Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Global reverberations of Trump War of Whimsy (Firozabad India's glassmaking industry)

 
Headline:  New York Times, 4/30/2026

By Alex Travelli and Suhasini Raj report:
Far from the war in Iran, disruptions to oil and gas flows are rippling through Uttar Pradesh, an Indian state more populous than Brazil. Manufacturing clusters with specialized supply chains dot its crowded countryside. Each district specializes in a trade: brass in Moradabad, leather in Kanpur, carpets in Bhadohi and glass in Firozabad. 
Now in Firozabad, glass factories that rely on imported natural gas, mostly from the Persian Gulf, are exposed to shortages and high prices. At risk are the livelihoods of up to one million people who rely on glassmaking for employment.  [emphasis added]
 
Related posts:
May 2026
Global reverberations of Trump War of Whimsy (Modi's India edition).  (5/12)
April 2026
Trump War of Whimsey: 21 days later, Strait of Hormuz is still closed.  (4/12)Fox News Looney Tunes:  Build a canal to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.  (4/10)

Tariffs, trade war, Strait of Hormuz blockade:  Trump piles on pain on American farmers .  (3/17)

March 11-15, 2026
March 6-10, 2026

March 1-5. 2026
Pete Hegseth at the podium:  This is exactly what an authoritarian's henchman and fulltime sycophant would say.  (3/4)
Thanks to Trump, price of oil spikes like a bad fever.  You’ll soon be feeling the chill at the gas pump — if not already .  (3/3)

February 2026
Donald Trump:  Not a details guy (Attacking Iran edition).  (2/26)
 


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Global reverberations of Trump War of Whimsy (Africa edition)

 
Headline:  New York Times, 5/11/2026

John Eligon, Golden Matonga, and Matthew Mpoke Bigg report on a triple whammy for African counties:
As the globe convulses over the economic fallout from the war in Iran, many African nations say the ripple effects of the conflict are exacerbating longstanding challenges on the continent, like a lack of manufacturing and a reliance on imports and foreign investment. 
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz has sent fuel prices skyrocketing. Global shipping has been pushed to a breaking point, limiting access to medicine, fertilizer and other major commodities. President Trump’s tariffs and the withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance had already set many African economies back. [emphasis added]
 
Related posts:
May 2026
Global reverberations of Trump War of Whimsy (Modi's India edition).  (5/12)
April 2026
Trump War of Whimsey: 21 days later, Strait of Hormuz is still closed.  (4/12)Fox News Looney Tunes:  Build a canal to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.  (4/10)

Tariffs, trade war, Strait of Hormuz blockade:  Trump piles on pain on American farmers .  (3/17)

March 11-15, 2026
March 6-10, 2026

March 1-5. 2026
Pete Hegseth at the podium:  This is exactly what an authoritarian's henchman and fulltime sycophant would say.  (3/4)
Thanks to Trump, price of oil spikes like a bad fever.  You’ll soon be feeling the chill at the gas pump — if not already .  (3/3)

February 2026
Donald Trump:  Not a details guy (Attacking Iran edition).  (2/26)
 
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Global reverberations of Trump War of Whimsy (Modi's India edition)

 
Headline:  New York Times, 5/11/2026

Alex Travelli reports:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked India’s 1.4 billion people to spend less on fuel, fertilizer, and travel, a call for sacrifice that landed like a thunderclap and underlined the severity of the economic crisis caused by the war in Iran. Mr. Modi made these sweeping recommendations in a national address on Sunday after securing a big win for his party in recent state elections. 
With that victory in hand, he no longer has to worry that voters might punish his candidates for higher prices of fuel, food and transport, which are tightly controlled by India’s government. Instead of subsidizing the losses and running huge budget deficits, India’s leader appears emboldened to ask its people to bear the burden. [emphasis added]
Retiring Guy has the feeling this approach won't work out well for Modi in the long run.
 

Related posts:
May 2026
April 2026
Trump War of Whimsey: 21 days later, Strait of Hormuz is still closed.  (4/12)Fox News Looney Tunes:  Build a canal to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.  (4/10)

Tariffs, trade war, Strait of Hormuz blockade:  Trump piles on pain on American farmers .  (3/17)

March 11-15, 2026
March 6-10, 2026

March 1-5. 2026
Pete Hegseth at the podium:  This is exactly what an authoritarian's henchman and fulltime sycophant would say.  (3/4)
Thanks to Trump, price of oil spikes like a bad fever.  You’ll soon be feeling the chill at the gas pump — if not already .  (3/3)

February 2026
Donald Trump:  Not a details guy (Attacking Iran edition).  (2/26)
 
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Yet another headline that pairs job loss with AI (Kevin Hassett Clown Show edition)


Top headline:  TUM Partners of Excellence, 12/5/2024
Bottom headline:  CNBC, 5/11/2026

CJ Haddad reports:
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Monday shrugged off any negative impact of artificial intelligence on employment, saying the emergent technology isn’t costing anyone their jobs right now. 
“There’s no sign in the data that AI is costing anybody their job right now, but we are studying the future of AI and what it means for the workforce, so we’ve got a big taskforce on that,” Hassett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” 
Hassett’s comments come amid a wave of tech layoffs, as companies like Amazon , Meta and Oracle have announced rounds of job cuts, with some emphasizing AI’s role in automating work and boosting productivity with lower headcounts.  [emphasis added]

Related posts:
May 2026
Meta 1984.  (5/11)
Straight from the horse's mouth.  (5/10)
Do-nothing Congress.  (5/9) 
IA edition.  (5/8)
April job cuts.  (5/8)
Freshworks.  (5/7)
Coinbase.  (5/7)

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GET ME REWRITE: "Change orders" boost cost of Reflecting Pool repairs by more than 600%

 
Rendering:  Facebook
Headline:  New York Times, 5/11/2026


David A. Fahrenthold and Luke Broadwater report:
On Friday, the Interior Department added $6.2 million to the contract’s previous cost, saying it now planned to pay $13.1 million to a Virginia firm called Atlantic Industrial Coatings. President Trump said he chose that company to repair the landmark because the firm had worked on the swimming pools at his golf club in Sterling, Va. 
The government awarded that firm a no-bid contract last month, bypassing the requirement to seek competing offers by saying that the situation was so urgent that any delay would cause “serious injury” to the government. The government has not publicly said what that injury would have been.
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After more than a month's hiatus, bird flu returns to Indiana

 
Headline:   WATT Poultry, 5/11/2026

Roy Graber reports:
The presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in two commercial duck flocks in Indiana to date in May. 
Both flocks are in LaGrange County, according to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). 
In one situation, the virus was confirmed on May 6 in a commercial meat duck flock, with 5,200 birds involved. The other instance was confirmed on May 8, in a flock of 4,600 breeding ducks. 
These are the first two confirmed cases of HPAI in a United States commercial poultry operation in May. Until now, the last cases were confirmed on April 21, when the presence of the virus was found in both a commercial meat turkey farm in North Dakota and a commercial turkey breeder hen flock in South Dakota.

Other bird flu posts:
May 11-15

May 6-10

May 1-5:

April 26-30:

April 21-25:
California bird flu news:  It's everywhere, it's everywhere!  (4/23)

April 16-20
 
April 11-15:

April 6-10:  
Even the 1% have to deal with bird flu  (The Hamptons Long Island edition).  (4/9)

April 1-5
Lancaster County Pennsylvania reports yet another case of bird flu. (4/1

March 26-31:

March 21-25:

March 16-20:

March 11-15, 2025

March 6-10, 2026.  

March 1-5, 2026

February 20-28,2026
SHOCKER!!  Dead birds found in Ohio gated community.  Bird flu suspected.  (2/21)

February 10-19, 2026
February 1-9, 2026

January 21-31, 2026

January 11-20, 2026
New York tells resident don't touch those dead birds.  (1/17)

January 1-10, 2026
Bird flu strain of avian influenza:  "The picture has grown darker and stranger than most would have imagined".  (1/8)
Bird flu reported on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. (1/8)Dozens of vultures die of bird flu in North Carolina.  (1/8)

December 16-31, 2025

December 1-15, 2025

November 15-30, 2025

November 1-15, 2025

October 2025

September 2025

April-August 2025


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