Ten Thoughts on Operation Epic Fury and Its Aftermath

Why the strike on Iran was legal, overdue, and a strategic earthquake.

As I write this on Saturday night, there is still a lot going on, and as such I’ll throw myself on the mercy of our readers for whatever has gone out of date between its writing and your reading.

It’s a very fluid situation.

But in what looks like a very, very successful joint operation between the Israeli Defense Forces and the U.S. Navy and Air Force, a significant decapitation strike has greatly degraded the Iranian regime — including harvesting some 40 top leaders of the Iranian regime, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, whose death has sparked worldwide celebrations from Iranians and Iranian expatriates.

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The Rare-Earth Reckoning

How America outsourced the materials of modern power—and what it will take to get them back

In the middle of the Mojave Desert, just off Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, sits the Mountain Pass mine. Surrounded by a high plateau of pale rock and desert scrub, this 600-foot-deep open pit hums with activity. Trucks haul blasted rock to the surface, where it is crushed in pursuit of valuable minerals that are scattered thinly through the earth’s crust yet remain indispensable to modern life.

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LILLEY: Taking out Iran’s Ayatollah should be celebrated

Ding dong, the Ayatollah is dead and the whole world should be celebrating.

While the Iranians were denying the death of Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei throughout Saturday, the evidence points to his much-welcome demise.

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Who Is Upholding Western Civilization?

How fitting that the US and Israel finally retaliated against 47 years of aggression by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the week of the Biblical Purim Festival.

Then, roughly 2,300 years ago, Haman, viceroy to Persia’s King Ahasuerus, threw a lot (“pur”, plural “purim”) to determine the date by which he would kill all the Jews in the empire. This plan’s successor sits (or sat) in Tehran’s Palestine Square: a “doomsday clock” counting down the minutes until Israel is supposed no longer to exist: 2040, to be exact.

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Your pool of Polls is polluted …

h/t Mauser – Worth a read, Canada is so poorly run because of political and corporate incest.

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Electric car drivers ‘spied on by government’ through phones

Millions of electric car drivers in Britain were spied on by the government through their mobile phones as part of a “bizarre nanny state” plan, it can be revealed.

Customers of O2, as well as other operators including Tesco Mobile, were monitored on the government’s behalf if their mobile internet history and app records showed they visited a site related to electric vehicles (EVs) once a month on at least two occasions.

Department for Transport officials commissioned O2 to spy on 25 million devices as part of a £600,000 study intended to produce a “comprehensive evaluation and understanding of the uptake and usage of electric vehicles”.

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Communist China Gifts Carney His Own Personal Surveillance Device

China’s premier gifted Carney an ‘action camera.’ Security experts suggest: ‘dump it’

OTTAWA — China’s second most powerful politician gifted Prime Minister Mark Carney a high-end “action camera” with a selfie stick during his visit last month. Security experts recommend Carney dump it immediately.

Carney didn’t just leave Beijing in January with the promise of lower tariffs on Canadian canola and a commitment to lower Canadian border levies on some Chinese electric vehicles.

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Trump Confirms 48 Iranian Leaders Have Been Killed in U.S.-Israeli Strikes

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday morning that Operation Epic Fury has already eliminated at least 48 senior Iranian officials, including the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Speaking with Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, President Trump said that the United States has a specific list of priority targets remaining after dozens were taken off the board during the opening salvo of the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation on Saturday.

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Canada should not have an election before reviewing CUSMA trade deal, says Poilievre

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada should not have an election before it reviews the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) this year, and is instead calling for the Carney government to set up an all-party committee on the matter.

“I think that being united will be a real force going forward. We have disagreements, but I think all parties agree that we want tariff-free access to the United States,” Poilievre said in an interview on The Bridge that airs Monday.

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Ilhan Omar snaps back at ‘drunk’ Nancy Mace for suggesting she is mourning Khamenei’s death

They both went there.

Lefty Dem Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Sunday bashed firebrand GOP Rep. Nancy Mace as a “drunk” for suggesting she and fellow “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were mourning Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death.

Mace of South Carolina had sarcastically posted online Saturday — after Khamenei’s death was announced — “My heart goes out to Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib tonight.

h/t patthedog

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This doesn’t sound like the Pierre Poilievre we’re used to

Pierre Poilievre says he would rather work with Prime Minister Mark Carney to fight Donald Trump than plunge the country into another election to choose which man is the better negotiator.

The Conservative leader declared that choice in a 40-minute podcast interview with former CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge, featuring some fascinating glimpses into how Poilievre intends to shift his tone this year.

Just no pleasing The Star.

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Three ships attacked near Strait of Hormuz as fears grow of oil price rises

At least three ships have been attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran continues to launch strikes across the Middle East in response to an ongoing attack against it by the US and Israel.

Two vessels have been struck, and an “unknown projectile” was reported to have “exploded in very close proximity” to a third, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) said.

Iran has warned ships not to pass through the strait, which carries about 20% of the world’s oil and gas.

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WARMINGTON: Iranian-Canadian activist’s gym shot up hours after ayatollah’s demise

The overnight shooting at a boxing gym run by a well-known activist for Iranian freedom is being investigated by York Regional Police.

But since it occurred just hours after the announced death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following military strikes by the United States and Israel on Tehran, a call to the federal government and CSIS as well would seem to be appropriate.

h/t Patti Jo

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