if Trump does indeed close the strait, NATO nations may go and try to open it.

So you seriously think e.g. France will send ships to the gulf, and shoot at US ships?

as authorities

You can pick any authority you want. No reasonable person disagree on what international law says here.

Everybody benefits from the free trade system working - and that depends on international freedom of navigation law being respected. Also Trump voting Republicans, and Republican Congressmen, benefit.

In a sane world, US voters would stop Trump. In their own rational self interest.

That is the question. The current world system depends on there not being these kinds of tolls. But if Trump legitimizes them, then world trade could be fucked.

The current system has worked so well for so long, people don’t even seem to realize how much wealth it generates for everybody. And that it doesn’t need to be this way. Actually not unlike what happens in the US, if the rule of law collapses completely.

And large physics models are simulations, aren’t they?

No. Not by any definition of “simulation” I know.

in plain english, like the AI techbros you despise, you’ve given up your ability to think.

The unthinking AI haters are all over social media. They keep saying that AI can’t really think. But ironically, the “arguments” they usually use is the worst kind unthinking regurgitated groupthink slob.

not a legally enforceable rule.

Anything is enforceable with enough bombs, if there is a will. Any previous US President, Democrat or Republican, would have enforced it no question.

Trump is President. Trump is the US right now. It is dangerous to pretend he is not.

And it is not just an aberration. Congress could remove Trump any time they wanted to. But they do not.

This specific part of international law has been almost universally observed for many decades. It actually matters.

Says who?

The most extraordinary thing here is perhaps that the US is not saying so. With Trump talking about imposing tolls. It used to be that like the #1 priority of Pax Americana was to insure international freedom of navigation.

But Trump just casually throws that out the window, I assume in an unvetted 2AM Truth Social rant (I haven’t actually checked where and when Trump said it).

This is insane. I don’t know why this hasn’t got wider news coverage.

I were not able to find a better news article, but this news article somehow failed to mention the central fact that anybody demanding tolls, whether Iran or USA or both, is unambiguously illegal under international law. It is an international strait, and there is right of navigation for ships. Legal Eagle describes why the tolls are illegal: Trump’s Illegalist War Gets Illegaler.

but nothing they produce will live up to the hype

We just want the next book to be about the same as the previous books. There is not “hype” here?

NASA is too focused on creating a moon base which is dumb as shit.

Why dumb?

Even if you want a Mars base eventually, it seems like a good idea to get some practice building a similar moon base first. Many of the problems will be the same, but it will be much easier, cheaper, and safer to learn them in a place which is only days away from resupply.

But does a US President even have the right to send US citizens to The Hague? I imagine not, since the US is not a signatory.

If there is no legal US framework, then sending them to The Hague against their will would presumably literally be a crime under US law. In principle, US President can’t just kidnap people.

As your article says, Ford falsely claimed it. So I can imagine it is a widespread misconception.

No matter what they produce

Now, I agree that we have no right to demand anything from them.

But… their output rate has been genuinely abysmal. If we had a right to demand anything at all from them (we don’t), then it would be quite reasonable to ask them to at least finish one book every 10 years…

Yes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/27/eddie-gallagher-trump-navy-seal-iraq

Trump has previously pardoned at least one guy convicted of warcrimes in US courts. So I assume pardons work just fine, for that purpose.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/27/eddie-gallagher-trump-navy-seal-iraq

But this is a bombshell, though? Would be the worst scandal of any other administration.