Scientists, researchers, cartographers, artists, andeveryone in between will be gathering together at Peculier Pub for the next SciArt mixer.

Friday, 9/13 The Nanotech NYC meetup hosts Kendra Krueger, the founder of 4LoveandScience, a research and education platform that inspires new modes of working and learning in a complex world. An electrical engineer with nanotech experience in academia and the photonics industry, Kendra is also a trained facilitator in mindfulness, sustainable design and social justice.

Thursday, 9/19 LiveIntent is hosting their first tech happy hour at their office in lower Manhattan. The event promises to be a great opportunity for New York tech professionals to network, share ideas, meet our team, and learn all about LiveIntent and how their re-imagining email. There will be food, beer and wine provided, along with video games andboard games available!

Tuesday, 9/24 Join GeoNYC and Doctors Without Borders for a special map-a-thon to fill in missing geospatial data for underserved regions in order to provide international and local NGOs and individuals with the data they need to better respond to crises.

Wednesday, 9/25 Coming off their 1st birthday party, the NYC JLABS crew is taking a short break for the summer but will be back in September for their next Innovators and Entrepreneurs mixer.

Wednesday, 9/25 The RobotLab meetup's September event focuses on the good, the bad, and the ugly of Industry 4.0 and autonomous manufacturing.

Saturday, 9/28 Admission is just the swipe of a metro card for the Parade of Trains at the Brighton Beach station. Vintage train cars from all periods of the subway's history will be on display, as well as taking passengers on short trips around south Brooklyn.

Tuesday, 10/1 The next stop on Ogilvy's healthcare innovation pop-up series takes them to Hudson Yards, where they're teaming up with the HITLAB and SAP.iO Foundry for an event that will focus primarily on the female and underserved health innovators who are disrupting healthcare today.

October 11-16 Innovation Week at Mount Sinai. What started as just the SINAInnovations conference is now a week's worth of activities dedicated to bringing New York's biomedical innovation communities together. Here's the full lineup:

Friday-Sunday, 10/11-13 Mount Sinai Health Hackathon. The 4th annual Mount Sinai Health Hackathon will be an exciting 48-hour transdisciplinary competition focused on creating novel technology solutions for problems in healthcare. This year’s theme is Artificial Intelligence – Expanding the Limits of Human Performance.

Tuesday, 10/15 Careers & Connections 2019. October may feel far away, but I promise you it's not and you'll want to be sure to mark your calendars for GRO-Biotech's next big event, the Careers & Connections mini-conference and networking event, held concurrently with emerging healthcare technologies conference, SINAInnovations.

Tuesday & Wednesday, 10/15-16 SINAInnovations Conference. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is hosting its eighth annual SINAInnovations conference around the theme of Artificial Intelligence. A range of talks andpanels will focus on the explosive growth of AI in our society and in particular in medicine, featuring international thought leaders across the range of relevant domains.

Saturday, 10/26 The Future of Care conference is back at Rockefeller University featuring some of the latest breakthroughs in clinical care and the innovators helping shepherd them from bench to bedside. Apply to attend the conference by September 6th.

Map of the Month

What will the climate in your city feel like in 60 years?

Odds & Ends

Meteor showers are amazing from earth, but they're even more breathtaking from space.

[theconservativebrief]

President Donald Trump has taken hard-line stances against North Korea, China, and Iran — and in the last 72 hours, each country pushed back on America’s pressure campaign.

On Friday, North Korea threatened to build more nuclear weapons unless the US offers some sanctions relief. Three days later, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing would survive the trade war with America and continue exporting goods around the world. Also on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to “break” Trump’s latest and greatest imposition of financial penalties.

Each country has somewhat similar reasons for their anger: The US has imposed stringent economic penalties on them to force a change in behavior. Washington sanctioned Pyongyang to force North Koreans to dismantle their nuclear program; maintains tariffs on Chinese goods until the country opens its market to US companies; and has increased sanctions on Iran to get the country to abandon its aggressive foreign policy and pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

It’s not surprising that all three countries would bristle at America’s stances toward them. But what last weekend shows is that if Trump expects these nations to acquiesce to US demands, the plan isn’t working.

The Trump administration’s strategy toward North Korea is to impose “maximum pressure” — or, mounting economic penalties and diplomatic isolation — on Pyongyang so that it has no choice but to stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The strategy has led to a sharp decline in North Korea’s economy, including a drop-off in its ability to export top goods like seafood products and iron.

But North Korea says it first wants to end hostilities between the two countries, mainly through a “peace declaration.” That document would be symbolic, as both sides would agree to no longer fight each other in the Korean War that ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Pyongyang claims that declaration would make it feel safer and may therefore dismantle its nuclear arsenal down the line.

The two sides are extremely far apart, making it much harder to reach a compromise, Harry Kazianis, a North Korea expert at the Center for the National Interest, told me.

Still, Trump promised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un he’d sign the peace declaration during their Singapore summit last June. The problem is there’s been very little progress, which has locked Washington and Pyongyang in a diplomatic stalemate while sanctions continue to cripple North Korea’s economy.

North Korea is angry about that; a top official put out a scathing statement on Friday letting the US know it.

“The U.S. thinks that its oft-repeated ‘sanctions and pressure’ lead to ‘denuclearization.’ We cannot help laughing at such a foolish idea,” Kwon Jong Gun, a top North Korean diplomat focused on American relations, wrote in the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday. “If the U.S. keep behaving arrogant without showing any change in its stand,” Pyongyang could start “building up nuclear forces.”

That’s scary, because the whole point of the talks is to convince North Korea to stop building nukes, not continue making them. US intelligence, however, shows that North Korea is still making more bombs, but aims to hide that from the US and the international community. Now Pyongyang wants to let the Trump administration know the window for denuclearization is closing.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded to the statement on “Fox News Sunday.”

“We’ve seen this as we go through negotiations. Stray voltage happens to be all around us,” he told anchor Chris Wallace. “We know with whom we’re negotiating. We know what their positions are. And President Trump’s made his position very clear, no economic relief until we have achieved our ultimate objective.”

Pompeo will meet with Kim Yong Chol, arguably the second-most powerful person in North Korea, later this week for another round of talks.

Robert Carlin, a leading North Korea expert at the Stimson Center think tank, noted in the Koreas-focused 38 North website on Monday that Kwon had omitted any reference to Trump. That indicates “the overall tone in Kwon’s piece was not so much of confrontation but of ridicule about the US position,” Carlin wrote.

That’s definitely still a problem, since America’s stance — and each side’s unwillingness to budge — could threaten the current peace. “I am worried that the detente of the last few months could be in serious trouble,” Kazianis said.

Trump has placed around $250 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods — about half the total worth of goods the US imports from China — this year in his escalating trade war. It’s part of a strategy to force Beijing to let American companies freely sell to the country’s consumers, compel it to stop stealing the intellectual property of US businesses, and cripple China’s economy in the process.

That, naturally, has rankled Xi, China’s increasingly authoritarian leader. During a Monday speech intended to kick off the China International Import Expo, Xi took thinly veiled shots at the US — and Trump specifically without saying his name.

People who dislike China’s economic practices “should not just point fingers at others to gloss over their own problems,” he told the audience. “They should not hold a flashlight that only exposes others while doing nothing themselves.”

He did promise to cut import taxes and export around $30 trillion in products and services over the next decade and a half. But he also made sure to note that China would survive mounting economic pressure from the United States.

“Great winds and storms may upset a pond, but not an ocean,” Xi said. “After 5,000 years of trials and tribulations, China is still here. Looking ahead, China will be here to stay.”

It’s quite a defiant message, and it comes at a particularly tense time. Washington-Beijing relations have soured recently as the US rejects any talks with China to end the trade war, hoping the standoff will compel the country to cave to American demands. What’s more, Trump and Xi plan to meet during the G20 summit later this month, and it’s possible that Xi’s speech could make that meeting a bit awkward.

It also behooves both leaders to end the spat soon. Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — a world body that helps keep the global economy stable — released a major report that projected the world’s economy will grow by 3.7 percent this year, which is 0.2 points lower than they had estimated in April. That’s the same rate of growth as in 2017, but the trade war is a major reason for the slight dip in expectations.

The IMF also noted that the trade war could curb China’s economic growth by about 2 percent over the next two years. If true, it would be a major blow to China’s economy, which prioritizes continued growth above all else.

It’s no wonder, then, that Xi is upset.

At midnight on Monday, the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Iran that were lifted once the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was in place. The goal, as the administration said, is to force Tehran to stop funding proxies in the Middle East, supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, stealing money from regular Iranians, and improving its nuclear program.

In effect, the US wants Iran to change everything about itself — or else.

The U.S. has reimposed tough sanctions on #Iran’s regime as part of our relentless pressure campaign to convince the regime to change its destructive behavior. Iran’s regime has a choice: change its behavior and act like a normal country or watch the escalating pressure continue. pic.twitter.com/Yg0e8ovDPs

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 5, 2018

Iranian leaders, and especially President Hassan Rouhani, have shown their displeasure with the Trump administration’s decision.

“We will proudly break the sanctions,” Rouhani said during a meeting of Iranian economic officials on Monday. That may be tough, as the US just placed penalties on more than 700 people, organizations, and vessels — mainly targeting the country’s oil, banking, and shipping industries — stopping them from accessing the international banking network and the US market.

Rouhani remains defiant despite the economic stranglehold. “We have to make Americans understand that they cannot talk to the great Iranian nation with the language of pressure and sanctions,” he said during a televised address.

While the sanctions are meant to hurt the regime — and could do so — they currently impact regular Iranians the most. In October, a top UN court ruled that the US had to ease its sanctions on Iran for humanitarian reasons. Specifically, the US was told it could not restrict exports to Iran of food, medicine, and other items because it threatened the lives of ordinary citizens there.

It’s unclear if the pressure on the Iranian people could lead to a revolt that would eventually topple the regime, but it seems that’s what the US administration wants. John Bolton advocated as much before he joined the administration as national security adviser, although officials deny regime change is the goal.

Even if the idea is actually to make Iran change its behavior, sanctions likely won’t work. Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, released a report last Friday that shows Tehran has rarely changed its behavior in response to financial pressure.

“A 40-year analysis of Iran’s economic performance and regional policy reveals little to no correlation between the two,” he wrote, “as Tehran has continued to pursue policies it deems central to its national security no matter its degree of economic wellbeing at home.”

That means Iran’s anger — and America’s frustration — will continue to mount in the coming months.

Original Source -> North Korea, China, and Iran are not happy with Trump’s foreign policy

via The Conservative Brief

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Saturday, April 29, 2017

Saturday morning - temperature to go into the 80's, then drop again - now the sun is shining and if anyone comes to the computer room they rush to put on air conditioning - that I totally dislike. By using it here they can save on their electricity bill. It'd 9:30 and blissfully quiet so far. Much as myself have enjoyed the regularity - and my energies, and Molly's help - doing this blog for several weeks now - I expect interruptions. Of course were I ever to learn to use the ipad - but my L.A. friend told me everything on the ipad is different from this here computer and I have such trouble with all the "simple" new things to learn - I do expect to be away from this here computer room.  My walking is getting more tedious - probably neuropathy can/does get worse - at this point I would like to make as much use as I can from whatever ability I still have to get around. I have come to miss doing the blog - so also away from this computer I will be looking for ways to do it. Last night I stopped abruptly when my friend said she was on the way. Hurriedly she made some grilled cheese sandwiches, our staple at the moment. All my theories of healthy eating remain theories. She loves the ocean and thinks nothing of hopping on the F train down second avenue that in close to an hour takes her to Coney Island and the beach. I too love walking bare foot in the water, but a bit too much effort for me. Have spent many hours getting to Central Park - worried about a mob there today. We rushed because we wanted to get to the Friday night CW speaker - I am so terrible with names, Bennet? - she has written a couple of books on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and one on ISIS - I must say she is an excellent speaker - so clearly mapped out the wonderful lives we could have if only so much money wasn't spent on weapons and wars - costs now to increased. She also pointed out how the war industry after 1945 managed to spread itself out to every last little town in this country - the jobs! - and how our politicians do not dare vote against cuts. Lastly she addressed the great need to educate out young people - who have come to blithely ignore the terrible dangers of nuclear weapons. I was 13 when Hiroshima was bombed, "my war" barely over, I still see the green journal I was keeping then and writing, I don't believe I'll live very long. This bombing for so many years was so real to us and I am amazed to this day that I am living this long. The speaker said she woke up at night in fear of the man who know has his finger on the nuclear button. Yet he makes us feel terribly helpless. As I am writing this there is a march going on in Washington - the temp there to go to 93, high humidity - once upon a time I went on these marches - today don't know anyone who is going. In three minutes to call a friend whom I said I'll call at 10 a.m. - also to point out my punctuality that was so strongly instilled in me by my mother. I get just about everywhere early in order not to be late  - and suffer with those  unable to be on time. Though for the most part they do make flights. O.K. - so we are supposed to meet at noon. I've now chosen the statue of a man named Holly in Washington Square park as a meeting place - I am a practical person. As I said earlier - I did stop writing abruptly yesterday, still had a few things in mind to write about and of course have completely forgotten them - am not too sure what to write about now, or should I even go on. But there is this temptation of the patient key board, the screen - the send message instantly connecting me electronically to who knows how many people. I do mourn the clicatty clack of the typewriter, thoughts reliably with carbon paper on several sheets of paper - and I remember well my joy of first time using a xerox machine. It was 1964 and my husband, the lawyer worked for Langner, Perry, Card and Langner on Columbus Circle in a building now long gone. At night I could come there - and I remember him saying: at least we xerox copy well together. What joy to multiply what I had written with such ease. I am not sure he read what I had written, probably not. Marriages, so much has been written, can be written about marriages. Not sure this world would last much longer I agreed to a marriage filled with doubts about the venture, doubts I shared with him and his Harvard friends in the garden of the museum of modern art - they enthralled by this incredibly modern European. We were so young, so ignorant - something my husband could not acknowledge to his dying day. After eleven years of almost no fighting, a happy comeradery, two wonderful sons - a good life - alas no real and profound interest in each other: he never read what I wrote, I could yawn at his legal briefs. He was a good writer also, later a woman lawyer whom I tutored in German showed me a book he had written on licencing - he had become Mr.licencing and was being paid big bucks. My writing - to this day does not make a penny. Total waste of time in his eyes - also my mother's - and also my painter partner Paco. Many have thought there would be more useful things for me to do - only a few have loved my writing, appreciated it and encouraged me. Thank you. My husband divorced me hastily after eleven years - possibly a not even valid Mexican divorce, I never read the papers, he saw an opening to off without having to give me precious money and never did give me a penny of the millions he later made. I had given him the emotional support to get to that point.  Never would have asked for a divorce - he did not understand me, I did not understand him. Probably the end of many marriages. I found something to use the patient key board. Off to be in time in Washington Square Park facing Mr.Holly who did make a lot of money. Marianne

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What Is Trump’s Iran Strategy? Few Seem to Know https://nyti.ms/2ZSQWl0

What Is Trump’s Iran Strategy? Few Seem to Know(It's simple, there is no strategy.)

Friend and foe alike are left puzzled over what President Trump aimed to achieve by killing a top Iranian general, what he might do next or how Tehran could mollify him.

By Max Fisher | Published Jan. 6, 2020 Updated 2:23 PM ET | New York Times | Posted January 6, 2020 |

When the United States announced on Friday that it had killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, something about its explanation left many analysts puzzled.

The strike was intended to deter further Iranian attacks, administration officials said. But they also said it was also expected to provoke severe enough attacks by Iran that the Pentagon was deploying an additional several thousand troops to the region.

The apparent contradiction left many experts wondering about the strike’s intended goal, and the strategy behind it.

The next day did little to settle the matter. The strike had been intended to prevent an imminent Iranian attack, officials said publicly. Or to change the behavior of Iran’s surviving leaders. Or to cow those leaders, whose behavior would never change.

Others said privately that President Trump had ordered it in response to television reports of an Iranian-backed  siege on the American Embassy compound in Baghdad.

Mr. Suleimani’s killing has left a swirl of confusion among analysts, former policymakers and academics. The United States had initiated a sudden, drastic escalation against a regional power, risking fierce retaliation, or even war.

Why?

“There’s not a single person that I’ve spoken to who can tell you what Trump is up to with Iran,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

It’s not that experts or foreign officials suspect a secret agenda, but that the administration’s action fit no clear pattern or long-term strategy, she said. “It just doesn’t add up.”

The killing, many say, deepens the uncertainty that has surrounded Mr. Trump’s ambitions toward Iran since he withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear accord and began a series of provocations that he terms maximum pressure.

The risk, experts say, is that if they cannot figure out the administration’s goals and priorities for Iran, its red lines and points of possible compromise, then foreign governments won’t be able to either.

“Absolutely not,” Ms. Geranmayeh said when asked whether European or Middle Eastern officials, whom she speaks with regularly, understood Mr. Trump’s strategy. “Not even the closest U.S. allies, like in London.”

This imposes a layer of confusion on the conflict, just as it enters a dangerous and volatile new chapter, inviting mixed messages and misread intentions.

“If it’s that hard for us to understand, imagine the Iranians,” said Dalia Dassa Kaye, who directs a Middle East policy center at RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan research group.

Mixed signals, she said, make any effort to shape an adversary’s behavior “incredibly ineffective.” Uncertainty about Mr. Trump’s intentions also increases risks that the conflict could spiral out of control.

Without a clear understanding of what actions will lead the United States to ramp up or ramp down hostilities, she said, Iranian leaders are operating in the dark — and waiting to stumble past some unseen red line.

“That’s what makes this a dangerous situation,” she said.

HOW CONFUSION FELL OVER AMERICA’S IRAN STRATEGY

Part of the uncertainty is specific to Mr. Trump. His impulsive style and resistance to accepting difficult trade-offs have made his goals on Iran difficult to parse.

He has cycled between ambitions of withdrawing from the Middle East, positioning himself as a once-in-a-generation peacemaker and, more recently, promising to oppose Iran more forcefully than any recent president has.

He has also been pulled between his advisers, with some urging cautious adherence to the status quo and others arguing for overtly topping Iran’s government.

Mr. Trump’s reputation for distortions and untruths have also made it difficult to separate bluster from agenda-setting.

He took the United States out of the nuclear agreement and imposed sanctions against Iran — which some see as setting off a crisis that continues today — on claims that it was “on the cusp” of acquiring nuclear weapons “in just a short period of time.”

But international inspectors and United States military leaders said that Iran was complying with requirements to freeze its nuclear development.

Without a clear explanation for Mr. Trump’s behavior, anyone whose job requires forecasting the next American action — from foreign head of state to think tank analyst — was left guessing.

Deepening the challenge, the administration followed up with a set of demands that included some nuclear restrictions but focused mostly on Iran’s regional influence and proxy forces, ordering Tehran to sever ties to nearly all of them in a sweeping surrender.

Was this the real agenda? If so, what were the plans for winning each demand, and the metrics for measuring whether those plans were working? How would the administration balance competing priorities?

American action on the ground deepened confusion.

United States diplomacy has emphasized calls for peace but has conspicuously declined to offer what diplomats call “offramps” — easy, low-stakes opportunities for both sides to begin de-escalating, which are considered essential first steps.

“There’s been no talk of, say, ‘If you do this, then we’ll bring back waivers,’” Ms. Kaye said, referring to American waivers allowing other countries to buy Iranian oil. “‘If you do X, then you’ll get Y.’ There’s been nothing tangible like that.”

Throughout months of proxy conflict, American military responses have ranged from muted or nonexistent — as in the case of an attack on Saudi oil facilities that was believed to be the work of Iran — to extreme escalations like killing Mr. Suleimani.

Even if each action might be defensible on its own, experts and foreign officials have strained to match them with a consistent set of motives and objectives.

Suspicions have deepened that there may be no long-term strategy at all, even among those sympathetic to Mr. Trump’s policies.

R. Nicholas Burns, a senior State Department official under President George W. Bush, wrote on Twitter that the United States might have had a “legitimate right” to kill General Suleimani.

But, he asked, “has Trump considered next 15 moves on chessboard? How to protect our people? Line up allies to support us? Contain Iran but avoid wider war? My guess is he hasn’t.”

Stumbling IN THE DARK

Ms. Geranmayeh stressed that the conflict between the United States and Iran also threatens to draw in a host of Middle Eastern and European countries.

To navigate tensions and avoid worsening them, allies and adversaries alike must astutely judge American intentions and anticipate American actions.

All of them, she said, seemed at a loss.

“Most experts and officials that I’ve spoken to from the Middle East, including close allies — Saudi Arabia, Israel — they also can’t tell you with confidence what Trump wants on Iran,” she said.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had already been ramping down tensions with Iran, Ms. Geranmayeh said, “because they have no idea how Trump will behave from one week to the next” and fear getting caught in the middle.

Similar confusion in Tehran, she added, could become “the biggest problem.”

“If Trump is not managing a consistent and clear message to the Iranians about what he wants,” she said, “then this opens up a lot of space for a lot of miscalculation.”

The most important question, Ms. Kaye said, is what steps by Iran might cause Mr. Trump to pull back. “There’s not an understanding about what is the end game, what is the U.S. trying to achieve, when will the Trump administration be happy, and enough is enough,” she said.

And while judging what will provoke American escalations against Iran is not straightforward, she said, those escalations have come steadily enough as to seem almost inevitable.

“Action on the ground has been continuously punitive,” she said.

Brett McGurk, who until last year was the administration’s special envoy to the coalition against the Islamic State, warned his former bosses, in an article for Foreign Affairs, that their maximalist demands had left “no plausible on-ramp for Iran to enter negotiations, since nobody, including the Iranians, knows what Iran is supposed to negotiate about.”

Ms. Kaye said Iran might conclude that it should tread with extreme caution. Or it might reason that the United States poses a threat that is both existential and unyielding, compelling Tehran to gamble on taking extreme measures.

“What I’m concerned about is that mixed signals, plus the perception of existential threat,” Ms. Kaye said, “might lead to dramatic steps that we might not have thought possible.”

______

Some reader comments from the above article and they all pretty much agree that Trump doesn't have a strategy. Please share your thoughts:

"It's all about: a - impeachment b - the election c - doing what Obama wouldn't do e - his next rally And thats about all. Trump has no clue as to what he's doing, never thinks ahead more than a day at a time (max) and is focused on his personal survival."MANTAA666, NYC

"Trump's strategy is transparent: 1. Sideline the impeachment trial 2. Bolster his support for reelection Oh, you mean military strategy? Since when did this megalomaniac get accused of being a critical thinker?" MICHAEL THORNTON, OREGON

"Why is the author trying to frame this matter as an issue of strategy, logic or something based on reason ? Trump's ONLY 'strategy' is 2020 re-election and rigging himself back into office via any corrupt means necessary. He's also a fake 'tough guy' who needs to prove how 'tough' he is to his radical, right-wing FOX News base that religiously sanctifies American military violence and is happy to demonize 'evil' Iran for political ratings. We shouldn't attempt to ascribe rational motives to psychologically disturbed individuals whose fundamental interests are malignant selfishness. This assassination was a 2020 campaign event, just as almost every action of Donald Trump has been since November 2016." SOCRETES, NJ

"Neither friend nor foe "seem to know Trump's Iran strategy" because he doesn't have one. If you want to know what in the world Trump was thinking, (again, not a strategy), don't ask any of his friends or foes, and certainly don't ask anyone in Congress, ask the migrants Trump illegally employs at his Mar-a-Lago Club as they'd know more about it than any politician of either party, or any American citizen for that matter. This began not with Trump having Gen. Qassim Suleimani assassinated for the killing of "contractor" we've yet to learn a thing about, but with Trump destroying the Iranian agreement, which worked and halted Iran's nuclear program. Trump hates former President Obama. Like Trump's attempts to destroy other signature Obama accomplishments like the Paris Accords and Obamacare, Trump's Iran policy is based primarily on personal animus against Obama. To find a strategy here, look to Mike Pompeo. Trump used the assassination as a distraction from his being impeached for pressuring, exhorting, and bribing Ukraine into helping him rig the 2020 election, but Mike Pompano actually has a strategy, and has been working on it for a very long time. Pompeo is an Evangelical Christian who wants to bring about the End of Days. That's fact, not hyperbole. In 2014, Pompeo told a church group that Christians needed to "know that Jesus Christ as our savior is truly the only solution for our world" and that "politics is a never-ending struggle ... until the Rapture." ROBERT B, BROOKLYN

"What is Trump's Iran strategy? What a silly question. Anyone who's paid attention for the last 3 plus years knows that there isn't one. All Trump does is act on impulse and instinct. No matter what the facts are, if he feels what he wants to do is right, it must be right, and he does it! We should not ask for a strategy from Trump. We should ask what emotional state he's in and what pundit, website or Facebook feed he's reading at the moment when he makes a decision. Perhaps we should even look into the influence tides and stars may have on his mood swings. But trying to attribute something as intellectual and systematic as strategic thought to him is jejune. His mind never has been, isn't and never will be capable of working that way." MATHER, ATLANTA

" Trump does not have a strategy, but the neocon far right does. They have been advocating going to war with Iran for over a decade. I do not think it is by chance Bolton now is ready to go to Congress. This is the war he has wanted and will deflect any illegal acts by the president in the impeachment in support of Trump sending us to the edge of war." BARNEY FEINBEG, NY

"When we entered into the Iran Nuclear agreement I was hopeful because it seemed that we were jaw-jawing instead or war-warring. It's always better to talk. Now here we are, flexing our military muscles like a roid-raging bully. I'm not saying that Iran is run by saints. But we were making progress before, and we were doing it with intelligence. Now we're at the whim of one man's temper. That's not a way to run a country, especially the one with the most powerful military on the planet." JENNA, HARRISBURG PA

"The reason it is so hard to decipher Trump's intentions and plans is that he is unsure of the former himself and utterly incapable of forming the later. We should instead face the reality of what his actions have created and perhaps be ready to deal with them. We are now at war with Iran. The assassination of the general was an act of war despite attempts to phrase it as something else. Over the years Iran has shown itself a player of the long game so no immediate retaliation will occur. However, at the very least, I hope every U.S. ship in the Gulf is on constant alert. Sinking a major U.S. warship would be a completely appropriate response to the assassination and one well within the capability of Iran. As a military target it would avoid the issue of civilian casualties. Iran is going to develop a nuclear weapon within the next two years. There is no technological obstacle to this, there are diplomatic advantages to doing so (see North Korea) and threatened bombing campaigns by either Israel, the U.S., or both will not succeed in stopping progress. The U.S. will shortly have no troops or civilians in Iraq. I am sure the Iraqi government, or what passes for such a government, can see who is the likely long-term winner of this situation. Iran will always be there. The U.S. not. They will draw the obvious conclusion. An impulsive, ill-educated, and unthinking fool has led the U.S. to a diplomatic and likely military disaster. His base must be pleased." JONATHAN, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

"Strategy means planning and planning means planning for contingencies, possible consequences as well as intended ones. Now, what you see is what there is when it comes to Trump. Why people try to frame his behavior in some imperceptible context of profound insight truly surprises me. Trump never plans beyond gratifying himself in the now." CASUAL OBSERVER, LOS ANGELES

"Once again the NYT gives Trump too much credit. He has no strategy. Everything he does is a knee jerk reaction to something, designed to garner attention for himself with no thought to the ongoing consequences. Iranian-backed militias attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and Trump responds like this. Tit for tat. A month ago he didn't know who Suleimani was, and I doubt he can find Iran on a map. It's nothing more than a publicity stunt. Trump tore up the Iran nuclear agreement because Obama negotiated it and now has brought Iran that much closer to building a nuclear bomb. Again he shoots himself in the foot. The man is a clear and present danger to the United States and the rest of the world and needs to be removed from office. Unfortunately, the Republican Party are so spineless that they will allow this tragedy to continue. They are in violation of their oath to defend the Constitution and should all be thrown out of office (at a minimum)."

SINBAD, NYC

"To know what his “strategy” is, we probably need to ask Putin." JOHN M, MINNESOTA

"The US has been at war with Iran at one level or another since 1953. Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the region and recently announced a major find that has significantly enlarged them. As a major competitor to the Saudis it might be very convenient if the US were to do major damage to their industry. And with the US becoming persona non grata in the Middle East, other players can increase their roles. And yes, a war would be a major distraction from the impeachment. Does Trump have a 'strategy' that goes beyond his immediate needs? Hard to tell -- and given the track record so far it seems unlikely. But he sure is helping the agendas of a few other players -- to the detriment of the US and the world."

GREG, ONTARIO

"Just keep in mind: Mike Pompeo and Trump’s white conservative evangelical base WANT a general Middle Eastern war, as that fits in with their millenarian and sectarian reading of so-called “endtime prophecy.” The mainstream Christian church by sharp contrast wants peace. I believe that was recently mentioned in the Christmas story?"

PAUL MCGLASSON, ATHENS GA

"A long time NYC real estate developer. An Atlantic City casino owner. You would think he would know by now that decapitating a captain of a rival mob family is not wise. It's a hotheaded move by modern mob standards that can start war and undesirable attention to the entire scam." TOM, USA

"Ask Fox & Friends."

DB2, PHILADELPHIA

"There is no strategy. In "A Warning," Anonymous made it quite clear that Trump's foreign policy is ad-hoc and often influenced by what he hears on Fox News, and how he feels at the moment. Now surrounded by sycophants, Trump is even more untethered from reality. With hawks like Pompeo, and impeachment on the horizon, the situation doesn't look good from any perspective." BIRDY GIRL, CA

"If it were 1975 Mike Pompeo would believe the Vietnamese secretly wanted us to stay there. Same stupid, different decade." BOB, DENVER

"Trump’s intentions are inscrutable because he does not himself have solid and abiding views. Evidently, he acts on impulse supplied by Fox News or any random advisor at hand. The better question is, who put assassination on the menu." SHERRY, WASHINGTON

Perhaps this should come as no surprise. Sowing confusion can be an effective strategy. My concern is that confusion as a deliberate strategy is complex, and I have no sense that this administration is up to the task.

PJM, OREGON

"Is there a strategy? No. There is a de facto policy and it is this. The US has picked sides in the Middle East, choosing the Sunni side of the Saudi's to oppose the Shiite side of the Iranians. Trump's policy has punished the Iranians for actually complying with the 2015 nuclear treaty. In response to both, Iran decided to fight back in the region using proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Why this would come as any surprise is beyond me. From the Iranian perspective any other response would isolate them and let the hated Sunni's control the region. And this is why Trump's policy is folly. Rather than engage with Iran and assure them that they would not be isolated and diminished as a regional power his policy encouraged Iranian terrorism and violence in the Middle East. Trump should have followed through on his campaign promises to disengage from the Middle East, but, no, he couldn't abide with letting Obama's 2015 deal stand just because it was Obama's, and so here we are today with an angry and vengeful Iran putting Americans at greater risk than ever before."

JOE, CHICAGO

"Trump is not a strategist. He is not a deep thinker. Trump is a reactionary. He watches a TV program for 10 minutes, reacts to whatever is being said by whomever is speaking, and acts. Desert the Kurds. Kill Suleimani. Destroy Persepolis. The whole Trump thought process, from start to finish, takes 10 minutes, tops." MIKIS, TX

"No need to do any deep analysis of Trump's motivation. It comes down to "I felt like it" combined with "Gotta get people's minds off my attempted extortion of the Ukraine". He's too dim to realize that this guy was a leading army general of an actual country and not the leader of a smallish terrorist group. That doesn't mean he wasn't conducting terror but it does mean that there is an entire structure of people beneath him ready to take his place."

CELLIDTH, BOULDER CO

"He did it because Congress reconvened, duh. Push those impeachment stories down our phones a couple of inches. Why isn’t the media calling him out on this?" C SCOTT, INDY

"Impulsive people don't have a strategy; they have catastrophes instead. Buckle up, we are heading into one. No, I don't feel safer. In fact, I feel less safe by the day. No, he hasn't Made America Great Again. He has made America isolated and distrusted around the world. His word is less than worthless. We are worse off for his foolishness in embracing Kim Jong un while further alienating Iran and our former allies. He isn't even a mildly good judge of character. I guess that is what you get from modeling yourself after the Mafia. The only winner - who must be getting quite tired of "winning" - is Putin. Yeah, got it. It is really MRGA: Make Russia Great Again. And they are. They are the winners. USA? Not so much. Disgusting and repulsive doesn't begin to cover what I feel." NORA, NEW ENGLAND