Tano — Sep 27, 2026

Five thoughts about historic art, modern wartime performance art, real estate, and an unsung star. one. experiment in starting a fight today12th–18th century ife and benin sculpturesset for nigerian ownershipand a renewable 25-year loan to the metindigenous art justice remixed or sumpn else? two. speakin’ of i dunnonyc acted like a private landlordchashama’s losing half […]

Tano — Sep 20, 2026

five quick takes on music, politics, and ai — plus a song stuck in my head. one. interpol’s this mirror weighs a ton ain’t hittin’ like 2002they just sound like any other decent alternative band nowno shade two. lauren boebert denies the staff-affair allegationsher anti-lgbtqia record ain’t a rumorfamily values sho’ stay busyminding eybody else’s […]

Trump Says America Produces the Most Oil. So Why Are Gas Prices Still Too Damn High?

The United States is producing record amounts of oil. So why can a war thousands of miles away still make Americans pay more for gasoline? Fair question — especially since Team Trump’s had this oil-independence flex on loop for a while. There are three really simple answers. Here’s the simplest one: oil independence doesn’t mean […]

A Perfect Song: MOIPEI Sings “The Sound of Silence”

Another example of a perfect song. The algorithm deities just gifted me with MOIPEI singing an a cappella version of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence”. More than 60 years later, you can do damn-near anything to this song, and it continues to live well. With or without instruments, sped up or slowed down, […]

About That Last Iran Post — The Match Was Already Lit

And you thought beating egg prices was a win … ? Five days ago, I wrote that America looked like the wild Calvin and Hobbes disaster game bit with the exploding plane, derailing train, earthquake, gas leak, and match. Cute metaphor. Horrible thing to watch age well. Reuters now reports that publicly tracked vessel traffic […]

Planes, Trains, and Matches — Or the Iran War, 5% Treasuries, and Political Fireworks

The Iran war’s economic effects could pull oil, diesel, Treasury yields, and election politics out of their separate crisis lanes and into one grim American adventure. I’ve been watching a developing situation in America that reminds me of a classic Calvin and Hobbes comic strip installment where Calvin plays a game and weaves together the […]

Iran War: The Receipts Are Tiring

I’ve been silent about the Iran war for good reason … You haven’t seen much from this channel about the Iran war these days. Given all I’ve written about Iran for more than a decade — and much of what was predicted is playing out today — I asked myself “What can I say that […]

Deed Theft Steals Homes. Why Does Organized Retail Crime Get More Outrage?

As Congress targets organized retail theft, America still struggles to show the same urgency when Black, Brown, older, and LMI homeowners lose generational wealth through deed theft. I recently remarked to friends over tea that government officials seem to be more outraged over groups of young adults stealing Gucci handbags than over people stealing houses. […]

Almost $5 Billion Was There for War in the Caribbean — But Not There for Brownsville, Brooklyn

Over the past year, America has found money for military adventures in Venezuela, the Caribbean, and the Eastern Pacific. We’re talking about boat strikes, naval deployments, oil blockades, and regime-change — for national security. Brown University’s Costs of War Project and the Institute for Policy Studies estimate that America’s operations in the region cost at […]

No Arts, No Society: What Syracuse University’s Cuts Really Mean

Economic pressures make more students choose between Rent or Shakespeare — while ignoring what the arts can do for them and others. Syracuse University announcing it will respond to student demand and financial pressures by closing or halting a fifth of its academic programs — with a focus on the humanities — is a red […]