Cowboy Who?

Elon Musk is asking the state to give him the power to close Boca Chica Beach on SpaceX's schedule just as rocket launches there may spike. Local leaders and environmentalists stand in opposition.

The 66-page lawsuit was filed Friday in the United States District Court in Washington D.C. More than 50 government agencies and officials were listed as defendants in the lawsuit. 

Harris County authorities say their pursuit of Lacy late Saturday night ended when Lacy crashed. When officers approached the vehicle to extract Lacy, they say he had died in an apparent suicide.

“The border is a line that birds cannot see.
The border is a beautiful piece of paper folded carelessly in half.
The border is where flint first met steel, starting a century of fires.
The border is a belt that is too tight, holding things up but making it hard to breathe.
The border is a rusted hinge that does not bend.
The border is the blood clot in the river’s vein.
The border says stop to the wind, but the wind speaks another language, and keeps going.”
– an excerpt from Alberto Ríos’ The Border: A Double Sonnet

I am not from the border and have, admittedly, few experiences in border towns or navigating borders. Through visits to El Paso, I have spoken with many artists and arts professionals who know intimately the realities of the U.S.-Mexico border. The border is many things. It is simultaneously an invisible line with no definitive meaning and, through politics and policy, a firm boundary separating people, places, and cultures that have historically been linked. 

Last month, I spent a long weekend in El Paso. My plan was to see the Judithe Hernández retrospective on view at the El Paso Museum of Art and catch up with the local arts community, because it had been over a year since my previous visit. I dedicated one day to spend in Ciudad Juárez because, like various aspects of the region’s cultures, the arts community flows seamlessly between the two cities. Artists and arts professionals traverse both spaces and work together to support each other. Jess Tolbert, Associate Professor of Art & Head of the Jewelry + Metals Program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), was generous enough to travel with me across the border, where we toured three emerging community-focused art spaces.

San Luis Contemporáneo

Less than a mile away from the Paso Del Norte bridge, one of three international bridges managed by the City of El Paso, artist and professor in UTEP’s Chicano Studies, Languages, and Linguistics Department Haydee Alonso, her brother Aaron, and her husband Miguel Vargas Gallardo, who is a photographer and architect, transformed the second floor of a three-story family-owned building into an experimental art space.

Alonso’s grandfather purchased the space in the 1940s, but the brick building with an iconic airplane sculpture at its corner entrance, has been a staple in the community since 1884. Over the years, the space has had various identities. Originally a hotel, it later became a bar, a pharmacy, and now, the ground floor is home to a money exchange business, with part of the property used as a restaurant. Added to the edifice in the late-1930s, the replica of Charles Lindbergh’s The Spirit of St. Louis is often used as a landmark for wayfinding.

Since it opened nearly a year and a half ago, San Luis Contemporáneo has hosted a slew of local and regional artists. While generally the venue hosts art exhibitions, they also present workshops and host other creative events, like a recent fashion show. In August 2024, Tolbert exhibited her contemporary jewelry pieces in the space. For the solo exhibition, Turno (Shift), Tolbert displayed her delicate pieces in front of the large windows and hanging from pieces of scaffolding. Alonso noted that artists responding to the unique architectural aspects of the venue is what makes it truly special. The tall windows flood the main rooms with natural light, exposed brick walls reveal the history of the building, and smaller spaces have been built out to present video work.

Alonso reiterated, “Each artist, creative, or presenter, they transform the space into what they want. The first year, we were saying ‘yes’ to everything because we just wanted to activate the space. This year, we are being a little more intentional.”

To date, the gallery hasn’t had an official call for proposals; rather, it works more fluidly with artists interested in showing in the space. Alonso shared, “I think local artists just need a space to experiment. As an artist, I feel like sometimes institutions don’t let you have a solo show unless you have a trajectory, but how do you start getting that? This is a space for that.”

In many ways, the gallery has been a community effort. Though Alonso’s brother is no longer actively involved in the space, he emboldened and supported the artist to take the first steps to open the gallery. Each artist who exhibits at San Luis does so as part of an exchange. Alonso describes it as a “mutual support model,” in which artists are not charged a fee to exhibit, but donate small items that help sustain the space, like pedestals, curtains, and movable walls.

As the space is looking to grow, building out a small room on the third floor into a residency, Alonso and Gallardo are in the process of applying for grants. Funding would help the gallery to undertake some repair work, offer stipends or salaries to those working in the space (all of whom currently volunteer their time), and support programming costs such as artist honorariums.

Most recently, San Luis Contemporaneo debuted Raíces y Colores, an exhibition featuring local artists Daniella Lozano and Esmirna Corder. The show celebrates community, migration, and cultural memory.

Beyond providing a platform for artists and creatives, the gallery is interested in building networks across the country. Earlier this month, Alonso and Gallardo participated in NODOS: Cd. Nezahualcóyotl | Desierto de sal, a national gathering organized by Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo. The event brought together artists, collectives, and cultural workers to reflect on memory, territory, and collaborative art practices. Alonso recounted, “The experience has been deeply inspiring and aligned with our mission of creating intentional, cross-regional dialogue in the arts.”

Edificio de los Sueños

Less than half a mile away Plaza Cervantina, a longstanding cultural hub, has been undergoing revitalization, including the development of Edificio de los Sueños. The adobe and brick building in the northeast corner of the plaza was originally constructed in the 1940s. Though the plaza was a lively cultural center in the 1970s, for nearly 20 years, it was mostly abandoned. In 2019, Rosas Heimpel and García Moreno, with a group of friends, came together to purchase the building and bring a new vision to fruition. The organization’s website sums up the thinking behind the project, noting, “Where some people see ruins, others dream of spaces for self-management, creativity, and solidarity.”

Though the building was in a state of disrepair, the group was undeterred. They began with simple clean-up efforts, removing the trash and remnants from the space, and each contributed money for necessary renovations. Azul Arena, a nearby gallery run by Edgar Picazo Merino, also collaborated with Edificio de los Sueños to fundraise through art sales. In 2023, the organization received a major grant from the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program, which allowed for a dramatic overhaul of the space. They have also received the foundation’s Frontera Culture Fund Grant, which supports programming costs and general overhead. Additional funding has come from the state of Chihuahua.

Programming and events — like workshops, talks, and community meetings — have been ongoing since 2019, throughout the remodeling process. To keep people safe and work around construction, the collective would host programs outdoors or on a floor that was free of debris. 

When I toured the space, it had come a long way from a previously dilapidated building. The third floor, a future residency space, had been outfitted with a kitchenette, bathroom, and a wall that lowers, covering the stairwell to provide a sense of privacy for future residents. The basement, which is used as a warehouse, is home to Bicis pa la Banda, where people can donate bike parts that are then used to assemble new bicycles. Community members can come and pick up a bicycle for a reasonable cost and can use it as needed or return it when they are done. The ground floor, which was previously a neighborhood convenience shop, functions as a community meeting space. It is here that meals are shared, conversations are had, and ideation takes place. The second floor is a co-working space, where workshops and exhibitions are held.

Recently, Edificio de los Sueños presented Raíces de Miquiztli (Roots of Miquiztli), an exhibition featuring works by Paloma Villaseñor, curated by Diana Ginez. Collaborating artists for the exhibition included Miguel Ángel Moreno, José Galindez, Rocio Palafox, Nohemi Salas, Netzahualcoyotl Rodríguez, Jaime Landa, and Vicente Chavez. Saturday, April 12, the space is hosting a record sale/swap for music and vinyl lovers to gather and share. 

Azul Arena

About a half mile further east is Azul Arena, a nonprofit gallery and project space founded by Edgar Picazo, who serves as the Creative Director. Anaid Fornelli is the organization’s Community Engagement Director. The project was first launched in 2019 as a print publication focused on local art criticism. From 2020 to 2023, the organization refocused its efforts to produce multidisciplinary art projects, collaborating with regional, national, and international artists and organizations. In April 2023, the physical space opened.

Azul Arena hosts three to four exhibitions each year, featuring local artists, as well as an array of programs, including talks and workshops. Last fall, the organization was among the awardees of the Mellon Foundation’s Frontera Culture Fund. At the time, Picazo noted the historic underfunding of arts in the region and that the grant would provide the opportunity for the organization to set a strong foundation to support the local creative community.

When I visited the space, it was the closing day for Sedimento: Variaciones de materia y memoria, a solo exhibition of works by ceramicist Israel Gómez Mares, curated by Tolbert. Last year, leading up to the show, Tolbert made several studio visits with the artist. She noted that all of the work, over 100 pieces, in the show was created between June and November 2024. The works speak to the landscape of the region. Many incorporate sand from the Samalayuca dunes, and the entry wall is lined with a layer of sand that undulates like a terrain. 

The show features six bodies of work, including Los muertitos, small figures arranged on a low wood table, like souls drifting in the River Styx; Paisaje de arena, an abstract landscape made up of wall-mounted suns, moons, clouds, and animal forms; Demonios falsos, large humanoid figures; Samalayuca, cielo nocturno; handcrafted lamps arranged in a darkened room to create the sense of a night sky; and Perdido y encontrado (Fósil), a section centered on a pistol the artist found at one of the sites where he sources clay. Tolbert explained that the animal forms set on pedestals are a part of an ongoing series, in which the creatures represent various places. With this in mind, she began to think of the gallery like a map, which helped guide her curatorial vision.

Gómez Mares isn’t just a ceramicist who displays his work. In his workshop/studio, he creates functional pieces and leads classes to share his knowledge of the craft. Similarly, Azul Arena isn’t just a gallery. It serves as an incubator for local artists and arts professionals. 

While Picazo, Alonso, Tolbert, and I sat around on folding chairs in the main gallery, Olga Guerra, a paper artist and her assistants were making paper in the back area of the space and Alonso Robles and Octavio Castrejón, the founders and curators of another local project Un Dique, were officing upstairs. Camila Abbud, a cultural organizer and arts writer, was also in the space and provided some helpful translations (and insight) throughout our conversations. 

In Closing: The border is a belt that is too tight

Over the last century, border policies have been in flux at the whims of politicians — sometimes the belt is tight, attempting to restrict movement, and other times it is looser, allowing for the easy flow of breath. In the early 1900s, when my ancestors crossed, the border was more open. The 1920s through the 1960s saw the implementation of racist quotas, which prioritized some immigrants over others. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the national-origins quota system was abolished, a pathway to citizenship was created for some undocumented immigrants, and other laws were reformed, increasing access to “the American dream.” In more recent years, the belt has tightened, and we have seen politicians across parties enact large numbers of deportations and engage in inhuman treatment of people seeking a better life.

As we move forward in this new era of a Republican-led U.S., which in the last four months has already seen ramifications of executive orders affecting all aspects of life, including migration, it is easy to imagine that border policies will continue to get more restrictive. Despite this, San Luis Contemporáneo, Edificio de los Sueños, and Azul Arena are beacons in a dark time. They seek to build bridges, not walls; to support communities on both sides of that invisible line; and to amplify the voices of community-minded creatives and artists. 

The post A Line that Birds Cannot See: Building Community Across the Border appeared first on Glasstire.

The Dallas Art Fair (DAF) and the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) have announced the seven artworks selected from the fair to join the museum’s permanent collection.

Since its establishment in 2016, the Dallas Art Fair Foundation Acquisition Program has supported the annual acquisition of contemporary artworks from the fair for the DMA’s collection. Including this year’s acquisitions, which total $100,000, over the last nine years the program has funded nearly $1 million for the museum’s collection.

This year, DMA curators Dr. Anna Katherine Brodbeck, the Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art; Dr. Vivian Li, the Lupe Murchison Curator of Contemporary Art; Ade Omotosho, the Nancy and Time and Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art; and Emily Friedman, the Allen and Kelli Questrom Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, along with a group of fund donors selected the acquired works. The acquisition includes seven works by six artists: Sanlé Sory (Acquired from Yossi Milo), Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka (Acquired from Patel Brown), Fu Xiaotong (Acquired from Alisan Fine Arts), Tina Girouard (Acquired from Anat Ebgi), Eduardo Sarabia (Acquired from OMR), and Eri Imamura (Acquired from Turner Carroll). 

In a press release, Ms. Brodbeck stated, “These artists — whose work ranges in date from the mid-1970s to now — represent innovations in photography, textiles, ceramics, and drawing. While these artists have roots in the U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, Burkina Faso, and China, they also represent a wider diaspora of international practice that resonates perfectly with our global collection. Their attention to beauty and craft is sure to enthrall our audiences.”

Kelly Cornell, the Director of DAF, added, “This year’s selection reflects the international breadth of talent represented at the fair, highlighting the global perspectives shaping contemporary art today. Since its inception in 2016, the Acquisition Program has proudly supported a dynamic range of artists and their galleries — ensuring their work becomes a lasting part of the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection.”

The 2025 Acquisition Program donors are Peter and Ashley Herbst; Rod and Jill Sager; Jeff and Marlo Melucci; David and Linda Rogers; John and Marlene Sughrue; and Geoff and Sheryl Green.

The post Dallas Museum of Art Announces Works Acquired from the Dallas Art Fair appeared first on Glasstire.

The Glass Art Society (GAS), a nonprofit based in Seattle, has announced the schedule for its 2025 International Conference, which will be hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and SiNaCa Studios in Fort Worth.

For the first time in the annual conference’s 54-year history, the event will take place in Texas. This year’s theme, Trailblazing New Traditions, has set the event to focus on the future of glass art, with particular attention to inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation.

The four-day event includes a variety of opportunities, such as lectures, panels, demonstrations, and more. On Saturday, May 10, SiNaCa Studios will host a pre-conference panel featuring renowned glass artists Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Dallas-based painter Carlos Donjuan, Fort Worth-based muralist Arnoldo Hurtado Escobar, and artist, longtime educator, and curator Benito Huerta. The panel will be moderated by Dennis Chiessa, the Director of the Graduate Architecture Program at UTA.

The conference will officially open on Wednesday, May 14. That evening, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Black Femme Collab, featuring Spider Martins, Ashley Harris, Scout Cartagena, Lyncia Berry, and Adeye Jean Baptiste, will present a collaborative demonstration and performance at UTA’s Studio Art Center Foundry. 

Throughout the run of the conference, the GAS Market will feature international vendors selling glass materials and tools at the UTA University Center. The event will also feature three exhibitions showcasing work by GAS members and students. The conference will conclude with a Closing Night Party at the Arlington Museum of Art (AMA) on Saturday, May 17. AMA will present a special exhibition featuring works by the De La Torre brothers as well as a neon installation by North Texas artist and professor Alicia Eggert. 

See the full schedule of events via the GAS website. Full conference registration is $535; day passes are available for $190. Online registration ends Monday, April 14.

The post Glass Art Society’s 2025 International Conference Comes to North Texas appeared first on Glasstire.

WASHINGTON—In an effort to help customers living in areas with little or no access to abortion care, Clearblue announced Monday that its pregnancy tests sold in the U.S. market would now come with a flight voucher in case the result was positive. “Starting today, our home diagnostic products will include a generous $100 credit that can be used for air travel across state lines,” said company spokeswoman Felicity Roberts, adding that all Clearblue digital pregnancy tests, Flip and Click tests, and rapid-detection tests would come with a code that could be used to purchase a domestic round-trip ticket to a blue state of the customer’s choice. “Thanks to our patented early-detection technology, you can get on a plane, into an Uber, and on your way to the clinic up to five days earlier than you can with other tests. But don’t delay! This offer is only valid for 24 weeks after conception.” Roberts added that Clearblue customers who tested positive and wanted to continue the pregnancy were free to use the voucher for one last vacation before the hospital bill for their upcoming childbirth financially ruined them.

The post New Clearblue Test Comes With Flight Voucher In Case Result Positive appeared first on The Onion.

The Trump administration has raised taxes on Chinese imports to 125% as the trade war continues to heat up. The Onion looks at the key facts and figures behind the president’s tariffs. 

$3.2 billion: Market gains for bug-out bags

29: Turnips to be substituted into average American’s weekly diet 

1 in 3: Americans currently screaming “SELL! SELL!” into cell phone

9: Quantity of eggs 401(k) worth now

1, 2, 3, 4: Numbers chanted by Trump before saying, “I declare a trade war!”

5: Days until you have to start making own soap

80%: Increase in Oliver Twist adaptations set in present day

48: Hours Youngstown, OH has been given to get a thriving banana industry up and running

The post Trump’s Tariffs By The Numbers appeared first on The Onion.

Scientists recently had the opportunity to taste a batch of “space miso” fermented for 30 days aboard the International Space Station, noting it had a nuttier and more roasted quality than typical soybean paste made on Earth. What do you think?

The post Researchers Taste Miso Fermented In Space appeared first on The Onion.

Basketball legend LeBron James became the first professional male athlete to have his likeness depicted in a Ken doll, with Mattel Inc. unveiling the figure to kick off the toy manufacturer’s “Kenbassador” series. What do you think?

The post LeBron James Becomes First Male Athlete To Have Likeness Depicted In Ken Doll appeared first on The Onion.

MEDINA, OH—Speculating that the situation could be worth looking into at some point down the line, a report released Friday found that local wife Casey Davis, 37, hadn’t been home in a few days. “Huh, that’s weird,” said Nick Davis, who was quoted in the report and who looked from a television playing a rerun of Chicago Fire to a window showing that his wife’s car was still not in the driveway after what must have been two or three days. “I’m pretty sure she usually comes home every day. But she’s definitely not here now, because I called out her name a few times and she didn’t answer. Guess I’ll order delivery again. She’d probably call if something was wrong, right?” The report concluded that it was no doubt best to give it a few more days before sending her a text. 

The post Report: Wife Hasn’t Been Home In Few Days appeared first on The Onion.

Our tribe is facing an existential threat. Now is not the time for division. We must work together to protect our future. That’s why, instead of invoking the ten plagues and escaping to the Promised Land, we need to support the Pharaoh, no matter how detrimental he is to our tribe, Egypt, or the whole world.

I know what you’re thinking: The Pharaoh spent his entire life lying and defrauding, how do you know he won’t throw us under the camel when it becomes convenient? Well, he might be a greedy supervillain who cares about nothing but himself, but he was friendly to a few token tribe members, so just ignore the other stuff.

Besides, being slaves in Egypt, our tribe doesn’t exactly have many options. So, if this guy says he’s gonna help us, maybe we need to look past all the evil “Pharaoscist” things he’s doing, and trust that he’ll drain the dunes. I mean, Project 2025-BC is mostly evil, but there’s also a paragraph in there that says they’ll put up with us (for now). They actually want us to establish the Promised Land—mainly to get rid of us, and put us in one place to make it easier to attack later—but still, we take what we can get, right?

So I say, ignore that he’s likely gonna make hostility towards our tribe worse in the long run, or that he’s gonna alienate the rest of the fertile crescent by putting tariffs on figs and papyrus or whatever, or that his health expert is gonna cause a malaria outbreak, or that he’s eventually gonna spark a world war.

Yeah, I know, his Royal Vizier, who bought his way into power with rare emeralds, did that notorious hand gesture, but that was like, the good kind; a loving and caring and supportive “Heil Pharaoh” salute. And, sure, he bought the town agora and lets people etch misinformation hieroglyphs about us constantly, but to be fair, that stuff is etched into every town agora.

Now, it’s tempting to say this Pharaoh is only with us because he wants us to build our invention, the Iron Pyramids, but come on, would a guy who constantly rips people off rip us off? Would the compulsive liar lie to us? Would a lifelong scammer scam us?

What I’m saying is forget the frogs or sea of blood or darkness or whatever else you can come up with to get him out of the White Palace, save those ideas for a screenplay for when we establish Burbank in a few years. For now, we need to get behind the liar that lies nonstop because he is definitely NOT lying to us about being on our side.

We can totally trust him. I mean, when in history has a corrupt, tyrannical leader ever turned against the Jews?

Exactly. Checkmate!

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

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Have I told you about my Pop Sci extravaganza A City on Mars?

Today's News:

Warren Buffett’s annual shareholders letters are always a must-read. The honesty, clarity, and striking humility of his prose stands out in a world where corporate communications — from companies of any size — tend to be bland and obfuscating. This year’s letter, published back in February, is no exception. Two sections stood out to me. First, in a section titled “Mistakes — Yes, We Make Them at Berkshire”:

Sometimes I’ve made mistakes in assessing the future economics of a business I’ve purchased for Berkshire — each a case of capital allocation gone wrong. That happens with both judgments about marketable equities — we view these as partial ownership of businesses — and the 100% acquisitions of companies.

At other times, I’ve made mistakes when assessing the abilities or fidelity of the managers Berkshire is hiring. The fidelity disappointments can hurt beyond their financial impact, a pain that can approach that of a failed marriage.

A decent batting average in personnel decisions is all that can be hoped for. The cardinal sin is delaying the correction of mistakes or what Charlie Munger called “thumb-sucking.” Problems, he would tell me, cannot be wished away. They require action, however uncomfortable that may be.

During the 2019-23 period, I have used the words “mistake” or “error” 16 times in my letters to you. Many other huge companies have never used either word over that span. Amazon, I should acknowledge, made some brutally candid observations in its 2021 letter. Elsewhere, it has generally been happy talk and pictures.

I have also been a director of large public companies at which “mistake” or “wrong” were forbidden words at board meetings or analyst calls. That taboo, implying managerial perfection, always made me nervous (though, at times, there could be legal issues that make limited discussion advisable. We live in a very litigious society.)

At 94, it won’t be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters. Greg shares the Berkshire creed that a “report” is what a Berkshire CEO annually owes to owners. And he also understands that if you start fooling your shareholders, you will soon believe your own baloney and be fooling yourself as well.

As the great physicist Richard Feynman said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”

Second is an entire section, not complaining, but instead proudly declaring, that last year Berkshire set the record for the highest single-year corporate income tax payment in United States history:

Huge numbers can be hard to visualize. Let me recast the $26.8 billion that we paid last year.

If Berkshire had sent the Treasury a $1 million check every 20 minutes throughout all of 2024 — visualize 366 days and nights because 2024 was a leap year — we still would have owed the federal government a significant sum at yearend. Indeed, it would be well into January before the Treasury would tell us that we could take a short breather, get some sleep, and prepare for our 2025 tax payments. [...]

Berkshire’s activities now impact all corners of our country. And we are not finished. Companies die for many reasons but, unlike the fate of humans, old age itself is not lethal. Berkshire today is far more youthful than it was in 1965.

However, as Charlie and I have always acknowledged, Berkshire would not have achieved its results in any locale except America whereas America would have been every bit the success it has been if Berkshire had never existed.

So thank you, Uncle Sam. Someday your nieces and nephews at Berkshire hope to send you even larger payments than we did in 2024. Spend it wisely. Take care of the many who, for no fault of their own, get the short straws in life. They deserve better. And never forget that we need you to maintain a stable currency and that result requires both wisdom and vigilance on your part.

Again, that was written back in February. Prescient as always.

Bill Maher personifies the difference between a liberal (which he is) and a leftist (which he isn’t). But he’s been a stridently vocal critic of Trump since long before Trump even ran for president. Maher was the first person on television to correctly predict that Trump, if he lost the 2020 election, would attempt to remain in office. Maher and Trump, however, are mutual friends with Kid Rock, and Rock arranged for Trump to invite Maher to the White House for a private dinner. UFC chief and Meta board member Dana White was also there. A decade ago even imagining this guest list for a White House dinner would have been a warning that you ought to lay off the drugs. Today, this is normal.

On this clip from his show this weekend, Maher reports on the dinner. What it was like. What Trump was like. Turns out, in private, Trump turns it off. He was normal. Or, well, normal for Donald Trump. He wasn’t what we see in public. I find that fascinating. Not exculpatory. Just interesting. Is he “They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats!” crazy 24 hours a day, or just when the cameras are on?

Some on the left are absolutely losing their shit over Maher for this. I don’t get it. This is the single most interesting report on Trump I’ve seen in years because it’s real. Maher didn’t come out of the dinner brainwashed. He’s not now saying Trump is doing a good job. He’s not now saying things are in any way OK. He spent his whole monologue before this report rightfully skewering Trump’s humiliating weeklong tariffs tantrum. After the report, Maher interviewed total nutjob Steve Bannon and literally shoved a copy of the Constitution in Bannon’s face when Bannon started blathering about Trump running for a third term in 2028. From Maher’s preface to his report:

“Oh my god Bill, are you going to say something nice about him? What I’m going to do is report exactly what happened. You decide what you think about it. And if that’s not enough pure Trump hate for you I don’t give a fuck.”

The whole episode was great.

Seth Godin:

You can’t.

That’s because toddlers don’t understand what an argument is and aren’t interesting in having one.

Toddlers (which includes defensive bureaucrats, bullies, flat earthers, folks committed to a specific agenda and radio talk show hosts) may indicate that they’d like to have an argument, but they’re actually engaging in connection, noise, play acting or a chance to earn status. It can be fun to be in opposition, to harangue or even to use power to change someone’s position.

#Kento #RoninWarriors

#Cye #RoninWarriors

#Ryo #RoninWarriors

Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas was able to close the Jim Hogg County facility because of Trump’s immigration policies. Records reveal that the reality is more nuanced.

Lawmakers are quietly pushing bills that would limit access to bathrooms and measures preventing trans people from changing government documents.

Four people tied to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office committed suicide recently, calling attention to ongoing mental health struggles among law enforcement.

New comic!
Today's News:

The most important part of being a detective is trusting your intuition. That's why I pick only one angle from which to examine every crime scene and never move, because moving would mean conceding defeat. Also, I'm not really a detective.

With two measles deaths - both children - in the state, officials struggle to convince communities to vaccinate.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

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I just pretend to be Ryan North.

Today's News:

Reuters:

“The U.S. side’s imposition of excessively high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, runs counter to basic economic principles and common sense, and is simply an act of unilateral bullying and coercion,” China’s Finance Ministry said in a statement. [...]

“Even if the U.S. continues to impose even higher tariffs, it would no longer have any economic significance and would go down as a joke in the history of world economics,” the Finance Ministry’s statement added.

“If the U.S. continues to play a numbers game with tariffs, China will not respond,” it added. However it left the door open for Beijing to turn to other types of retaliation, reiterating that China would fight the U.S. to the end.

None of this is funny at the moment, but Trump has beclowned himself with these impulsive nonsensical tariffs. No matter how this ends up, he will go down in history looking like a fool for this. In terms of history, what will be remembered in decades to come, he’d have far less embarrassed himself by shitting his pants in public. He came into office less than three months ago with the US economy being the strongest in the world, by far. Everything that’s happened since has been the direct result of his mad-king magical-thinking nonsense and the Republican party’s refusal to stand up to him.

If Joe Biden had imposed these exact same tariff policies a year ago, for the exact same stated reasons, Republicans would have impeached him and called for his immediate ouster through Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — and their actions, for once, would have been justified. These tariff policies are nuts and are endangering the United States’s economic supremacy while simultaneously hurting the entire world economy. No one in their right mind would do this, and the President of the United States needs to be a person in their right mind.

Democrats and all other Trump opponents should immediately begin calling into question Trump’s mental fitness for office. This whole tariff saga is proof that he’s nuts. Just keep repeating that. He’s always been a little nutty but now he’s gone off the deep end. Don’t forget to reiterate that Trump’s father was suffering from severe dementia when he was Trump’s age. Throw Biden under the bus: remind people that we just saw what happens when a mentally enfeebled 80-year-old^* serves as President, and that under Trump it’s far worse. Biden was sleepy but steady; Trump is agitated and erratic. That’s far worse.

Hammer the points — all true, all obvious — endlessly: Trump is too old; these tariffs are proof that he’s lost his mind; he’s hurting America badly; dementia runs in his family. Hammer it.

* Keep calling him “80”; make his sycophants correct you that he’s “only” turning 79 in June.

Financial Times reporter John Burn-Murdoch has a summary on Bluesky of his co-bylined report for the Financial Times:

Visitors from western Europe who stayed at least one night in the US fell by 17 per cent in March from a year ago, according to the International Trade Administration. Travel from some countries — including Ireland, Norway and Germany — fell by more than 20 per cent, an FT analysis of ITA data showed.

The trend poses a threat to the US tourism industry, which accounts for 2.5 per cent of the country’s GDP. Some airlines and hotel groups have warned of waning demand for transatlantic travel and a “bad buzz” about visiting the US. The total number of overseas visitors travelling to the US dropped by 12 per cent year-on-year in March, the steepest decline since March 2021 when the travel sector was reeling from pandemic restrictions, according to the ITA data.

Well, I’m sure it will turn around when the April figures come out, after Trump’s tariff madness and the news that Secretary of State Marco Rubio — supposedly one of the few sane voices in the 2.0 Trump kakistocracy — has signed a two-page argument that noncitizens can be deported for their beliefs, a.k.a. thought crimes.

“In just two months [Trump] has destroyed the reputation of the US, shown one way by diminished travel from the EU to the US,” said Paul English, co-founder of travel website Kayak. “This is not only one more terrible blow to the US economy, it also represents reputation damage that could take generations to repair.”

We need more clearheaded statements like this from business leaders. Just state the truth plainly. The only side English took with this statement is the side of the truth.

Reuters:

China’s Anker, one of Amazon’s largest sellers offering products from power banks to phone cases, has raised prices on a fifth of its products on the U.S. platform since Thursday, in a sign that tariffs on Chinese goods are being passed on to U.S. shoppers.

Some 127 Anker products have seen an average increase of 18% since Thursday last week, with the majority of those occurring after Monday, April 7, when U.S. President Donald Trump added an extra 50% import duty on Chinese goods, according to data from e-commerce services provider SmartScout.

Tariffs driving up consumer prices is as sure a thing as rain making you wet. But it’s worth pointing to the evidence as it comes in, because unlike rain’s wetness, the “emperor sure does have clothes” MAGA contingent is trying to argue that tariffs don’t have this obvious effect.

The Houston-area nonprofit receives more than a third of its annual budget from the Older Americans Act, which expired last year. Congress has yet to renew this legislation, opting instead for a one-year resolution that temporarily funds the programs included in the act.