March 2, 2026

March 1, 2026

OPEN THREAD: There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-threading.

Posted at 9:33 pm by Ed Driscoll

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Putin Calls Killing of Khamenei a ‘cynical violation’ of morality.

Putin made the statement in a letter to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that the Kremlin released to the public in the wake of Khamenei’s death. Saturday’s bold daytime strikes eliminated Khamenei along with several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the murder of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law,” Putin wrote.

“In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations and bringing them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership,” Putin continued.

With any luck, those days are over.

Posted at 7:54 pm by Stephen Green

THEY AREN’T EVEN HIDING IT:

Posted at 7:42 pm by Glenn Reynolds

CAPTAIN OF THE SOMALI PIRATES HAS THOUGHTS:

Fair enough; this one has being going on since 1979:

I know he’s just turned 86, but I’d love to get a quote from Ted Koppel about today’s events: Feb. 28, 2026: The Day Trump Paid the Mullahs Back — and Gave Persians a Chance.

UPDATE: Iran’s Top 20 Attacks On The West, From Carter to Obama and Biden.

Posted at 6:44 pm by Ed Driscoll

BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Iran’s soccer federation head doubts country will play in 2026 World Cup after US-Israeli strikes.

The president of Iran’s soccer federation says he does not know if the national team can play World Cup matches in the United States following the surprise US and Israeli bombardment of his country.

“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 as Iran traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by the bombardment.

The US-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.

Time to fire up the Dacia Sandero in response:

Posted at 6:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

GOOD START:

Posted at 5:38 pm by Glenn Reynolds

ON TONIGHT’S TOP GEAR, THE STIG POWER TESTS JAGUAR’S NEW RECREATION OF THEIR LEGENDARY D-TYPE THAT WON LE MONS IN 1957!

Much like Anheuser-Busch producing a Super Bowl commercial with Clydesdales, eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird,” and good ole boys rather than Dylan Mulveney, presumably Tata Motors, the Indian company that owns Jaguar is reissuing some of their classics and inviting drivers like Ben Collins to film road tests for YouTube in the hopes that they can put this 2024 monstrosity behind them:

 

From December: Report: Executive Who Spearheaded Jaguar’s Woke Genderbender Rebrand Fired, Escorted Out of Building by Security.

Posted at 5:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

BECAUSE THEY HATED LIMBAUGH, AND MERELY FOUND KHAMEINI DISTASTEFUL:

Posted at 5:24 pm by David Bernstein

WHY, INDEED?:

Posted at 5:19 pm by David Bernstein

NOAH POLLAK: “One of Trump’s greatest legacies will be how he blew up a half-century of western diffidence, restraint, and failure on terrorism.”

Blowing up a half-century of western diffidence, restraint, and failure is pretty much Trump’s wheelhouse, as Glenn wrote in 2022: Donald Trump and America’s New Class War.

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

THE GOODBYE LOOK:

Posted at 5:02 pm by Stephen Green

IT’S SATIRE…OR IS IT?

Posted at 4:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

ITS ORIGIN AND PURPOSE, STILL A TOTAL MYSTERY: 3 dead, 14 injured in Austin shooting; suspect identity confirmed as Senegal national.

Three people are dead and 14 others are injured following a mass shooting at Buford’s on West 6th Street early Sunday, officials said. The suspect was fatally shot by police officers at the scene.

CBS News has confirmed the identity of the suspect as Ndiaga Diagne, a naturalized American citizen born in Senegal.

The FBI is now involved with the investigation into the shooting, authorities confirmed at a press conference around 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

It takes Austin’s CBS affiliate 16 paragraphs to get to these details:

Related:

Posted at 4:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

WHIP INFLATION NOW!

Shot:

In 1964, the first heroic period of the Space Age was just opening; the United States had set the Moon as its target, and once that decision had been made, the ultimate conquest of the other planets, appeared inevitable. By 2001, it seemed quite reasonable that there would be giant space-stations in orbit round the Earth and—a little later—manned expeditions to the planets. In an ideal world, that would have been possible: the Vietnam War would have paid for everything that Stanley Kubrick showed on the Cinerama screen.

—Excerpt from Arthur C. Clarke’s 1982 epilogue to his 1968 novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Chaser:

(Classical reference in headline.)

Posted at 4:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

FUN:

“We control the horizontal and the vertical.”

Posted at 3:47 pm by Glenn Reynolds