Programming note: Greetings from Ukraine. I have been here longer than intended, mainly because moving around the country is much slower than it was last time, what with Putin targeting the trains and tracks. Inevitably, the protracted stay has caused my health to enter into something of an accelerating downward spiral. The hospitals in Odesa are all full of the droned, and the nearest alternative facilities are in Moldova or possibly Transnistria. I love Moldova and quite enjoy Transnistria (although the cuisine is a tad too Russian), but I know nothing of their health systems. So, if you have previous experience of their ICUs and whatnot, do pass along any tips. Otherwise, I may try to stagger on to Hungary or even Switzerland. Wherever I am, however, I shall be here tomorrow, Wednesday, for the Mark Steyn Club ninth-birthday edition of our Clubland Q&A: I wouldn't miss it for the world or even for a Transnistrian emergency ward, so I hope you'll want to join me at 3pm North American Eastern - which is 8pm in London, 9pm in Berlin, and 10pm in Tiraspol.
~If you're wondering what the US Secret Service do when they're not letting you sprint through the security checkpoint, well...
A Secret Service Uniformed Division officer was arrested early Monday for allegedly masturbating naked on the sixth floor of the DoubleTree hotel near the Miami airport.
If that's the "Uniformed Division", I think they need a longer shoulder patch.
Otherwise, it's one for our unintended-consequences file: There's never a Cartagena hooker around when you need one.
~A small piece of good-ish news:
Alberta separatists say they have enough signatures for referendum on leaving Canada
I regret, obviously, that it has come to this. But I've always been interested in the size of nations, and sometimes polities simply outlive their usefulness. I would put the United Kingdom in that category - and re the Dominion of Canada, as I wrote twenty years ago of the European Union, united they'll fall, divided a few of them will stand a sporting chance.
Go, Alberta!
~More good news, at least if you're sitting where I qm right now and the air-raid sirens. have just started up. A year ago, Zelenskyyy was told in the Oval Office that he was all outta cards. Now? Vlod's back:
BREAKING:
Trump praises Zelensky and Ukraine's Armed Forces:
"I like Zelenskyy. I've always sort of gotten along with him, other than the one moment in the White House, which I thought was a little aggressive on his behalf.
The Ukrainians fight. Because whether the equipment... pic.twitter.com/NrEngCZ6H8
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 5, 2026
~My friend Pete Hegseth testified to the House of Representatives the other day re the Pentagon budget. I found this an interesting exchange:
Mr. Higgins (04:19:21): Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for clarifying that. A question about Iran, and I'll give you the final 30 seconds to answer. Was Iran moving precipitously towards nuclear weapons capability, Mr. Secretary?
Secretary Pete Hegseth (04:19:38): Even after the obliteration of Midnight Hammer, what was clear is that the intention of Iran remained in the pursuit of nuclear weapons. And as hard as they were hit by Israel, it created an opportunity to get rid of the conventional shield. That's why we talked about missile production and the Navy and the defense industrial base to set them back from blackmailing the region in the world in pursuit of nuclear weapons because we understood how much they could continue to pursue them.
If you notice, Pete did not actually answer Mr Higgins' question, which was about whether Iran was "moving precipitously towards nuclear weapons". Instead, he suggested that, notwithstanding the "obliteration" of its nuke programme less than a year ago, Iran "retained" its "intention" to pursue them ...which, among Washington's war faction, has been taken as read for nigh on half-a-century.
But the Secretary is speaking with an eye to Impeachment Season, due to commence in January 2027 - and apparently he does not wish to sign on to the official casus belli - that on February 28th Iran was "two weeks from a nuclear weapon". Instead, it was in the forty-seventh year of its "intention" to get nuclear weapons. See also Tulsi Gabbard's recent testimony to the Senate:
Sen. Ossoff (02:15:41): So the assessment of the intelligence community is that Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated by last summer's airstrikes?
Tulsi Gabbard (02:15:48): Yes.
Sen. Ossoff (02:15:50): And the opening statement you submitted to the Committee last night also stated, quote, "There has been no effort since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability," correct?
Tulsi Gabbard (02:16:00): That's right.
Sen. Ossoff (02:16:00): And that's the assessment of the intelligence community?
Tulsi Gabbard (02:16:02): Yes.
Sen. Ossoff (02:16:03): The White House stated on March 1st of this year that this war was launched and was, quote, "A military campaign to eliminate the imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime," end quote. That's a statement from the White House, quote, "The imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime." Was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was an imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime?
Tulsi Gabbard (02:16:30): The intelligence community assessed that Iran maintained the intention to rebuild and to continue to grow their nuclear enrichment capability.
Sen. Ossoff (02:16:38): But was it the assessment of the intelligence community that there was a, quote, "imminent nuclear threat," posed by the Iranian regime, yes or no?
Tulsi Gabbard (02:16:45): Senator, the only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president.
Sen. Ossoff (02:16:50): False. This is the Worldwide Threats hearing where you present to Congress national intelligence, timely, objective and independent of political considerations. You've stated today that the intelligence community's assessment is that Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated and that, quote, "There had been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability." Was it the intelligence community's assessment that nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote, "Imminent nuclear threat," posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?
Tulsi Gabbard (02:17:23): It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat.
Etc.
As longtime readers know, I have never understood why America needs 147 intelligence agencies for its so-called "intelligence community" - the "African-American community", I get it; the "trans community", whatever; but the "intelligence community", I pass. However, the Director of National Intelligence's answer couldn't have been clearer - that it was "the assessment of the intelligence community" that since the "obliteration" of less than a year ago "there has been no effort since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability".
Pete was pro-war, Tulsi anti-war. So a rare point of agreement.
~As this is likely my last day in Odesa, I thought I would post a video showing the loveliness of the city's maidenhood. The search engine prompted me to some Odesa ladies singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", written by the late Robert Hazard, longtime reader of SteynOnline. Alas, it was rather too reminiscent of Covid-era NHS nurses prancing their way through lockdown. So ignore the caterwauling and terpsichore and focus on the town's beautiful architecture behind them.
~Thank you to all those new members of The Mark Steyn Club on the eve of our ninth birthday, and thank you to those old members who've signed up a chum for a Gift Certificate or Gift Membership. Steyn Clubbers span the globe, from London, Ontario to London, England to London, Kiribati. We hope to welcome many more new members in the years ahead.
