A few other highlights! For the first time:
• Global electricity generation from fossil fuels fell because renewables grew faster than demand.
• Renewables pushed FF off the grid, causing power-sector emissions to drop.
• Solar recorded the largest single-year increase of any electricity source
Screenshot of the opening of a Bulwark newsletter article by Gen. (ret.) Mark Hertling, from 22 April 2026. It is titled "Undue Command Influenza" (https://www.thebulwark.com/i/195027925/undue-command-influenza) and the excerpt reads as follows: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently announced that he is discarding mandatory flu vaccinations for U.S. service members. It may appeal to an anti-vax political base, and it may sound minor in the abstract—part of what Secretary Hegseth described as “restoring freedom to the joint force.” But “freedom” also comes with civic and community obligation, especially in a profession built on individual and group responsibility. In military units and on military bases, individual choices have immediate and cascading consequences for the health and readiness of others. Consider how other high-performance organizations or facilities with throngs of people in close contact handle contagious illnesses. If a professional sports team has a player with the flu, that athlete often isn’t welcomed into the locker room or told to push through practice. He’s isolated to prevent the spread of the virus.
Hegseth's announcement that service members are no longer required to take the flu vaccine may look like just "a small policy change by a naïve civilian leader appealing to his boss’s base," writes @markhertling.bsky.social. But it's more troubling than that:
www.thebulwark.com/i/195027925/...
Jimmy Duffy wearing a sleeveless athletic shirt with a large maple leaf and the word CANADA across the chest. He faces the camera in a studio-style portrait, with short dark hair parted to one side, a slight smile, and a lean, muscular build. The image is black and white with a plain, light background.
On this day in 1914, Canadian Jimmy Duffy won the Boston Marathon. His first requests after he won were a cigarette and a beer.
One year later on April 23, as a member of the Canadian Army, he fought at the Second Battle of Ypres, and was killed.
Bosses should not impose religion on employees: virginialawreview.org/articles/cor...
So honored to share this award with my good friend and #ScienceUnderSiege co-author @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social.
Thanks @center4inquiry.bsky.social --means so much from you folks! centerforinquiry.org/press_releas...
I'm the guy who PREDICTED Heat. Not the guy who directed it.
Iranian officials are saying that commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz will be required to pay a "Tehran toll," and US warships will not be allowed to transit. Meanwhile Trump continues his blockade of Iranian ports. Yet oil prices are falling on the assumption the the Strait is "open."
"If your local bakery loses one of its ovens, the whole neighborhood ends up having to get by with less bread."
That's the whole game. Markets can calm fast; physical production can't.
The enemy controls the game. A Moment of Clarity.
youtu.be/4zOwwbpTOEQ
NEW: With Swalwell out, will Tom Steyer's money make him California's next governor? Is the race now Katie Porter's to lose? Can one of the Dem also-rans surge into contention?
@anitachabria.bsky.social and me ponder the ponderables and a few of the imponderables.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
If you're wondering how the blockade is landing, this has been making its way around the naval nerds today
I've seen respected columnists using AI to add cartoons to their posts. Please stop- first of all, it's garbage. Secondly, most editorial cartoonists would be happy if you included their work with your posts. Just ask them for permission.
"If you’re gonna spend another dollar, that means you’re gonna have to tax another dollar."
That’s the whole game here. More defense spending isn’t free. It’s a bill with your name on it.
Minnesota authorities say they are investigating federal agents for possible criminal charges, including kidnapping, after they pulled a St. Paul man out of his home in January into below-zero windchill wearing nothing but boxers and Crocs.
"Oil is an absolutely essential commodity that's built into our economy in all sorts of ways that are not immediately obvious."
It shows up in diesel, jet fuel, fertilizer, plastics, asphalt, and more. So when oil gets pricier, the hit doesn’t stop at the pump. It spreads through the whole economy.
Median survival went from 6 months to 13 months. It may not sound like much, but for metastatic pancreatic cancer, this is big, IMO. We finally have something solid to build on in this field.
Unless he was portraying himself as St. Luke the Evangelist, a patron saint of physicians. Still wildly stupid and wrong.
Bear with me, but it is possible that J.D. Vance’s powers of persuasion might leave something to be desired. And perhaps Donald Trump’s political skills are not quite as razor sharp as we’ve been led to believe.
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
At some point will people realize the way Axios is being fed these BS leaks and wagging its tail with enthusiasm like a puppy getting a treat?
Mounting evidence shows that 6PPD-quinone, a chemical produced by tires to protect rubber from degrading, is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic animals, even in microscopic doses.
NEW: Eric Swalwell has yet to own up to the obvious — his campaign is dead and over.
His implosion makes the most unpredictable, wide-open California governors race in a generation even more unpredictable and wide open.
Let the scrambling begin.
www.latimes.com/politics/sto...
Today, Hungarians are voting. These elections loom large the world over. Viktor Orbán is a central figure in the international far right and his loss would be blow to familiar figures like JD Vance and Donald Trump, who are his pupils.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-hungar...
No, it’s not. But even though Swalwell was right on many issues important to Democrats, I always thought there was something smarmy about his manner. Attracted to any camera or microphone. And unnecessarily disrespectful to Joe Biden during an early 2020 primary debate.
Right now, the conversation isn’t about nuclear programs, or free and fair elections in Iran. It's about reopening a body of water that was open before this war started. Chalk that up as a win for Tehran.
NEW: Rumors, denial and a bombshell.
Eric Swalwell categorically denied misconduct involving congressional staffers. Then the SF Chronicle published an article quoting an alleged victim.
He has a lot of explaining to do and not much time to do so.
www.latimes.com/politics/sto...
Usually economic shocks are called things like pandemics or oil embargoes. This version is more: bloke walks into the policy room, sees a rake, and steps on it repeatedly.
“Create serious implications”? I’m guessing she must have developed a proof for the Riemann hypothesis
The Oregon Health Authority says tattooers were never allowed to use over-the-counter topical numbing agents. Cosmetic tattoo artists who rely on the products say the move could devastate their industry.
No suffering on Hegseth's part
Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth's war mongering just inflicts pain on others
anntelnaes.substack.com/p/no-sufferi...
