Source: CounterPunch
by Barbara G Ellis
“The portly man at the next table finished his breakfast, leaned in my direction, and asked: ‘What’s in the news that’s so interesting?’ ‘Iran,’ I said, adding that the U.S. seemed about to attack it. ‘Over in a day,’ he said, snapping fingers for emphasis. Having spent two years at Beirut’s Daily Star when Iraqis dragged the pro-West prime minister’s body through Bagdad’s streets to celebrate the monarchy’s overthrow, I know the Mideast’s ferocity against Western domination for exploitation. A war with Iran would never be over in a day — a month, or year anymore than it was in Vietnam. … when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to outgoing oil ships, somehow Trump’s war planners once again seemed to overlook the ancient contempt by Westerners for foreign militants as factors in wars. They soon learned that aroused ‘inferiors’ made wars endless and monumentally expensive in lives and treasure for arrogant ‘superiors.’” (03/23/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/23/an-off-ramp-for-trump-to-reverse-the-iran-disaster/
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Monday to decide whether states can continue to count late-arriving mail ballots — an election issue targeted by President Donald Trump. All 50 states require ballots to be cast or postmarked on or before Election Day, but 14 states have grace periods for receiving and counting regular mailed ballots, ranging from a day to several weeks after the election. A final ruling will almost certainly come by late June, early enough to govern the counting of ballots in the 2026 midterm congressional elections. Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked whether the court’s legal principle that decisions shouldn’t disrupt upcoming elections would stay their hands if the justices forbade states from counting mail ballots received after Election Day.” (03/23/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/the-latest-supreme-court-will-decide-whether-22091408.php
Source: The Dispatch
“Desecration, Not Disenchantment | Interview: Carl Trueman.” (03/23/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/desecration-not-disenchantment-interview-carl-trueman/
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“On March 1, a massive attack was launched on Iran in violation of UN Charter Article 2.3 that demands that member states ‘settle their international disputes by peaceful means’ and Article 2.4 that requires all members to ‘refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.’ This norm has no exemptions and cannot be modified, including, according to the International Court of Justice, in self-defense. The war on Iran was legitimized neither by Security Council authorization nor by an immediate need for self-defense. Iran responded, in part, by targeting neighboring countries that hosted U.S. bases. On March 11, the Security Council responded by condemning the latter, but not the former.” (03/23/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2026/03/22/the-day-the-un-died
Source: Washington Monthly
by Keith Humphreys
“The most promising ways to make America’s streets safer unsettle ideologues on both sides. Maybe that’s why we aren’t pursuing them.” (03/23/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/03/23/where-left-and-right-both-go-wrong-on-criminal-justice/
Source: ABC News
“our ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in London were set on fire early Monday morning in London, in what British police are investigating as an antisemitic hate crime. No one was injured in the overnight attack, which shattered windows in nearby homes. … Officers were called to Golders Green, a London neighborhood with a large Jewish population, after receiving reports of a fire, the Metropolitan Police force said. Four ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest, a volunteer organization that provides emergency medical response, were damaged, according to the London Fire Brigade.” (03/23/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/vehicles-belonging-jewish-ambulance-service-set-fire-london-131315454
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Larry Johnson on the Ongoing and Coming Failures in the US and Israel’s War with Iran.” (03/22/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/3-19-26-larry-johnson-on-the-ongoing-and-coming-failures-in-the-us-and-israels-war-with-iran/
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“In case you haven’t noticed, our president is a literal pedophile who kills children. Not only do I feel like I have every fucking right to my rage, I feel like anyone still capable of staying calm in this situation is the sick one and that their apathetic sickness in dire times might actually be getting people killed. I can just hear them now; ‘Stay calm and vote blue no matter who, the woker section of Team Epstein will clean up this mess!’ Fuck you, you Chicken Noodle Soup reading mental insect.” (03/22/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-art-of-coping-with-unfathomable.html
Source: Town Hall
by EJ Antoni, Ph.D.
“Iran’s efforts to close the Strait of Hormuz have made gas prices rise to the point where they may threaten President Donald Trump’s affordability agenda. Whether the closure is short or long, consumers are feeling the pain just as the latest economic figures show an economy that is sputtering and can use a boost. But the President can help absorb the disruption and deprive Tehran of its goal to push our economy into reverse by cutting a deal on planned global tariff increases. The Strait of Hormuz has been a key bottleneck for oil exports from the Gulf region with roughly one-fifth of global oil flows being impacted by the threat of Iranian missiles, mines, and drone strikes through the narrow waterway. The economic situation is becoming increasingly precarious as energy stockpiles worldwide quickly dwindle and prices rise in response to the choked-off supply that is not easily substituted.” (03/23/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/ej-antoni/2026/03/23/a-tariff-ceasefire-in-time-of-war-would-help-everybody-n2673269#google_vignette
Source: Common Dreams
by Rick Steiner
“By any measure, Homo sapiens is one of the most violent animals on Earth. At any one time today, humans are engaged in over 100 armed conflicts and wars across the world, many with a resource component—oil, diamonds, gold, timber, territory, water. In the 20th century alone, over 130 million people were killed directly in war, 210 million if including government killings in non-war situations. The United Nations now reports that the world is entering ‘a new era’ of increasing violence and conflict, and that ‘unresolved regional tensions, a breakdown in the rule of law, absent or co-opted state institutions, illicit economic gain, and the scarcity of resources exacerbated by climate change, have become dominant drivers of conflict.’ Such extraordinary intraspecific violence seems to be unique to humans.” (03/23/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/war-environmental-impact
