Stupidity

You know what the biggest sign of stupidity is? When you can’t anticipate the logical consequences of your decisions:

Trump is now considering sending in US ground troops into Iran. Currently the main obstacle preventing a deployment is that they didn’t prepare to need a deployment; lack the recourses and assets for it. The operation has been pushed from 4 days to 4 to 5 weeks.

Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) 2026-03-02T23:02:40.923Z

Donald Trump's theory of regime change is underpants gnomes logic1) Kidnap/kill current leaders, blow stuff up2) ?3) Profit! (literally, because Trump and his allies seek personal gain from all of this)

David Ryan Miller (@davidryanmiller.com) 2026-03-02T16:17:28.900Z

Dangerous idiots

I was 9 the year the measles vaccine came out. But before then, one of my cousins was in a coma from measles and when he finally came out, he was severely brain damaged. So no, I don’t have much sympathy for the parents of these children. It’s your job to protect them.

Children in South Carolina are developing rare brain swelling complications after measles outbreak trib.al/YRnKgEt

The Independent (@the-independent.com) 2026-02-05T20:24:06.592746Z

He’s even worse than I thought

Via the NYTimes Magazine:

Patel traveled to Britain to attend a secret conference of the Five Eyes, the intelligence alliance formed after World War II among the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Senior executive 2: Every May, there’s a Five Eyes conference with the head of every intelligence agency. This year it was in the U.K. Kash Patel is going. In the lead-up to that, his detail starts making crazy requests. He’s got special requirements on everything. And the Brits are getting pissed.

Before the conference, his staff says he’s unhappy because he doesn’t like meetings in office settings. What he wants is social events. He wants Premier soccer games. He wants to go jet skiing. He’d like a helicopter tour. Everyone who heard about this was like: Hold on. Is he really going to ask the MI5 director to go jet skiing instead of meeting? The schedule is set, and every Five Eyes partner is doing this. They can’t just say that he’s not participating and instead he wants to go to a Premier soccer game. This is a job, guys.

His staff only cared about three things: what his meals were, when his workouts would be and what his entertainment would be. The biggest plan is how he’s going to get his girlfriend in there so she can go to Windsor Castle. He’s got Nicole Rucker as his assistant, like a true executive concierge. And when she’s not getting the food or the workout she wants, she’ll just start screaming at people, Make it happen!

His staff was briefed multiple times that the Brits were going to want to talk about an F.B.I. position in London that has been pulled. The F.B.I. is arguably their most important partner. MI5 is 5,000 people. The F.B.I. is 38,000. If MI5 ceased to exist, it would be very bad for us. If we cease to exist, it would be an existential threat for them. That person was working on a ton of sensitive stuff, including embassy penetrations and technology, and they want this position back. So Ken McCallum, the MI5 director, goes to Kash Patel at the conference and says: Hey, we really need this position. It’s so important for our mutual benefit. And Kash says: Yep, that person’s going nowhere. She’s absolutely staying. And the Brits rejoice.

Two weeks later, he reverses himself and removes her. The Brits are outraged. Kash will make promises and he will break them, and he doesn’t worry about that.

On that trip, the heads of intelligence for the Five Eyes went to Windsor Castle and met with the king. There was a photo taken of all the Five Eyes people, some of whom are nondisclosed, meaning their affiliation with the British intelligence service isn’t public. The Brits forwarded that picture as a keepsake for the individuals. They prefaced it with, This isn’t to be shared. But Kash has decided he wants to post it on social media. They have people trying to negotiate with the Brits about whether that’s possible. They’re fighting with the director’s office, like: You cannot post this. Do not do that. And they’re arguing, He wants a picture out.

(The F.B.I. did not respond to questions about this trip.)

Most people know the difference

And the ones who don’t probably weren’t going to vote for us, anyway. But you might try to educate and persuade them instead of cowering in the corner.

To quote one source:“They’re terrified of being labeled anti–law enforcement. They want this to go away so they can talk about the cost of living more. Problem is, it’s not going away.”prospect.org/2026/01/21/j…

David Dayen (@ddayen.bsky.social) 2026-01-21T20:25:34.739Z