War is a Reality Check on Even the Maddest of Kings Trump now has three choices in Iran, none good.

War is a Reality Check on Even the Maddest of Kings... smart take ! open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

What do you expect from Harvard and Wharton?

Infovictory / Overruled Lindsey Adler talks with The Onion’s Ben Collins; Trevor Alixopulos on a lifetime of reflections

Wrote about my friend @bencollins.bsky.social flaminghydra.com/issue-548/

It hasn't been clear whether Iran was deliberately manipulating the negotiations to play the admin or whether there actually isn't anyone in charge. But it's the latter.

Every Day is Ethics Day.

especially when no one is looking.

Third ship attacked in Strait of Hormuz after Trump extends Iran ceasefire The first vessel was fired at by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the UKMTO says. A report in Iran says the IRGC also hit the other two ships.

Three cargo ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump said he was extending the US-Iran ceasefire. www.bbc.com/news/live/cx29721...

This is a great book if you can find a copy written by the owner/chef of Fred’s Place in Taos. Good recipes and historic background on the dishes.

Smart glasses and the new DHS surveillance budget | Biometric Update The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget justification lays out an expansive biometric and identity tech agenda.

“In other words, the glasses are being developed as a mobile biometric interface for frontline immigration enforcement.”

The betrayal is horrific

Why would anyone ever trust us again

Get better. I hate grading!

What Pete Hegseth’s Kettlebell Swings Tell Us About MAGA Ideology - Aaron Ross Powell’s Blog MAGA is built on a fundamental lack of the internal protective quality that warns us when we are debasing ourselves.

It's the same phenomenon I wrote about in the context of Pete Hegseth's inability to do a competent kettlebell swing. It's an entire far-right ideology built around public performance of what the kid from the old Star Wars Kid meme did in private. www.aaronrosspowell.com/3mcb4y7vwqk24

This is shameful

How Trump's proposed triumphal arch would change the nation's capital President Trump wants a triumphal arch to be built in Washington, D.C., on a traffic circle between the entrance to the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial.

I spoke with NPR's Scott Tong about the proposed Triumphal Arch, and why it's not wanted or needed. www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...

How American Segregation Changed the Meaning of 'Ghetto' The linkage between Jews and “ghetto” began in the early 16th century

this article suggests post-WW2 scholars started using ghetto for black areas because of forced segregation.

time.com/5684505/ghet...

Mayor Mamdani and a group of children hold hands while running through red tape in a hallway.

For too long, bureaucracy kept 7 child care centers across our city empty — spaces that should have been alive with laughter instead collected dust.

We've run through that red tape. This fall, all 7 will open their doors, bringing an additional 240 free 3-K seats & real relief to working families.

hockey puck?

agentic cannabis device

could I interest you in a blockchain enabled cannabis agent?

Trump Is Said to Be in Talks to Send Afghans Who Aided U.S. Forces to Congo

I'm ashamed of our country.

this admin? yes. this is the work of twisted craven men.

but the whole country. for decades, we simply didn't care enough. collectively. caring about the destruction we left in our wake, was simply too much of a bother

Sad and ashamed.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/w...

@queenofthinair.bsky.social

What went wrong in Israel? A genocide scholar examines ‘what Zionism became’ In his new book, Omer Bartov tracks how a liberatory strand of Zionism transformed into an extremist ideology that he sees as responsible for genocide in Gaza

The article is a good read.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

I want to highlights this part of @beyerstein.bsky.social's piece:

"Being the toll booth operator would give Iran *greater global influence* than it would with nuclear weapons. Lots of countries have nukes, but only Iran has Hormuz.

"All this thanks to the hubris of Trump and Netanyahu."

Wow:

More Corruption from the felon.

This Isn't Trading. It's Theft from Your Retirement. Someone keeps making perfectly-timed bets right before the President speaks. The victims are your pension, your 401(k), and the country I took an oath to defend.

Fifteen minutes before the President announced he was pausing strikes on Iran, somebody moved $500 million in oil futures. Somebody knew. Somebody told them. Or somebody is them.
New piece ↓
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

I've realised I use this site like a 19thC political salon - half to swap the News of the Day and half to mutter "oh I say, very good" at the Witticisms of my Illustrious Compatriots

1918

A yellow lab looks over his domain from a hilltop

beating the bounds

Home

It looks real in a Silicon Valley sort of way. I heard Silicon Valley these days was powered by Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard, and Steve Jobs spinning in the grave! (takes a lot of power for the data centers)

gudtrip.xyz

🤷🏼