Sunday, April 19, 2026
Saturday, April 18, 2026
In my adult lifetime, the greatest artistic loss...
...was the 1973 death, at age 30, of the prodigal song story-teller Jim Croce. Croce's was a brief, shining life. He burst onto the pop music scene in 1966. Seven years later he was dead in a plane crash.
A sensitive, introspective man, but one who saw humor in life, Croce was born in South Philadelphia and graduated from Villanova University. He wrote his songs from his experience. He enrolled in the New Jersey National Guard to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam war. "Croce, who tended to resist authority, endured basic training twice", Wikipedia tells us, and so had twice the opportunity to meet characters such as Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and Don't Mess Around with Jim (Walker). He sang poignantly of thwarted love in Operator, and proudly of his identity in I've Got a Name.
Croce's dates are Jan. 10, 1943 and Sept. 20, 1973, so this commemoration is not time-bound. Because Jim Croce is timeless. He was a supernova who literally crashed and burned too young.
NBA PLayOFFS
FTs:
Mamdani City (3) 113 Pigeons, formerly Majestic Soaring Hawks (6) 102
Denver (3) 116 Ice (6) 105
Sensitive City (4) 126 Ontario State (5) 113
La-La Bron-Bron (4) 79 Rockettes (5) 69 , 9:37 4Q
Public Occurrences April 18, 2026
Is this, um, an issue of personal importance to him?
5:51 pm:
Trump signs order fast tracking review of psychedelics for mental health disorders
I had not sensed a ground swell of support for psychedelics to treat "mental health disorders."
Bibi torched U.S. support for Israel for a generation
[Yes, he did.]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wreaking havoc on Israel's standing with Americans as the Iran war supercharges a deterioration in relations with the U.S.
Why it matters: Israel's polling collapse among younger Americans is hitting Congress, too. Lawmakers who started out staunchly pro-Israel are becoming increasingly vocal critics.
...
Every Senate Democrat who's eyeing a 2028 presidential run voted against arms sales to Israel in votes earlier this week.
...
Netanyahu is "destroying the bipartisan nature in terms of support for Israel," Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told Punchbowl News.
Over in the House, some Democrats are turning against defensive support, including funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.
That was "seen as insanely fringe four years ago," Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) told Axios.
But multiple Democrats who voted for Iron Dome in 2021 told Axios they're done providing financial aid.
Older Republicans and white Evangelicals are the last groups to hold majority favorable views of Israel, according to recent Pew polling.
For every other group, Israel's favorability has collapsed since 2022.
⬇️ Down 31 percentage points among older Democrats (ages 50+).
⬇️ Down 22 percentage points among both younger Republicans/GOP leaners and younger Dems/Dem leaners.
⬇️ Down 14 percentage points among Protestants, 23 among Catholics and 20 among the religiously unaffiliated.
⬇️ Even white Evangelical support, which was at 80% in 2022, has slid by 15 points.
9:11 am:
Iran Re-Closes Strait, Fires on Shipping for Continued Blockade by Cowardly Lyin' Criminal
"With the 13th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Miami "Heat" select...
After PHO eliminated Peaceniks last night the Low Places will pick in the middle of the first round on June 23. 601 Biscayne is not un familiar with middle of pack. Since LeBron James left, their first round picks and my ratings:
2015 Justise Winslow, 10th. 👎👎👎
2017 Bam Adebayo, 14th. 👍👍👍
2019 Tyler Herro, 13th. 👍👍
2020 Precious Achiuwa, 20th. 👎👎
2022 Nikola Jovic, 27th. 👎
2023 Jaime Jaquez. Jr., 18th. 👍
2024 Kel'el Ware, 15th. 👍
Thus, we will likely get another Bam, Tyler, Kel'el-quality player in 2026. That will not move the needle. You pick 13th, you're gonna finish ~13th. You need single-digit picks to move, eventually, and with skilled selection and a little luck, into single digits in the standings. The cognos say this is the deepest draft in years, that any of the top five are potential franchise-changing. In the Pat Riley era, 1995-present, Miami has drafted in the single digits only twice: 2003 Dwayne Wade, 5th; 2008 Michael Beasley 2nd (the highest draft pick the "Heat" have ever had).
It's not lookin' good.
The Heat only need one scoring specialist who can't guard anyone next season.
Ref. to Tyler Herro and Norman Powell. Great sub-lede by allucanheat.
Friday, April 17, 2026
Public Occurrences April 17, 2026
I really think Trump can't help lying. “He has this fictional narrative in his head like a screenwriter.”--David Cay Johnston, author of The Making of Donald Trump.
Reality has to conform to what is in his head; his head does not conform to reality.
NO Deal to transfer enriched U to U.S.
"Iran's enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere; transferring uranium to the United States has not been an option for us," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei later told state TV.
I believe the Omani rep who said Iran is the one normally telling the truth in this war.
Al Jezeera
8:39 pm:
Okay...
I believe the Omani rep who said Iran is the one normally telling the truth in this war.
Al Jezeera
8:39 pm:
US to recover uranium from Iran at a 'leisurely pace', Trump tells Reuters
Okay...
"We'll bring it back to the United States."
"Iran's enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere; transferring uranium to the United States has not been an option for us," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei later told state TV.
Whatevs
1:36 pm:
1:36 pm:
Iran Completely Opens Strait, Oil Price Plumets, Stock Market at All-Time High--Trump Wins
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Public Occurrences April 16, 2026
The Criminal Jewish State
Lebanese health ministry says killing of 91 healthcare workers shows ‘total disregard’ for international law
By the time the other emergency workers arrived at the site, they found the IHA medics had indeed been caught in a second strike. They started evacuating their wounded colleagues, only for their ambulances to be hit in two further attacks.
...The rescue mission on Wednesday afternoon had turned into a nightmare as Israel carried out three consecutive strikes on three sets of ambulances and medical workers.
Keir Starmer Can't Survive
The Labour Party that Starmer led routed the Tories in 2024, giving hope her of a harbinger for a Kamala Harris win. It didn't happen. And Starmer has proved the most unpopular Prime Minister in the last half century, with a net approval rating 46 points under water in November of 2025. That was caused, in part, by the resignation of his Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, in September in a tax scandal.
And then Epstein struck. Peter Mandelson was named by Starmer to be Ambassador to the United States--not an insignificant posting! Mandelson's appointment was controversial from the beginning, on accounta this was not his first scandal rodeo. He had resigned from two Minister's appointments twice previously.
There is a quaint British practice (one that did not travel the North Atlantic to the Toilet Nation colony). It is a "Minister's Code", a code of conduct. Though shall not lie to Parliament is a biggie. It was a mystery to some MPs how Mandelson, a scandal supermagnet, survived the UK's official vetting process. How could he? But the Prime Minister, when questioned in Commons about the vetting of Mandelson to be Ambassador to the U.S. sorta said Mandelson had been vetted. What he literally said, 3xs, was that "due process" had been followed. Squirm.
But wait.
In fact, Mandelson, had been vetted by the United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV)! Yeah, Starmer!
Mandelson FLUNKED. BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Starmer appointed him anyway, you know, because the UK and US have a "special relationship". And Mandelson and the Florida Criminal, who was elected by the Toilet People (again) in 2024, shared a "special relationship" with Jeffrey Epstein.
Anyway, to make the long story which you know how it ends, short, Starmer axed Mandelson after nine months.
The enduring scandal is over the vetting and Starmer's lying to Parliament and the flames have consumed the Foreign Office and are not lapping at Starmer's heels. He's COOKED!
9:23 pm:
DSA Analilia Mejia Pancakes Republican, Wins Unexpired Term NJ-11 CD
Iran "Cautiously Optimistic’ about negotiations with the US,--Iran UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani
“Despite our deep mistrust of the United States, stemming from its repeated betrayal of diplomacy, we nevertheless enter the negotiation in good faith and remain cautiously optimistic,” he told the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.
“We believe that should the United States adopt a rational and constructive approach and refrain from advancing demands that are inconsistent with international law, this negotiation can lead to a meaningful outcome.”
Israel-Lebanon Agree 10-Day Ceasefire in Trump Meeting in WH
Barry Jackson is exasperated (so are "Heat" fans)
It’s now mercifully over — this exhausting third consecutive Heat season of pushing the boulder up the hill, this six-month road-to-nowhere odyssey that felt as exasperating and unsatisfying as the previous two.
And the hope, at least here, is that this era of Heat basketball, built around a core that’s rich in skilled supporting players but lacking an elite centerpiece, also is mercifully over.
We have implored the front office and ownership to break up at least part of this nucleus each of the past two years and sell high on players, before Jimmy Butler forced the team’s hand. But the brain trust twice decided against it, convinced this group was better than the rest of us thought and hopeful there could be a 2023-like playoff run.
This year, there wasn’t even a play-in run.
As it turns out, ownership and Pat Riley were simply a year or two late to realize what much of the fan base suspected many, many months ago: This group simply isn’t good enough. This incarnation of the Heat felt like a sitcom that stayed on the air two years too long, relying on stale lines (“we have enough!”) and characters who overstayed their welcome.
There are four significant power brokers in the organization – Riley, Erik Spoelstra and owners Micky Arison and son/CEO Nick Arison. ...
...[Jackson then poses questions to each of the four stakeholders]:
To Erik Spoelstra...It’s not unfair to question why he gave a long leash to veterans who hardly put up a fight against Indiana, Charlotte and Toronto in late-season games, while operating with a short leash with Ware.
...
But there’s one area that’s never discussed that I find curious about Spoelstra — not as a coach, but as an executive if his personnel power grows whenever Riley decides to retire to Malibu.
This will never be answered, but the question is whether Spoelstra recognized this roster’s grave deficiencies and pushed for major changes last summer. (That’s an answer that’s unknown.) Did the Heat need to lose last year’s first round series by 200 points, instead of 122, [lol] for everyone with a voice in personnel to realize that this nucleus was going nowhere?
[That IS the major question for me as well. The key quote from Spo this season was "we believe this roster has a high ceiling." I mocked him by re-branding the team as the "Hi-Cs". I took from that quote that that was his true opinion also. Whether it was or was not, it was horribly wrong as Jackson states.]
column
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Public Occurrences April 15, 2026
Israel Out of Control
Israeli settlers staged an average of 10 daily attacks on Palestinians since Iran war began, rights group says
Yesh Din, an Israeli organization that monitors settler violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, posted its report to X on Wednesday.
It includes incidents where settlers killed, injured and harassed Palestinians, damaged and set fire to their property and took over their buildings and land.
In 10% of the attacks — which spanned 148 Palestinian communities across the territory — settlers used live fire, said Yesh Din.
2:59 pm:
Children killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes hit homes far from front lines of war with HezbollahBEIRUT (AP) — In the hours after the U.S. and Iran announced a tentative ceasefire, Israel dramatically escalated its attacks in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The burst of strikes in central Beirut and other parts of the country killed more than 300 people and wounded 1,150 others, according to health officials.
The burst of strikes in central Beirut and other parts of the country killed more than 300 people and wounded 1,150 others, according to health officials.
The Israeli military said that it had targeted sites affiliated with the Hezbollah militant group and announced that it had killed an aide to the group’s leader, Naim Kassem. But the strikes, which hit densely packed residential and commercial districts at rush hour, also killed more than 100 women, children and older people, according to health officials.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Eleven Heaven
Look how little she is on a human scale.
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She's a miracle. It's a miracle that I have her at age 71. There has to be a God.
Queens (9th) 2 Low Places (10th) 2, EARLY
I want this soul-bruising season to be over. I will not root against Miami, of course, but I want us to be in the best position to get a high draft pick in a deep draft. The best route to that is being eliminated tonight as the 10-seed.
USMLE Today
Dr. Ana: "Another day, today in person at FIU 💪🏻💪🏻"
(photo by Ana, 10:18 am)
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Public Occurrences April 12, 2026
Israel Doing Israel Things
UNIFIL is the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
@UNIFIL_
On two occasions today, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers rammed UNIFIL vehicles with a Merkava tank, in one case causing significant damage. The soldiers had blocked a road in Bayada that is used to access UNIFIL positions.
12:56 PM · Apr 12, 2026
·
466.7K
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Israeli soldiers have also fired “warning shots” in the area and hit UNIFIL vehicles over the past week, UNIFIL said, adding that “in one case, a ‘warning shot’ landed a meter away from a peacekeeper who had dismounted his vehicle.” The peacekeeping force said Israeli soldiers had also destroyed cameras and spray-painted windows at a UNIFIL headquarters. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the episodes.
7:16 pm:
Iran's top negotiator at Islamabad, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, directly addressed American consumers:
“Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”
5:37 pm:
10:24 am:
Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.
...I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.
...We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!
...
Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft and Radar are useless, Khomeini*, and most of their “Leaders,” are dead, all because of their Nuclear ambition. The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade.
*Ayatollah Khomeini has been dead (of natural causes) since 1989. The Florida Criminal means Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who he assassinated on Feb. 28. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the murdered father, is the current Supreme Leader of Iran.
TACO!
The Florida Criminal walked back his 8:52 am post today. Ships will be allowed (by the Criminal's forces) to "transit", i.e. go through the Strait of Hormuz without stopping. The New! IMPROVED! "blockade" is on ships porting or departing from an Iranian port.Iran's top negotiator at Islamabad, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, directly addressed American consumers:
“Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”
Viktor Orban, Florida Felon Favorite, Concedes Election Defeat in Hungary
Good Morning Post From Florida Criminal: Blockade the Strait!
...I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.
...We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits. Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!
...
Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft and Radar are useless, Khomeini*, and most of their “Leaders,” are dead, all because of their Nuclear ambition. The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade.
*Ayatollah Khomeini has been dead (of natural causes) since 1989. The Florida Criminal means Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who he assassinated on Feb. 28. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the murdered father, is the current Supreme Leader of Iran.
....Additionally and, at an appropriate moment, we are fully “LOCKED AND LOADED,” and our Military will finish up the little that is left of Iran! President DONALD J. TRUMP
4/12/26, 8:52 AM
12:58 am:
...
Quite why these indirect talks [off and on from last summer before Operation Midnight Marshmallow, and this year preceding Operation Epstein Fury] failed...is relevant to whether a nuclear deal only is feasible or whether a broader agreement will be necessary now.
...
This matters because after the war, if Iran’s government survives, calls inside inside the country to obtain a nuclear weapon will inevitably grow. Last week’s purported statement from the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, made no reference to whether the fatwa banning the use of nuclear weapons set out by his late father remained in place. Protesters outside the foreign ministry in Tehran have demanded no return to talks with America.
Those involved in the negotiations say misunderstandings about how Iran’s complex nuclear programme worked – including, for instance, the purpose and uranium needs of the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), the scope of Iran’s planned future nuclear programme, and the offer for US firms to be involved in Iran’s economy – all contributed to the march to war.
...
The Iranians now say they believe the talks were always a subterfuge, designed to create space for the US to assemble its military armada.......
One Gulf diplomat said: “Greater time and expertise would not have guaranteed an agreement, but it would have helped. What I will say is that in all the explanations of what went on, it is the Iranians that have normally been telling the truth.”...
Better than JCPOA
...Kushner admitted a deal could have been presented that was better than the Obama nuclear deal secured in 2015.
...
...British officials briefed on its contents thought it was a good deal, and something to be built on, partly because, unlike the 2015 nuclear deal, there were no sunset clauses.
...
Once the Geneva talks ended, [Feb. 2026] with both sides only signing up to a statement about progress made, it was obvious to the Omani foreign minister that war was imminent, and he dashed to Washington to explain how close he felt the the two sides were to a breakthrough. But his proposal of zero stockpiling did not have the same force as zero enrichment.
...
...British officials briefed on its contents thought it was a good deal, and something to be built on, partly because, unlike the 2015 nuclear deal, there were no sunset clauses.
...
Once the Geneva talks ended, [Feb. 2026] with both sides only signing up to a statement about progress made, it was obvious to the Omani foreign minister that war was imminent, and he dashed to Washington to explain how close he felt the the two sides were to a breakthrough. But his proposal of zero stockpiling did not have the same force as zero enrichment.
The dash across the Atlantic reflected Oman’s belief that Witkoff and Kushner, either knowingly or through ignorance, were not feeding Trump the truth about the progress in the talks. There was also doubt about Trump’s focus. One previous attempt to engage Trump on the status of the talks deteriorated when the president switched the conversation to one of his favourite topics: shoes. In retrospect it might have been better to send a more senior emissary to try to hold Trump’s attention. A day later the war started.
Saturday, April 11, 2026
I sent a friend, a fellow Eleven lover and cat owner the slightly enhanced photo above and he pronounced it "Greatest pic ever", so I am sharing. It is hard to believe that that cat and this cat,
are the same cat. They say cats, contrasted with dogs, are "sphinx-like", never altering their facial expression. Not Eleven.
Public Occurrences April 11, 2026
U.S.-Iran Talks in Islamabad Pakistan Fail
All-CAPS posts from Florida Felon incoming.
Israeli War Crimes
At least 1,953 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon’s heath ministry. At least 303 people were killed on Wednesday.
Friday, April 10, 2026
As for a backup plan if Iran refuses to reopen Hormuz, Trump insisted that he did not need one and claimed Iran already was “militarily defeated.”--Bible salesman Trump, April 2026
"England is beaten and it is only a question of time when she will admit her defeat. The Axis Powers are not concerned with how to win the war but how to rapidly... end the war which is already won".--Champagned salesman Ribbentrop, November 1940
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