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

I'm watching my country flirt with national-security suicide in real time 😨

After Trump's speech last night, I can't stop thinking about this Gen McChrystal interview from 10 days ago. What I took from Trump's "plan" for "2-3 weeks" is that he sees no clear end to this. "Two weeks" is a well-known Trump trope for "IDK", and that he added "3" mean even he realizes it's bad.

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

The correlation between price of raspberries & energy. The price of raspberries in US has *already* doubled since start of this year! ___ “Berries are often the first category where consumers notice fuel inflation. When fuel prices rise, those costs move through the supply chain almost immediately.”

Two excerpts from this article about the complete incompetence of civilian military leadership getting in the way of our service members being able to do the job they've asked them to do, and putting nonessential employees and family members needlessly at risk.

Not even US embassies in the Middle East or even US military bases (!) were prepared for the Iran "excursion." Now a lot of staff has to work out of hotels because bases aren't safe. WTF? Maybe this makes our allies feel a LITTLE better about getting no warning either 🤬🤬🤮

[Gift link] David French interviews retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal ___ "If you like this war, enjoy this first part, because this is the best part. Because everything after this will be harder, because it will be more equal, even though we will have bombed them. We’ll have to get down to a level."

Thoughtful OpEd on not just manosphere, but the current Reign of Terror of "The Algorithm." If you only skim, focus on final paragraph for takeaway.

In the late 80's, I was at an event with Helmut Kohl, who was Chancellor of West Germany at the time. While discussing international relations he observed that he would much prefer to deal with a consistent unfriendly nation than an unpredictable friendly one. The US under Trump is unpredictable.

The impending end of my current trajectory, in one slide, from about half an hour ago during the NVIDIA GTC keynote in San Jose 🤷‍♂️ (filling some downtime while silly Disney+Olaf gimmick is happening on stage - not sure what the point is unless Disneyland is going heavy into character robots?)

Well, then. This is even more shameful & inexcusable.

Pentagon plan expands oversight of @starsandstripes.bsky.social, limits content (This is bad, people.) www.stripes.com/theaters/us/...

Hmmm. 🤔

Trump was buying Netflix and WB corporate bonds at the same time he was tweeting about the merger deal. He isn't even bothering to TRY to disguise his insider trading anymore (he used to have his sons make the direct financial moves)

and ps, "the government has unlimited resources" - do you actually really BELIEVE that lol? Scary naive if you do.

Read @virginiaheffernan.bsky.social on the "intellectually insecure reactionaries" around Epstein. Much here that I did not know www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-bi...

Some counterintuitive data: In 2025 (and into '26), demand for US assets (investment inflows into $-denominated assets) was at record height, despite dollar depreciation and relative underperformance of US equity markets Or was this *because of* those things? Peak inflows followed those decouplings

If you've not visited: put it on your bucket list! I first visited in 1989, and most recently in 2018. It was amazing to see how much got done in between. I can't wait to go back when it's finally done.

This personal account [GIFT LINK] of a loving wife & husband confronting his mental illness together has absolutely nothing to do with anything else going on in the world right now. Which is maybe why it touched me so, a reminder that there are always things to admire and cherish in this world.

“Your lack of planning is not my emergency.” Our essay on the Supreme Court and tariffs now that the court has decided that the Supreme Court has struck down most of Trump's tariffs. substack.com/@johnfdicker...

"When the Vice President explicitly linked the survival of the NATO security umbrella to deregulation of American tech platforms, Europe realised that [it's] in a world of bullies ..."

More green shoots of conservative pushback against Trump? CATO says immigrants are GOOD for our economy, and REDUCE budget deficits (meaning, they contribute more taxes than they get in benefits)

Though written from an investor perspective, this article is a pretty good statement of both the strengths and weaknesses of the current state of the art in AI agents, as embodied in Claude Cowork. TL;DR: They're REAL productivity tools for preparing drafts, BUT one must CHECK everything they do.

Sunday I was humming CSNY's "Four Dead in Ohio," wondering if any artists would step up to make an equivalent protest song "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio" My money was on Neil Young to do it again, but ... way to go, Boss!

Latest Fox spin, as they desperately grasp for excuses that'll stick even with THEIR audience To summarize: Poorly trained agents escalated a situation, disarmed a citizen legally carrying a holstered weapon, accidentally discharged a firearm, & then overreacted to that. But all's well. Really!

This is a really worthwhile read. One of the few things I'm finding hope in over these dark days is the incredible example the Twin Cities are providing the rest of the country There's a feeling in the air in my city that ICE is coming here in force soon, maybe next, and there's a lot to learn here

RIP Alex Pretti. On his sacrifice, in his own voice here: "Today we remember that freedom is not free. We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it and even sacrifice for it." (personal video from Mac Randolph on Facebook)

Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now

Invoking the legacy of Walter Cronkite, Acosta said the late journalist would be “spinning in his grave” over CBS’s recent Trump coverage, before adding that he wished Cronkite could rise from the dead and “choke the living sh*t” out of Dokoupil ... open.substack.com/pub/beinglib...

Worth reading through to the end of this (paywall-free) link. But if you just want the biggest takeaways, I've excerpted mine below. I know Minnesota, very well. What I know makes me see that Trump, Noem, and Stephen Miller really, REALLY don't.

It's gross diplomatic incompetence, how Trump is pushing our longstanding natural allies & economic partners into closer ties with our biggest rival. But these chickens will take years to come home to roost, and I sincerely don't think Trump cares much what happens to the USA after he's gone.

ICE has recently bought the capability of monitoring the location histories of entire neighborhoods worth of phones. The data is likely harvested from apps that sell your data, which filters up through data brokers and eventually to companies that sell to ICE: www.404media.co/inside-ices-...

Interesting US housing statistic: As anxiety about housing affordability mount, the share of unmortgaged homes has increased 20% over the last 15 years, from ~32% to ~40% Suggests the true root problem may be inequality, not "affordability?"

@nytimes.com article on something that could stoke further US economic "malaise" over coming months. Article states energy assistance directors group "expects four million accounts to be shut off this year."

From @torstenslok.bsky.social: "... the US economy remains incredibly resilient ... the upside risks to growth and inflation are significant ... a data-dependent Fed would come to the conclusion that it should not cut interest rates next week."

Trump national security strategy: Make Europe White Again. "Over the long term, it is more than plausible that within a few decades ...certain NATO members will become majority non-European" "the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure" www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

WSJ article today on potential investment opportunities in commercial real estate "... if the AI rally slows, or slumps, property could eventually go from being unpopular to a place where investors want to shelter."

*Please* take advantage of gift link, then READ ALL of it! Title is clever & engaging, but it does not capture the essence of the article: the discussion of churlish behavior of Trump admin figures is only an appetizer to serve the main course, about how WE collectively need to act to counter this.

Elon Musk's poison hall of mirrors from @cwarzel.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

It's only a matter of time before this geodata gathering to formulate theories of "pattern of life and movement" is integrated with the extensive secret NSA data gathering about US citizens that Edward Snowden exposed 15 years ago. I'm willing to bet its already happened.

I'm an American who has pride about the "idea" at the foundation of my country, even if it's always been an "imperfect Union" (Lincoln). Why I was literally crying by the 9-minute mark of this. I hope non-subscribers can view this? There was no option for "gift link" as there is for text articles.

A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos." factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

This!

The ICE Officer, Greg Bovino, who got a US Attorney in California fired with a phone call to the WH, is now leading his troops through downtown Chicago, looking for people who look illegal. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

55 years of data supports that "summertime" temperatures in US are persisting later into the year, and how this is upsetting established patterns for schools, farming, etc. Even those who won't admit that climate change is man made should be able to at least acknowledge it exists & is a problem?