Those voter rolls
It seems to me that this lawsuit by the DOJ has merit. Of course, it depends what judge hears it:
The Justice Department filed lawsuits Tuesday against six blue states: Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, accusing them of violating federal law by refusing to provide statewide voter registration rolls upon request.
The complaints, filed by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, argue the states failed to meet their legal obligations under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Civil Rights Act of 1960, three federal statutes that require states to maintain accurate voter rolls and make those records available for inspection.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said state refusals to disclose the lists undermine the transparency and accountability those laws were designed to guarantee.
Can’t argue with that. Except that of course these states will. They also are probably counting on the legal proceedings taking long enough that even a decision in the DOJ’s favor would not be implemented in time for the midterms.
I also suspect that, if somehow the SAVE Act is passed before the midterms – unlikely, but theoretically possible – legal challenges might hold it up so that it could not go into effect for the midterms.
Iran roundup
A roundup seems like the only way to deal with the recent Iran news after a day off. Of course, it’s sometimes hard to tell if a story is true or not, and which “experts” to follow. But hey, I have to try, right? So here goes:
(1) Who’s in charge in Iran? We don’t know, but here’s an article on what some “analysts” say:
IRGC Commander Maj. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi and members of his inner circle have allegedly taken charge of the Islamic republic, as evident by Iran’s attacks on ships trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s refusal to join peace talks with the US this week, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said.
The sudden shift to a hardline stance also shows that more moderate members of Iran’s leadership, including Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi, have been sidelined.
Haven’t most of us assumed right along that the IRGC has been in charge, although splintered, and that there are rival groups participating in the negotiations, plus that there probably are various other groups vying for control? It doesn’t take specialists to figure that out.
And I’m no expert, but I’ve never believed the IRGC will negotiate, and certainly not in good faith.
(2) Our ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, has this to say:
“I promise you, I assure you the United States doesn’t trust anything; any agreement that comes out will have to be verifiable and enforceable.” As U.S. ambassador to the UN, Waltz noted, “the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and its nuclear inspectors…will be a key part” of any final resolution with Iran.
He said Pres.Trump has more tools available for the military to employ in the Strait to continue the blockade, and any ceasefire extension is up to the president …
On Sunday, the host asked Waltz what the U.S. and the president are prepared to do, if Iran does not sign on to an agreement. In this longer clip, he did not mince words, saying “all options are on the table” …
(3) And this may end up being of vital importance:
Late last week, Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent announced another turning of the screws by the U.S. in addition to the blockade and devastating bombings — economic pressure via what the administration is calling “Operation Economic Fury.” Freezing assets, including bank accounts, of top Iranian regime and IRGC figures, with the help of Iran’s neighbors in the Gulf states.
(4) The US Navy has seized an Iranian ship:
Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them. The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
From CENTCOM:
Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots enroute to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade.
After Touska’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over a six-hour period, Spruance directed the vessel to evacuate its engine room. Spruance disabled Touska’s propulsion by firing several rounds from the destroyer’s 5-inch MK 45 Gun into Touska’s engine room. U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit later boarded the non-compliant vessel, which remains in U.S. custody.
(5) Commenter “CICERO” raises this issue:
Trump wants Iran (whoever, matters not) to surrender to the US all of Iran’s enriched uranium. Trouble is, Mr President, it is stored in underground sites which have bomb-blocked enrances per your command, so Iran cannot cough the uranium up on demand.
But if Iran can’t do it, they can allow us to do the honors. See these remarks:
[Dr. Matthew Bunn:] This is the Isfahan nuclear facility deep in Iran’s desert. Under this mountain, international inspectors say most of Iran’s HEU is stored in scuba tank sized containers. It’s believed those containers are in tunnels so far below ground, America’s bunker busting bombs may not be able to reach them.
Satellite images show in the weeks leading up to this current war, the Iranians blocked the tunnel entrances with dirt. Two weeks ago, images showed roadblocks. Nuclear analysts say it suggests Tehran is concerned about a U.S. or Israeli raid on the facility. …
… U.S. Special Forces have been training for deep underground facilities of one kind or another for a long, long, long time. …
Nuclear analysts have become increasingly concerned about another site in Iran, known as Pickaxe Mountain. Satellite images from February show an entrance to what’s believed to be a massive nuclear facility deep under solid rock. …
[Scott Roecker:] If there was a deal between the United States and Iran for the United States to take possession of that material it would be the National Nuclear Security Administration that would lead that effort. …
Roecker used lessons learned from Project Sapphire to remove nuclear material from countries around the world and ship it to the U.S. for safekeeping. So far the NNSA has removed more than 16,000 pounds of HEU.
There was agreement in place with the countries. And so that’s a really key fact here. You wanna have a willing partner who’s working with you hand in hand.
The article spends a lot of time talking about how difficult it would be to accomplish this without Iran’s cooperation – not necessarily impossible, but unprecedented. Of course, that’s why Trump wants a deal.
Unutterably tragic
These murders are incredibly horrific. I am providing the link, and you can talk about the event in this thread if you can bear to do so.
Awful, awful, awful. RIP.
Open thread 4/20/2026
Let me just say that …
… I am highly honored and will try to be worthy:
13-inch MacBook Neo Apple A18 Pro chip with 6 core CPU and 5 core GPU – 8GB Memory – 256GB SSD – Indigo
Customers commend the 13-inch MacBook Neo for its portability and overall performance, noting its seamless integration with iPhones. The impressive battery life is also a highlight for users. Additionally, customers appreciate the available color options, allowing them to coordinate with other devices.
The case of the missing scientists
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that the Trump administration is looking into whether there may be a link among nearly a dozen American scientists who have reportedly died or gone missing in the past almost three years.
Leavitt wrote in a post on social platform X that the White House is working with the FBI and other relevant agencies “to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist.”
“No stone will be unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates when we have them,” she added.
A string of at least 10 mysterious deaths and disappearances of U.S. experts in space, defense and nuclear topics has raised concern in the scientific community since the unconfirmed reports surfaced this month.
Might be a series of coincidences. Might not.
The Pope in Algeria
One thing Trump’s brouhaha with the Pope has done is to cause me to pay more attention to Pope Leo – not just his statements with which Trump took issue, but his other activities.
For example, there’s his recent trip to Algeria. It’s pretty shocking, and has caused me to think that Leo is even more to the left than his predecessor Francis, and that’s saying something:
In 1955, Algeria had over 1 million Catholics and 140,000 Jews. Today [April 17], as Pope Leo visits Algeria, there are some 8,000 Catholics in Algeria and there are fewer than 200 Jews. 99% of the population of what was one of the old territories of Christianity are Sunni Muslims.
Was Islam so popular that all the Christians and Jews decided to convert? They were persecuted, murdered, tortured and driven out by Islamic violence in our lifetimes.
Christians and Jews had lived in Algeria since Roman times. Now they’re gone.
And the perpetrators of the genocide are being praised by Pope Leo XIV.
One small quibble – I’m not sure I would call it a “genocide.” The reason is that it involved only the country of Algeria – although the effort was indeed part of a similar occurrence in other Arab and North African Muslim countries, and the impulse was and remains genocidal. So perhaps the word does apply after all, although I think in general the word is way overused.
More from the article:
Alongside paying tribute to the 19 Martyrs of Algeria, beatified in 2018, priests, monks and nuns, including 7 beheaded monks and 2 nuns murdered on the way to mass, by Islamic terrorists who later received amnesty for their crimes from the Algerian government, Pope Leo also paid tribute to the Jihadis at their memorial.
Pope Leo visited Algeria’s so-called Martyrs’ Monument, “Maqam Echahid,” located above the El Mujahid or Jihadi Museum, erected by former Islamic-Socialist terrorist dictator Houari Boumédiène who had headed the ALN, one of whose specialties was the “Smile of Kabylie” in which the tongue was pulled through a slit throat, and which was responsible for the Oran Massacre of Christians and Jews that ethnically cleansing a formerly non-Muslim city. …
Pope Leo XIV visited the Jihadi site and in his remarks claimed that “our presence here at this monument pays tribute to this history of Algeria and to the very spirit of a people who fought for the independence, dignity and sovereignty of this nation.”
Praising the Arab Muslim terrorists who had set out to eliminate Christianity from Algeria, the pontiff declared that “they lost their lives but in doing so, they gave them up for the love of their own people. May their example sustain the people of Algeria and all of us on our journey, for true freedom is not merely inherited, it is chosen anew every day.”
The “love of their own people” was based on a fervent hatred of all non-Muslims, acted out through horrible atrocities, including the deliberate murder of children.
Not collateral damage; deliberate.
Is this an example on the Pope’s part of extreme forgiveness, or of mere politics, or of fearful appeasement in hopes that more Catholics aren’t hurt by Muslims? Why was this trip even necessary, and what does the Pope think he’s accomplishing?
Rather than address what had actually happened, Pope Leo insisted on pretending that there was nothing religious about Christian clergy being massacred by Muslim terrorists, contending that “In the face of hatred and violence, they remained faithful to charity even to the point of sacrificing themselves alongside many other men and women, Christians and Muslims.” …
Visiting the Great Mosque of Algiers, erected by former terrorist dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had provided amnesty to all members of the Armed Islamic Group, the Jihadist group responsible for the murder of Christian clergy, including nuns and a bishop, Pope Leo praised the gargantuan monstrosity as a “place of prayer” from which “we can learn to respect one another, live in harmony and build a world of peace.”
Perhaps a case of extreme wishful thinking – or overwhelming belief in the power of prayer to do good and change minds?
In one of his recent statements about Pope Leo, Trump said something very interesting, something relevant that I think reflects on the difference between the “things that are Caesar’s and the things that are God’s.” It was this [emphasis mine]:
The president added that he’s “sure the pope is a great guy,” yet he suggested Pope Leo XIV was naive about geopolitics.
“The pope has to understand that this is the real world,” Trump said.
Also , from Melanie Phillips [emphasis mine]:
On several occasions, [the Pope has] expressed sorrow over the victims of repeated such massacres in Nigeria and called on the authorities to protect all citizens. But he’s never called out the Islamic world for the attempt by Islamists to exterminate Christianity itself.
While the pope attacks America for waging war against Islamists, he fails to attack Islamists for their persecution and murder of Christians. He said instead last year that people should be “a little less fearful” of Islam, and this week that “Islam is a religion of peace we can learn from.”
On his visit to Algeria, immediately after the row with Trump, he appeared to promote an alliance between Muslims and Christians by signing the “Golden Book” ceremonial guestbook in the great mosque in Algiers and declaring it “a space proper to God.”
He also praised Algeria’s “rich diversity” and spoke about the importance of reciprocal respect and respecting the dignity of every person.
He thus totally ignored Algeria’s repression of Christians. The 2026 Open Doors World Watch List says that 47 churches of the Protestant Church of Algeria have been closed by the authorities, and the list puts the country in 20th place for Christian persecution around the world.
The pope said before his Algeria trip that his aim was to build “bridges between the Christian world and the Muslim world.” But building bridges between sheep and wolves merely provides the wolves with an easier way to tear the sheep to pieces.
I can’t argue with that.
The ever-shifting Strait
You really have to check the news hourly to keep up. And even then, the waters are murky.
But here’s what I think may be the latest, which may have been superseded by the time I publish this post:
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on at least two ships in the waters near Oman, after Tehran again moved to close the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to a report citing a US official — as President Donald Trump accused Iran of trying to “get cute” while warning the regime “can’t blackmail us.”
Two IRGC gunboats approached a tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of the Gulf country around 1 p.m. local time — and opened fire unprovoked, the tanker’s master reported, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization.
Audio recordings indicate that two Indian vessels were also forced back out of the strait following the gunfire. One of those ships was an Indian-flagged VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil, according to an X account that tracks maritime travels. …
“They wanted to close up the strait again, as they’ve been doing for years,” Trump said. “They can’t blackmail us.”
He paired that warning with an unexpectedly upbeat readout on diplomacy, saying talks were advancing despite the violence at sea.
“We have very good conversations going on. It’s working out very well,” he said. “They got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years. Nobody ever took them on — we took them on.”
Only Trump would say they got a little cute. It’s an almost affectionate putdown of the twisty negotiating tactics of his adversaries.
It seems that there are a host of different factions involved on the Iranian side, acting at cross-purposes and angry at each other – at least, according to this:
I'm almost 100% this is what's happening.
One regime figure had a meltdown and then deleted his X account. Others are calling for Araghchi to be impeached.
Ghalibaf is calling all of Trump's posts lies.
Regimi twitter in absolute shambles. https://t.co/CHNOo6rfei
— ???? ???? ?? ?? (@NiohBerg) April 17, 2026
If the stock market were open, it almost certainly would be going down today. It’s probably fortunate that it’s closed.
Open thread 4/18/2026
Roundup
So much news! The following is just the tip of a large iceberg:
(1) Crude oil prices down; stock market up as the markets react to announcements regarding Iran.
(2) Mamdani may be able to get one of his wishes granted: the so-called pied-a-terre tax. Here’s the plan:
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani touted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal on April 15 to tax expensive second homes as a sign of a progressive tide to tax the rich, but it will only apply to absentee owners.
The pied-a-terre tax puts an annual surcharge on homes valued above $5 million when there is no resident who lives primarily in New York City. The tax, which would need to be passed in the state’s delayed budget, would generate some $500 million in revenue annually, according to Hochul’s office.
“If you can afford a $5 million second home that sits empty most of the year, you can afford to contribute like every other New Yorker,” Hochul said in a statement. Non-resident owners do not pay New York City’s income taxes. To avoid taxation, property owners could make the home their primary residence or rent it out someone else who does so.
I assume they’re already paying hefty property taxes, aren’t they? So don’t they already “contribute”? I guess they don’t contribute enough for Zohran’s tastes. This would be on top of any property tax. It may also make it harder for the owners to unload the property if they want to sell and escape Mamdani’s clutches.
This quote from the article is unintentionally humorous, in a bleak way:
Hochul, a moderate Democrat up for re-election in November, has been hesitant to raise taxes, which the city cannot do without the state government’s permission.
Hochul is no moderate – except compared to the Communist Mamdani.
Oh, and this from him is pretty funny, too – because he was raised as a “global elite” by parents who definitely were:
We are one step closer to balancing our budget by taxing the ultra-wealthy and global elites with a pied-a-terre tax — the first of its kind in our state,
(3) ICE agents charged in Minnesota:
At a Thursday press conference, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced that her office had issued a nationwide arrest warrant for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of pointing a gun at two motorists on a Minneapolis highway during Operation Metro Surge. Gregory Morgan Jr. of Temple Hills, Maryland, faces two counts of second-degree assault in the Feb. 5 incident.
Details of the incident at the link. Moriarty is Soros-backed, as you might imagine.
Also:
According to the New York Times, it is extremely unusual for a state government to arrest a federal law enforcement officer for on-duty actions.
Ya think?
(4) Is Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego next?
Luna told CBS News’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that the Arizona Democrat was the previously unnamed senator whom she said was facing “very disturbing” allegations in a cryptic social media post earlier this week.
A Gallego spokesperson told CBS News on Thursday: “These are right wing conspiracy theories being parroted by a fringe far right member of Congress. Senator Gallego has not received notification or been contacted by the ethics committee.” …
Luna said “there is a woman that allegedly is coming forward with attorneys [and] wants to go on-record about an incident that occurred between the two of them at the same time, and the event was sexual in nature, allegedly.”
Pressed for further details, Luna added that “I think any time that you are knowingly engaging in purchasing someone for sex, that that is something that should be taken seriously.”
Gallego has strongly denied wrongdoing in recent days. He told reporters earlier this week he has never engaged in any sexual misconduct …
Gallego was best buddies with Swalwell.
(5) Perhaps true?:
????? ???? ?????? ???? ?????????? ?????????? ?? ??????? ?????????? ???????? ?? ?????? ???????? ???? ??????
“??? ?? ???? ???? ??? ???? ????? ??? ?? ???… pic.twitter.com/AXdIjtS0wu
— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) April 17, 2026
(6) While we’re at it, this article is from ten days ago:
A review by Iran International of citizen reports and source material found that, in about one month after the war began, at least 130 sites tied to internal repression were destroyed or hit.
They included 57 Basij buildings or bases, 43 police (FARAJA) facilities, 10 Revolutionary Guards compounds, and 11 security complexes involved in repression. Other targets included judicial buildings and the state broadcaster, institutions that helped complete the chain through prosecutions, propaganda and coerced confessions.
Iran International sources also put the toll among security forces at nearly 5,000 dead and about 21,000 wounded. …
The targets were not only militarily useful. Many were symbols.
Please read the whole thing. I don’t know anything about the reliability of the source, however.
Iran, the Strait, and the uranium: promises, promises
News:
[Trump said] Very important is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and they’ve agreed to that. Iran’s agreed to that, and they’ve agreed to it very powerfully. They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust, which is way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers. So, we have a lot of agreement with Iran, and I think something’s going to happen very positively.
He added, in answer to a reporter’s question, that contrary to some news stories there’s no 20-year limit in any agreement about nuclear weapons.
Also:
President Trump took to Truth Social on Friday morning with some good news for enthusiasts of the Strait of Hormuz being fully open and operational: “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE.”
He added that the US blockade “will remain in full force” until a deal is complete.
When is a deal complete? And what good is the word of the present Iranian regime? As usual the “experts” are just guessing as to what this means and what will happen next.
My take: the blockade really hurt Iran. So its leaders will play ball with Trump for a while. They will promise him things he wants, and then stall on the delivery. But Trump being Trump, he’s not afraid to pressure them more. Trouble is, if the Democrats win the midterms and this happens after that, they will try to stop whatever he does and perhaps they will succeed.
So he’s in a hurry. Personally, I’d like to see him keep up the blockage until the economic pressures mean that the regime can’t pay its army and the army joins the forces trying to overthrow the regime. But I assume that, if that doesn’t happen and the blockade ends sooner than that, there’s probably a good reason for it.
It also occurs to me that (at least in transactional terms) the enriched uranium and its turnover are somewhat akin to the Israeli hostages Gaza held – that is, the thing Trump most wants back, first and foremost.
I think Trump’s smart and I don’t think he trusts the Iranians; he will require proof and drive a hard bargain. But he’s a realist and knows he may have reached the limits of military action there without the dreaded “boots on the ground.” And he feels at this point that regime change – which he wants – will be up to a combination of the Iranian people and Israel’s formidable intelligence assets there.
No doubt he and Bibi have discussed all of this. But unless regime change occurs in Iran, anything Trump and Bibi do can be reversed by successors in the US and Israel determined to undo it and Trump and Bibi know it. Iran knows it as well.