Operation Epic Fury

 

Basic Numbers
   Given the rather operatic title of this post and the actual Operation, it will seem odd to do a bit of elementary accounting. It also may seem a bit crass to focus on the money being spent, rather than the lives being lost. But, it will be pointed out below that the thousands of technicolour explosions seen on our TV screens are expensive to produce and would strain even the budget of Paramount Skydance and the Ellisons. 
   I am as bad at accounting as I am most other subjects and am only doing this because I happened upon an article based on a list, provided by the US Central Command, of  "assets" being used to support Operation Epic Fury. The citation follows and I will present here, just a list of some of the "assets" which are well described in it: "Warships, Explosive Drones and Stealth Bombers: The High-tech Weapons and Hardware the US is Using to Attack Iran," Brad Lendon, CNN, Mar.2, 2026.
B-2 stealth bombers
LUCAS one-way drones
US warships
Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems:
Fighter jets
EA-18G Electronic Attack Aircraft
Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft (AWACS):
Airborne Communication Relay aircraft
P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft:
RC-135 Reconnaissance Aircraft:
MQ-9 Reapers:
M-142 HIMARS
Refueling assets
Cargo aircraft

   There are other assets being used and there are support assets needed for support for the assets, which also need support.
   One is reminded of Rumsfeld's remark, "because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know."
It was made back when Iraq was the issue and the Department of War operated under the dainty name of the Department of Defense.

   Although the costs of employing and maintaining the assets are not provided in the article mentioned, I did find a piece, from which we can know some of the costs involved. It is: " Aircraft Carriers and Stealth Bombers are Expensive to Use," Ryan Cooper, The American Prospect, March 3, 2026.

   Let's just look at the B-2s. The first article provides these data relating to the last time the U.S. totally destroyed the Iranian nuclear bases.

   "The bat-winged bombers, priced at more than a billion dollars each, are the most potent platform in the US Air Force. Powered by four jet engines, the B-2 can carry conventional or nuclear weapons, with intercontinental range and aerial refueling. Piloted by a crew of two, the B-2s usually fly from their home at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, as they did last year when they struck Iranian nuclear complexes in a 34-hour round-trip mission. That mission last June was undertaken by seven of the 19 B-2s in the fleet, with others used for a feint trip to Hawaii. They used the biggest of the US conventional bombs – the 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator – to attack three Iranian nuclear sites." The Cooper piece supplies the numbers US taxpayers will be interested in, especially those taxpayers who are "America Firsters: "CNN compiled a partial list of the ships and planes being used in the bombing campaign. They include B-2 bombers (about $88,000 per hour to operate), F-15 fighters ($25,000 per hour), F-16 fighters ($14,000 per hour), F-22 fighters ($56,000 per hour), F-35 fighters ($17,000 per hour), F-18 fighters ($25,000 per hour), E/A-18G electronic warfare planes ($20,000 per hour), P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance planes ($9,000 per hour), plus several other manned planes, and a large number of drones, all using up an untold amount of fuel and ordnance. All this air power is operating from two full-scale carrier strike groups, each of which costs something like $8 million per day to operate. The military is also chewing through its supply of Patriot ($4 million per shot) and THAAD ($13 million per shot) missile interceptors so fast that it is reportedly considering stripping South Korea of some of its missile defense batteries." The Missouri to Iran round-trip flight for one B-2 is about 34 hours at $88,000 per hour. President Trump and many MAGAS don't trust CNN, the source for some of these numbers, but that may change now that it is owned by the Ellisons. I am sure they have more faith in the Wall Street Journal, but it also reports that all this locking and loading is not cheap:

"Repositioning U.S. military forces to the Middle East before U.S. and Israeli strikes began on Saturday is estimated to have cost taxpayers about $630 million, according to Elaine McCusker, a top budget official at the Pentagon during the first Trump administration who is now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. Moving more than a dozen ships and flying more than 100 aircraft to the region accounts for the bulk of cost, McCusker said. It's likely that these costs incurred before the strikes started could be absorbed by the Pentagon's $839 billion budget appropriation for fiscal 2026, she said.Now that strikes have begun, those costs will increase to account for warplane sorties, aerial refueling, and replacement of the munitions used, McCusker said."

The Bonus: "Friendly Fire" It was also the Wall Street Journal that reported that the three jets shot down by the Kuwaitis cost more than $30 million each. "Kuwaiti Jet Fighter Mistakenly "Downed U.S. F-15s, Initial Reports Say...", by Marcus Weisgerber, Lara Seligman, WSJ, March 4, 2026 and "How Much Does an F-15 Jet Fighter Cost?", Georgi Kantchev, WSJ, March 2, 2026: "The three U.S. F-15 jet fighters mistakenly shot down in Kuwait come at a steep price. The F-15E Strike Eagle model, which the U.S. said was involved in the incident, costs $31.1 million, according to a U.S. Air Force fact sheet. That price uses 1998 constant dollars, meaning its value would be higher in today's money. The F-15E Strike Eagle is a fighter introduced in the 1980s and designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. Newer models of the F-15 aircraft cost close to $100 million.

Source:
  The graphic at the top is from: the Anadolu Agency, about which I know nothing:

"US Offensive on Iran Burned Through an Estimated $779M On First Day," Efe Ozkan, AA, 04/03/2026. 
  For those of you suspicious about some of the sources above, here is a document from the US government, back before the wimpy Department of Defense was renamed. 
SUBJECT: Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Department of Defense (DoD) Fixed Wing and Helicopter Reimbursement Rates effective October 1, 2024. The attached FY 2025 DoD fixed wing and helicopter reimbursement rates are now available on the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) (OUSD(C)) website:

 

London's Bicentennial (1826-2026)

    This year, London has been around officially for 200 of them. The following information about the events planned is from this website, where you can learn more: Celebrating 200 Years: London's Bicentennial: 
   "In 2026, London is officially marking 200 years since its founding in 1826. This timing follows historical precedent: in 1926, London celebrated its Centennial, and the London & Middlesex Historical Society confirms that 1826 is recognized as the year London was formally established. As we prepare for this once-in-a-generation celebration, 2026 is the year we come together to honour London’s history, growth, and future."

The website says to "get involved", so I will.  During the year, I will attempt to present frequent posts about London. They will be short snippets and here is the first one.

  The photograph is found in the London Public Library and is part of the London Room Digital Collections. Here is some of the description provided:
    "Two similar side by side black and white photographs mounted on card, showing a standing woman in profile and three young girls seated at the water's edge looking towards three people in row boats and four people wading in the Thames River at the Forks. On the opposite bank two riverboats are tied to the dock. In the right background is the courthouse and jail. In the left background notice the tower for the Ontario White Sulphur Springs and Mineral Baths. Printed on the back of the card: [Barron's Artistic Series of Canadian Views; London, Springbank, and Vicinity.] Also handwritten: [Showing Thames R. & Jail Turrets.] ca. 1880s 
[I only took one side of the photo which is probably from a stereoscope.]

Slow-Speed Rail

     For a long time there has been talk about developing a high-speed rail network across Canada.The volume of the discussions has increased along with the troubles with our next-door neighbour. The decrease in airline alternatives and the even more dramatic decrease in the quality of the services they provide have caused people to wish for other options. At least, some argue, we should be able to run a Choo Choo through the Golden Horseshoe.
   Well, recently the government announced that a high-speed rail line would be constructed, but only part of the way across the country. More specifically, between Montreal and Ottawa. After approval (which may take a while) the construction is projected to start around 2029. Completion would likely be at some point in the year 2037. This would be good news for your grandchildren if they are very young.

Lowering Expectations

   A solution might be to just put the trains back where they once were. Credit for this forward thinking should be given to Mr. Taras Grescoe who wrote this article in The Globe and Mail: "Across Canada, There is a Grassroots Clamouring for the Return of Railway Lines That 0nce Provided a Reliable and Affordable Alternative to Cars and Planes," Jan. 30, 2026. The clamour has already been reduced to a degree by this development:
   "One evening at half past six, some time in 2026, a minor miracle is scheduled to occur in Toronto. For the first time in 14 years, a passenger train headed for the eastern shores of Ontario’s Lake Nipissing and points north will roll out of Union Station. If all goes well, eight hours and 40 minutes later, passengers in three Venture cars, pulled by a Siemens Charger locomotive in a fresh livery of brilliant blue and yellow, will arrive at a newly built station in Timmins, more than 700 kilometres north of downtown Toronto.
   The inaugural run of the Northlander – the precise date this year is still to be determined – will mark the return of Ontario Northland passenger rail service to a storied line that links the Great Lakes to the frigid waters of James Bay."

   It is suggested that perhaps the focus be shifted.
   "These days, the media is focused on the proposed 1,000-kilometre Alto high-speed rail line, the first segment of which will link Montreal and Ottawa. The corridor between Quebec City and Toronto is home to nearly half the country’s population.    But 6.6 million Canadians live in remote, rural, and northern communities, many of which have been petitioning for better public transportation. For them, the long-overdue revival of the Northlander and other passenger trains will dramatically change their lives for the better."

Examples of local approaches are offered from across the country:

Quebec:

   "In 2013, VIA Rail ended service east of Matapédia on the southern shore of the Gaspé peninsula. While the 325-kilometre ride to the town of Gaspé, one of the country’s most scenic rail routes, was loved by tourists, it is local residents who have campaigned hardest for its return. Last October, as townspeople gathered at abandoned stations along the route, Alexis Deschênes led a group of his fellow Bloc Québécois MPs on a 15-hour trip from Ottawa to Matapédia to make the case for the restoration of service."
Alberta:

   "Alberta, as always, is a special case. Seventy per cent of the province’s population lives along the 312-kilometre corridor between Edmonton and Calgary, but train service there ended with the last run of VIA Rail’s Dayliner train in 1985. Transcontinental trains used to call at Calgary and Banff, but VIA Rail’s Canadian now follows the northern route through Edmonton and Jasper. Last year, a proposal was submitted to the Major Projects Office – which is overseeing the Alto project – to link the Calgary airport to Banff with a hydrogen-powered train. The project is the brainchild of banker-turned-oil tycoon Adam Waterous, the chair of crude oil producer Strathcona Resources."

British Columbia:
   "On the other side of the country, the last passenger train ran on Vancouver Island in 2011, over the tracks of the old Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, a line founded by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir.

   The Island Corridor Foundation, which is jointly owned by 14 First Nations and five regional districts, is campaigning to restore trains to the 289-kilometre corridor from Victoria to Courtenay, which parallels the chronically congested highways up the island’s east coast. (The right-of-way is intact, except for a kilometre-long stretch through the territory of the Snaw-Naw-As First Nation, where the tracks have been torn up to make way for a residential development.)"

News From Elsewhere   
   Grescoe, in the G&M piece, notes that in other countries, including India, our new friend, progress is being made.
   "If we’re serious about a passenger rail revival, we need look no farther than India, which has electrified 100 per cent of its rail network in the last decade. And remoteness and long distances needn’t be an obstacle: Russia powers its Trans-Siberian train – through more than 9,000 kilometres of tundra, taiga and boreal forest – entirely with electricity drawn from overhead wires."

   South of here, in the country that used to be a friend, rail travel is being improved with more and newer trains, if not high-speed ones. If you go to the Amtrak website you will find the picture above, a video and much more. Reporters from the NYT visited the Siemen's plant near Sacramento where the Airo is made and reported back:
   "Airo trains aren’t high speed — with an upper limit of 125 miles per hour, they’re not any faster than those they’ll supplant. But the new rail cars feature sleek interiors, grab-and-go food options and accessible designs for people with disabilities. Passengers will start to see Airo trains this summer on the Cascades route, in the Pacific Northwest, followed by more than a dozen East Coast routes beginning next year, including the Northeast Regional, the Carolinian, the Pennsylvanian and the Vermonter.
  Amtrak has ordered 83 Airo trains for a total of $8 billion, the largest fleet replacement since the company was founded in 1971. The trains will be built over the next several years at the Sacramento plant, which also makes light-rail and intercity trains for other customers, and at another factory in North Carolina.
   “We’re jumping about 50 years into the future,” said Derek Maier, a senior director of Amtrak’s Airo program. “It’s a more open experience. It’s better lit. It’s newer materials.”
  It is surprising that the President has not been bragging about this, but he is undoubtedly saving his praise for the new plane he is about to receive from the Qataris. 

Luxurious Train Travel
    If, like the President, you are a billionaire, but don't have your own plane or hate to fly, then you can rent a private rail car. If you are a billionaire, you will know how to do that, or have someone do it for you. If you just want a very nice train, there are many and many places to go. For example:

Great Britain:

The Britannic Explorer

   "Launched in the summer of 2025 by Belmond — the LVMH-owned company behind the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express — the Britannic Explorer allows passengers to take in the coastal charms of Cornwall, the quaint villages and dramatic valleys of Wales and the postcard-perfect landscapes of the Lake District."
U.S. 

Canyon Spirit

   "Canyon Spirit’s routes between Denver and Salt Lake City or Moab, Utah, are too gorgeous to sleep through. The solution: Guests spend nights in comfortable hotels and days in the train’s glass-domed coaches, enjoying the sights of Ruby Canyon, Mount Garfield and the Continental Divide."

And Even in Canada:
Rocky Mountaineer
  Just go to the website from which the picture is taken. There are other routes.

For more examples see: 

"Are Trains Now the Most Luxurious Way to Travel?: From Angola to Turkmenistan, Sumptuously Outfitted Railroad Cars are Taking Passengers on Over-the-top Journeys Back in Time," Matthew Kronsberg, NYT, Jan.6, 2026.

About the Hand-Car Painting
   The painting was done back when there were better rail options in Canada. Here is the caption:

DESCRIPTION

"One of the most interesting expeditions which I have ever made in my life was a trip on a hand-car," Hölzlhuber wrote. Julius Movius, the General Agent for all the railroads in British America, asked Hölzlhuber to sketch some of the stations near the Great Western Railroad from Hamilton to Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. In America and Canada the interiors of passenger cars were painted with the most interesting aspects of the country and towns through which they journeyed. Thus, artists in the countryside "are always busy." Two negroes were ordered to drive the hand-car, and a higher official, Mr. Muir, accompanied him. Here the hand-car labors across a bridge over a river while two ships ply the lake in the background. This hand-car was driven by turning a large crank rather than pump handles. Taken from Hölzlhuber's description of the scene, translated by Vera Kroner."
  The artist: Franz Hölzlhuber. It is from the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Post Script: The Trans-Canada Highway
  It is also difficult to even drive across the country. This is a piece by the Editorial Board of the G&M:

"Upgrade the Trans-Canada at all Due Speed,", Mar. 4, 2026.

   "For decades, northern Ontario residents have feared driving on their local stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway, the hazard-filled lifeline that connects their communities.

   And for decades, their requests for the provincial and federal governments to fund upgrades have been (mostly) ignored. But Ottawa’s new spending commitments for defence-related infrastructure could be the key to making much needed improvements on these roads – an essential link for this country.

    Highway 11 and Highway 17 – both parts of the Trans-Canada Highway system – are the only east-west road links connecting the country through northern Ontario. The 1,000 kilometre section of Highway 11 that runs between North Bay and Nipigon is mostly two lanes, and long stretches of both roads have no passing lanes, medians or roadside stops.....

   The impacts aren’t only local. The highway closings cut the country in half, and the 8,400 commercial trucks that pass both routes each day (including $200-million of goods travelling on Highway 11) are either delayed or detour through the U.S....
   A focus from Ottawa would be a catalyst, however: the long overdue upgrade of the Trans-Canada needs to proceed with all due speed.

The Washington Post

 Subscription Going Dark
   A few years ago, the Washington Post adopted the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness", implying that newspapers were needed to shine light on the things we should know about. I have lamented the loss of so many of them, but I am now cancelling my subscription to the Post. The latest round of staff cuts announced earlier this month, was the deciding factor for me, although many of the good writers and a cartoonist had already left.
   I grew up in Maryland, across the Bay from Washington and went to university just outside the D.C. border. The very thick WaPo picked up very late on a Saturday night could help one through the worst of hangovers and last all day Sunday.
   A few years ago, I started subscribing because of a very good deal and kept subscribing when it wasn't. Apart from the fact that it was an excellent paper, I still enjoyed reading the regional coverage that included the Delmarva Peninsula. Since I submitted my cancellation, I have been asked to reconsider. I decided not to take advantage of a really good deal - $20. Apparently I have two hours left and I don't think the price is going lower. I will miss reading it. I will even miss George Will. 

BEZOSBUB
  Although some were upset when Jeff Bezos bought the Post in 2013, he did have a lot of money and some good intentions. Lately, however, some decisions were made that were questionable and even a cartoon was cancelled. The paper is now not supposed to favour a presidential candidate and the columnists have been encouraged to endorse "personal liberties and free markets", not bad things to endorse, but it is bad to be told to do so.
  The Post is losing money, but money is not the issue for Bezos. As Ruth Marcus, who quit in March, notes: "When Bezos purchased the Post, his net worth was about twenty-five billion; it is now an estimated two hundred fifty billion. Why not one per cent of that for the Post, enough to sustain the paper indefinitely? A pipe dream, I know, but this arrangement would make Bezos the savior of the Post, not the man who presided over its demise."

  To put this in nautical terms,  "among the Amazon founder’s more expensive recreations, [ he has a]125.8-metre, three-masted sailing yacht, Koru. (No need to get into the details of Abeona, the seventy-five-million-dollar “shadow boat” that trails Koru and provides a helipad and adequate space for extra staff.)
   "Koru cost an estimated five hundred million dollars. This is double what Bezos paid for the Washington Post. Annual maintenance runs tens of millions of dollars. It is, to be sure, a very special boat. According to Architectural Digest, “Bezos’s superyacht has a classical style, with a navy-blue steel hull and a two-level white aluminum superstructure. The ship’s teak decks include spots for outdoor lounging as well as three Jacuzzis and a swimming pool. Robb Report notes that the hull features traditional portholes, while the upper deck windows are smaller than typical, which might help to foil paparazzi trying to capture guests inside.” If that information about the boat is not galling enough, there is more: the Journal published a story on Friday by Richard Rubin headlined “Trump’s New Tax Law Saved Amazon Billions.” But the Ukraine correspondent had to go."
   Bezos founded Amazon, by the way. Perhaps now he is simply more interested in films than journalism since he reportedly contributed $40 million for "Melania" and spent another $35 million to promote it. 
   Whereas the New York Times purchased a company to cover sports, WaPo just fired everyone. Some were at the Olympics when they learned. Ron Charles who sent a very interesting book newsletter every Friday, was laid off and quickly became "an unemployed journalist with a mortgage". You can now find him on Substack, along with many other fine writers. The entire book section was shut down. Even if you were not a subscriber, you may have read the WaPo reviews that were syndicated.
   Most papers do not review books anymore and the Associated Press stopped doing so last year. The New York Times "Book Review" "is the last discrete newspaper books section standing." 
   There still are magazines that publish book reviews, but "The books section of a newspaper plays an altogether different role. It does not cater to aficionados; it seeks new recruits. A newspaper is—or ought to be—the opposite of an algorithm, a bastion of enlightened generalism in an era of hyperspecialization and personalized marketing. It assumes that there is a range of subjects an educated reader ought to know about, whether she knows that she ought to know about them or not."
And Amazon is not the answer:
   "On Amazon, the glorious inconvenience of browsing shelves or combing through piles has been eliminated. There is no occasion to pick up an unfamiliar book out of sheer curiosity. Every book that the site’s algorithm recommends is similar to one that you have purchased already. In this way, you encounter nothing but iterations of yourself forever. It is a world in which the customer is always right. But if you didn’t want to be proved wrong, if you didn’t want to be altered or antagonized in ways that you could never predict, why would you read at all?"
  To conclude with some CANCON, I will end with the word created by Cory Doctorow and say that this is just one more example of the enshittifcation of everything:
  "We’re all living through the enshittocene, a great enshittening, in which the services that matter to us, that we rely on, are turning into giant piles of shit."

Sources:
"The Death of Book World: What the Closing of the Washington Post’s Books Section Means for Readers," By Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2026.
"How Jeff Bezos Brought Down the Washington Post: The Amazon founder bought the paper to save it. Instead, with a mass layoff, he’s forced it into severe decline," Ruth Marcus, The New Yorker, Feb. 4, 2026. (The nautical bit is also from The New Yorker, by David Remnick, Feb.8.)
More about "enshittification" can be learned in MM's, "On Bullshit."
Post Script: I just received another offer to re-subscribe.

Factlets (21 & 22)

  These factlets are food-related, although beverages are also involved. The first has to do with what is now the largest fast-food chain on the planet. The name of the company begins with the letter "M" and it is not McDonald's. The second pertains to one small restaurant in Washington. Washington, Virginia, not Washington, D.C. If you are interested in finer dining, go directly to the second one.

MIXUE

   The company name is pronounced this way: ME-shway. It sells soft ice cream, sugary drinks and bubble tea. Those products are sold in over 50,000 red (really red) establishments scattered throughout the world. McDonald's has around 43,500 outlets. 
   Mixue's Ronald McDonald is "Snow King", who looks like a snowman. Apparently the stores' Muzak plays a song with these lyrics, "I love you, you love me,: Mixue, ice cream and tea, to the tune of "OH! Susanna." 


   The chain was started in 1997 by a student, Zhang Hongchao. His brother, Hongfu is the CEO and the boys are reportedly worth $8.2 billion each. They can afford to eat at the next place in this post, where there is a lot less red and much more ambience.
   According to the company website the full name is Mixue Bingcheng, which in English is"Sweet Snow Palace." For sources see: "Forget McDonald’s. This Chinese Fast-Food Chain Is Now the World’s Biggest: Mixue lures cost-conscious customers with ice cream and drinks under $1 during China’s economic slump," Stu Woo, Wall Street Journal, Mar. 3, 2025 and from the Washington Post: "The World’s Biggest Fast-Food Chain Lands in the U.S. Here’s How it Tastes," Ethan Beck, Feb. 23, 2026.

THE INN AT LITTLE WASHINGTON

   This place is a little nicer and I am sure it is "Worth a Pilgrimage", as they state on their website. The related factlet here has to do with the corkage fee charged by this establishment, about which someone complained - $200 per bottle. I was unable to verify, that, but it may actually be $300.
   You have not wasted your time. Enjoy the rest of your evening here: The Inn At Little Washington. There is a lot to see and there are many dishes to savour, such as, "Carpaccio of Herb-Crusted Elysian Fields Baby Lamb Loin with Caesar Salad Ice Cream Domaine Figuière, Première, Rosé, Côtes De Provence, France (2024).
   As for the wines, if you don't want to pay them a few hundred bucks to open your own plonk, they have plenty to choose from. Here is a random pick which is found on p.66 of their 92 pp. wine list.

Sources:
   The corkage complaint was also found in the WaPo. Unfortunately this is the last day I will be able to present such valuable nuggets from that publication. I have cancelled my subscription and will probably post about it, since I won't be spending the time reading the Washington Post.
  For those who are curious, the first factlet related to the Gee-Gees.

The Bonus:
More Fine Wines at  L'Auberge Provencale Inn & Restaurant 
   Late last year you may recall that two people dined at another restaurant in the Virginia countryside. They then asked to see the wine cellar and tried to remove from it, some valuable wines. They were chased outside and the British woman was captured. Her Serbian partner was not, and he was last spotted at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. Some of the pinot noirs taken are still missing.
Some Cancon: The British woman wanted to look around because she was working for a "Canadian client who was evaluating venues for a potential event."
(Once again, the source is from WaPo: "Tricked-out Overcoat Linked to New Charges in $38,000 Wine Heist A Suspect in a Virginia Theft Case is Accused of Slipping Six High-end Pinots Into Interior Pockets of His Coat," Dan Morse, Feb. 6, 2026.)
  The restaurant/inn is L'Auberge Provencale Inn & Restaurant and it is not too far down the road from The Inn at Little Washington, if you want to have a nice long weekend. Very nice. Supposedly the cellar has around 5,400 bottles. To have your cork popped costs $55 at L'Auberge Provencale. Their wine list is only 70 pp. and here is a sample page from it:

Given that the price for one bottle on the page above is $18,000, perhaps the Virginia marketing people should change the state's slogan to "Virginia Is For Wine Lovers."

Squashing It

 

Western's Men's Squash Team Wins the OUA Championship AGAIN
   They have done so for forty-two years in a row. That is, since 1982 when the war being fought was farther away, in the Falkland Islands. I thought I would call this to your attention again this year since again it will go almost unnoticed. I suppose that even if we, like everyone else now, were not living in a local news desert, it might not have been reported on, since it is rather boring, having been repeated over and over for forty-two years.
   Here is some information about the performance of the men's team as reported by the OUA:
  "Western capped off another dominant season on Sunday, defeating the University of Toronto 7-0 in the gold medal final to claim the 2026 OUA Men’s Squash Championship.
   The Mustangs controlled the tournament from the opening matches, finishing atop the standings with a perfect 5-0 record while compiling a remarkable 34-1 individual match record.
   Head coach Chris Hanebury credited the team’s lineup strength as a major contributor to the championship run....
  The victory marks Western’s 42nd straight OUA title, continuing one of the most impressive dynasties in Canadian university athletics. Veteran Antonio Mendes spoke to the challenge that comes with maintaining such a streak.
  “It feels amazing. Every year we come out here, obviously we have a lot of pressure on our backs from having that streak, but I think the guys really live up to it every year,” Mendes said.

  The Western's Women's Squash Team also won - for the second year in a row. Here is some information about their victories, as reported on the Ontario University Athletics Website.
   "Western University completed a dominant weekend at the OUA Squash Championship, defeating Queen’s 6-1 in the gold medal match to secure the women’s banner and finish the tournament undefeated.
   The Mustangs closed the championship with a perfect 5-0 record while pacing the field with 28 individual match victories, an 87-19 games record, and an impressive 1113-590 points differential....
   Straight-game victories from Caitlin Ng, Katie Boulanger, and Sophie Pinfold helped swing momentum, while Sienna Grossi secured the championship point with a four-game win.  Queen’s lone victory came from Gabby Waite at the top of the ladder.
   Head coach Tom Panabaker praised his group following the championship result.“It feels awesome. The girls do all the hard work. They plan, work all year, and train hard. We’ve got a fantastic group of girls,” said Panabaker.
  For the players, the moment reflected years of preparation and commitment to the program.
“Back-to-back gold, this is something we’ve been working for a long time… winning with the boys too makes it so much better,” said Western’s Madison Draayer and Sophie Pinfold.
  The championship also highlighted several standout individual performances. Western rookie Caitlin Ng was named Rookie of the Year after a flawless 5-0 weekend without dropping a game...."
  
   If you happened to look at the Western University website, the victories of the two teams were reported. See, for example: "Mustangs Men's Squash dynasty continues for 42nd consecutive year," Mustang Sports Information, 2/9/2026 and, "Trio of Western Mustangs Teams Crowned Champions: Men's and women's squash teams win gold provincially, cheerleading squad earns national title," By Mustangs Communications, Special to Western News, February 11, 2026.
  Note that the Western Cheerleading Squad won the national title.

Things Are Tougher South of the Border
   The Western's Men's Squash Team also competes against the best U.S. Collegiate Teams and has done so for years. The College Squash Association National Team Championships are from March 5-8 in Philadelphia. I hope the Western guys are given some money for gas and can attend. 
   You may have noticed the dominance of the Western teams at the OUA event. It is often the case in squash that very good players and teams are squashed by even better players and teams. Here is a look at Western's results in the U.S. on the eve of the championship.

  Western is currently ranked 18th in the U.S. and I will report back about what happens in Philadelphia, if no one else does.  The teams Western played above are among the top ones in the U.S. Penn won the national title last year.

Autocracy Watch

    I chose "Autocracy Watch" for a title and when I searched, just now, for that phrase, I learned that it is used by the political scientist, Yascha Mounk. Apparently his "Autocracy Watch"  "analyzes the state of democracy and potential shifts toward authoritarianism in the United States and globally."
   Back in October, 2025, the New York Times introduced an "Autocracy Index" which includes a dozen signposts as indicators of "democratic erosion".  They are worth noting, as is the fact that there seem to be more organizations and institutions "on watch" these days. 

The Autocracy Index
   The 12 "Markers of Democratic Erosion" are listed here:

Stifling speech and dissent

Persecuting political opponents

Bypassing the legislature

Defying the courts

Declaring false emergencies

Using the military at home

Vilifying marginalized groups

Controlling information

Trying to take over universities

Creating a cult of personality

Using power for personal profit

Manipulating the law to stay in power

  The "Autocracy Index" presents these "Markers" and assigns numbers to them.  A zero (on the left side in the picture of the Index below), represents the state of democracy in the U.S. before Trump. Ten on the right side indicates a "true autocracy, such as China, Iran or Russia." The Times will be assessing these markers and moving them as they change. Some have already been moved and unfortunately, they are headed right - that is, in the wrong direction. The screen grab below was done in February, 2026:

  If you are a subscriber to the NYT it will be interesting to note any changes in "The Autocracy Index".  If you are not, I will let you know if there are major developments. But, in any case, it is useful to have a clear list of the markers to which we should pay more attention. 

   A reminder of the importance of following more closely, the threatening political developments was noted in an article this morning. The author writes that many Germans in Berlin in the 1940s witnessed bad things "and yet most people looked away, pretending to see nothing, and carried on with their lives. Why? As is so often the case under autocratic regimes, from Hitler’s Berlin to Mussolini’s Rome to Vladimir Putin’s Moscow, things go from bad to worse in stages. Today’s outrage is tomorrow’s normal. People adapt and get used to it."
(From: "Historians Confirm: Tomorrow Won’t Be Better Than Today," Ian Buruma, NYT, Feb. 22, 2026.)

Sources:
   More information about autocracies is found in indices related to the levels of democracy. The Economist Intelligence Unit publishes one as does Statista. Their latest one for the U.S., done in November, 2025 noted that:

  "The level of democracy in the United States decreased since 2006. The reasons for this are manifold, but decreasing trust in elected officials, prohibitively high costs associated with running for office, as well as increasing voting restrictions are among the reasons. Nevertheless, the United States remains a democracy based on its index score of 7.85 in 2024. Countries are given a score from 0 to 10 with scores closer to 10 meaning the country is more democratic."

Well Poisoning: 
  On the environmental front things are also not well. This headline, from Feb. 9, and the following more recent ones are all you need for sources:

  "Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation:

A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off,"

By Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow," NYT, Feb.9, 2026.

and:

   "Trump Order Aims to Boost Weedkiller Targeted in Health Lawsuits

An executive order aimed at ramping up production of glyphosate set off alarms among supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.", By Hiroko Tabuchi and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, NYT, Feb.18,

and:
 "MAHA Moms Turn Against Trump: ‘Women Feel Like They Were Lied To’:

 President Trump’s executive order aimed at spurring production of a pesticide has infuriated leaders of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement", 

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Hiroko Tabuchi, NYT, Feb. 19, 2026.
Maybe this is actually a bit of good news:

   "When Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threw his support behind Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign for the White House, his corps of health conscious, mostly female, followers embraced the president, who pledged to address Americans’ concerns about “toxins in our environments and pesticides in our food.”

  Some of the women, who call themselves the MAHA Moms after Mr. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement, abandoned the Democratic Party to vote for Mr. Trump.

   But the executive order Mr. Trump issued Wednesday to increase domestic production of glyphosate — a widely used weedkiller and possible carcinogen that has been the target of thousands of lawsuits, including one brought by Mr. Kennedy — stunned and infuriated the activists.

It now threatens to turn the brief MAHA-Trump marriage into a divorce."