First week of Iran war cost more than $11.3B Alternatively, we could have replaced every single lead pipe in the city of Chicago for about that amount. Cost: $9-12B There are many, many other things on which this money could have been better spent to improve the lives and safety of Americans.

We had a book and at least two films on the Manchurian Candidate. Appears the not yet fully realized story of the Muscovian Candidate is still unfolding.

Given state of play & trajectory of US economy when he came into office, if Trump did absolutely nothing, except these: -Pass & implement Lankford’s immigration bill -Negotiate end to Gaza war -Continue Ukraine support Then just went away and played golf, he/we would be in much better position

So Indiana is now good at football and bad at basketball…more evidence we may be living in the upside down.

Does he think he is the president of a HOA and he’s demanding whichever homeowner put up the sign advertising this weekend’s garage sale to take it down?

Roman Anthony…Wow!!

We are all (or could be) Canadian now...

Combine the war in the Middle East, threat of Iranian asymmetric reprisals, the US President’s low approval and inclination to invoke emergency powers, and the perceived risk to his power posed by the midterms…and have been thinking a lot about the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings and rise of Putin.

Lucas Ramirez (Manny’s son) has homered twice and Brazil is keeping it close with the USA heading to the 9th.

Realize they are both playing for the USA, but still doesn’t feel right having #RedSox Anthony driving in #Yankees Judge.

Another recruit for the ‘Shield of the Americas’ Team.

He did give up being Acting Archivist of The United States, so has some room on his plate for new challenges. He and his boss decided, since there is nothing else going, this is the best use of their time. Think next week they are discussing implementation of the ABS challenge system in baseball.

Think this is exactly how Grant put it to Buckner when he demanded his capitulation at Fort Donelson: "Simon, don't think of unconditional surrender as an actual thing, think of it more as a state of being that I get to determine on your behalf."

This is a fascinating story on what happens when the FIFA circus comes to town expecting everyone to bend to its will and a small town stands firm: FIFA vs Foxborough, Massachusetts The embedded video recording of the Select Committee is worth watching...FIFA topic starts about minute 50.

Realize there are other factors at play, but as a rule maybe the US Attorney General should not be weighing in on the performance of the stock market. The Dow is down about 3,000 points since Bondi made her sycophantic boasts on February 11th.

The actions against Iran and its predictable response was always going to benefit Russia (at least in near-term). Will be surprised if this is not extended beyond 30 days. If they did not anticipate this, difficult to see how they are prepared for the more complex consequences of their war.

It’s nice to see the Night’s Watch embracing diversity and inclusion, and now accepting women to guard the wall and be part of the shield of the realm.

Suppose this is partly the result of the DOGE-ing of the State Department Also, US currently does not have confirmed Ambassadors in any of the following: Armenia Azerbaijan Egypt Iraq Kuwait Pakistan Qatar Saudi Arabia UAE + US does not currently have diplomatic missions in Afghanistan or Syria

One of those “wars” that may not be as resolved as some like to think.

Its unsettling, but if you are a ‘middle power’ or an authoritarian leader and reflected over past 10-15 years on Libya, Ukraine, Iran, as well as weakening US support for multi-national defense alliances, may well conclude path PRK took on nuclear weapons is the best way to ensure your security

Not sure the undue influence of current Israeli gov on US foreign policy & military actions is in Israel’s long term interest Moral foundations of US-Israel relationship have been fractured over past 2+ years and US may come to resent being pushed into things by country / economy size of Austria

Your Honor, I had to punch that guy in the face because there were other people in the bar thinking about punching that guy in the face first. If they had punched him first, that might have put me at risk, therefore in order to defend myself I had to do the proactive punching. The Defense rests.

@nytimes.com w/ a useful reconstruction of US path to war with Iran. "[Trump's] move toward war grew inexorably, fueled by allies like Mr. Netanyahu who pushed the president to strike a decisive blow against Iran’s...government" Not in the piece, so who were the other "allies like Mr. Netanyahu"?

The current US Government appears to be answering the following questions: What if the Corleone family was in charge of the government? And, what if Fredo was in charge of the Corleone Family?

US / Iran relations were complicated long before 1979: Today in 1953 Americans were caught in a power struggle between the royalist Shah and the national government of Premier Mossadegh Five months later a British-American engineered coup would topple Mossadegh, consolidating power in the Shah

“Most of those people [US was negotiating with] are gone”, so not exactly clear to whom, in what has to be a fairly chaotic situation, he would be talking Realize it’s not primary focus of the piece, but you diminish the publication if you don’t offer a corrective on Trump’s claim about the economy

Does the FIFA Peace Prize have a relegation system?

Used to be when you ‘Totally Obliterated’ something, it stayed ‘Totally Obliterated’ Now, when you ‘Totally Obliterate’ something you have to go back 6 months later and ‘Totally Obliterate’ it all over again ‘Totally Obliterate’ used to mean something. We just don’t destroy things like we used to.

The spike in oil prices likely to result from the instability & supply disruptions and indications that OPEC+ is considering increasing supply to compensate will benefit Russia and its ability to fund its war on Ukraine. Key question will be how long the spike in prices lasts.

The US track record on regime change in different parts of the world is so good and our ability to deal with the unforeseen consequences of these actions are always so effective, you’d be fool not to jump at the opportunity to do it again.

Unless it was also the name of a Navy ship, it is a bit weird to get a hat made with the name of a body of water on it, right? Do not see too many Atlantic Ocean, Sea of Japan or Yakutat Bay hats out there.

Somewhere Tommy Tuberville is asking his PR people: My voting record is nearly identical to Britt and I won the Belk Bowl, where are all my puff pieces?

Think someone could make a small fortune if they would push a coffee / espresso cart in the House chamber right now.

We should be (and we should want to be) better than this...heartbreaking story from @npr.org

Any chance we can go back to the days when the President delivered the State of the Union in a letter to Congress…before tomorrow?

Current US Administration’s cruelty and shortsightedness appears to know no bounds At the same time, current Admin is contemplating increasing defense budget by $500B, even though they have no idea how to spend the added $ and the $900B already approved is more than the next 9 countries combined

Olympic (Men’s) Gold Medal Hockey certainly delivered on expectations Congratulations to Team 🇺🇸 for winning Gold and to Team 🇨🇦 for great tournament and outstanding game US goalie Connor Hellebuyck was outstanding Picture of Team 🇺🇸 w/ Johnny Gaudreau's kids one of the great images from these Games

The EU makes a reasonable point, until you remember who is the current President of the United States. Just ask Canada and Mexico about USMCA

Frederiksen defended Denmark’s health care system on Sunday, writing…she was “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health for all. Where it’s not insurances and wealth that determine whether you get proper treatment. You have the same approach in Greenland,” she said.

Some hopeful tortoise news:

Ahead of Sunday’s big hockey game, a nice story about sport connecting peoples across languages and cultures.

Interesting science. Unfortunately, my ancestral claim to significant lands in the Kazakh Steppe appear to have taken a bit of a hit.

USA vs Canada for Olympic (Men's) Hockey Gold!! Great way to close out these wonderful Olympics on Sunday.

Think I just heard a very big exhale from our northern neighbors. Canada 3 Finland 2 Canada into the gold medal game.

More from the 'People have Agency to Make Their Own Choices Department': Making your country an unwelcoming place is a sure-fire way to decrease the number of visitors, and their accompanying economic activity, wanting to travel to your country.

Upcoming State of the Union just became more interesting: -Which Justices decide to turn-up -Trump's likely unhinged commentary on ruling -Whether any Justices react to Trump, like Alito did to Obama's prescient comments on Citizens United -Post speech interactions between Trump and CJ Roberts

Following the Supreme Court's ruling on the President's tariff authority, looking forward to the WH announcement that they have lowered import taxes by 700%

WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! USA Win Olympic Hockey Gold!! Megan Keller scores the winner in OT. What a Game!! Truly Outstanding by both Teams.

Gold Medal Hockey Game - After Period 3: Canada 1 USA 1 Great goal for American captain (& UW-Madison Alum) Hilary Knight Gold Medal to be decided in overtime. What a Game!!

Gold Medal Hockey Game - After Period 2: Canada 1 USA 0 Very good shorthanded goal by Canada