“The only thing prohibiting transit in the Strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that.”
--Pete Hegseth
Mar 13, 2026
Long Term Pain
... and short term "gain". That's a cute way to put it, but I can't see any kind of gain for anybody.
Maybe Trump gets a bit of a delay in The Epstein Files drama, but that's not going away. In fact, the war just amplifies the suspicion for most people.
Today's Today
Happy Triskaidekaphobia Day
This superstition leads some people to fear or avoid anything involving the number 13. In particular, this leads to interesting practices such as the numbering of floors as 1, 2, ..., 11, 12, 14, 15, ... (OEIS A011760; the "elevator sequence"), omitting the number 13, in many high-rise American hotels, the numbering of streets avoiding 13th Avenue, and so on.
Apparently, 13 hasn't always been considered unlucky. In fact, it appears that in ancient times, 13 was either considered in a positive light or (more commonly) not at all (Adams). The association of bad luck with the number 13 has been attributed to the fact there were 13 people at the Last Supper of Jesus, although this association seems to have originated only in medieval times.
The association has also been linked to that fact that lunisolar calendars (such as the Hebrew and Chinese calendars) must have 13 months in some years in order to synchronize the solar and lunar cycles, while the solar Gregorian calendar in universal current usage always has 12 months in a year.
Triskaidekaphobia also may be related to Norse mythology, which tells how the god Odin invited eleven of his closest friends to a dinner party at his home in Valhalla, only to have his party crashed by Loki, the god of evil and turmoil, thus giving a total of 13 people. The legend further relates how Balder, one of the most beloved gods, tried to throw Loki out of the party, resulting in a scuffle and ultimately Balder's death with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.
Fear of the number 13 also leads to fear of Friday the thirteenth (a fear recently dubbed paraskevidekatriaphobia), despite the fact that Friday turns out to be the most common weekday on which the 13th of a month can occur in the Gregorian calendar. The association of bad luck with Friday appeared in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the late 14th century ("and on a Friday fell all this misfortune"), but references to Friday as a day associated with ill luck in general first appear around the middle of the 17th century (Mikkelson and Mikkelson). In particular, it appeared in numerous publications as a particularly unlucky day to start a new venture (beginning a journey, giving birth, getting married, moving, starting a new job, etc.) beginning around 1800 (Mikkelson and Mikkelson).
While 13 is associated with the number of people at the Last Supper, the Crucifixion took place on a Friday, thus leading to an association of back luck with the combination of this number and day. Note that the association of Friday the thirteenth with the arrest of Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, on Friday, October 13, 1307 by King Philippe IV of France--as repeated, for example, in D. Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code (Brown 2003, p. 163)--is a modern-day invention (Mikkelson and Mikkelson).
Paraskevidekatriaphobia is probably the most widespread superstition in the United States, possibly affecting tens of millions of Americans. Interestingly, a study by Scanlon et al. (1993) published in the prestigious British Medical Journal which analyzed the relation between health, behavior, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom by comparing the ratio of traffic volume to traffic accidents on Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th over a period of years found that, "The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended."
While there does not appear to be hard evidence to support the claim, it has been suggested that $800 to $900 million are lost each Friday the 13th (Roach 2004) as a result of people avoiding travel, wedding plans, moving, and so on.
Mar 12, 2026
WTAF
Bingo card, schmingo card - what the fuck are we doing?
Markwayne Mullin Reportedly Fingered Nostrils of Colleagues and Their Spouses During Visit to Israel
A former House Republican and his wife claimed that in 2015, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) – then a congressman – took photos of himself putting his finger up the noses of sleeping lawmakers and their spouses during a visit to Israel.
Mullin made waves this week when he tried to pick a nose physical fight with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien during a Senate hearing.
The source of the story is former Rep. David Trott (R-MI), whose account was relayed in Friday’s edition of Politico’s Playbook:
Wednesday night, after a full day of coverage of Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) near-fisticuffs with a Teamsters leader — and his subsequent unapologetic victory lap of media appearances — we got an email from former Rep. David Trott (R-Mich.), who served with Mullin in the House: “My wife and I have a story about Senator Mullin if you’re interested.”
Consider our interest piqued.
We called up the former congressman, who told us about an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel in August 2015 that he remembered about 40 members attending, plus many spouses. Among those spouses was his wife, Kathleen "Kappy" Trott.
At this point, he handed the phone over to Kappy. She told us about the flight to Israel, which was hampered by layovers and delays. Though they were promised a quick shower in the hotel upon arriving, that schedule was revised on the fly: Instead, they’d immediately board buses to see an Iron Dome installation and a kibbutz.
“We were in the clothes we’d been wearing for like 24 hours,” Kappy says. “We get on this bus, and it’s a couple-hour bus ride and people were kind of leaning on their spouse’s shoulder and falling asleep. And this idiot starts walking up and down the bus with his camera and anyone who fell asleep, he would put his finger in their nose and take a picture.”
“I said [to myself, ‘If] that idiot comes near me when I fall asleep, I’m going to punch him,’” Kappy told us. “And I said to Dave: ‘This is a U.S. congressman?’”
That congressman? Markwayne Mullin.
“Some people were mad, and some people were laughing. There were a couple of women who were mad,” Kappy said. “You’re trying to fall asleep, somebody you don’t know has his finger … It was just middle school. And we were in Israel, and we’re going to go see the Iron Dome and go to a kibbutz. Just didn’t seem appropriate.”
They said that Mullin’s recent round of publicity jostled their memory. Contemporary press reports verify that Mullin was, in fact, on this 2015 trip to Israel.
Politico stated it reached out to Mullin’s staff multiple times, but did not receive a response.
A former House Republican and his wife claimed that in 2015, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) – then a congressman – took photos of himself putting his finger up the noses of sleeping lawmakers and their spouses during a visit to Israel.
Mullin made waves this week when he tried to pick a nose physical fight with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien during a Senate hearing.
The source of the story is former Rep. David Trott (R-MI), whose account was relayed in Friday’s edition of Politico’s Playbook:
Wednesday night, after a full day of coverage of Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) near-fisticuffs with a Teamsters leader — and his subsequent unapologetic victory lap of media appearances — we got an email from former Rep. David Trott (R-Mich.), who served with Mullin in the House: “My wife and I have a story about Senator Mullin if you’re interested.”
Consider our interest piqued.
We called up the former congressman, who told us about an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel in August 2015 that he remembered about 40 members attending, plus many spouses. Among those spouses was his wife, Kathleen "Kappy" Trott.
At this point, he handed the phone over to Kappy. She told us about the flight to Israel, which was hampered by layovers and delays. Though they were promised a quick shower in the hotel upon arriving, that schedule was revised on the fly: Instead, they’d immediately board buses to see an Iron Dome installation and a kibbutz.
“We were in the clothes we’d been wearing for like 24 hours,” Kappy says. “We get on this bus, and it’s a couple-hour bus ride and people were kind of leaning on their spouse’s shoulder and falling asleep. And this idiot starts walking up and down the bus with his camera and anyone who fell asleep, he would put his finger in their nose and take a picture.”
“I said [to myself, ‘If] that idiot comes near me when I fall asleep, I’m going to punch him,’” Kappy told us. “And I said to Dave: ‘This is a U.S. congressman?’”
That congressman? Markwayne Mullin.
“Some people were mad, and some people were laughing. There were a couple of women who were mad,” Kappy said. “You’re trying to fall asleep, somebody you don’t know has his finger … It was just middle school. And we were in Israel, and we’re going to go see the Iron Dome and go to a kibbutz. Just didn’t seem appropriate.”
They said that Mullin’s recent round of publicity jostled their memory. Contemporary press reports verify that Mullin was, in fact, on this 2015 trip to Israel.
Politico stated it reached out to Mullin’s staff multiple times, but did not receive a response.
Keith
Republicans have had ample opportunity to pull us back from a whole big bunch of Trump's dumbass fuckery, but they chose to go with Secret Police, 5-dollar gas, and dead Iranian school girls instead - all of which is plausibly in service of the Epstein coverup.
If there's anything that might remotely resemble a silver lining, it's the somewhat increasing probability that the Plutocracy Project is going down the shitter.
Mar 11, 2026
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