08/18/26

Title

Even When You're at Your Worst, There's Hope

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, August 18th.

Bad Poetry Day

Hey… roses are red, violets are blue… listen to the rest of this episode, please.

And now, the news.

Update: Iran

-via AP News, CBS News, and The Hill

Starting overseas, where, on Monday, Trump, once again, threatened the independent country of Oman as Iran says they’re working on an agreement with Oman to allow ships through the Strait.

So first we need to talk about… how did Oman get involved here?

First, geographically – Oman and Iran live across the Strait from each other, with Oman to the south and Iran to the north. 

It has a strong diplomatic relationship with Iran, dating back to the 70s, when Iran helped the country fight off a Marxist insurgency. 

In addition to mediated prisoner releases, the country helped facilitate the 2015 U.S.–Iran negotiations that ultimately led to the nuclear agreement (which prevented Iran from being able to easily develop their own nuclear weapon, before Trump canceled the agreement and now has started all this mess because “how on earth else will we stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon??” Oman was also playing host to the most recent rounds of U.S.–Iran nuclear negotiations before Trump decided to do… this.

All of this works because Iran trusts Oman more than most American-aligned Arab governments, and the U.S. considers Oman to be a longstanding security partner.

Despite Trump saying the US controls the Strait, Iran still hasn’t fully reopened the Strait. However, to prevent a bad problem from getting worse, Oman has been, for a little bit, trying to do what it does… negosh.

Oman and Iran have been trying to negosh a way that would allow ships to get through the Strait.

But Trump says that if that happens, he’s going to “bomb the s*** out of them.”

Again… this is our ally.

The timing of this latest threat against Oman isn’t that much of a surprise… when Trump and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding (which, as a reminder, was a memo that roadmapped a deal between the two countries), it started the clock on a 60-day window meant to give the countries time for negotiations toward a broader agreement.

60 days was up on Monday and Trump doesn’t want to extend it.

So now, instead of trying to keep making a deal – he’s threatening an ally.

And he’s doing a lot more on that. Also on Monday, he casually tossed around the idea of turning the Strait into a US territory.

“We control it with the blockade, and I like the idea of declaring it a territory.”

Of course he does – he wants to literally control the world. Controlling the US is too small for him now – he wants the world to be controlled by America, and therefore by him.

But here’s the thing… he doesn’t control the world. He barely controls this country. (I mean, he’s the leader but like… he’s not respected!) 

So we’ll see what happens after this but as of right now, the most important thing to remember is this – Trump makes a lot of threats and has very little follow-through. So ideally he sees something shiny and gets distracted.

But the thing to watch for here is, now that the 60-days is up… will there be an extension? Where do we go from here?

Big Bend National Park

-via AP News

In Texas’ Big Bend National Park, where the Trump administration was trying to build part of the border fence, construction has been temporarily called off after a bipartisan group, including Democratic and Republican sheriffs alike, opposed construction in the National Park, worrying about damage to archeological sites and Native American burial grounds.

The head of CBP is headed to Texas to take a look and speak with the community, as they look for a way to move forward.

This is huge for the park specifically, but at-large it’s big news because it represents a rare time that Democrats and Republicans BOTH pushed back against the administration.

And in Texas, of all places!

The stars at night are big and totally against a racist wall that ruins the environment.

Earlier this month, wall construction in New Mexico was also paused after ranchers said pumping groundwater that was needed to make concrete for the wall could threaten their livestock.

Now, in case you’re thinking – well why did they allow this to begin with, if the state knew the water would be such an issue.

Well the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, which monitors and approves wells across the state, has noted that at least eight, although there could be more, wells were drilled without the office’s permission. The wells pump 200 gallons per minute.

E. Jean Carroll

-via Reuters

On Monday the Supreme Court (wait wait… it’s a good one!), once again declined to hear Trump’s pretty please to not pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million after being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.

This one has always been so wild to me because Trump of course doesn’t want to pay her but, if this case were to have gone forward, they’d talk about the case in court again. Including, likely, bringing out all evidence of the time that Trump, hero of the right, sexually assaulted Carroll in 1996, with his defense basically being – she’s not my type.

Not my type.

Not – of course I didn’t do it, that’s a horrific thing to do and I’m sorry it happened to me but let’s get me cleared so we can find, and punish, the monster that did it.

No no, it was… not my type.

Anyway, the Supremes said no. Again.

Hayden Panettiere

-via Deadline

And ending on some very sad news… Hayden Panettiere, known for her roles in Nashville, Heroes, and Remember the Titans (among many, many other things), died on Sunday afternoon of what appears to have been an overdose.

She was 36 years old.

In addition to her work on screen, Panettiere was a vocal advocate for raising awareness about mental health and postpartum depression. In 2020, she checked into an eight-month residential rehab program to help with an addiction to alcohol and opioids. 

It’s unknown how many people were inspired to get sober, or seek help for PPD, after Panettiere came forward, but web searches and downloads for apps that do things like track days without alcohol, always increase after public figures open up about their own struggles.

There’s no doubt that, by being open about her own struggles, Panettiere saved many lives.

As I do sometimes, I wanted to leave her with the final word:

"Life can shake you up and tear you down, but even when you're at your worst, there's hope, and you have an opportunity to rebuild."

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of people who are able to be so open about their struggles. It’s hard, but doing the work (publicly or quietly) matters.

And because making a joke right now would be super inappropriate, and also because everyone should hear it… I’m proud of you.