Quite a few instances of "war" and "prewar" in a document meant to end a conflict that was not described as a war. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/u...

Today's gift link. "Americans hate data centers. They really, really hate them." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/o...

Peter Navarro: "Every American should love tariffs"

Breaking News: U.S. exports rose 2.6% in April, as the war with Iran boosted exports of oil and petroleum products.

From @theathletic.com: The first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game, President Trump was booed louder than the San Antonio Spurs by his fellow New Yorkers. nyti.ms/4uZHM49

My crankiest old man take is that referring to all art/entertainment/journalism/criticism/comedy/advertising as “content” helped pave the way for broad-ish acceptance of AI slop.

Economic confidence, by party news.gallup.com/poll/710450/...

MENG: Are you going to issue new memo in writing rescinding weaponization fund? BLANCHE: I'm not committing to putting anything in writing. What would the purpose be? M: You established it in writing so it makes sense to rescind it in writing B: Ok. I'm not committing to doing anything in writing

46.3 million barrels: that's how much U.S. gasoline inventories have fallen since january, the largest such drop on record going back to 1996. it's 54% bigger than the second-largest ever recorded, 2022's 30.3 million barrel plunge.

Today's gift link. "Americans may be struggling to afford food, gas and a visit to the doctor, but drugs and alcohol are more affordable than ever." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/o...

Bonus gift link. "Having lambasted President Barack Obama's 2015 deal to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, Mr. Rubio is now among the loudest supporters of a similar agreement." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/o...

Today's gift link. "People are enduring democracy as 'the worst form of government' without the necessary balanced understanding (that citizens in the mid-20th century had gained through firsthand observation) of 'except all those other forms that have been tried.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/o...

Today's gift link. "You want to bring only cases that you are confident you can win—that is, unless your real aim is subjecting people to bogus charges." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/o...

Bonus gift link. "'We can't tolerate mediocrity,' she told me. Every step of this autopsy process shows Democrats doing exactly that." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/o...

Today's gift link. "Members of Congress must act to reassert the exclusive power that the Constitution vests in the legislative branch—or else we will have gone a step further toward making Mr. Trump a king." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/22/o...

Today's gift link. "We can't afford to underestimate Russia's strength and its ability to harm Ukraine and NATO allies—by providing Iran with intelligence, for instance—but we must not overestimate it either." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/o...

Today's gift link. "Majorities of voters said that the war was not worth the costs and held deeply pessimistic views about the economy." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/u...

Today's gift link. "The exit-strategy imperative also makes the departure of U.S. forces an objective—rather than a consequence—of a successful military operation, thus mixing ends and means." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/o...

Today's gift link. "Throughout it all, Mr. Powell was crystal clear about the need to avoid being drawn into political controversies and to keep the Fed's decision making truly independent." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/o...

Today's gift link. "Satisficers don't necessarily have low standards. Their standard is 'good enough for me' rather than 'the best out there,' and that makes it possible to feel satisfied with their choices, instead of haunted by the ones they didn't make." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/o...

The Consumer Price Index rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday. The increase spells bad political news for President Trump, with majorities of voters saying they are frustrated with the rising cost of living. Here's what else the jump means.

Bonus gift link. "For the rankings, I considered imagination, ambience, service, technique, passion, commitment and sheer deliciousness—but also, and most important, New York-iness. What does a restaurant tell us about our city, and ourselves?" www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Today's gift link. "How are people who may have been exposed supposed to protect themselves if they are not told of the modes of transmission and the stakes accurately and loudly, including when the definitions evolve?" www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/o...

Gas prices pulled back over the weekend, with the average at $4.469/gal this morning, while diesel has fallen slightly to $5.610/gal- but I do believe price hikes/cycles will start today and tomorrow, and by the end of the week we could be pushing $4.60/gal and $5.85 for diesel.

One more today. "Washington is trading hard-won cultural capital for a momentary win in a diplomatic spat." www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Bonus gift link. "Now, a seeming solution to the public health problem has been stymied by an unlikely force: the Trump administration's war on diversity, equity and inclusion programs." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/u...

Today's gift link. "The Abraham Accords were sold as a framework for delivering regional peace and stability. They have delivered the opposite." foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/07/t...

Today's gift link. "In recent years, a jamón-cutting station has become a fixture at high society events. Nowadays, a wedding is judged, Mr. Soriano said only half-jokingly, less by the sanctity of the union than on the state of the ham." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/w...

In Opinion The Pentagon’s $25 billion estimate for the cost of the war in Iran “gets a lot of attention, but it’s more of a headline than a real number,” the economist Justin Wolfers writes. “My math suggests the Iran war will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and very possibly trillions.”

Today's gift link. I'm not a Platner fan, but this is worth a read. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/o...

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “Zoomers’ uncertainty about the future can’t be captured by the usual metrics or entered neatly into a spreadsheet,” Anna Louie Sussman writes. “But it may be the X factor in the global parenting free fall.”

Bonus gift link. "Any hope that Greenland was an aberration rather than a precedent was dashed with the war in Iran." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/o...

Today's gift link. "This month-long journey cannot be meaningfully sped up." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

⛽ Average U.S. gas prices per gallon on May 6, per AAA: • Regular: $4.54 (⬆️ $1.56 since war in Iran began on Feb. 28) • Premium: $5.39 (⬆️ $1.85 since war began) • Diesel: $5.67 (⬆️ $1.81 since war began)

Today's gift link. "To the extent that the Supreme Court claims broad authority to say what our Constitution means, it is in large part because we have given this authority to the justices through our indifference." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/o...

Breaking News: James Murdoch’s company is said to be in talks to acquire most of Vox Media, including New York magazine.

Bonus gift link. "This year, since we now give you a chance to vote on your favorite looks, we're saying, unequivocally, that these were ours (presented in no particular order)." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/s...

Today's gift link. "This argument rests on the false premise that most Americans are equipped to evaluate these complex, opaque investments. They are not." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/o...

Today's gift link. "Justice Elena Kagan, voting in the minority, struck the right tone: 'I dissent because Congress elected otherwise,' she wrote. 'I dissent because the court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/o...

Serwer 4 - Alito 0 www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Today's gift link. "Republicans who were quick to denounce the Obama administration's rescue of the auto industry have been mostly silent when it has come to Mr. Trump's more numerous adventures." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/o...

Bonus gift link. "In this 30-minute interview, Swift explains her process, the stories behind some of her biggest hits, her love of a 'rant bridge' and how life in the public eye informs the stories she tells in her songs." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/28/m...

Today's gift link: "More than 250 music insiders and six New York Times critics weighed in on who defines the new American songbook. Here, in an unranked list, are the artists they chose." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Today's gift link. "While in Congress, James Madison wrote: 'Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued or concluded.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/o...

Today's gift link. "In February 2025, Donald Trump mocked Zelensky in the Oval Office. 'You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now,' Trump said. In April 2026, Ukraine has enough cards left that it’s sharing them." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/o...

Today's gift link. "This need that some MAGA apostates feel to rationalize their previous poor judgment can be harmless, if irritating. It's only dangerous when they insist on creating a scapegoat." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/o...

Republicans loved gerrymandering as long as their opponents were committed to fair maps. Now that Dems are responding in kind, conservatives aren’t having as much fun. But the only thing worse than constitutional hardball is unilateral constitutional hardball. (🎁) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Today's gift link. "The blockade has reduced the country's oil revenues to a fraction of their prewar levels, but it is likely to be some time before the consequences become untenable for Iran's regime." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/o...

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.