MarkMan

With reports that our air bombardment of Iran has greatly intensified today, time to repost this prophetic interview from nearly four months ago, from a man who'd know better than most

What can one do with "a Christian who votes for the Bible, and made clear that she opposed any form of socialism" I presume she means only the Old Testament? Has she actually *read* the New Testament, or anything Jesus said and did? If it's only Old Testament, how is she "Christian?" Another CINO.

The press should demand immediate clarification from Trump, Musk, Hegseth, and/or Rubio (though he's clueless) Most pointedly: WHY is the speed throttle STILL there, and WHEN will it be removed? Whoever is party to it is disgusting and evil. Should I post the pics of the dead kids in the Ukr park?

Amazing read. Even in Russia there's still decent people putting their lives on the line. And, once again, it's Ukraine that is organizing and abetting much of it, looking to the future even as they fight and claw just to survive another day. That "city on a hill" is no longer the US; it's Ukraine.

SPECIAL REPORT: The United States and Europe risk squandering the best opportunity since 2022 to alter Russia’s trajectory toward a longer war. Ukraine currently has the best chance of seizing the strategic initiative against Russia since December 2022. Read more: https://isw.pub/RussiaSRBSK

I love this guest essay in the NYT about the King James Bible. Even for those not of a Christian religion, I've long looked at the KJB as standing as a great piece of literature all on its own. So heartening to read that Gen Z is appreciating it too - "OK, boomers," take THAT!

A WSJ editorial I can agree with is so rare that I've to the point I hardly ever click on them anymore. I only looked at this because Quintanilla posted it Like I & others have been saying since Day2-3 after this incident came out: the AI did NOT go rogue at OpenAI. OpenAI's human engineers failed.

The story that much of bsky misses, as people rant AI's a bubble, datacenters will become abandoned shells in communities because they're just for AI slop, etc. Capex # are *probably* not sustainable. But it isn't going to be dotcom 2.0 either, w/ dark fiber for years. There'll be few bankruptcies.

Burns.

I remember that interview 25 years ago, but didn't realize "that guy" is Trump's Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick Nor did I know, til now, that this guy was speaking out of both sides of his mouth even then, even after over 600 of his employees were murdered 2 days earlier - including his brother

WSJ, with an ice-cold graphic: @wsj.com

ING: Real disposable income has effectively flatlined for well over a year in level terms and is well below the pre-pandemic trend. 🇺🇸 (via SoberLook)

"The Trump administration has one big idea about Canada: The US is larger, stronger, & richer than Canada, so Canada must sooner or later surrender to Trump’s demands. That one big idea is wrong... Carney has much more political permission to accept pain from a US-Canadian trade war than Trump does"

Treasury Sec Bessent slightly deepened the US's long-term financial challenges all in the service of achieving a temporary blip in stock market returns that lasted less than 48 hours, while the US government lost the positive financial benefits of the older, lower rate long-term bonds he bought out

We blew all our air defense in a stupid war that we lost. Meanwhile Ukraine is fighting its ass off and now empty. History will be harsh to this administration. Send the remaining Patriots to Ukraine now and ramp up production.

[gift link] Ezra Klei in-depth intervie w/ Jasmine Sun about local opposition to data centers in Wisconsin & Michigan It's astounding how badly AI companies bungled their PR here. Starting with NDAs. A lot of this anger might have not been here, if they had competent people thinking things through?

This is extremely disrespectful. Doing your duty does not mean you automatically support political policies. You can be a good soldier and American and disagree with your President. Using the dead this way is disgusting. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...

[gift link] "Ukraine has changed how militaries use Patriot systems. But recent attacks prove that clever adaptations cannot overcome a shortage of interceptors."

Just when I thought 2.5 more years of Trump couldn't possibly be more exhausting [gift link] "... the U.S. and Iran are relitigating ... issues that were meant to be resolved already. This one step forward, two steps back pattern of negotiations is familiar to veterans of nuclear talks with Iran."

NEW: Iran is taking steps to establish a joint mechanism with Oman to try to exercise long-term authority over the Strait of Hormuz. Such a mechanism would enable Iran to regulate transit through the strait and decide to restrict passage at its discretion.🧵(1/9)

There's so many instance where Trump bulldozes democracy that you need to call out the occasional instance where he is thwarted. This⬇️is the kind of thing that may not be "top of the page" news, but it's *very* important for the long term. AMOC slowing is a HUGE worry, we must understand it better.

there is a word for requiring people to work and refusing to pay them! a whole Civil War was fought over it & the Constitution was amended! and yes I know about the prison slavery exception to the 13th Amendment's prohibition -- but that doesn't even apply here! ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

This kind of thing needs to be front & center in every campaign this fall. Force candidates to go on the record about general abuse of executive power, focusing on issues that resonate particularly in the small towns where these are being built.

omg ffs we just want healthcare

Created a gift link Because it's an important read Also some discussion of what Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on sharing profits said, in the context of Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical about capitalist barons of the industrial revolution (is this why he chose the name "Leo?")

Sonny Rollins has passed. The last surviving person from this iconic 1958 photograph, "A Great Day in Harlem" This photo is so iconic that someone brought together many of the people still alive in 1996 to the same locations, below the original photo (literally to the foot - but Rollins was absent)

Still dangerously unhinged, but now also super stale and boring 🥱

@markjacob.bsky.social's point bears repeating: "The IRS leak that was the subject of Trump’s suit occurred in 2018-2020, when he was president. So, in effect, he was suing over what his own IRS did." Such a dogshit sandwich that even a few usually-spineless GOP Senators are loathe to swallow it.

NYT reviews Trump's jawboning of markets since war began and observes the market manipulation effect it had dropped a lot during the course of April In short, fewer and fewer investors believe Trump when he speaks. Now if only MAGA voters could get there too ... [gift link]

A Tale of Two Economies

So basically, Trump used his party leverage to punish GOP state senators in Indiana who refused to rig their elections.

VA conducted internal investigations into employees who attended vigil for Alex Pretti www.cnn.com/2026/05/05/p...

“Praise be to Allah.” Imagine if Obama tweeted this on Easter Sunday.

Not a pundit I normally agree with, but in this case we line up on the same side of the issue.

One of the most depressing things about living in this moment is that you have to pick & choose on a daily basis which justifiably huge scandal to even focus on Today (SO far) it's between this & reports Hegseth's broker was calling to make investments in defense stocks right before the Iran attack

Powerful, heart-wrenching story

Thought-provoking NYT editorial taking the POV that America's problems go much deeper than Trump - he's in some ways a symptom of a national delusion that far predates him. Another reader has shared a gift link. I'll add an excerpt hitting on Polgreen's main point (as I see it): the USA's hubris