The Evening Blues - 3-13-26
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features San Francisco band Country Joe & the Fish. Enjoy!
Country Joe & the Fish - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag
"All governments lie, but disaster lies in wait for countries whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out."
-- I. F. Stone
News and Opinion
They Lied About The School Bombing In Iran, And They’re Going To Keep On Lying
An ongoing internal US military investigation has reportedly found the United States responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian girls’ school which killed at least 175 people at the beginning of the US-Israeli onslaught.
Remember all the hasbarists and empire apologists who said it was a misfired Iranian missile that hit the school. Remember how aggressively and uniformly they all pushed this lie, including the president of the United States. Then understand that they’re going to keep lying like this throughout the entire war.
Remember Secretary of War Pete Hegseth boasting about how the US has gotten rid of “stupid rules of engagement” intended to protect civilians, tough talking about how “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”
Those words land a bit different now that we know he was talking about mass murdering little girls.
In hindsight I guess it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that the guy who wrote a book called “American Crusade” immediately changed his title to Secretary of War and initiated a crusade against the Muslim world.
Larry Johnson & Col. Wilkerson: U.S. KC-135 Down — Carrier Abraham Lincoln Hit by Missiles & Drones
Iran vows to fight on in first message issued in name of Mojtaba Khamenei
Iran issued its first message in the name of its new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on Thursday, saying it would keep the strait of Hormuz closed and continue to attack US bases in the region.
The missive was read out on state TV rather than delivered live or on video, however, and will do little to satisfy those seeking proof that the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is actually alive.
In the message, Khamenei said he would demand compensation from the US for its attacks, and that if Washington refused he would order the destruction of its assets equivalent to the amount Iran is owed.
With doubts circulating about his health after the lethal attack on his father’s compound on the first day of the US-Israeli assault, the message read out on state TV is bound to be examined closely for the first clues of the kind of leadership the previously backroom politician intends to provide.
Described as a hardliner close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Khamenei, 56, said little in his message about the recent internal divisions in the country save to praise “the masses of people who have gathered in magnificent assemblies to reaffirm their allegiance to the system”.
Iran's Asymmetrical War /Alastair Crooke & Lt Col Daniel Davis
Pentagon tells lawmakers Iran war costs top $11.3bn – but true price unknown
Pentagon officials told top lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Tuesday that the cost of the war against Iran has already exceeded $11.3bn in its first six days, but the true cost of the opening days of the conflict is likely far greater, according to two people familiar with the matter.
But the estimate, presented during a classified briefing on Capitol Hill, appeared largely limited to munitions expenditures and does not capture the full cost of the opening days of the conflict, one person familiar with the matter told the Guardian. Additional costs to consider include the deployment of forces to the region, medical expenses and the replacement of military aircraft lost in war.
The Guardian reported last week that the US spent about $2bn each day in munitions at the beginning of the conflict before spending fell to $1bn each day. The cost per day is expected to fall further as the war continues, unless the situation escalates.
This figure, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the Associated Press, in addition to the Guardian, represents the most detailed cost assessment that Congress has received so far as lawmakers seek clarity about the scale of the campaign and US forces amassed in the Middle East as Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly start a military conflict against Iran faces mounting scrutiny.
Rescue effort under way as US military refueling plane crashes in Iraq
A US military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident US Central Command said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
It wasn’t immediately clear if there were casualties.
This is the fourth US aircraft downed since the US and Israel started carrying out strikes against Iran on 28 February. Earlier this month, three US air force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down in a “friendly fire” incident by Kuwait air defenses. All crew members in those jets ejected safely.
Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy: Israel Will Not Stop Wars & Occupation Until U.S. Pulls Support
Israeli military drops charges against soldiers accused of Gaza detainee abuse
Israel’s top military lawyer has dropped all charges against five soldiers accused of the violent abuse and rape of a Palestinian detainee from Gaza. The military advocate general, Itay Offir, said prosecutors lacked key evidence after the victim was sent back to Gaza, and that the conduct of senior officials had affected the chance of holding a fair trial.
Medical records show the detainee was taken to hospital in the summer of 2024 with injuries including broken ribs, a punctured lung and rectal damage, according to Israeli media reports on the indictment.
The detainee had been held at the Sde Teiman military detention centre, which has become notorious for torture. After the first arrests of Israeli soldiers in connection with the attack, a far-right mob including a minister and lawmakers broke into the base demanding the men’s release.
Israeli media broadcast a video of the attack soon after. Offir’s predecessor has been arrested on suspicion of authorising the leak, in an apparent attempt to defuse anger about the arrests and refute claims the men had been unfairly charged. It had little effect inside Israel, where the men’s supporters have claimed they were targeted for routine security work in a military detention centre. The five soldiers have not been named.
Offir said in a statement that the video did not present a clear picture of the attack, because “the vast majority of the defendants’ actions are obscured by shields”.He also said the decision to release the detainee back to Gaza as part of the October 2025 ceasefire deal negotiated by Donald Trump meant he could no longer give testimony at trial. The detainee was never charged or tried while in Israeli custody. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, welcomed the decision to drop charges, saying it was unacceptable it had taken so long and describing the men as “heroic warriors”.
Ray McGovern: Israel Lost the Iran War - May Use Nuclear Weapons
BREAKING: The Netherlands and Iceland have joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. Their filing argues that forced displacement, starvation, withholding aid, and acts targeting children may amount to genocidal acts and demonstrate genocidal intent. pic.twitter.com/UPKfpbyLXq
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) March 12, 2026
California officials say no imminent Iran threat found after FBI alert
California leaders said on Wednesday there was no imminent threat to the state from Iran after the FBI sent a warning to local police about a potential plan to strike the west coast, which was based on “unverified information”. The FBI’s alert caused significant anxiety and confusion in California after it was made public in an ABC News report. State leaders and police officials have since emphasized there was no credible threat from Iran, and FBI and White House officials have also said there was no cause for concern.
Organizers of the Oscars ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles said they would nonetheless increase security in the wake of the report, and the LA sheriff’s department said that “out of an abundance of caution” it was increasing patrols around “prominent locations”.
After the ABC News report widely spread across social media, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the FBI’s original alert was “about a single, unverified tip”. She wrote on X.com: “TO BE CLEAR: No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did.”
An FBI spokesperson also published a screenshot of the FBI’s message sent to its partners in a joint terrorism taskforce, which is a consortium of law enforcement agencies. The alert said: “We recently acquired unverified information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United States homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event the US conducted strikes against Iran.”
The FBI alert said: “We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.” The version of the FBI report ABC initially quoted did not include the claim that the information was “unverified”.
Economist Jeffrey Sachs: U.S.-Israeli "War of Choice," Assault on U.N. Charter Could Lead to WWIII
Middle East war creating ‘largest supply disruption in the history of oil markets’
Oil markets are facing the “largest supply disruption in history” as the war in Iran continues to block tankers from shipping millions of barrels of crude each day, the world energy watchdog has warned. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said the supply shock ignited by Iran’s effective blockade of the strait of Hormuz meant the world faced a deeper crisis than after the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine.
The warning came as Iran issued a statement that was said to be the first from its new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to call for the vital trade artery to “remain closed”, in a blow to hopes of a resolution to the crisis. In response, global oil prices passed $100 (£75) a barrel on Thursday as widespread Iranian attacks on energy facilities in the Middle East overshadowed a vast release of government reserves.
In an attempt to calm concerns over oil supplies, the IEA ordered the largest release of government reserves in its history on Wednesday, when its 32 members unanimously agreed to release 400m barrels of emergency crude. In addition, the US agreed to release 172m barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve, in the boldest attempt yet by the White House to bring down oil prices.
After Donald Trump’s vow on Wednesday to “finish the job” and press ahead with the US-Israel war on Iran, the country’s regime stepped up retaliatory strikes on economic targets across the region. Several merchant ships were struck in and around the strait of Hormuz, one of the most important arteries in global trade.
The US had signalled earlier this week it would offer a military escort to oil tankers seeking to pass through the strait, but the energy secretary, Chris Wright, said on Thursday that it was “not ready” to offer this help. He added that it was “quite likely” such escorts would be taking place by the end of the month.
Is Israel Taking Us Into World War III? (w/ Annelle Sheline)
Russia earned €6bn from fossil fuel exports since start of Iran war, data suggests
Russia has received €6bn (£5bn) from selling its fossil fuels in the fortnight since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, data suggests. The revenues imply Russia made an extra €672m in oil, gas and coal sales during March, as combined average daily prices have surged by 14% from February.
The vast majority of that increase, about €625m, appears to havecome from trading oil – according to figures by the thinktank the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
The numbers have been released after Donald Trump indicated on Monday he would ease US sanctions on Russian oil in response to soaring global prices after the start of the conflict – which began on 28 February with US and Israeli airstrikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The CREA publication coincided with an International Energy Agency (IEA) warning that the war had cut the Gulf’s oil and gas production by at least 10m barrels of oil a day and had created “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”.
Say Donnie, who is this "we" of whom you speak? I haven't noticed any extra money in my pay when the price of gas spikes and neither has anybody I know.
‘We make a lot of money’: Trump downplays rise in gas prices during Iran war
Donald Trump on Thursday shrugged off the economic toll the war in Iran is taking on gas prices across the United States, writing on social media that “when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money”. The president’s comment came as the American Automobile Association reports that the average price for a gallon of gas hit $3.60, a week after the beginning of the US-Israel military operation against Iran prompted the largest price spike since the opening days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Costs at the pump have increased in line with the price of crude, which climbed above $100 per barrel on Thursday as Iran launched attacks on oil facilities across the Middle East, despite the release of global petroleum reserves intended to stabilize markets. “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” the president wrote on Truth Social. ...
“President Trump should end this stupid war now and bring down gas prices for the American people,” Don Beyer, a Democratic congressman from Virginia, said in response to Trump’s post. “Fortunately for his big oil donors though, Trump doesn’t mind your pain at the pump since they are going to ‘make a lot of money’.”
Microsoft backs AI firm Anthropic in legal battle against Pentagon
Microsoft has thrown its weight behind Anthropic’s legal challenge against the Pentagon, filing a court brief in support of the AI company’s effort to overturn an aggressive designation that effectively bars it from government work.
In an amicus brief submitted to a federal court in San Francisco this week, Microsoft, which integrates Anthropic’s AI tools into systems it provides to the US military, argued that a temporary restraining order was necessary to prevent serious disruption to suppliers whose products rely on the AI company’s technology. Google, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI have also signed on to a brief in support of Anthropic.
In a statement to the Guardian, Microsoft said: “The Department of War needs reliable access to the country’s best technology. And everyone wants to ensure AI is not used for mass domestic surveillance or to start a war without human control. The government, the entire tech sector, and the American public need a path to achieve all these goals together.”
Microsoft is one of the Pentagon’s most deeply embedded tech partners, holding a share of the military’s Joe Biden-era $9bn Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract alongside Amazon, Google and Oracle, as well as separate software and enterprise services deals worth several billion dollars more. Microsoft’s contracts with the government span defense, intelligence and civilian agencies, and under the Trump administration in September, Microsoft struck another multibillion-dollar deal to help usher along cloud services and AI advancement in the federal government.
The filing comes after Anthropic launched two lawsuits on Monday – one in federal court in California and one in the DC circuit court of appeals – challenging the Pentagon’s decision to label it a supply-chain risk, a designation that has never previously been applied to a US company. The dispute stems from collapsed contract negotiations last month over a $200m deal to deploy Anthropic’s AI on classified military systems just as the US readied for its war on Iran. Talks fell apart after Anthropic insisted its technology should not be used for mass surveillance of US citizens or to power autonomous lethal weapons, which led to Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, dubbing the company a supply-chain risk.
US officer having a ‘mild anxiety attack’ took ambulance meant for man shot by police
A man who was shot by police and later died had to wait 10 extra minutes for an ambulance after an officer having a “mild anxiety attack” took the first one that arrived at the scene, according to a newly released state investigation.
Dyshan Best, 39, was shot in the back last year as he fled from officers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A report released this week by the state’s inspector general found that the shooting was justified because Best had a gun in his hand and the officer pursuing him had reasons to fear for his own safety. But the report raised questions about what took place in the moments after the 31 March 2025 shooting, which left Best, who was Black, bleeding with severe internal injuries.
The first ambulance called to take Best to the hospital arrived at the scene at 6.02pm, about 14 minutes after the shooting. However, at the urging of other officers, that ambulance was used to take away a white police officer, Erin Perrotta, who had been involved in the foot chase, the report said. Paramedics reported that Perrotta declined treatment in the ambulance. “I am fine, I just needed to get out of here,” she said, according to the report. Another officer described Perrotta at the time as “visibly hysterical (crying and breathing rapidly) and had blood all over her uniform”, the report said.
The second ambulance arrived at the scene at about 6.12pm. Hospital records said Best was brought in for treatment at 6.22pm – about 14 minutes after Perrotta got to the hospital, according to the report. He died at 7.41pm as he was undergoing treatment for the gunshot wound, which damaged his liver and right kidney. The report by Eliot Prescott, Connecticut’s inspector general, did not say whether the delay in waiting for another ambulance contributed to Best’s death.
Trump's ANTI-MASSIE Rally is a TOTAL TRAINWRECK
Iran war punctures Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ promise on US gas prices
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has triggered shocks in fossil fuel markets, exposing the perils of an agenda that prioritizes “drill, baby, drill” while sabotaging renewable power and energy efficiency in the US, experts and advocates say. Critics say the war also shows the inherent instability of dependence on oil and gas: unlike wind and solar power, fossil fuel-based energy requires constant inputs of products whose availability and costs are determined by the global market.
The president this week dismissed concerns about surging prices, telling Reuters that if gas prices “rise, they rise”, and later writing on social media that oil spikes are a “very small price” to pay for US safety and that “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY”. But on the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump repeatedly pledged to bring down the price of household electricity and gasoline by “unleashing” American fossil fuels and boosting energy “independence” and “dominance”.
It’s an “emperor has no clothes moment” for Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies and claims to support the working class, said Collin Rees, US policy manager at the climate research and advocacy non-profit Oil Change International. “Americans are seeing, in real time, the deep failings of Trump’s strategy,” he said. “We’re seeing that he’s not doing anything to provide energy stability or price stability.”
The “drill, baby, drill” agenda could have never protected Americans from oil shocks, said Michael Klein, a professor of international economic affairs at Tufts University. “With a worldwide market, there’s a more or less single price for crude oil,” he said. “The US can’t just set the price.”
Even fossil fuels extracted in the US depend on global supply chains, because not all kinds of oil produced domestically can be easily refined and used in the US. Some must be processed abroad, according to energy finance expert Gerard Reid. “We have this weird situation where you might think you’ve got lots of oil, but actually you have the wrong type of oil,” said Reid, who co-hosts of the Redefining Energy podcast, on a Monday press call hosted by the Global Strategic Communications Council, a climate group. “These interdependencies mean that if you have one or two key pieces of infrastructure that are destroyed, you could have a lot of problems.”
EPA chief met with Bayer CEO over supreme court fight, agency records show
Top US regulators met with Bill Anderson, Bayer’s CEO, last year to discuss “litigation” issues – including “supreme court action” over its glyphosate weed killer – just months before the Trump administration took a series of steps to boost Bayer’s case at the high court, internal government records show. The 17 June meeting, between officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Anderson and two other top Bayer executives, came as the Germany-based company was working to quash costly US litigation brought by tens of thousands of people who allege they developed cancer from their use of the company’s glyphosate-based herbicides, such as Roundup.
At the core of those lawsuits are claims that the company failed to warn users of the risk of cancer, as shown in several research studies over many years. One of Bayer’s stated key strategies to try to end the litigation, which has so far cost Bayer billions of dollars in settlements and jury verdict awards, is getting the supreme court to agree with Bayer’s argument that if the EPA does not require a cancer warning on its glyphosate products, the company cannot be held liable for failing to warn of a cancer risk.
While one appellate court has sided with Bayer, multiple other courts have rejected that preemption argument, as did the US solicitor general under the Biden administration. In contrast, the Trump administration has acted to defend and promote Bayer’s position and its glyphosate herbicides. In a statement Bayer said the meeting at the EPA was a “normal part of the regulatory process” and that the company has been “transparent about our position” regarding glyphosate litigation.
The show of administration support has largely come after that 17 June meeting, which government email communications and visitor logs confirm took place with Anderson and the other Bayer executives arriving at the EPA on the appointed day a little before 1pm. ... The meeting came less than two weeks ahead of a request from the Supreme Court for the Trump administration’ Justice Department to weigh in on whether or not the court should agree to hear Bayer’s case. ...
“It’s becoming abundantly clear that the political appointees at the EPA are more invested in protecting pesticide company profits than the health of Americans,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which obtained the email communications in a Freedom of Information Act request and provided them to the Guardian. “When the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world is meeting with political appointees in a US regulatory office, it shows just how much power and influence these corporations have on decisions that can have very real consequences for the health of all Americans,” he said.
Republican farm bill criticized as agribusiness giveaway: ‘Pesticide industry wishlist’
The newly proposed, Republican-led farm bill includes a range of provisions opponents say constitute a “pesticide industry wishlist” that would kill protections for humans, the environment, wildlife and endangered species, while also shielding industry from legal liability. Among other measures, they said the bill would delay safety reviews, give industry a prominent role in determining endangered species’ protections and grant the US Department of Agriculture new veto power over health safeguards for children, farm workers and the public.
On the legal side, the legislation would give chemical manufacturers immunity from state-level lawsuits claiming they failed to warn people about their products’ health risks, especially cancer. The latter change would apply to nearly 60,000 chemicals covered by the country’s pesticide laws, including ingredients in common household products, like disinfectant wipes, spray cleaners or flea-control collars for pets.
A coalition of public health, consumer protection and farm advocacy groups from across the political spectrum are mobilizing against the bill. It is “a grotesque, record-breaking giveaway to the pesticide industry”, said Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, which is lobbying against the provisions. Hartl added: “If Congress passes this monstrosity, it will speed our march toward the dawn of a very real silent spring, a day without fluttering butterflies, chirping frogs or the chorus of birds at sunrise.”
The farm bill is an omnibus package that sets national policy for agriculture, nutrition and conservation every five years. The pesticide provisions included in this year’s bill represent the latest salvo in an industry blitz aimed at dramatically weakening pesticide regulations and eliminating legal liability.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
When the Security Council Cannot Utter the Truth
Iran Is Winning & It’s Not Close
Did US Military Rely on AI Targeting for Bombing of Iranian School?
Iran-linked group says it hacked US company in retaliation for Minab school bombing
US-Israeli Strikes in Iran Damage More Than 20,000 ‘Civilian Units’: Iranian Red Crescent
Thirty PMF Fighters Killed by US Airstrikes in Iraq
The Iran War Whisperer: One U.S. Senator Has His Hands All Over This Conflict
Iranian Official: Israel Used Arab ‘Contractor’ in Alleged Oman False-Flag Operation
Netherlands, Iceland Join Genocide Case Against Israel at International Court of Justice
Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud
A Little Night Music
Country Joe & The Fish - Rock & Soul Music
Country Joe and The Fish - Rock Coast Blues
Country Joe and The Fish - Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
Country Joe and The Fish - Doctor of Electricity
Country Joe & the Fish - Who Am I
Country Joe and The Fish - Eastern Jam
Country Joe McDonald - Kiss My Ass
Country Joe and The Fish - Section 43
Country Joe and The Fish - Crystal Blues
Country Joe McDonald - Tricky Dicky
Country Joe and The Fish - Superbird
Comments
This is a really impressive news summary.
Tipped. I am on the Alastair Crooke/ Daniel Davis conversation now. I've started a conversation about the video with Nima and the Larrys that might amuse some readers here.
"“I think that in no country in the civilized world is less attention paid to philosophy than in the United States.” Alexis de Tocqueville
evening cass...
thanks! and also thanks for the roman history short summary. it's been about 50 years since i last studied rome and while i remember many of the names, i've long since forgotten their deeds.
happy reading and have a great weekend!
Good evening Joe, thanks for the EBs. I forget where I found it
shortly after that KC-135 went down some iraqi militia group claimed that they had just shot it down and asked for people in the geneal area to look for it and, if the found it, contact a specific number. Only a bit later did the US 1) admit it fell from the sky and 2) pre-emptively deny that it was shot down.
Picky little quibble, but Country Joe and the Fish were a Berkeley band. Thanks for featuring them all the same.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
OOPS - I see you;ve got the real story too. n/t
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening el...
thanks for the tune and the update on country joe and the fish's geographic location.
have a great weekend!