Men's Lifestyle October 18, 2025 0 Comments

Is the Fracking Executive Heading Energy a Hidden Risk We Didn’t See Coming?

Isn’t it something how the higher you climb, the messier the view gets? Our current administration, barely a year into its tenure, is already unraveling at the seams — and oh boy, the tangle is truly something to behold. Take Chris Wright, for instance, the fracking exec turned Secretary of Energy, who seems caught in a tug-of-war that makes you wonder if he’s truly fit for the role or just another pawn in a bigger game. What happens when an outsider with fossil fuel roots steps into the green energy spotlight? It looks like the soundtrack to this political drama involves delayed decisions, internal friction, and a dance between old industries and new ambitions that nobody saw coming. And if you thought that was all, wait until you hear about the surprising naval departure amid a so-called campaign of murder on the high seas. Honestly, with all this chaos, you might ask yourself—how long can this juggling act last before it all comes crashing down? Grab a cup of your favorite, kick back, and dive in — this rollercoaster doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon. LEARN MORE

Out on the Weekend

(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To This Post)

The administration has many seams, and several big ones are coming apart. Politico has an account of how fracking executive Chris Wright may be ill-suited to being Secretary of Energy.

The friction, these people said, includes complaints that Wright was too slow to loop in the White House on his plans to kill tens of billions of dollars in Biden-era clean energy grants—and too willing to defend the interests of industries that want some of that funding preserved. Decisions on revoking those grants brought him into conflict with White House staff, POLITICO reported last week.

None of the people said Wright, a former Colorado fracking executive and outspoken advocate for Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies, is in immediate danger of losing his job. But they said relations have clearly soured between Trump’s inner circle and Wright, who arrived in D.C. with a senior team similarly drawn from the private sector instead of MAGA politics. “It just seems so messy right now,” said one person familiar with the dynamic between Wright and the White House. “I don’t know how much longer he’s got.”

Then, there’s this curious resignation that seems to have something to do with the administration’s campaign of murder on the high seas. From The New York Times:

The officer, Adm. Alvin Holsey, is leaving his job as head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees all operations in Central and South America, even as the Pentagon has rapidly built up some 10,000 forces in the region in what it says is a major counterdrug and counterterrorism mission. It was unclear why Admiral Holsey is suddenly departing, less than a year into what is typically a three-year job, and in the midst of the biggest operation in his 37-year career. But one current and one former U.S. official, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that Admiral Holsey had raised concerns about the mission and the attacks on the alleged drug boats.

…”Prior to Trump, I can’t think of a combatant commander who left his or her post early, ever,” said Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was even more pointed in his criticism.“At a moment when U.S. forces are building up across the Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela are at a boiling point, the departure of our top military commander in the region sends an alarming signal of instability within the chain of command,” Mr. Reed said in a statement.

I remind you that these people haven’t been in charge for a year yet.

Not for nothing, but among the administration’s vengeance targets, John Bolton might be in the most peril of actually being convicted. (And a single, muted “hoorah” is heard.) Both Letitia James and James Comey face farcical proceedings based on threadbare evidence and prosecuted by a manifest incompetent. But Bolton’s charged with possession and misuse of classified documents, something that seems to have been epidemic among officials of the first Trump administration up to and most definitely including the president. From CNN:

Essentially, prosecutors say, Bolton kept—and shared with family members—digital diaries of his activities that included all kinds of classified material from when he was national security adviser. According to the indictment, Bolton shared “more than a thousand pages” of “diary-like entries” “that contained information classified up to the TOP SECRET” level.

Unlike the other two vengeance prosecutions, the charges in this case are the kind that make judges squeamish of dismissing. National security and all that. Odds are much better that Bolton will go to trial than is the case with James or Comey. Once there, anything is possible with these people.

Weekly WWOZ Pick to Click

“Skull and Crossbones Blues” – Johnny Shines

Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.

Weekly Visit to the Pathé Archives

Here, from 1965, are The Beatles at Buckingham Palace in order to be awarded their MBE’s. The story about their having blown some weed in a palace bathroom, spread originally by John Lennon, is probably apocryphal. But kudos to Pathe for using “I Feel Fine” as the backing track.

The only real functions in the world for the British royal family these days are a) comic relief, or b) cautionary tale. Luckily, Prince Andrew, through his relationship with the late Mr. Epstein, has provided both. From the BBC:

Contemporary historian Anthony Seldon says the removal of Prince Andrew’s titles is a “decisive moment” for the Royal Family. The last time a dukedom was taken away from a senior royal was more than 100 years ago, he tells the BBC News channel. That was in 1919, when Prince Charles Edward—one of Queen Victoria’s grandsons—lost the title of Duke of Albany for fighting on the German side.

Here’s the funny part, at least to us rambunctious colonials.

Prince Andrew is to give up his titles, including the Duke of York, he has announced in a personal statement. That now seems to have resulted in the prince deciding to voluntarily hand back his titles and to give up membership of the Order of the Garter. Prince Andrew has faced a series of scandals, including a court case he settled with Virginia Giuffre, questions about his finances and his involvement with an alleged Chinese spy. He will remain a prince – but will cease to be the Duke of York, a title received from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

“Order of the Garter” is enough to set off the giggles in this context, but the idea that this guy gets to remain a “prince” is a real kneeslapper, especially when you consider that he is still allowed his position as eighth in line to the throne. No longer Duke of York, however. That has to sting.

Discovery Corner

Hey, look what we found! From LiveScience:

A man went digging for worms outside Stockholm and made the discovery of a lifetime: a hoard of up to 20,000 silver coins intermingled with beads, pendants and silver. The hoard dates to the Early Middle Ages and weighs about 13 pounds (6 kilograms), according to a translated statement from the Stockholm County Administrative Board. The worm digger, who found the hoard by his summer house, reported the finding to local government officials. Archaeologists are now examining the treasures, which had been placed in a copper cauldron that has largely degraded over time.

I think the guy deserves a more dignified ID than “worm digger.”

Hey, Science Alert, is it a good day for dinosaur news? It’s always a good day for dinosaur news!

A paleontological team led by the institute found the almost complete skeleton of the small long-necked reptile, named Huayracursor jaguensis, at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) in Argentina’s northwest. … The discovery was published in Nature magazine, with the authors saying it could inform studies into evolution. Agustin Martinelli, one of the authors, said that the Huayracursor is estimated to have roamed the earth between 230 and 225 million years ago, making it one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world.

Apparently, this dino was found in a fairly new field of fossils which also seems to be planted thick with paleontological jargon. From Nature:

Discoveries at this basin, in the Quebrada Santo Domingo site, include a nearly complete skeleton of the early sauropodomorph Huayracursor jaguensis gen. et sp. nov., and typical components of Late Carnian faunas, such as hyperodapedontine rhynchosaurs, gomphodontosuchine traversodontid cynodonts, and aetosaurs. Discoveries at this basin, in the Quebrada Santo Domingo site, include a nearly complete skeleton of the early sauropodomorph Huayracursor jaguensis gen. et sp. nov., and typical components of Late Carnian faunas, such as hyperodapedontine rhynchosaurs, gomphodontosuchine traversodontid cynodonts, and aetosaurs.

I believe that last paragraph may have broken the brain of my spell-check. But the annual paleontologist’s spelling bee must be a bloodbath. I am happy now.

I’ll be back on Monday for whatever fresh hell awaits. Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line and wear the damn masks, and take the damn shots, especially the boosters and the New One. In your spare time, spare a thought for the victims of the unspeakable violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for everyone touched by the mass shootings in Michigan, North Carolina, Colorado, Minneapolis, NYC and Reno,the victims of the Manchester synagogue attack, and everyone recovering from the flooding in Charleston, and in the Roanoke Valley, and in Wisconsin, and in Texas, and in North Carolina, and by earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand, and in Turkey and Russia, and by the tornadoes throughout the Southeast, and for everyone touched by floods in Kentucky and in West Virginia, and Nigeria, and by the crash in Washington, and by the measles outbreak in the Southwest, and in the wildfire zone around Dallas, and in the fire zones in Napa, and in Las Vegas, Nashville, and Queens, who who were visited by the Crazy before the year had hardly begun, and the folks in Dallas and Tallahassee, who were visited by the Crazy this week. And the people in drought-stricken north Alabama. And the folks caught in floods and tornadoes in Nebraska, and in Missouri. And the folks caught in “historic floods” in Kentucky. And in Oklahoma. And the folks in L.A., now fighting floods and mudslides exacerbated by the recent wildfires. And the folks in the wildfire zones in Pennsylvania, and in Minnesota. And the folks in Lahaina, who are still rebuilding. And the victims of the nightclub collapse in the Dominican Republic. And especially for our fellow citizens in the LGBTQ+ community, who deserve so much better from their country than they’ve been getting. And for all of us, who will be getting exactly what we deserve. Thank you for your attention to this matter.