Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Sure Why Not
According to Hegseth, the U.S. had a "sacred duty to maintain that advantage Which is why we must constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience, and your long-term health." The Trump official stated that in order to meet the goals, he was "authorizing a new screening program for testosterone deficiency for our service members, ensuring you have the right testosterone levels to operate at your absolute best.Hegseth added that it was "well-established science that as we age, testosterone levels often naturally drop." He added that anyone over 30 who served in the army would receive the screening as part of their annual "periodic health assessment."
Endgame
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
How Much Damage
Aside from this WSJ piece from 3 weeks ago, I haven't seen very much investigation into the true damage Iran has done to US military assets in the region.
The extensive damage done to America’s sole naval base in the Middle East—along with hits to at least 20 U.S. sites across the region, including military installations and diplomatic facilities—has the U.S. re-evaluating its entire footprint in the region, according to U.S. officials familiar with the deliberations.
Damaged sites include warehouses, a water tank, two satellite communications terminals and a communications management facility, and the headquarters building for the U.S. Navy in the Middle East. Airbus
The military is now considering revamping the base in Bahrain, reducing the U.S. presence in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and moving some bases or base functions west, farther from the reach of Iranian missiles and drones, according to the officials familiar with the deliberations.
"I haven't seen" doesn't mean it doesn't exist, of course, as I don't see everything, but my broader point is I haven't noticed too much interest from journalists in finding out.
All We Need Is More Magic
While I tend to be pessimistic (sometimes correctly, occasionally not) about the latest supposedly world-changing gadget, I am not actually anti-technology or even pessimistic about the potential of technology. It's just that a lot of what is been sold to us in the past decade or so has been hype and scams.
Anyway, as long as we invent yet another technology this one will live up to its promise. Trust me, bro.
(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son said that in the not-so-distant future, nuclear fusion technology will offer the most realistic solution for powering AI data centers’ ballooning needs.
Natural gas will provide the bulk of data centers’ power needs for the time being, Son said. But he predicted that nuclear fusion — the process by which the sun and other stars generate energy — has a role to play, predicting the world will need 3 terawatts of data center capacity in 2040.
The fantasy version of nuclear fusion would be great. I do not think powering data centers would be its greatest use.
As for energy generally, a lot of exciting things are happening! But they got coded as "left" so the supergeniuses don't care.
At Least The War Is Over
Train services have resumed along a critical international transit route in Iran days after a US air strike damaged a key railway bridge.Getting rid of Pete wouldn't change everything, but it might slow down his attempts to drive all black people out of the military.
According to local news outlet SNN, the Aqqala bridge in Golestan province is fully operational again following rapid repair. Iranian officials have frequently described it as the country’s “most important transit corridor”, serving as a central link between Tehran and the northeastern border towards China and Turkmenistan.
Heroes Of The Revolution
Charlie Kirk had more chance of remaining relevant in death. They really tried, too.Stephen Miller on Lindsey Graham: "He's someone we're still gonna be talking about 200 years from now"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 13, 2026 at 9:18 PM
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Most people are forgotten, except by their loved ones, pretty quickly. I'm not even insulting Graham. But the only way he remains relevant is if Meet the Press puts out an honorary empty chair for him every week (they might!).
Monday, July 13, 2026
Put It On Your Calendars
Redemption Plot
Those of us who have been around for awhile remember when Ahmadinejad was, for awhile, the Big Bad of the discourse, when there was big push to go to Iran before it was too late (before Bush was out of office).
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s 2024 visit to the university and a second one the following year were part of a yearslong Israeli effort to groom him as an intelligence asset who, when the time came, could be installed as Iran’s new leader, according to both American and Iranian officials familiar with the operation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence.
Recruiting Mr. Ahmadinejad was of such priority for Israel that the country’s then-spy chief David Barnea even traveled to the Hungarian capital in 2024 to meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad personally, according to former American officials. Soon afterward, they said, Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, notified the C.I.A. that it had been in contact with Mr. Ahmadinejad.
Israel’s decision to build a regime-change plan around Mr. Ahmadinejad is an extraordinary twist in the saga of the country’s relations with the former president, who was known for accelerating Iran’s nuclear program, calling regularly for the destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust.
He was president when Netanyahu did the cartoon bomb.
People are good or bad independent of The Discourse, of course, but whether someone is the chosen Big Bad for the moment has little to do with how they are relative to our many bad pals. And they can all be redeemed when desired.
Civility
There are plenty of members of Congress who support this. Not even that they support the policies which inevitably, if "sadly," lead to this, but that they will fight to protect individuals and institutions responsible from consequences and fight any efforts to ensure the abuses don't continue.
During Peña López’s transfer to California City Detention Center last August, the lawsuit says, “detention staff denied Ulises timely administration of his daily medication, violated his disability rights, and subjected him to unnecessarily harsh conditions,” such as not getting adequate medical care. At the facility operated by CoreCivic, Peña López also struggled to get his medications. As a result, Peña López’s health worsened before he was deported.
People Who Matter
Hope Greta and her friends can swim!https://t.co/Noab4QyJtV
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 1, 2025