2026-03-20 20:00:00
I only read the internet for the articles. But apparently, there is a pent-up demand for images. Especially certain type of images. As you may know, Google Images was essentially created by Jennifer Lopez’s Versace dress. Of course, the quest for alluring images predates the internet (by a lot), and these images have been used to market everything from cigarettes to burgers to cars since the earliest days of advertising, starting with the Pearl Tobacco brand featuring a naked maiden on the package cover in 1871. (Back then, people needed a post coital smoke after just looking at the package.) Now, similar images are being used to market militaristic patriotism, war, and other political movements. “The beautiful Army blonde Jessica Foster has posed with an F-22 Raptor fighter jet, donned camouflage in the desert and walked a tarmac with President Donald Trump on the first day of the strikes on Iran. The slew of photos and videos depicting the patriotic life of the MAGA dream girl have led her Instagram account to explode, gaining more than a million followers since she began posting four months ago.” Only this latest form of sexualized marketing has a new twist (and pull). Jessica Foster is not even as real as Jessica Rabbit. She’s AI. And she’s part of an increasingly common trend. “Foster’s viral takeoff highlights an increasingly prevalent strategy for winning online attention. A slew of right-wing accounts, peddling patriotism mixed with soft-core pornography, use fake women and convincing imagery to grab viewers across a distracted internet, monetize their interest and score political points.” WaPo (Gift Article): Thousands have swooned over this MAGA dream girl. She’s made with AI. (Alt link). “A viral fake of an Army service member spotlights a new trend in online attention harvesting: part patriotism, part p-rn and 100 percent computer-made.” In fairness, the naked maiden featured on Pearl Tabacco packaging also wasn’t a real person. But back then, people knew that.
+ Google Search is now using AI to replace headlines with rewritten titles. (It might drive more clicks if they replace headlines with Jessica Foster…)
With more troops headed for the Gulf, the latest chapter in the art of how to win friends and influence people has been published on social media by Donald Trump. “Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER! They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran. Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” (Yikes, what did our allies do, use bonespurs to get out of fighting?) Remember when all the hysterical libs with Trump derangement syndrome warned that one day he’d get us into a global war and run it from his social media account? Well, I guess they learned their lesson…
+ David Ignatius wrote this before the latest NATO bashing. “Unwinding this conflict will be much harder than starting it was. Declaring ‘victory’ and walking away would leave the region in dangerous disarray. To truly end the crisis, Trump will have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and put limits on Iran’s ragged new leadership. He can achieve these goals through coercion, or diplomacy, or a combination of the two. But he must choose a strategy and implement it. Trump will compound the damage if he takes out his frustration over Iran by bashing Europe for its refusal to provide military aid. Attacking Iran was defensible; wrecking NATO isn’t.” The Iran War Is Metastasizing. Trump Needs an Endgame.
+ “I’ve been ambivalent about this war against Iran — to say the least. While nothing would improve the Middle East more than a decent government taking power in Tehran, I seriously doubt that simply pulverizing Iran from the air can generate that change.” Tom Friedman in the NYT (Gift Article): Once and for All Means Never.
+ On the war’s other front: Fears of an all-out Israeli invasion mount in Lebanon.
+ “A civilian in Tehran chronicles a country trapped between bombardment and repression—too terrorized to move, let alone start an uprising.” The New Yorker: What the War Has Done to Iranians.
A friend of mine ran an experiment this week by creating 200 different March Madness brackets. By the end of the first day of games, only one of them made it through unscathed. In other words, he beat the odds. Only 0.1% of NCAA tournament brackets are still perfect after High Point stuns Wisconsin, VCU’s win over North Carolina.
What to Watch: HBO describes DTF St Louis, starring Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Linda Cardellini, as a darkly comedic series, in which a love triangle between three adults experiencing middle-age malaise leads to one of them ending up dead. But this Steven Conrad creation is even weirder (and better) than that. Grab a Watermelon Breeze smoothie and enjoy the first few episodes. If you dig the show and need more from Steven Conrad in between episode releases, check out his prior (and even weirder) series Patriot on Prime.
+ What to Read: “Some stories take on a life of their own because they show how things really are. Others spread because they tell us what we already believe. And sometimes a story that’s too good to be true is just that. But a good story is a hard thing to kill.” McKay Coppins in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Incredible Story of the Cartel Olympics. “A Mexican athlete said he was kidnapped and forced to compete for his life in a tournament of gangs. But was he actually playing a different game?”
+ What to Comedy: Robby Hoffman’s Netflix special Wake Up (directed by John Mulaney) is well worth a watch. And if you missed last week’s pick, don’t. Chris Fleming Live at the Palace on HBO is one of the best and most unique stand-up shows I’ve seen in a long time.
The Next Excursion? “The Russian-flagged Anatoly Kolodkin is some 3,000 nautical miles from Cuba in the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to reach the island in 10 days … If so, that would mark the first time any oil shipment from any country reaches Cuba in the past three months given a U.S. energy blockade.” Cuba readies for first Russian oil shipment of the year as energy crisis deepens.
+ Take My Wife, Please: “Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent turned presidential special envoy, had learned that his Brazilian ex-girlfriend was in a Miami jail, arrested on charges of fraud at her workplace. They had been in a custody battle over their teenage son. Now he saw an opportunity.” Trump Friend Asked ICE to Detain the Mother of His Child.
+ Getting Into Harvard, Again: ” The Justice Department filed a new lawsuit Friday against Harvard University, saying its leadership failed to address antisemitism on campus, creating grounds for the government to freeze existing grants and seek repayment for grants already paid.” (Reminder: “Jew hatred is real, but today’s anti-antisemitism isn’t a legitimate effort to fight it. It’s a cover for a wide range of agendas that have nothing to do with the welfare of Jewish people.” Trump Is Selling Jews a Dangerous Lie.)
+ Today in Dictator: Kim Jong Un sits on a tank with his daughter at a military exercise. And Trump’s Handpicked Arts Commission Approves Gold Coin With His Face on It.
+ Bachelorette Tu? “Disney/ABC executives first saw the video of Taylor Frankie Paul’s February 2023 domestic violence incident the same time as you.” Why ABC Had to Scrap The Bachelorette. (They wouldn’t want to risk the diminishment of the otherwise stellar reputation of reality show stars…)
+ Teleport Hole: “Gregg Phillips, the head of FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, has a history of violent political rhetoric and claims of teleporting to a Waffle House that are now out in the open.” (Think about it. This isn’t nearly weird or terrible enough to top the news these days…)
+ It Was a Leg (and Arms) Day: “France says it’s taking ‘appropriate measures’ after a naval officer’s use of the Strava exercise app inadvertently enabled journalists to geolocate the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle that is in the Mediterranean to help protect French and allied assets and interests during the Iran war.”
“The people of Minneapolis-St. Paul are being honored with a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for their response to the federal immigration enforcement operation this winter, the JFK Library Foundation announced Wednesday.” (Come on, Nobel Peace Prize committee, you know what to do!)
+ In Uganda, “Harerimana Ismail hasn’t had a paycheck since the beginning of last year. He’s kept working nonetheless.” He’s one reason why aid cuts weren’t as dire for the HIV population as predicted.
+ A baseball title unleashes the happiness Venezuelans kept bottled up for years. (Opening Day is about to do that for me…)
+ Strangers help 78-year-old DoorDash driver after viral doorbell video.
+ No passport, no problem. Meet the border-hopping cat who comes and goes as he pleases.
+ Possum found nestled in with plush toys at airport gift shop in Tasmania.
2026-03-19 20:00:00
Click, click, click, click … just one second … click, click, click … almost there. I’m trying to read an article to determine if it’s worth summarizing clearly and with a dose of pithy hilarity, but that’s not as easy as it used to be. I don’t mean the synthesizing, summarizing, and sharing. (Give me 16 ounces of coffee with a double-espresso depth charge, and I can still bring ChatGPT to its knees.) I mean the reading. It takes me more and more clicks to get through the overlays, ads, subscription boxes, and pop-ups just to read the lede. And that doesn’t even account for the time spent waiting for the scripts, cookies, and other trackers that are loaded onto my browser as soon as I land on a page—which sure feels like yet another punishment for agreeing to buy what the site is selling. It used to be that the customer was always right. When it comes to browsing news sites, the customer is always ripe. I’ve had better brand interactions with that Nigerian prince who used to email and ask for money.
Yes, as someone who obsessively reads a lot of articles across a lot of sites, it’s fair to say that I’m Patient Zero when it comes to this problem. But I’m hardly alone. A sad irony of this trend is that the more news sites struggle to get visitors, the more compelled they feel to suck every last drop of cash (and dignity) from those who make it through the commercialized maze. Another irony is that the worse the website reading experience gets, the more likely people are to settle for the AI summary version (the latest threat to a news industry already on life support). There are other ironies as well. It turns out irony is the last thing you can see on the internet without having to close seventeen boxes first. As my fellow old-school blogger John Gruber explains: “The web is the only medium the world has ever seen where its highest-profile decision makers are people who despise the medium and are trying to drive people away from it.” ‘Your Frustration Is the Product.’ “And the f-cking autoplay videos, jesus. You read two paragraphs and there’s a box that interrupts you. You read another two paragraphs and there’s another interruption. All the way until the end of the article. We’re visiting their website to read a f-cking article. If we wanted to watch videos, we’d be on YouTube. It’s like going to a restaurant, ordering a cheeseburger, and they send a marching band to your table to play trumpets right in your ear and squirt you with a water pistol while trying to sell you towels.'”
+ Shubham Bose: The 49MB Web Page. “I went to the New York Times to glimpse at four headlines and was greeted with 422 network requests and 49 megabytes of data … To truly wrap your head around the phenomenon of a 49 MB web page, let’s quickly travel back a few decades. With this page load, you would be leaping ahead of the size of Windows 95 (28 floppy disks). The OS that ran the world fits perfectly inside a single modern page load.”
“The only person who can determine what is and is not an imminent threat is the president.” That was Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard trying to answer Jon Ossoff’s questions about how much of a threat the intel community thought Iran posed before the airstrikes started. Gabbard was trying not to publicly disagree with the statements made by her boss (which isn’t easy since so many of those statements contradict one another). But that doesn’t make her statement any less disturbing.
+ So, according to our Director of National Intelligence, the buck stops with Trump. Does he agree? Not exactly. Israel says US helped coordinate gasfield attack, despite Trump’s claim he knew nothing about it. (Either he’s not in charge, or he’s lying. Both are bad options in these serious times.)
+ Energy producing sites are being hit across the region and markets are rattled. Meanwhile, “when asked in the Oval Office about using ground troops in Iran, Mr. Trump said: ‘I’m not putting troops anywhere. If I did, I wouldn’t tell you.’ Trump also made a Pearl Harbor joke during a meeting with Japan’s prime minister. (No, I’m not joking.) Here’s more from the NYT.
+ Fear, defiance, and anger: Iranians describe life under bombardment. Right now, they’re stuck between bombing and a repressive and violent regime. Does America owe the Iranian people freedom from both when this is over? “When Trump thought protesters might triumph, he made them extravagant promises. After it became clear that they weren’t going to quickly overthrow the mullahs, he treated them as disposable allies.” Franklin Foer in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Is Betraying Iran’s Pro-Democracy Protesters.
+ Pete Hegseth during his latest press conference: “May almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. To the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.” (Well, someone just got himself removed from my Seder invitation list.)
As more products are being delivered, what will get people to the mall? Put on your yoga pants and find out… “When Americans are out shopping these days, they are more likely to be buying Botox or boxing lessons than shoes or shampoo. Retail leasing by service-oriented tenants outpaced goods-based retail leasing for the first time ever, a reversal driven in large part by a proliferation of salons, spas and fitness studios.” WSJ (Gift Article): America Now Has More Spas and Gyms Than Stores Selling Actual Stuff.
The big sports leagues made deals with the sports betting sites. So it’s not a big surprise that they’re making deals with the prediction markets that have become sports betting sites. MLB reaches agreements with Polymarket. Commissioner Rob Manfred: “I hope that it goes without saying that our primary concern, always first in our minds, is protecting the integrity of the game.” (And nothing protects the integrity of the game quite like doing deals with gambling sites.)
+ I know, I know. I’m a killjoy and we should just all enjoy our March Madness brackets. But I’m extremely concerned about these betting trends. He got hooked on betting at age 11. By college he gambled 15 hours a day. “When Malek decided to share his story, he initially focused on high schoolers — but he’s now increasingly booked for middle schools.”
+ I hit on this trend (and shared one of the better articles on the topic) last week. Talking ‘Bout My Degeneration.
Where Credit is Due: Between oil prices, regional wars, and AI bubbles, you have enough to worry about when it comes to your portfolio. But here’s one more thing. It’s called ‘private credit’ — and it could lead to big trouble on Wall Street. “When private-equity firms and other companies that aren’t banks lend money to businesses, such as software companies and auto lenders. Banks often are more reluctant to lend directly to these businesses, which they see as riskier bets — but they’re still exposed to them, because banks do lend to private credit firms.” And the private equity market has been looking shaky lately.
+ That’s the Ticket: “In office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order to crack down on price gouging by ticket resellers and looked on as Kid Rock said that Ticketmaster, Live Nation’s selling platform, was ‘going to lose some money.’ Most important, the Trump Justice Department pushed ahead with a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation that was filed in 2024 by the Biden administration and ultimately joined by 39 states and the District of Columbia. Which is why it came as such a shock last week when, just a week after the case went to trial, the Justice Department announced it was all but surrendering.” (At this point, it was hardly a shock.) The Trump Administration Just Gave Live Nation the Gift of a Lifetime. What he promises has an inverse relation to what he does. Trump Vowed to Crack Down on Fraudsters, but He’s Pardoned Dozens.
+ Not Weighting Around: “Just about 10 weeks after it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the Wegovy pill is now estimated to be part of the daily regimen of about 400,000 Americans. And the field of weight-loss treatment is on the verge of even more head-spinning change.” Weight-loss treatment is on the verge of a dramatic shift – again. (These drugs are so effective and getting so cheap that pharma companies are having a hard time keeping placebo patients around. Obesity drug tests upended by placebo patients leaving early.)
+ Nostrildamus: “That vote included a ‘no’ from the Republican chairman, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and a ‘yes’ from a Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.” Mullin’s DHS nomination advances to full Senate. (He’ll get confirmed. And we’ll never know where he smelled war.)
+ Nordic Pick: “If happiness were an Olympic event, the Nordic countries would be guaranteed a spot on the podium. Actually, all three spots on the podium. According to the latest edition of the World Happiness Report, the three happiest countries in the world are Finland, Iceland and Denmark.” (I don’t want to give a certain someone any ideas, but we could sure up our own national happiness average if we made them states 51 through 53.) “Finnish President Alexander Stubb reacted Thursday to his country being in first place again, saying: ‘I do not think there is a magic potion, but it helps to have a society which strives towards freedom, equality and justice.'” (Oh forget it. It doesn’t sound like a good cultural fit…)
We’re learning that cockroaches develop long-term relationships. And those relationships flourish in part because the two cockroaches have each other’s backs. Literally. These roaches form exclusive long-term relationships after eating each other’s wings. (And I thought a hickey was overkill…)
2026-03-18 20:00:00
“I remember literally running into my husband’s office and saying, ‘Come look at this email, I think I’m being punked.'” That was how UC Irvine criminology professor Charis E. Kubrin reacted after learning that she had been nominated for the Stockholm Prize, the highest honor in her field. And you can’t really blame her. For years, she has been punked, doubted, dismissed, and attacked over her research. Why? Because it’s research that flies in the face of what most Americans believe — their certainty based on longstanding, preconceived notions, bolstered nonstop by the assurances of one of the world’s most prolific liars, combined with what’s become America’s unofficial favorite pastime: Doing your own research. Research and science being doubted and flouted is hardly unique in today’s America, but in Kubrin’s case, her findings strike at the heart of a political movement and at the core of a set of policies that are reshaping America’s streets (and values). “Kubrin was being recognized for rigorous research that demonstrated in place after place, decade after decade, that immigration to the U.S. does not cause crime to go up; it may even push it down.” When Kubrin won her award, Anne Ramberg, who chairs the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation, explained: “When policymaking becomes driven by populism rather than by evidence, society as a whole stands to suffer.” In other words, Don’t Study Crime, If You Won’t Take the Time. A UC professor won criminology’s highest honor. Americans still don’t believe her research (Alt link). “The distance between what is empirically known and what is deeply believed has tormented scholars since before Galileo. But the schism has rarely felt so impassable in American culture.” (Even today, I’m sure there are plenty of Americans who don’t believe that the earth orbits the sun. They think it orbits Donald Trump.)
“Donald Trump does not think strategically. Nor does he think historically, geographically, or even rationally. He does not connect actions he takes on one day to events that occur weeks later. He does not think about how his behavior in one place will change the behavior of other people in other places. He does not consider the wider implications of his decisions. He does not take responsibility when these decisions go wrong. Instead, he acts on whim and impulse, and when he changes his mind—when he feels new whims and new impulses—he simply lies about whatever he said or did before.” Anne Applebaum has been right about Trump since the beginning and she sums him up pretty well in this lede. And, like it or not, that strategy has worked out for Trump over the years. But now he’s in a war he hasn’t been able to fully explain and asking for, then not asking for, then demanding, then saying he doesn’t need the assistance of allies that he has maligned, bullied, embarrassed, and disregarded for years. And, “this week, something broke. Maybe Trump does not understand the link between the past and the present, but other people do.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Everyone but Trump Understands What He’s Done.
+ Unlike Trump, Bibi has been preparing for this moment for years, and has a defined strategy. Whether or not it will work (or whether or not Trump will remain on board with it) is another question. Netanyahu Hopes Strikes on Iran Will Lead to Uprising and Regime Change.
+ Netanyahu’s strategy is based in part on removing layer after layer of the leadership of the Iranian regime. (Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmaeil Khatib, was killed on Wednesday). Israel and the US have also been targeting Iran’s energy sites, threatening the regime, but also global energy supplies.
+ Russia has seen sanctions drop and oil sales surge. It’s a pretty nice reward for a country that’s been attacking a US ally for years and is currently aiding Iran in its fight against the US. WSJ (Gift Article): Russia Is Sharing Satellite Imagery and Drone Technology With Iran.
“He locked the door, as he always did when he called her, and told her how lonely he had been. He brought her onto the yoga mat that he often used in his office for meditation, kissed her and pulled her pants down. ‘Don’t tell anyone,’ he told her afterward. ‘They’d get jealous.’ The man, Cesar Chavez, one of the most revered figures in the Latino civil rights movement, was 45. She was 13. Ms. Murguia said she was summoned for sexual encounters with him dozens of times over the next four years.” NYT (Gift Article) with a brutal report. Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years.
Smoking rates recently dropped below 10% for the first time since we got into the habit. That’s among Americans. American humans, to be more precise. Cigarette use has actually increased among birds. “Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos, house finches in Mexico and song thrushes in New Zealand have all developed a curious habit: They put cigarette butts in their nests. Some songbirds in Britain are even nesting in outdoor ashtrays.” NYT (Gift Article): Why Some Birds Seem to Be Developing a Cigarette Habit. “Cigarette butts contain about 4,000 chemical compounds, including nicotine, arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals. These compounds could ward off pests that harm birds and their offspring.”
Unmanned v Unprepared? “With Operation Epic Fury well into its third week, there are two increasingly urgent questions: how long U.S. defense systems can continue to hold off such attacks — not just in Iraq, but throughout the Middle East — and whether the U.S. underestimated the threat of Iran’s drones in the first place.” (I actually doubt that the military underestimated Iran’s drone program. But I wonder if we’re all underestimating the extent to which cheap drones, AI, and other tech are altering the battlefield and eroding some of the advantages held by the world’s military powers.) Cheap drones are reshaping modern warfare — and catching the U.S. off guard. In Ukraine, they know the power of Iranian-made drones all too well. Ukraine strings nets over cities as killer drones turn streets into war zones.
+ Mark Wanes: “Senator Markwayne Mullin, President Trump’s often pugilistic pick to lead the department, struck a milder tone at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.” Wow, I’ve never heard of nominees changing their tune during confirmation hearings. “Mullin apologized for his comments about the shooting of Alex Pretti. He declined, however, to apologize for his comments about the shooting of Renee Good, saying that the officer had to make a split-second decision.” Here’s the latest from NYT.
+ Opposite World, Continued: Trump’s tariffs are hurting American manufacturers instead of helping them. And, Trump Promised the ‘World’s Lowest’ Drug Prices. We Checked the Numbers. (It’s getting really hard to take this guy at his word.)
+ This May Be of Interest: Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, keeps 1 cut in play this year as uncertainty mounts. (One more thing for the market to be unhappy about…)
+ Stomping Stamps: “If it continues business as usual, the U.S. Postal Service is on track to run out of cash for paying its workers and vendors in about a year and may have to stop deliveries.” This probably doesn’t help. Amazon reportedly plans to slash its USPS delivery volumes by at least two-thirds. (Why would Amazon need the USPS? At this point, it won’t be long before they build a distribution center in your driveway…)
+ All Is Not Well: “Attia also went on to become one of the most trusted wellness influencers, with 1 million YouTube subscribers, 1.6 million followers on Instagram and 100 million downloads of his podcast.” I’m always dubious of the phrase, trusted wellness influencer, but Attia was as big as it gets. And then, because of his Epstein connection, it all came crashing down. Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Rise and Fall of Peter Attia’s Longevity Empire. (Maybe he should have studied career longevity…)
+ If Not Now, Ven? “Venezuela reigns supreme, the U.S. once again fell short by a run, and the global vibes of the sport were on full display.” The Winners and Losers of the 2026 World Baseball Classic. “Much like 2023, the most lasting takeaway won’t be that the Americans lost, but that this tournament has become appointment viewing. For two weeks every three years, the sport sheds its leisurely pace and turns into a high-stakes and emotionally charged spectacle rivaled only by October in intensity.” (Even as a fan, I was nowhere near ready for this level of baseball in March.)
“If people were talking about the town and our policies, that would be one thing. But all they’re interested in is our names.” That must be frustrating. But in fairness, this is a local election between Hittler and Zielinski.
+ Texting a random stranger better for loneliness than talking to a chatbot. (Funny, I’ve been typing STOP to random strangers who send me texts for years, and I don’t feel less lonely…)
2026-03-17 20:00:00
Over the past few years, much of our political discourse has been focused on the roads that cross America’s Southern border, and the drugs those roads carry. But sometimes we forget the route between the US and Mexico is a two-way street. The traffic going the other way, the way we talk about less often, features a much more permeable border over which another dangerous payload is delivered at a relentless pace. And, in a twisted irony, the more the traffic coming up is slowed, the more the traffic going down speeds up. And you might be surprised by which country suffers the most from what crosses the border. The NYT (Gift Article) provides an in-depth roadmap toward understanding the delivery of the most American of exports. Inside the Supply Line Delivering American Guns to Mexican Cartels. “One smuggler said the border is so porous that cartel members sometimes tape gun parts and sometimes even entire firearms directly to their bodies and walk them into Mexico.”
Ai is reshaping our computing (and life) experience at a breathtaking pace. But quantum computing could make today’s advances seem like they’re coming in slow motion. And some experts say we’re only a few years away from this new reality. “When this point is reached, some problems that would take a traditional computer more than trillions of years to solve could take a quantum computer mere minutes, changing business as usual for industries involved with financial trading, shipping logistics, pharmaceuticals, scientific discovery, data encryption, insurance, internet delivery and more.” WSJ (Gift Article) with a good explainer to get you up to speed. How Quantum Computing Works.
+ Maybe no one has experienced the current computing advances more dramatically than the coders who helped create these new platforms. Actually, these days, they do less coding and more cajoling, ordering, and occasionally threatening. NYT (Gift Article): Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It. “Many software developers these days berate their A.I. agents, plead with them, shout important commands in uppercase — or repeat the same command multiple times, like a hypnotist — and discover that the A.I. now seems to be slightly more obedient.”
It remains unclear whether Iran’s regime is losing its grip on the country. It’s much more clear that being a leader in that regime can be a dead-end job. “Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, were ‘eliminated last night,’ Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said. Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.”
+ “Mr. Larijani, the head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, was the de facto leader of the country after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes killed the upper echelons of government and the military early in the war. He was known to be trusted by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who was killed at the start of the U.S.-Israeli campaign late last month. Mr. Larijani’s responsibilities had grown steadily over the past few months, including overseeing the brutal crackdown on antigovernment protesters in January.” But could the void his death leaves be filled by even more extreme hardliners? NYT (Gift Article): Israel’s Killing of Ali Larijani Could Allow Military to Tighten Grip on Iran.
+ Joe Kent, a Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official, Resigns Over the Iran War. Kent has a history of pushing conspiracy theories, has been a key advisor to Tulsi Gabbard, and is buds with Tucker Carlson. Still, his departure “bluntly exposes how the Iran war is expanding fissures in President Trump’s coalition.”
+ UK security adviser attended US-Iran talks and judged deal was within reach. “Powell’s presence at the talks, and his close knowledge of how they were progressing, was confirmed by three sources. One source said he was in the building at Oman’s ambassadorial residence in Cologny acting as an adviser, reflecting widespread concern about the US expertise on the talks represented by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy on several issues.”
+ Jared Kushner Reportedly Seeks $5B From Middle East Governments for His Firm While Serving as Envoy. (He is charged with solving all the world’s most complex problems and he still has time to manage his investment fund. Now that’s multitasking.)
+ “The window for Donald Trump to end the Iran war by simply declaring victory and walking away is rapidly closing. Soon he will face a stark choice: He can take greater risks in pursuit of a decisive tactical success, prepare the country for a prolonged conflict that could last for many months, or seek a negotiated settlement that involves a real compromise with Tehran.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Disappearing Off-Ramp in Iran.
+ “President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that one of his predecessors told him he wished he had been the one to bomb Iran.” The only problem with that: He didn’t speak to any of the four former presidents.
“A defibrillator delivers up to 1,000 volts to a patient’s heart; inmates executed by electric chair typically receive about 2,000. A typical lightning strike, by contrast, transmits 100 million volts or more.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): What 100 Million Volts Do to the Body and Mind. “The most fundamental consequences of being struck by lightning are often metaphysical, and not easily communicable. How does falling victim to one of the most notoriously unlikely of all misfortunes reorient your sense of chance, of fate? How does it feel, when you’re trying to describe the most transformative experience of your life, to be met, routinely, with disbelief?”
Ballot Box Out: “Legislation that would require proof of U.S. citizenship for new voters has become a rallying cry for President Donald Trump, who claims that passage of the bill will ‘guarantee the midterms’ for his Republican Party in November. The bill, which the Senate will take up as early as Tuesday, would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register and to present approved identification when they go to the polls, among other new rules that Trump and his most loyal supporters are pushing as part of an effort to assert more federal control over elections.” What’s in the voting bill that Republicans are pushing to the Senate floor. (International strategies may never quite form, but election ones never waver.)
+ Who’s Got Next? “I think Cuba is seeing the end,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on March 16, adding that he believes he’ll have the ‘honor’ of ‘taking’ the country… ‘Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it.'” The Crisis in Cuba, Explained.
+ Your Money or Your Life? How’s this for a lede to define America’s current foreign policy? “The State Department is considering withholding lifesaving assistance to people with H.I.V. in Zambia as a negotiating tactic to force the government of the southern African country to sign a deal giving the United States more access to its critical minerals.”
+ Gamble Bramble: “Kalshi may brand itself as a ‘prediction market,’ but what it’s actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation and taking bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law.” Arizona files criminal charges against Kalshi, accusing prediction market of illegal gambling.
+ Ready, Fire, Aim: “Our data on the USA goes back to 1789. What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country.” ‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog. (In case you’ve missed the last few hundred editions…)
+ Whaling Away at Wind: NYT (Gift Article): Trump Officials Weigh New $1 Billion Deal to Stop Offshore Wind Farms. “Mr. Trump has disparaged offshore wind power since 2012, when he tried unsuccessfully to stop a wind farm visible from one of his golf courses in Scotland. He has often called the projects ugly and inefficient, and he has claimed without evidence that they are ‘driving whales crazy.'”
+ The Hour Is Getting Late: Amazon now offers 1-hour delivery in hundreds of U.S. cities. (We’re being turned into a nation of Veruca Salts…)
“According to data from a large US insurance claims database, the month of March – during which the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament takes place – can see a spike in vasectomies performed.” (This can definitely impact your team’s seeding…)
2026-03-16 20:00:00
Sinners, one battle after another, a Frankenstein’s monster wreaking havoc … we’ll get to the Trump administration news soon enough. But let’s start with the Oscars. I have a feeling this will go down as one of the more forgettable Oscar nights. That could be because in today’s nonstop stream of massive, anxiety-inducing news, it’s impossible to remember anything for more than a few minutes. Or maybe it’s just because TV is so dominant now that many of us were just waiting for the Oscars to end so we could get back to our regularly scheduled binge. One person who definitely put in his time waiting was Paul Thomas Anderson, who finally ended his 0-11 streak and took home three trophies for One Battle After Another. PTA was joined in his big night by several winners from Sinners, including Autumn Durald Arkapaw, making Oscar history as the first woman to win Best Cinematography, and Michael B Jordan’s crowd-pleasing win for Best Actor. From The Wire to Friday Night Lights to Sinners, Jordan has had a career of nonstop highlights. So he definitely deserved an In-N-Out break. Sean Penn won his third Oscar, but skipped the ceremony. He was hanging with Zelensky in Ukraine. Sinners and One Battle divvied up the night’s biggest wins during an event when there really were no losers. Except maybe Marty Supreme, which, perhaps suffering from Timothée Chalamet’s ping pong diplomacy, left the night empty-handed. Here’s a list of all the winners.
+ Between Sinners and Battle, Warner Bros was the dominant studio, winning a record 11 Oscars. But will this mark the end of an era as David and Larry Ellison’s Paramount moves toward closing the deal to acquire the studio? It’s hard to imagine the new leadership (that includes a growing list of former MeToo castoffs) is going to dig movies with the cultural and political messages of Warner Bros 2026 winners. It’s easier to imagine Warner’s creative output looking like a juke joint after a visit from a band of vampires.
+ Related: Kimmel won the Oscars with the line of the night. “There are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which, let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
+ Here’s Conan’s opening monologue, Billy Crystal’s tribute to Rob Reiner, and some of the evening’s viral moments,
+ While the best movies of the year divided up the top awards, the worst movie of the year enjoyed a more unanimous win. ‘War of the Worlds’ remake sinks to the bottom at this year’s Razzie Awards.
It turns out that disparaging, threatening, humiliating, and nauseating allies might not have been the best strategy. So far, many of America’s strongest allies have refused Trump’s call to help open the Strait of Hormuz. So he’s disparaging them more. But it doesn’t matter, because we don’t need them anyway. Nah, nah. Trump Disparages Allies for Rebuffing His Requests for Military Assistance. “‘We don’t need anybody; we’re the strongest nation in the world,’ Mr. Trump said. He suggested his request for assistance in reopening the Strait of Hormuz instead amounted to a loyalty test of America’s allies. ‘I’m almost doing it in some cases not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react.'”
+ WSJ (Gift Article): Trump Wants to Secure Hormuz. Here’s What It Would Take.
+ Things are not going well for Iran. The regime is damaged. Their ability to defend themselves and threaten others has been greatly diminished. Where things go from here could depend on allies and political strategy, which makes the above story all the more worrisome.
+ “As the price of oil soars to $100 a barrel and countries scramble to limit the fallout of the sudden loss of Middle East fuel, China has two significant advantages over its geopolitical rivals. Many of its new cars run on electricity. And that electricity is mostly powered by sources at home.” NYT (Gift Article): China’s Edge in an Oil Shock: Electric Cars and Renewables.
+ Meanwhile, the administration seems more obsessed with how the war is being covered than how it’s been planned. First, there are the attempts to sell the war using video games and sports memes, which I covered on Friday in Wii the People. Then there are threats to shut down journalism that doesn’t function as state media. F.C.C. Chair Threatens to Revoke Broadcasters’ Licenses Over War Coverage. “Democratic lawmakers and free-speech watchdogs were quick to condemn Mr. Carr’s threat as a violation of the First Amendment.” (There was a time every American would condemn these threats.)
“My minor report on a missile striking an open area was now in the middle of a betting war, with those who had bet ‘No’ on an Iranian strike on Israel on March 10 demanding I change my article to ensure they would win big.” Another reason prediction markets are a bad idea: Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story.
Meet “Iceland’s only ‘lava cooling manager’ — or ‘hraunkælingarstjori’ in Icelandic.” NYT (Gift Article): Iceland’s Chief ‘Lava Cooler’ Is Bracing for the Next Eruption. “More than two years ago, as the earth seethed, Icelandic officials scrambled to make a plan. The first eruption in that area came just days before Christmas in 2023. Within hours, lava was just about a mile and a half from the fishing town of Grindavik, whose 3,500 residents had already fled from their homes. Billowing smoke and lava fountains reached more than 300 feet into the air. So they came up with a daring idea. If they could not stop it, could they at least steer it?”
Minn There, Done That: “It’s not just that I’ve had to watch the Trump administration destroy cherished alliances, like ours with Western Europe and Canada, that have upheld freedom, democracy and global trade since World War II. It’s also been the stunning cowardice and boundless greed with which leaders of big law firms and Big Tech have bent their knees to King Donald and indulged a cabinet of clowns — not one of whom they’d hire in their own businesses. But then I spent time in my native state, Minnesota, after something else that I’d never seen in nearly 50 years: a spontaneous uprising of civic activism propelled by a single idea — I am my neighbor’s keeper, whoever he or she is and however he or she got here.” Tom Friedman in the NYT (Gift Article): Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future.
+ But the Beatdown Goes On: “Stephen Miller is the architect of Trump’s immigration policies, and there’s little reason to think that Noem’s ouster will change Miller’s approach. It may even serve to embolden it, by giving him fresh cover. The department has temporarily paused large-scale arrest operations in the wake of a national outcry over abuses in Minnesota, and it is in the midst of a partial shutdown owing to opposition from congressional Democrats. The Administration’s bigger ambitions show no signs of flagging, however. In fact, they are leading toward a new humanitarian and legal crisis.” Jonathan Blitzer in The New Yorker: Trump’s Mass-Detention Campaign. Meanwhile, Deportees sent by Trump to Salvadoran prison are still stuck a year later.
+ Ringing the Farm Alarm: “As the president’s immigration policies squeeze an already tight supply of farm labor, the Trump administration is making it cheaper to hire foreign farmworkers.” No, this is not the Onion. It’s the NYT (Gift Article): To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers.
+ Markwayne and the Stock Gain: “Mr. Mullin reported buying shares in Chevron, the only major U.S. oil company producing in Venezuela. Five days after the purchase, President Trump attacked Venezuela, demanding that its leadership give better terms to U.S. oil companies. Chevron’s stock price has since jumped, even as the market as a whole has slipped. The Chevron transaction, which Mr. Mullin reported in January, was among as much as $2.8 million he invested in 31 companies on Dec. 29 — and part of a pattern of large and frequent trades that has made him one of the most prolific stock buyers in Congress.” How Trump’s Homeland Security Pick, a Prolific Investor, Got a Lot Wealthier in Congress. (This is an extreme example of a wider, and bipartisan, issue. It’s flat out crazy that members of Congress can purchase individual equities. It’s also flat out crazy that members of Congress can be named Markwayne.)
+ Are You Bot or Not: “The worker uncurls its claw-like fingers, daintily grips the basket by its edges and walks it over to a conveyor that will send it through an industrial washing machine. About a minute after it grabbed the first basket off a pallet, it returns to grab another. So it goes for eight hours a day, basket after basket, pallet after pallet.” WSJ (Gift Article): When Humanoid Robots Come to a Small-Town Factory. (Please come for NextDraft next…)
+ Throw the Book at Em: Does using AI ever remind you of searching through those encyclopedias that once lined your shelves? There might be a reason for that. Encyclopedia Britannica sues OpenAI over AI training.
SNL pushes the trailer for a new show. It’s like the Pitt. But run by RFK Jr. Welcome to MAHAspital.
2026-03-13 20:00:00
I’ve put in my 10,000 hours several times over at the intersection of news and humor, so I feel I’m qualified to assess whether something related to the news is funny or not. Using memeified videos that splice together scenes from Grand Theft Auto, NFL football hits, and Wii games is something I don’t find funny. And I’m guessing other people who don’t find it funny include relatives of service members in harm’s way, Iranians who desperately want to be rid of the regime but live in constant fear that those bombs being memefied might hit an unintended target (like, say a girls’ school), and our allies who once depended on a serious country run by serious people. While the attempt to make violent imagery fun might appeal to some toxic bros, one imagines even the Super Mario Bros wouldn’t mind if Donkey Kong took a hammer to this practice. But this isn’t just the usual trolling by an administration looking to own the libs. All of the people above are seeing these videos and the associated behavior from the administration as it relates to this war. And whether we like it or not, these bombastic bombing jokes are now attributed to the country, not just the puerile punks running the White House social media account. This is us. This is U.S.
+ The videos are a meme-match to the tone of Hegseth’s briefings, which ooze tough-guy testosterone, but seem more focused on attacking the press than explaining our plan of attack. Irate Pete Hegseth claims Iran’s leaders are ‘rats’ in hiding and demands a ‘patriotic press’ rewrite headlines. Meanwhile. Hegseth Says ‘The Sooner David Ellison Takes Over’ CNN ‘the Better.’ (At least when it comes to taking over the airwaves and replacing networks with state media, the strategy is crystal clear.)
+ The same clarity is not showing up in the messaging about the war. And Trump’s latest answer as to when the war will end won’t help. “When I feel it. When I feel it in my bones.”
+ All 6 U.S. crew are dead after a plane goes down in Iraq, as Mideast war toll mounts.
+ “The jockeying for Trump’s ear is a feature of his presidency, but this time the consequences are a matter of war and peace.” Reuters: With Iran war exit elusive, Trump aides vie to affect outcome.
+ The aides who want more (and potentially ground) troops seem to be getting a lot of ear time. Pentagon Is Moving Additional Marines, Warships to the Middle East.
+ “After earlier calling for Iranians to rise up, the president on Friday expressed skepticism about a popular uprising against the government.” Trump Says Iranians Face ‘Big Hurdle‘ to Overthrowing Regime.
+ Meanwhile, from the NYT: Trump Removes Sanctions on Russia to Help Oil Flow Amid Iran Conflict. (Come to think of it, Vladimir Putin may be the only person who thinks any of this is funny…)
“We’re now really starting to see the full effects of the Trump administration’s war on electric vehicles as U.S. registrations fell a staggering 41% year-over-year in January — causing gas- and hybrid-powered vehicles to regain marketshare.”
+ Meanwhile, BYD’s latest EVs can get close to full charge in just 12 minutes. “The vehicle has a range of up to 800 km and will be launched in Europe next month and in the UK in the summer.”
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Can Windows do the same? Microsoft “unveiled Copilot Health, a feature within the Copilot app that lets the chatbot dispense personalized healthcare advice informed by the user’s disease history, test results, medications, doctors’ visit notes and biometric data as recorded by wearable devices.” WSJ (Gift Article): Microsoft’s New AI Health Tool Can Read Your Medical Records and Give Advice. All you have to do is turn your head and cough up your data.
What to Watch: I don’t know how to describe the comedy featured in Chris Fleming: Live at the Palace, but I know I was cracking up the whole time I watched it. If you don’t like the jokes, his performance can also double as an exercise video. He runs, he stretches, he planks, and more.
+ What to Movie: The Oscars are this Sunday. So it’s time to binge at least some of the nominees. NPR: Your guide to Oscar-nominated movies and where to watch them.
+ What to Read: If you missed yesterday’s lead featuring a great read from McKay Coppins, who found himself instantly sucked into the world of online sports betting, don’t. It’s a great narrative that provides an overview of a trend I keep covering because it’s going to get completely out of hand. Talking Bout My Degeneration.
Can’t You Smell That Smell? “Already, the air smelled of soot, gasoline, and asphalt. Then I felt a tickle sliding up my nostrils and down into my throat, like I was getting a cold. As we approached, I heard the rumble of cranes and trucks, and then from behind a patch of trees emerged a forest of electrical towers. Finally, I saw it—a white-walled hangar, bigger than a dozen football fields, where Elon Musk intends to build a god.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of Ai Data Centers.
+ Powell to the People: “In a scathing 27-page opinion, Judge James Boasberg said Friday that the government has produced ‘essentially zero evidence‘ to substantiate its criminal case against Jerome Powell.”
+ Synagogue Attack: “The FBI is investigating a car ramming attack on a large Detroit-area synagogue Thursday as a ‘targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,’ the special agent in charge for the region said … [the driver] lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last week, according to a local Lebanese official and a mayor in Michigan.”
+ A Familiar Story: “Almost half of Republican voters younger than 50 believe that the Holocaust did not happen as historians describe, according to a recent study by the Manhattan Institute. One-quarter of that cohort openly expresses anti-Jewish views; another 30 percent don’t reject openly anti-Semitic individuals.” Anti-Semitism Is Becoming Mainstream.
+ The Correspondent: “John F. Burns, an acclaimed foreign correspondent whose frontline dispatches for The New York Times from the war zones of Afghanistan and Bosnia secured coveted Pulitzer Prizes, and whose frequent television appearances from Baghdad made him one of America’s best-known journalists covering the chaos and perils of the conflict in Iraq, died on Thursday.”
+ All Dolled Up: “Cuddly blankets, soft toys and cardboard cutouts featuring the minister have gone viral in the Latin American country following the February 22 raid that killed infamous cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, better known as El Mencho … The operation, which Garcia Harfuch helped lead, was personal for the security chief, who blamed El Mencho for a 2020 assassination attempt that left him with three bullet wounds and killed two of his bodyguards.” Mexico’s heartthrob security minister now available as miniature doll, shirtless or dressed as Batman. (Don’t give Trump any ideas…)
+ Weather Whiplash: The weekend weather? Uh… U.S. forecasts blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome and atmospheric river all at once.
“London, San Francisco and Beijing are among 19 global cities that have achieved ‘remarkable reductions‘ in air pollution, analysis has found, having slashed levels of two airway-aggravating pollutants by more than 20% since 2010.”
+ Balcony solar is taking state legislatures by storm. (And overcoming a lot of resistance by the utilities…)
+ For Oksana Masters and Aaron Pike, U.S. Paralympic power couple, 2026 Games are full circle.
+ At the Winter Paralympics, some athletes have found business opportunities.
+ “A newly installed free payphone on Boston University’s campus is helping generations connect the old fashioned way; giving people the chance to ‘call a boomer.’ The payphone directly connects to a similar phone installed in the game room of a senior housing complex in Reno, Nevada.”
+ “Nearly 5,000 people gathered in Oakland on Thursday afternoon to celebrate local hero Alysa Liu – a fitting homecoming for the two-time Olympic gold medalist who joyously shouted out the Bay Area city after her short program in Milan.”
+ “A Rhode Island man recovering from a stroke practiced ordering his favorite Dunkin’ drink during speech therapy … The company surprised the McMahon family with a year of free coffee, Dunkin’ merchandise and tickets to Opening Day at Fenway Park.”