Man, the whole "anti-woke" moral panic just looks worse & worse in the rearview mirror.

BACK BELOW $4: for now. The national average price of gasoline has fallen below $4/gal for the first time since March 29. But with oil prices likely to re-accelerate in just 30 minutes as electronic trading opens, we'll likely see many many states price cycling early this week.

WTI crude jumps 7% to $88.40/bbl in opening moments of Sunday trading...

Don Schlitz, Prolific Writer of Country Music Hits, Dies at 73 He won a Grammy for the Kenny Rogers song “The Gambler,” and also wrote for Randy Travis, the Judds and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Don Schlitz, the prodigious songwriter whose credits include Kenny Rogers’s “The Gambler,” Randy Travis’s “On the Other Hand” and many other chart-topping country hits, most of them from the 1980s and ’90s, died on Thursday. He was 73.

The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court

Today's gift link. "In public, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has cultivated a reputation for care and caution. The papers reveal a different side of him." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

51 Percent of Americans Think Trump’s Military Action in Iran Has Not Been Worthwhile A survey from Ipsos and Reuters, released on Tuesday, found few Americans — 24 percent — think the war in Iran has been worth the costs and benefits.

Few Americans — 24% — think the war in Iran has been worthwhile, a new survey released on Tuesday found, while 55% of Republicans said they thought it was worth the costs and benefits. nyti.ms/4dOYxsX

Caught in the Crackdown: As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled ProPublica and FRONTLINE found more than 300 protesters and bystanders who were arrested on charges like assaulting an immigration agent or interfering with law enforcement. Over and over, the accusat...

NEW: “Arrest as many people that touch you as you want to," Gregory Bovino told Border Patrol officers in 2025.

But a review of hundreds of such arrests shows that charges brought against protesters and bystanders repeatedly fell apart under scrutiny.

w/ @frontlinepbs.bsky.social

Opinion | Trump Has Pope Derangement Syndrome

Today's gift link. "Pope Leo's statements aren't partisan barbs; they are expressions of his understanding of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/o...

Northern Mariana Islands, Guam On Alert for ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Super Typhoon Sinlaku The storm, named Sinlaku, was expected to make landfall on Tuesday evening in Tinian and Saipan, where tens of thousands of people were urged to shelter in place.

Tens of thousands of people in the Northern Mariana Islands were asked to shelter in place on Tuesday, as forecasters warned that a powerful storm barreling toward the region could cause “devastating damage.”

This meeting could’ve been an email

καλό πάσχα and عيد فصح مجيد

Opinion | The Trump Administration Is in a Psychotic State

Today's gift link. "The country may relearn something that never should have been forgotten. Institutions need to be reformed, not destroyed; governing well requires skill and careful attention to detail rather than leaders acting on impulse and ignorance." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/o...

He Made a Gadget to Amuse Pets. Then He Turned to Killer Drones.

Today's gift link. "Odd Systems drones use a targeting approach called YOLO, or 'you only look once.' After operators see a target, they engage an automated system, and the drone flies the final 400 or so yards autonomously, making it impervious to Russian jamming." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/w...

How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran

Today's gift link. "He would constantly ask, 'And then what?' But Mr. Trump would often seem to hear only what he wanted to hear." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/u...

All of UCLA's points scored by seniors. Quite a stat.

House Democrat Wages a Lonely Legal Fight Testing Congress’s Power

Today's gift link. "For Ms. McIver, a first-term House lawmaker with little clout or pre-existing national profile, there has been no upside. And help from colleagues has been awkward to come by." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

Iran War Live Updates: U.S. Fighter Jet, a Missing Airman and Trump’s 48-Hour Deadline American commandos carried out a risky mission in Iran to extract an injured crew member who bailed out when a U.S. fighter jet was shot down on Friday.

Breaking News: The U.S. military has rescued an Air Force officer missing since a fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials say.

Economists Once Dismissed the A.I. Job Threat, but Not Anymore

Seemingly all of Silicon Valley is convinced that A.I. will bring on the end of work, or at the very least massive job losses. Economists have been skeptical, bordering on dismissive.
But lately that has begun to change. Economists are starting to take A.I. seriously.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/b...

Average U.S. gas prices per gallon on April 3, per AAA:

• Regular: $4.09 (⬆️ $0.01 from yesterday, ⬆️ $0.98 from one month ago)

• Premium: $4.97 (⬆️ $0.01 from yesterday, ⬆️ $0.99 from one month ago)

• Diesel: $5.53 (⬆️ $0.02 from yesterday, ⬆️ $1.64 from one month ago)

Hegseth Fires Army Chief Amid Battle With Its Leaders Senior Army officers reacted with anger and frustration to news of Gen. Randy George’s dismissal, characterizing it as the latest blow to the service.

Breaking News: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top general, reflecting his ongoing grievances with the Army, officials said.

Perspective | If you work for Trump, it’s time to quit After the Comey firing and the Russia intel leak, the I’m-taking-one-for-the-team ship has sailed.

Every time someone gets kicked out of President Trump's circle, I am reminded of this almost-decade-old riff from @therickwilson.bsky.social. wapo.st/4cmnk6p

Opinion | The War That Is Way ‘Ahead of Schedule’

Today's gift link. "A schedule implies an end date for the conflict, which must mean that Trump is still sticking to his campaign pledge to not embark on endless wars. In this way, 'ahead of schedule' translates, loosely but conveniently, to 'America first.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/o...

Merits of the case aside, it was pretty cool that a Cal-SERVE alum argued for the respondents.

I witnessed Christian Laettner’s shot. UConn’s game-winner from Braylon Mullins was better I never thought I'd see Duke get Christian Laettner’d in my lifetime, but wouldn't you know it, I just did.

From @theathletic.com: "I sure never thought I’d see the Blue Devils get Laettner’d in my lifetime, but wouldn’t you know it, I just did," our columnist writes.

"I witnessed Christian Laettner’s shot. UConn’s game-winner from Braylon Mullins was better."

Opinion | MAGA Was Supposed to Be Antiwar. Nope.

Bonus gift link. "It tells me that America first means pretty much whatever he says it means—and that it might be time to ditch some of our common assumptions about Republicans." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/o...

Opinion | Trump Says Birthright Citizenship Was for ‘the Babies of Slaves.’ He’s Wrong.

Today's gift link.

"Yes, the 14th Amendment affirmed the citizenship of all Black Americans, most of whom were either newly freed or descended from people who had been enslaved. However, Mr. Trump's extremely narrow interpretation disregards the historical record." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/o...

Opinion | We Refused to Seat Two Election Deniers. A Judge Tried to Punish Us for It.

Today's gift link.

"After we voted no, the Fulton County Republican Party sued us, apparently with the backing of the Republican National Committee. Judge Emerson eventually hit the county commission with a $10,000-a-day fine, which was stayed pending our appeal." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/o...

Opinion | Iran Is Using America’s Playbook Against Us

Today's gift link. "While the Trump administration's war aims have vacillated between regime change, denuclearization and military degradation, it now has one overriding objective: reopening the strait." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/o...

ICE Agents Fan Out at Airports Across the U.S. Amid TSA Staffing Issues The agents were sent to help understaffed T.S.A. teams manage long security lines. But early on Monday, it was unclear what impact they were having.

Between 100 and 150 ICE officers were sent to airports across the U.S. to assist understaffed TSA agents, according to a U.S. official. But early on Monday, it was unclear what impact they were having.

Live Updates: Supreme Court Hearing Mail-In Ballots Case The case could upend the way states handle ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive later. President Trump has called for restrictions on mail-in voting.

Breaking News: The Supreme Court appears poised to reject a Mississippi state law on late-arriving mail-in ballots, a decision that could upend voting and have sweeping consequences in the midterm elections.