Trump Dismisses a Merger While Seeking Suitors for Spirit Airlines

Why would the President of the United States give a shit one way or the other if a teetering ultra-budget airline goes belly up? Something off about this.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/b...

If you live in Virginia, tomorrow you have a huge opportunity to make it clear to the GOP that if they want to win, it won’t be by changing the rules and redrawing maps. At least, not without a fight. Vote YES on the redistricting vote, and push back!

Such bottom-of-the-barrel, trashy people

Trump Administration Live Updates: Labor Secretary Steps Down Amid Misconduct Investigation

Breaking News: Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is stepping down amid an investigation of allegations of widespread misconduct.

Musk scorned “shady” loopholes, yet offshore tax tricks likely saved Tesla hundreds of millions When Tesla released its annual report for U.S. regulators in January, the Texas-based automaker, led by the world’s richest man, reported a federal tax bill of zero dollars for 2025.

Absolutely fucking crazy that this is legal
www.reuters.com/legal/transa...

Mexico's Sheinbaum demands explanation after US officials die assisting operation in Chihuahua Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she was unaware of any collaboration between the U.S. and local authorities in Chihuahua after four officials died in an accident over the weekend.

More of those famous Republican U.S. federal-Mexican state level law enforcement partnerships that went so well last time. Feeling secure and prosperous just thinking about it.
apnews.com/article/mexi...

Fears of looser standards as the FBI and Justice Department scramble to fill a depleted workforce The FBI and Justice Department are scrambling to rebuild a depleted workforce after a wave of departures over the last year.

This is a much more significant threat to national security than Kash Patel being too hung over to post
apnews.com/article/just...

Drone Startup Builds Factory in Ghana as Insurgents Drive Demand Terrahaptix Inc., a Nigerian drone-making startup, will open its first factory abroad in Ghana, where it will build mid-range pilotless aircraft and defense systems in response to increasing Islamist-...

Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale is cashing in on the proliferation of terrorist and insurgent groups in West Africa with an investment in a Nigerian drone manufacturing startup opening their first factory in Ghana to meet surging regional demand 🤑🤑
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

SEC's Power to Recoup Illicit Profits Challenged at Supreme Court Three times over the past decade, the US Supreme Court has cut the Securities and Exchange Commission's ability to extract millions of dollars from

Arguments today before the Supreme Court challenging the SEC's ability to recover illicit profits, which could affect ongoing litigation with Elon Musk for failing to disclose his stake in Twitter and underpaying by $150 million when he acquired it
www.insurancejournal.com/news/nationa...

Bet either he or the videographer is from a Russian family that migrated in the 1990s or later.

Republicans plan big spending to keep Ohio's Senate seat. A bribery scandal adds to their challenges A political bribery scandal in Ohio is shadowing Jon Husted this election year. The Republican senator has never been charged or accused of any crime, and he's said he wasn't aware of any criminal act...

You really should be paying close attention to the Ohio energy bribery scandal because there is so much more to this than meets the eye
apnews.com/article/ohio...

Fears of looser standards as the FBI and Justice Department scramble to fill a depleted workforce The FBI and Justice Department are scrambling to rebuild a depleted workforce after a wave of departures over the last year.

The enshittification of the FBI ends in successful terrorist attacks and espionage penetration of things that can't be easily unfucked. Stupid self-destruction.
apnews.com/article/just...

three male goldfinches taking turns eating nyger seeds from two feeders hanging from a stand, with light green spring trees in the background on a sunny day

nothing more enjoyable than watching goldfinches eating seeds from the little feeders that only their beaks are small enough for

They're arguing for state capitalism for God's sakes

The threat from China is an awfully convenient foil to make Palantir indispensable for our national security. But look closely at everything Peter Thiel and Alex Karp advocate for. Do you doubt that they envy China for the government's control over public life and their national ethnic homogeneity?

Opening text of a thread by Palantir from X Because we get asked a lot. The Technological Republic, in brief. 1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation. 2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible. 3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public. 4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software.

Palantir put out a 22-point summary of their CEO's book The Technological Republic. It's pitched as a defence of the West, but if you read it through the VDA framework, verification, deliberation, accountability, what it's actually doing looks rather different.
twitter-thread.com/t/2045574398...

Concerning.

Mexico arrests alleged drug trafficker considered one of Europe's most wanted fugitives Mexican authorities have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, considered one of Europe's most wanted fugitives.

Never heard of this guy but interesting timing that the Mexican authorities capture a Hungarian fugitive a few days after Viktor Orbán's electoral defeat.
apnews.com/article/mexi...

After fighting an irregular war against the FMLN in El Salvador in the 1980s, Ronald Johnson, Trump's former Ambassador to El Salvador and current U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, ends up becoming BFFs with a guy that got his start in politics with the FMLN. Life's a trip.

The company that was the most involved in opposing it was Peabody which is heavily invested in China

In hindsight, it seems like a mistake that absolutely no one got in trouble for Iran-Contra.
www.propublica.org/article/amba...

Not a Catholic but this guy rocks
www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Really insightful essay, great work

Opinion | The Dangerous Power of Prediction Markets

Incredibly insightful essay
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/o...

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

This shows that Chief Justice John Roberts saw the possibility of regulations as a time-sensistive matter so urgent that it required an unprecedented preemptive intervention. Very unusual behavior even for a political matter, which suggests something more interesting.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

Just my personal view: cannabis and psychedelics could be regulated commercially with manageable risks to public health. I straight up do not like the cannabis industry, but I'd rather the products that people use be regulated than sold by some guy that can also get you M30s and meth.

Trump Expected to Loosen Restrictions on Psychedelic Drugs

It sucks that demand for MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin is met by criminals while there's not a college campus in the country where you can't find all of them and much more. Studying medical use is a good first step but inadequate.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/h...

Weapons-grade chemical carfentanil surges as dangerous substitute for fentanyl Carfentanil has experienced a drastic resurgence across the U.S., causing hundreds of unsuspecting drug users to overdose.

I'm a little skeptical that carfentanil will replace fentanyl. The knowhow and supply chains for manufacturing
fentanyl are already well-established, and at a certain point the margin for error between bunk, fire, and instant death becomes too infinitesimal to maintain QC.
apnews.com/article/carf...

Alleged Irish crime boss Daniel Kinahan is arrested in Dubai Daniel Kinahan, alleged leader of a major Irish criminal network, has been arrested in Dubai, according to Irish media.

Not so lucky now, Irishman.
apnews.com/article/dani...

Trump Plans Oil Lease Sale in Alaska’s Arctic Wildlife Refuge The Trump administration plans to offer at least 400,000 acres in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling rights in June, marking its first such sale in the rugged area prized for its rich wildlife.

The Trump administration plans to offer at least 400,000 acres in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling rights in June, marking its first such sale in the rugged area prized for its rich wildlife