Balloon Juice

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try Try Again

WaterGirl — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:30:11 +0000

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

That’s a phrase I must have heard a thousand times when I was growing up. Definitely one of my mom’s favorites.

Democrats win GOP seat in New Hampshire, notching 10th straight special election flip

The third time was the charm for New Hampshire Democrat Bobbi Boudman, who flipped a Republican-held seat in the state House in a special election on Tuesday night.

Boudman, a financial analyst, defeated Republican Dale Fincher, a Christian nonprofit speaker and investment firm founder, by a 52-48 margin to win Carroll County’s 7th District.

The seat became vacant last year when state Rep. Glenn Cordelli gave it up after reportedly moving out of state. Cordelli had previously beaten Boudman twice in a row, first by a 56-44 margin in 2022, then by a wider 57-43 spread two years later.

Donald Trump also carried the district, which includes the towns of Ossipee, Tuftonboro, and Wolfeboro, by a 54-45 margin. Ordinarily, that might have been enough to keep the seat red, but Boudman was undeterred, and Republicans were nonetheless worried.

If you appreciate our commitment to keeping you completely up-to-date on important special elections, we hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking the button below:

Shortly before the election, the New Hampshire Union Leader’s Kevin Landrigan wrote that the GOP was “pulling out all the stops.”

Fincher raised $25,000 for the race, while outside groups spent at least $30,000 on his behalf. Fincher’s benefactors included the Republican State Leadership Committee, the GOP’s official campaign arm dedicated to winning legislative elections, and the Koch network’s Americans for Prosperity.

Boudman, by contrast, raised $12,000 and, according to campaign finance records, received no comparable outside help.

The two candidates clashed most notably on the issue of school vouchers, with Fincher supportive of the state’s “Education Freedom Accounts” and Boudman opposed. Boudman also had deep roots in the area, while Fincher only recently moved into the district, which forced him to run in the GOP primary as a write-in.

So the Republican candidate raised twice as much as the Dem, and outside groups tossed in another $30k for the Republican, and he still lost.

Dear Republicans, I would like to share another one of my mom’s favorites.

Money isn’t everything!

Open thread.

The post If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try Try Again appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Anne Laurie — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:13:40 +0000

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun” peaks at #2 today in ‘84
“We got every racial group of girl—mixed, Spanish, white, black, Asian,” said Lauper, “so that every little girl who looked at that video would .. understand that every young woman, older woman, every person is entitled to a joyful experience.”

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 2:12 PM

Schumer on the SAVE America Act: "It is not about showing ID when you show up to vote. It's about the voter registration rolls, destroying them, purging them, not letting people know, and taking the rights in an algorithm but together by DOGE and Musk — it's an outrage"

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 10, 2026 at 3:23 PM

I just left another briefing on Iran.
Here's the only part of Trump's plan that is clear to me:
He won't spare a cent for the 15 million Americans who will lose their health care, but he'll spend a billion dollars a day bombing Iran.

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— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) March 10, 2026 at 2:05 PM

Trump has spent more in 10 days on his reckless war in Iran than America spends in two years on community health centers providing medical care for low-income and uninsured Americans.
Our priorities are out of whack in this country.

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— Rep. Jim McGovern (@repmcgovern.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 9:46 PM

Then those people are idiots.

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 6:10 PM

Freedom’s just another word for Repubs are gonna lose..

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) March 11, 2026 at 12:14 AM

I am sure this will only reinforce his sense of white victimhood.

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 6:55 PM

when Olaudah Equiano was 11 he was kidnapped out of coastal Africa and sent into slavery, he bought himself as an adult and settled in UK, he spent the rest of his life fighting to abolish slavery, though he didn't live to see it, his book was key in the passage of a bill banning the salve trade

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— Henry (@henrythedog.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 5:32 PM

Harvey Milk spoke of the need for Hope, that you cannot live on hope alone but without it life is not worth living.
Dr. King said he might not live to see the promised land but he had seen it
Equiano didn't live to see the fruits of his work, but he built a better world he never got to see.

— Henry (@henrythedog.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 5:32 PM

The post Wednesday Morning Open Thread appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Plagues & Pandemics Update – March 11, 2026

Anne Laurie — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:13:38 +0000

MRSA, if you're listening,

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— post malone ergo propter malone (@proptermalone.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 1:59 PM

(Yes, there were also many snarky comments about how, out of respect for his beliefs, his surgeons would not wash their hands; that the anesthesiologists would give him a strip of leather to chew instead of some hard-to-pronounce chemical vapor; and expressing surprise that he’d chosen surgery instead of an intense course of beef tallow & raw milk… )

USA: Epidemic trend summary: Mar 6, 2026
COVID-19
As of March 3, 2026:
🔹2 states have COVID-19 infections growing or likely growing
🔹35 state has infections declining or likely declining
🔹10 states show no change
Source: cdc.gov/cfa-modeling…

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— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:04 PM

Influenza
As of March 3, 2026:
🔹5 states have Influenza infections growing or likely growing
🔹31 states has infections declining or likely declining
🔹12 states show no change
Source: cdc.gov/cfa-modeling…

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— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:04 PM

RSV
As of March 3, 2026:
🔹13 states have RSV infections growing or likely growing
🔹19 states has infections declining or likely declining
🔹16 states shows no change
Souce: cdc.gov/cfa-modeling…

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— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:04 PM

Recent pandemic viruses, including #SAR-CoV-2, spread directly to people without adaptation, researchers say
The findings provide further evidence against the COVID-19 lab-leak hypothesis.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 2:37 PM

Up to 56,000 people died from COVID-19 or RSV last year
Respiratory syncytial virus was associated with 190,000 to 350,000 hospitalizations from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, as well as 10,000 to 23,000 deaths, according to data published by the CDC.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 4, 2026 at 9:15 AM

Pandemic-related factors may lead to nearly 3,000 excess #TB cases, 1,100 deaths by 2035
The factors may continue to influence TB trends over time, the authors say.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/t…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 4:56 PM

Prepandemic respiratory illness tied to increased risk of long COVID
Roughly 6 in 10 people report eventually recovering from the condition, but millions remain affected.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 10:29 AM

Study: "SARS-CoV-2 causes lasting immune dysregulation for over 20 months"
"This large multicenter study shows SARS-CoV-2 exposure leads to long-term changes in lymphocyte subsets—including CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, NK cells, and total T cells—persisting for up to 20 months."

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— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) March 8, 2026 at 9:23 PM

The Covid-19 pandemic was a once-a-century impact on mortality worldwide. And that impact varied among countries depending on policy choices.
BUT
As bad as the height of pandemic was in Canada (purple arrow) it would be far worse to have the misfortune to be born an American (green arrow).
1/

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— Prof. Michael Fuhrer (@michaelsfuhrer.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 9:23 PM

Which points out that life expectancy is the product of 1,000s of policy choices.
It isn't clear that any set of policy choices would have made the pandemic vanish.
But it *is* clear that the sum of US policy choices amount to mortality worse than a Covid-19 pandemic, ongoing, year after year.

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— Prof. Michael Fuhrer (@michaelsfuhrer.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 9:23 PM

Covid Day of Reflection: A cascade of facemasks commemorate the doctors, more than 50, who died from Covid.

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— London Remembers (@londonremembers.com) March 8, 2026 at 6:54 AM

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leaving to spend more time with his measles, I assume

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— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 6:56 PM

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a request for new warnings on antidepressant drugs, and that's presenting an unusual conflict of interest at the agency.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 4, 2026 at 7:00 PM

‪Ars Technica: Americans trust Fauci over RFK Jr. and career scientists over Trump officials
RFK Jr. has tried hard to villainize Fauci. Americans still trust Fauci more.
by Beth Mole @bethmariem.bsky.social @arstechnica.com
👉 bit.ly/4rZfVQ7

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— Greg Folkers (@gregfolkers.bsky.social) March 7, 2026 at 6:52 PM

Maybe everyone should just "back away" from RFK Jr

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— @GottaLaff (@gottalaff.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 9:41 AM

The FDA is convening fewer outside expert advisory panels, even as it makes big and controversial drug decisions.
This means less public debate and oversight. Is this the “radical transparency” RFK Jr. promised? 🔍 👀
Spare me. Bring back the qualified experts. Get rid of the petulant toddlers. 😒

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— Alt CDC (they/them) (@altcdc.altgov.info) March 9, 2026 at 8:33 PM

Some people who think RFK Jr. is crazy wrong on vaccines (he is!) believe he's some kind of north star on food because he says "eat real food" – which EVERYONE in food has always said.
He's mostly crazy wrong about food, too.
@mikegrunwald.bsky.social explains.
www.thebulwark.com/p/robert-ken…

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— Tamar Haspel (@tamarhaspel.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:15 AM

RFK Jr has chosen an anti-vaxx activist & conspiracy theorist—who has been advocating for COVID vaccines to be removed from the market & who has no expertise at all in vaccines—to review the safety of COVID vaccines 🤦‍♂️
(And that pony tail alone is disqualifying)
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026…

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 1:33 PM

Jay Bhattacharya banned the NIH from funding research on racial disparities in health
And he wrote a vile OpEd celebrating how he'd "cured" the NIH of DEI
But THIS story shows that his repulsive move—aimed at pleasing Trump & achieving a Project 2025 target—harms health
apnews.com/article/kidn…

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 9:58 AM

This is RFK, Jr.'s MAHA Institute's recent meeting in D.C.
Slide presentation titles:
“The Polio Fraud” and “The flu shot has given 1,900,000 Americans Alzheimer’s,” and “VACCINES ARE GREATEST SCAM IN MEDICAL HISTORY.” (capitals, theirs)
www.notus.org/health-scien…

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— Jan Kirsch, M.D., M.P.H. (@drjanicekirsch.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 11:23 PM

Yup, "The guidelines are just another example of how the Trump administration’s populism is really just a handout to major industries"

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:45 PM

Federal data shows that #NIH lost ~4400 people, 20% of the workforce. Many scientists have been pushed out.
~80% of NIH $ is awarded to universities & research institutions. Funding cuts are having a trickle down effect all over the country, affecting job prospects.
🧪 www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h…

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— Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist (@princess-vimentin.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 11:39 AM

It’s pretty clear that Trump now realizes that all the anti-vaxx activism by RFK Jr & Drs Bhattacharya, Kulldorff, Høeg, & Prasad is hugely unpopular with the public & is a liability in the mid-terms
Prasad is out
And RFK Jr is being muzzled—he’ll just keep talking about “real food” until Nov

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 8, 2026 at 1:44 PM

Here’s the NIH Director giving an interview to the editor of The Epoch Times—a media affiliate of the extreme anti-vaxx Falun Gong movement
The interview is hosted by RFK Jr’s extraordinarily dangerous, extreme anti-vaxx activist group Children’s Health Defense
h/t @angierasmussen.bsky.social

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 8, 2026 at 1:11 PM

The most impt change at #NIH and to US science this year is bigger than grant cancellations— it’s how the agency is governed.
For 75 years NIH has been largely independent of presidential control. That’s changed this year. New piece from me and @nataliebaviles.bsky.social in @nature.com
🧪

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— Mark Histed (@markhisted.org) March 9, 2026 at 8:26 AM

The State of US Vaccine Policy
w/ Unbiased Science
Latest:
-14 states have filed vaccine lawsuits
-CDC lost its 2 most senior officials in rapid succession
-surgeon general nominee can't bring herself to recommend measles vaccine
-and more!
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 5:44 PM

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US measles total approaches 1,300 infections
The CDC notes that Texas has now recorded 93 cases this year after having the nation's largest outbreak last year
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…
Photo: Wellcome / Wikimedia Commons

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:56 PM

I will never get over how the result of going through a global pandemic that killed over 7 million people, including 1.2 million Americans—and where we swiftly created an effective vaccine for it—was massive growth in anti-vax sentiment, the rise of RFK Jr., and the return of fucking measles.

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— Scott Santens (@scottsantens.com) March 7, 2026 at 12:00 PM

Colorado, North Dakota see uptick in measles activity
In Utah, health officials are warning that measles patients are suffering from anemia and liver inflammation.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…
Photo: Dave Haygarth/Flickr cc

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM

1. A #measles & #flu update.
We're only 9 weeks into the year & the total confirmed measles cases so far puts makes 2026 the second worst year for measles in the past 34 years.
The worst year was last year. But in merely 9 weeks, 2026 has recorded 56% of the entire 2025 total.
Gonna be a bad year.

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— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 11:00 AM

2. The confirmed #measles case count has hit 1281, up 145 from last week. The number of jurisdictions reporting outbreaks has risen to 31 from 28 last week. The number of new outbreaks in 2026 has gone from 10 to 12 since last week. Only 4 of the cases were imported. www.cdc.gov/measles/data…

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— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Parents Tried to Shield Their Children From Vaccines. Instead They Got Measles: rising exemptions are playing a big role in the measles outbreak that is sickening, hospitalizing, and killing children in the U.S.. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u… @nytimes.com

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— Dorit Reiss (@doritreiss.bsky.social) March 3, 2026 at 6:52 PM

Gift link

For RFK Jr and his “measles isn’t serious” disciples:
“A number of them clearly said if they had known, they would have vaccinated themselves and their children against measles, but they didn’t realize how bad it was”.

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— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 6:54 PM

On Feb 14 2025, the day after RFK Jr was sworn in as HHS Secretary, “an unvaccinated 6-year-old girl in West Texas died from measles”
Even as measles cases & deaths rose & the outbreak spread, it took 13 mths for a MAGA/MAHA public health official to say “vaccines” are recommended
Such negligence

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 7:28 AM

Sharing is caring!

Three things you should know:
1) Measles erases previous immunity to other diseases
2) Mumps, in addition to being painful, can sterilize adult men
3) You can get the MMR at any age in most places that provide vaccines, including grocery stores

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— Keeper of the Really Smart Words (@bookishnea.bsky.social) March 7, 2026 at 12:29 PM

I wrote a couple of weeks ago how our current medical establishment is recycling COVID myths to minimize measles.

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— Jonathan Howard (@joho.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 6:13 PM

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Actual *good* news…

Holy cow! Our new study showing that H5 mRNA-LNP vaccines are safe and effective in lactating dairy cows is now posted on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social!
We found that our vaccine elicits protective responses in 2,000 pound dairy cows! 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6…

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— Hensley Lab (@scottehensley.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 10:27 AM

Avian flu detected at 20 commercial poultry operations
Two live bird markets, one in Orange County, Florida, and one in Kings County, New York, reported bird flu outbreaks.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a…

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— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 3:42 PM

Bird flu is hitting Wisconsin poultry farms again, and that means more strain on farmers, local resources, and probably our grocery bills too. Same mess, different day, and regular people get stuck paying for it.
#Wisconsin #BirdFlu #AvianFlu #WIPolitics #WIAg #PublicHealth

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— Badger State Breakdown (@badgerstatebreakdown.substack.com) March 7, 2026 at 6:13 PM

Indiana: Bird flu detected at commercial turkey farm in Jay Co. www.21alivenews.com/2026/03/07/b…

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— Data Report (@datareport.bsky.social) March 7, 2026 at 1:07 PM

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News of interest to at least one person on this blog: snot transplants…

I was today years old when I found out you can get a "snort transplant" to treat chronic nasal congestion.
Transplant of nasal microbiota may improve symptoms of chronic rhino-sinusitis.
Because I know this, you must now know this too 😊.
www.newscientist.com/article/2494…

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— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) March 5, 2026 at 7:05 PM

New medical vocabulary term to know:

Human metapneumovirus, a little-known respiratory virus, is circulating in Northern California as flu and COVID cases decline.

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— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle.com) March 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM

If it's not covid, and it's not the flu…
patch.com/massachusett…

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— Anne Laurie (@annelaurie.bsky.social) March 11, 2026 at 2:56 AM

This is a remarkable study. A simple sanitary pad could transform cervical cancer screening. Researchers enrolled 3,000+ women (age 20–54) & compared 2 approaches:
Standard clinician-collected cervical HPV test
HPV testing from menstrual blood collected on a sanitary pad
www.bmj.com/content/392/…

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— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) March 4, 2026 at 11:46 AM

Women with positive tests or abnormal cytology underwent colposcopy with biopsy to confirm disease. The results were striking.
For detecting high-grade cervical lesions (CIN2+):
– Menstrual blood HPV test sensitivity: 94.7%
– Standard cervical HPV test: 92.1%

— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) March 4, 2026 at 11:46 AM

"There are people who have real benefits [from this care]. To deny it to people, to make people suffer unnecessarily, that’s another type of harm.”
-Gordon Guyatt, the godfather of evidence-based medicine
www.motherjones.com/politics/202…

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— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 12:30 PM

George Carlin: My people don’t go to the beach to tan; we go to lose the blue…

One of the few things imo that we should just outright make illegal. Sunbeds kill people, and usually after costing the state enormous sums to prolong their lives. Completely needlessly. People can not comprehend the risks.

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— Darren Dahly (@statsepi.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 12:03 PM

Real irony that this is all happening nearly six years to the day from when it really started to hit home that COVID was way worse than Trump was saying it was.

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— Nied (@nied.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 2:14 PM

The post Plagues & Pandemics Update – March 11, 2026 appeared first on Balloon Juice.

On The Road – Elma – International Garden Tour Part 2

WaterGirl — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 09:00:29 +0000

Elma

The second installment of the International Garden Tour is in South Africa in 2013. My African safari began and ended in South Africa, with visits in between to Botswana and Zimbabwe. The last stop before our very long flight home was a few days in Cape Town which included a visit to the Kristenbosch National Botanical Garden.

The post On The Road – Elma – International Garden Tour Part 2 appeared first on Balloon Juice.

War for Ukraine Day 1,475: If You Look Around the Table & Can’t Tell Who the Mark Is, You’re the Mark

Adam L Silverman — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 02:51:00 +0000

Once again Trump and his team, which I’ve decided to start calling Team Clown Shoes, has told on themselves:

QUINTANILLA: Do we think the Russians have shared intel about US military assets, and if so, why would we be giving waivers on oil sanctions?

WITKOFF: I can tell you that on the call with POTUS, the Russians said they have not been sharing. That’s what they said. We can take them at their word.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 10, 2026 at 12:08 PM

It is important to remember that a significant portion of Witkoff’s wealth comes from doing business with Russian oligarchs and organized crime leaders investing in the retail properties he develops. Just as Jared’s and his family’s, as well as Trump’s, is from Russian oligarchs and organized crime members using their purchases of Kushner and/or Trump properties to launder their money, as well as to have their wives, mistresses, and girlfriends live in while pregnant so their children are born in the US so they’re US citizens. Kushner’s family’s companies actually market not just to wealthy Russians using this as a perq of buying one of their properties, they do the same thing with wealthy Chinese citizens. All while Trump rails against birthright citizenship.

Remember as I covered last week, Witkoff, Kushner, and whomever works for them refused to read the documents the Iranians prepared for them in English to ensure that there would be no confusion or misunderstanding during negotiation because reading three to five pages of bullet point was too hard and too much to read. Today we found out from new reporting that these geniuses didn’t understand the intelligence and information they were given about Iran’s nuclear program and went right to the Iranians were driving quickly towards building an viable functional nuclear weapon. From MSNow:

The Trump administration has cited Iran’s Tehran Research Reactor as a central justification for its military strikes, but has provided no evidence that the facility — built by the United States and used for civilian research for nearly six decades — was being used to develop nuclear weapons. Multiple nuclear scientists and nonproliferation experts told MS NOW that the reactor does not have the capacity to serve as an easy conduit to a bomb as asserted by the administration.

The gap between the administration’s numerous claims about Iran and the available evidence has become a focal point of criticism as questions mount over the decision to launch strikes rather than continue negotiations.

Just 36 hours before the United States opened its military assault, Iran’s nuclear negotiators, along with Oman’s foreign minister as mediator, presented the U.S. with a seven-page proposal for a potential nuclear deal, according to U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff. But the American negotiators, Witkoff and Jared Kushner — who, according to a senior Middle East diplomat with knowledge of the talks, chose not to include nuclear technical experts in the negotiations — balked at Iran’s request to continue using 20%-enriched uranium at the reactor, a facility for civilian nuclear development that the U.S. first built and provided to Iran in 1967.

“The [International Atomic Energy Agency] had evidence that they were stockpiling there and they had enough fuel to run TRR for the next seven or eight years without any additional fuel being delivered,” Witkoff said on “The Mark Levin Show.” “They were stockpiling again at the 20% level.”

Witkoff alleged that the International Atomic Energy Agency director general, Rafael Grossi, who was a part of the final round of talks just before the military incursion, told Iran that it had stopped “burning anything” at the reactor and, instead, claimed that “all of the fuel is stockpiled.” Witkoff said it was their “‘Perry Mason’ moment.”

“This is spin, it just isn’t true, and the conversation that did take place with Director General Grossi present has been taken completely out of context by Mr. Witkoff,” a Persian Gulf diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations said in response to the claim.

Several nuclear experts who spoke to MS NOW questioned the extent to which Witkoff and Kushner — who led the nuclear negotiations and described the Iranian position to Trump — understood the technical details of the enrichment programs at the heart of the deliberations.

Elena Sokova, the executive director of the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, called the administration’s assessments of the Tehran Research Reactor “confusing and misleading” and riddled with “technical errors.”

“It mixes up different elements of the nuclear program and their potential proliferation capabilities,” Sokova said. “Research reactors are not capable of doing enrichment of uranium, whether for civil or military purposes.”

Witkoff and Kushner did not bring technical experts from the U.S. to sit in on their talks in Geneva, according to a senior Middle East diplomat with knowledge of the talks, and the White House opted to forgo scheduled technical talks set for this past Monday in Vienna, where more detailed nuclear details were expected to be addressed.

Tuesday Night Open Thread

John Cole — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:24:04 +0000

It feels like Friday. Let’s check in on the shitshow murderfest in Iran:

The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Navy’s assessments spell continued disruption to Middle East oil exports and reflect a divergence from President Donald Trump’s statements that the U.S. is prepared to provide naval escorts whenever needed to restart regular shipments along the key waterway.

Shipping along the narrow strait has all but halted since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran more than a week ago, preventing exports of around a fifth of the world’s oil supply and sending global oil prices surging to highs not seen since 2022.

Ehh, no big deal. Trump says it will be all over soon and the markets could agree. I wonder how Iran feels about things:

Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy chokepoint that carries about one-fifth of all crude oil, according to two people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue.

The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days, the sources said. But Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, one of the sources said, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway.

Just a flesh wound. Meanwhile, the strikes from the US and Israel continue in Iran and are on going as we speak, and Israel blasted Beirut for shits and giggles. So that’s all going great.

***

I forgot Congress can actually legislate:

The Senate is moving toward passing the most significant housing legislation in a generation, grasping for a rare bipartisan deal in a Congress deeply divided ahead of midterm elections where the majority is at stake.

The package of bills, which aims to make it easier to build and finance new housing and bolster existing federal assistance programs, has quietly advanced even as lawmakers clash over other issues, including President Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics and the war in Iran.

The progress of the White House-backed package has been all the more surprising because it would tackle a critical cost-of-living issue at a time when Democrats have made it clear they plan to try to weaponize Americans’ economic stress in their campaigns against Republicans as they push to win control of Congress. So far, Democrats appear to have calculated that they do not want to be seen as standing in the way of enacting what could be the only significant legislation to address affordability ahead of the November balloting, wary of opening themselves to Republican attacks that they are not sincere about addressing the issue.

But fresh obstacles have emerged in recent days. Mr. Trump has declared that he will not sign any legislation until Congress delivers him a voter ID bill that has stalled in the Senate, making it clear that the housing measure is not his top priority. And Republicans have begun feuding among themselves over what should be in the final bill, including whether to include a provision to ban the creation of a federal cryptocurrency, complicating the legislation’s chances of clearing Congress at all.

Have any of you been following this?

***

Joelle just got home from work so I am going to go hassle her. I am really enjoying the new Young Sherlock series on Amazon Prime- I don’t care what people say, I love the Guy Ritchie style. It’s always fun.

*** Update ***

Two quick bird stories. I was sitting outside watching the birds (I feed them this time very night) and some bird swooped down, grab a finch off the cinderblock fence (it screamed) and took off carrying the dead bird like the eagles carried frodo off the top of Mt. Doom and landed on my neighbor’s roof while I stood up and screamed “hey hey hey put that down.” It never relinquished it’s grip, rested a bit and took off.

It happened so fast I did not get a good look at it and had my sunglasses on and got no real good look at it, but it was a wild thing to witness. It was not that big of a bird, either.

Somewhat relatedly, I may be overfeeding my birds and making them targets of opportunity:

Can birds get diabeetus?

The post Tuesday Night Open Thread appeared first on Balloon Juice.

DHS Open Thread: Backtrack!… BACKTRACK!

Anne Laurie — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 23:03:42 +0000

"WH encourages Republicans to go ahead and try to close the barn doors a few months after the horses went out"

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— Daniel Gilmore (@gilmored85.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 3:16 PM

It's hard to say. Detention numbers are down significantly. We can't say exactly why for now (I have theories, as do others) but if the Homan/Lyons wing has convinced the White House that the Miller/Noem mass deportation pushes were bad politics, they may have finally found the brake pedal.

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— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 3:03 PM

They won’t stop trying to do mass deportations, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that talking about mass deportations is not nearly as popular as Stephen Miller assured them it would be. Blair is Susie Wiles’ underhenchman:

DORAL, FL — White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair privately urged House Republicans on Tuesday to stop emphasizing “mass deportations” and instead focus their messaging on removing violent criminals, according to sources in the closed-door briefing.

Why it matters: Mass deportations were central to the GOP’s 2024 campaign message.
– Nearly half — 49% — of Americans say Trump’s mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, including 1 in 5 voters who backed the president in 2024, a Politico poll from January found.

State of play: Blair delivered the message during a policy listening session with House Republicans at their annual retreat in Doral, Florida.
– He encouraged members to focus on deporting violent offenders rather than defending the broader concept of mass removals.

The advice signals a recalibration by the White House — and reflects growing concern among some Republicans that Democrats are successfully framing Trump’s immigration policy as overly sweeping and indiscriminate…

ICE detention peaked at roughly 73,000 people in custody in mid-January. Since then, my sources say total in detention has fallen to sub-63,000. That is a significant drop, reversing the trend back to where things were in early November.
I am deeply skeptical of any major changes, to be clear.

— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 3:05 PM

Meanwhile, the KKKlown in Chief, last night:

It's been well over 10 years now, and nobody close to him has even bothered to tell him that's not what seeking asylum is.

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— ⓘ 𝕆ligarch f*ckery detected (@adelpreore.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 12:20 PM

The post DHS Open Thread: Backtrack!… BACKTRACK! appeared first on Balloon Juice.

The Politics of AI

Betty Cracker — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:12:59 +0000

I don’t hate AI per se. I’ve used Le Chat occasionally for stuff like planning itineraries, and I know people who use AI on the job in all kinds of useful applications, including research.

My main objection is that a staggeringly high percentage of the people who are competing to build the dominant AI platforms and many of the technology’s most prominent boosters seem to be sociopaths.

That’s bad! And then there’s what’s already happening in schools:

I understand why chatbot cheating happens but every time I read about it I want to gently remind everyone that the point of schoolwork is not for the submission to exist. Teachers are not just greedy for more essays or solved equations. The point is to do the work WITH YOUR OWN BRAIN, FOR LEARNING.

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— Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com) February 24, 2026 at 2:37 PM

Prompt engineering may become a valuable skill in its own right, but it isn’t going to teach people to think for themselves. Also, I hate bullshit framing like this:

How does A.I. stack up against some of the world’s best human writers? Take our quiz.

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— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) March 9, 2026 at 6:00 PM

Fuck their stupid quiz!

It’s no coincidence that tech oligarchs and AI boosters aligned themselves with the political movement that needs to make the truth meaningless and keep people angry, divided and dumb to retain power.

But you know who else finds AI deeply suspect? Lots of voters, across the ideological spectrum. NBC News did a poll, and here’s an article about it that’s interesting if you can ignore the reflexively anti-Dem framing.

A couple of excerpts:

Voters are worried about AI and don’t trust either political party to handle the rapidly evolving technology, according to a new national NBC News survey.

A majority of registered voters, 57%, said they believe the risks of AI outweigh its benefits, compared with 34% who said the opposite. What’s more, a plurality of voters view AI negatively and don’t believe either Democrats or Republicans are doing a good job handling policy related to the rapidly advancing technology.

Just 26% of voters say they have positive feelings about AI, compared with 46% who hold negative views.

Trump and his cronies are all in on AI because they are greedy pricks and also authoritarians. They hope to socialize the risks during the development phase, privatize any profits that emerge and then use AI to fire workers and create a surveillance state.

As noted, that’s bad, but maybe it’s also an opportunity?

Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster with Public Opinion Strategies, which conducted the NBC News poll along with the Democratic polling firm Hart Research Associates, said the findings indicate AI is an issue that’s “up for grabs” by both parties to try to seize a political advantage.

The demographic groups with the most negative views of AI are voters ages 18-34, among whom the net favorability rating for AI is minus 44, and women ages 18-49, who reported a net AI favorability rating of minus 41. The two groups with the most positive views of AI are men over 50, with a plus 2 favorability rating, and upper-class voters, who also have a plus 2 favorability rating.

I don’t know how the politics of AI will develop, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Open thread for this or any other topic.

The post The Politics of AI appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Anne Laurie — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 11:21:58 +0000

Libraries are for everybody, or they’re for no one.

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— James Felix Black (@tft.io) March 8, 2026 at 7:03 PM

“I’ve been consuming nothing but trash, so I thought I’d brush up on the classics.”

— carbonoperator (@carbonoperator.bsky.social) March 8, 2026 at 8:07 PM

******

This disgusting shit doesn’t belong in American society.
And Republicans who support it don’t belong in Congress.

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— Katherine Clark (@whipkclark.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 11:24 AM

Instead of lowering prices for you, Republicans are busy dreaming up new ways to make the rich even richer.
Here’s their latest idea: sidestepping Congress to hand another giant tax cut to the top 1%.

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— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) March 9, 2026 at 7:25 PM

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202…

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— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) March 9, 2026 at 7:25 PM

Always a wise move to make Ted Cruz the face of the GOP’s latest outrageous ask:

… Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) will send a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday urging him to use executive authority to reduce some of the taxes paid on capital gains — a change that would lower the tax burden on Americans selling stocks, businesses, homes and other assets, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its release. The senators argue the administration does not need congressional approval to make the shift, although some conservative legal experts and Treasury officials have disagreed with that conclusion in the past…

The plan pushed by Cruz and Scott has been sought by conservatives for many years. Under current law, an investor who bought $100 worth of stock in 1990 and sold it today for $300 would currently owe capital gains taxes on the full $200 in profit. But the $100 investment in 1990 would be worth roughly $230 in today’s dollars after accounting for inflation. Under the Cruz-Scott proposal, the investor would only owe taxes on that $70, rather than the full $200. That is why the proposal is known as “indexing capital gains for inflation.”…

The proposal, however, faces significant legal and political headwinds. A 1992 opinion by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that Treasury does not have the authority to make such a change unilaterally — and that it would require an act of Congress. Any executive action along these lines would likely face immediate legal challenges.

Critics also argue that the benefits would flow overwhelmingly to the wealthy. The Penn Wharton Budget Model found during Trump’s first term that the top 1 percent of income earners would receive roughly 86 percent of the benefits from indexing capital gains to inflation, while the bottom 80 percent of earners would receive just 1 percent…

government small enough to fit inside every child's bedroom and pick out their clothes every school day

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— Henry (@henrythedog.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 12:46 AM

A high-powered Chicago law firm announced a plan Monday to push for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate and potentially charge the agents who carried out Operation Midway Blitz.
@sophiesherry.bsky.social reports: chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0…

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— Jon Seidel (@jonseidel.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 10:01 PM

BREAKING: Alexander Butterfield, the Richard Nixon aide who disclosed the Watergate tapes, dies at 99.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 9, 2026 at 3:51 PM

It’s day 9 of Trump’s reckless Iran War—and he’s now spent over $9.5 BILLION of your tax dollars. That’s more than USDA spends every year, in every school, on free breakfasts for students in America.

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— Rep. Jim McGovern (@repmcgovern.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 1:34 PM

In the 60s it was “suppose they gave a war and nobody came.” Now it’s “suppose we did a war and then said that we didn’t do a war and also we already won the war and we beat you shut up”

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— Special Envoy for the Shield of the Popehats (@kenwhite.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 5:51 PM

Iran launched new attacks at Gulf Arab countries as it kept up pressure on the Middle East in a war that has sent oil prices surging and stunned global economies.

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) March 10, 2026 at 3:49 AM

It's me, an Indian sea captain piloting an unarmed, unarmored, horizontal skyscraper full of liquid hellfire through a narrow strait full of mines, drones and commando boats because an American who makes seven figures to sit on a couch and wants an arrow on a TV to turn green called me chicken.

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— Zeddy (@zeddary.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 11:20 AM

Indeed, assuming this represents current policy, it is an open admission that the regime change effort has failed, de-nuclearization is likewise impossible or impractical and the only objective that remains is to extricate from a costly failure.

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— "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux (@bretdevereaux.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:36 PM

The Content Wars of 2026

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— Zeddy (@zeddary.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM

Trump on his war on Iran: "We talked about that with President Putin. He was very impressed with what he saw."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 9, 2026 at 6:19 PM

Is this the first KIA for Space Force?

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— Ray Radlein (@radlein.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 11:15 PM

The post Tuesday Morning Open Thread appeared first on Balloon Juice.

On The Road – Elma – International Garden Tour Part 1

WaterGirl — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:16:06 +0000

Elma

One of the things I like to do, when I travel, is to visit botanical gardens. I went back through my travel photo archive for some pictures to share. The first part is a visit to Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands. This trip was with the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association in 2008. It was a river boat tour of Holland and Belgium and the garden visit was an excursion. Although the distance from place to place in the Netherlands is insignificant by American standards, the traffic made for a long bus ride.

The post On The Road – Elma – International Garden Tour Part 1 appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Late Night Open Thread: Ave Atque Vale, Troops

Anne Laurie — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:27:10 +0000

$6.9 million of lobster tail in a month????? What would you even do with that much lobster

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— Amanda Katz (@katzish.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 12:38 AM

Surf & turf is the classic meal they serve when they’re about to tell you your deployment has been extended so…

— tawdryhepburn9.bsky.social (@tawdryhepburn9.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 12:42 AM

“Surf and turf before the storm“

But seriously, it’s not that they had any actual plans…

The Pentagon spent more money in September—the end of the 2025 fiscal year—than it had in any other year since 2008. But a good chunk of the budget wasn’t used for anything that could be considered a pertinent military expense.

The Defense Department burned through $93 billion that month alone, signing checks left and right in order to dry up its congressionally allocated budget, according to a recent analysis by the government watchdog Open the Books…

Some of the frivolous September purchases made under Secretary Pete Hegseth’s stewardship include a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, $5.3 million for Apple devices such as the new iPad, and an astronomical amount of shellfish, including $2 million for Alaskan king crab and $6.9 million worth of lobster tail. (Lobster tail is apparently a favorite of Hegseth’s Pentagon—the department spent more than $7.4 million total on the luxury item in March, May, June, and October.)…

One of the largest bulk expenditures was just for furniture, for which the Pentagon decided to shell out $225 million. That included $12,000 for fruit basket stands, and checks totaling more than $60,000 for Herman Miller recliners. All in all, the agency spent more on furniture in 2025 than it had in over a decade.

In the last five days of September alone, the department blew through $50.1 billion on just grants and contracts. For context, only nine other countries spend that much on the entirety of their defense budget per year. It’s also more than the total military budgets of Canada and Mexico combined…

Why does one get the feeling that ‘fruit basket stands’ is a code for ‘Hegseth’s personal alcohol allowance’?

The post Late Night Open Thread: Ave Atque Vale, Troops appeared first on Balloon Juice.

War for Ukraine Day 1,474: With Friends Like These

Adam L Silverman — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 01:51:31 +0000

It’s been a long day, the time change is kicking my dupa, so I’m just going to run through the basics again tonight.

The cost:

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that today, during an air battle while carrying out a mission, Hero of Ukraine and commander of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade, Oleksandr Dovhach, was killed.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 12:21 PM

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Dovhach carried out hundreds of combat sorties and took part in battles for the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions, as well as for Snake Island.

Eternal memory.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 12:21 PM

With friends like these:

Trump announced lifting of some oil sanctions on Russia.

The SAME DAY we send OUR soldiers to defend YOUR bases with weapons developed at the cost of Ukrainian lives, you let those who killed them rebuild their cash reserves so they can kill more of us.

FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 7:07 PM

Russia continues killing Ukrainians every day and is still fighting to erase us as a state. Easing russian oil sanctions now directly finances their war against Ukraine, including their tactics of terror of civilians: bombing apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, hunting people with drones,

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:57 PM

destroying civilian infrastructure in the dead of winter, stealing thousands of children and much more.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:57 PM

There’s a direct line between Trump and his natsec team not only having no issue with Putin and Russia constantly attacking Ukrainian civilians and civilian facilities, but blaming the Ukrainians for these genocidal war crimes and what we’re seeing with the targeting in Iran.

Zelenskyy announced that the US-Ukraine-Russia meeting scheduled for this week is being postponed due to the situation in Iran.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:52 PM

Imagine that.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has received 11 requests from countries neighboring Iran, European states, and the United States for help in countering “Shahed” drones.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 10:09 AM

President Zelenskyy did not make an address today. Or, if he did, it has not been posted on the presidential website. He and First Lady Zelenska presented the 2026 Taras Shevchenko Prize. There’s no video posted, but here’s the write up:

President and First Lady Took Part in the 65th Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine Award Ceremony

9 March 2026 – 22:28

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska took part in the ceremony presenting the 2026 Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.

This year the Shevchenko Prize has expanded, and the number of nominations has increased to 13 for the first time in its history. The nominations “Creative Curatorship of Cultural and Artistic Projects,” “Photography,” and “Design” were added. The nomination “Literature” was replaced by “Prose” and “Poetry,” while the musical field was expanded with the nomination “Concert and Performing Arts.” The corresponding decree was signed by the President of Ukraine in July 2025, and today the first laureates received the prizes in these nominations.

“We have things to be proud of. We have people to be proud of. And the Shevchenko Prize proves this. Every year it takes place despite the war, despite everything. And despite everything, every year there are new deserving laureates. This award has not become a formality, and in every sense of the word it is growing – there are more nominations, more remarkable works, more reasons to be proud of our art and our creators,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.

The Head of State noted that this year the Shevchenko Prize is special not only because we mark its anniversary – 65 years – but also because the ceremony is taking place at a time of very powerful emotions that unite all of Ukraine.

“What a difficult and long winter it was. And we overcame it. How much we all longed for this spring. And finally the warmth has come – and these feelings that Ukraine made it, that Ukraine preserved itself, that Ukraine endured. I want to thank our warriors – thank you,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

According to the President, spring is also coming to Ukrainian culture and art, which are interesting to millions, stylish, modern, fashionable, vibrant, and dynamic.

“And when today Ukrainian music unites all our people – on the frontline, across the entire country – when it is impossible to get tickets to our Ukrainian theaters and there are lines at museums, at our exhibitions, for our Ukrainian books, all of this is very inspiring,” the Head of State emphasized.

Yevhen Nyshchuk, Chairman of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine Committee, noted that today art is becoming an important means of psychological support and helps society process the experience of war. That is why expanding the nominations corresponds to the challenges of today.

“This is truly very important. Because the new directions that have appeared, alongside those traditionally established in the canonical perception, are extremely relevant precisely in wartime,” Yevhen Nyshchuk said.

For the first time, the Taras Shevchenko National Prize in the nomination “Photography” was awarded to photographer Olena Hrom for the photo project Stolen Spring.

In another new nomination – “Creative Curatorship of Cultural and Artistic Projects” – the award for the exhibition project “Alla Horska. Boryviter” was received by the curators of this exhibition Tetiana Hauk, Olena Hrozovska, Mykhailo Kulivnyk, Kateryna Lisova, and the exhibition designer Daria Podoltseva. Another winner in this nomination for the cultural and artistic project “30×30. Contemporary Ukrainian Art” was its curator, art critic Valeriy Sakharuk.

Conductor, artistic director of the P. Maiboroda Academic Choir of Ukrainian Radio Yulia Tkach received the country’s highest creative award in the “Concert and Performing Arts” nomination for the media project “One Step to Victory,” artistic cycles “Figures,” “Meeting of Eras,” concert programs, and archival recordings from 2020–2025.

Diplomat, writer, and scholar Yuri Shcherbak became a laureate of the Shevchenko Prize in the “Prose” nomination for the book of summaries and prophecies “Dead Memory. Voices and Cries,” and writer Pavlo Beliansky for the novel “To Fight Cannot Retreat.”

The award in the “Publicism and Journalism” nomination was received by writer and journalist Oleh Kryshtopa for the documentary novel “Radio ‘Aphrodite’.”

In the nomination “Literary Studies and Art Criticism,” the prize was awarded to art historian Olesia Avramenko for her popular scholarly works on art from the author’s Accent series – three books: “Bilokur,” “Prykhodko,” “Tistol.” In the same nomination, film critic, film scholar, and screenwriter Serhiy Trymbach received the prize for the book “Ivan Mykolaichuk. Mysteries of Fate.”

Director Oksana Dmitrieva was the winner in the “Theater Arts” nomination for the performances “Vertep,” “Mons Giraffe” of the Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theater named after V. A. Afanasiev, “The Tempest” of the Maria Zankovetska National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theater, “Medea” of the Ivan Franko Ivano-Frankivsk National Academic Theater.

The National Prize in the “Cinematic Arts” nomination was received by the scriptwriter and director of the film “U Are the Universe” Pavlo Ostrykov.

The laureate of the award in the “Decorative and Applied Arts” nomination for a series of artistic works of Ukrainian glass from the art project “Born in Fire” was the master of artistic glass Ihor Matsiievskyi.

In the “Visual Arts” nomination, sculptor Nazar Bilyk received the award for creating the “Memorial to Ukrainian Intelligence Officers,” a series of sculptures “Disturbed Space,” “Alloy.”

Georgia:

Day 467 of #GeorgiaProtests

1. Further isolation of the regime, a Russian proxy and sanctions evasion enabler, pro-Iran, pro-CCP;
2. Further targeted sanctions;
3. Aid to CSOs and independent media;
4. International investigation into chemicals use against protesters;

MOSE

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— Marika Mikiashvili (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 2:56 PM

Two more Georgian protesters were sentenced to 4 days in jail for peacefully standing on the sidewalk. One, Zviad Mzhavanadze, posted this video of his “crime.” Prosecutors say he blocked pedestrians and forced them onto the road. In the video, Zviad (circled left) is nowhere near them.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 2:48 AM

Georgian students and other protesters have gathered in front of Ilia State University, protesting Georgian Dream’s education reforms that undermine university autonomy, cancel strong academic programs, and particularly target Ilia—the only openly critical state university.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 10:04 AM

Today’s protest has reached Tbilisi State University. Students are protesting Georgian Dream’s unconstitutional interference in university autonomy. The reforms dictate which universities may teach which subjects and strip institutions of key academic programs.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 11:02 AM

After four hours of marching, Georgian students have reached the Ministry of Education in Tbilisi. They are demanding university autonomy.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 12:38 PM

Holland:

“Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants,” per the Dutch intelligence and security services MIVD and AIVD.

english.aivd.nl/latest/news/…

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— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.onestnetwork.com) March 9, 2026 at 8:53 AM

From the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Services:

Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants. The Dutch intelligence and security services MIVD and AIVD can confirm that targets and victims of the campaign include Dutch government employees. The Dutch services also believe that other persons of interest to the Russian government, such as journalists, may possibly be targeted by this campaign.

The Russian campaign is focused on persuading users to divulge their security verification- and pincodes, allowing the hackers to gain access to the users’ Signal or WhatsApp accounts. The most frequently observed method used by the Russian hackers is to masquerade as a Signal Support chatbot in order to induce their targets to divulge their codes. The hackers can then use these codes to take over the user’s account. Another method used by the Russian actors takes advantage of the ‘linked devices’ function within Signal and WhatsApp.

Once an account has been successfully compromised, the hackers can read incoming messages, including messages in the victim’s chat groups. The Russian hackers likely gained access to sensitive information through this campaign.

End-to-end encryption
In the opinion of the Dutch services, Russia’s keen interest in Signal can be attributed to the good reputation of the app. Signal is renowned as a reliable and independent communication channel which offers end-to-end encryption. This makes it an attractive channel for use within governments wishing to protect their internal communication. It also makes it the ideal place for malicious actors to try to capture sensitive information.

“Despite their end-to-end encryption option, messaging apps such as Signal and WhatsApp should not be used as channels for classified, confidential or sensitive information,” states Director of the MIVD, vice-admiral Peter Reesink.

Individual accounts
An interesting aspect of this Russian campaign is that it does not exploit any technical vulnerabilities of the messaging services. The attackers instead make malicious use of legitimate security features of the apps. Director-General of the AIVD Simone Smit states, “It is not the case that Signal or WhatsApp as a whole have been compromised. Individual user accounts are being targeted.”

To increase resilience against this Russian campaign, MIVD and AIVD have published a Cyber Advisory explaining how to identify and respond to attacks. The advisory also give instructions for Signal users on how to identify potentially compromised contacts.

All Signal users can personally check whether there are any potentially compromised contacts in their group chats. If you see any people who appear twice in the list of members (under the same or a slightly different name), this may be evidence of either a compromised account or a new account created by a victim.

If you suspect this to be the case, report this to the information security department of your organisation. Together you can try to verify (preferably using a channel other than Signal or WhatsApp, such as an email or a telephone call) whether it is correct that the account in question appears twice in the chat group contact list. Should this not be the case, ask the group administrator to remove both accounts from the group chat, after which the legitimate account holder can request to rejoin the group.

Please remain vigilant for group members who are not recognised by the rest of the group. The actor may occasionally change the display name of a compromised account to remain unnoticed in chat groups, for example to names such as ‘Deleted account’. If a member’s display name changes, the group will receive a notification. When the change is the legitimate transition to ‘Deleted account’, no notification is sent.

Actor-controlled accounts can also gain entry to the group via an obtained Group Link, of which the group always receives a notification. In all such unauthorised scenarios, ask the group administrator to remove the offending accounts from the chat.

If there is any indication that the group administrator themselves may have been compromised, it is advisable to exit the group and create a new one.

The Netherlands commits €3 billion a year to Ukraine, the new government government, locking in long-term predictable support.

Thank you, dear Dutch people — that’s particularly appreciated in these dark days

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— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:45 AM

“The new government announced” :)

— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:51 AM

The Paralympics:

At the Paralympics, the Russian anthem was played for the first time since 2014. This happened after Russian alpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina won gold, the first for Russians.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 5:29 PM

Slovakia:

As Orban’s election loss in Hungary looms, Putin is swapping in Fico as his new favourite EU puppet.

Fico declared he will block the €90B EU loan to Ukraine if Orban loses, and “take up the baton from Hungary”.

Putin’s decades-long investment in Fico seems to be paying off.

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— Maria Drutska (@mariadrutska.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:26 AM

Hungary:

Ukraine’s MFA said Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards detained March 5 near Budapest were held in handcuffs for 28 hours and transported blindfolded. The operation involved a Hungarian counter-terrorism unit with an APC, machine guns, and grenade launchers, although the Ukrainians were unarmed.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM

The detainees were not allowed to contact their families, a consul, or a lawyer. Their phones and belongings were confiscated. They were subjected to psychological and physical pressure, and one guard with a disability received medical help only after losing consciousness.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM

On March 9, the Ambassador of Hungary to Ukraine, Antal Heizer, was summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and was issued a strong protest over what Ukraine described as serious violations of Hungary’s international legal obligations.
mfa.gov.ua/news/shchodo…

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:27 PM

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— MAKS 25 (@maks23.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:29 PM

From Politico Europe:

Hungary’s ruling party on Monday introduced a bill aimed at cementing last week’s controversial seizure of millions of euros worth of Ukrainian state bank cash and gold.

The measure would allow authorities to freeze the assets while a national security investigation unfolds.

The proposal, introduced by Fidesz parliamentary leader Máté Kocsis, would treat the €35 million, $40 million and 9 kilograms of gold seized from vehicles linked to Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank as confiscated property until Hungary’s tax and customs authority concludes its probe.

According to Hungarian outlet Telex, lawmakers plan to debate the legislation under an unusual fast-track procedure after the parliament’s national security committee met Monday.

Hungarian authorities say they are examining whether the convoy — stopped while transiting the country last week — posed national security risks. They are also investigating the origin and intended use of the money.

Hungarian officials insist key questions about the convoy remain unresolved. Fidesz parliamentary leader Kocsis described the episode as a “scandalous Ukrainian gold convoy” and said investigators are examining whether the transport of such large quantities of cash and bullion could pose security risks to Hungary.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, slammed the move on X, accusing Budapest of trying to retroactively legitimize an illegal seizure. “Hungary is falling down a spiral of lawlessness,” Sybiha wrote, calling the bill “a de facto recognition that Hungary’s actions lack any legal grounds.”

The clash is the latest flare-up in a long-running feud between Kyiv and Budapest. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly butted heads with Ukraine over energy flows through the Druzhba pipeline, opposed Kyiv’s bid to join the European Union and blocked major EU financial support packages — including a €90 billion lifeline intended to keep Ukraine’s government functioning during the country’s war with Russia.

According to recently released Ukrainian POW’s, Hungary is now working with Russia, offering Ukrainians in captivity a chance to be released if they agree to take part in propaganda statements.

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— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

Prisoners of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Zakarpattia (region of Ukraine that borders Hungary) are being handed over to Hungary on the condition of recording propaganda videos.

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

This was reported by the released prisoner of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Chorpita for the project BreakTheFake, implemented with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Center for Strategic Communications.

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

“In 2023, in Gorlovka, in the prison where I was then held as a prisoner of war, a revealing incident occurred. I was offered to participate in an exchange, but to go to Hungary. I myself am from Zakarpattia.

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

However, the condition of participation in the exchange was that I had to record a video in which I would speak negatively about the Ukrainian authorities and at the same time positively about Russia, the conditions of detention and the prison regime.

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

I refused to do this, and therefore did not get to the exchange. Fortunately, in 2025, I was nevertheless released from captivity, and I am now undergoing treatment in Ukraine, – said Chorpita.”

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

“In most cases, they are an element of Russian propaganda, created under pressure or coercion. That is why the publication of such videos in the media of other countries actually means the spread of Russian propaganda and, in fact, support for its aggression” – emphasized Oleksiy.

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

This week, Russia handed over to Hungary two prisoners of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were in captivity. After their arrival in Budapest, the Hungarian TV channel published a video in which the military thanked their Russian captors for their survival.

— SPRAVDI – Stratcom Centre (@stratcomcentre.bsky.social) March 6, 2026 at 3:23 AM

These are war crimes.

Back to Ukraine.

Days after Hungary hijacked a Ukrainian Oschadbank delivery, detaining the security team and seizing 10s of millions of dollars worth of cash and gold, the bank has come under a massive hacker attack that has forced the bank to shut down its servers, halting online operations.

— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:03 AM

A representative of Fire Point says work is underway to increase the warhead capacity of the FP-1 to 105 kg at a range of 1,000 km, and the FP-2 to 158 kg, thanks to a new wing-integrated fuel tank design.

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— Special Kherson Cat (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:43 AM

Drone operators from the the Birds of Magyar, struck several Russian targets on the night of March 8, 2026.

Targets included a 64N6 Big Bird radar in Crimea, a Buk-M2 launcher-loader vehicle (9A316) in Donetsk region, and a temporary deployment site of the Russian Rubikon unit.

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— Special Kherson Cat (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:55 AM

“Ready to surrender. No strength left, haven’t eaten for 3 weeks. We need food and communication.” – Russians on the Lyman direction are asking Ukrainian soldiers to take them prisoner because they are starving.
www.facebook.com/66ombr

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:30 PM

Operators of the “Steel Horsemen” battalion of the 66th Mechanized Brigade say Russian forces in this sector have long had major logistical problems. Last year, due to lack of evacuation, the death rate in the Russian army exceeded 55%, and this winter it has surpassed 65%.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 3:30 PM

Kharkiv:

2:30 AM local time/*;30 PM EDT:

Explosion in Kharkiv our city is under russian drone attack right now

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:33 PM

Kharkiv is still mourning the victims of a russian drone strike that killed 11 people just two days ago.

Tonight the city was attacked again. At least six people are reported injured so far, including children.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:51 PM

This evening in Kharkiv a fire broke out following a russian drone attack, leaving several people injured.

The enemy struck a residential area. As a result of the shelling, two cars caught fire and windows were shattered in an apartment building.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 5:05 PM

Preliminary reports indicate that four people were injured, including one child.

Emergency Service units quickly extinguished the fire.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 5:05 PM

In Kharkiv, search and rescue operations have been completed at the residential building struck by a Russian missile on Saturday.

The work lasted for more than two days, as rescuers dismantled heavy concrete structures piece by piece. In total, over 2,400 cubic meters of debris were removed.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:10 AM

This was a deliberate strike, carried out in the middle of the night while dozens of families in the five‑story building were asleep.

Tragically, 10 people were killed, including two children: a 7‑year‑old boy and a 13‑year‑old girl. Fragments of other bodies were also recovered,

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:10 AM

and identification is still ongoing.

At least 16 people were injured in the attack, among them three children. Search dogs and their handlers will continue working even after the official end of the rescue operation, as four people remain missing.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:10 AM

This is an apartment building in Kharkiv, destroyed by a russian strike on March 7.

If you zoom in, you can still see the remaining fragments of people’s homes and lives: a kitchen stove, a chair, a washing machine… just normal homes. In a single moment, russia stole the lives of 10 people.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:11 PM

Two children died alongside their mothers. Four people remain missing.

Their only “crime” was being Ukrainians in their own homes; for this, russia killed them.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:11 PM

Mariupol:

On Mar 9, 2022, russian invaders targeted the maternity ward in Mariupol city center, killing and injuring pregnant women and children there.

One of them was Iryna Kalinina. Her son Myron was born dead, and she died half an hour afterwards.

We owe justice to russia’s victims.

Evheniy Maloletka

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— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 1:29 PM

Russian occupied Crimea:

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces carried out precision strikes on Russian radar and command infrastructure.

Four radar systems were hit in occupied Crimea: 5N84A Oborona-14, Nebo-U, and two radar systems under radomes in Yevpatoria.

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— Special Kherson Cat (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 6:24 AM

This appears to be the first time the Ukrainian Navy has employed FP-2 strike drones:
• In Novoozerne, FP-2 struck a BK-16 landing craft.
• FP-2 strikes also hit infrastructure at Kirovske Air Base, destroying a storage site for Orion drones and four control stations.

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— Special Kherson Cat (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 8:59 AM

Part of Sevastopol was left without electricity due to an accident at a 110 kV substation. There are also reports of a strike in Donetsk.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 4:52 PM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron skeets or videos today.

Here is some adjacent material.

There is an informal shelter in Dnipro, Ukraine called “Fluffy Hugs”, which cares for displaced pets evacuated from the front lines. Olha from the Hachiko team delivered food to support the 70 cats and 50 dogs currently living there. We will keep helping!

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— Nate Mook (@natemook.bsky.social) March 7, 2026 at 9:01 AM

Open thread!

The post War for Ukraine Day 1,474: With Friends Like These appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Monday Night Open Thread

John Cole — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:34:16 +0000

So the Straits of Hormuz are closed, the entire global economy is threatened, countries are launching missiles in every which direction, but because the face-painted war-criming clown said ‘I think we are about done here, trust me I have a plan’ the DOW closed up 230+ points.

Our entire fucking economy, from top to bottom, is a shamtastic fucking scam based on the fucking vibes of a couple thousand coked up brokers on Wall Street and their geriatric billionaire bosses. We’re all on a rollercoaster with no fucking say in the matter and no idea if there are tracks up ahead.

***

Meanwhile, another banner day for bigots:

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles is the latest House Republican to make Islamophobic remarks on social media, causing outcry from Democrats and little public response from fellow Republicans.

“Muslims don’t belong in American society,” the Tennessee Republican posted Monday on X. “Pluralism is a lie.”

Ogles, a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, has previously called for a “Muslim ban” and plans to propose legislation to ban entry to the U.S. from a set of Muslim-majority countries.

Personally, I would be ok if we let in 400 Muslims for every bigot like Ogles we launch into the sun. Maybe I am just lucky, but every single Muslim I have ever interacted with in person (and because I self-select to go to a lot of places where Muslims congregate, it is far more than you would imagine for a guy from WV) has been in the top echelon of kind, generous, and gentle human beings I have ever met. One of my younger childhood memories was of an Iranian student named Ikram Chaudry at Bethany College, who everyone on campus and in town loved (even though he was a little crazy). He was here from like ’79-83, when Iran was really not in the best way. Fuck Andy Ogles. As someone who doesn’t believe in any of this stuff this religious bigotry is just maddening and infuriating. Judge people by how they treat you, not by a label, you dumb racist fucks.

And now for unelected bigots:

Enrique Tarrio, a far-right activist and former Proud Boys national chair, posted a photo of himself with Secretary of State Marco Rubio taken at the inaugural “Shield of the Americas” summit in Florida on Saturday.

Tarrio posted the photo on Saturday on the social platform X with a caption that read, in part, “Proud of this Cuban!” He also wrote “down with communism,” in Spanish, an apparent nod to the current Cuban regime, which has been hit with an oil embargo from President Trump.

“With @SecRubio at the Shield of the Americas summit,” he wrote. “By far the President Trumps choices for his cabinet. Proud of this Cuban! Abajo con el comunismo!” Tarrio went on to correct himself, saying, “The best choice by the President* Excuse me.”

Tarrio, who led the white nationalist organization from 2018-21, was sentenced in 2023 to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy following his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump pardoned him and other Jan. 6 rioters last year.

Every single person who ever said a fucking thing about Hillary Clinton’s basket of deplorables remark can go directly to hell, do not pass go.

***

There is now incontrovertible (in my opinion) evidence that it was in fact a US Tomahawk missile, targeted using Claude AI, that killed 110 or more kids:

A US Tomahawk missile hit a military base near a primary school in southern Iran where Iranian authorities said 168 people, including around 110 children, were killed, expert video analysis shows.

A video published yesterday by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, which BBC Verify has confirmed as authentic, shows a missile moments before it struck an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base next to the Shajareh Tayebeh primary school in Minab.

BBC Verify has previously established through satellite imagery, verified videos and expert analysis that the area near the school was hit by a series of strikes.

Experts who have seen this latest video, told us the presence of a Tomahawk missile, along with evidence the area was hit with multiple strikes, indicates this was a US operation. Neither Israel nor Iran are known to possess Tomahawks, experts said.

It would also make the scenario of a single Iranian missile hitting the site at the same time and causing such a high reported death toll highly improbable, an expert told BBC Verify.

The only “defense” I have seen is to try to pin the blame on AI, which as far as I am concerned makes this even fucking worse. Like multiple levels of worse. We can not even be arsed to spend a couple man hours ahead of time to do proper target selection. We were under no imminent threat. We were under no fucking threat whatsoever. This was a war we chose to launch, and we couldn’t even fucking try to avoid civilian casualties. And then there is the fact that the only fucking thing they care about are sizzle reels:

NBC’s Richard Engel: “The White House meme campaign is outraging many former US military commanders… they say only someone who has never really seen combat would think it’s a joke and put out material like this.”

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— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 9:33 AM

It’s a good thing I am an atheist, because otherwise I would say with absolute certainty that every single person over the age of 20 in the US who could have voted in the last election is going to fucking hell for this. This is on us.

***

This is stupid as fuck on a scale that I am honestly surprised it did not come from the GOP:

Sen. Cory Booker, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, told NBC News he’ll introduce a tax bill this week to significantly expand the standard deduction, effectively lowering taxes on low- and middle-income earners.

The New Jersey senator’s plan would set the standard deduction at $75,000 for married couples, or $37,500 for individuals. That’s more than double what it is today: $32,200 for couples filing jointly and half that for single filers.

“It’s a simple idea: American households don’t pay taxes on their first $75,000 of earnings,” Booker said in an interview. “It will have a significant impact on the average American in raising their income.”

I do not have the fucking energy to go into how fucking stupid this is. The problem is not that taxes are too high on the middle class, it’s that we’re getting fuck all in return for it. All our tax dollars go to bombing brown people and tax cutes for billionaires and to make banks whole after they do reckless shit and to subsidize fossil fuels. Keep our taxes the same, tax the fucking wealthier more, give us healthcare and all the other good shit every other industrialized nation in the fucking world does and the only reason we don’t is because we’ve convinced the racist poors if we do that only the brown people will get it at their expense.

***

I am in a mood tonight. I am going to go feed the birds.

The post Monday Night Open Thread appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Excellent Read: “Gullible, Cynical America”

Anne Laurie — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 23:40:58 +0000

Adam Serwer, always worth reading:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0…

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— Anne Laurie (@annelaurie.bsky.social) March 9, 2026 at 7:28 PM

If nothing we know is true, then anything might be true… Gift link:

Many Americans believe that vaccines are unsafe, but will jab themselves full of performance enhancers. They think seed oils cause chronic disease, but beef tallow is healthy. They’ll say you can’t trust federally insured banks, but you can trust the millionaires who want you to invest in their volatile vaporware crypto tokens. They think food additives are toxic but support an administration removing all restrictions on pumping pollutants into the air and water. They’ll insist that you can’t trust scientists, because they’re part of the conspiracy. The podcaster selling you his special creatine gummies, though? He seems trustworthy.

The coronavirus wasn’t the only epidemic to hit the United States in the past decade. Americans are also facing a bizarre epidemic of gullibility and cynicism—gullicism, if you need a portmanteau—that is drawing people into a world of conspiracism and falsehoods, one where facts are drowned out by a cacophony of extremely loud and wrong voices. Reliable information is both more available and harder to find than ever—and those who spread misinformation have been rewarded with positions of power, platforms they can exploit to further pollute the information environment…

Gullicism creates not just a void but also an opportunity. It creates an ideal business opportunity for snake-oil salesmen to peddle products whose whole appeal is that they’re not scientifically validated. What is ultimately being sold is the feeling that consumers can prove they’re smarter than those snooty experts who think they know everything—and who probably are in on the conspiracy to deprive you of the truth…

Such theories are an example of what Nancy Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead describe in their book A Lot of People Are Saying as “the new conspiracism.” They portray a nation so “disoriented” by nonsense claims that people struggle to determine what is true. The new conspiracism is characterized by the absence of prescriptive solutions—it offers “no notion of what should replace the reviled parties, processes, and agencies of government once covert schemes are revealed.”

But that’s not quite right. What replaces these processes is snake oil: wellness products that cure no one, firearms and freeze-dried food for an inevitable but always delayed apocalypse, volatile digital tokens in exchange for real money. These substitutes provide nothing useful or tangible—only the self-esteem boost that comes from feeling like you understand infectious diseases better than an epidemiologist (or whatever expert told you something you didn’t want to hear). In some cases, the replacement is even worse—between anti-vax lunacy and shots of raw milk in the Oval Office, we appear to have a grand political coalition for returning to the days when people regularly died of diarrhea. You, too, can be a lone, rugged wolf rising above the masses of sheep. (At least until the listeria gets you.)

That’s exactly how the cryptolords and gambling companies and supplement salesmen want you to feel, because if they can sell you that feeling, they can sell you anything at all. That goes for politicians, too…

The post Excellent Read: “Gullible, Cynical America” appeared first on Balloon Juice.

Cruel Shoes II

Betty Cracker — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:32:45 +0000

There’s an insane story in the WSJ about how TeMussolini has a new dementia game. He guesses the shoe size of male appointees and cronies, then has a minion order Florsheim shoes for them in the size he guessed.

He expects giftees to wear the shoes in his presence. Doesn’t always work out so well.

Real Caligula appoints his horse as consul stuff!

I wonder if the shoe recipients hobble around in ill-fitting shoes indefinitely, or do they order the same shoes in the right size and make the switch on the down low?

I hope it’s the former. They deserve cruel shoes.

Open thread.

ETA: Piggy is supposed to give a speech right about now. It will be lies, so I’m not gonna bother watching.

The post Cruel Shoes II appeared first on Balloon Juice.

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