President Donald Trump's often conflicting or inconsistent statements regarding the U.S. war in Iran have not only left American critics confused, but foreign officials as well ... read more
A group of Ecuadorian fishers have described how they were attacked in a double drone strike and then detained at gunpoint by soldiers on a US-flagged patrol vessel, in a rare first-hand account by victims of Donald Trump's militarized campaign against alleged drug-trafficking boats off South America. At least 178 people have been killed in US military airstrikes in the Caribbean and Pacific since the offensive began in September, according to a tally by the Washington Office on Latin America (Wola). The US has provided no evidence that any of the vessels were involved in drug trafficking, and legal experts and rights groups say the attacks amount to extrajudicial killings as they apparently target civilians who do not pose any immediate threat. The White House insists the killings are lawful.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson apologized on Monday for campaigning for President Donald Trump, declaring that he would be "tormented" by the decision "for a long time" to come. During an interview with his brother Buckley Carlson " a Republican Party operative who previously wrote speeches for Trump " Carlson expressed regret for having publicly supported the president, who has repeatedly attacked him in recent months. "You wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him. I mean, we're implicated in this, for sure," said Carlson to his brother on The Tucker Carlson Show. "It's not enough to say, Well I changed my mind,' or like, Oh this is bad, I'm out.' It's like in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now." "Yes," Buckley replied. read more
It was almost exactly this time 20 years ago that the bottom began to fall out on George W. Bush's approval ratings. And as Bush's numbers in most polls fell into the 30s for the first time in late winter and early spring, the culprit was clear: the Iraq war. History could be repeating itself with President Donald Trump in 2026. Just swap Iraq with Iran. Two new polls released Tuesday morning showed Trump's approval rating in the mid-30s: 36% in a Reuters-Ipsos poll and 35% in a Strength in Numbers-Verasight poll. They follow an NBC News poll over the weekend that showed Trump hitting a new low of 37%. Over the past month now, eight of nine quality polls tracked by CNN have shown Trump in the 30s.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is focused on a new enemy as the war with Iran rages on: the flu shot. Despite Hegseth's assertion that the flu vaccine mandate is "absurd," the military has a longstanding history of requiring vaccines dating back to nearly the country's inception. In 1777, General George Washington required troops to vaccinate themselves against smallpox. It was also the U.S. Army that invested in the development of the first flu vaccine at the start of World War II out of concern because the 1918 influenza pandemic killed about 45,000 to 50,000 U.S. soldiers during World War I. The flu vaccine was then mandated for all military personnel in 1945, until Hegseth's new announcement.
Andrea Junker
@strandjunker.com
4m
WWI Combat: 53,402 deaths
WWI Flu: 45,000 deaths
Pete Hegseth: "Let's make the flu a threat again!"
Apparently, "readiness" now means making our troops as vulnerable as they were in 1918. Bold move.