If the Australian government moves forward with a law that lets it create sock puppet accounts that can influence online debate among its own voters, it would basically be operationalizing the plan proposed years ago by the husband of our last USAID chief.
Ray Chamberlain on @abcsport: he gets possession, the ball is not pinned, there’s an arm free, he’s got to make an attempt to get rid of it. The rule is reasonable time. He gave him a week in the context of this game. Umpires have also got to demonstrate courage. That’s what he’s paid to do, and he delivered
@clairlemon@DrewPavlou@TheKouk It's also about founders of any business who forego their salary, sometimes for years expecting payment one day when they exit. Now the government will steal that.
Seven sentences. Five audiences. Every word is a weapon aimed at a different target. This is the most compressed piece of strategic signaling in the history of social media diplomacy.
On April 15, Trump posted: “China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also - And the World. This situation will never happen again. They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks. We are working together smartly, and very well! Doesn’t that beat fighting??? BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to - far better than anyone else!!!”
Decode every sentence.
“I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz.” The blockade is not a blockade. It is a service. Trump reframes the entire operation from aggression to provision. The navy enforcing interdiction is now the navy “opening” the strait. And “permanently” signals to oil markets, Asian importers, and Iran that the US intends to remain the guarantor of Hormuz transit indefinitely. Not as leverage. As architecture.
“I am doing it for them, also - And the World.” China imports over 50 percent of its energy through Hormuz. Trump positions the blockade as a gift to Beijing. The country whose Iranian oil he just cut off is now the beneficiary. Bessent said hours earlier: “They can get oil. Not Iranian oil.” Trump completes the sentence: and I am the one making sure they can.
“This situation will never happen again.” A doctrine in five words. The Hormuz crisis, Iran’s closure, the tolls, the mines, the 46 days of disruption will not recur because the United States is establishing permanent enforcement. No treaty. No negotiation. A unilateral declaration of perpetual chokepoint control posted on Truth Social.
“They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran.” Unverified. China’s MFA called the arms reports “entirely fabricated” hours earlier. But the sentence forces Beijing into a trap. If China confirms, it concedes publicly. If China denies, it implies the weapons were under consideration. Silence reads as confirmation. Every response validates the claim. The rhetorical structure is designed to be unfalsifiable in real time.
“President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks.” The May 14 to 15 summit confirmed in the most disarming language possible. “Big, fat, hug” humanizes the relationship for domestic audiences while signaling to Beijing that Trump views the summit as a victory lap. The framing shapes expectations before a single agenda item is discussed.
“Doesn’t that beat fighting???” The carrot. Three audiences: To China, cooperation beats confrontation. To Americans, this president ended a war with a deal. To Iran, fighting is the alternative and you are losing.
“BUT REMEMBER, we are very good at fighting, if we have to - far better than anyone else!!!” The stick. The hug is conditional. The cooperation is optional. The carrier strike group is not. The same paragraph offers peace and threatens war, and both are credible because the blockade proves both simultaneously.
One post. Seven sentences. Five audiences: China, Iran, domestic voters, oil markets, and the May summit negotiating table. Every word measured. Every ambiguity deliberate. Every claim unfalsifiable in the window that matters.
Trump did not write a tweet. He wrote a treaty draft disguised as a social media post.
Everyone likes to call South Africa chokers. New Zealand haven't won many World Cups themselves, they have been in more finals than we have. So, no offence, New Zealand, but please go on to win this. Otherwise, I am formally handing over that card to you.
https://t.co/N7etG1j3aF
We have two opposing teams with uniforms, and now I hear a cheering section and a band. Police are referees, but they only whistle the serious fouls. This is a sport.
Scott, all I can say is Thank You. I am in Australia and your influence reached all the way over here as well. From Dilbert in my teens and twenties, your education and navigation of the wild 2015-6 and COVID eras - plus your incredible books in the last decade - the difference you have made in my life (let alone those around me... patients, athletes, family and friends) honestly can't be measured, or put into words. Thank You. You will be missed.
I had 5 herniated disks in my cervical spine and 3 in my thoracic. One in cervical spine ruptured. Tried pain meds, injections, Rhizotomy; nothing worked well. I consulted with several neurosurgeons and ortho surgeons. All of them recommended fusion surgery.
Then I met a Swedish Neuro who looked like one of the bad guys from Die Hard. He told me that I just needed to build and maintain muscle around the spine. The strength building/muscle would help keep my spine aligned and spaced, which would relieve pressure from my disks and stop the nerve pain.
So that's what I did. Haven't taken any meds or done any medical intervention for years now.