The Matterboard is our weekly assessment of what’s worth your attention and what isn’t. Here’s last week’s edition, here’s an overview of the project, and here’s the full archive.
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Here’s what’s new on The Matterboard:
PAY ATTENTION ⚠️
The Iran war has a new front, with Iranian proxies in Iraq attacking a Saudi oil pipeline and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen now blocking some oil shipments in the Red Sea. But there are also signs Persian Gulf petrostates working with US Central Command are finding new ways to move oil through the Strait of Hormuz and check Iranian efforts to control the vital waterway. Gulf nations are also rapidly building new ports, pipelines and other infrastructure as alternatives to waterborne shipping through Hormuz. Iran’s leverage may have peaked. More details here.
Record prices for diesel, however, will prolong the energy crunch and its inflationary effects. Diesel has hit a record high of $6.45 per gallon, and that will raise prices for food and just about any product shipped by truck. Diesel prices are spiking partly because of higher oil prices caused by the Iran war, and partly by other factors. Refining capacity is extremely tight and that’s contributing. The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted Russian supplies of diesel and other refined products. Experts could have forewarned that many of these things would happen when Trump started the Iran war all the way back in February. He didn’t bother consulting any of them.
Democratic blue wave? With the midterm elections less than two months away, we’ve added the possibility of a Democratic blue wave to the Matterboard. We don’t obsess over politics like a lot of media outlets that have been handicapping the possible outcomes for months. Yet the election is obviously important and it’s time to start digging into the details. The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics has some handy graphics showing the status of the battle for control of the House and Senate. Democratic takeover of the House seems likely, but a “wave” election in which they take 30 seats or more seems improbable due to the relatively small number of swing districts. Republicans started the year as favorites to retain control of the Senate. But everything seems to be breaking against them in the home stretch, starting with high energy prices. Call the Senate a tossup, for now.
[The double-haters’ guide to the midterms]
MIGHT GET SPICY 🤔
Space wars aren’t science fiction. The Air Force secretary said on September 14 that the United States has “on-orbit space control weapons.” That has probably been true for years or even decades, but it’s the first time a US government official has acknowledged it. The Air Force boss didn’t supply any details. But those weapons would most likely focus on defending US satellites and destroying those of an enemy. Anti-satellite warfare has been a theoretical and probably active corner of military science since militaries started relying on satellites for intelligence gathering in the 1960s.
Midterm cheating setback. Republicans won’t be able to block mail ballots during the November elections, at least if they abide by a Supreme Court ruling preventing it. But FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sept. 15 that the might send FBI agents to polling places during the midterm elections. There are also concerns the Trump administration could send immigration goons to intimidate voters. It’s illegal to send armed federal agents to polling stations, but would that stop Trump? It’s also possible Patel and Trump’s other minions want to rattle votes as much as possible and create doubts about whether the elections are fair.
[It’s time to revise the American Dream]
Impeach Hegseth? Incompetent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces new woes. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky moved to impeach Hegseth for his role as Trump’s top adviser on the Iran war debacle. The House’s Republican leaders then abruptly adjourned the until after the midterms, postponing a vote on the Hegseth impeachment motion until after the elections. That doesn’t mean Hegseth is off the hook. An impeachment vote during the lame-duck session would be embarrassing even if it fails. And if Democrats take over the House next year, they’re sure to drill into Hegseth, who has provided an abundance of material for his many critics.
The Federal Reserve hiked short-term interest rates by a grand total of one-quarter of a percentage point. That rate hike alone won’t affect many people. But long-term rates, which are set by the market and not by the central bank, have been rising on worries about too much government debt and runaway inflation. If there’s one takeaway from the Fed’s move, it’s that markets now take seriously the Fed’s determination to get inflation down from the mid 3% range to its target of 2%. That’s a good thing.
[What the bond market wants you to know]
RESULTS MAY VARY 🤷♂️
Comrade Don. The terrific investigative news organization ProPublica reported that a crony of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin financed much of Donald Trump, Jr’s. lavish wedding on a private island in the Bahamas in May. This is a repulsive degree of corruption by the First Fraudsters, who are already rich and you would think don’t need free money tainted by association with a bloodthirsty tyrant.
Trump’s AI girlfriend. President Trump routinely posts gaudy AI images of himself in cartoonish settings, so maybe he’s the one who ordered up the golf-course smooch with aide Natalie Harp? This is the image that started circulating on the internet in recent days:
The woman is supposed to look like Natalie Harp, the devoted 35-year-old aide who is always at Trump’s side and has generated a lot of attention recently. But photo sleuths noticed that something’s off with the fingers on her right hand, and other irregularities. And though she’s often on the course when Trump golfs, she doesn’t play herself.
SAFELY IGNORE 🚫
A slowdown in AI development probably won’t happen, but the potential for AI to cause meaningful harm has sure gotten a lot of people’s attention. We recently explained why AI might want to kill humanity, summarizing four doomsday scenarios experts worry about. What we think will happen now is … not much. There will be a lot of chatter in Washington but probably little or no action to regulate AI. CEOs of the big AI companies might have legitimate concerns, but none of them is going to unilaterally slow development of cutting-edge technology if it might give an edge to competitors.
Missing hurricanes. There have been no Atlantic hurricanes this year, and there’s no sign of any forming. It could be global warming. It could be El Niño. It could be a fluke. More here.
Palestine trips up Ed Sheeran. If you pick a side in the Israeli-Palestinian standoff, prepare for blowback. Pop superstar Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore as his opening act after the rapper said “free Palestine” on stage during a show. It wasn’t Sheeran making the demand. It was venue owners including Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium near Boston. Other acts on Sheeran’s tour quit in solidarity with Macklemore. Then there was some kind of rapprochement between Macklemore and Kraft. If you care, read more here.
Our view is that it’s foolish to stand squarely with one side or the other in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is an extremely complicated mess with villains on all sides. But people like the simplicity of slogans and don’t always want to think too hard.
Kennedy Center gets the Trump treatment. Most Americans have never been to the Kennedy Center theatrical complex in Washington, DC, and most will never go. That’s why this news tidbit is in the Safely Ignore quadrant. But you can’t overlook the fact that the Kennedy Center was operating normally and faced no imminent crisis when Trump took office in 2025. Then Trump got directly involved in programming and directing renovations. Now the Kennedy Center is closed for business, and Trump says he might even demolish it. The farce helps explain why Trump has an unmatched record of business bankruptcies and other failures. He’s now applying his toxic touch to many American institutions.
Enjoy a cartoon.
You can order this cartoon👆 and play cartoon-themed puzzles and word games at CartoonStock.com.