A Fine Kettle of Fish

And says Oliver Hardy says to Stan Laurel: This is a fine kettle of fish you've got us in.  Except, this isn't a comedy from the 1930's.

Russia can sell its oil to relieve the pressure on the oil market that has spiked.  Sanctions against Russia to pressure them to negotiate with Ukraine have been modified.  Russia can make more money now that the price of oil has spiked and prolonging the war in Europe.  Russia is also attempting to help Iran. 

I'm not sure who the wing man is as Israel and the United States bomb and threaten more strategic bombing on Iran and Lebanon to open up the Straight of Hormuz and further weaken Hezbollah.

And as the price of oil remains high ,  but according to reports Venezuela is back on line and helping out and at least in the short term gasoline is selling at $4.25 a gallon in Florida.

This morning I read a column in the Dispatch, which is my attempt at getting a more conservative/middle of the road translation of things.  Written by Kevin Williamson, 

"Trump is anything but unpredictable", I think this commentary is right: "Trump’s escalating threats against Iran leapt very quickly from mere war crimes (targeting civilian infrastructure) to outright genocide (“a whole civilization will die tonight”), and the bosses in Tehran ran that through their Trump decoder rings to reveal the true message: “I am terrified by the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and have no idea how to get myself out of this mess.” 

It's Tax Day and there is a lot to unwrap with that big beautiful bill, the cost of the war with Iran and a whole bunch of folks who in the name of expedience or just being scared *$&^less are afraid to speak truth to power.

And as an aside, I'm positive the tax pros at H&R Block need further training on how their website works and how absolutely maddening their customer service/AI is.




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