Madeleine Albright: “As secretary of state, she played a key role in persuading Clinton to go to war against the Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic over his treatment of Kosovar Albanians in 1999. ‘My mindset is Munich,’ she said frequently, referring to the German city where the Western allies abandoned her homeland to the Nazis.” Madeleine Albright, the first female US secretary of state, dies at 84. Albright’s most recent book could not be more on point. Fascism: A Warning.

+ Graham Crackers: This week has again proven that SCOTUS confirmations should be viewed as hearings to determine who should still be allowed to remain a senator. The low point so far (maybe, that’s a bold statement) was Racist Baby Ted Cruz asking Jackson if she thinks babies are racist. Today, Lindsay Graham is trying to beat Cruz’s asinine-ism by harassing Jackson about the Kavanaugh hearings. Why? Because he already badgered her about religion yesterday. (The absence of a lightning bolt striking Lindsey Graham is all the evidence you need that there’s no god.) Here’s the latest.

+ Ash Tray: “While the Australian media has already described this as a ‘shock announcement,’ it is anything but. Even as Barty was dominating the Australian Open in January, rumors whipped through the players’ lounge that she might gather the trophy and mic-drop retire. Here was a player who had already previously retired as a teenager, mostly for the simple reason that tennis no longer held joy for her.” SI: Ash Barty’s Abrupt Retirement Confirms Her Evident Authenticity. (She’s loaded, she’s already a legend in Australia, and rumor has it, she’s pretty good at golf. Also, she’s won exactly three majors, making it an Ash Tray!)

+ Yachtzee! Bored Ape Yacht Club creator raises $450 million to build an NFT metaverse. (This month we’ve learned that $450 million isn’t much for a yacht.)

+ Okta Gone?: “A hacking group that previously took responsibility for attacks on Nvidia and Microsoft claimed Monday that it had compromised Okta, which provides ‘single sign-on’ identity services to thousands of companies.”

+ Shit Doesn’t Just Happen: “Russia and neighboring Belarus are among the world’s top suppliers of crop nutrients, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has only added to the global run-up caused by supply snags and output woes.” Bloomberg: Coffee Farmers Face ‘Mega Emergency’ as Fertilizer Costs Soar. (I always figured coffee consumption and fertilizer creation were a circular market.)