WendyMcElroy.com

Oil Shock. From Responsible Statecraft: The US will suffer more from oil shock than China, Russia, or EU. This will surprise many Americans because Trump and Co. are flooding the zone with age-old misconceptions in order to prevent panic and opposition to the war. [Ed: even with a flow of Venezuelan oil?] From Oil Price: $6 Gas in California Signals New Phase of the Global Energy Crunch. From antiwar: Soon Comes The Mother of All Supply Shocks.

From Sunny Skyz: Man Risks His Life To Save Dog From Icy River In Dramatic Rescue Caught On Camera

From International Man: The Covid Playbook Returns: Energy Rationing and the Politics of Crisis Control. This recent headline from New Zealand should itself send chills down your spine… "Government reveals details of fuel crisis rationing plan – and who will be prioritized."

Strait of Hormuz. From Son of the New American Revolution: The Bogus Blockade Claim of the US Department of War. [Ed: a must read because I think Larry Johnson gets his facts straight.]

From Zero Hedge: Fidelity, Vanguard Halt Donations To SPLC After Federal Indictment. "Fidelity and Vanguard have stopped processing donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center through their donor-advised fund platforms, citing. the organization’s recent federal indictment on fraud charges." [Ed: pausing donations, not eschewing them.]

Covid Fall-Out. From the Libertarian Institute: COVID Conniving Receives First Federal Indictment. by James Bovard. From Western Journal: Leading California Governor Candidate Vows to Bring State Charges Against Anthony Fauci. [Ed: Steve Hilton.] From the New York Post: Pressure Builds to Indict Fauci Before May 11 Deadline. [Ed: there is a 5-year legal deadline.]

Media. From CNN: FCC Makes Huge Move Against ABC. Agency orders early review of licenses of 8 company-owned stations. [Ed: disney owns ABC, and 2 of the stations being reviewed are NYC and Chicago.] From NPR: Alex Jones-Infowars-Onion Battle Takes Another Turn. Appeals court grants emergency stay for conspiracy theorist to halt satire site's takeover of Infowars. [Ed: an appeals court in Texas.]

From People: Surrendered Dalmatian Left Without a Home Ends Up with a Firehouse Full of Adopters (Exclusive). Ember the dog will help teach children about fire safety with the DeFuniak Springs Fire Department in Florida.

Louisiana and Other Elections. From CNN Politics: Louisiana delays US House primaries after Supreme Court ruling but lets other races go forward. "...House primary elections — the May 16 primary and June 27 runoff — suspended until July 15 or until the state Legislature redraws the state’s congressional maps." From the Hill: Cassidy pans Landry for moving forward with Louisiana Senate primary after voting rights decision. [Ed: Cassidy is a La. Senator; Landry is La. governor.] From AOL: Gov. Ivey calls special session on redistricting following Supreme Court decision. [Ed: Alabama is following suit and it benefits the GOP in the House.]

Upcoming Election Integrity. From Palm Beach Post: Federal judge upholds Florida's stricter ballot initiative law. From Jonathan Turley: “Incredible, Unstoppable Titan of Terror!”: The Lobster That Devoured Virginia’s Constitution. [Ed: the redistricted map is like an incredible lobster that denies all representation to the GOP. SCOTUS?]

From the BBC: US to cut troop levels in Germany by 5,000 amid Trump spat with Merz.

Packing SCOTUS. From Jonathan Turley: Contempt of Court: Hakeem Jeffries Denounces the Supreme Court as “Illegitimate”. [Ed: well, trying to pack the court didn't work for FDR.]

From the DailyBB News: Garbage Collector’s Call Sparks Heartwarming Reunion of Puppy and Mother Dog

Rise of anti-semitism in UK. From Spiked: Islamism, not the cost-of-living, is the root of this anti-Semitic violence. The Greens’ attempt to pin the Golders Green stabbings on Reform and food prices was desperate and cowardly. [Ed: this refers to the stabbing of two Jewish men in north London.] From Reuters: UK raises terrorism threat level after stabbings as Starmer says Jews are scared. [Ed: PM is being called "Starmer, Jew Harmer".]

Trump's Gravy Train. From Moon of Alabama: Trump And His Family Are Enriching Themselves. [Ed: by an incredible amount.] From MS Now: ‘Crypto king’: How Trump has nearly tripled his net worth since retaking the White House. [Ed: IMO, a crypto scam...and stablecoin, not real crypto.] From DNYUZ: Trump scam cost MAGA devotees over $4B: expert.

Robots. From Real Investment Advice: A Robot Economy: Who Gets Rich, Who Gets Left Behind. The optimists call what’s coming the “age of abundance”... [Ed: I agree that a robot economy--or, at least, a far-reaching one--is now inevitable.] From Zero Hedge: Meta Buys Robot Brain Startup As Zuck Wants Humanoids In Homes. This seems like a more reasonable bet than the Metaverse. [Ed: I am looking forward to a domestic robot.] From Interesting Engineering: Robot Dives 1.5 Miles, Maps French Shipwreck With 86,000 Images And Recovers Artifacts. The visibility is excellent. You almost can’t tell it’s so deep...

War with Iran. From Zero Hedge: Trump Issues Letter Rejecting Congressional Oversight For War, Citing Ceasefire Has 'Terminated' Hostilities. [Ed: good summary of evolving status.] From Mediaite: POLL: Trump’s Iran War Is Now as Unpopular as Vietnam and Iraq.

From Today: Pit bull's heart stops after being stabbed while protecting family home. Now, his tail wags again

From FOX26 Houston: Spirit Airlines preparing to shut down, other airlines say they're ready to help. Reports are stating that Spirit Airlines could shut down late Friday night or on Saturday. Other airlines have already said they're ready to help customers affected should the shutdown occur. [Ed: I've heard it closed as of 3 a.m. today.]

From Pay Day Report: Livestream of Mayday from across the U.S. [Ed: I wish tax $ wasn't busing schoolchildren to attend.]

Hegseth and the House Armed Services Committee... From the Hill: War Powers Deadline Is Paused, Hegseth Argues. Defense secretary tells senators the ceasefire stopped the clock. [Ed: I think this is a new legal theory...as so many are these days.] From Zero Hedge: $25 Billion: Hegseth Accused Of Lowballing Cost Of Iran War. Intense back-and-forth with House Armed Services Committee...

From the Greater Good: Tiny Abandoned Dog Refuses To Leave His Injured Best Friend Alone On The Freeway

From the Epoch Times: Congress Passes 45-Day Extension Of FISA Section 702, Sending It To Trump's Desk. Much more important than voter ID, obviously... [Ed: yes, the last remark is sarcasm, IMO.]

Big Picture Economics. From the Hill: National Debt Crosses a 'Scary' Milestone. It has now edged above 100% of GDP. "One in seven federal dollars now goes to interest..." From Mish Talk: AI Provided Nearly All the GDP Growth in the First Quarter. [Ed: this makes the growth fragile.] From Reason: Even Laws That Haven't Passed Can Have Unintended Consequences. Mere proposals can change the risk calculus for business and investors. Politicians, and the public, should be wary.

From the Post Millennial: Judge rules Texas must permit 400-acre Muslim city to be built. The ruling opens the door for a 402-acre Muslim community that includes more than 1,000 homes, apartment buildings, a K–12 Islamic school, a mosque, health clinics, retail stores, and more.

US Troops in EU. From FOX News: Trump Weighs Pulling US Troops From Germany Amid Clash With Chancellor Over Iran War. [Ed: also over Merz should be doing more to halt Ukraine-Russia war.] From the Guardian: Trump threatens to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain – Europe live. The US president said he would carry out of a review of US military presence in Europe after public criticism of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

From Wamiz: Dog scolded for barking at 4:30am goes on to save entire family's life

War on Iran. From Iran War Cost Tracker: Tracker here in real time. From Moon of Alabama: War On Iran: – Trump To Decide On Three Options. [Ed: a lot depends on whether Iran buckles under the pressure.]

Midterms and SCOTUS. From Reuters: US Supreme Court Under Roberts Takes ‘Wrecking Ball’ to Voting Rights Act. [Ed: I don't agree with the headline's assessment but many people seem to, which raises the possibility of real violence surrounding the midterms.] From CNN: Louisiana delays US House primaries after Supreme Court ruling but lets other races go forward. [Ed: meanwhile Kathy Hochul (NY) is defying SCOTUS by pushing redistricting.]

Comey. From CBC: Comey appears in court on '86 47' allegation that legal experts say could be tough to prove. Former FBI director charged after posting a photo of seashells arranged on a beach. [Ed: Comey will appear in Greenboro, NC on May 11.] From the Hill: Charging Comey is a free speech trap: by Jonathan Turley.

From the White House.gov.: PROMOTING RETIREMENT-SAVINGS ACCESS FOR AMERICAN WORKERS BY ESTABLISHING TRUMPIRA.GOV. [Ed: a new executive order that is supposed to help retirement accounts. I have not reviewed it.] From Jonathan Turley: Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail.

From Orvis News: Airline Stops Vet and His Service Dog from Boarding a Flight. . .and You Won’t Believe the Irony

From International Man: Doug Casey on Energy Lockdowns and the New Era of Government Control AND Why Iran Can’t Be Bombed, Invaded, or Nuked Into Submission.

From the Epoch Times: Canada's Culture Minister: Regulating Online Content A Duty Of Federal Government

From Council on Foreign Relations: China’s “Fake” De-Dollarization. From Mish Talk: Offshore US Dollars Surge Over the $14 Trillion Mark, Where’s De-Dollarization?

Israel. From the Cradle: Apartheid without borders’: Israel abducts dozens of Gaza flotilla activists in international waters. From Press TV: Israel suffers heavy toll from Hezbollah drone strikes, faces operational collapse. From Al Mayadeen: Netanyahu plans to rush to Washingon as Trump pushes ceasefire.

From the Laughing Squid: Golden Retriever Holds Onto the Leash of His Emotional Support Rubber Ducky During Hydrotherapy Session

From NASA: Three Sky Arches over Snowy Alps. [Ed: incredible photograph.]

From 21st Century Wire: From Gaza To BRICS: The Revolt Against The Dollar Order. ...after decades marketing the dollar as the natural language of world trade... it became the armed currency of an imperial system..

From CBC: Sako the King Shepherd inducted to Animal Hall of Fame after saving owner's life. Sako stayed with his injured owner after tragic car crash and fended off cougars, bears and coyotes.

From Courthouse News Service: Democrats demand FBI Director Patel submit alcohol screening following media reports of excessive drinking. Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and rejected its report he has alarmed colleagues with his alcohol consumption and been unreachable during emergencies. [Ed: I have no reason to credit this report...and I think it will backfire because it makes the Dems look smear happy.]

From Alan Dershowitz Why I Registered as a Republican.

Fraud. From NewsMax: Minn. GOP: Ilhan Omar Tied to $250 Million Fraud [Ed: at this point, it will be difficult for the GOP to back down from its investigation of Omar. It has gone too far.] From CBS19 News: Lawmakers question Omar’s role in fraud scandal as she skips hearing From City Journal: “This Kind of Fraud Has Been Happening for Decades in California”. A longtime California law-enforcement official discusses fraud in the state’s In-Home Supportive Services Program.

From the Spectator: Who is really leading Iran? [Ed: well, who is Vance talking to?]

From Zero Hedge: Anthropic's 'Too Dangerous To Release' AI Model Was Accessed By Discord Group On Day One. [Ed: Brad comments, Remember how Anthropic announced that their latest AI product, Mythos, had cracked every major operating system, was too dangerous to release, and convened a working group to decide how to control it -- or if it could be controlled at all? Oopsie.]

Fraud. From CBS News: All U.S. attorney's offices must assign a prosecutor to new fraud division: Memo. [Ed: this will be a popular measure for Trump. Now if he could only stop with the wars...] From Standing for Freedom: When Billions Vanish: America’s Fraud Epidemic

From Newsbreak: Assault charge for immigration officer in Colorado could test immunity provisions for federal agents. [Ed: this case suddenly became a lot more interesting to me.] From Reason: Houston Irks Texas Gov. Greg Abbott by Reminding Cops To Comply With the Fourth Amendment. The governor is threatening to defund the police because of an ordinance noting that an ICE administrative warrant "does not justify a stop, arrest, or continued detention" by city officers.

From CNBC: Trump administration in advanced talks for Spirit Airlines rescue package, sources say [Ed: the gov. acquiring majority share of formerly private companies is a very bad trend.]

From the Providence Journal: The rescued becomes the rescuer.

From the New York Post: Thousands of Palisades and Eaton fire rebuilding permits approved after Trump’s executive order . [Ed: why did Trump have to use Presidential power for people in California be able to build after a local disaster? How screwed up is this?]

From City-Journal: How Gavin Newsom Subsidized the Migrant Invasion. The California governor has spent nearly $1 billion on nonprofits that want, among other things, to dismantle the border, “abolish ICE,” and help immigrants “living with HIV.”

From Mish Talk: A Messy Tariff Refund Process Has Begun. Sorry, Businesses Only for Now From NPR: The tariff refund process has begun for businesses. What about customers?

From Andrew Korybko: What Are The Implications Of The US Backing Israel In Its Two Latest Disputes With Poland? [Ed: I was unaware of such hostility between the two nations.] From TVP World: Israel calls on Poland to take action against far-right MP who displayed Israeli flag with swastika. [Ed: yeah, this is hostility, alright.]

From People: Dog Steals Reporter’s Microphone During Live TV Broadcast, Forcing a Hilarious Chase. A golden retriever named Martin interrupted a live weather report, sending the journalist chasing after him

From the Associated Press: Senate GOP Sidesteps Dems, Passes Funding for ICE. Late night 'vote-a-rama' sends funding bill to the House, would reopen DHS