Small Metal Owl

Your friendly neighborhood still, small voice.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

Guys, I'm going to say this one more time: chill TF out about AI. It might be annoying and confusing and too prevalent right now, but the novelty's going to wear off soon enough, and it will find its place in the toolbox of our collective consciousnesses.

It'll be fine.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@hot_savce @Garrett_Archer No actually he had almost exactly the same lead over the third-place as Pratt two days ago. And yet the prediction markets were heavily trending in the directions the remaining votes would follow. So, lots of people were betting quite heavily on this "statistical impossiblity".

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@RenegadeAcademe @CurtisHouck They often had conversations where the boss got accused of trying to kill everyone's jobs, did they?

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@willchamberlain @stevensongs And if they don’t, then what? They don’t care if we don’t trust them. In fact I would go so far as to say that they love people who remain obsessed with disputing the 2020 election long after anything can be done about it.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@greg_price11 @sistertoldjah So, that’s a no.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

The simplest explanation is that he's simply lying here.

But it's attractive to think he actually thought he was going to singlehandedly persuade his boss to reverse course on everything she was trying to do to tighten up the ship at CBS, like it was the West Wing or something.

[Byron York @ByronYork]

Former CBS correspondent Scott Pelley says he did not expect to be fired after his confrontation with new management. "Oh gosh, furthest thing from my mind. It hadn’t occurred to me...I just didn’t connect the dots." From NYT: https://t.co/8AcHIH4QpG

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@freedomNov5 @WallStreetApes According to the story, one minute later, Pratt’s total increased and nobody else’s did. So if we’re going to call the first a glitch in the Dems’ favor, we have to call that a glitch in his favor.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@varadmehta I’m generally against the idea of trans-women taking positions in athletics away from women, but I could be convinced to make an exception for this league.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

The LA Times explanation for what happened: https://t.co/PG65FrfIKD

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

It’s no surprise to me that the “smoking gun” for election fixing was just another temporary reporting glitch: in this case Bass and Raman’s totals getting updated first and then Pratt a minute later.

That said, it’s yet another instance of the press completely failing to recognize the level of scrutiny they’re under.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

Below is a simple proof that high-speed rail will never reach the biggest cities in California while the current political machine is in place. The construction necessary to implement it would be intolerable to their sense of aesthetics.

[Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice]

Bang up job Donald!

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@Mish_K_ When they're not calling Antifa the modern-day equivalent of this.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

He may not know how to finish a war, but he damn sure knows how to finish a construction project.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

Panicans got real quiet. 👀

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

Also, framing the unilateral taking down of statues as suddenly an unconscionable act is not really a road they want to go down.

[Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney]

JUDGE MILLETT: If the govt decides very quickly to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors — that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the govt moved too fast — nothing can be done?

DOJ: I think that’s right, yes.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

If Mamdani did exactly this, the people currently complaining about the Reflecting Pool and the East Wing would quickly find a way to justify it.

[Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney]

JUDGE MILLETT: If the govt decides very quickly to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors — that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the govt moved too fast — nothing can be done?

DOJ: I think that’s right, yes.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

Was I just on a pilot for this, perhaps due to my status as a CN contributor? Because this is not at all a new feature to me.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Users who interact with a misleading post that is subsequently corrected by @CommunityNotes will receive an 𝕏 Chat message of the CN to correct any misperception

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

If you publicly promise you're not going to pardon someone, you should hold to that promise.

[Hunter Biden @HunterBiden]

Things most Americans agree on:

Groceries cost too much.

Tariffs suck and make no sense.

Congress and Presidents shouldn’t trade stocks.

The debt is a mess.

The border should be secure, but legal immigration is good.

Endless wars are stupid, especially ones that nobody wants and have never been explained.

Americans are exhausted.

AI is like my new best friend that also might be trying to take my job, my ability to think for myself, and my humanity in the process. Yo like I love you, but WTF, but I still love you.

Diversity is actually awesome! The opposite is boring AF.

Canadians are super fucking cool.

Mexicans are chill.

Putin isn’t a good guy looking out for America’s best interest. Rocky IV and Miracle are great movies.

Good neighbors are a blessing.

Freedom of religion and coexistence without having to blow each other up is probably a good idea.

We all question, are we alone in the universe?

We all fuck up along the way.

Epstein didn’t hang himself.

The Trumps and Epstein were best friends for decades. It’s like Bert trying to tell us Ernie was just an acquaintance in the same social scene on Sesame Street back in the day.

The Cowboys suck. Go Birds!

Things we’re told to fight about:

Me.
Laptop.
Vaccines.
Transgenders in sports.
Pronouns.

That’s the joke.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@AxeOfWashington @RBPundit Has talking like that ever convinced anyone that you are someone worth listening to?

Because it certainly didn't work with me.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

So, in literally a single day it's gone from "the NYT has betrayed us by publishing allegations against Platner" to using that EXACT SAME STORY as the "proof" that the allegations are false.

It's got to be exhausting having to do that for a living.

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@AxeOfWashington @RBPundit https://t.co/gJN2ipXoyi

[Wasson Watch Co. @WassonWatch]

"Now do the USS Liberty."

Every time Israel comes up, someone mentions the USS Liberty. Hey, even when Israel is not the topic, people bring it up. A lot of folks see it as some kind of ace-in-the-hole that proves without a shadow of a doubt that Israel is a raging enemy of the United States.

So, yeah, let's talk about the USS Liberty.

The USS Liberty was a US Navy technical research ship, which was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea near the Sinai Peninsula on June 8, 1967, two days after the start of the Six-Day War, in which Israel was attacked by a coalition of Arab states including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon (so all of its neighbors). It was mistakenly attacked by Israeli forces, which mistook it for an enemy Egyptian ship. The attack resulted significant casualties for the US Navy, including 34 killed, 171 wounded, and the ship heavily damaged.

Here's the story:

Several days BEFORE the war started, the Liberty was ordered to proceed to the eastern Mediterranean to perform signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection in international waters near the north coast of Sinai, Egypt. They were initially provided an allowable closest point of approach (CPA) of 12.5 nautical miles (NM) from Egypt and 6.5 NM from Israel, but once the war started they sent follow-on messages increasing those distances to 20 and 15 NM respectively, and again later to 100 NM from both countries, BUT DUE TO INEFFECTIVE MESSAGE HANDLING AND ROUTING, THESE MESSAGES WERE NOT RECEIVED UNTIL AFTER THE ATTACK.

So, the USS Liberty sailed right into the middle of a heavy, active war zone because of poor communication. This was a critical, deadly mistake, leading to the opportunity for further mistakes.

Between 0545 and 0940 the Liberty was spotted multiple times by different Israeli aircraft, and was marked on the Israeli Central Coastal Command (CCC) control table. However, the Liberty was on the move, and at 0545 it had started at 70 NM from Gaza, and later it was about 20 NM from Arish (on the northern coast of Sinai). With the movement of the vessel, and multiple hours without any sighting, it was removed from the CCC control board 1100 due to the positional information being considered out of date.

At 1124 it was reported that Arish was being shelled from the sea. This may have been due to exploding munitions that Egyptian forces had set on fire during their retreat.

Israeli torpedo boats and aircraft were dispatched to the area. Multiple reports were sent back about the Liberty, and it was unfortunately not identified as a US vessel at that time, and there were reports about other vessels coming through at the same time, which may have also been mixed up with reports about the Liberty.

Based on the available information, Israeli forces believed the USS Liberty was an Egyptian destroyer. At 1400 two Israeli Mirage III fighter jets were given permission to engage. They strafed the ship with their 30-mm cannons and rockets. In addition to killing as many as 8, and wounding 75, this initial attack unfortunately severed the ships antennas, and knocked down the flag, making accurate identification of the ship even less likely, and slowing the ability of the ship to communicate.

Over the proceeding 90 minutes there were several more attacks from the air and sea, resulting in significant damage to the Liberty and its crew, before the ship was positively identified as the USS Liberty at 1530.

At 1600, two hours after the attack started, and 30 minutes after its conclusion, Israel informed the US embassy in Tel Aviv that its forces had mistakenly attacked a US Navy ship. At 1640 the Israeli torpedo boats (which had been involved in the attack) returned to help, but were refused. Later Israel also provided a helicopter to fly US naval attache Commander Ernest Carl Castle to the Liberty.

Within hours apologies were sent by Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Foreign Minister Abba Eban, and charge d'affaires Ephraim Evron to President LBJ. Within 48 hours Israel offered to financially compensate the victims and their families.

This was a tragic incident of friendly fire, which is unfortunately all-too-common in war. Some have suggested over the years that it was an intentional attack by Israel, but there's simply not evidence to support that position, while there is significant evidence to the contrary:

- As soon as Israeli forces positively identified the Liberty, they ceased the attack, and immediately apologized
- Both the US and Israel conducted investigations afterwards concluded the attacks were not intentional
- NSA transcripts later showed that the Israeli personnel communicating about the ship believed it was Egyptian
- The attack happened while Israel was being attacked by multiple enemies, and was literally defending its very existence, which meant decisions had to be made quickly without all of the available information

One point some have made is that survivors of the attack felt like it was intentional. And that's their prerogative. Getting shot at doesn't feel good. It feels intentional, whether it is or not. In the instance where the USS Liberty was getting shot at, at that point it was intentional in the sense that the Israeli forces did not know they were American, but believing them to be Egyptian, they were trying to kill them. But the fact is, many people who experience friendly fire report feeling it is intentional.

And as I mentioned previously, friendly fire events are all-too-common. Here are just a few you might not be aware of:

1. Operation Cobra, Normandy, July 25, 1944 (World War II) - USAAF Eighth Air Force bombers mistakenly bombed US positions near Saint-Lo, France, killing 111, and wounding 490.
2. Gulf War, February 26-27, 1991 (Operation Desert Storm) - Multiple friendly fire incidents occurred resulting 35 Americans killed, 9 British killed, and 72 Americans/22 British wounded across 17 ground and 10 air incidents. One notable incident involved a US A-10 firing Maverick missiles on British armored vehicles.
3. Sicily Campaign, July 11, 1943 (World War II) - US anti-aircraft gunners fired on a formation of US C-47 transport planes carrying paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, downing several aircraft, and killing between 23 and 37 troops (estimates vary), and wounding at least 60.

War is Hell, and friendly fire is part of that Hell. Multiple errors led to the USS Liberty being attacked, but the biggest was the failure in communication that resulted in the Liberty sailing right into the middle of an active warzone. That error cannot be underplayed.

However, the USS Liberty incident is a far cry from the "headshot" argument for why Israel is an evil enemy of the United States. Using it as such as frankly childish. It's baseless. And it's quite easily refuted if you simply look at what happened and weigh the evidence rationally.

Haters will read this and call me a "Zionist Shill" who "got the phone call" and on, and on, and on, but the truth is I just care about the truth. And no amount of baseless insults will ever change that.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

[Small Metal Owl @SmallMetalOwl]

@varadmehta In my experience those markets start honing in properly about three days before.