This is Not Cool

Sleeper Cells? Mysterious Broadcast has Radio Sleuths Baffled

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

A mysterious shortwave broadcast appeared on the first day of the US Iran war — a voice in Persian calmly reading random number sequences.

Radio enthusiasts believe it may be a numbers station, a type of spy radio station historically used to send encrypted coded messages to intelligence agents. These broadcasts were widely used by spies in the Cold War, allowing governments to communicate with operatives in secret.

RFE/RL captured this numbers station audio recording on March 10. Soon after, someone tried jamming the signal with electronic interference.

Numbers stations are considered Cold War spy tech, used by intelligence services like the CIA to communicate with agents around the world.

Is this mysterious signal connected to modern spying operations during the US Iran war?

Listen to the broadcast and decide for yourself.

Hormuz 101: Straight Talk about the Strait

Bloomberg energy reporter Javier Glass has a quick, essential guide to the facts on the ground that will affect the ongoing war in the Gulf.

Music Break: Robert L Hunt – Shot Him 8 Times

Old buddy Robert Hunt, long time musician, told me he woke up at 2 in the morning a few days after the Alex Pretti shooting with the line “shot him 8 times” repeating in his head.
“Yeah, I know they shot him 10 times, but that was the line I was getting, so I spotted ’em 2.”

4 days later he came out of the studio with this angry, gripping piece.

Getting Ugly on the Road to World War III

Robert Pape, Political Scientist, University of Chicago, via email:

The early phase of the Iran war is already displaying several recurring strategic patterns that have appeared repeatedly across modern conflicts. These patterns do not predict every event. But they help explain why wars that begin with expectations of rapid success often expand into much larger and more dangerous confrontations.

Four patterns are already visible.

1. The Escalation Trap

The first pattern is the Escalation Trap, a recurring dynamic in modern war in which early battlefield success produces strategic disappointment, and leaders respond by escalating rather than reconsidering the strategy.

The sequence unfolds in three stages.

Stage 1: Tactical Success, Strategic Failure

The war began with a coordinated U.S.–Israeli strike on Iranian leadership and military targets. The opening campaign destroyed facilities and killed senior officials. In purely military terms, the operation appeared successful.

But the political objective—rapid regime collapse or capitulation—did not occur. The Iranian state remained intact, and the government quickly reasserted control.

This gap between battlefield success and political outcome is the first step of the Escalation Trap.

Stage 2: Escalation

When early success fails to produce the expected political result, leaders often double down. Because the stronger side possesses overwhelming military power, decision-makers assume they hold escalation dominance—the ability to climb the escalation ladder faster and higher than the opponent.

Doubling down becomes an obsession.

· More strikes.

· Broader targets.

· More days of bombing.

Too Hot to Walk the Dog – Extreme Heat Days Limiting Human Activity

Bloomberg:

The number of days where extreme heat makes it too dangerously hot to walk the dog, sweep the porch and engage in other ordinary pursuits has doubled around the world over the past 75 years, according to new research.

Scientists determined that on average, those 65 and older experience a month a year when heat prevents them from routine activities. Parts of Asia, Africa, Australia and North America are becoming unlivable for senior citizens, the researchers said. Younger adults also are losing time as climate-driven heat restricts their lives for 50 hours a year.

Overall, more than a third of the global population resides in regions where heat severely affects daily life, according to the peer-reviewed paper published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Research: Health.

While previous research has shown the impact of extreme heat on human health, authors of the new study said it’s the first to document the consequences of rising temperatures on everyday life.

“Extreme heat isn’t just affecting our ability to survive or work physically demanding jobs, but also just to do simple, light, daily tasks,” said Luke Parsons, a climate scientist at nonprofit environmental organization the Nature Conservancy and lead author of the paper.

Most Intense Heatwave in History Due in Southwestern US

Snowpacks low across the west, no miracle March snow fall in prospect.

Colin McCarthy on X:

It’s not a stretch to say that what’s bearing down on the Western United States over the next ten days will be the most extreme March heatwave the region has ever seen in US history, not just in intensity, but in duration.

This isn’t a brief warm spell. This is an extended, unprecedented siege of heat arriving months ahead of schedule.

The amount of territory that will be covered by a record-strong high-pressure ridge or “heat dome” next week is astonishing. The entire region highlighted in pink will experience its strongest high pressure ridge on record for this time of year.

“They’re Not Out of Missiles” – Iran Assessment are Grim

Are we tired of winning?

Two assessments of the current war for hydrocarbons.
Above, retired Colonel Douglas Macgregor, former advisor to the Secretary of Defense, under the last Trump regime, and a frequent Fox News guest, who is definitely conservative, but seems rational, gives an assessment of Iran’s capabilities – making me think he will not be on Fox News again any time soon.

Below, further reactions from former Obama officials.

DOE: Fuel Prices Will Stay High Long Term

Financial Times (gift link):

The US energy department has warned petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to recede to prewar levels until mid-2027 at the earliest, ratcheting up costs for industries from trucking and farming to airlines and retailers. Official figures released on Tuesday show US petrol prices rose 19 per cent over the past two weeks to $3.50 a gallon as the Middle East conflict throttled energy supplies, while diesel jumped 28 per cent to $4.86 a gallon.

Petrol is not forecast to drop back below its $2.94 per gallon pre-conflict level before the end of 2027, according to the Energy Information Administration, the energy department’s statistics arm. Diesel — the lifeblood of American industry — will not fall below the $3.81 per gallon it sat at two weeks ago until the middle of next year.

The shift threatens to push up costs for industry, which in turn will ratchet up prices for consumers with far-reaching inflationary impacts for the world’s largest economy. It will also pile pressure on Donald Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2024 on a platform to slash petrol and energy costs. Prices at the pump are now higher than at any time during his two terms in office.

“We’ve got a lot of costs moving their way through the system,” said Tom Kloza, an independent oil analyst. “We’re looking at some really scary inflation ratings — pervasive inflation throughout the country.”

The rise in the price of refined fuel products in the US comes as Iran’s threats to strike ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz have all but halted maritime traffic in an artery through which roughly a fifth of global oil supply flows.

Gang that Can’t Tweet Strait: No US Escort for Tankers thru Hormuz

Grifter Energy Secretary Chris Wright hurriedly deletes misleading tweet.

Wall Street Journal:

For days, the global oil market has swung wildly while traders from New York to London to Singapore have watched footage of drones and missiles flying across the Middle East. Tuesday’s selloff was sparked in part by a social-media post.

A plunge in oil prices intensified in the early afternoon after Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on X that “The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” The prospect of a prolonged energy shock momentarily dimmed. Futures for oil, diesel and gasoline slid. Stocks jumped.

But the message vanished within minutes, leaving investors the world over struggling to see through the fog of war emanating from the Trump administration itself.

U.S. officials soon after said that the military isn’t currently escorting commercial ships through one of the world’s chokepoints for oil and natural gas.

“A video clip was deleted from Secretary Wright’s official X account after it was determined to be incorrectly captioned by Department of Energy staff,” an agency spokesperson said. The administration is reviewing other options to resume tanker traffic, the spokesperson added, “including the potential for our Navy to escort tankers.”