Joel Preston Smith

The Army Chief of Staff, a combat veteran with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, asked Pete Hegseth why he was blocking the promotions of two Black officers and two female officers who had earned them. Hegseth refused to answer. Then he fired him. Nine U.S. officials told NBC News that Hegseth has blocked or delayed promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military. Hegseth has now fired or sidelined more than a dozen generals and admirals. He is an out-of-control, unqualified former TV host and nobody in the Republican Party will say a word about it because they don’t want to make Trump angry. nbcnews.com/politics/natio…

We haven't been able to bring any supplies into Gaza, Palestine, since 1 January 2026, because Israeli authorities are blocking aid. Read from our medical adviser in Gaza about how this is affecting operations in our hospitals and clinics: msf.org/gaza-israeli-e…

Exactly one year ago today, @elonmusk removed my checkmark, my paying subscribers, my prepaid @premium features (paid for 1 year), and my entire reach because of an arguement over the H-1B visas. My account had 1.4M followers at that time. I didn't break any terms of service! Elon never returned my checkmark, @X never gave me any explanation nor did they give me my money from Premium+ back. The crime? Discussing Indian visas. I'm a Medical Doctor discussing politics. I never broke any laws. If @elonmusk really believes in free speech, he should make up for the mistakes he has made along the way like shutting down his own paying customers. I had to make a brand new account and start all over from scratch. So I made @DrLoupis__ (be sure to follow both). This shouldn't be happening on a free speech platform. Elon, it's not too late to give the checkmark back and restore some trust in you, and your concept of free speech.

I resigned from the board of directors for the @CMA_Docs in December 2023. I tried to push the institution to take a stand against Israeli attacks on Palestinian healthcare in Gaza. Instead, I learned they are racists, genocide supporters, and genocide deniers. Grateful to have found my physician colleagues who have an actual heart with their humanity intact, and strong ethics and values for opposing genocide no matter who the perpetrator is. This is what medicine ought to be - we affirm life and we stand united against genocide. End the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza being committed by Israel, supported by the West. @docstopgenocide

I don’t know what to say anymore. As doctors, we can’t stop a genocide and we can’t end a famine. We provided a diagnosis - genocide. We provided a prescription to end the genocide - for Canada to end its complicity and direct involvement in Israel’s crimes now.

And for all the doctors and future doctors out there, be a doctor who is against genocide. It is the most professional thing to do.

I remember the time my #Insurance agent threw herself in front of a semi to prevent my decrepit Chevy from getting scratched. Noble of her. Condolences to her family. #Bullshit #BadAdvertising #Malarky #DerangedRhetoric

Trump murdered Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president of Iran, who - whatever you think of him - was a civilian, not in the military, and so it was murder, plain and simple. As illegal and as murderous as Iran bombing and killing, say, George W Bush at his home in Dallas.

Even the playbook of denial is the same: “we didn’t do it, actually they bombed themselves, well okay we did it but those children would have grown up to be terrorists.” Sick.

They're doing it again. Israelis are "killed". Lebanese merely "die".

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention & Human Security is extremely alarmed by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s warning last week that Beirut’s southern suburbs would “soon resemble Khan Younis,” a reference to the city in the southern Gaza Strip that has been completely flattened by over two years of Israeli bombardment. It is grotesque that a state minister would publicly threaten the Lebanese people with the same large-scale destruction, mass killing, and genocidal violence that has devastated the Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's intense bombardment of Lebanon, including the capital of Beirut, its hasty so-called "evacuation orders" affecting over 500,000 people, and its planned land invasion are very much part of its current strategy aimed at remaking the Middle East under Israeli hegemony through expansion into long coveted territory. The fact that the Finance Minister is threatening mass atrocities in this theatre of war should be of enormous concern to the entire world, as we have all watched in horror as Israel made good on similar threats against Gaza after October 7, 2023. The Lemkin Institute urges unity among the people of Lebanon. We further call on the Security Council of the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and other regional bodies to place maximum pressure on Israel to ensure that no part of Lebanon becomes another Gaza. Now is not the time to be silent. If we all continue to remain silent, the entire world will end up like Gaza as one state after another takes a lesson from Israel and decides to solve its problems through absolute destruction. The world must act decisively to put an end to this carnage, to bring Israel into a real peace process with Palestinians and its neighbours, and to ensure that leaders who have committed high crimes are brought to justice. Enough is enough is enough is enough. To read the full alert, visit: bit.ly/LebanonRFA

Reminder as Trump starts wars, sells weapons and bombs everyone: The Trump family has a military drone company with military contracts, currently vying to meet Pentagon demand after the Trump administration recently banned new Chinese drones. The most corrupt family ever is profiting from all of the death and destruction Trump is responsible for.

“No woman has ever been freed by American bombs or illegal aggression. Not in Syria. Not in Iraq. Not in Lebanon. Not in Afghanistan. They hide behind womens’ rights to justify their colonial wars” - Irene Montero, Spain’s MEP

#Iran | "We all saw the heartbreaking images from the ruins of a girls’ school in Minab," @NadaNashif told the @UN Human Rights Council. But this tragedy is only the tip of the iceberg. Attacks on schools across the world increased by 166% between 2021 & 2024, she said. #HRC61

Vance: "When people like Kamala Harris send our sons and daughters, our young people, to fight in stupid wars, it is the young generation that carries the burden of that. We're gonna stop sending our young people to far away lands. We are not the policemen of the world."

NEW: The Israeli military unlawfully used white phosphorus over homes on March 3, 2026, in the Lebanese town of Yohmor. The use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians. Read more: bit.ly/4bdqxDt

UNICEF’s @1james_elder: “168 girls killed in a school in Iran…When the killing of children doesn’t dominate the news politics, something fundamental has shifted…if a child can be killed and it doesn’t feel like a loss for all of us, then I think we’ve lost more than we realize”

You rewrote it and still didn’t fix it. Here you go.

Unlearned lessons: In Iraq, US arrogance started a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives (mostly Iraqis) and ~$3 trillion — and benefited Iran. In Afghanistan, America "wasted lives and ~$3.4 trillion...to replace the Taliban with the Taliban." trib.al/FfPfwiE