Friends — This is starting to feel a lot like the Vietnam War. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/memories-of-vietnam

Nothing says expert like a weekend talk show host. When he gets fired the orange balloon will hire Sylvester Stallone as Secretary of Defense because, well, you know…Rambo. 🤨

These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of April 6, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Cartoon by Bob Eckstein

Elon Musk is now worth over $800 billion. Tesla reported paying ZERO federal income tax on $5.7 billion of U.S. income in 2025. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and household debt has risen to a record high. This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.

A cliff fall at Burniston Rocks, Yorkshire last month was 700 metres from the well pad site proposed by Europa Oil & Gas. Fracking in Lancashire in 2019, using lower volumes of fluid than planned at Burniston, caused multiple earth tremors. What could go wrong? drillordrop.com/2026/04/03/c...

Gum Rockrose (Cistus ladanifer) can cover whole hillsides in southern Portugal, a striking sight with its large white flowers. Resins and oils used in cosmetics, perfumery and medicine can be extracted from it. However, as a highly fire-adapted species it's often indicative of over-burning.

“Four of my children just evaporated,” Badran said, holding back tears. “I looked for them a million times. Not a piece was left. Where did they go?” There are no words to adequately describe the evil here.

A brief history of the Israeli nuclear program, the open secret at the heart of the Iran war

This is an actual post. This is not funny. This is beyond desperate. This is a deeply unwell man who doesn’t belong anywhere near the levers of power. Every member of his cabinet and Congress is complicit in not demanding his removal now.

Another beautiful Easter message from the President who loves Jesus with all his heart and soul.

UK PETITIONS #SaveCoulLinks Loch Fleet SSSI, SPA & Ramsar wetland from Mike Keiser's new golf developments. 1st planning application was rejected by Scottish Government MSPs: Vandalism you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/co... 2nd submitted with hoodwinkery: Groundhog you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

4 Types of #Narcissism described by psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula: grandiose, malignant, covert &/or communal. (NB Please don't identify any individuals that fit some or all of these character profiles, as the hyperlink will be disabled.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uJs...

I've repeatedly said from the beginning, it was a huge tactical error, for Keir Starmer to believe, that being obsequious to Trump, would allow him to develop a special relationship with Trump, which would allow the UK to be in a unique position with Trump. www.theguardian.com/politics/202... 1/7🧵

Mick Lynch "Nigel Farage is a racist." RT if Mick is right.

A sure sign of a genuinely good-hearted person is that whenever they do something positive, they brag about it on social media while slagging off immigrants.

US-Israeli strikes target over 30 universities across Iran, science minister says

Starmer has also shrunk Labour from the biggest party in Europe with policy decided by branch motions & conference funded mainly by members' subscriptions to an elitist group which which sells policy to the highest millionaire bidder

Silverdalen Johan Hedin (nyckelharpa) Esbjörn Hazelius (guitar) www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYq...

Cf. The Beast of Craggy Island 🐏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_xO...

& obtain a Nobel Peace Prize. See who nominated this ass tRump: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_No...

Hoppyness is one of my favourite beers. Prototype India Pale Ale (IPA) was invented in 9th century but Abbess Hildegard von Bingen in 12th century normalised the use of hops for flavouring & preservative. Water was far too contaminated & dangerous to drink. www.beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/H...

Mary had a little lamb, its fleece electrostatic. And everywhere that Mary went, the lights became erratic. #DavidFosterWallace

Keir Starmer utterly silent on the war crimes that are happening. He'll drone on about a special relationship but nothing to say on war crimes in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine. Trump and Netanyahu able to behave like we have law of the jungle.

Basically Trump decided to cause chaos, mayhem, death, destruction, disruption, dissension, depletion of resources, & decades of hatred and mistrust from friends and foe in the Middle East and beyond, then walk away while telling the world he expects them to clean up his mess.

I keep waiting for a reporter to post: “Just got off the phone with President Trump. He didn’t really say anything new so I have nothing to report.”

You can’t vote out Trump in the midterms, but you can vote out the people who enable him.

Just what we don't need. Already, our rivers are overloaded with both human and livestock waste, leading in many cases to #rivercide. Now the government, responding as always to lobbyists, wants to make it worse. Then it wonders why it loses public support. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We’ve had presidents who didn’t understand economics, foreign policy, diplomacy, and lacked knowledge of historical lessons. But they were advised by people who did and listened to them. Now we have a president who doesn’t understand anything and won’t listen to people who do.

So as Reform UK announce their plans for the "biggest benefit cuts ever", whilst cutting taxes for the wealthiest, their Treasurer has just sold his Chelsea Mansion for a record £275million www.ft.com/content/8daf...

Mr. President: I have a better idea. Instead of spending over a trillion dollars on never-ending wars abroad while plunging the working class into poverty here at home, let’s invest in universal childcare, Medicare for All and affordable housing. America first!

Scandal-ridden Fujitsu - promised falsely accused & jailed postmasters lots of cash after lying in court - since paid £ZERO in compensation - has “30 live UK contracts worth £5billion", 8 with HMRC since 2019 Calls to declare Fujitsu a not ‘fit & proper organisation’ are ignored info via Private Eye

The Government has absolutely no mandate to do this. Labour never mentioned in its manifesto that it planned to undermine and restrict a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy - the right to trial by jury - a move which will place us on a path toward authoritarian justice youtu.be/x6NIiM9G5ag?...

A new ecological survey of our Northwoods Rewilding Network compared rewilded areas with neighbouring non-rewilded land – and the differences are striking. Clear evidence that rewilding is driving dramatic nature recovery across Scotland. 👉 Discover the full story: https://bit.pulse.ly/dyhomd7pi4

Talking to young folk I work with today, one was recounting how he has been paying his student loan off for 5 years, but it’s gone from the £53k he borrowed up to £79k now…. He studied in Northern Ireland Vote SNP & Green in May to keep tuition free in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Just a quick reminder Scotland banned gas/oil heating in new homes 2 years ago Up here we have a Passivhaus equivalent standard (a standard for creating highly energy efficient buildings that require very little energy for heating or cooling) becoming mandatory in 2028

The great care home cash grab: how private equity turned vulnerable elderly people into human ATMs. When did care homes come to be seen as recession-proof investments? And who pays the price? www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Milei’s inflation ‘miracle’ in Argentina is a warning, not a blueprint. Not a victory for Argentine productivity. It’s a byproduct of a deliberate and engineered collapse in people’s wages. Milei hasn’t fixed the engine of the economy, he has turned it off theconversation.com/javier-milei...

Many More Should Have Also Been Prosecuted….

Huge problem in Scotland too. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Huge problem in Northern Ireland too. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I'm getting pushback from people here saying that illegal waste dumping (and the failure to stop it) is just an English problem. Sorry, but much as you might wish to believe it, it's not true. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scot...

🌼 Spring Loading! - By @davidzinn.bsky.social 🇺🇸 When Spring Is Here (14 photos): streetartutopia.com/2026/04/01/s...

King Charles’s state visit to US will be ‘humiliation’ amid Iran war. Cancel the visit. It is part of appeasement of a crazed felon who doesn't respect international law. Must work with the EU. Abandon dollarisation of trade, which gives US a cut from every trade. Trade in local currencies.

McCormick: "We were horrible in Vietnam until we did Rolling Thunder Two, then we won. As soon as we do half-measures, we lose. The faster we get this over the better. If we seize Kharg island, it could be done almost flawlessly. If we have enough firepower, it would be very easy to defend."

I'm not even going to make it to the discussion of "winning in Vietnam." I'm stuck on the "we" that is seizing Kharg Island, and how "easy" it will be.