Iran's supreme leader defiantly vowed Thursday to protect the Islamic Republic's nuclear and missile capabilities, which U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to curtail through airstrikes and as part of a wider deal to cement the war's shaky ceasefire.
An urgent call comes in from the White House. But the recipient is skeptical: They need a way to verify that the message comes from the purported location. Quantum physics has a solution.
President Donald Trump, speaking on April 29, 2026, during a White House meeting with the Artemis crew, commented on the physical and intellectual demands of becoming an astronaut while addressing the successful space mission involving four crew members. His remarks came as he praised the astronauts' achievement and discussed the broader future of U.S. space exploration.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said if he talks to King Charles III during his visit, he would encourage the king to give back a diamond with a long, controversial history. A jewel called the Koh-i-Noor is contained inside the Crown of Queen Elizabeth. The diamond is believed to have originated from India. It was given to Queen Victoria in 1849 as a condition of the Treaty of Lahore, which ended the first Anglo-Sikh War.
Less than half of Republicans said they would pick the passport with President Donald Trump's portrait on it, according to a new YouGov poll. The State Department's announcement that the president's portrait would be included on new passports to commemorate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence was met with ridicule from Democrats, but the new poll found that even many Republicans are not particularly fond of the idea, either.
@#1 ... MAGAocracy.
Happy 250th. ...
Yeah, that seems to be quite apropos of late.
Denying the right to vote of those whose political opinions may not align with that of MAGA.
Why do Republicans seem to be so focused upon denying the voting ability of those valid voters they disagree with?
U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down North Carolina's Voter ID Law (2016)
www.npr.org
...The appeals court noted that the North Carolina Legislature "requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices" -- then, data in hand, "enacted legislation that restricted voting and registration in five different ways, all of which disproportionately affected African Americans."[emphasis mine]
The changes to the voting process "target African Americans with almost surgical precision," the circuit court wrote, and "impose cures for problems that did not exist."
The appeals court suggested that the motivation was fundamentally political -- a Republican legislature attempting to secure its power by blocking votes from a population likely to vote for Democrats....
@#13 ... Were you here when SCOTUS judges were targeted? ...
Specifics needed.
And, while you are looking up those specifics, please allow me to also add these specifics ...
The Judiciary Is Under Attack
www.americanbar.org
... At a Federalist Society event in late 2025, former Department of Justice (DOJ) Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle argued that Congress should impeach federal judges who found the president's policies unlawful. "This [opposition] is a problem of leftist politics" and not the law, he claimed. Adam Lynch, Trump AG Ally "Turns Heads" at Conservative Legal Conference with New Power Grab Ploy, AlterNet (Nov. 7, 2025). His comments came the same week that two senators and one House member demanded the impeachment of D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg, who has presided over high-profile litigation surrounding the administration's immigration policies, and the same month that a Texas congressman filed articles of impeachment against him. Press Release, Eric Schmitt, US Sen. for Mo., Senator Schmitt Leads Colleagues in Calling for the Suspension, Impeachment of Judge Boasberg (Nov. 17, 2025); Press Release, Brandon Gill, Congressman, TX, Rep. Gill Files Impeachment Articles Against Judge Boasberg Following Arctic Frost Scandal (Nov. 4, 2025). These stories barely made the news.
Just a few years ago, both media and most elected officials would have decried these attacks on a coequal branch of government as unprecedented and dangerous. Now, they are the new norm. ...
BP profits more than double, beating expectations as Iran war boosts oil prices
www.cnbc.com
... British energy major BP on Tuesday reported that first-quarter profits more than doubled from a year ago, following a surge in oil and gas prices driven by the Middle East conflict. ...
Not at all related...
James Gang - Midnight Man (1971)
www.youtube.com
James Gang is Joe Walsh before he became JOE WALSH.
Of note to me in this tune is the vocal by Ms Mary Sterpka for a verse.
Her voice is so smooth and evocative.
Kudos for the James Gang for asking her to participate in this song!
Crisis-Hit Southeast Asia Looks to Sign Petroleum Security Pact
oilprice.com
... The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) looks to ratify a petroleum security agreement, Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said on Thursday as Asian nations are reeling from the shock oil supply crisis amid the Middle East war.
"APSA, or the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement, is being pursued to enable coordinated emergency fuel sharing and collective responses to supply disruption," Roque said during an online briefing, as carried by Reuters.
Southeast Asian economies such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam were the first to feel fuel shortages after the blocked Strait of Hormuz cut off most of their regular crude and fuel supply from the Middle East.
The Philippines, which sourced 98% of all its oil from the Middle East before the war, declared a national energy emergency as early as in the middle of March.
Many of the Southeast Asian countries have turned to alternative suppliers, including Russian oil, which is now allowed for unsanctioned sale by the U.S. Treasury until May 16, under a waiver the Trump Administration extended by a month earlier in April. ...
PM Netanyahu seems to want to extend the war instead of trying to fight for peace.
Why?
Well, one reason that has surfaced is that, when the war ends he will have to faces charges in court.
So he seems to want to prolong the war, even to the point of apparently sucking Pres Trump into the quagmire, just so he may not have to face justice.