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Nothing Magic Happens When His Poll Numbers Drop

Quite often people despair that Trump isn't more unpopular. But, really, he is very unpopular! 34%  approval is very low!

I think they imagine that if gets unpopular enough then something... happens.  But it doesn't! At most a few Republicans pretend to distance themselves from him in time for the election. That's all that will happen!

And as for journalism/commentariat... well... Trump is still loved by the people who love him, and they long ago established that was what mattered. 

Stop Embarassing Us

Ben-Gvir you aren't supposd to do that to people who might matter.

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has sparked a diplomatic crisis by publishing footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists who were detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid.

There was a rapid and furious response from countries whose citizens were onboard the boats, including the UK, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland, in many cases delivered in person from the top of government.

The responses were... mostly not that rapid.

America's Worst DA

Jeff Rosen.

The Great Satan, Ahmadinejad

Oldheads remember how the same crew currently egging Trump on in Iran built him up as the Great Satan 20+ years ago.

It turns out that the United States and Israel went into the conflict with a particular and very surprising someone in mind: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hard-line, anti-Israel and anti-American views.

But the audacious plan, developed by the Israelis and which Mr. Ahmadinejad had been consulted about, quickly went awry, according to the U.S. officials who were briefed on it.

Mr. Ahmadinejad was injured on the war’s first day by an Israeli strike at his home in Tehran that had been designed to free him from house arrest, the American officials and an associate of Mr. Ahmadinejad said. He survived the strike, they said, but after the near miss he became disillusioned with the regime change plan.

In 2007 or so there was a big push to make this guy the Great Satan  that we had to deal with.  There was  the usual chatter about nuclear Iran, human rights menace, tyranny.  It was something that had to be dealt with immediately.

The centrist dipshits all played their usual part.  

I can't even remember how we started to forget to worry about all that. It seemed very urgent at the time. It always does. Then for some reason it doesn't. A new sparkly thing appears.

It is, I have to admit, very very funny that the guys who said we had to invade Iran because of that guy were trying to put him in charge.

Outcomes: 3 Different Ones

I'm reasonably sure Trump is taking advice from the various psychopaths that surround him in the White House, alternated with some "suggestions" from certain rich "allies" in the Middle East.

There are 3 options: Trump tries to blow up the world, the status quo continues "forever," and Trump gets a humiliating defeat which he calls The Most Perfect Beautiful Deal Ever Made and much of our press, especially his Foxy Friends, play along.

Congratulations Chris Rabb

I don't really know him, but we did meet once (I think just once) over 20 years ago.  He ran in the progressive (lefty, whatever we call it these days) lane, so hopefully he stays there!

State Rep. Chris Rabb will more than likely replace U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in January. The self-styled progressive benefitted from political endorsements from the left and a grassroots ground game by local progressive groups such as the Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party.

Morning

Wanton Wednesday.

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Capital Intensive Industries

Even if we all believe that AI is our wonderful and glorious future, this is a bit like 4 companies simultaneously building transcontinental railroads and there's little-to-no advantage of being first to complete it.

For the past two years, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta have repeatedly set records for how much they are spending on artificial intelligence.

On Wednesday, the four giants did it again.

In the first three months of the year, the four companies reported in their financial results, they plowed a total of $130.65 billion into capital expenditures, largely spending on data centers that power A.I. That figure — which was another record — was more than three times what the Manhattan Project cost to develop nuclear bombs and 71 percent higher than what the tech giants spent in the same quarter a year earlier.

And it isn't clear that ticket prices will cover the operating costs, let alone pay for the capital expenditures, for even one of them. 

Occasionally Bad People Die

They don't tell you how much "wanting to outlive your 'enemies'" is a big motivator as you age. 

An assortment of headlines. Click to embiggen.

Disqualifying

No dog in the Colorado governor primary fight, but this is correct.

NEW: Sen Michael Bennet (D) says he will not appoint Gov Jared Polis to the Senate if Bennet is elected Governor. Bennet calls Polis' clemency for Tina Peters "disqualifying"

— Kyle Clark (@kylec.bsky.social) May 19, 2026 at 4:44 AM

At Least The War Is Over

Mr. Trump, sir, I blame that girly-man beta cuck Pete Hegseth and Li'l Marco for all of you troubles.

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 TACO TUESDAY

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Can They Both Lose

They sort of did. Musk obviously lost the suit, but on a "technicality" so Altman wasn't exactly exonerated.

After around two hours of deliberation, the jury has reached a unanimous verdict in Musk v. Altman, the tech trial of the year. The group found that two claims were barred by the statute of limitations, and a third failed thanks to the dismissal of one of these.

The jury here is an advisory jury, meaning the group is installed solely to offer another opinion to the judge, and its verdict is technically not legally binding. Ultimately, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is the ultimate legal authority — and she accepted the decision.

The jury found that Musk’s claim for breach of charitable trust was barred by the statute of limitations, and the claim that Microsoft aided and abetted such a breach failed with it. Restitution is also barred by the statute of limitations, the jury found.

I Can't Wait For You To Go To Hell

I don't have too much patience even for genuine "trying to save souls" evangelicals, but I recognize that can come from somewhat well-intentioned people, unlike the "I can't wait to be raptured so I can smugly watch the unbelievers burn" types.

WASHINGTON — Thousands gathered on the National Mall on Sunday for a day of prayer, worship music and patriotic speeches for an event celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary that supporters hail as a public affirmation of faith in America but critics view as an exclusionary display that blurs the line between religion and politics.

A Rather Obvious Callback By The Writers

Lazy, IMHO.

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda is a “public health emergency of international concern”, the World Health Organization has said.

The WHO made its declaration on Sunday after 88 deaths and more than 300 suspected cases linked to the outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, prompting Africa’s top health official to say he was “on panic mode”.

In case you have forgotten, B. Barry "Bamz" Obama (The Usurper) incompetently presided over a disastrous Ebola epidemic which killed thousands in America (editor: actually it was 2).

The press hyped it up as a massive near-catastrophic event, in part because of this guy:

Obama is making the Ebola problem much worse than it needs to be in the U.S. by not halting flights from West Africa. Airport testing a joke

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2014

Gavin Newsom, Going To Best Buy, Shopping For Software, As One Does

No opinion on the tax, but I think Gavin's entered his 'old man' phase.

Newsom has framed the effort as closing a fairness gap in the tax code. He pointed to a discrepancy in how software is taxed depending on how it is purchased.

“I’m at Best Buy often, and I’m paying sales tax on a lot of this pre-written software, and then I find out all my friends that aren’t near a Best Buy, they’re downloading it and they’re not paying sales tax. Well, how is that fair?” Newsom said during Friday’s press confrence.

The governor’s office says the majority of the impact will fall on business-to-business software transactions, which account for roughly 75% of the projected economic effect.

Can you point to where on your computer you are inserting this purchased software, Gavin?

Serial Killers

I suppose he gets less respectful deference than he used to, but for a long time Lindsey Graham was one of the Serious Foreign Policy Guys that would show up on 3 Sunday shows every week, simultaneously, to explain to the dazzled host that, once again, the only serious option is to Kill'em All.

The top Republican senator has urged Trump to “hurt” Iran until it agrees to US terms in nuclear negations, including launching attacks on its energy sites.

Graham’s call came despite international law prohibiting attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.

“The energy infrastructure is their soft under belly,” he told the NBC broadcaster. “If you go back to the fight, I’d put energy on top of the list.”

Just as not all people who work with children are pedophiles, not all people in top government are serial killers. But if you did want to kill as many people as possible, wouldn't you aim to position yourself high in government, somewhere?

Similarly, if you were really into genocide, wouldn't you consider cleverly make your brand "genocide is bad" while positioning yourself to faciliate global atrocities?