Today, for no particular reason, I am reminded of this 2021 meme:

news
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'It's incredible how humans adapt': In UAE, war brings a new normal
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-17/in-uae-iran-attacks-bring-a-new-normal/106461914
Wow. Brave. Hard hitting article that really humanises and brings to light the realities of those suffering the most
excerpt
The skyline of a large city, seen from a distance. Dubai has come under frequent attacks from Iran's missiles and drones during the war. (Reuters: Amr Alfiky) A weird sense of normality in Dubai and Abu Dhabi these days sits awkwardly with the news coverage of burning buildings and reports of strikes on airports.
"It's incredible how humans adapt," says Mina Al-Obaedi, editor-in-chief of The National — a state-owned daily newspaper.
"There is still, of course, an unease. When you hear the alert, when you hear the thuds of interception and so forth, incredible unease. Nobody can take it away."
Iran war live updates: For the latest news on the Middle East crisis, read our blog.
But for the locals, expatriates and diplomats who live here, there has had to be a rapid adjustment to a new normal.
North Korea Just Overtook the U.S. in Destroyer Construction.
spoiler
North Korean shipyards have overtaken those of the United States in the construction of ocean-going surface combat ships, with the shipbuilding industry having launched two destroyers in 2025, and scheduled to launch two more every year for the next five years under the next Five Year Plan, bringing total numbers in the water to 12 by the end of 2030. The U.S., by contrast, has been building Arleigh Burke class destroyers at rates of just 1.6 per year.
While the contraction in U.S. production of surface warships has declined much more slowly than the contraction of the civilian shipbuilding industry, the fall in the number of surface combat ships, and in the total tonnage launched per year has nevertheless been tremendous. North Korea, by contrast, had negligible industry for producing modern service ships until the 2020s, with limited resources concentrated on the submarine fleet.
Although unfortunately the Korean People’s Navy likely doesn’t have as advanced systems as the usn does, it does show how unserious the us currently is about shipbuilding.
Video showing Iraqi PMF fpv drone flying freely through the us embassy in Baghdad. Telegram Link. I am pretty confident it is real, it’s definitely the us embassy in the video and the weather matches. Pretty damming evidence against C-RAM being effective against fpv drones. This one was just a recon drone, the next ones will surly be armed.

The Trump administration has told Cuban negotiators that President Miguel Díaz-Canel must step down for meaningful progress in U.S.–Cuba talks, according to people familiar with the negotiations, the New York Times reports.
U.S. officials are reportedly seeking Díaz-Canel’s removal as a symbolic political concession while pushing Havana to open parts of its economy to American business and release political prisoners. The proposal would not target the Castro family, which still holds significant influence behind the scenes. Díaz-Canel, president since 2018, the Times reports is seen as a leader with limited real authority within Cuba’s power structure, where the military-linked conglomerate GAESA and senior Communist Party figures wield major control.
I don’t think the Cuban government is opposed to some capitalist investment from the US (done along doi moi lines for example), especially if it means easing up on sanctions. Releasing political prisoners… not great but given the circumstances you can always just keep them under surveillance and then re-arrest when Trump is gone. But the part about Diaz-Canel stepping down… that one is interesting. It’s not like he’s a hardliner sitting atop a bunch of liberals who want to replace him. I don’t think whoever would succeed him or whoever would be chosen by the National Assembly would be meaningfully less committed to the revolution and the socialist project. I’m assuming what the US is not saying here is that they want to select who it would be to replace Diaz-Canel, because they will presumably choose a gusano who will rip the heart out of the country.
I'm going to lose my shit.
Trump has the worldview of a fucking 8 year old. And he's got the nuclear codes. A TRUE representation of the United States.
In Venezuela's case I thought it was pretty obvious that the US needed the oil quickly (without getting bogged down with a Chavista insurgency) in order to mitigate the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. They needed Maduro out to avoid the perception that they were capitulating to him by lifting the sanctions.
But Cuba's case doesn't fit that same mold. They don't really have any important resources, and the population is much less militant nowadays (I think?). Control of the island itself is strategically significant, though. Especially to keep China out. But I don't see what prevents the US from strangling Cuba until utter capitulation, now that international law is fully dead.
This might be cope, but I have a feeling they were going to try something like, between what they did in Venezuela and Iran: ala airstrikes and kidnapping/assassination of leadership. But their plan was to go on a whirlwind tour decapitating leadership among every non-nuclear armed “enemy” state, declaring victory the whole time. The secretary of war crime is a media guy, as much as trump is. I think they are probably seeing this as a way to frame their administration as historic- “doing the things that 60 years of US presidents couldn’t do by being so tough.
However, now that bombing Iran has blown up in their face, they are probably workshopping how to get another “easy” win without dragging themselves into another embarrassing quagmire. This is either a ploy to lull Cuba into negotiations so that they can start bombing them while at the table- or just so they can declare victory by having one symbolic gesture and then sow discord among the US left and Cubans by making it seem like whoever is next in charge is a US puppet
Reported % increases in petrol prices Feb 28 - Mar 11, 2026:
10 most increase (high to low): Cambodia (67.81%), Vietnam (49.73%), Nigeria (35.02%), Laos (32.94%), Canada (28.36%), Pakistan (24.49%), Maldives (18.54%), Australia (18.23%), United States (16.55%), Singapore (15.69%)
10 lowest increases (low to high): Tunisia (0.12%), Rwanda (0.22%), Nicaragua (0.23%), Morocco (0.3%), Kyrgyzstan (0.33%), Georgia (0.44%), Ghana (0.48%), Barbados (0.48%), Slovenia (0.65%), Mozambique (0.77%)
Average price of 95-octane (super) petrol, USD per litre in 95 countries reporting increase. Source: How badly has the Iran war hit the global economy? The tell-tale signs which credits Global Petrol Prices | March 11, 2026
Denmark pushes for EU-wide response on Strait of Hormuz
Denmark had yet to receive any request from the U.S. for help.
Embarrassing
You're not going to get to keep Greenland for groveling like this, Denmark. Where's your self respect
Fire breaks out at UAE’s Fujairah oil zone following drone attack
The al-Fujairah Government Media Office has reported that a fire broke out at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone after the site was targeted by drones.
Fujairah is the exit node of UAE’s pipeline that bypasses Hormuz.
Might be an Israeli attack. Let's see if Iran claims this one.
This is such an interesting claim. There are trackable shipments of oil from Mexico, Russia, China, and Brazil all within the past three months. Hell, the last Brazilian shipment is so recent the tanker is still in the country. Huge drop-off in February, and the amounts they were getting was not much compared to the urgent need.
I'm really intrigued by this, because if he is telling the truth and there haven't been oil shipments in three months, then what the heck was on those oil tankers??
i would also say this also hints that the US is seizing a lot more oil than is being reported on.
that or it's a mis-reporting and he's just talking about shipments from Venezuela (which was a key part of their supply, and did stop three months ago when the US abducted Maduro). Supposedly there was a shipment in February that loaded in Venezuela and was meant for Cuba, but there's no evidence it ever went anywhere near Cuba after that. US probably stole it is my guess without finding any concrete information one way or the other
The Phillipines amidst the war against Iran
The Epstein class war against Iran has showcased that many vassals in East Asia may also become targets in the fallout.
read more
Repercussions from the war has already hit many countries across the globe where it especially hurts: energy and food. There has been longstanding arguments if Southeast Asia will fall into deindustrialization and "Latin Americanization", marked by intense class differentiation, extractivism and dependency.
Out of the main ASEAN-6 countries, the one that arguably fits the bill best would be the Phillipines; a Spanish colonial past with American intervention, prevalence of drug trafficking and rotational theatre of military dictatorships and political dynasties.
The current situation doesn't paint a pretty picture for the country. Heavy reliant on "service-based growth" through BPOs and out-migration for remittances, surface-level statistics like GDP growth showcase a relatively okay picture. Looking deeper, however, the country is an overwhelming net oil importer with more than 95% coming from the Persian Gulf (with 60days of reserve), and a net food importer, importing almost double what it exports. Increased logistical costs from risk premiums and higher fuel oil prices further adds to the perfect storm. Adding in a record low of nearly 60 pesos to a dollar, the 2nd most populous SEA country may face the most severe ramifications of the war in Asia.
Notably, the countries also hosts EDCA sites that are technically not US bases, but:
if these EDCA sites walk like military bases, then they function like military bases. Under EDCA, the U.S. gets dedicated access to “agreed locations,” including the ability to:
• Rotate U.S. troops in and out
• Preposition U.S. military equipment, assets, and supplies
• Build/upgrade facilities
• Use the site for military logistics and operations
You can call it a “shared facilities” all day, but OPERATIONALLY, in any eventuality, they become and are forward staging nodes for the U.S. That’s base-like behavior, base-like utility, and base-like consequences.
What had lead to this current conundrum?
Of course the reality is the sort of comprador capitalism further weakened by neoliberal reforms enacted at the behest of Western Financial Capital through the World Bank in the 1980s. Persistently weak institutions coupled with foreign-imposed restrictions on state capacity building and false growth models adds to a perfect storm that ultimately leaves the Philippine masses at the behest of a global market whose sole purpose is surplus extraction and accumulation. The nation is now scrambling and pleading that other countries "honor oil pacts amid export curbs", showcasing the subjugated nature of the State to foreign actors.
The other side of this story is also persistent ideological confusion and disunity within the Philippine left. As argued by Docena in their article "Is the Philippines a ‘semi-feudal’ or a ‘backward capitalist’ society?: A Review of Recent Data",
Instead of merely upholding orthodoxy and applying Marxist concepts mechanically, they used them creatively to build on the idea that social formations can actually be mongrel or `articulated.' By doing so, they helped us overcome the limits of existing Marxist conventions. As other scholars have pointed out, however, both Sison and Legman nonetheless appear to hold on to one orthodox assumption: that societies are to be considered hybrid or otherwise by judging them against those societies that first became capitalist. Indeed, both Sison's description of Philippine society as being some kind of 'bastard' offspring of the coupling of imperialism and feudalism, on one hand and bagman's statement that the country has been "afflicted by an abnormality in its fetal stage," on the other, seem to imply a teleological view of historical development Both scholars appear to assume that there are "normal" stages and outcomes of historical development: those followed and exemplified by the likes of England, France, or the United States. Both scholars could be read as implying that societies becoming capitalist will eventually reach a common destination: a society with modern industry and a fully proletarianized producing class.
...Closely linked to these theoretical questions are urgent strategic questions: If feudalism has all but been eroded in the country, does it still make sense to aim at overthrowing feudalism or its vestiges? If the bourgeoisie has waged a "passive revolution," should the still aim at waging a "bourgeois democratic" revolution or does it need to pursue a very different kind of revolution altogether? If the peasantry is disintegrating, does it still make sense to count on them as the "main force" of this revolution? If the Philippine state has become more hegemonic (while still being repressive), must the revolutionary road go through a "protracted people's war" or an urban insurrection—or is there another way? If guerilla warfare or simple "wars of maneuver" hold little promise of victory given the new defenses built up by the state, to what should we be enjoining the youth and the oppressed to devote their lives instead? What sort of revolutionary strategy is more appropriate for the kind of society the Philippines has become?
As the peoples lives worsen, and potentially revolutionary conditions emerge, these questions need to be answered and strategically carried forward into practice. Time will again tell the significance of West Asia in a global and fracturing capitalist system marked by cyclical crises.
At least 1 drone reported to hit the US embassy complex in Iraq. One C-RAM was seen operating.
Another KC-135 refueling aircraft is said to have declared an emergency.
Report from a personal source:
The Gerald ford took more damage than reported during the laundry fire. Hundreds of sailors lost their berths due to the fire damage.
Lmao wonder how those troops are feeling as they near the record for the longest deployment in US history
in a smoky poopy metal tub getting shot at by Iranian drones lol
And soon, Ansar Allah too
Wait the poopy ship is the same one as the "laundry fire"? Must be running out of space
critical support to the handful of seamen sabotaging Gerald Ford
Ghost of Kuwait too o7
you know it smells crazy
Trump said said he'll have "the honor of taking Cuba... I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth."
49 second vid clip.
Trump's full rant on Cuba:
"I think Cuba, in its own way, tourism and everything else, it's a beautiful island, great weather. They're not in a hurricane zone, which is nice for a change, you know? They won't be asking us for money for hurricanes every week. I do believe I'll have the honor of taking Cuba. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba in some form, you know. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it -- I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth."
He's getting more insane by the day.
Countdown starts until Germany starts talking down to Cuba about being unreasonable in negotiations with the guy openly planning to annex them.
They're not in a hurricane zone
They are in like… the hurricanest zone
Yeah, that whole rant was unhinged, but that especially... Wtf was he talking about?

