“When Xi Jinping gloated about the ‘chaos’ that rules world affairs, he hardly had in mind a cacophony of drone strikes on Beijing’s energy partners in the Gulf. Nor did he envision the sudden closure of a chokepoint through which China gets half its oil. The president saw great opportunity in the general turmoil and supposed multipolarity of the age: a chance for the CCP lion to rise. If Washington has its way, it will be the lion of Persia, instead, that emerges triumphant—a long-oppressed people rising to retake a stolen country.” (03/06/26)
“American military planners in the Pentagon have been wargaming scenarios for attacking Iran more or less non-stop since 1979. One major reason president after president stopped short of launching an attack was the frightening realization that the Islamic Republic could always choose to shut down the Strait of Hormuz …. American strategists cared a lot about the way Iran destabilizes the Middle East. But they cared about energy security, too. Which is one reason why every president from Jimmy Carter on took one look at the war option presented by the Pentagon and said, ‘yeah, no.’ So what changed? … a bunch of geology nerds working for a handful of U.S. energy firms figured out a way to inject water into shale formations at high enough pressure to dislodge the hydrocarbons embedded in the rock.” (03/06/26)
“It was astounding to learn from the TV show of the former Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-FL) that an overall theme seems to be forming for President Donald Trump’s much more aggressive, second-term foreign policy in his private conversations with high-level Trump administration officials. Unfortunately, that theme is based on a very shaky grasp of reality. Scarborough said the Trump administration rationale coming together is this: Decapitating the Venezuelan regime and attempting to topple the Iranian regime, both relying on stand-off force so far, combined with pressure on Russia, is an attempt to cut off China’s oil supply. One can only hope that this overall theme is an after-the-fact justification for an erratic president executing a shoot-from-the-hip foreign policy. And that would be the good news.” (03/06/26)
“Missouri’s property tax system works best when the assessments are accurate, the tax base is wide, and the rates are low. That combination will help grow Missouri’s economy for everyone while properly funding the necessary functions of local government. However, a radical change in the system is being put before voters in St. Charles, Jefferson, and Franklin counties in April. These three counties will vote on whether to prohibit any property tax increases due to reassessments. Current law requires local governments to roll back tax rates as assessments increase, but we all know that taxes still go up, sometimes substantially.” (03/06/26)
“The U.S. economy lost jobs in February, a month marred by severe winter weather and a strike at a major health-care provider, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Nonfarm payrolls fell by 92,000 for the month, compared with the estimate for 50,000 and below the downwardly revised January total of 126,000. February marked the third time in the past five months that payrolls declined, following a sharp revision showing a drop of 17,000 in December.” (03/06/26)
“Wars test nations. They test military readiness, alliance cohesion, and political resolve. But they also test something less visible and just as important: fiscal strength. Just days before the United States entered war with Iran, President Trump was arguing for a $500 billion defense spending increase. … Although the absurdity of President Trump’s arbitrary defense budget request hasn’t changed, the terms of the debate have. Whether justified or not, war places immediate pressure on defense budgets. The real question is whether the United States has put itself in a position to afford it.” (03/06/26)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Corynne McSherry & Matthew Guariglia
“After protests from both users and employees who did not sign up to support government mass surveillance — early reports show that ChaptGPT uninstalls rose nearly 300% after the company announced the deal — Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, conceded that the initial agreement was ‘opportunistic and sloppy.’ He then re-published an internal memo on social media stating that additions to the agreement made clear that ‘Consistent with applicable laws, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, National Security Act of 1947, [and] FISA Act of 1978, the AI system shall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.’ Trouble is, the U.S. government doesn’t believe ‘consistent with applicable laws’ means ‘no domestic surveillance.'” (03/06/26)
