U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian missile launchers have caused significant Iranian casualties while triggering Iranian retaliation that has resulted in U.S. military deaths along with drone attacks on embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait plus disruptions to oil facilities and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict threatens to engulf Lebanon through expanded Hezbollah involvement, has forced multiple U.S. embassy closures and evacuations, stoked fears among Trump’s Asian allies of diverted defenses against China that could affect upcoming Xi talks, and coincides with France expanding its nuclear arsenal alongside Norway’s readiness for related talks as Qatar confirms no prior warnings or communications from Tehran. We've been calling the series of conflicts that have been going on the beginnings of WWIII for over a year now, but perhaps the mainstream media will start naming the conflict for what it is.

Haiti has launched a 10-day registration period for political parties ahead of planned general elections in late August, marking the first such vote since the transitional government took over following the 2021 presidential assassination. Gang violence controlling much of Port-au-Prince has displaced 1.4 million people and caused thousands of deaths and injuries, yet U.S.-backed progress on a new international anti-gang force continues to support the election timeline despite stretched police resources. The situation in Haiti has been dire for quite some time but hopefully the fact that the island nation can host elections is a sign that Haiti is slowly but surely coming back to life.

Sudan has formally accused Ethiopia of launching drone strikes from its territory as direct aggression during the nearly three-year civil war between government forces and the Rapid Support Forces. Ethiopia has built a secret training camp near the border with UAE financing and logistical support to prepare up to 10,000 RSF fighters for deployment, drawing scrutiny over broader regional complicity in prolonging the conflict. It is unfortunate to think that the Ethiopian government is not only complicit but actively empowering Sudanese rebels as they continue to commit atrocity after atrocity on the Sudanese people.

The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked California policies that restricted schools from notifying parents about students’ gender identity or using preferred names and pronouns without family consent. The divided ruling found parents likely to prevail on constitutional claims to direct their children’s upbringing and religious exercise. The ruling backed district court protections that kept schools from misleading families on these matters. This makes sense, policies meant to protect children typically don't include keeping information secret from their parents. If a child is in an unsafe environment the child needs to be removed, however, something like gender identity or naming conventions is not the type of information that a government institution should be able to keep away from the parents.

OpenAI has revised its Pentagon agreement to explicitly limit use of its technology for domestic surveillance of Americans and restrict access by agencies such as the NSA following industry backlash tied to the Anthropic dispute. CEO Sam Altman defended the overall partnership while acknowledging the initial arrangement appeared rushed and poorly structured amid the company’s push into government contracts and parallel Pentagon plans for open-source 5G-6G software stacks. Sam Altman, I believe, has no idea what he is doing and is at the head of one of the most powerful AI companies in the world. Altman aside, the government has to have access to advanced AI technologies because other governments have that capacity and private companies are not going to be able to set the terms on its use of that tech.

The Justice Department will abandon its appeals and no longer defend President Trump’s executive orders that barred certain law firms from government contracts and threatened their clients’ federal business. The move follows district court losses for firms including Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, Jenner & Block, and Susman Godfrey while others reached separate settlements, signaling a broader shift away from enforcing the controversial measures. This makes sense and it furthers the sense that the Justice Department does not belong to Trump as a private citizen but rather is a tool the president can direct to ensure there are active investigations into suspicious activity.

West Virginia Senate legislation would mandate that state police sell machine guns directly to residents at headquarters locations after standard background checks, advancing through the Judiciary Committee alongside eased domestic violence firearm prohibitions. The bill, known as the Creating Public Defense and Provisioning Act, reflects ongoing state efforts to expand lawful access to advanced weaponry for citizens. I'm a fan, but in fairness I'm a staunch advocate for a heavily armed citizenry and times like these make me even bolder in that stance. With that said, I think for those that are actively trying to reduce the weapons available to citizens this would be a huge step in the wrong direction.

Amazon’s data services unit has purchased the George Washington University Virginia Science and Technology campus in Ashburn for $427 million to convert the site into large-scale data center infrastructure. The university may retain some academic programs on-site for up to five years as the acquisition supports surging demand for AI and cloud computing capacity in the region. So perhaps data centers go on huge pieces of land somewhat isolated from densely populated centers. This seems like a reminder of where our priorities currently are as we are swapping a college campus for a data center in Virginia.

A Memphis Shelby Crime Commission poll of registered voters shows crime and gun violence as the leading issue overall for residents in a city ranked among North America’s highest for crime rates. Significant racial differences have emerged on secondary priorities such as jobs, economy, new schools, hospitals, and jail construction alongside mixed views on ICE enforcement and local justice system effectiveness. The interesting thing in Memphis is that white residents are significantly more concerned with crime than black residents. There are a couple explanations I can think of. One is that white people have a vision of crime that's outsized from the reality of it. A second may be that the black population in Memphis has become so desensitized to the level of violence. And third is that the black population thinks the crime can only be solved if other issues are solved first and are therefore more important.

New legislation in Oklahoma would mandate that foreign nationals holding commercial driver licenses carry proof of lawful immigration status such as unexpired employment authorization documents or passports with Form I-94. The measure implements a new federal Department of Transportation rule effective March 16 while imposing misdemeanor penalties on drivers and substantial fines on employers for violations. California is not the only place where these conversations regarding qualifications for truck driving are taking place. It makes a lot of sense that these things are coming to a head with several tragedies involving foreign truck drivers bringing the conversation to the level of public awareness of the topic.