Roundup
(1) Nobody wants to get this kind of call from the Mossad. Is the story for real? I don’t know. But I do know the Mossad seems to have some extraordinary intelligence capabilities, especially in Iran. That’s probably based on many things, but one of them could be that many Iranian Jews fled to Israel around the time the mullahs came to power 47 years ago. They, and perhaps their children, would be native Farsi speakers.
(2) Citizenship of fraudster revoked:
A Haitian-born fraudster has been stripped of his U.S. citizenship after defrauding COVID-19 relief programs of millions of dollars and concealing his criminal conduct during the naturalization process.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith entered an order revoking the citizenship of Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint, 25, of Fort Lauderdale, after determining that Philossaint illegally procured his citizenship by making false statements to immigration officials.
Note that his citizenship wasn’t revoked because of the crimes he committed. It was revoked because he’d already started the criminal conduct before his citizenship hearing but concealed it from authorities during a sworn naturalization interview.
In addition, I’m wondering what happens now. Does he get deported back to Haiti?
(3) Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib has been killed by a targeted Israeli strike.
“Khatib played a significant role during the recent protests throughout Iran, including the arrest & killing of protestors and led terrorist activities against Israelis & Americans around the world,” the IDF said in a post on social media.
“Similarly, he operated against Iranian citizens during the Mahsa Amini protests (2022–2023),” they added.
The Iranian president – (rumored to be trying to resign and asking that he not be killed, since he has no control of anything anyone) announced the death.
(4) Chinagate – not. There are allegations that Trump was not told by US intelligence that there was evidence China had interfered in the 2020 election on behalf of Biden:
A nalysts inside the U.S. intelligence community sought to conceal evidence of Chinese influence efforts from President Donald Trump during the 2020 election, with analysts saying they didn’t want their intel used by “that vulgarian in the Oval Office” to pursue policies toward China they personally disagreed with.
The revelation is found within a January 2021 report written by — and never before reported upon comments by — analytic ombudsman Barry Zulauf, who conducted a review of the spy community’s handling of Russian versus Chinese meddling efforts during the 2020 election. Among his conclusions was that intelligence analysts downplayed China’s actions because they had disdain for the “vulgarian” Trump and did not want to support the policies and priorities of the Trump administration toward China with which they “personally disagree.”
It’s a sad thing that at this point most of us are so cynical that – if true – it doesn’t surprise us, and we doubt there will be any significant negative consequences for those who did this.
(5) An elderly Israeli couple were killed by an Iranian cluster bomb. Cluster bombs are banned by international treaty. Amnesty International actually noted back in July that Iran had been using these banned weapons. But it’s not as though the international community cares very much.
(6) Perhaps Trump’s pressure is working? I certainly hope so:
? BREAKING: After pressure from President Trump, NATO SecGen Mark Rutte says allies are RUSHING to find a way to secure the Strait of Hormuz
"I have been in contact with many allies…Strait has to open!"
"Allies are discussing how to do that. What is the best way to do it,… pic.twitter.com/5vKhGAKMU6
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 18, 2026
So US “allies” have to be dragged, kicking and screaming to do something that is in their own best interest.
It takes a loud mouthed, Queens, NY real estate guy to compel (the joke that is) NATO to do something.
Of course, do any of the NATO nations have the resources to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open?? We will see.
You can bet that Putin is looking at this and he has to conclude that NATO is a paper tiger. If he was not tied down in Ukraine , his army would be marching to the Baltic nations.
JohnTyler: I think in this case, the missing “resources” are glandular rather than kinetic.
I think Rutte has had his proverbial “come to Jesus” moment with POTUS Trump & knows Europe is toast without US military, political, & economic commitments to its future. He’s desperately swimming upstream against the hate-America-but-love-your-leftists Eurocrats. AND he probably knows, but can’t say the quiet part aloud, that much of Europe is already lost to Islam…and the next shots fired will be near his backyard.
I believe that France and Italy have very good Frigates that could be used in the Strait. Sweeden, Norway, Finland have Navies that could help. We will see.
I call bullshit on NATO “working together to determine the best way to secure the strait”.
Dither, dither at best.
@JohnTyler,
Yeah, about the “rare reluctance” of some NATO members, + some other USA allies, to provide [money or resources], when [the M + R] are needed or requested, to be paid:
In a 1920s [?], George Gershwin, musical play, [it’s a play with a fictional plot, everyone]- the wife of The USA president asks USA’s allies/diplomats [to pay back the USA…money given to the Allies by The USA, so that the USA’s Allies could fight + win World War One].
…When she asks them to pay back this money, this money…also called [the war debts], the diplomats reply with messages like:
” …Gosh. We don’t understand you, or English, all of a sudden!
…No capisce.
…No comprendo.
What did you say?
…I guess that we are [very] dumb, today….whenever you mention MONEY, you know that it’s very funny…, we respond:
…No capisce.
…No comprendo.
What did you say?”
[I’ve paraphrased that dialog, from the play, that I think is named- “Of Thee I Sing, Part 2”.
The above issue, that’s mentioned in the play, was written as comedy, but in my opinion, regretfully- this type of dialog to the USA’s Government is more [of a common event], rather than [a funny, fictional, comedy event].
That’s how things go, I guess. *shrugs*
Cheers. 🙂
Amnesty International actually noted back in July that Iran had been using these banned weapons.
The United States also uses these “banned weapons” and has not agreed to the international treaty that “bans” them. We’ve also transferred them to Ukraine to be used there. I think we last used them ourselves in 2009.