March 12, 2026

Sen. Baldwin on war: 'There was no imminent threat requiring our military action' - ABC News

ABC News’ Linsey Davis spoke with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., about the latest developments in the war with Iran and whether she approves of any actions by the Trump administration in this conflict.

March 12, 2026

Russian POW return exposes Kremlin morale - Break the Fake - TVP WORLD

Russian state media presented the latest prisoner exchange as a moment of triumph, but you can actually notice that all Russian soldiers didn't look relieved or joyful.

In recorded conversations, families speak about internet shutdowns, drone strikes and growing anxiety inside Russia itself. Some people openly worry they could be sent back to the front shortly after returning.

In a new episode of Break The Fake, Benjamin Lee shows the contrast during the return of POWs in Ukraine and Russia and how reactions to returning prisoners reveal deeper truths about morale and life behind the headlines.

March 12, 2026

Russia Just Took a Hit It Can't Hide - Jason Jay Smart

Russian forces are losing ground near the Dnipropetrovsk-Zaporizhzhia line while strikes are also reaching targets inside Russia, including the Kremniy El plant in Bryansk. Kremniy El is tied to missile, air-defense, drone, and electronic-warfare production. The fighting is no longer limited to trenches and forward positions. It is now reaching the industrial base that helps keep Russia’s war machine running.

At the same time, Kyiv is using combat experience to press Washington for more air-defense support. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has argued that interceptor-drone knowledge, software, operators, and production capacity should be part of a broader exchange for badly needed air-defense missiles. He says experience against mass Shahed attacks now has direct value for countries facing the same threat. That shifts the argument away from aid alone and toward combat-tested capability.

Russia is also losing part of the bot network it has long used to shape foreign opinion. X told British lawmakers it suspended 800 million accounts over 1 year for manipulation and spam violations, and reporting on that testimony said Russia was the most prolific state actor behind those operations. The report that Vladislav Surkov may have left Russia remains unconfirmed, but it matters because Surkov helped build the older Kremlin political model. If figures from Putin’s old circle now look vulnerable, wartime strain may be reaching the regime itself.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro: Putin’s House of Cards
01:40 - Kremlin Exile: The Fall of Vladislav Surkov
03:04 - Putinism Unmasked: The Architect of Russian Propaganda
04:17 - Crimea Assault: Ukraine Destroys Russian Radar
05:04 - Frontline Failure: Russian Soldiers in Retreat
05:47 - Command Paralysis: The Kremlin’s Communication Crisis
06:52 - Internal Sabotage: Putin’s Health and Elite Purges
08:53 - Bot Network Collapse: Russia’s Failed Influence War
09:51 - Russian Shadow Fleet: Espionage and Oil Smuggling
12:38 - The Breaking Point: Putin’s Final Stand

March 12, 2026

The Secret Reason You Can't Buy a House - More Perfect Union

There’s a monopoly on home construction screwing over America. The biggest builders work with Wall St. to maximize profits, at the expense of everyone who wants to own a home. One family told us that the black mold in their poorly built home made their daughter cry blood.

March 12, 2026

Trump gets bad news amid effort to use military at polls (with JB Pritzker) - Brian Tyler Cohen

INTERVIEW: Governor JB Pritzker exposes Trump effort to use military at polls.

The following summary is AI-generated.

Here are the most important points from the interview with Governor JB Pritzker:

- Election security concerns: Pritzker warns that Trump may deploy ICE, Border Patrol, or the National Guard to polling places, and could attempt to seize ballot boxes to manipulate election outcomes.

- Illinois election protections: Illinois has a structural advantage with elections managed across 102 county clerk offices (decentralized), and the state is deploying poll watchers, on-call attorneys, and inter-state legal support to safeguard voting.

- State Guard option: Pritzker highlighted a lesser-known federal law allowing states to create a State Guard — a militia entirely under the governor's control that cannot be federalized by the president — as a potential tool to protect elections.

- SAVE America Act concerns: Pritzker argues the bill would suppress voting by imposing strict ID requirements, purging voter rolls, and giving the federal government access to state voter registration data to target Democratic voters.

- Housing crisis: Illinois needs about 225,000 new homes by 2030, and Pritzker is pushing legislation to cut red tape, speed up permit approvals, and unlock existing underutilized housing stock (e.g., garage apartments).

- Midwest demographic shift: Pritzker anticipates a reverse migration back to the Midwest, driven by freshwater availability, as states like Arizona and California face growing water scarcity.

March 11, 2026

Trump says gas prices will stay high until 2027 - Pondering Politics

The following summary is AI-generated.

- Gas prices are projected to remain elevated until mid-2027, according to the U.S. Energy Department, with diesel and petrol unlikely to return to pre-conflict levels before then.

- Trump’s administration is directly blamed for the surge in fuel prices, tied to military actions against Iran, which disrupted global oil supply routes like the Strait of Hormuz.

- Industries across the board — trucking, farming, airlines, and retail — face higher operating costs, which are expected to be passed on to consumers, fueling broader inflation.

- Lower-income households are disproportionately impacted, as they spend a larger share of their budget on fuel and have less financial buffer to absorb price hikes.

- Airlines and automakers are already feeling the strain, with jet fuel surging nearly 60% and SUV/truck demand expected to drop due to higher pump prices.

- The video urges voters to hold Republicans accountable, calling for a full replacement of GOP officials with Democrats to counter Trump’s economic policies and mitigate further damage.

March 11, 2026

Iran tells world to get ready for oil at $200 a barrel - Reuters

Iran said the world should be ready for oil at $200 a barrel as its forces hit merchant ships in the Gulf. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency recommended a massive release of strategic reserves to dampen one of the worst oil shocks since the 1970s.

March 11, 2026

Let's talk about Trump, Iran, mines, and questions.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump, Iran, mines, and questions.

As it appears like Trump is desperately searching for an off-ramp to his elective conflict that still has ever shifting goals and justifications, he's starting to be confronted with all of the reasons even the administrations that were incredibly enthusiastic about military adventurism didn't go after Iran.

The mass of troops needed for ground operations, the multiple parallel government structures, which is what led to Iran being referred to as three governments in a trench coat here on the channel. Iran's ability to hit targets across the region and create US casualties, which including killed and wounded is somewhere in the neighborhood of 150, and the strategic position of the country near the Strait of Hormuz are all beginning to strain what Trump undoubtedly saw as an easy operation.

Reporting broke that Iran has dropped some mines in the strait and Trump posted to social media, "If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed immediately. If for any reason mines were placed and they are not removed fort with the military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before. If on the other hand they remove what may have been placed. It will be a giant step in the right direction.”

He then went on to say the US was using high-tech means of surveillance on the strait and told them to stop. But since his message is based on if Iran has dropped some mines, Iran is unlikely to believe his boast. Because according to the post, the President of the United States isn't even sure if mines were deployed which means CNN has better sourcing than the US and Iran. Even just a handful of mines in the strait will deter shipping and create supply issues.

Okay, now we're moving on to a question that will probably become hotly debated. “Belle, did Trump really decommission our Middle Eastern based mine sweepers?” Yes and no and yes. In September, the US decommissioned the last mine sweeper it had in the region. So yes, but then no, because decisions about decommissioning are made years in advance. So just because it happened under him doesn't necessarily mean it was his fault.

The decommissioning was planned as part of the Navy's 30-year ship building plan which was announced under the first Trump administration in 2020. So the short version too late is the media is getting the story wrong by oversimplifying and just blaming the guy in office. However, in this case, when you track it back to when the decision was made, it's actually still Trump. Given that there are indications that Trump was aware of the possibility of his current Iran war before the last decommissioning, it probably would have been wise to adjust timelines or move assets to the region during the buildup, especially since naval strategists warned about this possibility.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

March 11, 2026

Dems call for probe into 'troubling pattern' of legal wins for Pam Bondi's brother - ABC News

Two Democrats are calling on the DOJ internal watchdog to launch a probe into what they say is a "troubling pattern" of favorable outcomes for Brad Bondi's clients. ABC News' Olivia Rubin reports.

March 11, 2026

Total Nightmare - Joe Blogs

The war in Iran is entering a dangerous new phase, and the global economy is starting to feel the impact.

Over the last 24 hours we’ve seen further attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, including ships being struck and new concerns about naval mines that could keep the world’s most important oil shipping lane effectively closed.

But the disruption is no longer limited to shipping.

Across the Middle East, oil production is being cut as attacks continue on infrastructure and energy facilities, forcing major producers such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait to scale back output. Millions of barrels per day have already been removed from global supply, raising concerns about a prolonged energy shock.

At the same time, the economics of this war are becoming increasingly clear.

Iran is using relatively cheap drones and asymmetric tactics to disrupt shipping, infrastructure and regional stability, while the United States is being forced to deploy extremely expensive missile systems to intercept those threats. In the first two days alone, the US reportedly used $5.6 billion worth of missiles, and further funding of up to $50 billion may be required to sustain military operations.

This raises an important question:

Is the Iran conflict becoming an asymmetric nightmare for the United States and the global economy?

In this video I look at the latest developments in the Strait of Hormuz, the growing disruption to Middle Eastern oil production, and why this conflict could have far-reaching consequences for global energy markets.