WendyMcElroy.com

Brad here. If you have sent either of us email in the last two days (since Friday AM), there is a good chance that we have not received it. Our web host's mail server has failed, and is still (!) down. I'm informed it's a hardware problem. Our outgoing emails are being refused, but not lost, and can be re-sent when the server is fixed. Incoming emails may be stuck on our server (where we can not as yet read them), or bounced back to you (in which case you should get a bounce message), or quietly "dropped on the floor" after being retried some number of times.

I'll advise here on the blog when we're up and running again.

War With Iran. From the Guardian: Toll So Far of 'Operation Epic Fury': 13 US Troops Dead, 200 Hurt. Most injuries are being described as minor. From Zero Hedge: Iran Denies Talks Taking Place As Drone Smashes Into Landmark Baghdad Hotel Hosting EU, Saudi Diplomats. [Ed: Israel will not let this war end quickly.]

From Lovely Animals World: Woman Accidentally Orders Tiny Dog Bed, Dog Pretends Everything Is Fine

From Reason: Overpopulation. Why the Media Pushes Public Health Myths. [Ed: the media should make up its mind. Either most Western are not replacing their own populations or we are breeding to quickly to feed ourselves.] AND Population Doomster and False Prophet of Ecological Apocalypse Paul Ehrlich Has Died

From Jonathan Turley: Boasberg’s Law: Why The Quashing of the Powell Subpoenas Leaves More Questions Than Answers. [Ed: Boasberg is a well-known activist judge.]

From the Post Millennial: Antifa members threaten wife of judge in Prairieland ICE facility case, vow 'retaliation' for convicted militants. [Ed: I used to think they exaggerated the danger of antifa.]

From BBC News: Trump: I Believe I'll Have 'the Honor of Taking Cuba'. Pressure increases on Havana, which is also dealing with a massive blackout . [Ed: the 3rd blackout, as I understand.]

From the Daily Bell: Canada’s two-tier justice system is rigged in favour of the criminals. [Ed: it is great to be Canadian! I actually used to believe this.]

From Newsweek: Moment Anxious Apartment Dog Realizes New Home Has a Backyard Goes Viral

From the Post Millennial: Trump warns of 'very bad future' for NATO if nations don't join US in Iran. “If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO." [Ed: good riddance to NATO.]

From Garden and Gun: Meet the Jack Russell Terrier Who Moonlights as a Gundog
What Gator lacks in steadiness, he makes up for in enthusiasm

From Reason: The Trump Administration Just Declared All Foreign Exports Unfair. By the administration's logic, Iowa is hurting Arizona by producing so much corn. This is a very silly way to think about economic policy.

From the AP: This Year's Flu Shot Didn't Do So Well. It was 25% to 30% effective in preventing a doctor's visit, worst percentage in years [Ed: without giving anyone any advice...I don't have yearly flu shots. I take my chances with the flu itself.]

From QTR: Mamdani's Estate Tax Will Suffocate NYC's Middle Class. $750,000 in New York is not generational wealth. It’s a two bedroom house in Queens.

From the BBC: Israeli Forces Fatally Shoot Palestinian Parents, 2 Children. Authorities say troops in West Bank town felt threatened. [Ed: like the term "obstruction of justice", the "I felt threatened" excuse covers any act of random violence.]

From Reason: Brian Doherty, Historian of the Libertarian Movement, Dead at 57. The longtime Reason senior editor accidentally fell to his death in a park along the San Francisco Bay.

From Hot Air: AI Has Learned to Code and Is Taking Over. [Ed: hat tip to Brad who comments, I need to follow the link in this article, and read the source material, to evaluate this. Meanwhile, I may be blissfully ignorance, but I'm not alarmed by this.]

From PJ Media: Rats Are Jumping Ship: Is the Iranian Regime Relocating to Canada? "A news site called Justice In Conflict reported in January that “in 2021, a Tehran police chief was spotted at a Toronto-area gym. In 2024, it was reported that 700 Iranian nationals linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) resided in Canada – the same group that has been designated as a terrorist entity by the Canadian government. That same year, five Iranian regime figures faced deportation back to Iran.” "

From Reason: Trump and Vance Promised 'No New Wars.' What Happened To That? Some MAGA peaceniks have seemingly transformed into neocons. [Ed: same thing happened with the 2003 Iraq war.]

Reason Magazine has just announced...

We are sad to report that Senior Editor Brian Doherty has died. Brian wrote six books, including "Radicals for Capitalism," a seminal history of the modern American libertarian movement. He had an inspiring commitment to covering the ways free people choose to live their lives, and he will be missed. A full obituary will appear soon at reason.com.

From Naked Capitalism: Trump’s Iran War Is an Affordability Disaster.

From I Love My Dog So Much: The Belgian Laekenois in Action: Stories of Heroism and Service

From the Post Millennial: 2 Toronto-area synagogues shot at overnight. “Too much inaction and repeated weak responses from too many leaders have permitted this behavior to become normalized." [Ed: I am still stunned by it but I am actually seeing the rise of antisemitism in Canada. I can't believe the things I'm hearing...but we have opened the door for many, many nationalities that hate Israel.]

From the Cradle: Retaliatory strike hits Bahrain desalination plant after US attack on Iran’s Qeshm facility From IntelliNews: Dubai has ten days of fresh food left.

From Volokh Conspiracy: Lawsuit Over Cancellation of April 2024 Pro-Palestine Protest at U Texas Can Go Forward

From Real Clear Defense: Operation Epic Fury - Déjà Vu. "The President will declare victory, rinse and repeat..."

From YouTube, Kritter Klub: A Lovely Dog Born Without Legs Is Given Legs As A Gift

From the Toronto Star: Israel renews assault on Lebanon after Netanyahu promises ‘many surprises’ in next phase of war. [Ed: Trump says the Kurds will not be involved. The Kurds say they refuse to be involved because they do not trust the U.S.] From Zero Hedge: Kurds Do Not 'Trust' US To Use Them As Proxy Force Against Iran, Iraqi Kurdish officials say they are "staying neutral" because "there is no clarity"..

From Doog Lovers: Rocky’s Incredible 43-Day Survival Journey in the Colorado Mountains

Affordability. From Reason: The 'Fairness' Law That Could Raise Grocery Prices for New Yorkers. Legislators are trying to pass their own state version of an outdated antitrust law—one that is dead at the federal level for a reason. [Ed: gov. intervention never makes anything less expensive.] From Forbes: How High Could Oil Prices Go? A Reality-Based Look At The Ceiling. From CNBC: Oil Soars Past $100 as Iran War Continues From USA Today: Car 'Destination' Fees Are Quietly Adding Hundreds. Automakers are hiking this transport charge as tariffs, other costs squeeze profits. From Naked Capitalism: Iran War: Oil Rises to Nearly $120, Stays Above $100 Despite G7 Plans for Reserves Release; Foreign Markets Swoon; Iran Increasing Intensity of Strikes, Targeting More Assets in the Gulf

Iran. From Zero Hedge: Iran Picks Khamenei's Son As Next Supreme Leader. Mojtaba Khamenei is the third person to lead the Islamic Republic and the first example of hereditary succession since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1979 revolution. [Ed: if a news report I heard is correct, he is looking to avenge his father's death.] AND [/b]It Begins: Iranian Drone Strikes Bahrain Desalination Plant As Worst-Case Scenario Unfolds "... the US targeted a water desalination plant in Iran, an IRGC kamikaze drone then targeted a desalination plant in Bahrain." [Ed: people will die of thirst; crops will perish. This is very sad.] From the Daily Reckoning: Martyrdom, Maps, & Munitions:[/link] Jim Rickards' Most Surprising Iran Takes. ...challenging topography, propaganda victories, and the re-provision problem. U.S.'s Running Cost of War in Iran.

From the AP: Luxury Department Giant Is Shuttering More Stores. Saks Global, parent company of Saks and Neiman Marcus, to close more locations amid bankruptc. "The closures come on top of the eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one Neiman Marcus store that the company said it would close last month."

From Zero Hedge: BBC Slips In 'Mistranslated' Propaganda To Radically Alter Hegseth Speech On Iran. The error drew condemnation from Iranians online... [Ed: defund it.]

From Good News Network: Dog Obsessively Sniffing Mom’s Breath Detected Lung Cancer–Now an E-Nose is Being Trained to Save More Lives

From Gold and Geopolitics: The Bretton Whoops. How fifty years of dollar supremacy are dying with a bang, not a whimper... [Ed: goodbye to the petrodollar.]

From I Love My Dog So Much: Tales Of The Pyrenean Trailblazers: Celebrating The Mastiff’s Unsung Heroes

Iran. From Zero Hedge: US Intelligence Community Assessed That Massive US Attack 'Unlikely' To Oust Iranian Regime: WaPo. Intel report also poured cold water on idea that Iran's opposition could quickly fill any power vacuum. From antiwar: In Iran, Israel’s Morbid Military Cult Now Has the US Fully in Its Grip. The admission this week by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, echoed by Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, that Israel forced Washington’s hand in attacking Iran has rightly caused consternation. [Ed: I'm a bit surprised Trump got hooked in.]

From Tech Crunch: Bill Gates’ TerraPower gets approval to build new nuclear reactor. [Ed: first approval in quite some while.] From Reason: The Joys of Data Centers: Debunking the Backlash Against the $7 Trillion AI Building Boom. Contrary to the claims of the not-in-my-backyard technophobes, all this growth comes with minimal environmental downsides.

From Andrew Korybko: Azerbaijan's "Multi-Vector Alignment" Poses A Serious Challenge To Russia. The “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” is poised to become a military-logistics corridor for expanding NATO influence along Russia’s southern periphery... [Ed: Korybko is always worth reading.]

From Rover: Is Your Dog Actually Barking at Nothing—Or Is There Something You Can’t See?

From Yahoo! News: Trump says Cuba is ‘going to fall pretty soon.’ What’s really happening there?

American Empire. From Ian Welsh: Iran Is Revealing The American Empire’s End From Scheerpost: America at the End of Empire? Dennis Kucinich Warns Iran Could Be the Graveyard of U.S. Power.

From Dig Watch: Privacy lawsuit targets Meta AI glasses after reports of footage review

From Jim Bovard: When Reagan (Wisely) Cut & Run From The Middle East After Marine Barracks Bombing. The full story that Pete Hegseth won't tell you...

From Spiked Online: Why Musk is right to fight the EU’s empire of censorship. Brussels is desperate to regulate X into oblivion – and to silence the European people

From NBC News: Trump: I'll Block All Other Bills Until SAVE Act Passes. He threatens shutdown over voting restrictions, transgender care and sports. [Ed: I don't think Dems can win another election without cheating, which is what SAVE would prevent.] From Capital Research Center: The SAVE Act and manufactured panic over married women. The question is not whether married women can vote. The question is: why is a powerful nonprofit network so invested in convincing the country that they cannot? [Ed: read the previous Ed: comment.]

From City Journal: Two Decades in the Swamp - What I learned.

From Zero Hedge: India To US: We Don't Need Permission To Buy Russian Oil. Surprisingly feisty statement from New Delhi... [Ed: I'm sure Trump was not expecting this response.]

From Good News Network: Dying Man Pleads With Facebook to Find Home For His Dog and the Response is Overwhelming. [Ed: good ending.]

From Inside Climate News: After a Decade of Missteps, a Texas City Careens Toward a Water-Shortage Catastrophe. Officials in Corpus Christi expect a “water emergency” within months and fully run out of water next year. [Ed: wars are going to be fought over water in the coming years.]