Links 4/17/2026

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1. The Rev Kev April 17, 2026 at 7:31 am

   ‘Prime
   @nucleusprime
   🇦🇺 Amid a looming fuel crisis in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proudly announced securing 100 million liters of diesel.’

   Albo is what I accused him of being even before he became PM – just another hack. What the government should be doing is setting up plans to build a new refinery here. Have it as a government-private partnership with the govt having a 51% stake so that the private part does not one day shut it down like they have all the others in Oz. The only reason that we still have two left is because the govt gives them $2-3 billion a year to keep on going. Build it with enough capacity to refine all of Oz’s oil so that it can produce the fuels, diesel and jet fuel that the country needs. Will the govt do that? Of course not. It won’t make “economic” sense – until the next crisis.
   1. vao April 17, 2026 at 7:45 am

      You mean 1.5 refineries or so. One of them sustained a big fire that has just been extinguished, but will result in a reduced production of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

      Isn’t operating with no safety margins (also known as just-in-time production, or cutting costly slack) great?
2. Judith April 17, 2026 at 8:07 am

   A book about eider ducks in Norway (for the antidote):

   https://archive.ph/3lPMC
3. ChrisFromGA April 17, 2026 at 8:24 am

   Bad news for airline shareholders, good news for flyers:

   https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/federal-officials-order-flight-cuts-at-chicago-ohare-to-reduce-airport-delays-00878291

   Cutting flights will help relieve overcrowding and airport rage. I am sure that the CEOs of United and American are kicking a puppy, somewhere.
4. dearieme April 17, 2026 at 8:28 am

   “Henry Paulson Says US Should Prepare for a ‘Vicious’ Bond Crash”

   OR

   Paul Henryson Says US Savers Should Prepare for a Welcome Increase in Interest Rates.

   Amazing how it all depends on your point of view, isn’t it?
   1. Bob from Kansas April 17, 2026 at 9:01 am

      Two of my daughters friends, both in North Carolina (Asheville and Wilmington), are about to try to sell their houses inherited from their parents. I advised them, if they wish to sell fast, to be competitive in their pricing. Their real estate agents are telling them the opposite (of course!), but they still defer to the people who are about to make a nice commission.

      I will keep you posted….
   2. Henry D April 17, 2026 at 4:11 pm

      Jay Martin suggest there are two wars going on. One is the physical battle in Iran, but behind the scenes is an economic war that Iran may also be winning in that the struggle to get resources that are blocked from getting through the straights is putting pressure on Countries to sell their reserves, mainly US treasuries, which is starting to put pressure on the bond market. They are much smarter folks on this site that can perhaps comment if this is a valid hypothesis.
   3. alrhundi April 17, 2026 at 4:40 pm

      I made the mistake of buying a place near the peak of the pandemic market and kind of regret it. We moved so don’t even live in it and are renting it out, but would sell it if we wouldn’t take such a loss. We can thankfully afford it if rates increase but it’s not ideal and the property value is already down 20%.
5. The Rev Kev April 17, 2026 at 8:37 am

   “Sending combat troops to exercise, Japan leaves WWII ghosts behind – Asia Times”

   This is all a matter of viewpoint. The article say ‘Japan is outdistancing the ghosts of World War II and subsequent decades of faux pacifism.’ It’s kinda like how the US exorcised Vietnam from their system during the First Gulf War. But getting back to Japan, the Japanese military may be feeling good about going to train in other countries and flex their power. OK then. But there is no mention of those countries in Asia that experienced the Japanese military in their own backyards back in WW2. Anybody asked the people there how they feel about the Japanese coming back again? Not the elites. Just the ordinary people?
   1. dave -- just dave April 17, 2026 at 9:24 am

      An interesting book, which I believe I may have first heard of here a while ago, is Zen at War by Brian Daizen Victoria. As for “faux pacifism”, I would modify a line from a song Cream covered, “Born Under a Bad Sign” – if it wasn’t for faux pacifism, they wouldn’t have no pacifism at all. I write as a former resident of Japan and a citizen of the United States of America, among other places, and persist in the belief I picked up as an Army brat going to Protestant Sunday School – you should only kill people when it’s really necessary.
      1. Retired Carpenter April 17, 2026 at 11:00 am

         “you should only kill people when it’s really necessary”
         Could you please define “necessary” here? Perhaps this?
         1. marieann April 17, 2026 at 12:56 pm

            We have that record…bought it years ago, it was a favourite with our sons
6. Bob from Kansas April 17, 2026 at 9:02 am

   Iran declares Strait of Hormuz completely open to commercial traffic during Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

   And crude down 8%…
   1. ChrisFromGA April 17, 2026 at 9:22 am

      Remember our hosts thesis that merely “declaring something open” does not solve insurance issues. And it has a short-dated expiration (10 days or less, not sure when the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire ends.)

      If no insurer will touch this with a 39 and a half foot pole, it won’t move the needle in the real world.
   2. Jason Boxman April 17, 2026 at 9:27 am

      The Strait of Hormuz is “declared completely open” for the “remaining period of ceasefire,” says Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

      In a statement on X, he says: “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through [the] Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.”

      The US announced it would begin a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, after Iran had effectively closed the world’s busiest oil shipping channel for weeks in response to the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.

      We have not heard an immediate response from the US. The two-week Iran-US ceasefire is due to expire on 22 April.

      https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cqxdg17yr2wt?post=asset%3A3c58f6cd-4f74-469c-a381-d8d5eea7417f#post
      1. JohnnyGL April 17, 2026 at 9:31 am

         Has anyone told Iran that Israel is still firing? I’m very confused at this point. Are the Iranians still charging a toll?
      2. ceco April 17, 2026 at 2:26 pm

         Setting aside the question of shipping insurance, could this be an attempt to overrun the blockade by releasing more ships from the Gulf at once than the US Navy can actually interdict?

         Given the insurance situation (and a general lack of expertise in this area), I have no idea if this is actually plausible, and I can think of other reasons why there is no real downside to being ‘magnanimous’ here – if nothing else, and as already pointed out, Israel has yet to cease firing, meaning this can be reversed at any time – but it’s fun to think that Iran might be deliberately stampeding the cattle to send the cowboys scurrying…
7. AG April 17, 2026 at 9:21 am

   re: US Zionists

   video paywalled

   USEFUL IDIOTS

   Alan Dershowitz Threatens Trump If He Doesn’t Follow Israeli Orders
   Plus, “Step Aside!”: Chuck Schumer LOSES Dem Support as Israel Opinion Plummets
   https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/alan-dershowitz-threatens-trump-if

   “(…)
   First the Dems: Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in the Senate that would block the sale of bombs to Israel. It failed, in part because of seven Democrats who betrayed their base to side with the AIPAC lobbyists who own them:
   (see link)

   The second list shows, after years of being called a foreign agent in the pocket of Putin by corporate spokespeople at CNN and MSNBC, that Donald Trump really is a foreign agent. It’s just not the Russians who own him.
   (see link)

   The second list shows, after years of being called a foreign agent in the pocket of Putin by corporate spokespeople at CNN and MSNBC, that Donald Trump really is a foreign agent. It’s just not the Russians who own him.
   (…)”
8. TomDority April 17, 2026 at 9:28 am

   “Congress overturns ban on mining near the Boundary Waters”
   “The U.S. Senate voted 50-49 Thursday to allow sulfide mining in areas near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”
   F every low life who votes for this to go through.
   1. alrhundi April 17, 2026 at 4:42 pm

      What’s the significance of this area? I believe I just saw it mentioned in Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac
   2. jrkrideau April 17, 2026 at 7:42 pm

      The watershed drains into the Great Lakes. Canada will be delighted.
9. JohnA April 17, 2026 at 9:47 am

   Re Trump deals double blow to the great British pint Politico

   Actually, a proper great British pint is traditional Bitter, that is a living entity served via a pump system without the need to add carbon dioxide to give it ‘life’ and fizz. Sadly, the encrapification of the British pint has been a decades long move whereby small local breweries were acquired by multinational big brewers, closed down in favour of huge centralised breweries whose main product is heavily advertised lager types These need far less care and attention than living beer and can therefore be shipped greater distances and then brought to ‘life’ via CO2. Capitalist encrapification in a nutshell. Nothing great or even British about them.
   1. paul April 17, 2026 at 10:55 am

      I think the key point is how the UK’s representatives will blithely sign any asset away just for a pat on the head from the american oligarchy.

      Palantir wants the NHS, help yourselves

      Pity our unrequited leaders, lost in a special relationship of their own imagination.
10. AG April 17, 2026 at 9:59 am

    re: Palestine literature v. Zionism

    essay, VIJAY PRASHAD Substack

    Resistance Literature Against Zionist Brutalities
    The Infra-Politics of Palestine
    https://luciddialectics.substack.com/p/resistance-literature-against-zionist?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e223_tv4_tp1
11. Steve H. April 17, 2026 at 10:15 am

    > Hostile Symbiosis — A World Where Win and Lose No Longer Apply ChinArb

    Please smart people read this. It seems to have good explanatory value w regards to deflation in productive states, underpinning seeming irrationality in supporting their oppressors. Symbiosis may not be quite the right word, more like inter-mediated predator/prey systems, or sickle cell anemia as a response to parasites. Does it require three entities/systems to make it work?

    A side point that makes me a bit nervous is, on the one hand a decent argument for ‘win/lose’ being an inadequate/archaic description, but then invoking the Tributary System of Confucian China and ignore ‘the historical baggage of this word.’ It’s a minor inconsistency that makes me concerned I’m being misled by words. Nevertheless, a thought-provoking essay.
12. Tom Stone April 17, 2026 at 10:59 am

    “White House Spiritual Advisor” to Donald Trump.
    It’s Paula Caine-White.
    Words fail me.
    Laughter must suffice.
13. AG April 17, 2026 at 11:43 am

    re: US airpower

    TOM GRIFFIN Substack

    Bombing to win
    Intelligence and airpower from Vietnam to Iran
    https://intelligencehistory.substack.com/p/bombing-to-win-intelligence-and-airpower
14. AG April 17, 2026 at 11:52 am

    re: US military backwardness v. Russia

    2x ANDREI MARTYANOV + BMA

    His regular post, including discussion of BLACK MOUNTAIN´s essay on US military education
    40 min.
    https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-bit-on-smo.html

    Mike Mihajlovic´s essay:

    Notes on Military Education Approaches in Russia and the United States [i]
    Military Education – the key to modern command
    Mike Mihajlovic
    Mar 31, 2026
    https://bmanalysis.substack.com/p/notes-on-military-education-approaches

    Martyanov long-form with NIMA yesterday (as usual if necessary ignore his social doom-talk) but I am always finding very good and helpful details in his comments.

    58 min.
    https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2026/04/nima-and-me_16.html

    In both videos Martyanov highlights the warning´s of the Russian NSC against European drone manufacturers who intend to supply UKR.

    This corresponds with the German text by Sevim Dagdelen which I posted 2 days ago and which was warning of war. (Although on different grounds re: military comparative advantages of both sides.)
15. LY April 17, 2026 at 12:05 pm

    One more House vote against the war: Anililia Mejia, Bernie Sander’s former staff member, wins NJ-11 election. Remember, AIPAC got heavily involved in the D primary, which then backfired on them.

    Not a suprising result. Harris won the district by 7%. Mejia is winning by 20%. However, according to https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/analilia-mejia-wins-nj-11-special-keeping-sherrills-seat-in-democratic-hands/, she relatively underperformed in districts with large Jewish populations.

    I did note that the neighboring NJ-5 Rep. Gottheimer voted for the war resolution. Wonder how he’s going to spin that.
16. Who Cares April 17, 2026 at 12:33 pm

    Albanese just held a press conference to announce he didn’t even manage to snag the full load of the smallest VLCC out there from the spot market?
    Talk about desperate perception management.

    And then that food picture, I always thought that eating your boot soles was an expression not something you do. Reverse image and AI lookups came out with variants on: “This would be considered a bar of silver or other metallic rock were it not on a meal tray with other food, can’t be identified otherwise”.
17. Rabbit April 17, 2026 at 3:23 pm

    3D printed homes are a con. It may be able to make the shell but that’s the easiest part of a home to make. A competent crew can erect a framed floor every two days on a medium sized house. This includes floors and a roof that 3D can’t print. 3D doesn’t print wiring, plumbing, roofs, floors, water lines, gas lines, ect. It also takes more work to sheath in siding or other exterior covering.
    Concrete is more expensive than wood framing and damages the ecology more because of the CO2 generated in it’s manufacture.
    It’s pie in the sky and I feel it will never be economically viable. If it was it would already be used everywhere.
    1. ambrit April 18, 2026 at 1:11 am

       I speak here with scant direct experience with 3D printing, but back in the early 1960s, my Dad worked at a Florida company named Panelfab. The company manufactured, in the factory, buildings in sub-units for assembly at the site. Floors were often pre-poured but could be steel framed and deliverable. The walls were produced with all of the internal components included. The components were ‘married’ at the joins between the sub-units. This included electric lines, water and sewer lines, windows and doors, and other specified services. The roofs were truss built, the trusses being pre-built and shipped to site. Roof panels would be placed on the erected trusses. The company mainly sold to “Third World” locales. Generally, government facilities were the product. If someone can figure out how to 3D print walls and roof panels, this might become a going concern yet again.
       From personal experience with both the use of and construction of “Manufactured Housing,” ie. trailers, the real stumbling block to the general acceptance of trailer homes in general are their abysmal quality control issues. When the factory is focused on one thing only, making as big of a profit as possible, quality goes by the wayside.
18. In Cold Chud April 17, 2026 at 3:26 pm

    Another AI story:

    https://www.wafb.com/2026/04/16/seniors-torn-over-districts-plan-use-ai-announce-names-high-school-graduation/

    “The Plano Independent School District recently announced it will use NameCheck, an AI-powered pronunciation tool, to announce the names at all high school graduations this spring. This will allow students to record and train the system to say their names correctly.

    ‘Names matter, and we want your big moment to feel personal and accurate,’ the district wrote in an email to parents.”
19. amfortas April 17, 2026 at 7:48 pm

    i put this on my facbook, and am keeping the snubnose detective 38 at hand:
    Man.
    Whats it gonna take for y’all to wake the fuck up?
    Republican, democrat…doesnt matter anymore
    it is, and has always been, about Class.
    Your enemies are not the fucking immigrants…we destroyed their countries, and gave them no choice.
    Your enemies are not brown people, nor the black people, nor the asian people.
    Your enemies aint the queers, nor the drag queens, nor the almost mythical Trans and Antifa(the real Left is almost nonexistent in the usa)
    your enemy is, as it has always been, the very rich.
    They hate you, they use you, they fuck you over.
    Direct your anger…much justified…at the proper targets.
    Eat them, feed them to the poor, or simply seal them in their fucking bunkers.

    faceborg is essentially local, out here…everyone’s on it, etc.
    1. Escapee April 18, 2026 at 12:58 am

       or simply seal them in their fucking bunkers.

       A keeper. They’ll probably contract Iranians to unseal them, though.
20. flora April 17, 2026 at 8:21 pm

    File under Big Brother is watching you.
    Gerald Celente and Judge Napolitano. utube, ~19+ minutes.

    PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS? NO! PURSUIT OF MISERY IS POLITICAL WAY

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BvVToEZS2U
21. Escapee April 18, 2026 at 12:50 am

    Anybody else, after reading countless AI-written tweets over the last several months, finding themselves expert detectors of this slop, and sick of it? Apparently it’s infected Substack too.

    Case in point: “Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum and the Five-Month Delay. important important important.” Rhetorically, it reads like a million other accounts on X and Substack in its “This is not…. This is….” and similar excesses of antithesis, bolded below (and there are other fingerprints beyond antithesis). The info is interesting, but the writing is now infinitely tiresome:

    Why They’re Showing It to You Now

    The media needs conflicting narratives. But the system runs on cycles and incentives.

    When Bloomberg broadcasts a five-month-old forum on television at night, they’re not giving you old news. They’re giving you the explanation for what just happened — after the positioning is already done. The viewer watches the panel, hears credible people asking serious questions about the dollar and American power, and absorbs a narrative framework that makes the last five months feel like a natural unfolding rather than a structural event that institutional capital saw coming.

    The bigger the names on television, the bigger the problem they already knew about.

    Draghi, Raimondo, the CEO of HSBC, GIC’s sovereign money, Nasdaq’s chair, Google DeepMind’s COO — these are not people who show up to conferences to learn things. They show up to align. The broadcast is the public-facing layer of a coordination that already happened.

    Your job isn’t to watch the broadcast and feel informed. Your job is to notice the gap — between when the room met and when they showed it to you — and ask what moved in between.

    The answer, this time, is: everything.

    GWA doesn’t analyze the prediction. GWA analyzes what the prediction is about. Run the underlying subject through the framework, and let the structural information resolve the direction.

    Follow the money. Everybody don’t make it — it’s your job to make sure you make it.

    Blech. Add your own tells, or prove me wrong.
    1. Acacia April 18, 2026 at 2:16 am

       Thanks. Agree. I’m sick of it too.

       It has been said that the use of em-dashes is a sign of AI-generated text, but I use them myself all the time. One thing I have noticed is the abundance of bullet lists with three or four items. Many AI summaries seem to include these.
       1. Escapee April 18, 2026 at 2:38 am

          I’ve heard the same em-dashes charge, and–being a lover of their effect–had the same reaction as you. (But my attempt just now was crap, lol).

          Yes, bullet lists. And section headings (“What it all means” seems a common conclusion title). And punchy short declarative sentences all over the place.

          Metals dealer GoldCore has a YT channel that blew me away when months ago I first discovered it for its host’s 10-minute speeches. Now I don’t listen because I’m pretty sure she’s reading an AI script. I thought she was brilliant then, but now I think she’s just a robot reading a robot.
22. Escapee April 18, 2026 at 2:54 am

    Kim Iverson interviews Dan Bilzerian (Randy Fine’s “controversial” challenger) on Rumble. Fascinating. He’s rhetorically gifted, and unflinchingly honest enough, to maybe pull this off.

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