Hormuz strait oil traffic way down after ceasefire; Hassett says even one tanker is big
"... being mindful of the fact that if you get one of those big tankers through, that’s 2 million barrels. So that’s a huge chunk of what’s missing," he said.
Before the war, about 20 million barrels of oil were transiting the strait per day. ...
Estimates of supply lost which I have seen today say 9 million barrels per day of supply have been lost, worse than the COVID shutdown.
The Strait of Hormuz is not open as Iran controls access after ceasefire, UAE oil CEO says
... “This moment requires clarity,” said Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber in a social media post. “So let’s be clear: the Strait of Hormuz is not open. Access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled.”
Iran has made clear that ships must obtain its permission to pass through the strait, Al Jaber said. “That is not freedom of navigation. That is coercion,” the ADNOC chief said. ...
Just one tanker out yesterday.
Vessels and deadweight tonnage out are both in the toilet.
Have fun out there, world, filling your tanks, courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.
But we can still put people in a tin can and send them around the moon like we did already in 1968.
We also don't have a military capable of stopping Russian aggression in Europe, because we're too tired after Iraq and Afghanistan.
Put up or shut up, Ben.
... childish, dumb, embarrassing, ignorant, idiot, immature, incompetent, joke, moron, ridiculous, silly, stupid, uneducated, unfit, unpredictable, and unqualified ... bigot, corrupt, crazy, delusional, disastrous, disgrace, evil, greed, hate, horrible, insane, prejudice, racist, sociopath, trash, unstable, and vile ... “ass” or “asshole”, bad, bully, crass, disgusting, disrespectful, jerk, liar, mean, obnoxious, pig, rude, and stubborn ... arrogant, cocky, confident, egomaniac, loud, megalomaniac, narcissist, and selfish.
And that was in May 2020.
This guy needs to be slowly keelhauled on a VLCC.
Is it in the room with us right now?
Not as deep red as it used to be when your margin of victory is more than cut in half.
20 millions barrels a day passing through is $20 million a day or $7.3 billion a year, going straight into the hands of Iran to build more missiles, drones, and nuclear weapons for to wipe Israel off the map and rule the Middle East.
Brilliant.
I'm sure all our new friends in the Persian Gulf who let us build bases to protect them are just thrilled.
Trump belongs in a padded cell, not the Oval Office.
The world is spitting at us in contempt this morning.
Arrogance led to the Athenian demise, no doubt about it.
But like the good Spartan that he is, he doesn't consider that it might be 490 BC instead, seeing how he and his European friends are too busy with feasting to come to the aid of our age's Athens at Marathon.
Here.
... Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a measure that gave him and other state officials the power to designate groups as "terrorist organizations" and expel students who support them, with rights groups saying the law will chill free speech.
The law empowers the state's chief of domestic security, governor and cabinet to designate any organization they determine engages in extremist acts as a "terrorist organization."
After such a designation, the group can be forcibly dissolved and face a freeze on state funding, according to the legislation. It also says that students shall be expelled from their institution if they "promoted a domestic terrorist organization or a foreign terrorist organization." ...
Very amusing.
There's a lot riding on the outcome of the Hungarian elections for certain "conservatives" next week.
It's mostly about Gladden Pappin, but is useful for describing the connections between Hungary and other American figures like J. D. Vance, and also the Danube Institute bankrolling Rod Dreher (unmentioned), helmed by National Review veteran John O'Sullivan:
Another English-speaking member of this species is John O’Sullivan, a former speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher. O’Sullivan is the founder and president of the Danube Institute, which receives funding from Orbán’s government and stays relentlessly on message. Last year, the institute put on an event called Is Transgenderism Dying?” With nearly two weeks to go before the election on April 12, the institute hosted a summit featuring a video address by the deputy U.S. secretary of state, Christopher Landau, and in-person remarks from one of his advisers. Weeks earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had traveled to Budapest and told Orbán, “Your success is our success.” The Danube Institute event reinforced that message by giving U.S. diplomats pride of place in the program. “It’s very comforting to know that we have allies like you,” an institute employee told the Americans at the conference’s conclusion.
He never mentions that with one hand Trump wants to end birthright citizenship in this court case and with the other sell citizenship to 37 million foreigners at $1 million each to nearly wipe out the national debt.
I say nearly because the national debt has exploded to $39 trillion since Trump first proposed this crackpot gimmick in February 2025.
Trump's only ideas about America are about money and getting more of it.
Turley tries to square the circle but remains no friend of the blood and soil conservatives who framed the constitution for "our posterity".
Silver: $73.77 USD +$1.49 USD +2.06% YTD
Gold: $4,693.90 USD +$359.60 USD +8.3% YTD
After the end of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, Bill Clinton gutted the Navy.
We went from 541 ships in 1992 to 336 by 1999.
And now we can't stop the Houthis in the Red Sea, nor Iran in the Persian Gulf.
These numbers are routinely updated not long after the 8:30am press release in previous administrations.
... "By allocating to RMB bonds, foreign investors can reduce portfolio volatility and improve risk-adjusted returns." ... "In the face of frequent geopolitical risks, the safe-haven role of RMB bonds has emerged," Yu said, adding that as the RMB internationalization progresses, demand for RMB assets as reserves is growing, and this is expected to support the growth of RMB bonds holdings by central banks and sovereign wealth funds.
LOL, what a crock.
Foreign investors own less than $1 trillion of Chinese debt, compared with over $9 trillion of U.S. debt.
... [U.S.] Treasuries are relied upon by global central banks as the pre-eminent reserve asset, since the $30tn market for the securities is the biggest and deepest in the world. ...
More.
Trump fires Attorney General Pam Bondi
... “Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” the president wrote.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future,” Trump said.
Bondi, in a statement on X, said, “Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private sector role I am thrilled about, and where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration.” ...
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican whose bill mandating that the DOJ release all files related to Epstein became law in late 2025, said in an X post, “I support Trump firing Pam Bondi. Do you?”
“I hope the next AG will release all the Epstein files according to the law and follow up with investigations, prosecutions, and arrests,” Massie said. ...
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
DXY: 99.893
Foreign central banks sell US Treasuries in wake of Iran war
Sotomayor: Do You Want to 'Unnaturalize People?'
... Sauer replied, “No, we believe the court should do what it did in Sessions v. Morales-Santana, where there was a ruling that would have deprived people who are already citizens of citizenship, and the court said this applies prospectively only. We think that’s the appropriate course here. ..."
Drudge version:
Rubio's parents were subject to the jurisdiction of Cuba, and therefore so was he, making none of them citizens.
Same was true of Native Americans, none of whom were made citizens by the 14th Amendment. They were subject to The Nations, which the federal government recognized by treaties as nations within the American nation. Native Americans received citizenship by law passed in 1924.
14th Amendment:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens ...
It is high time that "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" be treated seriously and not superfluously.
... With nuclear weapons in hand, Iran could threaten the global order with impunity. ... Tehran would recover, build atomic weapons, decide who may pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, and slowly strangle the global economy by demanding tribute for access to precious Gulf oil and LNG.
Very odd essay.
Here.
Trump says Iran’s president asked for ceasefire, but U.S. wants Hormuz Strait open first
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran’s “New Regime President” has asked the U.S. for a ceasefire. ...
There is something deeply insane about all this.
Only Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pipelines which can by-pass the Strait of Hormuz and replace a part of the lost export capacity. Production will have to be curtailed because there's nowhere to go with it. And everyone in the world will be poorer for it.
