John Voelcker

OOOOOHHH ! Do share details ... 😁

RANDOM PR PERSON:
"I wanted to quickly follow up to see if you'd be interested in a story on how [topic entirely outside anything I've ever covered] ..."

ME:
"Not even remotely for me, thanks. Also, you have 2 separate typos + a missing verb in 5 VERY long sentences containing 18 commas in total."

White House gives mixed messages on war with Iran as strikes intensify YouTube video by CBS News

Trump signaled a sudden end to the war in Iran while also threatening to escalate it.

He said the war is “very complete." But also it would go on, tho it would end "soon".

And that Hegseth, who said the war is "just the beginning," is correct. Although the Iran War is "complete."

What?

Best. Comment. Of. The. Day.

State AGs play antitrust cops More than two dozen states seek to continue Live Nation/Ticketmaster case.

Find me one person ... just one ... who will argue with a straight face that the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger has been a good thing for consumers.

Or for performers.

Or for venue owners who *aren't* Live Nation.

Just ONE.

The 'Center for Environmental Accountability' that got the EPA to reverse 2009's Endangerment Finding has no actual office space.

Its address is a rented mailbox in a 3rd-party shipping store. Odd for a group that champions "transparency + accountability in environmental + energy policy."

Read it.

For-profit colleges, once accused of duping students, hope to rebound under Trump The University of Phoenix expects enrollment to grow as the Education Department softens oversight of for-profit schools, despite industry concerns.

A group that represents many for-profit universities praised the administration’s plans to avoid holding them to a higher standard.

The University of Phoenix expects enrollment to surge once the Education Dept eliminates all those pesky reqts that it show it actually, y'know, educates.

Oh.

Won't work. You already blocked me years ago for having a Dunk's cup in a photo.

Yeah, you're Demmuro's intern, was it ??

😁

American women should be as angry as Mexico City's The 8M march isn’t a parade. It’s a collective scream for survival.

I'd like to see some discussion about this, preferably by the WOMEN here.

The men can hold their thoughts for a while.

Did Leavitt say Trump hasn't ruled out military draft, ground troops for Iran? As Trump reportedly weighs putting boots on the ground, many people fear he will bring back the draft.

Will there be a draft?

White House 'Press Secretary' Karoline Leavitt: "It is not part of the current plan right now...the president again wisely keeps his options on the table."

Young men (+ women, who Hegseth MUST take) drafted for potentially another "forever war" of choice?

That'd play well.

A car friend in NH says he can't IMAGINE what you're referring to.

BUT ... I gather the car has to be in-state at least once for an inspection.

New Hampshire-ites ( @burnsf.bsky.social ??) weigh in here, please ...

Money Matters New Media maven, Mozart, and the Whitney Biennial, plus, behind the paywall, power brokers and Paris travel news. What else do you need to know about this week?

Yes, in fact there *IS* a Substack newsletter called "Rich People Shit"...which looks guiltily interesting.

One example: Upcoming story on women who hire stylists for when they get plastic surgery. Depending on the procedure, they want different looks for pre-surgery, post-surgery + the big reveal.

How did Vermont crack down? No out-of-state addresses on regs?

Ahhhhhhh. Gotcha, thx.

You mean the Vermont DMV caved to pressure from ATV dealers whose business selling $20K-$28K side-by-sides was hurt by widely available cheap used kei trucks that did most of the same things for $8K?

Helped by the ALWAYS consumer-friendly, well-paid lobbyists of state + natl auto-dealer orgs? THAT?

California Cracks Down on Montana Loophole, Indicts 14 for $20 Million of Out-of-State-Registered Cars A Porsche 918 Spyder, a Ferrari F12 TdF, and a McLaren Elva are among the vehicles the state claims were illegally registered elsewhere but only driven in the Golden State.

The 'Montana loophole' has been very widely known among car friends. And it's certainly not limited to California.

Wonder whether (when?) we'll see other states following suit to target Montana-plated cars only ever used in another state. I certainly see them regularly in NYC ...

Noem associate Madison Sheahan bought 2,500 marked vehicles for ICE Despite ICE employees seeking to keep a low profile in public, ICE official Madison Sheahan placed a bulk order for marked vehicles.

Madison Sheahan, the DHS employee (and Friend of Noem) who made this rather, errrmmm, unusual decision is now ... running for Congress in #OH9 #OH09.

The best people.

Golly.

Trump won affordability voters in 2024. Now he's losing them 20% of young, non-white, and lower-income Trump voters now say they disapprove of how he's handling his job as president

"Trump won in 2024 by 'borrowing,'rather than 'winning' affordability voters.

Per "Strength In Numbers/Verasight surveys from May 2025–Feb 2026, 1 in 6 Trump voters now disapprove of his job performance as president."

"Defections are concentrated precisely among the groups he gained most in 2024."

The Unbearable Lightness of Signalgate Nearly a year after a national-security scandal erupted on my iPhone, no one in the Trump administration has faced consequences.

Jeffrey Goldberg: Nearly a year after a national-security scandal erupted on my iPhone, no one in the Trump administration has faced consequences. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Long live the Pacifica LX !!

Gee, what could possibly go wrong with an entirely automated software program designed to identify fraud ??

Uhhhhh ... this is actually a SURPRISE ?!?!?

Community Boards Push Mamdani’s DOT to Use 'Sammy's Law' To Lower Speed Limits - Streetsblog New York City As City Hall and the Council bicker over lower speed limits, community boards are demanding action.

In recent weeks, several #NYC community boards have passed resolutions that ask the city's Department of Transportation to designate their districts as “slow zones” that officially limit vehicular speeds to 20 mph (vs citywide speed limit of 25 mph unless posted).

@nyc.streetsblog.org has it.

(3 of 3) ... with ZERO apparent paper trail on what it's being spent for.

Read the understated but horrifying piece by @vermontgmg.bsky.social to understand just how flagrant the opportunities for corruption, mismanagement, waste, fraud + general incompetence appear to be.

(2 of 3) "... meaningful national security experience, law enforcement experience, intelligence experience, nor homeland security experience.

"He has no meaningful work experience at all, in fact, in companies that don’t include his own name."

Meanwhile, DHS budget: $3 billion --> $53 billion ...

Adios Kristi Noem And yet Trump has now nominated to DHS someone even less qualified!

"Markwayne Mullin isn’t in any way qualified to be the leader of the nation’s 3rd-largest Cabinet dept, with a scope that stretches from FEMA + the Coast Guard to the entire border + immigration apparatus.

"In fact, he has no meaningful govt service experience at all. He has no ..." (1 of 3)

The Chevy Bolt's Chief Engineer Explains How Rebooting the EV Was More Complex Than You'd Think While the sub-$30K electric hatchback looks pretty much the same, what's underneath its skin is almost entirely new.

We're likely unable to parse costs allocated to the Bolt, but same sheet metal, reused tooling + most electrical + electronic components scavenged from other models already in product (most notably Equinox #EV) should make it just about as low-cost as a GM could conceivably make it.

Details here.

Given how little most people know about costs per kWh + per-mile costs, that's a worry.

But as their friends, relations, neighbors + coworkers continue to buy + drive #EV models, the message that "I don't see any real difference in my utility bill" vs cost of, say, full-home A/C starts to sink in.

You mean oil soaring past $100 a barrel? Couldn't hurt.