Joe McDonald–R.I.P.

The name may not mean much to the younger readers but I one served in Vietnam then Country Joe and the Fish was the anti-war song that meant the most.

The anti-war icon has died….

A voice that helped soundtrack the Vietnam era has gone quiet, USA Today reports. “Country Joe” McDonald, the frontman of Country Joe and the Fish and a defining figure of 1960s protest music, died Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., at 84 from complications of Parkinson’s disease, his band announced. He was “surrounded by his family,” according to the statement; no public memorial is planned.

Born Joseph Allen McDonald in Washington, DC, and raised in California, he served in the Navy before emerging in Berkeley’s folk and protest scene and co-founding Country Joe and the Fish in the mid-1960s. Their 1967 debut, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, helped cement San Francisco’s psychedelic rock sound, but McDonald became best known for his biting anti-Vietnam War song “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” (a “talking blues” song done in the “deadpan” style of Woody Guthrie, the Guardian reports) and his expletive-laced cheer at Woodstock—moments he later said “changed everything in America.” NPR calls the song “a signature anthem of the 1960s counterculture,” and the Woodstock performance “one of the defining scenes of the festival.” The cheer, however, did once get McDonald arrested and fined after he used it at a Massachusetts show.

After his band broke up, McDonald continued to perform and release solo work for decades, often focusing on civil rights, environmental causes, and humanitarian issues, before retiring to focus on his family. He also expressed consistent support for the troops, and was involved with veterans’ issues throughout his life. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, five children, and four grandchildren; the family suggests donations to Swords to Ploughshares or the Michael J. Fox Foundation in his memory.

For me his voice and conscience will be missed for he help us antiwar protesters get through all the torment….

Thank you for your help and your voice in protest to a dumb ass war…..you and your morals will be missed.

Plus old farts like me will not forget what you did in our name.

His most famous antiwar song in remembrance of a great musician for the cause.

Thank you Country Joe and may you rest in peace.

chuq

Vlad Gives Intel

The story broke that Russia may be giving intel on US assets to Iran for retaliatory strikes….

Russia has allegedly provided Iran with information that could help it strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, two officials familiar with US intelligence said.

The officials, who were not authorised to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that US intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information as the US and Israel and Iran fires retaliatory salvos at American assets and allies in the Persian Gulf.

Still, it’s the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran a week ago.

(euronews.com)

I have also read the concerns of some about this possibility.

Yes it is a dastardly move to help destruction to rain down on US assets….but think about it…..is not the US giving intel to Ukraine to be used in retaliatory strikes against Russia?

This is why I was not surprised by the news at all….for is that not what allies do in time of need?

But since Iran and Russia are trading partners this Donny war may be a windfall for Russia.

“For our budget, the attack on Iran is a big plus,” a Russian TV host proclaimed Monday. The Guardian digs into the potential truth of that statement. Russia’s oil and gas revenues are a linchpin of its war financing, and they hit a five-year low last year as sanctions squeezed the flow of exports and prices retreated. But disrupted Gulf supplies could push big buyers like India and China toward more Russian barrels, strengthening Moscow’s leverage after months of having to sell at deep discounts. “When a good fifth of global oil supply and roughly a quarter of seaborne trade is effectively locked up, that’s a boon for Russia,” energy expert Sergey Vakulenko tells the paper.

Some oil that had been languishing on tankers “will definitely find buyers” now, Vakulenko says, and likely at better prices. Al Jazeera reports the price of Russia’s Urals crude, battered by Western sanctions, hit a $40-per-barrel low in late February. On Monday, as the price of the international benchmark Brent crude jumped 13% to $82 per barrel, Urals was lifted to $57.

From a financial point of view this war makes good sense for Russia and the longer they can prolong the conflict the more profit can be made.

And is that not what war is all about….profits?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Last Week At The Sh*t Show–08Mar26

This past week has been full of the bright shiny object for us to fixate on and sucks all the air out of anything else…..war with Iran…so some of the silliness was not noticed as much as usual.

First we had huge banners of Donny’s mug hung off the Dept. of Labor building and now we have that far right loud mouth Kirk’s mug hanging off the dept. of education.  Both are tacky at best.

Then he wants to give himself a birthday present….we know he has destroyed the White House for his stupid ballroom and his silly arc de Trump and now a stadium…..

President Donald Trump says he plans to build a 100,000-seat stadium near the White House to host a UFC fight on his birthday.

The president confirmed the MMA event last year, although his critics have branded the plan to build an arena for the event as “Kim Jong Un-level insanity.”

“They are going to put up something that’s really amazing,” Trump told reporters. “It’s really having to do with our great 250th birthday, where we’re having so many wonderful things.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-ufc-fight-dana-white-b2933211.html

Then there is Pistol Pete bitching about dead Americans….

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s remark Wednesday about U.S. troops dying in the Middle East was so callous it reportedly stunned everyone—including Pentagon officials.

During a press briefing, Hegseth claimed that the press was only reporting on the deaths of American soldiers in order to “make the president look bad.”

“But when a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news,” he said. “I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad—but try for once to report the reality.”

The Atlantic’s Nancy Youssef, who was present for the briefing, told her colleague that Hegseth’s comment “sent a stunned silence through the briefing room.”

She claimed that some members of Hegseth’s staff appeared to flinch at what he was saying, while others ducked their heads.

https://newrepublic.com/post/207400/pete-hegseth-dead-troops-aides

Seriously?   That is the best he can say about dead Americans?  I want some MAGA idiot to explain why that is not offensive.

Not really as moronic as something Donny said….

“The situation with a very bad and very sick group of leaders, who were killing a lot of people,” he said. “A lot of our people were being killed. They were being maimed. They were being destroyed with their bombs all over the place, planted in roads, and we called them the roadside bombs. Walking around without legs, without arms, face blasted. Killed many, many people.”

To be fair he was talking about our last Iraq War and roadside bombs….

Just a little something to think about….

The daily price tag of US President Donald Trump’s illegal war on Iran would be enough to cover the daily costs of federal nutrition assistance for more than 40 million Americans, as well as daily Medicaid costs for the roughly 16 million people expected to lose health coverage due to the Republican budget package that Trump signed into law last year.

That’s according to an analysis published Thursday by the National Priorities Project (NPP), which noted that—on an annual basis—the estimated $1 billion-per-day cost of the US war on Iran is “higher than the appropriated budget of any federal agency except the Pentagon itself.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/daily-cost-iran-war

Is this something out of Bay Watch?

The U.S. Coast Guard has obtained a new tool in their arsenal for patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border: jet skis.

In a video posted to Instagram in February, the Coast Guard confirmed that they are deploying ‘Coasties’ on jet skis to control, secure, and defend the border.

This investment came as Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin E. Lunday said that despite a large infusion of cash from the federal government, the Coast Guard still needed higher annual funding appropriations, according to the Military Times.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/coast-guard-border-security-jet-ski-b2933218.html

Seriously?  Jet skis?

We know the favorite pastime of Repubs is to blame everything they have done on the Dems….and that includes retaliatory strikes by Iran….

The reality is President Trump started the war unilaterally, without making the case to Congress or the American public. He did not attempt to obtain congressional approval, and would likely veto any constraints the legislature passes. He has already said publicly to expect more American deaths. If there were ever a clear shot to entirely fault one party, it’s this one.

But Republicans are already laying the groundwork to blame Democrats, should the (politically) worst occur: retaliatory violence on U.S. soil. (Law enforcement is already investigating an early Sunday mass shooting in Texas for motives; the shooter reportedly wore a shirt with an Iranian flag emblem.)

…

“Now would be a good time for Democrats to drop their opposition to DHS funding and pass the bill to support our homeland security,” wrote Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). “Continuing to play political games with our national security given the unfolding situation in the Middle East is dangerous.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things-stand/republicans-are-laying-the-groundwork-to-blame-democrats-for-irans-retaliatory-strikes

GOP trying anything to get that despicable DHS funding through Congress.

Now that I have upset your day allow me to try and make things better.

Years ago I lived in Colorado and my best friend was a Husky named Nikita and when I saw this video it reminded me just what a character he was….

I hope that cheered you up a bit….

Have a wonderful Sunday and as always…..Be Well and Be Safe…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

IST Saturday News Dump–07Mar26

The first full weekend of March and the wishful thoughts of Spring fill the air.

Local–WE still have had little to no winter this year….even at night we have 90-100% humidity….very sticky.

We leap forward at 2 am….just worthless waste of time.

Personal–March is a month I dread….while others are looking forward to the arrival of Spring all I have is dread for the month…..24th four years ago my son-in-law died and last year on the 12th my beloved wife passed away….so March holds no joy for my family.

This year the US celebrates it’s 250th year of existence and our founding documents are going on a national tour….

Some of the United States’ most important historical documents are beginning a first-of-its kind journey Monday as part of the country’s 250th anniversary commemoration. Typically housed in highly controlled vaults under the watch of preservation experts at the National Archives, documents such as the 1783 Treaty of Paris that formally ended the Revolutionary War and the 1774 Articles of Association that urged colonists to boycott British goods are rarely moved. But those documents, signed by George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and other American revolutionary leaders, will be making their way across the country and put on display for free at local museums, reports the AP.

Among the planned activities are a fleet of mobile museums driving across the country, a story collection initiative, and a Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The “Freedom Plane” departed DC on Monday and headed to its first stop in Kansas City, Missouri, where the documents will be transferred to the National WWI Museum and Memorial. The records include a rare original engraving of the Declaration of Independence printed in 1823 from a copperplate of the original; the Oaths of Allegiance signed in 1778 by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and other officers of the Continental Army; and a rare draft copy of the Constitution that includes handwritten notes by the delegates.

Since I am battling cancer I try to find the different attempts to try and control the disease….

We’ll bet you didn’t have this on your 2026 bingo card. Scientists have been experimenting with using bacteria to eat cancerous tumors from the inside out, and – thanks to some clever genetic tweaks – it’s proving surprisingly effective. So much so, the authors of a new study say they hope to progress to preclinical studies in the not-too-distant future.

The bacteria that have been enlisted for this cancer-fighting quest are called Clostridium sporogenes. They usually live in soil, because they need an environment with no oxygen at all. As it turns out, the inside of a solid tumor – full of dead cells and starved of oxygen – is pretty much the perfect habitat for these microbes.

“Bacteria spores enter the tumour, finding an environment where there are lots of nutrients and no oxygen, which this organism prefers, and so it starts eating those nutrients and growing in size,” explained chemical engineering professor Dr Marc Aucoin, from the University of Waterloo in Canada, in a statement.

https://www.iflscience.com/bacteria-that-literally-eat-tumors-from-the-inside-out-may-be-the-future-of-cancer-treatment-82669

Ever heard of lab grown brains?

Back in 1907, American biologist Henry Van Peters Wilson discovered that sponges will re-form into living creatures after their cells are broken apart through a fine mesh screen — demonstrating that the cells of living organisms contained something telling them how to build complex, multi-cellular structures.

Researchers dined out this for decades, and their subsequent discoveries led to the isolation of pluripotent stem cells — “master cells” that can divide endlessly and become any type of cell in the body — first from mouse embryos in 1981, then from human embryos in 1998.

Lab-grown brains finally came onto the scene in 2013, when a team of scientists led by Madeline Lancaster created the first brain “organoid”: a tiny, three-dimensional cell culture mimicking the human brain. These mini-brains, made out of stem cells, contain real neurons, thus allowing researchers to study brain development, model neurological diseases, and test drugs before human trials. (As you might guess, the practice is not without controversy.)

Now, scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz are taking lab-grown mini-brains into their toddler era, after demonstrating that brain organoids can process information in real time.

https://futurism.com/health-medicine/lab-grown-brain-organoid

Every heard of ‘Aquamation?

Memento mori tells us it’s good to remember that one day we will die. It gives you a kind of agency to live life on your terms, agency that can extend to choosing how you go out when the time comes.

Human funerary practices have come a long way, but until recently your main options were either burial or cremation using gas and/or fire. Now, green alternatives like water cremation are becoming more popular, and Scotland just became the first country in the United Kingdom to allow this sustainable funerary alternative. So, what is it?

Water cremation – also known as aquamation, biocremation, resomation, or flameless cremation – uses alkaline hydrolysis to dispose of human or animal remains. Touted as an eco-friendly alternative to cremation, it uses a heated alkaline solution to break down the body, leaving behind only the skeleton.

During aquamation, the body is placed inside a pressurized vessel filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide (lye) and heated to around 90-150°C (200-300°F). As the container is pressurized, the solution doesn’t boil and instead gently gets to work breaking down the organic matter over several hours.

https://www.iflscience.com/dissolving-the-dead-scotland-becomes-first-uk-country-to-allow-aquamation-a-green-alternative-to-cremation-82727

Fascinating.

Some entity known as ‘Vast’ has a plan for space….

Vast wants to extend humanity’s footprint into the final frontier, and it now has a lot more money to funnel toward that goal.

The California startup, which is developing a line of private space stations called “Haven,” announced today (March 5) that it has raised $500 million in new funding.

The financing consists of $300 million in “Series A” equity and $200 million in debt, according to Vast. (Series A funding is the round that follows initial “seed capital.”)

“The funds will be used to expand facilities, grow the team, and advance the company’s proposed successor to the ISS, Haven-2, designed to ensure continuous human presence in low Earth orbit for the United States and its allies,” Vast wrote in the statement.

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/vast-500-million-dollars-funding-haven-private-space-stations

I would love to see the people and companies being taken in by this con.

Would you pay for recycled toilet water?

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Similarly, the water in your toilet bowl could be another person’s drink — after it’s rigorously filtered and becomes so pure that treatment facilities actually need to manually add minerals back into the water so it doesn’t, dare we say, flush important nutrients out of your own system.

Icky as it may sound on paper, recycled sewage or waste water may be the next game changer for water conservation, with many cities across the US already depending on these systems.

And encouragingly, a new study highlighted by Grist shows the public is open to the idea of drinking water recycled from their own sewage. In a survey of small communities of fewer than 10,000 people published in the journal Water Resources Research, residents said they’d be willing to pay an average of $49 per month to have access to reused water. And hey, astronauts do it — so why shouldn’t the rest of us get access as well?

https://futurism.com/science-energy/average-american-drink-toilet-water

Time for me to move on….I hope everyone has a great Saturday and as always…..Be Well and Be Safe…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

I Say Who Will Be Leader

Now that we have a war going on with Iran and the US is looking for regime change but not really looking…..Donny thinks he should decide who the leader of the country should be.

President Trump says he doesn’t just want a say in Iran’s future leadership, he insists he has to help pick the next supreme leader. In an interview with Axios on Thursday, Trump said he considers Mojtaba Khamenei, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son and widely seen favorite to succeed him, “unacceptable” and “a lightweight.” He argued that if Iran chooses a leader who sticks to the current line, the US could be drawn back into war within five years. “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said, adding that he must be “involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela.” Delcy Rodriguez took power after US forces ousted President Nicolas Maduro in January.

Trump made similar remarks in an interview with Politico, declaring he would have “a big impact” on who leads the country. “We’ll work with the people and the regime to make sure that somebody gets there that can nicely build Iran but without nuclear weapons,” he said. The comments mark a striking assertion of US influence over Iran’s internal succession process and appear to cut against repeated statements by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials that Washington is not seeking “regime change,” Axios notes

In the Politico interview, Trump dismissed concerns about the effect rising gas prices could have on the midterm elections. “People are loving what’s happening,” he said. “We’re taking out a threat to the United States of America, major threat … and doing it like nobody’s ever seen before.” He said the war had already “decimated” Iran’s military.

Seriously?  I would think that if we are so concerned about democracy in Iran should not the Iranian people choose their next leader or will they accept the shah’s son which I am sure is Donny’s choice.

Keep in mind the US has never accepted a democratically elected leader in Iran…..think 1950s…..so it makes sense that Donny should pick and choose the leadership.

I know that this war has never been about bringing democracy to Iran….it is about installing a puppet that is dependent and pliable…..and the shah’s son will be both as well as an ass to the people that threw his father out of the limelight.

Any thoughts on this?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

DHS Barbie Out On Her Ass

Noem has been fired…..I am surprised for being such a Donny enabler that she might weather this storm after her days testifying….I was mistaken.

She is gone and we await the next d/bag in line for the hallow halls of DHS.

Kristi Noem’s turbulent run atop the Department of Homeland Security is ending with a reassignment and a replacement drawn from the Senate. President Trump announced Thursday that Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma will take over as DHS secretary, calling him “highly respected,” while saying Noem will shift to a new post as “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” part of a Western Hemisphere security push the White House says it will roll out Saturday. The change takes effect March 31.

  • Months of speculation. The firing follows months of speculation about Noem’s future as public support for Trump’s aggressive deportation drive has eroded and even some Republicans questioned her leadership.
  • Trump “not a happy camper.” The president was unhappy with Noem about DHS’s heavily criticized surge in Minnesota, where two US citizens were fatally shot by officers, and about Noem’s Senate testimony on Tuesday defending a $200 million ad campaign that prominently featured her, sources tell the Washington Post. Noem told senators Trump had approved the campaign. GOP Sen. John Kennedy said Trump was “not a happy camper” when he spoke to him later that day. “The president’s recollection and her recollection are distinctly different,” he said.
  • Her new role. The White House says the Shield of the Americas is a regional policy initiative, guided by Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine,” to ensure security for the Western Hemisphere, the Hill reports. Noem’s role, like her role at Homeland Security, will include dealing with issues like illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Noem didn’t mention her ouster during an appearance at an event in Nashville on Thursday, but she later thanked Trump in a post on X. “In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security,” she wrote.
  • Mullin. In a post on X, Mullin, whose appointment needs to be confirmed by the Senate, said, “I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the Senate and carrying out President Trump’s mission alongside the department’s many capable agencies and the thousands of patriots who keep us safe every day.” Mullin “has been a fighter for Oklahoma and will fight to keep our nation secure,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement, per the Oklahoma Voice. “There isn’t a better choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security.” He said he would appoint a “strong, small government conservative voice” to replace Mullin.
  • Democrats welcome the news. Democrats largely cheered her departure, the Post reports. Independent Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with Democrats, called Mullin “an upgrade, absolutely,” adding that “pretty much anybody is.” Sen. Cory Booker said Noem should still be “held to account for the corruption that she has shown with the contracting” and for what he described as violations of Americans’ constitutional rights. The Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights said her departure is “long overdue,” the AP reports. “For immigrant communities across the country, her leadership represented a dangerous escalation of policies that treated families and workers as targets rather than as human beings,” the advocacy group said, adding that her replacement must ensure agencies like ICE treat immigrants with “basic human respect.”

Her ousting was more about taking the heat off Donny than her….she will not go far for as an enabler Donny needs her close.

I do not believe this will be a new chapter for DHS just a continuation of the Donny policies.

Whatcha you think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is DHS Barbie On The Ropes?

DHS and its Goon Platoon have been wrecking havoc across many states in the last year…..and now after her testimony there is rumblings that Donny has had enough of her antics.

Is Kristi Noem’s job in jeopardy as head of Homeland Security? Punchbowl News reports that President Trump has been “quietly” calling top Republicans on Capitol Hill to ask if he should fire her. The development comes after Noem spent two grueling days being grilled by the Senate and House judiciary panels over DHS tactics, including the fatal shooting of two protesters. The outlet reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson also has mused behind closed doors about the possibility of a shake-up at DHS.

Earlier this month, Trump publicly backed Noem and said her job was safe, Politico reported at the time. “They were saying about Kristi Noem yesterday … ‘Sir, are you going to relieve Kristi Noem from her duties?’ No. Why would I do that?” Trump said. “We have the strongest border in the history of our country. We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had, going back to the year 1900, that’s 125 years.”

But Punchbowl News, citing anonymous Republicans, suggests the sentiment is shifting as the bad press continues. What appears to have especially irritated Trump: Noem’s insistence under questioning from Sen. John Kennedy this week that the president personally signed off on a $220 million national ad campaign that prominently features her. The spots, filmed at Mount Rushmore and produced by a firm run by the husband of a former DHS spokesperson, have been criticized as boosting Noem’s political profile on the taxpayers’ dime. Kennedy warned the campaign put Trump “in a terribly awkward spot.”

Shake up the DHS?  What crap!

DHS is doing the hard lift for Dear Donny so what would a DHS shake up look like?

Personally I do not think she capable of independent thinking so anything she has done is the track Donny envisions.

Any thoughts?

I Reads, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Where’s The Ammo?

The US has been giving away ordinance freely to the likes of Israel, Ukraine plus starting several wars that is using up the existing stockpile….

Trump administration officials have privately told lawmakers they’re weighing use of the Cold War–era Defense Production Act to push weapons makers to crank out more munitions as the war with Iran burns through US stockpiles, three sources tell NBC News. The law would let the government force defense firms to prioritize specific weapons, largely to refill air-defense and interceptor inventories. Sources tell the Washington Post the stocks are being depleted at speed: Those sources say the US military could be just “days away” from needing to prioritize which targets it intercepts. What you need to know:

  • Publicly, the White House and Pentagon insist the military has what it needs, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying stockpiles are sufficient to achieve Trump’s current goals “and beyond.” President Trump, however, has called on defense contractors to speed things up.
  • Seth Jones, the president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, paints a different picture for NPR: “The reality is neither Israel nor the United States have sufficient munitions, either offensive or defensive, for a war that really lasts weeks into months.”
  • Business Insider focuses on Patriot missiles, reporting the US is “leaning hard” on them to neutralize Iranian missile and drone bombardments. It flags a late 2024 assessment from Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, who said conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine had “eaten into” Patriot stockpiles, “and to say otherwise would be dishonest.”
  • Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, echoes that in comments to NBC: “We now have a lot of partners using Patriot systems,” among them Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “Those are all American systems, and so the backlog of countries that are going to need replenishment is going to be extraordinary, and they’ll need it quickly.”
  • NBC points out that the Defense Production Act has been invoked in recent years: by Trump during the pandemic to accelerate the manufacturing of personal protective and medical equipment, and by President Biden to deal with a baby formula shortage. Trump actually invoked it last month to boost the supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides.

Defense Production Act?

The Defense Production Act gives the federal government broad authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of national defense.

The act was signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1950 amid supply concerns during the Korean War. But over its now decades-long history, the law’s powers have been invoked not only in times of war but also for domestic emergency preparedness, as well as recovery from terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

One of the act’s provisions allows the president to require companies to prioritize government contracts and orders deemed necessary for national defense, with the goal of ensuring the private sector is producing enough goods needed during war or other emergencies. Other provisions give the president the ability to use loans and additional incentives to increase production of critical goods, and authorize the government to establish voluntary agreements with private industry.

The DPA is “one of the government’s most powerful and adaptable industrial policy tools,” said Joel Dodge, an attorney and the director of industrial policy and economic security at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.

Anthropic is the last of its AI peers to not supply its technology to a new U.S. military internal network. CEO Dario Amodei repeatedly has made clear his ethical concerns about unchecked government use of AI, including the dangers of fully autonomous armed drones and of AI-assisted mass surveillance that could track dissent.

The Defense Production Act gives the federal government broad authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of national defense.

The act was signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1950 amid supply concerns during the Korean War. But over its now decades-long history, the law’s powers have been invoked not only in times of war but also for domestic emergency preparedness, as well as recovery from terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

One of the act’s provisions allows the president to require companies to prioritize government contracts and orders deemed necessary for national defense, with the goal of ensuring the private sector is producing enough goods needed during war or other emergencies. Other provisions give the president the ability to use loans and additional incentives to increase production of critical goods, and authorize the government to establish voluntary agreements with private industry

If the Defense Department does invoke the DPA to give the military more authority to use Anthropic’s products without its approval, that could mean forcing the company to adapt its model to the Pentagon’s needs without built-in safety limits, or remove certain ethical restrictions from the company’s contract language.

Remove ethical restrictions….well that fits into Donny and Pistol Pete’s wheelhouse.

A side note:  the US lost about $2 billion in inventory the first few days of this stupid war,,,,

The US has lost nearly $2 billion worth of military equipment amid its military operations against Iran since Saturday, according to estimates and data compiled by Anadolu.

The chief driver of the cost is a US AN/FPS-132 early warning radar system at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, valued at $1.1 billion, which was hit with a missile strike by Iran on Saturday. Qatar confirmed that the radar was hit and damaged.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-lost-nearly-2b-worth-of-military-equipment-in-first-4-days-of-strikes-against-iran/3849091

Here is crazy idea take all the promised ordinance away from parasite states like Ukraine and Israel and tell them to buck up…..or better yet stop all these unnecessary wars as well.

Just a thought.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Out Of The Rubble A New Leader

It is confirmed that the Iranian leader has been killed and now the speculation on who will lead Iran in this time of war.

Now we have an answer to that probing question….

Iran’s powerful clerical body is moving toward a dynastic handoff at the very top. Three Iranian officials who spoke to the New York Times say Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has emerged as the leading candidate to inherit his father’s post after meetings of the Assembly of Experts on Tuesday. An announcement could come as soon as Wednesday, though some clerics reportedly worry that naming him now would make him an even bigger target for the US and Israel. CNN reported over the weekend that “father-to-son succession is frowned upon in the Shiite Muslim clerical establishment and particularly in a revolutionary Iran that came about after toppling a widely reviled monarchy.”

But Mojtaba, long influential but rarely seen, is closely aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, and the officials say the Guard is strongly backing him as the safest pair of hands in a crisis. Analysts say his selection would signal dominance by Iran’s most hard-line security forces, though a Tehran-based commentator predicts a backlash from parts of the public already angered by the regime’s lethal crackdown on protesters. Two other finalists, cleric Alireza Arafi and revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s grandson Seyed Hassan Khomeini, are viewed as relative moderates. One political ally has argued Mojtaba could surprise as a reform-minded figure, likening his potential role to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s—while others, including President Trump, warn Iran could simply end up with a leader as tough as the last.

Another hard core extremist to take the reins of government.

Now the question will be will this succession be for the good or the bad?

Will the Shia faithful accept this succession from father to son which is not something that is done with Shia religious leaders?

And the waiting begins.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Onward ‘Christian Soldiers’

So much twaddle!

We all know about the war that Donny and his merry band of a/holes have started with Iran and the blogs and news has been full of the reports but he best rhetoric comes from the dumb asses around Pistol Pete….

Now the religious zealots within the government are framing this conflict as some sort of ‘holy war’ (seriously?)…..at least some are nolt finding this terminology proper….

Some US service members say their commanders are casting the new conflict with Iran as a prelude to the apocalypse. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation reports receiving upward of 110 complaints since fighting began on Saturday, alleging that officers in every branch have framed the campaign as part of a “divine plan” leading to the Second Coming of Christ, per Raw Story, citing original reporting by journalist Jonathan Larsen. The complaints, from more than 40 units at roughly 30 military installations, describe what MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein calls an atmosphere of “unrestricted euphoria” among some leaders who see the war as biblically mandated.

One noncommissioned officer’s written complaint shared with Larsen says a combat unit commander opened a Monday readiness briefing by telling NCOs not to fear operations in Iran because they were “all part of God’s divine plan.” The commander allegedly cited the Book of Revelation, referenced Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus, and claimed that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran” to trigger those events. The NCO wrote that the statements “destroy morale and unit cohesion,” calling the comments “toxic and over the line.”

Weinstein argues that such messaging violates constitutional church-state separation and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which bars using official military authority to promote religion. Larsen notes that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has long associated with Christian nationalist leaders, including pastor Ralph Drollinger, who teaches that God rewards nations that back Israel and punishes those that oppose it.

he complainant says troops in their support unit feel forced to endure their commander’s “Armageddon views” and believe he thinks the entire chain of command backs him. The Cradle notes that the report syncs “with a pattern of senior US figures framing geopolitical policy through explicitly biblical narratives,” including Mike Huckabee claiming last month that Israel has a “biblical right” to a huge tract of territory that spans from “the Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates in Iraq.” More here from Larsen.

This is what we get when we allow morons to run the government….personally I do not give shit on Petey boy’s beliefs….they have NO place in government.

Besides is this not the same rhetoric that we condemned from Muslims and their ‘holy war’?

Jesus’ return?  How many times has that idiotic statement been made to justify stupid?

Stop using your religious ‘beliefs’ to justify and illegal act of war.

This country will be better when these twats keep their religious BS to themselves.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”