Once Again, The Press Misses The Point. I’m not gonna link to any of the ‘analysis’ of the decision-making process. Because it ignores the simple fact that the person who ordered the bombing of Iran is a deranged narcissist who just happens to be the President of the United States. Surrounded by people who were selected because they are incompetent. That’s the story.
Some Possible Consequences–Intended Or Otherwise:
Iran’s parliament has voted to close the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping channel through which around 20% of the world’s daily oil flows.
The move, which could block $1 billion in oil shipments per day, is likely to send oil prices soaring.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, jumped 3.9% to $80 a barrel on Sunday, while US crude rose 4.3% to $77 a barrel.
Hardliners close to Vladimir Putin have demanded Russians “take up arms” in a furious response to the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump sanctioned the bombings of three nuclear sites in Iran overnight, escalating the Middle East crisis further. Missiles were dropped from American B-2 stealth bombers, including on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, which has caused some Russian oligarchs to demand military support for Tehran.
Oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, who runs propaganda empire Tsargrad, demanded: “It’s high time we helped Tehran with satellite intelligence, air defence, and missiles.” He accused Trump of mocking Putin by “pretending to be peacekeepers” in the Ukraine conflict. Demanding military support for Iran, he declared: “Two can play this game. Fate is giving us a historic chance.
One Thing The Attacks Can’t Accomplish:
Nuclear weapons have existed for 80 years. The fundamental science isn’t a secret. Obviously I’m far from an expert on this. But the challenges are producing the fuel, which is time consuming and a major industrial-scale process, and what are basically engineering and industrial challenges to produce materials with a level of precision that are suitable for nuclear warheads. The point is those things are doable with a reasonably advanced industrial economy and engineers and physicists who can direct the work. Those things are all fundamentally replaceable. We’re already hearing people in the MAGA world saying that Trump ended the Iranians nuclear program. But even in the most successful attack scenario that’s not actually possible.
Illegally-Kidnapped Grad Student, Celebrates Freedom, Tells It Like It Is:
Khalil cast himself as the reluctant face of a wider movement of students fighting for Palestinian rights, some of whom have also been jailed by the Trump administration for their activism. But Khalil was also eager to define himself after months of news coverage and baseless allegations from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he is a national security threat.
“The Columbia administration has tried its best to portray me as someone who’s violent,” Khalil told the crowd. Describing himself in the third person, Khalil called himself “a human rights defender,” “a freedom fighter,” “a refugee,” “a father and husband,” and “above all… a Palestinian.”
Khalil, a legal permanent US resident and green card holder, was detained on March 8 by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents in the lobby of the building where he lives, near the Columbia campus, as his wife, who was eight months pregnant, watched the whole thing unfold. “It felt like I was literally being kidnapped, where you have plainclothes agents literally snatching you out of your apartment building, without introducing themselves, without introducing an arrest warrant,” Khalil told the crowd. He said he could not communicate with Abdalla, a dentist and US citizen, for the first 30 hours of his detention, which he called “the most difficult time” of the ordeal. “They wouldn’t tell me what I’m being accused of,” he said.
I know I don’t need to tell you this. But Silence=Complicity.
Centrist Hacks Rally Around Andrew Cuomo. Not just Rep. Jim Clyburn, the guy who rescued Joe Biden from the slag heap of failed Democratic presidential candidates. But now Bill Clinton, who may, or may not, be house-sitting at Harvey Weinstein’s manse:
Mr. Clinton, 78, who lives in a Westchester County suburb north of New York, has not often weighed in on city primary races. His endorsement is another indication that some establishment Democrats prefer Mr. Cuomo to Zohran Mamdani, a state lawmaker and Democratic Socialist who is second in the polls.
‘Indication’? ‘Some establishment Democrats’? Who the fuck wrote this? Speaking of which:
Mr. Mamdani appeared at a rally on Sunday evening in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn with the left-leaning Working Families Party and Letitia James, the state attorney general who has been a forceful critic of Mr. Cuomo. Mr. Mamdani was the group’s first choice on a slate that also includes Brad Lander, the city comptroller; Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker; and Zellnor Myrie, a state senator from Brooklyn.
Cuomo and Clinton (and Weinstein) share one particular propensity:
But the most forceful case of the evening was made by Ms. James, whose office investigated 11 accusations of sexual harassment against Mr. Cuomo and produced a report in August 2021 that helped hasten his resignation as governor. Mr. Cuomo denies wrongdoing and has said he regretted leaving office.
“He says that was all a political ploy,” she said. “When you objectify women, when you victimize women, when you harass women, it’s not a political ploy.”
The theme of Saturday’s Delaware Democratic Convention was ‘make people’s lives better’. In NYC, the theme is ‘Keep the power in the hands of Wall Street’s obedient servants.’
Environmental Good News/Bad News? I’d say a bit of both:
Water provider Veolia is removing toxic PFAS chemicals from drinking water for more than 100,000 New Castle County residents — meeting federal regulations four years before a compliance deadline.
The investor-owned utility unveiled a $35 million treatment facility in Stanton this week, where the so-called “forever chemicals” were previously detected at high levels.
The PFAS treatment facility, which is the size of a regulation hockey rink and boasts 21 towering filters that can treat 30 million gallons of water per day, is Veolia’s largest in the U.S.
Good news.
About a third of Veolia’s water supply is sourced from the Red Clay Creek, which environmental regulators say is contaminated with high levels of “forever chemicals.” The area is home to chemical companies, but the source of contamination in the creek has not been determined.
PFAS at Veolia’s Stanton plant were previously detected at levels as high as 29 parts per trillion on average, according to the company’s 2024 water quality report. Veolia said it’s partnering with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to determine the source of contamination at its intakes.
The plant is now reducing PFAS to non-detectable levels by utilizing granular activated carbon, which is the current mainstay for PFAS removal. The technology essentially works by acting like a magnet. Chemicals become attached to the carbon, as the water continues to flow through the system, free of PFAS.
Meaning, until now, consumers have been drinking water full of PFA’s. Bad news.
ICE Tries To Co-opt Four Delaware Police Agencies. This is why we need laws stopping ICE:
In emails to Delaware police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials asked Dover, Seaford, Harrington and Camden police if they would volunteer for ICE’s 287(g) program, which deputizes local officers to enforce federal immigration statutes.
ICE is the enemy. Full stop.
What do you want to talk about?