[John Day]

Israeli army bulldozes property, delivers orders against homes in Bethlehem https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/18/363375/

Gaza’s water crisis: Families survive on less than 10 liters a day amid Israel’s ongoing genocide https://israelpalestinenews.org/gazas-water-crisis-families-survive-on-less-than-10-liters-a-day-amid-israels-ongoing-genocide/

IOF kidnaps, detains dozens of Palestinians in W. Bank raids https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/19/363439/

Warnings over Khan al-Ahmar displacement plan as Hamas calls it “ethnic cleansing” https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/19/363459/

Israel launches strikes across Lebanon, warns dozen towns to evacuate
The Israeli military on Tuesday launched a series of strikes across Lebanon, particularly the south, while warning residents of a dozen towns to flee ahead of attacks despite an ongoing truce https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260519164422.tj1gwidy.html

[John Day]

Insult to injury… US imposes sanctions on Gaza flotilla organisers amid Israeli crackdown
Rights advocates say Trump administration is using sanctions and ‘terrorism label’ to silence Palestinian activism. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/19/us-imposes-sanctions-on-gaza-flotilla-organisers-amid-israeli-crackdown

Israel becomes world’s most disliked country: survey (followed closely by North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran and the USA)
https://www.newagebd.net/post/middle-east/299796/israel-becomes-worlds-most-disliked-country-survey

Are they pretending to try an AI-ghost? Israeli court postpones Netanyahu corruption hearing for ‘security’ reasons
Delay comes as Israeli forces attacked Gaza-bound aid flotilla carrying activists from 39 countries in international waters https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-court-postpones-netanyahu-corruption-hearing-for-security-reasons/3940850

Genocide laughs last? In Response To ICC Arrest Warrant, Israel’s Smotrich Orders the Destruction of a Palestinian Village
The ICC is reportedly seeking a warrant for Smotrich over his role in expanding illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/19/in-response-to-icc-arrest-warrant-israels-smotrich-orders-the-destruction-of-a-palestinian-village/

Jewish settlers torch wheat field, attack farmers in W. Bank https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/19/363450/

[John Day]

Trump’s Iran War Backlash Deepens as NYT Poll Shows Approval Collapse https://www.palestinechronicle.com/trumps-iran-war-backlash-deepens-as-nyt-poll-shows-approval-collapse/

Xi Warns US Against New Iran Strikes, Denounces ‘Law Of The Jungle’, As Putin Talks Energy Leverage In Beijing Summit https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/xi-warns-us-against-new-iran-strikes-denounces-law-jungle-putin-talks-energy-leverage

Foreign Treasury Selling Is Getting Serious – We already knew that the bond market was starting to call bullshit on America’s fiscal and monetary policy. Now we know that foreign governments are dumping U.S. Treasuries, and China is leading the way…even while President Trump pals around with President Xi Jinping. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/foreign-treasury-selling-getting-serious

Warnings over sharp decline in humanitarian aid flow into Gaza https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/19/363462/

The IOF “did not aim at anybody’s eyes this time.” IDF intercepts all ships in Gaza-bound flotilla, over 400 activists being transferred to Israel
Foreign Ministry denounces Global Sumud Flotilla’s attempt to break blockade as ‘a PR stunt at the service of Hamas,’ stresses rubber bullets were fired at ships and not activists https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-intercepts-all-ships-in-gaza-bound-flotilla-over-400-activists-being-transferred-to-israel/

[John Day]

Trump’s $40bn Hormuz insurance scheme fails to cover a single ship: Report
Iran has launched a new body to manage transit through the strategic waterway, along with a crypto-backed insurance scheme for commercial vessels https://thecradle.co/articles-id/37758

Piracy is affordable: Third Iran-Linked ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker Seized By US Navy Off South Asia https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/oil-plummets-nato-mulls-hormuz-deployment-if-strait-not-open-july

U.S. Naval Blockade Halts Loadings at Iran’s Kharg Island as Exports Shift to Jask Terminal https://www.thedefensenews.com/US-Naval-Blockade-Halts-Loadings-at-Irans-Kharg-Island-as-Exports-Shift-to-Jask-Terminal/

Senate Advances War Powers Resolution Meant To End Trump’s War With Iran – The resolution passed a procedural vote 50-47 and still needs to face a final Senate vote https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/19/senate-advances-war-powers-resolution-meant-to-end-trumps-war-with-iran/

Senate advances bill aimed at ending Iran war as Cassidy, after primary loss, flips to support
Since Trump ordered the attack on Iran at the end of February, Democrats have forced repeated votes on war powers resolutions that would require him either to gain congressional approval or withdraw U.S. troops. Republicans had been able to muster the votes to reject those proposals, but Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy — fresh off a primary election loss in which Trump endorsed his opponent — switched sides.
The 50-47 vote tally showed that a small but growing number of Republicans are willing to challenge Trump on the Iran war, even though the effort may not advance much further. Three Republicans were absent Tuesday and their votes would be enough to defeat the measure. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us–iran-congress-215141280.html

[John Day]

Pentagon Urged No Resumption Of Strikes As Iran Grew More Effective Tracking US Air Ops: NYT https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pentagon-urged-no-resumption-strikes-iran-grew-more-effective-tracking-us-air-ops-nyt

Israel will demand and get US-Iran war in any case: Ayatollah Orders Highly-Enriched Uranium To Remain In Iran, Stymying Trump’s Basis For Deal https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ayatollah-orders-highly-enriched-uranium-remain-iran-stymying-trumps-basis-deal

Real Netanyahu or AI “Netanyahu? Tense Trump-Netanyahu Call As US Presses Iran To ‘Sign The Document’ – But Israel Wants Military Greenlight https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-warns-will-take-war-beyond-region-if-trump-restarts-attacks

A new mideast military balance is taking shape: Pakistan deploys thousands of troops, jets fighter squadron to Saudi Arabia: Report
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are seeking to expand their alliance to include Turkiye and Qatar amid the US-Israeli war on Iran https://thecradle.co/articles/pakistan-deploys-thousands-of-troops-jets-fighter-squadron-to-saudi-arabia-report

M. K. BHADRAKUMAR – India’s quasi-alliance with Israel and UAE won’t have happy ending
This is an inflection point as the Israeli special forces arrive at the Strait of Hormuz. And there is also the regional backdrop of the Emirati / Israeli rift with Riyadh deepening following the latter’s stubborn refusal to join the Abraham Accords.
Being the Custodian of the Holy Places, the Kingdom has existential concerns regarding the trajectory that Jewish supremacists are taking to ram down the throat of the Muslim Middle East their Zionist project at a juncture when Riyadh has disengaged from proxy wars and is sensitive to the anti-Israeli sentiments in the Arab Street.
Riyadh senses that the UAE’s exit from OPEC aside, the recent attack on Port Sudan on May 4 by drones launched from an Emirati-Israeli base on the Red Sea with the aid of Emirati ships, is a provocative move to force Saudi hands. Sudan has formally accused the UAE of providing arms, advanced weaponry, and supplying drones to the Rapid Support Forces fighting the Sudanese army with Emirati-Israeli backing.
The Emirati attack came following the meeting at Jeddah on April 20 in Jeddah between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan where they “emphasised the importance of ensuring Sudan’s security and stability” as well as “preserving its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity” — per Saudi readout —and also discussed the latest developments in Sudan.
What is at stake here is the strategic control of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (‘Gate of Tears’) that connects Red Sea on one side to the Gulf of Aden (and Arabian Sea) and at the other side would give Israeli submarines ‘freedom of navigation’ to Indian Ocean through waters straddling the Saudi coastline (approx. 1,760 – 2,600 km stretching from Jordanian border to Yemen.)
Enter Pakistan. First of all, Indian strategists ought to put in proper perspective the first Pakistani military deployments in Saudi Arabia recently within the framework of the Saudi-Pakistani defence pact. Prudence demands that Delhi treads wearily, as variables are at work and we have no real reason to annoy the Kingdom, which hosts the single biggest concentration of NRIs in entire West Asia. Only fools rush in where angels fear to tread. https://www.indianpunchline.com/indias-quasi-alliance-with-israel-and-uae-wont-have-happy-ending/

[John Day]

Permanent Demand Destruction https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/permanent-demand-destruction

The 2 month empty-bubble in the Hormuz transit chan to the world has hit, so actual effects of shortage will follow as soon as buffer-supplies of fuels and materials are exhausted. Prices rose already, and the combination of high prices and inadequate supply to sustain usage rates by businesses and households will caus a lot of businesses and households to fail, so they won’t have money for oil, natural gas and the products they produce. Their economic-demand will be “destroyed”. More destruction, much of it permanent demand-destruction will happen every day and every weekeven after supplies befgin arriving again. Much ability to export oil, gas and products has been destroyed. Shipping insurance will remain expensive, another drag on the economy, which is based on cheap oil, coal and gas being readily available.
Restaurants and tourist businesses that survived COVID lockdowns may go out of business from this. Anything that is not essential will be cut by peole who have to buy more expensive necessities. Governments giving some people money will not alter the physical economic realities, but may shift the impacts a bit.
Shortages of jet fuel and diesel will make products transported to us more expensive, and may eliminate some of them. These “middle-distillate” quantities were limited by peak conventional oil in 2005, because they cannot be dervied from lighter fracked and natural-gas-liquids. That diesel-plateau has been an ongoing damper on real economy. I think that “the purpose of a thing is what it does” is an aphorism which applies here. The Hormuz blockade is to choke the world of critical resources, which will force permanent destruction of some business and personal uses of those resources. The war makes it work.
For now, maybe all year, the politics of the Hormuz war is stalemated. Neither party can force a capitulation of the other, and either party can keep the strait effectively closed. Nither Iran nor US/Israel can back down politically at this point. This is a long term hopeless-situation developing.
I am not advocating any big ideas, but just individual economizing and alternate provisioning of essentials like food, water and maybe fuel, before physical shortages are already present. Can we pay off our loans and keep our tanks full? I’m growing vegetables, planning an expansion to start tis weekend and maintaining my bicycles and body.
I’m planning a summer solstice garden-party on that June weekend in Yoakum. Save up your gas-rations if you want to come!

The Honest Sorcerer, The Hormuz Hangover: Bend Not Break? Will hitting tank bottoms usher in the end of civilization, or mark the beginning of a new era?
Observed global inventories, including oil in crude carrier ships, were drawn down by 250 million barrels over March and April, equivalent to a steady 4 million barrels per day flow on average.
This rate of inventory drawdown is simply unsustainable. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve released 8.6 million barrels last week, bringing the total amount to 31 million barrels delivered since the end of March. That’s the largest ever weekly release…
..Instead of letting the system to run out of juice, and thereby causing widespread chaos, governments and energy agencies around the world will have to make tough decisions. These will concern which petrol station to deliver fuel to, which large customer to serve, which refinery to stop—and which of these should remain without fuel for a week or two longer… Flows through the Strait of Hormuz, important though they are to the world economy, do not represent the entirety of the oil industry. Yes, the loss of these flows is horrible. Yes, there will be serious shortages from plastic to food and many other items. But the world will not stop or collapse immediately—it will rearrange itself…
..It should not come as a surprise then that the general public is being prepared for a long blockade. In an article titled: U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s Hormuz blockade for months we are told that a “CIA estimate says Iran can survive the U.S. blockade for 90 to 120 days — and maybe longer — before facing more severe economic hardship.” In government speak this means: we plan to stay at least 3-4 months and then we’ll see if we have to stay even longer… It is going to take far-far longer than 3-4 months to break Iran. Three to four years would be a far more honest estimate—and China’s plus Russia’s so far unwavering support throws even that estimate into question…
..The best analogue, perhaps, was the 1980’s: a decade of deep recessions and stagflation, hallmarked by sky high interest rates, outsourcing, financialization, wage stagnation and an unprecedented rise in private debt.
Behind these economic trends, however, we saw an unprecedented level of demand destruction: high oil prices (increasing tenfold in less than a decade) have ushered in an era of fuel efficient vehicles and a diversification of energy sources. Oil output, as a result, remained muted—at 10-12% lower volumes than during the later years of the 1970’s…
..The West, through fuel efficiency measures, has lowered its dependence on oil from around 50% during the 1970’s to 40% by the 1990’s…
..China still generates 58% of its energy from coal: and not just “electrons” but high heat turning iron ore into steel, reducing silica into polycrystalline silicon, or turning limestone and clay into cement. China burns half of all the coal mined on the entire planet…
..As you can see from the above, the real missing ingredient here—or the only possible way out of the crisis ahead—will be demand destruction… Improved fuel economy, outsourcing, switching to burning gas and building nuclear power plants in the 1980’s helped to reduce demand for oil, but today all of these measures are exhausted, or would take too much time, too many skilled laborers, and too many other resources… Things we no longer have… Supply was removed so fast, that it left no room for adaption. During 1981/82 oil production took one year to recede 10% as a result of demand destruction (caused by high prices), and still caused a massive, double dip recession. Now this level of supply reduction happened practically overnight, leaving us to drain our oil inventories at a record pace…
..The world economy is entering a prolonged (read: years long) period of stagnation at best, which will most likely prove to be the definitive end to centuries of economic growth and the beginning to the long decline of modern industrial civilization. Let’s face it: there is absolutely no return to the world we knew in February, 2026. We are most likely entering a decade long recession, with rising unemployment, worsening food security (not just in the Global South!), countries hoarding resources and a world trading and political system in shambles. https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com/p/the-hormuz-hangover-bend-not-break

Gold & Geopolitics spells it out: Cut the fuel, cut the future – The substrate problem
Global oil output is projected to fall 6.6% in Q2 – the largest quarterly drop since the COVID lockdowns shut the world down on purpose.
Tanker traffic through Hormuz collapsed from around seventy a day to fewer than fifteen…
..Economies are contracting. They haven’t decided to use less energy. The energy dropped off stage right, and the productivity tumbled with it…
..Markets are treating this as an oil price story. “Look at the futures curve”, they say. “Look at the energy-sector equities”, they say. Listen to the CNBC anchors fretting about whether $90 Brent prices in the Iran risk or not.
It is not an oil price story. It is a productivity story.
If five percent of the global energy budget structurally goes offline – and that is roughly the order of magnitude we are looking at if Hormuz access stays degraded for the medium term – that’s not five percent more expensive transport.
That’s five percent off the dinosaur juice the entire productivity machine runs on. It doesn’t slow proportionally. It seizes, and never where the models said it would.
In 1973 we lost roughly the same fraction of supply and produced a decade of stagflation, two oil-importing-country debt crises, the permanent collapse of Bretton Woods, and a fundamental reordering of the global political economy. None of those outcomes are in the 2026 bingo cards…
..Innovation needs fuel. Cut the budget, and you cut the future. https://no01.substack.com/p/cut-the-fuel-cut-the-future

Nate Hagens suggests ways to work on this yourself and not wait to be saved: What to Do As the World Falls Apart: A Framework for Action
The central theme is this: We are near the peak of a one-time Carbon Pulse. An army of 500 billion human-worker-equivalents that cost us pennies, which – when combined with machines – do the vast majority of physical work in our societies. On top of that, we’re burning them over a million times faster than they were created, meaning we’re also drawing down the main bank account supporting our lifestyles. https://natehagens.substack.com/p/essay-what-to-do-as-the-world-falls

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-20
Bond market bloodbath reaches crisis levels. US 30Y yield hit 5.19%, the highest since July 2007, driven by two massive Treasury block sales. Japan’s 10Y breached 2.80% for the first time since 1997, 30Y hit an all-time 4.17%, and 40Y crossed 4.4%. G7 10+ year yields are at ~4.7%, surpassing the 2008 Financial Crisis peak. 30Y TIPS are at the highest outside Lehman’s collapse…
..Trump gives Iran 2-3 days before another “big hit”. Gulf leaders convinced Trump to pause a planned attack, though several Gulf officials said they were unaware of the imminent plan Trump described per WSJ. Pentagon urged no resumption partly because Iran grew more effective tracking US air operations per NYT. IRGC warns next war “will go beyond the borders of the region”. CRS disclosed 42 US aircraft lost or damaged during the war…
..Oil inventory collapse accelerating. API reported crude draw of -9.1M barrels (exp. -3.4M), gasoline -5.8M, SPR -9.9M. IEA chief Birol warns commercial stocks have “only several weeks” remaining…
..Thomas Massie loses Kentucky primary in the most expensive congressional primary in US history. ~$20-35M spent, largely from pro-Israel lobby groups. Massie won voters under 45 by 30 points but lost overall. Broad outrage from left and right about foreign lobby influence in US elections…
..Japan’s financial system approaching breaking point – BOJ is “completely losing control of the long duration” curve per JustDario
Japan used ~$70B in FX reserves to push USD/JPY from 160 to 156; it’s crept back to ~159 with roughly two large interventions left before they must sell USTs
JustDario: the US30Y-JP30Y spread at ~108bp is approaching danger territory, ~30bp buffer before “things might become pretty ugly somewhere in the global financial system”
Honda posted its first annual loss in 70 years as a public company
PM Takaichi preparing to issue more debt for gasoline subsidies, cratering JGBs further…
..Semiconductor bubble at historical extremes – BofA: Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is 62% above its 200DMA per shanaka86 citing Hartnett — only the Mississippi Bubble (1720, 73%) and Nasdaq in March 2000 (55%) have matched…
..Iran building parallel sovereign infrastructure on Hormuz – Iran launched Hormuz Safe (Bitcoin-settled maritime insurance, projecting $10B annual revenue) and the Persian Gulf Strait Authority for transit management
Iran threatens to impose fees on undersea internet/SWIFT cables running through Iranian territorial waters ($15B revenue floated)…
..Russia-China summit formalizes multipolar architecture – Putin arrived in Beijing to a higher-level reception than Trump received — greeted by Politburo member Wang Yi rather than a retired VP
Putin and Xi signed a joint declaration on forming a “multipolar world” with 40+ agreements: ruble-yuan financial networks, guaranteed energy flows, strategic alliance…
..Consumer debt reaching crisis levels – Credit card serious delinquencies at 13.1%, highest since Q4 2010, with the +5.5pp surge since Q3 2022 exceeding the 2007-2010 Financial Crisis increase
Auto loan delinquencies at 5.6%, record high – Student loan 90+ day delinquencies at 10.3%
40% of Americans earning $300K+ living paycheck to paycheck per Goldman
Mortgage rates hit 6.75%, highest since July 2025. Housing affordability at all-time low https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-20

[John Day]

“It’s the (oil-based) economy, Stupid”… President Mr. Bill

Expect the Hormuz blockade to remain in place until the global economy capitulates and gives up hope of return to the “normal” days of yore.
;-/

[John Day]

SeeYuz tomorrow…
;-/

[John Day]

@DBS: Yes, corruption from that perspective, but from the viewpoint of elites, it is just the exercise of their powers more openly, overtly and comfortably.
Which view is more realistic?
Which view applies to elites in power?
What perspective might apply to elites out of power?
How badly will it all break before it is worth trying to rebuild?
I’ve lived a good life. I still have projects, and I hope to be of use to kids and grandkids, but I can’t be of any real use to our “owners”, my “betters”.
They may get rid of me, but I’m watching for it…
😉

[John Day]

​Study Finds that Mites can be Vectors for Hantavirus and can also Serve as Long Term Viral Reservoirs https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/study-finds-that-mites-can-be-vectors-for-hantaviruses-from-rodents-and-can-also-serve-as-long-term-viral-reservoirs

Peter McCullough MD explains that current tests alone are not reliable for Hantavirus. The Illusion of Precision: Molecular Diagnostics for Hantavirus
An examination of unstandardized testing, contamination risks, and the fragility of clinical reliance on blood PCR assays for “test positive” reporting​ https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/the-illusion-of-precision-molecular

​Times of Israel, Israeli tech company aiming to cool the Earth with masses of tiny particles
Stardust Solutions wants to combat global warming by releasing millions of tons of particles to reflect small amounts of sunlight, NYT reports, but critics warn of dangers in playing with weather
​ An Israeli tech company has revealed the content of tiny particles it hopes will one day be used to combat global warming by scattering millions of tons of them into the atmosphere to reflect away sunlight.​.. As it turns out, they are made from amorphous silica, which is a food additive, and calcium carbonate, which is in eggshells and limestone.​ https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-tech-company-aiming-to-cool-the-earth-with-masses-of-tiny-particles-report/

[John Day]

Cuba is without power as the US blocks oil tankers heading to the island.​ https://en.topwar.ru/282718-kuba-ostalas-bez-sveta-ssha-blokirujut-iduschie-na-ostrov-tankery-s-neftju.html

​ CIA Director John Ratcliffe Travels to Cuba Amid Hemispheric Security Push
In a remarkable development, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Cuba on Thursday to meet with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro the grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro. Also present at the meeting was Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services.
​ In late April of this year, a few State Department officials visited Havana and held talks with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro about a potential diplomatic deal.​..
​..“CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana, Cuba, on Thursday for a rare meeting with senior Cuban officials, an agency official told CBS News, using the visit to deliver a message that the U.S. was prepared to expand economic and security engagement with Cuba if Havana “makes fundamental changes.”
​ The meeting came as Cuba is contending with a massive power failure to its national energy grid amid U.S. sanctions that have caused an oil and gas shortage crisis to the island nation.
​ Ratcliffe told Cuban leaders the administration was offering “a genuine opportunity for collaboration” and a chance to stabilize Cuba’s struggling economy, while cautioning that the opportunity would not remain open indefinitely and the administration would enforce “red lines” if necessary, the official said.​ https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/14/cia-director-john-ratcliffe-travels-to-cuba-amid-hemispheric-security-push/#more-283418

​Or… CIA Head Ratcliffe Spotted In Cuba As Trump Refocuses Crosshairs On Havana Communists https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/cia-head-ratcliffe-spotted-cuba-trump-refocuses-crosshairs-havana-communists

US Military Surveillance Flights Surging Off Cuba​ – The Pentagon has reportedly been ramping up its planning for an attack on the island nation​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/13/us-military-surveillance-flights-surging-off-cuba/

​ CIA Whistleblower: Covid Origin Covered-up by Senior CIA and DNI Managers and Dr. Fauci
James Erdmann III testifies before the Senate that senior CIA and DNI managers concealed lab origin of SARS-CoV-2 under the direction of Anthony Fauci. Ralph Baric resigns
​ CIA veteran James Erdmann III testified under oath before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in a hearing titled “Whistleblower Testimony on the COVID Coverup.”
​ Summoned as a whistleblower, Erdmann detailed what he described as systemic suppression of evidence pointing to a laboratory origin of SARS-CoV-2. He explained to the committee—chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)—that CIA scientific analysts had, as early as 2020, strongly favored a lab-incident scenario in Wuhan (one account cited an internal 5-to-1 vote). And yet, senior CIA and DNI managers repeatedly softened, rewrote, or sidelined those assessments, ultimately issuing a “non-call” or inconclusive judgment.​ Most notably, he claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci played an “intentional” role in influencing the intelligence community’s analysis…
​..Erdmann was previously known for contesting federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and for co-founding the advocacy group Feds For Freedom to support federal employees and service members seeking religious exemptions. Until today, his position at the CIA since 2013 was not known to the public.
​ As it turns out, he is a decorated senior CIA operations officer with over a decade of service in the agency and decades of national-security experience. A military veteran who served as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and later in the National Guard, he also worked in the private sector as a senior bioinformatics and biometrics consultant before joining the CIA in 2013.​ https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/cia-whistleblower-covid-origin-covered

[John Day]

The filter-functions upon my posting in comments appear to be in flux.
TESTING:

Von der Leyen’s power grab angers EU officials – The European Commission chief is “obsessed” with proving she’s in charge, diplomats and officials have complained​ https://www.rt.com/news/639901-von-der-leyen-power/

​Another “free money” idea: US Wants To Restore Nord Stream & Purchase From Europeans At Steep Discount: Lavrov https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/us-wants-restore-nord-stream-pipeline-purchase-europeans-steep-discount-lavrov

Different from removing 5000 troops from Germany: Pentagon ‘Blindsided’ As Hegseth Pulls Plug On 4,000-Troop Deployment To Poland https://www.zerohedge.com/military/pentagon-blindsided-hegseth-pulls-plug-4000-troop-deployment-poland

Nobody remembers the Spanish Civil War now, I guess: Spain wants an EU army: What would it mean?
Madrid has joined a chorus in Europe calling for a standalone force amid the growing rift with the US​ https://web.archive.org/web/20260514104026/https://www.rt.com/news/639939-spain-wants-eu-army-explainer/

[John Day]

TESTING: It doesn’t want to take this link:

It’s not a “loan”​, is i​t? IMF plans to provide Kiev with approximately $3.8 billion in 2026​- The 4-year $8.1 billion program was approved in February​ https://tass.com/world/2131043

[John Day]

Russian Geran missiles are becoming too difficult targets for Ukrainian air defense systems.​ https://en.topwar.ru/282727-rossijskie-gerani-stanovjatsja-slishkom-slozhnymi-celjami-dlja-ukrainskoj-pvo.html

Russia tracks these high-value targets: Zelensky Claims Leaked Russian Intel Docs Show Russia Preparing to Take Out “Decision-Making Centers” of Ukraine https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/zelensky-claims-leaked-russian-intel

​ NATO chief wants to triple money flows to corruption-plagued Ukraine –​ Mark Rutte has reportedly asked allies to devote 0.25% of their GDP to supporting Kiev​ https://web.archive.org/web/20260514040020/https://www.rt.com/news/639968-nato-more-cash-for-ukraine/

Ukrainian drone attack leaves two Zaporozhye NPP employees injured​ – Multiple attacks by Ukraine hindered the evacuation of the two employees​ https://tass.com/politics/2131017\

[John Day]

​ Lebanon’s health ministry said 22 people including eight children were killed on Wednesday as Israel intensified strikes on the country, with several deadly raids hitting south of Beirut.
​ The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli airstrikes had pounded around 40 locations in Lebanon’s south and east.
​ The fresh raids came on the eve of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington brokered by the United States, as Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah remains strongly opposed to the move.​ https://www.spacewar.com/afp/260513213003.tunsln8c.html

Lebanon says over 10,000 homes destroyed or damaged since Israel truce​ https://www.arabnews.com/node/2643470/middle-east

‘Heavy Losses’: Hezbollah Drone Swarms Overwhelm Israeli Military Positions​ https://www.palestinechronicle.com/heavy-losses-hezbollah-drone-swarms-overwhelm-israeli-military-positions/

​Simplicius, Russia Rocks Ukraine With Unprecedented 1,500+ Drones in One of Largest Aerial Attacks Ever https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/russia-rocks-ukraine-with-unprecedented

Ukrainian STING Drone Crews Destroy Over 300 Russian Aerial Targets During Record 36-Hour Assault​ https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Ukrainian-STING-Drone-Crews-Destroy-Over-300-Russian-Aerial-Targets-During-Record-36-Hour-Assault/

[John Day]

No more pictures of Ben-Gvir in crowds, just pics that could be AI, like Netanyahu: Israeli MP calls for Al-Aqsa’s destruction to build Jewish temple during mass raid
​ Ministers and lawmakers lead large settler incursions into the Jerusalem site ahead of the provocative Flag March, as Israeli forces restrict Palestinians access​ https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-closes-al-aqsa-muslims-amid-mass-settler-raids-and-flag-march

​ Israeli ultranationalists chant racist slogans during Jerusalem Day march
Annual Jerusalem Day march fuels tensions with shouted slogans and fears of violence against Palestinian residents.​ https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/5/14/israeli-ultranationalists-chant-racist-slogans-during-jerusalem-day-march

Thousands of settlers take part in provocative Israeli flag march in Old Jerusalem​ https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/15/363136/

Israel Executes Palestinian Boy amid Settler Rampage near Ramallah​ https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-executes-palestinian-boy-amid-settler-rampage-near-ramallah/

​ Israel Attacks Lebanon’s Main Coastal Highway, Killing 12 Including Two Children​ – Aid group faults repeated ceasefire violations, calls for refugees to be allowed to return home​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/13/israel-attacks-lebanons-main-coastal-highway-killing-12-including-two-children/

[John Day]

Jerusalem Post, NYT doubles down in support of controversial op-ed claiming abuse of Palestinians in Israel
The New York Times said Nicholas Kristof’s opinion piece was extensively fact-checked and based on corroborated accounts.​ https://www.jpost.com/international/article-896131

​ They supplied immediate-targeting data for “Where’s Daddy” program to assassinate men when they got home to their families. Leaked Documents Show Cisco Systems’ Deep Relationship with Israeli Security State
​ “Never Let a Good Crisis Go To Waste”: Internal documents show Cisco’s growing collaboration with the Israeli military over the course of the genocide in Gaza.​ https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/cisco-systems-israel-genocide-gaza

​Again, read “immediate-targeting data”: Microsoft fires head of Israeli subsidiary and other managers over surveillance of Palestinians https://israelpalestinenews.org/microsoft-fires-head-of-israeli-subsidiary-and-other-managers-over-surveillance-of-palestinians/

​ Netanyahu’s Government on the Brink as Coalition Moves to Dissolve Israeli Parliament​ – The proposal could trigger a parliamentary vote as early as next week​ https://www.latintimes.com/netanyahus-government-brink-coalition-moves-dissolve-israeli-parliament-597364

Sharp rise in solitary confinement of Palestinian child prisoners inside Israeli jails​ https://english.palinfo.com/news/2026/05/14/363116/

[John Day]

They Killed the Shepherd – Iraqi Man Who Reported Secret Israeli Base Found Dead​ https://www.palestinechronicle.com/they-killed-the-shepherd-iraqi-man-who-reported-secret-israeli-base-found-dead/

​Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-16
No faith in fiat-money:​ Global bond selloff intensifying across all major markets simultaneously. UK 30Y at 5.86% (highest since 1998), US 10Y at 4.59%, Japan 30Y above 4% for first time in history, France 10Y now higher than Portugal/Italy/Greece/Spain. VaR shock territory in UK Gilts.​..
​..Iran diplomacy dead — second US military operation imminent. Trump trashed Iran’s proposal “after reading the first sentence”. Operation Epic Fury declared concluded, next phase targeting Hormuz reopening. Multiple reports of US military buildup with B-2s, F-35s moving into position. Iran says fingers on buttons, Houthis on standby.​..
​..Silver flash-crashed ~15% in two days — from weekly highs near $89 to $75-76. Largest single-day move of the year. OPEX timing. However, Japan physical premium at +36.8% over COMEX and lease rates NOT falling with price — physical market remains tight.​..
..Jerome Powell’s final day as Fed Chair. Kevin Warsh takes over — market pricing 60%+ chance next move is a rate HIKE. Rate cuts entirely priced out. “More concerned about stable prices than full employment”…
​..Trump-Xi Summit: Optics Over Substance​ – Trump left Beijing with “no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war” per WSJ via zerohedge
​ 200 Boeing jets ordered (analysts expected ~500); Boeing shares fell 4% per shanaka86
China declined to buy Nvidia H200 chips despite US approval — prefers domestic development per KobeissiLetter
​ Tariffs “not brought up”, no commitment on Taiwan, no rare earth solution per KobeissiLetter
US delegation threw away ALL Chinese-provided items before boarding Air Force One, operated on burner phones only per visegrad24
​ Xi to visit US in September — first state visit in over a decade per Lord Bebo
China recognizes Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty” over Hormuz, contradicting White House readout​…
​..Strait of Hormuz: Tactical Chess​ – Chinese supertanker Yuan Hua Hu with 2M barrels sailed through Hormuz — IRGC let it pass, CENTCOM didn’t stop it per shanaka86
​ UAE doubling bypass pipeline capacity to 3M bpd by 2027 per Lord Bebo
UAE declared Hormuz weaponization “piracy” under UNSC 2817 per shanaka86
​ India-UAE sign petroleum + defence pacts, $5B investment, SPR expanded to 30M barrels per Lord Bebo
Brent crude up 8% on the week per Lord Bebo
​ Iran FM: “no trust in Americans”, insists “no military solution” per zerohedge
Oil surplus cushion “dwindling at record pace” — acute shortages within weeks if Hormuz stays shut​…
​..Energy Supply Emergency​ – European diesel reserves “in freefall — nothing left in a few weeks” per philippilk
Art Berman: Hormuz loss = 11-12M bpd offline, rate of loss 100x greater than 1979 shock. July will be brutal…
​..Equity Market Euphoria Cracking​ – S&P 500 worst day since March; Nasdaq 100 worst since March 26 per Hedgeye, KobeissiLetter
Hindenburg Omen triggered on BOTH Nasdaq and NYSE simultaneously per Barchart
​ KOSPI crashed 8.4% intraday after hitting new ATH of 8,000 — wiped $370B in 6 hours​ https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-16

​ Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-15
Japan bond market in full meltdown. 10Y yield hit 2.7% (highest this century), 20Y at 3.605% (highest since 1996), 30Y above 3.9% (first time in history)​…
​..US Treasury market cracking. 10Y above 4.50% for first time since June 2025. 30Y bonds auctioned above 5% – first since pre-GFC 2007. Rate HIKES now the base case for the Fed’s next move – odds of a cut before July 2027 at just 1%. Kevin Warsh named new Fed Chair.​..
SPR collapsing at record pace. Strategic Petroleum Reserve dropped -8.6M barrels last week, the largest weekly drawdown on record, 7th consecutive weekly decline. Nearly half the crude released is being exported.​.​.
​..Iran-Hormuz escalation cluster. Indian-flagged ship sunk in Omani waters. Iranian commandos seized Honduras-flagged vessel off UAE. UAE declared Hormuz weaponization “piracy” under UNSC 2817. Iran allowed 30 ships to pass the Strait – each after paying $2M.​.​.
​..Russia launches largest aerial attack of the war. 1,500+ drones and 64 missiles over 48 hours, with 1,428 drones in a single day — the highest ever. Interception rate plummeted to under 30% as Western air defense stockpiles are diverted to the Middle East.​..
​..Trump-Xi Beijing Summit: pageantry, no breakthroughs​ – Trump arrived with the largest CEO delegation ever assembled on a diplomatic mission: Musk, Cook, Huang, Fink, Solomon, Schwarzman, Ortberg, Fraser, and others. All carried burner phones.​..
​..Xi issued the sharpest Taiwan warning in decades: mishandling could lead to “collision or even clashes”, independence and peace are “irreconcilable as fire and water”. Trump was asked five times about Taiwan and said nothing
​ Trump says Xi offered to help on Iran, pledged no military equipment to Iran, wants Hormuz open. The Chinese readout omitted Iran specifics entirely, mentioning only “Middle East situation”…
​..China confirmed it will continue buying Iranian oil. Iran allowed Chinese ships to transit Hormuz specifically, neutralizing US pressure on Beijing​…
​..Oil supply crisis deepening​ – Russian Urals oil soared to $94.87/barrel, highest since Oct 2023, up 18% vs April. Russian tax revenues in rubles up 60% YoY
​ Hormuz transits collapsed from 100+/day to fewer than 15 per Kpler/Lloyd’s
Chinese tankers running the blockade — will the US dare stop them?
​ Japan secured safe passage for two tankers through direct talks with Iran​
UAE accelerating West-East pipeline to double export capacity through Fujairah by 2027​…
​…Stock market euphoria reaches historic extremes​ – S&P 500 hit 7,500 for the first time, up +19% since March 30 bottom — +$11 trillion in 7 weeks. Dow above 50,000
​ Breadth is atrocious: Mag 7 contributed +47.34pts Mon-Wed while remaining 495 stocks subtracted 2pts net (UBS)
Shiller PE within 5% of Dot Com peak. Nasdaq “dirty Sharpe” ratio at highest ever. Semiconductors most overbought since Dot Com​. https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-15

​ Israel to sue New York Times over article describing its rape of Palestinians
Earlier, the US paper doubled down on report highlighting testimonies of Palestinians raped in Israeli detention​ https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-sue-new-york-times-article-describing-its-rape-palestinians

​They test munitions on them. US colleges sold donated bodies for Israeli military training: Report https://www.dailysabah.com/world/americas/us-colleges-sold-donated-bodies-for-israeli-military-training-report

[John Day]

​ “We can’t confirm that because we’ll never look”: CENTCOM chief dismisses reports of civilian casualties in Iran war
His comments came after a New York Times investigation documented damage to dozens of civilian sites, including schools and healthcare facilities, during the conflict.
The report said at least 22 schools and 17 medical facilities were allegedly damaged or destroyed during the war, prompting renewed scrutiny of US targeting practices and civilian harm assessments. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605141455

“We won’t let you rebuild those bases”: No US weapons will transit Strait of Hormuz into regional bases, Iran’s Army warns https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/05/13/768543/No-US-weapons-will-transit-Strait-Hormuz-into-regional-bases-Iran-Army

They signed something limited last year: Separate Peace? Saudi Arabia Floats Regional Non-Aggression Pact With Iran https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/separate-peace-track-saudi-arabia-floats-regional-non-aggression-pact-iran

If they ever line-up enough votes to pass it, it won’t be allowed to the floor, right? Senate Votes 49-50 against Iran War Powers Resolution https://www.theamericanconservative.com/senate-votes-49-50-against-iran-war-powers-resolution/

Friday was Nakba Day. Millions of Palestinians mark 78 years since the Nakba
Nakba commemorations serve as remembrance and a call for justice, self-determination and the right to return.​ https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/5/15/millions-of-palestinians-mark-78-years-since-the-nakba

[John Day]

​ Trade War, Tech War, Energy War: Xu Qinduo Breaks Down the Trump–Xi Negotiations
The future of global trade, the limits of U.S. containment strategy, and whether Washington and Beijing can escape the Thucydides Trap they now openly acknowledge. In a rare moment of candor, Xi warns Trump that Taiwan remains “the most important issue” and mishandling it could “jeopardize the entire China–U.S. relationship.”​ https://scheerpost.com/2026/05/14/trade-war-tech-war-energy-war-xu-qinduo-breaks-down-the-trump-xi-negotiations/

​ It’s being discussed. Trump will export America’s oil and gas somewhere. We’ll get less: The Media Missed the Biggest Story from Trump’s China Summit: Making China Dependent on Texas Oil! https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2026/05/15/the-media-missed-the-biggest-story-from-trumps-china-summit-making-china-dependent-on-texas-oil-n4952898

​ John Helmer, WHO BELIEVES THE US EMPIRE IS TOPPLING LIKE THIS?
For Xi the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party to have proposed the formulation of the Thucydides Trap as the foundation for China and the US to accept peaceful coexistence (aka “constructive peaceful stability”) is exceptional. The last senior Communist Party figure to have proclaimed as much was Mikhail Gorbachev. His overthrow followed in six years — planned, promoted and financed by successive US governments.​ https://johnhelmer.net/who-believes-the-us-empire-is-toppling-like-this/

​ Bessent’s “Suffocating” Iranian Regime Strategy Materializes In Kharg Island Satellite Imagery
New geospatial intelligence indicates that Iran’s main crude export terminal has gone quiet, while a separate report suggests seaborne oil exports have effectively been halted for the past month.
​ The first report comes from Bloomberg, which cited European satellite imagery showing a massive bottleneck developing at Iran’s energy complex: no ocean-going tankers at Kharg Island, the country’s main export terminal, on May 8, 9, and 11. This marks the longest stretch in no crude tanker loadings since the US-Iran conflict began nearly three months ago.​ https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/bessents-suffocating-iranian-regime-strategy-materializes-kharg-island-satellite-imagery

Iran Proclaims Safe, Toll-Free Passage For 30 Chinese Tankers Amid Xi-Trump Summit​ https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/iran-proclaims-safe-toll-free-passage-several-chinese-tankers-amid-xi-trump-summit

[John Day]

Competing For Less Pie https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/competing-for-less-pie

Eleni sent this well detailed article about the close and long-lasting family and working relationships binding-together the Financial War Cabinet of the Trump Admin. This is presented as anti-democratic, which it is, but that ship sailed long ago. Jimmy Carter’s study group declared the US to be an established Oligarchy in July 2015. The zionist-coherence, internal trust and proven talent of this group enable the USrael to engage in the monetary and financial operations of World War.
​ The Family Business​ – Donald Trump didn’t just pick a Fed chair. He picked his donor’s son-in-law, his hedge fund patron’s protégé, and a man whose fortune depends on the people he’ll now regulate.​
​ What has been built is a closed economic system in which the institutions that set policy, the people who run those institutions, the donors who fund the political party that placed them there, and the family that bridges all of the above hold overlapping financial interests in the same set of foreign and domestic outcomes. The system does not require any of its participants to act corruptly. It requires them only to act in their own clear, documented, mutually reinforcing interests.
​ The Federal Reserve was designed to be the one part of the United States government that no president could pressure, no donor could buy, and no dynasty could inherit. As of today, the president nominated his college friend’s son-in-law. The donor manages a hundred and forty-eight million dollars of the new chair’s personal wealth. And the dynasty, by marriage, now extends through the chairman’s office of the central bank of the United States of America.​ https://ddgeopolitics.substack.com/p/the-family-business

​ Mary sent this article detailing the fissure within global financial and power-elite factions after the failure of the WEF “great reset” program, catalyzed by COVID mandates, lockdowns and digital-ID requirements.
​ The Quadpolar World Order at the Beijing Summit
It has become apparent in the wake of the rupture of the rules-based order that another world order has emerged…
..This is not a war between nations. It is a war within capitalism — between four competing visions of what capitalism should look like, who should run it, and on what terms the rest of us should live under it. The architects of this system are transnational in their operations but national in their bases of power. They are born somewhere, headquartered somewhere, and increasingly dependent on the state apparatus of somewhere to enforce their will. Geography and the nation state are still relevant — because when push comes to shove, each faction retreats into its territory: Davos, Washington, Silicon Valley and Beijing…
..This quadpolar world is not defined, however, by traditional geographic borders, but by competing models of political economy (i.e., capitalism), technology control, and state sovereignty​). Each pole wields a distinct weapon to enforce its will globally.
..Each faction has the power to block each other. They can veto each other’s projects, sabotage each other’s institutions, sanction each other’s allies, and block each other’s standards. What none of them can do is construct a new global architecture that the others are forced to operate inside. The dollar order worked because the United States could compel the rest of the world to use it.​..
​..Every claim to universality gets met with three competing claims to universality. The result is not a new order. The result is a fragmented infrastructure of half-built systems, none of which can become the standard because the others won’t allow it.​..
..This new arrangement didn’t exist five years ago. In 2019 the world order was Davos plus three challengers: a transnational capitalist class still nominally united around the Great Reset agenda, with state capitalism, techno-libertarianism, and right-wing populism as dissident movements. The pandemic was supposed to consolidate Davos’s hegemony​…
..The Great Reset project failed because populism exploded under the pressure of international health mandates that crushed the working class. Amazon and Walmart stayed open and Mom and Pop had to shut down the restaurant. The largest wealth transfer in modern history drove the working class out into the streets — they threatened a MAGA revolt and then elected Trump as their political savior.
​ The 2020–2022 period is when the Imperial Nationalists discovered they had their own political base — angry, vocal, and motivated. The Techno-Sovereigns discovered they had their own ideology. The State Capitalists discovered they could survive sanctions. Each faction positioned itself in opposition to Davos’s attempt to consolidate its power base.​..
​..The quadpolar order is the four broken pieces of a Davos project that shattered.​..
​..The Iran war is the event that broke the previous balance of power. Before Iran, the four factions were in a slow drift. After Iran, the alignments hardened: the Davos faction retreated decisively into the middle-powers coalition; the Imperial Nationalists committed to bilateral dealmaking and abandoned what was left of the multilateral pretence; the Techno-Sovereign Silicon Valley discovered their supply chains ran through Hormuz; the State Capitalists discovered they were now indispensable to resolving the crisis their rivals had created.​..
​..The plane that landed in Beijing this week tells the whole story.
​ Donald Trump arrived as the Imperial Nationalist faction’s front man, the man dismantling the multilateral order in favour of bilateral leverage. Beside him: Larry Fink of BlackRock and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone — the two most institutionally embedded figures in transnational finance, as well as David Solomon of Goldman Sachs and Jane Fraser of Citigroup. The CEOs of Mastercard and Visa. Tim Cook, whose Apple empire is manufactured inside the People’s Republic. Kelly Ortberg of Boeing, hoping to close a 500-aircraft order. Elon Musk, whose Shanghai gigafactory is Tesla’s largest plant, and who six months ago was tearing down the federal government on behalf of the Techno-Sovereign faction.
​ Three of the four factions of the Transnational Capitalist Class, flying together to negotiate with the fourth.​..
​..Fink runs the asset manager whose entire model — passive global allocation, ESG, stakeholder capitalism — the Imperial Nationalists have spent two years attacking. Cook needs the Chinese consumer market the tariff hawks want to decouple from. Musk needs the supply chains the Imperial Nationalists want to sever. Trump needs Xi’s cooperation on Iran, on rare earths, on the Strait of Hormuz — and Xi knows it.
​ China needs semiconductors to survive.
​ Jensen Huang of Nvidia was initially absent from the announced list. Then Trump personally called him, overriding staff objections, and Huang boarded Air Force One during the Alaska refuelling stop. Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips (H100 and H200) have been restricted from Chinese buyers​…
​..The two presidents announced a “Strategic Stability Framework” and a new “Board of Trade.”
Translated: we have agreed to keep talking, and we have built a mechanism to manage our future inability to agree.​..
​..They jointl​y declared that the Strait of Hormuz “must remain open to ensure global trade flow,” but Iran was not at the summit. Iran has not agreed. What was announced was a sphere-of-influence statement — two superpowers agreeing that a third country’s war should now resolve in a way convenient to both of them.
​ The State Capitalist faction is being asked to deliver Iran, but Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref delivered a sharp message directly targeting the summit, declaring “Our right to the Strait of Hormuz is established, and the matter is closed.”​…
​..Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) explicitly exempted Chinese ships from the blockade, allowing the Chinese supertanker Yuan Hua Hu to pass through the strait completely toll-free.​..
..Washington cleared roughly ten Chinese firms to buy Nvidia’s second-most powerful chip. Not the H200. Not Blackwell B200. Second-tier silicon, carefully calibrated to let China’s AI sector continue functioning at a deliberately throttled level. Nvidia preserves market access.​..
​..Boeing got an aircraft order. But only 200 planes, not 500, causing Boeing stock (BA) to drop roughly 4% to 5%​…
​..Cargill and the agricultural delegation got nothing. Soybean prices plummeted this morning​…
​..The Davos financial faction came for market opening — broader access to Chinese capital markets, expanded asset management mandates, processing rights for Visa and Mastercard, the long-stalled liberalization that BlackRock and Blackstone have been pursuing for a decade.
​ So far, they got nothing.
​ And then, after a day of warm optics and ceremonial banquets, Xi took Trump into a two-hour meeting and warned him that Taiwan is “the most important issue” and that if it is mishandled, the two superpowers will “have clashes, or even conflicts.”​
​ Everything else this week is theatre.​..
​..What flew into Beijing this week was not a de-risking delegation.
It was the four factions of the new quadpolar world order ironically jammed into the Great Hall of the People.
​ None of them represents the People.​..
..And the war will not end, because the war is not something the participants want to end. It is the structure they exist inside. They cannot leave it without ceasing to be what they are.​ https://www.themargins.ca/p/the-quadpolar-world-order-at-the

​ Xi told Trump that missteps on Taiwan would put the US and China at war. Trump said nothing: Trump Talk, Taiwan, & ‘Thucydides Trap’ Threat Triggers Market Mayhem Overnight https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-talk-thucydides-trap-threat-triggers-market-mayhem-overnight

​ Trump backs ‘status quo’ on Taiwan – US envoy to United Nations​ – Mike Waltz said Washington maintains its policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding tensions with China over the island​ https://www.rt.com/news/640058-trump-taiwan-backs-status-quo/

[John Day]

He got stoned and changed his password and forgot it: “LoL420F*ckThePOLICE!”: Millennial Uses Claude To Crack Crypto Wallet After Decade-Long Lockout https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/lol420fckthepolice-millennial-uses-claude-crack-crypto-wallet-after-decade-long-lockout

[John Day]

CIA did or did not raid Tulsi Gabbard’s office? https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2054722723834732776

[John Day]

​Legalizing treatment of Stop signs as Yield signs by bicyclists reduces intersection accidents. We Finally Have the Data on Cyclists Running Stop Signs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCs5nDEZpoM

A Huge meteorite impact 44,000 years ago appears to have have seeded an ecosystem, implying that this could have also happened billions of years ago.
Major Discovery on the Origin of Life Found Inside a Korean Crater​ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4g1Oi6SoB8

[John Day]

As well as Vitamin-D, Hydroxychloroquine, zinc and ivermectin: Beyond the Breach: Taming the Hantavirus Threat with Favipiravir
A new horizon in antiviral defense: how oral favipiravir should be trialed in and offers hope for victims of the MV Hondius debacle detained in biosecurity centers and in self-quarantine​ https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/beyond-the-breach-taming-the-hantavirus

​ New York Times Attacks ‘Spelling’ — Parents Say It ‘Changed Everything’ for Their Nonspeaking Children With Autism
Families of nonspeaking autistic people are pushing back at The New York Times after the newspaper last week published an op-ed claiming that spelling — a method through which nonspeakers communicate using a letter board — is “debunked” and unsupported by scientific evidence.​ https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/new-york-times-attacks-spelling-nonspeaking-children-autism-parents-say-changed-everything/

​ Can Vaccines Cause Autism? Existing Studies Aren’t Designed to Answer That Question
Existing epidemiological studies — studies on how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why — are designed to examine whether vaccines cause neurodevelopmental injuries in the general childhood population. But these studies can’t capture the effects of vaccines on subgroups — like children with mitochondrial dysfunction who may be more vulnerable to injuries from vaccines, according to a preprint by Children’s Health Defense scientists and their colleagues.​ https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/can-vaccines-cause-autism-existing-studies-arent-designed-answer-question/

​ BREAKING: Landmark Peer-Reviewed Study Finds Vaccination Is a Major Risk Factor for Autism
Our 50-page analysis of more than 300 studies provides one of the most comprehensive syntheses to date on the possible causes of autism.​ https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-landmark-peer-reviewed-study

[John Day]

Further investigation going forward. Might novel strains be found by further sequencing? Is ANDV hanta natural spillover or lab design? – Predicting the answer using science: hypothesize, test, conclude https://jessicar.substack.com/p/is-andv-hanta-natural-spillover-or

Meryl Nass MD has information I’d want to know if I’d been exposed: Symptomatic Andes Hantavirus enters the US–while a potential very early treatment [CQ/ HCQ] is suppressed. What about antibody treatment? What about other repurposed drugs? – Will we see treatments suppressed again? Info from the treatment and prophylaxis literature. https://merylnass.substack.com/p/symptomatic-andes-hantavirus-enters

Peter McCullough MD asserts that the case for human to human transmission of Hantavirus has never been made convincingly. Virus in the Dust: Exposing the Fabricated Contagion of Andes Hantavirus – Why the “human-to-human” panic ignores the simple reality of common environmental exposure to rodents on the ship https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/virus-in-the-dust-exposing-the-fabricated

Dr. McCullough recites the litany of WHO mistakes in managing this incident: The WHO’s Deadly Blunders: Why Globalism Is Failing Public Health
As the Hantavirus crisis unfolds, it is clear that ceding authority to international bureaucrats is a fatal mistake—the U.S. justified in cutting ties.​ https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/the-whos-deadly-blunders-why-globalism

Dr. McCoullough explains non-human-transmission possibilities: The Epuyén Extrapolation: Challenging the Community Hantavirus Andes P2P Spread Assumption – Could dead bodies on board MV Hondius for several days be the real “super-spreaders” https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/the-epuyen-extrapolation-challenging

[John Day]

Andrew Korybko on a current Trump/NATO project-country: Azerbaijan Risks Placing Itself on a Ukrainian-like Collision Course With Russia https://www.globalresearch.ca/azerbaijan-ukrainian-like-collision-course-russia/5925788

Stalwart Sir Kier stands his ground… Cable, Gilts Under Pressure As UK PM Starmer On The Brink As Rebellion Spreads https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/cable-gilts-under-pressure-uk-pm-starmer-brink-rebellion-spreads

​ S​undance, DNI Tulsi Gabbard Investigating 120 Foreign Biolabs Funding by U.S. Government – More than 40 are Located in Ukraine
Gabbard told The Post Monday in a statement that her team is going “to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain and what ‘research’ is being conducted to end dangerous gain-of-function research that threatens the health and wellbeing of the American people and the world.”
​ “The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have,” the spy chief also said.
“Yet despite these obvious dangers, politicians, so-called health professionals, like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people about the existence of these US-funded and supported biolabs and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth.”
​ Under new guidance from Gabbard, the US Intelligence Community will review research at all US-funded biolabs, which would include facilities engaged in gain-of-function experiments that could increase the transmissibility of viruses, as well as work for defensive purposes against dangerous pathogens.
​ Office of the Director of National Intelligence officials noted that the foreign labs extend into more than 30 countries, and several had received funding in the past through a Department of Defense program that sought to dispose of weapons of mass destruction after the end of the Cold War.
​ More than 40 of the biolabs under review are located in Ukraine — and could “be at risk of compromise” due to Russia’s war, ODNI officials noted.​ https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/11/dni-tulsi-gabbard-investigating-120-foreign-biolabs-funding-by-u-s-government-more-than-40-are-located-in-ukraine/#more-283333

​Paul Marik MD, Treating Depression as a Whole-Body Disease (Part3) https://substack.com/home/post/p-192475777

Jessica Rose Ph.D. Genomic evidence confirms natural evolution (variance) of Andes hantavirus – It’s not a new strain (according to sequencing data) https://jessicar.substack.com/p/genomic-evidence-confirms-natural

[John Day]

Nearly $22 billion secretly shipped to Ukraine – Austrian politician​ – Euroskeptic FPO leader Christian Hafenecker has called on Vienna’s money laundering watchdog to investigate​ https://web.archive.org/web/20260512092128/https://www.rt.com/news/639864-22-billion-shipped-ukraine-austria/

EU Prepares For ‘Potential’ Talks With Putin As US Slowly Reduces Troops On Continent​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/eu-prepares-potential-talks-putin-us-slowly-reduces-troops-continent

​ Gilbert Doctorow, Contradictory signals from the Kremlin on Russia’s strategic deterrence
‘News of the Week’ showed the 9th May demonstrations as they took place across the globe. What they did not show, but you will have the opportunity to see on Wednesday during the ‘’Judging Freedom’‘ podcast is how the day was celebrated across one-story Russia. A long-time friend and neighbor in a hamlet 80 km south of Petersburg sent me photos via WhatsApp that demonstrate the deep sense of pride, high emotions and patriotism that reaches into the smallest villages and is spontaneous, not officially prompted. I trust that you will find this backchannel to real people to be enlightening.​..
​..The coverage of Putin’s press conference after the parade included one sentence that deserves special attention. Putin said the the war with Ukraine ‘’is close to completion.’‘ What can that mean? I believe he may be right and that the key factor in this end game is some understanding that Putin has with Donald Trump. Let us note that the three-day, 9 – 11 May truce seemingly came from nowhere after Zelensky had dismissed it out of hand and had stated during his visit to the All European conference in Yerevan, Armenia that he intended to attack the parade in Moscow with drones. I believe that he was dissuaded from this violence by Trump who must have told him that the game is up, that his country will be utterly destroyed by Russia in the immediate days ahead if he dares to violate the sanctity of 9 May in Moscow or other Russian cities. And I will go a step further and hazard the guess that Trump made this threat to Zelensky following the 90 minute phone call he had with Vladimir Putin, likely at the initiative of the Russian president.
​ If my conjecture is correct, then Trump will indeed be the broker for concluding at the very least a long term cease fire in the Russia-Ukraine war if not a definitive peace. I believe the former denouement is more likely because it requires very little time to achieve and would satisfy certain needs both on the Russian and on the Ukrainian sides. For President Putin, it would be an instant satisfaction of the loud and growing demands in Russian society for this nearly five year war to end.
​ For Zelensky, it would leave his regime intact even if he personally will be obliged to withdraw from the presidency following the elections which surely will be a part of any Russian-US-Ukrainian truce agreement. He will be given a safe exit ramp and can spend the rest of his life enjoying his ill-gotten wealth.​..
​..Karaganov is saying essentially that Russia should shift from use of nuclear weapons strictly in response to attack to a first strike policy if its economy, defense or other parameters of its sovereignty are being threatened. Now that would be a sea change. Russia would, in effect, be responding to the first strike posture that the United States has been developing ever since George Bush pulled out of the ABM treaty early in this century.
​ Which way will Russia go? Towards a compromised peace that demeans the sacrifice of one million Russian soldiers dead or maimed for life in the Special Military Operation? Or to a more vigorous deterrence wherein red lines do not have to be crossed before Russia delivers a crushing blow on its enemies?​ https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/contradictory-signals-from-the-kremlin

“U.S. Military Inferiority”? Russia Develops “Son of Oreshnik”, More Advanced Long Range Hypersonic Ballistic Missile​ https://www.globalresearch.ca/son-of-oreshnik-and-zero-deviation-russia-develops-more-advanced-long-range-hypersonic-ballistic-missile-u-s-military-inferiority/5924644

[John Day]

​ Israeli Military Has Killed More Than 850 Palestinians in Gaza Since So-Called Ceasefire Deal Was Signed​ – Israeli attacks continued on Sunday, with one strike killing two police officers in Khan Younis​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/10/israeli-military-has-killed-more-than-850-palestinians-in-gaza-since-so-called-ceasefire-deal-was-signed/

Lebanon says farmland area roughly size of Chicago destroyed in Israeli offensive​ https://www.aa.com.tr/en/greenline/agriculture/lebanon-says-farmland-area-roughly-size-of-chicago-destroyed-in-israeli-offensive/1830137

​ Hezbollah strikes Iron Dome battery with FPV drone​ – The IDF has struggled to respond to the FPV drone threat, which uses special cables and manual operation of the drone to outwit the military’s advanced technologies for jamming and tracking drones.​ https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-895734

​ Sundance, The CIA, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John Brennan
In 2008 Joe Biden was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with oversight jurisdiction of the U.S State Dept., and by extension all foreign policy nominations etc.
​ In 2008 John Brennan was working for the Obama campaign when someone from his outside government group, The Analysis Corporation, “hacked” into the state dept database to access the passport files and State Dept records of Barack Obama.
​ Mr. Brennan spent most of his C.I.A. career as an analyst, but during the 1990s served a tour as the chief of the station in Saudi Arabia. From 1999 to early 2001, he was chief of staff to George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, as the position was then called. At the end of his CIA. service, in 2004 and 2005, Mr. Brennan set up what is now the counterterrorism center.
​ Yet, people would have us believe, after 25 years within the CIA, and after being the Chief of Staff to the Director, and after being the person who set up the counter terrorism center, and after being the CIA approved contractor for the State dept., well, John Brennan just didn’t know that someone from his firm was penetrating the passport files within the State Dept. on three occasions in Jan and Feb 2008 to look at information of the candidate who he was specifically working for.
​ That was their story, and they stuck to it in 2008.
​ After the initial inquiry, federal investigators maintained that the target of the illegal activity was Senator Barack Obama’s passport file. It does not take a stretch to come to the conclusion this was for the sole purpose of cleansing records of information that would jeopardize Obama’s candidacy. As many people speculated at the time, the breach of the passport records of the other candidates was merely to create confusion.
​ Brennan was, at the time, an unpaid advisor working with Obama’s campaign. Passport files include an applicant’s name, gender, social security number, date and place of birth, and passport number. Additional information may include birth certificates, naturalization certificates, or oaths of allegiance for U.S. born persons who adopted the citizenship of a foreign country as minors.
​ It is important to remember the oversight agency that would be investigating the breach – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee oversees the State Department.​ At the time Senator Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the breach would be investigated.​.. And, well, what do you know… Biden became the VP pick of Obama.
​ State Department employee, Lieutenant Quarles Harris, Jr. who had the passport access, apparently was the guy who penetrated the database and scrubbed the records. Harris was killed – April 18th, 2008.
​ Yes, Lieutenant Harris decided to cooperate with the FBI who were investigating the break-in. Soon after his cooperation became a matter of record, his body was discovered in his parked car; he had been shot twice in the head, likely a “suicide”.
​ Last point. In mid-February 2010, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs alerted WH reporters that certain questions about Obama’s job with Business International Corporation (BIC) would not be subject to discussion. BIC was well known in Washington DC to be a front company for the CIA; hence, many speculated the State Department passport records were scrubbed to erase any potential mention of Obama’s CIA activities and his personal information. You decide.​ https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/10/the-cia-barack-obama-joe-biden-and-john-brennan/#more-283299

​And it was a good thing, too: Simplicius, Zelensky Again Steps Down From Ledge as Russian V-Day Parade Predictably Proceeds as Planned https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/zelensky-again-steps-down-from-ledge

[John Day]

​ Jerusalem Post on Israeli Hostage (“dead or alive”) retrieval: Soldiers who shot hostages had orders to shoot all men on-sight – report
Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Talalka, 25, and Alon Shamriz, 26, were all taken captive during Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023.​ https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-895632

​Locking Palestinians into little islands to remove one by one: Israeli occupation allocates one billion shekels for colonial bypass roads in West Bank https://english-wafa-ps.translate.goog/Pages/Details/170258?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

They are mastering the versatile technology: Hezbollah released footage of an FPV drone hitting another Israeli tank. https://en.topwar.ru/282447-hizballa-pokazala-kadry-porazhenija-fpv-dronom-ocherednogo-izrailskogo-tanka.html

​ Israeli army chief says more recruits needed ‘immediately’​ – Eyal Zamir makes remarks in meeting of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee​ https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-army-chief-says-more-recruits-needed-immediately/3933208

Israeli Strikes Across Lebanon Killed at Least 22​ – Triple drone strike killed Syrian man and his 12-year-old daughter​ https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/09/israeli-strikes-across-lebanon-killed-at-least-22/

[John Day]

Moon of Alabama, War On Iran: – U.S. Experiencing Price Increases
The stalemate in the War of Iran is characterized by bets on each side that the enemy side will soon incur unsustainable economic problems.
After several wars and decades of sanctions Iran is well versed in how to sustain under economic pressure. Its people and government know of the larger picture. Price fluctuations are inconveniences but do not change the will of the people.
The U.S. on the other side is rather fragile. Even only mildly unconformable circumstances will lead to political pressure. One percent more or less of inflation will change the election chances for this or that party.
The consequences of the blockade of Hormuz are starting to come in: US inflation jumps to 3.8% as energy costs surge from Iran war – BBC https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/05/war-on-iran-u-s-experiencing-price-increases.html

Leaked GRU Document Shows Russia Proposed Supplying Iran with 5,000 Fiber-Optic Drones and Training for Potential Use Against U.S. Forces​ https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Leaked-GRU-Document-Shows-Russia-Proposed-Supplying-Iran-with-5000-Fiber-Optic-Drones-and-Training-for-Potential-Use-Against-US-Forces/

​ Israel committed ‘brutal violations’ against activists of aid flotilla: Int’l Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza
Violations included assaults, sexual harassment, beatings, Youssef Ajissa, head of International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza​ https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-committed-brutal-violations-against-activists-of-aid-flotilla-intl-committee-to-break-the-siege-on-gaza/3932133

​ Going down like the WTC buildings: Israel is taking out the last remaining residential towers in Gaza to make it impossible for the remaining Palestinians to live there and turning them into refugees.​ https://x.com/Partisangirl/status/2052930181959213173

​ Israeli strike levels building sheltering displaced families in south Lebanon
The latest civilian massacre came as part of a wide and violent wave of Israeli attacks across south Lebanon​ https://thecradle.co/articles-id/37600#google_vignette

[John Day]

US surveillance plane overhead on guard: Secret Israeli Base Hidden In Iraqi Desert Backed Operations Inside Iran​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/secret-israeli-base-hidden-iraqi-desert-backed-operations-inside-iran

​ Top Iraqi officials establish committee to ‘disarm’ resistance factions: Report
Iraq’s incoming Prime Minister is under pressure from Washington to disarm Shia armed factions and prevent their leaders from taking roles in any new government​ https://thecradle.co/articles/top-iraqi-officials-establish-committee-to-disarm-resistance-factions-report#google_vignette

‘Mediator’ Pakistan Hosted Iranian Military Aircraft To Insulate Them From US Attacks, Graham Fumes At Islamabad​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/very-wide-gap-between-us-iranian-positions-tehran-blasts-white-house-unreasonable

Iran Deploys Combat-Ready Mini Subs In Hormuz As US Flexes Nuclear Submarine En Route​ https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-deploys-combat-ready-mini-subs-hormuz-us-flexes-nuclear-submarine-en-route

​Iranian General: Army submarines monitor, intercept vessels in Hormuz Strait https://en.mehrnews.com/news/244388/Army-submarines-monitor-intercept-vessels-in-Hormuz-Strait

[John Day]

Alex Krainer reports on the English farmer who got a letter saying to get rid of half of his cows for “Net Zero”: Racing toward “Absolute Zero”
It’s very real: the Epstein class is dead serious about ‘getting rid of the poor people,’ and creating an Orwellian totalitarian society.​ https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/racing-toward-absolute-zero

Swap Lines, Gulf Debt and the Unravelling of Dollar Primacy
Michael Hudson: So if the Emirates actually insist, well we need the money, you’ve got to give us the money that we’ve invested in the United States. The United States can’t say, “Well we’ve frozen it all because we don’t want the bond prices to go down. We don’t want the stock prices to go down because that’s what our economy is all about. You threaten to bring the Ponzi scheme to an end.” So what does the Treasury do? It says, “Well don’t worry. We’re going to save you from having to sell these investments that you’ve made that have gone bad.” ​… So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to make a swap agreement and we’re just going to create dollars and you’ll give us an equivalent couple of hundred billion dollars of your currency, we’ll give you a hundred billion dollars and we’ll just swap and lend you the money that you need to spend to keep afloat…
​..A swap agreement manages to cope with the freezing up of the US financial markets as a result of all of the debt leveraging and the private capital companies, and the fact that the US economy has been kept afloat for its stock prices and its bond prices by easy credit in a Ponzi scheme. And the easy credit has just created such an overhead of debt that now if you say, “Well, we want to cash out,” well there’s only a teeny little bit of equity for this huge pyramid of debt, and if the price of this debt goes down, then the equity is wiped out totally. That’s what the US is facing and that’s why it’s doing this. It’s creating this swap system because there isn’t any other alternative.
​ Radhika Desai: This is exactly right, Michael. And let me put it in slightly different terms. Let me formulate what you’ve said in slightly different terms. What you’re saying is that the very thing that the Federal Reserve has been doing domestically, which is supporting asset markets through quantitative easing, it is now going to have to do internationally.​ https://michael-hudson.com/2026/05/swap-lines-gulf-debt-and-the-unravelling-of-dollar-primacy/

​It’s Yalta-2, but Trump is just Churchill, not FDR. Maybe Putin is Stalin and Xi is FDR. Moon of Alabama, Trump Goes To China
This week U.S. President Donald Trump is going to China.
His larger plan had been to take Venezuela, Iran and their oil before pressing China, via tariffs and energy restrictions, to concede to U.S. hegemony.
That plan has failed. Trump has lost two wars. His tariff schemes ended in retreat after China restricted the export of its rare earth products. His war on Iran has been one big failure.
Trump is coming to Beijing with his cap in his hand. He, as usual, will try to bluff a way to ‘victory’. He will proceed as if the U.S. were in a great position. The Chinese will be polite, but won’t have any of it. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2026/05/trump-goes-to-china.html

Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-13
April CPI inflation hits 3-year high at 3.8% YoY (exp 3.7%), Core 0.4% MoM (exp 0.3%). Energy +17.9% YoY, gasoline +28.4%, airfares +20.7%. Fed rate HIKE odds surge to 31%. Rate cuts entirely priced out. Real wages post first annual decline since April 2023…
​..Iran issues 5 preconditions for any nuclear talks with the US: end war on all fronts including Lebanon, lift all sanctions, release frozen assets, pay war reparations, recognize Iran’s sovereign right over Hormuz. Trump rejected as “totally unacceptable”. Iran parliament threatens 90% uranium enrichment in event of new attack. NYT reports Iran retained 70% of missile arsenal with 30 of 33 Hormuz missile sites operational.​..
..Global bond market meltdown intensifying: US 30Y yield above 5.02%, 10Y nearing 4.50%. Japan 20Y at highest since 1996. UK 30Y gilt at highest since 1998…
​..China imported record 528 tonnes of silver in March — most ever recorded…
..Trump en route to Beijing with 16 CEOs including Cook, Fink, Musk, Solomon, Schwarzman, Fraser, Ortberg. Jensen Huang joined last minute. Summit Thursday-Friday. Chinese state media showing zero mentions of the visit per JustDario — a deliberate signal. Topics: Taiwan, AI, rare earths, trade, Iran pressure on China…
​..Hormuz crisis: Iran tightening control, not losing it​ – Iraq and Pakistan have cut deals with Iran to ship oil and LNG through the Strait — Iran moving from blocking to access control per Reuters
​ At least 6 Chinese-owned tankers crossed Hormuz in a single day with Iran’s approval. Maersk still avoiding the Strait entirely
Saudi Aramco CEO calls this the “largest energy supply shock the world has ever experienced” — ~1 billion barrels lost, 2-5 ships daily through Hormuz vs 70 pre-war…
​..Pentagon confirms 39 US aircraft lost in Iran war per Rep. Ed Case​…
​..US releasing another wave from Strategic Reserve as gas prices soar — SPR drawdowns compared to Biden-era playbook by JustDario
Gasoline inventories at 10-year lows per Chris Martenson; could hit “tank bottom” by early July​…
​..Copper hits all-time high above $14,000/ton​…
​..AI market structure — fragility building under euphoria​…
​..Russia tests Sarmat ICBM — nuclear posture escalation​ – Russia successfully tests the Sarmat heavy ICBM, entering combat duty before year-end. Putin: range 35,000km, warhead yield 4x any Western analogue, suborbital trajectory capability, overcomes all missile defense​…
​..Ukraine: ceasefire over, corruption exposed, Belarus mobilizes​ – Three-day ceasefire ended; Russia claims 30,383 Ukrainian violations. Putin ready to meet Zelensky in Moscow “at any time”
​ Yermak (Zelensky’s former chief of staff) charged with money laundering — $10.5M, 4 diplomatic passports found, fortune teller consulted for personnel decisions
​ Zelensky’s former spokesperson tells Tucker Carlson: cash bags in meetings, “Goebbels-style propaganda” requested, drug use allegations.​..
​..UK political crisis deepening​ – Starmer refusing to resign despite 80+ Labour MPs calling for him to step down. Now 85 MPs — above 81 threshold for leadership challenge​…
​..Consumer financial stress reaching extremes​ – 55% of Americans say financial condition getting worse — highest since 2001 tracking began
​ Seriously delinquent credit card balances about to surpass GFC record
​Millions of student borrowers defaulting — average age 40​ https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-13

​ Gold & Geopolitics, Daily digest: 2026-05-12
Iran-US ceasefire collapse: Trump called Iran’s counter-proposal “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” and a “piece of garbage”, put ceasefire “on life support”, met with generals Monday, and is considering reactivating Project Freedom (military escorts through Hormuz). Iran’s Parliament Speaker responded: “Our armed forces are ready… they will be surprised”. US Navy deployed nuclear-armed submarine USS Alaska through Gibraltar. Iran deployed combat-ready mini subs in Hormuz.​..
​..Iran Strait of Hormuz sovereignty assertion​ – Iran formalised the Persian Gulf Strait Authority with pre-approval forms for every transit and claimed authority over seven major subsea cables carrying ~15-20% of inter-regional data traffic
​ First commercial transits since February — Qatari LNG and Saudi tanker — moved under IRGC-designated routes. Mediators paid the toll​…
​..~1,550-1,600 vessels remain stranded inside the Gulf per NYT/AP estimates. Lloyd’s Joint War Committee has not delisted Hormuz​…
​..2022 Biden dumped SPR during no supply shock vs 2026 Trump leasing SPR during largest supply shock in history — to hide the crisis​…
​..A Polymarket account with 100% win ratio on Iran war bets just placed large wagers on US invasion and regime fall by June 30​…
​..Europe pivoting toward Russia talks​ – Finland’s Stubb: “time to start negotiations with Russia”, confirmed European leaders discussing who will be contact person​ – EU Kallas refused Schröder as Putin-proposed negotiator
​ Slovakia’s Fico: “Are we such IDIOTS?” — Russia supplies gas to US who resells to Europe at markup
Hungary’s new FM Anita Orban: no weapons/soldiers to Ukraine, won’t participate in €90B EU loan; will build relations with Russia​…
​..Zelensky inner circle unravelling​ – Tucker Carlson full interview with ex-press secretary Yulia Mendel: Zelensky demanded “Goebbels propaganda” with “1,000 talking heads”​ – She confirmed he was unqualified, called him a drug user
​ NABU serving notice of suspicion to Yermak (former presidential office head) over multi-billion-dollar Western aid theft schemes
Germany’s AfD at 28% nationally, most popular party​ https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-05-12

[John Day]

Planning For Summer https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/planning-for-summer

This summer is going to be a modern version of the gas lines in 1974 and 1979. That much is already baked-in, because the transit time from the Strait of Hormuz is a couple of months, and the US is rapidly depleting the strategic petroleum reserve, which was already depleted, by selling it on the global market.
Oil, natural gas, sulfer, helium and nitrogen fertilizer supplies are all knocked down hard and will stay down everywhere until early July, even if the Strait of Hormuz opens tomorrow.
Global agriculture will be hit hard, with much reduced fall harvests, so grain and bean stocks will be depleted. Poor countries will be hit this year by poor rice crops, and traditionally more wealthy countries will be hit by price rises this year, then tighter supplies next year. UK farmers are reportedly being told to get rid of half of their cows.
Most people do not recall the impact of the 1973-1974 Arab Oil Embargo, but it was a big, hard systemic shock that everybody in an embargoed country really experienced, and had to adapt to. People changed, cars changed, and government policies changed.
Imagine that you can’t drive or fly anywhere this summer. What might you do instead? What if it stayed that way for a couple of years? What if you lose your job?

Professor Ugo Bardi, 50+ years of World Models: Collapse, Collapse, Collapse – The Way the Universe Works​
image.png​
​ Above, you see five “standard run” scenarios, starting from the first Limits to Growth calculations of 1972, to very recent ones (there are others; this is just a sample). The model is always the same, “Word3” but with updated data, and slightly different assumptions. Note that the population peak has been moving back from ca 2050 in 1972, to around 2030 nowadays…
..Now, a question: why do all these models predict collapse? An accusation that was often made to the authors of the first “The Limits to Growth” report, in 1972, was that collapse was built into the models. Hence, it was said, collapse is an ideological feature that modelers inserted into their models…
..Yet, it is starting to appear that the assumptions at the basis of these models were NOT just reflections of how the authors saw the world. They were based on physics, even though this point was not explicitly stated.
​ I am working right now on a paper that quantifies the trajectory of complex systems as a function of the availability of resources and the impact of pollution — the “core” of the LTG world models. It turns out that you CAN generate the growth and decline curves starting from the first two principles of thermodynamics, energy conservation, and entropy generation, together with the Maximum Power Principle (MPP), sometimes said to be the 4th principle of thermodynamics.​
​ Here is the abstract (provisional)
​ The Hubbert curve, originally proposed in 1956 as a phenomenological description of oil-field production, has long resisted derivation from independent principles. We show that the curve emerges as the structural consequence of a thermodynamic chain combining four established results: the Gouy–Stodola theorem on irreversible processes, the Lotka–Odum maximum power principle (MPP) for biological energy harvesting, the Curzon–Ahlborn endoreversible bound for heat engines operating at maximum power, and the two-stock model of Bardi and Lavacchi (2009) for resource depletion under autocatalytic capital reinvestment. Within this framework, the symmetric bell-shaped Hubbert curve is the prediction of the model in its simplest form, while the asymmetric “Seneca” curves observed empirically arise from named symmetry-breaking terms — capacity depreciation, EROI decline, pollution feedback, and best-first extraction — each with a clear thermodynamic interpretation. The synthesis suggests that the descent phase of fossil-energy civilization is not an empirical curiosity but a thermodynamic prediction, and that its asymmetry is structural rather than accidental.​ https://senecaeffect.substack.com/p/50-years-of-world-models-collapse

​PANIC NOW! ;-o EIGHT WEEKS TO EMPTY SHELVES. SIXTY DAYS TO FAMINE. WHAT CAUSED IT, AND WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IMMEDIATELY https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/component/content/article/eight-weeks-to-empty-shelves-sixty-days-to-famine-what-caused-it-and-what-you-need-to-do-immediately

Gail Tverberg knows there will be oil shortages, but presents the questions of how societies choose to deal with them. The Hormuz War is, I believe, a way of dealing with the decline of net oil, which has irreversibly begun. Forced cutbacks are the “solution”. China and US Trade Talks: A Solution for Oil Shortages?
China may also be a key to ending the Iran conflict​
​ The war with Iran is not going well. It is difficult to supply US troops with adequate food and other necessities. With summer arriving soon, the region will soon be an even more inhospitable place for ground troops to fight. An underlying problem is that the world economy was reaching resource limits even before the Iran War began, adding to the difficulties.
​ The most pressing resource limit is distillate fuel oil–an industry term for what we think of as diesel and jet fuel. This fuel is heavily used in transportation. It is also used extensively in agriculture and industry. Somehow, the system needs to cut back on these fuels for international trade so that more fuel is available for agriculture and industry.​ https://gailtverberg.substack.com/p/china-and-us-trade-talks-a-solution

​ Nate Hagens and Art Berman were prominent contributors to The Oil Drum blog, along with Gail Tverberg. A World On the Precipice: The Last Oil Tanker From the Strait of Hormuz has Arrived – Now What? The Great Simplification #220 with Art Berman https://natehagens.substack.com/p/a-world-on-the-precipice-the-last

[John Day]

TAE Summary closed out last night with this ;-}

* I loathe, despise, detest, abhor,
Abominate the Iran war.
I love our troops, I love our land,
The flag goes by, I always stand;
But of all bad news outside my door,
The worst of all’s the Iran war.
Chain me up with clowns galore,
But don’t give me the Iran war.
The Donald made a huge mistake,
And now his cabinet’s on the take;
They peddle bombs and make a ton,
And yuck it up like it’s all fun.
The world think our land’s a joke
And groceries soon will make me broke,
The dollar’s doomed and one thing more,
It’s lies that justify this war.
Knock me flat upon the floor,
But don’t give me the Iran war.”

[John Day]

How to Make a Sourdough Starter (with Rye Flour) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqp5CQnN38k

“Try it, You’ll like it”: Mestemacher Westphalian Pumpernickel Bread, 8.8 oz $3.49 ea https://www.centralmarket.com/product/mestemacher-westphalian-pumpernickel-bread-88-oz/4525001

Organic Steel-Cut Cracked Rye https://centralmilling.com/product/organic-steel-cut-cracked-rye/

2.2 lb Pullman Loaf Pan with Lid, 13×4 Carbon Steel Bread Loaf Pan Nonstick Corrugated Bakeware, Pullman Loaf Pan Bread Pan for Sandwich Bread, Sourdough & Homemade Bread, Heavy Duty Easy Clean (3) https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-2-lb-Pullman-Loaf-Pan-Lid-13×4-Carbon-Steel-Bread-Loaf-Pan-Nonstick-Corrugated-Bakeware-Pullman-Loaf-Pan-Bread-Pan-Sandwich-Bread-Sourdough-Homemad/20050271196?classType=REGULAR&from=/search

The Rye Baker: Classic Breads from Europe and America Hardcover – Illustrated, September 27, 2016 https://www.amazon.com/Rye-Baker-Classic-Breads-America/dp/0393245217

[John Day]

The Day Civilization Runs Out Of Bread Will Not Feel Like Fiction
One of the most disturbing conclusions emerging from famine modeling is that modern civilization possesses remarkably little resilience once synchronized global shortages begin appearing. International trade networks function efficiently during normal conditions precisely because they rely on predictability. Under extreme pressure, however, governments tend to abandon cooperative frameworks rapidly in favor of domestic preservation. Export bans would likely emerge within days of confirmed agricultural collapse. Strategic grain reserves would become politically weaponized. Transportation systems already strained by fuel shortages and economic panic could deteriorate rapidly, preventing aid distribution even when supplies remain technically available.
History offers numerous examples of societies destabilized by food insecurity, but the modern world has never experienced simultaneous scarcity affecting billions of people across multiple continents. https://madgewaggy.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-day-civilization-runs-out-of-bread.html

Self-preserving bread since 1570, an excellent short video: What Was Pumpernickel? The 2-Ingredient Bread That Lasted 6 Months
In the year 1570, a baker named Jörgen Haverland opens a shop in the Westphalian city of Soest. He sells one product. A loaf made from cracked rye kernels and water. No yeast. No fat. No sugar. No preservatives of any kind. He loads the dough into sealed iron pans, slides them into a stone oven, and does not open the door for 24 hours. When the loaves come out, they are so dark they look like they were carved from wet earth. The texture is dense, sticky, almost like cooked grain pressed into a block. The taste is sweet, though nothing sweet has gone into the dough. Haverland wraps the loaves in linen, stacks them in his cellar, and they will still be there six months later — unrefrigerated, untreated, unspoiled.
That bakery is still operating today, on the same street in Soest, still baking the same bread, still following the purity rule Jörgen Haverland established over 450 years ago. Today we are going to show you how that was possible — the grain that resists decay, the fermentation that kills mold before it starts, and the 24-hour bake that transforms raw rye into something chemically closer to preserved meat than to bread. Because this loaf was not primitive peasant food. It was the most sophisticated preservation system ever applied to a grain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R561wArN_84

Around the world in 80 bakes, no.71: Westfälischer Pumpernickel from Germany https://polything.com/2021/10/16/around-the-world-in-80-bakes-no-71-westfalischer-pumpernickel-from-germany/

How to Make Pumpernickel Bread | Flour, Water, Salt, No Leavening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBlr_EA0gvw

[John Day]

Natural Red Algae Protein Slashes Hantavirus Viral Load by >99.99% in Lab Models and Protects 80% of Mice from Lethal Infection
As the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship makes global headlines, a powerful natural antiviral—Griffithsin—remains overlooked. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/natural-red-algae-protein-slashes

Another single-stranded RNA virus… Why Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine Could Work for Hantavirus
As the WHO downplays ivermectin for hantavirus, the underlying science and preclinical data tell a very different story. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/why-ivermectin-and-hydroxychloroquine

The Vaccine Cartel and US Army Are Developing 13 Hantavirus Vaccines and Gene Therapies
As a cruise ship outbreak unfolds, the U.S. Army’s “needle-free” DNA gene therapy platforms come into focus. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/the-vaccine-cartel-and-us-army-are

Bacteria and fungi produce proteins that act as ice condensation nuclei in clouds, precipitating rain: How bacteria, fungi and plants evolved paleo-rain https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/how-bacteria-fungi-and-plants-evolved

Climate Physicist Anastassia Makarieva, Simplicity and Complexity, Doing and Non-Doing, Restoring and Preserving
A StoryMoss conversation with John D. Liu and Anastassia Makarieva, in anticipation of the Global Earth Repair Convergence
..Anastassia: Right now I am in St. Petersburg. But soon we will travel to Siberia, to the taiga forest.
Emmanuelle: Wow.
Anastassia: It is not possible to study something that you have not seen and felt. That is very important, because formulas do not communicate the full truth. But when you have seen the truth, you can write down the right formula — one that will have meaning, hopefully. That is at least how we think about our work: trying to make it meaningful.
Megan: Beautiful. Do you have internet there in Siberia?
Anastassia: No, no, no. No way. We do not even have electricity. You are totally immersed in nature.
We let ourselves be in nature. It is also a very particular emotional and spiritual experience, because you detach from the digital world and tune entirely to the green revival of nature.
In Siberia, spring comes and winter becomes summer very quickly. You see this burst of life coming from almost nowhere, and it carries you away with its wave. You feel that you are reviving.
And there are lots of mosquitoes. You go through all of this like any animal, and you feel that you are becoming part of it. That is very important. https://bioticregulation.substack.com/p/simplicity-and-complexity-doing-and

[John Day]

Steve Kirsch, AI analysis of internal CDC documents from the 2004 DeStefano study on MMR and autism shows they violated protocol and unethically omitted a 2.25 – 2.4 odds ratio associating MMR and autism
Hooker’s analysis had OR=3.86 similar to values found in other studies; it is statistically significant. The CDC knew in 2004 that the data showed the association, so they destroyed the data. https://kirschsubstack.com/p/exclusive-ai-analysis-of-internal

John Leake has a full report to date: Hantavirus Outbreak on MV Hondius Cruise Ship – Latest reporting on the unhappy voyage. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/hantavirus-outbreak-on-mv-hondius

Meryl Nass MD, Now it’s Hantavirus! – Here are the relevant facts. https://merylnass.substack.com/p/now-its-hantavirus

I visited the Navajo Reservation, where I had just worked for 2 years, during this mystery outbreak, caused by thirsty rats and mice going to houses to find water, and leaving Hantavirus in their urine, which aerosolized and was inhaled, causing hemorrhagic pneumonias. A medicine-man had a dream that “mice are thirsty and going to houses”, which broke the case as to the cause: 1993 Four Corners hantavirus outbreak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Four_Corners_hantavirus_outbreak

Peter McCullough MD, WHO Blunder Imperils Remaining Passengers on Hantavirus-Infected Cruise Ship
Locked-down in cabins, HVAC system not sterilized from rodent excrement dust carrying virions, passengers are sitting ducks for fatal illness https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/who-blunder-imperils-remaining-passengers

[John Day]

“Ceasefire”, but did not rain on the V-Day parade: Trump Gets Diplomatic Win In Ukraine War, 3-Day Ceasefire Declared For Russia’s V-Day https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-gets-diplomatic-win-ukraine-war-3-day-ceasefire-declared-russias-v-day

Gilbert Doctorow, Shortest ever Victory in Europe parade on Red Square https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/shortest-ever-victory-in-europe-parade

SOROS PAID OBAMA $1.6 MILLION A MONTH TO TAKE OVER FOR THE SENILE CORPSE NAMED BIDEN — THE DEEP STATE PUPPET MASTER LITERALLY BOUGHT THE WHITE HOUSE!
The paper trail they thought nobody would ever find is now public: When Biden was clearly a drooling vegetable who couldn’t function, George Soros stepped in like the globalist godfather he is and bought himself a new front man — Barack Obama. The Soros Family Trust funneled $1.6 million every single month from June 2023 through January 2024 straight into an LLC tied directly to Michelle Obama. That exact same window is when the FBI’s Autopen Task Force says the flood of fraudulent documents and forged signatures exploded. https://x.com/mcafeenew/status/2052117444865732913

3 Days Left to Prosecute Anthony Fauci https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/3-days-left-to-prosecute-anthony

RFK Jr. Says Mandatory Ultraprocessed Food Labels Are Coming
An HHS spokesperson confirmed that after hundreds of meetings with scientists and stakeholders at multiple federal agencies, a definition of ultraprocessed foods is almost ready. Last week, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Congress that “mandatory front-of-package labeling” will be required once the definition is finalized. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-mandatory-ultraprocessed-food-labels-coming-hhs-policy/

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