President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have virtually signed a peace deal to end the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian ports, the general Gulf region, and begin 60 days of nuclear negotiations, according to CNN, citing US senior sources. The text of the so-called memorandum of understanding, a 14-point document that should lead to a two-month extension of the ceasefire and the start of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, has yet to be published.

But Trump stated overnight the deal terms will be released “pretty soon,” likely after the formal signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday. Trump, who is attending the G7 club summit in France, suggested that he would not attend the signing event at the end of the week. VP Vance is expected to lead the American delegation in Switzerland on Friday to formally sign an interim peace deal with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Trump pushed back on MSM reports that his administration is considering a $300 billion fund for Iran as part of an agreement to end the war.
“Iran has agreed to never have a Nuclear Weapon! Also, the story that the U.S. is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. Trump’s Truth Social comments came shortly after VP Vance the Iranians “could have access” to a $300 billion reconstruction fund. “That’s the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation,” Vance told CBS News in an interview.
The interim peace deal signals a major diplomatic breakthrough, though Israel remains opposed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and Trump “do not always see eye to eye.” Conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah continued Monday in southern Lebanon. With the Strait of Hormuz set to open on Friday, blockades and the clogged maritime chokepoint could soon be in the rearview mirror, but the effect on physical markets could last for months, if not longer.

Trump understands Putin. And he’s not going to fight him.

• Trump Calls on Putin to Reach Deal With Ukraine After Zelenskyy Meeting (ET)

U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off his G7 summit meetings on June 16 in the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains, joining a roundtable discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other G7 leaders. “We had a very good meeting,” Trump told reporters after the meeting. “Russia should make a deal. Russia has lost tremendous amounts of people and so has Ukraine.”Before the roundtable, Trump confirmed he also had a private discussion with Zelenskyy “I’m meeting with him again later on today,” he added. Trump made these comments during his bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

“I’m going to do whatever I can,” Trump said, to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said he wants to focus on Ukraine now, saying Iran will soon be “back in the rearview mirror.” When asked whether he would increase sanctions on Russia, Trump said the United States could reinstate sanctions now that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. “Soon we’ll be able to do that, because the oil is now flowing,” Trump told reporters during a bilateral meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.“We took sanctions off because obviously we’re not looking to impede the U.S, so we’re in a position to do that soon,” Trump added.
Washington eased sanctions on Russia in March, permitting purchases of Russian seaborne oil to address the energy supply shortage caused by the war in Iran. The Treasury Department later extended the sanctions waiver, which is set to expire on June 17. Leaders of the world’s seven largest advanced economies have gathered in Évian-les-Bains, a lakeside town in eastern France, from June 15 to June 17 for their annual summit. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine is stronger now than it was at last year’s G7 summit in Canada.
“Ukraine is in a different position,” von der Leyen said at a press conference in Evian on June 15. “Ukraine is holding the frontline and even partially regaining territory.” She also praised the speed at which Ukraine was becoming a top producer of advanced military equipment. “On the other hand, Russia is feeling the strain and pressure. Our sanctions are biting and cutting deep,” she added. In August 2025, Trump invited Putin to a meeting in Alaska to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. However, the meeting ended with no breakthrough. Before heading to France, Trump said he had spoken separately with both Putin and Zelenskyy on the phone on June 15.
“We had a very good conversation yesterday with President Zelenskiy and President Putin, and I think maybe we can do something there,” he said following his bilateral meeting with Macron on June 15. “I really do. I think they’re both open to it.” He said that now the Iran deal is finalized, “we’re going to be focusing on that.” On June 15, Ukraine officially began European Union membership negotiations, launching a process that will require its government to commit to years of political reforms even as it fights the Russian invasion. Ukraine sees EU membership as a security guarantee for a stable future once the war ends.

“The ruling marks a “convincing victory” in a decade-long maritime dispute, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.”

• Hague Tribunal Rejects Ukraine’s Crimea Claims (RT)

A Hague-based arbitration tribunal has rejected Ukrainian maritime claims against Russia, including attempts to challenge Moscow’s sovereignty over Crimea and surrounding waters. Ukraine launched the case in 2016 before the Permanent Court of Arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Kiev argued that Crimea remained Ukrainian territory and claimed that the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait should be treated as international waters subject to UNCLOS rules. Crimea joined Russia following a 2014 referendum held after the Western-backed Maidan coup in Kiev.

In a statement on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry described the tribunal’s final ruling, adopted unanimously by a panel of five arbitrators, as a “convincing victory” for Moscow. It said the tribunal rejected Ukraine’s demands for compensation and reparations related to natural resources around Crimea. According to the ministry, the tribunal also dismissed Kiev’s attempt to classify the Kerch Strait as an international waterway open to vessels of all states, including warships. Moscow said the ruling formally recognized the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov as Russia’s historic domestic waters.
The tribunal likewise rejected claims that Russia violated international law by asserting sovereignty over the Sea of Azov following the accession of the Donbass republics and the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye. The largely Russian-speaking Donetsk and Lugansk republics, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye, joined Russia after referendums held in autumn 2022 amid the escalating Ukraine conflict. The ruling also dismissed Ukraine’s demand that the Crimean Bridge be dismantled. Kiev had argued that the crossing, built between 2016 and 2018 to link Crimea with mainland Russia, was illegal and hindered navigation through the Kerch Strait.
Moscow called the claim “absurd,” while the tribunal found Ukraine’s arguments unsubstantiated, according to the ministry.≥The bridge has repeatedly been targeted by Kiev using naval drones, explosives and Western-supplied long-range missiles, causing damage and civilian casualties. The ruling represents a significant “defeat” for Ukraine and its Western backers in the decade-long “legal war” against Russia, according to the ministry.

This was even prominently featured in Dutch news; governor says Trumo chases him.

“The investigation of Gavin’s political money started in 2022.”

• Grenell: DOJ Investigation of Newsom Began Under Biden Admin (Salgado)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made a series of sensational claims on Monday, accusing President Donald Trump‘s Department of Justice (DOJ) of personally targeting both him and his wife for no good reason. But according to a Trump administration official, the investigation involving the corrupt governor and his wife began under the Biden-Harris administration.

Special missions envoy Richard Grenell called Newsom’s bluff:

It started under Biden.

And we all know that Biden was the one targeting his political enemies.

Was Biden afraid of Gavin? https://t.co/d8boTCFSQx
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 15, 2026

Newsom’s government is under a new investigation federal authorities launched into election fraud in California after evidence of bribery and ballot harvesting, along with stunning changes in state and city election results a week into “counting.” But when the Democrat governor griped on Monday about federal investigation into him and “First Partner” Jennifer Siebel Newsom, he was reportedly referring to investigations involving his staff and her taxes. And the Newsoms first came under investigation from the DOJ when the previous Democrat administration was in office.
As important context, Dana Williamson, Newsom’s former chief of staff and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra’s former advisor, pleaded guilty in May to corruption-related charges. Grenell explained, “The investigation of Gavin’s political money started in 2022.”

In 2026, Dana Williamson finally admitted she committed fraud involving political money she had access to from 2022-2024.

Guess when she started working as Gavin’s chief of staff? Did she stop her fraud when she became the most powerful staffer to a Governor with a… pic.twitter.com/f45QBSCiaU
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 15, 2026

Grenell also reposted the following information:
https://twitter.com/qc_cin/status/2066622313466921431?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066622313466921431%7Ctwgr%5E8a738acde186e92ac44bedae551005b6901c1d93%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpjmedia.com%2Fcatherinesalgado%2F2026%2F06%2F15%2Fgrenell-doj-investigation-of-newsom-began-under-biden-administration-n4954009
But reality never inhibits Democrats. “Justice is for sale,” Newsom pontificated grandiosely in a video he posted June 15. He whined that the DOJ investigation of him now extends to his wife, who over the years has been involved in multiple scandals involving taxpayer money allocation and sexual grooming of children through school films. Newsom did not in the video describe any of the actual charges against him and his wife, which seems to support the criticism that he doesn’t have any good defense against them. Instead, Newsom rambled on with self-righteous assertions of integrity, emotional condemnations of the investigation into his wife, irrelevant facts about the Trump family’s net worth, and promotion of his own potential campaign for president.

Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us. They have not found a crime – they are simply trying to find one.

He isn't coming after me because of mean tweets, but because I am considering running for President.… pic.twitter.com/tVYk3WUvO8
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 15, 2026

Based on what Grenell said, however, there is nothing new about the investigations that Newsom finds so offensive. That begs the question: Why would he choose now to complain about them? Has the DOJ uncovered bombshell incriminating evidence involving his staff and wife?

Sundance appears to suggest the IC (Deep State) did not approve of Bill Pulte for DNI.

• Senate Could Vote on Jay Clayton DNI Nomination Thursday (CTH)

To show a distinction between an approved IC candidate and an unapproved IC candidate, all you need to do is look at the contrast in the senate confirmation process, and the distinction between Bill Pulte and Jay Clayton. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), the entity that protects the interests of the DC Deep State, is going to hold a confirmation hearing for current USAO Jay Clayton on Wednesday afternoon. An SSCI vote is then likely within 12 hours, and a full Senate vote within 24 hours (Thursday). That’s the speed at which the Senate will move when they are in full control of the aperture.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already dispatched the request of President Trump to attach the Save America Act to the FISA (702) reauthorization vote that will likely happen as soon as Jay Clayton is confirmed. Again, this example outlines how the DC system moves when they -not the executive- control the functions of the Intelligence Community. If you watch the Thune statement above, please note the professional obfuscation. It is very important to understand and recognize the issues as they face our nation.
The government (DOJ/FBI) does not need any authorization from congress to conduct surveillance on foreign nationals. There is nothing needed to spy on, intercept, surveil, or track the activity of a foreign national. The foreign person does not have any constitutional protection at all. However, if an American is the target of secret surveillance, tracking, spying, etc., the DOJ/FBI need some method of authorization to violate the fourth amendment protection within the constitution. That’s where FISA (702) come into the picture.
FISA (702) only pertains to an American in the surveillance process. FISA (702) is the presumed legal method, never tested in court, that permits the DOJ and FBI to violate the 4th amendment protection of the American person. FISA (702) only pertains to a legislative construct that permits this secret surveillance of the American person. The Title-1 surveillance warrant that often comes with the 702-authorized review or investigation; is all encompassing and authorizes the government to secretly look at the private records of the targeted American.
If FISA (702) did not exist, all of the electronic record keeping, the stored metadata of Americans, would be worthless. FISA (702) is the key that allows the government to unlock the data (private records) and review it. Without the key, you cannot open the door – as a consequence, the U.S. government doesn’t need the vault. FISA (702) has never been tested in court by any targeted person, in part because the evidence against the accused person only exists for prosecutorial use if the person is factually guilty of the suspected allegation. This is the catch-22 that has permitted the 702 violations to continue without challenge.
It doesn’t matter how many times our politicians try to position the argument, there is nothing that stops the DOJ/FBI from looking at the activity of foreign actors. However, there are constitutional protections that stop the DOJ/FBI from looking at the activity of Americans. FISA (702) is designed specifically to work around those constitutional protections. It looks like Jay Clayton is on the fast-track to be confirmed on Thursday, and FISA (702) to be reauthorized immediately thereafter.
We are in an abusive relationship with our government.

’Posters say this hatred that Democrats have for the country when they are out of power shows what they truly cherish. [Power]’

• Scott Jennings, Ana Navarro, Robert De Niro and Michelle Obama (Warren Squire)

Frequent CNN guest Ana Navarro joins the horde of Trump-haters who insist that calling Michelle Obama a man (aka transgender) is a slur. Why? You’ll have to ask these pro-transgenderism leftists to explain how something they view so positively can be applied as an insult to others. Shouldn’t it be a compliment if transgenderism is so wonderful and wholesome? Their so-called outrage makes no sense. Anyway, Navarro used the ‘controversy’ to drag Robert De Niro into her profanity-laced tirade on Monday’s CNN NewsNight.

Republican Scott Jennings represented all of us during Navarro’s ridiculous rant. (WATCH – LANGUAGE WARNING)

pic.twitter.com/PieAxX7RUF
— Maureen Ross (@MRossLiantonio) June 16, 2026

Questioning Michelle Obama’s sex pales into comparison to most things Democrats have called President Donald Trump and his supporters for more than ten years. Since Navarro brought up De Niro, Jennings criticized the actor for his ‘I can’t love this country’ speech at the Democrat Party’s lame resistance showcase on Sunday night.

Scott Jennings reminding Bobby that Trump is still President pic.twitter.com/fTS7WYspuL
— Jax Verza (@Orso_Dino) June 16, 2026

Jennings explained: “I think you have to love your country, whether or not you lost the last election. I love America… According to some polling that came out this week, and most Republicans love America. Ninety percent are very proud to be Americans. They’re proud of living in this country. Unfortunately, I think Mr. De Niro’s comments are pretty indicative of a majority of Democrats who can’t seem to find that attitude inside them even though they lost the last election. And, you know, loving America, being a patriot for America, feeling good about America shouldn’t be dictated by whether you won or lost. When I hear De Niro, I hear him saying, “I can only love America if we win every election from here on out. That’s a rather fascist statement.”
We wouldn’t be surprised if his obituary reads like the one for the recently deceased ALF actress known for her ‘burning hatred for Trump.’Posters say this hatred that Democrats have for the country when they are out of power shows what they truly cherish.

If you only love your country when you’re in power, you love power. Not your country. pic.twitter.com/7DOfyOSqMd
— FrankTown (@FrankTown) June 15, 2026

Sadly, Democrats don’t seem to share your patriotic sentiment. According to that Gallup chart, they appear to mostly despise America even when they hold the reins of political power.

“This censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone”. — Elon Musk

“We will become one of the first democracies in the world to require IDs to access the internet” – Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo

• UK Social Media Law ‘A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing’ – Musk (RT)

The UK’s move to ban social media for under-16s is a ruse to implement digital surveillance of all internet users, X owner Elon Musk has declared, accusing the British government of building a “police state.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the ban on Monday, promising that the measure would protect “the safety and happiness of our children.” Children under 16 will be barred from “user-to-user” platforms such as X, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, according to a statement from Starmer’s office. They will also be prohibited from livestreaming, messaging strangers through gaming apps, and using AI “romantic companion” chatbots. Meanwhile, 16- and 17-year-olds will be subject to nightly online curfews.

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal will be exempt from the ban, the statement added. The ban is expected to come into force next year. Shortly after Starmer’s announcement, Musk warned that “this censorship law is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In a post on X, the billionaire claimed that its “real goal is to enable the UK government to track everyone.” In another post, Musk declared that “the UK is a police state.” In order to ban under-16s, the government must ensure that adults can verify their age before using social media platforms. Starmer’s office did not say how this would be implemented, instead stating that the government is exploring “different options for effective forms of age assurance.”
However, Starmer said that age verification would “use the same model for a social media ban as Australia.” Under the scheme, users must prove they are over 16 by submitting a government-issued ID or allowing a facial age check, with platforms responsible for carrying out the verification. The ban has been heavily criticized by digital rights activists. “Over 16s in the UK will have to hand over identity documents or biometric data to unregulated age verification companies,” the Open Rights Group warned, adding that “the government has completely failed to acknowledge the harms that could come from that.” “We will become one of the first democracies in the world to require IDs to access the internet,” Big Brother Watch Director Silkie Carlo told Talk TV on Monday. “We are sleepwalking towards a total surveillance state.”
Starmer has lobbied for the introduction of a mandatory digital ID system since last year, but was forced to drop the plan amid public backlash this January. His government, however, has plowed ahead with other digital surveillance and censorship measures, including the rollout of facial recognition cameras by multiple police departments at demonstrations, a request to tech companies to require adults to submit ID to use mobile phones, and legislation that will enable the government to remove content from social media “during times of crisis.”

I hope they go bankrupt over it. They could and should have fired the people involved, and didn’t.

• Elon Musk To Sue German Broadcaster ZDF For ‘Outrageous Lies’ (RMX)

Elon Musk says he will sue German broadcaster ZDF for ‘outrageous lies’ after it claimed he had told Belfast rioters to ‘hunt migrants’ The German public broadcaster admitted its wording was “imprecise” and “misleading” Tech trillionaire Elon Musk has said he will take legal action against German public broadcaster ZDF after it linked him to unrest in Belfast and accused him of helping instigate a “hunt” against migrants.The dispute followed the attempted beheading of a man in Northern Ireland by a Sudanese migrant, which prompted British right-wing activist Tommy Robinson to call for nationwide protests.

Musk shared Robinson’s post on X and added, “Only through repeated and loud protests will anything change.” ZDF later used the incident in a segment on ZDFheute live, introducing it as part of a wider discussion about online agitation after violent crimes. Presenter Christina von Ungern-Sternberg said, A brutal attempted murder in broad daylight in Belfast. Someone films it. The video goes viral.
A racist mob then hunts down migrants. This was called for by a British far-right extremist and tech billionaire Elon Musk.”
She then asked, “What’s behind it? Which actors have an interest in using a violent crime to incite civil war?” The framing triggered criticism in Germany, including from journalists who said the broadcaster had gone beyond what Musk had actually written. Welt journalist Anna Schneider said, “ZDF is attributing a statement to Musk that he never made.”NDR editor Sebastian Eberle also criticized the segment, writing on X, “Dear colleagues in Mainz, with all due respect, this is unacceptable. We cannot and must not work like this. This is completely unacceptable.”
ZDF later acknowledged that the wording in the segment had been flawed. Asked by Nius about the controversy, a ZDF spokesperson said, “The presenter was supposed to succinctly summarize the complex situation of the violently escalating protests and the previous calls for protests on X at the beginning of the very comprehensive and nuanced 30-minute program. However, the chosen wording was imprecise and therefore misleading.”The broadcaster said Robinson had called for protests after the Belfast knife attack and that Musk had shared the post.
Musk responded on Monday by saying he would pursue legal action against the broadcaster. “Legal action is being taken against ZDF for their outrageous lies,” he wrote on X. This isn’t the first time this year the broadcaster has been enveloped in controversy for its reporting. Back in February, the same program was forced to issue an on-air apology after it was found to have broadcast a segment containing AI-generated footage depicting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arresting a migrant family. “We invest a great deal of effort to provide you with verified information. This time, we failed to do so,” it said at the time.

5 Eyes Countries.

• Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Repeats a Warning Message (CTH)

Telegram founder Pavel Durov is one voice who has been consistent in his message about how western countries have become increasingly authoritarian in their efforts to retain power and control. Durov is the real deal; the John Galt within the mechanisms of digital communication. The principle under attack is freedom, and the recent examples of internet and social media control via age verification are steps within this process.

Durov notes these moments are like the early stages of the Titanic after hitting the iceberg, where people aboard the ship did not quite realize the scope of the danger around them. Take the time to listen to what Durov shares with specific examples and citations to back up his warning. Well worth the time. Pavel Durov shares how Telegram emerged from a commitment to free expression and why defending digital freedom is central to protecting human rights today.

I love the way Sundance loves America. Find someone who loves your country that way.

As for his praise of American food, hey, as long as I don’t have to eat it…

• The Grievance Industry in America Has a World Cup Problem (CTH)

The professional grievance industry embedded within media, podcasting and punditry in America has a problem; a World Cup problem. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world are discovering just how amazing the United States is, and they can’t stop raving about it on social media. The grievance class are being forced to take a break as their normally loud, shrieking voices are being drowned out by happy sounds, songs of joy, jubilance even. Flags are waving, people are smiling and that pesky American exceptionalism is visible all over the place.

Yup, there’s visible patriotism everywhere and its being compounded by Freedom 250 events, celebrating 250 years of just being awesome America. Not only is the American flag being celebrated, but ironically European national flags are being waved everywhere in celebration of nationalism – and the people waving them don’t have to worry about being harassed by police or being arrested for it. This is a new experience for young Europeans and they are overwhelmed. The joy is evident and it’s more than a little awesome to see all of the videos capturing the thrill of it all. As one observer noted in a moment of contemplation, heck, this country didn’t even need to build anything to host the FIFA World Cup, they just changed the electronic displays on the modern billboards.
“Qatar built stadiums from scratch, constructed a complete metro system, redesigned roads, hotels, and entire neighborhoods—even after the event ended, they said they were going to give away a stadium because they had one to spare. South Africa had to erect new stadiums, parking lots, and massive infrastructure projects; it was a multi-billion-dollar investment that ate up part of its GDP. Brazil burned through billions on infrastructure and ended up with a president in jail for corruption (Lula); in the end, construction was still underway when the event kicked off. Russia remodeled half the country to measure up, and even then, the infrastructure deficiencies—from transportation to other areas—were still glaring.
And the United States? They just changed the grass in a few stadiums. Period. Nothing else. No megaprojects, no monumental works, no “reinventing” cities. And this happens because when you already have world-class infrastructure, the World Cup isn’t a problem—it’s just a formality.”
In American reality, the SEC football stadiums could have hosted the entire World Cup event all by themselves; easy peasy. Why? Because we are the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and all of those inhabitants are experiencing it in real life. This America thing is, actually, awesome. All of it. There are great American eagles flying around. Massive, thundering jets booming just above the audience. Rockets exploding with great fireworks and exhibitions of colorful explosions accompanied by music. Every sense is overwhelmed, and yet to an American, it’s just another Tuesday.
The great American podcast business is being drowned out by all this international optimism; it is very funny to witness. The voices of the American critics cannot begin to break through the noise and jubilation in the background, and the happy people just won’t shut up. How are these grievance-class podcasters supposed to make money, when their best level Mark Levin bitching and griping screeches are not loud enough? There’s a certain funny unfairness about it all. Making matters worse, the jubilation is not limited to soccer games. The happy people are starting to attend ordinary American activities like baseball games, rodeos, car and boat races and then the national parks and beaches. Jumpin’ ju-ju-bones, all of this is not what they expected.
https://twitter.com/lovetocook12345/status/2066477816657424715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066477816657424715%7Ctwgr%5Ef7a77ff6a984a9482dc4a45a3575f7ee7b2d8b32%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconservativetreehouse.com%2Fblog%2F2026%2F06%2F15%2Fthe-grievance-industry-in-america-has-a-world-cup-problem%2F
This international coverage of the World Cup in small town America is devastating to the legacy media narrative pic.twitter.com/Ju2efprvhe
— WestCoast_Life (@westcoast_lyfe) June 15, 2026

At the same time, the happy people have realized America is a massive country. They are flying around and driving for hours only to realize they haven’t even left a few states yet…. and there’s 50 of them? OMG you cannot be serious. This is America. This is the America the great American grievance class have forgotten to appreciate. This is also the America their local media back home lied to them about. The happy people were told that everything over here was fraught with drugs, gangs and terrible dirty stuff. America was Gotham City. Except it isn’t. It is not any of that. America is clean, organized and fun. The American people are friendly, beyond generous and all-around awesome.
The Happy People are encountering everyday Americans. Middle American people who don’t need passports because there’s no reason to leave this amazing country – because all of the best stuff in the rest of the world is available right here without taking a trip. Keep in mind that for Europeans coming out of the COVID era, their entire life existence is constructed around keeping their global footprint as small as possible. America is not that, at all. The American food is big and tasty; the American stores are a hundred-fold larger than anything the Happy People have ever experienced. The roads are easy to travel. Everything is modern and the internet speed is way faster than anything at home. Technology exists at a scale that is far deeper than anything they expected.
This is America.We are Americans, and a new generation is gaining appreciation for why Lady Liberty can stroll along the Champs-Elysées with a swagger befitting Mae West; because without her arrival, they’d be speaking German in the Louvre. For the better part of the past few decades a group of intellectuals and influencers have been promoting an insufferable storyline that it’s better to be sitting around a campfire eating sustainable algae cakes and picking parasites off each other. Enough. We are Americans. When I hear Donald Trump say, “Let’s Make America Great Again”, I also hear the familiar echo “cowboy up” people.
It’s high time we stop being embarrassed about our exceptional nature, and start being proud of it again. Because when it matters most, when it really counts, when it’s really needed, there’s a whole bunch of people all around this world of ours that need to feel the type of optimism that walks with a swagger. And right now, there’s thousands of non-Americans experiencing and realizing why that swagger exists.
That my friends, is pretty darned cool.

1000s is nothing. It would have to be hundreds of 1000s. It will be.

• 1000s Of Italian Protesters Demand Remigration In Rome (ZH)

A demonstration of several thousand people took place in Rome on Saturday to advocate for remigration and stricter controls on immigration. Coming from various regions across Italy, a crowd of roughly 3,000 individuals paraded through the nation’s capital behind a prominent sign declaring “Remigration and Recapture,“ a slogan used to call for the mandatory deportation of migrants back to their countries of origin.
https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2066113895253647389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066113895253647389%7Ctwgr%5E3918d20914048eeeb1381e61905ee4648960972d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Frmx.news%2Farticle%2Fitaly-thousands-of-protesters-demand-remigration-in-rome%2F

The march drew participation from various right-wing organizations, including Casapound. According to Luca Marsella, a spokesman for Casapound, their objective is clear. “We want to throw out the illegal immigrants because they shouldn’t be here.” He further noted that their demands extend beyond those without legal status, adding, “And because we are not politically correct, we also say that we want to send home the legal immigrants who have obviously not adapted or integrated.”
https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2066125120565850455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066125120565850455%7Ctwgr%5E3918d20914048eeeb1381e61905ee4648960972d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Frmx.news%2Farticle%2Fitaly-thousands-of-protesters-demand-remigration-in-rome%2F
Concurrently, Rome hosted the inaugural party congress for Futuro Nazionale (National Future), a newly established right-wing political group organized by Roberto Vannacci, a former general who now serves as an MEP. Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Vannacci expressed an uncompromising stance on border control, asserting, “If it were up to me, no one should be allowed to enter Italy.” Vannacci previously aligned with the anti-immigration League Party party led by Vice Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. His political emergence means that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia), alongside her coalition allies, will contend with fresh rivals on the right.
Public opinion polls suggest that Futuro Nazionale could capture 4.5 percent of the electorate, drawing its strongest support from citizens who previously voted for League. Vannacci’s movement already possesses a foothold in the legislature, as eight sitting parliamentarians have already defected to join his ranks.The issue of migration is a contentious one, with migrants responsible for 43 percent of sexual crimes and 60 percent of robberies and thefts. Just days ago, two Pakistani men were arrested for allegedly burning alive four Pakistani nationals after the men demanded better wages for agricultural work.

“56% of every stock purchase made by Congress in the last 16 months was on a stock directly affected by a bill the buyer later voted on.”

• Where to Track (and Predict!) Your Congresscritter’s Insider Trades (Green)

Want to find out how much money your congresscritter makes from insider trading? Ever been curious to see the correlation between bills, votes, big-money donations, and shockingly handsome investment returns? Would you be interested in an A.I. geared to predict lucrative congressional trades before they happen? There’s a website for that. It’s called GovGreed, and it’s an AI-powered search engine that “fuses [machine learning], deep learning, and 7 intelligence layers to predict which politicians will trade — and in which sectors — before the 45-day disclosure window even opens.”

Over on X, Ricardo dug into the “crazy” numbers and found that “56% of every stock purchase made by Congress in the last 16 months was on a stock directly affected by a bill the buyer later voted on.” Worse — or better, if you’re a member of America’s insider-trading nomenklatura — Ricardo also revealed that “343 of 540 Congress members actively trade stocks while holding access to nonpublic legislative information.” vBut wait, there’s more. bGovGreed’s AI identified 752 “triple signals” in the sitting Congress. A triple signal is when a congresscritter sits on the committee writing a bill, “they traded stock in a company affected by that bill, AND they received campaign contributions from that same industry.”
Triple signals trade at 5.4 times the normal rate of congressional trades, he found. In other words, Congress isn’t just trading on insider information. Congress generates the information, influenced by donations from the very companies whose futures are written by Congress. The result? While the S&P 500 so far is on track to generate a 10.8% return in 2026, Congressional traders earned 10.2% in the last 30 days, according to the site. You’ve probably long suspected all this, but GovGreed put it all in one AI-enhanced searchable database. There’s a subscription required to get to all the good stuff, and I’m debating right now whether to whip out my credit card.
Democrats like California’s dynamic trading duo, Nancy Pelosi and Ro Khanna, made some of the biggest returns, but plenty of Republicans are in on the game, too. The STOCK Act requires congresscritters to report their trades, but Ricardo found that Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, “made 1,443 trades in three years, more than 98% of all politicians tracked,” and also “violated the STOCK Act twice in a single year, disclosing up to $900,000 in trades months after the legal deadline.” The penalty for violating the STOCK Act is a $200 fine, because Congress writes the rules that Congress has to live by. “The number of Congress members ever prosecuted under the STOCK Act since it passed in 2012? Zero,” notes Ricardo.
Probably the only real solution is to start electing a better class of people to Congress, which is more than a little like saying, “I bet instead of messing with those big dangerous rockets, we could just all wish a permanent moon base into existence.” When Mark Twain wrote in 1894 that “It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress,” he was likely being uncharacteristically generous in his estimation for an elected office he also called “the trivialist distinction for a full grown man.” So if we ever do get that Article V Convention of States — which both fills me with hope and wakes me with night sweats — I have a modest proposal for the convention to consider.
It’s a rule of thumb that individual investors hope, over the long term, to earn a 7% return on their investments. I propose that instead of passing ethics laws that the most unethical people in the country will circumvent, we amend the Constitution to tax any congresscritter investment returns above 7% at 100%. And all revenues would go to deficit reduction. Nancy Pelosi alone could put a nice little dent in our national debt. Anyway, that’s my modest proposal. What’s yours?

Crazy, crazier, Whoopi.

• JD Vance Shuts Whoopi Goldberg DOWN (Sam J.)

Vice President JD Vance pushed back forcefully during his Tuesday appearance on ‘The View,’ shutting down Whoopi Goldberg’s claims that the Trump administration is casting aside Black Americans and stigmatizing people of color. We all knew this would be a ‘hoot,’ but man, Whoopi went even crazier than we thought she would.

When the co-host tried to frame the administration’s focus on law and order as some kind of racial slight, Vance countered with a clear example: Washington, D.C.—one of the most Democratic cities in the country and among those with the highest share of Black residents—has seen a sharp drop in violent crime, sexual assaults, and murders. He stressed that serious efforts to make neighborhoods safer apply to everyone, regardless of race or background, and that the usual race-baiting script no longer lands with people who simply want results. This is so good – watch:
https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2066913357777514961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066913357777514961%7Ctwgr%5E6fb6a5d0a9133934e2732a39ea1ebb93bbd935ae%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsamj%2F2026%2F06%2F16%2Fjd-vance-shuts-whoopi-goldberg-down-for-claiming-trump-is-casting-black-people-aside-watch-n2429310
Post continues:” … of the BLACKEST—by share of population—cities, has seen a RADICAL decrease in violent crime and sexual assault and murders. We have tried to take the crime issue seriously in part because we believe EVERYBODY, whether you are black or white or rich or poor, deserves to live in a safe neighborhood.” The race hustling is TOTAL BS. And it doesn’t work on reasonable people anymore.
Love to see it.
Unless, of course, you’re Whoopi.

The oddest couple in the world divorced! Makes me sad.

• George Conway Is Back, and He’s Really, Really Gonna Get Trump (Spencer)

Remember George Conway? No, not Tim Conway. George Conway. Yeah, both short and pudgy, and both funny, but only Tim was intentionally funny. George Conway, whose sole claim to fame ever since his 2023 divorce from former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway has been his all-consuming hatred of President Donald Trump, now seems to think that Trump-hatred can propel him all the way to the Congress of the United States. Yes, one of the left’s most vicious and irrational Trump-haters wants the voters of New York to send him to Congress. And since they’re voters from New York, they just might do it.

Conway has made no secret of what he will do if he does get to the House. That’s right: Conway’s program from first to last is Get Trump. Fox News reported Monday that Conway “is pledging to pursue President Donald Trump’s third impeachment and put him ‘away for good’ if elected to Congress.”
Yeah, the third time will be the charm, eh, George? The mere fact that someone — anyone — is talking about a third impeachment of Trump is an indication of how deranged the Democrats have become. The republic was preparing to celebrate its bicentennial when we had our second president who was ever in danger of being impeached, and he (Richard Nixon) resigned before the House voted on the articles of impeachment. The third impeachment of a president came just under a quarter-century later, and now George Conway wants the nation to go through its third such proceeding in a decade, all of the same man.
It’s clear that for the staggeringly corrupt Democrat establishment, impeachment is no longer a tool of last resort to deal with a president who is accused of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors,” as the Constitution puts it, but an everyday tool to try to destroy the man whom they can’t defeat at the ballot box (unless they cheat, of course). If Conway gets his third impeachment and it fails yet again, but the Democrats control the House, they’ll try a fourth time, and a fifth, and on and on and on.
Conway may not get his chance to vote to impeach the man he loathes with such passionate intensity. He is running for the seat that Jerry Nadler is vacating, and it’s a crowded field. Paradoxically, his long-ago support for Trump could be the biggest obstacle to persuading the people who voted for Zohran Mamdani to send him to Congress.
Nevertheless, Conway is in there pitching, appealing to the Democrats with what he is sure is a winning formula: not talking about how he will work to improve the quality of life of his constituents, but about how he will get Orange Man Bad. In a campaign commercial, he even addressed Trump instead of the voters. “Hi, Donald,” Conway chirped. “It’s me, George Conway. I cost you 88 f*****g million dollars, and I’ve only just gotten started.”
Turning up the threats and braggadocio to 11, Conway added: “I know you like putting your name on everything from your plane to the Kennedy Center. But the only thing your name is going to be left on when I’m done with you is the orange jumpsuit you’re going to have to wear in prison.”
At this point, you might be wondering exactly what crime Conway thinks Trump has committed that is going to land him in prison, especially in light of the fact that none of the Democrats’ previous lawfare frame-ups of the man they love to hate succeeded in doing so. But Conway didn’t even bother to explain. The Democrats have moved so far beyond rationality at this point that they don’t even need to spend the time and energy fabricating a crime that they did with the Russia hoax. They’ll impeach Trump for whatever crime anyone can think of. The charge doesn’t matter; besmirching and destroying the president does.
Conway pointed to the Capitol as he continued: “And you see that building back there. That’s where we’re going to hold your third and final impeachment trial, the one that’s going to put you away for good, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of that.”
A White House spokesperson responded with a message that sounded as if it came from Trump himself: “Lightweight George Conway is a stupid person’s idea of a smart person. His severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome has melted his brain and made him crazy in the head.”
The good news is that this lunatic is currently polling fourth in his congressional race, behind Assemblymen Micah Lasher and Alex Bores, D-N.Y., as well as Jack Schlossberg, who hates Trump as much as the next guy but has an altogether different claim to fame, as he is JFK’s grandson. Any of these guys will be a disaster in Congress, but none would be quite as spectacularly disastrous as George Conway.

https://twitter.com/niccruzpatane/status/2066508591415140703?s=20

SpaceX has overtaken Amazon and is now the 5th most valuable company in the world. pic.twitter.com/17Cekitti7
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) June 16, 2026

Make our Sun sentient to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars https://t.co/TGMX08iTLD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2026

Rockets and spaceships taking us to stars is an inspiring future https://t.co/ynCntqTM4r
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2026

This is WILD!

Tom Mueller. SpaceX employee #1, the man who built the engines and his 0.06% stake is now worth approximately $1.11 billion (Save this).

But the number undersells the story.

Mueller grew up in St. Maries, Idaho, population 2,500, the son of a logger who wanted… pic.twitter.com/RpteM9xttE
— Milk Road AI (@MilkRoadAI) June 15, 2026

Support the Automatic Earth in wartime with Paypal, Bitcoin and Patreon.

This topic has 37 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 3 weeks, 1 day ago by ₿oogaloo.

Viewing 38 posts - 1 through 38 (of 38 total)

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Posts
June 17, 2026 at 9:48 am #242867

Raúl Ilargi Meijer
Keymaster

Edward Hopper Chair Car 1965 • Hormuz Fears Ease As Trump, Ghalibaf Virtually Sign US-Iran Deal (ZH) • Trump Calls on Putin to Reach Deal With Ukraine
[See the full post at: Debt Rattle June 17 2026]

June 17, 2026 at 9:59 am #242868

Michael Reid
Participant

D writes:

Comments: “Without the United States everyone would be better off.” I mean obviously we should kill all Americans starting with me.

I write:
Without the United States most people in this world would be better off. But you D like the American government and the Israel government are all about killing the poor civilians.

That is probably the thinking of the American empire given that they started out with killing the native people and stealing everything and slaving people to produce for the empire.

June 17, 2026 at 10:03 am #242869

Michael Reid
Participant

Russia’s New Warning Shot From Space
Posted Jun 15, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |

For years, politicians have been obsessed with tanks, artillery, missiles, and troop counts while the real battlefield has quietly moved into space. The latest reports suggesting that Russian satellites may be capable of disrupting GPS signals on a continental scale should be sending shockwaves through military circles. If these findings prove accurate, then we are looking at a capability that extends far beyond simply making a driver’s navigation system malfunction. GPS is embedded in aviation, shipping, banking, telecommunications, emergency services, power grids, financial transactions, military operations, and virtually every aspect of modern infrastructure.
According to researchers, dozens of GPS interference events detected across Europe since 2019 may have originated from Russia’s EKS satellite constellation. These satellites were originally designed as part of Russia’s missile early-warning system, but testing suggests they may also possess the ability to transmit powerful signals capable of disrupting GPS reception across vast regions. The significance is not whether a disruption lasts a few seconds or a few minutes. The significance is proving the concept works. Once a nation demonstrates it can interfere with navigation systems from orbit, the entire strategic equation changes.
What many fail to appreciate is how dependent modern warfare has become on satellite navigation. Precision-guided weapons rely on GPS. Drones rely on GPS. Aircraft, ships, logistics networks, battlefield communications, and intelligence systems all depend on accurate positioning data. Remove that capability and armies suddenly find themselves operating under conditions that resemble an entirely different century. During the Ukraine conflict, both sides have aggressively pursued electronic warfare, jamming systems, and signal disruption technologies. What appears to be emerging now is the possibility of extending those capabilities far beyond localized battlefields and into continental-scale operations.

Financial markets depend on precise timing synchronization. Cellular networks require timing signals to coordinate traffic. Shipping companies use satellite navigation to move trillions of dollars worth of goods annually. Airlines depend on navigation systems to safely manage thousands of flights every day. Even modern agriculture relies heavily on GPS-guided equipment. The public views GPS as a convenience. Governments and corporations know it has become a critical piece of economic infrastructure.
This development also highlights something I have warned about repeatedly. The next major conflict will not resemble the wars of the twentieth century. Future wars will target infrastructure before populations even realize an attack has occurred. A cyberattack can disable communications. A satellite disruption can interfere with transportation networks. Financial systems can be disrupted electronically. Power grids can be targeted remotely. The battlefield increasingly consists of networks, satellites, data centers, and communications systems rather than simply soldiers crossing borders.

The timing is noteworthy. We are entering the most dangerous phase of the geopolitical cycle. The 2026 Panic Cycle year has already begun exposing vulnerabilities across the global system. Relations between Russia and NATO remain strained. The United States and China are engaged in a rapidly escalating technological competition. Military spending is rising globally. Governments everywhere are preparing for contingencies that most citizens never consider. Space is no longer a peaceful frontier. It has become a strategic domain where the major powers are competing for dominance.
What should concern policymakers is not merely that Russia may possess this capability. The real question is how many nations are developing similar systems. The United States, China, Russia, and other powers have invested heavily in electronic warfare, anti-satellite technology, cyberwarfare, and space-based military assets. Every major power understands that controlling information, communications, and navigation systems may prove more decisive than controlling territory itself.

Russia’s New Warning Shot From Space | Armstrong Economics

June 17, 2026 at 10:08 am #242890

Michael Reid
Participant

The American empire is the source of much evil in this world.

They will End the Cycle of Civilization. Total Control+Tyranny. We won’t even know WHO to Overthrow.

June 17, 2026 at 10:14 am #242891

Michael Reid
Participant

Iran warns of ‘harsh response’ as Israel violates ceasefire 84 times in Lebanon
Tuesday, 16 June 2026 6:53 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 16 June 2026 8:02 PM ]

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters on Monday warned the Israeli regime to halt repeated ceasefire violations in southern Lebanon or face a “harsh response” from Iran’s armed forces.

In a statement on Tuesday, the headquarters said the “terrorist army of the Zionist regime” had violated the ceasefire 84 times over the past two days, despite the US president’s announcement declaring an end to the war.

It noted that the occupation regime has been continuing “crimes and the killing of the oppressed people of Lebanon,” even after the ceasefire was meant to take effect.

“If the child-killing army of the Zionist regime does not end its evil acts in southern Lebanon, it must await a harsh response from the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it said.

On Tuesday alone, multiple Israeli strikes killed at least four people in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

The Iranian warning come following the announcement of a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington aimed at ending a war that was imposed on Iran recently.

War will not end without Israel halting Lebanon attacks, occupation: Araghchi
War will not end without Israel halting Lebanon attacks, occupation: Araghchi
Araghchi says any future Israeli attacks on Lebanon would breach an MoU that is scheduled to be signed between Iran and the US.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday that the MoU had been finalized and would be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday. Under the agreement, the war across all fronts, including Lebanon, was to end immediately and permanently starting Sunday night.

The MoU follows months of war that began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a new round of unprovoked aggression against Iran.

At the same time, Israel intensified strikes on Lebanon, despite a standing ceasefire with Beirut and a subsequent arrangement intended to contain the violence.

Iranian armed forces carried out retaliatory operations against American and Israeli interests during the fighting, which lasted until April 7. Tehran also responded to repeated Israeli violations of ceasefire commitments related to Lebanon.

A ceasefire was announced on April 8. Negotiations toward a permanent settlement began soon after, with Pakistan acting as mediator.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the MoU text is based on a 14-point proposal Iran submitted at the outset of the ceasefire process. The document was reviewed repeatedly over 60 days.

The ministry said Iran maintained its position throughout the talks despite sustained pressure, continued ceasefire violations, and shifts in Washington’s stance.

Once signed, the MoU will open a 60-day intensive negotiation phase aimed at resolving remaining disputes between the two sides.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/16/770583/Iran-warns-harsh-response-Israel-violates-ceasefire-Lebanon

June 17, 2026 at 10:20 am #242892

Michael Reid
Participant

Russia’s New Warning Shot From Space

June 17, 2026 at 1:04 pm #242901

those darned kids
Participant

“J.D. Vance on Hannity”

hahahahahahahahahahahaha!¡!

June 17, 2026 at 2:30 pm #242903

zerosum
Participant

I’m waiting for peace.

June 17, 2026 at 2:55 pm #242904

zerosum
Participant

Iran warns USrael against violations of the memorandum
Plus news and updates from Lebanon and Israel
Ismaele
Jun 16, 2026

https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/iran-warns-usrael-against-violations

June 17, 2026 at 2:59 pm #242905

charles
Participant

momentum.
the GPS jam is the public reveal. its a production thing now. the key is its a satellite that jams ground stations. very hard to tell its not genuine.
next to show up in the news will be the starlink jammers. the articles have started already. That is low rate initial production, but it will be everywhere soon. cheap. foreign military sales by the thousands. Ukraine has started the process of reassigning cooks and air defense to infantry with comic results.
The momentum cycle has swung.

June 17, 2026 at 3:16 pm #242906

charles
Participant

more comedy. Ukraine has stared the process of accession into the EU. The EU requires its members to honor the ethnic groups in their territory. That is exactly the part of the Minsk agreements Ukraine violated that caused Russia to attack them. After many warnings.
I tried to check some of this. All searches came up as versions of “history of Russia breaking treaties”.
Really?

June 17, 2026 at 4:43 pm #242907

The Markster
Participant

Cute piece about The View ladies being concerned about cultural erasure. Too cute.

In the last six years I have not seen even ONE piece on the ongoing absence of historic bronze President statues removed by leftist mob action in our cities during the St. Floyd and Covid Operations ™. Just the presidents, nevermind the European explorers and missionaries, etc.

In Portland alone these include Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt on the South Park Blocks, Washington at NE 57th & Sandy, and Jefferson at Jeff High School. Not a single word in either the written press or on the boob tube, even in the big 250 birthday year.

Everything is great in America if you live in your phone, ignorant of the world around you getting meaner, smaller, crazier and more Maoist Techno Gulag by the day.

June 17, 2026 at 6:29 pm #242911

Michael Reid
Participant

What the Iran-U.S. MoU is all about
Contact us: info@strategic-culture.su
At the supremely irrelevant G7 in Evian, the Emperor of Barbaria proclaimed to the room – including three full BRICS members – that “I’m the Boss”. No irony intended.
So let’s examine the “Boss” MoU between Iran and the US, which he spins as his (italics mine) deal (“I’ve ended 10 wars”). Well, it’s not a deal: it’s a MoU, at best an electronically signed promise to engage in talking. And it does not end the war that he (italics mine) launched on February 28.
Whatever antics take place in Geneva this Friday, the Barbaria Maestro won’t really be signing the MoU. This is a play for time, to appease the oil markets and the bond markets, and to – covertly – weaponize a ceasefire framework. Inbuilt of course there will be some trade “relief” – as in the Strait of Hormuz more or less back in business.
At best the war on Iran and the broader imperial chessboard move to destabilize West Asia as a key front in the Big War against the Russia-China strategic partnership will continue in slower motion, with extra plausible deniability.
A mere glimpse at the non-stop hysteria across the Beltway reveals that the rarefied plutocracy who really runs the show in the US has absolutely no interest in any sort of peace with Iran. Grandmaster Lavrov’s maxim always rules: the US is non-agreement capable.
What prevails, for the moment, are pedestrian imperatives. Team Trump needs the Strait of Hormuz – even with Iran charging maintenance/environmental/security fees – open to stabilize global energy markets.
Moreover, the GCC petro-monarchies – via mediator Pakistan and directly via Qatar and Saudi Arabia – made it very clear to Washington that they simply cannot afford a new war escalation.
In realpolitik terms, it’s clear that Team Trump – and the ruling US plutocracy – will never accept the core of Iran’s 14-point terms: sanctions lifted across the board; formal non-interference in Iranian sovereignty; end of all wars against the Axis of Resistance; and, following the money, full payment of war reparations.
What we will have is “talks” extending all the way to possibly the 22nd century while sanctions are not erased by the Zionist-controlled US Congress, plus serial US vetoes in the UN Security Council.
What the “Boss” that “ended 10 wars” gets in the short term is the simulacrum of victory: an arrangement masking a massive strategic defeat.
Iran-Russia-China: unbreakable
Forget about the people who run the imperial show admitting that Iran has managed, via deterrence, to smash US domination of West Asia and position itself as a top regional power and an emerging global power, fully supported by the absolute majority of the Global South.
From now on what should be expected is at best a wobbly, hybrid, somewhat managed calibrated turbulence – complete with serial provocations and covert ops: Maximum Pressure Light, keeping Tehran under full alert (not that they’re bothered about it; they are ready) and ideally forcing further concessions.
Yet if the Barbarians believe that will weaken the Iranian strategic partnership with Russia-China, reality will spell otherwise.
China especially, but also Russia, were deep behind the mediation efforts by Pakistan to find some sort of US-Iran accomodation. Ghalibaf is now in charge of deepening China-Iran strategic relations. Both Beijing and Moscow are fully aware that the US containment obsession – controlling energy checkpoints – is directed against them and against Eurasia integration.
So in the end the kabuki of endlessly debated 14‑points, fake “ceasefires”, and signing of the MoU also works as a giant info ops: a sign to all markets and gullible public opinion that Barbaria is actually aiming for peace.
Then there’s the nuclear obsession – and we will see clearly what Team Trump really wants when the 60-day negotiations start, according to the MoU.
The American “prohibition” of enrichment translates as a direct message to players such as Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and even Germany: if any of you cross the nuclear threshold outside of the US-imposed framework, you will be in trouble.
Now let’s follow the money. Yes, it’s essentially a trap. The $12 billion – half of the $24 billion – that should be released in the first phase of the negotiations will certainly flow through Qatari, Omani and possibly Saudi banks: that offers the US Treasury non-stop surveillance and access into Iran’s offshore banking architecture. Of course the leadership in Tehran is fully aware of it, and there will be plenty of subterranean financial plays in effect.
Sovereignty, patience – and a finger on the trigger
So what will happen next? Mostly a frozen war. Not deep freeze. Strait of Hormuz back in business will mean oil dropping to as low as $75 a barrel. Release of the $12 billion. They start discussing what will be essentially a JCPOA 2.0 lite – in Geneva or most likely Islamabad. This may go on, in acrimonious terms, all the way to the mid-terms in the US. After that, all bets are off.
Tehran is concentrating on the positives immediately after the signing of the MoU. Oil sales will be back starting this weekend. Perhaps some sanction exemptions – which will include banking, transportation, and insurance, facilitating exports. An Iranian supertanker has already left Chabahar port and passed through the US blockade with no hassle.
The “Boss” is betting that once oil is back in free flow, energy prices fall, markets somewhat relax, and inflation also falls, the political cost of the massive strategic defeat He is responsible for will disappear from public view. And of course there will be a whole array of fresh distractions for the galleries – from Cuba and Greenland to those easily flogged EUro mutts.
The ”Boss” masterplan, in a nutshell: buy time; declare Mission Accomplished; and pray that one will scream “Strategic Disaster!”
From Tehran’s point of view, that’s a whole new ball game. They survived everything that not one, but two nuclear powers threw at them. They survived, even stronger than before, with their national cohesion proudly on display for all the world to see. And they are making no meaningful concessions.
On the contrary: they are the masters of the Strait of Hormuz. No turning back. They have no trust whatsover about anything coming from Barbaria. Yet they will continue to exercize extreme patience. Coupled with a no fear finger on the trigger.

What the Iran-U.S. MoU is all about

June 17, 2026 at 7:12 pm #242912

Michael Reid
Participant

RUSSIA deployed the World’s most Silent Nuclear Monster that penetrated the U.S Naval Base unnoticed

June 17, 2026 at 8:10 pm #242913

Michael Reid
Participant

Richard Wolff: U.S. Defeat in Iran & End of the U.S Empire

June 17, 2026 at 8:15 pm #242914

Michael Reid
Participant

Elijah Magnier: IRAN Says Israel Must Leave Lebanon, Israel Refuses. Trump Makes His Move!

June 17, 2026 at 8:27 pm #242915

Michael Reid
Participant

US sabre-rattling and Israeli occupation, aggression in Lebanon hollow out war-ending deal
Wednesday, 17 June 2026 11:51 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 June 2026 11:51 AM ]

By Press TV Strategic Analysis Desk

The announcement of an end to the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies was met with a collective exhale from a region teetering on the brink. Yet within days, the foundations of the memorandum of understanding began to crack, revealing a high-stakes game in which the rules are being rewritten even as the ink is still drying.

The recent finalization of an MoU aimed at ending the US-Israeli war of aggression across all fronts from Iran to Lebanon and beyond has been followed by a flagrant violation of its core tenets by the aggressors, particularly the Zionist regime.

The continued threats of renewed war from top American leadership, coupled with the Israeli military’s ongoing attacks and occupation of parts of Lebanon, are not diplomatic faux pas but a systematic dismantling of the agreement’s very fabric.

This situation prompts a critical question: can a peace built on such a fragile foundation survive, or is this merely a strategic pause before the next devastating war?

At the heart of the matter is not only whether a war has formally ended, but whether the behavior of the involved actors aligns with the spirit and conditions of the agreement itself.

If bellicose threats continue, if military pressure persists in parallel theaters, and if agreed conditions remain unfulfilled, then the “end of war” understanding reached a few days ago and scheduled to be signed in Geneva on Friday cannot be meaningfully considered complete.

Instead, what emerges is a hybrid phase – neither active war nor genuine peace, but a strategic pause shaped by coercion, signaling, and unresolved objectives.

Behavior of aggressors remains unchanged

One of the key issues is relentless sabre-rattling by senior US political figures, including explicit warnings of renewed military strikes should negotiations fail to produce desired outcomes. From this perspective, such statements are not rhetorical excess but structural violations of the spirit of the understanding itself.

If an end-of-war framework is intended to remove coercion as a bargaining tool, then the reintroduction of military threats during negotiations undermines the foundational premise of post-war diplomacy. It repositions diplomacy not as a step away from force, but as an extension of it through alternative means.

As per Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the MoU was designed with a two-phase approach to address the deep-seated distrust between Tehran and Washington, a distrust born from decades of broken American promises and criminal aggression.

The first phase was explicitly intended to secure an immediate and permanent end of the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. The cessation of threats, the withdrawal of occupation forces in Lebanon, and a halt to military hostilities were to be the bedrocks upon which the second phase – negotiations on nuclear issues and sanctions relief – would be built.

However, the enemy has refused to comply. It raises a deeper structural concern about how negotiations function in environments where the military option is not fully relinquished. When one side continues to signal the possibility of renewed war, the negotiation space itself becomes distorted. It ceases to be a neutral arena for compromise and instead becomes an extension of coercive pressure, where outcomes are shaped under the implicit shadow of force rather than mutual recognition of constraints.

US behavior has remained unchanged after the early April ceasefire. It has continued to act as if the war is still actively going on. Evidence from early June, when negotiations were in full force, shows that while US President Donald Trump claimed progress in negotiations to end the war, the US was simultaneously launching new strikes on military, radar, and intelligence facilities in southern Iran. This “whipsaw approach” of moving from dire threats to promoting peace within hours destroys any semblance of trust.

As the Iranian military leadership has already warned, any new act of aggression on the country’s energy infrastructure would trigger a severe reaction.

Lebanon situation and fate of US-Iran deal

The explicit stipulation in the memorandum regarding Lebanon has been treated as a mere side-note by the child-murdering Zionist regime. FM Araghchi has repeatedly stressed that the end of the war in Lebanon is an “inseparable” part of any peace deal. He made it unequivocally clear that, from Tehran’s perspective, the two parties to the deal are the US and Israel on one side, and Iran and the Hezbollah resistance movement on the other.

Since the battlefields were interconnected, the peace must be as well. Yet, in direct contravention of this, Israeli regime premier Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly stated that the Israeli military would remain in the zones it currently occupies in Lebanon for as long as necessary.

The MoU between Tehran and Washington was not limited to a single bilateral space but was meant to establish a broader cessation of the enemy’s hostilities across multiple fronts. If one of those fronts remains active – whether through occupation or intermittent military aggression – then the integrity of the overall framework is called into question.

This is a clear sign that the war has not fully ended, and that the prerequisite for entering the second phase of negotiations has not been met. So, logically, you cannot end a war on all fronts while actively occupying territory on one of those fronts.

For Iran, given the situation in Lebanon, entering into the second phase of negotiations is not just strategically inadvisable, but it is a violation of the agreement’s main premise. The core reason for structuring the talks into two phases was to ensure that, once both sides commit to a permanent end to war, threats would under no circumstances be used as leverage.

It reflects a broader concern about sequencing in international diplomacy. In complex wars, phased agreements are designed to build trust incrementally. But they are also vulnerable to asymmetry, where one side perceives compliance as optional or negotiable, while the other treats it as foundational. When that asymmetry emerges, the agreement itself risks collapsing into interpretive war rather than operational clarity.

Iranian negotiators, including FM Araghchi, have noted that the US put forward additional demands that remain under discussion even after the MoU was announced, demonstrating that the US is still trying to extract concessions under the shadow of its military muscle.

Venezuela formula won’t work in Iran

To proceed with “post-war” negotiations while being bombed and threatened is to create a catastrophic precedent. It signals to the enemy that threats and aggression are effective tools for extracting concessions, ensuring that the cycle of war, ceasefire, and negotiation will be repeated in the future. It shows the American side is still failing to acknowledge a key reality about Iran – Iran is not Venezuela and that formula won’t work in Iran.

The Iranian response, in the face of these repeated violations, must be calculated, proportional, and decisive. While the current official stance is a refusal to enter dialogue until all conditions stipulated in the MoU are met, the next step must be clearly outlined.

If the next round of talks does begin, and violations persist – whether through continued US threats or Israeli occupation – Iran must activate its own instruments of leverage. This would logically include the activation of military options and, crucially, the Strait of Hormuz.

This is a proportional response to the enemy’s failure to uphold its end of the bargain, and it is the only language that an adversary that understands only force understands.

Ultimately, the enemy’s current strategy is designed to force Iran to negotiate from a position of weakness, accepting an agreement that replicates the worst aspects of the 2015 deal or guarantees a future war. The only way to break this cycle and ensure a stable, lasting peace is to reaffirm that the end of the war is non-negotiable.

Also, delaying subsequent rounds of negotiation after signing the MoU to allow time for public and political decoupling between the deal and the conditions under which it was signed. The delay can help stabilize perception, reducing the immediate association between threats and war. Over time, this could strengthen the perception of autonomy in decision-making and reinforce the enemy’s commitment to the diplomatic process.

The deeper question is not whether a ceasefire exists on paper, but whether the political and strategic environment has genuinely shifted away from the logic of war. If threats continue, if military aggression persists, and if conditions remain unfulfilled, then the answer is that the enemy is playing games that can prove catastrophic

The US must demonstrate its commitment to peace through actions, not just words, and the occupation of Lebanese territories must cease immediately. Until the shadow of the gun is lifted from the negotiating table, there will be no “art of the deal,” only the art of survival.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/06/17/770615/us-sabrerattling-israeli-occupation-aggression-lebanon-hollow-out-war-ending-deal

June 17, 2026 at 8:56 pm #242916

Michael Reid
Participant

Iran Without Water? Strikes on Infrastructure — Krapivnik and Marandi

June 17, 2026 at 10:42 pm #242917

Michael Reid
Participant

Pepe Escobar: Israel Just Got Outplayed – The MoU That ‘Beat’ Israel Where It Hurts

June 17, 2026 at 10:46 pm #242918

Michael Reid
Participant

Matthew Hoh: “CHANGE COURSE OR ELSE!” – Trump to Israel

June 17, 2026 at 10:48 pm #242919

Michael Reid
Participant

Larry Johnson & Mohammad Marandi: The White House has released the full text of the 14-point MoU

June 17, 2026 at 10:51 pm #242920

Michael Reid
Participant

Lt. Col. Anthony Aguilar: IDF Orders Massive Khiam (Lebanon) Withdrawal

June 17, 2026 at 10:56 pm #242921

zerosum
Participant

For me, it’s unbelievable the # of people who want war and don’t want peace.

They talk peace but don’t do anything to achieve peace.
They threaten war if everything is not going to happen as per their demands.
They accuse everyone of being liars and not being trustworthy.

I’m still waiting for peace to overcome the hate and the killing and the destruction.

June 17, 2026 at 11:17 pm #242922

John Day
Participant

Stop The Clock https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/stop-the-clock

Why has the US armed and backed Israel unconditionally since the Johnson administration and the 1967 war? Even Israel having gotten a nuclear weapon under Johnson, doesn’t explain it adequately.
The state of Israel got legal and funding cut-outs from the US that paid it to bribe and coerce elected representatives since the Johnson administration. The kickbacks-for-treason arrangement snowballed to the point where non-captured US representatives are now an openly-hunted minority.
Now facing immediate threat is the “American way of life”, based upon cheap fuel for transportation heating, electrical generation and industrial production. The Trump Administration has walked right up to an economicprecipice and decided not to step over it in support of Israel, ahead of midterm elections in November. US elections are to be preceded by Israeli elections in September, where “AI-Netanyahu” is getting its eyes chewed out by the other rats without mounting the effective, offensive-defense, that meat-Netanyahu always seemed to perfom capably.
This places Israeli politics in the position of throwing AI-Netanyahu under the bus for being too soft on Iran and Palestinians in Gaza and Lebanon, while the world is maximally disgusted with Israel’s genocidal hubris.
Trump’s ratings in Israel have fallen from very favorable to notably unfavorable in the past couple of weeks, ever since the US did not expend air-defense missiles to defend Israel from a justified retaliatory attack by Iran. Refusing to share with Israel the details being negotiated in the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran added alarm to the outrage and indignation. Israeli political rhetoric is now to attack Iran relentlessly and to force a regime-change without US help. That would seem to necessitate Israeli nuclear attacks, unless I am missing something very big.
Iran would be unbound, I would guess, and able to retaliate against Israeli violations of the agreement by directly striking Israeli targets, including Israel’s small and vulnerable electrical power grid. Iranian hypersonic ballistic missiles could turn Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor into a huge dirty-bomb, as is well known.
How far would Israeli leaders proceed with such a murder-suicide strategy? What would Russia, China, and even the US allow? I am also left wondering where Rothschild interests might actually stand on this. They have reportedly been at odds with Likud policies since before October 7, 2023.

Simplicius lacks nuance and tact here: US Finally Capitulates with ‘Memorandum’ of Surrender
The US has finally capitulated in its disastrously failed war against Iran, reportedly drafting a memorandum of understanding which is highly favorable to the Islamic Republic, and gains as concession nothing more than the promise that “Iran will not obtain nuclear weapons”—a position Iran had already long held...
..The most explosive detail is the alleged $300 billion “reconstruction fund” that Iran will be entitled to once the deal is sealed…
..They claim it’s not a reparations program, yet the official name of the fund is the ‘Reconstruction and Development Fund’. It appears to revolve around regional entities—both corporate and governmental—providing credit lines, direct financing, etc., to Iran. As can be seen above, over half of the fund is claimed to be already committed.
Some American propaganda pundits had claimed that this fund is being pulled from Iran’s frozen assets abroad, but Reuters begs to differ, citing that as an entirely separate negotiating track…
..Iran always held all the cards, and maintained total escalation dominance. This caused all other hostile actors to repeatedly scramble for various secret deals and concessions of appeasement as tithe or tribute to the Iranian overlords…
..And the chief of those consequences, according to experts who have been growing increasingly panicked these past two weeks, was that the US’s SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) and Cushing, OK crude inventories had been heading toward rock bottom levels. Experts warned that below ~20 million barrels or so, the Cushing storage infrastructure begins to severely malfunction, with pipelines losing pressure...
..Iran called Trump’s bluff and won. Trump tried to pretend that the US could play the long game in “blockading” Iran until storage at Kharg and elsewhere began to overflow—but instead, it was the US that was edging toward economic catastrophe and Trump was finally forced to blink when he realized that Iran wasn’t going to lose this game of Chicken.
The prevailing narrative is now that Iran has gained the ultimate trump card, arguably bigger than obtaining nuclear weapons: the ability to control the Strait of Hormuz at will from this point forward...
..Now Iran has even achieved something else: creating a deeper fracture between the US and Israel. Trump was finally forced to scold Netanyahu several times over the Lebanon issue, with Trump’s approval rating in Israel now diving overnight by a reported 23%...
..Will this new “peace deal” and memorandum last? Likely not if Israel has anything to say about it. Netanyahu and his cronies have already announced that Israel will not be withdrawing from Lebanon and have strongly hinted that they will refuse to honor Hezbollah and Lebanon’s inclusion in the deal.
Iran’s own Khorasan paper claims that the peace deal is only postponing the apocalyptic “final battle” which awaits. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/us-finally-capitulates-with-memorandum

MoU signing could be As Early As Today – Trump Says Will “Drop Bombs” If Bad Final Deal
14-Point US-Iran Draft Deal Released, Set For Friday Signing
Another factor could be the political pressure on the White House to release the text of the MOU.
The source familiar with the discussions claimed it was Iran that demanded the text not be published until the formal signing, and denied the White House was responding to political pressure. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/read-14-point-us-iran-draft-deal-set-friday-signing

Cushing Stocks Crash To ‘Tank Bottoms’, Seasonally Lowest Since 2005; SPR Sees Another Huge Drain https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/cushing-stocks-crash-tank-bottoms-seasonally-lowest-2005-spr-sees-another-huge-drain

Trump Admits US Was Weeks Away From “Running Out Of Reserves” When Iran Deal Struck
Bloomberg published the text of the 14-point draft MoU, offering the clearest look yet at the proposed trade: de-escalation and sanctions relief for Iran, in exchange for a ceasefire across all fronts, commitments on shipping access, and a broader nuclear deal to be finalized by the end of summer… Bloomberg noted that some of the wording could be different between the English and Persian versions.
Below is the text of the 14-point draft MoU:
1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles
2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs
3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent
4. Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States Lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement
5. Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.
6. The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, While ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.
7. The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.
8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.
9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.
10. The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.
11. The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.
12. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.
13. Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.
14. The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council
Based on the text above, the first take of the MoU appears to be front-loaded economic relief for Tehran in exchange for a ceasefire, a nuclear freeze, and commitments to negotiate hard topics, such as the nuclear program, at a later date.
Who Stands To Benefit:
Tehran benefits most directly because it gets economic oxygen, oil waivers, frozen funds, sanctions relief language, and reduced US military pressure in the region.
Hezbollah and Iran-aligned actors also benefit if “all fronts, including Lebanon” locks in a ceasefire that constrains Israeli operations.
And, of course, the global economy because global shippers benefit if Hormuz reopens and war risk premiums in crude oil collapse.
The Gulf states benefit if the conflict ends because energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz will resume. A report on Tuesday said that QatarEnergy was planning to ramp up LNG production in the coming months.
Where is Leverage Lost:
The US loses some coercive leverage once the Hormuz blockade ends, oil waivers are granted, and asset-release mechanisms begin.
Israel loses freedom of action if the agreement binds the Lebanon front and limits further strikes. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/read-14-point-us-iran-draft-deal-set-friday-signing

June 17, 2026 at 11:18 pm #242923

John Day
Participant

Trump Invokes Defense Production Act As US Moves To Rebuild Weapons Stockpiles
The Trump administration is seeking a major increase in defense spending while simultaneously using executive authority to accelerate weapons production, reflecting growing concern over U.S. munitions inventories after the war with Iran, according to NBC.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Senate Republicans this week to rally support for a proposed $350 billion defense package, much of which would be directed toward replenishing missile and weapons stockpiles. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-invokes-defense-production-act-us-moves-rebuild-weapons-stockpiles

First Iranian Oil Moves Past U.S. Blockade Ahead of Deal Signing https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/First-Iranian-Oil-Moves-Past-US-Blockade-Ahead-of-Deal-Signing.html

Big Oil Tankers Abruptly U-Turn Toward Hormuz Ahead Of US-Iran Peace Deal Signing https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/big-oil-tankers-abruptly-u-turn-toward-hormuz-ahead-us-iran-peace-deal-signing

Hardline Israeli Politicians Livid Over Iran Deal, Want Netanyahu Out So They Can Do ‘Real Regime Change’ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hardline-israeli-politicians-livid-over-iran-deal-want-netanyahu-out-so-they-can-do

Sign(s) Here, Here, And Here, By Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank
Iran is saying they got everything they wanted, and there are signs of that. Weeks ago, it was floated Iran would receive a $300bn reconstruction fund, a fanciful idea for a country that lost the war. However, it’s true – though the GCC will pay for it. Some see that behind IRGC rhetoric this could be a perestroika moment, e.g., if US firms win big contracts. Or it could just be the US making the GCC give Iran $300bn.
There is shock and fury in Israel at the deal, which they don’t have the details of either, and the prospect of having their hands tied against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. PM Netanyahu is taking a political hit ahead of elections he was already behind in the polls in.
We also aren’t hearing anything about regime change anymore; or ballistic missiles; or Iran’s proxies; and Trump has watered down his ‘nuclear dust’ demands so that Iran can down-blend its 60% highly enriched uranium to a civilian level under supervision. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/signs-here-here-and-here

June 17, 2026 at 11:20 pm #242924

John Day
Participant

Will this be enacted? Cooperation without Oversight: The United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative
The “United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” in the House–drafted National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, or FY2027 NDAA, seeks to accelerate the US–Israel defense technology partnership, including technology sharing, coproduction of weapons systems, and bilateral research and development across multiple domains of warfare, including biotechnology, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, cyberwarfare, and more.1Notably, the cooperation initiative (previously known as Section 224 and subsequently Section 219) would direct the secretary of defense to designate an executive agent, or EA, to expand integration of the US and Israeli defense industrial sectors.2
The EA authority makes this provision significantly different from existing defense tech cooperation agreements with other allied nations. EA authority takes precedence over the authority of the other Department of Defense, or DoD, component heads per DoD Directive 5101.01, meaning that the EA would be able to overrule determinations by other DoD agencies such as the Defense Technology Security Administration, or DTSA, which manages risks from the international transfer of defense technology and critical information.3
The dangers of this structure go beyond the bias introduced by the EA structure into defense procurement processes. The measure risks tethering the US military to its Israeli counterpart technologically and making it difficult to uproot should conditions change.4Analysts have also raised concern that the initiative may make US military aid to Israel more opaque by transforming assistance into cooperation, thereby sheltering the security relationship from regular congressional votes and oversight. https://quincyinst.org/research/cooperation-without-oversight-the-united-states-israel-defense-technology-cooperation-initiative/#

It is odd that the contents being shared by NYT reporters are not favorable to Israel, while the Trump Admin decries the spying: White House Suspects NY Times Reporters Have Situation Room Recordings https://www.zerohedge.com/political/white-house-suspects-ny-times-reporters-have-situation-room-recordings

Trump And Iran Sign MOU Deal Ahead Of Schedule - The US and Iran have remotely signed their memorandum of understanding to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz ahead of schedule, and the agreement is now in effect, Axios reports. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/read-14-point-us-iran-draft-deal-set-friday-signing

Tuesday, Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-06-16
Three hard deltas overnight: the BoJ hiked to 1% (first time since 1995) without adding JGB purchases, SpaceX briefly touched a $3T market cap in after-hours and passed Microsoft, and the Iran-US deal firmed up for a Friday Geneva signing while the Strait of Hormuz stayed empty on the water despite “let the oil flow.” Everything else — Russia grinding through Konstantinovka, the Lebanon ceasefire fraying, the AI-capex debt machine — is continuation, but the oil crash colliding with a 43-year-low SPR is the structural story under all of it…
..B-52 crash kills 8 at Edwards — amid a strange week of military aviation losses
The Air Force confirmed 8 aboard, “not survivable” (sentdefender); Rand Paul mourned eight service members on a test mission (SenRandPaul). It capped a cluster — Russian Tu-22M3, USMC F/A-18, Pakistani trainer — all down within days (Lord Bebo).
The ugliest footnote: Israeli Telegram channels reportedly celebrating the American deaths (“we just started, dear Americans”) per DD Geopolitics — landing the same day Israel’s cabinet publicly disowned Trump’s deal. https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-06-16

Wednesday, Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-06-17
Big day, not a grind: the full US-Iran MOU text leaked and reads as near-total US capitulation, with a Friday signing in Switzerland — and “all fronts, including Lebanon” is the landmine, because Israel is still bombing south Lebanon and Hezbollah says no Israeli withdrawal means no final deal. Markets ran with it: crude crashed below $80 (WTI ~$75-76, -25% on the month) even as physical inventory data screams the opposite, semis dumped ~6% after Microsoft balked at an Oracle cloud deal, the BoJ hiked to 1% (first time since 1995), and SpaceX blew past Microsoft to become the world’s 4th-largest company.
On the ground, Konstantinovka and Lyman are both falling. FOMC under new chair Warsh lands today...
US-Iran MOU to be signed Friday in Switzerland; leaked text ends the war “on all fronts” including Lebanon. Multiple independent leaks converged: a 12-point version (MarioNawfal), a 14-point Al Arabiya copy (no_itsmyturn), and Barak Ravid’s key points (ShaykhSulaiman). Terms: immediate lifting of the naval blockade, immediate oil-sale sanctions waivers, $300B reconstruction fund, frozen assets released, US force withdrawal within 30 days of a final deal, Iran reaffirms it will never build nukes but keeps its program status quo…
..Iran deal: Lebanon is the breaking point, and Trump just turned on Netanyahu
The “all fronts, including Lebanon” clause is the live wire. Hezbollah says Iran won’t sign a final deal unless Israel withdraws from Lebanon (Lord Bebo); FM Araghchi calls continued Israeli occupation or strikes a violation of the MoU (ShaykhSulaiman).
And Israel is still firing: 4 killed in separate strikes on south Lebanon Tuesday (DeItaone), IDF artillery on multiple towns (AMK_Mapping_), drone strike in Ansariyeh (ILRedAlert).
Trump publicly rebuked Israel — “fighting Hezbollah too long,” “too many people are being killed,” “you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time” (FoxNews, FaytuksNetwork). He floated letting al-Sharaa’s Syria take on Hezbollah instead (Suriyakmaps).
Israel asked to see the MOU and was refused (i24NEWS). Trump’s net favorability in Israel flipped from +23 to -23 in three weeks (FaytuksNetwork); hardliners want Netanyahu gone so they can pursue “real regime change” (zerohedge).
The pro-Iran read is loud and one-directional: “abject capitulation”…
..B-52/F-18 crashes spun into “Israel vaporized 8 Americans” conspiracy (EthanLevins2, realStockes). Two aviation losses in two days is notable, but the embedded-switch/pager-attack theorizing is pure speculation with zero sourcing. https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-06-17

June 17, 2026 at 11:22 pm #242927

John Day
Participant

Hague tribunal rejects Ukraine’s Crimea claims – The ruling marks a “convincing victory” in a decade-long maritime dispute, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said https://web.archive.org/web/20260616011629/https://www.rt.com/news/641637-russia-ukraine-maritime-dispute/

Richard Revelstoke looks at the standoff between 4 global Capitalist factions over Taiwanese chip-fabrication for AI, which all can block, but none can yet own:
The Blackwell B200 Kill Switch
The West can rebuild the stack in the open; China can only build a parallel one — slower, by a different road, and not yet finished. For now it is behind at the frontier, which is what makes the window close on Beijing rather than Washington. Every month the Western stack onshores, Taiwan becomes a weaker hostage and China’s own road a longer shot.
A closing window is the most invasion-prone condition there is: it converts a deterrent into a deadline. Which means the Arizona timeline is not a peace clock. It is a countdown. The most dangerous power is rarely the strongest one. It is the one that believes it is still strong enough to act, certain it will be weaker later, and convinced that waiting forecloses its options. That conviction — that the future is worse than the present — sat behind the calendar in 1914 and behind Pearl Harbor. It is the logic the Arizona clock now hands to Beijing.
If the levers are ever pulled in earnest, TSMC is destroyed in the invasion — ASML bricks the machines, TSMC burns the factory to the ground. A much-cited US war paper, McKinney and Harris’s “Broken Nest,” argues Taiwan should pre-commit to demolishing TSMC to make itself unwantable. A war over the chip does not hand over the chip to China. It vaporises it, for everyone. The $10 trillion global GDP loss is not a transfer from one faction to another; it is a deadweight loss to the whole board. The kill switch, fully engaged, kills everyone.
And that is only the second question. The first is larger, and it can be answered without a single shot fired. The compute base can simply split in two — a Western stack and a Chinese stack, each unaligned nation forced to plug into one or the other, the contest hardening from a war inside one infrastructure into two sealed, incompatible infrastructures that no longer integrate. That is not a chokepoint dissolving. It is the terrain itself splitting in two. The danger is not only that Taiwan burns. It is that the world wires itself into two nervous systems that cannot speak to each other — and the Capitalist Civil War, which began as four factions fighting over one machine, ends with two of them building separate machines and calling it peace. https://www.themargins.ca/p/the-blackwell-b200-kill-switch

Sundance, Senate Could Vote on Jay Clayton DNI Nomination Thursday
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already dispatched the request of President Trump to attach the Save America Act to the FISA (702) reauthorization vote that will likely happen as soon as Jay Clayton is confirmed. Again, this example outlines how the DC system moves when they -not the executive- control the functions of the Intelligence Community…
..If an American is the target of secret surveillance, tracking, spying, etc., the DOJ/FBI need some method of authorization to violate the fourth amendment protection within the constitution. That’s where FISA (702) come into the picture.
FISA (702) only pertains to an American in the surveillance process.
FISA (702) is the presumed legal method, never tested in court, that permits the DOJ and FBI to violate the 4th amendment protection of the American person. FISA (702) only pertains to a legislative construct that permits this secret surveillance of the American person.
The Title-1 surveillance warrant that often comes with the 702-authorized review or investigation; is all encompassing and authorizes the government to secretly look at the private records of the targeted American.
If FISA (702) did not exist, all of the electronic record keeping, the stored metadata of Americans, would be worthless. FISA (702) is the key that allows the government to unlock the data (private records) and review it. Without the key, you cannot open the door – as a consequence, the U.S. government doesn’t need the vault.
FISA (702) has never been tested in court by any targeted person, in part because the evidence against the accused person only exists for prosecutorial use if the person is factually guilty of the suspected allegation. This is the catch-22 that has permitted the 702 violations to continue without challenge.
It doesn’t matter how many times our politicians try to position the argument, there is nothing that stops the DOJ/FBI from looking at the activity of foreign actors. However, there are constitutional protections that stop the DOJ/FBI from looking at the activity of Americans. FISA (702) is designed specifically to work around those constitutional protections. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/06/15/senate-could-vote-on-jay-clayton-dni-nomination-thursday/#more-284410

June 17, 2026 at 11:23 pm #242928

John Day
Participant

UK social media law ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ – Musk: The British government has announced plans to require age verification for access to online platforms https://web.archive.org/web/20260616061608/https://www.rt.com/news/641640-musk-starmer-social-media-ban/

Elon Musk says he will sue German broadcaster ZDF for ‘outrageous lies’ after it claimed he had told Belfast rioters to ‘hunt migrants’
The German public broadcaster admitted its wording was “imprecise” and “misleading” https://rmx.news/article/elon-musk-says-he-will-sue-german-broadcaster-zdf-for-outrageous-lies-after-it-claimed-he-had-told-belfast-rioters-to-hunt-migrants/

Musk Supports Nuremberg-Style Trials After UK Rape-Gang Inquiry Release
After Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe released the Rape Gang Inquiry Report, which documented the systemic rape and often torture of up to 250,000 young British girls at the hands of predominately Muslim rape gangs, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk agreed with calls for Nuremberg-style trials for the perpetrators and those who enabled the heinous attacks. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/musk-supports-nuremberg-style-trials-after-uk-rape-gang-inquiry-release

Gold & Geopolitics delves into the complex flows between the Fed, Treasury and various investor categories: Who collects the interest?
One more rabbit hole for you! https://no01.substack.com/p/who-collects-the-interest

June 17, 2026 at 11:24 pm #242929

John Day
Participant

This can’t work, because the wavelengths involved would have to be x-rays, and would pass through or destroy human cells. Jessica Rose Ph.D.
Generative Optogenetics: brought to you by DARPA! Thanks, but no thanks. Things are weird enough already. https://jessicar.substack.com/p/generative-optogenetics-brought-to

BREAKING NEWS: Kennedy Blasts Retraction of Article Showing Link Between Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Vaccines
HHS Secretary Kennedy wants to know why the editor of ‘Toxicology Reports’ pulled an article linking vaccines and sudden infant deaths. https://www.themahareport.com/p/breaking-news-kennedy-blasts-retraction

Steve Kirsch, Two years later, no errors have been found in the Mostert paper published in BMJ showing excess deaths increased in 47 countries after COVID vaccine rollouts
The BMJ opened an investigation into the Mostert paper over 2 years ago. There is no update after 2 years. Nothing. Why is this investigation taking so long? We are left in the dark. https://kirschsubstack.com/p/two-years-later-no-errors-have-been

June 18, 2026 at 1:42 am #242930

Michael Reid
Participant

June 18, 2026 at 1:48 am #242931

Michael Reid
Participant

June 18, 2026 at 1:58 am #242932

Michael Reid
Participant

Class Dismissed’ – Iran Just Dropped the Hardest Anti-US LEGO Rap

June 18, 2026 at 2:14 am #242933

Michael Reid
Participant

Russia on Canada’s Drone Production Deal with Ukraine | RU-EN

June 18, 2026 at 2:35 am #242934

Michael Reid
Participant

Russia China Deepen Energy Ties Agree PoS2 Terms; Russian Navy Stuns UK; EU Wants More Oil Sanctions

June 18, 2026 at 4:53 am #242935

₿oogaloo
Participant

Now that the terms of the MOU are out, and both sides have released the same text, I wonder how the pro-Trump Zionist wing of the TAE community will react.

Ilargi said a few days ago that he was “not impressed” with Alasdair Crooke’s analysis. Dr D even suggested that Alasdair Crooke should apologize for being wrong. And yet, to my eye, Alasdair Crooke has been and continues to be spot on.

Trump has accepted the MOU, but the Zionists hate it. So which loyalty comes first? Loyalty to Trump or loyalty to Zionism?

If Trump follows through with the MOU, I fear for his life. I don’t think he has any agency.

June 18, 2026 at 7:34 am #242952

John Day
Participant

@Boogaloo: Sometimes you can only massage reality so much before you have to re-cast your perspective, no?
😉

June 18, 2026 at 7:51 am #242953

John Day
Participant

Foreign Policy: U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding: Full Text
Read the agreement that the Trump administration has agreed to with Iran’s leaders to end the war.

U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding: Full Text

June 18, 2026 at 8:03 am #242954

₿oogaloo
Participant

@JohnDay: In these modern times, when we have abandoned our anchors, and are all swimming in a sea of propaganda, I suppose it is inevtiable that we all take up inconsistent and incompatible ideologies long before we become conscious of the irreconcilable incongruity. We all have our blind spots, me included. We see it in others before we see it in ourselves.

Here at TAE, some of us have come to a fork in the road, and the rest are wondering “Which of the two paths will they take and how will they explain it?” Or maybe it will be memory-holed in a couple weeks. That’s human nature my friend.
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