U.S. troops killed amid Iranian counterattack, fueling air defense fears U.S. forces say they have hit 1,000 targets over the past two days in a race to take out Iran’s ability to threaten American personnel and allies across the Middle East.

The likelihood of things spiraling out of control in this war is rapidly increasing by the hour. Iran is now hitting Saudi oil infrastructure, planes are accidentally getting shot down, and the US is already getting very anxious about its defense stockpiles.

A text discussing a $5000 payment, referencing Asif.

The chatter about the alleged Iranian hit on Trump in 2024 seems to be unaware that trial for the accused, Asif Merchant, is going on RIGHT NOW in Brooklyn.

DOJ is belatedly trying to get this text thread introduced as, they claim, proof of a downpayment for murder.

2/ A significant number of accounts pushing the usual pro-Pahlavi hashtags, plus some new ones, look like this. “Account based in [name country]”.

See that “shield” icon to the right? That’s X telling us not to trust the location as the user is on a VPN.

This is monstrous.

A tweet: Assistant Secretary Mora Namdar @AsstSecStateCA The @POTUS Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans everywhere. Here is a brief summary of our latest security guidance for Americans in the Middle East as of March 1, 4pm EST. To get the latest updates visit http://travel.state.gov/destination, and enroll to receive alerts directly at http://step.state.gov. Americans who need consular help can reach us 24/7 by phone: +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and +1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. and Canada). It includes a screen cap with three levels of instruction: Level 1: DO NOT TRAVEL FOR ANY REASON (covering Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon), Level 2: RECONSIDER TRAVEL (covering Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Qatar) and Level 3: EXERCISE INCREASED CAUTION, covering Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.

I'm a bit obsessed.

If you're in Lebanon, do you, "NOT TRAVEL FOR ANY REASON" or "Depart now via commercial options"?

Also, this update, from 4PM EST yesterday, is almost certainly outdated (for example, it doesn't include Cyprus).

Maybe set your alarm and do an update on Middle Eastern time.

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

Jonathan Karl @jonkarl Pres Trump told me tonight the US had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack. "The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates," Trump told me. "It's not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead."

There's a subtext to this sociopathic statement that some are missing, I think.

It suggests Trump IMAGINED the #2 and #3 choice would immediately side with Trump, like Delcy Rodriguez did.

There's no reason to believe anyone in Trump's vicinity is going him good analytical advice.

I've been mulling language Dems could adopt to basically say Trump will have to personally pay for the illegal things he did w/o authorization, and once he's broke, his trillionaire friends will have to do it.

Eg, Trump will be fined for rebuilding the White House after the damage he did.

Reform win a seat: The true Volk have spoken and we all must listen.

Greens win a seat: Early reports that Muslims may have ‘voted’ (an ancient Islamic practice designed to steal elections). How severely should the franchise be limited in response?

The thing about kicking off an operation with a decapitation strike is that you preclude any ability to negotiate and off-ramp. Coercion theory is out the window when you create a leadership vacuum in one of the parties.

Hunkered at Mar-a-Lago, Trump makes his club a makeshift Situation Room | CNN Politics As gala-goers in gowns and tuxedos were dancing the night away inside Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom Friday evening, a very different scene was unfolding on the other side of the rambling estate in Palm Beach,...

Emphasis on "makeshift". Can only imagine how insecure it was. Probably half the intel agencies in the world listening in. www.cnn.com/2026/03/01/p...

Richard Hanania tweet: Has any theory in international relations been more discredited than blowback? It turns out you can just kill bad people and everything is fine.

I swear these people don't have object permanence

@JordanSchachtel:

Both China and Russia's delegations requested that Jeffrey Sachs address the UN Security Council on their behalf to condemn US & Israel for striking the regime in Iran.

Sachs is Tucker Carlson's go-to geopolitics confidant. He is the most regularly recurring guest on the show.

Certain repeated silliness I've got a set of bookmarks for:
1. International law says Taiwan part of China (nope!)
2. Trump greenlit PRC invasion! (nope)
3. "Taiwan" constitution says Taiwan claims territory on mainland of Asia (nope!)

Going to be tapping that sign a lot more now...

Like 9/11 trutherism and anti-vaxx beliefs, antisemitism is rapidly becoming yet another weakly held idea that online influencers use to signal anti-establishment credentials. Like those other beliefs, that means people who strongly hold antisemitic beliefs can ride that ambiguity to gain power.

I get tired of American voters being pure innocents who can never be judged for their shitty, shitty choices.

Ranking Member of the House Armed Services:

"I ... still have not heard from anybody from the Department of Defense -- nor has Chairman Mike Rogers, the Republican Chairman of my committee or in the Senate."

(hat tip: @acyn.bsky.social)

“.. When Reuters asked AWS whether the incident at the data center was connected to the strikes, the company did not confirm or deny.”

@reuters.com $AMZN
www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Feds asked New Mexico to halt Jeffrey Epstein Zorro Ranch sex trafficking probe, records show Former AG says feds halted New Mexico’s Epstein inquiry without sharing promised evidence as state reopens Zorro Ranch investigation.

In 2019, federal prosecutors asked NM officials to stop investigating the Epstein ranch, claiming they would share info with local authorities. Local investigators handed all their evidence to the feds, who shared...nothing. www.abqjournal.com/news/feds-as...

Screenshot of a tweet from x.com by Senator Dave McCormick that reads: Now would be a good time for Democrats to drop their opposition to DHS funding and pass the bill to support our homeland security. Continuing to play political games with our national security given the unfolding situation in the Middle East is dangerous.

Boy, does this make me think of Justice Jackson’s Youngstown concurrence, in which he warns of the danger of a president unilaterally initiating a war, and then using that war as a bootstrap to claim extraordinary powers at home.

West valley sushi shop owner released from ICE detention after eight months A federal judge has granted Kelly Yu temporary freedom after she filed a habius corpus petition.

"Her release follows months of advocacy from community members and political leaders of both parties.

Yu has operated her two West Valley restaurants for years, building a reputation for greeting customers with humor and kindness. She has no criminal record."

www.12news.com/article/news...

A picture in the cabinet room. JD Vance is at the head of the table. Tulsi is to his right. Bessent is at the table. Pete Hegseth is not there.

Here's the picture of cabinet members in the White House monitoring the attack on Iran.

Also no Whiskey Pete.

Donald Trump’s Worst Deal The President helped build a hotel in Azerbaijan that appears to be a corrupt operation engineered by oligarchs tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Now is a good time to recall that the Trump hotel in Azerbaijan was built in a partnership with one of the most notorious post-Soviet Mafia leaders and Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Yeah, that Revolutionary Guard.

As they say, you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps.

This is the sort of thing a SecDef should be spending every waking hour worrying about.

Instead we have a preening self-proclaimed "SecWar" who makes fitness influencer reels and picks culture-war fights with the Scouts.

U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out President Trump says the Iran campaign might last a week or longer, but dwindling stockpiles could limit his options.

Conflicts with Iran and its proxies in the Middle East are depleting the supply of U.S. air-defense interceptors in the region.

A summary of the war news I've been able to gather, in no particular order:

Reading this, again, you get the sense that someone at Anthropic knows how the intel community misleads by using definitions of words that are different than everyone else believes. And the people at OpenAI simply don't know or don't care about that.

Rubio Bypasses Congress to Send Israel $4 Billion in Arms Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s emergency declaration calls for sending 2,000-pound bombs and other weapons to Israel as the war in Gaza continues.

Rubio declares an emergency to bypass Congress to send $4 billion of arms to Israel. The possible orders include more than 35,000 bombs that are 2,000 lbs. each — which US military officers say are unsuitable for urban combat. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/u...

H/T @thegoodliars.bsky.social