Notes from the edge of civilization: April 19, 2026
Flying increasingly unfriendly skies; AI slop just met its match: Real slop; Extend and pretend is hitting main street; Squirrels everywhere.
The days of booking a last minute seat, throwing a few clothes in a carry-on and jetting off to the other side of the globe may be over — for good. “We are not going back to where we were,” said Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, last week.
Birol warned that Europe has “maybe six weeks or so” of remaining jet fuel supplies, and said flight cancellations could be coming “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the war in Iran.
Airlines are already cutting flights, trimming marginal routes, and passing on costs to passengers through higher fares and fuel surcharges, turning what used to be routine travel into a fragile, supply-constrained system.
At the same time, even if your flight still exists, simply holding a passport is no longer enough to guarantee entry. Increasingly complex rules — like the six-month passport validity requirement, proof of onward travel, visa waivers, and new biometric border systems — mean travelers can be denied boarding or entry over technicalities many don’t know about. (h/t to Nancy Hyslin for sharing that one!)
In other words, the infrastructure of global mobility is tightening from both ends. Energy shocks — whether you believe they’re self-inflicted or carefully planned — are limiting where planes can go, and bureaucratic requirements are redefining who gets to move freely and who doesn’t.
Turns out freedom of movement was a glitch in the system, and now it’s quietly being ‘fixed.’
At a Pentagon briefing this week, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US military was “locked and loaded” to strike Iran’s power plants at the push of a button.
The only thing not fully loaded, it seems, are the meal trays of the servicemen and women expected to carry out those orders.
Photos from two frontline US warships — the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Tripoli — show trays that are paltry at best: a scoop of shredded meat and a pale, flaccid tortilla, or a few boiled carrots with a dry patty and a slab of gray protein. It’s almost as if the Soylent Green corporation secured the food service contract for these canteens!
Descriptions have emerged of sailors eating when they can, splitting portions when someone gets lucky, and watching supplies stretch thinner the longer deployments drag on.
The official line is that everything is fully stocked — 30+ days of food on board, no problem. But when the most sophisticated navy on earth starts looking like it’s running a rationing experiment in real time, it raises uncomfortable questions about sustainability, morale, and how long “best in the world” can run on cafeteria trays that look like an afterthought.
Nothing says ‘Make America Great Again’ like a superpower that can blockade a coastline but can’t provide those who serve with a healthy lunch.
Earlier this week, we looked at how American drivers are handling pain at the pump — they’re not driving less, they’re just stopping more often to put $20 in the tank. Think of it as budgetary sleight of hand.
It turns out folks are applying similar logic in the grocery aisle. The Wall Street Journal reports that affluent Americans are choosing to ‘reallocate’ instead of cutting back — substituting Aldi for Whole Foods, hitting the dollar store for household essentials — so that their conspicuous consumption habits… the skydiving, weekend splurges at the spa, and Instagram-worthy trips to Japan can stay intact.
From the WSJ story:
Joshua Halliburton, a 33-year-old who works in information security, started getting fed up with the prices at the Whole Foods near his apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the past few years. When an Aldi opened across the street from his home in November, he was so excited for a cheaper grocery option that he attended the grand opening and received a piece of ribbon from the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
He now visits the discount chain nearly every day for household staples like cheese, eggs, yogurt and snacks. He is willing to wait in long checkout lines for lower prices. Meanwhile, he has continued to spend on travel, taking trips to California and Japan in the past year.
“Paying four dollars for a tub of yogurt feels right,” Halliburton said. “Ten dollars for a tub of Chobani just doesn’t make sense.”
In other words, they’re economizing on the boring stuff so the fun doesn’t have to stop. Seems like the $30 million free city-owned grocery store the Mayor of New York promised can’t open soon enough.
If there is any doubt we are in narrative warfare, this past week proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt.
The Speaker of Iran’s parliament, Dr. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, pointed out in a tweet on Friday that all of last week’s claims by the US President are essentially, bullsh*t.
۱- رئیس جمهور آمریکا در یک ساعت هفت ادعا مطرح کرد که هر هفت ادعا کذب است.
۲- با این دروغگوییها در جنگ پیروز نشدند و حتما در مذاکره هم راه به جایی نخواهند برد.
۳- با ادامهٔ محاصره، تنگهٔ هرمز باز نخواهد ماند.— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 17, 2026
Loosely translated, he said:
1. “The US president made seven claims in one hour — all seven are false.”
2. “They did not win this war through these lies, and they certainly won’t get anywhere in negotiations either.”
3. “If the blockade continues, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open.”
None of this posturing is surprising — It’s called the fog of war for a reason! But the tactic is to flood the zone (informationally speaking) with fast-paced news that moves markets. X user, Data Driven Stocks, puts it better than we ever can:
As part of the narrative warfare (and psyop) we are witnessing, it’s the stealthy transfer of wealth that is perhaps the most troubling — from those who still believe the headlines and still trust their eyes, to those who know what is actually happening behind the scenes and are enjoying the ability to front run and take full advantage of their position.
Are we calling malfeasance or fraud?
Well, just know that in the words of the US Commander in Chief (and as reported in the Epoch Times):
President Donald Trump… expects his administration to begin releasing documents “very soon” related to extraterrestrial life and unexplained phenomena.
That’s right… Oh look. A squirrel!
Just a reminder not to look at what’s happening through the lens of 1945. If you do that, you will focus on the main stage but miss the more important things that are happening on the smaller stages all around. Stay sharp, friends!
No Book Chat this week, friends, but we’ll be back next week and hope you’ll join us for a discussion of a fascinating read: Always With Honor: The Memoirs of General Wrangel, by Pyotr Wrangel. It’s a firsthand narrative of the waning days of the Russian Civil War as Wrangel tried to save Imperial Russia from Communism. The livestream starts at 12:30 pm ET. See you then!