John DesMarteau MD FACA
@jdesmarteau
Retired Anesthesiologist | I read JAMA so you don’t have to | Fair Gardener | Classical Composer | Married a great guy in 2004 | Dual Citizen - Can-Am | Voted BC, BO, HRC, JRB, KH — Should Tell You My Politics | Working on a memoir of my medical career
Why stop at steam catapults? There’s all sorts of antiquated warfare tech Trump could order the US military to use. Examples trebuchets, ballistas, and siege towers.
1 of 2) When Dr Fauci was berated by AIDS activists he didn’t push back. He engaged them. This helped lead to fast-tracking truly effective HIV/AIDS therapy, including the introduction of the first protease inhibitor saquinavir in 1995. You can see how AIDS deaths began to decline the next year.
The Houthis promised retaliation for the Saudi attack on the airport in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, shutting it down and preventing a Houthi delegation returning from Iran landing. A possible target includes the choke point at the southern end of the Red Sea. If that happens we’re in very deep doo-doo.
A couple of days ago the right-wing Italian newspaper Libero had this front-page headline: "Trump è un coglione" (Trump is an asshole). The text began: "I hate to say it, but I can't find—and perhaps there isn't—any other way to put it. Donald Trump is an asshole. Period."
Just looked at MarineTraffic.com and nothing is moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
A brief history lesson: The WWI armistice (ceasefire) was signed on Nov 11, 1918 in a rail car at about 5am, going into effect at 11am Paris time. The armistice was extended several times until The Treaty of Versalles in 1919. The US-Iran MOU is closer to an armistice than a final treaty.
And that Trump repeatedly claimed had been “obliterated” during the first US-Israel bombing of Iran:
Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz at 10:52pm EDT on June 15, 2026, per MarineTraffic.com. When you see all the arrows and other markers they represent cargo vessels, fishing and recreational boats. Removing them gives the best idea of oil and gas movement.
Trump repeatedly trots out a 8.5" x 11" paper with the Lincoln Reflecting Pool length compared to other structures. He often cites the Empire State Building. I asked the local LLM on my Mac to calculate the relative volumes, — IMHO a better comparison. The volume of the ESB is ~55x the LRF.
In case you’re wondering at 2:12am EDT (6:10 UTC) there are no tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz.
Zero tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz at 6:09pm EDT (22:09 UTC) on May 14, 2026.
Not exactly a ribbon of ships transversing the Strait of Hormuz at about 13:35 EDT (17:35 UTC) on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, despite Trump’s “Project Freedom”.
The Globe and Mail Editorial cartoon for Saturday, April 25, 2026:
Strait of Hormuz empty at 3:19pm EDT (19:19 UTC) on Saturday, April 18, 2026:
Canadian PM Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won all three byelections, securing an outright majority in the House of Commons.
Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has secured a majority in Canada’s House of Commons after the party is projected to win two of the three byelections held today. The third in Québec is too close to call.
Despite Trump saying that the US would only blockade ships going to and from Iranian ports, there is virtually no traffic going through the Strait of Hormuz the night of April 13, 2026:
Budapest in April 2026 is a prelude to Washington DC in November 2028:
Orbán has conceded that he has lost the election. And Pétar Maygar’s party Tisza will win a 2/3 majority allowing them to enact reforms.
Live view of marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz on April 12, 2026, at 12:37pm (16:37 UTC). The massed ships are not moving. Taken from marinetraffic.com:
Usually contrails dissipate by cloudy dispersal. But when that happens the trails stay in lines. Today, while working in the garden I looked up and saw one of the more unusual contrails I’ve ever seen, probably caused by local eddies.
Unfortunately, presidential pardon power is in the Constitution. In September 1787, George Mason wrote 16 objections to the nascent Constitution. Number 8 was among the most prescient:
Nicolle Wallace said she would like to be a fly on the wall at the Trump family dinner tonight, in light of the public statement that Melania gave earlier today at the White House. However, since the ketchup might be a-flying, the fly is not assured of surviving.