May 012026
 


William-Adolphe Bouguereau Whisperings of Love 1889


Defiant Mojtaba Khamenei: Gulf’s Future Will Be “Without US Presence” (ZH)
Growing Division In Iran’s ‘Hardline Camp’ Emerges Over Halting All Talks With US (ZH)
Secretary Scott Bessent Discusses “Operation Economic Fury” Against Iran (CTH)
Trump: SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision a ‘Big Win’ (Salgado)
Anthropic Wants a Reset. Trump Should Think Twice (Jeff Hunt)
Dan Bongino Says He’s Scared of the FBI (CTH)
Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)
DOJ Indicts Sinaloa Governor and Others in Sweeping Cartel Case (Anderson)
U.S. Dept of Justice Indicts the Current Governor of Sinaloa, Mexico (CTH)
Trump: US Studying Troop Cuts In Germany, As Spat With Merz Intensifies (BBC)
No Aid for Kiev in US Military Budget for 2027 — Pentagon (TASS)
Mamdani Is Already Facing a $6 Billion Budget Hole (Margolis)
There’s a Name for What They’re Doing to Donald Trump (Thorne)
Banksy Confirms He’s Behind Statue In Central London (BBC)
The Biden Admin’s COVID Vaccine Cover-Up and Lies (Miranda Devine)

 


 

 


 


1) We have no idea if this is Khameini speaking. None. So don’t say it’s him. Explain.

2) We also don’t know if the US has battle-ready hypersonics.

Defiant Mojtaba Khamenei: Gulf’s Future Will Be “Without US Presence” (ZH)

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has never released video or voice messages, and he’s still not been seen or even photographed since the war’s start, and is believed to be severely injured and recovering. State TV on Thursday read aloud his written speech, which struck a defiant tone, declaring that the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters” and that a “new chapter” was being written for the whole region. State media cited security as the reason for having to read aloud his statement.


Khamenei says Iran will closely guard and protect its nuclear and missile capabilities, a clear and direct rejection of President Trump’s demand to hand over enriched uranium as the basis for a deal. Iranians will cling to the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities “as their national capital and will guard them like water, land and air borders,” Khamenei said.

“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei continued. “We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it – except at the bottom of its waters.” He also vowed Iran’s forces will “secure the Persian Gulf region and dismantle the hostile enemy’s exploitation of this waterway.”

US Teases Hypersonic Missiles, CENTCOM to Brief Trump
As we detailed Wednesday night, United States Central Command has requested deployment of the Army’s long-delayed hypersonic Dark Eagle to the Middle East for potential use against Iran, seeking a longer-range capability to strike ballistic missile launchers deep inside the country, Bloomberg first reported. If approved, the move would mark the first deployment of the hypersonic system, which remains behind schedule and has not been declared fully operational, even as Russia and China have already long ago fielded their own versions.

The Pentagon has claimed time and again of late that it has local air superiority, meaning that in some parts of Iran its aircraft can operate without facing much of a threat. And yet dozens of MQ-9 aircraft, plus several crewed fighters, have been downed, showing that other parts of Iran’s airspace remain dangerous.The Bloomberg report hit just as Axios rehashed an earlier report, according to which President Trump will receive a briefing on new plans for potential military action in Iran on Thursday from CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper. The briefing signals that “Trump is seriously considering resuming major combat operations either to try to break the logjam in negotiations or to deliver a final blow before ending the war.”

Meanwhile the Iranian side has been claiming dozens of its vessels have breached the US naval blockade, which the Pentagon has been denying. Others say that while some ships have traversed the strait, they have not actually fully crossed the blockade.

Read more …

Iran has three governments, maybe 4:

1) IGRC
2) Mullahs
3) Civilian
+ maybe 4) Army

So who are you going to talk to?

Growing Division In Iran’s ‘Hardline Camp’ Emerges Over Halting All Talks With US (ZH)

It remains difficult to know what’s really going on inside Iran, and to accurately assess the state of the country’s internal politics, but Financial Times describes a situation of hardliners vs. moderates duking it out to see whether negotiations with the United States should continue.


The report comes well after President Trump and the White House have at various times alleged Tehran governance is ‘fractured’ and the state is even ‘collapsing’ – which seems exaggerated if not flatly false. Those more independent-minded analysts outside the mainstream suggest the opposite is the case – that it’s Washington which can’t stick to any of its red lines and keeps moving the goal posts on negotiations. After all Trump did keep unilaterally extending the ceasefire, and the US has not resumed the bombings even though Trump clearly threatened to (even with ‘firm’ timelines) as the Iranians sat back

“At the heart of the dispute, which has played out in parliament and state media, is a push by Iran’s most hardline politicians to oppose the Islamic republic negotiating with the US over its nuclear program,” FT writes. “Their primary target is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the veteran parliamentary speaker who led talks to US vice-president JD Vance in Pakistan earlier this month. Politicians linked to Paydari, an influential ultra-hardline faction, suggested that negotiators have not fully followed directives set by the new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” the publication continues.

As for definitions, there’s also the problem of the West imposing broad brush labels of ‘hardline’ and ‘moderate’ from afar, based fundamentally on speculation and we might say, circular logic. After all, any Iranian official who is against pursuing more negotiations – while understandably coming to the conclusion that Washington can’t be trusted (after it bombed Iran twice during talks) – gets automatically labelled ‘hardliner’ by the MSM, and this also carries all kinds of implications overlapping with radical Islam.

But yes, there are clearly holdouts pushing for Tehran not to engage at all, to completely shutter communications, which would likely mean certain return to war: “Negotiations are now pure damage and nobody should go for negotiations,” Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of parliament close to the Paydari who accompanied Iran’s negotiating team to Pakistan, told local media. And another key section from the report is in the following:

He [Nabavian] criticized inclusion of Iran’s nuclear programme in talks as a “strategic mistake” and implied this is not what the top leader sought. Another hardline politician, Ali Khezrian, claimed to state television that the supreme leader opposed continuing the talks.Officials “should know that at this sensitive time their obligation is to thoroughly obey and carry out the guidelines of the supreme leader,” Nabavian said.

On Monday, 261 out of 290 MPs issued a statement supporting Ghalibaf and the other negotiators. However, prominent members of Paydari were absent from the list of signatories. The longer the Hormzu standoff goes, and the more the anti-Tehran rhetoric flows out of the White House and from Trump on Truth Social, the more likely the Paydari faction and others are to influence broader numbers of Iranian leaders and sectors of the public.

Read more …

“The Strategy to Freeze Iran’s Economy”

Secretary Scott Bessent Discusses “Operation Economic Fury” Against Iran (CTH)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlines Operation Economic Fury and the financial pressure campaign against the Iranian regime with Larry Kudlow.



KEY POINTS:
0:00 Introduction: Operation Economic Fury
0:39 Max Pressure: The Strategy to Freeze Iran’s Economy
2:04 Tracking the Money: Seizing IRGC Assets and Crypto
3:14 The Oil Blockade: Kharg Island at a Standstill
4:10 US Economic Resilience: Why Critics Are Wrong
6:04 IRS Modernization and Signature Tax Policies
7:33 Global Reshoring and the Manufacturing Boom
8:10 Geopolitical Chess: The UAE’s Break from OPEC
10:27 Federal Reserve Friction: Jay Powell vs. Kevin Warsh

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“Democrats transformed it into an excuse to do exactly what it was meant to prevent. ”

Trump: SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision a ‘Big Win’ (Salgado)

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against racist gerrymandering in a landmark decision Wednesday, President Donald Trump enthusiastically celebrated the decision. The Voting Rights Act was originally supposed to prevent the formation of congressional districts based on racial discrimination, but unfortunately, Democrats transformed it into an excuse to do exactly what it was meant to prevent. And therefore, the Court’s ruling against such abuse is very significant for protecting the integrity of our political system.


Trump posted on his his Truth Social platform April 29, “Today’s 6-3 Supreme Court decision in the Callais case is a BIG WIN for Equal Protection under the Law, as it returns the Voting Rights Act to its Original Intent, which was to protect against intentional Racial Discrimination. Thank you to brilliant Justice Samuel Alito for authoring this important and appropriate Opinion. Congratulations!” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon was just as excited as the president. “Extremely gratified to see this decision we’ve been waiting for! I was proud to co-author the brief for the United States as amicus in this important case, perhaps one of the most important developments in decades in Voting Rights Act jurisprudence!” she posted.

Less enthusiastic were Democrats who have benefited from such racist rigging of our system. Former President Barack Obama, for instance, whined, “Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities…The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who drew up one of the most outrageous and blatantly biased gerrymandered maps in the country, actually had the chutzpah to complain also, and added in an insult to the governor of Florida over a congressional map there likely to favor Republicans more. “The same day MAGA gutted the Voting Rights Act, Trump’s pipsqueak DeSantis rushed through rigged maps. No debate. No public input. They’re scared of VOTERS. This November: FAFO,” he hysterically threatened. Because only Democrats are allowed to redraw districts, apparently.

Here’s why Democrats are so mad:

The Supreme Court also delivered a religious freedom win on Wednesday, when it ruled unanimously in favor of faith-based ministries challenging state government overreach. After New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport harassed First Choice for helping pregnant women instead of recommending they kill their babies, the court ruled in favor of the pro-life center rather than the abortion-loving Democrat. It is certainly a day on which patriots can applaud the court.

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“Anthropic has been engaged in a form of regulatory capture by pushing frameworks that raise barriers to entry, allow it to dictate terms to suppliers, and concentrate power among a small number of well-connected firms. The more complex and restrictive the system becomes, the more it advantages companies already embedded in Washington.”

Anthropic Wants a Reset. Trump Should Think Twice (Jeff Hunt)

Last week, something unusual happened in Washington. Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, went to the White House in an attempt to make peace with the Trump administration. This is the same company that has been in open conflict with the Pentagon over the use of its technology and, as a result, was recently labeled a “supply chain risk.” Now its chief executive is knocking on the door, looking for a reset.That alone should raise a simple question: why now?


Amodei and Anthropic have openly opposed the direction President Trump is now taking on artificial intelligence. Amodei has been one of the most vocal critics of the administration’s decision to allow controlled exports of AI chips, even going so far as to compare a recent White House–approved sale of AI processors to “selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.” That’s not a nuanced policy critique. It’s an attempt to frame the president’s approach as reckless and dangerous—and to box policymakers into adopting the very restrictions that benefit his company while discouraging competitors and new entrants.

This is happening because Anthropic has built itself into something more than a technology company. It has become a political actor, deeply embedded in the regulatory mindset of the previous administration. The company has staffed its ranks with a significant number of former Biden officials who helped design and defend the very AI policies that President Trump is now unwinding and is going in “big” to support candidates who have called the President’s policies “bigoted.” The worldview that shaped those policies — and helped put the United States at risk of falling behind in the AI race — didn’t disappear when those officials left government. It followed them into the private sector.

That helps explain why Anthropic has been so consistently aligned against Trump’s AI agenda. This isn’t just about technical disagreements over governance frameworks or export categories. It’s about a fundamentally different view of how America should compete. On one side is a strategy rooted in market interference and government restriction. On the other is a strategy rooted in scale, competition, and global engagement while protecting America’s national security interests.

Anthropic has clearly chosen a side and used its position to argue for failed policies, including the export restrictions pushed during the Biden years that attempted to wall China off from American technology. Those policies didn’t slow China down. They sped it up.

Cut off from U.S. chips, Chinese firms invested heavily in domestic alternatives, built parallel supply chains, and moved closer to technological independence. The United States has seen this before. During the race to develop 5G technology, Washington similarly tried to restrict access, only to see Huawei step in, lock in global market share, and export its standards to much of the world. The risk now is repeating that mistake on a far larger scale with artificial intelligence.

President Trump’s approach reflects a different understanding of how global competition works. Rather than retreating from the market, the administration is staying engaged and allowing controlled exports of less advanced chips while keeping the most cutting-edge technology protected. The goal is not to give competitors like China an advantage, but to ensure they remain tied to American platforms, standards, and supply chains. In effect, it flips the script on a strategy China has used for years with rare earth minerals — building dependence that translates into long-term leverage.

That’s precisely the approach Anthropic has historically questioned and why its sudden effort to make peace with the White House should be viewed with skepticism. This isn’t just a disagreement over policy details. It’s a broader effort to shape the regulatory environment itself. As White House AI czar David Sacks has argued, Anthropic has been engaged in a form of regulatory capture by pushing frameworks that raise barriers to entry, allow it to dictate terms to suppliers, and concentrate power among a small number of well-connected firms. The more complex and restrictive the system becomes, the more it advantages companies already embedded in Washington.

[..[ AI will shape the next century of economic and geopolitical power. The United States cannot afford to fall behind because it listened to the loudest voices urging it to slow down. And it should be especially wary of taking advice from companies that have spent years opposing the very strategy now keeping America in the lead. Let’s give the Trump administration room to cook — blending technological advantage, national security protection, and American global market domination. Anthropic may want a reset. But Washington should remember exactly where the company has stood — and why.

Read more …

“On day #1, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino should have terminated [..] any and all of those FBI agents and support personnel with extreme prejudice ..

Dan Bongino Says He’s Scared of the FBI (CTH)

I have less than zero sympathy or consideration of credibility for both individuals in the video below. Former Deputy Director Dan Bongino sits down for a dramatic, Q-feeding therapy session with Mr Tick-Tock himself, Sean Hannity. In a widely discussed interview, the co-dependent enabler – masking himself as the victim of all things deep state, says on one hand there are honorable ‘rank and file’ within the FBI as an institution, and on the other hand he fears they will target him once President Trump leaves office. Go figure.


If you face reality and stop pretending, you then look at the facts with cold pragmatism: • The Robert Mueller investigation used 40 FBI agents, issued 2,800 subpoenas, executed 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 secret orders for communication records, used 50 pen registers and interviewed 500 witnesses, all to prove there was a Trump-Russia conspiracy afoot. All of it was complete nonsense. That is the reality of the thing.

On day #1, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino should have terminated (or suspended pending criminal investigation) any and all of those FBI agents and support personnel with extreme prejudice and then held a press conference to make the announcement. Delivering mysterious statements about the scale and scope of the institutional problem, pouring fuel on innuendo, proclaiming vague possibilities, while hiding behind some opaque ‘trust me bro‘ reasoning for a currently mysterious inability to explain exactly what the heck he is talking about, is unadulterated dramatic ‘clickbait’ prose intended to feed an audience willing to be deceived.

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“ZELENSKYY: “But I still get my money, right?“

Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)

As you are aware, CTH is watching the small details closely on the U.S-Russia alignment against the backdrop of friction with the European Union, the U.K and NATO on issues surrounding Iran. In the past several days there have been several smaller moments lost amid media chatter of bigger news items, this is one such example today in the Oval Office.


During a press availability with the Artemis II astronauts, President Trump was asked for an update on the Ukraine conflict and seemingly stalled negotiations between U.S. intermediaries and Russia. At 04:12 of the video below, President Trump notes he spoke at length with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin today on issues related to the Ukraine conflict, and {{{thoughtful-pause}}} Iran. WATCH:

President Vladimir Putin is in no hurry to ceasefire in Ukraine, and the U.S. military operation in Iran is not against his interests. On April 12, 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quietly extended the sanction relief for Russia, permitting oil/gas sales loaded on vessels by 4/17/26 for transit and sale through 5/16/26. This permits Russia to push oil to Asia, specifically China, India and ASEAN countries where it is needed, while simultaneously the UAE and Saudi Arabia increase oil pumping avoiding the issues with the Strait of Hormuz.

This is happening while the U.S. is providing large oil and LNG supply increases to South/Central America, Europe and Japan to offset any global shortages. Russia supplies China, India and Southeast Asia; the U.S. supplies Europe and Japan; the UAE supplies India and Australia; while Saudi Arabia supplies Africa and Europe. Global markets stable, Iran then faces operation financial fury led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. So, we can reasonably see the general tone of the conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Well, after this press briefing, President Trump sent the following message on Truth Social.


During the press briefing President Trump noted, yet again, his profound disappointment with Europe, the U.K and NATO allies. Trump delivered praise for King Charles as a statesman but separated the political policy aspects of the U.K from his impression of the monarch. These remarks about drawing down U.S. troop levels in Germany comes against the backdrop of German Chancellor Fredrich Merz being highly critical of President Trump’s intention to incapacitate Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. Chancellor Merz is looking for any distraction he can come up with to avoid the issue of a severely contracting German economy.

Most Americans do not fully appreciate how the German national identity is defined by their industrial economy. The traditional people of Germany have a self-image that is -in large measure- the result of their economic condition. Everything centers around industriousness. Weaken that a little bit and the hardcore German people get visibly angered.mCommissar and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is also not happy. “In just 60 days of conflict, our bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over €27 billion, without a single molecule of additional energy,” she told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.”

For all reasonable intents and purposes President Trump has withdrawn support for Ukraine. At the same time President Trump has openly been questioning NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte about the seemingly irrelevant purpose of the alliance. Now, we might think this is just some transitional matters that have been visited before in various peaks and valleys of the geopolitical relationship. However, that is not the case this time. How do we know this time it is something far more significant? Well, the EU is debating dropping their climate goals.

BRUSSELS — Energy companies will be able to break the EU’s pollution limits and get away with it, under measures being considered by the European Commission ahead of a gathering of EU leaders in June.

The EU executive is considering a “zero-penalty” option that would allow national authorities not to fine companies that break strict rules governing methane emissions scheduled to come into force next year, according to two people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions. (


ZELENSKYY: “But I still get my money, right?“
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How far into Mexico would they go?

DOJ Indicts Sinaloa Governor and Others in Sweeping Cartel Case (Anderson)

The Donald Trump administration is not playing around when it comes to cartel activity in Mexico, even if Mexican officials aren’t exactly willing to play ball. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York unsealed a 34-page indictment charging Rubén Rocha Moya and nine other current or former high-ranking Mexican officials with drug trafficking and weapons offenses. The defendants are accused of partnering with the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel (the sons of El Chapo) to help smuggle massive quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the U.S.


Rocha Moya is the current governor of the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which the Department of Justice calls the “geographic epicenter of the global narcotics trade.” He’s also a member of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and current president Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena Party. Others charged include the mayor of Culiacan, a sitting senator, and the deputy attorney general for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office. The men indicted allegedly took millions in bribes, gave the cartel protection from prosecution, leaked intel on law-enforcement ops, and provided state resources, like police cars and radios.

One of them, Juan Valenzuela Millan (or “Juanito”), a former high-level Culiacán Municipal Police commander, was also charged with the kidnappings of a DEA source and the source’s relative that resulted in their deaths, allegedly after they were handed over to the cartel.They all face life sentences with a mandatory minimum of 40 years, except for Mr. “Juanito,” who faces a mandatory life sentence.

“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll. The support of corrupt foreign officials for deadly trafficking of drugs must end. Let these charges send a clear message to all officials around the globe who work with narco-traffickers: no matter your title or position, we are committed to bringing you to justice.”

Rocha Moya responded with a statement of his own on X (translated from Spanish): “I categorically and absolutely reject the accusations made against me by the Southern District of New York Federal Prosecutor’s Office, as they lack any truth or foundation whatsoever. And this will be demonstrated, with full force, at the appropriate time. This attack is not solely against my person; but against the movement of the Fourth Transformation, its emblematic leaderships, and the Mexican women and men who represent that cause.

It is part of a perverse strategy to violate the constitutional order, specifically the national sovereignty advocated by Article 40 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, which our movement defends as an invariable and non-negotiable principle. To the people of Sinaloa, I say that, with the courage and dignity that characterize us, we will demonstrate the lack of foundation for this slander.” Big Nicolás Maduro vibes there, and we all know how that ended. All of this comes after last week the U.S. Treasury “sanctioned 23 individuals and entities that comprise a sophisticated synthetic opioid procurement network with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel,” and the State Department imposed “visa restrictions on 75 individuals who are family members or close personal or business associates of persons linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.”

This appears to be the first time the DOJ has indicted a sitting Mexican governor. The Mexican Foreign Ministry confirmed that U.S. officials have requested the extradition of the individuals indicted to the United States, but that there is enough evidence. It added, “However, as is standard procedure in these cases, the Attorney General’s Office will determine whether there is sufficient evidence under Mexican law and the viability of the requests for provisional arrest for extradition.”

Read more …

“.. the Sinaloa cartel will go ultra-violent against Sheinbaum and Moya will likely take down the entire government apparatus with him..”

U.S. Dept of Justice Indicts the Current Governor of Sinaloa, Mexico (CTH)

Oh boy, this indictment puts Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in a really precarious position. If President Sheinbaum gives up the Governor of Sinaloa, Mexico, Ruben Rocha Moya to extradition the Sinaloa cartel will go ultra-violent against Sheinbaum and Moya will likely take down the entire government apparatus with him. [Ancillary to this, it now makes sense why all the various Mexican federal officials were publicly criticizing the Trump administration and CIA in recent days. They knew this in advance.]


The DOJ (SDNY) has indicted Mexican Governor Ruben Rocha Moya along with nine current and former Mexican officials for participating “in a corrupt and violent drug trafficking conspiracy with the Cartel to import massive amounts of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States.

“The defendants have played a variety of essential roles for the Cartel: among other things, the defendants have allegedly shielded Cartel leaders from investigation, arrest, and prosecution; caused sensitive law enforcement and military information to be provided to members of the Cartel and allied drug traffickers to assist the Cartel’s criminal activities; directed members of state and local law enforcement agencies, such as the Sinaloa State Police, the Investigative Police for the Sinaloa State Attorney General’s Office, and the Culiacan Municipal Police, to protect drug loads stored in and transiting through Mexico to the United States; and allowed brutal drug-related violence to be committed by members of the Cartel without consequence. In exchange, the defendants have collectively received millions of dollars in drug money from the Cartel.”

VIA LBR on Twitter: – […] This move represents a direct and aggressive escalation by Washington against the highest levels of the Mexican state apparatus. The indictments detail a systemic entanglement between regional Morena governance and cartel operations, effectively labeling the Sinaloa state leadership a criminal enterprise under U.S. law.

This legal assault by the DOJ decapitates the political leadership of one of Mexico’s most strategically sensitive states at a moment of extreme national fragility. By targeting a sitting governor, the U.S. is signaling a total collapse of bilateral trust and an end to the era of diplomatic shielding for Mexican officials. The move is designed to force a confrontation within the Sheinbaum administration, leaving Mexico City with zero room to maneuver between its domestic political alliances and the threat of total diplomatic isolation. The fallout will be immediate and chaotic.

Beyond the legal proceedings, these indictments serve as a precursor to broader sanctions and a likely reclassification of Mexican security cooperation. For the Mexican government, the era of managed stability in Sinaloa is over; Sheinbaum is now facing a direct challenge to state legitimacy and a physical security vacuum that will likely trigger a violent internal restructuring of cartel hierarchies and government control.”

“I would urge you to see the truth of the situation you are in Claudia. That is my advice. It is not for me to tell you what you should have done or not done. The world in which you seek to undo the mistakes you made is different from the world where the mistakes were made. You are now at the crossing, and you want to choose – but there is no choosing here. There is only accepting. The choosing was done a long time ago. … I don’t mean to offend you, but reflective women often find themselves removed from the realities of life. In any case, we should all prepare a place where we can accommodate all of the tragedies that sooner or later will come to our lives. But this is an economy few people care to practice, and that is because when it comes to losing leadership the normal rules of exchanges do not apply, because losing office transcends value. Nicolas Maduro would give his entire nation to exit his reality, and yet he cannot buy anything without office, because without office he is worthless.”

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In Germany, AfD just keeps on growing. As Merz wants to ban them.

Trump: US Studying Troop Cuts In Germany, As Spat With Merz Intensifies (BBC)

The US is “studying and reviewing” whether to reduce the thousands of troops it has stationed in Germany, President Donald Trump has announced via social media. His remarks came days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised his approach to the war in Iran, suggesting that US had been “humiliated” by Iranian negotiators. Trump said in a social media post late on Wednesday that a decision on troop numbers would be made “over the next short period of time. Then early on Thursday he rounded on Merz, saying he should spend “more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!)”.


The US has a significant military presence in Germany, with more than 36,000 active duty troops assigned to bases across the country as of last December. Merz made no mention of Trump’s comments during a visit to German soldiers in northern Germany on Thursday, although he went out of his way to stress the importance of the Nato defensive alliance and “transatlantic solidarity”. Earlier this week, however, he told university students that “the Americans clearly have no strategy” and he could not see “what strategic exit” they were going to choose.”The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” he said.

He added that the “entire nation” was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership. Trump responded the following day with a post to Truth Social, where he said Merz thought it was “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon” and “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” “No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!” the post read. He picked up the same theme on Thursday, suggesting Merz should focus more on “fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat”.

Germany, along with the UK and France, was part of a 2015 deal with Iran to limit its nuclear operations, although Trump pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018.When asked about Trump’s initial post in a press conference on Wednesday, Merz said the “personal relationship between the American president and myself remains just as good as before”. He has not yet responded to Trump’s suggestion that he could reduce US troops in Germany. The US military deployment in Germany is by far its biggest in Europe, with about 12,000 troops in Italy and a further 10,000 in the UK. Many are stationed at the big Ramstein air base outside the southwestern German city of Kaiserslautern. And while Trump has proposed US troop reductions in Germany before, they have so far not come into effect.

In 2020, a proposal to move 12,000 US troops from Germany either to other Nato countries in Europe or back to the US, was blocked by Congress and then reversed by President Joe Biden.At the time, Trump had accused Germany of being “delinquent” because its military spending was well below Nato’s target of 2% of economic output (GDP). But that has changed dramatically under the Merz government: Germany is projected to spend €105.8bn (£91bn) in 2027 – with total defence expenditure next year set to reach 3.1% of GDP.Merz said after talks with Trump in Washington in March that Trump had assured him the US would maintain its military presence in Germany, adding that he had not expected anything else.

However, while Merz has this week complained of the economic consequences for Europe of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has been angered by the response of Nato allies in Europe to the war in Iran.Over the past two months, the US president has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the 32-member Nato alliance, calling it a “paper tiger” and a “one-way street”.Earlier in April, a leaked internal Pentagon email detailed potential measures for the US to punish allies it believed had failed to support its campaign in Iran, including a suggestion that the US could seek to suspend Spain from Nato over its stance. A Nato official told the BBC that the alliance’s founding treaty “does not foresee any provision for suspension of Nato membership, or expulsion”.

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Let Europe pay.

No Aid for Kiev in US Military Budget for 2027 — Pentagon (TASS)

The Pentagon’s draft budget for fiscal year 2027 does not include funding for military aid to Ukraine, Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst confirmed. “That’s correct. There’s no USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative – TASS) funding in this budget,” he said while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, commenting on the US War Department’s recently released budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.


At the same time, Hurst noted that the Pentagon will soon begin using the $400 million military aid package for Ukraine previously approved by Congress. “They [the funds] were released very recently. And again, we got these funds, I believe, in March. And it takes time for funds to flow through the Department, but it’s going to get put to work very shortly. We’re going to work with the EUCOM commander to make sure we use these funds in the most appropriate way possible,” he said.

US Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican, Kentucky) wrote in an article published on April 29 by The Washington Post that the US Department of War is delaying the transfer of the $400 million military aid package previously approved by Congress. According to McConnell, the Department has also ignored related requests from the relevant Senate committees. He added that Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby bears responsibility for the delay in resolving issues related to the disbursement of the aid.

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A socialist mayor can’t be in New York. It’s not a socialist city.

Mamdani Is Already Facing a $6 Billion Budget Hole (Margolis)

Well, that didn’t take long. Zohran Mamdani hasn’t even completed his first executive budget as New York City mayor, and he’s already got his hand out. The self-described democratic socialist swept into office promising a new utopia — and almost immediately delivered a fiscal crisis requiring a state bailout. Margaret Thatcher warned us about exactly this. Sooner or later, socialists run out of other people’s money. In Mamdani’s case, it took no time at all.


The mayor announced Tuesday that he’s pushing back the deadline for his first executive budget — originally due Friday — to at least May 12. Standing alongside City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Mamdani framed the delay as a reasonable response to uncertainty in Albany. In other words, he’s waiting to find out if Albany will bail him out over his $5.4 billion budget gap. “This adjustment reflects a very simple reality,” Menin said. “New York state has not finalized its budget, and until they do so, we do not have the necessary clarity to responsibly complete the city’s budget.” If they’re expecting a bailout, I wouldn’t count on it.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s spokesperson fired back with a statement that was, by Albany standards, refreshingly blunt. “The mayor and City Council need to work together, identify savings, and close the remaining gap.” Here’s what makes the optics especially rich. Just weeks ago, Mamdani posted a video bragging about how he was taxing the rich and how it was going to be a huge boon for the city. The message was clear: Tax the rich, fund the city, problem solved. Now he’s warning that without state intervention, he may have to raise property taxes on regular New Yorkers to close the shortfall.

Mamdani and Menin are pushing Hochul to scale back the state’s Pass-Through Entity Tax Credit, arguing that it functions as a loophole for the ultra-wealthy. “More than 95% of PTET credits go to those making more than $1 million a year,” Mamdani said. “More than 80% go to those making more than $5 million a year.” He estimates adjusting PTET could bring in around $1 billion in revenue — which still leaves roughly $4 billion-plus of the problem unsolved. Menin, hedging carefully, wants any PTET change to be temporary rather than permanent. Even she seems to sense this isn’t a long-term strategy.

Mamdani is also dusting off the familiar grievance that New York City sends more money to the state than it gets back — a claim some Albany lawmakers dispute. It’s a convenient argument when you need someone else to bail you out. This is socialism. Nothing is surprising about this. Conservatives have been saying this is what New York City was destined for if it elected Mamdani. We didn’t have a crystal ball; we just had common sense and history on our side. Now, Mamdani is learning in real time what every socialist eventually discovers. There’s always a bill, and eventually you run out of millionaires to hand it to.

Read more …

‘stochastic terrorism’

There’s a Name for What They’re Doing to Donald Trump (Thorne)

Once upon a time, there was a societal pact in this country that, when a depraved lunatic committed an atrocity, no one would breathe a word of his motives, speech, or writings. When Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kicked off the school shooting craze at Columbine High School in 1999, we didn’t speak of what they thought they were accomplishing. Their so-called basement tapes were never publicly released, and authorities destroyed them in 2011. “Law enforcement officials have always regarded the tapes as a particularly infectious form of toxic waste, a primer in mass murder that could inspire more violence and must never be released,” reported the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.


The understanding was that repeating a lunatic’s motivations could inspire copycats. Back then, society hoped to prevent more tragedy. Today’s Democrat establishment hopes to inspire it. So brazen have they become that, less than 24 hours after Cole Allen tried to assassinate President Donald Trump, CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell read the slander from his manifesto to his intended victim’s face. Trump called her out, saying, “Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people.” He was right, but no matter: Management at CBS still went on to air those poisonous words on its Sunday show, 60 Minutes. Because everyone at that vile network is in on it.

So is every single newscaster, elected or appointed official, celebrity, and every other leftist with a sheen of authority or influence and a platform who repeats the litany of leftist accusations. But then, Democrats are the morally challenged segment of society, dating back to their slaveholder roots (now manifested as fighting to keep their cheap labor through trafficking poor people into the country to work for near-slave wages). Once they hid behind the “liberal” label, but that has morphed into what plainly animates them today: hate, perversion, and political violence. Cheering on an assassin, either explicitly or implicitly, is A-OK with them.

Democrats are also all about plausible deniability. Just ask Joe Biden’s grifty brother, Jim. This is why this sort of mass projection of violence in the hopes of triggering a nut with good aim is such a perfect fit for them. It’s called “stochastic terrorism.” Perhaps, in the case of the relentless attack on Donald Trump, we can more accurately call it “stochastic assassination.” Policy research agency RAND explained the concept in a 2024 report called “From words to actions”:

The role of the media in radicalisation and terrorism has been a topic of discussion in recent years. Citizens are increasingly at risk to be exposed to extremist ideas through social media and communication apps, which can lead to a normalisation of hatred towards certain individuals, groups or institutions and an increased acceptance of violence. A term that is gaining popularity in the media and popular scientific literature in the context of recent incidents of extremist violence in which the media may have played a role is ‘stochastic terrorism’.

This term refers to hostile, derogatory and/or dehumanising language by influential individuals towards a political, social, ethnic or religious group or individual. Through interaction on social media and traditional media, this language may lead to a climate of fear, which in turn increases the likelihood of someone turning to violence, even if the initial message does not explicitly call for it. Due to the implicit nature of these expressions, individuals responsible for (reinforcing) inflammatory discourse cannot straightforwardly be prosecuted, if at all. However, there is currently no legal definition or even a unified understanding of this somewhat elusive concept.

My colleague VodkaPundit explained how the left is leveling the tactic against the president: “…there’s no conspiracy required to produce a left-wing assassin like Tyler James Robinson or Ryan Routh. They just amp up the rhetorical pressure, 24/7/365, until somebody pops.”

Read more …

How do you install that in secret?

Banksy Confirms He’s Behind Statue In Central London (BBC)

Street artist Banksy has confirmed a large statue that appeared in central London is his work. The sculpture – which bears his signature – depicts a suited man walking forward off a plinth while carrying a flag that covers his face. Its location – Waterloo Place, St James’s – is an area designed to celebrate imperialism and military dominance in the 1800s. The sculpture sits near statues of Edward VII, Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War Memorial.Banksy’s representatives told the BBC the statue was installed in the early hours of Wednesday, before the artist posted a video of it on his Instagram account on Thursday afternoon. On the statue’s position on the ceremonial island in Waterloo Place, Banksy said: “There was a bit of a gap.”


Since it appeared on Wednesday, crowds have gradually increased in size. Contractors were seen erecting safety barriers around the work on Thursday afternoon. Westminster City Council, which is responsible for the area, said: “We’re excited to see Banksy’s latest sculpture in Westminster, making a striking addition to the city’s vibrant public art scene. “While we have taken initial steps to protect the statue, at this time it will remain accessible for the public to view and enjoy.”

James Peak, creator of the BBC podcast series The Banksy Story, said: “Here, you’ve got a brilliant comment on a bumptious, chest puffed out man in power with the flag completely obscuring his vision, which is why he is about to fall off the plinth. “It is a wonderfully framed moment in time that you never really get with a statue.” He added Banksy had “pulled off another fantastic coup…the positioning is absolutely knockout”. “I don’t know how he’s managed to do it.

“How has he got a low-loader to there with all the security and put up a massive resin statue?”On the statue’s location, he added: “We’ve got to face up to the fact that Britain has an imperialistic history full of takeovers and part of that is the sort of extreme nationalism that Banksy absolutely abhors.” “Every (Banksy) piece is a campaign.”

Read more …


We will talk till we’re blue in the face.

The Biden Admin’s COVID Vaccine Cover-Up and Lies (Miranda Devine)

As Dr. Anthony Fauci’s right-hand man, David Morens, was charged this week with conspiracy and destruction of federal records in the COVID-19 cover-up, another scandal over the vaccine was unfolding on Capitol Hill. According to a new Senate report and congressional testimony on Wednesday, Biden administration health officials deliberately ignored warning signs of possible serious reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine, including heart attacks, strokes, Bell’s palsy and sudden cardiac death.


Within three months of the vaccines being rolled out, in March 2021, red flags were fluttering out of the weekly data dumps from doctors and patients reporting health problems after the shots, according to internal emails and meeting notes provided by the Department of Health and Human Services to Sen. Ron Johnson’s Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. But when the FDA’s senior medical officer, Dr. Ana Szarfman, whose job was to monitor the vaccine data for warning signs, repeatedly raised the alarm throughout 2021, she was ignored, and emails show her colleagues tried to stop her from using a newer, more accurate statistical methodology to investigate the data.

On Sept. 9, 2021, Biden announced his vaccine mandates, with an implied threat to the roughly 80 million Americans who had not taken the COVID jab and whom he accused of prolonging the pandemic and putting everyone at risk, even though the vaccine did not stop transmission of the disease. “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said. “And your refusal has cost all of us.” On Sept. 16, Dr. Peter Marks, a staunch supporter of the COVID-19 vaccines who at the time led the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told another senior FDA official in an email that Szarfman (who has since retired) “has been asked to cease and desist, because the strategy that she is using could create erroneous conflicts that feed in to anti-vaccination rhetoric.” Marks also complained that Szarfman’s work has “become a major distraction.”

The documents uncovered by Johnson’s investigation staff point to the same alarming secrecy and efforts to avoid accountability that landed Fauci’s adviser, Morens, in trouble. The secrecy included instructions from FDA officials to discuss findings in person rather than over email and stopping or limiting the distribution of the weekly vaccine safety reports with the alleged intent of avoiding FOIA requests. On March 26, 2021, Szarfman shared with colleagues her analysis of COVID-19 vaccine adverse events using the superior, newer “data mining” methodology that had found more than 20 statistically significant “safety signals” or potential red flags associated with the COVID-19 vaccines that were not previously detected by FDA’s current methodology, “including sudden cardiac death, Bell’s palsy and pulmonary infarction.”

Her analysis was conducted with Dr. William DuMouchel, then the chief statistician at Oracle and the inventor of the data-mining algorithm. However, “rather than warn the public or hold distribution of the vaccines for further investigation, records appear to indicate that Biden health officials ignored the statistically significant safety signals uncovered through the new methodology and were more concerned about Dr. Szarfman’s efforts rather than her troubling findings,” the interim report found. In April 2021, after Szarfman emailed colleagues with another data-mining analysis that apparently underscored the limitations of the FDA’s current system, one senior FDA official wrote to his colleagues, “[b]efore we potentially reach out to Ana, we should meet internally — many considerations not suited to email …”

Szarfman continued to bring her reports to colleagues, but they were ignored. In August 2021, about a month before Szarfman was directed to “cease and desist,” Dr. David Menschik, a senior FDA colleague of Marks, told a CDC official that the FDA planned to limit distribution of its weekly vaccine data-mining reports, which used to be sent around the FDA and CDC, citing “data-security reasons.” But emails among CDC officials uncovered by Johnson’s investigators point to a potentially more nefarious reason for the FDA’s decision to stop distributing its data-mining reports.

In a November 2022 email, one CDC official noted, “I think that because of the FOIAs [Freedom of Information Act requests] we may have asked FDA to stop sending these weekly data-mining outputs.” According to Johnson’s staff report, “in the months and weeks leading up to the FDA’s decision to discontinue its distribution of the weekly data-mining reports, there were several public requests made to CDC and FDA for that information. “On May 9, 2022, about two months before the FDA stopped sending CDC its weekly data-mining reports, Children’s Health Defense sent a FOIA request to CDC for the [vaccine] data-mining analyses.

“On June 23, 2022, 19 days before FDA sent its final weekly data mining report, Sen. Johnson wrote to then-CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky requesting the same information. “Then, on June 30, 2022, 12 days before FDA’s last distribution, the Informed Consent Action Network submitted a FOIA request to FDA for the [vaccine] data-mining records. “In light of these public and congressional requests, the timing of the FDA’s decision to end the distribution of its weekly data-mining reports seems particularly suspect. “The notion that Biden health officials took steps to limit the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine safety data in order to avoid more internal review or public scrutiny, it is completely unacceptable.”

Democrats on the subcommittee, like Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), were at pains to point out during the hearing that COVID-19 itself caused serious injury and death, calling as their witness a 41-year-old woman, Maria Young, who was hospitalized for two months and almost died in the months before the vaccines were developed. Of the 8 billion vaccine doses administered worldwide, multiple large studies suggest there has been no increase in long-term mortality among vaccinated people. However, the damage was done by the COVID cover-up and lies. They have driven widespread distrust of vaccination, including tried-and-true lifesaving vaccines.

Read more …

 

 

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2049887320141148563?s=20 https://twitter.com/DianaT192/status/2049503943059796431?s=20

 

 

 

 

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Home Forums Debt Rattle May 1 2026

Viewing 26 posts - 1 through 26 (of 26 total)
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  • #239681

    William-Adolphe Bouguereau Whisperings of Love 1889 • Defiant Mojtaba Khamenei: Gulf’s Future Will Be “Without US Presence” (ZH) • Growing Division In
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle May 1 2026]

    #239698
    those darned kids
    Participant

    THINK TANK

    think tank,
    think rocket,
    think lotsa cash
    lining pocket

    play dumb,
    play nice,
    might wanna lie
    once or twice

    stop war,
    start war,
    you’ll never know
    who’s behind the door

    kill a million,
    kill a few,
    God still has a plan
    just for you.

    #239699
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Canada’s Culture Minister: Regulating Online Content A Duty Of Federal Government

    Ministry of Netflix. Oh wait, we already had that, everyone hated it with the heat of a thousands suns, even the Left.

    “Trump Threatens To Pull Some US Troops Out Of Germany While Lambasting ‘Ineffective’ Merz

    Great. One question: Why do we have any troops in Germany at all?

    “Congress Passes 45-Day Extension Of FISA Section 702, Sending It To Trump’s Desk

    War, yes. Spying, yes. Enforcing laws, no. Why are you spying if you’re not using the intelligence to enforce laws and defend the country? Yes, the question answers itself.

    “The LARGEST COVID “vaccine” autopsy study EVER conducted found 73.9% of deaths after vaccination were caused by the shot.”

    So they’re going to give me my life back, then? There’s two senses to this: so even AFTER he is convicted and executed, half the country will defend him and try to re-educate me in the camps? I don’t have much faith anyone will listen, care, or change at this point. This goes even beyond “Justice delayed is justice denied.” Fauci just spend another 5 years eating 5-star dinners and is 80. Brennan spent 20 years, same thing.

    “Healthy kids — virtually ZERO risk from COVID — were FORCED by Biden mandates into lethal shots.”

    We know this because I re-posted the NIH own data from August ‘21 saying that vaccines, isolation etc if anything had a NEGATIVE effect on childrens health. So they knew for a fact they couldn’t get it and weren’t sick, there was no risk beyond the common cold. Meanwhile, miscarriages are up 23x? Which is why you do this to child-bearing age women? 17-25 as that is required for college as well? Ah! The Schmartz pepo.

    “This isn’t a vaccine… it turns your body into a manufacturing site for the spike protein.”

    Because: “Language” this was always the official purpose that was officially known. Somehow now the spike protein flips from “Good” to “Bad”. I have no explanation. I said at the time, “Spike protein is the bad part, yes?” Yes. “And so you are creating the BAD part, but not any of the other parts.” Yes. “But we have to fill your garage with toxic waste and decaying nitroglycerine, so your immune system can recognize that we’ve saturated your entire body in deadly poison”. Right. — Looking around, everyone nods their heads in unanimous agreement. —

    2) We also don’t know if the US has battle-ready hypersonics.”

    Because everything said is a lie, they are saying “Achshully, ALL missiles are “hypersonic” as they go far faster than sound.” Ah. Yes, but that’s definitively NOT what we mean by that. So expect 80% chance that’s what they’re saying, not Oreshnik. We have thousands in service, but no live person has ever seen one work. Sure.

    ““We and our neighbors across the waters of the Persian Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny.”

    He means the ones Iran just bombed senseless, and the same states that helped bomb Iran back. That’s an interesting interpretation of “Sharing”.

    “The Pentagon has claimed time and again of late that it has local air superiority,”

    We are flying B52s, C-130s, A-10s, and Blackhawks everywhere. What part don’t you understand? That there are ZERO events? The only threshold you recognize is ZERO? Okay then, Canada is under attack since they had a plane go off the runway last month. Happy? 13,000 sorties and 30 casualties, most of which were drones.

    Yup, what a weird and incredible claim the U.S. is making that they have air dominance there.

    “Fifty two Iranian vessels have crossed a US-imposed blockade of Iranian waters within a 72-hour period…

    They are claiming it, and I’m hearing from this side it’s not true. So believe whatever Iran says I say! They have no motive to lie!

    “• Growing Division In Iran’s ‘Hardline Camp’ Emerges Over Halting All Talks With US (ZH)

    Relatively reasonable article. And yes, this is the problem YOU CAUSED by bombing them, or in this way. I’m sure they expected this, but it’s not helpful. It encourages the stall, which is contrary to what Trump, or whoever needs. Whatever, here we are.

    ““The Strategy to Freeze Iran’s Economy”
    • Secretary Scott Bessent Discusses “Operation Economic Fury” Against Iran (CTH)

    Compared to what? Are they going to Steven Segal sanction them? The 91st round?

    “• Trump: SCOTUS Voting Rights Act Decision a ‘Big Win’ (Salgado) “

    The case had Thomas asking, “So are Syrians white? Are Turks? Are Greeks? How about Southern Italians (Scaliesce)” Do we need to create special voting districts for Koreans, Serbians, Hondurans? The supporting lawyer was fielding these question genuinely: “Well if AMERICA thinks that Italians are different, then yes. But if they are White, then no representation for you.” Ah. I see.

    Again, THERE IS NO MORE POSSIBLE RACIST POSITION than than the Democratic Party holds. It holds that all races are identical, they all act, think, vote the same. All black people are REQUIRED to vote lockstep. As are all other minorities. …Because they are not People. They are not humans. They cannot conceive of an “individual” with agency and will, and not an NPC drone in the collective hive.

    I didn’t start out saying this, or wanting to say it. It’s taken years of diagnosing their most core actions.

    “Bongino should have terminated (or suspended pending criminal investigation) any and all of those FBI agents and support personnel with extreme prejudice and then held a press conference”

    Yes. And I’m sure there are innocents among them. Too bad. They were extremely, inconceivably well-paid. We haven’t discussed criminal cases on all of them, which would be required next. So if you’re not in jail from this, I’m sure you’ll be fine as any guy from Toledo. …Aaaaaaand we se NEITHER. No professional censure, no legal/criminal prosecution. No consequences at all. For anyone. I think they tossed a dozen J6 guys, who fabricated charges and withheld evidence, which is human rights abuse and attempted murder as we saw from their prison conditions. No charges there either. Probably full pension, lifetime medical.

    Lesson: All human rights abuse and war crimes, within or outside the United States, have the very highest approval of all branches of government. No? Congress has the power to push this in 50 different ways, who are Democrats. They do not. No literally no one. Trump can kill a baby on the White House lawn? Well So can any government official above dog catcher, proven and affirmed here. The “Opposition”, Kash and Bongino, say so.

    “• Trump Notes Extended Conversation with Putin (CTH)

    Berletic and Duran, Deisen, all still saying it’s the U.S. we are sooper-secret cryptofascist dog whistle plan it’s really us MAKING Europe attack Russia! Tricky-tricky. We’re doing that by sending NO MONEY, cutting off all intel, and stopping all oil.

    The HATE. Just feelz. So. GOOOD! Must. Hate. Hate America we hates it forever and ever! All things America does = Moar Hate! Yes! Let the hate flow! Yeah, we were on Berletic about this, that’s why I don’t forward his stuff, but he’s gone WAY ‘round the bend. To Infinity! And Beyond!

    “• No Aid for Kiev in US Military Budget for 2027 — Pentagon (TASS)

    Clue phone calling Brian Berletic. Clue phone for Alex Christoforus. Nope. Grasp that HATE for all it’s worth. Never let go. Never gonna give you up, hate, never gonna let you down!

    “President Vladimir Putin is in no hurry to ceasefire in Ukraine, and the U.S. military operation in Iran is not against his interests.”

    Interesting, but re-read part 1: Russia has categorically said there will NEVER be a ceasefire. Only a final end. So yeah, “no hurry” but that’s not what those words mean. And we agree Iran is not against his interests, ‘cause were are Iran’s allies? Any of them? Anywhere? Doing any thing? Houthis? Nope, not them either. Okay, long said that if Iran goes, Yemen, Russia, China next, so why?

    A: Everyone is stupid but me. China got a sudden case of the stupids, I guess.

    “Trump delivered praise for King Charles as a statesman but separated the political policy aspects of the U.K”

    Trump Panicked! From the King”
    “The King Panicked!!!! From Trump.”
    Both headlines. Both podcasts. I’ll spare you. It’s ghey. I guess the conclusion is, all 8 Billion people are non-stop panicking all day. Sounds exhausting. Hello. How are you today?

    “• DOJ Indicts Sinaloa Governor and Others in Sweeping Cartel Case (Anderson)

    Do you suppose this was done in consultation, but official denial, of the Mexican President? Sure seems so if you look at Venezuela. Or even Iran. Their only allies of terror and the drug trade are Fox News. Not enough Americans have been killed, nor enough cartel soldiers imported yet to act, Fox News says. At least 2-5 million more to be certain. More soldiers or more American deaths? A: Both.

    “Oh boy, this indictment puts Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in a really precarious position.”

    No it doesn’t, her position is now easy and clear: Blame Trump, take the credit for a clean Mexico you didn’t fight and didn’t pay for! There’s no POSSIBLE better situation for her. Not only that, but EVERYONE does the same thing: blame Trump, do no work, take credit that isn’t yours. Yay! Meanwhile BEAT the people who DO work like a rented mule.

    I don’t know what that Councillor clip means except that guy wants to mouth a bunch of abstractions when you should be hunting him down and firebombing his mansion. Hey! Now the world has changed yet again! Guess what? Just accept it. Bang.

    This is what, say, Trump and Hegseth are doing. They are not “Signaling” things, they are DOING them. Everyone keeps misinterpreting that they are Signalling, including the IRGC. They ask, “What is Trump trying to TELL me with this, what is he THINKING, what is is motivation? His inner state of being?? Etc” He’s not. He’s on a far, eversomuch simpler world: he is not Signaling he’s shutting off your power and water, he ACTUALLY shut off your power and water. This is not part of clever plan you can second guess and respond to because the only message is “Your power and water are now shut off.” That’s why he doesn’t have to think about it or worry: it’s extremely simple. There is no master plan. With no power or water you can’t fight wars and will be cold and hungry. That’s it. That’s the whole extent. 1D Chess. Too complicated, I guess.

    And like the loooooong article and clip, no one cares. That’s not the point at all.

    Sinaloas are MURDERING US. By the TEN THOUSANDS. Therefore: we murder them back. Simple. Oh some people don’t like it? Yeah, don’t get in our way, not sure how we’ll respond yet, but you don’t want to be on the battlefield between two ACTUAL murdering armies. Your Pearl-clutching and “Signaling” won’t go very far.

    The People won’t like it? I kinda think they will. I don’t like being murdered all the time, most of my life now. Kinda makes me cranky. Don’t really care what you think about it, or International Law n’ stuff. If International Law is what allows them to murder all of us, what good is it? We’ll fight and destroy that too and put in one that does NOT allow non-stop murdering of Americans, us.
    NoRulz

    “when a depraved lunatic committed an atrocity, no one would breathe a word of his motives, speech, or writings.”

    Always long discussion in Newsrooms. But in the 70s, when Alinsky and 20 future members of (DNC) Congress were robbing banks, kidnapping people, and firebombing everything, the FBI shut them down. No matter what arson or mass-murder they committed, the FBI would claim it was “Pointless vandalism attributed to nameless, disaffected cranks”. No terror, because, no name. “Terror” depends on you KNOWING there is an IRA, and what Gerry Adams wants. The WHOLE PROCESS requires your enthusiastic participation. Which is why the “War on Terra” is a sham. Like London, Bush played BOTH SIDES in the conflict: Funding and demanding, eg ISIS, then funding and demanding eg CNN to make it larger. Repeat in a violent spiral upward. Government is the third leg, expanding budgets and leaving bodies. Their god will be most pleased. Well done my good and faithful servants.

    …And they know that now, too. Go ask any teacher, any government official, any newsman, and say, “What you’re doing will get Donald Trump killed, and/or possibly start a Civil war killing millions including yourself and your children.” They will gleefully grin and say “I know. That’s why I’m doing it.” I’ll wait. But I won’t look up their phone numbers for you. Ask your best friends and relatives. They will climb over broken glass pleading “Yes, I want this thing.”

    …As they demanded the vaccines before it, punching competitors to insure their daughters got sterilized first.

    “Musk: “Ultimately you can’t fully fix the system.”

    New category in “Elon Musk says things”. Yes, they’ve said this since 1910, 1930, 1970, 2001, 2008, and now. No human system is “Fully fixed”, all cars you drive are in some sort of decay and disrepair. What do you mean if it goes on from birth to death after retirement? We were on a gold standard, which works pretty good, but was corrupt and broken all over, nowhere near “fully fixed”. Utopians are the most murdering mindset on the planet. He’s going to try a “Fully fixed” CBDC, Social-credit score where you can only get food if Elon’s robots say so, worse than any “broken” system yet devised. Where millions more will be killed than can possibly be imagined.

    “Dan Bongino; Someone left the Russia Gate documents for us to find. 100 page document explained it all and it was worse than even I could have expected. They all knew it was bullshit. I cannot believe this happened in the United States.”

    Thankfully he quit his job rather than have to “Do work” about it! Nice! Thanks to him the hundreds of traitorous co-conspirators are still in government, getting 6-figures in pay, 7 digits in bribes, and have top security clearance!

    Linus Pawling: Goes to show Woke doesn’t care who you are.

    #239700
    those darned kids
    Participant

    “Sinaloas are MURDERING US.”

    actually, no.

    you are killing yourselves.

    the ciartels are just supplying the means.

    #239701
    D Benton Smith
    Participant

    @charles

    I did come to a conclusion. It is my own. I apologize if it doesn’t support your narrative. Any storage at all probably had to be ready before today. All logistics. The dig. The pipeline. You cant just damn off a ravine miles from the nearest pipeline. We are talking 1.6 million barrels a day. That’s a lot of stuff. Get it started just now. In a war.

    Do some work. Bring in some information, analysis, opposition. Be nice. Inspection is not disagreement.

    I’ll try to be nice, but I hope everyone appreciates how much of a strain that it puts on my system.

    I think that the armies of specialized petroleum industry engineers (with that special brand of OCD that all engineers seem to have, as a breed) have long ago worked out in excruciating detail every single possible alternative solution to storage issues that could ever possibly be needed under any and all circumstances, and are implementing whichever of those solutions seem most appropriate to them and the team that they work with and work for.

    My main point was that the scary prediction by the aggressors in this war of choice was just propaganda and not to be taken seriously because it was just more nonsense meant to distract from the core issue, which was that the aggressors want to steal whatever they can get their hands on (oil being one of those things) and that the Iranians are not going to let them get away with it this time.

    #239702
    zerosum
    Participant

    Lie or Truth.
    They don’t care about their people.

    Humans are motivated by “labels”

    A system continues to exist because of the outcomes it produces, not the ideology it claims.

    People will support whatever system improves their lives.

    That’s the real mechanism of political survival.

    A high‑capacity social democratic model, not pure socialism.

    China’s model is best understood as a performance‑legitimized developmental system, not as a doctrinal ideology.
    ———

    #239703
    zerosum
    Participant

    https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/iran-war-summary-week-nine

    According to Mahmood Nabavian, Deputy Chair of Iran’s Security, Iran will now view an attack on Hamas; Hezbollah; Ansar Allah and other Resistance groups as an attack on Iran – as discussed on Daniel Davis’s Deep Dive. If Iran carries through on this, it will represent a significant development, diametrically opposed to the USraeli’s plans to deal with these groups separately. Nabavian, obviously a hard liner, wants the war to continue so that Iran can humiliate America.

    #239704
    wdt
    Participant

    >We are flying B52s, C-130s, A-10s, and Blackhawks everywhere.
    Bullshit, only out of reach of AAM
    posit: you have NOT infinite ABM, AAM
    What is most cost effective?
    Shot down a $2M tomahawk, single use?
    Shot down a F35, $100M, RTB and refuel, rearm
    AND the pilot training probably is $1M+

    #239707
    John Day
    Participant

    Frustrating Hormuz War https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/frustrating-hormuz-war

    There is a lot of frustration with the Hormuz War not making sense within the constraints of common knowledge. Rather than concluding that the actions of nations are irrational, “Rational Actor Theory” would seek further information about current and projected circumstances, which might illuminate ways in which the interests of national actors might actually be served by the expected outcomes of their actions. It is assumed that governments lie and obfuscate their real intentions and objectives.
    I would like to present again the scenario which I see unfolding, within which the actions of the Trump Administration are rational and may be expected to serve national interests as it sees them.
    Israeli interests and actions are seen to direct US Mideast policy, without the reasons for that being completely clear, other than endemic bribery, blackmail and the currying of favor with American Christian factions, security agencies and police departments. American public opinion, including that of a growing fraction of American Jews, has been shifting away from Israel’s genocidal and expansionist wars for the past 3 years. The faelty of American politicians to zionist nationalism is now strained. It remains plausible that Benjamin Netanyahu was killed by an Iranian missile strike in early March, with his public appearance at trial called off recently, and now his invitation to Washington to meet with President Trump again not being accepted. The images of him since early March have not been convincingly those of a live human, but more suggestive of AI creations. That does not change the calculus of the interests he has served. They still need ongoing acquisitions to feed the growing “greater Israel” in order to hold the Zionist project together politically. It appears that exit ramps are being put in place for “Netanyahu”. They need further destruction of their regional rival, Iran, and to expand into Lebanon and Syria, while completing the takeover of Palestinian homelands and bulldozing Gaza to make way for the resort and business park developments, which might become confluent with the Port of Haifa, the final node of the India-Middle-East-Europe-Economic Corridor, IMEC, the corridor for trade, finance and data, from India, across Arabia, and on to Europe.

    The context within which Trumpian foreign policy to rapidly subjugate oil-producing nations by any means possible, and to destroy resistance to the $US global-hegemony protection-racket, is that the final peak of oil + condensates appears to have been in October 2025, after a previous peak in November 2018, followed by the Repo-Crisis in 2019, and COVID-lockdowns in spring 2020, during the financial crisis and going-direct-bailout.
    At this point in history economic collapse is assured as total oil + condensate production, which correlates 90% with real economy, declines, and financial collapse, in a world of exponentially expanding debt-money, is hastened.
    Why not precipitate the inevitable and get some control-levers on it? The US has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, firmly holding that valve closed now.
    There is a shipping delay between the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the oil and gas shortages that follow from it. Those shortages are starting to hit Europe and Asia.
    The US controls Venezuelan oil, and is adding SPR contributions to the global market, as well as refined petrolium and lighter grades of oil and condensates. The US seeks for more of the world to depend on LNG exports from the gulf coast, especially now that Qatar is off-line, and will take years to rebuild. The US is composing a coercive control regime over the world’s oil and gas, the energy lifeblood of global industrial economy, especially transportation, mining, farming heavy diesel equipment, food delivery and air travel.
    The US seeks cooperation from other oil and gas exporting countries, including Russia, whether voluntary or coerced. The US is holding the strait closed until certain political and economic objectives are met, and can be expected to open it and close it in the future, to tactically sustain the Petrodollar Hegemony.
    There are competitors to this, notably China, and the many tributary states which have long been starved of their national resources by comprador elites, loyal to imperial financial directives, not their contrymen.
    Technocracy will be the new mode of global governance, instrumentalizing AI, digital money at all levels, tokenization of all assets within the monetary system, making them all contingent upon systemic approval, and denying any unapproved transaction. “De-banking” is to be the death-sentence by ostracizing.
    Hold this in consideration, and see if things make more sense going forward.
    The Petrobuck Empire wanted to swallow Russia, as it did in the 1990s, and made some bad bets on that, particularly in London, but throughout the EU, and now needs to sustain the war in Ukraine to avoid having to book losses, which would be forced by a peace-settlement declaring most of the valuable Ukrainian assets to now be lost to Russia. That asset write-down would force major bankruptcies.

    Nate Hagens, Oil 301: The World After Cheap Energy
    As energy becomes scarcer and more contested, geopolitics is not going to become more collaborative and more rational. It will become more desperate and focused on energy security, especially as nations hoard and alliances fracture. The most vulnerable countries, the ones that are dependent on importing energy and food, are going to be hit first and hardest. Currencies and bond markets built on an unending horizon of cheap, dense, and affordable energy will become unstable as trusted markers. The post-WWII global order was built on the foundation of cheap abundant oil tied to American military and financial might. That relationship is now in question.
    ​ Nations are now choosing sides based not on ideology, but on energy access. China has signed 27-year gas deals with Qatar and long-term oil contracts with Iran and Russia. The Gulf states are now hedging between Washington and Beijing. Europe, after cutting off Russian pipeline gas, now depends on liquified natural gas that transits the same strait that’s currently closed. We’re watching the real-time fracturing of a global order that was always – underneath the flags and the treaties – an unseen and unstable energy arrangement.
    ​ The alliances of the next 30 years will be determined by who has hydrocarbons and energy access and who needs it. All of this points in one direction – simplification.​ https://natehagens.substack.com/p/essay-oil-301-the-world-after-cheap

    ​ Simplicius has been frustrated by lack of meaningful context recently: Beaten and Shopworn Trump Settles on Flaccid ‘Forever-Blockade’ Strat as Broken-Down Carrier Limps Home
    ​ Two interesting contradictory pathways are emerging for Trump on Iran, if we are to trust latest MSM reports.
    On one hand, new reports claim that Trump now sees the twin options of either total withdrawal from Iran or resumption of hostilities as equally bad. The reports claim he therefore prefers to now maintain the blockade indefinitely as the chief operative posture toward the Islamic Republic.​..
    ​..We’ve known since the beginning that Trump was looking for a quick, easy out. It’s the height of absurdity and surreal risibility that advanced “intelligence agency” studies are required to determine what the IRGC’s response to this might be. The response could only be laughter, followed by triumphant exultation: it would be seen worldwide as a decisive US military defeat.
    ​ Though many still believe Trump is employing his usual artless wiles to lull Iran into a false sense of security before again attacking when the guard is down. But major news just broke that appears to dim any chances of a serious US military continuation of the conflict. It turns out that the USS Poopy Gerry—as Imetatronink has taken to affectionately calling the ever-troubled floating latrine—is ready to ditch the floundering conflict and head back home to await its uncertain future​…
    ​..What was the point of all that CENTCOM bragging we saw last time, that whole routine about assembling the largest carrier strike group in the region in decades? Either it was meant as a last-ditch attempt to scare Iran into concessions, or was just another in a long line of emblematic erraticisms from the current administration’s headless policy.​.. Granted, two carriers is still enough to give Trump plenty to “play with”, should he choose to continue prosecuting his wayward and futile excursion.​..
    ..An obviously mentally-declining Trump even confused Iran and Ukraine in an Oval Office interview, telling Kaitlyn Collins that it is Ukraine that has been “militarily defeated” after the US sank “159” of their ships.​..
    ..Every pathetic attempt to subdue Iran has failed disastrously, and the only scraps left adorning Trump’s golden tabletop are various schemes of economic terrorism against Iranian citizens…
    ..El Pais reports that Gulf countries have been approaching the US for emergency currency swaps to “bail out” their foundering economies…
    ..This all after the announcement today that UAE is leaving OPEC and OPEC+, which some fear could induce a domino effect of other departures…​ https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/beaten-and-shopworn-trump-settles

    ​ The US is launching an operation to completely strangle Iran financially.
    US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has officially announced a new phase of massive pressure on Tehran under a large-scale operation codenamed “Economic Rage.” This time, the spearhead of US sanctions is aimed at dismantling the Islamic Republic’s entire hidden financial system, which allowed the country to survive previous restrictions. This includes the shadow banking infrastructure that facilitates international transactions, as well as the cryptocurrency access mechanisms used by Tehran to circumvent dollar controls. Bessent emphasized that Washington intends to completely paralyze not only the shadow tanker fleet transporting oil to proxy customers, but also the deeply clandestine networks that procure weapons and military components.​ https://avia-pro.net/news/ssha-zapuskayut-operaciyu-po-polnomu-finansovomu-udusheniyu-irana

    ​ He’s questioning what Israel wants, isn’t he? Vance Reportedly Questions Pentagon’s Rosy Assessment Of Iran War
    According to two senior White House officials cited by The Atlantic, Vance has expressed skepticism about recent Pentagon estimates on the depletion of US munitions since the launch of Operation Epic Fury. A report released last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found the Pentagon used roughly half of its stockpiles of advanced interceptors and standoff munitions in the first five weeks of the conflict, which we reported here. But the Pentagon has consistently downplayed and rejected such negative assessments.​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/vance-reportedly-questions-pentagons-rosy-assessment-iran-war

    #239708
    John Day
    Participant

    Rising Venezuelan Oil Exports Help Insulate The US From Energy Crisis​
    If the primary purpose behind the Trump Administration’s snatch-and-grab operation against the illegitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, was not readily apparent in January, it should be crystal clear today. Under Maduro, around 75% of the country’s energy exports were going to China. This year, the US will be receiving around 50% of the oil supply while China’s share is reduced to 10%. ​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rising-venezuelan-oil-exports-help-insulate-us-energy-crisis

    BREAKING: Netanyahu has unexpectedly cancelled his trip to Washington next week, declining Trump’s personal invitation, per Israeli PM office.​ https://x.com/i/status/2049507252034257086

    ​ Times of Israel: PM’s office denies reports Netanyahu will visit Washington next week
    Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said he would invite Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House, though no visit has yet been scheduled.​ https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pms-office-denies-reports-netanyahu-will-visit-washington-next-week/

    ​ Hezbollah FPV drone destroys Israeli armored vehicle, injures 12 soldiers in western Galilee
    The operation marked the first time a Hezbollah fiber-optic FPV drone has reached the western Galilee​ https://thecradle.co/articles/hezbollah-fpv-drone-destroys-israeli-armored-vehicle-injures-12-soldiers-in-western-galilee

    ​ Oil Spikes As Israeli Defense Chief Says ‘Required To Act Again’ In Striking Iran, Achieving Objectives
    Israeli Defense Minister Katz: “soon we will need to act again in Iran to ensure that the regime cannot threaten Israel for years to come.” Oil spikes on this and new reports of Israeli defense build-up at ports, air hubs.
    ​ Not giving up nuclear program: Iran will “guard” its “advanced technologies” like it does its own borders, Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written speech read aloud by state TV. It will “secure the Persian Gulf region and dismantle the hostile enemy’s exploitation of this waterway.”​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/defiant-mojtaba-khamenei-says-gulfs-future-will-be-without-us-presence-vows-protect

    #239709
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Footage published on Iranian channels with the description that Iranian security forces installed these inflatable rocket launchers throughout the country and reported them to Mossad-affiliated ‘Iran International’, under the guise of an ordinary citizen. Many flight sorties and missiles were wasted on these mockups.​ https://x.com/i/status/2049900932461105486


    ​ Trump Argues War ‘Terminated’ Before 60-Day Congressional Approval Deadline, As Iran Submits Latest Proposal To Pakistan Mediators
    White House officials argue the current absence of fighting between Iranian & US forces means the 60-day timeline for Congressional approval (or US forces must leave) doesn’t apply due to the ceasefire.​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-argues-iran-war-terminated-60-day-congressional-approval-deadline-iran-submits

    ​ No price drop happened, so how’s the war? Trump Says Gas Prices Will Drop “Like a Rock” Once Conflict Ends, As Senator Breaks With GOP Leadership On War Powers https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/defiant-mojtaba-khamenei-says-gulfs-future-will-be-without-us-presence-vows-protect

    ​The S&P 500 is still at all time highs, but oil prices aren’ot buying any Mideast peace, with WTI stuck above $100/bbl: https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/

    ​ Gold &Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-01
    CENTCOM briefed Trump for 45 minutes on “final blow” options against Iran, including strikes on remaining military assets, leadership, and infrastructure (Fox News via Lord Bebo). Separate option includes US “forced control” over part of the Strait of Hormuz with ground forces…
    ..US national debt crossed 100% of GDP for the first time since WWII…
    ​..Israel’s defense minister Katz says Israel may continue military campaign against Iran “in the near future” to “fully achieve” objectives (Lord Bebo). Israel received 6,500 tons of US military equipment in one day, with deliveries intensifying (ILRedAlert). US moving more equipment from South Korea bases to Israel​…
    ​..US considering first deployment of Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles to the Middle East, still under development, produced at ~1/month at $41M each​…
    ..IRGC Aerospace Force commander: “We saw the fate of your bases in the region; we will also see your warships”…
    ​..Iranian parliament member: “If Iran is attacked again, you must say goodbye to the oil and gas of the region for a long time” (Hormuz Letter)
    Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei: the future of the Persian Gulf will be “without America” (multiple sources)
    ​ Putin warned Trump during phone call that resumed military action would lead to “extremely adverse consequences”, called ground operations “particularly unacceptable and dangerous”​…
    ​..USS Gerald Ford heading home after 300+ days, longest modern carrier deployment — reducing US naval presence (Lord Bebo). USS Boxer crossing Malacca Strait, likely redeploying to Middle East​ [amphibious ass​ault ship]​…
    ..Strait of Hormuz traffic: all 12 verified crossings on April 29 were west-to-east only, no return traffic…
    ​..UAE lost its only GlobalEye early warning aircraft (~$1B) to a drone worth ~$20K (The Iran Observer)​…
    ..Hezbollah’s fiber-optic FPV drones proving effective: 12 Israeli soldiers wounded in single Shomera attack, 4 Merkava tanks hit, 1 Hermes 450 drone shot down — all before noon…
    ​..S&P 500 new all-time high amid violent rotation​ – S&P 500 posted highest close ever, up +14.2% since March 30 low — $8.1T in market cap in 23 trading days (Kobeissi). April was best month since Nov 2020…
    ​..ECB stagflation trap​ – ECB held deposit rate at 2% but likely to hike in June unless energy prices ease (Kobeissi)
    ​ Eurozone Q1 growth was just 0.1% while headline inflation surged back above 3%
    IEA called the current situation the “biggest energy security threat in history”
    ​ Lagarde: inflation “well above 2% in near term”, economy “moving away from baseline”​…
    ..US economic data: hot inflation, strong labor, collapsing savings…
    ..75% of US Q1 GDP growth came from AI-related investment…
    ​..China’s tungsten exports fell 22.65% in Q1, with APT exports down 98.37% YoY. Japan facing price surges in cutting tools (tphuang)
    Belgium reversing nuclear phase-out: shuttered reactors being prepared for restart (dana916)
    ​ China unveiled first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on PLA Navy anniversary (Lord Bebo)
    Gas turbine backlog stretches to 2029-2030 for GE, Siemens, Mitsubishi — prices nearly tripled since 2019. Every AI data center queuing for same machine​. https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-01

    #239710
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Gold & Geopolitis, Daily digest: 2026-04-30
    Oil breaks wartime highs – Brent above $120, WTI above $110. Brent crude surged past $120/barrel for the first time since June 2022 as Trump rejected Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ordered preparation for an extended blockade. CENTCOM is briefing Trump Thursday on a plan for “short and powerful” strikes against Iranian infrastructure.​..
    ..US considering deploying Dark Eagle hypersonic missile to Middle East — first deployment of its kind…
    ..US depleting oil reserves at fastest pace since 2022. SPR drawn down 7.1M barrels (biggest weekly drain since Oct 2022)…
    ​..Hegseth contradicted himself in congressional hearing: said Iran’s nuclear facilities “obliterated” while also claiming they were the justification for war per multiple accounts
    ​ Iran warns of “unprecedented military action” if vessel seizures continue
    Putin warned Trump of “devastating consequences” in 1.5-hour call, offered Ukraine V​ictory-Day ceasefire​…
    ​..Agriculture crisis accelerating​ – US wheat futures at highest since June 2024, up +30% YTD per Kobeissi
    Only 30% of US wheat crop rated good/excellent​ – US farmers planting least wheat since records began in 1919
    ​ Farm bankruptcies +46% YoY, 1.9M farms — the fewest ever…
    ​..China issuing new regulations allowing confiscation of assets of any foreign entity disrupting its supply chain — in direct response to US seizing Iranian oil bound for China. Also “factoring in US military constraints from Iran conflict” when assessing Taiwan strike.​ https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-30

    ​ Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-04-29
    UAE exits OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1. Shock announcement blindsided partners. Energy minister says UAE “can go to 6 million” bpd if needed. JPM says medium-term prices lower but crude still driven by Hormuz… Pipeline capacity constrains actual near-term ramp to ~400-700k bpd.​..
    ..OpenAI misses revenue and user targets; CFO warns company may not be able to pay computing contracts. CFO Sarah Friar privately warned OpenAI may not afford its $1.5 trillion in spending commitments. Missed target of 1B weekly users. ChatGPT market share collapsed from 86.7% to 64.5% in 12 months…
    ​..Iran has 12-22 days of usable oil storage remaining per Kpler. Iranian crude exports collapsed ~70% from 1.85M bpd to ~567k bpd. Goldman estimates Iran already curtailed 2.5M bpd. Revenue impact 3-4 months away due to payment lags.​..
    ​..Iran blockade bypass corridors opening
    Pakistan opened 6 overland transit corridors to Iran, 3,000+ containers in transit
    ​ First loaded LNG tanker and crude supertanker cleared Hormuz – Idemitsu Maru did not use Larak channel
    Iran resumed Moscow flights after 2-month halt
    ​ IRGC operating toll booth at Larak Island charging $1-2M per transit, some payments in yuan and Bitcoin​…
    ​..Silver market migration to Shanghai
    China imported record 836 tonnes of silver in a single month, 173% above 10-year average, while banning exports
    ​ SGE silver at $82.29 with ~$8 premium to spot
    COMEX registered silver under 76M oz, open interest collapsed to lowest since Nov 2011​…
    ​..AI infrastructure spending crisis
    OpenAI’s $600B+ committed capex meets slowing growth: Deutsche Bank estimates $143B cumulative negative free cash flow through 2029
    ​ INTC and NVDA Chief Accounting Officers both resigned​…
    ​..AI bubble concentration hits same level that preceded dot-com burst per Barchart​ …
    ..UK ambassador privately admitted “special relationship” era ending – leaked audio during King Charles’ state visit. “There is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States, and that is probably Israel”
    ​ Fed T-bill holdings doubled in four months from $195B to $425B – Hedgeye calls it “QE-lite”
    China banning export of 7 rare earth elements including samarium, gadolinium, terbium – defense supply chain has ~6 months of inventory before lines stop per Lockheed 10-K disclosure
    ​ Gulf urea production down ~60% since war began. Only 11 fertilizer ships transited Hormuz, 44 stuck. US farm bankruptcies +46% YoY​ https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-04-29

    ​Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: – Trump To Decide On Three Options
    The stalemate in the war on Iran continues. The Strait of Hormuz is (mostly) still closed. The U.S. blockade of Iran related sea traffic, though leaky, is still in force. Iran is evaluating the war as being far from over:
    Overall, the perception in Iran is that the war is far from over; rather, the naval blockade is seen either as a prelude to further escalation or as a trigger that could bring about a new round of conflict sooner rather than later.
    Despite the recall of one of its three aircraft carriers in the region U.S. forces are still in the position and ready to strike at a moments notice.
    In short – Both sides are ready to restart the war.
    U.S. President Donald Trump has three options:
    to continue the blockade of Iran and, in consequence, the blockade of the Strait;
    to launch a new bombing campaign against Iran;
    to declare victory and order his military leave the Gulf. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/04/war-on-iran-trump-to-decide-on-three-options.html

    Keep your girls home from school: US may use hypersonic weapons against Iran — agency
    According to Bloomberg, if the plan comes to fruition, this will be the first time that the US has deployed hypersonic missiles​ https://tass.com/world/2124575

    Israeli Navy Moves to Seize Gaza Flotilla, Activists Report Jamming and Warships​ https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-navy-moves-to-seize-gaza-flotilla-activists-report-jamming-and-warships/

    #239711
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Times of Israel: Navy intercepts 21 of 58 vessels in Gaza flotilla hundreds of miles from the Strip
    Tracking data shows boats near Crete as they are confronted by Israeli forces; 175 activists detained; other vessels told to turn back or proceed to Ashdod if carrying humanitarian aid​ https://www.timesofisrael.com/navy-begins-intercepting-gaza-flotilla-hundreds-of-miles-from-the-strip/

    Paramedic killed, woman injured in Israeli strikes in northern Gaza​ https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169941?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    ​ A Growing Rat Infestation Plagues Tent Cities in Gaza
    “We are suffering from two wars,” Majd Sukar, the head of the Preventive Health Department in Gaza City, said. “The war of bombs, and the war of rats.”​ https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-rats-rodents-disease-displaced-palestinians-tents

    IOA okays dozens of settler homes in Jenin​ https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/04/29/362154/

    Colonists cut over 200 olive and almond trees south of Hebron​ https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/169944?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    #239712
    John Day
    Participant

    US-Born Netanyahu Advisor Was Tasked With ‘Relocating’ Palestinians From Gaza
    Sources told Haaretz that Caroline Glick approached Somaliland and the DR Congo about the ethnic cleansing plan, but was unsuccessful​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/29/us-born-netanyahu-advisor-was-tasked-with-relocating-palestinians-from-gaza/

    Three Lebanese Paramedics Killed by Israeli Double-Tap Strike​ – Family of five also slain as Lebanon death toll continues to mount​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/29/three-lebanese-paramedics-killed-in-israel-double-tap-strike/

    Israeli Commanders Say Lebanon Mission Is to Destroy Shi’ite Villages​ – ‘This is not about terrorist infrastructure, we are destroying everything,’​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/29/israeli-commanders-say-lebanon-mission-is-to-destroy-shiite-villages/

    ​ Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that Israel must fully implement the ceasefire between the two countries before beginning direct talks, after Israeli strikes killed more than 20 people over the last two days.​ https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260429182832.e4iewo0j.html

    ​ IDF chief says there’s ‘no ceasefire’ in south Lebanon amid continued fighting with Hezbollah
    Trump reportedly pushing back on Israeli efforts to limit talks with Beirut, return to large-scale war; 1 million Lebanese will face food insecurity in coming months, monitor warns​ https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-says-theres-no-ceasefire-in-south-lebanon-amid-continued-fighting-with-hezbollah/

    #239713
    John Day
    Participant

    A UN-backed report said Wednesday that more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon were expected to face acute hunger due to the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah.​ https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260429125323.b0vldnhs.html

    ​ Israeli Occupation of Lebanon Threatens Civil War Amid Growing Devastation
    Analysts warn that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be hoping to push Lebanon into a civil war, and take advantage of the chaos to permanently occupy Lebanon, with the approval of the US and its allies.​ https://www.globalresearch.ca/israeli-occupation-lebanon-threatens-civil-war/5924274

    Far Right Israeli Settler Movement Enters Syria in a Push for “Greater Israel”​ https://israelpalestinenews.org/far-right-greater-israel/

    ​ Ex-Mossad chief says Israeli settler violence reminds him of the Holocaust​ – Tamir Pardo adds that curbing settler assaults could spark a civil war in Israel​ https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/ex-mossad-chief-compares-settler-violence-holocaust

    Israelis Outraged After Govt Sent Vital Arrow Missiles To Germany Mid-Iran War​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israelis-outraged-after-govt-sent-vital-arrow-missiles-germany-mid-iran-war

    #239714
    John Day
    Participant

    Israeli army facing ‘continuous rise’ in soldier suicides: Report​ – Six active duty soldiers and three non-active reservists ended their own lives this month​ https://thecradle.co/articles-id/37399

    ​ UK judge gags Palestine Action defendants to secure ‘terror’ stitch-up
    Desperate to secure a conviction of Palestine Action defendants, a draconian British judge has forbidden them from referring to the principle of jury equity in their closing speeches. It is one of countless restrictions aimed at blocking the activists from mounting an effective defense.​ https://thegrayzone.com/2026/04/29/uk-palestine-action-defendants-terror/

    ​ Gold & Geopolitics explains what Iran just found out: The CBDC we already have​ – crypto on a chain
    The product was sold as the alternative.​ Permissionless, censorship-resistant, beyond the reach of any single government.
    ​ The whole pitch of crypto, repeated in white papers and conference keynotes for fifteen years, was that this was the exit. The dollar system had become weaponised, the rails could be cut at will, but the chain – the chain was sovereign.
    ​ Iran took it as advertised. After getting kicked off SWIFT in 2012 and again in 2018, Tehran did exactly what every sanctions-evasion playbook recommended. Bitcoin mining legalised in 2019. Subsidised power rerouted to industrial farms.
    ​ Over $3 billion moved through digital assets in 2025 alone. The central bank held at least $507 million in USDT, the supposedly neutral dollar-substitute that wasn’t subject to any single government’s say-so.​..
    ​..On April 23rd, the US Treasury called Tether and asked them to freeze $344 million of Iranian funds on Tron. Tether did it in one single smart-contract call. Two wallets, blacklisted at the issuer level, $213 million in one and $131 million in the other.
    ​ That money didn’t move or got seized. It instantly became decorative. Visible on the chain, but immobile, a monument to a successful misrepresentation.​ https://no01.substack.com/p/the-cbdc-we-already-have

    ​ Trump Is Putting Americans into Digital Prison​, Paul Craig Roberts
    The Trump regime has shown that its true agenda is to dump Americans into captivity. Trump and his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, a George Soros lackey, are using undocumented aliens as an excuse to force American citizens into total digital surveillance.
    ​ The Burning Platform explains:
    “In a move that exposes the true agenda behind the “America First” rhetoric, the Trump administration is barreling forward with an executive order that will force every American to hand over their biometric facial data or be locked out of the banking system entirely.
    ​ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a longtime Soros protégé who helped wreck the British economy in the 1992 Black Wednesday raid [by Soros on the British currency], has confirmed the policy is “in process.” Banks will be required to verify every customer’s citizenship using a U.S. passport containing embedded RFID chips and government-ready facial recognition biometrics. No passport? No bank account. Period. Real ID, driver’s licenses, and every other common document will not suffice.​ https://paulcraigroberts.org/trump-is-putting-americans-into-digital-prison/

    ​ Ukraine damages energy facilities in Zaporozhye in course of attack​ – This led to a partial power outage in populated areas of the region, reported regional governor Yevhen Balitsky​ https://tass.com/politics/2124533

    #239715
    John Day
    Participant

    ​ Russian troops were already holding Chernobyl when it was attacked by Ukrainian drones. They still do: U.S. Commits $100 Million to Repair Chornobyl Nuclear Containment Damaged in Russian Drone Strike
    ​ Ukraine has established a dedicated national fund to manage incoming international assistance, with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant formalizing grant agreements to initiate the restoration process…
    ​..The U.S. contribution forms part of a coordinated initiative among the Group of Seven nations to address nuclear safety risks at the site. Officials stated that total restoration requirements are currently estimated at approximately €500 million (around $530 million), following consultations with international partners and technical assessments.
    ​ The U.S. share represents roughly one-fifth of the projected total. The State Department indicated it will work with Congress to secure the funding allocation and has called on European partners and other G7 members to provide additional financial support.​ https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/US-Commits-100-Million-to-Repair-Chornobyl-Nuclear-Containment-Damaged-in-Russian-Drone-Strike/

    ​ John Helmer, THE KURSK SYNDROME – PRESIDENT PUTIN IS DISPLAYING SYMPTOMS OF AN OLD PROBLEM RUSSIAN VOTERS RECOGNISE
    In Putin’s public speech to a session of his economic ministers and advisors, including Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina, on April 15, the President acknowledged the obvious: “Statistics show that economic growth has, unfortunately, been slowing for two consecutive months. Overall, GDP contracted by 1.8 percent between January and February. Manufacturing and industrial production as a whole have suffered losses, as has construction, a strategically important sector.” ​ He then told voters not to blame him.​..
    ..In Ushakov’s summary, Putin reportedly told Trump that the US threat of “a ground operation on the territory of Iran is completely unacceptable and dangerous.” For alternative, Putin offered “all possible support for diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful outcome of the crisis and proposed a number of considerations aimed at resolving the differences around the Iranian nuclear program. For these purposes active contacts with Iranian representatives, leaders of the countries will continue in the Persian Gulf, as well as with Israel and, of course, with the team of American negotiators.”
    ​ Putin omitted to record for Trump Russian support for Iran’s “interests”, as Putin had assured Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday. Putin also did not register the Russian objection to the US blockade of the Hormuz Strait, nor to Israeli violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon, according to Ushakov’s read-out.
    ​ In a press gaggle in Washington, Trump referred to the telephone conversation with Putin. “We talked,” he said, “more about the war in Ukraine, but he would like to be of help. And I said before, you help me, I want to end your​ war. So, we had a good talk. I’ve known him a long time. I think he was ready to make a deal a while ago. I think some people made it difficult for him to make a deal, but we talked more about Ukraine.”​ https://johnhelmer.net/the-kursk-syndrome-president-putin-is-displaying-symptoms-of-an-old-problem-russian-voters-recognise/#more-94103

    ​ Gilbert Doctorow, Judging Freedom’ edition of 29 April 2026: Is Putin on the ropes?
    I owe Judge Andrew Napolitano…for discussing with me earlier the ‘unthinkable’ in Russian affairs, the possible political defeat of Vladimir Putin’s governing party, United Russia, in the September elections to the lower house of the legislature, the State Duma. As I mention in this chat, latest poll figures put United Russia at just 20% of the electorate, which is a one-third drop from its usual position of 30%,,,
    ​..If United Russia is indeed scoring 20% electoral support, then it will be neck and neck with the second largest party in Russia, the Communist Party, led by Gennady Zyuganov. And last week, on the anniversary of the birth date of Lenin, delivered a speech in the Duma in which he warned that if the economic and financial policies of the government do not change fundamentally, then there may be in the autumn a new Russian Revolution as in 1917. What he had in mind was the February Revolution, which was in effect a palace coup, that forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate. As we know, that put Russia on a slippery path which ended in the Communist Revolution of October 1917.
    ​ For all of these reasons, I say that the elections in September are as important for Putin’s continued hold on power as the November midterm elections are for Donald Trump.​ https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/judging-freedom-edition-of-29-april

    ​ Alex Krainer on the dealmaking visit of King Charles, presumably on City of London business: Charles III and Britain’s pathological obsession with Russia
    Yesterday, Charles III called for World War III, echoing the 1945 “Project Unthinkable” Britain’s obsession with waging war on Russia is now a mortal danger to all of us.​ https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/charles-iii-and-britains-pathological

    ​ Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold. Russia Deals Germany Impeccably Timed Oil Blow
    News broke last week that starting May 1 Russia will no longer transit oil exports from Kazakhstan to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline. This is a disaster for Germany and couldn’t come at a worse time with the global supply disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.
    ​ The Kazakh oil that Russia delivers to Germany makes up roughly 17 percent of the supply at the Schwedt refinery, which provides the vast majority of diesel, petrol and heating oil for East Germany, including Berlin.
    ​ Schwedt itself was seized from the Russian oil company Rosneft in 2022, and as Germany scrambles to find new delivery routes for the Kazakh oil, this latest saga offers yet another reminder of how fantastical and self-defeating this whole conflict with Russia is for Berlin.​ https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/04/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-cold-russia-deals-germany-impeccably-timed-oil-blow.html

    #239716
    John Day
    Participant

    Not the Democratic​-Party version… Assassination attempt was Staged ~ Russian Special Forces Veteran
    US presidential security is purpose-designed to be weak, says a top Russian FSB anti-terrorism expert.
    ​ The US Secret Service is kept vulnerable to allow for assassination attempts against American leaders, a Russian special forces veteran says.
    The latest assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump was a complete security failure. It was a product of systemic weakness that may be deliberate, a special forces veteran of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has told RT.
    ​ Cole Tomas Allen, a 31‑year‑old teacher from California, has been charged with trying to assassinate the US president during a dinner event at the Washington Hilton on Saturday.
    ​ Allen had checked into the hotel the day before. On the day of the attack, he used an internal stairwell to get to the hotel’s terrace level, where the event was held.​..
    ​..Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Popov, a veteran of the FSB’s elite Alpha Group anti‑terrorism unit, says the Secret Service made several blatant organisational mistakes.
    ​ He suggested that its repeated failures to prevent attacks on the American leader are ’part of the system.’
    ​ According to Popov, such an incident would have never happened if the Security Service had followed standard security and anti-terrorism procedures. If the US Security Service had done its due diligence ahead of the event
    ​ This means properly vetting all the hotel guests, reviewing building plans, sealing doors and ventilation, setting up proper metal detectors, and stationing additional security forces​…
    ​..‘In an ordinary decent hotel, a person from the budget zone simply cannot physically get into the VIP zone,’ he said.​ In Russia, such an incident could have never taken place​…
    ​..He pointed out that security systems in the Moscow Metro are of a much higher standard than at the Trump dinner.​ Metal detectors are installed that cannot be physically bypassed, and multiple security officers in high traffic areas.
    ​ ‘Moscow can afford this, but the Hilton hotel apparently cannot,’ he remarked.​..
    ​..According to Popov, the Secret Service appears to be intentionally kept this way to allow certain forces to have the possibility of physically eliminating the US president if he does something against their will.
    ​ ‘This is not only about Trump. This has probably been going on since Kennedy.​ So that the president feels, as we say, someone’s hot breath on his back if he suddenly misbehaves and does not listen to someone’s advice,’ Popov suggested.
    ​ At the same time, Popov admitted that there are certain abnormalities in the latest attack on Trump, suggesting it could have been staged. He, as well as several keen-eyed users online, have noted the unusually calm response of some of the attendees to the gunshots and even Trump’s own demeanour during and after the incident.​ ‘To him, it did not seem like a surprise,’ Popov said, adding that Americans actively use such things to interrupt an information wave that is unfavorable to them at that moment.
    ​ ‘We see that already in the news summary. Nobody is reading the US reports on the war on Iran.​ Everyone is only laughing. Iran is winning. And that, in my opinion, does not make Trump very happy.’
    ​ Popov predicted that, as with the previous assassination attempts on Trump, nobody will be held responsible for this latest incident.​ No changes will be made in the Secret Service. The service must be ’kept in a deprived state’ to allow further attempts on presidents.
    ​ ‘It is part of their democracy. If they suddenly elect the wrong president, the truly democratic forces must have the ability to correct the situation by eliminating him.’​ https://michaelwalshwriter.com/2026/04/29/assassination-attempt-was-staged-russian-special-forces-veteran/

    ​ The US Grid Wasn’t Built For This
    Global data center power demand is projected to hit 84 GW by 2027—a 50 percent jump from 2023 levels—with AI workloads accounting for 27 percent of that total​…
    ​..The grid cannot keep up with AI. For decades, electricity demand grew slowly and predictably, giving utilities comfortable margins to plan capacity years in advance. That model broke almost overnight. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, utilities’ five-year summer peak demand forecasts jumped from 38 GW to 128 GW, a more than threefold increase in a single planning cycle.
    ​ Unlike traditional server loads, which are relatively flat and predictable, AI inference and training jobs generate sharp, near-instantaneous power spikes. Large-scale GPU clusters can produce fluctuations of hundreds of megawatts within seconds. That’s a load behavior utilities have no historical model for.
    ​ Energy companies are no longer treating hyperscale data centers as large customers to be served from the grid, but rather as anchor infrastructure to be co-built with.​ https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/us-grid-wasnt-built

    ​ Claude-powered AI coding agent deletes entire company database in 9 seconds — backups zapped, after Cursor tool powered by Anthropic’s Claude goes rogue​ – PocketOS founder blames ‘Cursor running Anthropic’s flagship Claude Opus 4.6’ plus Railway’s infrastructure for data disaster.​ https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/claude-powered-ai-coding-agent-deletes-entire-company-database-in-9-seconds-backups-zapped-after-cursor-tool-powered-by-anthropics-claude-goes-rogue

    ​ Autonomous AI renews 192 drugs in Utah pilot, exposing safety and legal gaps
    “If you look at the statute for refilling a prescription, it clearly says that the refilling must be authorized by a ‘prescriber’—in other words, according to the statute, a ‘practitioner licensed by law.'”​ https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-autonomous-ai-renews-drugs-utah.html

    GDP Shocker: 75% Of US Growth In The First Quarter Was Due To AI​ https://x.com/zerohedge/status/2049895327566561683

    #239717
    John Day
    Participant

    Paul Marik MD explains how cancer creates its own metabolic milieu, and how to thwart that: Reprogramming the Tumor Microenvironment: The Metabolic and Immunologic Trap – The Role of Repurposed Drugs and Nutraceuticals in Metabolic Oncology https://substack.com/home/post/p-195558467

    Dr. Marik gives detailed explanations for a simple intervention, Exercise and Eliminate Refined Carbs and Sugars: Insulin Resistance: The Silent Engine of Modern Disease – The condition driving obesity, heart disease, cancer, and cognitive decline—yet rarely diagnosed until it’s too late https://substack.com/home/post/p-195033082

    This was top-down, concerted and is documented: BREAKING: Senate Investigation Finds FDA Officials Covered-Up 25 COVID Shot Safety Signals
    FDA’s own data flagged sudden cardiac death, heart attacks, blood clots, neurological damage, and dementia… and the FDA analyst uncovering it was ordered to “cease and desist.”​ https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-senate-investigation-finds-f15

    ​ Celia Farber, As Social Media Posts Spike Quoting The 2025 Leaked Prasad FDA Memo Admitting “Career Staff” Certified The First 10 Pediatric Deaths From Covid Shots, Open Vaers Has 201 And Counting. 39,077 Deaths​ Total. And That’s An Estimated 1 % Of The Actual Death Toll. Will Any Mainstream Journalist Investigate? No.​ https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/as-social-media-posts-spike-quoting

    ​Celia Farber has more, even worse: Unintended Oversights Corrected: The Real Numbers​ – Two Sources That Deserve Spotlight Attention https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/unintended-oversights-corrected-the

    #239718
    John Day
    Participant

    Top Fauci Official, David Morens, Indicted In First Criminal Prosecution Against A Senior Covid Official​: Cause For Jubilation, or Too Little Too Late?​ https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/top-fauci-official-david-morens-indicted

    ​ Celia Farber, NIH Terminates All Grants To Ralph Baric, UNC Places Him On Leave
    I’m Naming Fauci Stasi, The Cult That Crushed His Critics For Decades, And Openly Declared War On Independent Science Journalism In 2006. It Will Take Time; The Cult Of Fauci Did Not Start With Covid​ https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/nih-terminates-all-grants-to-ralph

    ​ Steve Kirsch explains that after the clinical trial ended, many participants chose to get antibody testing to see if they had gotten the “vaccine” or not, and if they had active COVID that day, or not. The mRNA recipients had recently contracted COVID at the same rate as placebo recipients. Near universal RT-PCR testing at the end of the Moderna trial showed no significant difference between groups
    ​ Near universal RT-PCR testing at the end of the blinded phase of the Moderna trial showed positives 157 placebo vs. 153 vaccine. At best, after ~2-3 months, any “protection” was gone.​ https://kirschsubstack.com/p/near-universal-rt-pcr-testing-at

    ​ Climate Physicist, Anastassia Makarieva: China at an Ecohydrological Crossroads, Part III: New Perspectives​ – How ecosystem recovery dynamics can change long-term projections of China’s water cycle
    ​ In this concluding post of the China at an Ecohydrological Crossroads mini-series, we consider what actually happened to China’s water cycle during the decades of re-greening and how the available data can be interpreted when ecosystem processes are taken into account.​ https://bioticregulation.substack.com/p/china-at-an-ecohydrological-crossroads-dc5

    Anton Petrov explains how fungi release ice-nucleation proteins which become airborn and seed rain clouds, complimenting Biotic Pump dynamics. Mushrooms Have an Ability to Control Rain According to New Study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qYyhOjTtSk

    #239720
    zerosum
    Participant

    As an armchair general, I recommend, to Iran, to use their friends surrounding the US military bases.

    To enforce, “YANKY GO HOME”

    According to Mahmood Nabavian, Deputy Chair of Iran’s Security, Iran will now view an attack on Hamas; Hezbollah; Ansar Allah and other Resistance groups as an attack on Iran – as discussed on Daniel Davis’s Deep Dive. If Iran carries through on this, it will represent a significant development, diametrically opposed to the USraeli’s plans to deal with these groups separately. Nabavian, obviously a hard liner, wants the war to continue so that Iran can humiliate America.

    Those friends can seize those bases with a ground invasion and the US will finish bombing those bases to dust.
    🙂

    #239721
    zerosum
    Participant

    1. What the House actually voted on
    The vote was not to authorize war.
    It was a vote under the War Powers Resolution to end U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict.

    This type of vote is designed to limit presidential military action, not expand it.

    2. The result: 213–214 (failed)
    Because the resolution failed by a single vote:

    The House did not order a withdrawal

    The President’s existing military authority remains in place

    No new powers were granted

    No new authorization for war was created

    This is why the outcome is significant:
    Congress attempted to stop the conflict, and the attempt failed.

    What is next?

    Another round of votes.
    (With Trump Influence, since he says that he wants peace/end war.)

    #239722
    zerosum
    Participant

    Is Italy and Spain next?

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-pulling-5000-us-troops-germany-punitive-move-amid-merz-spat

    Trump Pulling 5,000 US Troops From Germany In Punitive Move Amid Merz Spat

    by Tyler Durden
    Friday, May 01, 2026 – 03:30 PM
    In a huge late in the day Friday development, the Trump administration plans to pull some 5,000 troops from NATO member Germany, CBS is reporting. Citing senior defense officials, the Pentagon expects the troop draw down will happen over a six to twelve month period, Reuters has also separately reported, in what clearly appears a punitive measure aimed at Berlin by the Trump White House.

    Over several years, and stretching back decades, the US has maintained the most number of troops on the European continent in Germany – currently estimated at over 36,000 active duty personnel. So the 5,000 – while significant – is still somewhat of a symbolic move and number.

    “The officials characterized the move as a signal of President Trump’s discontent with the level of assistance that European allies have offered in the U.S.-Iran war,” CBS writes.

    The significance of the planned move also lies in the fact that America’s German bases serve as headquarters of US European Command and Africa Command – with the historic Ramstein Air Base being the key hub.

    #239723
    WES
    Participant

    Covid:

    Notice that no one is being indicted for the mass killing, but rather for the mundane crime of covering up the killings.
    Probably only a civil, not criminal crime.
    So, no worries for the indicted.
    The deep state is still protecting their criminals.
    It is all a “staged” puppet show to temper the masses’ anger!

    Trump’s Iran Ceasefire:

    So, Trump built himself an off ramp!
    So, all the video pundits were 100% wrong about no off ramp!

    So, Iran’s leaders are now in the embarrassing position of asking themselves “What Now?”
    Before, it was what missile do we light up now and what target do we hit?
    Now, it is which domestic issue do we have to fix?

    Now, that Trump has suddenly turned off the war at home, he doesn’t seem too concerned about time.
    The City of London/Globalists and proxy Iran are now watching each grain of sand, pouring through the hour glass!
    New world order banking; zero for me, One for Trump, zero for me, Two for Trump, …

    Iranian oil tankers are obviously not part of the naval blockade!
    Read the fine print.
    China can buy all the oil they want, but only at market prices.

    Rubber Duckies:

    Paton’s British Isle phantom army was made up of rubber Sherman tanks.
    The Germans bombed them with wooden bombs!

    #239724
    WES
    Participant

    Zerosum:

    The 213 – 214 vote only indicates that the 213 democrats paid the 214 Republicans to vote “No!”

    #239725
    zerosum
    Participant

    @ WES
    I’m waiting to see if Trump really, really, wants peace.
    He can get the majority, if he wants it.

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