- In cosmic news, posted on YouTube by viralhog, here’s Artemis II ascending as viewed from an American Airlines plane in flight:
- Dave Barry celebrates our trip around the moon:
It has been a long time coming, but finally, on Wednesday evening, after years of preparation and a brief launch delay caused by a long line at the TSA checkpoint, NASA’s Artemis II spacecraft — named for Artemis II, the Greek goddess of large federal contracts — blasted off, with a crew of four, from what is currently named the Kennedy Space Center, although that could change if the president finds out about it.
Dave includes a helpful space travel chart:
- In Nan’s Notebook, Nan explains why she is unenthused about journeys around the moon.
- In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson reviews the details of what is known, the conflicting versions by different sides, and Trump’s oscillating account of what is turning out to be a shaky Iran agreement.
The same analysis is now available in audio format, as Richardson narrates in podcast.
- Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit summarizes the great and unsurpassed victory Trump achieved in Iran.
Okay, I’ll admit, she seems a touch skeptical.
I also detect sarcasm in the headline:
Our Master Negotiator - Dave Columbo goes all Trumper and explains, in terms we can all understand, our total victory against Iran:
- At The Moderate Voice Joe Gandelman explains some of the dangers of going to war based on Donald Trump’s inner feelings.
Trump’s exit strategy:
Harry Cohen, the founder and autocratic president of Warner Brothers, once said he had a way of judging whether a movie would be a success. “I have a foolproof device for judging a picture,” he said. “If my fanny itches, it’s bad. If my fanny doesn’t squirm, it’s good.”
Donald Trump said the war will be over “when I feel it in my bones.” Funny? Bones? It’s all about valuing a gut feeling.The technique has not been effective:
Why Trump’s war failed:
Yet wars are generally not about gut feelings but intricate pre-war planning, trying to advance a winning strategy, overall goals, and what to do if war plans go awry. - Infidel753 shares widespread skepticism about pretty much any Trump pronouncements.
Trump basically does the Ann Coulter schtick — making outrageous and shocking statements to draw attention and twist the tails of his political opponents. The problem is that for this to work, the rhetoric needs to keep escalating — and thus to keep getting further and further away from any plausible reality.
He regards the apparent outcome as worse than the typical TACO:
If the campaign is abandoned before the theocracy falls, it will be a disaster and a monstrous betrayal. All those who have died will have died for nothing, and the best chance in our lifetime for the Iranian people to take control of their own destiny will have been thrown away.Anti-regime protest of Iranian expats in London:
Infidel sees a pattern that transcends a single administration.
Throughout the decades-long history of the jihadist wars against Israel, there is a recurring pattern of the West pressuring Israel to accept a ceasefire before the enemy is completely defeated. Wars end when one side wins them, but because Israel has not been allowed to fully win, the conflict does not end — and so it has dragged on and on…..I am reminded of the attempted revolution in 1956 within Hungary. With US encouragement and implied promises of American support, crowds demonstrated against the Soviet Union. Right up until the Soviet Union sent troops to kill thousands of Hungarians, then hunt down, arrest, and execute Hungary’s leader.
As it turned out, the support and implied promises of the US evaporated. We had no choice. We had been bluffing from the start.
- We do have Trump backing down from what seemed to be a promise to make Iran glow in the dark. He accepts a Pakistan proposal for a 2‑week ceasefire, shakes his fist at Iran (You’d better stick to everything you demanded), and declares the biggest military victory in the history of military victories.
The details are vague, flags of victory are waving in Tehran, and variations of one obvious interpretation appear all over the internet:
Trump: do as I say, or I will bomb you back to the stone ages
Iran: best I can do is this 10 point plan where you give us everything we want
Trump: deal!
FoxNews: Trump is a master negotiator
— crunchyrugger (@crunchyrugger) April 8, 2026
I still don’t think it’s possible to make the thugocracy in Iran look sympathetic.
But a sneak attack during negotiations. an attack that echoes Pearl Harbor, followed by bombings that accidentally kill school children (later dismissed as well, they was there), then threats to blow up civilians most of whom hate the Iranian government, all seem like a best effort to make the Iranian government of brutes look good.What the hell is behind the Trump administration’s strange, impulsive war?
Fortunately, we have CalicoJack in The Psy of Life to explain why…
…Trump is flailing and failing as his only lifelong weapon of choice flubs.
- Julian Sanchez has insight into the Trump administration ethic:
The Green Lantern Theory of Geopolitics held that you can do anything, it’s just a matter of willpower. This administration runs on the Red Lantern Theory: Any failure to achieve a geopolitical goal can be ascribed to insufficient cruelty & brutality.
— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) April 5, 2026 at 10:38 AM
They honestly do seem to believe, as Adam says, that savagery, disregard for human rights, and contempt for international law are a kind of cheat code. It’s the barstool moron’s worldview that everything is easy if you just stop being a pussy and unleash enough brute force.
— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) April 5, 2026 at 10:42 AM
A lot of Trump’s appeal is that this is also the barstool moron’s view of domestic policy: If you only get a Strong Leader who’s willing to ram through the Obvious Simple Answer, all problems are easy to solve!
— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) April 5, 2026 at 10:45 AM
- tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors recounts Trump’s reaction to Pope Leo’s reaction to Trump’s war. Trump representatives, in an angry meeting, remind the Vatican that the Pope himself is not immune from US military action.
Mentioned specifically was the 1309 kidnapping of Pope Boniface VIII by the King of France.
The Pope was beaten over several days and died shortly after.
tengrain summarizes (accurately):
Nice little religion you got there.
Shame if anything happened to it.Or to you, Leo.
- You thought the crusades were history? Or that a war against unbelievers would be the exclusive province of ISIS types?
M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has the links, and initial reactions, as Trump and Hegseth proclaim the attack on Iran to be part of a Holy War on behalf of God.
Headline:
Today In Blasphemy - Dave Dubya reviews Trump’s unhinged, profanity laden, rants that threaten the end to a civilization composed mostly of innocents.
Also from the man anointed by Jesus to save America:
“We’re fighting wars. It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these things.”
Dave includes reasonable reactions, including that of someone who knows Trump well.
- In Hackwhackers, the internet reacts to Trumps announcement of war’s end.
One telling example:
Trump's explicit threat of genocide against a nation of 90 million people is being treated by the New York Times as just another story on a Tuesday morning.
— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) April 7, 2026 at 8:23 AM
- Podcaster Leigh McGowan doesn’t much care for Trump. She likes even less an attempt to shout her down during a panel discussion while she compares Trump’s triumphant new Iran agreement with the much better Obama agreement Trump tore up.
At about 1:40:
Can you actually just let me speak for like one freaking second, bro? Thank you so much! - In Canadian satire, The Beaverton provides coverage as Trump clarifies that…
…the civilization he intends to end is America.
- From The Borowitz Report:
Iran, in a gesture of good will, has allowed a ship through the Strait of Hormuz loaded with Epstein files.
- Trump administration threats against CBS worked. Worked for a little while against ABC as well, until it didn’t.
News Corpse reports as Trump threatens CNN with criminal prosecution.
- Juliet Jeske at Decoding Fox News listened for 15 hours, counted, itemized, and listed some of what were clearly delusions, including how the No Kings protests turned out to be nothing, Trump just got some bad intelligence on Iran, and Americans love Trump
Buckle up and enter the land of Republican make believe.
More detailed information is presented by Juliet in an hour long entertaining podcast.
- Jason Linkins finds how fair and balanced The New York Times can be.
gotta hear both sides
— Jason Linkins (@dceiver.bsky.social) April 3, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Sheesh!
- Author and educator Amanda Nelson has a way of making pretty much everything entertaining. This week, she reviews (okay, she gloats over) Tuesday’s election results (as in Wow!):
- In Rural Missouri, Jess Piper marvels that her own Congressional Representative consistently votes against his constituents but has kept getting elected:
Quite frankly, not many people know he’s not working. He shows up to cut ribbons on the new highways that he voted against funding. He is paraded around new hospital wings in local communities after cutting funding for Medicaid and tax credits for the ACA. His name and image show up in local papers across the state, smiling for the camera for projects he voted to gut.
Sam is protected by a monopoly of conservative news coverage. He can do no wrong with newspapers from St. Joe to the other side of the state, and he is a frequent guest on AM radio in the district. Fun fact, did you know older tractors and equipment only came with AM radio capability, meaning farmers were listening to these stations exclusively for hours a day?
That’s how Rush Limbaugh happened and how politicians like Sam keep happening.This year may be the start of something different.
But things are getting tougher for my neighbors. Prices are through the roof for every last thing.
Unfortunately, the Epstein Files won’t change many minds, but $5.00 diesel will.
And I think that’s why Sam has finally decided to retire. - Tamra Brown seems to have a handle on why voters are skeptical about the Democrats they’re voting for:
- PZ Myers suggests that the reason so many Republicans in leadership roles turn out to be …um… controversial (read Nazis and racists) is because those who do the choosing don’t see a problem.
He reacts to one very public example:
Republicans have received so much bad press about racists and Nazis in their ranks that you’d think they’d learn and try to avoid more controversial members, but they can’t. Look at who was appointed as director of the College Republicans.The guy’s description reads like a leftist accusation, except that he’s the one describing himself.
The Republican Party is a hate group. This appointment was not a mistake, it’s who they are.Well…
…okay, so there is that… - Journalist Arturo Dominguez reports from Texas as the Houston City Council votes to limit Houston police interactions with ICE
That would be restrict, not eliminate:
In a 12-5 vote, the Houston City Council approved an ordinance that would prevent the Houston Police from detaining people for civil warrants - Donald Trump now claims to own all of his presidential records, begins Brian Beutler.
Brian sees a plan to steal or destroy everything beginning with the Epstein files.
- Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger has numbers and can’t find any age group, ethnicity, any part of the political spectrum, any educational level that does not support, and support overwhelmingly an additional tax on income over a million dollars.
- Legal expert Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo of Rewire News Group review strange new SCOTUS activity, and explore a horrible rumor:
Will Donald Trump Put Ted Cruz on the Supreme Court?You may prefer a complete transcript (PDF).
- In Scotties Playtime, Ali Redford regularly publishes a list of on‑this‑date events from history with occasional links.
Week before last, she included civil rights, anti-slavery events, and labor fights. I took one item more than a little personally.
A famous 1911 sweatshop fire killed 147 people, mostly women, many quite young.
The heartless bastards running the place had previously blocked exits and stairwells to prevent women from taking breaks.
Ali includes this note:
The incident was a turning point in labor law, especially concerning health and safety. For three days prior, the company, along with other warehouse owners, had grouped together to fight the Fire Commissioner’s order that fire sprinklers be installed.Anger over the needless deaths brought local regulations across the country that included mandatory fire escapes.
Ali’s perceptive inclusion brought to mind an incident that came 65 years later:
A young mother, Diana Bryant, whose death in Boston has haunted me for half a century.
Fire escape requirements were not enough to save her from the negligence of careless corporate cost-cutting.
- North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz prays that those believers who twist the church of Jesus into something just awful…
As someone who grew up in the Church and who spent three decades ministering within it, there’s something particularly distressing about the expansive hellscape we’re all stuck in right now: it’s all because of white, professed Christians who are committed to being terrible.I have often repeated my own observation:
A segment of any faith can be counted on to turn away from compassion to a sort of tribalism.
In our faith this brings some of our Christian brethren to reject the teachings of Jesus.
MAGA indignation:
What the hell does Jesus know about Christianity?!!— burrland01.bsky.social (@burrland01.bsky.social) February 12, 2025 at 12:28 PM
- Right Wing Watch brings us pastor Dale Partridge, who explains why America needs to repeal the 19th Amendment:
The majority of women are not capable of responsible voting.
About one minute:
- Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson finally gets one wrong:
Wait, you're mad that King Charles had nice words about a hotel? https://t.co/aMS3Ex2N3e
— James Wigderson (@jwigderson) April 3, 2026
And way-y-y-y right:
Wait until someone tells @ScottWalker that @SecWar (the Secretary of Defense) canceled the Good Friday service at the Pentagon for Catholics. https://t.co/aMS3Ex2N3e
— James Wigderson (@jwigderson) April 3, 2026
- In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, Bruce acknowledges his attempt to respect those with whom he disagrees (with obvious exceptions) but reserves his obligation to challenge silly beliefs.
He also has a related objection:
Have you ever had an Evangelical tell you, “We are just going to have to agree to disagree?” I have, more times than I can count. This is their way ending conversations; a dodge as they prepare to claim victory while actually suffering defeat.
He explains why:
I don’t let people off the hook with the “We are going to have to agree to disagree” cop-out. Beliefs matter. Beliefs have consequences. The beliefs of others can negatively affect my life and the lives of those I love. So, no, I am not going to treat your beliefs with undeserved respect. - SilverAppleQueen gets way personal, with a history that includes multiple suicide attempts, and a poem after her last attempt.
From me:
When things get to be too much, and such thoughts intrude, please dial or text 988.
The call or text is confidential.
The conversation is judgment-free. - The Propaganda Professor explains the statistical reasons statistics can lie:
- In Happiness Between Tails da-AL’s guest is author Michael Gravois, who explores often remote nature around the world, and write books for children.
Michael relates a personal story about his youngsters, a wedding, and his son’s explanation of the difference between a man and a woman.
- @whiskeywhistle98 keeps up with celebrity news:
- At The Onion, Arby’s reclassifies their food as entertainment.
Our offerings are intended to be enjoyed as entertainment in a meal-adjacent format.
- The Journal of Improbable Research finds in Belgium a decades old study of the growth of human hair on nude mice.
Comment by Marc Abrahams:
The growth of human hair in nude mice has been studied more than the growth of mouse hair in nude humans. - The Savanna Bananas demonstrate the strategic value of music in baseball:
More education from our tried and true sources:
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