[Whisperzzzzzzz]

amphibian, on 08 April 2026 - 02:14 PM, said:

With this kind of a bleak feeling about world politics that can be shockingly local, it's extremely important to preserve and support the things, people, and ideas that bring you joy and peace.

Part of this is burn out - which is something I know very well from the Pandemic years. I had to work slowly and non-linearly to build myself, my community, and my world view back into something stronger and better from hitting a very low point of feeling awful about my job that specifically involved trying to get people trapped in prisons and nursing homes that were pandemic hellholes into safer spaces or out and about what the federal government wasn't doing to support all of us, the flaws of what the state government and local government were doing as well. My marriage broke up in 2021 and 2022 for a set of reasons that aren't for getting into here.

My point in bringing this personal side up is that there must be steady investment and work done to support the local community that recharges you. It is like going to the gym and getting emotionally strong and providing that to others too.

That local organization, the time with family, the volunteering or running for elections to take the jobs away from the people who support this right wing insanity, and whatever else you can do - they're all worth doing and will protect/support your happiness.

I built myself back into someone stronger and I'm now at a point where I can figure out the proper balance of paying attention to the world, doing the local community work, putting time into my excellent partner and our relationship, giving our dog the best life, doing things in local government that affect thousands of people for the better, and more.

It sounds like you may have more time in your day than other people lol! I can barely find the time to do my laundry.

[QuickTidal]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 08 April 2026 - 03:12 PM, said:

It sounds like you may have more time in your day than other people lol! I can barely find the time to do my laundry.

Try laundry for 4, two of whom are little people who have three times the amount of clothes the adults have because "We can't turn down the constant hand-me-downs"...it's a mountain of laundry done every few days and it's the BANE of my existence.

[amphibian]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 08 April 2026 - 03:12 PM, said:

It sounds like you may have more time in your day than other people lol! I can barely find the time to do my laundry.

2 to 10 hours a month can go a long way towards this. We're not going to change the world by all of a sudden going full time alternative job with no pay into this.

I carry a job that's often 65 hours a week, a home in which I am cooking/cleaning/upkeeping, an active dog, a large family, large group of friends, a partner with their own family and friends, two significant volunteer obligations that get me out into the community, a class I have been taking, two book clubs, my own fun pursuits, supporting my partner with theirs, and so on.

Things do fall off the table sometimes, yet the stability and active calendaring of when things happen makes this much easier to do.

Some of this will shrink if kids come into the equation. The volunteer obligations have been critical for my building back from burn out over the millions of people, some of which were my clients, having horrendous outcomes during the pandemic.

If this doesn't fit you, then it doesn't. But it does not need an enormous time commitment unless you want something like that.

[Tiste Simeon]

QuickTidal, on 08 April 2026 - 04:00 PM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 08 April 2026 - 03:12 PM, said:

It sounds like you may have more time in your day than other people lol! I can barely find the time to do my laundry.

Try laundry for 4, two of whom are little people who have three times the amount of clothes the adults have because "We can't turn down the constant hand-me-downs"...it's a mountain of laundry done every few days and it's the BANE of my existence.

Oh yeah. I have a 7 year old and twin 4 year olds it's insane how much dirty laundry they create.

[Macros]

And here we have the real reason Bondi was shifted on.
As she is no longer AG she will not be compelled to testify on the Epstein files next week.

Fuck you again

[Grief]

You know it is bad when they have decided that transparently trying to dodge the deposition - which looks terrible - is still their preferred choice versus having her testify.

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 08 April 2026 - 10:54 PM, said:

And here we have the real reason Bondi was shifted on.
As she is no longer AG she will not be compelled to testify on the Epstein files next week.

Fuck you again

They subpoenaed her anyways, but we will see if congress has the teeth to hold her in contempt for not appearing.

[Tsundoku]

Wow. Apparently noone can quite figure out how these "suspicious trades" were made ...
Isn't it just a coincidence that the office that investigated such things was shut down or severely reduced by Trump etc recently? Fancy that.
I'm sure I've seen this elsethread, but just to let you know it even made the news here in the antipodes.

US regulator investigating suspiciously timed trades made just before Donald Trump’s announcements
A “pattern” of suspiciously timed, highly lucrative trades, all made just before major announcements on the Iran War, is being investigated.

https://www.news.com...eef564d3b9b584d

Several suspiciously timed trades – made just before Donald Trump announced policy shifts in the Iran war – are being investigated by American regulators amid fears people with inside knowledge illegally profited.

At issue are claims of multiple instances where, hours or mere minutes before the US President said something that affected the price of oil, there was a noticeable spike in the volume of trading on oil futures. Bets, essentially, on the oil price going either up or down.

These bets were unusually large, and proved to be extremely well timed. When Mr Trump’s announcements caused the market to move a short time after they were placed, the people or entities behind them, whose identities are unknown, made a ton of money.

The question for investigators is whether those profits resulted from astute trading, coincidentally excellent luck, or foreknowledge of what the President was about to say. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by President Trump.

America’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), an independent federal agency, regulates derivatives markets.

According to Bloomberg, it is now leading a probe into some of these trades, specifically the ones that happened on platforms belonging to CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange.

“The CFTC is looking into at least two instances over a period of about two weeks where trading volumes surged shortly before major announcements,” it reported, citing people with knowledge of the investigation, who were not named.

The CFTC and Intercontinental Exchange both declined Bloomberg’s invitation to comment on the matter.

CME Group, however, gave a statement stressing that it “vigorously surveils” its markets and “works closely with the CFTC to oversee trading activity”.

“Any review of market behaviour must include all venues, including prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi that list related products with little to no visibility,” it said.

Fortunate timing

News of the regulator’s investigation comes a week after two of Mr Trump’s political opponents, Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse and Elizabeth Warren, wrote to the CFTC and requested information on trading they identified as suspicious.

The senators pointed to two specific dates: March 23 and April 7.

On both days, Mr Trump announced a de-escalation in the war, causing the price of oil to drop sharply. And both times, unknown investors had bet on exactly that happening.

“I am pleased to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East,” Mr Trump posted on social media on the morning of March 23.

“I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.”

A mere quarter of an hour before he posted that, $US500 million ($700 million) worth of bets were placed on the oil price in the space of a single minute.

Mr Trump’s post then caused the price of Brent crude to drop by 15 per cent.

CNBC reported that the volume of trading in that period was nine times higher than usual.

The same thing happened on April 7, when Mr Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with the Iranian regime 90 minutes before his deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz was due to pass.

He had threatened to annihilate Iran’s energy infrastructure if the regime failed to comply, warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”.

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Mr Trump said, again on social media.

This time, investors had bet about $US950 million ($1.3 billion) on the oil price falling. The spike in trading volume happened less than three hours before the announcement.

Again, Mr Trump’s shift in policy caused a double-digit drop in the oil price.

‘No explanation’: Growing suspicion

Ms Warren and Mr Whitehouse explicitly highlighted those two incidents in their letter to the regulator.

They stressed that “no public news” had preceded the trades, the implication being there was no publicly available information that could have spurred them.

“On the morning of March 23, oil futures trading surged dramatically in the minutes before

President Trump posted on Truth Social announcing talks with Iran to potentially de-escalate the war – a post that sharply increased stock market indexes and lowered crude prices,” the senators said.

“There was no public news preceding the announcement to explain the price movement.

“The same pattern appears to have recurred on April 7. In the hours before President

Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran – an announcement that sent oil prices down

approximately 15 per cent – traders placed an approximately $UA950 million bet on oil prices

falling.

“As with the March 23 incident, there was no public announcement preceding the trade

to explain the directional wager.

“This is now a recurring concern during the Trump administration. A Reuters review found at

least three other instances in which well-timed trades appeared to anticipate major decisions before they were publicly announced across oil futures, equity options, and prediction markets.”

The letter went on to mention other times, since Mr Trump took office again last January, that large trades had been made before major government announcements.

In April of last year, for example, “traders reportedly made millions in the minutes before” Mr Trump announced a pause in his so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs.

In January of this year, an anonymous trader on Polymarket made hundreds of thousands of dollars betting that Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro would be ousted. Their last bet was placed mere hours before the successful US operation to seize Maduro.

And in late February, just before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran, six Polymarket accounts made more than a million dollars betting that strikes would happen imminently.

“This pattern raises serious questions about whether there has been recurring misappropriation of material nonpublic government information and about the extent to which individuals inside or outside the government have acted on such information,” the senators argued.

The CFTC has not specified which trades, precisely, it is investigating.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 16 April 2026 - 10:39 AM