March 17, 2026

DOMESTIC ABUSE: Jerry O’Connell claims wife, daughters ‘became physical’ after his comments about Harris losing to Trump:

“I said something along the lines of ‘there was no planning. This is what they get. There should have been a primary.’ I said something along those lines, you know, like I was just spit-balling ideas. It was a shock. My wife and daughters, without saying anything, became physical with me. They were filled with rage,” O’Connell said.

He continued, “So if I am being careful with you in how I say things, yes, I live in California. I live with not one, not two, but three people who, if I made any kind of joke, they’d become very angry with me.”

Luckily, we have he-man Bill Maher to teach O’Connell how to stand up for himself:

“Whatever household situation I’m in, I say what I truly think, and if it makes you angry, I’m sorry. We’ll have to work that out. But I am not going to tuck my tail between my legs and just shut the f— up,” Maher said.

O’Connell needs to pick up a copy of my new book and learn to set some boundaries with the abusive women in his house.

Posted at 2:01 pm by Helen Smith

DATA REPUBLICAN: Data Analysis of the State of the Iranian Conflict on March 16, 2026.

PART A: THE US ENDGAME

Why this is America First, not Israel First.

  • Energy: The US is a net petroleum exporter. At $100+ Brent, US shale producers benefit. The US saves approximately $250 million per day compared to Asia and Europe on energy costs during the war. [CONFIRMED — Forbes, March 16]
  • China hurt directly: China was purchasing ~90% of Iran’s sanctioned oil — ~1.7 million barrels/day at deeply discounted prices. That supply is now disrupted. China’s teapot refineries face acute shortages. A direct strategic blow to a US competitor.
  • Taiwan deterrence signal: Chinese intelligence watched B-2s deliver GBU-57s against hardened targets successfully. The US capability to rapidly close an adversary’s entire air defense network, then strike freely — that signal is unambiguous. PLA is studying the campaign. [CONFIRMED — Taiwan News]
  • Dollar hegemony: The post-1973 global financial architecture rests on oil priced in dollars, with US security guaranteeing the flow. Saudi Arabia was exploring yuan oil pricing in 2023. The 2026 Iran war — demonstrating US willingness to use force to keep the system functioning — sends a specific signal to Riyadh about which security relationship is structural. [CONFIRMED — Hindustan Times]
  • What winning looks like: Iran agrees to verifiable nuclear dismantlement and ends proxy funding, from a position of economic and military weakness. No ground invasion, no occupation, no nation-building.
  • Cost comparison: The Iraq War cost ~$2.4 trillion; Afghanistan ~$2.3 trillion (Brown University). Both were driven by ground deployment, force protection, and nation-building. The Iran air campaign runs almost entirely on munitions already procured and carrier strike groups already forward-deployed. [CONFIRMED — CRS;Brown University Watson Institute]

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 1:22 pm by Ed Driscoll

SAIL ON: Aircraft carrier Nimitz service life extended until 2027.

Amid the strain of extended deployments, the Navy told Breaking Defense it has officially decided to keep its oldest active aircraft carrier in the water a little longer, prolonging the service life of the USS Nimitz to March 2027.

A service official revealed the change late Friday, pushing back previous plans to mothball the ship this May.

Extending the Nimitz’s service life means that the Navy could maintain its fleet of 11 carriers. The service is awaiting its newest aircraft carrier, the second Ford-class John F. Kennedy, which is currently slated for delivery in March 2027.

The Nimitz departed Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington on March 7 to head to Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia as part of a scheduled homeport shift for the remainder of its service life. It will then undergo its inactivation and defueling of the reactor at HII in Newport News.

Nimitz was the first of the class of 10 carriers that basically defined American power projection for five decades.

Posted at 12:45 pm by Stephen Green

SUCH ERRORS DO NOT HAPPEN ORGANICALLY:

Posted at 12:34 pm by Glenn Reynolds

I POSTED SOMETHING ON THIS YESTERDAY, BEFORE WE KNEW THE REST OF THE STORY:

Posted at 12:27 pm by Stephen Green

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: Israel Eliminates Iranian Regime Security Chief and De Facto Leader Ali Larijani.

Israeli forces killed the Iranian regime’s security chief and de facto leader, Ali Larijani, in a Tuesday morning airstrike that has the potential to foment greater chaos within the Islamic Republic’s remaining leadership.

The IDF announced that Larijani was killed through “a precise strike” on his location near Tehran.

“His elimination adds to the elimination of dozens of senior commanders and leaders of the Iranian terror regime, who were eliminated by the IDF during Operation Roaring Lion, and constitutes a further blow to the Iranian regime’s abilities to manage and coordinate hostile activity against the State of Israel,” the IDF wrote in its statement.

After Ali Khamenei’s death, Larijani emerged as the country’s de facto leader, consolidating his power and overseeing combat operations against Israel and other Arab nations in the region. Along with his brother, Sadeq, Larijani waged outsized influence in the Iranian leadership and positioned himself as a successor after Khamenei’s death. He also served as secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, the body that orchestrated attacks on Israel and led efforts to violently suppress the Iranian people.

Curiously, employees of the New York Times and the BBC are taking his demise rather hard:

 

Posted at 12:25 pm by Ed Driscoll

MEANWHILE, OVER AT X…:

Full text:

I’ve read the poetry of Jim Morrison; the columns of Maureen Dowd; the backs of countless boxes of Boo Berry Cereal; the 1988 Libertarian, Republican and Democrat political platforms in their entireties; the works of various Brontë sisters; particularly heartfelt lines from love letters I wrote to my high school sweetheart; I even read George Friedman’s The Coming War with Japan — which he wrote in 1991.

These are the credentials you need to know when I tell you: In the 54 years since I learned to read, I have read some really stupid shit.

But I have never read anything quite so stupid as your post.

And since BBC “presenter” John Simpson chose to delete the post rather than defend it, here it is:

Posted at 12:06 pm by Stephen Green

THE LEFT IS GOING INSANE ABOUT THE COMING DOWNFALL OF CUBA:

The Cuban government is on its last legs, begging for help from the Trump administration, if you can believe that.

Guess who is hardest hit by the coming collapse?

Greta Thunberg and the internationalist left, that’s who. These eco- and social-justice warriors are demanding oil for Cuba!

The global left is losing all its favorite regimes, and it is driving them absolutely crazy. Suddenly, they are all about increasing oil consumption, demanding American capitalists save a communist country from collapse, so that the communists can use it as a base to destroy…evil capitalism.

Exit quote: “This is what I voted for. Four years is not enough to completely dismantle the global left and the internationalist world order, but it sure is a good start that Trump is making. By the end of 2026, we may see Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran freed. Unfortunately, it will take longer to free the rest of us.”

Posted at 12:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

SO FAR, SO GOOD: The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why.

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war.

The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in.

But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are measuring the wrong things. They are cataloguing the price of the campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger.

When you look at what has actually happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.

I write this from Doha, where Iranian missiles have triggered alerts for residents to take shelter and Qatar Airways has started operating evacuation flights. I lived through four years of war in Baghdad.

I have worked for the US Department of State and advised defence and intelligence agencies in multiple countries. I have no interest in cheerleading for war.

But I have spent my academic career studying how states authorise the use of force through intelligence institutions, and what I see in the current campaign is a recognisable military operation proceeding through identifiable phases against an adversary whose capacity to project power is collapsing in real time.

Much more at the link, but here’s the kicker: This piece was published by Al Jazeera.

Posted at 11:43 am by Stephen Green

COVERING THE NEWS. WITH A PILLOW:

Posted at 11:27 am by Stephen Green

CREDENTIALISM IS DEADLY:

Posted at 10:56 am by Stephen Green

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE HAS TAKEN EARLY RETIREMENT: NYC’s smiling socialist mayor is VERY different behind the scenes, as progressives who crossed him allege tyrannical and ruthless behavior.

Known for his smiling and seemingly unflappable attitude, Mamdani attacked both Donald Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat whom he deemed too centrist.

But sources inside Mamdani’s political circle have now alleged that the mayor wields his power for personal gain and has no qualms sidelining old friends or his ideologies to further his agenda, The New York Times reported.

He has been accused of snubbing friends, meddling in political campaigns and strong-arming liberal nonprofits to protect his own interests.

So… they’re saying he’s a socialist?

Posted at 10:41 am by Stephen Green

OUCH: Meta Planning Sweeping Layoffs as AI Costs Mount.

Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.

No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said.

Top executives have recently signaled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare back, two of the people said. The sources spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to disclose the cuts.

“This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in response to questions about the plan.

If Meta settles on the 20% figure, the layoffs will be the company’s most significant since a restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the “year of efficiency.”

Previously: Meta boosts annual capex sharply on superintelligence push, shares surge.

Slightly More Previously: Zuckerberg Spends Big: $200M+ to Snag Apple’s AI Lead For Meta’s Superintelligence Team.

Just in case those getting laid off didn’t know where the money went.

Posted at 10:39 am by Stephen Green