Author Archive: Stephen Green

DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT (RECENT) HISTORY:

Amy Alkon in the replies: “Actors used to have publicists to follow them around with a muzzle and swiftly strap it on whenever they seemed on the verge of uttering words in the presence of a reporter.”

Actors used to be run by the studios, which used to know what they were doing.

WELL, YES: US could take Iran’s main oil export hub ‘at a time of our choosing,’ Jack Keane says.“We can take Kharg Island at a time of our choosing, and we choose not to take that now,” Keane told “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“Would we take it in the future? Those options are there for the president, likely towards the end of this? Because, if we take Kharg Island, either we occupy it or blockade it, there’s a number of things that we can do.”

Keane said such a move would effectively put the Iranian regime in “checkmate,” given how heavily its economy depends on the island.

“Now we [would] own all of their major assets. It’s 50% of their budget, 60% of the revenue, 80, 90% of the distribution points for their oil,” he said.

The real question is how long we’d stay there, with American fingers around the neck of a sizable fraction of China’s oil supplies.

Related: It’s all about China: Trump’s seemingly chaotic global policy all makes sense.

Marines are reportedly on the way.

HE WAS WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING, STILL TOASTED BY LEFTIES:

THIS IS NO TIME TO GO WOBBLY:

LEFTIES PLAY THE LONG GAME: The Gun Control Push in Virginia is About More Than Just Banning ARs and 30-Round Magazines.

The response from gun owners was predictable: “LOL, Dems are so dumb! Don’t they know their bans just cause panic buying? Millions more guns and mags are sold than would have been without the ban!”

Here’s a hard truth, though: The gun-banners know all of that…and they don’t care.

This isn’t just about banning scary guns and magazines, it’s about destroying the gun culture in the long term. You will still have your guns and your mags, but those who aren’t yet into shooting (or who are too young right now) will be denied them.

And politics is downstream of the culture, as the wise man once said.

I HAD BEEN ASSURED BY ALL THE VERY BEST PEOPLE THAT EPIC FURY WOULD SHATTER OUR ALLIANCES:

Of course, some allies are more useful than others:

MAYBE WE NEED A “MADMAN” THEORY OF HISTORY:

The truth is that nobody expected the world’s only superpower ever to act like one again, defending its interests with appropriate force and enthusiasm.

ANOTHER REMINDER THAT THIRD-WAVE FEMINISM IS ABOUT THE REVOLUTION AND NOTHING ELSE:

HOMELESS, INC.:

If Gavin Newsom ever solved the homeless problem like he keeps saying he will, his cronies would never forgive him.

HOMELESS, INC.: DiNapoli Report Analyzes Increases in NYC’s Unsheltered Population and Spending.

But even as the city provided shelter for more people, street homelessness continued to rise from 3,588 in FY 2019 to 4,504 in FY 2025.

The city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Street Homeless Solutions (SHS) division is tasked with overseeing outreach and related services to counter street homelessness. Spending on these efforts has more than tripled from $102 million in FY 2019 to $368 million in FY 2025, and is expected to reach $456 million in FY 2026, with planned spending declining to $442 million by FY 2029.

I wonder what the ratio is of administrators to actual homeless.

MEMORY-HOLED:

AUTOCRATS GOTTA AUTOCRAT: Russia Shuts Off Internet in Moscow as It Tests Nationwide Censorship System.

People in Moscow, a city of 13 million, have found themselves unable to pay online bills or message co-workers in recent days. Commuters stepping out of the city’s subway stations can’t order a cab to the office. Unable to access online maps, many are asking strangers for directions for the first time in years. Those who normally work from home are filling cafes as they seek a stable Wi-Fi connection.

In recent months, dozens of Russian regions have gone offline suddenly. The Kremlin has defended the shut-offs as necessary to protect Russians from attacks by Ukrainian drones, which can use local cellphone towers for navigation.

But analysts say what Russians are actually experiencing is the trial of a nationwide system Moscow has been honing to limit information and hobble connectivity in times of upheaval, inspired by lessons from Iran and other authoritarian states.

“This is a system they have wanted to build for years. Now the threat of Ukrainian drones is a perfect chance to test it nationwide,” said Alena Epifanova, an expert on Russia’s internet at the German Council on Foreign Relations. “They use it as a pretext, even in regions where there is no such danger.”

The drone threat is real, but the Kremlin loves having tight control — so who knows?

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dems Aren’t Even Hiding Their Election Shenanigans Now. “The Dem talking points in this “debate” revolve around the notion that President Trump is going to use the troops to intimidate voters. It’s fantastical monster under the bed stuff, and it’s never explained exactly how that intimidation is going to manifest itself. It’s more nonsensical Trump Derangement Syndrome lunacy.”

THE ENEMY WITHIN: US bracing for more ‘lone wolf’ terror attacks amid war in Iran.

Publicly, authorities have been hesitant to link the attacks to the Iran war. But some observers say it is not a stretch to consider the possibility that the alleged attackers were retaliating for American and Israeli military strikes on the Islamic Republic.

“I absolutely believe it is connected to the Iran war,” former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, a NewsNation law and justice contributor, said Saturday. “Look, there are individuals in the United States who have been radicalized and are just looking for that push to decide to commit a terroristic act like this.”

Rather than terrorist “sleeper cells” orchestrated by foreign nations, Coffindaffer said the recent attacks appear to be homegrown lone-wolf assaults — individuals acting on their own, possibly inspired online.

Like so:

Dearborn, Michigan.

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA:

IS IT TRUE? I DUNNO, BUT IT EXPLAINS A LOT:

HMM: Bond Market May Be a Last Guardrail on Far-Left Mayors as Moody’s Goes ‘Negative’ on Mamdani’s New York.

The ratings agencies are notoriously bad at judging risks and were heavily criticized after the 2008 financial crisis for slapping solid AAA ratings on debt that wound up in default. The agencies are paid by the bond issuers, so their incentives are not to be particularly harsh. They were late to discover the problems in Orange County, California, whose 1994 failure was, when it happened, described as the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Yet for all those limitations, the agencies—and the bond markets they communicate with—at least provide some constraints, a reality check on the impulse of the mayors to spend recklessly without sufficient tax revenue to pay for it.

The New York City comptroller, Mark Levine, called Moody’s decision “a sobering wake-up call.”

“The fact that this is happening at a time of relative health in our local economy is all the more remarkable. The underlying challenge is clear: New York City is currently spending more than it is bringing in,” Levine said.

Mamdani, meanwhile, attacked the rating agency. “I think that the decision to revise the outlook, frankly, is premature,” he said at a March 12 press conference.

The outlook will be fully mature soon enough.