At best a mixed bag

‘I’ll Die Here in My House’: In Southern Lebanon, Many Simply Can't or Refuse to Flee I drove through the destroyed villages of southern Lebanon, speaking to several families who are risking their lives to stay in the area as Israel escalates its bombing and ground invasion.

open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...

Weekend Update #180: The Ukrainians Stop Pretending Costs And Balances In Russian Oil; The Russian Spring Offensive After 3 Weeks

open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

Jess Craven (@jesscraven101) Amazing. This is how Bruce Springsteen opened his concert in Los Angeles last night. 🔥🔥 Footage from @margaret_nagle on Threads.

substack.com/@jesscraven1...

(NYT) - Iran has been unable to open the Strait of Hormuz to more shipping traffic because it cannot locate all of the mines it laid in the waterway and lacks the capability to remove them, according to U.S. officials.

@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/u...

Yeah, let’s go with this

🎥 Pistachio Wars (2025) trailer.

💢 REPORT | Opening Strikes in U.S.-Israeli Bombing Campaign Targeted Heart of Iran’s Pistachio Trade Iran was once the world’s leading pistachio producer. Today, USDA data show the U.S., led by California, accounts for roughly 65% of global output, while Iran’s share has fallen to about 18%. In the first week of the war, reports and geolocated satellite imagery indicated strikes in and around Rafsanjan, the heart of Iran’s pistachio sector, including apparent damage to pistachio warehouse facilities near the airport. The Resnick family, owners of The Wonderful Company and dominant players in California’s pistachio industry, have used political influence to secure vast water rights in drought-stricken regions, at the expense of local communities. The 2025 documentary Pistachio Wars examines their longstanding backing of pro-Israel lobbying groups, arguing that hawkish policies toward Iran align with their commercial interests, as weakening a key global competitor benefits their bottom line. 🎥 Pistachio Wars (2025) trailer.

Mehdi H. @mhmiranusa Translated from Persian The pistachio warehouses of Iranian Pistachio Company near Rafsanjan Airport were targeted by American/Israeli fighter jets in the first week of Farvardin. Geolocation: 30.3149, 56.0312 https://maps.app.goo.gl/Vo6ZjgZ4ZaZo8sav6

💢 REPORT | Opening Strikes in US-Israeli Bombing Campaign Targeted Heart of Iran’s Pistachio Trade

Iran was once the world’s leading pistachio producer. Today, USDA data show the U.S., led by CA, accounts for roughly 65% of global output, while Iran’s share has fallen to about 18%.

In the first...

The 2025 documentary Pistachio Wars by Yasha Levine (Watermelon Pictures) shows that billionaire California pistachio magnates Stewart and Lynda Resnick, owners of The Wonderful Company, use their influence to drive a hardline U.S. foreign policy against Iran to protect their market monopoly...

Warfare Analysis @warfareanalysis ⚡️Gaza sources: Israeli bombings targeted Block 9 in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing so far 10, and injuring others, some in critical condition. Some sources say 8 others say 10.

💢 A massacre reported...[approximately three hours] ago in Gaza, with at least 8 civilians killed in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Amazon wants all the control of an employer without any of the responsibility. It’s time to pass the Delivery Protection Act to say goodbye to Amazon’s union busting loopholes.

I love this photo of astronaut Christina Koch looking back at Earth from Artemis II.

She's the first woman to see the full sphere of our beautiful planet.

Welcome home to the crew, and thank you for reminding us of all we can discover together.

The Jews who rejected a Jewish state
open.substack.com/pub/anandwri...

We will need to reform Congress at some point. The fact a sitting president can threaten a civilization with no rapid repercussions is proof Congress is too weak.

This is Spencer. He only drinks frothed water. Can't believe anyone would expect him to drink still water, like some kind of peasant. 13/10 (IG: mr.spennysaus)

April 8, 2026 On April 8, 1865, General Ulysses S.

This ode to Grant's determination and Lee's surrender is worth your time
April 8, 2026 open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

Massive Israeli Assault on Lebanon Threatens U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Over 250 people were killed in what the Israeli military said was the “largest coordinated strike” on Lebanon since March 2.

open.substack.com/pub/dropsite...

Job Growth on ICE The employment slowdown: Causes and consequences

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Candace Owens responds:

“It may be time to put Grandpa up in a home.”

John Bell Hood, Donald Trump, and the Art of Losing from a Losing Hand some lessons from history

You’ll enjoy the analogy and it fits open.substack.com/pub/mmansour...

The Five Stages Of MAGA Grief As MAGA voters turn on Trump, they’re reckoning with loss in a classic, recognizable pattern

The big question will always be, what took them so long?
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Raw America (@rawstory) INSPIRING: Cubans are taking to the streets by the thousands to protest the Trump regime’s oil blockade that’s shut down power for 11 million people. Corporate media isn’t covering this. Make sure this gets seen!

substack.com/@rawstory/no...

Economic strain in CNMI draws Pentagon attention - Marianas Variety News & Views SAIPAN (RNZ Pacific/Pacnews) — The United States Department of War has acknowledged mounting economic pressure in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, warning it could have implications...

The economic challenges facing the Northern Mariana Islands have led to increased Pentagon interest in local affairs.
www.mvariety.com/news/local/l...

Israeli Missile Interceptors Have Dwindled to “Double Digits”: Trump Administration Official The decreasing supply of interceptors has left Israel increasingly dependent on the missile defense capabilities of the U.S. Navy.

open.substack.com/pub/dropsite...

In both Hegseth’s & Trump’s cases, they started out stupid, thus the commitment to gutter racism. Constant braying about genetics & toughness to soothe deep insecurities & feelings of inadequacy stemming from manifest and glaring character flaws.

The result has been something like an inverse caricature of Republican complaints about diversity, equity, and inclusion, a system in which the incompetent rise not because of their abilities but because of their sycophancy. Authoritarian regimes behave as the Trump administration is behaving—optimizing for political loyalty rather than competence. Merit, in short, has little to do with it. Hegseth is a prime example. Deeply unqualified for the job and convinced that brutality provides an easy path to victory, he has led the United States to the verge of a strategic defeat with a weaker adversary in Iran. The current cease-fire leaves Iran with a more hard-line government than before, one in total control of a shipping lane crucial to the world economy. The Islamic Republic is arguably in a stronger position today than it was when the war started, and probably in a stronger position than it was before Trump, in his first term, scrapped the Obama-era nuclear deal. On Sunday, Trump posted on his social network a refrain that he and his toadies seem to think is insightful: “If you import The Third World, you become The Third World!” This archaic social Darwinism is the ideological mortar of the Trump project. It fuses Hegseth’s disdain for diversity in the military’s senior leadership and valorization of brutality with the administration’s attack on birthright citizenship and its deployment of federal agents to occupy American cities. It is a worldview that would assume an easy victory against a country like Iran, especially with America’s new, “unwoke” military. Bigotry isn’t just inefficient, as the U.S. military discovered in the 1940s. It also makes you stupid.

Wrote about how Hegseth’s effort to resegregate the upper ranks of the US military ties into the larger MAGA project to restore hierarchies of race and gender: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

In Asheville’s Elections, a View into How North Carolina Is Constraining Local Officials In liberal Buncombe County, elected officials have watched the state shrink their powers over detention and immigration. Now that looms large over the March race for district attorney.

As a result of new state laws in North Carolina, people arrested on low-level crimes who once would have been quickly released are now stuck in the local jails, where they are sitting ducks for ICE.

Trump is trapped in an 'ugly place politically' after only 14 months: expert During an appearance on MS NOW on Monday morning, longtime political analyst John Heilemann pointed out that Donald Trump's approval numbers during his second term have been in a freefall with no hope for a turnaround in sight.Speaking with the hosts of “Morning Joe,” Heilemann was unable to come up...

During an appearance on MS NOW on Monday morning, longtime political analyst John Heilemann pointed out that Donald Trump's approval numbers during his second term have been in a freefall with no hope for a turnaround in sight.

The 40 Elections to Watch This April - Bolts Two statewide votes are headlining the election calendar in April. First, Wisconsin will choose a new supreme court justice, with major implications for voting rights. Then, Virginia will decide whether... Read More

In some of Wisconsin's most competitive counties, Democrats and Republicans are going head to head tomorrow for control of the local governments.

That's on top of many other local elections in this key swing state. Explore our guide: