Baņuta Rubess

And this is all he had to replace Noem.

Now it all makes sense.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Fox: “Due to the temporary global oil gap, we may also unsanction other Russian oil.”

Weird chart. What happened in 2025 in the US? Did political leadership change and then start systematically dismantling education, science, health care, and government, levying arbitrary tariffs, randomly attacking major US cities, and destroying the economy?

Just asking.

New maga hat.

New MAGA hat just dropped.

Quite an opening paragraph.

There's no reason for Iran to attack NATO nation Turkey—but a drone did. Iran denies sending it.

There's no reason for Iran to attack a UK base in Cyprus—but a drone did. Iran denies sending it.

Now Azerbaijan has been attacked. Iran denies involvement.

I think this is Israel.

In the last 4 days one of my senators broke a Marine’s arm, the other one announced he wasn’t running minutes before the filing deadline so his hand-picked successor could take his place without a primary and my rep announced he was giving up his seat as well.

How’s y’all’s congresspeople doing?

“My little girl was completely burned,” he said. “There was nothing left of her. We could only identify her from her school bag, which she was still holding. She was completely burned.”

Iranian drones have hit Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry says. Two injured.

Widening.

AOC: This is about actual crimes happening in front of us. This is about shredding the Constitution and plunging us into war. This is about taking crypto money and money laundering… So if you’re asking me if I’d support impeachment, I do

‘At first, she couldn’t come off the oxygen long enough’: the film that gives Marianne Faithfull one final thrilling performance In new docu-drama Broken English, the much misunderstood singer looks back at all her past selves – and gives a performance that moves her audience to tears. Its makers relive an extraordinary shoot

‘At first, she couldn’t come off the oxygen long enough’: the film that gives Marianne Faithfull one final thrilling performance

Paldies!

Kā raksta autores vārdu oriğinālā valodā?

Yesterday a student gasped when I described how a typewriter worked. ‘You actually used one?’

Oh but my blankie

Great to see extensive NYT & FT coverage of our paper on the fossil-fuel profit bonanza during the previous war-induced oil & gas price spike. Links in Gregor’s thread. 👇

It really is the MadLib War.

Which is not meant to be funny, but rather highlights how profoundly absurd the administration’s shifting aims and justifications are.

We attacked Iran because ______, and had to go now because _____.

If the U.S. is clearing out military warehouses anyway, I just wish the shipment had been aimed at regime change in Moscow instead of the Middle East. Probably would’ve been easier on global oil prices too.

Zooming with a friend in Doha who is sheltering in place and believes she saw a missile intercepted a few hours ago. Only a few months ago Trump met the emir and talked about how he has brought ‘peace to the middle East’

The people leading the U.S. war on Iran are a former “Fox & Friends” guest and a former “Fox & Friends” host.

US-Israeli strike on girls' school kills at least 85 students, Iran's judiciary says At least 85 students have been killed in US-Israeli strikes that hit an Iranian girls' school in Hormozgan province, Iran's judiciary said on Saturday. Washington has not commented on the reported str...

Remind me, when you slaughter 85 young school children, are you the Good Guys?

NEW: Bahrain skyscrapers and Dubai hotels are now being hit by Iranian drones.

This is insane. Trump has unleashed chaos and carnage.

(🎥 Al Jazeera)

Congress must return immediately and vote to put an end to this war.

Every Senator should be on the record—the American people deserve to know which of their leaders supports another potentially bloody and costly war in the Middle East.

No war with Iran.

"[E]uropean leaders should not look at the dogged endurance of Ukraine’s armed forces and civilians over the last four years and assume that it is infinite, and that Putin will eventually be forced to give up his attack on Ukraine. No-one knows the limit of Ukrainian stubbornness, but there is one. To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, Ukraine could be defeated “gradually, then suddenly”. To prevent a decisive Russian breakthrough, European leaders should be prepared to intervene militarily to help Ukraine, without waiting for a ceasefire – starting by deploying air defence assets, including aircraft based in Poland and Romania, to reduce the impact of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s civilian and industrial infrastructure."

"Ukraine’s security is Europe’s security", is one of the points in a brilliant article by Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform. Ambassador Bond was previously with the UK's diplomatic service. @cerianbond.bsky.social @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social
www.cer.eu/insights/fou...

Cover of The Lancet:

@thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

A very special military operation

I will vote for the presidential candidate who makes it a priority to break up this monopoly

won't u b my love is stronger

substack.com/@funnyyoudon...

U.S. Military Deployment in the Middle East in Anticipation of a Possible Military Operation Against Iran - 17 Feb 2026 Created by ®EGYOSINT X Abraham Lincoln CSG Gerald R. Ford CSG On Deployment Turkey Syria Iraq Egypt. Iran UAE USS Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier USS WinstonS. Churchill USS Bainbridge USS Mahan Air Defense Deployement ed Kuwait Bahrain • Qatar. Saudi Arabia Yemen Oman Arabian Sea Created by BEGYOSINT Approx 160 flights by C-17A (Since 16th Jan) Djibouti Gulf of Aden (Muwaffaq Salti AB) 18x flights by C-5M (KSA, Qatar & Djibouti) 20-22x KC-135 & KC-46 Tankers +24 F-15E (Muwaffaq Salti AB) ★ Numerous Flights by C-130H/J 1x RC-135 SIGINT (Chania, Greece) 30x F-35A fighters (Muwaffaq Salti AB) 4x MC/HC-130J (2x Muwaffaq Salti AB) (2x Diego Garcia NSF) 3x EA-11A BACN (Prince Sultan AB) F-16 deployed at the UAE & KSA WC-135R Nuke Sniffer (Midenhall, UK) 2x E-3 Sentry AWACS (Midenhall, UK) 6x EA-18GA (Muwaffaq Salti AB) + USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier (Arabian Sea) USS Frank E. Petersen (Arabian Sea) USS Spruance (Arabian Sea) USS Michael Murphy (Arabian Sea) Other assets in the ME USS Roosevelt (Mediterranean Sea) USS McFaul (Persian Gulf) USS Mitscher (Persian Gulf) USS Delbert D. Black (Red Sea) Ohio-class (unknown location) THAAD At least one additional battery (KSA or Qatar) MIM-104 Patriot Multiple battaries across the region 土 +99 C-17A & C-5M flights transferring AD Battaries By @TheIntelFrog

This is somewhere between 40-50% of deployable US air power (and it’s still growing). On a scale with the Gulf Wars.