This is the most incompetent, incoherent war America has fought in the last 100 years. And that’s saying a lot. This administration has no idea what they are doing. There is no viable war plan. They change their goals and their aims every single day.

I have great sympathy for our soldiers and our military leaders. They are being given directions by a senile old man who is losing his mind. And so, it’s no surprise that this war is going horribly.

Florida officials hastily built the detention center last year, prompting a string of lawsuits

Guards inside Florida’s notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention facility are reportedly wearing patches featuring the Grim Reaper and the words “You can’t hide.”

A former guard at the facility, which sits on an old airstrip in a remote patch of the Everglades, reportedly made the patches and distributed them to other staff members.

“What I saw was ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ a skeleton dressed in black holding a hatchet and a crocodile underneath,” former detainee Lewis Ortigoza told the Miami Herald of the patch. “It looked like something demonic.”

“I always felt haunted by it, but I never said anything because I was so afraid,” he added.

A circuit court judge ruled Thursday to uphold the Missouri GOP’s gerrymandered congressional map in a case* challenging its legality — but it remains unclear whether the map will actually be used in the 2026 midterm elections.

In the case, a group of Missouri voters claimed the new map violated the state constitution’s prohibition on mid-decade redistricting and created “non-compact” districts to dilute the voting power of Black communities.

Oil prices climbed above $100 a barrel Friday even after the U.S. temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian crude in a bid to ease supply disruption. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, climbed 0.5% to $100.96 per barrel early in the day, while West Texas Intermediate futures edged higher to $95.80 . The U.S. has temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil already at sea, in a bid to boost the reach of existing crude supply, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said late Thursday. "This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government," he said in a social-media post on X. The temporary authorization runs until April 11 , according to a general license posted by the Treasury department. The Trump administration is also considering waiving the century-old Jones Act -- a maritime law that requires all vessels carrying goods between two U.S. ports to be American built and owned, Bloomberg reported. A potential 30-day exemption would apply largely to vessels carrying oil, gasoline, diesel, liquefied natural gas, and fertilizer, it added. It would be the latest in a series of measures by the U.S. and other countries to bring down surging energy prices. The International Energy Agency announced that its 32 member countries will release 400 million barrels of emergency oil reserves -- the largest release in history -- earlier this week. But oil prices have just kept rising. Goldman Sachs analysts now expect Brent crude prices to average more than $100 a barrel in March, and $85 in April, according to a note Friday. Events in the Middle East , and the Strait of Hormuz , in particular, remain the biggest driver for energy markets. Several ships have been struck in recent days and Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the strait should remain closed in comments read out on state television Thursday. Another key route for oil could soon become a flashpoint in the war. Iran -backed Houthis in Yemen and other groups stand ready to join the conflict and Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency said their involvement could lead to the closure of the Bab el- Mandeb Strait , The Wall Street Journal reported. It's a passage that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean . Four crew members on board a U.S. refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq Thursday have died, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X Friday. "The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," it added. President Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric in a Truth Social post early Friday, though it didn't suggest an imminent end to the conflict. "We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran , militarily, economically, and otherwise," Trump said. "We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time," he added. That last part, in particular, won't please investors. Global markets are eager for a swift end to the Iran war -- the growing signs of a prolonged conflict have pushed oil prices higher in recent days, despite the continued efforts of the U.S. and other countries to ease the disruption.

Robert Habeck says world has moved on from weaponising energy to using tariffs, technology and more to inflict harm

The weaponisation of energy when Russia invaded Ukraine has given way to “weaponising everything” since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Germany’s former economy minister has said.

Robert Habeck, the Green politician responsible for keeping the lights on during the last energy crisis, said the belief gas “would never be a political weapon” led successive German governments blindly into Putin’s trap by building the Nord Stream pipelines and selling strategic reserves to Gazprom, which Russia emptied before the invasion.

But the re-election of Donald Trump led to a second security shock with “dramatic, drastic … and far-reaching” consequences which include using tariffs and technology as weapons, he told the Guardian.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/politicaloptimism/p/1872331/democrats-block-bill-to-reopen-homeland-security-amid-27-day-shutdown

Senate Democrats on Thursday defeated a motion to proceed to a House-passed bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security and end the 27-day shutdown that has hampered the functions of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other critical agencies.

excellent

The motion failed by a vote of 51 to 46. Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans to advance the funding bill. It needed 60 votes to advance.

centrist my fucking asshole.

The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Donald Trump’s national security team failed to fully account for the potential consequences of what some officials have described as a worst-case scenario now facing the administration, the sources said.

While key officials from the Departments of Energy and Treasury were present for some of the official planning meetings about the operation before it started, sources said, the agency analysis and forecasts that would be integral elements of the decision-making process in past administrations were secondary considerations.

Meanwhile, Russia supplies targeting information to Iran to help them kill Americans.

Hard to see what Trump would be doing differently if he was a Russian asset.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44416979

Michelle Goldberg March 12, 2026

https://archive.ph/NMTaG

Slight and bespectacled, Fishback has a geeky charisma and the verbal dexterity of a former competitive high school debater. His policies are a mishmash of extreme conservatism and economic progressivism; nationalism tinged with socialism, if you will. He believes that Florida’s gun laws are too strict, its abortion laws too lax and its public teacher pay too low. He’s called for a 50 percent sin tax on OnlyFans creators and $10,000 grants to high-performing high school graduates to buy homes or start businesses. Though he’s the son of an immigrant — his mother is Colombian — he wants a total immigration moratorium.

Most of all, Fishback has made contempt for Israel and its American lobby a centerpiece of his campaign, constantly reminding audiences how much America spends on Israel while its own needs are ignored.

Trump has promised to endorse Jake Paul if the controversial YouTuber-turned-boxer ever runs for office.

Trump made the remarks yesterday during a speech at a packaging facility in Kentucky, after being joined on stage by the influencer.

The president’s declaration of support followed a brief speech by Paul, who later posted a video of the pair hitting Trump’s now infamous YMCA dance.

The Pennsylvania senator dismissed the demand for further investigation as “moot.”

Senator John Fetterman appeared not to understand why Democrats want to investigate the deadly strike that killed dozens of Iranian children.

During an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Wednesday night, Fetterman was asked to explain why he hadn’t signed onto a letter from Senate Democrats that questioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the February 28 strike on Shajarah Tayyebeh, a girls’ primary school miles from Tehran. The strike killed 175 people, many of them young girls.

“Well, because we all agree that it’s a tragedy having the school hit, and we all agree now for an investigation,” Fetterman said. “What I don’t agree with the rest of my colleagues in the House is that it’s a war of choice, or it’s dumb, or all the things my colleagues have described, you know, this operation. I think it’s a good thing, and I support that.”

Fetterman was referring to a line in the letter describing Donald Trump’s military campaign as “a war of choice without Congressional authorization.” The letter did not describe the war as “dumb.”

The Senate has passed the largest housing bill in decades — bipartisan legislation designed to improve housing affordability and availability through deregulation, expanding old programs and banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, with few exceptions.

The bill passed 89 to 10.

"It's Democrats. It's Republicans. It's pieces they built out together," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a co-sponsor of the bill, in an interview with NPR. "That is the strength of this bill."

"It's not a Republican issue or a Democrat Issue," said Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the bill's other sponsor, speaking in advance of the vote on the Senate floor. "It's an issue about helping moms like the one who raised me, the amazing woman that she was, become homeowners."

March 6, 2026

The day that will be remembered as one of the darkest days of the long and troubled US-Cuban relationship is 29 January. That was the day that Donald Trump declared Cuba an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security, introduced a full-scale fuel blockade around the island, and turned off the lights for their home, schools and hospitals.

For Cubans Americans like me, the consequences of Trump’s declaration are not abstract. They are immediate, and devastating. Our families are running out of food. Our friends are unable to access medicine. While Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, speaks in the name of our “freedom”, he actively starves our communities of their most basic needs.

It's almost like Republicans want oil to be ridiculously expensive and to force us all to buy it.