What I learned today: Panama Canal auctions some (30%) slots to ships. Due to blockage of Hormuz, Asian buyers seeking western crude push bids five times greater than pre-conflict level.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

The consequences of closing the Straight of Hormuz has begun to strike food sources.

Global energy markets are on the verge of a disaster Scenarios now range from bad to awful

Fifty days into the Iran war the world has lost 550m barrels of Gulf crude—nearly 2% of last year’s global output. Three factors are pushing the world towards the cliff edge

LUTNICK: It is outrageous that Canada will not put US spirits on the shelf. It is insulting and disrespectful to America


SHAHEEN: They won't do it because of the insults from this president and comments like yours

PANEL 1: A demented robot holds laser gun at a guy (me): TURN OVER ALL YOUR CREATIVE OUTPUT FROM THE LAST 15 YEARS OR I VAPORIZE YOU!! DJO: Whoa! Ok! PANEL 2: The robot to a doufy guy: FOR $7.99 A MONTH YOU CAN USE THIS NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR’S WORK TO CREATE YOUR OWN WATERED DOWN VERSIONS! Doufy Guy: got yourself a deal, buddy! PANEL 3: DJO: That robot guy just stole my shit and you’re paying him for it! Doufy Guy: Sorry, pal! $7.99 is a great deal, and like it or not, that robot guy… PANEL 4: doufy guy continued: …is the future! The Robot holding a laser gun at a little girl: TURN OVER ALL YOUR CREATIVE OUTPUT FROM THE LAST 15 YEARS OR I VAPORIZE YOU!! Girl: Dude, I’m seven

GenAI is plunder, pass it on (a comic)

Trump really is such an arrogant asshole.

Do not stop talking about the Epstein files!

Ukraine’s Second Miracle Year The war isn’t won, but for the first time in years, outright victory seems possible.

"Strategically, Ukraine has a theory of victory that looks increasingly plausible, while Russia’s is crumbling....Russia bet the farm on the theory that meat waves would overwhelm Ukraine while the United States and Hungary blocked Western support, and failed."
www.thebulwark.com/p/ukraines-s...

“Immediately after departing the White House in 2021, he [Jared Kushner] secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, despite strong internal objections from Saudi officials raising his lack of investment experience.“

Gil Duran tweet: TLDR: Fascism in response to Palantir's long fascists screed on X.

"Your Account is Suspended" Message on X

The CEO of Palantir posted a fascist manifesto on X.

I pointed out that it was fascist—which resulted in a permanent suspension from X (my second time!).

So, when you hear the tweeters complaining that BlueSky is intolerant, remember why many of us came here in the first place.

Well, at least the BBC is covering this.

Serious media: stop reporting whatever Trump says and start reporting on what is actually happening. I know it’s harder, but that’s your job.

Conversely, it appears that the Kremlin has just about every briefing point in the president's daily briefing in real time. Wonder how that came about.

With the latest set of El Niño forecasts, NOAA's CFSv2 model needs to get a larger y-axis scale 😯

Trump ist trotz Zweifels an seiner Amtsführung nicht zu stoppen In den USA halten selbst einstige Anhänger Präsident Trump für verrückt. Doch so leicht werden sie den Mann nicht mehr los.

Why America is a dangerously dysfunctional nation: belief that Trump is incompetent or even dangerously mentally unstable is now commonplace even among Republicans. But he continues to wield power that was never accorded to any president before him. www.sueddeutsche.de/meinung/dona...

If you need proof cats are nature's ultimate predator terrors to whatever new things you throw at them

Ukrainian cats have had time to observe and train in battlefield conditions and they're catching drones

That's some next level survivalist hunter behavioral adaptation in an active warzone

WOW: A stunning new report in the WSJ reveals that military advisers intentionally excluded Donald Trump from the command room during the recent high-stakes operation to extract a downed U.S. airman in Iran, because they feared his erratic behavior could jeopardize the mission. 1/

Kash Patel is flying FBI’s $70 million Gulfstream V jet to Vegas “most weekends” where he “Drinks to excess“ at a high dollar private club ‘The Poodle Room’. At $15,000 an hour each trip cost the taxpayers $75-80,000. More if Kash stops to pick up his girlfriend in Nashville #USDemocracy #DemsUnited

GS: Rising materials costs signal incremental pressure on corporate profit margins

An American from Utah killed her husband.

Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News

David Rowe, International Financial Review (Canberra)

Michael de Adder

Trump, IRS In Talks To Settle U.S. President's $10 Billion Lawsuit Trump's adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization are also plaintiffs.

Trump is reported close to a "deal" with himself under which US taxpayers would pay him $10 billion.

I served in multiple communist and authoritarian dictatorships, but I never witnessed corruption on this scale or this blatant.