Happy Hour

You only get one hour.

Nobody Knows This

I actually bet "nobody" does know this. (Almost) No more Florida oranges.

In 2003, the mighty Florida orange industry produced 242 million boxes of fruit, with 90 pounds of oranges per box, most of which went on to become orange juice. Now, not even 25 years later, the United States Department of Agriculture was forecasting a pitiful 12 million boxes of oranges, the least in more than 100 years, the worst year since last. A decline of more than 95 percent.

Sure Why Not

Replacing the old bullshit with new bullshit.

But over the last six months, Mr. Musk has shifted SpaceX’s priorities. Though the tech mogul once forecast that humans would take off for Mars as early as 2024, he has de-emphasized reaching the planet.

Instead, SpaceX on Tuesday said it had struck a deal with the artificial intelligence start-up Cursor that could result in its acquiring the young company for $60 billion. And Mr. Musk, 54, has proposed other moonshots that could drive more attention and investment to SpaceX as it prepares for one of the largest-ever initial public offerings.

Among his pronouncements are A.I. data centers that could orbit Earth, moon-based factories and an A.I. chip manufacturing plant, all of which will contribute to a utopian future where humans never have to work, he has said.

Mommy He Hit Me Back

Obviously a few seats can matter (as is the case now!), but I never worried too much about the Republican gerrymandering. I mean, if the Dems can't net 20+ seats after 2 years of Donald Trump, then they deserve to lose (not that we deserve the consequences of that).

Still it was good to see them overcome their normal timidity and actually respond. Republicans and much of the media don't consider this to be fair, as Dems are not supposed to behave that way.

Warfighting

One never knows how much this stuff is true and how much it is just part of the regular PR push for more defense spending.

The US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran and created a “near-term risk” of running out of ammunition in a future conflict should one arise in the next few years, according to experts and three people familiar with recent internal Defense Department stockpile assessments.

Over the last seven weeks of war, the US military has expended at least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles; at least half of its inventory of THAAD missiles, which are designed to intercept ballistic missiles; and nearly 50% of its stockpile of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles, according to a new analysis conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those numbers closely align with classified Pentagon data about US stockpiles, according to the sources familiar with the assessment.

If it is true, or even trueish, then the question should not be "how much more money does the Pentagon need" but "what the fuck do we spend all that money on."

The Mysteries Of Stonks

The market seems to follow what Donald Trump is saying instead of reacting to objective reality.

Open For Business

Gramps is gonna be raging.

Iran’s navy on Wednesday said it had seized two container ships in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, shortly after the U.S. extended the ceasefire and as diplomats seek to bring the countries together for peace talks.

Morning

Wacky Wednesday.

Oh No They Lost The Dersh

It's over.

America's Worst Humans

Jesse Watters.

Never Post

Good advice for us all.

Some Trump officials privately acknowledged to CNN that the president’s public commentary has been detrimental to talks, noting the sensitivity of the negotiations and the Iranians’ deep mistrust of the US. Compounding matters: American officials suspect there is a divide between Iran’s negotiating team, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, leading to questions about who can ultimately sign off on a deal.

“The Iranians didn’t appreciate POTUS negotiating through social media and making it appear as if they had signed off on issues they hadn’t yet agreed to, and ones that aren’t popular with their people back home,” one person familiar with the talks told CNN, adding that the Iranians are particularly concerned about appearing to look weak.

America's superdiplomat, JD Vance, has postponed his trip to Islamabad. 

Warfighters

Whiskey Pete announced that flu vaccines would no longer be mandatory. Life aboard the big boats is going to be great.

I do believe that (most) Americans have no idea what the flu is, thinking it is just a bad cold. A bad cold is just a cold. The flu is fucking nasty and debilitating and possibly deadly.  

Totally

Trump: "We totally control the strait, just so you understand. For all the fake news out there."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) April 21, 2026 at 1:37 PM

I think part of the story of 2020 is Trump increasingly losing his mind as Covid failed to obey his regular decrees.

He has less mind to lose, now.

Fake Laws

Years ago, some economists, and lawyers and judges pretending they were economists, convinced everybody that because antitrust laws violated the truly sacred higher laws of economics, they were actually fake laws.

Emails released on Monday by California’s attorney general show Amazon allegedly colluding with other companies to raise the prices of pet treats, khaki pants, eyedrops and other products sold online.

According to a newly unsealed court filing released by attorney general Rob Bonta, Amazon employees have repeatedly worked with vendors using its platform to push retail vendors including Walmart and Chewyto set higher prices collectively.

Morning

TACO Tuesday.

Happy Hour

Get happy

The Deepest Shade of Mushroom Blue

Gramps is having a good day.

Libertarians Never Surprise

(From Al Jazeera)

Can They Both Lose

In any case, this could very funny.

April 20 (Reuters) - FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic and its reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick ​following the publication of an article on Friday alleging the director had a drinking problem that could pose a threat to national ‌security.

They're Not Wrong

The Art Of The Deal was, always, Trump not actually sticking with the terms of his deals (paying people).  You're a sucker if you do! That's his whole thing!

Irans foreign ministry spokesperson says Iran has no plans for a second round of negotiations as the United States is not serious about pursuing any diplomatic process after its violated the ceasefire a number of times

[image or embed]

— Saul Staniforth (@saulstaniforth.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 9:30 AM

Some version of "we'll make a deal and then, when they have let their guard down, bomb the shit out of them" is the plan, whether or not such a plan is workable in any sense.