I'm so confused why Trump gave this address on the war with Iran. Just reiterating that he's a mad man to pressure Iran into taking a "deal" that they are no better off taking than not taking? Not like Israel has stopped bombing Gaza or anything.

Also: Getting Russia and Iran to sell their oil now counts as winning, whereas they used to be sanctioned...

🧵 A Step-by-Step Guide to Presidential Negotiation: 1. Amass maximum firepower. More is always better. 2. Use all of it immediately. Subtlety is for people who plan. 3. Make the other side live out their worst-case scenario.

For Lent, JD Vance is giving up telling the truth.

Trump wants $5 trillion from Gulf states to continue the war on Iran or $2.5 trillion to stop, per leaked BBC Arabic interview. It's a staggering number. The combined GDP of 6 US Gulf allies is $2.2 trillion. JPMorgan Chase (biggest non-Chinese bank in the world) has $4 trillion in assets.

5 minutes before the President announced a halt to attacks on Iran… someone placed a $1.5 BILLION bet on stocks going up and dumped $192 million in oil. 5 minutes… These trades were 4 to 6 times larger than anything else in the entire market. Whoever did this wasn’t guessing.

Bankrupting companies and pocketing investors' (and lenders' and customers' and suppliers') money is Trump's MO. But when I said he was going to bankrupt the US, I thought it was hyperbole. Nope, he did it. One year was all it took.

A question has to be raised about whether the US is even a sovereign country.

It's so important to learn history properly. The Muslim caliph who conquered Jerusalem preserved the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the Christians and invited the Jews back.

If two groups are doing the same things to each other, and one gets called "settlers" while the other gets called "terrorists," that label tells you nothing about the actions—and everything about the perspective. Be the change.

What the actual f***, @apnews.com? Lebanese people are not "Hezbollah's civilian wing." Those who genocide can already do so without your help.

“We have seen what look like double-tap strikes – striking, waiting for paramedics, then striking again. In Seddiqin, they were putting out a blaze and were hit again. In Nabatieh, they were rescuing civilians when they were attacked.”

The US doesn't like its own citizens or something.

"Israeli strikes on Beirut and its ground invasion of southern Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people, including 118 children, and wounded more than 2,500 since Tel Aviv’s renewed offensive on 2 March." The cruelty, the inhumanity. What the fuck is wrong with Israeli society?

I wish people were as uncomfortable with genocides as they are with talking about it. Some human traits do not serve us well.

I'm at the dentist, saying, please give me the deepest of deep cleaning, I intend to make it through World War III intact. This poor Australian man is looking at me and I can hear what his eyes are saying: Are you sure you are at the right kind of doctor's? Maybe you need a therapist right now.

In the press conference yesterday (hosting the taoiseach), Trump criticized the UK for its wind turbines and its immigration policy. But the UK can break with Trump on Iran because of its wind turbines. And London has a deep, diverse talent pool, just the kind of immigrants Trump keeps asking for.

1/2. He took the greatest military force in history, lost a war to a middle power in a week, begged the world to save him, & demanded the media lie about this & everything else. I try, but at a simple human level I do not see how anyone mistakes this man’s almost supernatural weakness for strength.

For Lent, I'm listening to Trump's press conferences. Everyone: "What you are doing is illegal and wrong." Trump: "They said it was a great thing." Translate everything Trump says accordingly.

Not supporting the illegal, unjustified war on Iran is the least of it. I want a divorce from the US. Kushner & Witkoff were incompetent. But it sounds like this war was going to happen anyway, and the "imminent threat" was peace. Peace was imminent, and that's why the attack happened when it did.

It's weird how Trump is such an obvious Russian asset, and absolutely no one is talking about whether he's landing ground troops in Iran to get killed on purpose. If Putin actually wanted to destroy the US military, how would he do it?

If we made the green energy transition this war would be unthinkable and these authoritarians wouldn’t be in power — not in the US, not in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia, not in Russia. Hydrocarbons are killing our freedom and just plain killing us.

What is the endgame for Israel? Forever war of expansion?

A President slapped tariffs on trade Prices shot up in an inflation cascade The Fed Chair said, “No, rates stay high—I won’t comply!” So Justice indicted him for Spreadsheet Crimes—oh my!

Immigrants eat cats and dogs and must be banished. Meanwhile, our ally we support with our tax dollars and our military capabilities and the lives of our soldiers only engage in state-sanctioned sexual assault, torture and humiliation of other human beings.

I picked up this book today. The diary, from the Vietnam War, of a young doctor who was sent to run a field hospital straight out of college. She only made it for two years before she was killed, still practically a child. A beautiful soul and what a life she could have had if war weren't a thing.

In game theory terms: Trump is playing a game with an expected payoff of negative infinity: the moment the game stops, he + family go to prison at best. His only play is to make the game last as long as possible. Therefore he's desperate. And dangerous: everything (incl. nuclear weapons) is in play.

Vietnamese election is coming up and there are reminders to go vote every hundred feet (all the red signs). Voter turnout in the last election was 99.6%.

"They identify as military action. It's a bit like pronouns except we kill people."

Killing civilians and destroying their health is not ok. This *is* a test of western civilization and it's failing.

Oman, the mediator, said that diplomacy was working. The US and Israel bombed Iran the next day. Was it to prevent peace? Who is war good for?

The whole rationale for American involvement in the Middle East is so we don't have an oil squeeze like this. Not only do we have a shock to supply (countries can't produce and sell) but also to the reserve buffer that normally absorbs volatility. It's worse than a normal Gulf War. (One)-man-made.

As opposed to a religious fascist regime that already has nuclear weapons. Are we going to forget that the US is the only country that has ever actually used nuclear weapons? On civilian populations? Really super weird that no one was tried for Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Amidst all our earthly problems, every now and then, it's good to look up.

Solo la pace è santa!

You know, this happened in Vietnam, too, but when I studied the Vietnam War in high school in the US, I kept being told they were "mistakes." When my mom was a first grader, 2/3 of her fellow first graders died in a bombing. My dad's university was bombed, too, and had to rebuild from scratch.

After 47 years, why would Iran pick this moment to attack the US? Just when the US is imploding all by itself, shooting its citizens on the street, breaking alliances left and right. Why would Israel pick this moment to attack Iran and Hezbollah? Maybe because Trump will be out of power soon.

Don't forget, they are also fomenting right-wing extremist and separatist movements, undermining their allies' democracy.

Somewhere out there, there are parents staring at small shoes that will never be worn again. And no accountability from the American government. Just Pete Hegseth shitting on international laws and rules of engagement. He's writing checks my American children can't cash. Are we talking about this?

Today I learned that Armageddon is a real place. And it has a ticket booth and opening hours. maps.app.goo.gl/XAuJn5dNW7hP...

EXCLUSIVE: At more than 30 installations, U.S. commanders told troops the war on Iran is a Christian war. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been “inundated” with more than 110 complaints. One NCO said they were told the U.S. war is to bring about Armageddon and the return of Jesus…

Since when is assassinating leaders of another country a legit tactic, even in a war? Hypothetically if some country declares war on the US and takes out POTUS and members of the cabinet on day 1 surprise strikes, they'd be immediately labeled terrorists forever and ever?

Eisenhower

My heart goes out to the people of Iran. Being shot at by three of the most unscrupulous governments in the world at the moment, at the same time.

Sam Altman was such a cool guy before OpenAI. Is there anyone money and power don't corrupt?

the best episode of puppet regime so far… even though it’s not.

It's been over 12 hours. Where is the official explanation for the attack on Iranian children? Where are the international condemnations? This is the shit that fuels terrorism and puts every citizen of every country that's ever allied with the US or Israel at risk. We must demand accountability.

Adding "diplomacy" to the list of extinct concepts I'm going to have to explain to my grandchildren.