Whiskey Pete announced that flu vaccines would no longer be mandatory. Life aboard the big boats is going to be great.
I do believe that (most) Americans have no idea what the flu is, thinking it is just a bad cold. A bad cold is just a cold. The flu is fucking nasty and debilitating and possibly deadly.
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Totally
I think part of the story of 2020 is Trump increasingly losing his mind as Covid failed to obey his regular decrees.Trump: "We totally control the strait, just so you understand. For all the fake news out there."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) April 21, 2026 at 1:37 PM
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He has less mind to lose, now.
Fake Laws
Years ago, some economists, and lawyers and judges pretending they were economists, convinced everybody that because antitrust laws violated the truly sacred higher laws of economics, they were actually fake laws.
Emails released on Monday by California’s attorney general show Amazon allegedly colluding with other companies to raise the prices of pet treats, khaki pants, eyedrops and other products sold online.According to a newly unsealed court filing released by attorney general Rob Bonta, Amazon employees have repeatedly worked with vendors using its platform to push retail vendors including Walmart and Chewyto set higher prices collectively.
Monday, April 20, 2026
Can They Both Lose
In any case, this could very funny.
April 20 (Reuters) - FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick following the publication of an article on Friday alleging the director had a drinking problem that could pose a threat to national security.
They're Not Wrong
The Art Of The Deal was, always, Trump not actually sticking with the terms of his deals (paying people). You're a sucker if you do! That's his whole thing!
Some version of "we'll make a deal and then, when they have let their guard down, bomb the shit out of them" is the plan, whether or not such a plan is workable in any sense.Irans foreign ministry spokesperson says Iran has no plans for a second round of negotiations as the United States is not serious about pursuing any diplomatic process after its violated the ceasefire a number of times
— Saul Staniforth (@saulstaniforth.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 9:30 AM
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Seems Bad
All above my pay grade, but...
When the war in Iran started on Feb. 28, Asia expected to see serious, gradual impacts from losing access to a huge portion of the world’s oil and gas. But the conflict’s economic and social impacts have hit the region harder and faster than officials and experts expected.
Many countries across the Asia-Pacific are experiencing sudden jolts of disruption that they are struggling to manage, with some comparing the crisis’s breakdowns and scope to the Covid pandemic.
Even if there is a peace deal soon, the future of this industrious region that has driven global economic growth for decades will likely include months of canceled flights, surging food prices, factory pauses, delayed shipments and empty shelves for products long considered quick and easy to buy worldwide: plastic bags, instant noodles, vaccines, syringes, lipstick, microchips and sportswear.
My possibly incorrect mental model of all of these things is that the system is incredibly resilient right up until it isn't.
There's extra stuff in the warehouse until suddenly it's all gone.
Sunday, April 19, 2026
I'm Not Like Those Other Crazy Democrats
Elected national Democrats never say any of these things, but many Dem politicians are out there regularly telling people that they do.
It isn't quite the same thing, but there has recently been a coordinated attack from prominent orgs and politicians against streamer Hasan Piker. I don't care about Piker, he can take care of himself, but there was subsequently a poll showing that (of course) most people didn't know who the fuck he was or why any of these politicians were talking about him.
Somehow this was portrayed as vindication of the people who made attacking him an issue. See no one cares about Piker! Right, so why the fuck did you organize a media campaign against him and make it a major campaign issue?
One way to talk like regular folks is stop talking about the dumb shit in the rich donor/centrist dipshist group chat as if regular folks know what the fuck you are talking about.Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tells Michigan Democrats the party has "let advocacy speak seep into our language." He gives the example of calling inmates the "justice involved population." "If we want to be the party of the people, we've got to talk like we are people," he says.
— Andrew Roth (@roththereporter.bsky.social) April 19, 2026 at 2:23 AM
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It isn't quite the same thing, but there has recently been a coordinated attack from prominent orgs and politicians against streamer Hasan Piker. I don't care about Piker, he can take care of himself, but there was subsequently a poll showing that (of course) most people didn't know who the fuck he was or why any of these politicians were talking about him.
Somehow this was portrayed as vindication of the people who made attacking him an issue. See no one cares about Piker! Right, so why the fuck did you organize a media campaign against him and make it a major campaign issue?
I get why people think hippie punching is helpful (I even think they are correct, sometimes!), but doing this "most National Democrats are out there saying [stuff they aren't saying, nobody knows what you are talking about], and I am a different kind of Democrat "schtick is just clumsy hack shit.
How Long Can This Go On
I'm not capable of judging the veracity of the dire warnings about various shortages which will happen if the Strait remains mostly closed to traffic, but they are pretty dire!
Also as brains have been poisoned on Econ 101, people don't really comprehend that shortages aren't just "oh the prices go up a lot, but everything is good because The Market Clears (smiley face)!"
The unavailability of certain things at (effectively) any price means society begins to collapse. Certainly normal existence begins to fracture. It isn't just "stuff gets more expensive."
President Donald Trump issued a threat to Iran’s government early Sunday morning, writing on Truth Social that it would be his “honor” to direct the U.S. military to target Iranian bridges and power plants if the country did not reach a deal with U.S. negotiators around the Strait of Hormuz.
The president fell back on his threats to target civil infrastructure after it was reported that Iranian forces were refusing passage through the strait over the weekend.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Trump wrote.
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.”
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