Jules Adolphe Breton The Song of the Lark 1884
In 19 days, a jury in Oakland is going to decide whether the entire legal foundation of the AI industry is built on fraud.
— Ricardo (@Ric_RTP) April 8, 2026
Everyone thinks the Musk vs Altman lawsuit is a billionaire grudge match.
Two egos, one grudge, a $150 billion damages number designed for headlines.… pic.twitter.com/zNcNh6Y22L
Elon Musk just told you the job is dying.
— Dustin (@r0ck3t23) April 8, 2026
Most people heard a prediction.
A few heard a prison door opening.
Musk: “In less than 20 years, working at all will be optional.”
That is not a policy suggestion. That is a countdown.
For three hundred years, the human blueprint has… pic.twitter.com/joZKVLuuN4
JPMORGAN MARKET MANIPULATION AGAINST ELON!? 🤔
— X Market News🚨 (@xMarketNews) April 8, 2026
The other day, JPMorgan put out a bearish hit piece saying Tesla shares could fall significantly… and that same day, the stock dropped over 5%. $TSLA
Coincidence or influence? 📉
Now Elon Musk fires back by resurfacing an old… pic.twitter.com/xbCFx8XsLv
This is what courage in the face of relentless political attacks looks like. @DNIGabbard , someone I have known for close to two decades, and have great respect for, is saying what I have known and what millions of Americans suspected for a decade now.
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) April 9, 2026
Thank you @TulsiGabbard… https://t.co/6kE2ZViQVn
🚨 WATCH: In a jaw-dropping interview, FBI Director Kash Patel confirms with facts that Nancy Pelosi was involved in setting up January 6th by ensuring no National Guard was deployed after Trump pre-authorized 10-20k troops, as requests from her and DC's mayor were declined with… pic.twitter.com/2Ur7dzVsAI
— TRUMP SUPPORTER (@_Postive_Vibes) April 8, 2026
Rudy Giuliani says it took him a long time to accept a “stark” conclusion about the modern Democrat Party:
— Overton (@overton_news) April 8, 2026
“There’s evil at the core of the party.”
He called out Mamdani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Barack Obama by name.
GIULIANI: “It took me the longest time to come to the… pic.twitter.com/AFQS3Ty5E0
"It's very clear to me… that the Israeli offensive [on Lebanon] right now is completely counterproductive… the only thing that Israel is achieving is giving Hezbollah, which has already been significantly weakened, a new lease of life." Greek PM @kmitsotakis tells me "we have… pic.twitter.com/TGl2HSmE26
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) April 8, 2026
Read The Story of Civilization by Durant https://t.co/Mw3MJ03HLp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2026
Democrats are in full panic mode as the changes at CBS News and 60 Minutes have become apparent.
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) April 9, 2026
Under the new ownership of Paramount (and Larry Ellison with his son David), CBS News is now doing real reporting exposing government fraud in California.
Now Ellison is also… pic.twitter.com/eF5KbKjATQ
It starts today, guys, not Wednesday or Thursday. The ceasefire comes with the meeting.
“Trump had accepted a secret ten-point plan that the administration felt necessary to keep under wraps.”
• Whatever’s Happening in Iran and the Middle East, It Isn’t a ‘Ceasefire’ (Moran)
How confusing is this “ceasefire” between the U.S. and Iran currently in effect, supposedly for the next two weeks, and why is everyone still shooting at one another? “Well, there is a ceasefire. Or perhaps not,” writes old Middle East hand Elliot Abrams in The Free Press. “It includes Lebanon. Or it doesn’t. Iran’s 10-point plan is an acceptable working document for the United States. Or it isn’t the one U.S. negotiators saw. The Strait of Hormuz will be open. Or passage requires Iranian approval and a toll,” he observes.Read more …
Donald Trump agreed to stop attacking Iran, and Iran agreed to stop attacking Israel and its Gulf neighbors and open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has kept up his end of the deal. Iran has not, but the U.S. is pretending Iran is in compliance. When Saudi Arabia complained that a refinery had been targeted by Iranian drones, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said simply that “troops out in remote locations” who didn’t know about the ceasefire yet were responsible.The confusion over Lebanon is partly Israel’s fault, given that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims he never agreed to a cease-fire for Lebanon. Iran never claimed during negotiations that Lebanon would be included in any ceasefire deal, either. Now they say it is and won’t attend the Friday negotiating session unless Israel agrees. Trump stated that Iran’s ten-point plan “is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” only to have his press secretary Karoline Leavitt claim in a Wednesday press conference that Iran’s plan “was fundamentally unserious, unacceptable and completely discarded,” and that Trump had accepted a secret ten-point plan that the administration felt necessary to keep under wraps.
And the Strait of Hormuz is still closed. It never opened. If anything, Iran has dug in its heels on the concept that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) controls access to the Strait and is entitled to charge tolls for ships that wish to pass. Lloyd’s List, a shipping industry journal, reported Wednesday afternoon that only three ships had transited Hormuz since the ceasefire. The Free Press: An accounting of gains and losses for the United States is therefore temporary and incomplete. If the ceasefire really breaks down (for instance, because Iran insists that Israel stop responding to Hezbollah attacks, which Israel will not do) the president will have to do something more than the air attacks of last week.
That will mean a broader bombing campaign which, though it will not destroy Iranian civilization, will destroy a number of bridges and power plants. That should not be surprising or unacceptable, because Iran spent the first hours after the ceasefire announcement attacking power and desalination plants and oil sites in the Arab Gulf countries. Or, Trump might decide the time has come to seize some islands in the Gulf. This would all be unwelcome for Trump, who wants the war over, the stock market up, and oil prices steadily (if slowly) descending. He will only do it if the Iranian regime leaves him no other choice.
As badly as Trump wants the war to be over, he can’t end it as it currently stands. Abrams believes that “at the end of two weeks allotted for negotiations, two more weeks will be allotted, and then two more.” I don’t think Trump will string these ceasefire talks out for very long. Donald Trump is going to go big before he goes home. What that means is anyone’s guess, but it certainly won’t be good for Iran. The religious fanatics who were previously in charge have been replaced by Iranian nationalist fanatics in the IRGC. This is not “regime change.” The IRGC fanatics running Iran were responsible for the 35,000 Iranian protesters gunned down in the streets.
Add to that the fact that Iranian communications have been smashed, and a paranoia approaching hysteria, never seen in a modern state, afflicts the current leaders in Iran, and we’re a long way from any real “ceasefire.” I think we can expect another round of fighting with both Israel and the U.S. upping the ante in Lebanon and on Iranian infrastructure.
So there’s no ceasefire, but they’re furious about the ceasefire.
“They have described the development as a “political disaster” and PM Netayahu’s worst strategic failure ..”
• Israeli MPs Furious Over Trump’s Ceasefire With Iran (RT)
A ceasefire deal struck by Washington and Tehran is a “disaster” and “failure,” several prominent Israeli politicians have said. Israel was left out of the equation, they argued, calling it a strategic mistake on the part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. US President Donald Trump announced a two-week pause to the US-Israeli war on Iran to negotiate a long-term solution to the conflict on the basis of a 10-point plan put forward by Tehran. It reportedly includes Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of its uranium enrichment, the lifting of sanctions, and the cessation of war on all fronts, including Israeli attacks on Lebanon.Read more …
Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday it “supports” Trump’s decision while maintaining that Israel would continue its military campaign against the Iran-linked Hezbollah group in neighboring Lebanon. “There has never been such a political disaster in all of our history. Israel wasn’t even at the table when decisions were made concerning the core of our national security,” said Yair Lapid, parliamentary opposition leader and the head of the centrist Yesh Atid party.“Netanyahu failed politically, failed strategically, and didn’t meet a single one of the goals that he himself set,” the lawmaker said in a post on X. Former Deputy Economic Minister Yair Golan, who leads the Democrats party, also branded the development a “total failure” in a social media post, adding that Iran emerged from the conflict stronger than before. MP Avigdor Liberman, the head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, also claimed that peace with Iran under the conditions listed in its plan would only lead to another conflict later.
The US and Israel launched an unprovoked bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic in late February, openly stating they were seeking regime change and an end to Iran’s nuclear program. The conflict killed thousands and caused unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies, mainly due to Tehran’s effective closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Some people like to think the US lost to Iran.
• Before Donald Trump Ran Up His White Flag, Here Are The Reasons He Did So (Helmer)
President Donald Trump has been defeated on the battlefield near Isfahan over the weekend. He was then defeated on the morning of Tuesday in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in his attempt, manipulating Bahrain, to legalize the use of force against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.Read more …
Finally, minutes short of his announced genocide deadline “before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!” and “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, Trump bit his tongue on his threat: “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”Instead, Trump announced that as a favour to his Pakistan ally, Asim Munir, “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East. We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated. On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”
The official statement, issued in Teheran by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said that Iran is “considering announcement by POTUS about acceptance of the general framework of Iran’s 10-point proposal as a basis for negotiations”. The Iranian agreement, Araghchi went on, then preserved the new regime for the Strait “via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”
Trump and his tweet supervisor, Stephen Miller, then swallowed their tongue by tweeting the text of Araghchi’s tweet. Exact and official wording of Iran’s 10-point proposal is not published. However, this summary published by the Tasnim News Agency, a platform of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), comes close. The IRGC has added the interpretation: “By accepting these conditions as the basis for negotiations, Trump has retreated from his desperate threats and bluffs.”
Humiliation reversed. CIA Director John Ratcliffe and War Secretary Peter Hegseth had repeatedly declared in their April 6 press conference, celebrating the weekend pilot rescue, that the Iranians had been “embarrassed and, ultimately, humiliated by the success of this audacious rescue mission”, and “Iran’s military, and we know this, is embarrassed and humiliated, and they should be”. With Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, Trump had declared last December: “Iran has been greatly reduced in power, prestige. I don’t want to use the word humiliation because, you know, they’re trying to build up again.”
This could lead to a bitter fight between Trump and the EU.
• JD Vance: EU in Hungary “Worst Ever Foreign Election Interference” (RMX)
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance used a high-profile appearance in Budapest alongside Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to accuse Brussels of carrying out “one of the worst examples of foreign and election interference” he had ever seen, claiming EU officials had targeted Hungary because they “hate this guy” and want to weaken his government ahead of the country’s election.Read more …
Speaking at a joint press conference in the Hungarian capital on Tuesday, Vance said the “bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary,” had sought to make the country less energy independent, and had “tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers.”“They’ve done it all because they hate this guy,” he added, pointing at Orbán.The U.S. vice president cast the vote as a test of national sovereignty and told Hungarian voters to ask not who was pro-Europe or pro-America, but “who is pro-you” and “who is pro the people of Hungary.” He caveated his address by insisting he was not telling Hungarians how to vote, and urged the “bureaucrats in Brussels to do the exact same thing.”
Meanwhile, Orbán hailed a new “golden era” in ties with Washington under President Donald Trump and said the return of Trump had transformed bilateral relations after years without a visit by such a senior American official. He said 2025 had been a record year for economic cooperation and that 2026 was already bringing further momentum, pointing to expanded collaboration in defense and space technology as well as new U.S. investment.
Both men used the press conference to present Hungary and the Trump administration as ideological allies. Orbán said the two sides were in constant contact on migration, “gender ideology,” family policy, and global security, while Vance said the partnership was rooted not primarily in economics but in “moral cooperation.”
“What the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor’s leadership and under President Trump’s leadership is the defense of Western civilization,” Vance said. He said that meant defending the idea that children should be educated “and not indoctrinated,” that families should be able to afford their energy bills, and that the West remained grounded in “Christian civilization and Christian values.”
The vice president also praised Orbán’s handling of energy policy, saying the Hungarian leader had been “the single most profound leader in Europe on the question of inter energy security and independence.” He argued that other European governments were now paying the price for failing to follow a similar path, saying Hungary’s energy price pressures were still less severe than those seen in much of the rest of Europe.
Both leaders argued that Trump’s return to power had strengthened the cause of peace in Ukraine. Orbán said Hungary had lived “in the shadows of a war for four years now” and repeated his long-held claim that the conflict would never have begun had Trump been in office in 2022. He also accused Brussels of obstructing peace efforts, saying that if European leaders had not been “blocking the peace efforts of the president, peace would prevail” in Ukraine already.
The Hungarian prime minister also used the appearance to accuse Ukraine of taking steps designed to damage Hungary before the election. He said Kyiv had earlier blocked a gas pipeline route and had now also blockaded an oil pipeline that he described as “the umbilical cord of the Hungarian economy.” Orbán said Hungary had been forced to tap its reserves, but insisted he had a plan to force Ukraine to reopen the route after the election.
“We have to force the Ukrainians to reopen the pipeline, and we have a plan to do that,” Orbán said. “After the national forces win the election here in Hungary … there will be no option left for the Ukrainians than to lift this blockade.”
Vance echoed that confrontational line, saying there were “elements within the Ukrainian intelligence services” that had tried to “put their thumb on the scale of American elections” and Hungarian elections too. He said that behavior was “just what they do,” though he added that Ukraine, like the United States, contained both “good people and bad people.” At another point, Vance was asked whether the United States would work with a different Hungarian leader if Orbán were defeated. He replied that Washington would work with whoever won because it loved “the people of Hungary,” but immediately added: “Viktor Orban is going to win the next election in Hungary.”
1) How do we know the court knows enough about AI?
2) Are all other Ai models also supply-chain risks?
• Appeals Court Allows Pentagon To Call Anthropic A Supply-Chain Risk (ZH)
In a significant development for the intersection of artificial intelligence policy and national security, a federal appeals court in Washington ruled on April 8 that the Department of War may designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk while a full judicial review plays out. The decision came after the AI company sought an emergency stay to block the controversial designation.Read more …
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that Anthropic “has not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” allowing the blacklist to remain in effect for now. This ruling directly conflicts with a temporary injunction issued last month by a federal district court in California, which had paused the designation during ongoing litigation.The designation, authorized under federal laws intended to shield military and government systems from supply-chain vulnerabilities and foreign sabotage, functions as an effective blacklist. It prohibits Anthropic from conducting business with the federal government or its contractors and directs federal agencies, contractors, and suppliers to terminate existing ties with the company.
The move originated after Anthropic declined a Department of War request to alter the user policies and safety guardrails of its flagship AI model, Claude. The company refused to remove restrictions that prevent the AI from being used for mass surveillance or the development and operation of fully autonomous weapons systems. Anthropic has emphasized its commitment to “constitutional AI” principles and responsible deployment, arguing that such guardrails are essential to ethical AI use.
The Pentagon has stated publicly that it does not intend to employ Claude for those specific purposes, but it has insisted on the flexibility to use the technology for all lawful military applications. President Donald Trump weighed in on social media earlier, accusing Anthropic of trying to “strong-arm” the federal government by using its AI policies to dictate military decisions.
Late on April 8, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche celebrated the appeals court decision on X (formerly Twitter), describing it as “a resounding victory for military readiness.” He added: “Our military needs full access to Anthropic’s models if its technology is integrated into our sensitive systems.”
Anthropic, a prominent AI firm founded by former OpenAI executives and backed by major investors including Amazon and Google, has positioned itself as a leader in safe and reliable AI development. Its Claude models are widely used in enterprise, research, and creative applications precisely because of their built-in safeguards.
The case is believed to mark the first time such a supply-chain risk designation — typically reserved for foreign entities posing security threats — has been applied to a major U.S.-based AI company. It underscores deepening tensions between commercial AI developers’ emphasis on ethical guardrails and the government’s push for unfettered access to advanced technology for defense purposes.
Litigation continues in both the California district court and the D.C. Circuit, and further updates are expected as the conflicting rulings are reconciled.
The government says so, but really, honestly, what do they know?
.. “superintelligence” is nearly upon us, and the effect will be “so mind-bending, so disruptive” on society that America needs a “new social contract”
• Is Anthropic’s ‘Mythos’ a ‘Generational Leap’ Beyond Other AI Models (Moran)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is doing something no Big Tech owner has ever done: “He’s publishing a detailed blueprint for how government should tax, regulate and redistribute the wealth from the very technology he’s racing to build and spread,” according to Axios. The reason is a little unsettling: “superintelligence” is nearly upon us, and the effect will be “so mind-bending, so disruptive” on society that America needs a “new social contract” on the order of the Progressive Era of the turn of the 20th century or the New Deal.Read more …
AI companies know some random idiot, or some rogue nation, could use their models to conjure the next pandemic. “Wonderful things are going to happen there — we’ll see a bunch of diseases get cured,” Altman said. But he also knows terrorist groups could use the models to try to create novel pathogens: “[T]hat’s no longer a theoretical thing, or it’s not going to be for much longer.” Anthropic has just given its “Mythos” AI model a limited release. Why limited? Both the industry and the government believe that Mythos is an AI capable of “not just identifying weaknesses in security systems, but exploiting them with autonomous, never-before-seen precision,” reports Axios.The darn thing accidentally escaped the confines of its “sandbox” and strolled through several systems after building a “moderately sophisticated multi-step exploit” to give it the run of the internet. The model demonstrated a “potentially dangerous capability for circumventing our safeguards,” Anthropic revealed. “The researcher found out about this success by receiving an unexpected email from the model while eating a sandwich in a park.” Yikes.
Anthropic’s Logan Graham — a former Rhodes Scholar who leads the Frontier Red Team, which stress-tests new models — told us the industry needs to rethink future releases of all AI models, given the new and coming capabilities. So imagine Mythos-level power in the hands of the Iranian regime in the middle of a hot war or Russia’s military as it tries to decimate Ukraine. That’s the chief reason the government and AI companies are racing so fast toward a technology so powerful and potentially dangerous. These officials fear that China, armed with superior AI, could present an existential threat to U.S. dominance.
“An enemy could reach out and touch us in a way they can’t or won’t with kinetic [battlefield] operations,” a source close to the Pentagon told us. “For most Americans, the Iran war is ‘over there.’ With a cyberattack, it’s right here.” “Secrets” in business or government are fleeting, and for the right price, someone, somewhere might be tempted to sell AI secrets to bad actors. Or more likely, those bad actors would create their own AI nightmares, given the state of the tech and the abilities of the Chinese and the Russians.
The controlled release of Mythos could be the blueprint for future model releases, with AI companies doling out access to select partners that have enough security to test world-bending systems. Other AI companies will soon catch up to Mythos — not just here, but in China and elsewhere. A Chinese state-sponsored group already used an earlier Claude model to target roughly 30 organizations in a coordinated attack before Anthropic detected it.
The time is fast approaching for all of corporate America and all of government to be prepared to guard against hackers with superhuman powers. The window to get ahead of this is closing fast. Most in power aren’t remotely ready.This doesn’t sound like AI hype to me. This isn’t Sam Altman bragging about his latest ChatGPT release. This is crunch time. We’re now in a genuine arms race where keeping ahead of China and Russia is a matter of the highest national security and, potentially, of national survival.
Don’t think everyone’s ready. Three quarters are too heavy, and that’s just one example.
• US Moves Closer To Automated Military Draft (RT)
Plans for automated military conscription during a US national emergency are advancing and on schedule to be in place by the end of the year, according to the federal agency tasked with maintaining the list, the Selective Service System (SSS). Provisions included in the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act passed last December in response to falling compliance shifted the responsibility from individuals to the SSS. The changes drew renewed attention this week after media outlets highlighted a recent update on the agency’s website. The SSS is expected to finalize implementation by December 2026, aiming for a “streamlined registration process and corresponding workforce realignment.”Read more …
Currently, most adult males under the age of 26 living in the US – including undocumented immigrants – are required to register for potential conscription. The millions who fail to do so can face penalties of up to $250,000 in fines, five years in prison, and restrictions on obtaining citizenship. Under the new system, the SSS would instead build its registry using personal data from multiple government databases.The US military has relied on an all-volunteer force since the early 1970s. President Richard Nixon ran for office in 1968 on a pledge to end mandatory conscription, viewing it as a key source of public resentment towards the Vietnam War. Although draft registration was halted in 1975, it resumed in 1980 following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.In recent years, the Pentagon has faced mounting challenges in both recruiting volunteers and maintaining the national draft list. Standards for enlistment have been lowered to address recruitment shortfalls, while the shift to automatic registration is intended to boost the pool for possible conscription.
Several anti-war organizations have urged Congress to reconsider the change. They argue the system “won’t produce an accurate or complete list of potential draftees,” but at the same time “will increase the likelihood of war and violate the privacy of US citizens and residents.” Critics believe that the aggregated database will be “vulnerable to misuse and weaponization” by both government entities and private actors.
There are broader efforts across Western countries to prepare for possible large-scale military conflicts, including by tightening conscription policies. In Germany, for example, new rules quietly introduced in January require men of fighting age to obtain permission before staying abroad for more than three months, reportedly catching many by surprise.
The EU is building a deadly industry.
Backed by nearly $1 billion in contracts, Fire Point has risen on bold claims of deep strikes inside Russia. But how real is its success?
• A Billion-Dollar Mirage: Do Ukraine’s New Missiles Match The Hype? (Kornev)
In less than two years, a little-known Ukrainian startup has secured nearly $1 billion in state contracts, built one of the country’s most ambitious missile programs – and drawn the attention of anti-corruption investigators. A February article by Deutsche Welle and subsequent interviews with co-founder Denis Shtilerman have helped propel Fire Point into the European media spotlight, with bold claims about long-range strike capabilities deep inside Russia. But beyond the publicity, evidence of real-world effectiveness remains limited. What, then, can these missiles actually do – and how serious a threat do they represent?Read more …
Fire Point: Sudden success
In 2025, Fire Point rapidly emerged as a leading name in Ukrainian missile manufacturing. Today, it stands out as one of the most dynamic yet secretive defense startups in Ukraine, specializing in the production of long-range drones and missiles. Initially, the company developed only cruise missiles, but now it also designs ballistic missilesReports suggest that the startup launched with $1.5-$2 million invested by the founders themselves. However, in 2024-2025, the company secured government contracts worth approximately $1 billion, which is truly remarkable. Perhaps the answer to this mystery lies in the backgrounds of the founders?At the helm of the company is Denis Shtilerman, the chief designer, founder, and majority owner (with a 97.5% share) of FP. He describes himself as a wealthy individual unafraid to invest his own money into the project. The co-founder is Yegor Skalyga (2.5% share) who previously headed a film industry company, suggesting ties to Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and his Studio Kvartal 95. Irina Terekh, the technical director and co-owner of FP, joined the team in 2023. And lastly, there is… former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who joined the advisory board in November 2025. Now that’s a smart move, considering the current situation in Ukraine.
High-ranking Ukrainian officials have actively promoted the company’s products. Zelensky referred to the FP-5 Flamingo as the “most successful” missile in Ukraine’s arsenal. The company also reportedly has ties to the former head of Zelensky’s office, Andrey Yermak. This is quite possible, since Fire Point has become the largest recipient of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s budget allocations for the construction of drones. Shtilerman attributes this to the fact that some state enterprises maintain secret ties with Russia, which is unacceptable at this time.
However, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) may have a different opinion about the company’s success. NABU has launched an investigation on several fronts: firstly, it is investigating possible price inflation for components used in FP-1 drones; secondly, NABU is examining the company’s connections with Timur Mindich and potential corruption schemes related to procurement through government structures. Amid these scandals, the appointment of Mike Pompeo to the advisory board has been viewed by many analysts as an attempt by FP to bolster its reputation and shield itself from corruption allegations.
Pink Flamingo
FP indeed emerged out of nowhere and quickly became a leader in Ukraine’s drone and missile manufacturing sector. It specializes in the development and mass production of long-range FP-1 and FP-2 strike drones, as well as the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. By 2025, its workforce expanded to 3,500 employees, including 650 engineers, with production facilities covering 175,000 square meters across several secret locations.The company’s most notable product so far is the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile powered by a AI-25TL turbofan engine. It is reported that the company has been gathering these engines from decommissioned training aircraft all over Eastern Europe. The missile is marketed as a long-range weapon designed for deep strikes. In size, it surpasses its Western counterparts like the Tomahawk or Storm Shadow missiles. Its flight range is up to 3,000 kilometers, and the warhead weighs 1,000-1,150 kilograms (with about 600 kilograms allocated for explosives).
The missile travels at speeds of 850-900 km/h and has a launch weight of approximately 6,000 kg. The fuselage length is about 12 meters and the wingspan is six meters. Equipped with a relatively modern guidance system – a combination of an inertial navigation system and a jamming-resistant satellite navigation system – it boasts a reported accuracy of approximately 15 meters from the intended target. However, confirming these specifications in real-world conditions has proven challenging – it is unclear how many of the missiles have been launched and how many have failed during testing.
Fire Point had ambitious plans to ramp up production to 200 missiles per month by 2026, but apparently, these are still distant prospects. To create an illusion of ongoing missile production, news reports occasionally surface about the deployment of these missiles, often accompanied by video footage. It seems the company has allocated funds for PR, as multiple stories about FP have appeared in leading Western media outlets within the past month.
First counter all the lies that have been told about Trump the past ten years.
It’s a miracle he survived, and that our democracy did.
• Serious Questions about Our “Democracy” (Paul Craig Roberts)
Democracy is valued because it is believed to be a means of holding government accountable. To succeed in holding government accountable, it is necessary to know what government is doing and why. Traditionally, opposition political parties and objective media were means for bringing out the truth. In our time political parties fight over power, not over principles. They hide their agendas behind false narratives that media supports rather than exposes. Consider this week’s major event: The alleged rescue operation of a US pilot downed in Iran.Read more …
Last Monday for a couple of hours we had the President of the United States, the Director of the CIA, the Secretary of War, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stand before media and TV audience and lie through their teeth by covering up a failed military attack on an Iranian nuclear facility by presenting it as a successful rescue mission of a downed pilot.The story made no sense and was obviously false. According to President Trump “hundreds” of US military personnel and several aircraft were involved. Navy and Army special forces teams and cargo planes carrying helicopters are not the way pilots are rescued. Such a highly visible operation calls attention to the venture and defeats it. Ask anyone in the know. The Iranians have the documents of Major Ryder that prove the alleged “rescue” was a military operation.
Have you heard anything in the media about Major Ryder? Have you seen or heard the names of the two rescued pilots? Rather than admit to a failed military operation against Iran, the Trump regime substituted a heroic story of the rescue of a brave airman. The first rescued airman was rescued without hundreds of special forces and the lost of a number of US aircraft.
When governments, politicians, and media have no respect for truth there can be no accountability. Just think of all the lies we have been told by governments over the years, lies largely unchallenged by media: President Kennedy was killed by Oswald; Robert Kennedy was killed by Sirhan Sirhan; The US was attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin by North Vietnam; 9/11 was the work of Osama bin Laden; Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction; Assad used chemical weapons; Palestinians are terrorists; Iranians are terrorists; Iran is making nuclear weapons. These and many other lies are transparently false but are treated as historical truths. Somehow Americans can believe on one hand that the US has the most powerful military in the world and that the CIA can locate a downed pilot in a cave in an Iranian mountain, and on the other hand that a few Saudi Arabians can defeat US airport security four times in the same hour on the same morning, hijack four US airliners and fly two of them into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and crash one in Pennsylvania, and the powerful American military and hyper-competent CIA are helpless bystanders.
When truth is not respected no principles are. Democracy requires transparency and respect for truth. Just as the Trump regime has lied about recent events in Iran, the Biden regime turned January 6 protesters into “insurrectionists” and imprisoned them, and Democrat prosecutors brought false civil and criminal indictments against President Trump. This is not a portrait of democracy.
It is democracies, not kingdoms and dictatorships, that are characterized by endless fights for power. In fights for power, truth is always the casualty. It is easy to conclude that truth can be less secure in a democracy than in a kingdom.
Democracy has other overwhelming disadvantages that eventually ensure its failure. If a democracy is to have a long life, the franchise must be limited, as America’s Founding Fathers limited it, to male property owners who are more prone to reason than emotion and who have a personal stake in the system. But as time passes and the franchise is expanded there come into existence people whose only stake in the system is their ability to vote away the income and wealth of those who comprised the original franchise. In America today we have a discriminatory income tax that takes more from higher incomes than from lower. We have a property tax that forces property owners to pay for the education of other people’s children including those of illegal aliens whose illegal presence is subsidized by US citizens..
We have inheritance taxes that confiscate 50% of the accumulations of successful people upon their death. Inheritance taxation also forces families that have built successful businesses to sell the business or take it public in order to pay the inheritance tax. In other words, democracies become theft mechanisms. This is the case in every existing democracy in the world today.
All democracies become riddled with faction, and unity disappears. When democracies not only permit but encourage themselves to be overrun by immigrant-invaders, they degenerate into Towers of Babel. The weakening of principle erodes law and respect for moral standards, and sexual and criminal perversities flourish. Democracy requires a great deal of maintenance that is not provided. Consequently, like an unmaintained engine democracy fails.
The most powerful proof of the failure of American democracy is that in the 21st century America’s most important and most costly decisions have been made by Israel. The “war on terror” was the Israel Lobby’s disguise for Israel’s use of American blood and money to eliminate obstacles to Greater Israel, such as Iraq, Libya, and Syria. America’s war with Iran, from which Trump is trying to extricate himself by declaring victory, is the consequence of Israel’s hold over America. The war is not the result of the will of the people who overwhelmingly oppose the war, or of a declaration of war by Congress, or of an Iranian threat to the United States. The war is the result of a decision Netanyahu made for Trump. Clearly, America is no democracy when Netanyahu can send America to war for Greater Israel.
As the US government itself does not have control over its own foreign policy, in no sense can the American people hold “their” government accountable to their will. If America is to rebuild its democracy, America must begin by establishing its independence from Israel.
“Why can’t a woman be more like a man?”
Why can’t a Russian be more like an Iranian?
• The Doolittle Question, The Do-Nothing Answer (Helmer)
Professor Higgins’s question to Colonel Pickering about Eliza Doolittle in the line from the musical, My Fair Lady, was: Why can’t a woman be more like a man? In Moscow, where the course of the Iran war is having a profound impact on military, intelligence, Foreign Ministry, and Kremlin officials, almost nothing can be said in public. Not even the question they are asking each other downwards and sideways, not upwards: Why can’t a Russian be more like an Iranian?Read more …
The difficulty of answering is not because it is against the law to criticize the Russian Army’s performance in the present Special Military Operation (aka war), according to the interpretation of the local United Russia party commissar, his chief in the Kremlin, Alexei Gromov, or his chief, President Vladimir Putin.It is not because of a lack of confidence in what Putin is deciding as commander in chief. The President reveals himself in his private conversations; their substance is not a secret for a great many in a position to know. In the telephone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban — according to the authenticated transcript of their conversation of last October 17 – Putin said he believed Trump was not at war, not even in a special military operation, in the Middle East – not in Gaza and Lebanon from 2023, not in Iran in June 2025. Putin also made clear then that he doesn’t think Trump is at war with Russia, and that on the Ukrainian battlefield, Trump’s “tank” is fully functional, moving “forward”, not backward.
“Donald,” Putin told Orban, “has a surprising ability to deal with various crises, such as the regulation of the Middle East and, most recently, the Gaza region, and I hope that there will also be a satisfactory solution to the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.” Orban replied: “To be honest, I was also very surprised. I’ve known Donald for a long time, he’s not an ordinary person [both laugh]. His working method leaves no questions unresolved, I watch with admiration how successful he is. His business style, which is like a tornado, brings results.”
“Putin: As they say, he is moving forward like a tank. It worked for him, and we can only be happy about that. Prior to the meeting in Anchorage, the US side formulated the general principles of possible regulation, and I believe that these will be discussed again in the discussions. We have already talked about this in Anchorage, and there will probably be something to discuss in Budapest as well.” Putin may have been using Orban to ingratiate himself with Trump in the preliminaries for the Budapest summit meeting, but it didn’t help and the summit failed to materialize. The reasons, Russian reasons first, American second, can be followed here and here and here.
What the newly disclosed transcript shows – just as other transcripts of Putin’s private conversations with US leaders reveal – is that Putin is not aiming to fight or deter Trump; that Russia is not at war with the US (and its allies); and that Putin believes that money can be paid in sufficiently large amounts (billions of dollars more for Trump than for his White House predecessors), so that Russia’s national interests will be served. That conviction is one of the three“understandings” — Putin insists as do his subordinates — which were reached at the Anchorage summit meeting with Trump on August 8, 2025.
Putin’s Anchorage reference to Orban is to the “Anchorage Understandings”. The second of these was Putin’s belief that Trump will concede Russia’s dominance of the Ukraine in exchange for Trump’s dominance of the Americas – from Greenland through Canada to Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Exactly what (whether) Trump conceded Russian dominance of the entire NATO eastern front from Poland, the Baltic Sea, to Finland was left unclear at the time. Exactly what (whether) Putin conceded US dominance of China, North Korea, and Iran with Greater Israel was also left unclear.
The third of the “understandings” was that bribes agreed by the two presidents’ bagmen will be honoured by the presidents on receipt. Who in Moscow shall count the sums in exchange and the interests served? That’s the Russian oligarchs. The President’s confidant, negotiator with Trump, spokesman for the Anchorage understandings, signatory of the bribe payments, and chief representative for the Russian oligarchs – this is Kirill Dmitriev. He writes and publishes tweets several times each day because he wants to be heard. It is therefore his determined silence on every aspect of Trump’s attempted genocide against Iran, and his near-completed one against the Arabs of Palestine and Lebanon, which speaks loudest.
The Iranians do not misinterpret that silence. Nor the Chinese nor the Cubans. To understand what the Russians who count understand at present of Russian conduct of operations on the Ukrainian battlefield, the Iranian battlefield, and the Cuban battlefield, it is necessary to read between the lines of what is said in public by the officials, including Putin; and to ask questions in private of those in a position to know enough to piece the answer to the big question. Right now that’s the Doolittle Question.
Sundance still has the faith.
“Trust God, and pray for President Trump.”
Back in 2015/2016 The Salem Media Group, like -the whole crew- the Evangelical right per se’, was essentially against Donald Trump a republican candidate. Trump wasn’t religious enough, and Salem was/is VERY pro-Israel. A very strong evangelical tribe. Salem Media Inc supported Ted Cruz (mostly), they also really liked Scott Walker (and similar). Milquetoast varieties of Republican. You know the sort. {2015 citation} Breitbart (Robert and Rebekah Mercer) and the strong pro-Israel group (Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, etc.) also supported Ted Cruz (Jeff Roe and company). Almost no one directly supported Trump. You know that, and you know the outcome of it.
That environment led to tons of eventual jump-overs, including Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, etc. when Trump became the “presumptive” nominee. Hey, they go where the $$ flows. Then Mark Levin followed reluctantly, and eventually the Salem crew bit their tongue, overcame the “grab em by the pussy” nonsense and joined the pragmatic MAGA coalition. Now, you might also remember the name Brad Parscale, an online tech guy who was datamining Facebook and microtargeting for Trump support. That led to a controversy called “Cambridge Analytica” after the unexpected Trump win and the leftists crying foul about the online support that defeated their aggressive corporate media ploys. That’s the core. We agree?Okay. Fast forward. Donald Trump held a loose coalition, which included the Salem tribe (which included a now bigger TPU$A, Charlie Kirk et al) which included the high-horse Evangelicals, only now they were more firm horse riders. Brad Parscale was later hired by Salem Media Inc as their strategic operations director (current position). No longer connected to the Trump team, yet quasi-supporting the objectives of the Trump administration, Mr Brad Parscale takes money from the pro-Israel group, files FARA registration forms and goes back to his tech skillset to shape and influence politics; except now, a decade later, tech micro-targeting is big time algorithmic control systems.
Salem Media Inc. still in alignment with their Evangelical roots, plus a new addition from Trump world (Lara Trump and Don Jr.) each with a foot in the Salem operation, and Brad Parscale promoting the pro-Israel Evangelical mission with unbelievable tools thanks to modern tech, artificial intelligence, datamining and algorithmic data operations on social media platforms.Then comes billionaires Larry and David Ellison, also very pro-Israel, in combination with Salem Media Inc. operated by Parscale, and the ideological alignment of Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, Laura Loomer etc., taking algorithmic AI and Evangelical data targeting to new stratospheric levels.
Which brings us through 2025 and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu noting in his influencer meetup that the Tik Tok and X platform were the two most important strategic operations of interest, against the warning of diminished GenX support from Charlie Kirk. {Citation and Video} Subsequently, Larry Ellison (Oracle) takes control of Tik Tok (GenZ), while Elon Musk (free speech) is controlling X. All of the above come into a deep, collaborative, pro-Israel synergy.That’s not a conspiracy; it is simply the reality of political targeting and influence in the year 2026. That’s the current landscape.
That’s what you are witnessing online, perhaps in your data profile, and more than likely in your algorithmically controlled online travels. Your identity as defined by your data and pixels implanted into your profile that can be targeted to feed you specific information and content. Algorithmic support operations, also using money to shift the visibility of support (or lack therein), is why “X” and other platform content providers, don’t always align with reality you see offline and/or polling that shows consistent support for Donald Trump amid the MAGA base. The narratives are not organic, often they are divisive. However, most users outside the control system can’t distinguish the content that is being targeted toward them.
I hope that somewhat helps see through the friction. Most of us have supported Trump throughout his endeavors in office, trusting him to do what needed to be done, and using his best judgement on whatever the issue was while understanding that he has much more information than us. This still applies today. This doesn’t mean that President Trump can see everything or has immediate reference for everything happening. An example was JD Vance telling the audience today that he had no idea Zelenskyy had threatened Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The White House is focused on the issues confronting them daily; they have a priority perspective, and they do not see everything. Trust God, and pray for President Trump.
Keep Talking Greece still exists! I remember her from 10-odd years ago. Lost sight of her. Sorry!
• WSJ: Greece on The List of NATO Countries That Trump Will Reward (KTG)
The White House is considering a plan to punish some members of the NATO alliance that President Donald Trump thinks were unhelpful to the U.S. and Israel during the Iran war, according to administration officials. Other countries that have supported the war, such as Greece, will be rewarded. According to an exclusive report by Wall Street Journal, the proposal would involve moving U.S. troops out of North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries deemed unhelpful to the Iran war effort and stationing them in countries that were more supportive. The proposal would fall far short of President Trump’s recent threats to fully withdraw the U.S. from the alliance, which by law he can’t do without Congress.Read more …
The plan, which has circulated and gained support among senior administration officials in recent weeks, is early in conception and one of several the White House is discussing to punish NATO. It underscores the growing rift between the Trump administration and European allies following the president’s decision to launch the war with Iran. “It is quite unfortunate that NATO has turned its back on the American people over the past six weeks, while they are the ones who are funding their defense,” said the White House spokeswoman.On Wednesday evening, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “NATO wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again.” The U.S. has around 84,000 troops stationed across Europe, though the exact number varies from military exercises and rotational deployments. U.S. bases in Europe serve as a critical hub of global U.S. military operations, as well as provide an economic boon to the host country through investment. Bases in Eastern Europe also serve as a deterrent against Russia. When asked for comment, the White House referred to recent statements made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticizing NATO countries for failing to be more helpful to the U.S. with the war in Iran.
It couldn’t be determined which countries would lose troops, yet a number of alliance members have run afoul of Trump since he returned to office and more recently attracted his ire by objecting to the war in Iran. Spain—the only NATO country that hasn’t indicated it would spend 5% of its GDP on defense—blocked U.S. planes involved in the Iran operation from using its airspace. Administration officials are also frustrated with Germany after top officials criticized the war, though Germany serves as one of the largest and most important hubs for the U.S. military to support its operations in the Middle East. Italy also briefly blocked the U.S. use of an air base in Sicily, and the French government agreed to only allow the U.S. to use a base in southern France after it guaranteed planes not involved in Iran strikes would land there.
Beyond repositioning troops, the plan could also involve closing a U.S. base in at least one of the European countries, possibly Spain or Germany, according to the two administration officials. Countries that could benefit because they are viewed as supportive include Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Greece, the officials said. The Eastern European countries have some of the highest defense-spending rates in the alliance and were some of the first to signal they would support an international coalition to monitor the Strait of Hormuz. After war broke out, Romania quickly approved U.S. requests to allow its bases to be used by the U.S. Air Force.
The plan could result in putting more U.S. troops closer to the Russian border, an outcome likely to antagonize Moscow. Senior European officials counter that they were never consulted on the war in advance to begin with, making it difficult to coordinate military response in the conflict’s first days. During his first term in 2020, Trump ordered the withdrawal of around 12,000 troops from Germany, but President Joe Biden reversed the decision after taking office in 2021. [full article: WSJ]
🚨 The Shroud of Turin image required 34,000 billion watts of ultraviolet energy in one 40th of a billionth of a second
— Interstellar (@InterstellarUAP) April 8, 2026
This power level “we don’t have on Earth.”
No paint. No dye. No brush strokes.⁰
Just a burst so insane it only scorched the very top of the linen fibers.… pic.twitter.com/JcJE901BtG
Son père fabrique du carton. Sa mère fait tourner la maison. Il grandit dans une banlieue de Bruxelles, entre le scoutisme et le collège catholique.
— Ce jour-là dans l'Histoire (@CeJour_Histoire) April 8, 2026
Il s'ennuie. Il rate ses études. À 18 ans, il entre dans la cartonnerie familiale. Il vend du carton ondulé.
Le soir, il écrit.… pic.twitter.com/hQZBCoTOyE
Ted Nugent points out the absurdity👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/P2TrTB2W8o
— I am Ken (@Ikennect) April 8, 2026
:A Grecian Odyssey, Seen from 250 Miles Above From the serene vantage point of orbit, the cradle of Western civilization unfolds like a living myth carved into the Earth itself.Below lies the rugged Greek mainland, stretching southward into the sun-drenched Peloponnese, where… pic.twitter.com/PsXbHxcKSE
— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) April 8, 2026
Around 500 AD, just 24 years after the fall in 476 AD, Europe did not suddenly become empty or chaotic overnight. Instead, it was in a transitional phase where Roman structures were fading while new kingdoms were taking shape.
— Archaeo – Histories (@archeohistories) April 8, 2026
In the former western territories, power had shifted… pic.twitter.com/jDiBcfV22M
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