MC | ••• —

“If women are behind on a metric, it’s recorded as inequality. If men are behind, it’s recorded as parity. You read that correctly: The index is explicitly designed so that men cannot be seen as disadvantaged, no matter how far behind they fall.” stevestewartwilliams.com/p/t…

Under pressure from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran. The target would be Pickax Mountain in central Iran, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program. No conventional weapon in the American arsenal can penetrate 300 feet of solid granite to destroy the tunnels where enrichment is supposedly taking place. The only military option is a nuclear strike. Netanyahu has been pushing hard for one. “Bibi calls Trump about it every day,” says an informed observer. Netanyahu is cornered and desperate. After last week’s election results, he can’t form a government unless Trump intervenes directly in Israeli politics and brokers a deal with other parties that gives Netanyahu 61 seats in the Knesset. Otherwise, he is out as prime minister and on his way to ignominy, investigations and possibly jail. Netanyahu must stay close to Trump. He needs this war. To that end, he’s applied maximum pressure to his closest allies in the administration, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper. Both oppose a negotiated settlement to the war they’ve so grievously mismanaged; both are pushing to restart major combat operations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA director John Ratcliffe are also following Netanyahu’s lead, as are leaders of the Democratic Party. In a recent meeting on the subject, former president Barack Obama said he opposes the current Iran peace deal being drafted in Doha. The rest of America’s longtime allies in the Middle East are terrified by the prospect of more war. On September 27th, Netanyahu flew secretly to Abu Dhabi to enlist the UAE in his lobbying effort for a final attack on Iran. The Emiratis refused. After eight months of conflict, Gulf economies are teetering. So are global energy and fertilizer markets. They won’t recover soon. Globally, there are a total of about 850 supertankers used to transport oil from producers to the rest of the world. In October alone, 11 of them were badly damaged in Hormuz. At this pace, a global depression is imminent. A nuclear strike would radically accelerate the destruction. Fallout from a ground explosion at Pickax Mountain would contaminate the Persian Gulf, poisoning the water supply for 100 million people. And those are just some of the immediate consequences for the region. The rest of the world is every bit as exposed. No country other than the United States has ever used a nuclear weapon in war. Some would like to. An American nuclear attack on Iran would set a new precedent. The Russians have already told at least two other governments that an American nuclear strike on Iran would free them to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Pakistan and India would be tempted to do the same against each other, as would North Korea against Seoul. After the first nuclear strike, World War Three is inevitable. That war would be short and final. We’ve been sleepwalking toward this moment for months. Since February, the administration has quietly rewritten America’s nuclear doctrine to make first use of so-called “battlefield nukes” easier and therefore more likely. No one in Washington in either party seems bothered by this. Now we’re on the brink of it. Close observers say Trump is likely to decide by next weekend whether or not to use nuclear weapons. That would be November 7, six days from now. To his credit, he’s hesitating. At the moment, Trump is listening to his vice president, JD Vance, and to his envoy and friend Steve Witkoff, both of whom argue a deal with Iran can be made. They’re right, though it won’t be simple. The Iranians are famously frustrating to negotiate with under any circumstances, and elements of that government have become more radical since Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family were killed in February. After decades of isolation, even relatively moderate Iranian leaders seem confused by how decisions are made in the West. (There is a widespread belief in Tehran, for example, that the United States government controls Israel.) But overall, people who have spoken to decision-makers in Iran say there is consensus there that more war is bad for everyone and a deal is worth making. One group that hasn’t been consulted so far is the global population — the hundreds of millions of people who will be killed along with their children if Trump is pushed by Netanyahu into launching a nuclear strike next week. Now would be the time for them to speak up.

Caleb Wilson joins Allen Iverson as the ONLY players in NBA history to record all three milestones through their first SEVEN career games: 150+ points 15+ three-pointers made 10+ steals

Rudy Gobert on this play. 😬 (h/t @BrickCenter_)

Charlie Villanueva says a white player has never been the best player in the NBA. “When was the last time a white player was single-handedly the best player? I love white people. My first nut was with a white girl, so why would I be racist? I’m not racist.” (Via @ToTheBaha / h/t @NBA__Courtside )

Everyone's finally realizing that the Jedi were evil in 2026 but I figured it out in 2005 when I watched ROTS and walked out thinking Anakin was right Anakin 'turned evil' because he: -loved his mom -loved his wife -was stronger than the whole Council -noticed the system was corrupt and broken The Jedi knew he was the Chosen One and still wouldn't make him a Master, because he was better than them The Jedi: 'We can't punish the Sand People, Anakin. With midichlorian counts that low, they didn't know what they were doing.' 
Anakin: 'Then I'll take care of it myself.' And the Empire? It ended the war, kept order, and ran on merit instead of a Council that took 1,000 years to do nothing He did nothing wrong He just did what the Council was too weak to do Order 66 wasn't a betrayal. It was a performance review Long live the Empire

Obliteration Made with @AskVenice Language: Pali

Which civilisations enslaved the most people?

People may take issue with the language I use here but I stand by it.

“I’ve never been a loser in my whole life, so I’m going to try my best to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m never going to accept being a loser.” Caleb Wilson following the Bulls’ 125-111 loss to the Celtics tonight

Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren underwent treatment Friday to address a small patellar tendon tear and is expected to return to play in 8-to-10 weeks.

Caleb Wilson dropped a career-high SIX threes tonight vs. Celtics 🔥 🏀6-11 3P (career-high) 🏀23 PTS 🏀5 REB 🏀4 AST 🏀2 BLK 🏀1 STL

Portland Trail Blazers' Ja Morant has sustained a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and will miss at least four weeks, sources tell ESPN.

17,000 men apply to MIT 8900 women apply to MIT 600 men were accepted 612 women were accepted If we assume male and female applicants to MIT are roughly the same, the probability this happens by chance, let alone every year for a while The probability of a sex blind admission process creating this result is 1 in 4 × 10³¹

Do not read this if you passionately believe in the case for reparations

A couple of months ago, Caleb Hammer released a documentary about "men's spaces"... Every club, space, or safe space for men has been legally mandated to allow women. Any instance of a woman getting even the mildest hate for joining a majority-male space, it gets farmed for drama+news and the org or group is attacked. The woman is then called a brave queen for exposing the misogynistic, sexist men. Eventually, many clubs closed. If the opposite happens, where the man is in a women's-only club, it becomes a scandal, and the man at times is arrested and charged with a crime even if nothing weird happens. Either way, men lose. 80% of suicides are men; they lag in college, and male labor participation has fallen. It's a double standard. Women are always treated with the utmost reverence and protection... as if women cannot protect themselves... incapable It's because men are stronger and have higher levels of criminality... and for that, every "male issue" gets ignored as something not important. Feminism acted like women can do anything men can. Then, by that logic, they should be just as capable.

"In hindsight, it was quite aggressive, / #hetoo." That’s MIT based biologist Dr. Kristin Knouse being asked about text messages she exchanged with Dr. David Sabatini, a world renowned former MIT biomedical scientist. Sabatini was once considered a potential Nobel Prize candidate for his breakthroughs in understanding cancer and aging. The deposition is part of the evidence I reviewed in a defamation and work interference lawsuit Sabatini brought against Knouse. Sabatini watched his career, his lab, and his reputation collapse under the weight of campus protests and social media attacks after Knouse accused him of coercing her into a sexual relationship that lasted more than a year, according to court documents. 🚩Sabatini gave me his first television interview since a Boston jury delivered a stunning $6 million defamation/interference verdict in his favor.🚩 The interview airs on #Boston25 News during our 6pm newscast. I will post the full report after it airs. #25Investigates

Conflict places more of the care burden on women and girls' shoulders. #Peace and security require more than their unpaid labor. Women and girls must be at the heart of peacebuilding. 🔗 See more on the @UN Secretary-General's report on #WomenPeaceSecurity: unwomen.org/en/articles/expl…

What if just 5 minutes a day could challenge your brain in a whole new way?