Tano — Oct 10, 2026

Five thoughts about Grammy hopes, Iran, workers seeking change at the Obama Foundation, clingy businesses, and School Days at 50. one. never been a big grammy fan buti’d rawk with members ofextreme and living colour any daymilitia vox and corey glover coverbryan adams and tina turner’s“it’s only love”with nuno bettencourt and vernon reidholdin’ it down […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Juneteenth: Beyond the Watermelon and Cookout

“Hmm. Didn’t know where to go. Turned us out just like, you know, you turn out cattle. [ laugh ] I say. Didn’t know where ta go.”—Laura Smalley, former slave in antebellum Texas; interviewed the Library of Congress’ Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project Laura Smalley’s recollection of living in Texas […]

Obama, Harris, Black Men, Black Women, and the Bigger Problem No One Talks About

As if white supremacy has nothing to do with this … Black men’s apparent problem with Vice President Kamala Harris running for Commander in Chief and former President Barack Obama admonishing those men about their feelings show how white supremacy — no, not white people — has such a voodoo headlock on Black intimate partnerships […]