Buck Banks, Author at Pensito

$71 Billion Needed to Rebuild Gaza

April 21, 2026 Buck Banks

$71 billion

Bloomberg: “Gaza needs an estimated $71.4 billion over the next decade to recover from two years of war that devastated most of the Palestinian territory, a new study by the European Union, United Nations and World Bank shows.”

Trump Holds $550 Million Ahead of Midterms

April 21, 2026 Buck Banks

$550 million

“President Donald Trump’s super political action committee raised $35.6 million in March, bolstering his war chest to $550 million as he tries to defy history by hanging onto congressional Republican majorities in an increasingly difficult midterm election environment,” Bloomberg reports.

Carney Reflects on Canada-U.S. Relations

April 20, 2026 Buck Banks

“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become weaknesses.”

— Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, quoted by the Associated Press.

Kash Seeks $250 Million Cash from The Atlantic

April 20, 2026 Buck Banks

$250 million

FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine on Monday, saying a recent story about his alleged frequent drinking and absences included “false and obviously fabricated” claims, CBS News reports.

Maybe Probably Not

April 20, 2026May 1, 2026 Buck Banks

As a person, Donald Trump is not very nice,
He treats his job as an ongoing grift and daily heist.
Given all Trump’s chaos and crimes,
It may seem like apocalyptic End Times,
But Bible scholars agree that Trump is maybe probably not the antichrist.

Trading News for Booze

April 20, 2026April 29, 2026 Buck Banks

We read about the resignations of Gonzales and Swalwell,
And we’ve kept up with the cease-fires and damaged oil wells.
But about the Strait of Hormuz,
We were just fed up with the news,
So we went out on a binge with our old drinking buddy, Kash Patel.

Trump Has Lost $50 Billion in Crude Oil in 50 Days

April 19, 2026 Buck Banks

$50 billion

“The world has lost over $50 billion worth of crude oil that has not been produced since the Iran ?war began nearly 50 days ago and the aftershock of the crisis will be felt for months and even years to come,” Reuters reports.

Tuberville the Truth-Teller

April 17, 2026 Buck Banks

“Why should we keep the majority? We’ve gotten one bill passed, and that was President Trump pushing and pushing and pushing, and it took us 18 hours to get Republicans to vote for it — 18 hours straight on the Senate floor. And it’s embarrassing that we’re up here raising money to continue with the same people being up here. It’s just nonsense.”

— Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), on Benny Johnson’s podcast.

Young Men Are Getting More Religious

April 16, 2026 Buck Banks

42%

A new Gallup poll finds 42% of young men saying religion is very important to them, up sharply from 28% in 2022-2023. By contrast, during this period, young women’s attachment to religion has held steady at about 30%.

Americans Are Pessimistic About Their Political System

April 16, 2026 Buck Banks

“People in higher-income countries are generally more likely to say their nation’s political system needs only minor or no changes, according to recent Pew Research Center surveys. Conversely, people in middle-income countries are more likely to say their political system needs major changes or complete reform. … The United States, however, is a notable exception to this pattern. Despite having the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of any of our surveyed countries, 77% of Americans say the nation’s political system needs major changes or complete reform.”

$71 billion

Bloomberg: “Gaza needs an estimated $71.4 billion over the next decade to recover from two years of war that devastated most of the Palestinian territory, a new study by the European Union, United Nations and World Bank shows.”

$550 million

“President Donald Trump’s super political action committee raised $35.6 million in March, bolstering his war chest to $550 million as he tries to defy history by hanging onto congressional Republican majorities in an increasingly difficult midterm election environment,” Bloomberg reports.

“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become weaknesses.”

— Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, quoted by the Associated Press.

$250 million

FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine on Monday, saying a recent story about his alleged frequent drinking and absences included “false and obviously fabricated” claims, CBS News reports.

$50 billion

“The world has lost over $50 billion worth of crude oil that has not been produced since the Iran ?war began nearly 50 days ago and the aftershock of the crisis will be felt for months and even years to come,” Reuters reports.

— Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), on Benny Johnson’s podcast.

42%

A new Gallup poll finds 42% of young men saying religion is very important to them, up sharply from 28% in 2022-2023. By contrast, during this period, young women’s attachment to religion has held steady at about 30%.

— Pew Research

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“If any politician wants to get mothers on their side, they should adopt this issue. It’s such an obvious electoral winner. And what I’ve learned is there is no force in the universe stronger than mothers trying to protect their kids.”

— Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, quoted by Politico, on the threats posed by social media and artificial intelligence.

“I’m very good at flagpoles!”

— President Trump bragged during an “impromptu tour of his various White House construction projects,” Mediaite reports.

“There are a lot of Ukrainian drones in the air. It would be dangerous.”

— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by the Associated Press, when President Trump asked him if he would accept Moscow as a venue for peace talks.

Numerati

+150

+750

“The number of U.S. service members wounded since the start of the Iran war has passed 750, according to the Defense Department’s war casualty database,” CNN reports.

+175,000

“The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that it has revoked more than 175,000 visas during President Donald Trump’s administration so far,” Fox News reports.

$4,600

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