March 17, 2026

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

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 10:07 am by Helen Smith

EMBARRASSMENT CAN BE A GREAT MOTIVATOR:

There’s also this:

I’m reminded of what Harry told Sally: “You’re the worst kind. You’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.”

Posted at 9:52 am by Stephen Green

“RULE OF LAW:” Exclusive: Mueller probe cut corners, broke rules to ‘get Trump,’ whistleblower claims. “An FBI agent assigned to then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign has made bombshell allegations charging that misconduct, political bias, and “overzealous thoughts” permeated the team — to the point of festooning the walls of their office with anti-Trump cartoons and drinking alcohol while on the job. A ‘Let’s get him’ attitude colored the two-year investigation into false claims that Trump and his advisers colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election, the unidentified agent said.”

Posted at 9:47 am by Glenn Reynolds

IDF INTEL: We destroyed Iran’s base for attacking satellites to keep space supremacy.

In an extremely rare public statement, an IDF Unit 9900 intelligence official said on Monday that Israel has destroyed an Iranian base which was focused on building technologies to shoot down Israeli satellites and other adversaries’ satellites.

According to the officer from the IDF’s clandestine satellite intelligence division, the goal of the attack was to maintain Israel’s supremacy in space, especially regarding satellite surveillance.

“We are leading many efforts to preserve the IDF’s freedom of action in the arena of space, and to harm the capabilities of Iran to act and to build such forces,” said the Unit 9900 official.

He complimented the Defense Ministry and the broader defense establishment – Israel Aerospace Industries is the lead Israeli satellite developer – to help “IDF intelligence to continue to operate surveillance satellites and to provide critical intelligence for the war, to provide warnings [of ballistic missile launches] and to” target adversaries throughout the Middle East.

Welcome to the 21st Century we were promised, when “space superiority” is a real thing.

Posted at 9:37 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Gavin Newsom’s California Doesn’t Really Exist. “The once-great city of San Francisco — where Newsom used to be mayor — is in a financial doom spiral from which it is unlikely to fully recover. Hollywood isn’t Hollywood anymore; television production has mostly moved to Canada and Georgia. Incredibly wealthy tech bros and other billionaires are hot-footing it out of California before they can be taxed into oblivion. That upsets a lot of the state’s revenue generation plans.”

Posted at 9:06 am by Stephen Green

FRAUD ALL THE WAY DOWN:

More to come — from Nick Shirley, who continues doing the press’s work for them.

Posted at 8:49 am by Stephen Green

UM, THAT’S NICE? OpenAI’s adult mode will reportedly be smutty, not pornographic.

OpenAI’s delayed “adult mode” for ChatGPT is expected to support saucy text conversations at launch, but not the chatbot’s ability to generate images, voice, or video. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, an unnamed OpenAI spokesperson described content that will be provided by the upcoming feature as smut rather than pornography, allowing ChatGPT users to generate textual chats with adult themes.

The feature was initially announced in October, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claiming that the company had managed to mitigate enough of the “serious mental health issues“ with its AI model to relax safety restrictions and introduce “erotica for verified adults.” ChatGPT’s adult mode was expected to launch sometime this quarter, but OpenAI said earlier this month that it was delaying the rollout to focus on higher-priority tasks. A new release timeline has yet to be announced.

The delay was also due to internal concerns and technical challenges around safeguards for the feature, according to The Wall Street Journal’s reporting. A council of advisers selected by OpenAI warned the company in January that ChatGPT’s adult mode may be accessible to children and foster unhealthy emotional dependence on the chatbot, with one unnamed council member saying OpenAI risked creating a “sexy suicide coach.”

So maybe not so nice then.

Posted at 8:35 am by Stephen Green

PROTECTING CHILD RAPISTS TO GET BACK AT TRUMP:

Posted at 8:19 am by Stephen Green

BILL McGURN IN THE WSJ:  “California’s Never-Ending Race Preferences.”  (Why does this column feel like it’s my life story from circa 1995 (when I started working on Prop 209) to today?)

Posted at 8:06 am by Gail Heriot