Daily Dose of $Destiny | Friday, November 13, 2026
Happy Friday the 13th, babe. And wow, did the universe take that personally today.
Every single plane in America got told to stay on the ground. A tanker T-boned a cruise boat in New Orleans and flipped it on its side. Starship blasted off and the booster had other plans. Trump says he might be more popular than ever, with one tiny asterisk. And a horse in Arizona let himself into the kitchen like he pays rent.
I read the FAA notices, the transcripts and the local news so you don't have to. Grab a snack and let's go. 👇
✈️ THE FAA JUST GROUNDED ALL OF AMERICA
Friday afternoon, right in the middle of the weekend rush, the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." No departures from any U.S. airport. Planes already in the air could keep going and land. AP | FAA advisory | Flightradar24 on X
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communication issue hit all the Air Route Traffic Control Centers. The FAA called it "a temporary telecommunications outage" and said every flight has been accounted for. The Air Current reports it started at the Chicago center, then Boston, Washington, New York and Minneapolis reported problems one after another. Sean Duffy on X | The Air Current
Is it hackers? Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said "there is no indication yet that this was a nefarious attack" and "there should be no fear to the public at all," but he didn't fully rule it out. He also said they're "looking at" the FAA's new SMART AI scheduling system, and the company that built it says the ground stop was not caused by its product. AP says this is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, and before that, 9/11. The Washington Post | AP live updates
Watch on X: https://x.com/FAANews/status/2121363171361575176
Real talk: my favorite post of the day was the guy who wrote "Yesterday was my last day at Microsoft. Today, I started a brand new job at the FAA." I'm crying. But if one phone line can freeze every plane in the richest country on Earth, somebody owes us a real answer, not a vibe. 📵
🛳️ A TANKER T-BONED A CRUISE BOAT IN NEW ORLEANS
Around 12:30 p.m. local time, the asphalt tanker Atlantic Asphalt slammed into the American Heritage, a paddlewheel river cruise boat docked on the Mississippi below the Crescent City Connection. Officials say the tanker appears to have lost its steering. The cruise boat took on water, rolled over and capsized right at the dock. AP | gCaptain | WDSU on X
The footage is terrifying. People are hanging on to the railings as it tips, and some ended up in the cold river in life jackets. Port NOLA says about 129 passengers plus crew were aboard. And somehow? Everybody is accounted for. 32 people went to the hospital, including at least two officers who were helping people off, and none are critical. Gov. Jeff Landry called it "a literal miracle on the Mississippi." The NTSB is sending a team. The Washington Post | BBC | Breaking911 on X
🎥 Our own clip:
Watch on X: https://x.com/KudzuNewz/status/2121388541103976694
Okay but: shout out to every tugboat captain, cop and dock worker who ran toward that boat instead of away. That's the South I know. Nobody died and I'm counting that as a Friday the 13th win. 🙏
🚀 STARSHIP FLEW, BUT THE BOOSTER SAID "NAH"
SpaceX launched Starship Flight 15 from Starbase, Texas at 5:47 p.m. ET. Clean liftoff, clean hot staging. The plan was to catch the Super Heavy booster with the tower's giant "chopstick" arms, but SpaceX called the catch off and the booster splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico about six and a half minutes after launch. Space.com | SpaceX on X
Why? SpaceX hasn't fully said yet. NBC and Reuters say it wasn't immediately clear. Now the big one: the Ship itself is supposed to spend nearly a day in orbit and then come back to the tower for the first-ever catch of a Starship upper stage, around 4:17 p.m. ET Saturday if everything holds. NBC News | SpaceX on X
Watch on X: https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2121374779680964991
Bottom line: the FAA can't keep a phone line up, and Elon is out here trying to catch a skyscraper with chopsticks. Same country, two different speeds. I'll be watching tomorrow with snacks. 🥢
🗳️ TRUMP: "MY POPULARITY MAYBE IS HIGHER NOW"
On Hugh Hewitt's show, Trump called the midterms "lousy" and said "I was very surprised. I'm not used to that... every time I ran, we won." Then the line everybody clipped: "I think my level of popularity maybe is higher now than it was. I'm not sure, but maybe it feels to me that it would be higher other than what happened at the midterms." Roll Call Factba.se transcript | Aaron Rupar on X
He also said he got about a million and a half more votes in Texas than the GOP Senate candidate there. The polls are not agreeing with the vibe though: a post-election Economist/YouGov poll had him at 36% approve and 62% disapprove, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll put him at 32%. Radar Online | Irish Star
🎥 Our own clip:
Watch on X: https://x.com/KudzuNewz/status/2121296189744415123
My take: "other than what happened at the midterms" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting in that sentence. That's like me saying my date went perfect, other than him leaving with my best friend. 💅
🐴 A HORSE LET HIMSELF INTO THE KITCHEN
Rancher David Coffman in Tucson, Arizona caught this on video: his horse walks up and casually opens the kitchen door all by himself, then just stands there in the doorway. Somebody shuts it, and the door swings right back open with the horse still there. Coffman says the horse probably "wanted carrots." ABC News on X | O Globo
And this isn't even rare. A 2019 crowdsourced study in PLOS ONE collected hundreds of reports of horses figuring out doors, gates, latches and even locks. O Globo
🎥 Our own clip:
Watch on X: https://x.com/KudzuNewz/status/2121209441660092684
Real talk: this horse has more confidence than every man in my DMs. Walked right in, didn't knock, asked for snacks. Honestly? Respect. 🥕
📉 MY STOCK PICK: SELL $UAL (UNITED AIRLINES)
My read on the climate: the outage started at the Chicago control center, and Chicago O'Hare is one of United's biggest hubs. United had to activate its Emergency Operations Center today. Washington is about to have a Democratic Congress hungry for hearings, and "the FAA's new AI system" is now part of the investigation conversation. Airlines are the ones who eat the cancellations, the rebookings and the angry customers while the government figures out what broke. Until I know this was a one-time glitch, I'm trimming airlines, not buying them. United trades on the Nasdaq, so you can sell it (or skip it) on Cash App.
Risks: if the FAA fixes this tonight and flights are back to normal by Saturday morning, this could be a one-day headline and the stock may barely notice. Holiday travel season is coming and demand has been strong. Dip buyers love airlines after a scary headline. Don't panic-sell everything.
Not financial advice.
💋 $DESTINY'S TAKE
Friday the 13th did NOT play today. Every plane in America got benched, a cruise boat flipped over at the dock, and a booster bailed on its own landing.
But look at who actually came through. Tugboat crews and cops racing to pull people out of the river. Air traffic controllers landing every plane already in the sky while their radios and radar glitched out. And one horse who knew exactly what he wanted and walked right in to get it.
So stop waiting for the systems to save you. Be the horse. 😘
Stay grounded. Stay afloat. Stay out of my carrots.
- $Destiny 🔥
☕ Keep the fire lit: Cash App $Realdestinyblaze
Photo credits are listed under each image (FAA advisory via Flightradar24, gCaptain, NBC News, Salem News Channel via Aaron Rupar, David C Coffman via Storyful/ABC News). Cover is an original KudzuNewz illustration. Linked or embedded third-party videos remain with their original hosts.
