Lynn Parramore

Culture, economics, psychology. Author, "Reading the Sphinx"; Editor, "The 99%"; Contributor, @NBCNewsTHINK @laphamsquart @INETeconomics

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

Economist Servaas Storm on AI hype v. reality: https://t.co/fpH1W95Dqj

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

AI is watching you work...what could possibly go wrong?? https://t.co/ykWDd7C7en @INETeconomics

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

AI might not be causing a white-collar recession YET, but effects of job insecurity are already here. See my latest w/@lisquart https://t.co/CDpVyUpSr2 @newrepublic @econhardship

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

White-collar workers & the AI freakout--@lisquart and I break it down: https://t.co/CDpVyUpSr2 @econhardship

[Nury Vittachi @NuryVittachi]

THE PLANNED U.S. ATTACK ON IRAN has a hitch: most of the missile-targeting crew are queuing for toilets on the lead vessel, the USS Gerald R Ford.

This is not a joke. A set of emails was obtained by NPR, a US public broadcasting group, revealing that toilet wars have broken out on board the most expensive ship the US Navy ever built. The Wall St Journal followed up to confirm the tale today.

TLDR Summary: There are too few functioning toilets for 4,600 sailors and the problem is worsening daily—there’s no chance of fixing the system without returning the ship to the US dockyards.

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BIG PROBLEMS TO DISCHARGE

Problem one: Design planners screwed up by including too few toilets for 4,600 sailors, leading to 45-minute queues on a daily basis.

Problem two: Engineers screwed up by installing a fragile vacuum system in which a single valve breakdown on one toilet can stop all the toilets in an entire department functioning—making the queues even longer.

Problem three: Some of the temporary repair operations (such as using an acid flush to clear out calcium build-ups) can only be done while the ship is docked: no prospect of that. But with so many toilets out of order, too much pressure is put on the ones still working, so the problem will just spread.

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KEY PLAYER IN U.S. ATTACKS

And the issues have been gradually mounting for more than a year. “A March 18, 2025 email from the engineering department sent out to all chiefs on the ship said there were 205 [toilet] breakdowns in four days,” the NPR reported.

The ship is at the heart of US overseas attack operations, working for months in waters near Venezuela, to support the abduction of the country’s president and the seizing of ships carrying oil to customers, and is now heading the planned regime change operation in Iran. Israel wants a pro-Netanyahu leader installed, as the US has done in many other countries.

But how can they attack Iran while staff are queuing for the loo?

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WAR OF WORDS ON BOARD

One result of all this is war between sailors and on-board sewage staff (called Hull Technicians, or HTs).

One sewage engineering head complained that the sailors put all sorts of problematic material down the toilets, including t-shirts: “Our sewage system is being mistreated and destroyed by Sailors on a daily basis. My HT's are currently working 19 hours a day right now trying to keep up with the demand.”

Sigh. And the US taxpayer spent US$13 billion on the ship.

On the plus side, it would be delightful if the carrier’s desperate lack of functioning toilets caused the attack on Iran was cancelled or postponed.

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

Data centers are jacking up electricity bills: https://t.co/lsU7g0bYMW

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

REALLY want to know what happened in the 2024 US elections? Reality check from legendary political scientist Thomas Ferguson:

https://t.co/2l7hEGQDFz

[Beverley Smith @BevSmithWrites]

Novavax now! We need access to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine! https://t.co/HyrYploFDg

[Melanie D'Arrigo @DarrigoMelanie]

U.S. Olympians are using their trip to the Olympics to get the basic preventative healthcare they can’t afford to get in the U.S.

We should be embarrassed that we’re the only industrialized country without universal healthcare — all because lobbyists pay off our politicians.

[Arturo Portnoy @portna]

This is not right. This is not normal. This is not "a cold".

This is COVID. This is reckless. This is dangerous.

[𝓝𝓲𝓴𝓴𝓲 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼 @NikkiBarnes]

There’s a movement

[NBCT for Public Schools🌟 @can_tdisplay]

@MattGertz Neuter Vance

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

@WilderJoan003 @jmendozaORL @INETeconomics @alvelda Very sorry to hear this

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

@HannahBat1 @Michael95494331 @INETeconomics @alvelda Scary and unfortunately not rare

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

@WhatsupKit62700 @HannahBat1 @Michael95494331 @INETeconomics @alvelda Very sorry to hear—hope you are feeling better soon

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

@nochildcatlady Amen

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

@QuizzicalGirl @onlyonecomment You can

[The Spirit of Lorenzo the Cat @LorenzoTheCat]

And they have their claws out.

[Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton]

This moment from @KamalaHarris’ questioning of Brett Kavanaugh at his Senate hearing has never left me.

"Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?"

[Lynn Parramore @LynnParramore]

@OMGchronicles I have always thought this was an excellent idea