Map of the ME showing the two straits
Yemen’s Houthis have announced they’ll be joining the war in support of Iran shortly. Analysts expect them to shut down another strait, Bab El-Mandeb, which will close the Suez Canal. The global economy hangs by a thread.
Fossils of sea lilies (crinoids) on a block of pale limestone
#FossilFriday Assorted crinoids on display at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Now read this SUPERB piece by the inspirational virologist @angierasmussen.bsky.social, “Thirst for revenge—What Jay Bhattacharya has in common with Stalin’s crackpot science seer Trofim Denisovich Lysenko”
It’s a long piece but well worth your time
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/bhattachar...
Trump Admin starts war.
Trump Admin shocked by consequences of war.
Trump Admin urgently (!) tells Americans caught by those consequences to get out! get out! and no there's no help coming from the Trump Admin, and good luck finding a land route out somewhere.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03...
Farmers worldwide, including in the US, rely on inputs that move through the Strait of Hormuz and are now waylaid.
Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe. We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are. Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated. In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Days after declaring total victory and boasting that no other military could match the US, Trump is now begging other countries — including China — to send warships to stop his Iran war from spiraling into catastrophe.
A galactic humiliation.
So much for being greeted as liberators 🤦🏻♂️
“Mood among some in Iran shifts from hope of being rescued to dismay at destruction of infrastructure, culture and lives”
Australia is famously a place with some of the world’s most dangerous and frightening animals.
But it is also home to one of the world’s cutest: the flying fox, also known as the giant fruit bat. #Baturday
A worker standing in an orchard where he works
"Arturo" has been a UFW member for 25 years. "Because I have a UFW contract I enjoy good wages, a medical plan, a pension, paid holidays and paid vacation. Best of all I have job security that protects me against unfair termination." #WeFeedYou
“The clear winner of this war is Putin”
Must be a coincidence 🙃
Article 8 (2) (b) (xii) War crime of denying quarter Elements 1. The perpetrator declared or ordered that there shall be no survivors. 2. Such declaration or order was given in order to threaten an adversary or to conduct hostilities on the basis that there shall be no survivors. 3. The perpetrator was in a position of effective command or control over the subordinate forces to which the declaration or order was directed. 4. The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with an international armed conflict. 5. The perpetrator was aware of factual circumstances that established the existence of an armed conflict.
And the elements of the war crime of denial of quarter from the Rome Statute which the USG regarded to be generally consistent with customary international law and which would likely inform interpretation of the offense under the US War Crimes Act.
Every war involves killing. Any war means. death, and pain, and grief. For centuries the civilized nations of the world have attempted to reduce the death and suffering by observing the laws and usages of war. By international conventions and agreements, such as the Hague and Geneva Conventions, and by general custom, certain practices are internationally regarded as cruel, inhumane, and criminal. Such barbarities include the killing of s,urrendered belligerents, the refusal of quarter, and torture or other ill-treatment of belligerents or inhabitants of occupied countries. Such acts are crimes and, if they result in death, are murders.
From the "High Command Case" at Nuremberg:
And as a fun related legal fact, the failure of a commander to punish war crimes by his subordinates is also a war crime under the doctrine of command responsibility.
Published by the Naval War College in 2021:
digital-commons.usnwc.edu/ils/vol97/is...
"Declaring that no quarter will be given" is specifically prohibited by Art 23 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, which means it is a war crime under US domestic law by virtue of the War Crimes Act (18 U.S. Code § 2441).
(1) The accused declared, ordered, or otherwise indicated that there shall be no survivors or surrender accepted; (2) The accused thereby intended to threaten an adversary or to conduct hostilities such that there would be no survivors or surrender accepted; (3) It was foreseeable that circumstances would be such that a practicable and reasonable ability to accept surrender would exist; (4) The accused was in a position of effective command or control over the subordinate forces to which the declaration or order was directed; and (5) The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with hostilities.
✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here.
Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning:
Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime.
And recognized as such by the US Government.
From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.
They are humiliating anything decent in America… 💀
These are the first asexual vertebrate species known to science
go.nature.com/4s2N0dM
“Although Makayla was fully vaccinated against measles, she also had autoimmune encephalitis, a disorder where the immune system attacks the brain's cells, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This condition — with which she was diagnosed at 5 years old — left her especially vulnerable to infections”
In the 90s, online platforms were granted blanket immunity for posts on their sites. The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says that needs to change. www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...
The obvious result of a Justice Department co-opted by a corrupt president was always going to be a department that judges cannot trust
Black kidney patients were delayed or blocked from transplants by a race-based medical formula that made their kidneys appear healthier. Now, thousands are regaining lost wait-list time through restorative justice efforts. We must keep speaking truth to power until health care equity is real.
“Some senior aides and U.S. diplomats who manage Middle East affairs were told little to nothing about plans for the war. They learned the bombing had started from social media and news reports.”
McGowan: You're saying 46 Americans died, so we should attack this country. Here at home, 68,000 Americans die a year because they don't have health insurance. So, if we're going to spend billions of dollars on something…
Haitian woman, 31, dies alone at Pittsburgh bus stop days after ICE released her to the streets far from home to perish. Rest in power, Daphy Michel: migrantinsider.com/p/the-loneso...
When a federal judge (finally) put ICE officers under oath, they admitted that they are given daily detention quotas and rely heavily on a Palantir-supplied AI tool to select targets, without warrants and without enough evidence to obtain one. They simply go into neighborhoods and round people up.
Q: You made a post about Claudia Sheinbaum refusing your help in Mexico. What's your plan with Mexico?
TRUMP: Well, she should not have refused my help
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Secret Service want to build a tool for tracking US travelers’ flights and other personal information according to previously unreported documents reviewed by Mother Jones.
Rep. Nancy Mace on 13 US troops killed fighting Iran: "Well, America's sons and daughters have signed up to give the ultimate sacrifice"
Newsmax host calls out Hegseth for putting US pilots in danger with his unhinged rhetoric.
