To bring it back around, the 800,000 Iranians in LA have some bomb restaurants.

Quote :

"In previous years, for example, his school might have only received three students a month who needed to be screened for English fluency. This year, he screens at least three new students each week — a process that takes one to two hours per student."

https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/03/20/english-language-development-teachers-role-amid-migrant-influx-denver-aurora/

At a minimum it's overwhelmed tons of school districts. Not a problem if you're not a teacher who doesn't speak Spanish or kid in one of these schools losing teacher engagement.

5/3/2026 8:56:14 PM

[Edited on May 3, 2026 at 9:04 PM. Reason : nvm]

5/3/2026 9:02:11 PM

Trump Says U.S. Will Help Stranded Ships Leave Strait of Hormuz

Bet the ships are still scared and this is a big nothing-burger

5/3/2026 10:24:33 PM

Trump says a lot of things!

5/3/2026 10:55:42 PM

Indeed

5/3/2026 11:01:26 PM

Quote :

" They have trained and funded terrorists for decades"

Us too.

Quote :

"They are willing to indiscriminately fire missiles into Israel and Arab countries and have killed 28 Israeli civilians and several in neighboring countries."

A whole 28 civilians? Why, that's nearly 1/5 the number of civilians we killed with a single tomahawk missile fired at a girl's school in the opening salvos of this conflict.

Quote :

"We are dealing with a state sponsor of terror that is willing to sacrifice civilian lives."

Again, same could be said for us. Sponsoring dipshits is not a uniquely Iranian pastime. As for "being willing to sacrifice civilian lives," well. LOL. LMAO.

Quote :

"Possessing a nuclear weapon would only embolden them to harm more civilians in the region and beyond."

Right, except, we haven't really seen this theory born out in any of the evidence in the 81 years since Hiroshima.

Possessing nuclear weapons does not make governments more likely to engage in offensive wars. It makes other countries less likely to engage in offensive wars against them, and makes them much less likely to escalate them.

5/3/2026 11:14:11 PM

Just think i should point out they put that girls school where it was on purpose imo

And

Quote :

"It makes other countries less likely to engage in offensive wars against them"

All the more reason they shouldn't have those weapons

5/3/2026 11:19:31 PM

In a place where girls go to school?

5/3/2026 11:23:01 PM

Don't be obtuse they put that girls school next to all the military shit on purpose

5/3/2026 11:24:00 PM

Ah, does the United States not put schools on or near military bases?

5/3/2026 11:26:24 PM

Ok fair, but kinda apples and oranges

I guess I'd ask what bbehe asked. What is yalls end game? Like 47 years of this bs. Did you just hope that at some point the people would rise up and change things? Or do you think we should have just let them keep existing as is?

All I hear is the war is bad, but I never feel like there is an honest alternative

5/3/2026 11:30:52 PM

Quote :

"Ok fair, but kinda apples and oranges"

How so?

5/3/2026 11:57:58 PM

Fine I take back the "kinda apples and oranges" thing for the sake of argument. Lets discuss yalls end game. In one corner we have bomb the hell out of them. In the other we have status quo. Neither is acceptable.

5/4/2026 12:02:24 AM

How about we negotiate a deal like Obama had, before Trump fucked it up?

But I can't say that I am skilled enough to fix what Trump fucks up. I don't know who is. But going forward, I think number one priority is we get Trump out of a position to fuck things up further. That needs to be done before an end game can even be considered at this point.

5/4/2026 2:03:28 AM

Quote :

"Right, except, we haven't really seen this theory born out in any of the evidence in the 81 years since Hiroshima."

Since Nagasaki, TBH.

5/4/2026 6:26:31 AM

thegoodlife3, let's look at how poorly the approximately 90,000 Somalis in Minnesota are integrating into American society.

Quote :

"Economic Disparities and Welfare Dependency High Welfare Utilization: Studies, including data discussed in 2025, suggest that a significant portion of Somali households in Minnesota use public assistance programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid, at higher rates than native-born households. Low Income and Poverty: Reports have indicated that a large percentage of the Somali community remains at the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder, with high poverty rates and lower median household incomes compared to other groups in Minnesota. Widespread Fraud Allegations: In 2024 and 2025, federal authorities and media reports focused on massive fraud schemes related to federal pandemic food aid and other programs, with many suspects being members of the Somali community. Cultural and Social Separation Limited English Proficiency: Many Somali immigrants, particularly older adults and women, face significant challenges learning English, which limits their interaction with the broader community and participation in the traditional labor market.Residential Segregation: In some areas, such as Willmar, Minnesota, the Somali population is heavily concentrated in specific downtown housing, leading to a division between them and long-term residents. Cultural Differences and Conflict: Daily practices, such as prayer rituals during work hours and clothing choices (hijabs), have sometimes created tension in the workplace or public spaces. Line-Cutting and Social Customs: Reports from areas like Faribault have noted that different cultural norms, such as waiting in line, caused friction between Somali newcomers and long-time residents.Challenges in Education and EmploymentEducational Attainment: Studies have highlighted lower rates of high school and higher education completion, which contributes to difficulties in finding jobs that pay a living wage. Professional Underemployment: Many highly skilled professionals, including doctors and teachers from Somalia, are working in minimum-wage, low-skilled jobs due to difficulties in translating their credentials and licensing.Isolated Community Structures Sub-community Focus: Many Somali-owned businesses, such as those in Minneapolis shopping centers, primarily serve their own community, which limits their overall economic integration and commercial interaction with the wider Minnesota population."

5/4/2026 7:23:13 AM

Quote :

"I guess I'd ask what bbehe asked. What is yalls end game? Like 47 years of this bs. Did you just hope that at some point the people would rise up and change things? Or do you think we should have just let them keep existing as is? All I hear is the war is bad, but I never feel like there is an honest alternative"

Return to something like the JCPOA using economic sanctions to help achieve that. Help support the reformist groups using covert methods as a possibility.

You seem to think everyone who says we're going about this in a truly awful manner supports the Iranian regime, or at minimum, is fine with them existing. In reality, you can think the regime is bad, but have a solid understanding of how wars in the middle east tend to go, to recognize that going in without a 'next day' plan or overall end game was a massive mistake and was only going to make things worse.

Unfortunately this is simply how the world works, you can't snap your fingers and get the regime change you want. You certainly can't get a regime change solely by air superiority. So right now we've only made things worse for every single one of our ultimate objectives and the only two likely scenarios is we give Iran a much better deal than the JCPOA was or we commit to a ground invasion.

Hooray.

5/4/2026 7:31:34 AM

GrumpyGOP, this is not a conversation about how ethical the US government has behaved in the past. This is a conversation about the threat of Iran to the American people. Iran is currently the leading state sponsor of terrorism, including terrorist groups that attack American citizens and citizens of allies. Iran's government is led by clerics and the government is perceived as more radical than Pakistan. Iran is also exceptional in its violent rhetoric directed at the US and Israel. Just because other rational actors have not been emboldened to attack other countries by possessing a nuclear weapons, it doesn't guarantee that Iran will behave the same way.

Let's say I have three boys, two of whom act responsibly and never fight with or harm other children but I have another boy who has a bad temper, constantly makes threats, and pays bullies and mentally ill children to stab other classmates and teachers with scissors he provides. I feel okay with letting the two normal boys carry knives or even guns when they get older. But I would never let the violent, rash child carry a knife or gun because he has a much higher chance of using it to cause harm. In the same way, we should never let Iran obtain nuclear weapons because they have a much higher risk of using them to cause harm than other countries that already possess nuclear weapons.

5/4/2026 7:51:58 AM

Hf doesn't think kids that get into fights should be able to own guns as adults, noted

5/4/2026 9:02:07 AM

In my analogy, the bad apple paid other students to stab teachers and classmates with scissors. A little worse than punching another kid during a heated argument, don’t you think?

5/4/2026 9:30:25 AM

And I realize it’s an imperfect analogy. The dad would have to keep the weapons in a safe and only allow the well behaved sons to have access to them and only give them to the good sons when they aren’t with the violent son, etc.

5/4/2026 9:38:02 AM

That analogy really opened my mind. Now I understand why we need to kill everyone in Iran (and everyone in any non-christian country that isn't friendly to the US)

[Edited on May 4, 2026 at 10:01 AM. Reason : ]

5/4/2026 10:00:41 AM

@clawai do you think Bullet is being sarcastic?

5/4/2026 10:27:53 AM

LOL!

5/4/2026 12:19:11 PM

Quote :

"GrumpyGOP, this is not a conversation about how ethical the US government has behaved in the past. "

No, indeed. Which is why I referenced things that are part of the current conflict and our ongoing behavior.

Quote :

"This is a conversation about the threat of Iran to the American people."

Which is what, exactly? I refer you again to the 50 years of America not actually being harmed by Iran.

Let's go through your points here:

1) "Iran is the leading sponsor of state terror." I mean, sure, we call them that. It's a convenient way to avoid dealing with the individual sponsors of terrorism (rich people in the Gulf countries), and because it's pretty much a meaningless phrase, it allows us to ignore our own sponsorship of arguably terrorist groups (like the Kurds*, in Iran, right now!), as well as that of governments we like better (like Pakistan, which helped Taliban insurgents kill Americans for years and housed fucking Osama bin Laden)

2) "Iran-backed groups attack American citizens and those of allies." First: what allies? Israel isn't an ally, either in the narrow legal sense or in the broader sense of "has our back." As for American citizens...yes, American citizens have been killed by Iran-backed terrorist groups. Typically that's been incidental to an attack on Israel. But we blew up more Iranian schoolkids with one rocket this year than Iran has killed Americans with all its terrorist proxies in the last fifty years.

3) "Iran is led by clerics." Again, so what? Elsewhere in the Gulf we have a bunch of absolute monarchies. At least Iran has contested elections (in which women actually get to vote, I'll add).

4) "Iran is perceived as more radical than Pakistan." Uh...what? It's not like we were stuck with a choice of, "Which one do we want to bomb, Iran or Pakistan? We have to bomb one of them. I guess Iran is more radical, let's bomb them." Pakistan is not the benchmark by which "more radical" governments are threats and "less radical ones" aren't.

5) "Iran is exceptional in its violent rhetoric." This is untrue (it is not exceptional in this) and irrelevant. Rhetoric is not a reason to go to war.

6) "Just because other nuclear countries haven't moved to attack, doesn't guarantee Iran will do the same." Well, no, there are no guarantees in life. What we do have is an overwhelming body of evidence and experience - literally all experience since the start of the nuclear age - pointing in one direction, with you pointing in the other direction saying "Nuh-uh." At the same time, we had no guarantees that any country wouldn't go crazy the second it got nukes. And yet, the Soviet Union didn't. India didn't when it got a leg up on its arch-rival. We didn't break them out in Korea or Vietnam. France didn't drop the big one on Algiers and the UK didn't flatten Buenos Aires. And more to the point, we didn't pre-emptively bomb any of these countries when they were getting close to having a bomb.

*-I'm not suggesting an equivalence between Kurdish groups and, say, Hamas. But from the perspective of Iran, it'd be hard to see the difference.

[Edited on May 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM. Reason : ]

5/5/2026 3:53:21 PM

Quote :

" Which is what, exactly? I refer you again to the 50 years of America not actually being harmed by Iran."

Without lies, GrumpyGOP’s argument dies. Were the 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days not harmed by the physical and psychological abuse they endured? Were the 241 service members killed during the 1983 marine barracks bombing in Beirut not harmed by the attack that was ordered, backed, and funded by Iran? Were the 46 Americans killed on October 7 by Hamas not harmed by a group that is supported by Iran with money, weapons, and strategic advice?

The comparisons with respect to Iran’s violent rhetoric and radical nature were to countries that already have nuclear weapons, not to every country on earth. They are exceptional when compared to countries that already have nuclear weapons in both words and actions. I am well aware of countries like Qatar supporting Muslim Brotherhood activity and having ties to Al Qaeda linked groups.

How is Israel not our ally? They are designated as a Major Non-NATO Ally by US federal law.

Again, Iran’s government is more radical and has expressed a much greater anti American and anti Israel sentiment than countries that possess nuclear weapons. In addition they have shown a willingness to physically harm Americans through hostage taking and murdering military personnel and civilians by proxy. You know the Kendrick Lamar song “Not Like Us”? Well, Iran is not like the other countries that have nuclear weapons. So describing how well these other countries have behaved doesn’t give me assurance that I can trust Iran to use nuclear weapons responsibly.

Quote :

"But from the perspective of Iran, it'd be hard to see the difference."

Iran designates ALL opposition groups as terrorists, so you’re gonna need a better source on that.

[Edited on May 5, 2026 at 6:36 PM. Reason : Kurds]

5/5/2026 6:16:44 PM

I stand corrected on the "Israel as ally" part, though I note that the "Major non-NATO ally" designation does not entail a mutual defense obligation - which is how most people would interpret "ally." Israel is not obligated to go to bat for us if we're attacked (and indeed, they haven't) and we're not bound in that way, either.

Now moving on to the other particulars. The hostage crisis is hazy because it was not initiated by the government - was, in fact, initiated without the participation of the government - but they did allow it to drag on so hey, I'll grant you this one. It was half a century ago and pretty much everyone involved in it is already dead, but sure.

Beirut, too, is hazy. There's evidence to point to Iranian involvement but it's not conclusive. Even allowing that the whole thing was Iran's baby, it's hard for me to see at as anything other than asymmetric warfare against military targets.

October 7 wasn't aimed at Americans. Hamas killed American citizens but it's clear that neither they nor Iran were going after Americans in particular. If we're going to start bombing countries for accidental* killings of U.S. citizens, I guess we'd better level Tel Aviv. I refer you to the USS Liberty.

(*-I'm sure Hamas/Iran were happy Americans died, just as I'm sure that Israel didn't "accidentally" kill 34 sailors in 1967)

Now, as to the "rhetoric" component...1) You didn't say you were only referring to nuclear powers, and even if you were, Iran isn't one so they still wouldn't be exceptional in their rhetoric. 2) Should we go ahead and pre-emptively bomb Qatar, too? 3) I'd like to introduce you to North Korea. Even if Iran did have nuclear weapons, it wouldn't be exceptional. Kim Jong Un's media isn't shy about its rhetoric, either.

5/5/2026 9:28:02 PM

Let’s see….almost 70 days out, over two months, and

- Strait of Hormuz is still closed
- Iran still hasn’t given up nuclear ambitions
- The regime is still in charge
- Gas is, in some places, almost 4.30/gallon
- We’re still wasting millions in material and repair costs

Am I missing anything?

Heelfan, Cael, please, tell me how this is benefiting us? I’m so over this shit.

5/6/2026 10:04:40 AM

^ I've been off the trump train since the Elon implosion and first Iran strike. I'm working on time travel to go back and change my vote.

I was optimistic about Venezuela but Greenland and mismanagement of ICE situation before this Iran debacle through me over the edge.

[Edited on May 6, 2026 at 11:20 AM. Reason : A]

5/6/2026 11:19:16 AM

^^Go back and read hf's anaology, and then you will understand.

5/6/2026 11:26:32 AM

Don't give your psychotic son knives to stab people or something.

5/6/2026 11:36:27 AM

I seriously want someone to explain what benefits the world has received from us meddling with Iran?

I really don’t think China and Russia are hurting that much? Maybe? I don’t know.

I keep hearing that Iran’s economy is going to implode any day now, but that goalpost keeps getting moved as well.

5/6/2026 1:18:17 PM

^ Trump gets a pass with the Israel lobby and maybe they help him not go to jail. Jared gets billions. #winning

5/6/2026 1:34:56 PM

It will benefit you in five or ten years when you and your family don't get vaporized by a nuclear weapon.

5/6/2026 3:07:21 PM

5/6/2026 3:15:28 PM

GrumpyGOP, we don't need to bomb the Gulf countries. Iran is already doing that for us.

While you're here...I'm a Jeopardy fan, at least when I'm in the EST time zone. Is it true that you were on the show? What year? Who was hosting it? Did you win?

5/6/2026 3:19:45 PM

Yep. 2018. Trebek. Won one game.

message_topic.aspx?topic=649580&page=1

[Edited on May 6, 2026 at 3:22 PM. Reason : ]

5/6/2026 3:21:40 PM

^^^This is political science. We're dealing with unpredictable human beings. Only God knows. Many things will happen in the next decade that aren't on anyone's Bingo card.

5/6/2026 3:46:20 PM

^^Congrats! I'll check out the thread later.

5/6/2026 4:03:14 PM

Marco has shown his versatility this week: Secretary of State, DJ, and gangsta rapper.

Quote :

""They should check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they're going," Rubio quipped, referencing Ice Cube's rap song, "Check Yo Self.""

5/7/2026 5:36:23 AM

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trumps-abrupt-u-turn-plan-re-open-strait-hormuz-came-backlash-allies-rcna343845

This whole story is incredible. I can’t figure out a part to quote. Really underscores the depth of incompetence of the trump admin

5/7/2026 8:25:21 PM

5/7/2026 8:59:15 PM

Hey, you're still in below Fiddy! (if that's final)

5/7/2026 10:24:49 PM

Quote :

"GrumpyGOP, this is not a conversation about how ethical the US government has behaved in the past. This is a conversation about the threat of Iran to the American people. Iran is currently the leading state sponsor of terrorism, including terrorist groups that attack American citizens and citizens of allies. Iran's government is led by clerics and the government is perceived as more radical than Pakistan. Iran is also exceptional in its violent rhetoric directed at the US and Israel."

Horseshit. Complete and utter horseshit. It ABSOLUTELY should be a conversation about how shitty the US government has behaved, because that is Iran's entire fucking justification for their behavior towards us and our allies! Every complaint you have listed, both here and elsewhere, we have done to them and others in that region orders of magnitude more!

They've supported terrorism? WE MADE THE TALIBAN, ISIS, AND SADDAM FUCKING HUSSEIN. But only WE can attack THEM for sponsoring it? And that doesn't even begin to include our support of Israel, one of their chief complaints, who can't help but commit 4 war crimes just getting into the bathroom to brush their teeth in the morning.

Iran has fundies in its government and they *might* be getting worse? Have you taken a look at Pete Hegseth recently? Mike Huckabee was quaint by comparison (and he was a "cleric"). Not sure if you were aware, but we've got a rapidly rising group who WANT TO START WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST so that they can bring about the end times. And guess what those fuckes just did? STARTED A FUCKING WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST. But yeah, only WE can attack THEM over that. Oh, and by the way, the fundies we've got rising into power are extremely hostile towards Muslims.

Iran has violent rhetoric directed at us? Ummm, were you even remotely awake when our own fucking president threatened to OBLITERATE THEIR ENTIRE FUCKING CIVILIZATION? But only WE can attack THEM for it?

Death tolls? Are you fucking kidding me? Even if we take the examples you've listed as directly attributable to the Iranian regime, the US has dealt orders of magnitude more death in that region over the span of a few weeks than ANYTHING Iran has ever done to us. Hell, I'd be willing to wager that you can't find a single 5-year span over the last 35 years where we haven't caused 100 times as many deaths via military action (much less via our proxies) as Iran has caused in the entire 50 years. How the fuck can we do that, and it's horrible for Iran to respond in any way?

Aside from human rights violations where Iran has taken a clear and convincing lead (though we're doing our best these days to catch up), there's not a single complaint you've made about Iran that doesn't apply to us, much less to us 10-15 times more. If your newfound expression of Christian faith and ideals is anything more than a shctick, you ought to be able to take a core tenet of that faith to heart right now: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Instead, you take the polar opposite, the exact thing your supposed savior said to avoid: an eye for an eye. Iran's not perfect, they are most assuredly lead by human shitbags... But if we are justified in attacking them over these issues, then they have to be justified in attacking us for doing the same fucking thing.

This isn't hard to comprehend.

5/7/2026 11:05:10 PM

I think this is more for intimidation of domestic than foreign

5/8/2026 1:29:05 AM

I think it's impossible to have a rational discussion with someone who can't tell the difference between the US taking actions that inadvertently led to the formation and atrocities of a terrorist organization and Iran actively creating, funding, and advising terrorist groups like Hezbollah and ordering them to kill US troops. The US government CONDEMNS and seeks to ELIMINATE Al Qaeda and ISIS. The Iranian government APPLAUDS the atrocities of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. There's a clear difference.

5/8/2026 8:39:07 AM

Heelfan, you’re wading into waters in which you won’t be able to swim when it gets over your head. There are few people in the history of this board that can sit down and pick apart an argument like Grumpy.

Divorce yourself from Sean Hannity’s talking points for a second and take a step back.

From my seat, the sole purpose for this war, as explained by the Dept. of War and Trump, was to keep Iran from obtaining and deploying nuclear weapons in the region. They said Iran was two to four weeks away from having weapons-ready material. But nobody truly knows how close, or far away, they were from achieving that outcome. Below is a good, high-level explanation of the situation from the Scientific American. I suggest you ready it in its entirety. If you reply to this post and tell us that SciAm is just left wing propaganda, then there is no hope for you and you’re just like every other MAGA caraciture out there.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/iran-was-nowhere-close-to-a-nuclear-bomb-experts-say/

Our system of justice - our jury system, trials, etc, are based on convictions without a shadow of a doubt. There should never be a “maybe did it” or “possibly killed someone.” The same should be applied here. Bush learned that lesson the hard way with his weapons of mass destruction. You can’t just wantonly start bombing countries based on “maybes”.

That first strike, last year? I was totally on board with it. Quick, decisive, to the point and it looked like we were watching the plot of Top Gun: Maverick. I mean who doens’t like it when Tom Cruise movies come to fruition. Trump told us that was it, they were fuckin done with their nukes. End of story.

But I guess Trump is more like Billy Mays than Tom Cruise.

But wait! There’s more!

5/8/2026 10:19:36 AM