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glyph ("Glyph") wrote:

You can support my writing & coding work at https://www.patreon.com/creatorglyph and receive access to these (roughly) weekly updates.

glyph ("Glyph") wrote:

Update is available for Patreon patrons. This week I uncharacteristically go into some detail on an *upcoming* blog post; I usually don't write about my process so much, but this one is particularly huge and annoying and has been percolating in the background for months at this point.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-update-153623695

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

DC has a curfew for people under 18 - they have to be off the street by 11pm, and, in certain neighborhoods, 8pm.

Now, I'm at the age where I should be yelling at kids to get off my lawn, and I get that groups of teenagers are prone to getting into trouble (and can make grownups uncomfortable even when they don't). But it still rubs me the wrong way.

Kids should be held accountable for their actual conduct, not pre-judged merely for being young.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
BruceMirken@mas.to ("Bruce Mirken") wrote:

Trump threatens #WarCrimes that would deliberately harm civilians -- attacks on Iran’s power plants -- if Tehran doesn't reopen Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours. #Iran will certainly retaliate and it will get really ugly.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-threatens-attacks-iran-power-235506510.html

#IranWar

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
linuxgal@techhub.social ("🌈 ☯️Teresita🐧👭") wrote:

For a human to visit another star system in his lifetime requires velocity change on the order of 20 percent that of light, twice, once to accelerate and a second time to stop. The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation says this isn't happening, not with fission thermal engines, which we've researched, and not even with fusion propulsion, which we haven't. The presence of interstellar hydrogen would require double shielding, one for the drive and one for the forward bulkhead, which over the span of the flight would become equally radioactive. Micrometeorites striking at 0.2c would be devastating, but they are statistically inevitable. A slower multi-generational star ship would have to be perfectly self-regenerating for centuries despite being much smaller than the scale of a planetary biosphere. Supplies and expertise to keep the ship in working order would have to be maintained for centuries in a dictatorship so absolute not one act of sabotage or terrorism or even a work slowdown could be permitted to succeed. #03

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
wdlindsy@toad.social ("William Lindsey :toad:") wrote:

Some 95% of Germans were Christian when Hitler came to power. Hitler was applauded, celebrated, welcomed by many Christian leaders and their congregations in Germany who said that God had placed him in power to make the German people great again.

Millions died.

Millions were murdered.

And even now, large numbers of US white Christians keep right on standing by their man….

#Trump #Mueller #Nuremberg #Christians
/2

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
newsguyusa@flipboard.social ("Steve Herman") wrote:

“Public service demands seriousness and respect, especially in moments of crisis. It is profoundly unprofessional for a senior official at the (State) department to engage in personal attacks, which divert attention from the concerns at hand.” https://afsa.org/afsa-condemns-efforts-discredit-former-us-ambassadors-over-evacuation-concerns

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
impermanen_@zirk.us ("impermanen_ 🕊️") wrote:

I’m looking to hire an artist for a small project.

My mom’s 87 and in a nursing facility. She loves adult coloring books and has covered the walls of her room with her work. She especially likes animal designs and gives them names and stories. I keep her supplied with books, but she wants DONKEYS. And I haven’t found her a book with a good donkey design. I’d like to commission a coloring-book style line drawing similar to this photo of our boys. Interested? Hit me up in DMs. #asstodon

Boosted by glyph ("Glyph"):
foone@digipres.club ("Alice Averlong🏳️‍⚧️") wrote:

RE: https://digipres.club/@foone/116241346584343156

since starting this, I've gotten sued by a credit card company for being unable to pay, and had to pay 700$ due to a delivery fuckup.

Please, if you can donate, it'd really help.

Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker"):
MeiOokami@bark.lgbt ("Mei-Ookami ➡️ Vancoufur") wrote:

Hmmm this is still feels unreal. Who is this boy and how did he get in my room.

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

A lesson in how to react to personal tragedy.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2026/03/21/how-to-respond-to-a-death/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Zebadiah_Carter ("Zebadiah Carter") wrote:

RE: https://mastodon.social/@LibertyOverGov/116263780783941022

It's legitimately the only thing that matters. Every other problem gets 10× easier to solve once Citizen's United is gone...

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
bich@apobangpo.space ("Bich Nguyen") wrote:

"Tooth decay can begin very early in a child’s life. If five states ban fluoride in drinking water, the costs to Medicaid for a significant increase in kids with cavities could top $40 million within three years, a new analysis finds."

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/fluoride-ban-kids-cavities-medicaid-costs-millions-study-rcna264070

#PublicHealth #OralHealth #dental #tooth #ToothDecay #fluoride #ChildrensHealth #medicaid #CDC

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
RonSupportsYou wrote:

RE: https://mastodon.social/@RonSupportsYou/116269410560957439

John Fugelsang certainly has a way with words.
#excellence
copy: @renewedresistance

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
_L1vY_@mstdn.social ("Mother Bones") wrote:

#Via Citizen.Coping
@PropCazhPM
10:01 AM · Mar 21, 2026

"Thompson's hematologist at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Robert A. Brodsky, published a study revealing that the research now has an overall 94% disease-free survival rate.

'[A cure is now] available to the majority, almost the entirety, of sickle cell patients.' "

https://people.com/woman-diagnosed-with-sickle-cell-disease-at-2-months-old-wakes-up-with-no-pain-for-the-first-time-in-her-life-after-new-treatment-11931453

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
jockr ("Jock Rutherford 🌻🥥🌴") wrote:

Archaeologists Unearth Traces of a Mysterious Medieval City That Was Abandoned Under Puzzling Circumstances Hundreds of Years Ago

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-traces-of-a-mysterious-medieval-city-that-was-abandoned-under-puzzling-circumstances-hundreds-of-years-ago-180988391/

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

this is the theory. I think "Phase 3" is approaching, and that is where these plans become useless:

- Phase 0–1: Build‑up and isolation
- Phase 2: Suppress coastal and island threats
- Phase 3: MEU littoral assaults and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO)
- Phase 4: Mine‑countermeasure and corridor opening
- Phase 5: Convoys, escorts, and stabilization
- Phase 6: Deterrent presence and rotation

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
copter_chief@mstdn.party ("CopterDoctor") wrote:

The most costly expense of Trump‘s war on Iran are those 13 lives lost.

The second most costly expense is trust.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

this is not a sustainable force posture:

"Taken together, that suggests an emerging model where a finite pool of high‑end maritime forces (carriers, ARG/MEUs, and littoral units) is continually recombined and surged across regions, with Indo‑Pacific deterrence as the default focus but rapid re‑tasking to crisis zones..."

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
jancampbellcady@mastodon.scot ("🐌’s Pace") wrote:

I am 89 years old, and not much of it is fun anymore, but I have just taken a vow to live longer than Trump, so I can write the exact words he just posted on Robert Mueller’s death.
What a diseased piece of slime.

Boosted by soatok@furry.engineer ("Soatok Dreamseeker"):
akirainart@chitter.xyz ("Soren System Art") wrote:

Slowly updating some stickers from 2023 with the new 'sona design! #furryart #mastoart

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

research and analysis assisted by Perplexity

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

What pattern seems to be emerging

In the near term, there is a visible “stacking” of complementary naval forces into the Middle East: two carrier strike groups plus an amphibious ready group/MEU, with an emphasis on littoral warfare, mine‑clearing, and protection of commercial shipping rather than classic large‑scale land campaigns.

In the medium term, open‑source strategy texts still describe an architecture where amphibious and Marine littoral units shuttle between theaters as needed, but the enduring baseline is more permanent or rotational presence along the first island chain and in allied ports and islands.

Taken together, that suggests an emerging model where a finite pool of high‑end maritime forces (carriers, ARG/MEUs, and littoral units) is continually recombined and surged across regions, with Indo‑Pacific deterrence as the default focus but rapid re‑tasking to crisis zones like the Strait of Hormuz when escalation risks to global trade spike.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

Tension with the longer‑term strategy

The 2026 National Defense Strategy still treats China and the Indo‑Pacific as the pacing challenge, calling for a denial‑focused posture along the first island chain and more ships, missile defenses, and rotational units in Japan, the Philippines, and related areas.
That same strategy explicitly talks about reallocating resources from other theaters (especially Europe) to bolster Indo‑Pacific posture, so pulling the Okinawa‑based 31st MEU toward CENTCOM looks like a risk trade‑off: reinforcing an acute Iran crisis at some expense to day‑to‑day forward presence in Asia.

Commentary around the strategy and current moves notes that allies in the Pacific are expected to shoulder more of the local deterrence burden as U.S. amphibious and naval assets flex to other flashpoints.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

How forces are being combined

The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group with the 31st MEU is being explicitly described as joining or complementing the carrier strike groups already in theater, creating a layered maritime package: carriers for high‑end air/missile operations plus an embarked Marine force optimized for littoral, boarding, evacuation, and limited ground operations.

Reporting and commentary emphasize that amphibious forces give commanders a flexible, scalable tool: they can sit offshore, conduct maritime security, non‑combatant evacuations, raids, or limited strikes without the political and logistical footprint of a large ground invasion.

Analysts specifically connect this deployment to long‑discussed Marine Corps concepts for littoral and contested‑strait warfare (e.g., Force Design and Marine Littoral Regiments), suggesting practical experimentation with those ideas in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

What is changing right now

A 3‑ship amphibious group built around USS Tripoli (LHA‑7) and roughly 2,200–2,500 Marines from the 31st MEU is shifting from the western Pacific through the Malacca Strait toward U.S. Central Command and the Middle East.
This group is being added to an already large naval/aerospace stack in the region that includes at least the Gerald R. Ford and Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups, plus air and missile defense assets, explicitly to expand options against Iran and to protect shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

Open‑source reporting frames this as a posture shift because the 31st MEU is normally an Indo‑Pacific, Okinawa‑based rapid‑response force, and moving it into CENTCOM waters reduces amphibious presence in the western Pacific in the near term.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

When tactical reaction dominates strategy

The emerging US posture signals a significant re‑weighting of Naval and Marine amphibious power toward the Middle East and Strait of Hormuz, while strategy documents still point to a long‑term priority on the Indo‑Pacific “first island chain.”

it is never A Good Idea to get into the position of allowing essentially reactive tactics to drive strategic stance. this can result in a spreading ripple of bad effects.

Boosted by glyph ("Glyph"):
misty@digipres.club ("Misty") wrote:

Just remembered my all-time favourite bug, where Android accidentally rendered the name of the "Grunt" tool on its webpage as "Dorkq" https://github.com/gruntjs/gruntjs.com/issues/81

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
uglyreykjavik.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy ("Ugly Reykjavik") wrote:

You can see the old salmon ladder a little better in this video.#Iceland #Reykjavik #video #landscape #nature #abandoned #decay #river #grass

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:w27jf74rgozykuyl63ji7wbv/post/3mhjdltsiv225

Attachments:

• video: A short video of a very small old dam.

Boosted by baldur@toot.cafe ("Baldur Bjarnason"):
uglyreykjavik.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy ("Ugly Reykjavik") wrote:

A small dam from 1953 that is no longer in use. On the other side of the dam, there's a salmon ladder.#Iceland #Reykjavik #photography #landscape #nature #naturephotography #abandoned #decay #river #grass