Kat O’Brien

World Cup Uncertainty Grows—Here’s Why The Promised Tourism Boon Is Under Threat With an expanding war in the Middle East and less than 100 days until the start of the World Cup, the promised $30.5 billion economic boon to the U.S. is not a sure thing.

With an expanding war in the Middle East and less than 100 days until the start of the World Cup, the promised $30.5 billion economic boon to the U.S. is not a sure thing.

Some baseball fans outside Tokyo Dome earlier before Japan’s blowout (13-0 currently in 7th inning) over Taiwan.

Awesome mural with Yamamoto Vlad Ohtani Judge Jung Hoo Lee and Arozarena

The WBC mural in shibuya is siiiiiickkkkkk

Gorgeous!

Somebody should tell Donald Trump about renewable energy. 🤭🫣

Very little in this video is from the U.S. But then, those putting it out are all morons. Alas.

Tate was trying to get to Dubai on a bus.

When they got to the Saudi border everyone was told to get off for passport and baggage checks and Tate decided to stay on - presumably because the bus was air conditioned and he didn't want to stand in a queue.

He then got detained by Saudi guards.

En el fondo no es más que un hábito narcisista e irritante.

La decisión de no permitir el uso de bases en suelo español es excelente; la de enviar una fragata a una misión de defensa aérea en otro Estado miembro de la UE, también.

Shohei Ohtani all over the newspaper

It’s the Shohei Ohtani show outside the Tokyo Dome before the game.
Not going to the game, but went to snap some pics.

The European leaders choosing not to stand up to Trump on anything are reminiscent of corporate leaders who won’t stand up to Trump, some bc fear & some bc they support his actions or sorta do, and the Republicans who were against him but too cowardly to say so.
Props to Sánchez & those like him.

Gravity.

Handelsblatt Joschka Fischer Donald Trump is a symbol of America's decline Interview with former Foreign Minister Fischer about the risks of the Iran war, the state of America, and Europe's loneliness

It is a constant torrent of such things these days.
In my scan of newspaper covers today, that was the main headline on Germany’s Handelsblatt: “Donald Trump is a symbol of America's decline.”
Interview with former Foreign Minister Fischer

Exclusive: US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say Military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on Saturday, two U.S. officials told Reu...

Reuters Exclusive

"U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school."

"The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the ​Middle East."

Troubling facts about Iowa's latest impaired waters list Wally Taylor identifies problems with the 2026 draft list of impaired waters, issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

New post: Wally Taylor identifies problems with the 2026 draft list of impaired waters, issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/03/06/t...

Read this with my face like this gif the whole time.

Evergreen.

I've been thinking about the Rangers' decision to display One Riot, One Ranger, and what it says about who this team is for. So I wrote about that. It's a big ol' bummer.

www.dmagazine.com/sports/2026/...

“The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating v...

Not to mention people like 22yo put in charge of terror prevention (probably 23yo now). They really are laughing in our faces putting such unqualified people in these roles. But they might not have last laugh. There are decades, even half a century+, to prosecute.

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

ICE arrested Nashville journalist without warrant, attorneys say The journalist, Estefany Rodriguez, was taken to a detention center and remains there as of 3 p.m. March 5.

"She frequently reported on stories critical of ICE for Nashville Noticias, the Spanish-language outlet."

www.tennessean.com/story/news/l...

If Pinochet hadn’t died, he might have faced some justice.

amp.rtve.es/television/2...
End.

‘It became an obsession’: the long search for the remains of Pinochet’s victims As Chile marks 50 years since the coup, women who have scoured the desert for remains of their husbands fear the brutality of the death squads will be forgotten

Thousands of people were killed, many disappeared, under Pinochet, and even more tortured.
Even if Pinochet didn’t face true justice, the case did change pursuit of justice for crimes, considering suffering of loved ones as torture.
www.theguardian.com/world/2023/s...
www.hrw.org/news/1999/10...
5/

I was too young to know of Pinochet regime as it happened, but in college at Notre Dame, I took a Government class with Fr Timothy Scully, whose first years as a priest were in Chile during Pinochet regime and I learned some. I know Scully got in some trouble speaking out for human rights. 4/

Remarkable (bad) how Pinochet remained smug and convinced he was untouchable even when arrested in his 80s. Unfortunately, he was largely correct, and in December, Chile elected the far-right Kást, who has defended the late Pinochet. Lessons here surely for U.S. on prosecuting crimes & elections. 3/

It also tries to uncover links (or not) of a former senior Nazi official to Pinochet regime. Shades of present day in many ways, including that there was an island where children - primarily boys - were sexually abused. Remarkable (good) how families persisted to get answers and some justice; 2/

38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia

Finished this fascinating book by Philippe Sands, 38 Londres Street, on attempts to extradite Pinochet to Spain for trial for crimes (at time, immunity in Chile kept him from prosecution there), novel legal approaches - incl by Spanish lawyer frustrated Spain hadn’t punished Franco regime crimes. 1/

Your first time watching?! Wow, what an experience that must be to see when well into adulthood and also as someone very knowledgeable about history and international affairs.

“Slurs filled a chat” is a beaut

PEPFAR, the program to stop hundreds of thousands of children and adults from dying of HIV/AIDS, was $6.5 billion a year.

What MAGA Can Teach Democrats About Organizing—and Infighting Republicans have become adept at creating broad coalitions in which supporting Trump is the only requirement. Democrats get tied up with litmus tests.

1. Over the last six months, I’ve been studying MAGA, and trying to understand why it has been so successful – and what the Democrats ought to learn from that success. The results were published in the New Yorker magazine this week. Here’s what I learned: (a 🧵)
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Farmer on one side (corn and soybeans, Iowa); speechwriter for 7 Secretaries of Agriculture, author and Catholic deacon (Maryland suburbs of DC) on other side.