Enjoy
Monday, August 31, 2026
You'll Be Long Dead, Elon
I suppose one day we might have wackiest of the futuristic scifi technologies. Our brains uploaded into the "cloud." Sentient nanobot clusters powered by, um, I dunno, quantum something, building entire worlds out of the ether.
I still enjoy the occasional scifi book. Doing some "whatifs" with that kind of technology can be fun.
I do not think we will have anything like this while Elon is still with us (or me). I do not think Elon will be able to upload his brain into a robot before he dies.
The Vision
Internet poster Elissa Slotkin thinks Democrats should support good things, and I hope she writes a letter to her senator.
I do hope Elissa's senator comes up with some specific ideas for this stuff, and lets Elissa know what they are.
What the hell is "A system that rewards you for taking care of yourself"?
At Least The War Is Over
Iran fired missiles toward US military targets in Jordan in retaliation for a strike on Iranian rocket launchers that the US said were trying to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz –– the key shipping route that’s become the center of regional tensions and diplomatic efforts.
Apparently Labor Day is next week! The perils of working from home.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
The Art Of Warfighting
Nothing a few trillion extra bucks can't fix, I'm sure.
Several U.S. military leaders have advised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonging large-scale operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening their ability to confront threats elsewhere, including the U.S. homeland, according to people familiar with a recent assessment prepared for the Pentagon chief....
The top military officials at European Command and Southern Command each cautioned Hegseth that lending their ships and surveillance aircraft to Central Command has degraded their ability to fulfill homeland-defense obligations, said those familiar with the assessment.Which plucky country is gonna take their shot?
What Next For Milo?
On one hand, Milo fits in perfectly with the British press:
On the other, maybe he makes it a bit too obvious.Milo yes been deported to Britain? Ho ho, good luck to a racist, transphobic, paedophilia endorsing shitwit who hangs out with open Nazis getting work in the great British media... hang on, I'm just being handed a piece of paper.
— Gabby HC (@scriblit.bsky.social) August 29, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Saturday, August 29, 2026
The Syndicate
It's ancient history now, but for a period of time, Milo Yiannopoulos was *the* campus free speech martyr. He would get speaking gigs on campus, at which he would name trans students in order to direct harassment at them. People would protest the use of university resources for this activity, and all of the centrist dipshists would write ten thousand words about the evils of the "heckler's veto" and the impending fall of civilization due to campus snowflakes.
We are all more likely to find common cause and express solidarity with people we identify with. There were plenty of free speech/academic freedom (not the same thing) causes then, and even more now. They identified with Milo.
And when Milo's star fell, they had to continue his cause of terrorizing trans people.
Sure Why Not
Oddly specific.
The new standards also specifically address applicants who have engaged in past acts of bestiality or animal cruelty – saying they may still be considered for the bureau as long as the incidents took place before the age of 18, the sources said.An FBI spokesperson confirmed that some changes to the eligibility requirements have taken place, but claimed they are limited to a narrow set of circumstances, such as in cases where a person was sexually abused with animals as a child."Any polygraph changes reflect a clear difference between a disqualified applicant who has engaged in criminal behavior, versus an applicant who may be subject to further evaluation based on rare exigent circumstances," the spokesperson said.Sources told CBS News that the new eligibility requirements do not distinguish between candidates who were coerced into sexual activity with animals, as opposed to those who engaged in such acts willingly.
As in, there's a specific person(s) in mind here.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Oh No
All good liberals must be true to their principles and take no pleasure in this at all. Not even a little bit. Stop laughing.
Milo Yiannopolous has been apprehended by ICE in Louisiana ...
TMZ has learned.The controversial political personality is currently being held at an ICE detention center, per inmate records. The circumstances surrounding his detention are not yet clear but our sources tell us Milo was detained at an airport.
The Art Of Warfighting
Pete's not gonna pay his employees.
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents seen by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts.
No worries. I'm sure there will be an emergency supplemental. For the troops. Can't abandon the troops, Democrats!
Bubbles
There is regularly a lot of talk about people existing in discourse bubbles - you exist in one, of course, I do not - such that alternative viewpoints are never heard. This is usually aimed at lefties! As if most media isn't blaring a combination of Washington Consensus/Right Wing views 24/7, and left wing views are, as I said, only presented as caricatures.
Left wing views are only ever discussed by people who don't share them!
No one in the New York Times (for example) is ever presenting, as their the own, the hegemonic Woke Viewpoint that half their columnists are arguing with most of the time.
Bad Neighbors
One real reason to be opposed to data centers is everyone can see big tech is just stomping on the law (remember that quaint concept) and nobody stops them.
The largest planned AI data center in New Jersey is being accused of violating federal law after a Floodlight visual investigation found the site running dozens of unpermitted gas-powered generators.
Thermal drone footage we captured last week showed the partly completed DataOne facility in Vineland was operating at least 45 of the site's 62 generators at the time.
DataOne has stirred controversy since breaking ground in 2025 due to persistent noise complaints, unpermitted construction and a contentious zoning process. It's located about 40 miles outside Philadelphia and slated to provide AI computing power to Microsoft as part of a $17-billion deal with Nebius, a Dutch AI infrastructure giant.
Located roughly a mile from two schools, the tractor-trailer-size generators emit substantial amounts of health-harming air pollution linked to asthma, heart attacks and even premature death.
It probably takes 2 years to get a permit to open a food truck (yes I made that up for rhetorical effect), the type of thing the Abundance crew were supposed to be spending their time on.
Your Argument (That I Made Up) Is Ridiculous
An immense amount of money flowing through politics is coming from the tech investor/"AI" crowd, often through the hands of your faves in various ways. We've had months of people hooting and laughing at the stupid idiots for opposing data centers for dumb reasons because they are dumb. I thought this from Abundance dickhead Derek Thompson (finally starting to acknowledge reality) was especially funny:
Thompson: I want to re-circle something that you said because I think it’s so important. When I’m on social media, on Twitter, following the arguments among people who are building AI, I’ll often see them make this fact check where they’ll say, “There’s this popular claim about data centers using all of this water, but in fact, data centers use much less water than is commonly assumed.” But that fact check is often assumed to do the job of proving that anti–data center politics is based on a myth. And what your reporting, I think, does so well is it shows that the actual on-the-ground opposition to data centers is so much more complicated than just a single factoid about water use.This still caricatures the water issue even as it acknowledges there are other complaints.
I was very amused that he has just discovered that all of the people he followed on twitter might be arguing against a strawman! Surely all of those people with financial interests aren't just arguing their book! Much to consider about what it means if we get all of our information on X, the everything App, and generally ignore or denigrate any complaints because lefty NIMBYism or whatever.
On so many issues, and especially this one recently, the "left coded" argument on any subject is often only understood as caricature presented by its detractors.
"Following the arguments among," he says, not, "following the arguments between them and those who disagreed." You were just listening to two dumb bitches telling each other “exaaaaactlyyyy.”
You weren't following arguments! You were following one side of an argument by people using their platforms and power to stomp the other side! This is not a good faith debate pervert session!
This is, actually, how the "marketplace of ideas" works!
Thursday, August 27, 2026
He Can Just Do That
A little warning to the next Dem president: those coveted swing voters, the common clay, are going to be very used to a president who just does stuff, or seems to.
Sure Why Not
We will see which news outlets and map generating tech companies go along with "Lake America."
Trump's Buddy
We might be going to war with Switzerland.
European football's governing body UEFA is preparing to bring criminal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the attempt to sell shares in the World Cup to private investors.Sounds a bit weird, but other countries have somewhat different legal systems and ways of talking about them!
The revelation is contained in legal documents, with UEFA subpoenaing FIFA and the financial institutions involved in the US to obtain documents related to the scheme.
But the planned legal action would be launched in Switzerland, where FIFA has its main headquarters.
It's Also US Law
Not that the Biden administration cared, either.
Inspiring choice, Jeffries.“As long as you're an ally of ours, I'm not for conditioning weapons to Israel.”
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) August 26, 2026
Jared Moskowitz — who leadership just tapped to lead the Middle East & North Africa subcommittee — said in April he doesn’t support conditioning arms to Israel, even if it breaks international law: pic.twitter.com/r7P4yaDxm8
Deport Geddy Lee, Too
I'm curious which goods they have in mind:
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration's top trade negotiator suggested the US ought to consider banning some Canadian goods, injecting another threat into a trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa.
...
"Canada has banned the sale of liquor and spirits. We haven't banned anything from Canada. You know, they've capped the type of autos we can bring in, they've banned certain goods and services from procurement in the provinces," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Wednesday.
"Canada" hasn't banned the sales. Most of the provinces did.
The funny thing is that I bet they haven't thought about it. I'm sure the Canadians have had the "break glass in case of Donald" binders prepared for various contingencies for awhile. That's why they can quickly figure out how to cause the maximum pain (hitting important employers in swing states and small but critical supplies). I bet the Trumpers didn't make a plan.
Public Health
"Infant" almost certainly means before they would've been given a measles vaccine, which would mean they are the victim of other people not being vaccinated and the general decline of population immunity.
One of the two people who recently died of measles in Pennsylvania was an infant, the state Health Department said Wednesday.
The department announced Tuesday that two unvaccinated residents had died of measles, the first measles-related deaths in the U.S. this year and the first in Pennsylvania in 35 years.
...
Both were residents of Lancaster County, where the share of kids who have gotten the MMR vaccine fell from 95.5% in 2017 to 87.6% last year.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Not So Happy Hour
An experience I shared with a lot of people of my era was having somewhat overprotective suburban parents who were, for some weird reason, totally fine with young teenagers going to see a midnight showing of Rocky Horror in the big scary city.
And it was a very developmentally healthy thing to do (no snark).
RIP Tim Curry.
Since it was one of the things I was allowed to do without much argument, I did it quite a lot.
And it was a very developmentally healthy thing to do (no snark).
RIP Tim Curry.
I Can Hear Melinda Snorting Derisively From Here
Yah Bill Gates just needed some additional funds.
Bill Gates tells Axios his association with Jeffrey Epstein was a "huge mistake" but hopes it won't prevent him from influencing debates over artificial intelligence and global health.
...
"What I did do, in some ways, was very limited, and it was motivated by my desire to raise money," Gates said. "But … it was a huge mistake."
Well Okay Then
Darline Graham: Government run health care…. bad idea after bad idea. Annie Andrews backs it all. I have a different background. My parents worked long, hard hours. If that were sick, they had to get up and go to work. My mother passed away when I was 11 and my father just over… pic.twitter.com/fvFCrmudhi
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 26, 2026
Galaxies (Plural)
Just amazing stuff here, about a young guy whose hedge fund just tanked.
For the past few years, at happy hours and dinner parties in San Francisco, Leopold Aschenbrenner kept confusing people by sharing his favorite outlandish idea.
He wanted to buy galaxies.
...
His idea was that advances in artificial intelligence would soon unlock resources on a cosmic scale, enabling humans to colonize faraway planets. He planned to save money now so he could spend on galaxies, he told them, and make his mark across the universe.
Who do you buy them from? What, exactly, does ownership even give you in this scifi presumably post-scarcity civilization?
Two years ago, he made bold predictions about the impending arrival of superintelligence, writing in a 165-page manifesto called “Situational Awareness” that AI would lead to one of the “most intense and volatile moments of human history.” He quickly turned that interest into money for a hedge fund that eventually managed $45 billion in assets, backed by investors who believed in his prophecy—or his ability to profit from it.
He was barely of drinking age and had no prior investing experience, but his cozy relationships inside the industry fed into his reputation as an oracle of AI—someone who knew more about where the elusive technology was headed than legacy money managers living in New York. He mixed the personal and professional in a city where the two are rarely kept apart.
“There are perhaps a few hundred people, most of them in San Francisco and the AI labs, that have situational awareness,” he wrote in his viral essay. “Through whatever peculiar forces of fate, I have found myself amongst them.”
There are very few people with superpower-tinged genius. It seems I am one of them?
As the big day approached, Aschenbrenner’s friends, former colleagues and fellow members of the Silicon Valley intelligentsia filtered into the wedding hotel. There were more than a dozen Anthropic employees on the guest list, as well as MacAskill and others from the FTX Future Fund, plus effective altruists and the billionaires who had put their money into Situational Awareness.
The wedding was officiated by Ross Douthat, the former New York Times columnist who recently joined “60 Minutes.” He had reached out to Aschenbrenner after reading his manifesto, and they met last year when his family was on a California road trip. Aschenbrenner and Balwit hosted them for dinner, Douthat said, soliciting marriage advice from him and his wife and shocking their children with predictions about AI.
Ah the EA/longtermist con artist freaks of course.
Smaugs
Other people will provide better Dolly Parton tributes, but her death reminds me of the fact that it is so easy for rich people to do good things. She put the work in over and above that, obviously, but for anyone sitting on a massive amount of dragon treasure, if it is conservatively earning a real 5% a year in investment income, they can do a lot of good works without having their pile of treasure shrink at all.
You can easily buy some karma points to offset being a shithead otherwise.
It is quite stunning how little interest our current overlords have in even the PR benefits of that.
Actually Smart
For midterm elections, when they have the presidency, every Dem in a not-entirely-safe-seat runs against the president. We aren't like those other Democrats! I hate Obama too! Democrats suck, but vote for me, a different kind of Democrat who loves working with Republicans!
It is possible this saves a few incumbents, but it certainly brings the brand of the party down nationally. The prominence of Democrats Against Democrats - which the news media love to cover, of course - does not exactly help further whatever we imagine the agenda of the Democrats is, even if it saves some suburban Ohio member of Congress who hates immigrants, abortion, trans people, and "socialism."
I don't think this will help Republicans in the midterms, precisely, but pretending to distance themselves from Trump won't help them either.
But Trump himself has rejected that approach. House and Senate Democrats, the president noted during the meeting, will make their fall campaigns a referendum on him. His advisers told him that the poor polling reflects the fact that the voting public still does not know about many of his accomplishments—the dozens of new stock-market highs, a decline in fentanyl deaths, the “sealed” southern border, the increase in domestic-manufacturing production.The solution Trump settled on, according to three people familiar with the meeting, was to lean into the Democratic strategy of focusing on himself. The president ordered a series of television advertisements about his own record that will serve as a backdrop to the hundreds of individual House and Senate contests. Trump wanted what one person described to us as “environmental lift” ads—commercials that would focus on nationalizing the midterms broadly around his victories—and he suggested that the ad makers mine his own on-camera statements as building blocks. “Go look at the clips,” the president told his team, according to this person. “I cite accomplishments all the time.”
It is smarter than "we know we're shit but vote for us anyway."
ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS
The amount spent on that hideous boondoggle, California High Speed Rail,* seems more and more trivial by the day.
SpaceX on Tuesday unveiled plans to construct a massive, $100 billion spaceport in Louisiana, where the company plans to launch its gargantuan Starship rocket thousands of times per year.
The new SpaceX campus will be dubbed “Starbase, Louisiana” — borrowing the name of SpaceX’s recently incorporated company town in South Texas. Starbase, Texas, is the current home to Starship’s testing and development facilities and the spot from which 13 test flights have launched to varying degrees of success.
The Louisiana location, however, would host flights of the Starship rocket once its operational, having proven it can safely haul cargo to orbit. SpaceX also plans to land and recover every piece of its Starship rockets — including the upper spacecraft, which has never been done before — in order to allow the rockets to be rapidly reused and drive down the cost of each launch.
And, yes, subsidy truffle pig and federal contract vaccum Elon is going to be spending a lot of public money on this, directly and indirectly.
Credit to CNN for the bolded (by me) bit.
*Yes of course there are plenty of things to criticize about that project - spending a lot of money to try to appease its critics who then criticize it even more is one - but the huge number attached sounds less and less scary in context!
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
[image or embed]
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!
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