But first, a segue into the make-up White House Correspondent's Dinner last night, the one added to the first attempt on April 25, when a Trump assassin showed up. This second one was almost as chaotic. Of course, you must know that President Trump refused to attend any of these dinners in his first term. His first appearance was on 25April2026. From the liberal viewpoint, CNN : Trump bombed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — and proved its point Members of the media mocking a leader’s dismal performance on live TV and all across the internet? In some other countries, that’s a criminal offense. But in the US, it’s the norm, so maybe Trump’s speech unwittingly underscored the theme of the dinner: America’s robust First Amendment protections. In a rambling hour-long speech, Trump insulted journalists by name, repurposed old nicknames for political opponents, made a strange number of fat jokes that weren’t funny at all, and sounded mad at his unnamed writers for giving him w...
But first, from Time magazine: $100 The price of oil hit $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May. It comes after the Houthis of Yemen struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, enforcing a long-threatened blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another shipping route crucial to the world’s energy supplies. From the New York Times (Sam Sifton) this morning: The Trump administration has imposed new tariffs on goods from more than 80 countries . The tariffs, along with the war in Iran, are threatening the U.S. economy . For my readership, here are some upcoming journeys. August-September 2026: Total Eclipse of the Sun . Ever see a total eclipse of the Sun? This is the one where you will feel that extra chill, gets almost dark and some animals think it is the end of the day. My one experience was on 11July1991 over the Big Island of Hawaii on by wife's birthday . To quote that posting, it is pretty amazing that the coverage is...