The Complicated Reality Behind High Gas Prices
Posted By: earlybird, 5/6/2026 10:55:04 AM
Average gas prices in the United States have gone up by almost 40 percent since March 1. The reason appears straightforward: Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S. military operation that decapitated its regime and degraded its military. Hundreds of tankers trapped behind the strait cannot deliver their oil, depriving the world of 7 percent to 10 percent of its supply. Although that explains drastic price increases and even shortages in Europe and Asia, the United States gets almost no oil through the strait. In theory, the country should be energy-independent, as it is a net petroleum exporter. But in reality, the United States is highly intertwined
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earlybird"
The man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles was upset that he didn’t have plans for New Year’s Eve and ranted about being angry at the world before the initial blaze was sparked, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.(snip) According to court filings, Rinderknecht ranted to passengers about accused UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Luigi Mangione, capitalism and vigilantism. In an interview with investigators on Jan. 24, when asked why someone might commit arson in the Palisades, Rinderknecht “responded that it would be out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as ‘we’re basically being enslaved by them,’” and again referenced Mangione’s alleged crime, the documents
Average gas prices in the United States have gone up by almost 40 percent since March 1. The reason appears straightforward: Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S. military operation that decapitated its regime and degraded its military. Hundreds of tankers trapped behind the strait cannot deliver their oil, depriving the world of 7 percent to 10 percent of its supply.
Although that explains drastic price increases and even shortages in Europe and Asia, the United States gets almost no oil through the strait. In theory, the country should be energy-independent, as it is a net petroleum exporter.
But in reality, the United States is highly intertwined
Supreme Court Clears Way for Louisiana
Immediate Redistricting – Justice KBJ
Goes Bananas 21 replies
Immediate Redistricting – Justice KBJ
Goes Bananas 21 replies
The Supreme Court ruled Monday its prior ruling on race-based congressional districts takes immediate effect. The order {SEE HERE} speeds up the normal 32-day timeline and puts the State of Louisiana on notice their current districts are not constitutional.
Effectively the Louisiana Governor and legislature have delayed the election to address the districts. However, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was not happy with the immediacy ruling and wrote a dissent that was so ridiculous none of the other minority justices would sign on to it. Jackson said the majority “unshackles itself” from “constraints.” The court should follow the default rule, she insisted.
Can somebody please explain how Adam Schiff is still slithering around the Swamp like he doesn’t have a care in the world? This man was one of the central figures in one of the ugliest political operations in modern American history. (snip)now an old allegation is making the rounds again, and if it’s true, it takes the Schiff story to a whole different level.
The claim, which started back in 2020, is that Schiff knowingly pushed the Russia operation in 2016 because he believed, or was told, that if Hillary won, he’d get the #1 spot at the CIA.
The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused a lower court decision on Monday that blocked a federal rule allowing harmful abortion drugs to be shipped by mail.
In his order, Associate Justice Samuel Alito entered an administrative stay (“pause”) of a Friday ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That unanimous decision by a three-judge panel momentarily blocked a Biden-era rule promulgated by the Food and Drug Administration that authorized the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone “to be mailed to women without so much as an in-person doctor appointment,” as The Federalist’s Elle Purnell reported.
Dashboard camera video captured a United Airlines flight striking a Baltimore bakery truck on the New Jersey Turnpike on Sunday afternoon as the airplane was preparing to land at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Chuck Paterakis, senior vice president of transportation and logistics and co-principal at Baltimore-based H&S Bakery, told CBS News Baltimore that the driver was traveling to a Schmidt bakery depot in Newark and was about to exit the highway when the truck was hit.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is recovering from pneumonia but is still hospitalized in “critical but stable condition,” his spokesperson said on Monday.
(snip) Giuliani is currently “being monitored as a precautionary measure” in the hospital, noting that the former mayor had been diagnosed with an airway disease in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.
“On September 11th, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease,” Goodman wrote in the post, referring to the World Trade Center towers that collapsed in the attacks.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is hospitalized and in critical condition, according to his spokesperson.
“Mayor Rudy Giuliani is currently in the hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition,” Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesman, wrote in a post on X on May 3. “Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak.”
Goodman provided no other information about the nature of Giuliani’s condition or the reason for his hospitalization.
Prayers for Jim and Joe Hoft
2 replies
Jim Hoft and Joe Hoft are twin brothers. Jim Hoft is the founder of Gateway Pundit and preparing for heart surgery in Florida on Tuesday. Then, last night, Joe Hoft suffered a stroke while preparing to go to Florida to support his brother Jim. Terrible news. Prayers for both.Heavenly Father, we have need for You today. Please provide Your healing power and grace upon Jim and Joe Hoft.
Lord of mercy guide those who tend their afflictions. We accept Your works through those You guide and love powerfully, completely and unconditionally. Our first, last and final healing is always found in You. \
Last week the DOJ indicted Mexican Governor Ruben Rocha Moya along with nine current and former Mexican officials for participating “in a corrupt and violent drug trafficking conspiracy with the Cartel to import massive amounts of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States.” {GO DEEP} This has put Mexican Governor Claudia Sheinbaum in a precarious position.
Both President Sheinbaum and Governor Rocha Moya are from the Moreno political party in Mexico. Following the indictment, Sheinbaum said she would not assist in any extradition effort of Governor Rocha and denounced the U.S. indictment; however, she said the federal government within Mexico would launch their own independent investigation.
The thing that never happens just happened again. (Tweet)MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – Former Blacksburg Town Councilman Liam Watson was sentenced April 27, 2026 on fraud charges of which he had been convicted, according to the Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Watson was found guilty on two counts of felony election fraud and one count of illegally voting in an election in court on December 16, 2025.
Watson received a suspended two-year prison sentence and will serve two years of probation, according to WSLS:Watson received a suspended two-year prison sentence and will serve two years of probation,
Revolver News founder and former Chief Editor Darren Beattie warned years ago that China would aggressively recruit top American scientists fed up with the “woke bullshit” and ideological conformity in U.S. higher education.(tweetIn tweets from 2021–2022, Beattie predicted Chinese universities would lure “young talented American academics” tired of politicization and cancellations with high salaries and better conditions.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Obama confesses Trump has caused 'tension'
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Barack Obama has offered a rare and candid glimpse into his marriage - and it turns out Donald Trump is causing trouble at home. The former President, 64, admitted in an interview that Michelle wants him to step back from public life so the couple can enjoy their later years together. The problem? He keeps getting pulled back into the politics of the day. The former commander-in-chief said Trump's return to the White House is the reason he cannot simply walk away, and that his inability to do so has become a source of friction at home. 'It does create genuine
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House bid — but will MAGA embrace Trump’s
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House bid — but will MAGA embrace Trump’s
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WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is crisscrossing the country as he lays the groundwork for an increasingly likely 2028 presidential campaign — refining his pitch, building relationships and working to move past his bruising 2024 defeat by President Trump.
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DC judge apologizes to alleged White House
correspondents' dinner shooter for jail treatment 27 replies
correspondents' dinner shooter for jail treatment 27 replies
Washington, D.C., judge on Monday apologized to the suspect who allegedly opened fire during the White House Correspondents' dinner last month for how he has been treated by authorities in jail.
Cole Tomas Allen, a resident of Torrance, California, was placed under suicide watch at the D.C. jail because he allegedly told the FBI that he expected to die during the shooting. Suicide watch protocols mandated Allen remain on a 24-hour lockdown in a "safe cell," with no phone access to call or receive visits from anyone other than his legal team.
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Another pharmacy is leaving Chicago because of theft, and somehow, the villain of the story is not the people stealing from it.
The villain is apparently the business itself, which finally decided it had enough and decided to cut its losses.
According to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times, a Walgreens located at 8628 S. Cottage Grove Ave. in the crime-ridden area is set to close permanently on June 4. Democratic Alderman William Hall joined residents outside the store Monday, where signs read “Senior Lives Matter” and “End Corporate Abandonment.”
“Walgreens should be charged with first-degree corporate abandonment,” Hall said. “It should be a crime the way they’re treating our elders.
Supreme Court Clears Way for Louisiana
Immediate Redistricting – Justice KBJ
Goes Bananas 21 replies
Immediate Redistricting – Justice KBJ
Goes Bananas 21 replies
The Supreme Court ruled Monday its prior ruling on race-based congressional districts takes immediate effect. The order {SEE HERE} speeds up the normal 32-day timeline and puts the State of Louisiana on notice their current districts are not constitutional.
Effectively the Louisiana Governor and legislature have delayed the election to address the districts. However, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was not happy with the immediacy ruling and wrote a dissent that was so ridiculous none of the other minority justices would sign on to it. Jackson said the majority “unshackles itself” from “constraints.” The court should follow the default rule, she insisted.
When my kids were very young, one of the first words that we banned was “stupid.” No one is stupid, I would tell them; some people just don’t think things through. Well, to borrow from that explanation, I probably didn’t think that all the way through.
While I don’t regret teaching the kids not to use “the S word,” as we used to call it, the older I’ve gotten, I’ve had to face the reality that, yes, some people who otherwise are of sound mind are just stupid. Nowhere is this more evident than on social media. The latest example is a social media manager, of all things,
In its recent Callais decision, the Supreme Court held that districts gerrymandered solely so that blacks can have a separate and special say in politics are unconstitutional. While past elections cannot be changed, future elections must be corrected.
Callais asked that the Court immediately certify the decision, which is normally a 32-day process. Louisiana agreed. Because November’s elections are quickly approaching, the Supreme Court held that, yes, it could immediately certify the opinion. Callais is final.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a strong dissent to this procedural holding.
She opened by pointing out that Louisiana
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The Supreme Court decided Monday to let its recent ruling limiting a key part of the Voting Rights Act take effect early instead of holding it for a month, per tradition.
The Supreme Court last week narrowed the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to bar race-based districts, ruling that Louisiana's map was unconstitutional and prompting the state to reschedule its upcoming House primaries while its lines are redrawn.
Supporters of the Supreme Court ruling urged the court to allow it to take effect immediately so Louisiana has time to redraw the maps,