Seventh casualty is Sgt Benjamin Pennington of Glendale in Hardin County, Kentucky, not 40 miles from my house. Large active veteran community there, close to Fort Knox, prosperous county just outside Louisville. Gov. Beshear will order flags lowered to half staff on the date of his interment.
I saw video of Tel Aviv yesterday. It wasn't just "a few drones getting through." It was sustained bombardment by ballistic missiles.
I don't believe the reports of only 6 dead Americans. Iran has taken out 3 key radar bases which provide the data for the missile intervention systems and damaged other bases. Are we supposed to believe that there were miraculously no casualties there? My guess is dozens if not hundreds already.
It's so cute how the Cheeto thinks he gets to pick the next Iranian leader. "The mullahs came to me, with tears in their eyes, and said 'Sir, we want you to save our country just like you did in Venezuela. Never mind that we have 90 million people and a shit-ton of drones and missiles. Please, pick our next Supreme Leader for us!'"
Ta, Evan. And to think that just a few short years ago, the only thing I knew about Drinky Pete was that he doesn't wash his hands after using a toilet. We were all so innocent then.
Pretty clear that nobody in our government gives a shit about civilian victims of our AI ordered bombing in Iran. People just trying to live their fucking lives until Secretary GRR Warfighters decided to kill them.
I was a teenager when on THANKSGIVING 1966 a fellow GI (I really didn't know him) was killed in an ambush outside of DALAT V.N. It really shook me up to touch his name on a repro of the V.N. war memorial. That G.I. was to DROS (return home) within one week when he was killed.
Yeah, the government stopped that because when the public hears the numbers and sees the carnage on TV (as we did during the Viet Nam war) they don't want to support the war anymore.
I can understand the cognitive dissonance happening now. I was all kinds of pissed when in the aftermath of that terrible time people went after WESTMOORLAND. As much as I was against the horror I still stood up for him.
Yet I have a WingNut friend who was raised in a military family and still supports Repubs, as if Repubs still supported people in the military. That is one large and opaque bubble they live in.
"And here, safely burrowed in its overlit Dressing Room, its rudimentary eyes fixed on an alluring image in the mirror, the Departmental Quisling strokes its feathers with turgid nasal saliva, cooing only to itself its lonely call: "sig nificance...sig nificance...sig nificance..."
"That sad call is then followed by a shrill trill of 'WaaaarrrrrFiiiighterrrrrr' in an almost feminine voice. The Departmental Quisling is one pathetic motherfucker."
If it isn't blatantly clear by now, our country is largely run by people who don't give a shit about most of humanity. We know Whisky Dick, Mushroom Dick, and the rest of the clowns dominating this administration would gladly trade the lives of military personnel to achieve some nebulous personal goal, and that they all hate people who aren't white Christians or who occupy lower socioeconomic classes. Now add to that group the captains of industry who foist this crap on the public at large:
Oh, I'm not sure. it amazes me when I discover the number of supposedly very smart people who have to have the latest tech gizmo or who day trade or invest heavily in AI-based systems or crypto. The "greater fool" theory has swallowed up a lot of bright folks. But, sigh, I'm just a curmudgeon reaching toward 90, hoping that the wife and I have enough to get us through to a rapidly-appearing end.
I once worked in an office that was taken over by a cult since our local manager was a member. Most of the cult members were quite intelligent and pretty well educated, but they were sure gullible. The cult leader, of course, was scum: a predator of young men. In a way Repubs are cult members since at least some of them are intelligent but they believe unbelievable things.
The Supreme Court conjured up out of whole-cloth the bullshit "major issues" doctrine that is now consistently used by them to hamstring Democratic Presidents and Democratic-leaning executive orders: major issues entrusted to Congress are non-delegable to the executive branch unless expressly and with crystal clear language they do so. Which brings up the question: Is going to war a "major issue" that the Supreme Court might hold to be subject to that doctrine? If so, does it apply here, or not? Did Congress authorize this war expressly and clearly? (Spoiler alert: Fuck no,)
Seventh casualty is Sgt Benjamin Pennington of Glendale in Hardin County, Kentucky, not 40 miles from my house. Large active veteran community there, close to Fort Knox, prosperous county just outside Louisville. Gov. Beshear will order flags lowered to half staff on the date of his interment.
I saw video of Tel Aviv yesterday. It wasn't just "a few drones getting through." It was sustained bombardment by ballistic missiles.
I don't believe the reports of only 6 dead Americans. Iran has taken out 3 key radar bases which provide the data for the missile intervention systems and damaged other bases. Are we supposed to believe that there were miraculously no casualties there? My guess is dozens if not hundreds already.
Thanks, Evan. As always.
Caine provided a somber and informative news conference, but like many concerts I've been to,
the opening act sucked.
@Evan Hurst
share 🔊 War briefing with Pete https://ojaiohana.substack.com/p/video-war-briefing-with-pete?r=5chxge
Well, they are marching into battle for Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump. Maybe he’s got a point.
It's so cute how the Cheeto thinks he gets to pick the next Iranian leader. "The mullahs came to me, with tears in their eyes, and said 'Sir, we want you to save our country just like you did in Venezuela. Never mind that we have 90 million people and a shit-ton of drones and missiles. Please, pick our next Supreme Leader for us!'"
Fucking moron.
Ta, Evan. And to think that just a few short years ago, the only thing I knew about Drinky Pete was that he doesn't wash his hands after using a toilet. We were all so innocent then.
Pretty clear that nobody in our government gives a shit about civilian victims of our AI ordered bombing in Iran. People just trying to live their fucking lives until Secretary GRR Warfighters decided to kill them.
I remember as a teenager, the nightly news reporting the deaths of all soldiers during the Vietnam War, American and Vietnamese.
I was a teenager when on THANKSGIVING 1966 a fellow GI (I really didn't know him) was killed in an ambush outside of DALAT V.N. It really shook me up to touch his name on a repro of the V.N. war memorial. That G.I. was to DROS (return home) within one week when he was killed.
Funny that the body count was always 10-1. /side eye
Yeah, the government stopped that because when the public hears the numbers and sees the carnage on TV (as we did during the Viet Nam war) they don't want to support the war anymore.
Why are military personnel continually voting for Republicams?
Reporting on troop deaths is vital, but we should also hear reports about Iranian dead. They are just as important as any other people.
"It’s probably safe to say no Defense secretary has ever been viewed with such contempt by veterans and those currently serving as Hegseth."
And we're old enough to remember Donald Rumsfeld, so that's saying something.
I can understand the cognitive dissonance happening now. I was all kinds of pissed when in the aftermath of that terrible time people went after WESTMOORLAND. As much as I was against the horror I still stood up for him.
Yet I have a WingNut friend who was raised in a military family and still supports Repubs, as if Repubs still supported people in the military. That is one large and opaque bubble they live in.
IN THE VOICE OF DAVID ATTENBOROUGH
"And here, safely burrowed in its overlit Dressing Room, its rudimentary eyes fixed on an alluring image in the mirror, the Departmental Quisling strokes its feathers with turgid nasal saliva, cooing only to itself its lonely call: "sig nificance...sig nificance...sig nificance..."
😂🤣😂
"That sad call is then followed by a shrill trill of 'WaaaarrrrrFiiiighterrrrrr' in an almost feminine voice. The Departmental Quisling is one pathetic motherfucker."
If it isn't blatantly clear by now, our country is largely run by people who don't give a shit about most of humanity. We know Whisky Dick, Mushroom Dick, and the rest of the clowns dominating this administration would gladly trade the lives of military personnel to achieve some nebulous personal goal, and that they all hate people who aren't white Christians or who occupy lower socioeconomic classes. Now add to that group the captains of industry who foist this crap on the public at large:
𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗶𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳
𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 “𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 “𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘴.
𝘐𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘵, 𝘎𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵: 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 “𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱”, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦,” 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 … 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
That's just one of several examples discussed in the following article.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/04/gemini-chatbot-google-jonathan-gavalas
"Technology will eventually kill us all. But it will first make us its slaves."
Not those of us who don't fall for ridiculous comments or requests.
Oh, I'm not sure. it amazes me when I discover the number of supposedly very smart people who have to have the latest tech gizmo or who day trade or invest heavily in AI-based systems or crypto. The "greater fool" theory has swallowed up a lot of bright folks. But, sigh, I'm just a curmudgeon reaching toward 90, hoping that the wife and I have enough to get us through to a rapidly-appearing end.
I once worked in an office that was taken over by a cult since our local manager was a member. Most of the cult members were quite intelligent and pretty well educated, but they were sure gullible. The cult leader, of course, was scum: a predator of young men. In a way Repubs are cult members since at least some of them are intelligent but they believe unbelievable things.
The Supreme Court conjured up out of whole-cloth the bullshit "major issues" doctrine that is now consistently used by them to hamstring Democratic Presidents and Democratic-leaning executive orders: major issues entrusted to Congress are non-delegable to the executive branch unless expressly and with crystal clear language they do so. Which brings up the question: Is going to war a "major issue" that the Supreme Court might hold to be subject to that doctrine? If so, does it apply here, or not? Did Congress authorize this war expressly and clearly? (Spoiler alert: Fuck no,)