Pete Hegseth was too busy doing pushups and bloviating about "warfighters" to notice how profoundly drones have changed the face of warfare.
It's not like this is a huge secret. He could have realized it by paying attention for maybe 30 minutes to the war in Ukraine.
A secretary of defense who had a clue would have ordered increased stocks of Patriot missiles and other anti-drone ordnance and equipment the moment it became clear that an extensive engagement with Iran would happen. We should have had stockpiles brimming with that stuff before the first missile was launched. And a competent SecDef would certainly not have sent the Navy's best minesweepers 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 immediately before the attack.
This idiot's cluelessness is, inevitably, catching up to him as he's confronted with real challenges. How many lives are going to be lost as a direct result of his bumbling?
I've said for a while that he's the only Cabinet member with the potential to kill more Americans than Croaky, and now he's on his way. God help our troops.
This timeline is so dumb I am half expecting Kash Patel to tweet out a photo of a missile with “Iran nuke” sharpied on the side of it. With the caption, “look what we recovered!”
"We are not tolerating the status quo. You cannot kidnap and kill us and our neighbors. You cannot start illegal wars. You cannot trample on our rights and see our lives as a means for profit. We will continue to come back and every single loss like this one just makes the path easier for the next person who takes the same chance. We are not done and I am not going anywhere. When I said when I said I would spend every single waking moment of the rest of my life to hold this administration accountable, win or lose, I fucking meant it. And I know all of you do, too. So, thank you for supporting us."
Scenes from the end of the world. Phoenix is projected to hit 107°F on Friday. It would be the earliest in the year that the temperature hit 107°F, beating the previous record by.... 44 days
Tulsi Gabbard, whom I am remembering with horror is Director of National Intelligence, was asked in a Senate hearing today to square Trump's remarks about Iran being an immanent nuclear threat with a letter from a key aide saying nah, it wasn't. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/politics/tulsi-gabbard-iran-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UFA.kYPK.UUbB0sz8EHdC&smid=url-share). She said only the president can decide what is an “imminent” threat. So, in other words, Trump's fee fees in his nether regions override any kind of a report from our own considerable intelligence services.
One of those chucklefucks (Bessent, maybe?) was on TV saying rising gas prices were something we (Americans) would take in stride, so yeah, we're basically there.
I wrote here before about how pissed I was that the Washington Post charged my credit card for a year's subscription after I canceled.
So I guess it's only fair to follow up by saying they gave me my money back after just one email. Didn't expect it to be that easy.
So now the only national paper I subscribe to is the New York Times. Yes, they're lame too, but what are the alternatives? The WSJ (right-wing Murdoch trash, at least in the editorials)? USA Today (much of their content is already free, and if they tried to charge for it, I wouldn't pay)?
Besides, they have good recipes, and I like their crossword. Until about Thursday, when it starts getting too hard.
I rage dropped WaPo and NYT a while back. I've been subscribing to the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Asbury Park Press even if they're both a little out of my area. I also drop a few bucks to the Guardian once in a while.
We can only do what we can do. I tossed WaPo when everyone else did during that idiotic change by Bezos with the opinion pages or whatever. I get NYT via a relative's subscription. But I pay for the Boston Globe, not only cuz' local, but they aggregate a lot of AP, and proper articles from WaPo and NYT. The Guardian is great, but I feel like a heathen cuz' I can't regularly contribute.
Maybe. Or maybe it was just a clogged lint filter. Its a pretty good guess that fatigue and low morale was a contributing factor, but sailors are correctly terrified of fire aboard a ship to the point where everyone has their assigned firefighting station.
As for the shitters, its another example of a high tech expensive solution that creates a new set of problems. Like the low-flow toilets that caused solid waster to back up because less water = less force to push the shit downstream. Literal enshittifcation.
You'd basically have to gut the ship and rebuild, I suppose.
And I don't understand this at all. Modern skyscrapers are designed so that fire can't just roam through the vent system. What can't that be/wasn't that done with a $13B carrier?
This comes after Iran struck a major gas facility in Qatar, in retaliation for a US/Israel strike on a major gas facility in Iran, which Trump probably authorized himself.
This is what the Iranian shoreline along the Strait of Hormuz looks like. The Iranians have cruise missiles that would make passage difficult. Even a shoulder fired weapon of relatively short range hitting an oil tanker in the right spot from above could be disastrous. It reminds me of the Biblical description of "the valley of the shadow of death".
Could the US military suppress fire from above and even beyond visual sighting? Yes, but only to a degree. This is the Iranian Navy's latest cruise missile. It can deliver its payload from anywhere that they can hide a launcher.
Okay so here is my dilemma:
I am drunk and craving some Richie's hot chicken which is a 5 minute sober walk from my front door.
Fuck yeah i am getting chicken.
I order now and you all encourage my walk to Richie's truck. It will not be in a straight line
Xena Warrior Scooter doesn't have an autopilot food fetch option?
Leave Xena at home and you'll be cool.
Keep to the sidewalk.
YOU CAN DO IT! 😃 🐥
Just go slow, you’ll be fine.
Pete Hegseth was too busy doing pushups and bloviating about "warfighters" to notice how profoundly drones have changed the face of warfare.
It's not like this is a huge secret. He could have realized it by paying attention for maybe 30 minutes to the war in Ukraine.
A secretary of defense who had a clue would have ordered increased stocks of Patriot missiles and other anti-drone ordnance and equipment the moment it became clear that an extensive engagement with Iran would happen. We should have had stockpiles brimming with that stuff before the first missile was launched. And a competent SecDef would certainly not have sent the Navy's best minesweepers 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 immediately before the attack.
This idiot's cluelessness is, inevitably, catching up to him as he's confronted with real challenges. How many lives are going to be lost as a direct result of his bumbling?
I've said for a while that he's the only Cabinet member with the potential to kill more Americans than Croaky, and now he's on his way. God help our troops.
Was it that he didn’t notice or that he is wildly unqualified for the job?
It's like Vietnam all over again.
"Wait, there's guerilla warfare now? How come no one told us?"
𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝟑𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞.
What remains of the Russian Navy on line 1...
Trump’s Ex-Counterterrorism Chief Tells Tucker Carlson There Was ‘No Intelligence’ to Suggest Iran Was Close to Making Nuclear Weapons
https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trumps-ex-counterterrorism-chief-tells-tucker-carlson-there-was-no-intelligence-to-suggest-iran-was-close-to-making-nuclear-weapons/
Sounds familiar...
A wise man once said. “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me…can’t get fooled again!”
This timeline is so dumb I am half expecting Kash Patel to tweet out a photo of a missile with “Iran nuke” sharpied on the side of it. With the caption, “look what we recovered!”
Is it too early to say the Illinois primary spells
Doom for Democrats in November?
By the MSM
should have run that headline two weeks ago.
All these far left winning candidates show Dems in Disarray!
Florida Patient
https://www.firstalert4.com/2026/03/17/hospital-files-lawsuit-says-patient-refuses-leave-after-being-discharged-5-months-ago/?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=organicclicks&tbref=hp
Kat Abu speaks.
"We are not tolerating the status quo. You cannot kidnap and kill us and our neighbors. You cannot start illegal wars. You cannot trample on our rights and see our lives as a means for profit. We will continue to come back and every single loss like this one just makes the path easier for the next person who takes the same chance. We are not done and I am not going anywhere. When I said when I said I would spend every single waking moment of the rest of my life to hold this administration accountable, win or lose, I fucking meant it. And I know all of you do, too. So, thank you for supporting us."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpTG3VgBGcE
Fight the oppressor.
she got her taste of what it takes.
I suspect she's gonna learn from this and come back at some point.
W.E.D.em Boyz
Scenes from the end of the world. Phoenix is projected to hit 107°F on Friday. It would be the earliest in the year that the temperature hit 107°F, beating the previous record by.... 44 days
Those airplanes are gonna have a hell of a time getting off the ground (and landing in one piece).
Asphalt gets kinda sticky at high temps
Air density was my angle.
as well as hot dry air = poor lift
Phoenix will be uninhabitable in 20 years, but I think that's being generous. It was 95 here in Orange, 10 miles from the beach. In March.
Yikes. Hope the Crew is keeping cool.
I saw a car with a SIMBAA plate yesterday in St. Louis. Perhaps they're moving.
Tulsi Gabbard, whom I am remembering with horror is Director of National Intelligence, was asked in a Senate hearing today to square Trump's remarks about Iran being an immanent nuclear threat with a letter from a key aide saying nah, it wasn't. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/politics/tulsi-gabbard-iran-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UFA.kYPK.UUbB0sz8EHdC&smid=url-share). She said only the president can decide what is an “imminent” threat. So, in other words, Trump's fee fees in his nether regions override any kind of a report from our own considerable intelligence services.
🤡
....seems to me that the duly elected Congress is the constitutional entity charged with such grave and all-encompassing decisions.
Yep.
She's a Russian asset though. *shruggy emoji*
She literally said it isn't the DNI's job to assess terror threats.
From what she said I can't figure out what their job is? It was none of the stuff they were asked questions about.
Her job is to shill for Russia and cover for Trump's fuckups
This is why it's important to have a president who can discern a camel.
I've got a guy.
He's really good with camel.
How far are we really, from "paying $8/gallon for gas is patriotic"?
One of those chucklefucks (Bessent, maybe?) was on TV saying rising gas prices were something we (Americans) would take in stride, so yeah, we're basically there.
Maybe this will move them to the metric system. $2 per liter.
Two weeks.
Fuel prices will be down by 1500% any day now.
numbers you won't believe!!!
Nobody has ever seen anything like it.
Big, strong gas pumps come up to me with nozzles in their eyes.
Try $10 a gallon.
Hey, when eggs were still 6 bucks, he claimed, with confidence and a straight face, that they were 36 cents a dozen. He doesn't math good.
plus or minus, about three bucks.
I wrote here before about how pissed I was that the Washington Post charged my credit card for a year's subscription after I canceled.
So I guess it's only fair to follow up by saying they gave me my money back after just one email. Didn't expect it to be that easy.
So now the only national paper I subscribe to is the New York Times. Yes, they're lame too, but what are the alternatives? The WSJ (right-wing Murdoch trash, at least in the editorials)? USA Today (much of their content is already free, and if they tried to charge for it, I wouldn't pay)?
Besides, they have good recipes, and I like their crossword. Until about Thursday, when it starts getting too hard.
Don’t try that with the Wall Street Journal. Herpes is less persistent.
I only kept them because when you go to cancel they get desperate and say "Well, how about 4 bucks a month? Will you stay for $4?"
That's about all it's worth, so I kept it for now.
I rage dropped WaPo and NYT a while back. I've been subscribing to the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Asbury Park Press even if they're both a little out of my area. I also drop a few bucks to the Guardian once in a while.
We can only do what we can do. I tossed WaPo when everyone else did during that idiotic change by Bezos with the opinion pages or whatever. I get NYT via a relative's subscription. But I pay for the Boston Globe, not only cuz' local, but they aggregate a lot of AP, and proper articles from WaPo and NYT. The Guardian is great, but I feel like a heathen cuz' I can't regularly contribute.
The english language version of LeMonde is good.
Guardian
I ditched NYT and WaPo a while back. I subscribe to The Guardian, I also go to APNews and Al Jazeera.
The Guardian, bless 'em, is free. Every so often I toss them a few bucks, as I did the other day.
AP is often my go-to also.
Was there a mutiny aboard the Gerald Ford?
https://deanblundell.substack.com/p/breaking-did-sailors-aboard-the-uss?r=2zlv4a&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
Maybe. Or maybe it was just a clogged lint filter. Its a pretty good guess that fatigue and low morale was a contributing factor, but sailors are correctly terrified of fire aboard a ship to the point where everyone has their assigned firefighting station.
As for the shitters, its another example of a high tech expensive solution that creates a new set of problems. Like the low-flow toilets that caused solid waster to back up because less water = less force to push the shit downstream. Literal enshittifcation.
what is really concerning is that it took 30 fucking hours to put out a laundry fire that got into the vent system.
That's bad design, and damn hard to fix.
What the fuck is a "laundry fire".
the fire started in the laundry area of the ship.
Took 30 hours at least to put out cause it got into the vent system.
about 600 sailors are sleeping in not their quarters due to this.
You'd basically have to gut the ship and rebuild, I suppose.
And I don't understand this at all. Modern skyscrapers are designed so that fire can't just roam through the vent system. What can't that be/wasn't that done with a $13B carrier?
most likely a serious design flaw.
IIRC, they used that bullshit "Concurrent design/build" shit on the class.
This on top of the non-working plumbing system and longest deployment by a naval vessel ever...
Just wait until the supply ships start getting attacked.
Should we do a Wonk Zoom in a bit tonight? LMK
How does 8 eastern sound.
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘀, 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟱𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/exploding-pintos-imploding-politics-celebrating-50-years-of-fearless-journalism/
𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵-𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮—𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭—𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 Mother Jones.
(it's a podcast interview)
100% of Dog lovers love dogs.
By Harry Enten
Can confirm.
100% of Cat owners own cats.
By Harry Enten
0% of cat owners own cats.
100% of cat caretakers are owned by cats.
Touche’
First Rule of Tautology Club is the First Rule of Tautology Club
This comes after Iran struck a major gas facility in Qatar, in retaliation for a US/Israel strike on a major gas facility in Iran, which Trump probably authorized himself.
𝘛𝘙𝘜𝘔𝘗 𝘞𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘚 𝘕𝘖 𝘔𝘖𝘙𝘌 𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘒𝘌𝘚 𝘖𝘕 𝘐𝘙𝘈𝘕𝘐𝘈𝘕 𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘙𝘎𝘠 𝘚𝘐𝘛𝘌𝘚 𝘈𝘍𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘐𝘚𝘙𝘈𝘌𝘓'𝘚 𝘞𝘌𝘋𝘕𝘌𝘚𝘋𝘈𝘠 𝘈𝘛𝘛𝘈𝘊𝘒 𝘖𝘕 𝘈 𝘝𝘐𝘛𝘈𝘓 𝘐𝘙𝘈𝘕𝘐𝘈𝘕 𝘎𝘈𝘚 𝘍𝘐𝘌𝘓𝘋- 𝘞𝘚𝘑
Oops
You broke it, you own it, dipshit. You're going to have to bail on Bibi to get out of this. And then, the MOSSAD will release ALL the EPSTEIN FILES.
This is what the Iranian shoreline along the Strait of Hormuz looks like. The Iranians have cruise missiles that would make passage difficult. Even a shoulder fired weapon of relatively short range hitting an oil tanker in the right spot from above could be disastrous. It reminds me of the Biblical description of "the valley of the shadow of death".
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/03/16/multimedia/13biz-iran-mideast-oil-01-gvqm/13biz-iran-mideast-oil-01-gvqm-articleLarge-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
Could the US military suppress fire from above and even beyond visual sighting? Yes, but only to a degree. This is the Iranian Navy's latest cruise missile. It can deliver its payload from anywhere that they can hide a launcher.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Induction_ceremony_for_Abu_Mahdi_cruise_missile_%28088%29.jpg
You could unleash Hell with a motor-propelled inflatable and a sticky bomb.
bolt on some cheap electronics, and it gets even worse.
Just ask the Ukrainians...
They know.
Cheap, numerous and difficult to hit drones have entered the chat
Ukraine has quite a bit of experience deploying drone boats, to good effect.
Which makes me wonder about the USN Ford. Was her disabling done by sailors?
Whole lotta high ground there.
It's a very, very bad idea,
It ain't exactly Palm Beach.
Or Baghdad.
Oh, I'm certain that fuckface will come up with something much, much worse.
Oh yeah.
Easy prasy just like San Marino.