Senator Ron Wyden has been working for years to unravel Jeffrey Epstein's crimes by following his money. This should be a no-brainer -- it's been clear for a long time that Epstein had been involved in a global sex trafficking and money laundering empire.
The latest World Happiness Report 2026 says that heavy social media use has contributed to a stark decline in well-being among young people read more
Massive Western heat wave, potential El Nino raise concerns about unpredictable, extreme weather. read more
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump chose loyalists with little experience for several key cabinet positions on Wednesday ... read more
It's been three years since an FBI director admitted to purchasing the location data of Americans, potentially in violation of the Constitution. Here we go again. read more
Meanwhile ...
Iran said ready to allow Japanese vessels through Strait of Hormuz
www.jpost.com
... Iran is ready to let Japanese-related vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies, Kyodo news reported, citing Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Tehran has started talks with Tokyo about possibly opening the Strait, Araghchi told the Japanese news agency in a phone interview on Friday.
Japan's foreign and trade ministries and the Prime Minister's Office did not pick up calls from Reuters on Saturday seeking comment on the report.
Japan gets around 90% of its oil shipments via the strait, which Tehran has largely closed during the US-Israeli war on Iran. A spike in global oil prices sparked by the war, which enters its fourth week on Saturday, has prompted Japan and other countries to release oil from their reserves. ...
@#30 ... Over 4,000 Marines are headed to Iran. Marines usually go in first. Or very close to first. ...
Three San Diego warships carrying 2,500 Camp Pendleton Marines en route to Middle East
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
... The amphibious ready group is being led by the USS Boxer, an 844-foot ship that's known as a mini-carrier because of its array of air assets, which include F-35B stealth fighter jets. Boxer is traveling with the amphibious warships USS Portland and USS Comstock.
The ships are carrying elements of Camp Pendleton's 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU, an air-and-ground attack force that specializes in rapid response missions, particularly amphibious assaults. Pendleton-based MEUs helped put Marines ashore during the Iraq War in 2003. ...
Israel says strikes to ramp up after Trump remarks
www.dw.com
... Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said US and Israeli strikes on Iran will "increase significantly" in the coming week. Katz's comments come after President Donald Trump said he was considering "winding down" the war. ...
Trump Says ICE to Run Airport Security If No TSA Deal Reached
www.newsweek.com
... On Saturday, Trump wrote he would move ICE agents to airports to conduct security if Democrats did not fund the TSA, writing they would do security "like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country."
Trump said there would be a "heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, who have totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota."
"I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports," the president concluded in his social media post. ...
Meanwhile, Iran's obliterated military did this ...
Iran unsuccessfully targets UK-US Diego Garcia base, shows its missiles can reach Western Europe
www.timesofisrael.com
...Iran was "unsuccessful" in targeting the joint UK-US Indian Ocean military base at Diego Garcia, a UK official source confirmed on Saturday, a day after the Wall Street Journal reported Tehran fired two ballistic missiles at the base but failed to hit it.
The source said the "unsuccessful targeting of Diego Garcia" took place before the UK government announced Friday that it would allow the United States to use some of its bases to target Iranian sites being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz. CNN reported that the attack took place on Friday morning.
The Iranian attack on the Diego Garcia air base " located about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iran " indicated Tehran has in its stockpile missiles that can travel much further than it had previously acknowledged. ...
Trump Has New Plan for the Strait of Hormuz: It'll Open Itself'
www.mediaite.com
... President Donald Trump predicted that the Strait of Hormuz would "open itself" once Iran stopped "clogging up" the narrow passage, even as he appealed that it would "be nice" if allied nations, and China, would help police it.
Iranian regime attacks against energy-producing Gulf nations following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes have effectively shuttered the vital transportation route, which carries a major portion of the world's supply of oil and natural gas. The move has become a key pressure point to Iranian pushback against U.S. operations, elevating oil prices on global markets.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House as he prepared to board Marine One, the president said that Iran's military capability had been "obliterated" and floated that the strait might "open itself." ...
Iranian Navy Guided Indian Tanker Through Hormuz, Crew Member Says
gcaptain.com
... The Iranian Navy guided an Indian liquefied petroleum gas tanker through the Strait of Hormuz last week, allowing the ship to pass on a pre-approved route following diplomatic engagement by New Delhi, according to a senior officer onboard the vessel.
The officer asked for anonymity, as the crew of his vessel -- one of two Indian ships that made the crossing -- were not permitted to talk to the media. His account appears to confirm analysts' views that Tehran is trying to impose a traffic control system through the strait, permitting safe passage for friendly vessels while leaving others fearful of attack.
During the crossing, the officer's ship was in contact with the Iranian navy by radio, he said. The Iranians took details of the ship's flag, name, origin and destination ports, and the nationality of the crew members -- all of whom were Indian " and guided them on an agreed course.
"It seems that Iran is allowing select vessels to transit Hormuz after verification which takes place during the ships' transit inside Iranian waters," said Martin Kelly, head of advisory at EOS Risk Group. "While ships are being allowed to transit, it is mostly only to the benefit of Iran." ...
Another view ...
Republicans Block Epstein Financial Records Subpoena (October 2025)
www.kbklawyers.com
... Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose how House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan killed subpoenas for Jeffrey Epstein's financial records from four major banks just as Congress was poised to investigate $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions. ...
The opening paragraph of the Judge's Opinion...
storage.courtlistener.com (PDF)
...
A primary purpose of the First Amendment is to enable the press to publish what it will and the public to read what it chooses, free of any official proscription. Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation's security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by governmental suppression of political speech. That principle has preserved the nation's security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now.
...
@#15 ... capturing something like kharg island ...
Polly Toynbee meets Donald Trump: the 1988 interview (2017)
www.theguardian.com
... the Guardian writer reflected on her interview nearly 30 years ago. Here it is in full ...
Donald Trump is New York. Glitz, greed, glamour and an ambition so colossal that it will probably not rest until he rules the world -- which one day he just might. At 41 he owns vast chunks of Manhattan's prime real estate, the best hotels, the biggest casinos in Atlantic City, huge realms in Palm Beach and much more. He is the toughest, the fastest, operator in the city, and probably, says his biography, the world. He's as sharp as a gold-plated razor-blade.
He sells himself, like everything belonging to him, very big indeed. ...
What would he do about Iran, for instance? I'd be harsh on Iran. They've been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools.
One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I'd do a number on Kharg Island. I'd go in and take it. Iran can't even beat Iraq, yet they push the United States around. It'd be good for the world to take them on.' ...
@#6 ... Senator Mullin also showed that he doesn't have the experience or the temperament to lead this critical department," ...
Temperament.
www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com
...
a person's or animal's nature, especially as it permanently affects their behavior.
...
Yeah, that nature was shown quite vividly during a recent Congressional hearing when Sen Mullin stood up and apparently wanted to engage a questioner in a physical fight.
If he is that easily, let's say, excited... how might he act as he follows Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller's orders regarding people of color?
Will a Sec Mullin continue ICE's prior policy of targeting people based upon their skin color or language spoken?
Another view ...
US: Trump image approved for commemorative gold coin
www.dw.com
... What's gold, round and bears US President Donald Trump's image? A commemorative coin marking the United States' 250th anniversary, of course.
A Trump-appointed federal arts commission has approved the design of a 24-carat gold commemorative coin bearing his image, officials said on Thursday.
More coins in Trump's likeness planned
The US Commission of Fine Arts, whose all six members were fired last October and replaced with hand-picked people by Trump, approved the design unanimously.
Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is now expected to order the coin to be minted.
The coin will not circulate as currency, and likely be part of a limited collector series.
Two other coins bearing the US president's image are planned, including a $1 piece that would be in circulation and a one-ounce gold one. ...
'I did that.' Gas pump stickers show political volleying of gas prices
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/21/donald-trump-joe-biden-i-did-that-gas-
prices/89191685007/