Get happy
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Sure Why Not
The annual GDP of the US is about $32 trillion.
Aug 25 (Reuters) - Anthropic is likely to tell investors that it sees its total addressable market (TAM) exceeding $30 trillion, ahead of the $28.5 trillion estimate from SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
TAM is the annual revenue opportunity available if a product or service achieved 100% market share in its relevant market.
Because The Country's Gone Awry
You can imagine Canada might've even agreed, with some caveats, to this kind of thing, if it wasn't all currently at the whims of the Mad King and whatever AI slop he was seeing at 3AM.
Canadian negotiators had gone into the talks suggesting the ultimate goal should be to create a “Fortress North America,” as they called it, with ultralow or nonexistent tariffs inside its walls, namely between Canada and the United States, and aligned tariffs for outsiders.The United States wanted Canada to apply U.S. tariffs to other countries, particularly when it came to steel, now and in the future: If the United States changed policy and place higher tariffs on certain goods from a third country, Canada would need to do the same, even if it already had a trade agreement in place, a Canadian official said.
Tariff alignment is one thing. Canada having to change their tariffs because an Italian comedian made a joke about Trump, or whatever, is quite another.
People
They were almost certainly kids, though they aren't going to release any additional information.
Two people have died in Pennsylvania from measles, the state health department said Tuesday. Both were unvaccinated.
These the first deaths related to measles within the state in 35 years, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the first deaths reported this year in the U.S.
Xi Ain't Reading All That
I suspect isolating China will be as easy as conquering Iran.
New York — US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday vowed an “economic D-Day” for countries that buy oil from Iran. Experts say that means one country in particular: China.Bessent didn’t name China on Monday, but he left little room for doubt.
Sure Why Not
Via the California Post, court documents reveal that York “responded to an ad on a known prostitution website in Columbiana County, Ohio and ‘arranged to have sexual activity with the female in exchange for $140.00.’”
Per the report, York went to the meeting location — a trailer park in East Palestine, Ohio. He was taken into custody after a law-enforcement agent from the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force determined that York had “in his possession his cellular device which was used to arrange the criminal act.” (Which apparently means that the “criminal tool” was the cell phone.)
The "heart" wants what it wants, I guess.
Main Character Syndrome
The US has long had it, but I think once upon a time it was more justified. We are, much more than 30 years ago, just another country.
One with a huge military (though that too has limits, as we see) and too much control over the international financial system, but no longer the center of everything culturally and economically.
To some extent that's because we "won." American influence is apparent in much of the world. But you don't need McDonald's franchises to have fast food chains.
The US is economically big enough that it matters, but the rest of the world doesn't need us to buy from them or sell to us nearly as much as "we" think they do.
Only about 4% of the world's population.
Monday, August 24, 2026
Why Indeed
Genius Bessent admits he can't go through with his threats.
Asked why the US is threatening Iran’s business partners instead of penalising them, Bessent said: “Well, we are giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behaviour. Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?”
Or at least admitting the consequences of doing so.
Sure Why Not
Pretty easy to draw the appropriate conclusions here.
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) — San Francisco 49ers owner John “Jed” York was arrested in the Valley over the weekend and found guilty of two misdemeanor charges.
York pleaded no contest Monday morning to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools. He was arrested Sunday in East Palestine and posted $5,000 bond.
WKBN requested a police report, which states only: “On August 23, 2026, the East Palestine Police Department assisted the MVHTTF on the arrest of John York.”
The police report lists the time and location of the arrest as 9: 35 a.m. at Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community off state Route 170.
The release from East Palestine police states all further information must come from the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force. WKBN reached out to the task force for further information and is awaiting a response.
Rich guy pleads no contest to lesser chargers, presumably.
Doug Ford: We Sure As Hell Can, Bitch
Much more than just electricity.US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on a trade war with Canada: "There's no possible way it can really affect US well-being"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 24, 2026 at 5:20 PM
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At Least The War Is Over
Our approach to all international disputes when anyone responds forcefully is "mommy he hit me back." I think most of even our dimmest jingoistic pundits have realized that isn't very convincing in this situation.
All of this began with the US murdering Khamenei and then blowing up a school for girls. I'm not sure what "taboos" are left that we can legitimately complain about.
All of this began with the US murdering Khamenei and then blowing up a school for girls. I'm not sure what "taboos" are left that we can legitimately complain about.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Tehran would not bow to an escalating pressure campaign by the Trump administration, after one of the country’s top security chiefs threatened reprisals against countries that joined the United States’ “economic war.”
Everyone Should Scream At Alan Whenever They See Him
Dershowitz and David got into an infamous altercation on Martha’s Vineyard in 2021 that resulted in the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld” creator calling Dershowitz “disgusting” to his face. Dershowitz, who was a member of Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein’s defense teams at various points in his career, confirmed the fight in a 2022 interview with The New Yorker and opened up again on his falling out with David in a new profile published by The Atlantic on Aug. 18.
“Larry David doesn’t talk to me anymore,” Dershowitz told the publication. “He screams and yells at me when he sees me.”
David responded by telling The Atlantic: “I don’t know why he’s still thinking and talking about me. I have lots of confrontations on my show but rarely in life. And then only if I think I can take them in a fight. Hence the Dershowitz dust-up.”
Alan's made lots of new friends recently. Isn't hanging with the MAGA crew enough for him?
Haven't We Been Here Before
If they were smart, they would make Donald touch the stove.
TORONTO (AP) — Ontario’s Doug Ford tells AP Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals to US if trade fight worsens.
Will We Though
Above my pay grade, like many things, but the global map of US military bases is always a horrifying thing to see and I suspect having fewer dots on that thing would be good.
In my judgement, the US Armed Forces have probably permanently lost access to 15 Persian Gulf bases. Iran now poised to control access the Gulf States. US will have to negotiate new access in western Saudi Arabia, Israel, southern Europe. https://t.co/oG4aeEshab
— Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) August 22, 2026
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Sunday Evening
Monday is tomorrow! I am sure there will be many quality posts to celebrate the new week.
When Canada Is Dead And Gone
Not that there was much chance of Canada acquiescing to the Mad King's desire to have it be the "51st state," but we can see that this would not have been some sort of merging of equals with appropriate representation (how many senators does Canada get?), but colonial conquest.
I know it is silly even to engage such ideas, but I suppose there are some who still imagine something other than demented and malevolent intentions are possible.
Everyone Gets To Use A Pencil
The flip side of President Deals never sticking with his deals is nobody else is obligated to, either.
About Time Someone Said It
I'm no Carney superfan, but he does seem to have figured Trump out.
After opting against a trade deal with American counterparts, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada's government 'recognized from the start' that the U.S. has changed. 'We recognized that sometimes its signature was written in pencil,' Carney said.
It is very funny that one of the dealbreakers was the US demanding they trash their various French dual language requirements. Like asking the US to cancel football.
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Coordination
This is illegal, but since laws aren't real anymore, we can at least laugh.
Allies of Mike Rogers, Michigan's GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, have asked AIPAC not to advertise on his behalf, triggering a rupture with the powerful but polarizing pro-Israel group.
Rogers spoke with AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week. The next day, AIPAC shelved an already-cut video ad targeting Rogers' Democratic rival, outspoken Israel critic Abdul El-Sayed.
I do remember when people in DC did take this stuff seriously, to the extent that certain people wouldn't be in the same room with other people.
Soylent Beef Is Made Of PEOPLE
What is the mystery meat?
But when a reporter asked the most basic question about the arrangement — where exactly is all this beef coming from? — Trump refused to say.
"On the beef deal, which countries did you make the deal with?" a reporter asked Trump Friday afternoon.
"I don't want to say," Trump responded.
President Deals Strikes Out Again
Oh no was trump engaged in bad faith negotiations?
A fresh wave of US tariffs on a wide array of Canadian goods came into effect on Saturday after a last-minute breakdown in trade talks.
Announcing the suspension of negotiations shortly before the Friday night deadline, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on US goods "dollar for dollar".
Carney said "last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal".
I saw the headline and was curious about what happened, given that all the recent reports had been about how Canada was going to cave and agree to some sort of deal. Unsurprisngly, willingness to deal with President Deals didn't work out!
Friday, August 21, 2026
Ground Beef
Genuine question: are people concerned about beef prices concerned specifically with the price of ground beef?
Somewhat answering my own question: the internet tells me almost half of beef consumption is ground beef. Also this is about 2% of ground beef consumption so...
The Health Of Our Big Beautiful President
I know what excuses all the journalists will make, but there are endless hours of cable news to fill with speculation, endless hours that they often do fill with speculation, and they are not speculating about this.
So much not speculating that I suspect it is ordered from above that they do not.
So much not speculating that I suspect it is ordered from above that they do not.
Junk In The Trunk
The most convincing suggestion I've seen is exoskeleton mobility device.
Seriously, what is going on with Trump’s rear end here? It looks like he has some sort of contraption back there
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 16, 2026 at 3:43 PM
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Sure Why Not
Or, more appropriately, what for?
The National Space Transportation Policy directs the Secretary of War, NASA, and other agencies to identify federal land for an additional reentry site within 90 days, part of a push to support more than 1,000 launches and reentries annually by 2030.
The policy also calls for priority airspace corridors, transparent range scheduling, and a "commercial-first" approach to national space transportation needs.
It directs NASA to facilitate commercial transportation to the Moon and robotic access to Mars, building on a separate executive order Trump signed in December outlining plans to return "Americans to the Moon by 2028 through the Artemis Program."
Elon and SpaceX are involved with Artemis - critical roles though not all of them - so good luck with that!
Blue Origin’s demonstration lander represents a number of the capabilities that will be featured in their Blue Moon Mark 2 lander, which will be used for crewed landings on the Moon’s south pole. The test lander doesn’t include the BE-7 engine of the Blue Moon Mark 2, but it does include a life support system and crew habitation area, which will allow the crew to live and work onboard while it’s docked with the Orion spacecraft.
After the two separate, SpaceX will launch its Starship Version 3 rocket, with a docking adapter on the nose of the upper stage. That Starship will be the target for Orion to dock, but because it won’t have a crew habitation area, the astronauts will remain onboard Orion while the two are mated.
“Now with respect to SpaceX, I think you’re what you’re witnessing, you’re seeing an increase in launch cadence, and that’s critical. If they’re able to launch again in early September after their last launch and continue to track inside the month, potentially every couple of weeks before the end of the year, that’s going to — we’re going to feel very good about their time to contribute to Artemis 3 next year,” Isaacman said.
SpaceX is so gonna be ready I promise I mean they're increasing cadence which is really critical and of course they're gonna be ready no lies no worries did I mention we're gonna feel very good if they do this thing which they're gonna do no really they're gonna do it.
At Least The War Is Over
I am curious if they really have any new and exciting sanctions for Iran, a country not a stranger to such things, or if this is just mostly bluster to hide surrender.
As a result, experts say, Mr. Trump is stuck in a conflict with limited leverage, a demonstrated vulnerability and an emboldened adversary. Even as Iran reels from shortages and inflation, Mr. Trump is likely to increasingly feel the pressure of the approaching midterm elections in the shadow of an unpopular war and high gas prices. It is a dangerous combination, experts say, that could prompt Iran to sense American weakness and lash out.
“They read him now as not wanting to escalate militarily,” Dennis B. Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for presidents of both parties, said of Iran’s leaders. “That creates an incentive for them to show that they may escalate militarily.”
Mr. Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that the Treasury Department would hold a news conference about the new measures targeting Iran next Monday. He said traders had been wrong to bid up the price of oil in response, given that the administration’s new economic threats were a sign there would not be an immediate return to full-scale bombing.
No full-scale bombing, but also no genuinely open strait, so I am not sure what exactly we think the impact on oil prices should be.
As I suggested yesterday, Trump was making noise that the sanctions would hit any 3rd parties, but I'm not really sure there's much room for that.
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Probably In About Six Months To A Year
We might create Commander Data one day but the idea that the spicy chatboats are going to become sentient is ridiculous. Belief in the probability signals a type (gullible, self-important, self-styled smartest guy in the room, likely has given his chatbot a woman's name).
Rising Stars
Obviously I don't trust the Trump FBI about anything, but Swalwell's life trajectory has certainly changed.
Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and then raided his home in Washington, DC, the next day as part of an ongoing probe connected to sexual assault allegations, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN.
Weaponized Interdependence
Sure the US controls many of the levers, but there is still the "inter" in "interdepdence" and there are limits to how much you can punish others without punishing yourself and everybody.
Donald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran’s economy, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” on any country that helps or does business with Tehran, a move that could set up a fresh confrontation with China if implemented.
“Today, I am announcing the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Any country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face tremendous economic consequences.”
And, for better or for worse, countries will move away from that system as best they can.
Kind Of A Big Deal
It is kind of a big deal that Iran destroyed the "U.S. Navy’s main resupply base." Not my area at all, but while their have been plenty of troop deaths/casualties in our various misadventures over the years, I don't remember any destruction of a strategic military asset of that importance.
I'm not saying Democrats should emulate what my imaginary Republicans would do, but you can imagine the kind of questioning - both from Republicans and the media (somewhat led by those Republicans) - Secretary of Defense Democrat would face if he had fucked things up so badly.
It will probably take some time for the full story of events to come out, and one will have to sift through the self-interested asscovering by other participants. But the sequences of events, and demands from Pete, will be interesting to learn about!
We know he fired everybody who knew anything.
These misadventures do give us an opportunity to remind ourselves just how vast our military empire is. And just how ultimately pointless and ineffectual it is.
Certainly ineffectual at what we are supposed to think it is for.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
They All Still Received Their T Shots
Food isn't necessary.
The USS Abraham Lincoln wasn’t able to be resupplied because the U.S. Navy’s main resupply base in the Gulf of Oman was destroyed by Iranian strikes—a fact that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth chose not to make public, David Rhode, MS NOW’s senior national security reporter, said on Tuesday.
From late February until June, Iran launched extensive missile and drone strikes on Naval Support Activity Bahrain, causing devastating damage that was not acknowledged by the Pentagon.
Dems Drive The News Cycle Precisely Once
And, predictably, the usual suspects start lecturing them.
Let my friend Karl explain how to do politics without being nasty.
Bored Now
The man has MOVED ON and he thanks you for your attention to this matter.
For weeks, President Donald Trump has tried willing positive developments with Iran into existence, without much success.
On Tuesday, he seemed to adopt a new approach. Trump told top administration envoys to halt their conversations with Iran, according to a US official. Additionally, White House officials have recently communicated to political allies that they are shifting their strategy — going from “hammer Iran ASAP” to “strangle them” over time, according to a source familiar with the matter.
We ran out of hammers and it isn't clear we can strangle them.
Travels With Natalie
Funny how journalists have suddenly discovered this person who barely existed before.
It was October 2023, and Donald Trump was due at a New York City courthouse to fight his latest set of legal troubles. But as the motorcade idled outside his Trump Tower residence, staffers confronted a more immediate problem: There wasn’t room for Harp, the hyper-loyal aide whose devotion to Trump had quickly entrenched her within his orbit.
A screaming match in the lobby ensued, with Harp insisting that Trump had personally asked her to attend the court appearance, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Denied a seat but determined not to be left behind, Harp jumped into an SUV trunk, according to the two sources and confirmed by a photo obtained by CNN.
Also most people know nothing about his regular late night insane posting marathons because, for some reason, journalists decided to pretend they don't exist.
A former right-wing television host, who began working for Trump after crediting him with saving her life, Harp has become a main conduit between the president and the outside world, passing along messages from allies and setting up meetings, tapping out Truth Social posts and toting printouts of laudatory articles, all while staying in close physical proximity at all hours of the day.
Someone who is always by his side yet oddly invisible. Strange!
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
99.8% Accuracy
A big problem with "computer say no" technology is that nobody understands the implications of false positive rates.
Sainsbury’s has paused the use of AI face scanning in one of its stores after a customer was wrongly identified as a shoplifter and ejected from the shop.
...
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We have contacted Mr Arnold to apologise for his experience at our Dulwich superstore. The incident was caused by human error, not the facial recognition technology. Customers can be reassured that the Facewatch system has a 99.98% accuracy rate, and every match is reviewed by a trained manager.”
It isn't even clear what "99.98% accuracy rate" means here. I suspect it is a very made up number, so I am not going to use some ADVANCED MATH, which I might if I had any idea what it was supposed to mean.
I will interpret it in the most generous (to them) way possible: 9998 times out of 10000 when it identifies a match with a "known shoplifter" it is correct. This means 2 times out of every 10000 the alarm goes off for a wrong person.
According to their website, this (fake) number includes "human expertise" which presumably means the "trained manager."
99.98% accuracy, thanks to our combination of distinct specialised algorithms and human expertise
So 9998 times out every 10000 sounds pretty good, right! This is a major supermarket chain. It has 1500 stores (I don't know if facewatch is in all of them, but let's assume it is). Of the system dings just once per week per store, you're going to harass a wrong person about every 6 weeks.
But if the system only dings once per week per store, it's hard to imagine any calculation such that it's worth it. If, instead, it dings once per day per store (on average), you're going to harass a wrong person once per week. That's potentially 4 bad news stories per month.
This is leaving aside just how people get on the "known shoplifter" list in the first place.
Is It Because You Suck, Seth
I have long been confused about why he thought he could win against Markey from the right in a Massachusetts Dem primary.
Primary numbers: We're just two weeks away from the Massachusetts primary, and a new poll released this morning by WCVB and the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows incumbent Sen. Ed Markey with a big lead over Rep. Seth Moulton among likely voters in the Democratic race for Senate. Among 445 registered voters interviewed for the poll, 60% of respondents said they would vote for Markey if the primary was being held that day, compared to just 32% for Moulton.
WHOCOULDANODE
Not faulting the whistleblower, of course, but our media largely played along with bullshit they knew was bullshit because they liked it.
The Trump administration’s findings that three Ivy League schools violated civil rights law by tolerating antisemitism were predetermined by political priorities that blew past the evidence and cast aside standard investigative procedures, according to a whistleblower account provided to Congress.
The disclosure, by Haley Van Erem, a veteran Justice Department civil rights attorney, involves investigations into whether Harvard, Brown and Columbia universities broke the law by allowing antisemitism to flourish on their campuses.
Good Cop/Bad Cop
[oops not sure how this post got pushed down for a bit..back up top!]
We do love this comedy routine, with Ben-Gvir playing Bad Cop to Netanyahu's Good Cop.
Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a podcast published over the weekend, called for "30 to 40" people to be killed per night in targeted assassinations in the Gaza Strip.
...
"Not just those who pose an immediate threat," added the Israeli cabinet member. "There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn't live. They're not even people."
The AJC's response is even too much for Baby Bird Barak!
Is That A Big Number
Whiskey Pete forgot to ask how many missiles there were.
President Trump won’t even be straight with the country about how he’s running out of weapons – when his war has depleted well upwards of 90% of certain crucial munitions, as Zeteo has learned. When reporters have dug in on this topic, he’s huffily accused them of “treason,” and pledged that those responsible for leaking the information “are being hunted down” aggressively.
Paywalled (like everything) but you get the idea. Generally there has not been enough reporting on the damage - self- and Iran-inflicted - done in this "war."
Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter
I guess they'll do just that.
Speaking on Fox News on Monday, Trump said that Iran should “put up the white flag of surrender” in the five-month-long US-Israel war, confirming that his administration had opened a direct backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Monday, August 17, 2026
Rabid Lambs
I occasionally think about how many column-inches were filled over the years lamenting how the Online Left was rude and filthy and undignified. Real Americans would be repelled and never vote Dummycrat again!
Defying The Priests
I'm pretty sure that Official Washington would be much more upset about Trump disobeying the Supreme Court - in a clear, unambiguous fashion - than just about any other sort of NORM (law) breaking.
It is, of course, the least democratic (small 'd') and least accountable of the branches, so you understand why it appeals to them.
Gotta Pay
Mr. Trump, Sir, there are very nasty people on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Monday turned away President Donald Trump’s longshot effort to deny a $5.6 million payment he was ordered to make three years after a jury found he sexually abused and defamed the former magazine writer E. Jean Carroll.
Travels With Natalie
When he first ran and lost, Ossoff wasn't this guy.
Natalie is Natalie Harp, someone the press weirdly doesn't say much about (you can guess why - it starts with 'A' and ends with 'ccess'). Maybe they'll have to!Ossoff: While the sailors on the Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings. He golfs and trades stocks. So he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on… pic.twitter.com/6KqephHAd3
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 16, 2026
Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter
I think it's difficult to know what the "US" has been planning given that the "US" in this case is a senile rapist who shits himself and takes instructions from his friends on the TV, but I do not think the Iran "hardliners" are crazy here!
Iran’s hard-line leaders huddled in Tehran and came up with a different plan, according to Iranian and Arab officials. In their view the pact was likely just an attempt by the U.S. and Israel to take pressure off the global economy and buy time for a bigger attack down the road. Instead of putting faith in talks, they took the past two months to prepare for a bigger fight.The "US" in the form of Trump can't be trusted, as he makes clear every day.
Their efforts include giving the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps more control of the country’s regular army, appointing hardened veterans of the war with Iraq and past internal crackdowns to key posts, expanding domestic counterintelligence operations and ramping up production of missiles and drones. The leadership quickly seized the initiative, attacking ships to tighten Iran’s grip on Hormuz and expanding the battlefield to the Red Sea, which Saudi Arabia has used to get around Iran’s chokehold on the Persian Gulf.
Arab intelligence officials have picked up evidence—including communications between Iran and militia allies in countries such as Yemen and Iraq—of a strategic shift inside the country’s hard-line leadership to get their forces ready to widen the war and raise the costs for the U.S., officials familiar with the findings say. Alarming weaker Gulf countries like Kuwait, Iran’s leaders are increasingly talking about offensive operations on enemy territory.
Sunday, August 16, 2026
Jared to the Rescue
Finally an adult in the room.
Kushner meetings: US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law held rare talks with Hamas’ leader in Egypt as he works to advance a Gaza ceasefire plan rejected by Israel, sources told CNN. Jared Kushner, a central figure in the administration’s Middle East diplomacy, is also expected to meet Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
What Do We Call People Who Are Friendly With Bigots
I know we've had years of propaganda telling us that only intolerant lefties wouldn't listen, respectfully and raptly, and without any disrespectful response, to their racist uncles ranting on Thanksgiving, but I am one of those intolerant lefties and I don't actually feel the need to put up with bigots.
Sure family is family and longtime friends are a bit like family. Some relationships are a bit complicated and you can't always untangle yourself. But there is no need, generally, to be chummy with transphobes and islamophobes and people who eagerly advocate for policies to resegregate society.
There is also no need to be chummy with people who are chummy with them.
Sure family is family and longtime friends are a bit like family. Some relationships are a bit complicated and you can't always untangle yourself. But there is no need, generally, to be chummy with transphobes and islamophobes and people who eagerly advocate for policies to resegregate society.
There is also no need to be chummy with people who are chummy with them.
Contra the revolutionary view of the New York Times on speech, I do think shaming and shunning is good. So do they, of course, they just think that *you* should be shunned and shamed when you step out of line, but not people who actually matter like them and their friends.
For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned.
It's Summer 2026
I'm not especially forgiving of people who believed this and thought it was good, but I can get that they believed it. What I definitely don't get is not realizing by July 2026 that it was a dumbass thing to believe.
Brent Jindra, a tech salesman, voted for President Trump three times, drawn by his aggressive immigration agenda. He never imagined the crackdown would ensnare his own wife.
...
“The allure of the MAGA campaign was around illegal entries of criminals,” said Mr. Jindra, 48. “There was never a mandate for this president to turn the barrel of the gun and start going after people who legally entered.”
...
Mr. Jindra considered himself a MAGA patriot until his wife’s detention.
“She did not jump a wall, she did not swim a river,” he said. “She came in Trump’s beautiful, big front door.”
I'm sorry for her. He's too stupid to tie his shoes.
Saturday, August 15, 2026
"Much Of The Base"
I'm not saying it hasn't been reported - it's being reported right here! - but overall the scale damage to US interests due to Iran have not exactly been emphasized in the coverage.
The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln’s supply problems began soon after the first day of the war, as Iranian missiles and attack drones fell on a Navy base in Bahrain.
The Iranian attack, retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli assault on Tehran, destroyed much of the base. And as it went up in smoke, so did a major logistics hub that the Navy has relied on for decades.
The Navy needed a Plan B to continue feeding the sailors working around the clock to keep warplanes flying strike missions, and later to maintain a blockade of Iran’s ports.
Friday, August 14, 2026
The Bond Vigilantes
Sometimes minor upticks in bond rates get blaring siren headlines (when they can pretend it's because a Democrat made a small good things proposal), and sometimes they are mostly ignored (when it might be because rich people no longer pay taxes and all your money is being spent on cops).
30-year Treasury hit its highest level since 2005.
Logistics Is For Girlymen
Did Pete even send them their testosterone doses?
Democratic senators have begun raising concerns about the extended deployment of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, amid reports about poor living conditions and a lack of downtime for the crew after more than eight and a half months at sea.
Those conditions also reportedly included not being able to clean laundry for more than a week and not eating fresh food due to infrequent visits to ports, when troops are not always allowed to leave the ship.The relative of one sailor aboard the ship told BBC News that their family member has lost 65lbs (29kg) since beginning their deployment.The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation, said that their relative confirmed sailors had attempted to jump.
Wheel Of Measures
Just keep going through all the options. I'm sure double plus ungood sanctions will work.
(Bloomberg) -- The US will soon announce what it bills as unprecedented economic measures against Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, intensifying the Trump administration's effort to force Tehran's capitulation through financial pressure.
"Watch this space for more announcements coming next week because we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country," Bessent said Thursday in an interview with Newsmax.
Bessent said the move will be part of a "one-two punch" that includes the continued blockade of Iran's ports.
Kick Their Ass And Take Their Gas
I suspect the way to achieve the top war aim is to stop the war, or maybe go back in time and prevent Trump from starting it.
US Vice President JD Vance declares that the Trump administration’s top goal in the war with Iran is to “keep oil and gasoline cheap for Americans.”
“And then, obviously, goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” Vance tells Fox News. “I feel confident we’re accomplishing both of those goals, but it’s inherently an unpredictable thing, because the Iranians themselves are unpredictable, and they sometimes don’t honor the commitments they’ve made to us.”
"Controlling the strait" has dropped off the list, I see.
I Am Not A Crackpot
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
President Trump has directed the Navy to tear out a complex system for launching jet fighters from its aircraft carriers and instead go back to using steam catapults, a move Navy officials have fought for years and will likely cost billions of dollars.
Thursday, August 13, 2026
And Why Do You Think That's Hard Now
This example of what AI might be able to do on your phone for you is a good example of these people not understanding how things work and why.
For example, an AI agent may one day be able to go through the notes from your doctor’s appointment, check with your insurance company about coverage and schedule an MRI visit, Samat said.
Do we think this type of thing isn't seamless now because it is such a complicated problem that we need "AI" to handle it for us? Or do we think these things are difficult because your insurance company wants them to be?
Why do we think that The Computer has up until now not been able to help schedule an appointment for you - insurance verified - the instant the doctor's staff hits the referral button? Has The Computer been too stupid to do this? Is that really why?
I mean, you just need: staff hits referral, insurance company approves, you get email with link you can click on to make an appointment at nearby options? Could The Computer in 2010 really not handle this perfectly? In 2020?
This is complicated by design, not due to lack of technology.
But How Can We Afford That
Well-meaning people on The Left fret about the cost of infrastructure projects. And, yes, the costs of building a few miles of a light rail system (for example) are often obscene and ideally we would fix that.
Still I reject the idea that the costs of such projects are meaningfully a constraint. "We've" been fretting about the total cost of (again, for example) California HSR for decades and we just pissed away that much money in Iran in a few months.
America's big problem is that we spend too much money on "cops" and their toys. I mean the local, national, and global cops.
Still I reject the idea that the costs of such projects are meaningfully a constraint. "We've" been fretting about the total cost of (again, for example) California HSR for decades and we just pissed away that much money in Iran in a few months.
America's big problem is that we spend too much money on "cops" and their toys. I mean the local, national, and global cops.
Starting last fall, the Department of Homeland Security spent $464 million on a no-bid contract to buy 10 used airplanes from a firm in Northern Virginia.That rail costs 40% more than it should is not the reason we don't have more rail.That was an enormous price tag, but the department said it had no time to consider other offers. The planes were needed urgently for deportation flights.But since then, the department has barely used this new fleet — for deportations, or anything else.
Posted Without Comment
One you might find surprising. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt & members of her team have been extremely helpful in responding to questions I raise. Regardless of public facing commentary, privately they are willing to engage and address questions. And I have appreciated that. Thank you
— Eric Lipton NYT (@ericlipton.nytimes.com) August 13, 2026 at 6:40 AM
Allies
Some additional bits from the article about Israeli intelligence sending Trump to the food container:
Israel views Iran as by far its most urgent near-term threat. But it views Turkey as a medium- to long-term threat and is anxious about warming ties between Washington and Ankara, bolstered by the personal rapport between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current official said.
It “fit a broader pattern of Israeli intelligence reporting that some officials see as designed as much to shape presidential decision-making as to inform it,” the former official familiar with the matter said.
Turkey is a NATO country. Israel is not. We all know what Trump thinks of NATO and all DEALS, but the real question is what most of the rest of the NATO countries do. Do they choose Turkey or Israel?
Also a funny bit from a source who is certainly Rarco Mubio:
This person said he understood that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was briefed on the Israeli threat intelligence, as well as the subterfuge planned by the Secret Service, and nonetheless opted to board the legacy Air Force One, which presumably would have been a target for Iran.
Critical Workers
Trump keeps the ones he loves most with him.
It is very funny that this bullshit from Israeli intelligence has made it very clear to everybody just who matters and who doesn't.BREAKING on MS NOW: Pete Hegseth was the lone Cabinet secretary on Trump's secret flight out of Turkey. Remaining on the 'decoy' plane: Marco Rubio, Scott Bessett, Stephen Miller, Steven Cheung, and other Trump officials.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) August 12, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Israeli Slop
Nobody could have predicted.
U.S. intelligence officials were skeptical of an Iranian assassination threat against President Donald Trump that was relayed by Israel and prompted an extraordinary clandestine maneuver that saw him secretly fly out of Turkey in an alternate military aircraft, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence said.
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
The Most Important Problem We Face
All the political journalists and columnists will rediscover the deficit - the greatest threat to civilization ever known - as soon as President Democrat seems likely.
Aug 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal budget deficit for July jumped to $432 billion, a record for the month, as higher outlays and more negative tariff revenues also brought the 2026 fiscal-year-to date budget gap to $1.799 trillion, topping the full fiscal 2025 deficit with two months left in the fiscal year, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday.
They all just forgot about it. Impressive.
Notable
The entire political press has just agreed that they shouldn't talk about this, so I suppose it's notable that the NYT has a piece by Dick Cheney's cardiologist:
Despite reassurances from the White House to the contrary, at times over the past year, the president has not looked well. I am not Mr. Trump’s doctor, and have only reviewed his records that have been made public. But Mr. Trump is probably the most photographed president in American history, and a variety of physical ailments are easy to see. He’s had large bruises on both hands, swelling in his legs and episodes when it appears that he is struggling to stay awake. He’s also had advanced imaging performed for unclear reasons. The public is again left to wonder whether the nation’s leader is OK.
I'm sure journalists justify their quiet by saying they shouldn't speculate, but when has that ever stopped them.
I also bet they have all been told "off the record" making it difficult for them to talk about it. One quick trick!
Control
As I said, Trump can assert that he has control much in the same way that Iran can: they can prevent traffic, but not facilitate it.
United States President Donald Trump has doubled down on claims the United States maintains “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz, even as transit through the arterial waterway fell to a one-week low amid the US-Israel war with Iran.Destroying is easier than creating.
"Cutting-Edge"
You can't criticize our patriotic defense contractors, because that's no different than criticizing the troops, really.
It was the summer of 2024, and the cutting-edge robots inside General Dynamics’ sweltering artillery factory near Dallas were catching fire with startling regularity, according to four former workers there. This wasn’t ideal, as the plant was supposed to be churning out urgently needed artillery shells for Ukraine. The robots, giant metal arms with clamps for hands, would end up drenched in oil, which would then — no surprise — combust as they moved steel blocks heated to 1,800 degrees into and out of a machine that periodically erupted columns of fire. One blaze that summer melted a robot’s cables, putting it out of commission for a week.I recently saw a mention of a new plant that never produced any shells. Now I know why!
Only weeks earlier, defense officials and executives had touted the factory’s innovative new machinery, imported from Turkey, at a gala opening ceremony. But employees were already used to spectacular mishaps, fiery and otherwise. “After the second, third, fourth time, it just became almost normal,” one former worker said. “It got to the point where I was not surprised by anything that happened there.”
Instead of producing shells in an efficient and streamlined fashion, the pricey machines kept failing in bizarre ways. The robot arms would swing out of control, smashing into carefully calibrated equipment, and sometimes they would unexpectedly drop hunks of steel 5 feet down to the floor. The factory’s signature device, meant to precisely stretch the steel for the artillery shells, instead often cracked it beyond repair. Then there were the giant press machines, which required regular pounding with a sledgehammer to function properly but still botched the shaping of nearly every shell. “We really didn’t have any standardized practice,” said Quantel White, a former employee. “It was just a bunch of guys taking turns going at the machine with a sledgehammer every night.” To workers, even the factory buildings themselves came to feel doomed, with acrid smoke hanging in 100-degree heat over foundations seemingly sinking into the earth.
Staffers
I was focused on the journalists, but we shouldn't overlook the fact that Trump was gonna let his staffers die, also, too.
And the more junior staffers are not!
Now, attention has shifted to reporters and staffers unknowingly flying on a decoy plane — and the nature of the threat that prompted such dramatic security measures. A US official said at least two Cabinet secretaries – Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – stayed behind on the older presidential aircraft that departed Turkey without Trump aboard.I was thinking more about the junior staffers, but I guess Marco and Scott are disposable, too!
And the more junior staffers are not!
As President Donald Trump secretly left an Air Force One jet on a catering truck last month in response to a potential Iranian assassination threat in Turkey, he was accompanied by some of his most loyal and longest-serving aides, but no Cabinet officials.Harp's job - should be Cabinet level, really - is to feed him social media slop for him to look at and post.
Other passengers on the truck included Dan Scavino, the White House deputy chief of staff; Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant; and Walt Nauta, the director of Oval Office operations, according to a U.S. official familiar with the operation and corroborating material reviewed by The Washington Post.
Sure, Jan
But the headlines hit the algos that boost the stock market, so...
President Donald Trump claimed the US had “total control over the Hormuz Strait,” as Washington and Tehran hardened their stances in deadlocked negotiations over the waterway.I'm sure the US can block most/all traffic through the strait by threatening to blow things up, AS CAN IRAN. What they can't do is ensure that anything goes through.
“We own it,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington late Tuesday. “And at some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away.”
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Never Gonna Stop
Related to the last post, the people around him are obviously good at redirecting his rage towards "nobodies."
WASHINGTON—White House officials have asked the Justice Department to consider a new prosecution of a man accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to people familiar with the discussions, as President Trump fumes over U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s decision to drop the case.At least fire Pirro!
Blame Pete
We don't have nearly enough humiliating forced resignations (firings) in Trump II. He even has good reasons to fault the people around him! You can divide them pretty easily between incompetent evil and competent evil (the Fox News Cabinet versus the rest, mostly), but Trump has a lot of affection for the ones from Fox!
Miserable Failure
I don't actually know the answer to this: do we think Trump is covered as an "unpopular president" the way Biden was once his poll numbers dropped?
This is a very general question covering the collection of mainstream media sources: cable and network news, the New York Times, NPR. Obviously I don't have all of those things fully jacked into my head.NEW Economist/YouGov Aug 7-10 3-week average net Trump job approval [now | at the start of Trump's 2nd term] among: U.S. adult citizens: -27 | +2 Whites: -16 | +14 Non-college whites: -8 | +27 College whites: -30 | -6 Hispanics: -36 | -14 Blacks: -62 | -39
— YouGov America (@today.yougov.com) August 11, 2026 at 2:43 PM
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Alternate Timeline
I'd bet the security scare was just nonsense presented by Israeli intelligence, but imagine if Iran had blown up a plane filled with our most brilliant journalists as Trump escaped with the food?
Sitting Ducks
Letting the press corps be targets, after that nice party they had for you!!!
Mr. Trump boarded the older plane from the left-side door in view of cameras, and news organizations, including The New York Times, reported that he had traveled on it to Britain, where he switched back to the newer plane. The Times reported at the time that the decision was driven in part by concern about the security of the new plane donated by Qatar, which had not been equipped with all of the defensive capabilities of older versions.
But instead of flying out aboard that older, powder blue, modified 747, Mr. Trump was whisked off that plane via a catering container that had been lifted to the opposite side of the plane from where the journalists traveling with him boarded, one of the U.S. officials said. The president was then taken to a third plane, which he flew in secret to Britain, the official with knowledge of the matter said.
Reporters on the older plane were not told that Mr. Trump had not flown with them from Turkey to an air base in Britain, making them unwitting participants in the ruse and leaving them, along with some White House staff members, to serve as unknowing decoys.
Can't wait for the movie! Daring escape in a catering container!
Monday, August 10, 2026
The Two Hitlers
On X, the everything app, its owner, famous for doing a Hitler salute (good), has been, again, calling Hitler a socialist (very bad).
As I have said before, to conservatives there are two Hitlers. There is the liberal Hitler, who was history's worst monster. Liberals love that guy and aspire to be like him. Then there is the conservative Hitler, who was very good and we love to salute him yes we do.
There's No Money For Journalism
Reminder that NBC paid Megyn Kelly $70 million or so, about half of which was for not working.
I'm sure various things went into their decision to hire her, but one was that Trump was becoming president so they needed to cater to Trump Conservatives.
Sorta like how when Biden became president, they made Sam Seder their morning show host.
Newspaper Fantasies
I know you can just argue this is a "clever" rhetorical ploy, but, no, NYT and Mike DeWine, the president is not going to do any of this.
It’s time for Mr. Trump’s Nixon-goes-to-China moment. Having established himself as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, he should begin a thoughtful, forward-thinking discussion with members of Congress in both parties about enacting a legal immigration policy that strengthens national security, bolsters our economy and keeps decent, hard-working people here.Among the reforms he should consider supporting: Establishing new pathways to extend the legal status of foreign students who graduate with advanced STEM degrees, essentially stapling a green card to their diplomas; reworking the H-1B visa program to better prioritize workers whose skills and experience are essential to American businesses; and equipping employers with modern, reliable tools to verify work eligibility.
Yeah, man, whatever.
Give Us All The Money
How long will Trump draw this out before he caves?
State of talks: President Donald Trump signaled a US emphasis on increasing economic pressure on Iran, saying that Washington is “low-keying” negotiations with the country. Tehran said it was not engaging in talks with the US.
Bag Holders
I'm sure they will be the pension funds.
The growing backlog is a challenge for private equity’s core business model. Typically, such firms aim to buy a company, often add large amounts of debt to its balance sheet, improve its financial performance and then sell it for a profit, usually within five to seven years.
The state of limbo has been difficult for large investors like pension funds and endowments that have spent decades paying steep fees to private equity firms promising market-beating returns. Some investors and industry professionals are worried that the firms won’t be able to sell companies without taking big losses.
“Private equity is stuck because those companies have failed to fulfill their value promise,” said Andrew Milgram, a managing partner and chief investment officer at Marblegate Asset Management, an investment firm.
Pretty sure the model is more: load up debt to buy companies, loot those companies to pay executives lots of money, and then let those companies go bankrupt, but I guess some people gotta believe.
Sunday, August 09, 2026
Taboos
One reason you don't loudly, proudly, and regularly announce your plans to destroy civilian infrastructure (along with doing it) is that it give license to others to do likewise.
Yemen’s Houthis said they attacked an oil facility Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the latest attack by the Iranian-backed rebels on the kingdom. Meanwhile, Iran has made new demands about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons.
And in the age of cheap drones, you can't really defend against it. As we are seeing, it doesn't take long to deplete any missile defenses you have and no one has missile defenses covering everything anyway.
Maybe most of these attacks won't amount to much, but sometimes...
We are ruled by people who have spent their lives saying, "Mommy, he hit me back!" yet are still surprised when it happens.
At Least The War Is Over
I am dumb about some things, but the more I think about it, the more it's clear that Iran should just hold out for Florida, or whatever. I mean, from their perspective, what exactly do they have to gain from "peace"?
WASHINGTON—For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior aides that he’s willing to walk away without a nuclear deal, U.S. officials said.
But that scaled-back objective became more difficult when Iran insisted Saturday on its highest price yet for permitting the free flow of traffic in the waterway, seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the removal of American troops from the region and an end of the U.S. naval blockade, among other things.
This rapid chain of events suggests Trump’s options for walking away from the conflict have again narrowed. Trump has repeatedly threatened—and then backed away from—a massive escalation of its bombing campaign. But the recent chaos in negotiations signaled Tehran is prepared for a long and grinding conflict.
It is very funny:
One major complication for the Trump administration is money. Iran is seeking billions of dollars in war reparations in addition to an agreement to unfreeze the country’s assets around the world. Trump has said the White House wouldn’t allow any taxpayer money to go to Iran, although a deal appears unlikely without the U.S. unfreezing some assets, possibly with conditions attached.
"Business Decisions"
I will admit, in part because I am a optimist at heart, that Trump's overall "deport everybody" plans have been more aggressive in practice, if not in desire, than I expected, but it is probably the one general policy that was going to happen as promised.
If your business employed immigrants with less than stable status, and you truly though it would not affect you, then you need to recognize that you are a stupid, foolish person.
And I Had Such Hopes
Mr. Trump, sir, that Mr. Netanyahu is very unappreciative of all you have done for him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump's 15-point plan for Gaza, stating that no military pull-out will happen until Hamas is "genuinely" disarmed.
Hamas will not be disarmed until they no longer want arms, you see.
Sunday Funday
Each more fun than the last.
Last Sunday I did a 10 mile race (I did not win) which wiped me out for 2 days. Half marathon soon...
Saturday, August 08, 2026
This Is A Great Victory, Sir, The Greatest
A most excellent outcome.
“However, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on other conditions, including the United States compensating for its violations of the Islamabad Memorandum,” Mr. Araghchi was quoted as saying, referring to the cease-fire agreement that Iran and the United States signed in June.
The June agreement — a “memorandum of understanding” brokered by Pakistani mediators in Islamabad — called for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the temporary lifting of oil sanctions on Iran. Yet the deal’s language was vague, and the United States and Iran had differing interpretations of what it meant.
The "differing interpretations" were just that Trump had no idea what he had agreed to, and then decided he didn't like it.
The first draft of history sucks ass.
One For Troop Respecter Tapper
I suppose I should go check to see if he is ON IT.
Morale is plummeting on an American aircraft carrier that's running short of food and other supplies as its exhausted crew wages President Donald Trump's war against Iran, worried family members say.
Sailors and Marines serving on the USS Abraham Lincoln have told relatives about being served a half-cup of rice and two tortillas for a meal, and said the ship's store often lacks soap, deodorant and toothpaste, MS NOW reported Wednesday.
Scurvy AND protein deficiency.
I forget what they changed, but it used to be very easy to search CNN transcripts and now it's less easy, at least as far as I can figure out.
I didn't go through them all, but none of the segment titles of Tapper's show Wed-Fri refer to it.
Tapper made Troop Respecter his brand but he is pretty inconsistent!
"Privately"
That source's name? Can Daine.
Over the last few weeks, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine has privately made clear to other top Trump advisers that the US needs to find an off-ramp from the war with Iran — because the military options on the table to escalate the conflict could backfire and airpower alone is unlikely to achieve President Donald Trump’s stated objectives, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
“Caine is looking for an off ramp,” one of the sources said bluntly.
Friday, August 07, 2026
The Fourth Way
One failing I will admit to is being a bit too ready to take the bait of newspaper articles touting Third Way as representing a force within the Democratic tent. I don't think you can dismiss them entirely, and they do speak for forces greater than their dumb organization, but the main power of that organization is finding journalists in our premier publications who are willing to type up anything they say.
That's an indictment of political journalism, and worth observing, but it isn't, mostly, an indictment of The Democrats.
Fear of Consequences
Institutions and individuals are not as fearful as I would like them to be that there will be consequences for their complicity when President Democrat, or even just Senate Majority Leader Democrat, is in charge.
We can debate why, precisely, that is.
Ah, Well, Too Late
Likely the Supremos will swat it down with some version of that:
The Trump administration has been ordered to stop construction on President Donald Trump's $400m (£297m) ballroom at the White House.
But it is never too late.
A group of property developers have been ordered to rebuild a Grade II-listed pub that they demolished without permission.
The historic Punch Bowl Inn at Hurst Green, Lancashire, needs to be rebuilt brick by brick within a year, a judge has ruled.
Sure Elon
One depressing thing has been feeling like it was necessary - starting with HYPERLOOP specifically - to swat away Elon's fantasies because they should be understood to be ridiculous without refutation.
You might think about rockets as powerful vehicles that blast astronaut crews and robotic missions off into space. But what if they could be used to send cargo from one side of the Earth to the other, in a fraction of the time it would take a plane? The company SpaceX recently announced a project that aims to use its rockets to do just that.
Most goods, at scale, don't be be need to shipped across the globe quickly. Things spoil. Some time-sensitive specialty production inputs. That's about it. Those that do have plenty of plane-based freight options that can get from airport to airport in under 24 hours.
We have a large number of airports in close proximity to population. We are unlikely to have a large number of launchpads. Even as a niche product, even if it works it doesn't actually work unless your time sensitive goods can get to and from the departure/arrival points quickly.
Space cargo transport likely will not replace conventional transportation methods, such as sea shipping or air freight. Instead, it offers a new option: ultrafast emergency transport. This type of transport could deliver critical medical products, deploy emergency disaster relief, or supply urgent defense support within a few hours.
The only way to have broad launch coverage is if it operates at scale. If you don't have a launchpad near you, it isn't fast.
Sure we might have 25th century technology eventually, but rockets as we currently have them are not going to provide useful freight transport.
[oops typos fixed]
They Are Begging Me, With Tears In Their Eyes, "Please, Sir, Show Mercy"
I am wondering if there are ever conversations in newsrooms with journalists considering whether they should tone down criticism of Trump (and increase the praise) in order to encourage him to do the right thing.
WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday told reporters that he believed the war with Iran would be over soon and said the armed forces were experiencing issues with supplies of some weapons.
"I think it's going to end pretty soon. I don't think they can go much longer," Trump said in the Oval Office in a reference to Iran.
I'm not saying this is happening, but it is the case that the probability of ending the war is more likely the more we all pretend Iran has surrendered unconditionally and Trump has managed to get the best deal in human history.
Extra points for "Barack Obama started the war, which President Trump ended."
Gotta have full team effort to create the pretend world for the president.
Jobs
I'm sure others will have more detailed analysis, but the headline number for the monthly jobs report is -23,000.
Thursday, August 06, 2026
Growing Up Trump
I regularly ponder what it must like to grow be be an older child/teen with President Trump. Your sense of what authority figures are supposed to be like must get a bit warped.
Fees
Funny to remember that when Trump briefly declared that the US would run the Hormuz toll both, he came up with 20%.
According to the senior Iranian official, Iran is seeking fees of between 5% and 7% of the price of cargoes from ships using the strait. Oman is discussing fees of around 3%, while Washington wants no fees at all.
Funding Secured
CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Wednesday investors looking at Elon Musk’s SpaceX should stop thinking in quarters and start thinking in decades.
“SpaceX could be a 100-year piece of paper,” the “Mad Money” host said, arguing that SpaceX should be viewed much like the century-long railroad bonds that ultimately rewarded patient investors. “Maybe you put some away for the next generation or even the one after that.”
...
Cramer acknowledged the stock could face additional near-term pressure with roughly 911 million previously locked-up shares becoming eligible for trading Thursday.
Could be! Or not!
“One day this stock could be a huge winner,” he said. “I just don’t know when that day will come.”
Happy share unlocking (first round) day!
Treasonous Statements
A mildly amusing thing is that aside from the ridiculousness of all of this, any decent judge (I know many are not decent) would determine that no one could possibly get a fair trial after being called treasonous by the president.
Running On Empty
I've long been mildly curious about just how well our military is actually capable of defending the country. We do have a global military empire, of sorts, but do we actually have plans to stop the Canadian invasion and occupation of Buffalo?
I get that we have many tools for punishing anybody who would do such a thing, or at least we did until recently, but do we have a mobilization plan?
I always thought that last bit was funny. I mean I get that Pete was Trump's friend in the television set, and he always loves those people, but he's more "central casting for very low budget military action movie hero" not "central casting for Secretary of Defense."
The latter is more Gene Hackman than Temu Steven Seagal.
Feinberg is a billionaire so I suspect he will have his revenge one day.
I get that we have many tools for punishing anybody who would do such a thing, or at least we did until recently, but do we have a mobilization plan?
President Donald Trump’s frustration over the Iran war boiled over at Camp David last week, where he demanded answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on why he had apparently been misled on extreme munitions shortages that now threaten to limit military options with Iran, two people familiar with the exchange told The Washington Post.But he came from central casting!
...
Back at Camp David, as he was confronted by Trump over the bare weapons stockpile, Hegseth defended himself and blamed his deputy, Stephen Feinberg, for the shortages and for not ensuring Trump was fully apprised of the issue, both persons familiar said. The exchange underscored Trump’s increasing frustration with his defense secretary, who was one of the biggest early advocates for taking military action against Iran, convincing Trump it would be a quick and relatively easy win, according to multiple officials.
I always thought that last bit was funny. I mean I get that Pete was Trump's friend in the television set, and he always loves those people, but he's more "central casting for very low budget military action movie hero" not "central casting for Secretary of Defense."
The latter is more Gene Hackman than Temu Steven Seagal.
Feinberg is a billionaire so I suspect he will have his revenge one day.
Wednesday, August 05, 2026
Classy
Let's see if the "Democratic Strategist" cable news/consultant crowd can behave.
Putting your hand up to participate in democracy is no easy thing. Thank you for running, Congresswoman. Looking forward to uniting this fall to beat Mike Rogers. Because what unites us is so much bigger than what divides us. https://t.co/JbWmLPPDGZ
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) August 5, 2026
Neoconned
It's a shame Lindsey Graham isn't alive to see what his life's work has come to.
Aug 5 (Reuters) - The United States has removed counterterrorism sanctions from two aircraft and three airlines with links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to details posted to the U.S. Treasury Department's website on Wednesday.
The dream was always Iran, with Iraq being the starting place, and they got what they wanted!
Every Minute
Dunno why the market wasn't thrilled.
Ever the hype man, Musk suggested thinking of SpaceX’s satellites as robots, given that “they’re autonomous and don’t need servicing.” In the not-so-distant future, Musk mused, robots will be used to scale manufacturing on the moon. From there, moon-based robots will enable SpaceX to build a mass accelerator with solar production. Even Musk admitted it all sounded “totally nuts” but claimed that it could lead the company to scale to 1,000x the economy of Earth. From there, factories will be built and robots “will be helpful with that,” Musk added.
“It sounds super sci-fi right now, but it’s going to happen,” he said.
At least reporting on Musk is a bit more skeptical than it used to be, even though his promises actually aren't more ridiculous!
Maestro Musk
SpaceX went up about 10% yesterday in anticipation of the earnings call, and prompted crashed 10% again.
Elon's running out of bullshit.
Vote Blue No Matter Who
El-Sayed was much closer than recent polls had him - perhaps (perhaps not!) because it was an open primary - but he does win.
I look forward (not really) to completely objective and normal coverage of his general election campaign. Anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry runs deep in our political-media culture, as does strong opposition to anyone who doesn't recite the current approved lines about supporting Israel.
I always hope to be positively surprised, but I expect some really nasty shit, including "friendly" fire.
Tuesday, August 04, 2026
Donald Trump Is The Least Interesting Man In The World
Or at least we all ran out of insightful things to say about him about 9 years ago. We can't always predict his next step, but we know exactly what motivates him.
The truth about all narcissists is that once you get beyond whatever surface charm they have - and like many ageing narcissists, Trump has little of that left - they are extremely boring people.
W. was hardly a deep and complex person, but he had more layers than Trump. No I am not handing it to W. He was a fucking horrible president and I am mad "no one" remembers that. But he wasn't entirely empty.
Michigan Primary Day
Assuming El-Sayed wins, it's a big moment for the Sensible Centrists. Do they (many) continue their racist campaign against him, or embrace the Vote Blue No Matter Who ethos?
I expect they'll tone it down but spend months doing the "more in sorrow than in anger, I'm here to report that he just won't be able to win the general election with this latest misstep, which I will amplify on every channel..." dance.
You Fucked Up! You Trusted Us!
Someone forgot to tell Americans that FIFA is clownishly corrupt.
According to four executives at U.S. host city committees, all of whom asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, FIFA management repeatedly assured the cities they would receive the same $1 million contribution towards legacy, despite no public statement ever being made by the organization.
The World Cup host cities in the U.S. were Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, Miami and Boston.
The four executives said this promise was made verbally by members of FIFA’s senior management, and reiterated to cities in meetings, but it has not been paid, meaning several cities are now asking FIFA staff for updates on the payments.
Warfighting
People mock Pete Hegseth, but if were are out of missiles then turning the troops into High T Supersoldiers is the best option.
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has used up much of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data, raising concerns about the military's readiness for future conflicts.
The missiles are principally the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The U.S. has used "virtually all" of these weapons, according to two of the sources.
At Least The War Is Over
And I mean it this time!
War talks: President Donald Trump said it’s Iran’s “last chance” to sign a deal with the United States, after again calling off strikes and promising to continue talks. He also claimed talks between the US and Iran would start Monday and that a Strait of Hormuz deal was in place, but Iran has denied any negotiations are ongoing.
Monday, August 03, 2026
Small Pleasures
The replacements are usually worse, but one small joy we get is Trump humiliating his lickspittles.
President Donald Trump is considering removing Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, over a Justice Department conclusion that problems with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool stemmed from a flawed renovation rather than vandalism, two people familiar with his thinking told CNN.
No she doesn't get any credit for doing the right thing here. She had no choice.
On The Trump Train
I can't claim that nobody has benefitted from their relationship with Trump, but many get burned, especially the ones who are confident they won't.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino wants the Trump administration to help keep him in office and has scheduled private talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday amid growing pressure to resign over his scheme to sell off the World Cup to Josh Kushner’s private equity firm, The Post has learned.
Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed Infantino will hold a call with America’s top diplomat just after 9 a.m. ET.
“He wanted to get online with the secretary and talk about how soccer can be a form of soft power for America,” said one insider briefed on the matter. “But we all know that it is about job protection. It is not about anything else at this point.”
Maybe this will work out for him, but even with the Kusher connection, I suspect Trump has already forgotten him.
I Do Love The Free Market
Not that the fossil fuel industry has ever been that.
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump again called on oil companies to lower gasoline prices for U.S. consumers on Monday, chiding Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab Chief Executive Mike Wirth for not crediting his administration's efforts to help the oil industry.
Trump took issue with Wirth a day after the CEO was interviewed on the Fox News program "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo."
"The only thing he conveniently forgot to mention is that, without the genius, foresight, strength, and stability, of the TRUMP Administration, the Oil Industry, and our Country itself, would be DEAD!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "As an example, they threw Mike and Chevron out of Venezuela, but now they're back, far bigger and stronger than ever before, expecting to make a fortune!"
"That goes for other Oil Companies as well ... and get your consumer (retail!) Oil Prices DOWN, NOW!" Trump wrote.
I hate how expensive things are at the oil station, that place where I buy retail oil.