Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Middle East tanker transits May 26-June 1 2026: Strait of Hormuz 2.0/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 17.3/day

SoH E: 0.9/day

BAM SE: 7.3/day

 


US House votes 215-208 directing the president to remove U.S. military forces from hostilities with Iran, which Republicans say isn't a war and which Trump says ended on April 7 lol


 

 House passes resolution to end Iran War, challenging Trump 

House lawmakers on Wednesday passed legislation designed to force President Trump to end the Iran War, marking a victory for Democrats and the constitutional purists who say the conflict is illegal without explicit congressional approval.

The tally was 215-208, with four Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Tom Barrett (Mich.) and Warren Davidson (Ohio) — joining every Democrat in supporting the measure.

The development is largely symbolic, since there are lingering disputes about whether the measure, known as a concurrent resolution, carries the force of law. And Trump is certain to contest the authority of the measure even if it’s also passed by the Senate, where it’s headed next. ...

Behind Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), most Republicans have argued that the conflict does not rise to the level of a war, and therefore doesn’t require congressional approval. ... 

The administration is also challenging the measure from a practical angle, arguing that the conflict ended when Trump called for a ceasefire in early April. ... 

The House Roll Call is here

 


 

 

59.2% working at any job in April 2026 doesn't look particularly strong to me Mr. Treasury Secretary sir, especially compared with your boss' past performance

 


Who's gonna tell him?

 Bessent: Inflation jump will be 'short-term blip'...

Core inflation has been rattling around 3% or higher for nearly five consecutive years as our betters fail to get inflation down to their 2% goal.

I say their goal because 0% is the goal in the law. 

Goals are real nice, aren't they?

They, too, are meaningless. They are tricks to persuade you that our elected officials are serious people who agree with you while they have no intention of doing what they say they will do.

"Well I'm really sorry, Mr. Smith. We tried really hard to get inflation down but we had all these unexpected events ruin our best efforts." 

In 1Q2026 core inflation rose, to 3.11%, and under current circumstances no one thinks 2Q is going to be lower, which will make it five full years of this and headed the wrong way again.

One good blip deserves another, I guess. 

The Treasury Secretary is not serious about inflation, and just about everyone points to Scott Bessent as the serious person in this administration.

We are so screwed. 

 




LA Mayoral race: How does the percentage of the vote counted go down 7 points in 3.5 hours lol?!

 LA's problems are worse than you imagined!

 

But look at the other California races.

Results for Congressional District 7 were 50% counted at 1212 PM, but only 45% counted at 338 PM!

District 22 went down too, from 67% to 61%.

The race for governor went from 62% counted to 57%.

District 6 went from 55% to 50%.

And District 14 went from 51% counted to 47% counted.

 

As time goes by in California, they just keep finding more votes to count I guess, unlike in the rest of America.

 

1212 PM

338 PM


 

This Donald Hussein Trump statement is willfully blind

 Trump: "A Little Perturbed" About Israel "Constantly Fighting With Lebanon... We've Got To Stop It"

As if Hezbollah doesn't exist in Lebanon.

Or Hamas in Gaza. 

Or Russia in Ukraine.

Who's side is he on, anyway?!

 

United Against Nuclear Iran says Iran's oil exports collapsed to a trickle in May due to the US Navy blockade of Iranian shipping

May 2026 Iran Tanker Tracker 

 

 


ADP total nonfarm private payrolls rose 122k in May 2026, but the 10-year trend for monthly change is basically flat not booming

But you already knew that.

 


Senator Thom Tillis says it's still amateur hour at the White House lol

 GOP Sen. Tillis slams Trump intelligence pick Pulte: ‘Don’t think he has a prayer’

... “Whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House,” Tillis said. “I am tired of amateur hour.” 

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Joel Kotkin took a vacation to Italy to find fascism and found conservatism instead

Joel Kotkin, RealClearInvestigations 
 
In today’s Italy, some outlets like The Guardian label the present government of Giorgia Meloni as the doyenne of what it describes as “neo-fascism.” They see in her politics a savvy, gradualist way to restore the Mussolini-era patriarchy and strong, controlling state.
 
Although her party has its roots in a political descendant of the fascist regime, there is little evidence of what historian Simonetta Falasca-Zamboni has described as “fascist spectacle.” There are few Meloni posters, much less statues in Rome or elsewhere. She does not hold the kind of massive show-of-strength rallies that Mussolini and Hitler specialized in. Unlike Mussolini, she has no cadre of violent “Blackshirts” to impose the party’s will. 

Meloni’s governing philosophy, instead, is traditionalist and conservative. Like others in the European “far right,” she is protective of the vast Italian welfare state and not willing to rock the boat of what is, whatever its political coloration, a profoundly conservative country. Leftists do not fear criticism of her will land them in jail. Actually, the rising censorship in Britain and the EU is applied to those who challenge progressive assumptions. When Meloni’s proposed judicial reform was voted down, Meloni dutifully accepted the results. “She’s basically a Christian Democrat,” Rome-based economist Veronica De Romanis told me. “Stability is her main goal.” ... 

OMG not THAT idiot

 Trump picks housing Dir. Bill Pulte as acting intelligence chief, replacing Tulsi Gabbard

 

But speaking of idiots, just how does one become a former scion anyway?



 

Monday, June 1, 2026

The communist New York Times favors State of Massachusetts dictation of minimum lot sizes, the very same idea bipartisan legislators are keen to impose on Michigan residents

 ... For decades, the state government has ceded control over housing policy to its 351 cities and towns. When it comes to housing policy, the state of Massachusetts is often a bystander, allowing town governments to impose classic “not in my backyard” policies. ... The initiative would prevent many towns from setting needlessly large minimums for lot sizes and effectively blocking the construction of middle-class homes. The campaign, Legalize Starter Homes, is now trying to gather the nearly 12,500 signatures it needs before June 17 to place the measure on the ballot. We endorse the initiative. ... The initiative would create a statewide minimum of 5,000 square feet, which is about the size of a basketball court, and bar towns from setting their own standards. ...

That's less than 1/8 acre lol.

The editorial is here

Yuri Zhivago once had his "too big" house taken away from him by the communists, too, to make room for thirteen families:


 

 

Befuddled old man who once insisted on unconditional surrender doesn't know what to do anymore

Sad! 

 Trump tells CNBC: ‘I don’t care’ if Iran negotiations are over 

... But when asked if he has reached out to NATO to participate in reopening the strait, Trump said, “They would if I wanted them to, but I’m not sure I want them to.” ...

 



 

I hate the greedy bastards of summer

 


In March Pete Hegseth couldn't decide if Iran's military was merely decimated or totally devastated, and now Trump tells us Iran's military wasn't really hurt at all

 Humpty Dumpty says words mean whatever he says they mean.

Meanwhile I'm quite certain nine in ten members of Iran's military prefer decimation to devastation. 

 





 

Tim Carney doesn't mention why the bad polling results for Republicans and Trump on the economy started already in May 2025

The word "tariff" does not appear in this column lol.

  

... But the bad polling trends for Republicans and Trump generally started late last year, before the attack on Iran. The right-track-wrong track numbers started souring last May.

It’s reasonable then to suspect that Trump’s other problems — including stubborn inflation (aside from gas prices) and his family’s sketchy business dealings — are harming the GOP. This pre-Iran trend also suggests that the numbers won’t simply reverse if the Strait of Hormuz reopens and gas prices fall.

The Republican Party’s problem is deeper than gas prices, and so things won’t get better before November. The only question is whether things get worse.

Oh yeah, Iran wants to make a deal so badly it now threatens to shut down the Red Sea on top of the Persian Gulf

U.S. intercepts Iran missiles targeting American forces in Kuwait: CENTCOM 

Treasury yields rise after Iran reportedly stops communication with U.S.  

 U.S. oil jumps more than 7% on report Iran will halt talks with U.S. and completely block Hormuz

U.S. oil prices jumped nearly 8% Monday, after Iranian state media said Tehran will halt talks with the U.S. and completely close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon. ...

Tehran will completely block the Strait of Hormuz and open other fronts including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Tasnim reported. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a trade chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. ... 

Former Fed Chair Jerome Powell accepts Profile in Courage Award

 Fed’s Powell warns Trump’s political ‘stress test’ will wreck public trust in central bank

... “If any administration finds a ​way to remove Fed officials ​over policy differences, then ⁠future administrations will do so as well,” Powell said while accepting the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. “The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans.” ... 

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Middle East tanker transits May 24-30, 2026 per UKMTO JMIC Update 52: Strait of Hormuz 1.7/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 16.1/day

SoH E: 0.7/day

BAM SE: 7.3/day 


Newsweek's broadest case against Trump economy doomers is real GDP per capita lol