Javier Milei Wants to Rewire the Argentine Mind

🎁 to nytimes story cited above.
Talk about "cultural heroin." 😵‍💫

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/w...

Why Trump is giving Argentina a $20 billion lifeline to help its flailing economy The Trump administration authorized a $20 billion financial lifeline for Argentina as it faces an economic crisis. The deal has raised major questions and criticism about its merits. President Trump a...

"Javier Milei Tamed Argentina's Inflation. Now He Wants to Rewire the Argentine Mind," marvels the New York Times.*

Don't gush about Milei's "taming inflation" in Argentina without even mentioning the $20 billion Trump bailout that got him elected in the first place.

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Cook, like many tech CEOs, has cozied up to Trump since his return to the WH -- sometimes even standing grim-faced beside the president at public events. ... In an odd display of fealty last August, Cook presented Trump with a custom Apple plaque that was nested in a 24-karat gold base. He also attended a private screening of the Melania documentary at the WH, hours after a federal immigration agent shot and killed nurse Alex Pretti during a street protest.

Cook's dealings with China are also a part of his operational legacy. ...In recent years, Apple has faced scrutiny over ... alleged use of forced labor involving Uyghur Muslims by its contractors.. [and] Apple reportedly tried to lobby against certain provisions in a 2020 billion that would have prevented forced labor in China.

Good riddance, Tim Cook -- your legacy is forever tarnished by your groveling to the regime.

www.wired.com/story/tim-co...

U.S. Military Strikes a Boat in the Caribbean, Killing 3

Meanwhile ...

"Illegal, extrajudicial killings" (MURDERS) continue in the Caribbean. In our increasingly muddied name.

Don't let them normalize this while we focus on the chaos in the Middle East.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/u...

Clarence Thomas Can’t Get American History Right In his recent broadside against the twentieth century, the justice is as ill informed as he is mean-spirited.

Clarence Thomas —
“As ill informed as he is mean-spirited”

If only we’d listened to Anita Hill 😬

Clarence Thomas Can’t Get American History Right newrepublic.com/article/2091... via @newrepublic.com

Ironically, Putin’s influence is evident on both sides—
Trump follows Putin’s example of fake negotiations with Ukraine and meanwhile Putin is openly reinforcing Iran’s position against America.

The only one coming out on top is Russia. Apparently Trump is okay with that.

If Mamdani and Obama singing The Wheels On The Bus with a group of tiny kids doesn't spark some sort of joy in you, I've got nothing for you.

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

Sickening.

"Even as they debated the Obama plan’s possible burden on the power industry, in the entire chain of correspondence, not a single justice ... mentioned the dangers of a warming planet as one of the possible harms the court should consider."
🔥🔥🔥
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

My 50th Starter Pack
is meant to expand the reach of our community.

And as always all included are mutual friends,
are active, and have a bio.

Vet, follow & share! 💙🦋

go.bsky.app/S1m5tig

With whom would that be a good tactic? 🤔

I think most people would prefer this. #Science

Not to worry. The markets are closed.

MAGA Is Increasingly Convinced the Trump Assassination Attempt Was Staged Conspiracy theories about the Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting have ramped up in recent weeks as once steadfast Trump supporters turn on the president.

MAGA INCREASINGLY CONVINCED TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTED WAS STAGED!

meh. It took them long enough.
(That👂though ...)

www.wired.com/story/maga-i...

Wordle 1,764 3/6
#wordle1764

⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 71/99

Yeah, yeah, I care about what the #wordlebot thinks of me. 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, have a good one, guys! ☕

😬

The application has remained stable since approximately 9 PM PDT, April 16 despite ongoing Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. We have not seen any evidence of unauthorized access to private user data. We will provide a further update by end of day.

Trump’s Blockade is Another Blunder Creating more pain, alienating more allies

The bottom line👇

"Trump never understood that Iran has the will, experience, and capacity to retaliate when threatened."

Jennifer Rubin explains how the US blockade follows a sickeningly familiar pattern that will cause predictably devastating global effects:

open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

And yet we have settled into accepting the Miracle of the Ear, a far more consequential staging that probably went a long way towards getting this demented fool elected.

Turned on NBC. They talked about “President tipping a DoorDash driver $100”.

This woman participated in GOP ads before playing other roles. There is no DoorDash deliveries to the Oval Office. Please exercise proper judgement when consuming news.

Wordle 1,760 4/6
#wordle1760

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩 *
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

*There was only one possible solution left — and this wasn’t it. XXXXX is a valid guess and you have a great vocabulary, but Wordle typically uses more common words as solutions.

Um, Wordle ... a word, please 🧐

“While receiving a McDonald’s food delivery to the Oval Office, the president told reporters that he posted a photo that depicted him as a robed, Jesus-like figure because he thought it had depicted him as a doctor.”
-Katie Rogers, nytimes, moments ago.

That’s normal, right?

Someone Has to Be Happy. Why Not Lauren Sánchez Bezos?

Meanwhile the current Mrs. Bezos is happy as a clam, or so the nytimes keeps trying to tell me.

Marie Antoinette moment?

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/b...

At this point, what are ‘episodic’ are moments of relative lucidity punctuating a vast sea of crazy.

Where’s the grim reaper when you need him?

Or the room (although he used to be pretty good at that)

I was being sarcastic. Sorry for any confusion here.

The Week Ahead April 12, 2026

Orbán's defeat was "especially bad news for JD Vance, who spent time in Hungary last week openly campaigning for the Putin-aligned Orbán. ... HOPEFULLY, VANCE WILL CAMPAIGN ACROSS THE U.S. AHEAD OF THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS."
(emphasis mine 😁)

#VoterTurnout

open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

🎯🎯

Yeah but is the pope Catholic? I mean, actually?

I’m thinking of Alexei Navalny just now and wishing he still walked the earth and could savor this moment with us.

Imagine a post-Putin Russia led by a person like Navalny.

You give him too much credit.