Mostly Monday Reads: Late Edition

“This is how America is Made Great Again!” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

I have to apologize for the delay in this post. Between trying to prepare for a tropical system, getting my Wi-Fi updated, and needing lots of sleep, I slept most of the morning. I upgraded my old wifi modem and doubled its capacity to 2 gig. I’m hoping the lag and sudden short downtimes go away. It’s always something.

I hate to have that Déjà vu feeling about Vietnam and all the Gulf Wars we’ve entangled ourselves in, but I do. This headline from the New York Times brings about everything I’ve felt about all the unnecessary wars we’ve had since the Korean War. “Pentagon Withheld Dozens of U.S. Military Injuries in Iran War. Central Command is not required to release information about injured troops, especially when they quickly return to duty, a military official said.”  Eric Schmitt has the story.

In the week leading up to the Iranian attack on Friday that killed two U.S. soldiers and left one service member missing in Jordan, Iran carried out three other strikes against U.S. forces in the country.

Those attacks injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters, according to several U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

But the Pentagon did not disclose the earlier strikes, nor the casualties and damage they inflicted.

The episode is the latest example during the Iran conflict of the tension between what the Pentagon says is the need for operational security and the government’s obligation to inform the public about the conduct of the war.

Moreover, another U.S. military official added, why would the Pentagon divulge information that could help Iran zero in on its deadly ballistic missiles and drone attacks in Jordan and other bases in the Middle East where thousands of American troops are stationed?

Central Command has also stopped announcing how many sit.

Meanwhile, Trump is in full saber-rattling mode. This is from The Guardian. “Trump says Iran ‘will pay’ for killing soldiers ‘many times over’ after Pezeshkian says country fighting ‘full-scale war’ – Middle East crisis live.”  Some how the word ‘crisis’ seems like a supreme understatement.

The US president wrote on Truth Social:

Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military.

The US military on Monday identified two soldiers killed in Jordan while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. An examination of remains is underway to determine whether they belong to a third service member who was reporting missing in that attack. And in Iraq, another US service member died after “a controlled detonation” of an Iranian drone.

It brings the total number of deaths in the war with Iran, which the US and Israel started in late February, to 17.

The article includes updates from Lebanon and more details on the incursion into Jordan. I just can’t believe that so many of these geriatric Senators we have, who have seen all of the wars in the Middle East and their results, won’t use their Constitutional duties to stop this mess.  Well, there seems to be an attempt, but I seriously doubt it will go anywhere.  This is from Politico. “House GOP leaders scrambling to set up a briefing on Iran war developments. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could possibly attend the House GOP Conference meeting Tuesday morning.”

House Republican leaders are making plans for a Trump administration official to attend Tuesday morning’s GOP Conference meeting on Capitol Hill to brief members on the latest developments in the war with Iran, according to four people granted anonymity to share private discussions.

Their hope is that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be the special guest, one of the people said. He is already scheduled to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee later Tuesday regarding the administration’s supplemental funding request for more military aid as the conflict in Iran continues. Meredith Lee Hill has the lede.

It comes after violence in the region over the weekend culminated in the death of three U.S. service members. A growing number of House Republicans, including vulnerable incumbents, also have been asking GOP leaders and the White House for more information about the war before they vote Wednesday to advance a plan to free up $95 billion in additional funding for the Iran war, defense activities and farm assistance.

More military and war spending!  Also, do they really think Peg Hegesth is going to give up on us testosterone testing for something that has historically enriched Congressional Members?  You’d think an all-volunteer military would make them a bit more cautious about filling the ranks, but Trump and Hegesth must have below-average IQs, given the craziness they’ve pulled.

So, this is an amazing story from New Jersey. It will inform you exactly how far the Trump Family Crime Syndicate will go to enrich itself. The article can be found at The American Prospect. “The Kleptocrat Nesting Dolls Behind Trump’s Potemkin Gas Stations. How can Freedom Fuel afford to sell gas for $3.47 a gallon? That’s the wrong question to ask.” This excellent reporting was done by Maureen Tkacik. Beware of anything Trump labels ‘freedom’ anything.

Five years ago, a manager for a Virginia gasoline distributor opened an invoice for more than 200,000 phantom gallons of gas they had no record of selling. Truckers on contract with a chain of gas stations that had recently terminated its contract had been filling up their tanks using an emergency PIN that the distributor, Petroleum Marketing Group, Inc. (PMG), had designated for one-time out-of-contract gas purchases, effectively stealing $667,517 worth in just over a week.

Upon subpoenaing the gas station chain CEO’s bank records, PMG ultimately discovered he had no fewer than 28 other credit agreements he hadn’t disclosed on behalf of three or four alter-ego companies whose businesses he’d never listed on his application. The CEO and his brother/partner—two central New Jersey men in their thirties named Syed and Shamikh Kazmi, respectively—had outstanding default judgments against them in Wisconsin and Michigan, a business in Florida they had never disclosed, and legal disputes with landlords and franchisors from Circle K to Phillips 66 to 7-Eleven, the latter of which accused the brothers in a lawsuit of allowing a store they were operating to fall into such an alarming state of squalor it was forced to “disown” it, then exploiting a provision in the franchise agreement to order hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cigarettes in its last weeks of operation that they allegedly neither returned to corporate nor paid for. Another landlord was suing them for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent. The lawsuits would drag on and multiply while the Kazmi brothers bid on new assets under slightly altered names, then failed over and over again to wire over the required deposits.

Enter the high-flying Wall Street money manager Blue Owl, the reluctant owner of a vast portfolio of hundreds of gas stations across the country for which it had vastly overpaid. Prior to 2023, the gas stations and adjoining convenience stores had been run by an outfit called Mountain Express, which was forced into liquidation that spring after the founder sucked $130 million in ostensibly illegal fake dividends out of the stores and retired, leaving a trail of broken soda machines, failing refrigerators, disemboweled cash registers, and unpaid bills across the land. Blue Owl ended up paying $15 million to the bankruptcy estate for having enabled the grift.

You might assume that Blue Owl, a private credit behemoth founded by Wall Street’s titular best and brightest with $315 billion in assets under management, would attempt to find squeaky-clean, meticulous types to take over the leases at its service stations and start anew. LOL, no: For at least 17 of its stations in New Jersey, they chose the lawsuit-embroiled Kazmi brothers, a transaction formally announced last fall shortly after the trustee in another bankruptcy filed an amusing legal brief detailing Shamikh Kazmi’s effort to hire a locksmith to access a former Rite Aid store in Maryland on whose lease he had bid but never actually wired over the required $71,000 earnest money deposit. (A few months later, Kazmi placed an audacious $75 million all-cash bid on an iconic brutalist Philadelphia skyscraper complex, touting a plan to convert the 1.8 million-square-foot office complex into a Hard Rock Hotel, but he again failed to make the deposit.)

Earlier this year, the Kazmi brothers unveiled the latest makeover of their struggling gas station chain: a fast-food empire called Yum Grills, whose “$60 million expansion” Shamikh purported to be “self-funding” in a February Philadelphia Business Journal story that promised a breakneck rollout of 15 locations in 120 days. They appear to have successfully opened just one, not counting a related concept called Cousin’s Burger that boasts two others.

Head to the link to read the entire nasty business.  I just couldn’t bring myself to watch the final game of  FIFA because, damn, do we really need a fricking half-time event? Messi met with Trump all friendly-like, and Trump attended the shebang, got booed, and tried to upstage the winning Spanish team. I could mention a few more things, but anyway, I never thought I’d be pulling for Belgium and Spain in a series. This is from Raw Story.  “Trump globally mocked as Spain seemingly edits his World Cup photobomb: ‘That’s awesome’.” 

President Donald Trump faced global ridicule for photobombing Spain’s championship celebration after winning the 2026 World Cup — and he was hit with another round of mockery after the team seemingly edited him out of an official photo.

The official X account for the Spain men’s national team shared an image of the players and coach Luis de la Fuente celebrating Sunday’s 1-0 win over Argentina.

The picture did not feature Trump, despite the president spending most of the celebration lingering at the side while the winners jumped for joy.

The 80-year-old president had accompanied FIFA President Gianni Infantino onto the field for the trophy presentation ceremony, and he continued to remain onstage even as Infantino attempted to usher him aside for the team photos.

But the one shared by the victorious Spanish team on X had no sign of Trump, prompting speculation that he’d been digitally removed. At the least, the team made a decision not to use one of the many photos he was in.

Trump and Messi seemed to have jinxed the Argentina Team.  The question of the Jinx is actually a USA Today headline.  Messi’s eyes were all teary at the end of the game.  You know the one about everything Trump touches, right?

President Donald Trump‘s comments about Lionel Messi before Argentina’s loss to Spain in the World Cup Final has reignited questions about whether or not his presence curses the teams he supports.

In a pre-recorded interview with Fox’s Jenny Taft that aired before the game, Trump didn’t state who he wanted to win but made friendly remarks about the Argentinian superstar.

“I thought about it a lot. I knew that was a question. I hate to get involved, even though politically, it doesn’t matter so much,” Trump said. “I would say that it’s hard to bet against Messi … I won’t pick sides. I just think it’s very hard to bet against Messi. He’s great.”

On the flip side, Trump bashed Spain during the second day of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, calling the country a “wasted cause.“

“We don’t want to do any trade with Spain anymore,” Trump said. “Spain is a terrible partner in NATO.”

Trump attended the game and was booed when he stepped onto the field to present the trophies for the tournament. During the handing out of silver medals, the interaction between Trump and Messi was brief.

Trump has regularly attended sporting events and surrounded himself with sports stars while in office, with multiple examples of teams losing after being connected to him.

One last suggested read by Paul Waldman at Public Notice. “Trump would love to steal the election. But he’s floundering. Republicans would rather talk about almost anything else than his conspiracy theories.” I’m sure they would, given the polls.

Just as there are only so many times you can hear Trump say “It’s like nothing anyone has seen before” before the hyperbole loses all meaning, yet another allegation that elections are being stolen no longer registers as revelatory or urgent. That’s especially true when Republicans have worked so hard for so many years to prove that voter fraud is organized and widespread, with an enormous amount of time, effort, and money spent by the entire conservative movement, yet have come up with essentially nothing.

Everyone knew what Trump would deliver — some lies, some innuendo, some banal facts portrayed as deeply sinister. And no one was less enthusiastic about the speech than the Republicans actually trying to win elections this November.

“The people I talk to are scared shitless,” one unnamed former Trump administration official told Politico in advance of the speech. Trump’s 2020 obsession only served to remind voters that the president is unconcerned about the genuine problems they face.

The lack of support from the conservative propaganda machine was obvious in the response afterward. One might expect a dramatic White House address to be followed by a push to spread its message and multiply its effect — GOP candidates for office touting its importance, segment after segment on Fox News about it — but instead there was a deafening silence.

Fox could barely bring itself to discuss the speech afterward, mentioning it briefly on a couple of shows before moving on to more urgent culture war subjects like whether Caitlin Clark is being targeted for hard fouls by Black players.

“The unkindest cut came the next morning from Fox & Friends, long Trump’s media home and favorite program,” reported Media Matters’ Matt Gertz, “which did not discuss the speech at all — not even in a news brief.”

They know something Trump doesn’t: This isn’t helping him. In fact, it would be just about the worst strategy he could have come up with, if there were a strategy at all.

So it’s so late that  I’m almost bumping into student time. I hope you had a great weekend. I’ll be facing Tropical Storm Bertha in a few days, so send out some good juju to all of us down here on the Gulf Coast!

What’s on your Reading, Writing, and Blogging list today?