Debt Rattle September 30 2026
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Edward Lear Zagori, Greece 1860 • Trump To Order Renaming Artificial Intelligence ‘Super Intelligence’ (ETM) • Trump Launches America.Gov Website Simp
[See the full post at: Debt Rattle September 30 2026]“Iran’s parliament speaker Ghalibaf has reiterated that America should know that “in a region where we don’t sell oil, no one will sell oil.”
I mean, yay, but they’ve sold 500 ships of oil and you’ve sold none now? We all want things; the question is if you can DO them.
“Caravan Of 600+ Migrants Making Its Way Through Mexico To The US Border
“This will have major repercussions,”How? How will this have any repercussions? At all? They just removed more than 600 in Kansas packing plants alone. 600 is no amount of people, lost in one county, even a rural one. And Trump will turn them back at the border as per the asylum ruling – for which they are not eligible anyway. So this is all painting fake headlines for the election, isn’t it?
C’mon Zerohedge: this is how all other news agencies lost their edge too.
“Hegseth To Cut Top Generals, Admirals ‘By 20%’ Amid Ongoing Pentagon Shakeup
Cue Bird and Fortune, with 5 times as many admirals as ships.
“Texas ranchers and truckers could start seeing some relief at the fuel pump starting this week after Gov. Greg Abbott proclaimed a statewide disaster on Sept. 28 to ease diesel shortages.”
Oh, so there’s all kinds of stuff we could be doing but didn’t bother? And so a big slice of this problem is voluntary?
I’d like to compare gas prices vs historical averages, say, 1920, 30, 40, 50, and 1960, but there’s no easy way to do it. It would be interesting to see if we crossed this effective price periodically, or if you’d have to go back to the first cars to see a price this high.
1920 80c / 30c = R2.66
1930 50c / 20c = R2.5
1940 67c / 18c = R3.72 (They call this $4.41 inflation adjusted)
1950 75c / 27c = R2.77
1960 $2 / 30c = R6.66
1970 $3 / 35c = R8.57
1980 $7 / $1.2 = R5.83 (This is rated as $5.24 inflation adjusted)
1990 $10 / $1.2 = R8.33 (I am surprised, but these seem correct)
2000 $15 / $1.5 = R10 (More surprised)
2010 $21 / $2.8 = R7.5
2026 $33 / $6 = R5.5You can see today is well within any normal range with normal economies. The Zero-date is good since it excludes WWII, a lot of the Depression, and the inflation of the 1970s, and GWoT. Since it’s a ratio, the Higher the number, the better off you are, so to speak. 2 gal per hour work or 10gal per hour work. So 1950 was Waaaaaaaaay worse than now, twice as bad, with people still being very careful and not going anywhere, which is why going out cruising (5 miles to town) was so special. If we drove only 5 miles instead of 35, gas would be “cheap” here too. We are at the level of the un-fun, weighty 1980, which feels about correct.
Prices are all about perception, where they are pinned in your mind as “normal”. And prices are a spectrum of ratios, how many gallons per hour per pizza per tshirt. This is certainly unpleasant, but not outside of any norms. Again, the problem is the Distance (and speed), not the gallons. It’s the cost of the car, not the gas. We’re being way more pummeled in taxes and insurance, car values than gas. Just removing (recent) taxes would probably 2x recoup all gas costs. That’s why Canada and California are sunk, and Texas is booming.
Outside stats, Apparently 12M bbl/day through Hormuz now? And as I was saying, Iran “Hit” the ship, but the ship keeps going, unharmed. So they’re hitting the ships with toilet paper and smoke bombs for the cameras. Reporters eat it up, because they won’t print anything that isn’t untrue.
So hundreds of ships, 12M/day, and 2/3rds of the pre-war flow right now. That seems plausible. However, Iran has NO flow, nearly zero. So good luck. They are suing for a ceasefire (as does Ukraine when they’re losing) and Trump says no. This is why Saudi is about to collapse and hand Mecca to their arch-enemy.
Instead, there are now street uprisings, but how and what kind, who knows?
“And they started the war with Russia in 2014 by funding the coup d’ etat that overthrew the legitimately elected pro-Russian president of Ukraine.”
Yes. And this was “America” or at least we were doing our half of support within NATO and the Atlanticists. Remember all the Ukraine Flags? Man they love flags. Fags love flags? Sounds pejorative, accusatory, hyperbolic. No, I mean literally, they were all the same virtue-signaling houses and neighborhoods. It wasn’t a “Trump 16” sign on the lawn with a Ukraine flag, it was the Rainbow Flag and a Ukraine flag. Why, I do not know, still haven’t figured it out, since against all wars…except any war they’re told to like. Against all oligarchs and patriarchy except this one, the one we’re in. Anywhooo…
Canada rapidly collapsing, I could post the companies and podcasts, but no one seems interested. Many of you live there, you already know. It’s bad. 50% of all liquor sales dead overnight.
“• Trump To Order Renaming Artificial Intelligence ‘Super Intelligence’ (ETM)
This seems super-dumb but it’s all Bernays and Media. They’ve spent a lifetime prepping this as “Do robots have consciousness?” “Are we gods creating new life?” “If I turn off my i386 for the night is it murder??” Ethical morass, confusion, fear, etc. But it’s all TIED to the word. By Bernays. Ad executives. Feelings. Change the word, it UN-Ties all that steaming crappola in our, the nation, culture’s mind. So this is how Trump is good at the media, clipping the root of this weed in one stroke.
Does it fix everything? No. But it lets us have a more decent conversation at least, that doesn’t start openly retarded. We’ve got enough problems.
“ Trump Launches America.Gov Website Simplifying Access to Govt Services (ET)
Like DOGE, researchers (I won’t say Reporters, who are illiterate) can then query the site and find more billions in fraud. Because it’s just numbers.
“• Elon Musk Makes a Move on the Banks (Jeffrey A. Tucker)
He’s ALWAYS been in the banks. Or only the Banks. That’s what PayPal is. He’s not an inventor or engineer. He’s a buyer, a manager. He’s sidelined into this other MICMAC work, but the Banks are the real seat of power, so he, Thiel, Dorsey, are always circling it. This has long been created by the crypto people, but THE WRONG PEOPLE WERE GETTING RICH, and they shut it down, outlawed it, and are refusing to pass the required laws ten years later, with the Genius Act this month among others.
However, if MUSK wants it, Boom, overnight, because then the RIGHT people are getting rich. This is Capitalism, where we have only government, a monopoly, and no competition.
“• Anthropic Warns of Existential AI Risks; OpenAI Scraps “Deceptive” Model (ZH)
Sir, I TOTALLY BELIEVE YOU. That’s why we’ve come here today to shut your whole company down for the good of the nation. I’m sure you’ll understand and agree, this is the only safe course of action for the Federal Agents and the US Army tanks we brought with us. …I mean, unless you were lying or something. Which is a high-level SEC violation.
“Trump and Republicans aren’t polling well, yet Democrats are doing even worse,”
Not a genius here, but that means they’re BETTER? And will WIN? That’s what “election” means, sir.
“”Donald Trump does have more influence on more races than any other Republican, even than Ronald Reagan,”
Why? Because the GOP is generally still filled with double-crossing traitors who will do nothing. Trump’s stamp suggests that they MIGHT, maybe, possibly, outside chance, not be a complete zero not worth your time. That’s why it works. Because the whole GOP sucks. They would sell themselves and the whole country to the Democrats for a Snickers bar.
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Sept. 28 that Democrats would put lowering costs first if they win the House
You’re the guys who RAISED all the costs! Doubled them in 4 years! Without even a war! How did you even manage that? First time ever without shooting. Now when Trump got inflation from 10-20% down to 3% it’s his high fault.
“The point is to stand up for the Constitution.”Impeachment says that you can’t get into an illegal war in Iran without constitutional approval. Impeachment says that you can’t just start firing federal employees in defiance of what Congress says. Impeachment says you can’t do deals with foreign governments to allegedly enrich your own family. “It’s about setting a standard.” He said Democrats could pursue impeachment while also moving on child care, the minimum wage, paid family leave, and taxes on billionaires in their first 100 days.”
Totally agree. So we need to go back and Impeach Clinton, Obama, and Biden for the very same things. I mean, you start a book at the front cover and not the last paragraph, right? It’s almost like it’s only bad when Trump does it, so spare me. We also know that while I and other Conservatives (if that’s what we are) say this going back to the first newspapers we ever read with the same criticisms, your arguments are not consistent at all but ruthlessly cynical and self-serving. We were all against Clinton’s war, Bush’s war, Obama’s war, Biden’s war, but you only suddenly notice it when the other Team is in power. Spare me.
All these things depend on a Good Faith discussion you don’t have.
“Jordan said potential targets he believed that Democrats would go after include businesses that helped fund Trump’s inauguration”
What? That’s Cray-cray. They would never do that. What’s that? Cruz just questions Jack Smith who subpoenaed every GOP donor in all the races, and wiretapped every GOP Congressman, signed but the dozens like candy by DNC Boasberg?
Oh, so they WOULD arrest anyone Trump ever met including his own lawyers! …Past tense. Because “Time Exists” and they’ve already done this dozens and dozens of times. …And still lost.
I say good! Now we can wiretap every DEMOCRATIC Congressman, every donor, and use AI to dig through everything they’ve ever done with a Special Investigator for two years. That’s all fair, right?
“Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from one of the term’s most important cases:
Similar here. HONEST Judges like Alito recuse. The hundreds of crooked ones don’t. So Every case has an automatic bias toward Evil. Unless you put their heads in a bucket and spank them senseless, impeaching everyone unless they ALSO recuse when normal. Right?
There’s another problem though: within circles, everybody knows somebody, and cases and companies return. So if you go far enough, every judge should recuse every time. And that’s not practical. So where’s the line? We do it by tradition, which is slippery.
Key here is what was the judge where his DAUGHTER was the case? Or Investigator Muller? Where he was in GPS firm. Evil never Re-cuses, they Ex-cuse. You have to “Make Them”. So that’s YOUR lack and dereliction of duty. Evil knows and counts on it. You don’t want to fight every battle and every advantage: they do. Being mentally ill by definition, they can’t help it but press every something-for-nothing. So you have to, like it or not.
“• Ukraine Is Asking For A Truce. While Preparing For A Bigger War (Poletaev)
I feel like I’m in Crazyland. How many years is it now Russia said there will never be any ceasefire, no not never not at any time under any circumstances? 3 years running? And they float this monthly. Plus Stopping at the contact line. …But conceding nothing. Classic London/Euro behavior, we see this in eg DMZ in Korea. “Nothing lasts as long as the temporary” – Napoleon. And the DMZ since 1950. Always leave everything unsettled; Forever if possible. Like the East/West Berlin. It causes the most problems Evil can capitalize on. Yeah, no thanks. I hope Russia takes it out to Copenhagen and Normandy and straightens things out, but they’re not dumb enough.
Here’s the thing: They say “But Russia will have a hostile on the Western border!!” Russia ALWAYS has a hostile on their Western Border, because Europe is reliably insane. So staying close to home and supply chain as possible and making Europe march their morons 500 miles EAST to die on their front door is way more economical. Why the morons don’t rise up against Ukraine…or Belgium…I don’t know. That’s their problem. This is normal for them, and I don’t know why at the Somme or in WWII either – it’s what they DO. So what’s Russia’s plan and end state?
We know the Plan: it’s to BLEED Europe out. Which was Europe’s plan for Russia, actually. That’s going extremely well but is annoying. What’s the end state? I’m not smart enough to know, and it’s intricate to the people and geography there. But I’d say same as always: Whole region becomes a buffer, “THE” Ukraine, THE Borderlands. Nothing stable is allowed to be built there, and Russia’s western border is the Dniepr. Next real, viable state to the West is all the way over in Poland. To do otherwise, they will need to flip Romania as NATO implodes, then they can safely take the whole coast and Odessa, where the other nations there like Bulgaria are very manageable. “NATO” these WESTERN European war-mongering maniacs, are back in Paris then, far away. London collapses as UK is a 3rd world hole, which it already is, matching a pre-1600 experience.
“• Le Pen Scores ‘Historic Victory’ In French Senate Vote (RT)
If any fall, the EU ceases. That’s Germany, but Italy would put it in a Coma. France would sink it as well. Okay: remember, Germany owns France. They own the French Bonds and Tier II. So if France isn’t subservient, let’s not say they don’t pay, but in a sense cause issues with that, then Germany’s whole “wealth” and savings account vanishes too. That’s the whole EU.
“The caravan originally started in Honduras but has now crossed into Mexico,… hunger and poverty were the only reasons they headed toward the United States.”
That means nothing to me, that’s not asylum, you fools. Go home and work and fix your own country. And Mexico has no border? They just allow infinity Hondurans in? Yeah, no, Mexico can stop this in a weekend. They get 10 buses, put them on, and drive them back to the southern Mexican border. If you want to sneak back in, we can find you and make you walk 500 miles over and over again as many times as necessary. What are you eating during this time? Just robbing houses n’ stuff? C’mon! Do you know how expensive that is? It’s cheaper to fly, that’s why people do it. So you had several hundred or a thousand dollars to walk the trip, but are broke? Go home and use that $1000 on your family. OR you’re all petty criminals and burglars who should be jailed for many crimes before Sonora.
…OR SOROS IS PAYING FOR IT ALL AS A STUNT. It’s cheaper for Soros to bus them as well, but he needs the news coverage of retarded crayon-munching reporters who can’t ask very, very simple questions about “Reality”. “Golly Juan, what have you been eating these 20 days?”
“ They know that this is a litigation tool to stop teaching kids the Gospel.”
So this is a State Religion. Stopping all others. Easy. “Atheistic commies really don’t like the competition”
Because their point of view is ALSO a Religion. A religion is essentially a paradigm, a worldview, that’s it. It’s “Having opinions”. Maine says it’s illegal to have opinions. Maine will issue your state-ordained opinions to you.
“Starship performs its orbital insertion of Earth for the first time.”
Inserted into all of us without lube. It cannot be removed.
“30% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT POLITICAL VIOLENCE – w/ Prof. Robert Pape
It’s important WHICH 30%. Equally Left and Right? No. Almost exclusively on the Left, bourne out with recent attacks, back as far as the Congressional Baseball Shooting. The Right has all the veterans, with all the guns: if they were doing any violence, you’d bloody well notice.
That just means you have a bunch of maniacs in your country. Totally different than you have equal, violent factions agitating like North and South. So you have people who want Chaos and people who want Order. You have people who want Law and people who want Crime. We can guess by that who will win.
Trump’s War on Canada.” -Pape
Trump has not said he’s at war with Canada, in fact, Bessant openly mocked the very notion. However, CARNEY has said there’s a war. Is there? What brought this on, Mark? No one knows. He won’t release the trade documents with is how you can be sure they’re super-congratulatory to him and his decision here. They’re Top Secret national security. Canadian public is not allowed to know.
Okay, Apparently you’re at war with us. Don’t know why, But okay then. What’s going on? A: Nothing. Carney hasn’t lifted a finger. Ummm??? Strange war, Mark. It’s almost like it’s all political theater. You’re not actually responding to anything, afraid of anything, or serious about anything. So this is very mysterious; it’s like a war that’s only going on in your mind. And not even OUR mind: just yours. We don’t even notice.
Trump’s talked about Alberta? Easiest win in the world: All you have to do is make Alberta happy and there’s zero chance for that. They don’t: Carney is making them more pissed off than ever. Huh? No wonder Trump says you’re his best friend and ally.
Expert: “Everything Trump does is completely random.” That’s why he’s an expert. “Also, ackshully, Trump always does the very same and predictable thing.” Uhhhh???
“He uses rewards and leverage to get negotiation and leverage.” Uhhhh? Yes? We don’t concede and give out candy for nothing in order to get good deals? Apparently this is incredibly mysterious to Pape. This is so mysterious that he doesn’t ask why Canada is in such a desperately bad economic, social, and military position that Trump should HAVE any leverage.
“Trump also if he threatens and you give him lunch money, he’ll ask for dinner.” This never works, Trump has never won using this plan, either in NYC or as President. Ah. Really? And also SINCE he’ll ask for dinner, he’ll ask for breakfast, Christmas, New Years, ad infinatum. Okay. THIS MEANS TRUMP HAS NEVER SIGNED A DEAL. Because any time you concede a thing, he asks for more. And we can see in Trump’s life and career, has never signed any final deals, ever. ‘Tis well known.
Uhhhhh??? No, actually? The #Opposite? He’s known FOR signing deals? And also that this process very famously WORKS? For 50 years? NOPE! Not according to this expert! Trump has never won, and he’s never signed any deals.
“All you need to do is stand up to him, the bully.” Wow! Great! One question: If that’s all it takes and it works so well, why has nobody ever done this before? Because you’re the first guy in 50 years to think of saying no?
“What they’re missing is that Trump isn’t coming at this from a World Economic view, but from a MAGA economics view”. Yes. You’re right. He’s not a World” ie “Globalist”, he’s a MAGA, that is, “Nationalist, American”. So he should NOT be for America and the American workers? He then mocks MAGA because they have this super-weird idea that America has shipped their Blue Collar jobs overseas – a ridiculous notion, ha ha! What kind of cretin could believe THAT would ever happen, and there’s a “Giant Sucking Sound”? Dopes.
Ah! “Experts”.
He was going to make the point that stealing jobs from Canada back to the US is NOT Trump, and the Base will be MAD about it, but then totally forgets. He’s basically saying “Those jobs ain’t coming back!” So the Tariffs are going to CAUSE all those great jobs to go TO Canada, not from.
Next: “Americans want REVENGE. They want PAYBACK” Internal emotional state of Americans. Uhhh, no? Never even occurred to us? My feelings never occurred at all even if I had any? It was actually about the MONEY. About whether I have more cash in my paycheck or not. My feelz never entered into it — Didn’t even occur to me that was an option. But that’s what Intellectuals like him do all day: shut off their brains and FEEL what is Truthiness, according to their belly buttons.
“Trump just isn’t doing world economics at all! He’s just doing MAGA trade” thinking only of the American workers, ha ha. Uhhh…yes? Should he be the WORLD president, to increase wages for MEXICAN auto workers? Yes, according to Pape. It’s ridiculous that he’s telling MAGA auto workers that “I’ve got your back” and advocating for their interests. He should be advocating for Globalists and Canadian Auto Workers in Brampton. Silly! Doesn’t he know better? Why does he have this vacant, cynical, self-serving drive to “Help American Workers”? So last century.
“Carney is dong the exact right response” Response? Carney was the Initiator! That deal was signed, roughly the same as the old deals only not a 3-way USMCA. Carney had no choice but to reject the trade deal that was already signed! Response is when you act first! That’s how you’re the victim.
Next: China is a far better, safer, more loving, less extractive partner than the U.S. Well-known how abundantly honest and generous the Chinese are. Ah. Well, good plan then. You do you.
“After Trump is gone this will continue …that the U.S. will continue to help the AMERICAN worker,” as “The GOP is completely reformed as the Party of Blue Collar workers”. Yes. And the Democrats are NOT the party of any worker, but of the wealthy and entitled, government employees and unproductive laptop jockeys. Agree! That’s why Trump is evil actually. To take American jobs to America, is “Attack”. He should be helping the wealthy and entitled instead, scrapping American workers, and handing those jobs to Canada. Great show, Pape, that’s exactly reasonable and what will happen, I’m sure.
You know, phrased another way, with another spin, Pape is exactly correct in his assessments, which are very placid and moderate in form.
@Formerly T-Bear: Thanks for the kind words Monday.
Yesterday was a day spent getting a load of compost in my 1997 Ford Ranger and spreading it by shovel on ny newest garden plot in Yoakum, and dealing with credit-card malfunction and 2 flat tires on the truck.
We assume so many things going right.
I used credit-card air-pumps 3 times, but they did not work at every gas station. I had a flip-phone that worked.
We got to bed late, but got to our own bed…
This crash is going to be disorienting…in light end
“Hello darkness my old friend” Simon
“And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made” The Sound of Silence30%? Dude must not have taken off his shoes while counting.(Piled Higher Deeper)
to add a little perspective to the handcuffed conscripts – the largest army in Europe was being funded, armed and NATO trained during Tilt Head, The Great ReNamer”s, first foray into the miasma of imbecility.
perhaps another way to interpret the data is to note the only constant expressed is the devaluation of the dollar.
or
the constant inflation and growth of personal debt has done little more than produce greater poverty within an increasingly two tier society of have and have not. The cost of commodities required to participate in the economy, society, expressed in a time based ratio indicates stagnation. The defiling of the human condition in pursuit of the illusion of wealth is a statistical reality. The Greatest Capitalist Economy in history’s greatest success can be seen as punching holes in the bottom of the boats the rising tide of affluence was to have lifted.“We’re being way more pummeled in taxes and insurance, car values than gas.” True but that brings jobs to the district ! ! !
“LIes, damned lies and statistics” – Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Follow the bouncing ball.
Imagine. No more a dumb Google. An intelligent search engine.
Your own personal chatbot with an interpreter (a computer program that executes your instructions.).
————
IT WOULD BE AN INPROVEMENT TO … America.gov will serve as a landing page consolidating nearly 30,000 federal government websites into one chatbot.
————–
Plans for full integration with more than 10,000 forms across agencies will provide opportunities for full-service enrollment, where visitors can “apply, enroll, and track progress directly in the chat,” according to a statement on the new site.
Users will find a “front door” to the government replacing the “endless maze” of websites and regulations, according to the president.
————-
The website is live as of Sept. 29, with more features expected in the coming months.
———–
https://america.gov/
Hello, America
Whatever you need from government, start here.
America.gov uses AI to get simple answers only from official government sources.
It’s free to use, never includes ads, and keeps your privacy protected.
No app to download. Just open America.gov in your browser on your phone, tablet, or computer.
More coming in 2027
Going beyond answers, you’ll be able to complete forms, track progress, and organize everything in one place.
(created by https://ndstudio.gov/ ) (both places/web site, require improvements)
————https://web.archive.org/web/20260929113225/https://www.rt.com/russia/646367-ukraine-is-asking-for-truce/
Ukraine is asking for a truce. So why is it preparing for a bigger war?
As the economy falters and winter approaches, Kiev’s commitment to its Western backers leaves little room for peace
Published 28 Sep, 2026 17:57 | Updated 28 Sep, 2026 19:00By Sergey Poletaev,
So is it all just schizophrenia or a calculated move?I’d say it’s the latter.
It’s true that if we consider Zelensky as the leader of Ukraine, then his actions are insane and amount to suicide.
However, if one views him as the military proxy of Europe’s anti-Russia coalition, then everything falls into place.For Zelensky and his regime, Ukraine is not their own land; it is a resource and an instrument for war against Russia.
To save Ukraine, Zelensky must accept Russia’s terms.
Yet Ukraine’s masters cannot accept Russia’s terms, as that would mean a crushing defeat for them.
Consequently, the war must go on.
If the destruction of rear-area logistics and energy infrastructure does not affect the ability of the Ukrainian army to hold the front line, then logistics and energy don’t matter.
Of course, left without electricity, heat, and jobs, Ukraine’s civilian population will endure great suffering – but Zelensky doesn’t care about that.Taking this logic into account, even an energy truce is bad for Ukraine, as a moratorium on mutual strikes would deprive Kiev – or rather, its masters – of the only effective leverage over Moscow.
Of course, this is a one-way street. In an earlier article, we analyzed how the Ukrainian state is becoming detached from its own society.
Today, I’d like to point out that in its current form, the Kiev regime has no other options:
On one side of the scale lies the fate of Ukraine, and on the other, the interests of its masters.
Zelensky has no real choice. In the interests of its masters, Ukraine must sacrifice itself and inflict the greatest possible damage on Russia, or if possible, even defeat it.As long as there remains hope for Russia’s defeat, nothing else matters.
Ukraine wants to either freeze the conflict along the line of contact and prepare to take revenge later, or fight to the bitter end.
Russia understands this very well; that is why it has once again rejected any idea of a partial truce – this was recently expressed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the UN, and then by Putin.
Even though this year, Russia was seriously affected by Ukrainian strikes, Moscow is only open to ending the conflict on its own terms.***
https://www.rt.com/news/646369-france-le-pen-senate/
Le Pen scores ‘historic victory’ in French Senate voteThe prospect of Le Pen replacing Macron raised particular concerns among the Western backers of Ukraine.
The Telegraph reported in August that officials fear her election could disrupt the French-led effort to coordinate military and financial support for Kiev, as well as plans to deploy Western troops there after a ceasefire.RN has long challenged Macron’s approach to the Ukraine conflict, opposing open-ended funding for Kiev and steps it says risk a direct confrontation with Russia.
Le Pen has repeatedly stressed that the conflict needs a diplomatic solution and has called for normalizing relations with Moscow.
————-
Is Le Pen going to stop the war with Russia?
Will she also seek peace with Iran?https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/netanyahu-gives-it-away-war-with
Netanyahu gives it away: war with Iran coming before Israeli elections! Expect false flags soon!
Plus news and updates from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, UAE and Yemen
Ismaele
17 hours agoExpect false flags soon!
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/30/world/live-news/dubai-israel-plane-flydubai-intlPilot may have sought to crash Israel-bound flight after stabbing other pilot, Netanyahu says
The Flydubai flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia after a struggle in the cockpit in what the Israeli PM called “a most serious security incident.”Updated 11:23 AM EDT, Wed September 30, 2026
CNN ID 23029186 – 00:00:08;06
FlyDubai flight to Israel diverted after a “violent incident” between pilots, sources say
2:38
Here’s the latest
• Hijacking attempt: A pilot on the Israel-bound Flydubai flight diverted to Saudi Arabia stabbed the other pilot and appears to have tried to crash the plane, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. He said passengers and crew subdued the assailant, who has been arrested.• Passenger’s fear: The incident caused the aircraft, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, to plummet 17,400 feet in less than two minutes, flight tracking data shows. One passenger told Israeli media there were moments she believed she was going to die.
• Repatriation flight: Most of the stranded passengers are now boarding a replacement Flydubai plane to return home, relatives said. Saudi Arabia earlier rejected an Israeli request to send a military or civilian plane to bring passengers home.
Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv diverted to Saudi Arabia
Flight FZ 1073 was scheduled to land in Tel Aviv, but Israeli officials say that after one of the pilots stabbed the other, it was diverted to Tabuk airport in northern Saudi Arabia. Flight data shows the plane dropped 17,400 feet in just under two minutes.@JohnDay re: inflation
Get a bicycle floor pump and some tire plugs, and a bottle of Stan’s for good measure. I’ve successfully re-inflated a 31×10.5R15 with a cheap-a$$ Topeak floor pump. If you’ve got a bad back, get a 12V compressor, but keep the manual for backup!
THE GRID IS CUT⚡ 20 BALLISTIC MISSILES ON KYIV🚀 Yehorivka & Tovstodubove Have Fallen⚔️ MS 2026.09.30
Professor Pape’s Trap Is Built on a War Russia Never Planned
By Larry C. Johnson on 24 September 2026Thanks to Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism who flagged a recent interview that Professor Robert Pape did with Mario Nawfal. During the interview, Pape argued that Vladimir Putin is caught in an “escalation trap.” In his telling, Russia launched a preventive war in February 2022 to seize Kyiv and roughly 60 percent of Ukraine. That plan collapsed, and the fallback, betting that NATO would break, is now producing the European counterbalancing coalition Moscow most feared. It is a tidy theory. It also rests on a premise about Russian intentions that the record does not support, and once that premise goes, the trap goes with it.
What the force tells you about the objective
Start with arithmetic, the kind any planner of military operations does before anything else. Russia invaded with roughly 150,000 to 190,000 troops, including separatist forces. The standard rule of thumb for occupying a hostile population, from James Quinlivan’s RAND work, is about 20 troops per 1,000 inhabitants. For a country of more than 40 million, even occupying 60 percent of the territory would require several hundred thousand troops, several times what Russia sent. Moscow’s General Staff can do this arithmetic. A force that size is a coercive instrument, not an occupation army.The pattern of the operation fits coercion. Russian forces approached Kyiv from the north but never attempted to assault or encircle a city of three million. The pressure was aimed at the government, not at taking the capital block by block. Talks began within days, in Belarus on February 28, and moved to Istanbul in March. Pape’s supporters point to the airborne assault on Hostomel as proof of a plan to seize the capital. But a failed coup de main against an airfield is not evidence of an intent to occupy 60 percent of a country.
Istanbul: the objective was achieved
The strongest evidence against Pape is that the coercion worked. By the end of March 2022, meetings in Belarus and Turkey, together with video conferences, had produced the Istanbul Communiqué, a framework for a settlement. Ukraine accepted permanent neutrality in exchange for security guarantees from the United States and its allies, with Russia also as a guarantor. Russia, for its part, agreed to a process to settle the Crimea dispute diplomatically.That was the core of what Moscow wanted, and the Ukrainian side confirmed it. David Arakhamia, who led Ukraine’s delegation, later said Russia was prepared to end the war if Ukraine accepted Finland-style neutrality and committed not to join NATO. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed to me, Judge Napolitano and Mario Nawfal directly that the talks produced a tentative agreement, and that its terms were brought to the table by the Ukrainian delegation, not imposed by Moscow.
As a gesture of goodwill, Moscow withdrew its forces from north of Kyiv. Western commentary treats that as a retreat forced by battlefield failure. It is at least as consistent with the claim that the pressure had served its purpose.
How the deal died
Then the politics changed. Boris Johnson arrived unannounced in Kyiv on April 9, 2022, and according to Arakhamia told the Ukrainians not to sign anything with Russia and to “just fight.” Two days earlier, Lavrov had already complained publicly that Ukraine’s new draft departed sharply from the key provisions agreed at Istanbul on March 29. Washington and London had decided Russia was weaker than they had thought and that it could be bled. Ukraine walked away.This is the point Pape’s framework cannot absorb. If Russia’s goal was a neutral Ukraine obtained through negotiation, the war did not go on because Moscow’s plan failed. It went on because Russia’s adversaries rejected the settlement.
No plan B, but a fast pivot and a new army
With hindsight, Russia clearly had not prepared a plan B for Ukraine walking away. That was a real planning failure. But the Russian military adjusted quickly. It concentrated on the Donbas and the land bridge to Crimea, and the fall of Mariupol in May gave it the first major result of that phase.The bigger adjustment came in September 2022. After a large number of contract soldiers left the army in August and the Kharkiv counteroffensive exposed how thin Russian lines were, Putin ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists. That was the start, not the end, of Russia’s response. From that point Moscow set about building a much larger army, as the Russian officers I have interviewed have described in detail, including Gen. Apti Alaudinov, Gen. Evgeny Buzhinsky, Gen. Andrei Gurulev and Col. Eduard Basurin.
The mobilization was followed by a sustained recruitment campaign and an expanded annual draft. By Medvedev’s count, more than 452,000 men signed military contracts in 2023. Roughly 450,000 followed in 2024, and more than 422,000 in 2025. Year after year, Russia has added at least 350,000 new soldiers. Putin’s decrees tell the same story: authorized military strength rose from about 1.15 million in 2022 to 1.32 million in December 2023, then to 1.5 million effective December 2024. By 2026, according to my sources, Russia’s army had reached that 1.5 million active-duty figure.
That is not the behavior of a state that expected a quick war and is now improvising its way out of a trap. It is the behavior of a state that decided in the autumn of 2022 to fight a long war, and built the force to do it.
Why the timeline matters
The goals never changed. Putin announced them on February 24, 2022: the demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine. What changed after Istanbul was the method, from coercion toward a negotiated settlement to attrition. Moscow has never attached a timeline to that effort.Pape’s trap depends on the assumption that Russia needed a quick victory and is now stuck with worse and worse options. An attrition strategy with no deadline, backed by an army that has grown every year since 2022, is not a trap. It is a choice. Moscow’s theory of victory since late 2022 has been to exhaust Ukraine’s manpower and the West’s willingness to supply it, not to break NATO by a specific date. Four and a half years later, Russian forces are still advancing, and Ukraine’s reserve and mobilization problems are structural, not temporary.
Pape’s answer is European counterbalancing, backed by an EU economy he puts at about eight times Russia’s. That ratio only holds at market exchange rates, which badly understate what Russia’s economy can actually produce. On purchasing power parity, the measure that matters in a war of production, Russia is the fourth largest economy in the world: about $6.9 trillion in 2024 by the World Bank’s count, behind only China, the United States and India, and ahead of Japan and Germany. The EU as a bloc is still larger, but on that basis the gap is roughly half of Pape’s figure.
GDP understates Russia’s position in another way. Russia has a resource base that Europe cannot match, from oil, gas and coal to metals and fertilizer, and a defense-industrial base that Europe has let wither for thirty years.
Artillery shells, the basic currency of this war, show what that means in practice. Russia produced an estimated 400,000 122mm and 152mm artillery rounds in 2022. By 2025, estimates put its annual output at about 4.2 million. A 2026 Estonian intelligence report goes further, estimating that Russian factories produced about seven million artillery, mortar, tank and rocket rounds in 2025. On top of that, Russia has received millions of rounds from North Korea.
Europe started from almost nothing. At the beginning of 2024, according to Rheinmetall’s own internal estimate, all Western European manufacturers together could produce about 550,000 shells a year. NATO’s own assessment was that Russia produced as much ammunition in the first three months of 2024 as the entire alliance did in a year. The EU pledged to reach a capacity of two million 155mm shells a year by the end of 2025, a target, not proven output. Even adding US production, which is aiming for about 100,000 rounds a month in 2026, allied programs might yield about three million shells this year, still less than Russia’s estimated output in 2025.
That is the real measure of the balance Pape is counting on. A bloc whose economy is several times Russia’s is still being outproduced in the one commodity that decides an attrition war. Balance-of-power theory may be right that Europe will eventually arm itself. It says nothing about whether that happens in time to change the outcome in Ukraine.
Russia sent a force too small to occupy most of Ukraine, negotiated within days, and reached a framework agreement within five weeks. When the West persuaded Kyiv to walk away, Russia shifted to an open-ended war of attrition and spent four years building an army to fight it. That is not a state trapped by the failure of a plan to conquer 60 percent of a country. It is a state that tried coercion first, adapted when it failed, and is fighting on its own timeline.
Alex Krainer joins Pascal to discuss the financial interests behind geopolitical conflict. Drawing on his hedge fund background and research for Grand Deception, Krainer challenges Bill Browder’s account of Russia and examines post-Soviet privatization, debt and oligarchic power. They explore Russia’s relations with the West, diplomacy and historical ties between Russia and nineteenth-century America. Krainer argues that British imperial influence persists through financial networks, connecting his “undead empire” thesis to sovereignty, contemporary wars and the mechanics of wealth extraction.
What are you getting now?
Just got a flier form Regions Bank offering 3.75% on a minimum investment of $15,000.00.
Current consumer savings account – 0.01%https://apnews.com/article/iraq-us-withdrawal-militias-disarmament-kurds-a097a39f3d1a3515adc2ba3298a6816f
Trump hails the US military’s exit from Iraq after its 12-year mission
————–
September 30, 2026
Iraq is Not Yet Sovereign
After more than 20 years of messing up the country U.S. troops have finally left Iraq:The last U.S. troops left an air base in northern Iraq under a deal between Baghdad and Washington.
…
Baghdad touted the end of the U.S. mission as a sign of the country’s increasing strength and sovereignty.The withdrawal was also celebrated by Iran-backed groups but raised concerns among some other Iraqis, particularly in the Kurdish region, where many fear a resurgence of IS as well as more attacks by Iran-linked groups, possibly emboldened by the departure of U.S. forces.
Meanwhile, questions loom around the future of the Iraqi militias, which the Baghdad government has sought to disarm, with little success so far.
The move is little more than symbolic. Iraq’s sovereignty is still in doubt.
There still are Turkish forces in the Kurdish areas, allegedly to hunt down Kurdish resistance forces hiding in the north of Iraq.
Militia aligned with Iran are still armed. Some of them are actively helping Iran in its war. This is in Iraq’s interest but makes them a target for U.S., Saudi and Israeli war planes.
Iraq has no air defenses. It is not yet capable to defend its own borders.
Most importantly though is its lack of control over its own financial resources:
Through Iraq’s U.S.-based bank account for oil payments, Washington controls the physical shipment of dollars Iraq earns and has shown itself willing to use that power after temporarily halting the flow this year.
Iraq needs a plan to solve those issues. Companies pumping or buying oil in Iraq should be forced to pay directly to Baghdad. If they are unwilling of so, because of U.S. pressure, Chinese companies should be invited to take their place.
Iraq will have to further rebuild its military before it can become a regular state.
Posted by b on September 30, 2026 at 16:35 UTC | Permalink
Response from Claude on Iraq
Short version: the troops are gone, but nothing I found suggests the oil-money arrangement is changing, and I found no reporting that Israel is interfering with the withdrawal itself.
**How many bases**
I couldn’t find a single official count. What the reporting shows is a staged handover:
– Al-Asad in Anbar went first. Iraq’s Defense Ministry said the final US advisers left al-Asad, which hosted US troops for more than two decades.
– The last sites were in the Kurdistan Region.
The Pentagon said the remaining US and coalition troops left Erbil Air Base in an “orderly departure,” taking their equipment with them.
CENTCOM said Erbil was the main hub for the roughly 1,500 US and coalition personnel supporting counter-ISIS operations.
Harir Air Base, also in the Kurdistan Region, was the other remaining site.
– The anti-ISIS task force has relocated to Jordan, with hundreds of US troops still in Syria. Washington plans to keep its consulate in Erbil and shift toward economic ties and bilateral defense cooperation.The air defenses matter most for the Kurds.
US units pulled Patriot and C-RAM systems from Erbil and Harir, which Kurdish officials say leaves the region at risk.
Iran has carried out more than 1,000 missile and drone attacks on Kurdistan since US-Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February.
Iraq’s government also lacks substantial air defenses of its own.
That supports the blog’s point.**Oil and finance**
The mechanism is well documented.
– After 2003, the US-led occupation authority set up a fund at the New York Fed, which eventually became the Central Bank of Iraq’s account there.
An executive order setting up the arrangement has been renewed by every president since.
– Oil is about 90% of Iraq’s state budget.
The Fed has shipped up to $13 billion a year in cash to Iraq, enough to pay six million civil servants.
– Washington halted deliveries of about $500 million in cash in April and paused parts of security cooperation, linking it to militia attacks on American infrastructure.
Electronic transfers for trade continued.
– Shipments resumed around July, after PM Al-Zaidi focused on disarmament and anti-corruption and moved to appoint a new central bank governor.The withdrawal doesn’t change any of this.
The blog’s proposals, paying Baghdad directly and bringing in Chinese buyers, would mean leaving the New York account, and I found no reporting that Baghdad plans that. Precedent suggests caution.
In 2020, when Baghdad asked US troops to leave, Washington reportedly threatened to cut its access to the account, and Baghdad backed down.
So Washington’s leverage survives the departure, and the April halt showed it will use it. Going forward, I’d watch whether shipments stay tied to militia disarmament and whether the post-withdrawal security deal carries financial conditions.**Israel**
I found no reporting that Israel is interfering with the final withdrawal. The risk is indirect:
– Israel has reportedly struck militia targets during this war.
Local media reported an Israeli missile strike on the PMF’s Jurf al-Sakhr area, targeting Kataib Hezbollah headquarters.
That was reported by Iraqi media and not confirmed by Israel in what I found.
– A US official said the military remains concerned about Iraqi militias launching attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel.
Militia attacks on Israel or Gulf states would invite strikes on Iraqi territory, and Iraq can’t stop them.
– There’s a precedent. In 2019, a militia-backed parliamentary bloc called Israeli-blamed air raids a “declaration of war” and used them to demand US troop withdrawal.
– Israel is also not a party to the US-Iraq withdrawal agreement, so it has no formal role in the handover.Whether Israel will strike Iraq after the withdrawal is a forecast, and I found no authoritative reporting either way.
The commenters’ talk of Israeli “masters” and imminent nuclear use is speculation.**The wider risk**
Some coverage warns that Iraq could be entering its most dangerous period since ISIS seized Mosul in 2014.
Chatham House’s Renad Mansour says the Iran-aligned militias remain in “full-on war mode” with the IRGC and will keep targeting US interests.
Iraq’s parliament approved only a partial cabinet in May, and key security posts such as defense minister remain unfilled.
The Iraqi government’s line is that the militia disarmament file will be resolved after the withdrawal, but the militias say they won’t disarm.I’m happy to dig deeper into the militia disarmament talks, the Kurdish position, or how a post-withdrawal US-Iraq security deal might work.
————-https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/hegseth-announces-a-new-drone-command-and-cuts-to-20-of-generals-in-state-of-the-force-speech/ar-AA2dhPVP?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=6abd85994fc541729587665a732e7b67&ei=17
Hegseth announces a new drone command and cuts to 20% of generals in ‘State of the Force’ speech
Story by Konstantin Toropin, Ben Finley And Meg KinnardHegseth announces plans for new 4-star drone command, further general officer cuts
Hegseth also announced a new study group led by Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich.By Ashley Roque on September 30, 2026 5:17 pm
September 30, 2026
Defense Secy. Hegseth Delivers State of the Force Address
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered the State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. He outlined his priorities for the Department of Defense, that its main mission is “warfighting,” and announced that the department had reduced the number of generals and admirals by about 20% over the past year. Secretary Hegseth also announced six new initiatives focused on autonomous warfare, plans for military installations to generate power independently of the civilian electrical grid, and plans to build the first new U.S. military base in 40 years. He also announced the creation of a new Corps of Cadets and a new Office of Religious Affairs.
————Tehran’s 30 September deadline for Washington to end the naval blockade has passed. According to Transition Protocol host Zulfiqar Ali’s sources in Islamabad, Beijing has told Pakistan that if talks stay deadlocked, it would support Iran acting to break the blockade.
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson explains why Iran says it will no longer wait to be hit, which US aircraft could be first in line if the reported build-up is real, and why he says 15 ships cannot hold a blockade.
In this episode: what Zulfiqar Ali is hearing from Islamabad and Tehran; Xi Jinping’s mood after his Washington state visit; the Wang Yi – Ishaq Dar channel; Iran’s strike-first doctrine; the blockade arithmetic and Treasury Secretary Bessent’s tanker remark; the US exit from Iraq; the collapse of the “secret Gulf summit” story; bond yields, mortgages and a five-year oil recovery; the Pentagon’s 37 unexplained wounded; and two elections that will shape the war.
Sourcing note: statements attributed to Chinese, Pakistani and Iranian officials are the host’s own reporting from his contacts and have not been publicly confirmed by those governments. Larry Johnson’s assessments are analysis. Developments since recording are noted on screen.#Iran #China #Pakistan #StraitOfHormuz #LarryJohnson #Geopolitics #TransitionProtocol
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