Get happy
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Still The Mad King
Stonks go down, stonks go up, armageddon approaches.
The U.S. military is preparing in coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, according to U.S. officials, expanding its naval crackdown beyond the Middle East.
The planning comes as the Iranian military continues to tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, attacking several commercial vessels on Saturday as it declared the waterway was being “strictly controlled” by Iran. The developments sent shipping companies scrambling a day after Iran’s foreign minister said the strait was fully open to commercial traffic—an announcement that was welcomed by President Trump.
Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but I don't think any of this going to be meaningfully over soon.
So Many Pet Peeves In One Picture
1) Ross Douthat
2) Conservatives, such as Ross Douthat, "teaching" liberals
3) Conservatives, such as Ross Douthat, thinking "we" are dumb enough to imagine any advice is sincere and generously given
4) Almost anyone (occasional exceptions) in the US thinking there are big political lessons to be learned here from events in an entirely different country which they know almost nothing about.
(happy for you ross, not gonna read it).
Ah, Well, Nevertheless
At least insiders made a killing at the dog track.
HORMUZ RESTRICTED: Iranian military officials said this morning that it has reasserted "strict control" over the Strait of Hormuz, citing the continued U.S. blockade of its ports, just one day after declaring the waterway “completely open.”
Friday, April 17, 2026
Stonks Go Down, Stonks Go Up
On one hand, it seems a bit nuts that THE MARKET is putting its faith in Donald Trump to unshit the bed. On the other, it is probably a reasonable bet that Trump will do anything (that he can comprehend) to keep those numbers, which are like his own personal scorecard, up.
The Art of War
If the pictured meal is representative, it is not sustainable. Shitty rations are one thing, but this is a calorie deficit.
Dan F. was alarmed when his daughter, a Marine aboard the USS Tripoli, a warship deployed to fight the Iran war, sent him a photo of a meal served on the ship. A lunch tray, two-thirds empty, carried one small scoop of shredded meat and a single folded tortilla.Gonna rename scurvy Hegseth's Disease.
A picture of a mid-April dinner on the USS Abraham Lincoln, shared by a service member with his family, was similarly unappetizing – a small handful of boiled carrots, a dry meat patty and a gray slab of processed meat.
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Poped
Doesn't this guy know he's supposed to be yelling at John Kerry about abortion.
Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. #ApostolicJourney #Cameroon https://t.co/bKteFZ3iWE
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 16, 2026
Off The Trump Train
You don't have to hand it to her, but she does have lines.
For years, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy enjoyed leverage as the right-wing leader who could bridge the gap between Europe and President Trump.What is with this first sentence, though? "For years." Meloni wasn't PM until 2022. The New York Times made no mention of her relationship with Trump (broadly defined) during his first term.
This week, though, she seems to have decided that Mr. Trump is a bridge too far.
After suffering major political setbacks because of her association with Mr. Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Italy and seen as the cause of rising gas prices, Ms. Meloni seized on an opportunity to extricate herself from a relationship that had grown domestically and internationally poisonous. After Mr. Trump launched a broadside on Monday against Pope Leo XIV, Ms. Meloni rallied to the American pontiff’s defense, saying, “I find President Trump’s remarks about the Holy Father unacceptable.”
Mr. Trump, clearly jilted, lashed out at Ms. Meloni, saying in an interview with an Italian newspaper on Tuesday that he hadn’t talked to her “in a long time,” was vexed by her lack of participation in the war in Iran and was “shocked by her,” adding, “I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.” He responded to her “unacceptable” criticism by snapping, “She’s the one who’s unacceptable.” On Wednesday, he added in a television interview that with Italy, “we do not have the same relationship.”
DeTrumpify
It isn't the most important thing in itself, perhaps, but any Dem presidential wannabee who isn't willing to take a wrecking ball - and willing to pledge to do so - to Trump's various monuments to himself is unlikely to move beyond the "look forward, not backward" ethos that is the cause of many of our current problems.
The Commission of Fine Arts, which is filled with Mr. Trump’s appointees, is scheduled on Thursday to consider Mr. Trump’s plan to build a 250-foot arch on the other side of the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.A good first "official act" to put in terms John Roberts can appreciate.
But Mr. Trump’s push to build the giant arch — more than quadrupling its size from original plans — has alienated early proponents of the project, classical architects and veterans groups who say it will diminish nearby Arlington Cemetery.
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