Middle East crisis live: Iran reportedly rejects US peace talks as Trump threatens to ‘knock out’ all Iranian power plants The US president said that negotiators would head to Pakistan as Iran pledged to keep the strait of Hormuz closed until the US naval blockade was lifted Full report: Iran closes strait of Hormuz again...

We cannot trust a single word Trump says. He lies with every breath. Trump says negotiations with Iran will resume Monday. Iran just said, no they won’t. We are nowhere close to a deal or the opening of the Strait. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Written obviously by someone with no kids or easy kids.

Excited to be on 60 Minutes tonight discussing Iran’s HEU and other nuclear capabilities!

12. The atomic age is ending. One age of deterrence, the atomic age, is ending, and a new era of deterrence built on A.l. is set to begin. 13. No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than this one. The United States is far from perfect. But it is easy to forget how much more opportunity exists in this country for those who are not hereditary elites than in any other nation on the planet. 14. American power has made possible an extraordinarily long peace. Too many have forgotten or perhaps take for granted that nearly a century of some version of peace has prevailed in the world without a great power military conflict. At least three generations — billions of people and their children and now grandchildren — have never known a world war.

15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia. 16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk's interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves .... Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn.

17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime. Many politicians across the United States have essentially shrugged when it comes to violent crime, abandoning any serious efforts to address the problem or take on any risk with their constituencies or donors in coming up with solutions and experiments in what should be a desperate bid to save lives. 18. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. The public arena —and the shallow and petty assaults against those who dare to do something other than enrich themselves—has become so unforgiving that the republic is left with a significant roster of ineffectual, empty vessels whose ambition one would forgive if there were any genuine belief structure lurking within.

Points 12-18 of the Palantir plan include:

12. The atomic age is ending.

and

17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime.

a cartoon girl in a blue dress is kneeling in a field holding a bag ALT: a cartoon girl in a blue dress is kneeling in a field holding a bag

I am sure this time will be different.

No more mister nice guy?

Trump said he would improve:
Health care
Infrastructure
Economy
Gas prices
Food prices
Elections
Iran nuclear deal
US-Russia New START Treaty
Debt
Crime

He has done none of it. He has become massively wealthy and enriched his donors. All while undermining rule of law and US security.

Nothing is clear except this war will not achieve US goals.

Update from Tyler Pager

www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...

I suggest this time they being people who know the difference between a reactor, a centrifuge, heavy water and uranium.

We may be at war because they did not even understand Iran’s last offer before shooting started.

As obvious as the Arsenal result coming in today

Anyone paying attention.

Trump Just Made the World Much More Dangerous By waging war on Iran, the president is making it more likely that other countries develop nuclear weapons—to protect themselves from the U.S.

newrepublic.com/article/2071...

People outside of the strategic affairs community are catching on.

So Trump is not going to Islamabad to sign a deal better than the 2015 Iran nuclear deal?

Ukraine strikes Russian oil refineries hours after US waives sanctions on Moscow’s oil | CNN Ukraine attacked two Russian refineries and other key oil targets overnight into Saturday, officials said, just hours after the United States granted Moscow another waiver on the sale of its sanctione...

“The IEA said earlier this week that Russia’s energy revenues had nearly doubled in March, to $19 billion, from $9.75 billion in February” as a result of the sanctions waiver. Ukraine responds with drones. edition.cnn.com/2026/04/18/e...

Hi @joecirin.bsky.social

No nuclear weapon related reading at all? So sad. But looks like an amazing class. Enjoy.

A year ago the Straits of Hormuz was open and recognized globally as international waters. Now US desperate trying to incentivize Iran to open it and seemingly resigned to Iranian sovereignty over the critical waterway.

Tell me again how this is a US or global win?

For Iran, Flexing Control Over Waterway Is New Deterrent

"American military and intelligence officials estimate that, after weeks of war, Iran still has about 40 percent of its arsenal of attack drones and upward of 60 percent of its missile launchers — more than enough to hold shipping in the Strait of Hormuz hostage..." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

@mattdinniman.bsky.social dude I am deep into Bedlam Bride and had to stop and say you are an amazing, gifted, sick, creative writer. This is an amazing ride I cannot and do not want to get off. Thanks.

If this is the list of recommendations folks are taking from the Yale higher ed report, what frustrates me is how much — in my experience — a lot of this is (a) already being done in many places, (b) substantially underway, or (c) opposed not by faculty but by students or other stakeholders

Another Fed paper finds Americans paid almost all Trump's 2025 tariffs ("pass-through of realized tariffs into import prices was close to one hundred percent"), AND that local labor market effects were "economically negligible."

All pain, no gain. www.richmondfed.org/publications...

Not everyone can switch. But thanks for sharing your thoughts

The FBI Director Is MIA Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Jews. He’s blaming Jews.

JUST IN: Two days after saying the U.S. would NOT renew sanctions waivers on Russian or Iranian oil, Bessent’s Treasury quietly extended a license allowing Russian oil transactions for another month.

The FBI Director Is MIA Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.

”The problems with his conduct go well beyond what has been previously known, and include both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

I’m sorry he got so blackout drunk they had to ask for SWAT door busting equipment?!

Scoop: U.S. considers $20 billion cash-for-uranium deal with Iran The U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan with some very sensitive elements.

So the US will release $20 billion to Iran to get rid of material they would never have had if the US had just stayed in the 2015 deal?

If you have been paying attention, you might get the impression that President Trump and his admin are not very good at this.

www.axios.com/2026/04/17/i...