Tough Straits: In a further escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf region, Iran has seized one and possibly even two foreign-owned oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. One of them is the British-flagged Stena Impero and the other is the Liberian-flagged Mesdar. 

  Iran’s Revolutionary Guard admits to taking the Stena Impero, claiming it had violated international regulations in an accident with a fishing boat. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed  that the Mesdar also had been taken. Tracking data showed the Mesdar making an abrupt turn toward Iran’s coast in the Strait of Hormuz.

  Iran claims the Mesdar was not seized but given a warning. The seizure of the British ship is a messy complication because the Brits have tried to be a calming influence between the US and Iran.

  The events came a day after a US warship knocked down an Iranian drone that was flying uncomfortably close.

  Britain is not likely to just stand by while one of its oil tankers is held captive, but Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said, “We’re not looking at military options; we’re looking at a diplomatic way to resolve the situation.” 

  Still, he said, “We are absolutely clear that if this situation is not resolved quickly, there will be serious consequences.”

The Drug Dealers:Stunning information about how American drug makers and drug stores fed the national opioid crisis is revealed in an investigative story in The NY Times.

  The lead example in the story is about a drug store in Port Richey, Fla., population 2,831, that was ordering 3,271 bottles of oxycodone a month. Not just 3,271 pills … but bottles of pills. There are dozens of examples like that.

  Chains and big box stores like Rite Aid, CVS, and WalMart all took part in feeding the country what amounts to a national overdose of painkillers. Manufacturers of generic equivalents were particularly large offenders the Times found .

  As many as 2,000 local, state, and tribal governments are suing to hold the drug industry responsible for the crisis.

  The Times got its information from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System, known as ARCOS, which was opened as the result of a lawsuit.  The records show that over a seven-year period, 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pills were sent to pharmacies and practitioners across the country. The data shows that even as the number of opioid overdose deaths was increasing, so were the shipments of pills.

Liar in Chief: President Trump is emboldened by support from his loyalists and stepping up his attacks with lies about four progressive freshmen members of Congress he is treating as enemies of the state. 

  Trump told reporters yesterday, “They can’t call our country and our people ‘garbage.’ They can’t be anti-Semitic. They can’t talk about evil Jews, which is what they say. ‘Evil Jews.’ ” 

  None of the four has said any such thing. Just one example of Trump’s twisting of truth, Brooklyn Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saidin March that the country has gone so far in the wrong direction that people shouldn’t be satisfied with moderate policies that are merely ‘10% better from garbage.’”

  This morning Trump posted a clip of the speech in which the crowd chanted “Send her back!” about Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali immigrant. He said, “As you can see, I did nothing to lead people on, nor was I particularly happy with their chant. Just a very big and patriotic crowd. They love the USA!”

  While it’s true that Trump did not encourage the crowd, he did nothing to stop or discourage them from a hateful message. He quietly basked in it. And now he is giving a not-so-subtle message that tell an immigrant to “go back” is patriotic.

The Obit Page: Marylou Whitney, the socialite who was queen of the horsey set, has died at age 93 at home in Saratoga Springs, NY, just at the start of the racing season. 

  The girl from Kansas who set out to be an actress lived a life of extraordinary wealth. She was the widow of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a businessman, film producer, philanthropist, horse breeder, and polo player.  

  After he first husband died, at age 71 she married a man 39 years younger.

  Whitney once had seven homes in the US and abroad, a collection of  jewelry some of which had been owned by European royalty, and a wardrobe of  couturier clothes. In Saratoga she was renowned for throwing her annual late-summer gala on the eve of the Whitney Stakes horse race. 

The Straw Poll:In the never-ending quest to make America Great Again, President Trump’s 2020 campaign is making an issue of the paper drinking straws breaking into the market to replace polluting plastic.

 His campaign’s online store is selling reusable and recycled straws. Campaign manager Brad Parscale sent out an email blast saying, “Make Straws Great Again.”  He said, “Much like most liberal ideas, paper straws don’t work and they fall apart instantly.” 

 The obvious thing to do here would be to make a joke about how somebody sucks, but we’re not going to do that.

-30-