Ian S. Patton

Drone warfare has reached such a level that many fighters have lost hope of escaping or resisting. For example, the final strike on the barracks is terrifying.

For those wondering why NATO exists and why countries want to join the defensive alliance.

The black slave trade between Africa and Americas (1545-1860). Map via Bendich.

Also, I completely overlooked that last year's mass Twitter rage quit and self-imposed exile to BlueSky by CA Legislative Democrats seems to have finally run its course.

People who bet on politics are now putting their money on Xavier Becerra to be California’s next governor.

NEW: Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation has some Dems expressing buyer’s remorse about ousting GEORGE SANTOS. “We have gone a little too far with starting that precedent with George Santos, and I regret my vote to expel him,” Rep. Hank Johnson told @axios axios.com/2026/04/21/che…

Gunman kills tourist and wounds 6 others on Mexico’s Teotihuacán pyramid latimes.com/world-nation/s…

Democrats trying to clear the field for former State Senator Bob Wieckowski to try to get him to 50%+1 in the special primary in the Swalwell #CA14 special election to win outright...not yet on board, Wieckowski's successor in the State Senate and several rando's.

You hate to say it, but Iran has a point… What are US guarantees worth after they betrayed Ukraine?

How the United States' Source of Immigrants Has Changed Over Time

PETRAEUS: Essentially, front lines in Ukraine are static. There's occasional infiltration, but combined arms warfare is no longer possible. Anything caught in "death zone" within 35 km for any period of time is going to be taken out. This is most lethal front line in history.

Two polls out today of the California governor's race would seem to confirm that former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has picked up a fair portion of the orphaned Swalwell voters and is likely to be the fallback option for Sacramento's 'Stop Steyer' and 'Stop Porter' camps.

The stats here are kind of remarkable. BART's new fare gates have led to a 1,000-hour decline in clean up time; 41% drop in crime; and $10 million increase in projected revenue. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/…

the lede here should be that there’s actually a functioning Trump Admin IG.. Trump Administration Live Updates: Labor Secretary Steps Down Amid Misconduct Investigation nytimes.com/live/2026/04/2… via @NYTimes

One billion years of plate tectonics

While you slept last night, our galaxy quietly moved several million kilometers through space. You woke up in the same room, made the same coffee, fed the same cat, and had absolutely no idea that you had traveled farther than any human explorer in history ever managed in an entire lifetime. The Milky Way is not drifting through the universe in any gentle or dignified fashion. It is tearing through space at roughly 600 kilometers per second, taking along its 200 billion stars, every planet orbiting them, every ocean and mountain range and mildly confused cat on those planets, and you, still in your pajamas, completely unaware of any of it. If you could somehow plant yourself at a fixed point in space and watch, our entire galaxy would streak past you like a freight train running 2,000 times faster than a speeding bullet. The whole magnificent sprawl of it, 100,000 light-years across, gone before you had time to properly appreciate it. It is, when you stop to think about it, rather extraordinary. We worry enormously about missing trains and being late to meetings, while hurtling through the cosmos at speeds that would make a rocket engineer weep quietly into his calculations. Stay connected. Follow @Gandalv

Time-lapse of American seizure of indigenous land, 1776-1887

Stubb: Ukraine is killing 30–35k Russians a month; Russia can’t replace losses. About 95% of kills are by drones. Ukraine is retaking ground and in March launched more drones/missiles at Russia than vice versa. This isn’t charity anymore — the West needs Ukraine’s know-how. 1/

We are committing superpower suicide in real time. Trump is making China Great Again.

Absolutely incredible. NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman, who commanded Artemis II, took this footage from the far side of the Moon with his iPhone. Watch with sound on.