Wildfire And Drought Risks Spike As California Enters Dry Season With Just 18% Snowpack

California is entering its dry season with far less snow than usual, heightening drought concerns across the state, according to Bloomberg.

Snowpack stands at just 18% of normal statewide, according to the Department of Water Resources. Conditions are especially severe in the Sierra Nevada: the northern region has only 6% of typical levels, while the central and southern areas are at 21% and 32%, respectively.

The shortfall matters because California depends on winter snow — not year-round rainfall — for much of its water. Snowpack, typically measured around April 1 at its peak, acts as a natural reservoir that melts in spring and summer to supply cities, farms and ecosystems.

This year, however, warmer Pacific storms brought more rain than snow, boosting reservoirs but limiting snow accumulation. The snowpack also peaked early, in late February, before record March warmth rapidly melted it.

Bloomberg writes that the result could be widespread drought conditions, with increased wildfire risk and added strain on agriculture and wildlife as water supplies tighten.

Historically, California has seen similar swings between extreme lows and highs in snowpack. During the 2012–2016 drought, snow levels collapsed, culminating in 2015 — the lowest in at least 500 years — when many Sierra sites recorded little to no snow. Warmer temperatures, rather than just lack of precipitation, played a major role in that “snow drought,” a pattern scientists say is becoming more common.

At the same time, the state can quickly swing to the opposite extreme. Just a few years ago, 2023 brought one of the largest snowpacks on record — more than double the average — following multiple wet storms. These sharp reversals underscore California’s growing “boom-and-bust” water cycle, where exceptionally wet years are often followed by rapid declines, making long-term water planning increasingly difficult.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 19:35

Obama's Tower Of Doom Is Harder To Get Into Than America Itself

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

In yet another jaw-dropping display of elite hypocrisy, Barack Obama’s Chicago Presidential Center – long derided as the “Tower of Doom” – now requires proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency just to enter a ticket giveaway for its grand opening ceremony on June 18, 2026.

While Democrats in Washington relentlessly push policies that treat America’s borders like an open invitation, the Obama Foundation has quietly imposed strict eligibility rules for its own high-profile event. 

The sweepstakes for two free tickets, complete with a potential $1,500 travel stipend for winners living 100 miles or more away, is explicitly limited to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who are legal residents of the 50 states, D.C., or Puerto Rico and at least 18 years old.

HYPOCRITE: The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago — opening this June — is restricting entry to its grand opening ticket giveaway to only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Kayleigh McEnany: “Why do we have stricter standards for the Obama library than for voting?”… pic.twitter.com/SbIuZDVIxv

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) April 4, 2026

Kayleigh McEnany cut straight to the point: “Why do we have stricter standards for the Obama library than for voting?”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) delivered the obvious answer: “Well, because Democrats would like to allow non-citizens to vote in American elections.”

X users were equally unforgiving.

This is rich.

YOU ARE ONLY USEFUL TO THEM FOR YOUR VOTE!!!!!!

Wake up people!!!!!

— girlwithattitude?? (@Julesro42) April 4, 2026

So telling. They want illegal’s votes but they don’t want to have to be around them.

— Jack H (@JackHuckIV) April 4, 2026

I just wish Democrats would see this hypocrisy by the people they vote for!

— SHEEDOM (@SheedomUSA) April 4, 2026

This latest twist exposes the double standard at the heart of the modern left: secure the perimeter around Obama’s $1 billion vanity project while demanding the rest of America absorb an unchecked invasion.

As we’ve previously highlighted, tower is almost complete, with the “headache-inducing” narcissistic addition of chopped-up excerpts from Obama’s 2015 Selma speech etched across the facade. 

That update only amplified mockery of the prison-like monstrosity, already ballooning toward $1 billion in costs while displacing South Side residents as rents doubled from $800 to over $1,800 for two-bedroom apartments. Locals rightly called out how such developments “displace the very people they say they want to improve it for.”

The $1 billion Presidential Library resembles a “Tower of Doom” – a concrete bunker sucking the life out of Chicago’s South Side, complete with DEI contractor lawsuits over poor performance and racial discrimination claims. 

Taxpayers were stuck with a $200 million-plus infrastructure bill despite claims of private funding, while the foundation scrambled with just $116 million in reserves against $230 million in remaining costs.

Obama’s team can demand verified legal status for a glorified selfie opportunity at his ego monument, yet the same political machine fights tooth and nail against basic citizenship verification at the ballot box. Meanwhile, everyday Americans foot the bill for the fallout.

The Tower of Doom stands as a fitting monument – not to hope and change, but to the insulated arrogance of a political class that preaches open borders for thee but ironclad gates for me. 

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

* * *

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 19:00

Oil Up, Stocks Down As War Rhetoric Rises, Deadlines Loom

After a long weekend of kinetic and verbal escalation (and a strong payrolls print), and with President Trump reminded Iran that his deadline for a deal looms, it is no surprise that oil prices are higher in early trading...

WTI topped $115...

Near post-war highs...

And despite the recent hope-filled decoupling of oil and stocks...

...S&P futures also weak, down around 0.7% in the early trading...

Treasury futures and gold are lower with USD/JPY near 159.70.

While the Iran conflict has established an ongoing state of caution in the market, several significant data points yet lie ahead: PCE on April 9, CPI on April 10, and FOMC on April 29.

As SpotGamma notes, the SPX Term Structure has returned to contango — which means options are pricing in higher volatility in the weeks ahead than in the near term.

Comparing that curve with Forward IV shows a meaningful spread around both the CPI and FOMC dates, suggesting current positioning may not fully reflect the event risk those catalysts could bring. Between negative gamma, the IV-RV flip, and a still-steepened vol curve, the data suggests traders should remain alert.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 18:24

Iran Threatens "Complete And Utter Annihilation" Of OpenAI's $30BN Stargate Data Center In Abu Dhabi

In a move that may well have been sponsored by Dario Amodei or Elon Musk, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a clear public warning to the US that any damage inflicted on Iran’s power infrastructure will be met with decisive retaliation. Specifically, IRGC spokesperson Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari threatened the “complete and utter annihilation” of U.S. and Israeli facilities, with Stargate's $30 billion "hidden" AI datacenter in Abu Dhabi singled out as a juicy target for Iranian destruction later in the video.

The threats come on the heels of Iran reportedly delivering enough damage via rocket strikes to some Amazon AWS data centers that they have shut down.

Iran leveling up
They released a video of threatening to strike 1GW Stargate AI datacenter in the UAE.

The data center is hidden on Google maps they even shown that pic.twitter.com/LuOGIp3BVj

— Furkan Gözükara (@FurkanGozukara) April 3, 2026

In the video, Zolfaghari warned that “should the USA proceed with its threats concerning Iran’s power plant facilities the following retaliatory measures shall be promptly enacted: All power plants, energy infrastructure, and information and communications technology of the Zionist regime, and all similar companies within the region that have American shareholders shall face complete and utter annihilation.”

As Tom's Hardware notes, after Zolfaghari's remarks end, the video switches to a shot of the Earth from space, which zooms into Abu Dhabi on Google Maps. A zone not far from the coast is then centered on, showing an apparently ‘empty’ area of desert. However, a message is overlaid on this bleak view, stating “Nothing stays hidden to our sight, though hidden by Google.” The video then switches to a ‘night vision’ view of the same area of the map with the full extent of the Stargate AI datacenter in Abu Dhabi clear to see.

The threat comes after the IRGC claimed they targeted Oracle's data centers in Dubai.

IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SAY THEY HAVE TARGETED ORACLE'S DATA CENTER IN DUBAI - STATE MEDIA

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) April 2, 2026

There has been no confirmation whether the facility was hit or what damage it may have sustained.

* * *

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 17:50

OPEC+ Agrees To Boost Output By Another 206,000 Barrels A Day When Strait Of Hormuz Reopens

With the world's attention glued to every headline out of Iran, it is understandable why today's OPEC+ meeting was largely ignored, although with roughly 12% of global oil output throttled at the Strait of Hormuz, it's not as if even OPEC+ could do much to offset the supply shock. 

Earlier on Sunday, the oil-producing cartel (where Iran is a founding member yet was missing from the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee) warned that damage to Middle East energy assets will have a prolonged impact on oil supply even after the Iran war ends, as it approved a symbolic increase in output quotas for next month.

“Restoring damaged energy assets to full capacity is both costly and takes a long time,” the group’s ministerial monitoring committee said in a statement after meeting on Sunday. Any action that jeopardizes security of supply, whether that’s an attack on energy infrastructure or disruption of export routes, increases market volatility and weakens OPEC+’s efforts, OPEC+ said.

Rhetoric aside, the oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to increase targets for May by about 206,000 barrels a day during today's video conference. The modest rise that will largely exist on paper as its key members are unable to raise production due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Saudi Arabia and Russia saw the biggest output increases, 62 kbpd each. 

Here is the statement released by the OPEC+ JMMC:

The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Algeria and Venezuela holds its 65th Meeting via videoconference 

The JMMC reviewed current market conditions and emphasized the essential role of the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) in supporting the stability of global energy markets. In this context, the Committee highlighted the critical importance of safeguarding international maritime routes to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy.

It also expressed concern regarding attacks on energy infrastructure, noting that restoring damaged energy assets to full capacity is both costly and takes a long time, thereby affecting overall supply availability. Accordingly, the Committee stressed that any actions undermining energy supply security, whether through attacks on infrastructure or disruption of international maritime routes, increase market volatility and weaken the collective efforts under the DoC to support market stability for the benefit of producers, consumers, and the global economy.

In this regard, the Committee commended the DoC countries that took the initiative to ensure the continued availability of supplies, particularly through the use of alternative export routes, which have contributed to reducing market volatility. 

The JMMC will continue to closely monitor market conditions and retains the authority to convene additional meetings or request an OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, as established at the 38th ONOMM held on 5 December 2024. 

The next meeting of the JMMC (66th) is scheduled for 7 June 2026.

The OPEC+ quota increase of 206,000 bpd ​represents less than 2% of the supply disrupted by the Hormuz closure, but it signals readiness to raise output once the waterway reopens, OPEC+ sources have said. Consultancy ​Energy Aspects called the increase "academic" as long as disruptions in the strait persist. To be sure, OPEC members will be delighted to boost output and take advantage of surging oil prices with Brent now around $110, the highest in 4 years, maximizing revenue while prices are this high before either supply surges or demand destruction sends the world into a recession, with both outcomes leading to a plunge in oil prices. 

Oil prices have soared after five weeks of conflict, with Brent climbing to almost $120 a barrel last month and some regional Asian benchmarks briefly hitting a record above $170 before reversing, as key Middle East energy assets came under attack and Iran effectively closed the critical Strait of Hormuz, creating what the International Energy Agency called the biggest supply disruption in the history of the market. 

“The real story is not OPEC+ policy, it is the Strait of Hormuz,” said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy. “In a market where up to a fifth of global oil flows through Hormuz, disruptions there largely outweigh any incremental increase the group can announce.”

Before the conflict erupted, eight major nations from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners had been gradually restoring supply halted back in 2023. They held production steady for the first three months of this year, then on March 1 - a day after the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran - they agreed to a small increase of 206,000 barrels a day for April. One month later, they agreed to repeat that same action. 

“We will monitor the situation and take all necessary measures to balance the market,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with state television channel Rossiya 24 on Sunday. “The market is clearly unbalanced. This has a significant impact on demand globally, not only in the energy markets but also in the economy and the final supply.”

Producers around the Persian Gulf such as the Saudis, the UAE and Iraq have cut oil output by about 10 million barrels a day, equivalent to roughly 10% of global supplies, the IEA said in mid-March. Even once the fighting stops, it’ll take time to bring tankers to ports and bolster production again, and it’s unclear what Iran’s future influence over Hormuz traffic might be. The nation is currently exerting considerable control over shipping through the chokepoint, setting up a tolling system and giving preferential treatment to vessels from countries it deems friendly.

While Gulf producers are being affected by the Middle East conflict, the global oil market also faces supply disruptions in Russia. The OPEC+ member has seen its energy infrastructure targeted by Ukrainian attacks, and its Primorsk and Ust-Luga export terminals on the Baltic Sea have been crippled.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 16:40

What Season Is It?

March temperatures across the Mid-Atlantic region were all over the place, swinging from the low 70s to cold and snowy the next day; the same pattern appears to be carrying into early April.

Temperatures across the Washington, DC-Baltimore metro area were in the low 80s on Saturday, while New York City was in the high 60s.

More of March's schizophrenic weather looks set to return Monday night into Tuesday, with meteorologist Ben Noll forecasting a late-season round of snow showers across parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast early next week. Any meaningful accumulation is most likely at higher elevations and in the interior Northeast, while lower elevations should see lighter winter precipitation.

"Fear not, as it should mark the last snow chance of the season, and much warmer temperatures are within reach," Knoll wrote in his note.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 16:05

The Four Iran War End-Games Revisited, And The Peak Pressure Points

Submitted By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

A Yogi Berra Kind of Weekend

There is something special about “home openers.” The baseball season can drag on, but the home opener is such a great reminder that summer is on the way and that the possibility of winning it all remains in your reach. Maybe that is why I have Yogi Berra on my mind.

Or maybe, and far more likely, it is because a lot of recent discussions seem to lend themselves well to Yogi-isms. It is easy to start a conversation with a mindset of “we are pulling out soon, with a weak deal,” and wind up ending at “we are all-in” for a final victory. And vice versa.

• It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.
• When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
• I didn’t really say everything I said.
• The future ain’t what it used to be.

To name a few.

On Wednesday we published our take on the likely and possible paths we would be on after the Presidential Address. After the address, all we could say was - all the paths are still in play. If that isn’t in the realm of Yogi Berra, nothing is.

Media and Academy’s Podcast

On Friday, after the More Strange than Strong jobs report, Academy was on Bloomberg TV. The Academy segment starts at the 1:52:40 mark. It isn’t important that I wore a pink shirt and purple tie for the Easter weekend, it was important that the 2nd half of the interview was very focused on the conflict in Iran. The hosts were incredibly complimentary of Academy’s Podcast, so it seems like a good time to provide you with the links to our podcasts.

End State and Timing

It is so easy to get twisted in circles on the subject of where this conflict is going. One moment it seems like there might be cooperation to open the Strait. The next moment, more infrastructure in Iran and the region is being hit.

The “four” end conditions that we see are:

• No Deal. The U.S. just pulls out, without any real political change. The message will be – we broke it again (even more than in June 2025) and we will continue to break it if we have to. You will hear the phrase “mowing the lawn” over and over until you are numb as to what that really means for the region. This is a very bad outcome for the U.S. and for the world.
  • If this is the outcome, almost irrespective of whether we get there tomorrow, next week, or a month from now, there will be dramatic power shifts in the region. Countries across the globe will rethink many of their political alignments. Remember when we wrote, back in early February, Molotov Cocktails, Volatility, and Stability (well before the U.S. vs Iran conflict started)? This would leave the region with Molotov cocktails everywhere, just waiting to be ignited.
     
• A Weak Deal. It could be the terms of the deal. It could be who, in Iran, is on the other side of the deal. It could be the ability to really monitor/enforce that the terms of the deal are being abided by. It could just be that it leaves the risk of “mowing the lawn,” in the relatively near-term, as highly likely. Also, if there is no deal to officially open the Strait, the U.S. would be in a very difficult position, making it harder to claim a win. It could be some combination of all of the above. Basically, it is a “deal” that the admin tries hard to sell as a “win” that most of the U.S. (and probably the entirety of the rest of the world) doesn’t see as a win at all. This is better than no deal, but only marginally so.
  • Timing probably matters here, a little bit. A weak deal today, while not particularly good, is probably easier to sell as a win today, than it will be a few weeks down the road. Veni, Vidi, Vici. It is easier to spin the “we came, we saw, we conquered” nature of this sort of deal today. The more damage that is done in the region, the more difficult it will be to claim victory. The longer that fighting continues and this is the “best” we can get, the more questions will be raised about what actually happened behind the scenes. Not good for global stability.
     
• A Strong Deal. Everything that a weak deal is not. Negotiated with someone clearly in power in Iran for the foreseeable future. Steps taken to reduce the threats from missiles and nuclear weapons going forward that have teeth and an enforcement mechanism that seems viable. It could include protections for the people of Iran. It could include (though this seems less likely by the day) provisions to open the country to investment by American businesses (which would be part of shaping the regime longer-term). This would have to include a deal on the nuclear program as well as a turnover of the Iranian nuclear material. A really, really, really good win.
  • The sooner the better, but timing isn’t crucial. The longer it takes to reach this end state, the worse shape the global economy will be in. The supply chain disruptions, already occurring, will continue. Problems will compound. Presumably, the longer things go on, the worse the damage to infrastructure in the region will be. Sooner is better, but only at the margin.
     
• Complete Victory. Some sort of uprising. Something where nascent signs of insurrection (which were seen in January and February – with “mysterious” fires and other things in Iran) reveal themselves. Where we wind up with true regime change. An Iran that no longer threatens not just Israel and the U.S., but also anyone it considers to be standing in its way. This is a country, the GIG generally agrees, is the one nation most likely to use nuclear weapons if they manage to get them. The balance of power between “good” and “evil” will have shifted dramatically. This would be a great outcome for the admin and the world!
  • This is by far the most dangerous timeline. Ideally countries in the region and across the globe support the effort. Enhancing capabilities while spreading the risk. But it is difficult to see this achieved in a "2 to 3” week timeframe. Not that it is impossible, but it is just unlikely. It is also difficult to see this occurring without a serious uptick in casualties. It seems awful to have people pay the price for this success. It will affect friends, families, neighbors, and colleagues. Yet, while I have no military experience, that has often been the cost of changing the world for the better. This outcome is likely to come only with a lot of soul-searching and risk. Having said that, the outcome changes things dramatically. It was in 2002 (almost 25 years ago) that President Bush delivered his “Axis of Evil” speech. The magnitude of what this potentially does in terms of a safer world is difficult to overstate.

The Pressure Points

The U.S. is applying key pressure points on Iran:

• Systematically eliminating their ability to wreak havoc. Degrading their military and their ability to resupply themselves is the main pressure point the U.S. and Israel are exerting. Only Iran knows what capabilities they have left, but the more we destroy things, the worse shape they are in, at least with respect to continuing the fighting.
• Hitting their economy and their will to fight. So far it is unclear how much damage we have done to their economy. Their economy was always clandestine, and they should have been prepared for this, so putting a length of time on economic conditions forcing Iran to the table is very difficult. So far, we haven’t gone “all in” on this path (like taking Kharg Island) but look for increased focus on economic pressure points in Iran.

Iran is applying key pressure points on the U.S.:

• Economic hardship. Affordability. Is the U.S. willing to continue to fight a conflict that was not sold well to the nation initially (the admin has improved on this front lately) and is causing problems at home? This is the main pressure point Iran has. Basically, betting that America doesn’t have the fortitude to withstand economic challenges, even if, in the grand scheme of things, those challenges are small and short in duration. That is the main pressure point.
• The Iranian Proxies.
  • So far the proxies have been quiet. The Houthis started firing some missiles as Isreal, but so far have not tried to deter shipping through the Red Sea. The proxies may not have faith in Iran’s ability to support them going forward, so they are laying relatively low. So much damage was done to the proxies that they don’t have the ability to do much damage this time around. Both of those are probable, which is good. The tail risk is that they are waiting to choose a “time and place” that maximizes whatever they have left.
• U.S. casualties. Ultimately this pressure point depends on the steps the U.S. military takes. If the attacks remain primarily “standoff” as opposed to boots on the ground, the American casualties can be kept small. But any casualty gives much of the country cause for concern and causes some domestic pressure to end things. More casualties, which is almost a certainty if the U.S. enters a “boots on the ground” phase, will turn that concern into a cacophony of people calling to end the war. This is ultimately a more powerful pressure point than the economy, but fortunately, is at least partially out of Iran’s control, since it is dependent on the types of attacks the U.S. deploys.

Both Sides Trying to Apply Pressure:

• NATO has done very little to aid the effort. In some cases, even restricting airspace. Iran seems to be trying to negotiate “safe passage” for tankers headed to countries that do not help the U.S. All of this is designed to “drive a wedge” between the U.S. and traditional allies. The admin has taken a relatively aggressive posture with those allies, and that doesn’t seem to be helping.
• The Gulf Countries. At the start of the conflict Iran attacked many of these countries. They did target American bases more than anything else, but it turned the Gulf against Iran. That continues to be the status quo. On an almost daily basis I see stories about potential military commitments from countries in the region. That would be good (though there are questions about their training and readiness). At the same time there are risks that their attitude changes and they “just want out” of the current state of affairs, even if it leaves Iran as a threat. Not seeing that yet, but…

This is an incredibly tense moment for all those in power.

More Background

While things have been evolving rapidly, last weeks From Economist to Military Strategist, Another Manic Monday, and Ceasefire Negotiations are worth reading as they highlight not just the framework about how Academy is thinking about the conflict, but also how we’ve been adapting and changing as the information unfolds.

Vertically Integrated Countries

One outcome of the war will be more Vertically Integrated Countries, which aligns with our ProSec thesis.

Bottom Line

The “sell” everything risk remains high. Bonds are just not behaving as “Safe Havens” when countries need to spend more on energy and everything derived from energy, and are also likely to have to ramp up their defense spending!

The best outcomes, as we see them, are likely going to take time. Time is not the friend of markets right now. The “easiest” way to extend the relief rally with another big pop in stock and bond prices, is likely to be the “least good” from a longer-term perspective.

It is incredibly difficult. It seems that the admin does pay attention to the stock market as some sort of metric. Weirdly, that might not be helping as it makes it extremely difficult to judge the real direction vs what is just something designed to help the market near-term. The “fog of war” is real and while this is unsettling for markets, it is hopefully equally unsettling for the Iranian regime.

Hope you are enjoying this long weekend (for those who had Friday off) and are prepared for next week! Which will likely start with another “green dot” Sunday and then Academy kicks off the week at 5:45am ET on CNBC.

And let’s finish with more words of wisdom from Yogi Berra – “If the world were perfect, It wouldn’t be.”

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Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 15:30

 

We are all looking to make it. And we employ signifiers, status markers, to indicate that we’ve crossed the threshold, that we are no longer trapped amongst the great unwashed, that finally we are SOMEBODY!

And one of the main ways you felt settled, that you were not only on your way, but part of the firmament, was seeing your name in the news.

It’s a thrill when it first happens. You mean you want MY opinion, you want to write about ME? But as time goes by, you find out it’s meaningless, because everybody is expressing their opinion or promoting their wares all day long online, and your triumph gets lost in the shuffle.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with publicity, and sometimes it even gooses projects and careers, all I am saying is it won’t sustain a career. And longevity is everything today.

Used to be, very few people could make it. Could get a record deal, never mind get on the radio and become a star who can sell tickets. Whatever your innate talent, the work of a whole team enabled you to climb the ladder, which is why you see award winners constantly thanking their handlers.

But awards don’t mean much either. I hope you’re thrilled you won, but in a matter of months, seemingly no one remembers your victory. Furthermore, there are a lot of Grammy winners who make their money elsewhere, not in music, or have given up completely. That’s what an award is worth. So if that’s your goal…

I was reading the “Wall Street Journal” yesterday and saw that a friend was quoted. He’s not a public figure; I don’t think his inclusion resonated with a broad swath of the public. For a second there, I thought how they didn’t call me, but that’s just a step on the ladder, a momentary feel-good experience. Most people, after they’ve had that brush with publicity, feel good for a moment and have seen the return was relatively minimal, go back to doing the work.

And it’s all about the work.

Ah, that’s a cliché. Let me try to restate it in other words.

If you want to last a long time in today’s world, you’ve got to keep on creating, because there’s so much news and so much of it reaches so few people that most have already forgotten about you, if they knew about you in the first place.

There’s nothing wrong with a feature in the “Times” or the “Wall Street Journal”… But be wary, these outlets are never completely positive. That David Geffen documentary? The one on Jimmy Iovine and Dre? They were love letters, because THEY PAID FOR THEM! They know it’s all about control, kudos.

But if you give up control, beware.

However, let’s return to basics. Most people are looking to get noticed. They want to get out of the hole that they’re in. They want to throw the long ball; they want to believe there is some grand poohbah out there who can reach out and anoint them, and their career will be made. Today, this is patently untrue.

Let’s start with the number of news outlets.

I know, I know, I’ve lauded Apple News+, but if you read the general feed, your eyes will glaze over; it’s all clickbait headlines…and when you click through, there’s very little there.

You even get the same thing in Google News!

All these outlets fighting for attention have caused people to look elsewhere for information, first and foremost, their friends and family, real or those they’ve met online. It’s like we’re living in the 1800s, prior to modern communication methods. The mainstream has worn out its welcome, been excoriated by those who don’t agree with it, on both the left and the right, and has never meant less.

But we’re not talking about general news here, we’re talking about you.

You’re looking for a leg up; you’re looking for it to be made easier. IT’S NEVER GOING TO BE MADE EASIER! The major label can’t break you, if it will even sign you. Terrestrial radio can’t break you; it takes its clues from Spotify and other streaming media. And Spotify is a great democracy influenced by word of mouth, both online and offline. Social media can drive a hit more than terrestrial radio. But there’s no direct pipeline, no one you can pay to get millions of views.

So…

Paying for streams, for views on YouTube…unless your plan is to leverage these to make a deal with a larger entity, save your money. Your fans don’t care, and it’s only about your fans.

Now I’m not saying fans are irrelevant; it’s just that now there’s a direct conduit from you to them, and you must feed the beast, constantly. Your only hope of growing is via your fans, and if you’re not top of mind, they’re not going to do the work for you. And some fans spread the word, and some do not, and you don’t know who is who, so you have to keep spraying bullets and…

Sounds hard, doesn’t it?

It’s VERY hard.

Anybody can get noticed for a minute or two. Every week in the “Times” Sunday Style section, they hype a book or previously unknown person, and it’s almost like the kiss of death; they’re never heard from again.

TV entertainment news? If you think active consumers are even watching broadcast/cable TV, you’re dreaming. That’s not the bleeding edge, and those who make a difference, who change the world, are always harvesting information on the fringe.

So, you’ve got to keep on working, or you’re going to be forgotten. Most of the public does not know you’re a one-hit wonder, and there’s a tsunami of product, and you’re not going to get many streams in the future.

Now wait just a minute, you say… I won, I triumphed, I SUCCEEDED!

Maybe by old school metrics.

There’s no overlord with fairy dust spraying it on the lucky few.

No, you’re not only the creator, but you’re also the fairy too.

And be wary of getting away from your mission. That brand extension might be a mistake if it takes your focus from the core work, if it undercuts your credibility.

In other words, unless you’ve got a plan to get in quick and get out nearly as fast, the world has completely changed. It’s not about momentary vertical success; it’s about continuing to be in the landscape. For year after year after year.

If you’re doing this for an annum or two, before you go to graduate school, don’t even bother; go enroll at the academy. Because it takes longer than ever to gain a following, and you never quite know when you’ve made it, if you’ve made it at all.

Read the news. The trades. Look at who is featured, who is promoted, but don’t feel left out. That’s a moment in time. Used to be it was a rarefied world, only a few could get ink, now EVERYBODY can get ink.

That’s true. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember what a thrill it was to be on TV. You told your friends to look for you at the baseball game. Now you don’t even mention it, because it’s no big deal. The barrier to entry is so low that it’s not hard to get on TV, and so many of the people who cross that threshold are nincompoops. Why is it that the “Housewives” are always getting into legal trouble and getting divorced? If they were that rich, this wouldn’t happen. No, they believe if they are on these shows, they are stars, whereas truly they are laughingstocks, fodder for the machine. You know the number one rule of reality television…DON’T BE ON IT!

So it’s just you. In the wilderness. Trying to grow a fan base. Even a hit isn’t going to mean you’ve got a career. No, you must do foundational work, one-on-one. You must nurture your image, not do anything out of character. People need to be able to trust you. And what the press says or doesn’t say about you is essentially irrelevant. Certainly here today and gone tomorrow.

Of course, there are people who make it a full-time job to appear in the press, but that does not mean they’re rich, that they’ve even got a career, or even fans, just that some people see their names on a regular basis.

But so many still want to believe. That if they hire publicity and promotion people, if they get their name out in the news, they will be winning.

Today, winning is something you feel inside. No one else can claim victory for you. No one else can anoint you with pixie dust. There are social media influencers making more money than most of the people in the Spotify Top 50, even though very few know their names. Young people acknowledge this change; old people pooh-pooh it because they don’t like having their cheese moved, they don’t like the evisceration of rules. There must be rules, right?

There are no rules; you make it up as you go. And chances are those jumping the track, doing the out of the ordinary, never mind extraordinary, are going to win.

So if you’re railing against the system…

You’re the system. Only you. It all comes down to you.

Keep producing. Doesn’t matter what the general public thinks, just what your fans do. And if you’re good enough, you’ll grow a fan base and sustain it. But that’s too heavy a lift for newbies; they want someone exterior, in the firmament, to say they’ve made it, that they’re a star.

But that paradigm went out with the internet. And the internet’s been around for thirty years.

So it’s time to acknowledge where we are. A Tower of Babel world where you’re the act, the bus driver, the social media maven…one in which you wear all the hats, and if you want to have a conference, you look in the mirror.

But never forget, people are still looking for great, and there’s very little great out there. So if you are truly great, people will find and promote you…just don’t expect it to happen overnight.

 

~~~

Visit the archive:   http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

@Lefsetz  http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
–
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter

~~~

Originally published by Bob Lefsetz at the Leftsetz Letter

The post Lefsetz: Anybody Can Get Publicity appeared first on The Big Picture.

Feds Clear Path To Keep California's Last Nuclear Power Plant Open For 20 More Years

Federal regulators have approved keeping the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant running for decades longer, granting 20-year license renewals for its two reactors, according to Yahoo/San Fran Chronicle. 

Located on the San Luis Obispo County coast, Unit 1 is now cleared to operate through 2044 and Unit 2 through 2045.

The decision marks a significant win for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who pushed in 2022 to delay the facility’s closure in order to avoid power shortages during California’s transition to renewable energy. Diablo Canyon supplies roughly 9% of the state’s electricity and about 17% of its carbon-free power.

Newsom said the extension supports grid reliability and helps the state handle extreme weather while maintaining an affordable and resilient energy system.

The report says that even with federal approval, the plant’s long-term future still depends on state action. Current California law only allows operations through 2030, so lawmakers would need to pass new legislation for the plant to run beyond that date.

The extension remains controversial. Pacific Gas & Electric estimates customers will pay around $7.6 billion to keep the plant open through 2030, drawing criticism from consumer advocates and environmental groups. Critics also point to concerns about earthquake risks and the plant’s seawater cooling system, which uses large volumes of ocean water.

Federal regulators concluded the environmental impact of continued operation would be minimal, though opposition groups continue to raise safety and environmental concerns.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 14:55

Trump Seeks $152 Million To Reopen Alcatraz Prison

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

The White House on Friday requested $152 million to reopen Alcatraz, which is offshore from San Francisco, as a federal prison.

The funding appears in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, released by the administration.

It would cover first-year costs for the Federal Bureau of Prisons to rebuild the island facility into “a state-of-the-art secure prison facility,” according to the document. Alcatraz has operated as a National Park Service tourist site since 1973, after the federal prison closed in 1963.

The request directly advances President Donald Trump’s earlier call to restore the prison. Congress treats such budget proposals as suggestions rather than guaranteed spending.

Trump first directed federal agencies to revive Alcatraz in May 2025.

In a social media post that month, he instructed the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, and other agencies to “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

Trump said the project is a “symbol of law, order, and justice.”

The plan drew both support from those favoring tougher crime policies and resistance from Democrats concerned about costs and the island’s current use as a tourist attraction.

“It would also be a financial boondoggle—not just the massive amount it would cost to reopen Alcatraz as a prison, but all the money and goodwill the park service would lose from closing one of America’s most popular tourist destinations,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said in a statement in July 2025.

Alcatraz Island sits 1.25 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay. The current facility is 960,000 square feet, nearly the size of 17 football fields. Its frigid waters and powerful currents made it one of the nation’s most secure prisons during its operation. No successful escapes were ever officially recorded, though five inmates were listed as missing and presumed drowned. Alcatraz opened as a federal prison in 1934 and quickly earned a reputation for holding the country’s most notorious criminals.

Famous inmates included Chicago gangster Al Capone, Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. The Bureau of Prisons closed the facility in 1963, citing operating costs nearly three times higher than those of any other federal prison. The National Park Service later took control of it, and it became a popular tourist destination visited by more than a million people each year.

Trump’s current push revives a site long viewed as escape-proof. The latest budget request marks the first concrete federal funding step toward converting the island back into an active maximum-security prison.

Lawmakers will now review the proposal as part of broader spending negotiations.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 14:20

DOE FY27 Budget Requests $45 Billion in Nuclear Funding

The White House fiscal year 2027 budget proposal has requested almost $54 billion for the Department of Energy in fiscal year 2027, with almost 80% of that funding going towards nuclear energy and nuclear deterrent programs. The funding request represents a nearly $5 billion increase from 2026 levels.

Outside of the $32.8 billion in funding requested for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the Trump admin cites a $2.7 billion reduction in funding requests achieved by “slashing Green New Scam initiatives and rooting out woke diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs”.

The NNSA receives a $3.6 billion (12%) increase from the prior year. The request supports warhead modernization, infrastructure recapitalization, life-extension programs, next-generation naval reactor technology, and nuclear emergency response teams. 

These defense nuclear activities also advance high-assay low-enriched uranium ((HALEU) production with direct benefits for commercial reactor fuel supply chains.

Environmental Management is funded at $8.2 billion, down $386 million from the enacted level. The program addresses legacy radioactive waste and contamination at former Manhattan Project and Cold War weapons sites. Approximately $3 billion targets the Hanford site in Washington state for continued operation of the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility and other near-term cleanup milestones. The initiatives reduce long-term federal liability and clear land for potential future nuclear or industrial reuse.

The budget makes a specific call out for an additional $3.5 billion to “rapidly deploy firm baseload power”. No further explanations are given for what exactly is covered under this initiative, but it is assumed to be a combination of nuclear energy and geothermal power-related programs. The DOE and its various offices have issued multiple award programs to kickstart the expansion of two of the current administration's preferred power generation methods. 

The $53.9 billion figure captures the entire department request while nuclear security, cleanup, and energy investments form the dominant share. Civilian nuclear energy programs such as advanced reactor demonstrations and fuel-cycle work appear folded into the non-NNSA portion or supported through targeted baseload funding. 

The proposal continues the pattern of prioritizing nuclear deterrence and legacy stewardship even as other energy accounts face reductions or proposed cancellations.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 11:40

Eisen Vs Every 'Trumper': There Is Quite A Battle Shaping-Up...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

The Red Line

"The ends must justify the means — the only question is what means are necessary."

- Saul Alinsky

Why do the news anchor ladies of CNN, Erin Burnett, Kate Bolduan, always look so depressed on the air? They never smile. Their faces always register something between grave concern and hysteria. Is it the network’s cratered ratings? The pending hostile takeover by Paramount / Skydance (led by conservative David Ellison)? Too much botox, zombifying the small facial muscles? Or is it self-loathing from being compelled to slant everything they report on in the direction of a lie?

There does seem to be some hidden hand in Narrative Central issuing prescribed story-lines to the networks, and that hand seems to be tinged with malice for anything and anyone seeking to rescue our country from chaos, penury, psychosis, and jihad. It looks like the hidden hand wants the country to go down in flames, and will resort to any means necessary to get it done. The template for that is so-called “color revolution,” which is a hyper-accelerated version of “Red Rudi” Dutschke’s “march through the institutions” to “capture the transmitters of culture” so as to produce a communist utopia, as cribbed from the writings of Antonio Gramsci, (1891 – 1937) founder of the Italian communist party.

The fascist Mussolini tossed Gramsci in jail where he scribbled three thousand pages of his Prison Notebooks, in which he laid out his strategy for destroying civil society, later adapted by the Americans Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) in his Rules for Radicals and Gene Sharp (1928-2018), who penned several concise manuals of strategic mechanics for dismantling targeted governments.

These are the mentors of chief Lawfare ninja Norm Eisen, who has made a specialty of marching through the institution of American law in order to advance the agenda of the Democratic Party allied with cohorts of the permanent Washington bureaucracy (or Deep State) to fend off any challenge to the corruption and racketeering embedded in those two symbionts.

The challenge obviously presents in the form of Donald Trump, the once and current president battling an increasingly rabid set of opponents. Norm Eisen has been deeply involved in every attempt to undermine and disable Mr. Trump since 2016. He wrote briefs for the Mueller Special Counsel operation; he acted as prosecutor in Trump’s impeachment # 1 (prompted by CIA agent and so-called “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella, as facilitated by then Rep. Adam Schiff); he assisted ex parte in the House Jan 6 Committee proceedings; he prepared legal arguments for the Fani Willis prosecution of Mr. Trump and 18 co-defendants; and he helped construct the legal framework for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s cases against Mr. Trump. In short, Norm Eisen spent the past decade laboring to brand Donald Trump as a criminal and shove him out of the political arena. His efforts failed.

Norm Eisen founded or is associated with several swamp NGOs active in Trump-hunting operations, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the States United Democracy Center, the Democracy Defenders Fund, Democracy Defenders Action — all posing as anti-autocracy operations. Eisen and his orgs have filed hundreds of lawsuits against the Trump administration to obstruct any initiative the President advances to stop Democratic Party sanctioned grift, deport illegal aliens ushered in during the “Joe Biden” years, and especially to derail investigations of election fraud. These orgs are well-funded by George Soros’s Open Society NGO and its spinoffs, Arabella Advisors (rebranded as Sunflower Services), the Tides Foundation, that is, the usual suspects.

In the face of all that, plus a dysfunctional Congress and a hostile federal judiciary, the President has struggled to find work-arounds for every piece of the agenda he was elected to carry out. What can be done about it? Even if evidence was produced to show that Norm Eisen acted improperly in the cases brought against the President, it is unlikely that a case brought against Norm Eisen would get any traction in a DC district federal court. He is a longstanding friend of James “Jeb” Boasberg, Chief Judge of the DC District. Norm Eisen was in the same 1991 class at Harvard Law School as Barack Obama, an architect of the Left’s movement to destroy the Republic.

All of this suggests that if Mr. Trump needs to accomplish something critical, such as basic reform of our election procedures, and if any of his executive orders are thwarted by Norm Eisen-backed lawsuits for judicial nullification of executive powers, Mr. Trump will have to declare some kind of extraordinary national emergency. That will be the red-line that Norm Eisen has been seeking for ten years: his chance to brand Mr. Trump as a “tyrant” and commence a new impeachment effort, in theory coinciding with the seating of a Democratic Party majority in both houses of Congress.

This is quite a battle shaping up. Norm Eisen has been adroit to a fault in all his nefarious endeavors.

But then, Mr. Trump has performed as a veritable Scarlet Pimpernel of American politics, ruthless, resourceful, self-consciously comical, and genuinely motivated to save the USA from a cabal of prodigious villains.

He is in it to win it. His crowning achievement might be getting the morose ladies of CNN to finally crack a smile.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 11:05

The post Antitrust and Prescription Drugs: What Krugman and Khan Miss appeared first on CEPR.

Czech Government Caps Fuel Prices And Cuts Diesel Tax To Combat Surging Costs At The Pump

By Thomas Brooke of RMX news,

The Czech government has moved to cap fuel prices and slash diesel taxes in an effort to curb rising costs due to the ongoing international energy crisis, announcing a system that will see the state set maximum daily prices for fuel across the country.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said the intervention follows concerns that fuel retailers were charging excessive margins, despite earlier pressure from the government to bring prices down voluntarily.

Under the new system, the Ministry of Finance will determine a maximum fuel price each day, applying to all gas stations nationwide. Officials estimated that diesel, if the cap came into force on Thursday, would currently be capped at 46.43 Czech crowns per liter, or around €1.89.

“We monitored the margins and at the beginning of the conflict they were within the norm, but gradually they became excessive,” Babiš said, adding that negotiations with distributors had only partially reduced prices. “We decided to intervene.”

The government will also introduce a cap on retailer margins, setting the maximum allowable profit at 2.50 crowns (€0.10) per liter for both petrol and diesel.

Alongside the price controls, ministers approved a targeted tax cut on diesel fuel. Excise duty will be reduced by 1.939 crowns per liter, equivalent to 2.35 crowns (€0.10) including VAT, in a move officials say is permitted under EU rules. The Ministry of Finance estimates the measure will cost the state budget around 1 billion crowns (€40.8 million).

Finance Minister Alena Schillerová said the combined approach of price caps and tax cuts was designed to immediately lower costs while preventing excessive pricing behavior in the market.

“It is calculated as the average of wholesale indices from Čepro, Orlen, and MOL, plus a margin of 2.50 crowns and VAT,” she said, outlining how the daily maximum price will be set.

The ministry will publish the price each weekday at 2 p.m. for the following day.

Schillerová added that the margin cap was based on historical data adjusted for inflation, with the aim of eliminating what she described as disproportionately high pricing by retailers.

The measures will formally take effect on April 8.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 08:10

Time For Europe To Defend Itself

Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker,

Americans shouldn’t fight for a suicidal continent.

Four years ago, the Biden administration was working with the United Kingdom and the European Commission to pay for diminutive comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s war with the Russian Federation over territories where supermajorities of the population identify as Russian.  We were told that the Russian-speaking people of Ukraine “belonged” to Ukraine and that the only way to “preserve democracy” was to deny those people a democratic vote to join the Russian Federation.

“Democracy” also apparently requires the installation of a Ukrainian dictator, a complete crackdown on an independent press, widespread censorship of public debate on social media, the denial of religious freedom, and a brutal campaign of press-ganging men into military service to die as cannon fodder for a corrupt Ukrainian regime that launders money from U.S. and European taxpayers into the bank accounts of the West’s political and financial elites.

Just as globalists in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and across Old (and increasingly Islamic) Europe turned the “Reign of COVID Terror” into an opportunity to bilk taxpayers, enrich elites, and grow the totalitarian national security State, the same globalist scum quickly turned the Ukraine conflict into another “emergency” requiring more taxes, censorship, and public sacrifice.  All of a sudden, anything criticizing the official public policies of Western governments was labeled “Russian disinformation.”  If you disagreed with whatever the West’s vaunted “experts” said, you were dismissed as “Putin’s puppet.”  Pro tip for information warfare enthusiasts: When government authorities identify dissent as “propaganda,” that’s propaganda!

The COVID propaganda project gave us a chorus of World Economic Forum buffoons posing as national leaders all singing, “We must ‘Build Back Better.’”  When that schtick got old — or, rather, when ordinary citizens across the West started to show signs of resistance against their imperial rulers — the West’s globalists turned Ukraine’s Chief Munchkin into a “freedom fighter” battling the pernicious authoritarianism of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.  The same yahoos — Biden, Trudeau, Macron, Queen Ursula, and the rest of the WEF’s rump-kissing claque — who screeched like wounded cockatoos, “Build Back Better,” now all huffed in unison, “Ukraine!  Ukraine!  Ukraine!”  It never ceases to amaze me that the day after Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” protests against COVID “vaccine” mandates came to an end, the official launch of the new hit television drama, “WAR: Ukraine,” began.  It’s almost as if Western globalists yank us commoners along by the leash from one spectacular production of nonsense to the next (just to see how much money they can steal from our pockets when their hands aren’t busy groping small children).

Some people in the U.S. and Europe were made to really care about a country that has long been considered so incorrigibly corrupt that other corrupt countries can’t help but blush.  Lemmings who had been walking around with multiple paper masks over their faces to magically protect themselves from viruses that don’t fear masks all of a sudden waved Ukrainian flags with gusto as if they could identify Dwarf-King Zelenskyy’s money-pit-proto-nation on a map!  Nobody wanted to admit that the same übermenschen from sub rosa groups such as Bilderberg and the Trilateral Commission — who have made a financial killing from “green energy” and mRNA “vaccines” over the years — had simply returned to their favorite investment of all: actual killing.  War brings new taxes, new regulations, new forms of censorship, new military investment, and new ways to exploit asymmetric information for financial gains.  In short, wars bring profits!  And what better place for corrupt globalists to make tons of money than to take advantage of the corrupt swindlers putatively governing the traveling circus known as Ukraine!

The United Kingdom (still smarting from its misadventures in the Crimean War one hundred and seventy years ago) demanded that Russia hand back Crimea to its MI6-managed Ukrainian friends.  Queen Ursula of the pan-European (and increasingly Islamic) empire demanded that Russia respect the right of Europeans to overthrow any Ukrainian governments that Brussels doesn’t like (see the U.S.-E.C.-organized 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine, or what Western propagandists still shamelessly call the “Revolution of Dignity”).  BlackRock and other multinational investment firms selflessly volunteered to help finance the war, purchase Ukraine’s assets on the cheap, and invest heavily in the subsequent reconstruction projects of a destroyed nation.  Google and Facebook promised to censor all public debate averse to globalists’ interests as “Russian propaganda.”

Oh my, what a magnificent war!  It has had everything globalists adore!  It managed to turn a mad midget who plays piano with his penis into Winston Churchill!  It justified blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines and forcing Europe’s peasants into using much more expensive “green energy”!  It excused more government money-printing and spending that conveniently inflated the value of assets owned by the 1% of the 1%!  It allowed the titular leaders of European nations to strut about on the world stage as if they were courageous military generals rallying troops on the front lines — while really doing nothing but callously dropping vulnerable Ukrainian lads into a meat grinder that has made the rich wealthier and the poor fertilizer.  European elites have demonstrated their virtue and bravery one dead Ukrainian at a time.  The whole bloody affair has had all the pomp and circumstance of old, flatulent monarchs dining on beans, broccoli, cabbage, and cheese.

European gentry never wanted a real war — one in which they might risk life and limb.  They simply wanted a war that would cause their investment portfolios to fatten up while they prattled on about bravery and sacrifice.  How do we know?  Because the moment that President Trump began incinerating the mad mullahs of Iran, Europe’s globalists tucked tail and ran…or at least hightailed it to the closest water closet for fresh underpants.

After cutting off oil production in the North Sea in the name of “climate change” and banning Russian energy supplies in the name of “democracy,” Europe depends quite a bit on Middle Eastern oil to stave off economic death.  However, Europe is also right now transitioning from a Western to an Islamic civilization.  Europe’s political elites are so afraid of Islamic immigrants that they would rather permit them to rape their youngest daughters than cause a scene.  They certainly can’t be seen going to war against an Islamic country!  Wealthy Europeans don’t mind sacrificing the continent’s peasants to mass slaughter, but they have no interest in seeing a scimitar up close themselves.  Yes, yes, best to wear the white feather of cowardice as if it were a symbol of European principle.  America’s courageous cowboys will surely save Old Europe from itself!

Except…maybe not this time.  President Trump is not happy that our so-called NATO “allies” have refused to support America’s mission in Iran.  U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer says, “This is not our war.  We will not be drawn into the conflict.”  Starmer wants to decouple from the U.S. and rejoin the E.U.  France, Spain, Italy, and the U.K. have now denied the U.S. military permission to use European bases or airspace.  Europe’s NATO members collectively insist that Iran is not NATO’s concern.

To which President Trump has appropriately pointed out that Ukraine is not a NATO member and therefore not America’s concern.  Both the president and Secretary of State Rubio believe that if European members of NATO cannot be persuaded to protect their own economic interests in the Strait of Hormuz, then it is time for the U.S. to reconsider its NATO commitments to European security.  “Allies” in name only aren’t really allies at all.  For those of us tired of Europe’s crusty aristocracy leeching off of American military muscle while habitually grousing, the possibility of cutting off the Old World’s freeloaders is pleasant news.  Americans shouldn’t fight for a continent that has no interest in defending itself.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sun, 04/05/2026 - 07:00

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:

• How Artist Imposters and Fake Songs Sneak Onto Streaming Services: Fake artists and counterfeit songs are flooding Spotify and Apple Music, siphoning real royalties. The streaming platforms either can’t or won’t stop it. When songs leak on Spotify and Apple Music, illegal uploads can generate substantial royalty payments—but for whom? (Pitchfork)

• Who Needs Las Vegas When You Have a Casino in Your Pocket? Mobile gambling is eating Las Vegas’s lunch, and the city is pivoting to tech and logistics to survive. The house always wins—unless the house is on your phone. Las Vegas is hoping that rapid growth in high-tech businesses and logistics will offset its stagnant gaming industry. (Barron’s) see also Prediction markets: the hunt for the new ‘dumb money’ As new bettors flock to platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, some make easy prey for trading firms and professional gamblers. The FT follows retail bettors migrating from Kalshi to Polymarket, chasing the same dopamine hit. Prediction markets are supposed to aggregate wisdom—instead they’re attracting gamblers. (Financial Times)

• America’s booming annoyance economy: Companies have figured out that bad customer service is more profitable than good customer service. The annoyance economy is booming—and you’re paying for it. (Business Insider)

• AI has the worst sales pitch I’ve ever seen: AI has the worst sales pitch I’ve ever seen “Our product will make you economically useless, and possibly kill you” is not a value proposition. Noah Smith argues that AI’s pitch is the worst marketing in tech history. He’s not wrong about the messaging problem. (Noahpinion)

• ‘This feels fragile’: how a satellite-smashing chain reaction could spiral out of control: Today, the space around Earth can no longer be considered empty. More than 30,000 objects are in orbit, and that figure is rising exponentially. The Kessler syndrome isn’t science fiction anymore. One bad collision could trigger a chain reaction that makes space unusable for generations. (The Guardian)

• A Detailed Timeline of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death: One of Epstein’s prison guards has been called to speak before the House Oversight Committee this week. Ahead of her expected testimony, here’s a detailed look at what we know about the convicted sex offender’s conspiracy-theory-shrouded death. (Vanity Fair)

• Pam Bondi’s Legacy of Flattery and Destruction: No Attorney General has done more damage to the Justice Department. Ruth Marcus argues that no Attorney General has done more damage to the Justice Department than Bondi—and her successor could be even worse. (The New Yorker)

• 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? (The Guardian) see also An Insurer Canceled a Woman’s Coverage Over a Nickel: A teacher’s aide lost her health insurance because of a five-cent billing discrepancy. The American healthcare system’s cruelty is matched only by its absurdity. (Washington Post)

• The Beginning of The End of Donald Trump’s Presidency? Jay Powell was always the one man in the world who could stand up to Donald Trump, and Trump knew it, which is why, despite his false bravado, he feared the Reserve Board Chairman. Trump forced the latest confrontation with Jay Powell in one last desperate attempt to force Powell from office so that he could finally seize control over the independent Federal Reserve Bank in the eleventh hour and manipulate the interest rates to disguise the crippling economic impact of his sweeping, unconstitutional global tariffs and his unconstitutional war in Iran. It turned out to be the worst miscalculation of his life. (Judge J. Michael Luttig)

• Hegseth’s War on America’s Military: Tom Nichols on how Pete Hegseth is firing top generals mid-war. Dismissing your best military leadership during an active conflict isn’t bold—it’s reckless. Someone needs to explain the Pentagon purges to the American people. (The Atlantic) see also First Draft: The Thug of War. Pete Hegseth’s colleagues at the Pentagon are calling him ‘Dumb McNamara,’ and Biden’s secretary of state almost, sort of feels bad about enabling a genocide. (Zeteo)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Songyee Yoon, founder and managing partner of Principal Venture Partners, an AI-focused investment firm established in 2024, and since 2025 a member of the board of directors of HP.

 

US Housing Outlook: Higher Mortgage Rates Not Helpful

Source: Apollo

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~~~

To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.

 

The post 10 Sunday Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Ex-CIA Analyst: Trump's Claim About Obliterated Iranian Air Defenses Was Premature

Authored by former CIA officer Larry Johnson

During his Wednesday night speech, Donald Trump made the following claim about Iran’s air defenses: "They have no anti-aircraft equipment, their radar’s 100% annihilated, we are unstoppable as a military force."

The White House followed this Friday, with a statement from a spokesperson, Anna Kelley, who further emphasized, "Here are the facts: Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks are down 90 percent, their navy is wiped out, two-thirds of their production facilities are damaged or destroyed, and the United States and Israel have overwhelming air dominance over Iran," she said.

Photos widely circulating show destroyed US Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter at a base in Kuwait, which apparently took a direct hit Friday.

It appears that President Trump was a bit premature. The US Air Force had a difficult day on Friday:

F-15E (48th Fighter Wing) — Shot down in southwestern Iran. Pilot rescued; WSO still missing.

A-10C Thunderbolt II — Shot down and crashed into the Persian Gulf. Pilot reportedly recovered.

2X HH-60G Pave Hawk — Hit during CSAR mission, one crash-landed across the border in Iraq. All crew reportedly rescued.

KC-135R Stratotanker — Emergency squawk 7700 around 10:00 UTC near Tel Aviv.

F-16CJ “Wild Weasel” (F-16C Block 50/52, SEAD configuration) — Emergency squawk 7700 over Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border around 15:00 UTC; later disappeared from FlightRadar.

KC-135R Stratotanker — Emergency squawk 7700 around 19:00 UTC near Tel Aviv.

It appears that Iran has no centralized air defense C2 or any kind of joint engagement zone (JEZ) anymore.

However, as evidenced by the incidents above, Iran appears to be relying on Vietnam-style guerrilla tactics of shoot-and-scoot air defense with their passive and highly tactical indigenous system… The IR-SA-7’s (pronounced “Ur-sah-seven”).

SA-7, Illustrative via Falcon Lounge

These Some are specially developed missiles that can loiter at altitude, almost like a glider, completely passive, that lie in wait for one of the US older generation fighters, tankers or other support aircraft to wander too close and then hone-in. While the US can claim “air supremacy” this does not mean that US aircraft can fly over Iran without incurring the risk of being shot down.

I wonder if the Russians are paying attention to Iran’s information operations? Iran is proving to be quite clever and creative in producing videos that take trolling to new heights.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 23:55

Forget Temu's "Bugatti" Knockoff. Texas Man 3D-Printed A Lamborghini Aventador Body

Forget ordering a $30,000 "Bugatti" knockoff from Chinese e-commerce websites like Temu.

A private seller in Texas is now offering what appears to be a fully 3D-printed Lamborghini Aventador body on Facebook Marketplace, highlighting how 3D printing is revolutionizing custom vehicle manufacturing.

"This is a fully 3D-printed Lamborghini Aventador project that gives you a huge head start. It includes the complete body, front frame, rear frame, and monocoque already printed and sized to Aventador dimensions," the listing stated.

The 3D-printed Aventador body is listed for $5,000. But the price jumps to $7,500 if buyers want the exterior and interior all glued together, or $8,500 if they want the frame pieces included in the gluing.

To complete the build, the seller says the body will still need to be reinforced with fiberglass, mounted to a steel frame, and fitted with a drivetrain, suspension, and interior (view listing here). 

Automotive website Jalopnik was the first to report the listing, offering its take:

I may have some ideas about 3D print strength that friends of mine call "overly conservative" or "downright anxious," but I still don't think I'd trust a car with a tub that's been glued together out of various 3D prints. The seller doesn't even specify what kind of plastic they're using. ABS is an option, but ever-popular PLA filament will degrade under the kind of constant UV exposure that a car sees.

Well, this certainly beats the "Bugatti" knockoff from Temu.

*  *  * Order by midnight! Now with cheaper shipping

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 23:20

The Tyranny Of Compelled Speech

Authored by George Ramsay via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

While censorship is often the main focus of discussions about free speech, there’s a related phenomenon that can do just as much damage to a free society. Not by preventing people from saying things they believe in, but by forcing them to say things they do not.

A scoreboard shows a message declaring an indigenous land acknowledgement before an NHL hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and the San Jose Sharks in Montreal on Oct. 19, 2021. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remior

Compelled speech requires people to use certain words or phrases, or to partake in upholding certain ideological beliefs. It is just as dangerous to free expression as overt censorship.

The constant recitation of indigenous “land acknowledgements” illustrates Canada’s shift towards enforced mass-compliance on complicated social issues. These statements have become ubiquitous in Canadian public life: at schools, workplaces, government functions, ceremonies, and sporting events. Institutions display them on websites, documents, email signatures, and social media. A busy person in Canada may come across dozens of land acknowledgements per day in various contexts.

Although framed as optional gestures of respect, many organizations now have policies mandating land acknowledgements; in other circumstances, social pressure can make them seem obligatory even if they’re not.

Land acknowledgements have morphed well beyond a simple sharing of history into something much more problematic: they have become a sort of sacred ritual with near-spiritual implications, tying certain ethnic groups to ownership over nature itself. When unpacked, there is a lot being said between the lines.

Stepping out of line on land acknowledgements can set off a variety of hostile reactions, ranging from social condemnation to significant legal consequences. Geoffrey Horsman is a biochemistry professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. As a parent of three children in the local school system and a member of his local school’s parent council, he noted the growing politicization of the regional school system. Of particular concern was the practice of opening every meeting with a land acknowledgement, which took up valuable time and reinforced what he considers a divisive premise.

“I don’t think there is anything good that can come out of the idea that a certain ethnic group are the true inheritors of this land,” Horsman said in an interview. But when he raised his objections about the practice, he encountered immediate resistance. In a series of meetings with Waterloo Region District School Board staff, he was told that even discussing the issue was off the table. He has since brought a legal case against the board.

Catherine Kronas, the mother of a student attending Ancaster High Secondary School in Hamilton, Ont., actually lost her position as an elected member of her school council last year after she politely disagreed with land statements being read out loud before meetings. “School councils should decide what gets said in their meetings, and we shouldn’t have to recite something mandated by the government,” she told me. Kronas was reinstated only after threatening legal action.

Horsman’s and Kronas’s cases are both about indigenous land acknowledgements, but the issues they raise run deeper. They could have been challenging any form of imposed ideological speech. In fact, many Canadian governments and institutions are developing a worrying track record of legally enforcing ideological language on a number of topics.

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, for example, recently levied an astonishing $750,000 fine against Barry Neufeld, a former school board trustee, after he was critical of the integration and facilitation of transgenderism within public education. Neufeld says he will appeal the fine, which clearly aims to punish him financially for expressing his lack of belief in what the tribunal seems to think is an unquestionable truth.

Compelled speech, or compelled support for any position, quells discourse and creates a type of moral injury. Whether you support the notion of land acknowledgements or not, there is a contradiction at the core of the concept: how can words be respectful if they are coerced?

Most Canadians consider themselves polite, kind, and caring, a usually laudable set of characteristics that has lately been weaponized. How might we begin to move on from the current cultural climate of tension and towards a freer and more relaxed Canada?

Retired Manitoba judge Brian Giesbrecht has some suggestions. In an interview, Giesbrecht agrees that today’s land acknowledgements “create a divisive form of belief in which some people only have rights as ‘settlers.’” To shift this situation, he offers a list of possible ways Canadians can object to compelled speech. His list includes making a written complaint, standing up and objecting in public, walking out of a meeting, and using legal channels to challenge attempted ideological coercion.

The future of a prosperous, functional, united Canada depends on being able to say what you believe and having the freedom to remain silent when you do not. This Canada can and must be restored. Next time you encounter a belief you do not feel eager to participate in, consider abstaining or politely pushing back. If we all resist these pressures, it will no longer be an act of bravery to conduct oneself genuinely and truthfully.

George Ramsay is a recent kinesiology graduate from Victoria, British Columbia. This is an edited version of his grand-prize-winning entry in the 3rd Annual Patricia Trottier and Gwyn Morgan Student Essay Contest first published by C2C Journal.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 22:45

GOP Senator Opposes More Than 60 Days Of War On Iran Without War Declaration

In what could become a key milestone in an unpopular US-Israeli war on Iran that has the world on the edge of economic catastrophe, a Republican senator from one America's reddest states has announced his opposition to continued action against Iran beyond 60 days from the Feb 28 commencement of hostilities -- unless Congress approves it. 

"I support the president’s actions taken in defense of American lives and interests," wrote first-term Sen. John Curtis in an opinion piece published by the Desert News. "However, I will not support ongoing military action beyond a 60-day window without congressional approval." 

I stand by the President’s actions taken in defense of our national security interests in the Middle East. But we must be clear-eyed about history and the Constitution. While I support maintaining our readiness and replenishing stockpiles, I cannot support funding for further…

— Senator John Curtis (@SenJohnCurtis) April 3, 2026

Walking a careful and arguably untenable line as he represents a reliably red state that Trump won by 22 points in 2024, Curtis gave full backing to Trump's unilateral commitment of US forces to war in concert with the State of Israel. Curtis goes so far as to declare that "Iran’s consistent and increasingly disruptive behavior presents exactly the kind of threat the War Powers Resolution envisions." 

Note, he didn't refer -- as some others have -- to an impending retaliation against US forces in the region if Israel had acted alone (an argument that itself ignores America's theoretical power to order Israel to stand down). Instead, Curtis argued that Iran's decades of actions in the region somehow cleared the War Powers Resolution's hurdle of "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." 

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that about two-thirds of Americans want the U.S. to end its involvement in the Iran War quickly, even if it means not achieving its goals.

Only 27% support continuing the war until objectives are met. pic.twitter.com/dJpFv1YboL

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 31, 2026

Curtis argues, however, that the Constitution clearly assigns responsibility for authorizing sustained war to the Congress:

"The Constitution assigns Congress the responsibility to “provide for the common defense,” and in that context, it gives Congress the corresponding power to declare war. It would be an act of disrespect to our Constitution if we were to accord the president the right to make war without any declaration of war; the Framers deliberately described a substantive power to declare war and assigned that power to Congress."  

In addition to justifying his position the need for post-60-days congressional approval on constitutional grounds, Curtis also pointed to the grim history of the US war in Vietnam, emphasizing that what began in 1950 with the dispatching of just "thirty-five men" to assist the French in training Vietnamese troops would evolve into a peak of more than a half-million American soldiers in the country, with nearly 60,000 dying in an undeclared war. 

The Iran War Powers Resolution narrowly failed, but we put everyone on record.

We’re being told this military action could last months. That’s the exact circumstance in which the Founders intended for Congress to authorize war, but sadly we’ve now abdicated that responsibility. pic.twitter.com/lE8HOLXUpc

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 5, 2026

Curtis didn't say whether he would vote to declare war on Iran, focusing instead on his opposition to "funding for continued military operations without Congress having the opportunity to weigh in." There have already been several attempts to block further military action without congressional approval -- all of them have been thwarted. To this point, only a few Republicans have backed these war-power resolutions: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul joined Democrats in supporting a Senate measure, while Kentucky Rep Thomas Massie introduced one in the House, and was joined by Ohio Rep. Warren Davidson, who is a former Army Ranger.  

Way back on March 5, House Speaker Mike Johnson said such resolutions "play right into the hands of the enemy." He also claimed "we are not at war. We have no intention of being at war. This is a limited operation." That "not a war" argument is belied not only by a common-sense assessment of whether a massive bombing campaign on a foreign state constitutes "war," but also by repeated characterizations of the United States being in a state of war by President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others in the administration. 

NOW - Trump on Iran War: "It's for legal reasons I say military op, because as a military operation I don't need any approvals. As a war you're supposed to get approval from Congress, something like that. So I call it a military operation." pic.twitter.com/gk0MEt0YOI

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 27, 2026

There are other cracks in the GOP's support for the war. On March 19, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert recoiled at the Pentagon's wish for a $200 billion supplemental funding to pay for the war on Iran. 

“I’ve already told leadership, ‘I am a no on any war supplementals. I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. I am tired of the industrial war complex getting all of our hard-earned tax dollars. I have folks in Colorado who can’t afford to live...We need America First policies now, and that –– I’m not doing that." 

At the time, Boebert said it was "up to the president" whether the war with Iran should stop. Increasingly, it looks like it's up to Ayatollah Khamenei. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 22:10