curated news excerpts & citations
Borowitz: Iran Says Hormuz Strait Will Close Two Years for Renovations
In a major setback for Donald J. Trump, on Monday Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed the next two years for renovations.
The Strait of Hormuz board, packed with cronies of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, also approved a plan to put Khamenei’s name on the renovated waterway.
“The Khamenei Strait of Hormuz will be the biggest and most beautiful trade chokepoint EVER!” the ayatollah announced in a social media post.
In the same post, he indicated that the renovated strait would have a “world-class toll booth” fitted with marble armrests “unlike anything ever done or seen before!”
Josh Dawsey and Annie Linskey @ WSJ: Behind Trump’s Public Bravado on the War, He Grapples With His Own Fears
President Trump’s handling of the war with Iran is characterized by an unorthodox, maximalist approach, veering between belligerence and conciliation.
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – April 20, 2026
…
This morning, Trump’s social media account responded to the bad news of the weekend, including the Wall Street Journal story, by dismissing it. “Israel never talked me into the war with Iran,” the account posted. “[T]he results of Oct[ober] 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did. I watch and read the FAKE NEWS Pundits and Polls in total disbelief. 90% of what they say are lies and made up stories, and the polls are rigged, much as the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged. Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn’t like talking about, the results in Iran will be amazing—And if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future! President DJT”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
-
James Eagle: The oil price surge is more dangerous than it looks
The real story here is not that oil has gone up. It is that the market for actual crude has become more anxious than the headline benchmark suggests. Brent futures still imply that traders see this as a shock that may pass. Physical North Sea barrels are telling a different story. They are being priced as if supply is scarce now and buyers cannot afford to wait.
(James Eagle more…)
-
Phillips Payson O’Brien @ Atlantic: Ukraine Has Finally Given Up on Trump
…
But now Kyiv appears to have given up on the United States. It is aggressively seeking new diplomatic and military partners—for instance, by sharing its hard-won expertise in drone warfare with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates and forging arms-production agreements with Germany. Ukraine has sent drones to attack oil-export facilities near St. Petersburg, deep inside enemy territory, in defiance of what Zelensky called “signals” from unspecified “partners” to avoid striking Russian energy infrastructure.
(Phillips Payson O’Brien @ Atlantic more…)
-
John Wojcik @ People’s World: Firestorm continues over HHS Secretary’s call to “re-parent” Black children
Cliff Schecter: RFK Jr.’s “Re-Parenting” Brain Worm Strikes Again
He floated stealing Black kids from their families. Then lied about saying it. Then Terri Sewell read him his own quote.
-
Ken Klippenstein: ICE Glasses
Homeland Security is making “smart glasses” to collect intelligence on Americans
(Ken Klippenstein more…)
-
Paul Kedrosky: Data Centers Are Causing a Surge in U.S. CO₂ Emissions
(Paul Kedrosky more…)Jordan Nanos, Bryan Shan, Cheang Kang Wen, Daniel Nishball & Dylan Patel @ semianalysis: How Much Do GPU Clusters Really Cost?
-
Todd Wallack @ Washington Post: Students are speeding through their online degrees in weeks, alarming educators
It takes most college students at least four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Christie Williams finished in three months.
(Todd Wallack @ Washington Post more…)
-
Michael D. Shear, Catherine Porter, Jane Bradley and Christopher F. Schuetze @ NY Times: The 27-Year-Old Diplomat Waging Trump’s Cultural War With Europe
Five years out of college, Samuel Samson has driven the Trump administration’s push to upend America’s postwar relationship with Europe.
(Michael D. Shear, Catherine Porter, Jane Bradley and Christopher F. Schuetze @ NY Times more…)
-
Miles Taylor: We’re only seeing a fraction of Trump’s actual corruption. Why? The rest is “classified.”
-
Jennifer Rubin: Trump Is Making China Great
His blunders inure to our chief rival
-
Garrett Graff: Five Trump Scandals You’ve Probably Missed
-
Steward Beckham: The False Hope of the 2026 Midterms
Post-Electoral Redemption will be excruciatingly difficult.
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.
- March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
Leave a Reply