PilotPhotog on the 3/2 al Jahara Strike Eagle Shootdown

The consensus:  fog of war. Saturated electronic space. Mudhens don't have passive IR detection.

Suggestion floating around: it was some kind of IR SHORAD, not Patriots--which might explain why all three (?) were hit aft.

This is a channel I've just recently started following, so I can't vouch for it.

I'm, of course, waiting for Alex Hollings to tell us what happened...

F-15 Friendly-Fire Shootdowns: The Silver Lining

Patriots work...

Bing West: Drop Weapons to Iranians

Yeah, I've been wondering about this.

And I'd add: surely we already have some contacts with Iranian resistance.

And you think Mossad hasn't been cultivating such links for decades?

3 USAF F-15Es Shot Down by Friendly Ground Fire Over Kuwait

story

Two chutes visible in the one incident we have on video, looks like both crewmen survived.

Don't know anything else.

[addendum: CENTCOM says Strike Eagle shoot-down incidents were friendly fire.]

Ed Driscoll Rounds Up Some Lefty Crazy Re: Iran / Operation Epic Fury

link

It's becoming more and more difficult to distinguish progressivism from mental illness.

Which is not to say that any opposition to this thing is crazy or wrong.

I have little idea whether we're doing the right thing or not.

But Driscoll is absolutely right about the papier-mache puppets. 

Hegseth Declares Anthropic a "Supply-Chain Risk," Restricting Military Contractors from Doing Business With AI Giant

Boy, this does not sound good.

Kinda sounds like Hegseth is being unreasonable...but...that's nothing but an impression.

I do not understand what's really going on...

The Trump Administration in Yet Another Nutshell: Dr. Oz and "Transing" Children

link

Trump appoints an unqualified celebrity to an important post.

The blue team freaks out.

Unqualified celebrity proceeds to do a much better job than the progressives who previously occupied similar posts--at least in certain important respects...

Look, I made fun of this appointment. I still make fun of it. And I don't know how good a job Mr. Oz is doing overall....but his appointment was, we must now admit, far less of an outrage than the slew of roughly similar Dem appointments that preceded it-- e.g. during the Biden administration. Appointees who supported the brainwashing and sexual mutilation of children...

   This is basically Trump's greatest strength: he is not insane. Merely being not-insane--implementing non-insane policies and appointing non-insane people--has made him an enormous improvement over the Dems.

   As goes without saying, however, he has not been an unalloyed blessing...

David Brady: Mission Not So Accomplished?

I guess I didn't think any of this had to be said.

Yes, absolutely.

This could end up being an Iraq-like disaster.

Though:

This time we had much better reason for attacking.

and

I really don't think we're going to put "boots on the ground."

We really only had two bad options.

And Trump chose one of them.

Carolina 89 - VA Tech 82

Nine of the last eleven.

I didn't think they'd do this well without Caleb.

Steven Tucker: NHS: National Hostage Situation

DEI is just a catspaw used to advance the cult's ideological capture of institutions.

Fraser Meyers: "The UK's New Grooming Scandal"

What madness is this?

General Assembly Dems Attack VMI

Jackasses.

Behold, the Left: Crazy Granny Edition

Can the West really survive such idiots?

Operation Epic Fury Hits Iran

The question is really: is this the worst option, or merely the second-worst option?

The latter is my guess...but what do I know?

Hanford and Friday: "States Rip Families Apart to Serve 'Transgender' Ideology"

So much for "families belong together"...

It's baffling that anyone ever believed this abject insanity, baffling that it managed to turn itself into a kind of orthodoxy largely just by screaming at people who questioned it, baffling that it captured a major political party, and baffling that it's held on for well over a decade...

    It was insane the second it was first mentioned. It's rather difficult to think of something more obviously false...yet here we are, in 2026, still fighting it. The left knows that if it just holds on and maintains a beachhead in the culture, it'll have a good chance of surviving.

   I'm beginning to doubt that sanity will ever return to the majority on the American left, including the Democrats. I haven't completely given up on them. But I no longer think that a return to sanity is inevitable.

Israel, U.S. Attack Iran

Saw this at about 1:30 (?) this morning.

Well, the die is cast.

Martin Gurri: What Would the World Look Like Without Trump?

I've got a lot to say about this...and I'm generally pretty skeptical about this kind of swashbuckling analysis...but...gotta say...I think it's pretty much right on target.

Some Central VA Sheriffs Say They Won't Enforced New Unconstitutional Gun Bills

I don't generally support this kind of thing, but...:

Finally Watched the Whole SOTU

I hate listening to someone read without comprehension (him without it, not me...though me without it is bad, too...). So as the thing wore on and Trump seemed to tire out a bit, I disliked it even more.

   Listen, I'm ok with 'Merka boosterism. I was way into the parade of heroes, and even kinda sorta ok with the Democrat-bashing...  I mean...I don't think it's right and don't think it should be a part of the SOTU...but, well, they do kinda deserve it...

   But...uh...IT'S WRONG and he shouldn't have done it.

   Let's just get that straight...

   Bad...Bad...

   The Dems really stepped in it when they refused to stand for the proposition that the USA's first obligation is to its citizens, not illegal aliens. That's gonna show up in a lot of red-team propaganda.

   But as Van Jones pointed out, it's not surprising that one party refuses to stand on demand about a contentious proposition.

   Agreed.

   OTOH, I think you have to admit that Dems do have some genuine general tendency to disagree with the relevant proposition. There's a tendency among them to think of themselves as "citizens of the world"... I mean, that's kinda sorta how I felt when I was a Dem...

   But not standing for Iryna Zarutska..that was some evil shit, man...

   Anyway.

   I don't like such rhetorical displays. I did enjoy parts of it...parts that better men probably derided. Overall I just found it tedious.

   Also, Trump's way less funny when you have to hear weak attempts at humor one right after the other until one finally semi-lands...

   As I've said before: Trump's a doer, not a talker.

Ben Cline: Spanberger and Dems Lie About Redistricting Scheme

My Congressman...unless/until the Dems' Gerrymandering plan goes through.

AJW: Philip DeFranco Lies for AOC

Also, he's an idiot.

More GRE Scores by Major

Teachers average among the least intelligent university graduates.

In a given year, the lowest-scoring groups on the GRE, SAT, and ACT are usually those pursuing degrees in education. https://t.co/54Sav3E0Sc pic.twitter.com/cL2txh14ak

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) February 19, 2026

Make DC Square Again

DOO EET