Flotsam and Jetsam - Strait of Hormuz is Open

Just look at Marine Traffic.com. Leslie Eastman at LI, It Appears Ships are Sailing, Once Again, Through the Strait of Hormuz "As Washington underwrites safe passage and “privateer” tankers steam through silently with transponders off, the ayatollahs are reduced to offering bribery coupons for “safe passage” to any government willing to dump U.S. and Israeli diplomats, advertising weakness to friend and foe alike." Nick Arama at Red State, Here's What Iran Just Said About the Strait of Hormuz - It Sounds Like a Huge Cave After Trump Threat. Open to all save Israel and the US, who they can't stop. Andrew Clark @AndrewHClark, "In 72 hours we went from: Trump never expected the possibility of Hormuz closing, To: Trump was briefed Hormuz could close but riskily did it anyway, To: Trump bombed Kharg Island but it likely won’t force Iran to open the Strait To: Iran opened the Strait." John Ʌ Konrad V @johnkonrad, "Let me tell you the secret difference between a Navy and merchant ship captain that goes beyond the obvious..."

The Scuttlebutt

From Scott McKay at Am Spec, Five Quick Things: How’s the Iran War Actually Going? "It is being run by professionals, which is more than you can say about the Senate." Oh no, they're professional politicians; that's the problem. At Hat Hair, Dave Strom Pravda and the Democrats Are Lying: Operation Epic Fury Strategy Is Brilliant; UPDATE: Iran Opens Strait and Duane Patterson, Donald Trump Checkmates Iran On Day 14. wretchardthecat @wretchardthecat, "As I have often pointed out, the administration deliberately conceals its direction of advance in OEF, like an NBA player faking and feinting to throw of the defense. There is a long list of "would never" actions that the administration has started, breaking every taboo, only to not quite go down and veer in an unexpected direction. Everyone is still guessing: 1) Are the Kurds going in? 2) Is there going to be a superadvanced drone attack on the IRGC? 3) Will the administration declare victory and leave? 4) Will the US spare the ayatollahs and negotiate? 5) Will US proxies and marines take an Iranian port? Damned if I know and one suspects this is deliberate. They have a goal, but are advancing toward it in a heuristic manner." James Fay at RCD attributes it to Getting Inside the Enemy’s Mind with superb intelligence. Kyle Moran at RCP says Finish the Job, Mr. President.

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair finds this Too Fun to Check: Hamas Condemns Iran? Plus, Israel Tees Up 'Massive' Invasion. Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "That is definitely the Hitler Bunker. Iranian dude's making demands from the Hitler Bunker. Like, "We will consider ending the war when we receive full compensation from Russia, the United States and Britain for all our damage, and Russia withdraws from Berlin." Skinny nervous dude next to loudmouth looks like, howTF do I get out of here? Kinda looks like he's about to hurl." Quote Defiant L’s @DefiantLs, "Senior Iranian official Mohsen Rezaee: We will consider ending the war only when, first, we receive full compensation for all our damages from the United States, and second, we obtain a 100% guarantee for the future.. US withdraws from the Persian Gulf." Tim O'Brien at PJM sees the Rats Are Jumping Ship: Is the Iranian Regime Relocating to Canada? Will the Mossad follow them? Almost for sure.

From NewsBusters, CNN Officials Caught Celebrating Regime at Iranian Embassy Party in U.K. Matt Vespa, So, That's Who CNN Was Busted Partying With in London Last Month End Wokeness @EndWokeness, "MSNBC anchor: Trump's attacks on Iran are "racism."" Nick Arama can't believe it Did They Really Say This? CNN Issues Incredible Statement About Their Horrible Week of False Stories. Matt Vespa, So, That's Who CNN Was Busted Partying With in London Last Month. Nick Arama can't believe it Did They Really Say This? CNN Issues Incredible Statement About Their Horrible Week of False Stories. Deputy Press Sec Joel Valdez @JoelValdezDOW, "Can the following reporters from the major cable news networks please confirm you were at today's Pentagon press briefing? Jim @Acosta still doesn't believe you were there. @LMartinezABC (ABC) @Ellee_Watson (CBS) @halbritz (CNN) @JenGriffinFNC (Fox) @JulesJester (MS NOW) @ckubeNBC (NBC) Thank you!" Quote Jim Acosta @Acosta "The major networks and news outlets were not participants in that Pentagon “briefing.” Lindell TV, One America News, Real America News all asked “questions.” This is happening in the United States. Fills you with confidence?" At Twitchy, Veterans on X OBLITERATE Bond Trader Rando For Claiming That 'No One In the Military Wants to Serve'. Defiant L’s @DefiantLs, "Bill Maher: "Don’t take that the wrong way. I’m on our side, okay? I’m for us winning. I’m not on that page of ‘Trump did it, so I’m with the Ayatollah now.’ No!"" Charles C. W. Cooke @charlescwcooke, "This is so cheap. He actually said, “War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them.” Bertrand knows that, which is why she disabled replies." Quote Natasha Bertrand @NatashaBertrand Replying to @NatashaBertrand, "Hegseth on the KC-135 crash: “Bad things can happen” in war. Caine starts out with a tribute to those killed." Readers added context, "The quote above was taken out of context. The full quote honors the dead and their service. ""War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes - all of them." The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "To Save Time, CNN Will Now Run Retractions Simultaneously With News Stories https://buff.ly/qEWLcI1"

On a serious note, an anti-Iran war lib, doxxed Cynical Publius, and earned a stunning rebuke from Data Republican. DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican, "Hello Brad Duplessis, You pre-emptively blocked me here on 𝕏, so I am forced to make this "Hello" a standalone post. You are a retired Army infantry officer. You served in Iraq and Afghanistan. You graduated from the National War College in 2018. You are now an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Thank you for your service. But reputations are not defined by resumes. They are defined by choices. Today, you chose to doxx @CynicalPublius. Today, you published your debut article on War on the Rocks. You published his legal name. His profession. His pseudonym. All in one sentence. Indexed, archived, permanently searchable. You have changed the course of his life forever, and revealed him to the leftist ghouls who will demand his blood for forever. It doesn't matter if he was planning to reveal his identity eventually. You still made that choice. And I will make sure you are remembered for this. So, what was CP's sin such that you saw it fit to throw him to the wolves? Last month, he dared to write an article for American Greatness, centered around nine recommendations for War College reform. The recommendations included firing most civilian faculty and ending permanent military faculty positions. You hold a permanent civilian faculty position at a War College. You did not mention this in your article. In short, you named him, exposed his life to danger, because you really are arguing for your job and self-preservation. ..." It's worth reading the full thing. All hail autism! Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius, "Today has been pretty intense. Thank you all for your support. I'm going to sign off for a bit, but I want to leave everyone with some thoughts. People on the Right tend to use pseudonyms on social media because we have well-founded concerns of death threats, attempts to get us fired from our jobs, attacks on family members, hacking, SWATting and all other manner of evil (and often illegal) mischief from those on the Left, up to and including being murdered for our free speech. People on the Left tend to use their real names on social media because they know that people on the Right tend to respect the rule of law and the basic dignity of other human beings. We are not the same."

At Twitchy, Sen. Mark Kelly (Almost) Catches Pete Hegseth Giving an Illegal Order. Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly, "“No quarter” isn’t some wanna be tough guy line - it means something. An order to give no quarter would mean to take no prisoners and kill them instead. That would violate the law of armed conflict. It would be an illegal order. It would also put American service members at greater risk. Pete Hegseth should know better than to throw around terms like this." Quote Acyn@Acyn, "Hegseth: No quarter, no mercy for our enemies. Yet some in the press just can't stop. More fake news from CNN reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the strait of hormuz. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better." Complete BORE @BulletboyDesign, ""Hyperbole is a figure of speech using deliberate, often dramatic exaggeration—not meant to be taken literally—to emphasize a point, evoke strong emotions, or add humor." However, people suffering from even mild cases of TDS are incapable of understanding this. Stop digging." Prompt Critical HY80 @DeckplateOpsO, "“If iraq rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear: victory. And victory means total victory. No concessions. No quarter.” -Joe biden."

Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "OK, so the Abraham Accords. Taking down the Venezuelan cartel/dictatorship. Finally a response in the Iran War, the mullahs thought we were stupid and weak, they were right. Now Cuba. You do get he's basically walking on water. Making every elected hack, bureaucrat and diplomat of the last 40 years or so look like dithering incompetent fools, when they weren't actively and despicably enabling said dictatorships, that is. Could it all go wrong? Yeah. But for the first time since Ronald Reagan blew up the Soviet Union, someone's trying." Quote New York Post @nypost "Cubans chant 'Down with Communism' and attack government building during violent night of protests https://trib.al/EODsODx" Marc J. Randazza @marcorandazza, "while new yorkers vote in communists." The Miami Herald, Havana is expected to allow Cubans in Miami, elsewhere to own businesses on the island. AP whines Young Cubans turn to church and state as cheap, synthetic drugs flood the streets. Nioh Berg @NiohBerg, "This is Cuba now. Cubans and Venezuelans are some of the only people on Earth who really truly understand Iranians, and vice versa. Freedom inspires freedom. May all our countries be liberated this year." Amy Curtis @RantyAmyCurtis, "I love the optics of a bunch of white, rich American socialists going to Cuba to tell them not to overthrow communism." Quote DSA @DemSocialists, "DSA is going to Cuba! 20 DSA members are joining the Nuestra America Convoy this March 21st. We’ll bring much-needed material aid, volunteer our labor in solidarity, and show the world that Cuba is under siege, but they are not alone." Sarah Anderson at PJM likes The New Monroe Doctrine: The Fear Is Gone.

Martyupnorth®- Unacceptable Fact Checker @Martyupnorth "A stupid Canadian general wanted to show the Americans how tough our soldiers are, and ordered them to stay out on exercise during dangerously cold weather. The Americans went home. It cost dozens of our guys fingers and toes. But that's not the worse part. The army tried to keep this secret, and under-reported the severity of the injuries. This story is not over." There's brave, and there's stupid. Sometime it's hard to see the line.

From NYPo, President Trump orders oil drilling operations to resume off California and Stunning turnaround for California’s oil industry after Trump’s surprise executive order to help ease gas prices. 

At Breitbart, The U.S. Really Does Have a Balance-of-Payments Problem "The establishment case against tariffs got a polished restatement in the Financial Times this week. It is worth examining carefully because it gets the problem wrong, gets the causation wrong, and offers wishes in place of solutions."

Richard Grenell @RichardGrenell, "Your buffoonery knows no limits. You sat silent while the place went into total disrepair. You sat silent while the staff was paid with monies designed to pay off the future $30 million loan coming due in 2030 because there was no money in the bank to pay salaries. You sat silent while corporations left because of the hard left woke programming. We fixed it. ... You are welcome." Quote Sheldon Whitehouse @SenWhitehouse "Like a mob bust-out gone wrong, Trumpsters’ looting of the Kennedy Center has put it out of business, and now it needs to be “closed for renovations” as cover-up. No surprise he’s being replaced."

Joe Chalfant at TownHall, So, That's How Republicans Just Lost a Long-Held Mayoral Seat By a Single Vote. The Biz Doc @TomEllsworth, "Boca Raton Republicans just lost their mayor seat for the first time in 30+ years. Won by a Democrat with under 40% of the vote. How? Two Republicans: • Establishment insider (Vice Mayor) • Outsider businessman Neither would drop out. Combined Republican vote: 11,534 (60%) Winning Democrat: 7,572 (39%) Margin of victory: 1 vote. Ego > party." And Matt Vespa, This Quote From Gov. Stitt Is NOT Good News Regarding Who He'd Pick to Replace Markwayne Mullin.

Stacey Matthews at LI, Democrat Senator Suddenly Open to DHS Funding After Michigan Synagogue Attack “Certainly, we need to fund the Department of Homeland Security, and we need, in my view, to cut away all the conversation on ICE, which is its own conversation, from all the core missions of the DHS.” At Calling All RushBabes *Delayed Reaction. Islamic Terror Attacks in the United States. Daniel Friedman @DanFriedman81, "The Left is so committed to the position that bad guys are actually good guys and good guys are actually bad guys that multiple major media outlets tried to justify and rationalize the actions of a terrorist who drove a truck full of explosives into a pre-school full of babies."

Hat Hair's John Sexton is amused by the Washington Post: Republicans Are Seizing on Talarico's Past Statements. Damn right! Matt Boose at the Chronic, James Talarico and the Anti-White Cult of the Left. KT at Ace's notes that Talarico's bots are appearing on social media. 

From the Free Bacon, Bond Market May Be a Last Guardrail on Far-Left Mayors as Moody’s Goes 'Negative' on Mamdani’s New York, "Chicago also under pressure as Fitch cautions about 'management ineffectiveness.'"

Chris Rufo and Haley Strack at CJ go Inside San Francisco’s Racialist Slush Fund. "The city’s revived “Dream Keeper” initiative is spending millions on groups that have offered an all-black drag show, “ancient Egyptian” healing, and free doulas for “Black birthing people”—potentially in violation of federal law."

Chris Chmielenski at Am Great on The Path to a Million: Why Mass Deportations are the Key to 2026 "Trump’s base didn’t elect him for half measures on immigration; they expect mass deportations—and the scale of enforcement between now and November may decide the 2026 midterms." Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol, "I regret to inform you that white liberal women are now SINGING, DANCING, AND GRINDING on ICE agents in order to protest the removal of dangerous criminal illegal aliens from the country. You cannot make this up... Absolutely insane behavior on display here."

Jonathan Turley is flabbergasted by a Former Columbia Professor who Calls for Violence and Glorifies the Murder of Jews: “We Need to Destroy” At Quotulatiousness the QotD: “Bludgeonspeak” "I’m coining a term today: “bludgeonspeak”. Bludgeonspeak is the use of invented terminology, or historical terminology that has been hijacked and corrupted, and then emptied of all meaning except as an attempt at moral blackmail. Here are some notable bludgeonspeak items in 2025: “racist”, “fascist”, “homophobe”, “transphobe”, “islamophobe”, “far-right”. Also, the term “genocide” might not be quite there yet, but it’s being pushed in that direction pretty hard. Some bludgeonspeak terms, like “fascist” and “racist” and “genocide”, used to have substantive meanings which have been destroyed by persistent abuse. It may be appropriate to recognize and use those meanings if you are reading or writing or speaking about history. Others, like “homophobe”, “transphobe”, and “islamophobe”, were bludgeonspeak from birth. There are no circumstances in which these have substantive meaning, and it is unwise to treat them as though they do."The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "Tragedy: Liberal Gets Stabbed Before Finishing Telling People How Peaceful Islam Is https://buff.ly/wiBh5F0."

Josh Blackmun at The Volokh Conspiracy, The Penis Mightier, "Why is it worse to use problematic language to describe something than to acknowledge that thing is actually problematic?" "I think most people have missed the point of Judge VanDyke's "swinging dicks" dissental. Of course he used vulgar and coarse language. (I for one would not use this approach in my writing.) That was VanDyke's point. He was trying to draw a double standard. Thirty members of his court expressed their outrage at VanDyke writing about "swinging dicks," but not one of them was willing to review a case that involved actual "swinging dicks." How can it be that describing "swinging dicks" in a women's spa is a bigger problem than the state permitting actual "swinging dicks" in a women's spa? Judge VanDyke proves the old saw is true: "The pen is mightier than the sword." Or, as Sean Connery would say on SNL Celebrity Jeopardy!, "The penis mightier."

Tablesalt @Tablesalt13, "Average wait times by specialist in Canada: (There's a surprise at the end) Neurosurgery: 49.9 weeks Orthopaedic Surgery: 48.6 weeks Otolaryngology: 43.8 weeks Plastic Surgery: 41.5 weeks Gynaecology: 40.6 weeks General Surgery: 31.8 weeks Ophthalmology: 20.8 weeks Urology: 25.7 weeks Cardiovascular Surgery (Elective): 19.6 weeks Internal Medicine: 21.2 weeks Medically Assisted Dying: 0 days."