The Guardian - Multiple media outlets are reporting that the US is carrying out a second round of strikes on Iran, targeting air defence and radar systems. Iranian state media is reporting the sounds of explosions in a number of areas. We’ll bring you more on this as it comes in.
~1m ago
AP - JUST IN: Iran ‘will leave no attack or threat unanswered,’ its top diplomat says as US carries out strikes after helicopter crash.
Trump must make a VIP present of a visit to the situation room during ops.
NYT - Speaker Mike Johnson, who was in the situation room with President Trump and several cabinet members earlier in the day, said that he was notified before the United States carried out the retaliatory strikes on Iran. Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Johnson said the action was “proportional and limited,” adding that the strikes were in response to “unjustified Iranian aggression.”
For the record - I share US media updates because I think it’s useful to know what news (or bullshit) Americans are being fed.
Oh. My. God. The IWCU - the Iran War Cinematic Universe.
Al Jazeera - Trump says US military launching ‘strong’ response to helicopter downing He told ABC news:
“I think it’s very important to respond. They shot down a helicopter, and we are responding as we speak. I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is.”
Emphasis mine.
Al Jazeera - US attack on Iran likely targeting drone manufacturing. Describing this interestingly as self-defence operations, that would suggest that if, as we have been told, the US investigation discovered that it was a Shahed one-way attack drone that was used in the downing of the helicopter, this will be targeting where they believe drones are being manufactured in Iran.
The fact that they’re calling it self-defence suggests that this isn’t a restart of the war, that this continues to be a continuation of the peace fire, where there are some exchanges of fire between Iran and the US, but the overall goal is, of course, to get to some sort of memorandum of understanding and therefore, to a final deal between the two countries.
~8m ago
AP - JUST IN: US Army helicopter that crashed off the coast of Oman went down after colliding with an Iranian drone, US official says
Edit. Oops. I forgot to give the source.
I hope his brain starts to get even mushier and he says “two weeks” every few days. Fox News will have to resort to their daily message that “The president is owning the libs every day!” Republicans will pretend that’s true. And libs will be mad all the time saying “This can’t continue!” but of course it can and it will.
That should be a stamp.
Also - it works like gangbusters. I wonder how many times he’s used “two weeks” since his first inauguration. It’s one of his go-tos. My guess is at least 50 even though it’s a ridiculous tell like “believe me, believe me”. Nothing matters.
Al Jazeera - Global spending on nuclear weapons jumps 19 percent Global spending in nuclear weapons hit a record high last year, according to a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The world’s nine nuclear armed countries spent a total of $119bn, or $3,768 per second, on nuclear weapons – a 19-percent increase from 2024.
Those nine countries are the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. The US spent more than all of the other nuclear armed states combined, coming in at $69.2bn. “At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing and food and fuel are unaffordable for so many, it is unthinkable that these nine countries are spending billions on a false promise of security,” Susi Snyder, ICAN’s director of programmes said.
“Nuclear weapons cannot be used without causing catastrophe, and the false logic of nuclear deterrence requires us to trust our enemies with our very survival,” she added.
CNN - Trump says US will “declare total victory” over Iran in next two weeks. President Donald Trump suggested that the United States would be declaring “total victory” over Iran in the next two weeks in a tele-rally for South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is on the primary ballot Tuesday.
“We’re negotiating now, and they want to make a very good deal. They’re willing to give us everything, they’re willing to give us no nuclear weapon. I think we are winning that battle, but you’re really going to win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory, it’ll be a total victory, it’ll happen very soon, and oil prices will come tumbling down.”
It’s not the first time he’s made promises about significant progress in “two weeks.” The ceasefire with Iran, announced on April 7, was initially supposed to last two weeks while the two sides finished a deal to end the war. Asked on Meet the Press why Iran hasn’t agreed to a deal if they are desperate to make one, as he has said repeatedly, the president said:
“Because they’re strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice. And it takes a little while.”
I wonder if GOP SCOTUS will make AI religious exceptions federal law. And if that happens - can somebody say “Look, no AI for me. I have a religious exception. I’m a Satanist.”
I think an EV version of an old-school station wagon would be extremely popular. Here’s a 1970s Toyota Corona station wagon.
The last vestige of my mom’s youth that she refused to let go for a surprisingly long time was her Fiat Spider convertible. She really loved that car. A small convertible is very much not a mom car so eventually she sold it and replaced it with that . But she always was a real convertible guy. Decades later she bought herself another convertible.
I wasn’t a car guy as a boy. But I knew the Spider was cool and the station wagon wasn’t. But later on I developed a fondness for old-school wagons. I’m still not a car guy but they have wagony charm.
I’ll answer seriously even though you’re joking. There will be a very strong bipartisan push to effectively ban them from US roads.
Reality doesn’t matter. When Trump is campaigning for his third term (via GOP SCOTUS) - republicans will simply say that he didn’t start the war - Iran did.
8m ago