Innie: Macrodata Refinement, finding scary numbers. Outie: Making and drinking great cocktails, occasional drawing.
Cleveland, OH
Joined February 2011
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Steve Smith retweeted
Yes, this picture won an award. It has been framed and on my office wall since it first appeared. And I'm sorry, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it. I actually took it to Michael's and had it enlarged and framed. Even the employee that helped me was laughing at it.
There's that poor guy lying on the floor with his feet in the air while Trump stands there looking like the stupidest man on earth. It is the antithesis of what the presidency should represent.
Steve Smith retweeted
WOW -- Danish reporter *goes there* with Mark Rutte
"You sit next to Donald Trump at moments when he talks about conquering Greenland, talks about lashing out at allies like Spain -- things it doesn't seem like the old Mark Rutte would approve of. Does this have any affect on your self-respect when you sit there and say nothing?"
Steve Smith retweeted
This is amazing. The Atlantic posts JD Vance’s oped from 2016.
“A few Saturdays ago, my wife and I spent the morning volunteering at a community garden in our San Francisco neighborhood. After a few hours of casual labor, we and the other volunteers dispersed to our respective destinations: tasty brunches, day trips to wine country, art-gallery tours. It was a perfectly normal day, by San Francisco standards.”
Steve Smith retweeted
From 2021 when the @EmpireStateBldg lights synched to Grateful Dead’s U.S. Blues for 4th of July is still better than any fireworks show out there
Steve Smith retweeted
He’s just so darn likable
Steve Smith retweeted
Lmao Dr. Oz and Dean Cain are on stage at Trump’s dumpster fire state fair talking about the "tons of people" there and then the camera does a 360 🤣💀
Steve Smith retweeted
Parking enforcement is getting a heartwarming upgrade: in several U.S. communities—most notably Muncie, Indiana—police departments have allowed residents to settle certain parking tickets by donating cat food, kitten food, or litter to local animal shelters instead of paying cash fines.
The Muncie Police Department launched this creative initiative (called "Citations for Supplies") as a short-term program. It was inspired by officers touring the Muncie Animal Care & Services Shelter, which was overwhelmed during peak "kitten season" and struggling to feed and care for more than 350 cats and kittens due to low supplies.
Eligible violators with minor, non-moving parking violations could bring donations equivalent in value to their fine (e.g., up to $25 worth of supplies for a $25 ticket) to the Clerk's Office to clear the citation. The program ran for just a few days excluding serious violations like handicap parking or court-mandated ones.
The response was overwhelmingly positive: donation rooms filled up quickly, and many people contributed even without tickets to clear—proving the idea sparked genuine community generosity beyond simple compliance.
Similar short-term efforts have appeared in other places (including mentions of Michigan departments), turning routine fines into direct support for shelter animals and building goodwill between law enforcement and residents.
This paws-itive approach shows how small, compassionate innovations can create win-win outcomes: clearing administrative backlogs while helping vulnerable pets and strengthening community ties.
Steve Smith retweeted
Lmao come on bro….they’re really doing baptisms at Trump’s freak show….how is this real life
Steve Smith retweeted
Just a reminder that the Republican Ohio governor and the Republican mayor of Springfield are against deporting the Haitians. Even though this could kill their political careers, the people actually affected are against your "help" to "save" their communities.
Steve Smith retweeted
Jon Husted says the war in Iran is going “much better” than expected and voted to continue it 10 times – the rest of us are left paying the price.
Steve Smith retweeted
Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, alongside former first ladies, pose for a photo at the opening ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago today.
Trump was not invited.
Steve Smith retweeted
Here's one way to look at the purported MOU text--in terms of what is meant to happen IMMEDIATELY, within 30 DAYS, or within 60 DAYS:
IMMEDIATELY:
- "Permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon"
- "The United States Lift the naval blockade"*
- "The Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed"*
- "The United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like"
30 DAYS:
- *Both the US and Iran have 30 days to get traffic back to normal as part of the lifting of their respective blockades [how could either party really control this factor?]
60 DAYS:
- "Negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days" ["extendable by mutual consent"... so not so maximum]
- "Formulation" of an "implementation mechanism" for "a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, While ensuring financing of at least $300 billion"
- "The fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran's nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement" [implicitly 60 days, though the deadline for a final agreement is mutually extendable]
- Agreeing to a "schedule" for "all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran" to be ended
POST 60-DAYS/UNCLEAR TIMELINE:
- "The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement" [--this is in the clause about the US blockade... it is not clear what "surrounding areas" means]
- "In light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available."
- "An implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement."
- A binding UN Security Council resolution approving the final agreement.
*
Bottom line: immediately or within 30 days, Iran GETS permanent end to war including Lebanon, sanctions waivers, and a lifting of the US blockade. Iran GIVES the ending of its own blocking of the Strait. All other issues are punted to the 60 day/extendable/vague future timeline. For the nuclear program, Iran merely agrees to maintain the status quo while talks continue and to ultimately agree to... something.
From @business (h/t “News Items” for link: substack.news-items.com) the MOU:
Below is the text of the 14-point draft memorandum, as seen by Bloomberg News.
1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles.
2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other's internal affairs.
3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.
4. Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.
5. Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.
6. The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, While ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.
7. The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.
8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran's nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.
9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.
10. United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like. 1/
Steve Smith retweeted
"When I saw my name on Trump’s newest enemies list, the absolute last thing I was going to do was the same thing all of those other cowards did by folding to Trump, getting themselves out of trouble, and not thinking about the effect it was having on everyone else. I have an opportunity here - in my small corner of the internet - to walk the walk, instead of just talking the talk. So if Trump wants to come after me and content creators, go for it. We’ll be even louder than before. If this self-proclaimed free speech champion wants to clamp down on my right to speak out against him, then I’ll do it twice as loud. And if me doing so gives a permission structure for the next person to fight back instead of capitulate, then I’ve done my job."
plus.briantylercohen.com/p/t…
