Friday, October 16, 2026

The grand total value of U.S. Treasury securities held by foreigners was up 0.9% month over month and up year over year by 0.9% in August 2026 to $9.33 trillion

 Some foreign governments have had to sell U.S. Treasury securities to raise hard cash to buy oil and to support their own currencies during the conflict in the Persian Gulf.

The value of Foreign Official holdings is down about $164 billion year over year in August 2026.


 

 

 

Susan Dell is shocked, shocked I tell you, that Katie Zacharia's replacement looks so much like Putin

 




That didn't take long

 


Who will be next week's White House press secretary?

 This week's is already done.

 Katie Zacharia out as Trump’s White House press secretary

... Zacharia lasted one-half of one Scaramucci. ... 

 


 

As far as I'm concerned this is an unforgiveable moral stain on the GOP for which every Republican down the ticket deserves to lose in November for failing to speak out publicly against Trump

As if what happened to these two weren't enough.


  

 

 

 

 

U.S. Starlink curbs embolden Russia to intensify attacks on Ukraine, minister tells CNBC

 


 

I mean, what are the chances?

 

The Washington Times is in favor of more free money from the government, which we don't have, because it's for the children


 
The estimated cost to the Treasury is $17 billion.
 
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is contributing over $6 billion. 
 

 ... Children born Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2028, are also eligible for a one-time seed contribution of $1,000, courtesy of Uncle Sam. ...

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Um, that's not in the Bible, Drudge, and not even in the news story

Good Samaritan kills 16-year-old shooter...

That right there is one hell of a badly mangled analogy.

Thought that one up himself, he did. 

Overall wholesale prices in Sep 2026 are up 6.33% year over year, core up 4.96%

Not seasonally adjusted: 

PPIFID January-September 2026 year over year %

3.07  3.36  4.28  5.69  5.92  5.58  4.93  5.61  6.33 

PPICOR January-September 2026 year over year %

3.71  3.83  3.94  4.91  4.50  4.80  4.35  4.80  4.96

 

Trump I PPICOR average 1.88

2025 average 3.28

2026 average to date 4.42

 

Wholesale prices jumped 6.3% annually in September, biggest gain since 2022

... The BLS said in Thursday’s release that almost half of September’s increase in processed goods for immediate demand was connected to the rise in diesel fuel prices. ... 

 

96% white Vermont is very colorful this time of year



Trump is full of it, Emerson had Cornyn over Talarico by 2.8 in January, Paxton and Talarico tied


 

There hasn't been a poll since early August with Paxton ahead of Talarico.

Texas made a big mistake picking Paxton, but it's Texas. Everything is bigger in Texas.

 

 Trump says ‘if Ken Paxton loses’ Texas Senate race, blame Cornyn and Karl Rove

 Texas 2026 Poll: Talarico Leads Crockett for Democratic Senate Nomination, Cornyn and Paxton Face Potential Runoff

 

YouTube star Jackie the bald eagle died of the flu, CBS makes you click through

 Big Bear bald eagle Jackie's cause of death revealed

 


 

So Katie Zacharia has a law degree but no law license and Abdul has a degree in medicine but no medical license

 Glad we cleared that up.

 

PBS

AI

 

Well now, this is really bad publicity for this life insurance company and it would be a shame if everyone canceled their policies with it because it wouldn't pay out a measly $30k benefit on a COVID-19 victim from 2021

 



Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Trump has suddenly limited Ukraine's Starlink capabilities, most likely because Ukraine has been so successful at destroying Russian diesel and diesel refining capability

 Trump is evil.



 

Overall cpi inflation is trending up since Trump was elected, whether you look at the year over year rate increases from a monthly or a quarterly perspective

 Overall monthly cpi inflation in Sep 2026 increased at a rate of 3.71% year over year.

Overall quarterly cpi inflation in 3Q2026 increased at a rate of 3.458% year over year.

Despite the bad uptick in September, 3Q still ticked down.

CNBC has some good summary tables, as usual. In Sep 2026 fuel oil and gasoline price increases were the biggest drivers of the overall cpi rate of 3.71% year over year.

Here’s the inflation breakdown for September 2026 — in one chart

... “Crude oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz but remains below its pre-war pace. Even after key waterways fully reopen, lost refining capacity and distribution problems may delay lower energy prices until mid-2027,” according to the Wells Fargo Investment Institute analysis. ... The average nationwide price at the pump was $4.33 per gallon on Wednesday, up 45% from $2.98 per gallon on Feb. 27, right before the Iran war began, according to AAA data. ... Average diesel prices were $6.30 per gallon on Wednesday, up about 68% from $3.76 per gallon before the Iran war, according to AAA data. ...


monthly

quarterly


 


Core cpi inflation remains too high in Sep 2026 at 2.5% yoy in 3Q2026 and 2.6% yoy in Sep 2026, but no one can deny that the trend for the rate increases is down since Trump was elected in 2024

Tariffs and war remain the forces blunting what could have otherwise been much better results in the fight against inflation, and those were by choice not by accident.

 

quarterly

monthly


You know only a heap of broken images


 

 

 

Clues Are Everywhere, Society Is Growing Stupider

- James Marriott, Washington Post
 
... Studies have shown declines in IQ over the past two decades, with the sharpest drops among age brackets that use their phones the most.
 
... Entertainment and the arts are undergoing what might be termed a Great Simplification. 

... complexity seems to be rapidly draining out of culture.

The same relentless pressures toward simplification are at work in almost every creative industry.

... lyrics are becoming simpler, more repetitive and less rich in their vocabulary. Another study suggests that melodies are becoming less complex, too.

... Books are getting simpler and easier to read. An Economist analysis of New York Times best-selling books from the 1930s to the 2020s found that “sentences in popular books have contracted by almost a third since the 1930s.” 

... culture risks being transformed into a ... wasteland. ... 

 
 

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

The last time I updated this chart in July 2025 the very next big boy was the next day, an 8.8 in Russia, so watch out!

 Historic earthquakes strike Atlantic as expert raises fears of seismic 'chain reaction'

Two powerful earthquakes have struck in the Atlantic Ocean, prompting one expert to warn of a possible seismic 'chain reaction' that could affect the US. 

The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected a magnitude 6.9 earthquake along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Africa and South America at 8.23am ET.

A magnitude 6.7 quake struck less than seven hours earlier at 1.44am, just 50 miles north along the same seafloor fault line where the bottom of the ocean is slowly splitting apart.

... Tuesday's earthquakes in the Atlantic were among the strongest to hit the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the last 50 years, with the 6.9 quake registering as the third strongest since 1976. ... 

 

 


France caught four of last month's Renoir paintings thieves, but released them under judicial supervision even though the paintings were worth over $5 million and drug trafficking seems to be involved