Rock on.
Tuesday, April 07, 2026
The Unshitting
A problem is that Trump's desires are basically: everyone says he won, and then everyone shuts up about Iran so he can talk about his ballroom more (roughly). I don't think these demands can be met by reality.
Action, Reaction
There are good and extremely obvious reasons for not breaking laws and taboos about targeting civilian infrastructure. Ah, well nevertheless.
April 7 (Reuters) - Iran on Tuesday attacked a petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia's Jubail industrial city, located in the Eastern province, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said.
It doesn't take a supergenius military expert to see that those laws/taboos actually favor "us" by delegitimizing acts that we would call terrorism if we weren't doing them ourselves.
Probably will anyway, of course.
How Am I Doing
NPR has learned that hundreds of sailors were evacuated back to the United States from their base in Bahrain after the base was attacked by Iranian missiles and drones. In addition to the base in Bahrain, NPR has learned that there have been evacuations at other U.S. military bases in the region, though the exact details are unknown at this point.
Zito Special - Iranians Welcome A Sweet Nuclear Death Edition
This paragraph was briefly in a BBC report about Iran before people pointed out how insane (and probably fake) it was.
Radin, also in his 20s and living in Tehran, said: "About them hitting energy infrastructure, using an atomic bomb, or levelling Iran. My honest reaction is that I'm OK with all of these.Now it says:
Radin, also in his 20s and living in Tehran, said: "If attacking targets in the country brings down the Islamic Republic, I'm fine with that. Because if the Islamic Republic survives this war, it will stay forever."
The current version is here.
Doing vox pops down at the Ye Olde Pickle Factory, where they all agree being nuked by Donald Trump would be preferable to one more minute of existence.
For posterity, the reporter is Ghoncheh Habibiazad.
...finally added a note
Monday, April 06, 2026
Credit Where Due
Normal editor must have been out for Easter.
Oh No
Not our big beautiful data centers.
Iran threatens ‘complete and utter annihilation’ of OpenAI's $30B Stargate AI data center in Abu Dhabi — regime posts video with satellite imagery of ChatGPT-maker's premier 1GW data center
One Quick Trick
Regularly, Trump berates journalists for the question that they asked. Usually, though not always, it's a woman journalist that he is berating. There is one simple thing that her colleagues can do in response, both to show solidarity and to pursue a line of questioning that Trump doesn't want: just repeat the question.
It doesn't even require being especially savvy. Just repeat the fucking question.
I long ago stopped feeling any need to defend "journalism" because elite political journalists fail to show even minimal solidarity for their colleagues or even to stick up for themselves.
This isn't new. Most of the gang would get mad at anyone being slightly aggressive during the Bush years, too.
Ruined the nice camaraderie they all had. Made things very uncomfortable! They were all good friends, after all. All on the same side, fighting the war on terra together.
On a Saturday evening in late April, the ballroom of the Washington Hilton will feature the annual tradition of reporters dressing up in tuxedos and gowns to mingle, network, and celebrate their profession. But this year, when Donald Trump looks out into the crowd, he might spot some of those attending the White House Correspondents’ Association’s gala sporting unusual accessories: pocket squares and pins with the words of the First Amendment, in a subversive gesture supporting press freedom, reflecting the news media’s consciousness of the perilous moment it’s in, and why....Whether items like pocket squares, tote bags, and phone wallets bearing the text “Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech or of the Press”—a hand-drawn design by CNN’s Jake Tapper—rise to the occasion while rubbing elbows with a president who regularly labels journalists “enemies of the people,” will surely be debated. But the effort speaks to the elephant in the room: this is no ordinary WHCD, given the Trump administration’s overt attempts to discredit and undermine the press.
A "hand-drawn design by CNN’s Jake Tapper!" Take that, Donald!
Sunday, April 05, 2026
Also, The Iraq War Was Good
Bret Stephens, March 12.
Doesn't Matter
I used to scan the Washington Post columnists every day, not because I necessarily cared what the columnists had to say directly, but because they were influential even when (especially when) they were talking nonsense.
Nobody cares anymore.
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