Christmas is still eight months away, but artificial tree maker Lou Liping is already worried about a bad holiday season due to the Iran war. Lou's company, Kitty Christmas Factory, has been making artificial trees for the U.S. and European markets for nearly three decades. Her facility is based in the city of Yiwu, known as China's Christmas capital. "Many customers ...

Palantir’s manifesto has dropped and co-founder Peter Thiel has a scary new company called Objection. I’ll round up some reactions. Palantir Manifesto Says What? In ancient days the priests of an imperial death cult would have dropped their manifesto on giant graven metal tablets, in 2026 they just tweet that crap with a footnote saying “Excerpts from the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West, by Alexander C.

A view shows a second-generation R1S at electric auto maker Rivian's manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, on June 21, 2024. Joel Angel Juarez | Reuters A tornado damaged part of Rivian Automotive's factory in central Illinois over the weekend, according to a message sent to employees Sunday night by CEO RJ Scaringe that was viewed by CNBC. The tornado touched down on the plant, Scarigne said.

Remember this? How quickly times can change. That was a mere six weeks ago, and six weeks hence Europe is expected to be running on jet fuel empty—as well as facing a host of other potential shortages—should the Strait of Hormuz not reopen. Seeing as it looks more likely the Bab el Mandeb will officially close too rather than Hormuz reopen, hard times are in store for Europeans.

Conor here: Time to get to work on that long-planned garden. By Christina Grozinger, Andony Melathopolous, Clare Rittschof, Harland Patch, and Jay Evans. Grozinger is Professor of Entomology, Penn State; Melathopolous is Associate Professor of Horticulture, Oregon State University; Rittschof is Associate Professor of Entomology, University of Kentucky; Patch is Assistant Research Professor of Entomology, Penn State; and Evans is Research Entomologist, Bee Research Lab, Agricultural Research Service, USDA.

Greetings gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today it’s a made for TV adaptation of a sci-fi classic, The Lathe of Heaven: and next week’s film, White Sun of the Desert: Reviews of The Lathe of Heaven: Letterboxd says: Adapted from Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel of the same name, The Lathe of Heaven is a dated PBS TV movie that feels marred by its clear lack of high production value (the effects can be outright amateurish at times), yet is still solidly carried by its intriguing premise.

A rapidly declining Trump is living in a “dark fantasy” world as the Iranians close the Strait in anger at his lies. Meanwhile the MSM is beginning to break some bad news about the war. White House insiders are struggling to deal with POTUS Trump’s increasing dementia but are so far unwilling and unable to stop Trump and his enablers from doubling down on military and economic disaster.

This lady offered the peacock food… and it said thanks in a spectacular way pic.twitter.com/Ns6LfBfdtY — Science girl (@sciencegirl) April 18, 2026 First close pair of supermassive black holes detected? TECHNOLOGY.ORG An Ancient Mummy’s Tooth Could Rewrite Script of Scarlet Fever in the New World Nautilus Hampshire College’s demise is yet another blow to creative, outside‑the‑box options in higher education…

Nat took appropriately yesterday to making fog of narrative a major focus of his update. I posted a tweet from a couple of days ago complaining that the already bad information pollution had increased markedly in the last 48 hours. After a short enforced absence from the newsflow, it is astonishing to see how much blather is being repeated uncritically. As usual, the big driver is Trump schizophrenic claims, that a deal is, as alway, just around the corner, even as he also insists that things are gonna happen that Iran would never never agree to, as in giving up nuclear enrichment.

Derek Sylvester with members of his family, team and mascot Molly, who was featured on the dealership's logo. Courtesy Sylvester Chevrolet Derek Sylvester's father built the family's original Chevrolet dealership with his bare hands on Main Street in rural Peckville, Pennsylvania, in 1972. The store and family have been a pillar of the village, outside Scranton, ever since. That was until late last month, when Sylvester and his family closed a deal to sell Sylvester Chevrolet to a New York-based dealer group.

Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution Nature Conflict Has Memory: Why Local Wars Follow Distinct Trajectories Irregular Warfare Initiative Climate/Environment Scores of Forest Service plans could be upended after Boundary Waters mining vote Stateline A newly recognized pollutant is widely present in the atmosphere Phys.org March 2026 was the third-worst month for drought in observed history for the United States.

Yves here. Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson usefully go beyond the immediate cray-cray of the Iran conflict, particularly the blockade as part of the row to assert control of the Strait of Hormuz, to bigger picture issues, such as the jockeying of other players, such as China, Russia, the Saudis, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the ongoing damage to the global economy.

Bank of America, the nation's second-largest lender, beat on the top and bottom lines during the first quarter, bolstered by equities sales and trading. Here's what the firm reported: Earnings per share: $1.11 per share vs. $1.01 LSEG estimate Revenue: $30.43 billion vs. $29.93 billion estimate The bank said Wednesday that net income rose 17% to $8.6 billion, or $1.11 per share, Bank of America's highest EPS in almost two decades.

“It is for parents to raise their children, and not the platforms.” Those were the words of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday as she announced the readiness of the EU’s online age verification, ahem, platform. As we’ve been warning since November 2024, these platforms are ultimately a Trojan Horse for digital identity systems, which are in turn intended to serve as the cornerstone for the digital gulags being quickly assembled around the world.

Walmart's largest private brand, Great Value, is getting a fresh look. Starting in May, the brand's approximately 10,000 items that span from LED lightbulbs to gallons of milk and frozen chicken nuggets will hit the shelves in new packaging, the company announced Wednesday. Walmart first launched the brand in 1993 and hasn't changed its look in more than a decade…

Two contrasting emails hit my inbox late Thursday night central time and epitomized the narrative conflict between the mainstream of American narrative control and alternative media over the current ceasefire in Trump’s Iran War. On the one hand there was Gideon Rose’s piece for Foreign Affairs headlined “Why the Cease-Fire With Iran Will Hold” and subtitled, “The De-Escalatory Logic That Will Shape Negotiations” …

The biggest American automakers all but abandoned sedans and coupes in recent years as they rushed to compete in the pickup truck and SUV markets. Many domestic buyers also shifted toward those bigger vehicles. Still, there's a market for cars, as Japanese, Korean and German brands sell hundreds of thousands of smaller passenger vehicles in the U.S. annually. The resilience of the sedan market and concerns that high prices are driving away customers have led some American automakers to reconsider their lineups.

Part the First: Dealing with Scientific Misconduct.  Trust in science has declined during my professional work life.  Some, but not all, of this is due to misconduct by scientists, as it should be.  The recent case of Sylvain Lesné is one of the more spectacular examples.  We have discussed this previously.  Dr. Lesné published a paper that became the foundation for subsequent research on the amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease, which holds that since plaques of beta-amyloid precursor protein are found postmortem in the brains of AD patients, so these plaques are the cause of AD. 

As grocery chains face mounting pressure from inflation-weary shoppers and growing competition, some in the industry are starting to rely on artificial intelligence to protect margins without losing customers. Traditional levers to protect profits or drive sales, like raising prices or running blanket promotions, are becoming less effective as shoppers split trips across multiple retailers in search of value. That dynamic has helped drive market share gains for discounters like Dollar General and warehouse clubs like Costco, forcing traditional grocers to rethink how they compete.

Yves here. This article Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirović describes the detailed back and forth between the US and Japan over US over Japanese territorial conquests and additional expected campaigns. The use of economic warfare to achieve political and military goals in theory resembles what we are seeing transpire now with Iran. However, one can argue that the US position then, even when it was seeking to push Japan into direct action against the US, is arguably less maximalist than its stance with Iran.

The Netflix logo is pictured at the company's offices on Vine in Los Angeles, Dec. 5, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images For years, Netflix top brass would tell investors they were builders not buyers. Now, that sentiment toward growth may be changing. On Thursday Netflix reported its quarterly earnings. Typically, Netflix's earnings calls are focused on metrics like engagement, content spending, price hikes and membership.

Alien Comet 3I/ATLAS Is Blasting 70 Swimming Pools of Water into Space Every Day and Astronomers Are Stunned ZME Science Reality Instruction London Review of Books You’ve lived this life before Aeon Climate/Environment Critical Atlantic current significantly more likely to collapse than thought The Guardian 🌡️📈Looking further into the data, nearly 80 cities with long term “threaded” records (mainly 100+ years) are looking at their warmest spring to date through Sunday (with forecast values from SERCC), as measured by average daily maximum temperature.

A JetBlue aircraft lands under the DC skyline featuring the U.S. Capitol building, near United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Airlines aircraft on the tarmac at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. January 25, 2025. Jim Urquhart | Reuters A U.S. lawmaker is urging the CEOs of the country's largest airlines to lower prices if and when the cost of jet fuel declines after a massive run-up this year prompted carriers to raise surcharges, bag fees and fares.

Yves here. As many of you know, I hired home care workers, also known as home health aides even though most did not have any medical or nursing certifications, to take care of my handicapped mother. Even with my being in the house nearly all the time (some of that sleeping; I was working nights) and in the room with her and the aides for large parts of the time, it never would have occurred to me to have one aide on for 13 hours, let alone 24  (I did have 13 hour coverage over 2 shifts), let alone pay for 13 hours and have them on premises and largely working for 24 hours.

Piotr Swat | Lightrocket | Getty Images As its high-margin compounded GLP-1 business evolves, Hims & Hers Health may be finding a new opportunity in peptides. Shares of the telehealth company jumped Thursday after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Wednesday that the FDA plans to convene a Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting to review peptides for potential inclusion on the 503A bulk list, a designation that allows drugs to be compounded on an individual prescribed basis rather than mass producing.

Yves here. Not only do we have yet more Trump Jesus-themed cray-cray, but he’s also trying the abusive spouse approach to China, threatening them over alleged military assistance to Iran while also acting lovey-dovey. John Helmer below features the Russian press taking issue with claims of Chinese support for Iran. By John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties.

Rear Admiral Erica G. Schwartz. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding a monthslong effort to choose a permanent leader of the embattled health agency.  Schwartz, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate, would take over the role as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.

I’ve got to open today’s Iran War update with POTUS Trump’s latest claim that he’s opening the Strait of Hormuz to please China: pic.twitter.com/DVtDGS2VY0 — Nat Wilson Turner (@natwilsonturner) April 15, 2026 Impossible to discern if Trump’s statement actually means anything as for the “talks”, the NYT had a brief update: Senior Pakistani mediators, including the army chief, Syed Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for talks aimed at shoring up the cease-fire between Iran and the United States before it expires next week.

Reed Hastings, Netflix's co-founder and then-CEO, in Sydney to meet with executives of other subscription streaming services on Feb. 25, 2022. Wolter Peeters | Fairfax Media | Getty Images Netflix shares fell 9% in extended trading on Thursday after the streaming giant released its first-quarter earnings report and announced a key governance change. The company beat Wall Street expectations for revenue, reporting $12.25 billion for the first quarter, above the $12.18 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG and 16% higher than the $10.54 billion it reported in the year-ago quarter.

Netanyahu wants Israel to become the hegemonic force in the Middle East. This is the strategic significance of the “Greater Israel” project, which is then shrouded in religious rhetoric. The rapprochement between Iran and its Arab and Muslim-majority neighbours preceding the war and the rising Sunni military bloc was the most significant obstacle. A key purpose of the war launched against Iran was to break it.

Illuminated logo for Pepsi on a soda fountain in Walnut Creek, California, March 4, 2026. Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images PepsiCo on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations as its struggling North American food business reported a return to volume growth. Shares of the company rose 2% in afternoon trading. Here's what Pepsi reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building stands after it was reported the IRS will lay off about 6,700 employees, a restructuring that could strain the tax-collecting agency's resources during the critical tax-filing season, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 20, 2025.  Kent Nishimura | Reuters A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. 

High speed automation ✨🇨🇳China produces approximately 97% of the world’s solar wafers, 92% of solar cells, and 86% of PV modules, and it holds an absolutely dominant position in the manufacturing segment of the global photovoltaic industry chain. pic.twitter.com/hxYNSaVfC6 — 🇨🇳XuZhenqing徐祯卿 (@XueJia24682) March 24, 2026 What can China’s next generation of robots do? Euronews China Country Profile Population and Demography…

Doug Field, the chief EV, digital and design officer at Ford Motor, speaks at Louisville Assembly Plant as Ford shares its plans to design and assemble its "Universal Electric Vehicle" platform on Aug. 11, 2025. Courtesy: Ford DETROIT — Ford Motor's head of electric vehicles and software is leaving the automaker as it restructures its executives and operations. Ford on Wednesday said Doug Field — chief EV, digital and design officer — has "elected to leave the company after a transition over the next month." A release announcing the move mentioned a "next chapter" for Field, but the executive declined to disclose specific plans on a call with media Wednesday.

The Carnival Miracle cruise ship is anchored of the Big Island of Hawaii on Jan. 14, 2024. Kevin Carter | Getty Images The global cruise industry is reporting record demand and renewed consumer enthusiasm, but the leaders helming the world's largest cruise companies say the sector is also facing some of the most complex challenges it has seen in decades.

Yves here. I must confess, despite often invoking the term precariat, to being unaware that it was not just coined by Guy Standing, but that he also published an entire book about it, The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class.  I find this omission particularly surprising since I have seen the concept of precarity regularly mentioned in venue like the Economist and the Financial Times, which typically do provide credit.

Spirit Airlines airplanes taxi on the tarmac at New York's Laguardia Airport in the Queens borough of New York City, U.S., Nov. 7, 2025. Ryan Murphy | Reuters Spirit Airlines could liquidate as early as this week, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters that had not yet been made public.

This post launched before complete (come back at the customary 8:00 AM EDT) and will be a bit skeletal because I am packing for a truly horrible trip, transit-wise, thanks to Iran-war-induced flight changes. I will have a >12 hour layover each way, making a normal 21 to 23.5 hour trip into >34 hours each way. The normal wise course would be to wait in the hope that things will become less bad.

David Solomon, CEO Goldman Sachs, speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22nd, 2026. Oscar Molina | CNBC When Goldman Sachs executives were asked about disappointing results in the firm's fixed income division this week, they made it sound as though the trading environment was simply not in their favor. Fixed income revenue…

AI’s reputational crisis is triggering a massive backlash against data centers including two attacks on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and another against an Indiana city council member. I’ll get to the attacks on Altman but other than reminding readers that he is fondly referred to as “Scam” Altman by former colleague and current litigation opponent Elon Musk, I have other sub-topics to cover first.

A sample prompt response in ChatGPT using Starbucks' beta app. Source: Starbucks Starbucks has launched a beta app in ChatGPT to provide inspiration for customers' drink orders, the company said Wednesday. To use the beta app, customers need to enable the Starbucks app through ChatGPT's app directory and then enter a prompt on the chatbot that includes "@Starbucks." While they can customize their orders and even select what location to order from, consumers will need to complete their order on the Starbucks app or website — a key distinction for a company that relies heavily on its loyalty program.

Yves here. Go Maine! If you are a citizen, please ASAP call or e-mail Governor Mills to press her to sign the data center moratorium, LD 307. It’s always good to offer a short reason, here as to why data centers are a bod idea. Sadly her office will be unlikely to be receptive to a particularly good argument, that both AI and data centers are a massive bubble about to collapse and Maine does not want to be stuck with abandoned, partly built facilities on otherwise usable real estate.

Morgan Stanley on Wednesday posted first-quarter results that topped analyst estimates as the firm's trading operations generated almost $1 billion more in revenue than expected. Here's what the company reported: Earnings: $3.43 a share vs. $3 LSEG estimate Revenue: $20.58 billion vs. $19.72 billion estimate The bank said profit jumped 29% to $5.57 billion, or $3.43 a share. Revenue rose 16% to $20.58 billion, fueled by gains in the firm's trading, investment banking and wealth management businesses.

Determined Woman Makes It Her Mission to Rescue Every Abandoned Dog in Her Georgia Community Laughing Squid Climate/Environment Global carbon emissions and decarbonization in 2025 Nature. Another record year. El Niño is rumbling like a freight train across the subsurface Pacific Ocean. Over the last two months, the warm pool has shifted east, with some areas reaching 5˚C above-average. Warmer waters will soon surface, as a strong westerly wind burst keeps this train rolling.

Jane Fraser, CEO of CitiGroup, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 20th, 2026. Oscar Molina | CNBC Citigroup beat on the top and bottom lines during the first quarter. Here's what the firm reported on Tuesday, compared with Wall Street estimates compiled by LSEG: Earnings per share: $3.06 vs. $2.65 estimate Revenue: $24.63 billion vs.

“Russia is not going to leave the Western Hemisphere, no matter what they say in Washington.” Last Thursday (April 9), Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov paid an official visit to Cuba where he met with the Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. The visit came ten days after the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodki broke the United States’ de facto oil blockade of Cuba, providing the island with 100,000 tons — roughly two weeks’ worth — of much needed crude oil.

A version of this article appeared in CNBC's Inside Alts newsletter, a guide to the fast-growing world of alternative investments, from private equity and private credit to hedge funds and venture capital. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Fears of rising defaults and a systemic crisis from private credit don't reflect the underlying fundamentals of private loan portfolios and returns, according to Blackstone's head of private wealth.

Iran War: Contested Reports About US Blockade Failure in First 24 Hours as Saudi Arabia Protests and Experts Warn of Difficulty and High Risk; Markets Still Buying Trump Howlers About Iran Begging for Deal Despite Intelligence-Insulting Lie About His Jesus Tweet | naked capitalism

Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., right, departs the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. Graeme Sloan | Bloomberg | Getty Images JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday that while artificial intelligence tools could eventually help companies defend themselves from cyberattacks, they are first making them more vulnerable. Dimon said that JPMorgan was testing Anthropic's latest model — the Mythos preview…

When Cities Outrun the State Alice Evans (Micael T) 110,000-year-old discovery rewrites human history: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens worked together Science Daily (Kevin W) The Noun, the Verb, and the Token: How Linguistic Hygiene Enables the New Right Steven Newbury Perspective: The Clash of Seeing Facing Your Demons (Micael T) COVID-19/Pandemic The United States measles case count total surpassed 1,700 cases this past week.