Food pantries across the country are seeing long lines and rising demand as prices climb faster than paychecks for the first time in three years. Families who once needed short-term help are now relying on food assistance for months at a time. @jasonallenlive is in Texas.

food trucks used to sell you 3 amazing tacos for like $5 cash only. then people with master’s degrees discovered them and now it’s $18.50 for 3 mid tacos plus a screen asking for a 20% tip

Food for thought. Yes, the New Great Game is unfolding. No nation stands to gain more from a closure of the Strait of Hormuz than the United States, across the short, medium, and long term. This logic is embedded in President Trump’s National Security Strategy, with the Trump Doctrine now visible in practice. Strategically, China loses on multiple fronts with Hormuz closed: seaborne Middle Eastern supplies are constrained just as Venezuelan crude is increasingly redirected toward the U.S. Gulf Coast on short, politically secure routes. At the same time, the Strait of Malacca, and with it, the broader Malacca Dilemma, moves to the center of gravity. In parallel, the Sunda, Lombok, Makassar, and Mindoro Straits remain critical arteries for Chinese trade and energy flows. Together, they constitute the geographic chokepoints of Beijing’s vulnerability, and Washington is acutely aware of this. Yes, the New Great Game is unfolding, and Wall Street has yet to comprehend the consequences.