demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalUPDATE ON THE HORMUZ COALITION (Mon, March 16):
🇫🇷 France: REJECTED
🇬🇧 UK: REJECTED
🇮🇹 Italy: REJECTED
🇪🇸 Spain: REJECTED
🇯🇵 Japan: REJECTED
🇳🇴 Norway: REJECTED
🇨🇦 Canada: REJECTED
🇦🇺 Australia: REJECTED
🇩🇪 Germany: REJECTED
🇨🇳 China: NO RESPONSE
🇳🇱 Netherlands: NO RESPONSE
🇰🇷 South Korea: NO CONFIRMATION
We are a pariah state
— Bradley P. Moss (@bradmossesq.bsky.social) 2026-03-16T11:11:51.243Z
Trump says 'many countries' will send warships to keep Strait of Hormuz open
Source: Reuters
March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that many countries would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but did not provide details on which countries would do so.
"Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said he hoped that China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send ships to the area.
"In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water," he wrote.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-says-many-countries-will-send-warships-keep-strait-hormuz-open-2026-03-14/
President Trump wants China, France, Japan, South Korea, UK to send ships so the Strait of Hormuz will no longer be...
President Trump wants China, France, Japan, South Korea, UK to send ships so the Strait of Hormuz will no longer be threatened by Iran. "In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water."
— Steve Herman (@newsguy.bsky.social) 2026-03-14T14:30:38.078Z
Everyone Now Has Trump's Phone Number
The White House has received reports in recent weeks that President Trump’s personal phone number has been offered for sale to deep-pocketed interests seeking influence, two administration officials told us. “It’s honestly just wild,” one of them said. “I’ve heard of CEOs offering money for his number. I’ve heard of crypto bros offering cryptocurrency for it.” Journalists have taken to horse-trading among themselves, offering the contact information of other world leaders—or sometimes even dozens of bold-faced names—just to get the most important one saved into their phones. “It’s out of control,” said the second official, who, like others we spoke with for this story, requested anonymity to talk frankly on the issue. “It’s like a wrecking ball.”
No one foresaw this at the start of Trump’s second term, when the number was closely held by the president’s friends and a handful of journalists who used it sparingly. So many people now call Trump on his private iPhone that his advisers have stopped trying to keep track. Sometimes in meetings, he will leave his phone face up, allowing staff to gawk at the flashing notifications of incoming or missed calls that pile up on his screen. Only some of them are from numbers that have been saved in the device. “It is literally call after reporter call,” the first official said. “It is just boom, boom, boom.”
The incoming calls get particularly intense after a journalist successfully catches the president and then publishes a mini-scoop on what he says. It’s like flashing a Bat-Signal: Trump may be idle and chatty. Assignment editors suddenly ask: If it is so easy for the competition to get a scoop, why can’t their reporters do the same, and stat? Network correspondents scramble to one-up each other. “Ten reporters will call in a matter of two hours,” the second official told us.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/03/trump-phone-number/686370/?gift=nHf7iWmpOKBdlkwz68mfUP3DfCTQgC277UHrvDDXUg4
NEW: White House officials have heard President Trump’s personal iPhone number is being sold to CEOs. Crypto bros are trying to trade for it. Journalists are bartering. Inside the hunt for the most important 10 digits in DC. W/ @ashleyrparker.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
— Michael Scherer (@michaelscherer.bsky.social) 2026-03-14T11:20:48.352Z
Hahahhahahahaha toy soldier really hopes you think the military academy is the military! It ain't lol
Hahahhahahahaha toy soldier really hopes you think the military academy is the military!
— Adam Kinzinger (@adamkinzinger.substack.com) 2026-03-13T14:42:42.317Z
It ain’t lol
How Jeff Bezos Upended The Washington Post
Mr. Murray had known for weeks that Mr. Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and owner of The Post, was planning widespread layoffs to stem over $100 million in annual losses. But Mr. Murray felt sidelined in the preparations and had recently told the company’s chief executive, Will Lewis, that he was leaving the paper, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
Mr. Bezos told Mr. Murray that he wanted him to help shape a newsroom that would be financially sustainable far into the future, the two people said. And Mr. Bezos pitched his strategy: Reduce the newsroom’s budget by half and double the productivity of those who remained, all while protecting some core parts of The Post’s coverage, like investigative journalism. Mr. Murray said he would take on that challenge.
In a single call, Mr. Bezos had set a new course for The Post and upended the power balance between his top news editor, Mr. Murray, and his top business executive, Mr. Lewis.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/business/media/washington-post-jeff-bezos-layoffs.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Doesn’t really work to demand intensely data-driven decision-making from the news side while maintaining the opinion side as a vanity project that alienates your audience.
— Matthew Gertz (@mattgertz.bsky.social) 2026-03-14T12:47:52.256Z
Exclusive: Search-and-rescue units respond without tornado-tracking tool after Noem's team let contract lapse
Source: CNN
As deadly tornadoes tore through the Midwest and Plains last weekend, state and local search-and-rescue crews rushed to the devastated areas to look for survivors. It wasn’t until the teams deployed that they realized they were operating without a critical tornado-tracking tool typically provided by FEMA.
That left responders with a less precise picture of where to search first, two sources familiar with the situation told CNN.
The mapping tool pinpoints a tornado’s path of destruction within minutes of touchdown, helping responders focus on the hardest-hit neighborhoods as quickly as possible. Even in storms where FEMA itself doesn’t respond, state and local rescuers rely on the mapping tool, which is provided to them through the agency.
But it wasn’t available this time, because FEMA’s roughly $200,000 contract with the company that provides the data expired in February, and the agency’s request to renew it is still moving through Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s strict spending-approval process, according to the two sources and internal documents reviewed by CNN.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/13/politics/fema-response-tornado-tracking-tool-kristi-noem
Talarico: ... what do the American people care more about -- pronouns or prices?"
Talarico: "There's another war in the Middle East. There's a cost of living crisis. There's a secret pedophile ring & no one has been prosecuted. So the people responsible are trying to distract us with the same old culture wars ... what do the American people care more about -- pronouns or prices?"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-03-13T01:34:01.197Z
Press Release: "First Lady Melania Trump Calls on Women to Be Courageous and Take Risks"
No president in American history has done more to demean women, damage their lives, undermine their freedoms...to actively abuse them and then to attack his victims...than Donald Trump. And she has enabled it, defended it, cashed in on it.The Trumps are active, undeniable enemies of women and girls.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) 2026-03-12T21:10:20.107Z
This is Nathan Cavanaugh, another DOGE staffer explaining how he flagged grants at NEH for "DEI" which would be reviewed
This is Nathan Cavanaugh, another DOGE staffer explaining how he flagged grants at NEH for "DEI" which would be reviewed for termination. 404 Media has reviewed hours of this footage and we'll have more soon.
— 404 Media (@404media.co) 2026-03-12T15:33:08.258Z
Part of a lawsuit by @acls1919.bsky.social, @modernlanguage.bsky.social + @historians.org
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